Flare (44 page)

Summer scanned the state of Hugo’s face and then took in the others’. She headed to the kitchen and started listing off all the beverages she had available for people to choose from, getting everyone served in good order with Hugo’s help. When she tried to get him to tell her what had happened, he said, “Please. Just wait until we’re all in there.”

When everyone sat down in the living room, Kevin was returning from checking on the kids. “They’ve both settled in,” he relayed to Hugo as he sat beside him and took his hand. Hugo couldn’t help but smile at the gesture. It was good to have the physical contact right then, and he squeezed Kevin’s fingers to gather a little more strength.

Kevin told Summer and Russell what had happened at the parking ramp, readdressing the fact that Russell’s mom had been taking anti-anxiety medications and writing Hugo letters. He slipped in that the letters Hugo had received led him to fear the possibility that Brooke and Finn could be kidnapped. When Russell, Kyle, and Tasha all argued that something that heinous would never happen, Hugo spoke directly to Tasha.

“I don’t know you, Tasha. You’ve never allowed me that opportunity, so I don’t know anything about you aside from what you’ve shown me, and so far, this is what I’ve seen. You told your daughter you thought I’d molest her son for no other reason than I was a gay man. I saw you trying to rip your grandchildren from Kevin because of me being involved with him. And then I saw letters painting me in the worst light imaginable. To you I’m a vile and disgusting creature. So yes, I feared what you might do to keep Brooke and Finn away from me, from Kevin.”

“I’m sorry,” Tasha said, trying her best to look at Hugo, but her gaze drifted down to her lap.

Hugo tugged on his necklace, rubbing the words of the inscription into his thumb to remind himself where he was going, feeling the stability of the North Star on the other side. This wasn’t about revenge or torment. It was no longer about anger, even.

“I’ve been on the same type of medicine you’re on,” Hugo admitted. “It did bad things to me. It made me paranoid and filled me with rage, even though it was supposed to be helping me and making me feel calm. When I told my doctor about my symptoms, he told me to stop taking it. I was having a paradoxical reaction. If you’re feeling hostile, more anxious, agitated, or are having strange thoughts, you should tell your doctor.”

Hugo saw how Russell glanced over at his dad, making eye contact and keeping it steady for several minutes. Summer looked lost, stuck between the man she loved, her best friend, and the in-laws she was still trying to get to know.

“From what Kevin has told me, how Erin and Russell have described you, even how Summer and Brooke and Finn talk about you, I don’t think you’re filled with as much hate as you’ve shown me. However,” Hugo said, and then he scooted toward the edge of his chair. This was important and he wanted to make sure his message was heard. “I think you have significant prejudices against gays. I don’t know the seed that started that hate, but something’s got to be done about it because we’ve got a lot of years ahead of us. We’ve got kids to think about here, and I know Kevin won’t allow any sort of hate to be propagated when they visit you.”

“Hugo’s right. Do you even know any gay or bisexual people besides us, Tasha?” Kevin asked in such an earnest way.

She shook her head. “No.”

“Then how can you assume you know all their intentions?” Kevin asked. “You’ve known me for almost twenty years, and I had sex with a man long before I had sex with a woman. You just learned that, but it doesn’t change who I am.”

“There’s more,” Russell said as he looked at Hugo and Summer before glancing back and forth between his mom and dad. “I’m bisexual just like Kevin.”

“What?” Tasha asked as she looked at Russell with fear and tears in her eyes. Kyle gave Russell a closed-mouth smile and a subtle nod. “You’re bisexual? How long?”

Russell chuckled. “Ever since I can remember. I had a crush on Paul Johnson when I was eleven. He was my first kiss. And over the years, I’ve dated more men than women. I married Summer because I love her and want to spend the rest of my life with her.”

Tasha wiped at her eyes with the tissue Summer handed her. There was silence as she reached for her drink until she took a few loud gulps.

“It’s the same thing for couples like Kevin and Hugo. It’s love.” Russell tried to get his mom to understand. “Even when things aren’t perfect, like Summer and I have experienced, we still love each other.”

“What do you mean, not perfect?” Tasha asked with a sad smile. “You’re married and having a baby. It all happened very fast, but it’s beautiful.”

