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She shook her head. "I don't want to be alone."

So Jake let her go and went out to the backyard. He
did
want to be alone. But some things weren't meant to be, and he hadn't been sitting outside for even half an hour when he heard a car in the

drive. He assumed it was Cath coming back earlier than she'd said, until he heard two doors slam. It

was only because he didn't want Tor dealing with absolutely everything that he stirred himself to

wander around front to see what was going on.

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He rounded the corner of the house just in time to see two figures mount the stairs to the front door

and immediately had to fight the urge to turn tail and run. It had been a lot of years since he'd last

seen the woman, and he had no idea at all who the man was, but he knew trouble when he saw it.

He knew he couldn't avoid it, even though he'd assumed he wouldn't have to deal with family until

the funeral--he'd been counting on it, actually. Counting on ceremony and common decency play-

ing a part in making everyone behave. There were no such guarantees outside of that.

Jake squared his shoulders and walked toward them, hoping he looked non-threatening or at the

very least, calm. "Hello, Jess," he said, his voice devoid of any friendly overtures. He couldn't be any better than he was, and he wouldn't make a mockery of his life.

They turned as a unit, the man looking curiously at him, the doorbell unrung. Jake only had time to

note that the stranger appeared to be a couple of years older than himself before he gave his full

attention to his aunt.

She was peering at him over the top of her glasses, her mouth set in a thin, straight line, just as he'd always remembered her. "Huh. You're here. I didn't think you'd come."

Jake stopped where he was, a few feet away, and shrugged one shoulder. "Sorry to disappoint," he said blandly.

The man winced and sighed, looking like he did it a lot. "Mother."

Jess snorted and looked at her son. "Nothing wrong with the truth, boy. Jake there's always been a bad penny, no use in pretending otherwise."

"And you've forgotten that rudeness isn't one of your better traits. Maybe being civil to the man

would help," her son snapped, turning away from his mother before she could do much more than

open her mouth. "Hello, Jake."

Jake looked at the strange man and tried to pull a name out of his memory. He'd forgotten that Jess

even had a son, let alone what his name was, but now he thought it might be a good time to re-

member. Anyone who'd tell the old bitch off was someone to know more about, even if he was her

son. "David?" he finally asked, only about fifty percent sure he'd gotten the name right.

It earned him a half smile and a nod, and then David was stepping off the stoop, his hand out.

"Yeah. Long time--haven't seen you since you were about ten, I think."

"I don't even remember that," Jake admitted, shaking his cousin's hand.

David didn't seem to care, shrugging it off easily. "How are you doing?"

"Been better."

David nodded. "I bet." He sounded sympathetic, which Jake appreciated more than Jess' impatient noises in the background. "I'm sorry for your loss," David added.

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"Thank you." Jake gestured to the house. "Come on in, we'll put some coffee on."

Jess reached for the door handle. "I'm sure Cathy already has it on--that girl was raised right."

Jake wondered what would happen when Jess called Cath 'Cathy' to her face and said, "She's not

here. She'll be back in a bit, though."

Jess stopped, halfway through the door. "Where'd she go?" she demanded.

David had almost run right into her and barely managed not to fall off the step. "Mother!"

"Stop your fussing," she scolded him, and then glared at Jake. "Where?"

"Her apartment, if it's any of your business. I'll call and find out how long she'll be." He could use the reinforcements.

Jess stormed into the house, making Jake and David rush to keep up before she could get too far.

"Where's the boy?" she demanded, staring around the kitchen like she expected Jake to have him tied to the stove or something.

"Sleeping." Tor stood in the entry to the living room, staring at her, his eyes cold. "Please lower your voice."

Jess pulled up short and Jake caught David grinning before he could turn to study the edge of a

cabinet with careful attention. Jake had to admit that Tor looked pretty imposing like that, all wide

shoulders and broad chest, his head held high.

"Who are you?" Jess asked after a long moment.

"Mark Flynn. And you are?" Tor's voice was like ice.

