With the cat on my shoulder, I began my walk to the Inn, and saw Law drive away from the Yellow House on his way to take the kids to school. The kids noticed me and waved wildly. I could see Tristan’s mouth form the word “Salem” and the waving intensified until they were out of sight.
Salem chirped on my shoulder. He was looking around for Cricket, moving enough that I was afraid he’d fall. Luckily he didn’t, and by the time we made it to the Inn, she lumbered from behind the building, noticed us, and trotted closer.
I let Salem go to her, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to hold him back.
“Where were you, girl?” I asked her as she got headbutts from the purry boy.
She licked my hand and looked a bit sad. The explanation came in the form of Nic rounding the corner.
“Morning!” she said brightly. Cricket gave her a betrayed look which made her laugh. “I forgot to clean their ears and clip nails last night, so I did it just now. She didn’t appreciate being late for her rounds.”
“Does Steve do better with that?” I wondered, given that some idiot had cropped his ears unevenly when he was still a puppy.
“He submits to it but needs many treats after. He’s having a bone at our place right now. Cricket was too busy to get back to her routine to stick around.” Nic looked fondly at the big dog and the adolescent cat that was circling her.
As I heard a car and realized it was Charlie’s, I quickly snatched Salem into my arms so he wouldn’t run to his dad. I didn’t know if he recognized the car, but there was no way he wouldn’t recognize—
“There’s my boy! We missed you so much!” Charlie strode to us with his arms stretched, and I let the cat jump to him as soon as he was close enough.
“I think we’re not needed here anymore,” I told Cricket and Nic.
The latter snickered. “Looks like it.” Then, pointedly, she told Charlie good morning.
“Oh, yeah, good morning,” he replied, blushing slightly. “I’m sorry, it’s just that we haven’t been away from him for a whole weekend before and….”
“It’s okay. Understandable.” I snapped a photo of them cuddling and sent it to Uncle Teague.
Nic told us she’d catch us around lunchtime and left to do her thing. Cricket realized she was losing her buddy and went on her way, too.
“How was your weekend?” Charlie asked as we continued to the front doors.
Oh, I want to bang your brother like a screen door in a hurricane, but only got as far as to frotting on the couch and some hand action, how about you?
“Really nice. Salem behaved remarkably well. Might be the catnip treats, though.” I held the door open for them and asked, “How was yours?”
He launched into an explanation of the place they’d stayed at and the hot tub and how nice that had been. He blushed several times, which told me enough and too much about how good exactly the trip had been.
“You still making progress?” I stepped into the office with him and Salem and watched him put the cat into the crate.
Knowing what I meant, Charlie shrugged a little. “One step forward and all that. Although these days it’s more like three steps forward then two back. It’s still something I’m conscious of every day, but less so when I’m around Teague.”
“I’m glad.” I hugged him briefly. “Okay, I’m gonna go have some breakfast. Are you coming with?”
“Yeah, sure. Teague will come get Salem at lunchtime. He wants his mascot back.”
I chuckled and felt a wave of fondness for these men and their furry son. I was so fucking happy for them, too. Hearing that Charlie’s body dysphoria was more easily handled was something that made me feel especially good.
When he’d first moved into town and met Uncle Teague, he was constantly on high alert and hating people’s attention on him. Of course, Uncle Teague hadn’t made it any easier by falling headfirst into attraction, because let’s face it, no matter how Charlie saw himself, on the outside he was gorgeous.
He still wore long sleeves and pants most of the time, but maybe, come next summer, he would be comfortable enough to at least wear T-shirts? I hoped so. He deserved that freedom as much as the rest of us.
While we ate, I made sure to keep him busy by asking for Lake Placid stories, so that he wouldn’t ask anything about my weekend. I was sure the kids would tell him they’d been at our grandparents’ place, but he wasn’t likely to ask at that point. Besides, if he asked Law, I was happy to let him take the lead on this.
It was weird to think that we weren’t ashamed of whatever this was. Had been. Would be? In any case, it was just about getting off and well, feeling wanted in a way Law made me feel? Priceless.
“You zoned out,” Charlie pointed out suddenly.
“Oh, crap. Sorry. I swear I’m interested, I just didn’t sleep very well last night.”
