Poker Night; The Big Reveal

Jonah sensed the mood at the table shift instantly and he felt an uncomfortable tightness on the back of his neck.  He watched Sam Bennett’s smile dissolve into a frown and watched Marty’s eyes fixate determinedly at his cards and nowhere else.  He heard Len suck in air and watched him shake his head and focus on the dark red wine in his glass.  Jonah looked at each of the men in turn and found them all suddenly tense, discomfited.  Ben Sinclair was blushing like a school girl and pretending to drink his whiskey sour, but his friend was openly staring beyond Jonah’s head, a slightly appreciative gleam in his eye that made Jonah’s fingers instinctively curl into fists. Next to him Caleb’s mouth was unashamedly agape as he was turned around in his seat, and Nolan swiveled to look and then quickly swiveled back,  pushing air through his lips.

Jonah knew it was Viola.  He didn’t want to see what, exactly, had caused the atmosphere to change so rapidly and so dramatically.

“You guys need anything?” She asked from behind him in a voice that made his skin crawl.

There was a ringing silence.  Several of the men looked at Jonah and then looked away.

“Honey, what are you wearing?!”  Exclaimed Caleb, at last breaking the horrendous silence.

Jonah still couldn’t bear to look.  He swallowed and tried to lick his lips but his mouth felt like cotton.

“My PJs” she chirped innocently.  “Is there any pizza left?”

Ben’s friend West hopped out of his seat and over to the side table where the pizza boxes were stacked.  “Pepperoni and some pineapple?”  He offered, a very charming smile on his handsome young face.  The boy’d had a fair amount of Jonah’s alcohol already this evening so Jonah tried to allow him some slack for hitting on his underage daughter.  He had to try very hard not to dive over the poker table and tear the boy apart.

“Thanks.  I love pineapple.”  She cooed.

West cocked an eyebrow and picked up the half-empty box of pineapple pizza. 

On either side of him he could feel Nolan and Caleb watching him expectantly.

West hadn’t made it three full strides toward Viola when Jonah rose from his seat.

The boy slowed, watching Jonah carefully.  He opened his mouth once or twice, licked his lips and then closed his mouth firmly.  With one hand he extended the pizza box toward the poker table, opting for the much safer course of action.  Ben snatched it from his friend, looking more than a little relieved his friend had enough good sense left not to cross a man about his daughter, and passed it dutifully to Caleb, who was a safe party by virtue of being Viola’s uncle.

Jonah kept his gaze as mild as he could manage and watched West unblinkingly until the young man was once again seated at the table.  Jonah could see Caleb looking from Viola to Jonah to West and back again.

“Here honey.”  He finally said quietly, standing to bring her the pizza.

Jonah reached his hand out for the box and Caleb hesitated a moment before handing it over.

With his free hand Jonah adjusted his glasses, and scratched the side of his nose before hitching a smile into place.  He looked around the table.  “Deal me out for a few hands fellas, I’ll be right back.” 

Marty nodded, still staring fixedly at his cards.  “No problem.”

“Me too.”  Said Nolan, standing.

“No.”  Jonah said, turning to meet his brother’s concerned gaze.  “No need.”  He said firmly.  Then smiled.  And took a breath.

“You sure?” Nolan asked in a low whisper, stealing a glance behind them at his niece.

Jonah closed his eyes for a shade longer than a blink and when he opened them he appeared mild and in-control.  “Absolutely.”

And then he turned around to face her. 

Jonah felt his spine stiffen and his pulse drummed in his ears.  Her pajamas?  The girl was wearing an almost undersized pair of boy-short cut underwear and one of his thin white cotton tank undershirts, and little else.  The most covered-up parts of her were the knee-high striped socks she wore.  He felt himself sway just a little and Nolan‘s hand was on his shoulder to steady him. 

“I could bet for you while you’re out of the room.”  Nolan offered lightly, trying valiantly to cover Jonah’s unsteadiness with humor.

A few of the guys laughed.  Jonah couldn’t manage to play along.  He could see the flush of her nipples right through the paper-thin cotton, make out not only the exact shape and size but the hue.  He could see the tantalizing under-curve of her breasts as if there was no fabric there at all.  And so could every man in the room.

Worse, the blush-pink boy-shorts were so skimpy and form-fitting that every soft curve below her waist was outlined in graphic detail, and, though she was facing him full-front he knew then that when she turned around a good portion of her high, firm buttocks would be on display for the whole room.

His jaw clenched and unclenched and he finally dragged his eyes to her face.  “Can I have the pizza?”  She asked sweetly, an innocent smile playing across her lips.  He realized she was wearing lipgloss and mascara too. 

He measured his pace while he walked toward her.  He knew he needed to be very, very careful with all those eyes pretending not to watch how this little episode played out.

“Of course.”  He said in an unperturbed and very dad-like voice.  “Let’s take it to the kitchen though.”

She pouted just a little bit and since his back was to the group he fixed her with an expression of deadly warning.  She raised her eyebrows and the mischievous glint in her eyes melted away.  “Ok.”  She said meekly and made a little wave at the room.  “Bye guys.”

After a breath’s hesitation a weak chorus of overly-polite goodbyes sounded behind his back.  He glared at her and gestured for her to turn and move.

Her eyes slid to the ground as she spun in place and marched out of the den.  He slammed his eyes shut for just a moment.  He’d been right about the view of her ass. Jesus Christ.

“Be right back.”  He managed pleasantly without turning around, and removed himself and the pineapple pizza from the den.  He prayed Nolan and Caleb would distract the guests, and keep them there.  He couldn’t be alone in this house with her, not now, not like this.

He followed on her heels to the kitchen where she finally spun to face him, putting one hand on the kitchen island and one defiantly on her hip.

“I want you to take this to your room and you’re to stay there for the duration of the evening.”  He said, struggling to control his temper.  He thrust the box at her.

“I’m not hungry.” She said with a pout in her voice.

He swallowed.  “You understand the way you’re dressed is completely unacceptable.”  He said quietly.  “You know that, don’t you?”

He thrust her chin out stubbornly.  “I’m in my pajamas.”  She insisted.

“You want men to stare at you?”  He asked, his voice tight and strained.

She closed her eyes. She didn’t answer.

“Viola?”  He pressed in an urgent whisper.  “Do you?  Is that what you want?  You may as well have walked in there wearing nothing at all.”  He tossed the pizza box onto the kitchen island and she jumped as it slapped resoundingly on the granite, her eyes fluttering open.  He ran both his hands through his hair several times and paced the length of the kitchen.

Neither spoke for what felt like a very long, tense, few moments.

“I just, I just…”  but she trailed off and without looking he knew she was about to burst into tears.

Fuck.  “Dammit Vi.”  He said, but he didn’t sound angry.  He sounded apologetic and he felt terribly guilty.  He crossed to her and pulled her into his arms and she half-sobbed a strangled moan into his chest.  Her tiny body shook with the effort of trying to weep silently and he rubbed her back soothingly.  She was confused, he scolded himself, she was vulnerable and lost and sick, and instead of taking care of her like he ought to have done, he’d tucked his tail between his legs and put up as many barricades as he could dream up to keep her at a distance.  He’d driven her to this stunt.  “I’m sorry.”  He said, his voice heavy with emotion.  He felt his throat close with a knot of unshed tears and he cleared his throat several times to try and dislodge it.  “I’m so sorry.” He repeated.

She shook her head back and forth against his chest and sniffled.  “I’m sorry!”  She choked out through muffled, racking sobs.

He kissed the top of her head and the smell of her shampoo brought an onslaught of explicit images to his mind, and though he squeezed his eyes tightly and shook his head he couldn’t make them disappear.  Suddenly he became acutely aware of where the curves of her small body pressed against the planes of his and he washed over hot and cold.  Every point at which their bodies touched had become erogenous zones, and the brush of her elbow over his forearm, or the slightest touch of her knee against his pant leg became instantly and profoundly erotic.

