The O'Brien Way Read online

  With a moan, Moby pulled out of the kiss and climbed off Sean’s lap. “I have something for you,” he said, opening the bedside drawer. He came back with a box of condoms and a new bottle of lube wrapped in a large red ribbon. “Don’t worry. This isn’t your only present,” he said, handing them over.

  “You’re the only present I need.”

  “Really? Because you’ve already got me, so I guess I’ll take the others back tomorrow,” Moby said with a chuckle.

  Sean held up the bottle of lube. “What about this? Can I keep this?”

  Moby crawled back onto Sean’s lap and nodded. “You can do more than keep it, you can use it. Now,” he added.

  Within moments, Sean had the bottle opened and his fingers coated in lube. After readjusting Moby, Sean pushed two fingers slowly inside him. His gaze went to the large bruise on the side of Moby’s neck as he continued to slide his fingers in and out of Moby’s warmth. “There’s something else I promised you for Christmas,” he said before taking the skin of Moby’s neck into his mouth.

  Moby tilted his head to give Sean better access as he began to ride three of Sean’s fingers.

  “Breakfast is ready,” Virginia called through the closed door.

  Moby’s head jerked towards the door. Unprepared for the quick movement, Sean didn’t release his hold on Moby’s skin soon enough. “Ow!” Moby cried, his hand going to his neck.

  “Sorry,” Sean apologised.

  Moby grinned and leant in for a quick kiss. “Are you sure you’re not a vampire?”

  “Promise.” Sean removed his fingers from Moby’s ass and wiped them on the sheets. “I forgot to tell you your mom was making breakfast.”

  Moby scrambled off the bed and grabbed his jeans from the floor. “I wanted to give her her present before breakfast.”

  “I’m sure it can wait until afterwards,” Sean said, confused by Moby’s sudden rush to get out of the bedroom.

  “Yeah, but it won’t be the same.” Moby pulled on a T-shirt and bent over to give Sean another quick kiss. “Get dressed,” he said before grabbing a large box from the corner of the room and racing out of the door.

  Sean crawled off the bed and reached for his jeans. Was Moby’s excitement normal for Christmas morning? He thought of the gifts he’d purchased for Moby and his mother and began to second guess his choices. Sean had gone for practical but surely Moby wouldn’t be so excited to give his mom a practical gift. “Well, shit.”

  * * * *

  Moby set the unwrapped box on the kitchen floor and kissed his mom on the cheek. “Merry Christmas, Mom.”

  Virginia grinned. “I see Sean managed to climb his way out of the hole he dug himself into last night.”

  “Yep. Now, I need you to go into the living room and stay there until I call you in.” He took his mom by the shoulder and gently prodded her out of the room.

  “But breakfast is going to get cold,” she tried to argue.

  “No it won’t. I’ll be quick.” As soon as his mom was gone, Moby opened the box and began to unpack the set of china he’d found at a second-hand shop in town. Although it wasn’t new, it was still in great shape and at a price he could afford. He quickly washed three each of the dinner and bread plates before reaching for the large platter at the bottom of the box.

  Sean came wandering into the kitchen, almost tripping over Jilly. “Can I help you with something?”

  “Yes,” Moby answered in relief and held out the china “You can take those old dishes off the table and replace them with these.” He snapped his fingers at Jilly. “Go lay down.”

  Jilly dutifully rose to her feet and laid back down in her special corner of the room. Moby strode towards the table and quickly removed the serving dishes. After transferring the food, he stepped back and eyed the table, cringeing when he noticed a small chip on one of the bowls. He reached back and turned the bowl until the defect wasn’t as noticeable and smiled. “Okay, Mom.”

  Virginia stepped into the room and gasped. “What have you done?” she asked as her hand came up to cover her mouth.

  “Merry Christmas,” Moby said. He was proud of himself for finally getting his mom the perfect present.

  Virginia dropped into her chair and ran her hand over the delicate yellow rose pattern that rimmed the dinner plate. “I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.”

  “Someday I’ll be able to buy you a new set, but until then, I hope this works.”

