TLR Chapter 86

When Jeff arrived home after a late shift he encountered a pensive Mutt, distractedly preparing dinner.

He casually approached his husband, put his arms around him, and nearly laughed when Mutt jumped and struck out with the wooden spatula he'd been using on the slightly burnt stir fry he'd been working on.

With finely tuned reflexes, Jeff disarmed his husband, preventing him from smacking him in the face with it.  He gently put the spatula aside and turned the heat down under the wok.

"Jeff! You scared the daylights out of me!" Mutt protested.

"I can tell." Jeff smiled before kissing his husband and rubbing his back to help calm him. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Still a little shaken Mutt replied petulantly, "Well, what with inflation and all, it'll cost you at least a dollar."

Jeff released his husband, took out his wallet and handed Mutt a ten. "Now, what about you telling me what's wrong."

"What makes you think anything is wrong?" Mutt countered, placing the money on the counter and turning back to the food to stir it again.

Jeff gently turned Mutt back to face him and said quietly. "First of all, there's the singed food.  You're a perfectionist. You never burn dinner."

"Sure I have. I just usually have time to make a new batch before you get home," Mutt replied looking at Jeff's left shoulder.

"Then there's the evasiveness, trying to change the subject, and outright fibbing to me," Jeff replied, his smile softer.

Mutt's eyes focused directly on Jeff's, searchingly, before he replied, "How can you tell?"

"If I tell you my secrets they won't be secret anymore.  Now why don't you tell me what's going on.  That's an order," Jeff said, the smile all but gone.  He was becoming increasingly nervous by Mutt's silence.

"I'm not one of your Marines," Mutt replied, once again avoiding Jeff's gaze.

Jeff released Mutt, picked up the spatula and began to rinse it off.  "No", he said, "but I am your husband and if something bothers you it bothers me.  I care for you and I'm here if you need help."

Mutt swallowed hard and gently removed the spatula from Jeff's hands.  "I don't think I need that kind of help. Honest," he said earnestly, putting the spatula aside.

Jeff's eyebrows rose but he didn't reach for the implement again.  He trained his gunnery sergeant look on his husband and waited for Mutt to continue.

"It's just... my mother called again..."

Jeff frowned.  Calls from Mutt's mother never ended well.  While she claimed to have come to terms with Mutt's sexuality and his choice of a partner, it was clear to the two of them that there was always a 'But' that followed.

"What did the charming woman have to say this time?" he asked quietly.

"That I'm wasting my life here with you... working as a maintenance man when I have a degree in engineering..."

"The usual," Jeff replied.

"She asked me when I was going to outgrow this gay phase.  She said she knows I just do it to get back at Dad for not being there when I was a kid. That I hate my father and am only doing this to spite him."

"Mutt..."

"She said I should just get over it.  She said that Dad only gave me a beating when I deserved it, and if I were honest with myself I'd admit it," Mutt continued, becoming increasingly upset the more he spoke.

"Matthew... don't...," Jeff tried again.

"She wants grandchildren.  She said the only way she'll get that is if I leave you and marry a nice girl."

"Is that how you feel?"  Jeff asked placidly.

"You know I don't!" Mutt said, moist eyes looking directly into Jeff's understanding ones.

"Then why are you upset? You're living a life you love; with the man you hopefully love?" Jeff questioned, a hint of a smile coming back.

Mutt wrapped his arms around Jeff and hugged hard.  “You know I do," he replied fervently.

"But she still manages to get under your skin," Jeff observed.  "She's always known which buttons to push."

"I guess," Mutt admitted.  "But I guess I sometimes wish we had a kid or two...."

"Which she would most likely reject because he, she or they wouldn't be the product of a traditional marriage," Jeff said quietly.

Mutt rested his forehead against Jeff's chest and took a long shuddering breath before nodding reluctantly.

"Do you want kids?" Jeff asked softly.

