Christian (The Beck Brothers Series) (17 page)

When Christian came up out of the water, he swam over to his
brothers and climbed on Henry’s back. Sebastian screamed, “CHICKEN FIGHT!” and
Shea groaned. Four grown ass men were going to have a chicken fight? Really?

“I swear, they stopped maturing at ten,” Henry Sr. murmured
next to him.

Shea chuckled and watched as Christian got on Henry’s
shoulders and Quinn got on Sebastian’s. Shea couldn’t get over how vicious the
four of them fought. Quinn and Christian shoved at each other, while Henry and
Sebastian tried to shove each other’s faces in the water. Quinn, at one point,
palmed Christian’s face and pushed hard. Christian almost went down, his arms pin
wheeled, but Henry grabbed one of his wrists and pulled him back up. The smile
on Christian’s face as he played with his brothers warmed Shea’s heart like
nothing else. He could see what Christian feared losing if his brothers didn’t
accept him being gay. There was a lot of love and a super tight bond between
the four of them. That was also the reason Shea knew that they would never
disown him. They loved him too much.

Christian and Henry won, only because Henry gave Sebastian a
double titty twister while Christian did the same to Quinn, then pushed.
 
The two men went down instantly, both
screaming and covering their nipples. Shea had to laugh, that was Christian and
Henry’s signature move. They used it many, many times back in the day when they
all went to the public pool during the summer growing up. Quinn and Sebastian
must have forgotten about it, Shea sure did.

Shea figured it was now safe to get back in the pool; plus,
he wanted to talk to Christian to find out if he was okay. The way Quinn had
practically carried him inside earlier had him really worried. Shea got in by
the stairs and made his way over to where Christian was lounging against the
wall in the deep end. Shea swam up and clung to the wall next to him.

“Hey,” Shea murmured.

Christian gave him a soft smile that made Shea’s heart
flutter every time he saw it. “Hi.”

“Are you doing okay?” Shea asked, wishing so bad that he
could touch Christian.

Christian nodded and moved closer. “Quinn knows,” he
whispered.

Shea flinched as if slapped. “What?” he asked dryly, not
sure he heard Christian right.

“I told Quinn, he knows.” Christian smiled.

Well, shit
. “And?” Shea prompted.

Christian closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if he
could breathe for the first time ever. “It’s fine. He doesn’t care, he’s
actually happy for us,” Christian murmured, opening his eyes.

The look in Christian’s eyes made Shea have to choke back tears
- he saw peace. For the first time in his life, Christian wasn’t worried or
anxious, he was just calm and relaxed and full of joy.

“I want to kiss you so fucking badly right now.” Shea
breathed.

Christian smirked. “Not yet, let me tell the rest of my
family before we start doing that in front of them.”

“When?” Shea asked.

“Another day. I want Quinn and Margot to have their fifteen
minutes of fame.”

Shea nodded. “Okay,” he agreed.

“Thank you,” Christian murmured, his eyes sincere and full
of love as they bored into Shea’s.

“For what?” Shea asked, confused.

“Pushing me,” Christian replied. “I don’t think I would have
ever told any of them if you hadn’t said what you said.”

Shea smiled softly. “You can thank me later if you’d like.”

“Oh, I plan on it,” Christian rasped.

Shea had to stifle a shudder at the promise in Christian’s
tone.

“One, four, three,” Christian murmured.

Shea cocked his head. “Huh?”

“It’s the number of letters in the words I want to say, but
too many people could read my lips if I actually say it,” Christian muttered,
rolling his eyes.

“Oooh,” Shea said, understanding. Then he laughed and gave
Christian a playful shove. “You’re so corny.”

Christian snorted. “Why do you think I rolled my eyes?”

“One, four, three, three,” Shea whispered with a stupid grin
on his face.

Christian chuckled.

Shea really wanted to kiss him, badly, but he would refrain
until all of Christian’s family knew. He was glad Christian told Quinn. He was
surprised, though, at how fast it happened. He expected Christian to
procrastinate and wait until the very last day of Shea’s threat to tell his
family. This was great, though, went even better than Shea had hoped. Shea was
so afraid that Christian was going to tell him to go fuck himself, that he wasn’t
going to tell him family, but his ultimatum didn’t backfire on him. Thank
fucking god!