“Until you realize I can’t have kids, Mom.” Russell allowed a few moments for his words to sink in. “It’s impossible for me to have children of my own.”

“But then…. How?” Tasha looked toward Summer’s just-swollen belly and then back to Russell.

“Hugo,” Russell said with a smile. “Hugo helped us make a baby by donating some of his sperm. Summer is having Hugo’s baby.”

“Gracious,” Tasha said, clasping at her chest and taking a deep breath. “Can’t my kids just do things the normal way?”

“What’s normal?” nearly everyone else said.

K
YLE
INSISTED
Tasha see her doctor as soon as they got back to Fargo, and she ended up being admitted to the psych ward for some serious medication adjustments. It was a start, but it was more than her anxiety that was at the root of this problem; it was her prejudice. That wasn’t remedied overnight, but now that Tasha finally knew she had a bisexual son, maybe that would help soften her heart. Kyle gave weekly updates to Kevin and Hugo on her progress, which did a lot to ease their own worries.

The letters no longer came. It seemed one of the scariest rain clouds had finally been blown away. Kevin and Hugo no longer wondered when Tasha’s unpredictability would take over because they knew Kyle wouldn’t play along so blindly this time. And if Tasha ever tried to strike in the future, they’d both decided to prepare for a full-on custody fight. They knew they’d win too.

Felicity still bothered Brooke from time to time via a text or voice mail message sent through one of her little minions. It didn’t bother Brooke nearly as much as it had previously. Summer vacation was almost there, school was nearly done, and they were going to be moving. They were getting away from all that.

Kevin’s house was valued at nearly triple the amount he’d bought it for. Because it was at such a high price point, Maggie suggested they put it on the market early in the summer to allow interested buyers time to see it, but she warned them not to get their hopes up too high for a quick sale. Houses with that high of a price tag didn’t sell in an afternoon or even in a month.

It sold in two weeks, which meant not only was the Magnus household in a panic trying to figure out what to keep, what to sell, and how they’d get everything done before their closing date in August, they had to find a new place to live. Maggie had taken them to higher-end properties, more unique properties than she’d previously shown Kevin and Hugo now that they knew they could afford them with the profits they’d get from Kevin’s house. Some of the places had yards, some had character, some had a great location, but they had yet to find the one that had everything.

Until Maggie called out of the blue on an early Saturday morning with the exciting news about a property just listed that seemed to have
Magnus
stamped all over it. Hugo was excited because of the enthusiasm Maggie had in her voice. He rushed the kids, telling them, “I don’t really care if your shoes match at all. Just make sure you have one on each foot!”

Finn took the message to heart and ended up heading to Uptown with one high top on and one sandal. Hugo shrugged it off, laughing that Finn was still his same old silly self.

Maggie was right. It was a penthouse condominium in a great building that even had a few shops on the main floor for those days that heading outdoors into the snow for a coffee or a carton of milk was too much to consider. The property was across from Lake Calhoun, and from the living room, they could see the gorgeous blue water dotted with sailboats with the backdrop of the Minneapolis skyline. They could see
forever
from their living room window.

Four—
four!
—bedrooms. Nearly everything else they’d seen had only had three bedrooms, and that third bedroom was often the size of a postage stamp. Three of the bedrooms were upstairs and the master suite was tucked away on the opposite side of the main level. Yes, two levels. Kevin could let loose and scream at the top of his lungs while they had sex, and the kids would probably be none the wiser. It was a very good setup for parental privacy. There was even a large closet tucked away on the main level that would work perfectly for all Hugo’s drag.

The kitchen was amazing, the smaller fourth bedroom could be used as an office, and, nearly unheard of in the middle of Minneapolis, there was a private rooftop garden that was easily accessed from the lower level as well as the upper. It was perfect for them.

The kids were running around the empty space deciding where couches and tables were going to go but didn’t even have a moment’s argument about who got which room. That had been decided right from the start.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Kevin said as he looked toward the lake from the rooftop garden. He leaned a hip on the railing and ran his eyes over the green space as well. “There’s a garden. There’s a fricking garden on the rooftop! Do you see this?”

“I do,” Hugo laughed. “Can we honestly afford this with what we’ve both got?”

