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Bob rushed into the kitchen, red faced, flustered, and still in uniform.
“I’m sorry, I know I’m late. My CO needed to talk to me, and it took longer than expected.”
Jake stirred the dish in front of him and adjusted the temperature on the stove before giving his full attention his boyfriend.
“You’re not late, didn’t you get my text?” he asked gently, not liking the distress pinching Bob’s features.
Bob fished his phone out of his pocket. Sure enough, he’d missed a text.
JS: Zoom moved back an hour. Robyn has to take Ava to a friend’s. See you soon. Xo.
“Oh, ok,” Bob replied awkwardly. Jake reached out hooked a finger through one of this belt loops, tugging him closer.
“You’ve got plenty of time. So take a deep breath.” Bob did as he was instructed, but when that didn’t release the tension from his shoulders, Jake furrowed his brow. “You ok?” he asked, his hands coming up to frame Bob’s face.
“A lot on my mind,” Bob replied with a wry grin. His eyes fluttered closed as Jake’s thumbs brushed his cheekbones.
“Anything I can help with? Everything ok with your CO?”
“You’re already helping,” Bob replied, trapping one of Jake’s hands and turning his face to kiss his palm. “ And yes, he just wants to start the conversation about my next steps.”
“Already? I thought you had another year left on your tour.”
“Just starting the conversation, Jake,” Bob sighed. He wasn’t ready to talk about his CO’s suggestion that he take a nonflying billet for awhile and go to grad school. It was a conversation that could wait until Jake got back.
“Ok. Well, why don't you go take a few minutes to shut the work day down. I am almost done with dinner and then we’ll have our call,” Jake smiled softly, straightening up to press a kiss to Bob’s forehead. Bob returned the kiss with one to Jake’s lips before heading towards Jake’s bedroom to change out of his uniform.
Jake carried two plates of food and his laptop out to the patio to set up for the call with his family. He was surprised to find Bob sitting stock straight at the table in a button down, buttoned almost up to his neck.
“Um, why are you dressed like that?”
Bob tugged on his shirt, grimacing as the collar skimmed his throat. “I’m meeting your family. I want to look nice.”
“Magoo, it’s a zoom call. You look like you’re going to do someone taxes.”
“I want them to like me,” Bob frowned. Realization dawned on Jake. Bob’s earlier anxiety had less to do with his conversation with his CO and much more to do with their impending Zoom call.
Jake extended his hand to the man. “Come on, come with me.” Reluctantly Bob took his hand and allowed him to lead him to the bedroom. Jake started on the buttons of his shirt.
Bob’s cheeks went scarlet. “Jake, I don’t think now is the time…”
“You’re so cute,” Jake chuckled, pressing a smacking kiss to his cheek. “You keep working on that.” He pointed to the buttons as he crossed the room to his dresser.
“Jake…”
“Trust me, Magoo.” Jake called back, head buried in a drawer. “Here it is!” he cried victoriously. He returned to Bob with a shirt slung over his shoulder. He helped his boyfriend the rest of the way out of his starched button down and tossed it on the bed. He couldn’t resist the opportunity to press an open mouth kiss to the hollow of his throat.
“Jake…” Bob warned again.
“I see it, I kiss it,” Jake shrugged, eyes going hot for a flash of a second.
“Good thing you didn’t tell me to take off my pants,” Bob mused, a smile playing at his lips.
“There we go, the sense of humor is coming back!” Jake grinned, grabbing the shirt off his shoulder and easing it over Bob’s head. Bob put his arms through and let the soft threadbare cotton settle on his body. He looked down to see it was a very worn VFA-122 Flying Eagles shirt. He probably had one of his own somewhere, they all rotated through that squadron right out of training. But if he did the math right, Jake’s was almost as old as Bob’s entire career.
“You keep that. It’s one you can wear and no one will wonder why you have it. People might ask questions if you started sporting a Vigilantes shirt.”
Bob felt gooey warmth fill his chest at the sweet but significant gesture. “Thanks, Jake.”
“And now that I got you looking like my Magoo again and not accountant Magoo, I need you to listen to me,” Jake started. “My family already likes you. In fact, they like you so much that if we, God forbid, broke up, they’d side with you,” he chuckled softly. “And as much as I would like you to get a chance to talk to them to confirm that fact, we don’t have to do this.”
“Jake, I’m not going to cancel on your family.”
“Are you sure? Because I am happy to tell them I got called into work or something.” Jake offered.
“No, Jake. I’m sure. Running late threw me off and I got a little anxious. I’m ok, now,” Bob assured him, kissing his nose.