That night, when they were getting ready to leave, Quinn grabbed
Shea and pulled him into a hug. Shea “Oofed” and hugged Quinn back, giving him
a couple of pats on the back. It was really weird, this new Quinn that hugs.

“Treat my brother right or I will beat the shit out of you,”
Quinn whispered in his ear.

Shea smiled. It was a good sign if Quinn was threatening him
with bodily harm if he didn’t treat Christian right. “I will, I promise,” Shea
replied.

Quinn let him go and gave him a fond, brotherly smack on the
face before smiling and winking at Shea. Shea rolled his eyes and followed
Christian out the door. Shea got into the driver’s side and sighed.

“That party went much better than expected,” he said.

“Mmm hmm.”

Shea looked over to see Christian with his head back and his
eyes closed. Yeah, Shea was beat, too. Being out in the sun and playing in the
pool with the kids all day was exhausting. Shea had no idea how Henry and
Sebastian kept up with those maniacs they call children. Just one day with the
four of them was enough. The kids were all over him, constantly calling, “Shea,
Shea, Shea,” that he was ready to change his name by the time they all crashed
in the living room on the floor and couches. By this time next year, there were
going to be five kids in all, once Quinn and Margot have their baby, and who
know who else is going to get pregnant again by that time. Shea figured it was
kind of a good thing that Christian and he couldn’t have babies, because with
the amount of sex they had, he couldn’t even begin to imagine all of the kids
they would pop out.

Shea jumped when his cell phone started to vibrate his ass.
 
Luckily, he wasn’t in the process of using
a saw or something, because that could have gone very wrong. He did, however,
have a bunch of screws in his mouth since he was in the middle of putting up
drywall. Shea dug his phone out of his pocket with one hand and looked at the
screen. Christian? Why was Christian calling him? He knew Shea was working late
today. Shea hit the answer button and put the phone to his ear.

“Yeah, Chris?” he said as best he could around the screws.

“I’m sorry for interrupting whatever you’re doing but I just
listened to the messages on the house phone and someone from social services
called, saying that they needed to speak with you right away, that it was
really important,” Christian said.

“Social services?” Shea asked, confused.

“Yeah, I have no idea what it could possibly be about, but
the woman on the message sounded serious and almost frantic,” Christian said.

“Hmm,” Shea murmured.

“I’ve got her name and number if you want to call her back.”

Shea spit the screws into his hand then put them in a pocket
of his tool belt so that he could grab the pencil that was tucked behind his
ear. “Okay, shoot.”

Christian relayed the woman’s name and number. Shea just
wrote it on the drywall since it would be painted over anyway. After Shea and
Christian said goodbye, Shea called up the woman named Jackie Young at social
services.

“Jackie Young, speaking,” a female voice answered on the
phone.

“Hi, this is Shea Dempsey, you left me a message?”

“Oh, Mr. Dempsey, thank you for calling me back so quickly!”

“Sure, no problem. What can I do for you?” Shea asked.

“Mr. Dempsey, did you know a Ms. Tara Lafferty?” Jackie said
grimly.

Shea’s stomach filled with dread at her tone. “Yes, I know
Tara, is everything okay?”

“I’m sorry, no. Ms. Lafferty got into a horrendous car
accident early yesterday morning and passed away,” Jackie informed him softly.

“Jesus!”
 
Shea
breathed, scrubbing a hand over his dark hair.

“That was not exactly the reason I was calling you, though.
The reason I called was because Ms. Lafferty was eight months pregnant, and
although she died, the baby survived and is in the NICU at Children’s
Hospital,” Jackie said.

“Tara was pregnant?” Shea squawked.

“I see that you had no idea. You were not dating?”

“No, I haven’t seen her in about six months…oh my god…” Shea
gasped. The last time he saw her he had noticed that her boobs looked bigger,
that was probably why.
Sonofabitch
!

“She listed you as the father of the baby in a Will she had drawn
up about a month ago. She has no other living relatives,” Jackie said.

“What are you saying?” Shea asked hoarsely even though he
had a pretty good idea.

“What I am saying, Mr. Dempsey, is that you are the child’s
only living blood relative.
 
If you
do not want to take custody of the child, and would rather sign away your parental
rights, then she will be placed in the foster care system,” Jackie said softly.

“She?” Shea croaked.

“Yes, she. The baby is a girl.”

