Chapter 24

Surprise Number 3

The closer they got to Foggy Basin the more Haven wondered what the last surprise would be. Dinner seemed the most logical option, especially with the sun starting its descent behind the mountains. When Maddox turned off the main road and started winding east into the hills again, Haven was truly confused. He didn't remember anything being out here the last time he'd ridden dirt bikes this way, but six years was a long time and people loved to build things. He was surprised when it was a house they pulled up to at the end of a winding driveway, instead of an establishment. He hadn't seen a single other house on the way up here either, so when they pulled up to the front, and Haven saw the attached three car garage and huge fenced in yard that stretched both behind and beside the place, he knew exactly what Maddox had done.

The moment he stood and removed his helmet, he caught a glimpse of something shimmering in the side yard and realized it was a whole fuckin' fenced in pool area with a deck around the edges of it and everything. Maddox slid an arm around him and together they stood looking up at the sprawling ranch style house buffered along one side by a line of tall Evergreen trees.

"I signed the papers Wednesday," Maddox said as he tugged Haven against his side. "Archer helped me empty my stuff out of the apartment last night and not a moment too soon, too, he and Mindy have decided to try living as roommates with benefits while they see where this thing goes between them."

"Good for them," Haven said and realized he truly meant it.

Ever since his brother had told him about the fight club, Haven had felt his attitude toward him melting. All these years, he'd been angry at his brother for not showing up and not telling the truth, but somewhere over the past few weeks, he'd started to see where he needed to be responsible for his own choices in the matter. Like his brother said, Archer might have done the crime, but Haven had been the one to tell the lie that had gotten him put where he had. He could have refused when Archer asked him to take the rap. His brother wouldn't have forced him. He'd have probably taken off that very night and attempted to outrun the charges and knowing Archer, he'd have gotten away with it too.

In the end, he'd come to accept that there was no walking back the last six years. They'd both made bad choices, and it seemed like they'd both grown from them too. Thinking back, Haven knew that if faced with the choice between contacting Cade about the threat to Jeremy or trying to handle it himself. Old Haven would done everything in his power to keep it a secret and solve the problem on his own, and probably have winded up right where he did for his troubles. He didn't know if he'd appreciate today, and this moment, and the man who was currently stroking a hand up and down his back as much as he would if he'd never spent time behind bars. On the inside he'd realized how much he took his freedom for granted, now that he had it back, he wanted to savor how good it felt to live life to its fullest.

Today had been the single best day of his whole entire life, but as they stood looking up at the house together, Haven realized that Maddox had intended it to be just the beginning of what he had planned for them.

"It looks like you've just named our dog."

"O-our?" Haven stammered.

"You're my boy, right."

"Yes, sir."

"Do you intend to be my boy for a long time to come?"

Nodding, Haven practically tripped over his tongue blurting, "Yes, Daddy."

"Then Loki-Bear is our dog."

"Come on, let me show you the inside," Maddox said as his arm fell away from Haven's shoulders and he headed up the stairs to the door.

It took him a moment of fumbling around in his pocket before he handed Haven a key and stepped aside.

"Go ahead, open it."

Golden sunlight streaked across the gleaming hardwood floors. Both a skylight and a large bay window with a stained-glass inlay glinted where the light hit them, so bright he almost needed to shield his eyes. Haven stood on the landing between two floors and decided that he wanted to see the downstairs first. It took him a moment to find the lights, since this part of the house was underground, yet all he could think about was a bedroom with easy to black out windows so the sun couldn't reach them on their days off.

"Left is the den," Maddox said as he came down the stairs behind him. "It's big enough for a pool table and a home theater. Right is the bedroom and it's…."

Haven didn't let him finish, he veered left and found that switch just inside the door, the light revealing a huge space with wood beams running across the ceiling and a high chandelier with several bulbs that cast light into every corner of the space. Along one wall was the biggest bed Haven had ever seen. Just looking at it, he knew he'd be able to lay sideways across the middle and still not touch the sides. At the foot of it was a massive, raised dog bed, with a set of raised bowls beside it, the midnight blue and black matching the rest of the décor in the room.

As usual, Haven couldn't stop himself from blurting something out. "Your bed is huge."

"In time I hope you'll come to think of it as our bed." Maddox urged.

"Maybe after we've christened it," Haven snarked, only half in jest.

