CH 13

Shortly after the final bell, Pete arrived at Gareth's classroom door as the last of the students filed out. He was a shorter gentleman with a bit of pudginess around the middle obviously tacked on with age. His polo shirt was tucked into the generous elasticated waistband of his khaki pants, and a thin band of white hair wound it's way around the back of Pete's head. Once the kids left, Pete pulled the door closed behind himself, allowing for some degree of privacy for such a sensitive topic.

The two exchanged brief pleasantries and a handshake, then got down to business; Gareth and Pete sat at a group work table at the back of the room, rather than at Gareth's cluttered desk which was strewn with social studies projects. Placing it on the table, Pete reached into his worn briefcase and pulled out a file containing a bunch of paperwork. It seemed almost cruel that the students' cheery art projects were staring down at them while the two men met to discuss such damning and horrible assertions.

"I have to go through all of this with you because of the severity of the allegations levelled against you. Rest assured that this is just an investigation, there are currently no charges, and I must remain impartial throughout. That being said, I know people at my office were quite aghast when a report of this nature was made against you. But we need to investigate all reports, regardless of where they come from, to protect the children, especially since you're a teacher," Pete explained.

"I totally understand this is your job, and I know that you're only trying to protect kids. Heck, that's my job, too." Gareth gave the man a small smile even though he felt like he might throw up. Perhaps whatever lunch he'd managed to choke down earlier was too much. It was in Gareth's nature to be personable, but it was so hard right now. He wished Abby could have stayed for moral support, but if anything got beyond the basic investigation his teaching union would provide representation and help.

For the next hour, Gareth answered all manner of questions, about his relationship with his children, about Leeann, about work, about his current housing situation, and about Phillip. It was necessary, but also very invasive. Pete took a lot of notes, his pen scraping along the page, then asked further questions to clarify certain points. He was especially interested in Gareth's photos from Leeann's physical attacks, and the way she ignored Mother's Day and Gabe's birthday.

"You can ask Linda, the secretary. Leeann called here the other week and was verbally abusive over the phone. I'm pretty sure she was drunk, too."

"Honestly, this whole thing sounds like a malicious report by a vindictive ex, but I still have to talk to the children and Phillip, and document the living conditions. There needs to be a full report so this can all be filed and cleared up. I will call Linda tomorrow to discuss Leeann's phone call and any other contact she might have had with your school of employment." Pete stood and closed his folder, shutting it safely back inside his briefcase. "Now, can I follow you to your place of residence?"

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Gareth quickly messaged Phillip that they were on their way, and he was home fifteen minutes later, Pete's minivan parked at the curb.

"Okay, I have to talk to the children each individually. I'll start with the youngest first. Francine, is it?"

"Franny, then Gabe, then Daisy." He took a deep breath and tried to put on a brave face for his family. Although Gareth was nervous, he was happy to be home where he knew he had support. And really, he got the impression from Pete that this whole thing was a waste of everyone's time.

"Great." The two men entered the house where Phillip and the kids were somewhat impatiently waiting on the sofa, the tv playing a cartoon in the background. All were looking more than a little uneasy, Daisy's novel was even left discarded on the table.

The next hour was horrible. Gareth tried to do things to keep busy, like grade papers and watch tv, but he couldn't do any of it. His mind kept flying off in all sorts of directions, none of them good. Mostly he wanted to save the kids from something like this. It just didn't seem fair. He wished he could hug Phillip, because similarly, Phillip looked ill, but that couldn't happen either. All he could do was wait while, one by one, his kids went to talk to Pete.

When Daisy finally came out of the kitchen, she was crying and ran to hug her father. Then she turned and gave Phillip a brave smile saying, "You got this, Phillip. You've got nothing to hide and I love you."

Daisy's admission was lovely, and ordinarily Phillip might have had a response. Well, perhaps not right away. But right now, even an acknowledgement was near impossible. Phillip stood, stiffly, and as if he was going to face an executioner.

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"So, Phillip Cameron, I'm Pete Jensen. Please have a seat." Pete gestured to the chair across the table and Phillip sat as ordered in Gabe's regular spot.

The first questions were fairly straightforward. How did Phillip and Gareth meet, how are the children cared for, bathed, fed, dressed, contact with their mother, the usual things. Phillip wasn't comfortable talking but tried his best to answer everything as well as he could. His typical one or two words answers weren't sufficient and the exertion to answer everything fully was exhausting.

