Bringing Home Danny (13 page)

They made the decision on their drive to the police station that they were taking control and responsibility of TJ's life. TJ offered it to them, and never looked back.
 

Chapter Two

Establishing Rules & Consequences

Danny wasn't the only one who was tired and irritable when the plane finally landed. TJ couldn't have been more relieved when Antonio called to tell him that he would be able to pick them up at the airport. As they departed the runway and headed for the lobby, TJ was ecstatic to see Antonio's tall head above the crowd.

“
Antonio!” TJ yelled, running up to his lover with his arms out wide. Grateful to be home, he swung his arms around Antonio, practically leaping onto him and attacking him with a big kiss.
 

Usually reserved in public places, Antonio was momentarily taken aback. “My goodness, babe, you haven't been gone that long,” he chuckled.

“
I missed you.”
 

Flattered by the enthusiastic greeting, Antonio squeezed him tight in return. “I missed you, too. It's good to have you back.”

Danny stood shyly behind TJ. Jealousy seeped through his frayed nerves at how quickly he seemed to have been forgotten about after TJ fell into his lover's arms. Antonio was the quintessential tall, dark, handsome man with broad shoulders and a friendly face. TJ's lanky, tanned body was small and fair in comparison. It was clear to see why he was so in love.  

With his arms still wrapped around TJ, Antonio glanced down at the boy biting his thumbnail. “You must be TJ's friend.”

“
Hi, I'm Dan.”
 

Antonio put out his hand, and Danny felt even younger as his small hand was swallowed up by the vigorous handshake.

“
Hi, Dan. I'm Antonio.”
 

“
Yeah, I figured,” Danny remarked, with a weak smile.
 

Antonio gave a warm smile in return while taking him in with a critical eye. “I assume you boys are tired and hungry. Let's go get your luggage. We'll stop for a quick bite on the way home.”

TJ almost skipped, he was so happy to have Antonio taking charge. Danny, for his part, was still nervous about being in New York. Clumsy from exhaustion, he almost fell twice tripping over his pant legs while trying to keep up with the long strides of the men in front of him.

Antonio was concerned about the younger man, and immediately assessed that there was more to the story than TJ had let on. He chose a quiet diner not far from the airport, deciding it would best to have the boys fed and settled, before he started in with his inquires. At the restaurant, Antonio began to make casual conversation, and noticed both TJ and Danny responded with nervous agitation. They ate in relative silence, which was unusual for his gregarious lover, typically animated after being away on a trip. Antonio stole glances at Danny whenever he could. He appeared self-conscious every time Antonio caught his eye. The more he looked, the younger he realized the boy had to be. He also noticed his clothes were several sizes too big, and his shirtsleeves kept dipping into his food which he ate sparingly. It finally occurred to Antonio that the boy was wearing TJ's clothes.

After the waitress came to take their lunch plates away, Danny scooted to the far end of his booth. He rested his head between the back of the booth and the corner of the wall while waiting for TJ and Antonio to be served coffee. Within minutes he was asleep, and Antonio took the opportunity to get a better view of him. Sleeping he appeared even younger. It was easy to tell why his impetuous partner was so taken in with him. With his rosy cheeks, tussled hair, and split lip protruding from his delicate
features, he reminded Antonio of a fallen angel. T
J became increasingly apprehensive when he noticed the disconcerting frown slide slowly down Antonio's face
.
 

 “
How old is the boy?” Antonio asked, trying to keep the accusatory tone out of his voice.
 

TJ winced. He knew this was coming, but he had hoped it could have waited until Antonio had gotten to know Danny longer. He wanted Danny well rested and in a better mood before Antonio was ready to pass judgment on him.

“
Sixteen,” TJ let quietly slip.
 

“
What? Sixteen?"
 

"And a half," he added feebly.

Antonio glared at TJ in bewilderment, demanding in a whispered yell, "Have you lost your mind? What on earth were you thinking?!”