Jake made a goofy face. “Good, because I know Caleb is looking forward to seeing you.”
“As I am looking forward to seeing him,” Bob waggled his eyebrows.
“If something were to ever happen to me, please don’t be like one of those cliché soldier love stories and marry my brother ok?”
Bob swatted at this chest. “Jesus Jake, not the comment to make before you deploy.”
Jake gathered him in his arms and pressed obnoxious kisses to every spot he could reach. “Sorry Magoogle, I was only joking.” Bob made a displeased squawk and fought his way out of the onslaught.
“Magoogle?” Bob asked, the smugly satisfied look on Jake’s face giving pause. “Oh great, it’s evolving.”
“Ok, it looks like everyone is on.” Jake noted as they finished their meal and prepared to connect to the call. “Before I turn our camera and mic on, do you want me to tell you everyone’s name or do you just want to wing it?”
“Just tell me your sisters,” Bob requested.
“Ok, so they’re twins.” Jake started.
Bob squinted at the boxes. “Nearly identical, it seems,”
Jake pointed to the box in the upper left hand corner. “Yeah, Robyn is older by six minutes. Her husband is Eden and they have a teenager, Ava. “
“Who is at a friend’s house?” Bob recalled. Jake nodded and pointed to the next box.
“The other one is Melinda. She is married to Jordan. And they have two little ones Rae and Drew.”
“Ok, I’m ready.” Bob said, reaching out to turn on the microphone and camera himself. A cacophony of noise filled the room. As everyone on the screen started waving and talking at once. “Hi…Hi everyone. Um, I’m Bob,” Bob gave a little wave of his own. The noise increased tenfold as they now began cooing over him.
“Ok, ok, guys, one at a time. We can’t hear,” Jake cut in. They all started talking at the same time again. “I will mute you all,” he warned.
“Jacob,” one clear southern lit came through the ruckus and everyone else fell in line like they’d been doing it their entire lives. The face of a woman who Jake clearly took after filled the screen. She was tanned and freckled by the sun. Her green eyes were sharp and her honey blonde hair hung in a long braid that rested over her shoulder. A very serious man in a worn John Deere ballcap sat at her side.
“Hi, Momma,” Jake sighed happily. It was so unexpected that Bob had to turn and look at him. Jake’s expression was oozing warmth and affection. Jake was a Momma’s boy. “It’s so good to see your beautiful face,” he complimented, earning a round of snorts and grunts from nearly everyone on the call, his mother included.
“You stop it right now with that flattery, Jacob Seresin. It got you nowhere as a boy and will get you nowhere now,” she chided, but there was a twinkle in her eye that was a mischievous as her son’s. “And look at you, you sweet thing,” she addressed Bob. “I’m Jake’s momma, Angela. And this is his daddy, Zeke.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Seresin,” he greeted the two.
“Nice to meet you too, Son,” Zeke returned, his drawl roughhewn and raspy. “Caleb tells us you grew up on a ranch in Montana.”
“Yes, sir. I imagine it is very similar to yours except that we get a lot more snow.” Bob chuckled.
“That’s probably true,” Zeke laughed as well. “How are you on a horse?”
“Comfortable,” Bob replied easily.
“Good, when Jake gets you down here, we’ll get you on a horse and show you our land,”
Bob warmed at the thought of going to Texas and meeting Jake’s family in person. “I would like that very much.”
“Oh my God! Daddy, I’m so sorry but this is so boring. Tell us about yourself, Bobby. Can I call you Bobby? I’m Mindy,” Melinda interrupted.
“Hi Mindy. Erm, you can, but no one but my mother does,” he shrugged.
“And Phoenix.” Jake added. Bob sent him a small smile.
“And Phoenix, especially when she’s acting like my mother,” he corrected.
“Frontseaters gotta take care of their backsteaters,” Jake shrugged.
Bob snorted. “Like you would know, you don’t play well enough with others to have a backseater.” Out of the corner of his eye he could see both of Jake’s sisters giggling at their banter.
“That comes from being eight years younger than his siblings, I’d imagine. Not a lot of kids his age around. He had more pets than friends.” Caleb commented. “Good to see you, Bob,”
“You too, Caleb.” He felt Jake pinch his side. He pinched him back but continued his conversation with Caleb. “And that honestly answers a lot of questions.”
“You make me sound like a creepy loaner. I had plenty of friends.” Jake protested.
“Yeah, ranch hands,” Caleb laughed.
“Getting off track again!” Melinda reminded. “Just tell us how you met.”
“We met at a bar, Jake stole my pool cue,” Bob grinned.
