Taetum's Muse

Chapter 1

Keelan's P.O.V.

"Boys, let's go! We need to be at work in fifteen!'' dad hollers from the front door of our house.

"Be there in a second!" I call back from my little brother and myself from our shared bedroom.

Kenley and I exit our room to head toward the front door where our dad is waiting, so we can leave.

Dad owns and operates a fashion design and modeling company where I work part time, and Kenley does on occasion. Dad smiles at us when we join him at the door, and we exit the house with me locking the door behind us. Dad then drives us to his company where dad not only designs the clothes, but he occasionally models, too.

I should introduce myself to you know....my name is Keelan James Reed. I am 17-years-old, gay, sassy at times (usually when I am comfortable with the people I am around), extremely shy, and I live with my dad Kyler James Reed, and my 7-year-old brother Kenley Jace Reed. Dad is 38-years-old, and a single parent as he adopted Kenley and me. Dad adopted me when I was 12-years-old, and I had been in the foster care system since I was 5-years-old. Kenley was adopted at 3-years-old, and he had been in the foster care system from the time he was 2-years-old.

Dad has an older brother named Jace Ryan Reed who is 40-years-old, and he is married to his awesome husband, Jacob Kyle Reed, and he is 38-years-old. They have one adopted son named Aries Michael Reed, and he is 18-years-old.

"Kee, I am gonna have you work with Rachael, and you will be modeling some of our summer line," dad says as he drives. "Ken, you will be working with Richard, and be doing the same as Keelan."

Kenley and I voice our understanding, and neither of us are unhappy with this as we love working with Rachael and Richard. Both are photographers who are employed by dad. I am sure the clothes we will be modeling are clothes designed by either dad or uncle Jace. Uncle Jace and uncle Jacob also work with dad, and Aries works as a model part time, too.

"Dad, can Billy spend Friday night at ours?" Kenley asks from the back seat behind me in dad's black 2020 Chevy Silverado.

"I will call his mum to see if that is okay with her, okay?" dad answers, and Kenley hums in reply.

"You can see if Emmett wants to stay the night then, too," dad says to me.

"I will if Kenley can have his friend over," I answer because I do not want to have my friend over if he cannot have his friend over.

Dad does not answer, and when I look at him from the front passenger seat, he is frowning as he stares at the road.

"You can have Emmett stay even if Billy can't," dad murmurs after glancing in the rear view mirror to look at Kenley who is distracted by the view outside of his window. "He won't be upset, Keelan."

"He might not be upset, but I will feel horrible if he doesn't have his friend, and I do," I murmur, chewing on my lower lip in worry.

"Bub, I cannot force you to do this if his friend cannot have Billy over that night," dad sighs, making me feel guilty for Emmett being over.

Weird, I know for me to feel this way, but I cannot help how I feel. My anxiety at its finest. Yes, I have been diagnosed by my family doctor, and a psychiatrist, too with panic disorder, PTSD, and OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). I am on prescribed medication for these, and monitored by both the doctor and psychiatrist. I see the psychiatrist every other week.

I hum at dad in reply because I think if I verbally reply, I will cry. I cannot give you a reason why either because there is no logical answer for my feeling this way.

"Kee-Kee?" Kenley murmurs, and I hum in reply. "You aren't gonna go away anytime soon, right?"

Turning my upper body slightly to look at him with a reassuring smile; "No, I am not, I promise, Kenley. If I attend college or trade school, I am still gonna be here. Even when I move out of the house, I promise to see you and dad all the time."

Kenley stares intently at me for a second before slowly nodding; "Okay, but you really promise?"

Grinning at him with a nod of my head; "I promise, bub."

Kenley now smiles widely at me; "Thanks, Kee-Kee!"

"You are welcome, Ken," I answer, turning around in my seat, and I notice dad is smiling at Kenley's and my interaction.

Since today is Saturday, we do not have to be at the photo shoot until 10 a.m., so we got to sleep in a little this morning, and have breakfast at home together. When we arrive, we head inside, and dad stops to speak with his personal assistant, Andy, as I walk Kenley to Richard. I leave him with Richard when I know Kenley is okay for me to walk over to Rachael.

"Hi Rachael, how are you this morning?" I greet her with a bright smile.

She smiles brightly back at me; "Hi Keelan! I am good think, thanks. Go ahead and see Kerry to get your clothes for the first round of pictures, and hair and makeup done."

Nodding, I head off to Kerry as Kenley is heading to see Logan, another cosmetologist. Ten minutes later, Kenley and I are heading back to our photographers in our first set of clothing, and our hair and makeup done.

"Rachael, how many outfit changes are we doing today?" I ask her when I return to her area as she finishes setting up her stuff.

She glances up at me from her camera to answer me; "Six, perhaps more. Why do you have a hot date with a sexy man?"

My face instantly burns at her question as I grumble; "No hot date because no man would be interested in me."

She frowns at me, but does not comment, and instead instructs me how she wants me to pose. Throughout the next three hours, I catch Rachael giving me sad glances every now and then which makes me uncomfortable.