He panicked and took her by her shoulders and firmly pushed her away from his chest, unpeeling her form from his.  She looked bewildered and bereft.  God Dammit.  It wasn’t her fault he couldn’t master his own impulses.  He was punishing her when he needed to be nurturing her.  “I’m so sorry, sweetie.”  He repeated desperately and tried hard to see his little girl in front of him and not a scantily clad, vulnerable vixen.  “I need you to go upstairs and,”  He glanced at her barely-concealed body and wished he hadn’t. “And, and, and, Oh God, and put something else on, something appropriate, and and and”  Her eyes, brimming with more tears, made him want to wrap her up, lift her in his arms and carry her up to her room.  He closed his eyes deliberately.  “And please, please don’t come down again tonight—ok?” 

Of course it wasn’t ok.  They needed to talk.  They needed to process.  He needed to help her understand and navigate, and he was a fucking miserable coward for asking her to go upstairs and sit in her room like some naughty delinquent while he surrounded himself with company, drowned out the pain and shame with booze, and cards, and friends.

“If I change, can I come watch you play?”  She sounded so earnest, so hopeful.  But he remembered the expressions on his friends’ faces and firmly shook his head. 

“Not tonight love.”  He said gently. 

She looked at the ground.  “Will you come up and see me before you go to bed?”

He winced.  He was an awful father.  He hated himself.  “Do you want that?”  He asked, hoping he didn’t sound as frightened as he felt.

She nodded meekly and he dropped his hands from her shoulders in a sort-of defeat.

“Then of course I will.”  He said flatly.  “But it might be very late.”

She gave him a weak smile.  “That’s ok.”  She whispered. And then she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.  He felt almost winded by the sudden surge and rocked back with the impact, but then wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug.  They pulled away from each other very slowly, melted away really, and their eyes met.  He kissed her forehead and met her eyes again.  Then he kissed her cheek and once more found her eyes with his.  They were each holding their breath.

He couldn’t know why or how but suddenly he was kissing her full on the lips.  She made a little gasp of surprise and hurried to meet and return the kiss.  She smelled like lavender and vanilla and her lips tasted sweet from the gloss, and they felt so soft and supple and welcoming beneath his own.  She buried her fingers into his hair and he pulled her against him, one hand splayed across almost the entirety of her small upper back, the other placed possessively between her lower back and the crest of her ass.

He plied her lips apart and slid his tongue into her mouth and almost lost his mind when her small tongue met his eagerly. 

A voice from the dining room just beyond the kitchen door made him recoil from her instantaneously and he was on the other side of the kitchen island in the space of a heartbeat. 

“Jones?”  It was Nolan.

Jonah panicked. He wiped franticly at his lips with a shaking hand, trying to scrub off any trace of her lipgloss.  His heart was thudding wildly beneath his breast and he found he couldn’t look at his daughter.  What the fuck was he doing?  He felt ready to collapse, ready to throw himself on his brother’s mercy and confess everything.

There was a knock on the double doors between the kitchen and the dining room.  “Jones?”  This inquiry was quieter.  “Everything ok in there?”

Jonah scrambled to undo the buttons of his button-down and ripped the shirt off himself, leaving him in his t-shirt.  He tossed the shirt to Viola with one hand and with the other he tucked the tip of his erection under his belt just before the door opened a fraction of the way.

“Yeah, we’re fine, you can come in.”  Jonah said, a little unevenly.

Nolan stepped in carefully, looking from Viola to Jonah and back again.  She didn’t look at him.  She was buttoning up the shirt, which was dark with her tears on one side and streaked with the dark gray of her smudged mascara. She was almost swimming in it, it was so large on her petite frame.

Caleb stepped in after Nolan and Jonah wanted to curse.  “Don’t be too hard on her Jonah,” His youngest brother said sympathetically, seeing the tell-tale rings of mascara around her eyes, the blotchy cheeks and the reddened whites of her eyes.  “It’s not her fault—those skimpy things are in fashion right now.”

Jonah raised his eyebrows.  Caleb gave his niece a supportive little rub on her shoulder.  “And God knows she’s got the body to pull it off.”  He joked.  Viola smiled even as she blushed.

“Caleb she’s fifteen.”  Nolan said so that Jonah wouldn’t have to.  This dimmed both Viola and Caleb’s expressions.

“Prudes” He said in a stage whisper, and she couldn’t suppress the giggle that bubbled up.

“Go ahead upstairs sweetheart.”  Jonah said quietly, staring at the near-empty fruitbowl on the center of the kitchen island.

“Goodnight hun- oh, don’t forget your pizza.”  Caleb smiled warmly and handed her the box helpfully.

“Thanks.”  She said quietly to her uncle.  Then, “Is it ok if I watch tv in your room?”  Jonah met her eyes for a fraction of a moment.  The last thing he needed was for her to be waiting in his bed when the house emptied.

“There’s nothing wrong with your TV.”  He said mildly and he heard Nolan suck in a breath.

She shrugged.  “Alright.”  She stood on her tiptoes to kiss her uncle Caleb.  “’Night.” She said.  Jonah watched her move to Nolan.  “’Night, Uncle Nolan.”  She said as he accepted her half-hug.

He nodded, tight-lipped.

She looked for a minute across the island but didn’t close the distance between them, for which he was enormously grateful.  “’Night Dad.” She said before turning and exiting, pizza in hand.

Both his brothers turned to him as one, their expressions almost identical.  Jonah removed his glasses and carefully squeezed the cotton edge of his tee shirt around each lens in turn, buffing out smudges.  He peered at them, deciding there were yet a few spots and he repeated the process.

“Are you about to explode?” Asked Caleb as Jonah moved to repeat the process a third time.

Jonah gave a short laugh.  “She was so embarrassed when she realized it was see-through.”  He said, and he heard his voice as if it hadn’t come out of him.  He sounded pulled, tight.

Nolan and Caleb exchanged a glance.  “Should we call it a night, d’you think?”  Nolan asked bluntly at the same time Caleb added “She knew it was see-through.”

Jonah’s head snapped up and he hastily retuned his glasses to his face.  “No, no no no, not at all- why?  Are you tired?”  He chose to pretend he hadn’t heard Caleb’s perceptive observation.

Nolan looked like he had an earful to give Jonah but he exhaled a long breath instead and then said calmly:  “Well, I think Len and the good Doctor should be just about done with their smoke break, so d’you wanna head back in there?”

Jonah nodded and started for the door.

“I love it when people do things they shouldn’t” Caleb mused, and Jonah slowed. 

“What?”  His mouth dried up again.

“I mean Sam?  A Doctor taking a cigarette break?”  He grinned.  “There’s something so forbidden about it, isn’t there?” He laughed.  He sounded as though he found it fairly erotic too.

Jonah forced an approximation of a smile. “Yeah.”

He let Caleb precede him and as he was stepping over the threshold to the dining room Nolan caught him under the elbow for the second time that evening.  “Jonah?” 

Jonah couldn’t meet his eyes, not just then, not yet.  His lips were still tingling and his tongue still felt the ghost of hers and he knew he couldn’t look at Nolan.  “Hmm?”

Nolan was quiet for a long moment and then released Jonah’s elbow.  “Nevermind.”  He said.

Jonah nodded, still looking at the ground and not at his brother’s face, and he proceeded through the darkened dining room toward the den.

Poker Night; Ben Sinclair

Ben liked Jonah Delaney, he really did, but the prospect of spending an evening playing poker with his future father-in-law always made his a little jumpy and uptight.  He’d been part of the Poker-Night group for about two years now, but he tried not to make it to every game.  He wasn’t technically related to the Delaneys yet, so it was easy enough to make excuses, send his regrets.  But he went often enough to keep Avalon happy.  And to make it look like he enjoyed the game nights.

