Page 6 of Oddly Fine

Beckett had always thought of Franklin as a bit of an oddball. Not as charismatic as Jackson or as personable as his sister Maggie. Franklin’s cool reserve and quiet manner made him hard to pin down, and their relationship had always been strained because of it. Once upon a time, that had really bothered him, but as he grew older, Beckett found he cared less and less about the lack of connection. Franklin played the game he thought he had to play, just as Beckett had done over the years.

“Sure am,” Beckett lied smoothly. Although he vaguely remembered his mother calling him about the grand opening while helping Chase in New York, after everything that had gone down, he’d forgotten all about it.

“Ask for the dates,” Hayes ordered in his ear.

“The plane tickets are already booked. We should be arriving—” he faltered, hoping Franklin would provide the date.

“On the 18th,” his brother said with a heavy sigh, clearly not fooled at all.

“Store opening, right—yup, we’ll be flying in on the 18th,” he declared with a self-assured nod.

“We?” Franklin asked, never one to let sleeping dogs lie. “You’re bringing Hayes?”

“I am,” Beckett replied, a little too stiffly. He cursed silently, knowing he’d left himself wide open for interrogation.

“I don’t have to go,” Hayes said in his ear, reassuring and calm. His presence was incredibly soothing like it always was when Beckett’s heartrate kicked up a notch or three.

“As your work partner or—?” Franklin fished for details, his tone casual.

“Think it’s about time Mom and Dad officially met the guy I’m in love with,” Beckett replied, surprising himself with the calm confidence with which he dropped that little bombshell. It wasn’t a new sentiment. Ever since they returned from New York—hell, ever since Hayes had opened his eyes after nearly dying in Beckett’s arms at the jail—they’d begun weaving those three little words into their daily lives.

“Ah—my big tough killing-machine is such a sap,” Hayes said fondly.

Beckett took a deep breath and allowed himself a small, pleased smile, refusing to get flustered even when Hayes couldn’t see him.

“That’s—” Franklin hesitated and then cleared his throat. “That’s really great, Beck.”

“Yeah, yeah—if you tell me you’re proud of me, I’m going to have take a nice long bath with my goddamned toaster,” Beckett grumbled.

“Should probably plan ahead and bring your extension cord, then. ‘Cause Maman is for sure going to cry, ‘My little boy, oh, I’m so happy, oh—'” Franklin mocked in a falsetto that sounded nothing like their mother.

“Now, now, don’t be jealous ‘cause you’re not the favorite,” Beckett responded with a laugh.

Franklin snorted and said, “You’re not either. That badge goes to Jackson or Maggie—they gave her grandbabies. What have we given her?”

“A French press for Christmas a couple of years ago?”

“Nothing but grey hair and wrinkles,” Franklin informed him. “At least that’s what she claimed when she called begging me to call you.”

“Why didn’t she just call me herself?”

“She thinks you’re avoiding her,” Franklin replied, and Beckett could easily visualize Franklin’s casual shrug when he said that.

“Probably because the last few times she’s asked what’s been happening in your life, you’ve given her mouth static and hung up—” Hayes commented with a mix of guilt and humour.

“I did mouth static once!” Beckett quickly defended his actions, and even though Franklin lacked the full context, he laughed heartily.

“Right, that ought to do it,” Franklin assured him.

“Yeah, well, this was nice and all, Franklin, but—if you’ll excuse me, I need to hang up and fly right off the fucking rails, so—” Beckett rubbing his forehead to ease the tension headache bearing down on him like a freight train.

“We’ll see you on the 18th. Wear something nice—preferably from Hayes’ closet since yours is total shit.”

Beckett rolled his eyes. “Guess it’s never too late in the day for character assassination after all. Goodbye, Franklin! Let’s never do this again.” Because there was sure to be a rebuttal he didn’t want, or need, Beckett cut the call promptly.

“Daisy? We gotta book some plane tickets,” Beckett said with a resigned sigh.

“You’re really going to come out to your parents during the grand opening of your brother’s store?” Loic was both perplexed and impressed. “Can I come too? I feel like I should film the whole thing—so maybe I could show it at your wedding.”