Notes: I have rewritten the second half of
this twice, and it’s still not quite right.
I don’t want to give you crap, so this is the first half. I’m still beating—I mean, caressing the
second half into submission. I’ll try to
post it before another week goes by, though.
Title: Paradise
Part Fourteen-A: So Close, Yet…
***
It was the speed of it all that surprised Jonah the most.
In retrospect he knew he shouldn’t have been so
surprised. Garrett was capable of
incredible efficiency when he wanted to be, and he had to learn it
somewhere. Apparently his role model was
his father, and where Garrett was good, Miles was absolutely astonishing. Jonah woke up alone (again) and went to check
on Cody, who was happily ensconced on his bed with Garrett watching a
projection of the latest Space Rangers movie.
Apparently they were fighting giant mutant frogs in a swamp ruled by a
wicked sorceress. Well, someone had to
do it.
“Hey, guys.”
“Daddy!” Cody turned
happily and held up his arms. He’d been
a little more clingy since the bug incident, which didn’t bother Jonah at all. Jonah sat down next to them and pulled Cody
into his arms while Garrett turned off the movie. Cody was warm in his embrace, but when he
took Garrett’s hand it was so cold it shocked him. “You been sittin’ in ice water, darlin’?”
Jonah asked, only kind of joking at this point.
“I’m fine,” Garrett said with a smile. “Maybe it’s lack of sleep.”
“I noticed that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” There was
something anxious in Garrett’s demeanor and Jonah wanted to dig deeper, but
Cody was demanding his attention.
“Daddy, I had fish for breakfast.”
“What?” He stared
over at Garrett. “How’d he get fish? How’d you get him to eat fish?”
“They were Taiyaki, pancakes cooked in the shape of fish,
filled with red bean paste,” Garrett clarified.
“Claudia has a special pan to make them with, they’re a favorite where
she’s from. We colored in the gills and
scales with blue whipped cream.”
“Sounds like a pretty good breakfast,” Jonah said as he
pictured it.
“The red was like guts,” Cody said gleefully. “And I pretended to be a shark when I ate it.”
“It was a good but messy
breakfast,” Garrett added. “It required
copious use of cleansing facecloths to recover from.”
“Yeah? Did you
pretend to be a shark when you ate yours too?”
“Garrett didn’t have any,” Cody told him. “He said he wasn’t hungry.”
Jonah looked up at his fiancé. “Did you already eat?”
“Not long ago.”
“What does that mean?” Jonah asked, but Garrett just
shrugged. “Maybe that’s why you’re so
peeked now. You’ve gotta eat, darlin’.”
“I’m fine. I’ll eat a
big lunch, I promise,” Garrett said with a dismissive wave. “So, I talked to my dad this morning about
the situation.”
Jonah frowned. “Don’t
you think that’s the sort of thing we should have done together?”
“You were sleeping.
You were tired, sweetheart. I
just wanted to get the ball rolling, and my father is the last person who would
judge.” Garrett looked a little
worried. “You’re not mad, are you?”
“Ma—no, I’m not mad,”
Jonah said, and he really wasn’t. It was
only, “I just don’t want you to take on too much of the responsibility for
this. It’s something we should deal with
as a team. You said it yourself, this is
us, right? I know I don’t want to do it alone, s’why I
told you about this mess.”
“Oh.” Garrett still
looked worried. Jonah leaned across the
bed and pulled him into a kiss. Garrett’s
lips were soft and yielding, and it made Jonah want to take him back to the bed
he’d been avoiding, but then Cody made a very pointed “ugh” sound. They pulled apart and looked down at Cody,
who rolled his eyes.
“Can I get up now?” he asked. “The doctor said I could get up today. My fever is totally gone.”
“I don’t think that should be a problem,” Jonah said. Cody crawled out of his lap and bounded
toward the door. Jonah watched him go,
then turned back to Garrett. “So what
did your dad say?”
“He’s preparing to offer Drifters an economic incentive to
do business legally on Paradise. He’s
got the framework set up already, it’s something he’s been thinking of for some
time. He’s got an appointment to talk to
Kilroy Dechiara later today. He’s also
got a family practice lawyer on staff who’s collecting information that can
help us once Kilroy and Jack break ways.
Which they will, once my father is through with Kilroy.”
“That’s…wow.” That
was a lot of doing in a few short hours.
Jonah felt kind of superfluous. “What
does he need us to do?”
“Be prepared to talk to Gunny—the gunnery sergeant, Fred
Bowman, he’s our lawyer—and prepare yourself to deal with Jack once he gets
here.” Garrett tilted his head. “Are you worried? You look worried.”
“About Jack?” Jonah leaned
against the head of the bed and shut his eyes for a moment. “I always worried about Jack. That hasn’t changed. It’s hard because, while he hasn’t been a
part of Cody’s life, he has…he’s a part of him, you know? He’s in Cody’s blood, he’s part of his
DNA. He’s half of my boy. And I love every part of Cody.”
“You feel guilty.” Jonah
nodded. Garrett sidled a little closer
and leaned his forehead against Jonah’s.
“You have a soft spot for him, and it bothers you. Of course you have a soft spot, he’s your son’s
other biological father. But that doesn’t
mean he has a right, legal or moral, to jam himself into your life now, yours
or Cody’s. And he’s being an absolute
bastard about it.”
“True.” Jonah opened
his eyes and looked at Garrett. Their
faces were only a few inches apart, close enough that Jonah could almost count
the pale silver flecks in Jonah’s irises.
“I love you, darlin’. You’re the
best man I know.”
Garrett smiled weakly.
“I’m not so great.”
“Of course you are.”
Garrett shook his head, then drew in a deep breath. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
“What?” Jonah stroked
his fingers along the side of Garrett’s face.
Garrett turned his head and kissed the trailing fingertips, but he
looked tense. “What, baby?” Garrett looked at him in silence for a long
moment, then opened his mouth.
“Daddy! Garrett!”
The stillness of the moment shattered. They both turned to look at Cody. “What is it, bucko?”
“Grandpa needs you in his office, he says Mr. Dechiara is
coming and he wants you guys to be there for the meeting, and there’s stuff you
need to know first.”
“Tell him we’ll be right there, please,” Garrett said,
pushing himself into an upright position.
Cody nodded and ran off, and Garrett sighed. “I guess we’d better get a move on.”
“No, darlin’, tell me what you were gonna say.” Whatever it was, it was clearly eating at
Garrett. “Just tell me fast, get it out.”
“It’s not the sort of thing that can really be told fast,”
Garrett said wryly. “But don’t worry
about it. I’ll tell you as soon as we
can take a break. I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
“Good.” He smirked,
trying to lighten the mood. “Sometimes I
need a firm hand.”
Jonah nipped at his chin.
“We’ll see later just how firm a hand you can take, baby.”
“Dad! Garrett!” Cody was back at the door, but this time he
had his hands dramatically clapped over his ears. “Gross!
Come on!” He ran away again, and
this time his fathers followed.
***
Mmm, fishy delishy...