But he’d never been over for a poker night without Avalon also present somewhere in the house.  The women never joined the men, not for poker; they played other games and such but left the men to their devices for poker nights, but at least she was there.  At least she was around.  She’d bring more pretzels in sometimes, and smile encouragingly, and give him a kiss on the cheek.  And sometimes he’d sit out a hand or two to ‘use the restroom’ and use the time to fondle her and make-out with her under her father’s roof.  That always seemed to make her hotter than hell.  Of course he’d never actually had sex with her in her father’s house; that was a line he refused to cross despite her very convincing arguments and coaxing to the contrary.  But hell yes he’d kiss her till she was desperate and take her nipples in his mouth and even reach his hand into her panties to feel how turned on she was.  He considered that his little reward for enduring poker night.

And tonight there would be no reward.  No Avalon.  No steamy indiscretions in the pantry while they could still hear her father’s voice in the other room.  No, tonight would really be a guy’s night.  Ben would almost rather slam his balls in the refrigerator door.

But Jonah had called and been very persistent.  “C’mon Ben, I know you’re like me—you don’t have plans when your lady’s out of town!”

Well he’d certainly sound suspicious if he argued that point.  What was he supposed to say: “Oh Gee Mr. Delaney, actually I love to make plans when your daughter is out of town.”

So he’d capitulated.  He was going to poker night.

But he was bringing his best-man along.  West Bryant hadn’t been easy to convince.

“Are the twins going to be there?”  His friend had an unhealthy obsession with twins.  And with the Delaney twins in particular as he’d slept with one of them and had since made it his goal to have both of them, preferably at once.

“Sorry, no, they’re out of town.”  Ben sincerely wished he could have lied, but West could always sniff out deception on Ben as they’d been friends since middle school and Ben wasn’t a terrific liar.

“Fuck no, then.”

“West, if you don’t go I’ll let slip that you fucked one of the guy’s daughters.”

West had just laughed.  “You’re too much of a pussy for a move like than Ben.”

Ben supposed he was right.

“Please West?  I’ll owe you one.”

“Talk to that pretty little sister-in-law for me and I’ll consider it.”

Ben groaned inwardly.  “Which one?”  He asked, feeling slightly queasy.

“The other one, the one… Vienna.”  But West didn’t sound entirely sure.

“You don’t remember which one of them you slept with?!”  Ben loved his best friend but the guy continually astonished him with how appalling he could be sometimes.

“It was your engagement party, I was fairly inebriated.”  He defended himself.  “Which one was wearing the blue sparkles, the mini dress?”

Ben paused, trying to remember.  They’d posed for pictures… “Geneva.”  He responded at last, fairly confident that Genny had been in blue and Vienna had been in yellow.  But really?  He wasn’t sure.  He just wanted to sound confident enough to appease his friend.

“See?”  West was triumphant.  “I was right.”

“Congratulations.”  Ben said flatly.  “Will you come?”

“Oh, I always come.”

“Shut the fuck up, will you play poker tonight?”

West laughed at his own little jest and then agreed.  “But I have your word?”

Ben sighed.  “Yes West.”  He said, a patronizing sort of tone coloring his response.  “I’ll speak to my barely-legal soon-to-be sister-in-law and mention that my friend would like to complete the set and would she mind fucking him so his fantasy will come true?”

There was a silence on the line.  Ben pulled the phone away from his ear to see if the call had been dropped.  He heard his friend begin to speak just as he was putting the phone back to his head.

“Can you try to see if she’d be interested in bringing the other one?”

“You’re a sick fuck. I’ll see you at eight?”

“Yeah, ok.” West sounded contemplative but he’d said yes and that’s all Ben had wanted. 

“Thanks.”  He closed his phone hastily, afraid to have to hear more perverted requests in exchange for his friend’s presence that evening.

And so, at about eight fifteen that evening he was clapping his best friend on the back and welcoming him over to his fiancee’s house for a night of poker with men twice their age.

“Where the fuck is Grey?” West whispered an aside to him as they moved to the den to get started.  Grey usually attended these shindigs but was conspicuously absent.  Ben didn’t care much for Avalon’s arrogant cock of a brother but at least he was his contemporary.  Grey, along with his best friend Phelan, served as a great buffer for reducing Ben’s awkwardness around Avalon’s uncles.

“I dunno.”  Ben confessed, feeling more harassed by the second. “Jonah said Grey couldn’t make it, but he didn’t elaborate.”

“Fuck me in the ear.”  West said.  West liked Grey Delaney and Phelan Ward and had likely only agreed to come to this poker game because he knew he stood a good chance of having a laugh with them around.  Now he was stuck with a bunch of middle-aged men and his mild-mannered best friend and no twins.  “Maybe you should call some of the other guys?”

Ben swallowed.  “I tried Ethan, but you know, West, this isn’t my little party, I can’t just go inviting all my buddies over to some other guy’s house.”

“Pussy.” 

Ben felt a bit like a pussy.  “All the free booze you want though, as usual.”

West sighed and shrugged.  “I’m gonna need it.”

Ben thought he might need it too.  His future father-in-law was behaving a little strangely, and on top of that the man had invited Ben’s uncles over too.  Now Ben liked his uncles, but his family wasn’t quite the same as the Delaneys.  Grey’d been raised as one of the guys, was comfortable hanging out with his uncles and dad, but in Ben’s family the generations just didn’t mix as well and he always felt like a little kid around his uncles, never their equal.

But his mom’s brothers had grown up across the street from the Delaney brothers, they’d all gone to school together, they had been friends for decades.  In fact, they were close enough friends of the family that Avalon and her siblings called them Uncle Marty and Uncle Sam just like he did. Ben wished for the thousandth time that he’d managed to think up a viable excuse and not come.

By eight-forty-five they were finally all settled in and ready to start playing.  Drinks had been poured and in some cases re-poured, food had been thrown together from whatever the kitchen had to offer in Velvet’s absence and, finding that lacking, a few pizzas had been ordered. 

One of Avalon’s other ‘uncles’, her Uncle Len, shuffled and dealt.  West flashed his friend a grin.  West was happy he wasn’t the only black man at the table.  Ben rolled his eyes.

“So, Jonah, I’m sorry.  I might’ve missed it, but where’s Grey this evening?”  Ben’s Uncle Sam asked, pulling his cards toward him.

“Happy you might actually make it home with some money left?” It was Nolan who spoke.

Everyone laughed a little. 

“The thought had crossed my mind.”  Sam admitted, examining his cards shrewdly.

“Mine too.”  Uncle Marty added with an easy smile.

“It crossed all our minds.”  Said Len smoothly.

Jonah smiled and Ben thought it looked a little forced.  “He had a date I think. I couldn’t reach him.”

All the men nodded.  Grey loved poker but he loved chasing ass more.

Ben lifted the edges of his cards just enough to see he had a shitty chance.  He sucked at poker anyway, and it didn’t help that he almost never seemed lucky enough to get dealt decent cards.  He was looking at a four and a seven off-suited.  With a small sigh he called when it came around to him.

“Maybe you’ll be able to pull together enough scratch to cover this fairy-tale wedding the ladies are planning, Jonesie.”  Caleb grinned, and sucked on his third dark rum drink.

Jonah’s eyes flicked to Ben and he smiled kindly.  “My wife never got to have her fairy-tale wedding, Ben, so I’m afraid she’s living vicariously through the two of you.”

Ben smiled back weakly.  It was getting a little out of hand.  He had begun to hate anything and everything that had to do with dresses and tuxes and flowers and invitations and seating arrangements and gowns and shoes and groomsmen, and it was getting to the point where he was living for the honeymoon.  He’d be more than happy just whisking his fiancée away and marrying her in a private little ceremony and then showering her with affection on some tropical island for two weeks.

He was already tired of it and it was still months away.

“Ah, don’t look so worried Ben!” Nolan grinned widely.  “It’s going to be a cozy affair compared to the spectacle of my wedding.”