"Yes. No. I dunno," Mutt admitted.  "Sometimes I'd like to have a little Jeff running around, but then there's daycare, school, and is the resort the right place to raise kids? Not to forget, even if we moved into town and commuted, we'd have nosy, judgmental neighbors to put up with. I haven't heard of a gay or gay friendly community anywhere nearby, outside of the resort, I mean."

Jeff pulled Mutt close and leaned down to kiss his cheek.  "Well, hon, think about what you want," he said softly.  "If you want kids, really want one, or two, we do have options, and if you think your mother would poison that, we have options there too."

"You mean, exclude her?" Mutt asked, not entirely shocked by the suggestion since he'd had the same thought.

"We would, of course, introduce the baby to her.  Her reaction would be the gauge upon which we base our decision to expose the child to her in the future."

"What would we do if she causes a stink? I mean, what if she accuses us of being unfit parents and sues for custody?"

"Do you think it'll get that far?" Jeff asked, eyebrows furrowed as he felt himself becoming angry.  He pulled Mutt closer and rubbed his back so that his husband couldn't see the expression on his face.

"It's hard to tell with her.  She bought a house for my cousin and his kids, then threatened to call CPS on him."

"Why?" Jeff asked, keeping his tone level.

"Because his wife left, and she left the kids with him.  Then about a year after their divorce he found another woman, worse than the one who'd left, Jeff she was crazy, but he moved her in anyway.  Mom didn't like the girl at all,so she threatened to call unless my cousin tossed her to the curb."

"What happened then?"

"He kicked her out. He wasn't going to find another place to live rent free.  Mom was even paying his bills for him because he kept claiming that he didn't have the money.  He has plenty of money to buy lottery tickets though."

"Sounds like a nice guy."

"He's a selfish prick," Mutt said.  "Even his kids don't like him.  They cuss him out and disrespect him. Even though she's the one who left, they blame him."

Jeff's eyebrows rose again.  Mutt's voice never wavered but he could hear the bitterness in his tone.  Jeff began to sway gently side to side, holding onto his husband until he felt Mutt relax slightly.

"Mutt, your mother...," Jeff began, trying to think of a nice way to say what was on his mind.

"Is a domineering, power mad, control freak? I know," Mutt replied, finally looking up at Jeff, “but if you'd heard the stories of what it was like for her growing up..."

"You've told me quite a few of them, Mutt," Jeff interrupted gently, "but that's no excuse for how she treats you, your brothers, your cousins, or anyone else around her."

"She's manipulative, I know," Mutt said softly. "And I'm her son.  All I've ever wanted was to please her so that she'd... love me," Mutt replied, unwanted tears trickling down his face despite his efforts to stop them.  "The thing that bothers me, I guess, is that she vilifies me and anyone else that crosses her, and yet the people around her think she's some kind of saint.  They either can't or don't want to see what we see."

Jeff wished there were some way to pull Mutt into his own body to protect him from anything and anyone that might hurt him, instead he just held him close and felt the silent tears soaking into the front of his shirt. 

‘That woman doesn't know what true love really is,' he thought.  They'd been through this multiple times over the years they'd been together, and in his gut Jeff understood how Mutt was feeling.  However, he didn't understand at all the hold that Mrs. Tailor had over her son.  Mutt had two older brothers who seemed to be under the same thrall.

Jeff's parents had always been supportive in anything he did, and even when he'd come out to them, their disappointment had only lasted minutes.  His mother had tearfully hugged him, laughter mixed with the tears.

However, while his parents had accepted his sexuality, they'd been a little concerned about the age difference, and the fact, in their opinion, that someone called 'Mutt', a mere maintenance man, was not good enough for their son who was a decorated veteran and a businessman.  They found it suspicious that Mutt supposedly had a degree in engineering but chose to do menial labor.  They worried that Mutt was taking advantage of their son, despite Jeff's assurances to the contrary.