"This is my Aunt Jess," Jake said easily as he stepped around her to stand next to Tor. "And that's my cousin, David."

David immediately leapt forward to shake Tor's hand, and Jess sniffed. Tor glanced at Jake, look
-

ing a little confused. "Problem?"

"No more so than usual," Jake said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "Jess, would you like a cup of coffee?" he asked with exaggerated politeness.

Jess seemed to rally a little and her mouth once more assumed its straight line. "I would like to

know, Jacob Matthew Taggart, why your sister left a young child here alone with you and this...

this man."

Jake froze, intensely aware that Tor had become as still as stone beside him. David looked furious,

but unsurprised.

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"Excuse me. Did you just say that we're likely to abuse my nephew?" Jake asked quietly, but unable to hide his anger.

Jess looked momentarily flustered, like she'd not expected him to object to the slur. "She shouldn't have left him here," she stated again, as if saying it over and over would make it true.

Jake suspected that she was very used to people just agreeing with her, whether she was right or

they just wanted her to shut up. Not this time. Standing again he stared at her and put a hand on

Tor's elbow. "We're gay. That means we like cock, not kids. Got it?"

David looked like he was either going to laugh or pass out; it could have gone either way in Jake's

eyes. Jess, on the other hand, merely looked disgusted. She narrowed her eyes. "I know what you

like--I saw your filthy perversion right in my own store, damn you. Your parents must be spinning

in their graves."

Jake snorted. "Yeah, like them telling the world I was dead didn't get their point across. Do you

think I worry about them? I worry about Jacob and Cath and Tor. No one else matters. Not you, not

anyone."

"I think you better go," Tor said quietly. He was looking at David, not Jess. "We have trouble enough right now."

David nodded and pulled car keys from his pocket. "Come on, Mother. It's time to leave."

For a long moment Jake thought that she would refuse and the situation would get completely out

of hand. Then David touched her arm and she spun on him, her face growing pale.

"Don't you ever tell me what to do, boy. I'm still your mother."

David met her eye and nodded. "You are. Nothing I can do about that. But I won't stand here and

watch you do this. The car is leaving now. Are you coming with me, or are you going to stay

here?"

Jake could almost see her thinking; she certainly didn't want to leave, and she looked like she was

about to reach for a strap to take to her grown son's ass, but the alternative to leaving brought her

up short. With a flash of horror, Jake realized she was actually worried that he and Tor would hurt

her, never mind Jacob. Bile rose in his throat and he swallowed thickly, grateful for Tor's hand

suddenly at his waist.

Jess turned to face them, already walking to the door. "You tell your sister that I was here. And you tell her I'll be calling after the funeral--she's going to need help raising that boy, and I aim to make sure she gets it."

"I'll pass that along," Jake said. And he would, as soon as he was sure Jacob wouldn't be around to hear him losing his temper.

David held the kitchen door open for his mother and looked back at them for a long moment before

nodding once and leaving.

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"Jesus," Tor breathed in Jake's ear. "Your family is fucked."

Jake sighed and nodded. "Yeah. It is."

He went into the living room and fell onto the couch, suddenly exhausted again. Tor followed him

in and sat next to him, pulling him around so they were curled up more or less comfortably.

"Sleep, Jake. You're gonna need it."

A long time later, Jake slept.

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When Jake awoke, he was still on the couch with Tor, but somehow he'd managed to shift around

enough that his head was resting on Tor's chest and he was being held gently in warm arms. He

came awake slowly, not moving, and when he heard quiet voices he was glad he'd stayed still; Tor

and Jacob were talking.

"She looks like she's been crying," Jacob whispered, and Jake assumed he meant Cath. Vaguely, he wondered what time it was.

"Yeah," Tor agreed easily. "Wouldn't surprise me. Don't worry about it, kid. Going to be lots of tears over the next while."

There was a long pause. "Has Uncle Jake cried yet?"

