Roll With the Punches

  “Absolutely,” he and Jeff said in unison.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Monday morning, Brandon was working on a migraine as he drove to work. He knew Ed would be calling him today at some point to go over the paperwork. Already, Brandon wanted to call Tracey and bitch her out over this, for playing him that day on the phone when he’d actually felt sorry for her.

  Then he remembered the look on her face Saturday.

  She was not a willing participant in what happened.

  Still, it didn’t exonerate her. She was responsible for what happened in her household the way he was responsible for what happened in his, and Tracey was failing their daughter.

  I need to let Ed handle it.

  He could tell Jeff and Stuart wanted to unload on Tracey as well, and he didn’t blame them. All day Sunday, they’d been extra attentive to Emma, doing stuff with her, helping her with dinner in the kitchen, trying to cheer her up and make her laugh.

  This wasn’t just impacting him and his daughter—it was impacting his husbands’ lives, too. He could roll with the punches just fine, but when it came to protecting the people he loved, he wouldn’t hesitate to flatten someone else in the process.

  By the time he got home that night, he was fighting what was starting to feel like a full-blown migraine and felt ready to collapse. Stuart, Emma, and Grace were in the kitchen getting dinner ready when he arrived.

  “Wow, Sir, you don’t look good,” Stuart said when Brandon walked into the kitchen to take some ibuprofen.

  “Headache. I think I’m going to go lie down for a little while before dinner.”

  “Jeff’s in there now. He’s not feeling good.”

  “Sick?”

  “He thinks he’s coming down with something.”

  “Terrific.”

  He walked down the hall, a little surprised to find the room completely dark and quiet when he opened the door. Jeff usually liked to nap with a TV on.

  Quietly closing the door behind him, Brandon headed for the bathroom to grab a shower when one of the bedside lamps switched on. “Master?”

  He turned, his own headache momentarily forgotten when he got a look at Jeff. “Hey, are you okay?”

  “Everything hurts. I think I picked up something from the trip.”

  “That was two weeks ago, buddy.”

  It was nearly ninety out, and yes, they had the AC running, but Jeff was bundled under a blanket. Brandon leaned in and touched Jeff’s forehead with the back of his hand, but he didn’t feel feverish.

  “One of the guys at work, his kids are sick. He had to miss today because they couldn’t go to day camp and his wife had to work. Maybe I caught it from him.”

  “Did you take your temperature?”

  “No, but I took some ibuprofen when I got home.”

  Brandon found the digital thermometer he used for Emma and took his temp. It was 99.8, so not necessarily a fever, unless the ibuprofen he’d taken earlier had already helped lower it.

  “We’ll keep checking that.”

  “Do you want me to sleep in the other bedroom tonight so I don’t get you sick?”

  “No, buddy. If you’ve got it, we’ve likely already got it.”

  Brandon took a shower, starting it on cool at first and holding his head under the spray, hoping to help pop his headache. If Jeff was down, he wanted to be able to help care for him. He got these tension headaches sometimes, usually after a massive blow up with Tracey.

  No shocker there, then.

  He hadn’t had one this bad in a while, though.

  He felt a little better after that. When he left the bathroom, Jeff was asleep again. So instead he turned off the lamp and returned to the kitchen.

  “Better?” Stuart asked.

  “A little. We’ll see how he is in the morning. I might make him go to a walk-in clinic or something. Grace, I think after dinner you should probably go home. The two of you might want to hang out at your house the next couple of days. And make sure you’re washing your hands, too.”

  “Yes, Pop.” She and Em exchanged a glance.

  “Well, the last thing you two need is to get sick.”

  Jeff didn’t even wake up to eat dinner. But Tuesday morning, while Brandon had planned to order him to go get checked out, Jeff’s fever seemed to have broken overnight and he claimed to be feeling better.

  Emma had already left for her morning swim practice, and Brandon and Stuart stared at Jeff in the kitchen.

  “You sure?” Brandon asked.