All the men at the table groaned and nodded, some laughed.  Ben remembered that wedding, he’d been there, he’d been a boy, but he’d been there.  “Did you…?”  He paused, thinking for a moment, “Am I misremembering, or did you ride a horse?”  It seemed like maybe he’d dreamt that or something, spliced actual events together with a memory from a movie or something.

The older men laughed heartily.  Nolan Delaney nodded almost ruefully.  “I did indeed Ben, I did indeed.”

“Yeah, and the horse was the compromise—they wanted him to ride in on a mothafucking Elephant.”  Lennox said with a grin.

Ben laughed a little with the others.  Nolan’s wedding had been a very large and interesting affair as he’d married a woman from a very traditional Hindu family.  There had been literally thousands of attendees at the event.  It had been too big even for the pavilion and the town park—it had been held in the city at the sports arena.

“I guess our guest list doesn’t seem so bad afterall.”  Ben said, remembering the overwhelming numbers garbed in bright, vibrant colors.  There was some appreciative laughter.

“That was a great fucking wedding.”  Ben’s Uncle Sam said, and sipped from his bottled beer.  “Wild.”  He added.  “But great.”

“Remember how much fun all the women had dressing in those, what the hell are they called?”  Marty asked Nolan.

“Sarees.”  He answered and threw a chip to the center of the table.

“Velvet went crazy over those.”  Jonah agreed, and added a matching chip to the pile.  “She ordered a different color for each of the girls.”

Ben remembered the females wearing those exotic wrap style dresses.  He closed his eyes and tried to remember Avalon.  He’d been twelve, so she would have been eight or nine.  He couldn’t really remember.  He’d been far more interested in the full-breasted members of Nolan’s wife’s exotic family to really pay attention to little kids.  Even his mother had worn one, a saree, and it had struck Ben as the strangest thing he’d ever seen.  His mother almost never wore anything but slacks and a fitted button-down.  It was practically a uniform.

“What colors have you decided on?”  Caleb asked Ben, throwing a chip and then another to the center.  He meant ‘what colors has Avalon chosen’ but he’d kept up the pretense that Ben had any say whatsoever.

“Um, I’m not certain.”  Ben answered and he could feel West trying not to grin beside him.  West had firm opinions on bridezillas and had wagered a lot of money on how these wedding plans would go down.  “I know her mom wants, um, light purple…”  Was it lilac or lavender or violet?  Ben really didn’t know, and didn’t want to say the wrong one because he had the feeling that while the three hues were virtually indistinguishable to him, Avalon’s uncle would not see them the same way.

“What the fuck’s he care about colors?”  Asked Len.

“Yeah, what you should be asking is: what are his plans for the bachelor party?”  His Uncle Marty was smiling a taunting smile across the table at him.

Ben’s eyes widened and he couldn’t help the reflexive glance he stole toward Jonah, before he forced himself to focus on the two shitty cards he was holding.  He should fold.  Fuck.  If he folded now he’d look like he was afraid to discuss the bachelor party in front of Avalon’s family.  He was, a little, but he didn’t want them to know that so he threw in the two chips required to stay in.

“Don’t ask him,”  Said West to his right, “Any and all inquiries about said party should be addressed to the best man.”

Fuck.  Ben swallowed and hoped the blush he could feel creeping up his neck wasn’t obvious.  Silently he begged West to keep things appropriate.  Please let him be vague and not too suggestive and not vulgar and, Oh God, why the fuck had he dragged West along?  Why the fuck were they talking about weddings at a poker night?

West threw in three chips and a few people grumbled a little. 

“Maybe Jonah should leave the room.”  Teased Caleb lightly.

Jonah took a moment before responding.  “Hmm?  Oh. Ha.”  He gave a short little laugh.  Ben squirmed in his chair a bit and reached for his drink. 

“Oh that’s nothing.”  Said Len.  “Delaney, tell the kid what you had to endure for your father-in-law.”  The man laughed a deep, full belly laugh which Jonah joined after a moment and Nolan groaned.

“I still have trouble looking that man in the face sometimes.” Nolan said in a dead-pan.

“Is this the, uh, oh yeah, I think I know this one.”  Sam said and folded.  “I’m gunna grab another; anyone?”  Ben’s Uncle Marty nodded and tossed in the ante.  Sam stretched and moved toward the mini-fridge hidden in the sideboard.

“What happened?”  Ben asked more out of politeness than interest, but very glad they were moving away from his bachelor party as a subject of discussion.  He shot West a dire glare of warning, to which West just shrugged, smiled, and took a healthy sip of his beverage.

“So there’s this week-long festival of events and gathering leading up to the actual wedding,” Nolan explained hastily.

“Yeah, be grateful you don’t have to do all that.”  Inserted Marty.

Nolan smiled.  “And one of the rituals, one of the customs is to go over to the bride’s father’s house so that he can formally, well, ‘give his daughter away to her chosen’.”  Ben blanched a little but tried to smile pleasantly. 

Jonah saw Ben’s face and smiled kindly as he adjusted his glasses and looked away.  Ben was grateful that Jonah hadn’t continued to watch him.

“So Zahra had prepared me for most of it; there’d be a symbolic ritual with water poured from a pitcher to symbolize purity—“

Len laughed richly. 

“—Shut up Len.  Um, and I had to let some of her cousins steal my shoes and hide them—“

“Whaaat?”  West asked.

“Yeah, and then Zee said I’d have to repeat certain phrases and make three promises and there’d be a prayer or two and a fruit and that would be that.”

“All in front of a big crowd of her relatives.”  Jonah added, leaning back in his chair and turning his scotch glass slowly in his long fingers. 

“Right.”  Confirmed Nolan with a smile. “So there I am, shoeless, nervous, but eager to get it right, and her father starts asking me these questions.”  Ben shivered a little, grateful that he wouldn’t have to endure something so awkward and foreign.  “First he asks if I’ll assist his daughter in achieving dharma.  Ok, no problem.  I promise.  Then the next one is, shit I forget the word, but it’s prosperity.  Do I promise to help her achieve prosperity.  Yes, I promise.”  Nolan smiled and paused for a drink of wine.  “Now Zee had said the third one was sort of like ‘obey’, so I’m thinking, ‘this isn’t so different, this is basically love, honor and obey, richer and poorer sort of stuff.”

All the older men began to chuckle.  Caleb, West and Ben exchanged glances.  They’d never heard this apparently infamous story.

“So he looks at me, Zee’s father, and her brother is right there too, like, behind the guy’s shoulder and the fucker is grinning at me now, and Her father gives me this look and asks me if I promise to, you know, help her achieve Kama, or help fulfill the Kama, I forget just how he phrased it, but there was something in his tone, and the way her brother was looking at me that, uh, gave me pause.” Nolan cleared his throat and smiled down at the poker table.

“All of a sudden this fucker’s thinking: wait a minute, what’s the joke?”  Len said, through his own laughter.

“Because the energy in that room shifted, and it was as if all her relatives were waiting to see how Nolan reacted.” Jonah added, “I got the sense that they were curious since he was such a westerner.”

Nolan laughed a little.  “I look at Zee and she’s having a little trouble meeting my eye.  Now I’m really nervous.  I turn back to her father and he repeats the question.  I don’t know what to do; so I ask him to tell me what it means.”

“What???”  Caleb breathed.  “Why didn’t you just say yes?”

“I couldn’t! All of a sudden I realized I didn’t know what they were saying and I didn’t want to make a promise without knowing what the hell I was promising!” Nolan explained and took another drink.

“Holy shit, you never heard so much laughing.”  Len said merrily.

“I thought Zee was going to melt into a puddle.  Her father asks her why she hadn’t explained it to me and she just, oh god, she looked like she wanted to disappear.”

Ben shifted a little, eager to hear what the promise would be.

“So her father, the father of the girl I want to marry, then has to explain to me that I must promise to fulfill his daughter uh, sensually.”  Ben cocked his head.  Had he heard wrong? “Promise to assist her in sexual pleasure and keep her satisfied and gratified in that, um, arena.”  Even though it had been years ago, Ben watched a slight flush enhance Nolan’s cheeks. 

