The Mistletoe Experiment (4 page)

They looked straight into a camera. One of the reporters

and his cameraman had clearly managed to make their way

to the front after people had started leaving.

“How do you feel, now that the ordeal is over?” The

reporter was holding a microphone into their faces, looking

at each of them in turn. He was probably deciding who was

most likely to give him what he was looking for.

Jakob shrank back, clearly shocked by the man"s

sudden presence, and grabbed Magnus"s hand more tightly.

His other hand reached for Lance, who took it without

hesitation.

“We"re relieved and would like to go home so we can put

it all behind us.” Magnus forced himself to stay calm for

Jakob"s benefit.

“So what are your feelings about Jakob"s kidnappers

now?” The reporter raised his eyebrows, clearly not happy

with the first answer.

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25

“I told you that already. We"re relieved.” Magnus pulled

Jakob closer and started walking toward the door. Why

hadn"t the man listened the first time?

Lance followed his lead, providing cover from behind so

that the reporter couldn"t get close to Jakob again.

“Look, my name is Tom Waller, and I"d like to do an

exclusive interview with you for
Newsweek
. It could get you

a lot of interest.” The man was trying to hand Magnus a

business card as he followed them through the heavy

wooden doors into the corridor.

Shit, he was persistent.

“We are
not
interested.” Magnus glanced over his

shoulder, trying to communicate his exasperation with his

eyes.

“But—but, why not?” The reporter stood there, looking

like someone had poured a bucket of cold water over his

head. He probably wasn"t used to rejection.

“We want to get back to normal as soon as possible. We

feel that is best for Jakob.” Magnus frowned. “We really

couldn"t care less about interest from people we don"t know.

So, please, leave us alone.”

“You"re not interested in telling your story? In making

people understand the issues gay parents face when trying

to raise a family?” The reporter stopped moving, clearly

shocked.

“No. We do not want any additional publicity.” How

often did the man expect him to repeat himself?

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26

“And you agree with him?” Mr. Waller had addressed

Lance.

Magnus didn"t even need to turn around to know how

Lance was going to respond.

“Of course I agree with him.” Lance"s voice sounded

annoyed. “We"ve been through enough, don"t you think it"s

time to give it a rest and let us get back to normal?”

“Okay.” The reporter motioned to his cameraman to stop

filming.

Well, if that was the extent of his persistence, Magnus

was happy. He doubted that Mr. Waller would have a very

successful career as a journalist, though.

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27

Chapter Three

MAGNUS had just finished placing the last balloon

containing a clue for the birthday mystery party about to

unfold in the upstairs playroom, when he heard the doorbell

ring for what was hopefully the last time. All the other party

guests whom Jakob had invited this Saturday were already

assembled in the living room. They"d dutifully admired the

stack of presents Jakob had gotten on his birthday the

previous Wednesday. A few were trying to guess what each

had brought Jakob today.

He made his way downstairs, wanting to check how

Lance was doing with the food preparations, and to make

sure that the final guest was properly greeted. Before

Magnus could open his mouth to remind Jakob to open the

front door, the boy ran past him and threw it wide open. A

girl in a pretty red party dress stood next to her mother and

smiled.

“Happy birthday, Jakob, and thank you for inviting me

to your mystery party.” She held out a package wrapped in

blue crinkly paper.

“Hi, Joanna.” Jakob took the present. “Thank you for

coming, and please come inside. Fiona is already here, and

we"re ready to get started.”

With a last look at her mom who smiled at her, Joanna

followed Jakob into the living room. Jakob had invited her so

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28

that his friend Fiona, who just
had
to be invited but would

have been the only girl, “wouldn"t be on her own” and feel

sad.

The four boys and two girls settled into a circle, a bottle

in its midst. Whoever the bottle pointed at once Jakob had

spun it was going to give the birthday boy his or her present

to unwrap. It would keep them busy for a while.

“Pickup is at seven, right?” Joanna"s mother hesitated.

“Are you sure you don"t need any help? Six nine-year olds

can be quite a handful.”

“We"ll be fine, but thank you for offering.” Magnus

pointed at the kitchen. “There"s two of us after all, and we"ve

got quite the afternoon planned for them. They should be too

busy to be much trouble. We"ll see you at seven.”

“Okay, if you"re sure. I"ll be at the mall.” Joanna"s

mother grinned and waved as she turned to walk toward her

car.

Magnus waved back, closed the front door, and made

his way to the kitchen. It was off-limits to the children, since

Lance had wanted to keep the themed cake he"d made a

surprise, but there was no such restriction for Magnus.

“Wow, you"ve outdone yourself!” Magnus stared at the

amazing creation Lance had come up with.

He"d told Magnus that he was going to make a layered

chocolate cake, since that was Jakob"s favorite, then

decorate it to match the Sherlock Holmes motif on the

invitations. But what now sat in the middle of the kitchen

table was a true masterpiece. On top of the two-tier cake,

already covered in chocolate icing, sat a Sherlock Holmes

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29

deerstalker. It looked as if it was edible. Six calabash pipes

in frosting connected the top tier with the bottom.

