Sequel - Thanksgiving Spirit

A Thanksgiving Spirit

by Nelson

"It's just going to be weird, that's all," Riley commented with a sigh. The aged papers littered the dining room table and Riley passed another one to Colin. "This one looks good."

"Let's see. Pumpkin bread, looks easy enough to make. What's weird about us spending a holiday together? We'll make it special."

"It's not us being together, it's us being together without our families. Not to mention, I wanted to try some of these recipes of Samuel's on the family. Being with family is what makes a holiday special," Riley commented as he read another recipe.

Colin's hand covered Riley's and he brought the palm to his lips and kissed it firmly. "We're family."

Riley felt a flutter of appreciation and love for this man who had been at his side for so many years. "Yeah, but our tradition is messed up. Your mom and dad are out of town, my mom and dad are going to Florida. We're always with one set of parents or the other for Thanksgiving."

"My parents wouldn't have planned to go to the cousins' if they hadn't forgotten we weren't with your family this year. We just got our wires crossed. We'll still make it special."

"How? By over-eating and then lying in a heap on the sofa watching football?"

Colin laughed. "How is that different from any other year?"

"Because we won't be stuffed with my mom's sweet potato casserole or your mom's green beans."

"We can get the recipes from them if we don't have them already," Colin said as he passed Riley a sheet of yellowed paper. "Or we can try out some of these like we planned and then sample them on Thanksgiving for a trial run for Christmas."

"I guess," Riley said sadly.

"I'm glad we decided to cook rather than go out, even if we did decide last minute."

"I know. Good thing we had a turkey breast in the freezer." Riley paused to read another recipe. "Gross. Who'd eat this?" Riley grimaced as he read through the bland ingredients.

The antique chandelier trembled overhead and Colin grinned. "Better watch how you slam Samuel's concoctions. He's listening."

"As usual. I never knew porridge was just flour and water; that's basically it in this porridge recipe. Isn't that how you make homemade glue?" The light shook more insistently. "Sorry, Samuel, but this sounds nasty. We aren't making this."

"It's milk porridge," Colin said, picking up the discarded recipe. "Maybe it's different from regular porridge. I thought porridge was like grits or something like that."

"I have *no* idea," Riley said absently as he read through the ingredients of another recipe. "You know what we need to do? Put all these together in a book for him. A tribute."

"That's a nice idea."

"Maybe I spoke too soon; look at this one. Catfish Soup." Riley's nose turned up in disgust. "We might want to leave this one out of the book."

"I'm with you," Colin stated as he read. "How times have changed, huh?"

"Maybe we shouldn't do any of these for tomorrow. Stick to the stuff that makes it Thanksgiving for us so it doesn't feel more off," Riley suggested.

Colin sifted through the papers and found the pumpkin bread recipe again. "How about we stick with our traditional dishes and add one for the guys?"

Riley gave Colin a half-smile at the page he held up. "I guess I could live with that."

"Ok, then we need to make a list and get to the grocery store to pick up the rest of what we need."

They went to the kitchen and Colin pulled a sheet from the notepad off the refrigerator. "We know we want the sweet potato casserole and green beans, right?"

Riley pulled the recipe box out of the cabinet. He answered as he flipped through the box of cards, "Yeah. We have the casserole recipe."

"There's not a real recipe for the green beans. Mom just puts fatback and sugar in them. That's the secret," Colin told him, tapping the pen against the table as he thought.

"We need stuffing." Riley looked up from the recipe box. "Do you know how to make that?"

Colin laughed. "Hell, no. Stove Top?"

Riley shrugged. "That'll do for me if they have any left. We have the turkey breast and we can make gravy."

Colin added Stove Top Stuffing to the list. "Do we have canned sweet potatoes?"

Riley opened the cabinet door, and moved aside a can or two. "I doubt it," he commented as he looked. "Nope. We have green beans, though."

"I know we need pumpkin for Samuel's bread recipe." He scribbled another item onto the list.

"We need regular bread while we're shopping. Do we want biscuits or rolls with dinner?"

"We can make mom's yeast rolls if you want," Colin suggested. "They're a bit of work, but worth it."

"I love those. We need to call her to get the recipe."

"Are you sure it's not in the box?"

"Wait. Here it is. We need yeast," Riley said after scanning the recipe card. "What else?"