  “Yeah. Maybe it was a delayed reaction to the stress of Saturday or something.” He shrugged. “I’ll live. Oh, did the attorney get with you yesterday?”

  “Yeah. He’s already working on it. More money to throw at Tracey’s poor life choices.” He sipped his coffee.

  Stuart nodded. “Yesterday, before you both got home, and while Emma was out of the room, Grace told me Emma is pissed. I mean, massively pissed.”

  “She hugged Tracey when we left,” Brandon said.

  “Yeah, but now that she’s had time to think about it, she’s ready to cut her mom totally off. Emma unfriended her again on Facebook, which Grace said really made Emma upset. She feels like she started to trust her again and got smacked upside the head for it.”

  “I know how she feels. Sorry life’s a little crazy right now.”

  Stuart smiled. “It’s still a way better life than I had before I met you, so I’m happy.”

  Brandon set his coffee mug aside and pulled the men in for their group hug. “I guess unless she goes to Grace’s overnight, we’re back to no nakey weekends.”

  “There’s going to be a private party at Cali’s house in a couple of weeks,” Stuart said. “We RSVP’d as maybes.”

  “Isn’t that going to be the weekend after I’m out of town, though?”

  “Oh. Shoot.”

  He ruffled both their hair. “You two can still go and have fun. I’ll stay home with Em.” He smiled. “Jeff’s in charge.”

  Jeff waggled his eyebrows at Stuart. “Oooh, baby. Are you in trouble now.”

  “Don’t break our beta before I get home, though. But, yeah, feel free to RSVP as going.”

  On his way to work, Brandon’s cell rang. He almost answered it without looking, but fortunately spotted the caller ID before he did.

  Pat.

  He sent it to voice mail, his good mood immediately ruined. No way in hell would he talk to that sonofabitch.

  At the next light, he thumbed the voice mail alert and put it in speaker mode.

  “Listen to me, you better not be thinking about taking us back to court. You do that, we’ll be telling everyone you’re a pervert, and living with two guys, and you’ll lose custody of Emma. Your little fuckboys will lose their jobs, too. So you might as well hand her over to us now and this can stay quiet.”

  Stunned, he played it again before the first giggles broke free. He had to pull over, he started laughing so hard. So hard he could barely save the voice mail as an audio file to e-mail it to Ed.

  Then he texted him. Check your e-mail. I’ll wait.

  Ed called him about a minute later. “You have got to be fucking shitting me.”

  “No!” Brandon snorted. “I take it that’s the stench of desperation I smell?”

  “Most likely. I told her attorney last night that we were going to drag her ass back to court for full child support if she didn’t sign the modification. What the hell does he think he’s going to achieve?”

  “I don’t know, but I told my VP months ago I was living with Stu and Jeff. He and his husband and their wife weren’t shocked at all.”

  Ed snorted. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. He’s based out of Atlanta, but I’ve known that for a couple of years. He doesn’t make a big deal about it. Most people don’t know. And both Jeff’s boss and Stuart’s boss know about us and don’t care. In fact, Stuart’s boss is Walter’s ex-father-in-law. You know, Walt and Holly?”

  “No shit! Kimbra’s fa
ther?”

  “Yeah. He knows some of Walt’s friends are poly and he doesn’t care.”

  “Kimbra’s an attorney. Damned good one. We’ve worked together before.” Ed laughed. “So I get to add attempted extortion to the list of things we’re going to nail his balls to the wall for. Nice.”

  “Part of me feels sorry for Tracey.”

  “Don’t you dare, Brandon.”

  “I said part. Not a very large part, either, but I think she’s backed herself into a corner and ended up with an abusive asshat.”

  “Yeah? Well, people in hell want cold water, too. Doesn’t mean it’s your job to take care of them.”

  “I didn’t say it was. But she’s the mother of my child.”

  “Don’t you go soft on me.”

  “I’m not. I just wish she’d grow a pair of her own and leave the asshole. This is only hurting Emma.”

  “If people like her got smart, people like me wouldn’t have as many billable hours to charge.”