“No shit!”  West exclaimed, his mouth open and smiling.

“What the hell did you do?”  Gushed Caleb, leaning forward.

“Yeah.”  Nolan nodded.  “See, for them it’s part of the ritual, it’s a foundational pillar, and all that, but they all knew, they knew that having to promise this to her father would make ‘whitey’ all uncomfortable and they were really having a good time with me.  I’m pretty sure her father went into more detail than he needed to just to see how much I’d squirm.”

“He looked like he was ready to explode, he wanted to laugh so much, but he held his shit together, and he stared this nervous mother fucker down cold.”  Said Len. 

“What did you do?  What did you say?”  Caleb repeated eagerly.

“What the hell else could I do?  Without this ceremony there is no wedding.  This isn’t like some of the others, this one is pretty fucking important.  So I look the man in the eye, feel my ballsack shrink a fair amount, and promise to do everything in my power to help her achieve Kama.”

Len roared with laughter and Jonah looked like he might split his face open he was grinning so wide.  Sam and Marty had a good laugh too, as did West and Caleb.  “That is fucked up.”  Said West decisively.

Ben agreed but didn’t say anything.  He couldn’t look in Jonah’s direction.  Holy Christ.  What would he ever do if he had to stand before Jonah and promise to please the man’s daughter sexually?  He really, sincerely thought he might not have asked her to marry him if that were part of the ceremony.

“Yeah, they all had a good laugh, I survived, I promised Zee she’d pay for not warning me properly about that one, and we all had a fun night.”  Nolan received healthy pats on the back from both Jonah and Len, who sat on either side of him, before meeting the ante with another chip.

“Yeah, yeah yeah.”  Said Nolan.  “One bright side is that someday I’ll get to torture some poor guy the same way.”

“Oh shit!”  Laughed Marty.  “Christ Nolan, you have two daughters—you’d better start saving up now—they’ll bankrupt you.”

Amid the laughter Ben heard Nolan groan.  “Maybe we oughtta raise the blinds here.  Forget Jones, I need the money!”

“So Jonesey,” Caleb said sweetly after Jonah had met the ante, “I don’t suppose you’ll torture young Mr. Sinclair the same way?”

Nobody laughed harder than West, the Benedict Arnold, and Ben could feel eager eyes upon him.  Ben wished again that he hadn’t come.

Jonah didn’t answer right away, but Ben refused to look at him, so he had no idea if the man was smiling or scowling or what.  He held his breath.

And was literally saved by the bell.  The pizza had arrived and the doorbell sounded like sweet relief.  He jumped up, eager for the distraction.  “I’ll get this!”  He said, and practically sprinted for the door.  “I fold!” He heard a great deal of laughing behind him as he went.  Fucking poker nights.

Poker Night; Part Three

Viola had to go up on tiptoe and her Uncle Len had to stoop in order for her to place a kiss on his bearded cheek.  She giggled.  “Hi Uncle Len!”  She said affectionately.  Lennox wasn’t really her uncle, but he’d been a close friend of the family since well before Viola had come into the world.

“Hey sweetness.”  Responded Len in his rich, rumbly baritone.  “Thought you’d be upstate too.”  She helped him slip his arms out of his winter coat and, taking it in her arms, shrugged with a pert smile.

She was getting sick of that question. It nettled her conscience just a teeny bit.  “Nah.  I’d rather hang out around here.”

Len raised his eyebrows as he removed his houndstooth fedora.  “Uh, uhn.”  He said, shaking his head.

She smiled.  “Uh-uhn what?”  She giggled playfully.

“Uh-uhn a teenage girl doesn’t want to not-go to a fancy resort.”  He argued.  “Unless-“

She grinned.  Uncle Len was always able to tease smiles out of her.  “Unless what?”

Jonah walked into the foyer and froze up just a bit. Viola noticed, but she doubted her Uncle did. He kept doing that, like his heart skipped a beat whenever he saw her.  She smiled at him but he turned his attention to their guest.  “Hi Len—Glad you could make it.”  He said crossing the distance between them and clasping his friend’s hand before embracing him.  “Viola, you’ll hang up his coat?” 

“Hey Jones.”  Said Len warmly.  “I was just getting to the bottom of why this young lady stayed home this weekend.”  He was leveling a suspicious mock-glare at his niece and wore a sly smile.

Viola flicked her eyes to her dad for the briefest of moments before dazzling Len with a charming grin.  Her father looked pale and slightly frazzled.  She felt a little bit smug.  He was the one who’d decided to have a poker night on a whim.  Let him sweat.

“She’s—“  Jonah began to say but Len cut him off. 

“No, no, no you don’t have to tell me.”  He made a slow circle around Viola, looking her up and down skeptically, sizing her up like a detective in a crime drama.  “Nope.  I got this one all figured out.”  He said, moving behind her.

Viola locked eyes with her father for a minute and she thought he looked faint.  “Yeah right.”  Teased Viola sarcastically.  “Let’s hear it Sherlock.  What’s the big mystery?”

Jonah’s eyebrows contracted “Viola, watch the tone please.”  He said dourly.  But Len only laughed appreciatively.

“She’s just playing.”  Len said gently before returning to his inspector persona.  “And she knows she’s caught.”  He said coming back around to face her, drawing his hand up to his hips and squaring off with her.

“You got nothin’” she leveled, unable to stop smiling.

“I got a hunch.”  He said nodding smugly.  “And I don’t think your dad’s gonna like it too much.”

Viola knew her smile slipped just a little because Len caught it and laughed richly.  “Oh, man, I cracked the case.  Damn, I’m better than I thought.”

“Why am I always walking in when Len is patting himself on the back for something?”  Viola’s uncle Nolan had just wandered into the foyer.  He crossed to give his friend a hearty hug with manly pats-on-the-back.  “What’s so important it’s worth delaying you from losing all your money to me?”  Nolan joked dryly.

“You just walked in and ruined my big reveal.”  Said Lennox with one imperious eyebrow cocked. 

“Oh, forgive me, I’m always doing that.”  Nolan said quickly, feigning embarrassment.  “By all means!”  He made a gracious hand gesture and stepped over to the entryway table where Len had set down two bottles of wine.  Viola saw him look his brother up and down discerningly before turning his attention to the bottles.

Jonah looked pulled tight enough to snap.  Viola smiled winningly at Uncle Len, who was rolling his eyes and muttering at Nolan’s rude interruption.

“Anyway, brace yourself Jones” he warned Jonah, who responded only with a stiff nod and a thin lipped smile.  “But there’s only one reason a fifteen year old girl passes up the opportunity to go upstate and have a ball and flirt and mingle and shop and soak in whirlpool tubs and have mudbaths and all of that.”

Uncle Nolan looked up and Viola thought he might have wanted to say something but he just gazed curiously at Jonah.

“I’ll never talk.”  Asserted Viola, playing along.

“Your eyes say it all, sister.”  Len said in a jubilant, booming voice.  “The reason a teenage girl turns down a trip like that is that she—“  He held out for a moment of suspense.  “Has… a boyfriend.”  He waggled his finger at her in mock accusation.

Viola blushed from head to toe as Len laughed deeply and fully.  She giggled along and felt tiny pinpricks dance all over her scalp and the back of her neck.  She couldn’t look at her father.

“Judging by that reaction I’d say ‘guilty as charged’ Ms. Delaney.”  Len joked, clapping her on the shoulder. 

“Viola, hang up Uncle Len’s coat ok?”  Jonah interrupted curtly.

“Ooooh.  Told you he wouldn’t like it.”  Len chuckled conspiratorially. “You’re his baby too, honey, you’re the youngest, so watch out.”

Viola still couldn’t quite bring herself to look over at her father, she averted her eyes and crossed to the hall closet to hang up Len’s coat.