“I ran the numbers again right before we drove over here. We really can.”

“Wow.”

Hugo looked down the six floors—or was it seven from where they were standing?—and saw the life bustling down below. He could see people walking their dogs around the lake and riding their bikes.

“Lulu is not peeing out here, even when the kids get to be lazy teens. Deal?”

“Deal.” Kevin squeezed Hugo’s hand and rested his head on Hugo’s shoulder.

Hugo felt a tug on his other hand and turned to find Brooke.

“Hey. What do you think?”

“I need to talk to you,” Brooke said so seriously.

“Okay.”

“Not here.” She gestured with her head, and then grabbed Hugo’s hand and pulled him into the bathroom.

Maybe there was some major flaw they’d missed or the plumbing didn’t work. Finn was known for checking out all the toilets, sinks, and showers. He’d even started a load of laundry and the dishwasher at one property.

“I need help,” Brooke barely got through gritted teeth.

“What can I do?”

“I need
help
,” she said again, but this time she pointed toward her pants.

Hugo felt his brows go down as he tried to figure out her code, looking for a broken button or zipper but finding nothing.

“God! This is so embarrassing.” She rolled her eyes and finally said, “I got my period.”

“Oh.
Oh!
” he said again with much more meaning. “Uhm.” He was feeling useless at the moment but decided to rummage through the bathroom cabinets to see if he could find anything that could be used. There was nothing. “Hang on. Let me check the other bathroom. And don’t be embarrassed. It was bound to happen. I just didn’t think it would happen so far from home,” he said out loud but meaning it more for himself as he opened the door to let himself out.

As expected in an empty condo, he had no luck downstairs either but Finn was suddenly interested in the quest Hugo was obviously on. “Go find Dad. He was looking at a cute dog that was catching a Frisbee earlier,” Hugo said. That shook Finn loose so he could discreetly help Brooke.

“Maggie.” Hugo took a deep, deep breath and closed his eyes. “Do you happen to have any feminine products in your purse?”

“No,” she said as if unfazed. “There’s that shop downstairs. I wonder if they’d sell anything like that.”

“Oh, you’re so smart. Thank you!” Hugo said in a rush as he dashed out the door and headed downstairs. He was in luck. One little box of pads was on the shelf, and he paid in cash, impatiently waiting for the elevator to get him back upstairs to the scared girl… woman in the bathroom.

“Okay, here we go,” Hugo said when granted permission to enter after a polite knock. “You know what to do?”

“Yeah. You can… you can go.” He hugged her and pressed a kiss into the top of her head before leaving the room.

Hugo waited to be well out of earshot before saying, “Oh, thank God she knew what to do.” He heard Maggie laugh at him around the corner.

When Hugo found Kevin again, Finn was talking his ear off about all the great things he and Lulu were going to do there once they moved. Hugo felt guilty shooing him off once again, but it wasn’t every day something like this happened.

“I promised you I’d tell you about the big stuff. So I’m telling you.” When Hugo looked at Kevin, his tongue got tied. The longer he was silent, the more worried Kevin looked. “No. No, no. Nothing to worry about. It’s just, our daughter really and truly became a woman. Right here in this beautiful condo we’re going to buy. What do you think of that?” Hugo smiled.

“And so it begins. There will be boyfriends sooner than I’ll be ready for. Birth control. Oh, God. I’m not sure I’m ready for this. I think I might need to lock her up.” Kevin let out a sardonic laugh.

“Good thing we’ll live in a tower.”

Epilogue

H
UGO
WAS
in the shade, and he was glad. It was nearing one hundred degrees, and the only place to be was the lake house when it was that hot. Brooke and Finn were swimming in the cool water with Summer and Russell. It was still strange for Hugo to call Summer, Auntie Summer, but he followed along with what the kids now did. Summer had started to call Hugo, Papa, after all.

The warm mound of flesh stirred on his chest. Hugo looked down at the rosy-cheeked sleeping girl, his daughter, Zoë. She was still for once, dark hair sweat-damp on the back of her neck. As soon as she realized she could move, that’s all she wanted to do, and at nine months old, she moved a lot, limbs constantly wiggling when she was awake. It was only moments like this that she truly rested, and Hugo took advantage of them.