  “True.”

  Brandon opted to keep this to himself though, for now. When he got off the phone, he continued on to work.

  Except…throughout the day, he grew more uneasy. He’d be going out of town in less than a week, and Tracey knew that.

  In fact, she might have told Pat that.

  Scratch that, he had to assume she’d told Pat that.

  I’ll wait until we go to bed to tell them. I don’t need Emma hearing this and freaking out.

  * * * *

  Jeff stared at the fuse box for a minute, confused, trying to remember what he’d been about to do.

  Dammit.

  Maybe he wasn’t feeling as good as he thought he was. He’d been taking ibuprofen all day, and the aches and pains weren’t as bad, but he still didn’t feel…right.

  At lunch he stopped by the store and grabbed some Gatorade to keep himself hydrated, and by the time he returned home that afternoon he almost felt back to normal. A little achy still, but not a fraction as bad as he had felt the night before.

  Except now Brandon seemed to not feel well.

  Shit. Hope I didn’t give it to him.

  Once they’d said good-night to Emma and had turned in for the night, Brandon finally confessed and told them about the voice mail from Pat.

  Jeff wanted to drive over there and punch the fucker. “Is there anything we can do?”

  “Don’t talk about this in front of Emma, for starters. But I’ll call Ed and ask if there’s any other paperwork we need to have in place before I go out of town, in case Tracey tries some sort of bullshit.”

  “I’ve got to tell you, Brandon,” Stuart said, breaking protocols, “I’m finding it hard to be civil to Tracey if I’m ever forced to be around her again. I cannot guarantee you I won’t yell at her.”

  “I won’t blame you, but please try not to do it around Emma.”

  “I’ll try. But I won’t promise more than that.”

  Brandon kissed him. “Thank you. Hopefully she won’t be at the swim meet next week. Now I wish I hadn’t told her about that.”

  “It’s a public place. If they try any bullshit, we’ll have plenty of witnesses.”

  “Hell,” Jeff said, “we’ll have Grace. That girl is like a one-person wrecking team. I still can’t believe she thought to give Emma her old cell phone to film with.”

  “Let’s just hope they never take one of Tilly’s supervillain training courses when they’re older,” Brandon joked.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Sunday night, Brandon stared at the bed, trying to figure if there was anything he’d forgotten before he started packing. He hated having to check a bag, but being in Indianapolis from early Monday morning until Friday night meant he wouldn’t be able to fit everything into a carryon. He had to go to the corporate offices for annual meetings all the district managers attended. Before now, Emma usually stayed with Tracey.

  Now, she’d be there with Stuart and Jeff.

  Stuart walked in. “Need any help packing, Master?”

  “No, I’ve got it.” He pulled Stuart in for a hug and kissed him. “You two behave while I’m gone.” He smiled. “No masturbating this week. I won’t forbid you from sex, but you have to make each other come. Jeff’s in charge while I’m gone. I want you to be a good boy for him.” He smacked Stuart’s butt through his shorts. “Maybe let him work you up to the next size butt plug.”

  Stuart’s DP training was still ongoing, but slower than anticipated, in fits and starts without as much Emma-free time as they’d thought they’d have.

  “Yes, Master.” He rested his head against Brandon’s chest. “Is Emma really okay being here with the two of us?”

  “Why wouldn’t she be?”

  “I just wanted to make sure. I don’t want to do anything to rock the boat.”

  “She loves you both. Don’t forget about Wednesday.”

  “I already told work I need to leave early. So did Jeff. We’ll film it and be there in case Tracey shows up to start trouble.” He let Brandon go so he could finish packing. “Can I ask something?”

  “Of course.”

  “Have you noticed Jeff still acts like he’s not feeling good?”

  Brandon started to say no when he really thought about it. “Come to think of it, yeah.”

  “And he’s been tired a lot lately.”

  Shit. “When I get back, we’ll talk to him about it and ask him to schedule a check-up. Pay attention while I’m gone and see how he is.”