Tor shifted a tiny bit, one hand rubbing over Jake's side. "Well, now. He has, yes, but not for your mom, I don't think. Sometimes things just pile up and a body can only take so much missed sleep

and strong emotion before things spill over. But, yeah, he's cried."

"I haven't," Jacob said, a little louder.

Jake could imagine Tor's face as he thought about that; no judgment, no sign of any worry, just

mulling Jacob's declaration over at face value.

"Does that bother you?" Tor finally asked.

There was a soft sound of fabric rubbing, like Jacob was moving in the easy chair. "Should it?"

"Not really. I expect you'll cry sometime soon, but it's not a big deal that you haven't yet. You're still kinda shocky, I expect."

Jake almost smiled. Tor was in fine form, being as calm as he could be and just letting Jacob start

to deal with things. There was another long pause, long enough that Jake almost fell back to sleep

listening to Tor's steady heartbeat.

"Why are you still out here?" Jacob asked. "There's a bed."

Tor laughed quietly. "Yeah, I know. Didn't want to wake him up once he was asleep, I guess. Plus,

it's comfortable here, and if I try to move him, he'll be up all night."

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Natural Disaster

"Oh."

Tor rubbed at Jake's side again and Jake would have smiled if he'd been turned the other way. For

some reason he didn't want Jacob to know he was awake; it would end whatever was going on with

him and Tor. Jake was almost certain that if that happened, Jacob would close off again, maybe for

days. He needed this, the silence and a sympathetic ear to listen to him.

"Do you do that a lot?" Jacob asked suddenly, curiosity strong in his voice.

"Do what?" Tor asked back, clearly baffled.

"That."

Tor laughed again, amusement and possibly embarrassment in the sound. "Lie around like this in

full cuddle mode?"

"Well, yeah. Do you? It looks... different. Sort of unexpected."

"I'm sure it does." Jake could feel Tor suppressing more laughter. "Not exactly what you expect from a couple of middle-aged cowboys, huh?"

"Something like that," Jacob allowed. "I mean, it's not bad, it's kind of nice, actually. Just different."

Tor nodded, his chin brushing the top of Jake's head. "Yeah, it's nice. And I don't know if I'd say we do this a lot... but sometimes, sure. Watching TV and stuff. You gotta remember, we got together when we were sharing a house with three other men, so we didn't really get in the habit.

Wouldn't have been fair to make the guys we were living with uncomfortable. They had enough to

deal with."

That seemed to close the subject and another long silence followed. Jake was fully awake by then

and wondering if he should move when Tor cleared his throat. "So. Tressa seems nice," he said so casually that it was all Jake could do not to laugh. Sometimes Tor missed subtle by a mile and a

quarter.

"She's all right," Jacob said, sounding disgusted. "She used to be really cool. We hung out all the time, played soccer and video games… just stuff. Now she's all weird and girly and she never stops

talking about Bill Donnelly."

"Ah. He's a jerk?"

"He's sixteen and has a car," Jacob said, like that was all the explanation needed. And it was, Jake supposed.

"Oh." Tor agreed, apparently. "Nice car?"

"Nah, he bought it from his grandmother." Jacob seemed to settle after that, satisfied that Bill Donnelly's car wasn't really that great. "Bill's okay, I guess," he added generously.

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Chris Owen

Jake felt Tor nod again, and once more silence fell over them, for what could have been five min-

utes or twenty. Twice Jake decided to move, to 'wake up' and go get ready for bed, but he was too

comfortable to really make the effort.

"Uncle Tor?" Jacob suddenly asked, his voice both quiet and tense.

"Yeah, kid."

"I hate the man who killed my mom."

Tor sighed. "I know, Jacob. He probably hates himself just as much. Hopefully you'll both be able

to let go of that, eventually."

"I don't think so," Jacob whispered, his voice rough. "It's not fair."

Jake moved slightly, more to warn Tor that he was awake than anything else. He didn't want Tor to

deal with this on his own, but was unsure how to join the conversation at this point. As he shifted,

Tor squeezed his arm and then rubbed the spot in acknowledgment. At least, Jake hoped that was