Date: Mon, 04 Jun 2007 01:32:18 +0000 From: vlad 885 Subject: marks-2-dads/ 20 This Story is intended for a mature audience only. Redistribution without permission is forbidden. This is a work of fiction for artistic enjoyment, feedback welcome at vlad885 @ hotmail.com Chapter 20 Mark woke early, in fact he didn't get much sleep at all. Mary had ushered Peter out of the room leaving him alone for the night. The boy made his way to the bathroom and quickly showered. After changing his clothes he followed the smell of toast to the kitchen. Passing through the living room he saw Peter sprawled out on the couch, still dead to the world. Bill was in the kitchen preparing his breakfast before work. Mark hadn't realized just how early Bill got up and out as he silently joined the man at the table. Bill pushed the plate of toast and the jam towards the boy. As Mark prepared his meal he spoke to Bill with his eyes focused on his toast. "I'm really sorry about what happened last night cousin Bill, it won't happen again," Mark said barely above a whisper. "That's ok Mark, I understand and I'm glad you want to change your behaviour" Bill advised quietly as not to wake the slumbering Peter. Mark was surprised at how well Bill had taken his apology. "I really appreciate you and Mary letting me stay here, and yeah, I'm really sorry about last night," The boy continued. "Mark, you're family, of course we're going to take care of you. As for last night, you're young and a product of your environment. I know that things are going to get better for you, don't worry" The man replied as he patted Mark on the back while clearing his dishes. Bill went off to work, leaving Mark and Peter alone. Mark thought of the evening's events, he was truly sorry about getting caught but he fully enjoyed what he and Peter had done. He had a fleeting thought of giving the older teen some wake up joy but knew that could be a huge mistake with Mary still in the house. The day went slowly for Mark with Mary giving him the silent treatment and Peter keeping his distance, strangely it was Bill that seemed to be taking the situation best. Mary kept the boys on a short leash, giving them mostly separate jobs around the house. Shortly after six in the evening Mark made his call to Ted. "So everything ok?" Ted asked desperately hoping to hear that it wasn't. "Yeah, everything's fine, we worked around the house today" Mark advised not wishing to give Ted any indication of last night's events. "Ok, call me tomorrow" Ted ordered. Ted sighed when he put the phone down, he missed Mark even though it had only been a couple of nights. He resolved to talk to Bill about picking Mark up at the end of the weekend, Jason would be gone by then and Ted thought he would be able to give Mark his full attention. Perhaps the short separation would be helpful, Ted tried to reassure himself. Ted was disturbed by a knock on the apartment door, he walked over and opened it. Before him was a strapping late teenager with very short hair and a defined build beneath his tight shirt. "Yes?" Ted quizzed "I'm Jesse," the young man announced. "How can I help you?" Ted continued trying to think if this might be one of his neighbours, kids grow up so fast that he might have bought chocolates for some school thing just last year and now couldn't recognize him. "I'm here to help Jason with his gear," The man explained. "Oh, ok, come in" Ted said as he led the teen into the apartment. By the time they got into the living room, Jason was already headed towards them. The young men greeted with a quick aggressive hug. "So I take it you know each other" Ted said suspecting that the new arrival was a school friend. "Yep, Ted may I present to you" Jason began formally, "Officer cadet Jesse Smythe of the royal military academy" "I don't start at the academy until September, I guess he didn't tell you about me" Jesse said with a derisive glance toward Jason, "I'm his cousin" "Yeah Ted, I have to warn you" Jason began as Ted shook hands with Jesse in introduction, "He's one of those, you know, straight boys. We were all pretty upset when he told us he liked ... girls, but we still love him and please Ted, no straight jokes while he's here" Jason jibed. Jesse gave Jason a dismissive glance, "you got your gear ready?" He asked. "Give me a couple of minutes" Jason said as he made for the stairs. Alone with Jesse Ted wasn't sure what to say, thankfully the younger man spoke first. "We all figured you two were going to get married or something" "What?" Ted quizzed in amazement. "When he's talking to my mom, my uncle or me, it's always Ted this and Ted that, he's like some kinda schoolgirl" Jesse reported. "Well he's a lot younger than me," Ted blurted without having a reply. "Yeah he's always liked the old guys," Jesse advised as Jason returned. As the young men carried out Jason's luggage, Ted said, "Well you two have fun up north with your uncle" "I'll let you know when I can get into my dorm when I get back" Jason advised. "Don't worry, we'll work around it" Ted said as he shook hands with the young men. Jason wasn't about to leave things like that and pushed in for a passionate kiss before leaving Ted alone in his condo. The next day Ted arrived home to a quiet apartment for the first time in a long while. He gave some thought to what Jesse had said about Jason and wondered if he hadn't moved too quickly to judgment with him. It wasn't long before Ted anticipated Mark's phone call, he longed to hear the boys voice again, this time he resolved to ask him to come home, the stand off had to end. Six O'clock became six thirty and still no call. Boys were hardly the most punctual creatures so Ted didn't worry but when seven came around he decided to make the call himself. "Hello Mary, its Ted I was calling for Mark, I guess he forgot" Ted began when the woman answered. "Oh Ted ... Mark isn't here," She said. "Where is he?" Ted asked irritated that the information wasn't volunteered. "He's out with Bill ... and Peter," She