Family Ties

Part 57

"Nice house!" Eric whistled as he returned from taking a tour. "Much nicer than some of the places you've stayed before."

"Shut up turd brain, or I'll kick you out. And who gave you permission to go snooping around the house anyway?" Raymond frowned at Eric as he flopped down on the couch.

"If I'm going to be crashing here, I need to know where everything is."

"You're never crashing here." He handed Eric a soda. "Where are the rest of them? I thought they'd all be here with bells on.

"Mom's running late, meaning that she's annoying dad, and Kelley went to pick Nanny up. Where's the CEO?"

"Running errands with Skye. He's basically taken over parenting from me. All I have to do is show up and act surprised." He laughed. Since moving in together, Skye and Jackson had become inseparable, spending as much of their free time together as possible.

"Have you had a chance to try out the new suit I gave you?" He changed the subject to what he really wanted to talk about.

"Not yet. I don't go randomly looking for fights with other people, you know? That's why we spent so much time and effort in creating these horror stories that make the Inquisitor seem like a monster in a horror film."

"Right, right. I forgot about that, but when you come over again, there's something I want to show you. It's going to blow your mind." His eyes lit up with excitement.

"In most cases, these things just blow up." Raymond mocked drily, turning his head as Jackson and Skye came around the corner.

"Uncle Eric!" Skye called out in excitement, dropping the bags he was carrying and launching himself into Eric's arms.

"Whoa, you're getting way too big for this, or I'm getting older." He pulled Skye in a tight hug.

"More balloons, really Jackson?" Raymond asked in exasperation. Every corner of the house had a platoon of happy birthday balloons floating around and it seems as if Jackson wouldn't be happy unless each centimetre of the house was filled. He had gone all out with this party, which was supposed to be a quiet family affair.

"Come on Cook, this is our first birthday together, don't be a spoilsport."

"Yeah Papa, don't be a spoilt brat." Skye piped up.

"You did that on purpose. You guys saw him doing it, right?" Raymond pointed to Skye, looking from Eric to Jackson after his proclamation.

"We did, and you got burned!" Eric drawled, winking at Skye.

 By the time everybody had arrived, the house was filled to the brim with noise and boisterous conversation. Skye was especially excited when it got to the gifts, something he'd waited for all morning.

"Can I open my gifts now Pappie?" He looked at Jackson who was sitting on the floor next to him.

"I thought I was the OG Papa." Raymond sourly grumbled, watching as Jackson nodded and helped him to unwrap his gifts.

As always, he had set a price limit to the cost of the gifts, which prevented any outlandish or over-the-top items that would ultimately end up gathering dust. Like the miniature electric car Eric had built for him when he was five.

When he'd finally oohed and aahed his way through every package with great speed, he turned to another pile that was stacked behind him. With glee he rubbed his hands together, his eyes sparkling with joy.

"Wait, who are those from?" Raymond sat up as the pile of discarded paper grew beside Skye. "Jackson?!" He said sharply, watching him blush.

"Well, these are all under the price limit you set. You didn't specify how many gifts could be bought." He challenged. There was a general grumble in the room as the others admitted his clever thinking.

"How does it feel to be burnt twice in one day, Papa?" Eric laughed.

"Shut it, you! Am I the only adult in this place?" He looked around in exasperation. "What's he going to do with everything? I'd have to quit my job to make sure that he gets to play with everything and go to football games."

"That's where my second surprise comes in!" Jackson jumped up. "We're going to the theme park, where Skye can hand out the gifts to his friends. Isn't it brilliant?" He looked at all of them in excitement, while Skye squealed in delight, running around the room like an energised plane, arms outstretched.

"The kid's good, but he's no saint. Giving away all his gifts is going to be a bit of a stretch." Eric interjected.

"Are you questioning my parenting?" Raymond said sharply.

"Give it a break guys, he's already agreed to do it. Didn't think twice about it." Jackson shook his head.

"It must be my influence." Gillie smiled.

"Or the promise of trying every ride at the theme park." Eric burst her bubble.

"It's no wonder you're still single." Gillie sourly shot back at him.

Once their bickering stopped, they all bundled into cars. Skye refused to drive with Raymond, insisting on driving with Eric in his shiny sports car and of course got to their destination at breakneck speed.

By late afternoon, everybody seemed to have run out of steam and left one by one. Skye appeared to also have reached the end of his limits. Picking him up, Jackson allowed him to scamper onto his back, while he and Raymond walked hand-in-hand.

"You really are perfect, you know that?" Raymond glanced at him, amazed at how far they'd come, the three of them as a family.

"Now tell me something I don't know." He grinned, giving Raymond's hand a light squeeze.

When they got home, Skye whined his way through getting his shoes off, looking as if he was about to drop down.

"Okay, let Pappie help you get ready." He picked him up and carried him to the bathroom. "Only teeth, I promise," He assured him when Skye moaned again in his half-sleepy state, teetering on the brink of throwing a tantrum.

Raymond watched as Jackson cajoled Skye into brushing his teeth, before navigating all the balloons to get to his bedroom.

"You make parenting look easy." Raymond laughed when Jackson joined him on the couch.

"Either I'm a natural, or the little man's the best-behaved child in the world."

"I suppose we won't count the times when you were called into the teacher's office?" He watched as Jackson's eyes widened in surprise. "And before you ask, it's my job to know everything, remember?" He grinned.

"But how?"

"His teacher let it slip while she was waxing on how fantastic you are."

"And I thought she was on our side." He grinned, leaning in to kiss Raymond. "It was nothing major, trust me. I'd let you know if it was anything serious, but as you said, he gets into a bit of trouble."

"Jackson?" He asked uncertainly. This wasn't really the right time, but then there had never been a right time.

"Hmm?" He leaned his head back on the couch with his eyes closed.

"Jackson, you know how I was investigating your company before?" He watched as his head jerked up, fully awake. "The thing is, I have a better idea of what's going on..."

You know who they are and what they wanted?"

Raymond sat crossed-legged on the couch, looking at Jackson.

"Yes, but there's more to the story, so I want you to hear me out before making any rash decisions, okay?"

Jackson looked at him, his heart beating fast, unsure of what he was going to hear, but he needed to hear it. Nodding, he watched as Raymond took a deep breath, his thumb rubbing circles on the back of Jackson's hand.