Mutt's story had been vastly different.  When Mutt had been caught kissing his boyfriend, Mr. Tailor had beaten his son, and chased him out of the house, refusing to let Mutt take any of his belongings and trying to tear the clothes off his back, causing his son to run out into an October night with only the torn shirt and no jacket for protection against the chill.  Mutt had never heard from his father again and his brothers only contacted him on the sly.  The first time he'd tried to call his mother she'd told him not to call back, and not to expect anything when she and her husband died because he'd been written out of the will until he came to his senses and apologized to them for what he'd done.

Even when she'd claimed to have eventually accepted her son's sexual orientation, it didn't stop her from calling Mutt after a 'traditional' wedding, or the birth of a new grandchild, niece or nephew and lay yet a new guilt trip on him.

Jeff couldn't understand how parents could treat a child of theirs like that.  All he knew was that the man he loved was in pain. It made his own heart feel as though it would break.

"Hon, we'll sit down after dinner and talk, alright? We'll take all the time you need, even if it takes all night. Promise."

Mutt let out a teary laugh.  "We can't talk all night; we both have to work tomorrow."

"I'm sure the boss will be OK with it if we're a little late, or even call out."

"I'm on call tomorrow," Mutt reminded him.

"If an emergency comes up that only you can handle, you can go.  Remember though, you have cross trained all of your men and they're capable of handling quite a bit.  So...," Jeff said putting up a warning finger, "no more arguments."

"Yes sir," Mutt replied with a watery smile.

"In the meantime," Jeff continued, wrinkling his nose, "it smells like dinner is more than cooked." He looked inside the pan. "Unless you're in the mood for Cajun, I say we have dinner at the lodge."

"My treat since I burned the dinner," Mutt joked, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

"And you're mine," Jeff said leaning down once again to kiss his husband's lips, grinning when Mutt's nose wrinkled at the pun. 

"New rule, no puns during dinner," Mutt declared as he turned the heat off under the pan for good and all. It would be cool enough to throw out by the time they got home.  That done they checked to make sure nothing else was plugged in or left on and began the walk to the lodge.

"Hey, Mutt, what do you call it when two florists get married?" Jeff asked.

"No puns!"

"You said no puns during dinner, we're not there yet so... what do you call it when two florists get married?"

Mutt sighed in resignation, "Fine, what do you call it?"

"An arranged marriage, of course."

Mutt groaned and covered his face with his palm.  "No more..."

"What did knights wear when courting their love interest?"

"Jeff..."

"Not there yet, Mutt my love, and walking faster isn't going to help," Jeff grinned as he quickened his pace to catch up to his husband.  "So... what did knights..."

"What? What, what, what? What did they wear?" Mutt replied in exasperation as Jeff took him by the elbow and slowed him down.

"A suit of amour, of course."

"Oh my God, please...," Mutt began.

"What did one enhydra lutris say to the other?"

"Jeff... wait... what? What's a... a... hydra lutist?" he asked.

"An otter."

"Oh, why didn't you say that in the first place?" Mutt asked, slightly put out.

"So, what did one otter say to the other?"

"Jjjjjjeeeefffffffffffff..."

"I'm otterly in love with you," Jeff continued as though Mutt hadn't spoken.

"Oh please, Jeff, stop. I'll be good. I don't know what I did wrong but I promise I won't do it again if you'll just stop. Please!"

"One more," Jeff promised.

"Do I get to spank you afterward?"

Jeff's response was a very obvious, 'You're joking' look.

"Fine.  One more, and I mean, one. Got it, young man?"  Mutt replied with a grin.

"Yes, sir," Jeff grinned back.  He stopped walking and turned Mutt toward him before saying, "If happiness begins with an H, then why does it start with U in my book?"

Mutt shook his head, stood up on tiptoe and kissed Jeff full on the lips, taking both their breath away.

"Did you like that one that much?" Jeff panted as they parted.

"No, it was terrible, just like the rest of them. I just needed to shut you up," Mutt quipped.

"Brat!" Jeff grinned as he gave Mutt a playful swat to his backside.  

"And you love me,” Mutt replied with a satisfied smirk.

"Yes, I do," Jeff said quietly as he linked arms with Mutt and continued on to the lodge in blissful silence

TBC