Devil's House

Too Many Secrets

It was more than a week later when Chester found himself with a free afternoon. If it had been any other day, he would have hurried home to whisk Mike away on a surprise date, or maybe to lock themselves up in their room for some extra private time. But it just so happened that his husband wasn't home. Even though Mike's finals were done, and he was officially on break from school, today Mike was with Dr. Digby for their regular therapy session.

Chester knew when he walked in the front door, he would be greeted by Ryan and probably Julien, but Mike wouldn't be home until later. It made his steps less peppy as he lingered around Talinda's office instead, picking at her fake plant, and making small talk while she made notes all over her calendar and planner, and whatever else Chester was only slightly paying attention to. It wasn't that he didn't want to go home and see Ryan or the baby, it was just a bummer that the first early day he'd gotten in a while was on a day when his favorite person to be with was busy.

"Go home, Chester," Talinda finally ordered when he'd managed to pull one of the leaves off her fake office plant from messing with it. He hadn't even tried to argue at that point, but picked up his backpack and told her he'd see her tomorrow.

By the time he was walking in the front door of the house, he decided he should make the most of having a free afternoon to himself. He suddenly realized that these days, having alone time wasn't often. Even when Mike was busy, Ryan was almost always home, and by habit they tended to stay in each other's space. Chester was ready to make this afternoon different, though, as he closed the front door, his mind running with everything he could do with his surprise time off. He could organize his closet a little more. He could take Cheese down to the beach. He could jump in the pool and relax, without entertaining anyone else. He could grab a bowl of ice cream and go sit on his and Mike's bed and watch whatever he wanted on TV and no one would be there to protest.

Of course, being alone also meant he would be alone with his thoughts, and in Chester's world, that didn't always equal a good thing. When other people were around - when he was focusing on other people and their needs or a shared interest - Chester's thoughts were usually calm. Subdued. It was when he was alone, and there was no one around to be the other voice in the room, that the voice in his head would show up and start whispering things that hurt. Things that weren't true.

The quick change of plans happened almost instantly as Ryan headed his way, Julien in his arms. All thoughts of taking food and hiding in the bedroom or running away to the beach alone, were gone. "Julien!" Chester said first, dropping his backpack by the front door and holding out both arms - the signal that he wanted the baby. Now.

"Fine," Ryan said with fake disdain as he handed over his son. "I see how you are. You came all the way home on your lunch break just to see Julien. Not me." Ryan stuck out his lip and made his eyes big.

It was enough to make Chester laugh as he bounced the baby in his arms. "Your daddy is so silly. I don't know how you stand hanging around with him all day," Chester told Julien in a sing-song voice. "I used to spend all my days with him, too, so I feel your pain."

The baby laughed and tried to grab at Chester's nose. "Hey, careful," he warned the baby, twisting his head away so his lip ring wouldn't turn into a casualty.

"Mhm," Ryan said, crossing his arms as he watched Chester play keep-away with Julien and the piercing. "That's what you get for saying anything bad about me." He shook his head as he watched a second more before he glanced back towards the kitchen. "We already ate, but I'll fix you something if you want. I made Jay a pretty awesome turkey and avocado sandwich earlier. I think he posted a picture of it on Instagram already." He flashed Chester a smile, but this time he didn't get the laugh he'd been expecting.