Beloved: A Henry Dawncraft Novel |boyxboy| Sequel to Lover for Pay

III - Responsible.

"I – I'm sorry..." Henry said, baffled and then he took a step back to really examine this teenager in front of him. "I feel like I heard you, but I'm not following. Could you run that by me again? You're what?"

The plain expression on Dorian's face hadn't changed, but he went ahead and repeated himself for the stunned twenty-four-year-old in front of him. "My name is Dorian, Dorian Dawncraft. I'm your younger brother on your dad's side."

"Yeah, that's what I thought you said. Look...umm," Henry glanced over his shoulder towards Daniel. The brunette was still eating dinner in the living room, but it was as though he felt the distress in his husband and their eyes met. Henry looked back to Dorian then, and said, "Can you give me a second?" and without waiting for an answer, he shut the front door and hurried into the living room.

"Who was that?" Daniel asked.

"Umm," Henry's tone raised a pitch, "Some kid, he says he's – uh – my...mine and London, and Joyce's brother?"

"Oh, whoa," Daniel kept his voice down, "And you – did you close the door in his face?"

"I didn't know what else to do! What the fuck is happening? Am I really supposed to just believe this kid is my brother after twenty-four years of thinking it was just me and London and Joyce? Should I believe him!?"

"Honestly, though," Daniel said, "Who in their right mind would want to proclaim being TJ's son if it wasn't true?"

"Riiiiight," Henry looked back at the door, "What should I do, should I invite him in? Should I call London and talk to him first? Why did he come to me first?"

"Henry, let the kid in before you make him feel unwanted. After all this time, you would think if he knew you and London and Joyce existed, he'd have stopped by earlier. Talk to him at least, see if he's not lying."

Still stunned by the realization at his doorstep, Henry opened up and Dorian was still there. Really looking at this kid, he surprisingly caught family similarities shared between each Dawncraft child. They all had the same nose and the longer he looked at Dorian, the more he could see how much he resembled Travis even more than London did. "Do you mind if I check something about you really quick?"

"What?" Dorian asked.

Henry pointed to the back of his neck, "My brother and sister and I all have the same birthmarks on the back of our necks. I'm not saying you would be sure to have it too, but–."

"I do," Dorian said, turning around and pulling the collar of his hoody down, and sure enough he had the same small, egg-shaped birthmark at the top of his vertebrae. When he faced Henry, he went on, "I know this is probably a shock to you, but I promise I wouldn't have come here if I didn't already know you weren't my brother."

Henry nodded his understanding and stepped back, "Come in, I guess."

Dorian entered the house upon allowance and looked around, hands tucked in the front pocket of his hoodie. Given his unchanged, stoic face, Henry couldn't much tell what the kid was thinking. Then he laid eyes on the brunette in the living room and stopped.

"Dorian, this is my husband Daniel," Henry said, coming up beside the brunette, and he placed a hand at his backside. "Daniel, this is apparently my younger brother Dorian."

"Wow," Daniel raised his eyebrows in astonishment. "You look just like Travis...without facial hair , but...you're definitely his son."

"You can sit down somewhere if you want," Henry said to the boy. "I think we have a lot to catch up on."

It was hard to tell what Dorian was feeling when it was known Henry was married to another man, or even if he wanted to be in their house anymore. His handsome face was just a blank canvas deprived of all emotion, but he sat down on the loveseat to the left of the sofa, and brought his hands out of the hoodie's pocket.