“That’s not…”
“Oh that’s right, I forgot the part where you were walking around like a peacock with all of your feathers out telling us how you were the best of the best, and then you spent the next three weeks calling me Baby on Board because you though my call sign was boring,”
“That sounds like Jake,” Robyn finally spoke up. “I’m Robyn, since everyone else has introduced themselves. I’ve got a husband around here somewhere, but I don’t know where he got off too.”
“My husband is trying to get the kids to bed and it doesn’t sound like he’s winning,” Mindy added. Everyone laughed, picking up on the sound of kids giggling in the background.
Jake redirected to conversation back to the previous topic. “Ok, ok, I admit the night we met was not my finest hour, but you’re misleading them. You need to tell them about the night that…the night I…” He wasn’t sure what to call the night in the hospital.
“The night you acted like a normal human being for the first time?” Bob teased.
“You’re killing me, Magoo.” Jake groaned, burying his face in Bob’s shoulder. Fucking stealth pilot. This was not the same man who was in his bedroom not thirty minutes ago beside himself with nerves.
Bob brought a hand up to scratch at the short hairs on the base of Jake’s skull. “That wasn’t really fair. The night Jake is talking about. He came to visit me in the hospital. My pilot and I took a bird through one of our engines and had to eject from the plane. We were both lucky, no major injuries, just a lot of bruising.” He paused for the expected noises of sympathy and concern.
“Anyway, I lost my glasses in the ejection. So when Jake showed up, I couldn’t actually see him. But he sat his blurry self on the end of my bed and we talked for awhile. It was probably the most words we’d exchanged up to that point. He offered to go scour the desert for my glasses, but I knew even if he found them they’d be in a million pieces. And I thought that was that.” He spared Jake a quick glance, a warm smile on his face.
“But the next morning I woke up and there was a brand-new pair of glasses on the nightstand. Jake never told me how he did it or who he sweettalked to get the optical shop open afterhours. But that was kinda what started it all.” As Bob finished his story, he absently noticed that Jake’s dad had disappeared from the screen. He pushed past the jolt of anxiety that gave him.
“And that’s why he called you Magoo?” Mindy puzzled out.
Bob gave an affectionate eye roll. “Yes, he thinks he’s clever.”
Jake bumped shoulders with him. “You love it.”
“Just like you love it when we call you Baby Boy,” Robyn teased. Jake scowled.
“Yeah, Baby boy,” Mindy chimed in.
“Enough,” Angie stepped in, somewhat adverse to seeing her elder children making her youngest squirm.
“Mama’s boy,” Caleb spit out on a fake cough. Both the girls snickered.
“Jacob, now that he’s your beau, I hope you treat him better than you did that first night,” his mother gently admonished.
“Don’t say beau!” Jake and Bob chirped in unison. Both of their cheeks flushed as they remembered the last time the word beau came up between them.
“There’s a story there,” Robyn mused at their vehement reactions.
“No, no, Beau is just the first name of the Air Boss at North Island,” Bob covered quickly.
“Yeah he was a real hard a…uh…guy to work with,” Jake added, correcting himself midsentence not wanting to be scolded by his mother again.
“And Mrs. Seresin, despite our rocky beginning, your son showed up when I really needed someone and he’s been by my side ever since. He makes me happier than I ever thought I could be,” Bob felt Jake press a little closer, and affectionate hand running up and down his back. That wasn’t something he’d told Jake outright before.
Angie nodded, her eyes a little damp but proud. “Jake is my wild child and my dreamer, always ready for the next adventure. He can be stubborn and proud just like his Daddy, but deep down hidden were no one can see it, he’s got a heart of gold,” she told him.
“I believe it,” Bob chuckled, thinking that description fit Jake to a tee.
“Momma, please,”
“I just want him to know that I raised you to be good and all that cocky nonsense you learned from somewhere else,”
“Probably flight school,” Bob cut in. “Seems all the pilots come out of there cocky.”
“Oh, thank God,” Mindy gasped. “I thought you were going to be mushy for the rest of the call.”
“Some of us have an appropriate range of emotions, Melinda,” Robyn sassed her twin, eyes rolling in exasperation.
Melinda stuck her tongue out at her sister. “Well some of us came for a shovel talk not a hallmark movie.”
“I think if anyone needs a shovel talk, it’s probably Jake,” Robyn countered.
Mindy grinned in a way that had frightened Jake most of his life. “Then let’s get to shoveling.”
“Ok, ok, I’m going to hop off and let you kids bicker amongst yourself,” Angie interrupted, realizing she was out of her depth with her kids turned adults. “Bob, it was wonderful to meet you. There is always an open invitation for you at the ranch.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Seresin,” he replied with a soft smile.