“How…wha…I mean, is she really mine?”

“The only way to know for sure would be to take a paternity
test, which will take about a week to get the results. In the meantime, the
baby is healthy and cleared to be released from the hospital. I wanted to give
you the option to take her home with you before I made other arrangements.”

Shea’s knees suddenly felt like jello and he swore all of the
blood drained out of his brain. “Holy shit, are you for real, lady, or are you
just fucking with me?” Shea rasped.

“I am completely serious, Mr. Dempsey. I will give you some
time to think things over, but you must call me by tomorrow morning with your
answer. The hospital will not continue to keep the baby there if she is healthy
and can leave.”

“Okay.” Shea breathed and hung up the phone.

He needed air. He stumbled out of the house he was working
in and down the front steps. A few guys asked him if he was okay but he just
ignored them and went to his truck. He got in, started it up, and drove out of
there; he’d deal with the consequences of leaving later. He needed to get home,
he had to talk to Christian, and he just couldn’t do it over the phone. He
needed Christian there to catch him when he passed the fuck out.

Shea made it home in record time. He walked in the front
door and immediately called for Christian. Christian appeared in the doorway to
the kitchen, his face a mixture of confusion and concern.

“Shea, what are you doing home? I thought you were working
late?” Christian asked as he started toward him.

“I called that woman, Jackie, back,” Shea croaked.

Christian stopped in front of him. “And?”

“Tara died in a car accident yesterday morning,” Shea
whispered.

Christian sighed. “Shit.”

“That’s not all, though. She was eight months pregnant. The
baby survived and is down at CHOP. Tara supposedly named me as the father in
her Will.”

Christian sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes widening as he
woodenly took a couple of steps back to drop down onto the stairs. “What?”
 
He breathed, staring up at Shea.

Shea scrubbed his hair with both hands and started to pace.
“Jackie said that if I don’t want the baby then she’s going to be put into
foster care because Tara has no other living relatives.”

Christian shook his head. “No, no, you can’t let that baby
be put into foster care, Shea, especially if she’s yours,” Christian rushed to
say, shooting to his feet.

“Without a paternity test, I can’t know for sure that she’s
mine,” Shea said.

“When do you need to decide?” Christian asked.

“Jackie said she’s needs an answer by tomorrow morning.”

“Jesus Christ.” Christian groaned and raked a hand through
his hair.

“I don’t know what to do, Christian, we have nothing for a
baby - no crib, no clothes, no bottles, diapers, car seat…fuck!” Shea cried,
clasping his hands together on top of his head.

Oh god, what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t take care of
a newborn! He had no idea what to do with a newborn! Toddlers, yeah okay, he
could do toddlers, they could at least say some words and point to shit they
wanted. Christian grabbed him and pulled him into his arms. Shea clung to him,
tucking his face in Christian’s neck.

“I’m not ready for a baby, Chris, and how can I possibly take
care of an infant? I work too much…” Shea said hoarsely, trailing off before he
really started to break down.

“Shea, don’t forget, you are not alone. I’m here and I’m
sure my family will be more than willing to help. You can’t let that baby go
into foster care when she can be with a loving family like ours,” Christian
murmured.

Shea hugged Christian tighter.
 
He knew that he could count on Christian
to be reasonable and understanding. Even though Shea was scared out of his
mind, he didn’t want to let the baby, his or not, go into foster care. He was
so relieved that Christian seemed to be all for taking the baby.

“First things first, we need to call an emergency family
meeting to see what kind of baby stuff we can borrow,” Christian said, taking
charge as he pulled out his phone and started calling everyone.

Shea felt like his feet were stuck to the floor, he couldn’t
move. He was in a daze while he distantly heard Christian talking to his
parents, then Henry, Sebastian, and Quinn. When he was finished, Christian
stopped in front of him, cupped Shea’s face in both hands and raised it to look
into his eyes.

“Hey, we’re gonna be fine. We can do this, and if you think
about it, it’s much easier than trying to adopt a baby,” Christian said softly.

“But I didn’t think I’d be a father at 28,” Shea whispered.

“Neither did I, but sometimes shit doesn’t go the way we
expect,” Christian said and kissed Shea softly on the lips. “Everyone should be
here in about twenty minutes, and they are curious as hell as to why we need
baby stuff.”