“You like it?” Lance had stepped back to check his

creation, a spoon covered in frosting still in his hand.

“I love it!” Magnus stepped close to Lance and embraced

him briefly. “You"re an artist, and I totally adore that about

you.”

Lance smiled and kissed him on the lips before he

stepped away to complete putting his utensils into the

dishwasher. He switched it on, washed his hands and joined

Magnus as they walked into the living room. Lance grabbed

the index-card sized pieces of paper that contained the first

clues on his way out of the kitchen and hid them behind his

back.

Most of the packages had been unwrapped, and Jakob

looked very happy with the additional presents he had

received. There were three of his favorite
choose your own

destiny
books he loved so much, a couple of other books,

and a new game for his Wii. He put them all next to his other

presents and returned to the circle.

“You know why you"re here, right?” Jakob"s eyes

sparkled. “There"s a mystery that needs solving, and before

we can have any of the mystery cake, we need to find the

clues and solve the murder.”

“Yay!” George was clearly ready to get started.

“Mystery cake?” Paul looked around but couldn"t find

anything. “Will we need clues to find that too?”

“No, but you won"t get any cake if you don"t solve the

mystery.” Magnus almost laughed at the shocked faces.

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30

“So, who"s been murdered?” Joanna had gone pale.

“Don"t look so scared, it"s just a game, silly.” Billy shook

his head.

“I know that!” Joanna defended herself. “I"m just getting

into the game. Makes it more fun if you care about the

victim, right?”

“You"re both right.” Magnus chuckled. “It is just a game,

but the more you can get into it, the more fun you"ll have.”

Joanna stuck her tongue out at Billy, who huffed and

looked away, pretending he didn"t care. The slight blush on

his cheeks told Magnus otherwise and he grinned. Joanna"s

mother had been right; these kids were going to be a

handful.

“You wanted to know who was murdered, Joanna?”

Lance looked serious. “It was Dwight, our butler.”

The children giggled. They"d all been here before and

knew there was no butler. But at least none of them made a

comment about make-believe this time, and they quickly got

serious again.

“Okay, let me explain the rules.” Magnus pointed at the

six pieces of paper Lance was holding up. “Each of you will

get a fact about the murder. You can keep it to yourself, and

try to solve the mystery alone, or you can all share what you

know and work as a team.”

“Team.” All six kids had spoken at the same time and

started laughing when they realized it.

“I"m glad you all agree on that.” Magnus smiled. “Once

you get your fact or clue, read it carefully. You"ll have

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31

enough information to find the next round of clues, which

are hidden in balloons all over the house. You"ll need to tell

us who killed Dwight, where they did it, and what the

murder weapon was.”

All six children nodded and held out their hands for the

clues. Mayhem ensued until they"d each read their own and

the others" clues. Magnus had gone through the game with

Lance a few nights earlier, so he knew it was solvable, but it

wasn"t going to be easy. Soon the children were off, chasing

more clues. Balloons popped occasionally as they figured out

which ones contained more information and added it to the

growing amount of evidence.

While the kids were busy using their gray matter, he

helped Lance set the table so they could have cake and

refreshments to refuel. It took them just over an hour to

figure it all out. They came back as a group, announcing the

solution, and were rewarded by Lance revealing the cake to

them.

It was a big success, especially when Lance added the

ice cream. Magnus was kept busy refilling drinks and barely

managed to sneak a tiny piece of the cake. It was beyond

delicious. He knew what cake he was going to ask for when

his birthday came around in a couple of months.

They spent the rest of the afternoon playing Clue,

solving riddles he had prepared, and setting up the barbecue

in the garden. Once they were fed it was almost seven, and

the five very tired guests were soon picked up by their

parents.

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32

“That was the best birthday party ever.” Jakob hugged

Magnus, then Lance, after the last kid had been picked up.

“Thank you so much.”

“I"m glad you liked it.” Lance smiled.

“I loved it.” Jakob looked over at his new books

longingly.

“Go ahead, go upstairs and do some reading once you"ve

brushed your teeth. We"ll deal with the cleanup.” Lance

grinned at Jakob"s enthusiastic yelp.

The boy chose a book and ran upstairs in no time.

“It"s amazing how quickly he made friends. We"ve only

lived here eight months, but you"d think it"s been much

longer.” Magnus started clearing the table. “I feel sorry we"re

going to uproot him again when we move to Sweden.”

“Do you think it"ll be too much for him?” Lance frowned.

“No, I think he"ll be okay. After all, we asked him, and

he was all for it, so it"s not like were forcing him.” Magnus

put the last plates into the sink for Lance to rinse before

filling the dishwasher again. “He
is
very adaptable. I mean,

his parents took him to Africa with them, then he moved to

Arizona with me after they"d died, and here last December.

That"s an awful lot of change to deal with. But he seems to

have thrived on it so far. And I think you"ve helped make him

feel secure enough to be able to deal with yet another move.”

“I think we both had a part in that.” Lance grinned as

he stepped closer for a kiss.

“Probably.” Magnus wasn"t going to start an argument.