"What about the broccoli casserole? We always take that when we get with our families for holidays. That will give us turkey, dressing, rolls, broccoli casserole, sweet potato casserole and green beans. That's more than enough for us. Oh, and the pumpkin bread we can have for breakfast."

"We can freeze most of the leftovers, don't you think?"

"Yeah."

"Oh! We need a pumpkin pie," Riley realized. "How can we not?"

"Ready-made?"

"If they still have them. Shopping the day before Thanksgiving isn't the smartest move on our part."

"I'm still glad we decided to cook rather than to go out. We'd better go to the grocery store and get what we need. We might have to adjust the menu depending on their inventory."

They meandered through the crowded grocery store when Riley's cell began to ring. "Hi, Mom. Are you guys there yet?" Riley shook his head at Colin, relaying his mother's answer. "Another hour to go? You must be tired."

They turned the corner and Riley grabbed a box of stuffing and threw it in the cart with a thumbs up to Colin. "We're at the grocery store getting the ingredients for a feast for two. So far so good. It looks like they over-stocked all the traditional Thanksgiving stuff." Riley stopped dead in his tracks. "What do you mean make more? There's only two of us. We're going to have leftovers as it is."

"What?" Colin asked anxiously at Riley's obvious growing concern at what he was hearing. "What's wrong?"

"No way, Mom. You can't ask us to do that. Why can't they stay at a hotel?"

"Who?? What's going on?" Colin persisted.

Riley huffed and dropped the cell from his jaw. "Aunt Louise and Uncle Ollie. Can you believe that?" Turning his attention back to his mother, he said, "But Mom, why are they our problem? We only see them about once a year. I know they're family, but—"

Riley put a hand on his hip in annoyance. "But that's an hour away. There are hotels closer than we are."

A look of horror passed over Colin's face as he mouthed the words, "They're staying with *us*?"

Riley looked back at him, disgusted, and gave Colin an unknowing shrug. "I know, Mom, but come on. She thinks gay people are from Mars or something. She's bad enough as it is." He paused and listened then rolled his eyes. "Let me talk to Colin before we commit. I'll call you back."

"Don't say it," Colin begged as Riley closed the phone. "I don't want to know."

"Their RV is broken down in Franklin. They can't get the part they need until Friday with the holidays and all."

"I can't believe it. Why did it have to be this year that your parents decided to go to Florida?"

"I don't know. Apparently, it would be rude to make them stay in a hotel when we're so close," Riley grumbled. "Damn it, Colin, this holiday just gets worse and worse!"

"We can hardly say 'no'. Can we?"

"Why can't we? Why can't we decide to go somewhere last minute?"

"Because your parents will know differently. Your mom will tell your granny and then she'll know we were rude to her sister and that won't go over well no matter how odd her sister can be."

Riley slapped his thigh in irritation. "Man! This frustrates the hell out of me."

"So they'd have to stay until Friday? Two nights?"

"Yes," Riley ground out. "Can you believe this?"

"No. I can't. We're going to need more regular groceries if we're going to have company."

"We'd better get what we need and get on the road. It's already 7 and we're an hour from Franklin. Damn it," he grumbled under his breath. "It's like we have no choice."

"That's what you get for wishing we weren't alone for the holidays."

"Is it too late to take it back?"