  Virginia looked up at Moby with tears in her eyes. “Don’t you dare try to replace these. New or not, they mean more to me than anything else you could ever replace them with.”

  Moby smiled and bent to kiss his mom’s cheek. “I’m glad you like them.” He took a seat and looked up at Sean who was still standing silently by the table. “Something wrong?”

  Sean shifted from foot to foot before finally leaving the room. Moby was about to go after the man he loved when Sean came back into the room, carrying a sack. “I have to apologise for the presents I brought. They aren’t like yours.”

  Moby stood and crossed to Sean. He wrapped his arms around the sad-looking man and kissed him. “Never apologise for a gift. The important thing is that you cared enough to get them in the first place.” He kissed Sean again. “Besides, you’re the best gift I’ve ever received.”

  Sean grinned and held up the sack. “Glad you think so because I’m afraid you’re going to be sorely disappointed in my shopping skills.”

  Moby held out his hand. “Okay, give me my present so you can enjoy your breakfast without worrying so damn much.”

  With a resigned sigh, Sean reached into the sack and pulled out an envelope. “This one’s for you.”

  Moby went back to sit in his chair and opened his gift. He pulled out a sheet of paper with Gill’s Garage printed at the top.

  “It’s a gift certificate. I noticed the other day that your tires were getting pretty bald. I thought maybe it would be safer for you to drive back and forth to work if you had a new set,” Sean explained.

  Moby had to take a deep breath before he could respond. He reached across the table for Sean’s hand. “You were so wrong.”

  “I was?” Sean looked worried.

  Moby nodded. “This is an incredible gift.”

  “You really think so?” Sean’s frown disappeared.

  “Yep, I really do.”

  Sean smiled for the first time since leaving the bedroom. “Cool.” He dug back into the bag and came out with another envelope and handed it to Virginia. “I hope I’m not overstepping anything by giving you this. It’s kind of another IOU like William’s.”

  Virginia chuckled. “You can call him Moby in front of me.”

  “You know?” Moby asked.

  “Why they call you that? No, but I’ve figured out you like it better than sharing Bill’s name,” she explained, easing open the envelope.

  Moby crossed his arms and grinned. His mom’s acceptance was growing at an incredible rate. With each day, she opened her world to views outside those of her husband.

  Virginia pulled a key out of the envelope and looked at Sean. “What’s this?”

  Sean cleared his throat and glanced at Moby before answering Virginia’s question. “I leased Logan’s Cycle Shop. Since their business took off and they built that new building across town, this one’s been sitting empty.”

  “You want me to open a motorcycle shop?” Virginia asked, clearly puzzled.

  Sean chuckled and shook his head. “If you walk out the back door of O’Brien’s, it’s right across the alley. I thought maybe Moby and I could fix it up into like a small house or something. That way when you finish your shift, you can go home and not have to wait for Moby to clock out. Of course I’m not saying you have to move or take it or anything. I just thought…you know…with the way things are going with Moby and I…”

  Moby jumped in to rescue Sean once it became obvious the man was getting flustered. “Are you saying you want the two of us closer to you?”
r />   “Yeah.” Sean exhaled. “There’s even a patch of grass behind it. I talked to Gill and he said we could fence it for Jilly.”

  Moby’s heart melted. Although Sean hadn’t come right out and said it, Moby knew he was paving the way to moving Moby’s family within arm’s reach. Moby glanced at his mother. Although they’d discussed selling the house and moving to CattleValley he wasn’t sure if she was quite ready to make the jump. “What do you think, Mom?”

  Virginia nodded. “I’m agreeable as long as we use any profit from the sale of the house to do the remodelling.” She turned understanding eyes on Sean. “Thank you for caring enough about my son to do this.”

  “It’s not just Moby I care about.” Sean stood and walked around the table to lift Virginia’s hand for a kiss. “I’ve never had a mom. I enjoy watching the two of you interact.”

  Virginia reached up and pulled Sean’s head down for a kiss on the cheek. “You have a mom now.”