“Heaven help the boy Viola brings home.”  Nolan commiserated solemnly.

“Shit.  Lighten up, Jones.”  Said Len, still laughing.  “I was only fooling around.” 

“Ready to play?”  Jonah asked and even with her back still turned Viola had a good idea of how he’d look right then: tense, and a little nervous, and forcing that smile that wasn’t really him. 

“Shit.”  Repeated Len, sobering a little.  “Here I thought nothing could be worse than when Avalon brought that boy home to tell you they were dating.”

Uncle Nolan laughed loudly.  “Poor kid.”

“I wasn’t so bad to Ben.”  Said Jonah quietly. 

There was a moment of silence and then both her uncles burst into laughter.  “Goddamnit Jones, You had that poor boy scared as a rabbit.  Shit.  Girl’s lucky he ever called her again.”

“He’s here.”  Jonah said, trying to quell his friend’s booming amusement.

“Oh, shit!”  Len and Nolan laughed even louder.  “How the fuck d’you get him to show up here without Ava?”

“Len.”  Jonah said, half pleading half warning.

“Oh, excuse me.” Len said, contrite.  “Sorry Viola.  Pardon the language.”  He called over to her.

Viola closed the closet with a snap and turned brightly.  “No worries!”  She chirped and bounced back over buoyantly.  “Hey dad, d’you think maybe I could play?”

His eyebrows drew sharply together.  “No honey.”  He said firmly.  Out of the corner of her eye Viola caught Nolan and Len exchange a glance that seemed to mean ‘it’s time to get the fuck out of the foyer’ because without a word they began to melt toward the livingroom.

“Pleeeease?”  She said sweetly in an almost-little-girl voice. 

His expression darkened and he looked a shade repulsed.  “No.”  He repeated forcefully.

“How come?” she pouted prettily and swiveled her body a bit.  He took a step back from her and winced.

Len and Nolan were out of ear-shot now but Jonah kept his voice very, very quiet.  “Viola, please don’t.”  He said, and the sorrow in his words nearly broke her.

She reached a hand toward him and he looked wary but didn’t retreat.

“Jonesie!”  Caleb hollered from the other room.  “Let’s get going!”

“Coming!”  He managed to muster a lackluster holler in response, but he didn’t take his eyes from Viola’s.  She took a step closer to him and he tilted his head a fraction.  “No.”  He reiterated quietly.  Then turned.  Squared his shoulders.  And walked away, leaving her alone in the beautiful foyer.

Poker Night; Caleb Delaney

The door swung inward to reveal Jonah Delaney sporting a wide smile and open arms.   “Glad you could make it!”  He enthused, and wrapped his arms around his youngest brother in a vigorous hug.

Caleb grinned.  “Glad you called!”  He responded genuinely.  He loved poker nights at his brother’s. 

“You by yourself tonight?”  Jonah asked after releasing the hug and peering out the open door into the bitter January night.

Caleb smiled.  “Short notice.”  He said simply.  He didn’t want to get into it.  Not tonight.  He just wanted to relax, have a good night, and forget about finding his boyfriend in their bed with another guy the week before.  He hadn’t told his family yet, and he certainly wasn’t ready to drop that bomb this evening.

His brothers knew he’d been ready to make a commitment with Gideon.  They’d been dating for two years.  They’d been living together for six months.  He didn’t want to think about it.

“Too bad.”  Said Jonah lightly.  “Can I take your coat?” 

Caleb unbuttoned his winter peacoat as Nolan walked into the foyer, shrugging off his own outerwear.  Nolan nodded in a friendly but distracted kind of way.  “Hey.”

Jonah took both the coats, and, whistling an overly-jaunty tune moved to the hall closet to hang them up.

“No Gideon?”  Nolan asked Caleb while his eyes followed Jonah’s every move.

Caleb raised one eyebrow, noting his brother’s obvious distraction.  “Nah, I’ve got him handcuffed to the headboard and couldn’t be bothered to find the key.”

“That’s too bad.”  Nolan answered.  “Listen, I think something’s up with Jonah.”  He said in a low voice, at last turning to look at his brother.

Caleb just stared for a minute, not sure whether he was more amused or irritated.  “Like what?”  He whispered conspiratorially.

“Wait, what did you say?” Nolan shook his head a little and blinked.

“I said:” Caleb cleared his throat and then over-annunciated the next bit as though he were re-delivering a cue line in some awful community theatre production. “Like What?”  He completed the effect by throwing his hands up in an exaggerated question pose.

Nolan rolled his eyes.  “What did you say about Gideon?”  He didn’t bother concealing his mounting irritation.  This was going to be a fun night, Caleb thought to himself sourly.

“Nothing.”  Caleb said, smiling despite his strong urge to scowl.  “A joke.”

Nolan stared at him.  Jonah had finished with the coats and wandered back over to his brothers and clapped them both affectionately on the shoulders.  “Thanks for coming!”  He declared.

Oh.  Caleb understood a little better now.  Now that he saw the slightly manic expression hiding behind his brother’s chipper façade.  His, well, something seemed unsettled.

Caleb exchanged a quick glance with Nolan before meeting his eldest brother’s over-bright smile with one of his own.  Let Nolan play the stormcloud and see how far that got him.  Caleb’s tactic was always to go for cheer and humor and see what that drew out of people.  In his experience moody stares and urgent questions tended to shut people down more often than it got them talking.

“So, wait, I’ve been in the house five minutes and haven’t had my cheeks kissed—where is that lovely wife of yours?”

Jonah’s head tilted to the side, his smile never moving, and he began to head toward the den.  Caleb and Nolan followed along.  “Oh I thought I mentioned—she and three of the girls are upstate checking out some resort.  Can I get you a drink?”

“No, I’ll get my own, thanks.”  He responded warmly.  “What sort of resort?”

Jonah shrugged and looked around the room, searching.  “I, well, I’m not exactly sure, I have the name written down in the kitchen I think-ah!”  He’d found what he was looking for and strode purposefully over to where he’d left his scotch.  “It’s a possible new wedding venue.”  Jonah concluded, scotch well in hand.

Then Caleb knew precisely where they’d gone.  “It’ll cost you an arm and a leg.”  He said with a wink.  “I recommended it to them.”

“Thanks for the help.” Jonah joked.

“Anytime.”  Caleb moved to the sideboard and tried to pick his poison.  He normally didn’t like to drink too much, and hardly ever made his own drinks when he did indulge.  He’d been a very heavy club drinker through college and his mid-twenties, and had finally settled down and swore off the stuff for a while.  Now he drank socially, but didn’t really have any stand-out favorites.  Except mojitos.  But he had no clue how to make those.  He imagined it was complex.

“Nole, what’s in a Mojito?”  Nolan had been a bartender for a long time.

His brother approached the sideboard casually, but kept his gaze almost glued to Jonah, who was pulling out the handsome wooden case of poker chips from a games chest along the far wall.

Nolan ran a glance over the selections.  “You don’t have what you need.” 

Caleb ground his teeth together.  Nolan had an infuriating habit of answering questions like that.

“I didn’t ask if I had the ingredients, I asked what are the ingredients?” 

Nolan looked at him, his eyebrows raised.  “You need cane sugar syrup and mint so you can’t make one.”

Caleb tried to smile sweetly.  Nolan looked faintly apologetic.  “Try a rum & gingerale with lime.”  He said.  “You don’t think he’s acting funny?”

“Hi Uncle Caleb!” Caleb spun toward the voice of his niece and grinned.  He’d always adored Viola, ever since she was a tiny toddler she’d been sassy, dramatic, and adorable to buy clothes for. 

Jonah began to choke, he’d apparently just had a sip of scotch and been startled by Viola’s entrance.  Nolan, Caleb and Viola looked at him.  “You alright?” Caleb called.  Jonah gave a thumbs up, sputtered for a moment or too, trying to smile all the while. 

“Fine, fine, went down the wrong pipe.” 