“Please, it’s Angie.” She corrected. “And Jacob, I expect to hear from you before you leave.”
“Yes, Momma.” Jake nodded.
“And the rest of you, chores start at sun up,” she reminded despite all of them knowing that their entire life. They all said their goodnights as she signed off.
“Now where were we?” Mindy asked.
“Shoveling,” Caleb provided helpfully, picking up his phone, needing to do a little shoveling of his own.
“Yes!” Mindy rubbed her hands together like a cartoon villain. “So Jake…” she was interrupted by a squealing, very wet and very naked little boy.
“Catch him,” a male voice called. Melinda deftly stuck a hand out and stopped her son in his tracks.
“Andrew Jordan, mind telling my why your biscuits are out in my kitchen?”
The little boy shook his butt at the camera. “Because that’s where biscuits are a’possed to be. And jelly,” his expression went mischievous as he turned around smacked his belly. “Must be jelly ‘cuz jam don’t shake like that.”
Melinda’s eyes went skyward. “Heaven help me,” she sighed.
“I think that particular well of help has run dry, sweetheart,” her husband chuckled, kissing the top of her head before wrapping their son in a towel. “Time for bed, my tiny streaker, say goodnight.”
Drew turned back towards the camera, dropped his towel and did a little wiggle. “Goodnight,” he grinned, running back out of view.
“And that ends the show portion of our evening,” Mindy quipped without missing a beat. It seemed this was not an uncommon occurrence.
“Bob, if you want to know what Jake was like as a little boy, there’s your answer,” Robyn remarked.
Bob’s widened his eyes dramatically, but settled into a look of acceptance. “You know what, that checks out.”
As his sisters began talking over each other to tell Bob stories from his childhood, Jake was distracted by his phone buzzing in his pocket. It was a message from Caleb. He looked up at his brother’s face on the screen and the man had the audacity to arch an eyebrow at him.
CS: You haven’t told him.
JS: Not yet.
CS: Before you leave, Jake.
JS: I know.
CS: You’re running out of time.
JS: I know.
CS: He should know how you feel.
JS: I KNOW.
Jake lifted his head to glare at his brother before shoving his phone back in his pocket. He tuned back in just in time to hear his sisters telling Bob about the multiple times they found him amongst the cows in nothing but boots, a cowboy hat and his Batman underwear.
“All mom said I needed was shoes!” Jake protested.
“ But Batman, Jake? I always pegged you as more of an Iron Man. All those narcissistic tendencies.”
Jake closed his eyes and let out a long breath. “I hate you all.”
“Oh but we all love you so much,” Robyn cooed. If she’d been there in person she’d have pinched his cheeks. Jake playfully stuck his tongue out at her.
“And you,” Jake leveled a warning glance at Bob. “I wouldn’t be so smug. Jean said she was going to send me home videos.” Bob went a little pale. “Turn about is fair play, Magoo.” Jake leaned in to press a kiss to his boyfriend’s cheek.
“Alright, Jake. We need you to get lost, we do have a little something to talk to Bob about,” Robyn admitted.
“That’s my cue,” Caleb announced. “Nice seeing you guys. Jake, I’ll catch up with you soon.” He sent his little brother a meaningful look. Jake kept his expression neutral as he noticed Bob pick up on the look and sent him one of his own. “Night everyone,” Caleb signed off.
“Fine,” Jake tossed his hands up. “I have dishes to do anyway. Magoo, just end the call when they’re done with you. Goodnight, ladies.”
Now alone, Bob stared at the two women on the screen. Was there actually going to be a shovel talk? The silence stretched out nearly long enough to be awkward, but thankfully Melinda spoke.
“We’re not going to threaten you. You and Jake are big boys. You can sort out how to treat each other on you own. Plus you two are so soft for each other, there’s no point,” she waved a dismissive hand at the camera.
“Caleb says none of your friends know about you and Jake, right?” Robyn dove in.
“Right, we’re not ashamed or anything. It’s just complicated, truly,” Bob’s kneejerk reaction was to defend their choice.
Robyn waved him off. “No, no, that’s your business. It’s your relationship. I only mention it because you guys seem pretty serious and that means this deployment is probably pretty serious.”
Bob swallowed thickly. He almost wished Jake’s deployment would start already. At least then they’d be closer to it ending and they could all stop talking about it. He nodded.
“And stop us if this sounds stupid. Because we only know things from the family’s perspective, so maybe it’s less of a big deal since you’re in the Navy too, but if you need anything while he’s away…” Melinda picked up the thread.