Colin grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "Yes. Call your mom and tell her we're going to get the old woman and her hubby."

~~~~~~~~

"Thanks for letting us stay with you," Oliver said cordially. "We know it's an imposition but all the hotels were full. We did try before we called."

"It's no problem," Colin said. "It would make for a lousy holiday in a hotel, anyway."

"We were lucky we could get a hold of your mother, Riley," Louise said. "Your granny gave us her cell phone number."

Colin tossed a suitcase of clothes in the trunk while Riley opened the back door for Louise. "Very lucky," he said then rolled his eyes where Colin could see. Colin tried to hide his smile and patted Riley's butt as he passed by.

Colin started the car and pulled the seatbelt around him. "You caught us at a good time. We were already at the grocery store so we picked up a few extra things. Are you hungry now?"

"No, we just had finished eating dinner before the damn RV gave up the ghost," Ollie said.

"Is it going to cost you much to get it straightened out?" Riley asked.

"Probably a small fortune," he said.

"Oh, it will not, Ollie," Louise countered. "About $300 the man said."

"That's a lot right before Christmas," Colin said.

"Thank you, Colin," Ollie commented proudly. "I thought it was a lot."

"I can't wait to see your house. Your mother said you've done a ton of renovations. Did you pay much for it?" Louise pried.

Riley stiffened in the passenger's seat. "We paid what it was worth," Riley said barely controlling the growl in his voice.

"You don't ask stuff like that," Ollie corrected her.

"I just thought if you had much work to do on it, surely you didn't get charged much."

Unwilling to divulge, Colin reiterated Riley's wise reply. "Like Riley said, we paid what it was worth."

"So not much, right?" Louise guessed.

"We're not telling," Riley blurted. Colin distinctly cleared his throat and Riley ignored the hint. "If you really want to know, you can look it up. It's public record."

"Now, you've offended them," Oliver said. "Ignore her, please. What you paid for your house is your business."

"Oliver!" she exclaimed.

"It's ok," Colin gracefully tried to make light of it. "We really like the house. The things we've done to it are mostly face-lift stuff. We refinished the floors, the walls, most of the fixtures."

"I'm sure it's very nice," Oliver said.

"So they won't have your RV fixed until Friday?" Riley interjected. Colin thumped Riley's thigh discreetly in the darkened car.

"No," Louise said sadly. "But even repair shops deserve a holiday, I suppose. We were going to stay with your mom and dad but we didn't know they were away."

"Granny didn't tell you they were going out of town?" Riley asked.

"She might have, but I didn't remember it. We had planned to go south for the holidays, too, but we changed our minds and headed to the mountains instead."

"Could have stayed in the RV if it would have started," Oliver commented. "It's too cold without heat."

"You're welcome at our house," Colin said hospitably. "And lucky for you, we decided to have a decent spread for dinner rather than eat out or buy a Safeway ready-made Thanksgiving dinner, both of which were options."

"We're just happy to be out of the cold," Ollie said. "We appreciate your hospitality."

The arrived at the house and Riley took the bags from the trunk while Colin unlocked the front door. They stepped inside and Louise dramatically pressed her hand to her chest as her mouth gaped open.

"What? What's the matter?" Colin asked anxiously. Riley's eyes flitted around the entryway, looking for signs of their other housemates that Louise might be seeing.

"It's beautiful!" she exclaimed. "Absolutely beautiful! It's like going back in time."

Colin shot Riley a look and saw the relief in his partner's face that surely showed in his own. "Thanks," he said. "We still have a lot to do, but a few rooms we're really pleased with. The upstairs bathroom is one of them; the kitchen is another."

"I can't wait to see the whole house," Louise said as her eyes did a perimeter scan of the room. She craned her neck to see into the dark office. "What's in there?"

"Why don't we get your stuff settled in your room then we'll give you the grand tour?" Colin suggested.

"Give me your coats," Riley said with a hand held toward them. He hung them on the hall tree by the door then swept a hand toward the stairs. "Start the tour upstairs with your room?"

"Sounds good to me," Oliver agreed.

"How interesting," Louise said as she paused on a riser. "A window in the stairwell. What's it overlook?" She peered through the darkened panes and squinted trying to see.

"A graveyard," Riley replied with a satisfied smile.

"How morbid," she cringed. "Does that bother you being so close to a graveyard?"

"No more than the ghosts in the house," Riley said, unable to help himself.

Colin's eyes widened and he could manage nothing more than, "Riley!"

Riley laughed at both Colin's reaction and that of Louise. Her eyes were as big as Colin's and her hand went back to her heart. "The house is hau- haunted?" she stammered.