advised. "When will they be back?" Ted asked getting worried about her evasiveness. "I'm not sure" She replied. "Well Mary, I want to pick Mark up on Sunday so have Bill call me, ok?" Ted asked exasperated with the strange exchange. "Yes, I'll have my husband call you before then" and with that the conversation ended. Ted sat alone in his increasingly worried state at first expecting then willing the phone to ring to no avail. He finally gave in and went to bed sleeping restlessly throughout the night. In the morning he puttered around until the phone rang just before noon, judging by the caller ID he knew where the call was coming from. "Mr. Taylor, its Bill Edwards calling" The man began. "Hello Bill, where's Mark?" Ted began as calmly as he could. "Mark's fine, he and Peter are attending a camp run by the church," Bill explained. "Don't you think you should have asked me first?" Ted stated his voice growing in anger. "Well, Mr. Taylor we think Mark needs time away from you" Bill explained. "What!" Ted shouted. "It seems that he's caught the gay disease Mr. Taylor and worse he's passed it on to Peter" Bill explained. "It's doesn't work like that!" Ted blurted in full fury. "Mark's told us about his life with you Mr. Taylor and we think he'd be better off living with us. Our lawyer is going to be filing papers next week to make that happen" Bill continued calmly. Ted was stunned, what could have Mark told them? "Mr. Edwards, I am Mark's legal guardian, until a judge decides otherwise, I demand you tell me where my son is or I'm calling the cops" he said firmly. "Mr. Taylor, we are Mark's blood relatives and we can provide a good Christian home for him. I respect what you've done for Mark, you took him in when no one else would, we appreciate that and if you decide not to contest our custody application then you can continue to have a meaningful relationship with him" Bill advised meaning that fighting the issue would mean he'd loose all contact with Mark should the court decide in Bill's favour. "You sir are committing a crime by keeping Mark from his legal guardian, that's not going to look good in court" Ted attempted to shake Bill's confidence. "Mr. Taylor, we didn't kidnap Mark, he ran away from your home to ours. Might I suggest that it could be in your best interest that we not investigate why he did that. Mark is safe, wait for the court documents, sign over custody and we'll work out a regular visiting schedule for you" Bill continued unflustered. "This is not over Edwards" Ted said angrily as he slammed down the phone. Ted did call the police and was politely told to file a missing persons report that would be sent to the local police for investigation but given that Mark had run away and was with relatives, it wouldn't be a high priority case. Ted was floored by the reaction, figuring that if he were a single mother calling, the cops would be out there code 3. He called Jason but there was no answer on his cell phone as he was warned beforehand that they were going so far up north that coverage was spotty to non-existent. Afterward Ted wondered to himself why he called Jason first, he knew that Jason's uncle might have some pull with the police but he knew that didn't really factor into his initial thoughts. Ted simply thought of Jason first. He went over to the pet store to talk to Emmett, his old friend might be able to make some sense of all this, Ted hoped. "That's outrageous, they can't just keep him" Emmett blurted after hearing the story from Ted. "They can apparently, the cops aren't interested in some domestic issue. When I called them they wanted to know about Mark's mother and once they found out it was his relatives that were involved I went to the bottom of the pile." Ted explained. "Bernie does gay discrimination cases you should go see him," Emmett advised. "I need a custody lawyer, not a gay lawyer" Ted chuckled. "What reason do you think they'll use to keep him?" Emmett asked rhetorically. "I'll get Corey to watch the store, we'll go see if he's in." Emmett said without waiting for a reply. As they walked up the street to Bernie's office Ted mused, "Emm, they might be right, Mark could end up doing a lot better with them, I'm hardly father of the year here" "What are you talking about? He loves you Ted" Emmett countered "He ran away, to them" Ted retorted. "Silly willy, he ran away to them because he knew you'd be pissed, he knew running to me wouldn't do that. Mark never though he'd get stuck there, he thought you'd be so upset you'd run out there and beg him to come home" Emmett explained as though it should have been obvious. "Jason was right" Ted mumbled as they entered the lawyer's office. Bernie was just finishing up with a client when they arrived and so the pair was able to go in pretty much right away. Emmett greeted him in his usual flamboyant style. Ted explained the situation to the lawyer, excluding the situation with Jason and Mark. "Well, unless they intend to allege abuse then they're likely going with unfit parent because you're gay" The man said plainly. "Well I expect they'll claim I'm making him gay or something" Ted said trying to convey the essence of Bill's exchange earlier in the day. "Well think of it this way, by that logic everyone who smokes is an unfit parent, their kids see it and might copy the behaviour." Bernie explained. "I don't think the Edwards are going to make this easy," Ted advised. "No, it won't be. We'll file for a court order to have Mark returned to your custody, unless they claim abuse I don't see what grounds a Judge would have to deny that. Then we'll work on their suit but Ted, this could take months and lot of money" Bernie advised. "Money's not a problem," Emmett answered for him. "How much are we looking at?" Ted said scowling at his friend. "Figure 20 thousand at least if we go to trial, justice unfortunately isn't cheap." The lawyer replied. "Lets file to get him back and see where things go from there" Ted instructed as he squeezed Emmett's hand.