  Moby’s eyes rounded. “Uhhh, Mom? That would make Sean and me brothers. Which is kinda gross.”

  Virginia and Sean both stared at Moby for a second before breaking out into laughter. Moby joined in and soon the fight with Sean was forgotten.

  * * * *

  Sean couldn’t wipe the smile from his face as he finished washing the breakfast dishes. He heard the crinkle of Christmas wrapping as Moby cleaned the used paper from the living room floor. All of it, watching Moby unwrap gifts like a kid, sitting beside the small tree, eating breakfast with two people he cared so much about, combined to make it the best Christmas Sean could’ve hoped for.

  “You know you look ridiculous, right?” Moby asked, coming up behind him.

  Sean looked down at his new bright red robe. He hadn’t cared that he was fully dressed, he wanted the gift as close to him as he could get it without scaring Virginia. “It’s keeping me nice and warm.”

  Moby wrapped his arms around Sean’s stomach and kissed the back of his neck. “I’ll keep you warm.”

  Sean dried his hands and turned to embrace the man he loved. “Does that mean you’ll always be there when I step out of the shower?”

  “If you want me to be,” Moby answered.

  “Oh, I want, believe me.” Sean ran his tongue over the fresh bruise on Moby’s neck.

  “I have one more present for you.”

  Sean gave one last kiss to the hickey and pulled back to look into Moby’s green eyes. “You’ve given me Christmas. What else could there possibly be?”

  “Dinner for the three of us at The Canoe. I know you don’t normally go there, but Mom’s never been and I thought…”

  Sean shut Moby up with a kiss. He swirled his tongue around Moby’s mouth, tasting coffee and syrup. After everything Moby and Virginia had given him, he wouldn’t deny either of them a damn thing. “What time should we leave?”

  “Reservations are for seven, but I thought we could leave early. Maybe spend some time in that big bed of yours? Mom said something about baking pies this afternoon so I’m sure we could talk her into doing that at O’Brien’s.”

  Mention of the pub brought back the events of the previous night. “First I’ll need to clean up the mess I made.”

  “What mess?” Moby asked, peppering kisses to Sean’s neck.

  The feel of Moby’s hard cock pressed against him made Sean even more ashamed of his actions. “I kinda lost it after you left. There are broken dishes and food scraps all over the kitchen.” He cupped the back of Moby’s neck and tilted his head up until they were once again eye to eye. “I was wrong to say what I did to you. I knew it even as it came out of my mouth. All my life I’ve seen waiters and waitresses mauled by customers. I used to get so damn mad at my dad for allowing it to happen, but I’ve figured out what he must’ve always known. Good wait staff know when to tell their customers to back off.”

  Moby nodded.

  “I won’t say I like seeing other men touch you, but I know you’re good at your job, so I’ll try not to let it get to me.”

  Moby rimmed Sean’s lips with his tongue. “You just keep marking me, and I’ll guarantee those guys will get the idea that I’m already taken.”

  “Oh, I can do better than that. I see men and women making out all day long. So I’m not going to deprive myself of your lips any longer. If I want to kiss you, by God, I’m going to, no matter who’s around.”

  “I like the sound of that,” Moby agreed.

  * * * *

  “Sorry about the mess,” Sean said, holding the kitchen door open for Virginia.

  “What mess?” she asked.

  “Huh?” Sean walked into the kitchen and was greeted by a spotless room. A large gift wrapped box sat on the prep island. He realised it had to have been the work of his father. The gesture of kindness after everything he’d said to the man genuinely touched him. It also made him feel about two feet tall.

  Sean glanced over his shoulder at Moby and Virginia, who were standing quietly just inside the door. “My dad must’ve done it before he left.”

  Moby pointed towards the present wrapped in birthday paper. “You should open it.”

  The way he said it caused Sean to ask, “Do you know what it is?”

  “I think so.” Moby moved to Sean’s side and kissed him. “I’m gonna run over with Mom to see her new place.” He squeezed Sean’s hand. “Take all the time you need.”