Viola looked concerned, Nolan’s eyes narrowed sharply and Caleb just shrugged.

“Hi Honey!”  He said, satisfied that his brother would survive the incident, opened his arms to receive a hug from Vi and then exchanged a set of cheek kisses with the petite little thing.  “You didn’t want to go to the resort?”  He asked admiring her new swoop bangs.  “Bangs look great.” 

“Thanks!”  She grinned and touched them a little self-consciously.  “Um, no, I wanted to stay home.”

Caleb clicked his tongue and raised a judgmental eyebrow at her.  “Let me tell you, that place is to die for, you are missing something exquisite.”  He turned back to the liquor.  “Rum and what now?”

“Rum-- no, do the dark,” Caleb’s hand moved from the clear bottle to the brown one.  “No, not the spiced—“  Nolan practically slapped Caleb’s hand away from the pirate-y looking rum.

“But Mojitos are clear.” He argued, feeling a bit like a scolded child.  And he hadn’t known that there existed un-spiced dark rum.  He cursed whatever bug had decided this would be a good night to crawl up Nolan’s ass and expire.

“You can use light rum if you want, but try this first.  Ice.”

Viola moved toward the sideboard and opened the concealed Calder mini-fridge with an eager-to-please smile.  She fished out several cubes and Caleb hustled to get a high-ball glass ready to receive it.

Nolan poured a measure of the tawny rum over the ice then asked Viola to grab a ginger-ale for him which she did promptly, dipping back into the mini-fridge.  Caleb watched the ratio but was certain it was an alchemy he’d never be able to grasp.  “Jonah, limes?”  Nolan called behind him.

“What?” Jonah was pulling colorful chips out of the case and setting them up on the poker table.

“I’ll go grab one.”  Viola bubbled and jaunted in the direction of the kitchen.

“And a small knife?”  Nolan called.  Caleb heard the muted “uh-huh” that confirmed the girl had heard the tacked-on directive.

“So what do you think it is?”  Caleb asked in a spare whisper, keeping his back to Jonah and the poker table, pretending to examine a bottle of gin.

Nolan shook his head and his face was dark.  “I wish I knew brother.  I wish I knew.”  They locked eyes for a minute.  “Where’s Gideon really?”  Nolan asked, his voice softer.

Caleb half-rolled his eyes and licked his lips before putting on a dazzlingly charming smile.  “It was short notice.  He couldn’t make it.  No big deal.”  But he couldn’t meet Nolan in the eye for that whopper so he focused on a fascinating bottle of port on the sideboard.  “Who drinks port?” he asked with a bit of a sneer.

“Old men.” Responded Nolan automatically. “So he’ll be at the next one?” 

Caleb looked at the wall.  He didn’t want to talk about this. Fuck Nolan’s goddamn spidey-sense about this shit.  He’d never been able to hide relationship troubles from his older brother.  Hell, when he’d come out he’d come out to Nolan first and Nolan had been fucking great about it.  He’d said he’d already guessed it, but not in a cruel way, in a really cool-older-brother sort of way.  And Nolan had offered to be there, at his side when he needed to tell his parents.  Nolan had fixed him up with his first serious boyfriend and that had been a really good relationship. 

“Yeah, well I think so—he might have to do something for work, I’m not sure—“ Caleb rushed to change the subject “—hey, did he say anything that made you think?? Or is it just because he’s acting a little bit like a lunatic right now?”

Caleb could feel Nolan looking at him for a long moment.  He had his proverbial fingers crossed that he could throw Nolan off the scent by focusing on whatever the hell was going on with Jonah.  Caleb chanced a look at Nolan, who was staring at him skeptically.  “You want to talk?”  His brother asked him, trying not to appear stretched thin between the disastrous relationships of his two brothers.

“No.” said Caleb, deciding not to play this charade with Nolan anymore.  The guy knew, he knew something was up so why keep up the pretense?  “I really do not.”

Nolan took a deep breath in, held it for a moment and then let it out slowly as he nodded.  “Ok.”  He said simply.  “Let me know when you do.”

Caleb gave him a half smile in thanks.

“Here’s the lime!” Viola announced as she pranced back into the room.  Behind him Caleb heard the sound of probably half the poker chips crashing to the floor.  A glance over his shoulder confirmed.

“You alright?” Nolan demanded.

“Fine, yeah, clumsy.”  Jonah laughed almost nervously. 

“I’ll help!”  Viola said, tossing the lime to Caleb and starting toward the table.

“Nope, no, I’ve got it, thanks, help your uncles.” And he waved her off.

Her shoulders slumped a little and she hesitated a moment before turning back to the sideboard.  She held out a small paring knife.  “The knife.”

Nolan looked downright exasperated with Jonah.  He huffed and snatched the knife from Viola with a gruff “Thank you.”

She raised her eyebrows and made a face to Caleb who chuckled appreciatively.

Nolan deftly sliced the lime and squeezed one eighth into the drink before garnishing the glass with another slice.  He grabbed a small plastic stirrer and mixed the drink up before handing it, along with a cocktail napkin to Caleb.  Old habits die hard. 

“And what’s this called again?” Caleb asked, swirling the diminutive straw around the softening ice cubes.

“Rum and Ginger Ale with lime.”  Said Nolan distractedly as he observed Jonah.

“That’s awfully boring.”  He replied.  He liked a drink with a good name.  He liked all the fun and tongue-in-cheek names that they gave cocktails.  When he was in college he enjoyed ordering all those ridiculous drinks just for the names.  Fuzzy Navel, Sex on the Beach, Kamikaze, Scorpion Bowl, White Russian, Black Russian, Grasshopper.  He’d likely tried every drink with a fun name out there at least once.  Then, he had been a very attractive young man in those days and he’d had drinks purchased for him left and right, so what did he care?  His lips tugged down at the corners as the image crossed his mind of Gideon paying for that attractive young man’s drinks somewhere.  He blinked, trying not to think of the moment he’d found the two of them in bed together, trying not to see his lover’s mouth on that other man.

 “I think it’s called a Dark & Stormy.”  Nolan said after a thoughtful moment, “But no one calls it that anymore.”

“A Dark & Stormy.”  Caleb smiled.  Well that’s what he’d call it.  Why be so clinical when mystery and intrigue could be had?  He liked Dark & Stormy.

“Yeah, but nobody calls it that.” The doorbell rang. Caleb shrugged.  “I’m serious K, if you order that at a bar your bartender isn’t going to know what the hell you’re talking about.”

Jonah grinned at the room.  “I’ll get it.”

Viola trailed after him.

“Well, then I’ll have to explain it to him and it might make for an amusing little conversation starter.”

Nolan couldn’t help but smile.  “I loved that.”  He said.  “As a bartender.”

Caleb was a little surprised.  He imagined that sort of thing would wear on a person.  But, then, Nolan loved people.  “Did it intrigue you?”

He laughed and some of the storminess melted away.  “Yeah, actually, it always did.” He smiled for a minute.  “That’s how I know what this one’s called.”

Caleb’s eyes went into soft focus for a moment as he pictured what kind of man might have strolled into the bar and ordered a ‘Dark & Stormy please, two limes.’

“Was he tall and swarthy and dressed like Humphrey Bogart in the Maltese Falcon?”

Nolan grinned.  “She was short and withered and dressed like Edith Head.” 

Caleb’s lip curled in minor revulsion.  Then he added, “I knew a Queen at the Ren fair that went by the name Edith Head.”  He flashed his brother a sly smile.

Nolan laughed loudly and clapped his brother on the back affectionately.  “I’m glad you came tonight.”  He said genuinely.

Caleb returned the smile.  “Me too.”

 

Poker Night; Part One

Nolan took just a moment before pulling on the door handle and stepping out of his car.  He didn’t really want to play cards tonight.  He’d had a movie night planned with Z and the kids.  It was a Saturday night and he wasn’t at the wine shop and he’d rather be at home. Cozy on the couch, holding his wife closer than he ought to in the presence of young children, because he knew their eyes would be glued to the tv so they wouldn’t notice Daddy nuzzling Mommy’s neck or stealing kisses during the action scenes.