“
I thought he was eighteen 'til I saw his driver's license at the airport. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't just leave him there.”
 

“
No, what you should have done was called his parents, and sent him back home. Do they even know where he is?”
 

“
Danny is estranged from his parents. He's been on his own for over a year.”
 

“
How do you know that? How do you know they aren't searching for him as we speak?”
 

“
All I know for certain is that he sure as hell doesn’t want to see them.”
 

“
We're going to finish this discussion when we get home. You better pray that Mitch is in a humorous mood when he gets back.”
 

TJ did say a prayer as he finished his coffee and Antonio paid the bill. A thousand worrisome thoughts went through Antonio's head watching TJ stare at the sleeping boy. He wasn't accustomed to seeing his confident lover so anxious. Realizing there was nothing he could do about the situation at the moment, Antonio stood up and placed a generous tip on the table. He startled TJ out of his deep thoughts by saying, “Wake up your little charge, unless you're planning on carrying him to the car.”

The waitress gave flirtatious smile as she cleared away the dishes. Despite their differences in coloring, she had assumed Antonio was an older brother or an uncle to the equally attractive younger men.

“
Time to wake up. Let's go, Danny,” TJ said, gently shaking him. When he didn't stir, TJ shoved him a bit harder.
 

Danny awoke with a start and sheepishly muttered, “Sorry.”

TJ held out his hand to pull Danny from the booth. He loved to see Danny blush, and thought it would be fun to see how red he could get. “Come on sleepy head, time to get you home,” he teased, while ruffling his hair.

Danny stumbled getting out of the booth. His face was warm from sleep, and his heavy eyelids fluttered thick lashes that framed large tired eyes. He resembled a small child in his baggy clothes, his hair sticking up on one side, and the indentation from the wall pressed into his left cheek. Danny scratched his head messing up his hair even more. When he let out a big yawn, flashing a deep set of dimples, Antonio fought every instinct he had not to pick him up and carry him to the car himself.

*****

With heavy traffic, they still had an hour's drive to their townhouse in a quiet residential area, a pulse away from the heart of the city. On the way home, Danny fought not to fall asleep in the back seat like some little kid. Antonio kept watch through the rearview mirror. He was afraid the boy would smack his head against the window every time he bobbed it up to snap himself awake.

“
Why don't you show Danny to his room and let him rest a while,” he recommended once they were home. “When you come back down, I want to see you in the office.”
 

TJ brought Danny upstairs and showed him around.  When they entered TJ’s spare room he said, “I don't want to offend you by suggesting you take a nap, but feel free to try the bed out if you like.”

Danny just nodded. He was too tired to be bothered by the sarcasm, or to put up a pretense about not needing a nap. He crawled into the bed before TJ even left the room. Then, TJ took the long walk downstairs. He hoped he was right about the enchanted sparkle he saw in Antonio's eyes when he was spying on Danny in the car.

“
Have a seat, TJ. We need to talk.”
 

TJ was unnerved by the harsh edge of his tone. “I know he's a little rough around the edges, but he's a good kid,” he defended.

“
I'm sure he is, but that's kind of the point. Isn't it? He's only a kid. You can't just bring him home because you think he's cute. He's not a stray puppy.”
 

"It's not like that, Antonio," TJ said hastily. “Let me explain.”

“
Explain? What is there to explain?” Antonio's usually calm demeanor snapped at the weight of having a teenager stowed away in TJ's room. “We cannot be responsible for a sixteen-year-old. You need to find out where he belongs, and send him back!”
 

“
What? No! That's not fair. I won't do it!”  TJ was beside himself. He rarely defied Antonio, and until today it never felt justified.
 

Antonio was taken aback by his outburst, and even more distressed by his recent behaviors. “Not fair?! What's not fair is you bringing a child into our home without our consent, or more importantly, that of his parents! And, I will tell you something else, young man, I have had it with your impulsive, foolhardy, and thoughtless behavior!” Antonio shouted, bringing TJ’s outrage to bay.