  “You don’t have to leave,” Sean tried to argue.

  Moby shook his head. “This isn’t about me. It’s between you and your dad. I’ll be around if you need me.”

  With those words, Moby ushered Virginia from the room. Sean was left staring at the first birthday gift his father had ever given him. It took him several minutes to gather the courage to approach the box.

  Taped to the lid was an envelope with his name printed on it. After sliding Jay’s stool over to the island, Sean took a deep breath and opened the envelope. It was a single page letter written in his father’s handwriting.

  Sean,

  As you must know by now, I was able to book an early flight, but before I go, there are a few things I feel I need to tell you. Let me start off by saying how incredibly proud of you I am. You’ve grown into a good man despite my mistakes, and I can only believe your mother’s spirit had something to do with that.

  I hope you were able to patch things up with your young man. Please don’t be angry with him for contacting me. I’m so very glad he did. He asked me to provide you with some of the items in the enclosed box. I guess I never realised how much I had deprived you of, until he explained your need to get to know your mother, even after all these years.

  I’ve enclosed copies of photographs and a few other personal items that I thought would mean something to you. They are yours to keep. I believe she would have wanted you to have them.

  I hope one day you can forgive me, but I know we’re nowhere near that point yet. My biggest hope for you is that you’ve found in Moby what I lost so many years ago. Spend each day thankful and each night warm in each other’s arms.

  I know I’ve never told you, but I do love you.

  Take care of yourself and those you love,

  Dad

  Sean wiped his face and set the letter on the counter before opening the box. The first item he pulled out was an old baby book. His. Sean hadn’t remembered ever seeing it before and he seriously doubted there was anything inside, but it was still nice of his dad to send it. He opened the cover and was surprised to find a picture of a pregnant woman. Underneath the picture, in fancy cursive writing it said, ‘Evie at 7 months’.

  Sean traced the swell of his mother’s stomach before focusing on green eyes so much like his own. The heavy dark circles underneath his mom’s eyes were the first sign that her health wasn’t unaffected by the pregnancy. He tried to put himself in his dad’s shoes for a moment. What would it feel like to watch the person you loved getting weaker and weaker before your eyes? Sean suspected he would begin to resent the cause of the failing heal
th just as his dad so obviously had. Sean swallowed the sob that threatened to erupt.

  He continued to flip through the first couple of pages. It was obvious his mom was excited about his upcoming birth. Despite the way she had to have felt physically, her writing showed no signs of being anything but happy. When he reached the section about his birth, Sean wasn’t surprised to find the rest of the book blank.

  Setting the book on the counter, he pulled out a stack of photographs. Although he didn’t know the woman in the pictures, each one made him smile. He was sure it had something to do with the joy radiating from the incredibly beautiful woman. There were several snapshots of his mom and brothers laughing while playing in a large pile of colourful leaves. His brothers looked like strangers to him. Their faces were still basically the same but he couldn’t remember ever seeing them so…happy.

  Sean set the pictures down without looking through the rest of them. He had no doubt some families drew closer after a tragedy like his had suffered, but surely there were others, like his own, that never recovered after such a death. He suddenly understood why his family hadn’t celebrated Christmas or his birthday. Sure it would’ve been nice if his family had been happy about the day he was born, but through the pictures, he was able to understand it was a yearly reminder of the worst day of their lives.

  Sean reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He tried to call his dad, but it went straight to voicemail. “Hi, Dad. Ummm, I wanted to apologise for the way things happened last night, and to tell you that I think I understand a little more now. Uhh, anyway, give me a call if you want. And despite everything, I’m really glad you came.”

  Sean hung up and thought briefly about calling his brothers. In the end, he decided to wait. Maybe a call on New Year’s Day would be more appropriate. Sean stuck the phone back into his pocket and went in search of the man he loved.

  Chapter Nine

  After an intense session of lovemaking, Sean left a dozing Moby to run downstairs to check on Virginia. “How’re you…” He skidded to a halt when he realised what Virginia had been up to. A partially decorated birthday cake sat in the centre of the counter.