He’d told his brother ‘no thanks’.  It was Zahra that had insisted he go. 

“What did he say, exactly?”  Zee had pressed when Nolan had mentioned the bizarre phone conversation he’d received from his brother.

“I don’t know, nothing, really.”  Nolan didn’t want to talk about it.

“Love—“ she said, in a tone he well knew meant business and not love.  “It sounds to me like he needs you.”

Nolan had sighed then, because he knew she was right.  “It isn’t a big deal Zee, he’s just lonely and wants to play cards—I’m not dropping everything here just to go entertain a guy whose wife is out of town.”

Zahra looked at him curiously.  “He would drop anything for you in a heartbeat.”  She said kindly.

He closed his eyes.  “I know.”  He replied, and he did know.  And he wished he could believe that it was just Jonah having a sudden whim to play poker with pals, but something squirming in his gut told him there was something else.

“Do you think they’re having trouble?”  Zahra asked softly.

Nolan re-opened his eyes.  “I don’t know.  Maybe.”  Jonah had said Velvet and the girls had gone upstate to look at some resort but it was possible that there was another reason she’d up and left so suddenly.  It was fairly difficult to fathom.  Jonah adored his wife.  But nobody was perfect.

Nolan tolerated Velvet very well, but he’d never been behind the marriage.  He’d made his peace with it because she made his brother over-the-moon happy, because she was the mother of his nieces and nephew, and because she really was a nice woman, easy to get along with, but he never quite stopped believing it would end in disaster.  But it had been more than twenty years now, hadn’t it?  Maybe Nolan was just being stubborn.  Regardless, his gut told him otherwise.

He suspected Velvet had never really broken things off with her ex.  He’d never voiced theses suspicions, and perhaps they were groundless, he certainly didn’t have any proof, but there was just something he couldn’t quite put his finger on about her.  Something locked away, but something not-quite honest.

And Nolan knew Jonah had always been entirely faithful to his wife.  He was certain of it like he was certain air was for breathing.  Nolan knew his brother.  So if Velvet had walked out, if Velvet was not upstate looking at a resort then maybe the truth of her duplicity had come out? 

No, Jonah hadn’t sounded devastated, more… distracted.

“It feels wrong to ditch you and the kids.”  He said, knowing that he was going to have to go play poker.

“We’ll always be here. “  She said with a melancholy smile.  They locked eyes and he knew she was telling him not to be afraid.

Because he was.  He was afraid every time he stepped out of the house that things might not be the same when he returned.  He swallowed.

“You can take them out for ice-cream and the arcade tomorrow to make it up to them.”  She said with a dazzling smile.

He couldn’t help smiling back.  “Then for my sake I’ll try not to drink too much.”  He’d done the arcade hung-over and it had to be one of the most excruciating experiences a father ever has to endure with a smile for the sake of his kids.  All those buzzers and whistles and flashing lights and shrieking children.

She reached over and caressed his cheek.  “Go help your brother.”  She said and leaned in to kiss him.

Standing next to his car, staring at the Delaney mini-mansion on Cedar Crest, Nolan ground his teeth together and convinced himself to start up the brick path to the doors.  Before he’d made it two steps the front door opened wide.  No turning back now. Nolan smiled at his youngest niece.  She didn’t quite return the smile, but rather watched him curiously as he approached.

“Hey, Vi.  Thought you girls were upstate with your mom.”  He said pleasantly, reaching the door and giving her a peck on the cheek.

“Not really my scene.” She said with a smile and gave him a very teenager-y sort of half hug. 

Nolan nodded knowingly and chuckled.  “I’m the first one here?”  He hadn’t seen any of the other guys’ cars in the driveway.

“Huh?”  Viola responded, swinging the door closed behind them.

Nolan blinked.  “Where’s your dad?” 

“I dunno.”  She said, her eyebrows wrinkling a little.

Nolan kept his face easy.  “We’re having a poker night.”  He explained.  “Since your mom’s away, I guess your Dad decided to take advantage of the opportunity to have a bunch of animals over for male bonding time.”

Viola scowled.  Then she wiped her expression clean, but Nolan hadn’t missed it.  “Oh.”  She said and breezed by him into the living room and through to Jonah’s study door.  Nolan followed a good distance behind, hanging back. So she knew precisely where her dad was.  Every other thing out of that girl’s mouth was a lie. “Sorry, he didn’t tell you?”

“No.”  She replied and knocked on the study door.

There was no immediate response.

She knocked again.

Nolan heard Jonah’s muffled voice from behind the door.  “Yes?”

“Uncle Nolan’s here.”  Viola said, clearly peeved despite her valiant effort to sound non-chalant.

The door opened suddenly enough to make Nolan lean back, a little startled.  Jonah must have been standing right behind the door.  Viola hadn’t flinched.  She looked up at her father, a question and a challenge written all over her face.

Jonah stared at her for what felt like a very long, tense moment before he spoke.  “I’m having a poker night.”  He said to her.

Viola pursed her lips and walked away.  “Have fun.”  She called over her shoulder as she exited the living room.

Nolan was squinting when his brother finally peeled his eyes off his daughter and looked at him.  Something was definitely wrong.

“Hey Jones.”  Said Nolan casually.

“Thanks for coming.”  Jonah said and crossed to the sideboard.  Nolan watched his brother pour himself three fingers of single malt.

“Not a problem.”  He replied calmly.  “What’s up with her?”

Jonah tensed visibly, pausing in the act of returning the cap to the scotch.

“Sorry?”  The man’s voice sounded a little tight.

“What’s the deal with Vi?  She seems a little pissed at you.”

Jonah took his time replacing the cap and didn’t speak until he’d finished the task.  “We were supposed to watch a movie together.”  He said, a deliberate quality in his voice that made Nolan slightly uncomfortable. 

“And you wanted a poker night instead?”  Nolan asked, bristling a little that just because Jonah chose to blow off his kids he was being forced to do the same.

“Well, no, it’s—“  He trailed off.  “Can I get you anything?”  Jonah still hadn’t turned around and Nolan got the impression that he was delaying the moment when he’d have to look his brother in the eye. 

“No thanks.” He wanted something but reminded himself about the arcade.

Jonah picked up his tumbler of scotch and turned at last.  “She’s not supposed to be watching tv.”  He finished and took a sip.

“Grounded?”

Jonah nodded.

Nolan relaxed a little.  That’s probably the real reason she hadn’t gone upstate with her mother, and why she was behaving like a royal bitch.  But that didn’t explain Jonah’s increasingly peculiar behavior.

He wanted to ask what she’d been grounded for this time but he’d learned a long time ago to keep his mouth shut when it came to Jonah and Viola.  It was Nolan’s opinion that the man let her get away with murder because she was the youngest and clearly his favorite, but it wasn’t his place to interfere in how his brother chose to parent.  Besides, Viola wasn’t the real issue here.

The doorbell rang.

A wide smile and bright eyes transformed his brother’s expression and Nolan grimaced. 

As Jonah moved toward the door Nolan slid a hand under his arm to stop him.  “Jones, is everything ok?” He searched his brother’s eyes, trying to divine the truth before Jonah brushed off the inquiry.  Something was troubling his brother but Nolan couldn’t fathom just what it could be.

For half a moment it looked like Jonah might confess, might spill whatever it was that he was toiling with, but then a false smile appeared and a mask was in place.  “What?  Of course everything’s ok!” Jonah said brightly.  “We’re going to play cards, drink a little, and have a good time.”  He laughed and Nolan felt cold.  “Of course everything’s ok.”  Jonah repeated.  “How about you?”

He extricated himself from Nolan’s grasp and made his way to the foyer and to the front door.

Nolan bit the insides of his cheeks.  He decided maybe he’d have a drink or two after all.