Farther along the tone of the questions changed. Now they were about Gareth's behaviours around the kids, and Phillip tried not to be incensed. They were very upsetting questions about Gareth's language towards the children, disciplining the children, hitting the children...touching the children. It was truly sickening to Phillip, the things Gareth had been accused of, the things that the devoted father had to defend himself against, accusations from a person he'd previously supported.

Towards the end of the interview, Phillip couldn't take it anymore. "Look, Gareth is the kindest, nicest man I've ever met. I've never met Leeann, and I hope I never do, but these kids have been far happier in their time here than they were when they first arrived. What kind of person kicks out her family on a Friday night in the middle of winter with only two hours to pack? Gareth arrived with a bruise on his face and Gabe had one on his back. Franny was worried I was going to harm her when she wet the bed! If anyone should be investigated, it's her." Phillip was surprised by his outburst and quickly apologized, looking at his hands nervously. "I'm sorry, I'm not generally so confrontational."

"It's okay. It happens in situations like this. I can tell you care for the family a great deal." Phillip bit at his cheek and nodded stoically in response while Pete shuffled some papers. "Now I just need to take a tour of the living arrangements and I think we'll be done here."

When the two men stood, the Lewis family joined them in the kitchen. "Let's see your rooms, kids."

Gareth hadn't seen the changes Phillip had made during the day, but the kids had, so they had no problem showing Pete to their rooms, their drawers, closets and anything else he wanted to see. Everything was in order, right down to Phillip's room in the basement, and he was kind of proud about how much he had accomplished during the day. Gareth was too, but he was also saddened by Phillip's relegation to the basement. Pull out beds were seldom ever comfortable.

One last check of the kitchen cupboards and fridge to ensure there was ample nutritious food in the house, and Pete was ready to go. At the door, he told everyone, "Well, honestly, everything seems to be in order. As far as I'm concerned, this was an erroneous report, I wish all visits were this straightforward." He cleared his throat and added, "Gareth, if you could walk me to the car for a moment." Gareth was surprised, but followed Pete without question.

Once outside, Pete turned to him, "Offering this as a friend, and totally off the record, I'd get a lawyer and obtain formal custody if I was you. I'm sure you suspect who was behind this report, which I think was completely false and vindictive, and you don't want something else to happen. If she calls the police next time, it could be worse." He gave Gareth a firm handshake, got into his van, and drove away.

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Neither man could stomach the idea of cooking, so they all sat around the kitchen table, site of the interrogation, eating delivered rotisserie chicken and fries, and drinking pop.

The two youngest children didn't really seem to grasp just how serious the situation was, which was fine, really, but Daisy was far more cognizant of the fact that Daddy might be in trouble, and that maybe her mother was involved. She couldn't stop talking after Pete left, which just went to show how worked up the normally quiet girl was.

"I told him I don't want to live with Mommy ever and that you're the best parent and that Phillip's better than Mommy, even though he doesn't even have to be nice. Like he talks to me about books and got us plants and even baked us cookies," Daisy proclaimed as she counted off on her fingers. She turned to Phillip, "He asked me all sorts of stuff about Daddy, but I explained that Daddy doesn't yell or hit like Mommy, and is way nicer. I also told him how you didn't get angry about Franny's accident." She flung her hands about for emphasis, braids swinging.

Phillip wasn't quite sure how to respond to the onslaught of words, he was still overwhelmed. "Okay."

"Well I told him about my testing at school and how Mommy said I was just stupid, and about the coffee table. I also said that Phillip let me have a birthday party," Gabe said between bites of his drumstick.

"Now Gabe, I didn't let you have a party, it wasn't just me," Phillip insisted uneasily.

Not wanting to be left out, Franny cut in, "Yes you did, because we were never allowed to before," she insisted. "I told Pete all about the eggs and Kyle being at our house when Daddy was at work. He always told me to go away when he and mommy went in the bedroom."

"Okay, everyone, that's enough. It's done for now. Maybe you can tell us how school was today?" Gareth tried to steer their conversation towards something a little less stressful because he was pretty much at his limit and he could tell Phillip was, too. With all the accusations levelled at Leeann from the kids, Gareth felt awful. He should have left her long ago. What kind of terrible father was he?