  * * * *

  “Yes, Master.” Stuart was more nervous about Jeff’s health than he was about Emma. Grace had already informed the men that she would be coming over every day to help Emma around the house and to make sure the men were eating good meals while Brandon was gone.

  She was almost like a little Domme in training or something.

  She’ll make some subby guy happy when she’s older and discovers boys.

  Early tomorrow morning, he’d be driving Brandon to the airport and then heading straight to work. He had a key and was now helping his boss train a new electrician they’d hired.

  How’d I go from the new guy to being one of the old-timers?

  He didn’t know, but it felt damned good.

  A family who loved him, a job he was good at and enjoyed, working for a fair and pleasant boss…

  Some days he wondered when the other shoe would drop, except going on a year now since the three of them had first met, and life was only getting better.

  Monday morning, even though Brandon told Stuart he didn’t have to go in with him, he still walked Brandon into the airport and all the way until they had to say good-bye at the security checkpoint.

  Brandon hugged him tightly. “Be a good boy for Jeff while I’m gone, okay? Take good care of him and Emma for me.”

  “I will, Sir.”

  Monday and Tuesday nights were more than a little lonely without Brandon there between them. Stuart could tell Jeff wasn’t feeling well and didn’t pressure him to do anything, either, even though Monday night Jeff pinned him down to the bed and jacked him off, and then Tuesday night he held Stuart down in a sixty-nine and fucked Stuart’s face, driving him deep into subspace, before sucking a load from him.

  Yet it was like Jeff was…putting more of an effort into it than Stuart thought he should.

  Almost like Jeff was trying to prove he was feeling okay despite Stuart’s instincts telling him something was really wrong.

  Wednesday afternoon, Jeff and Stuart rode to the pool together. Emma and Grace were just getting out of Emma’s car when the men pulled in. Emma had her swim gear bag slung over her shoulder and Grace was in her ever-present floppy hat and sunglasses. They waited for them at the front entrance, giving them hugs when they walked up.

  “Thanks for coming, guys,” Emma said.

  “We wouldn’t miss this,” Jeff said

  “I have to go change and get ready.”

  “We’ll see you out there,” Jeff said.

  There w
ere already some parents there. As Grace and the men debated where to sit to keep her most out of the late-day sun, Stuart was looking at the bleachers when Jeff turned.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Jeff muttered.

  Stuart turned, saw where he was looking, and then spotted what Jeff was looking at.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

  Jeff arched an eyebrow at him. “I already said that.”

  “I was agreeing with you.”

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Grace darkly muttered.

  They both turned to her, and she shrugged. “Everyone else was saying it.”

  Tracey was walking toward them. Alone, thank goodness.

  She hesitated, then approached. “Hi.”

  Stuart and Jeff both crossed their arms over their chests. “Hello,” they said in unison.

  Stuart would later swear that Grace growled under her breath when she crossed her arms, but she didn’t actually say anything.

  Stuart let Jeff handle Tracey. If he did it, he was likely to tell her to go fuck the fuckity fucking hell off, and to mightily fuck herself while in the process.

  She looked around. “Where’s Brandon?”

  “Work trip,” they said, again in unison. Jeff glanced down at him and Stuart decided to also let him handle the talking.

  Tracey relaxed a little. “Oh. That’s right. Okay. I just wanted to watch.”

  Jeff nodded. “Free country.”

  Tracey’s face turned dark red, which Brandon had told them was one of her tells. “I’m really sorry about what happened. That was not my idea, I swear.”

  “Doesn’t really matter whose idea it was,” Jeff said. “Still a shitty thing to do.”

  Grace growled again, louder that time.

  “Where’s Emma?” Tracey asked.

  “Locker room,” Jeff said. “Changing.”

  She offered them a hesitant smile. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”

  Stuart was tempted to say yes, they fucking minded, but Jeff apparently anticipated that and reached out with a hand gripping Stuart’s shoulder to keep him quiet. “Sure, that’s fine.”