Love Is Ǝvil

52 I Need A Doctor To Bring Me Back To Life

"Hallo?", a croak in the line.

"Elton?", Marshall asked, although this was a stupid question. Who else would pick up this number? He twirled a pen between his fingers. "How are ya? You good?" Starting this conversation easy was probably best.

"Very good", and he could hear a smile in Elton's voice. "What about you? It's been a while, hasn't it. I hope that means you've been doing all right?" Elton's voice was warm and filled with understanding, always a comforting sound and it held a fond place in Marshall's heart.

An instinctive nod, useless on the phone. "Yeah, I'm fine. Uhm ... It's not too late over there, is it?" He hated time difference, fiercely.

A quiet laugh, a little bit of tiredness. "We're actually in Cali right now." Oh, so time difference the other way, terrific.

"Really, why?" Should he know? Marshall wasn't sure. He wasn't always as attentive a friend as he wanted to be.

"Our boy was just born", Elton explained and the pride and joy he must feel was clearly audible. "On Christmas Day no less."

Like Hailie. She was one year older now, fifteen. It felt like yesterday, when he'd held that little bundle of human in his arms, but now she was growing into a smart, beautiful young woman. A little frightening to think what awaited her. Being a child was easy, but becoming an adult was hard. Marshall would like to protect her from it, but he knew this was pointless. "Congratulations! I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you. We can't wait to take him back home. It's only been two days and I can't believe he's finally here. David can't stop looking at him."

Marshall smiled warmly. "Yeah, I still have that sometimes when I look at the girls." He scratched a few lines on a piece of paper, just to occupy his hand a little.

"How was your Christmas, Dear?", Elton asked.

"The girls are happy, so everything's great here." Except for Marshall's mood, which was gloomy and somber. Hearing his daughters laughter and seeing their happy faces when opening their gifts hadn't cheered him up. Their family sitting around the Christmas tree, engulfed in the warm glittery lights of the season, but Marshall was brooding on the couch.

Elton clicked his tongue chiding. "I can hear your depressed arse over the phone. What's going on?"

"Nah, I'm fine." Even Kim's nagging couldn't move his mood. The days of Christmas had gone by fast and slow at the same time, the hours ticking by relentless and nothing could stop them as Marshall's thoughts were drawing circles.

"Don't lie to me, there's no need for that."

He massaged the bridge of his nose. Elton was right, of course he was. That's why Marshall was calling, but it was hard to get the words out. He didn't know how to talk about this stupid idea - open relationship, what a fucking stupid shitty thing! - and not talk about Nicolas at the same time. But how could he talk about Nicolas? Most people he called friends didn't know yet and Marshall had no clue how to let them in on it, on him being gay. But he figured, Elton be okay with it if no one else.

"So?", Elton pressed on. "What's going on with you these days?"

A sigh, that got lost in the space of his home office. His thoughts weren't getting him nowhere, that's why he was calling. He needed to break the spirals in his head. "You got a minute? That be cool. I don't wanna distract you from your baby, though. They're absolutely the cutest, when they're all tiny and new."

"I always got a minute for you, Dear", an audible smile. "I'm sure, I have two minutes even. So, spill."

Marshall smirked briefly. "Well, it's a relationship thing and it's a bit - actually, it's a lot weird. I dunno, I'm running in circles." After a while it had become easy to talk to Elton about stuff that didn't matter just as much as about the stuff that mattered the most. A friend to truly trust in.