Christian (The Beck Brothers Series) (8 page)

Christian
returned with his medication and a glass of water. After taking it, Christian
helped him get dressed. They didn
’
t
even bother with a shirt, he wasn
’
t
going anywhere.

“
Will
you be alright tonight, or do you want me to cancel the showing?
”
Christian asked as they headed back downstairs.

“
Don
’
t
cancel the art show, your students look forward to that.
 
Just see if someone can come over to sit
with me.
 
Anyone but Sebastian,
”
Shea said, giving Christian a pointed look over his shoulder, making him smile.

“
Are
you sure? Sebastian can be very entertaining.
”

“
Dude,
I will end up back in the hospital if he comes here to babysit me.
”
Shea snorted.

Christian
laughed.
“
That is
probably true, let me call Quinn.
”

Shea
nodded.
“
Good
choice.
”

Henry
cursed silently as some asshole took the parking spot he had been waiting for.
If he didn
’
t have the
kids in the car, he would have flipped the hell out; instead, he just moved on
to find another spot. He was fuming, though. Finally, after a few minutes of
driving around, he squeezed into another spot. Christian
’
s
gallery was in a really bad location for trying to find somewhere to park.

Henry
got all three kids out of the car and started down the sidewalk with Ethan, who
was now five, Henry III, who was two, and Adalyn, who was almost nine months
old. Ethan was looking less and less like a baby, and more and more like a
growing boy. He was getting tall and thinned out a lot. His face wasn
’
t
as round as it used to be, and his hair was now cut short, per his request.
Ethan wanted a Mohawk like little Henry, so both boys had short blonde Mohawks.
Little Henry was turning out to be a spitting image of his father, looking
exactly like Henry, except he had crystal blue eyes like his mother. It was
funny how Ethan and Henry III looked so much alike even though they had
different biological fathers.

Then
there was Henry
’
s baby
girl, Adalyn. She was a gorgeous little girl, naturally. She was her mother
’
s
child with strawberry blonde curls and big bright blue eyes. Every time Henry
took her out, he was constantly told that she needed to be modeling or on TV or
something.

They
walked up the steps to the Beck Gallery door and Ethan tried to tug it open. He
got it partially open but it ended up being too heavy and Henry had to help.
Ethan helped his little brother step up the last step and into the gallery,
while Henry walked in behind them with Adalyn in his arms. He hasn
’
t
been to Christian
’
s gallery
in over a year.

The
space was a decent size, with it being longer than wide, galley-style. There were
partial walls set up in the middle of the room, splitting it in two in certain
areas. There was artwork hung on every wall. Some of it was incredible
–
mostly Christian
’
s work
–
while the rest was pretty good for people who were just learning how to paint.
Christian also set up a section just for the artwork of the kids he taught.

“
Henry!
What are you doing here?
”
Christian
’
s
voice asked, pulling Henry
’
s attention
away from the color-filled walls.

He
looked up to see Christian striding toward him, his lean body moving smoothly
and somewhat gracefully. He was wearing dark gray slacks with a medium purple
shirt under a black vest and tie. His sleeves rolled up to his elbows and he
had a black leather cuff on one wrist. His blonde hair was styled to perfection
and his face was clean-shaven. Henry knew his brother was very fashion forward,
but he was looking
extra
metro-sexual
today.

“
Hey,
Christian.
”
Henry
smiled, giving him a partial hug since Adalyn was in his arms.
“
Claire
’
s
birthday is coming up; she
’
s been
asking for one of your pieces, so I
’
m
going to have the kids help me pick out a nice picture for her.
”

Christian
beamed with pride.
“
Really?
That
’
s awesome.
”

Henry
nodded and handed over a squirming Adalyn to her favorite uncle. Christian took
her and kissed her before settling her little diapered butt on his forearm.
Adalyn
’
s fingers
went right for his mouth as they always did. Christian chuckled and nibbled on
her chubby fingers, making her giggle around the binky in her mouth. He
high-fived Ethan, and pinched little Henry
’
s
cheek.

“
Daddy,
can I go look around?
”
Ethan
asked.

“
Yes,
but do not touch anything,
”
Henry
warned sternly, getting a fervent nod from Ethan before he wandered off.

There
were only about ten to fifteen people there, so Henry could see everywhere that
Ethan went. Little Henry sidled closer to Henry
’
s
side and slipped his hand into his daddy
’
s.
He was a bit shy around people he didn
’
t
know, but that had a lot to do with his age.

“
Go
ahead and look around. Let me know if you find something you like,
”
Christian said, bouncing Adalyn in his arms.

“
Alright.
 
You take that one, I
’
ll
take this one,
”
Henry
said, lifting his mini-me into his arms.

Christian
nodded and sauntered off with Adalyn. Henry watched his brother walk away.
 