"Oh, for God's sake, Louise," Oliver grumbled as he climbed the stairs around her. "Don't be so gullible. The boy's obviously teasing you."

Louise continued to stand there as the others climbed the stairs. She glanced into the darkness outside then quickly started to move again. "I didn't know," she explained as she followed. "Maybe he was serious. It *is* an old house."

"He was not serious," Oliver said. "What did you expect him to say when you're talking old houses and graveyards?"

"Here's your room," Colin smoothly changed the subject. He put the suitcase at the foot of the bed and turned on the bedside lamp then folded down the covers. "We'll show you where the bathroom is and our room, then we'll give you the rest of the tour."

"It's lovely," Louise said. Oliver kicked off his loafers and stretched his back. "Leave your socks on, Oliver. Your feet will get cold."

"Do you see my socks off?"

"I'm just saying," she said defensively with her palms up.

"Come on," Riley interrupted. "We'll show you the bathroom we're so proud of."

They dutifully trailed Colin and Riley across the hall and Riley switched on the light in the bathroom. "Here it is. You have to watch this door." He raised his voice slightly, "It sticks sometimes."

Colin turned his eyes to his partner quickly and gave him a lingering look. Riley raised a brow innocently in question. "It does stick sometimes."

"We haven't had problems with it sticking since we first moved in, so you shouldn't have a problem."

"We'll yell if we do. Louise has quite a set of lungs on her. All the practice she gets yapping at me."

"Oliver," she scolded. "This is simply beautiful. I didn't even know you could still get clawfoot tubs."

"Yeah, you can get a lot of retro things," Riley said. "We wanted to try to keep the look of the original. We still preferred tile on the floors and the vanity isn't exactly period but it still looks old."

Louise ran a hand over the aged looking brass fixtures. "It really does. You did a lovely job. I wish I could have seen it before."

"No, you don't," Colin laughed. "It was in pretty bad shape before."

"It's absolutely beautiful, now," she said.

"Our room is in the corner next to yours," Riley said as he led the way back down the hall.

"What's in that room?" Louise wondered as she lingered, looking toward the back staircase.

"There's a small spare room off from the bathroom and next to it are the stairs leading to the kitchen. Servants' stairs as far as we know," Riley informed them. "There's another spare bedroom across from our room but we don't have any furniture in there or in the other spare room."

Colin turned on the light to their room. "And here's our room."

Louise clutched her hand to her heart. "Well! What a lovely trunk! How does it look inside?"

She went over to the trunk and Riley darted after her. "Wait! Don't mess with it."

She turned to him with her hand outstretched toward the chest. "Why not?"

"It's really delicate. And fragile," he came up with quickly.

"I'll be careful," she promised as she gripped the lid before Riley could stop her. She tugged at it, biting her lip for leverage, but the lid held firm. "What the— Is it locked?"

"No," Riley said honestly. He looked at Colin who was wearing a mask of displeasure -purely for Riley and Samuel, if Riley had to bet. "It gets stuck sometimes," he shrugged. Sometimes when ghosts and owners don't want it opened, he thought to himself.

"I'd love to see inside of it," she pressed, continuing to try to pry the trunk open.

"They don't want it messed with, Louise," Oliver told her. "Let it go."

"We'll try to get it open later," Colin offered, drawing a dirty look from Riley. "Do you want to get comfortable then come downstairs?"

"I think so," Oliver said. "I'm an old man. I'm not ashamed to be in my PJs by 8:30. Hell, we go to bed by 9:00."

Colin laughed. "Ok, you go get comfy and we'll see you downstairs."

"Come on, Louise," he said, grabbing his wife as he passed by even as she twisted back toward the trunk. "But, I think I can get it open…"

"They said later, Louise. Come on."

Riley was smiling as his aunt Louise was tugged from the room. Despite the disapproving glare he was getting from Colin, Riley leaned over and lifted the lid of the trunk with two fingers and no effort.

"Can I just--," Louise started to say as she popped back around the doorframe. Her mouth dropped open as she gawked at the raised lid. Riley quickly lowered it and straightened up just as Oliver tugged her away again. "It was open. Oliver, the trunk was open."

"Hush up and come on," he said as their voices trailed down the hallway.

"Are you happy?" Colin said tersely.

"What?" Riley asked quietly in all innocence. "I wasn't holding it shut."

"He's feeding off of you. We can't have them seeing evidence of Samuel and James. With her big mouth it will be all over the family."

"I can't help what Samuel and James do." Riley crossed his arms defiantly. "And she's a busybody. I asked her not to look in there and she went straight for it anyway. I'm glad he held it shut."

"What difference would it have made if she touched it?"

"Touching is one thing. Opening is another, and it's private."

"Well, she didn't get it open, did she?" Colin asked.

