Page 48 of Soothe Me, Daddy
“Nothing,” Henley replied as innocently as he could. They both knew better, but Henley couldn’t resist denying it.
“As I said. Brat.”
Henley snorted and burst into laughter when Anne joined him, Isaac following not long after.
****
Eighteen Months Later
Isaac
He lifted the beer bottle to his mouth, gaze on Henley as he raced around the garden with his sisters. With how they acted when they were together, anyone would have thought they were kids if their actual height and age were taken out of the equation. Arial and Arianne chased after Henley with water guns, spraying far and wide, but luckily far enough away from the food for it not to matter. Several guests might not like it, but they were welcome to move away from the shenanigans.
As far as he was concerned, the joy on their faces was more than enough to counter anything else.
“Isaac!”
He turned to Pops, who was beckoning him over with his head. Isaac stood and ambled over to the older man.
“You okay, Pops?” He crouched down beside his chair, resting his hand on the much frailer arm. A stroke, eight months ago, had taken Pops down for a short while. Everyone had been shocked that the strong, confident, and yes, grumpy man had been knocked down by the silent attack. Luckily, Becca had been there and dealt with it quickly, although she was understandably shaken by it.
“Yes, son. Taking it easy, you know how it goes.” Pops smiled, the left side of his face remaining expressionless. “Can you help Lewis, please. He says he’s fine, but you know what he’s like.”
“Of course, I can, Pops. You stay here and keep an eye on my beer, alright?” Isaac winked at him and stood, stepping over to the barbecue where Lewis was wielding the tongs. “Hey, Dad. Why don’t you go sit in the shade with your other half and give me a whirl on this beauty?”
Lewis nodded and drifted over to his husband. When Lewis had told him about and shown him the barbecue, Isaac had been impressed by the size the James family had. Lewis had explained that with five kids and several friends over, they had needed it. Isaac had scoffed at the time, but when everyone had arrived today, he’d understood what Lewis had meant.
The number of people in attendance was astounding, and the reason was nothing more than they had been invited to a barbecue. Simply good food and good company. There was no celebration or anything.
Well, until later, anyway. Isaac smirked and peered at the food over the hot coals. He had a few minutes before things needed to be done, so his gaze wandered around the vast garden, finding his gorgeous boyfriend.
Today, Henley had gone all out with his outfit. With it being a sunny day, he was wearing a white tank covered with rainbow sequins in random patterns, purple skinny jeans with a black stud belt and silver ballet flats. The outfit was completed with his usual bangles, chain, earrings, rings and the rainbow keyring attached to his belt hoops. All in all, he was mesmerising, and that had nothing to do with the continual flicker of light coming from the reflection on his sequins.
Isaac shook his head and shouted to let guests know the food was ready. Once everyone had something and had found somewhere to sit, Isaac grabbed his own and found a place next to a slightly wet Henley.
“Hey,” Henley said, eyes lighting up at seeing Isaac, something he would never get tired of witnessing. Henley leaned to the side for a kiss, which Isaac would never refuse. He tasted of beer, cheese and ketchup.
They leisurely kissed, sipping at each other’s lips as Isaac held Henley’s chin in place until catcalls and whistles broke them apart with a laugh.
Isaac wrapped his arm around Henley’s shoulder, feeling more content than he had in an awfully long time. A few butterflies took flight in his stomach as he thought forward to his surprise for Henley. Nobody knew about it. Absolutely nobody. Isaac had hoped he’d read their situation correctly; otherwise, he was in for a disheartening evening. He needed to keep it together for another hour.
They mingled after the food, Becca taking over the grill. Isaac had been to Henley’s parents’ place so many times over the last year or so that he knew everyone now. But Henley enjoyed speaking to all the people visiting them. When Isaac had asked several months ago why Henley needed to speak to everyone every time he saw them, Henley replied, “You never know when it will be the last time you’ll see that person, so what does it matter if I spend five seconds saying hello if it brightens their day a little.” Isaac hadn’t been complaining, simply curious, but Henley’s explanation had stayed with him. It was so true, and such a simple thing that could mean a lot to someone else.
Henley had a heart of gold, and everyone knew it. Unfortunately, it also meant he could be taken advantage of. Several months after he started working alone as an exec, Henley had come home looking worn out after several days away. He and Leon had been opening a store in Scotland, and as soon as he’d walked through their front door, Isaac knew something was wrong.
When Isaac finally pried every piece of information from Henley that he could, he was furious. Leon hadn’t lifted a finger to do anything the whole time they were there. He had left it all on Henley, and if there were complaints, Leon pointed to Henley as being incompetent. Isaac had immediately called Mr Sanders and explained the situation, demanding Leon’s immediate dismissal.
Henley had been dealing with harassment for months and hadn’t told Isaac, thinking he wouldn’t be believed. Leon was particularly good at misdirecting people. Isaac had seen several things on their nights out—mainly Leon’s disrespect for the LGBTQ+ community—and had challenged it. But once he’d turned that onto Henley, all bets were off.
That same night, Isaac had pampered and taken care of Henley enough to make up for feeling like a failure. Isaac should’ve seen what was happening but hadn’t. Two days later, he’d finally reconciled everything in his head, and Henley had been punished for keeping it a secret. Henley had been doing so well with communicating between them, but this was too much. Months of secrets agonised Isaac, and he couldn’t deal with Henley doing that again. So, he’d punished Henley as he had done at the beginning of their relationship, but poor Henley hadn’t been allowed to come for three days—a lifetime in Henley’s world.
Isaac returned to the present when the bell sounded. As was routine at these get-togethers now, when the bell rang, everyone had to make a circle—or as best a circle as they could depending on how many were there—and tell everyone something good that happened to them since they had last visited. At first, Isaac had been unsure what to say, because his happiness was so wrapped up in Henley, but with Henley’s help, he’d been able to see outside the box.
This time, though, things would be different.
Becca and Ariel helped Pops down the steps to a chair placed in the circle next to Lewis. They both sat on their ‘thrones’ as the guests gathered around them.
Lewis began, “This is what family is all about. It doesn’t have to be about blood. You can choose your family. Everyone here has been chosen by someone to be part of our family. And we love you all.”