It was all so fast and yet there had been moments over the course of the day when it had felt like he and Maddox had been together forever. The way he was so in-tune to what Haven was feeling, like when he'd stood in the candy shop too shellshocked to move. Whenever they were close enough to touch, Haven couldn't resist closing the gap, even when he was worried about what people would think if they saw.

"We'll have plenty of time for that," Maddox assured him. "Come on, I think we have just enough time to see the upstairs before River and Loki-Bear get here with supper. I thought we could eat together and break in one of the new boardgames afterwards, then take a dip in the pool once our food settles. I reminded him to bring swim trunks too, and I picked up a few inflatable rafts in case you wanted to just lay out and stare at the stars."

Haven whirled and threw himself in Maddox's arms so hard he staggered the man, who just lifted him off the ground and held him once he'd regained his footing. There was no holding back his emotions with snark this time, there was nothing but the sobs that wracked his body and the tears that soaked his cheeks and Maddox's shirt as he held him. Maddox didn't ask questions, and he didn't try to quiet him down. He just held him close, stroked his back, and weathered out the storm until Haven was calm again.

"Feel better now?" Maddox asked with genuine concern once Haven had finally stepped back and wiped his face.

"Yeah, I really, really do."

"Good. That's what I was hoping for by saving this surprise for last," Maddox said. "There is a firepit out back too and sliding glass doors in the kitchen that open to a large deck. I'll need to brush up on my grilling skills, and get a proper smoker, but I'm excited to see what we can make together on the nights you stay over. I know it'll take time before you're ready to move in full time, and that's alright, you take as much time as you need. Something tells me it'll happen gradually until one day it dawns on us that you haven't slept over the shop in a while."

"Yeah, I can see it working that way." Haven admitted.

This time, instead of dashing ahead, Haven walked upstairs beside Maddox, his Daddy's hand on the small of his back. In the living room, stretched in front of yet another bay window, was the biggest cat condo he'd ever seen. Completely carpet and rope covered, there were several perches and scratching stations in addition to a tunnel, two round sleeping compartments, and several attached toys.

"S.O.X. is going to love that, if he doesn't go ballistic and hate me when I put him in the cat carrier to bring him over."

"You might want to wear long-sleeves the first time you try that."

"Well, he's got an appointment with the vet next week, so we'll see what happened."

"Is he okay?"

"Oh yeah, he's awesome, no issues, but I don't know how long he was living on the street, or what he'd been eating or if he's ever had any of his shots, so I wanted to get him a checkup and make sure I'm taking care of him the right way. Doc. Hernandez's secretary remembered me when I called. The first thing she asked was what kind of stray I'd picked up this time. I heard Doc. Hernandez's voice in the background saying that if it was another snapping turtle with a cracked shell, they were assigning the case to the new vet. Apparently, he's as fond of saying he's too old for shit as you are."

Maddox laughed at that and ran fingers through his hair. "How the hell did you pick up a snapping turtle without losing any fingers?"

"Well, Jeremy got it to bite a stick and while it was busy snapping it in half, I slid a wooden crate under it, and we managed to get the lid closed without any bloodshed. You should have heard it hissing all the way to the vet and how pale Doc. Hernandez got when he saw what we had in the crate. He had to sedate it before he could examine how bad it was hurt."

"Did the turtle make a full recovery?"

"Yup. Doc has a small reptile habitat connected to the shop. It's divided into four spaces so the animals can't hurt each other while they are recovering. It's really cool and we learned how to catch food for the turtle while it healed up. I could tell he was relieved the day we came to take it back to its original habitat, but he said he was proud of us for taking the time to help. He always told us what a good job we'd done whenever we brought a stay to him to help. He never charged us or our parents either and he always helped us find homes for any stray we couldn't keep. He's awesome that way and he knows people who foster, too. He doesn't believe strays should have to live in cages until they find homes, so he partners with a cat café and sponsors several adoption events every year."

"Can you make an appointment for Loki-Bear?"

"Of course."

"Alright, let's get him looked at too, and when we're in Doc. Hernandez's office I think I'll ask how the whole sponsoring bit works. I'd love to get in on that. I know a few other people who'd be interested in helping out too."

"That would be awesome."

"Thank you for inviting River and making a space for him too."

"He's important to you, of course there would be a place for him in our home."

"Nothing can ever get back time you lost," Maddox said. "But I'd say this is a beautiful spot to build a future from, wouldn't you?"

"It's amazing, how'd you find it?"