He hoisted TJ off the chair he was sitting on, turned him around and delivered a sound smack to the seat of his pants. He continued swatting him all the way to the corner of the office.

“
You need a little reminder of who's in charge here.” SWAT! “And, you do NOT tell me no!” SMACK! “This is serious, TJ! These are human lives you're playing with!” SWAT, SWAT, SWAT! “Now, you stand in that corner and think about the consequences of your actions that go far beyond any discipline you may receive.”
 

Antonio left TJ stewing in the corner to retrieve the paddle from the desk drawer. He walked back to TJ, and bent him over his side hip. TJ let out squawk of surprise as Antonio tugged down his jeans, and paddled his upturned bottom a dozen times before straightening him up, and placing him back in the corner.

“
We will continue this conversation when you can remember your place, and can speak to me without being argumentative.”
 

TJ stood in the corner sniffling. He was angry with Antonio for not giving him a chance to explain, and angrier with himself for losing his temper before he had a chance to. He felt betrayed by Antonio, and worried that he might have to betray the trust Danny placed in him. Most of all he felt scared, afraid that he might lose Danny, and leave him unprotected. He thought for sure if Antonio had given him a chance to explain things, he would have understood why he had to bring Danny home. First, he needed to calm down. Then, he needed to give Antonio time to do the same.

Antonio regretted losing his temper with TJ. He realized it was mostly displaced worry about the boy who was sleeping upstairs, as well as the one sniffling in the corner. He was not looking forward to telling TJ that despite his good intentions, he made an irresponsible decision, and they were not in the position to take in a teenage boy.

Luckily, Mitch came home early from his conference. Antonio was relieved to have his partner to shoulder some of this burden with.

“
Hey, Mitch. How was your conference?” Antonio asked, while giving him a distracted peck on the lips.
 

“
It was all right,” Mitch said cautiously, sensing the tension behind Antonio's words.
 

Antonio confirmed his suspicions by saying, “Don't get too comfortable. We have a situation that requires immediate attention.”

“
What's going on?”
 

“
TJ came home early from his trip, and now we have a teenager living in our house.”
 

Mitch could hear the ire in Antonio's usually soft-spoken manner, and assumed it had something to do with the antics of their young partner. His irritation surprised Mitch. Antonio was usually the one relied on for his patience and charitable perspective, and to keep Mitch from wearing a strip off of TJ.

“
I warned you that if we let TJ go back to Florida for an unsupervised visit, he would undoubtedly regress back to earlier behaviors.” Mitch couldn't help but show his amusement at Antonio's exasperation.
 

“
You don't understand, Mitch,” Antonio continued. “Although TJ's recent lack of judgment can be categorized as juvenile, I was being quite literal when I said we have a teenager in our home. TJ brought back a sixteen-year-old who is currently asleep in his bedroom.”
 

"A what?"

"Correction, sixteen
and a half
."

It was Antonio's turn to be amused at the confusion on Mitch's face when he tried to comprehend what he was being told. Antonio finally sighed as the significance of his words to Mitch sunk in.

“
Where is he?”
 

“
I told you, he's sleeping upstairs.”
 

“
No, I mean TJ.”
 

“
In a corner in the office.”
 

“
Should I assume that has something to do with the acquisition of our new sleeping guest?”
 

“
That would be correct. I'm afraid our young lover is quite taken with the boy, and is not happy to hear that he will have to return the child to his proper guardians.”
 

Antonio filled Mitch in about what he knew of the situation before they both headed back to the office.

“
Come out of the corner, TJ, we need to talk.”
 

TJ quickly pulled up his pants, and turned around apprehensively at the sound of Mitch's voice. Antonio motioned for TJ to sit as he walked over to them. They sat surveying each other, waiting for Mitch to begin.