Phillip listened as the kids talked about their day, but he couldn't help but think about what Daisy said about him. It made him happy to know that the kids thought of him as someone they could count on. Not that it was hard to be a better parent than Leeann, but he felt a bit of pride. He was more sure than ever that taking in the family and doing whatever it took to keep them with him was the most important thing. For once in his life, or at least since taking care of his mother, he felt he was making a difference, and it was so nice to be needed.

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Over their nightly tea, the two men reflected on the events of the afternoon. They were sitting side by side on the old velour couch again, like the previous evening, and just as close. It was like a wall had broken down the previous day that neither wanted to re-build. Illuminated only by the television and light streaming in from the range hood in the kitchen, all was calm in the living room. The quiet noise of the tv drowning out their inconsequential conversation in case any of the kids weren't fully asleep.

Finally Gareth was ready to talk about something deeper. "I can't thank you enough for everything you've done, Phillip. The room for Gabe looks fantastic, and moving the toys, and just...everything." Gareth was overcome with emotion; relief and Phillip's support hitting him all at once, his eyes green and liquid in the dim light from the television, tears ready to fall.

"It's nothing more than you deserve, Gareth," Phillip replied, studying his tea. "You are this great man and you've been taken advantage of in the worst way." His words were quiet and slowly measured out.

"When I think about you sleeping in the basement of your own house, giving up your own room, I can't help thinking that I'm taking advantage of you in the worst way," Gareth replied firmly, causing Phillip to lift his gaze to meet Gareth's.

"Never, Gareth." Seeing the tenderness in his eyes, Phillip couldn't help but think of the soft kiss that Gareth had given him the night before, and it made him bolder than he'd ever been. Maybe he'd like Gareth to take advantage of him in the best way... He leaned forward and brought his lips to Gareth's.

At first Gareth was surprised, the light touch, the heat of his tea warmed lips, but then...when Phillip went to pull back, Gareth couldn't let him leave. Wouldn't let him pull away. Instead, Gareth wound his hand through the back of Phillip's hair and brought him back, closer than before. Their lips met again, the passion and need of months of longing for each other, and years of longing for the feeling of connecting with someone special, pressed into their kiss.

Phillip was dizzy with desire, he couldn't believe he'd instigated such an action, but was damn glad he did. Gareth's mouth opened against his, and Phillip thought he was going to die on the spot when he felt the warm caress of Gareth's probing tongue against his swollen lips. He allowed him entrance and welcomed the intrusion; gruff, needy moan forming in the back of his throat. He loved this feeling and wanted more, his hands running up and down Gareth's lean back.

Gareth responded to Phillip's moan with one of his own and allowed his hand to travel up and down Phillip's muscled bicep, finally caressing the toned skin he'd been eyeing for months, while his other was firmly rubbing the back of Phillip's head. His brain was spinning with the sensations running through his body and it was almost too much to cap such a tumultuous day with their fevered kisses.

As much as both men wanted to continue exploring, both were fatigued and concerned with taking things too far after such a rough day. They broke apart slowly, as if by agreement, and just shyly smiled at one another for a moment, their lips plump with their activities and chests heaving, trying to catch their breath.

"Hi," Gareth said softly, lost in Phillip's dark orbs.

"Hi," Phillip returned, without breaking eye contact, but his face fully flushed. "That was..."

"Amazing," Gareth finished.

"Yeah," Phillip agreed, standing up while turning away slightly to adjust himself, although he was fairly sure that Gareth was having a similar problem. "But we're both tired and I think I need to turn in."

"I am so sorry about the sofa bed, Phillip. Really. If you want to take the bed, I can do the couch."

"No. You need to be on the same floor as the children. It's fine." And both men were a little disappointed by their logic and control. They wanted to throw caution to the wind.

For now, both men thought as they went to their separate beds, both excited from their kissing, easing their tensions independently while thinking of what comes next, longing to be even closer, wanting the hand wrapped their swollen, aching members to be the other's.

A/N: Well now. The false accusations have been thwarted, and all Leeann managed to do was bring the men closer together. We'll see how long the current sleeping accommodations last, shall we? ;)

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. The heat (and no a/c) is killing me! It's almost October for heaven's sake! Have a wonderful Sunday, and the next update will be Wednesday. Thanks for all the reads, comments, and votes.

<3 JJ