"I didn't. The wonderful woman down at the realtor's office did. When I told her I wanted something secluded with a big backyard and a garage big enough for two vehicles, she told me she knew just the place and that it had just gone on the market. The moment she showed it to me I knew it was meant to be ours."

Before Haven could say anything, the doorbell rung, punctuated by barking he knew came from Loki-Bear.

"Those chimes have got to be upgraded to something more original," Maddox said as they headed for the door.

"We should get one that sounds like a woodpecker."

"Hell no and no Woody Woodpecker laughter either," Maddox said. "In fact, I reserve the right to veto anything to do with loud avians, holiday music, or anything that even remotely sounds like a siren."

"Awe. I can agree with the siren, but no Halloween sounds?" Haven replied. "That's sad."

Hmm , Maddox murmured, and Haven could tell he was thinking about it as he opened the door. The moment Loki-Bear saw them he started prancing around happily, barking and leaping up to give kisses and get his fur rubbed.

"Halloween sounds can be the exception."

"Yey!"

"What's this about Halloween sounds?" River asked as he stepped inside and whistled as he got a look around the place.

"We get to have some as the door chime!" Haven blurted.

"Awesome."

"I know, right!"

"I always switch over to something spooky for the dispensary chime just as soon as September hits."

"I should find one for the shop too."

"If you do, Meadow will too," River said. "We can get a whole haunted house vibe going."

"I'll leave that to you two." Maddox said.

"I'm sorry I was late," River said. "Detective Florez stopped by with a message for you, he said he tried to reach you earlier but kept getting sent straight to voicemail."

"Yeah, I had the Do Not Disturb feature turned on."

"Kinda figured."

"Did he say what he wanted?" Maddox asked while River stood there grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

"Oh yeah," River said. "He said to tell you that they caught the guy who was driving the pickup and that he admitted to everything, including being drunk when he was tear-assing around town. Jeremy was right, the truck was midnight blue, only it was scorched by the time they caught up to him, he'd driven it out to his grandfather's property, used a backhoe to make a hole big enough to bury it, drove it in, then lit it on fire and let it burn before he buried it."

"That's a lot of effort to then turn around and own up to doing it."

"Yeah, that's pretty close to what I said too," River admitted. "But I guess the guilt was getting to him like that guy in the Poe poem about the heart in the wall, what the hell was it called again?"

"The Tell-Tale Heart," Haven said.

"Yeah, that one. I remember you reading it to me and scaring me half to death with that shit."

"This guy must have read it too, or just been hallucinating shit. Apparently, he'd been on a real bender before and after the wreck and blurted out everything the moment he opened the door. Even asked them what took them so long getting there," River said. "Anyway, Detective Florez told me to tell you that they faxed over a final copy of the report to the insurance company so there should be no reason for you to have to call him anytime soon. He sounded a bit relieved about that last part."

"I bet, now come in out of the doorway before there are more mosquitoes in here than there are outside."

A savory scent wafted from the paper bag River carried, and Haven's stomach rumbled.

"Please tell me that's what I think it is," Haven said, practically shoving his nose in the bag to inhale. "Oh my god, you made Pops meatball hoagies."

"Yup, and mom's chocolate-peanut butter brownies."

"Holy shit."

"Welcome home big brother," River said as Maddox took the bag from him so he could pull Haven into an embrace."

"You've got something else in here too, what's that clattering?" Maddox asked as he carried it to the table.

"Detective Florez wasn't the only one to drop in this afternoon, the soda supplier dropped in, he had samples of the new flavors. We can't order them yet, but he left me three of each so we could try them. When I saw that one of the flavors was grape, I figured they'd be perfect for dinner and game night. Thanks for inviting me and for having a door that opens inward. I doubt my face could take another encounter with you and an outward swinging one."

"Get up here you two," Maddox said, laughing from the top of the stairs.

"Come on bro. I can't wait to taste the food," Haven said.

"Fine but no tasting until we've had a chance to make a toast," River said as they stepped into the kitchen to see Maddox already laying paper plates and napkins on the table.

"More like several," Maddox amended.

"I wanna make a toast too," Haven declared.

"Oh yeah and what would you like to make a toast to?" Maddox asked as he pulled a chair out for him.

"Wind therapy," Haven admitted, feeling his face heat up a little as he smiled up at Maddox. "And the best growly-grumpy Daddy in the world!"

-End-