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“Is this your father?” Steve asked, pointing to the tall man beside a young Ted Hastings in the photograph he was holding. Ted was in an RUC uniform, supporting himself on crutches, and neither man was smiling. There was a distinctly haunted look on Ted’s face and the other man, lightly resting a hand on Ted’s shoulder, the man’s eyes focused on Ted, not the camera, concern and sadness emanating from him, visible and clear, even in the old photo.
“Let me see,” Ted said, setting down his crossword puzzle and looking down at the photo in Steve’s hand, “No,” Ted said, gently taking the picture from Steve to look closer, for several moments, a sad smile offered as he hand the picture back to him but no identification coming.
Steve looked closer at the picture. Ted didn’t talk much about his past or any family he left behind in Northern Ireland. He assumed Ted’s parents were dead, but he couldn’t say for sure. He had found the small box of photos tucked away in a box of books that Ted had retrieved from the storage unit he still had but was trying to clean out.
Deciding to press for an answer, Steve tried again, “An uncle? Cousin? Family friend? Not a bad-looking fella,” he said, something about the man seemed familiar for some reason, but he couldn’t quite place it, trying out a term he loved hearing from his gaffer.
”Something like that,” Ted said, his voice guarded, but immediately feeling bad as Steve shrunk back a little. With a sigh, he set his crossword puzzle on the table, taking his readers off, and setting them beside the crossword puzzle and pen. Wrapping an arm around Steve’s shoulder, he gently pulled him closer. “It is Tomas O’Malley, after that picture was taken, see that watch,” Ted pointed to Tomas’ wrist where there was a barely visible watch, “he gave it to me—telling me that Patrick had given it to him as a present when he was much younger. He wanted me to have it so I could always have a piece of Patrick with me. Patrick’s mother knew how close we were, but I didn’t know his father had. I still hadn’t come to terms with everything…” Ted pulled Steve a little closer to him, nuzzling the side of Steve’s head.
“The man was a father figure to me too, after me own divorced ma,” Ted added quietly, “Fine fella, he was, a builder by trade, taught me much of the household DIY skills I do have,” Ted said with a rueful snort, “Not half the man he or his son was, but I try,” Ted said, pressing a kiss to the side of Steve’s head.
“What are you…” Ted started to ask as Steve was fumbling with this wrist to take a closer look at the watch, then pulled his wrist around to place a kiss on the underside, in that open space between the watch and the base of Ted's palm
“But you are, even if you don’t see it. I see it. Morrigan and Muninn recognize it too,” Steve added as he leaned heavier into Ted, squeezing him close.