Christian stood next to Shea in front of his stunned family
who were all crammed into his living room. Shea had just told them what was
going on, and they were all obviously in shock. Henry and Claire brought over a
bassinette for them to use, along with a swing and all of Adalyn’s clothes from
her first few months. Sebastian and Raelynn brought an extra infant car seat
that they had, and also a diaper bag and bottles.

“So let me get this straight. You slept with some chick,
didn’t know you knocked her up, now she’s dead and you’re left with the baby?”
Sebastian said, squeezing the bridge of his nose.

“Basically.”
 
Shea
sighed.

“And the baby is going to live here, with you and
Christian?” Anne asked, frowning.

“Yes,” Christian answered.

“How do you know the baby is even yours?” Henry chimed in.

“I don’t.
 
We’re
going to do a paternity test, but it takes about a week for the results to come
back, and the hospital won’t keep her.
 
So either I take her, or she goes into the foster care system,” Shea
answered.

Anne gasped. “Oh, no! You can’t let that happen!”

Shea gave her a sad smile. “I know. That’s why Christian and
I are going to take her.”

“What do you mean by ‘Christian and I’?
 
She’s your kid, not Christian’s,”
Sebastian asked suspiciously.

Christian glanced over at Shea to see that he had closed his
eyes. When he opened them, he looked at Christian apologetically. “I’m sorry, I
didn’t mean…”

“It’s alright, Shea,” Christian assured him, placing a hand
on his back.

“What’s alright?” Claire asked in confusion.

Christian glanced at Quinn, who gave him a subtle nod.
Christian cleared his throat.

“Shea and I are going to raise the baby as a couple. We’ve
been together for six months now,” Christian said with as much confidence as he
could muster.

The silence afterward was deafening. Everyone seemed to
stare blankly at them. Shea shifted nervously next to him.

“Together how, son?” his father asked uncertainly.

“Dad, I’m gay. Shea’s my boyfriend,” Christian said.

Christian watched as Claire and Raelynn’s mouths dropped
open in shock. Quinn and Margot just smiled warmly. Quinn gave him a wink, his
smile turning proud, blowing Christian’s mind. Sebastian jumped to his feet, a
huge grin on his face.

“I knew it! I fucking knew it!” Sebastian chirped, pointing
at Christian.

“Sebastian! Language,” Raelynn scolded, motioning to the
kids playing with Jenga blocks on the floor. It was the only thing Christian had
for them to play with.

Sebastian winced. “Sorry.”

“Gay? Really?” his mother asked thoughtfully and a bit
curiously.

“Yes, really.” Christian nodded.

“How long have you known?” Henry asked, getting to his feet.
Christian couldn’t tell what he was thinking, his face was oddly neutral.

“Since I was eighteen.” Christian grimaced.

“You dick! You’ve known for that long and never told us?”
Sebastian snapped, advancing toward Christian quickly.

“I didn’t want you to hate me.” Christian breathed and
braced himself for Sebastian’s attack.

“Hate you?” Anne gasped. “Oh, honey! No! We could never hate
you!”

Sebastian stopped in front of Christian and Shea. He put his
hands on his hips and looked back and forth between the two of them.

“I could have sworn you were straight, dude,” he said to
Shea.

Shea shrugged. “I thought I was, too, but I’m not.”

“Bi, then?”

Shea nodded. “Yes.”

Sebastian nodded and suddenly pulled them both into a hug.
Christian was so shocked that he just stood there stiffly in Sebastian’s arms.
Sebastian then kissed each of them on the temple.

“You two make a cute couple,” Sebastian murmured before
letting them go with a ridiculously wide grin on his face, looking like the
Cheshire cat from
Alice in Wonderland
.

Christian couldn’t stop the bark of laughter that came out.
Shea chuckled, too. Henry was next to come over to them, grabbed Christian’s
face, and kissed his forehead before hugging him tight.

“I’m sorry that you felt like you couldn’t tell us sooner,” he
murmured softly.

Christian squeezed his eyes shut since they started burning
from the tears that threatened to fall. He clung tightly to his oldest brother,
never expecting Henry to apologize
to him
when he finally came out. Shea had been so right all of these years about how
his family would react. How could he have been so blind? He put himself through
ten years of hell, trying to hide who he really was from his family, and Shea
had been telling him the whole time that they would not care, that they would
love him anyway.