Something seemed different about him, but
Henry couldn
’
t figure out
what it was. One thing he did notice was that Christian seemed happier lately,
only in the past couple of weeks. Henry wondered what was making him so happy -
a girl, maybe?

Henry
walked around the gallery, one eye on the art, and one eye on Ethan. He stopped
in front of one of Christian
’
s
paintings. It was a black and white, and it was of a seemingly naked man
tangled in the sheets on a bed. The man was on his stomach and his face turned
away. Henry immediately recognized who it was; he
’
s
known the guy almost his entire life. Why the hell would Christian paint a
picture of Shea, naked, and sleeping in bed? Henry turned to look for Christian
and found him standing slightly behind him, Adalyn still in his arms; the
expression on his face was unreadable.

“
What
’
s
up with this?
”
Henry
asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

Christian
blinked at him and shrugged slightly.
“
I
’
m
an artist, I find art everywhere,
”
he said as if that explained it.

“
But
why Shea in a bed, naked, tangled up in sheets?
”
Henry asked, confused.

“
I
liked the way the sheets where rumpled,
”
Christian said, waving a hand dismissively.

Henry
shook his head slightly, he was still confused, but whatever.
“
Okaaay.
”

“
I
have a couple of nice landscapes toward the back. Why don
’
t
you go check those out?
”
Christian
murmured while tickling Adalyn, his eyes on the baby, not Henry.

“
Sure,
”
Henry agreed and hitched his son higher before walking toward the back of the
gallery.

Ethan
picked out a lovely painting of a calla lily for Claire, one of Christian
’
s,
obviously. Christian wanted Henry to take it for free, but he insisted on
paying for it. Then they gathered up the kids and walked back out to Henry
’
s
car. Christian put Adalyn in her car seat while Henry strapped in the other
two. After the kids were secured, Henry went to his brother to say goodbye.

“
How
’
s
Shea doing anyway?
”
Henry
asked, stuffing his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

“
Alright,
I guess.
 
He
’
s
still in pain.
”
Christian
shrugged.

Henry
nodded, watching him closely.
“
How long is
he going to stay with you?
”

“
As
long as he needs to,
”
Christian
replied evenly.

“
Doesn
’
t
he have a girlfriend that can take care of him?
”
Henry asked curiously.
“
I swore he
was seeing someone.
”

“
Not
really,
”
he
answered tightly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Henry
nodded in understanding. What he didn
’
t
understand, though, was that fucking painting. Wasn
’
t
it odd for a straight man to paint another straight man, naked and asleep? Henry
wondered if Shea knew about that painting. Henry
’
s
vote would be a no. Whatever was going on with Christian was going to have to
wait for another time; Henry had to get the kids home and ready for bed.

“
Okay,
let me get out of here. I
’
ll talk to
you later,
”
Henry
said, giving Christian a hug.

“
Okay.
”

Christian
waved as Henry pulled away from the curb. Henry shook his head to himself.
 
Could his brother possibly be gay? He has
never really thought about it before, but he couldn
’
t
remember ever seeing Christian with a woman. He most definitely never brought
one home. A few years ago, he would have blamed that on his mother, but she has
changed, so the man has no reason not to bring a woman home to meet his family.
He was always with Shea, though. Shea was straight, Henry was sure of that; he
’
s
seen him with multiple women over the years. Henry sighed, confused and not sure
what to think.

Christian
got home around midnight, after finishing up transactions, kicking everyone
out, cleaning up, and shutting everything down; it took him about an hour to
get out of there. When he walked in the front door, he saw that both Shea and
Quinn fell asleep on the couch, one at each end. Christian smiled and walked
over to Quinn, placing a hand on his shoulder. Quinn stirred, pulling in a deep
breath and rubbing his eyes. He blinked up at Christian.

“
Shit,
did I fall asleep?
”
he asked
sleepily.

“
Yeah,
are you alright to drive home?
”
Christian
asked in return.

“
Yeah...I
just gotta wake the hell up,
”
he
muttered, scrubbing his face hard with both hands.

“
Take
your time,
”
Christian
replied and patted his shoulder.
“
How
was Shea?
”

Christian
walked over to his boyfriend and stared down at him. His head was resting on
the back of the couch and he had to fight the urge to smooth his hand over Shea
’
s
short hair. No doubt Quinn would question him like Henry did tonight, especially
if he touched him affectionately.

What
a fucking nightmare that had been.
 
He
had forgotten about that painting and didn
’
t
really think anything of it when Henry walked in. None of his brothers have
been by the gallery in a while, so he has been putting up everything that he
painted, not just the non-sexual/sensual ones. Every weekend, when he has the
gallery open for showings, almost all of the sexual/sensual paintings that he produced,
of both men and women, have sold.