“Even if it’s just someone to commiserate with. We know what it’s like to miss him,” There was something about Robyn’s tone that said there was more to that last line, but he figured he’d hear that story in time.
“I appreciate that. More than you know.” One of Bob’s biggest fears was being alone with all of this…incompleteness while Jake was away.
“And you talk to us enough, we’ll start picking on you too,” Mindy added with a wink.
“Lucky me,” Bob laughed.
“Well, it really was a pleasure meeting you. The family consensus is that you’re good for Jake,” she smiled.
“Yeah we should let you get back to your beau,” Robyn teased. Bob’s cheeks flamed again. “see, I’m telling you there’s more of a story there.” She laughed.
“Robyn, Mindy, it was a pleasure. I think I hear Jake calling me from the kitchen,” Bob replied playfully. “Goodnight, ladies,” he finished with a wink, ending the call.
Bob walked up to Jake who was standing at the sink, still working through the dishes. He wrapped his arms around him from behind and pressed his face against his shoulder.
“They didn’t make you cry, did they?” Jake asked, a soft laugh rumbling through his chest.
“No, they were actually very sweet,” Bob sighed. “Your whole family is sweet.”
Jake craned his neck to meet Bob’s eyes, a surprised expression on his face. “You got sweet from all that?”
“Yeah, the way you all fell in line when your mom spoke, the way you sisters literally talked over each other to tell me about you, and the banter between you and your siblings. It’s sweet. And all new to me,” Bob insisted.
Jake laughed again. “We’re a lot.”
“All of you except your dad. I noticed he disappeared, is he…” Bob wasn’t sure how to phrase the question, but he felt compelled to ask. Jake turned off the sink and twisted in Bob’s hold.
“No, not at all,” Jake realized what he was trying to ask. “He’s just a quiet man, who goes to bed early.”
“Oh, ok,” Bob let out a nervous laugh.
“When I first started thinking I might like more than just girls, I had a hard time figuring out how to tell my dad. I mean he’s a second generation rancher from Texas, they’re not exactly known for their inclusivity. And I really hated thinking that because he’s my dad. But one day I just told him and he said to me, ‘ya know what, Jake? The people you like are not the most interesting thing about you.’ At first I thought he was just avoiding the topic but then I realized it was his way of saying ‘I’m not hung up on your sexuality. It’s one tiny piece of what makes you, you.”
“That’s very sweet and very deep.”
“Especially for a gristly old rancher,” Jake raised his eyebrows. “I’m actually surprised he asked you as many questions as he did. The fact that you know ranching will help you bond. I can’t wait for you to meet them in person. “
There was a touch of melancholy in Jake’s voice. Bob knew he was doing the math and realizing that it could be close to a year before they made it to Texas, if they were lucky.
“I can’t wait either, but until then we can keep doing this. It seemed to work,” Bob shrugged.
“Yeah, I wish you could’ve met my nieces and actually met my nephew, not just seen his nude comedy act,” Jake finished on a snort, pulling out of Bob’s arms and leaning back against the counter.
Bob laughed, recalling the boy’s antics. “How old is he?”
“He’s five, just starting school. So they’re hoping that will calm him down some. But if he’s as much like me as they say he is, it won’t help much.” Jake shook his head. Mindy certainly has her hands full.
“And your nieces?”
“Rae, Drew’s sister is four. And darling,” Jake beamed.
“Sounds like Rae is Uncle Jake’s princess. Is it the same with Ava?” Bob wondered.
Jake’s expression dimmed. “Um, unfortunately not.”
Bob could see that he touched a sore spot. “I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry for, it’s on me. I just wasn’t there when she was growing up like I have been for the other two. But she had Caleb, so the two of them are thick as thieves.”
“Isn’t that more of a luck of the draw situation?” Bob assumed Jake meant the Navy kept him away.
“To a degree yes, but early in my career I made some poor choices in how I kept in touch with my family and how often I went home. I could have been there more,” Jake shrugged. “Luckily, I learned my lesson pretty quickly.”
“And just because Ava is a teenager now doesn’t mean you’ve missed your chance to know her. I mean look at Mav and Rooster, they’re the epitome of ‘it’s never too late’.
Jake laughed, remembering how the two pilots were at each other’s throats during the mission and now they were now about as close as father and son. “You’ve got a point there.”
Bob reached out and hooked his pinky through Jake’s, “Thanks for sharing your family with me, Jake.”
Jake twisted their hands, so all their fingers intertwined. “I like sharing with you,” he replied meaningfully, hoping his expression conveyed at least some of the things he was still couldn’t bring himself to say.