"No," Riley said with an air of satisfaction. "She didn't."

"Don't make this a bad two days, Riley."

"What did I do?"

"You're edgy because our plans got changed for us and I'd appreciate it if you'd relax and enjoy the holiday. Don't give Samuel any ideas. Speaking of Samuel, what was that line about the house being haunted?" Colin rounded on Riley with his hands on his hips.

"It is!" Riley whispered gruffly.

"That doesn't mean we need for Louise and Ollie to know it. Someone with a mouth as big as hers will have us on Jerry Springer or the front page of The Enquirer."

"She just gets on my nerves. She deserves it for being nosy."

"It's not for you to decide what she deserves. They're only here for a couple of days; please, just watch what you say and do because Samuel apparently is paying attention judging by the trunk situation. And don't think I didn't catch you dropping a hint on the sticking door."

"I was just fooling around," Riley said innocently. "He probably didn't even notice."

Colin glared disbelieving. "He noticed."

"You don't know that."

"He notices everything you do or say. Listen, I'd rather these next couple of days go smoothly. Ok?"

"If they don't, it won't be *my* fault," Riley insisted as they left the room and headed down the stairs.

"Just don't add to it," Colin told him.

"What would *I* do?" he asked innocently over his shoulder.

Colin lightly swatted Riley's seat. "I shudder to think."

Colin sat down next to Riley on the sofa and switched on the TV. "What should we fix for breakfast Friday morning? We planned the pumpkin bread for Thanksgiving day."

"How about pancakes? They're easy and we have all the stuff we need."

"Sounds good to me. We'll ask them if they're ok with that." He looked up as Oliver entered the room, his calf-length robe cinched tightly around his narrow waist. "Just the person we need. Where's Louise?"

"I thought you needed me?" Oliver replied amiably as he sat on the love seat.

"Of course we need you," Colin grinned. "We were wondering if the two of you would like pancakes for breakfast Friday morning. We're making pumpkin bread for tomorrow. It's an old recipe we found that we wanted to try."

"Anything you serve us will be good. We'd eat a bowl of cereal if you offered us that. We're intruding enough."

"You aren't intruding, Uncle Ollie," Riley said. "I like getting to visit with you."

And that was the truth. He always did like his Uncle Ollie. It wasn't that he didn't like his Aunt Louise; it was just that she could be pushy and liked to take over, neither of which were endearing qualities. He was sure her intentions were right, but they never felt that way when they were being crammed down his throat.

"It's your aunt that's the problem," the old man noted wisely. "I'll apologize in advance."

"She can be a little overbearing sometimes," Riley said.

"Riley, she's your aunt," Colin reproved.

"She's still pushy," Oliver said with a laugh. "I think she's gotten worse as she's gotten older, or maybe I've gotten less tolerant in my old age."

"I don't think she means anything by it," Colin said.

"She means well, she really does," Oliver agreed.

An ear piercing screech from upstairs had Riley and Colin on their feet immediately even though they were not the ones summoned. "Oliver! OLIVER!"

Oliver trailed the two younger men, moving as quickly as he could, but unable to keep up with their pace as they dashed up the large staircase to the second floor.

"Bathroom!" Riley said as he determined the location of the screams.

Colin yelled through the door. "We're here, Aunt Louise. What's wrong? Can we come in?"

"Oh! I'm stuck! I can't get the door open!" the panicked voice rose higher. The door shook on its frame as she yanked and tugged from the other side.

Oliver appeared, breathless, and put his hand on the knob. With one twist, the handle rotated smoothly, without a hitch or a grumble, and the door creaked opened easily. Louise stood in shock on the other side, her mouth open and her palm to her chest.

"Did you try the handle?" Oliver asked slyly.

Louise's mouth fell open farther. "Of *course* I… Did I try the handle," she muttered as she pushed past them to get out of the little cell that had her trapped. "I was locked in!"

"Why did you panic?" Oliver asked calmly. "They told us it gets stuck sometimes."

She patted the sides of her upswept hairdo in case any flyaways were waving after her ordeal. "I was afraid I… I don't know, I just couldn't get it open and I didn't think you could hear me. I was yelling for about five minutes."

"After all these years, if I was going to leave you somewhere and forget you, I would have done it by now. I would have come looking if you didn't show up in a day or two, whether I heard you yelling or not," he teased.

"Oliver," she said with a swipe to his arm.

He escorted his wife toward the stairs with her still recounting how horrible it was, and Colin lifted an accusatory eyebrow at Riley. Riley mouthed, "I didn't do anything."

Now that the scare was over, Riley had to cover his mouth to stifle the laughter despite the solemn expression on Colin's face. Colin grabbed Riley's upper arm and pulled him toward the stairs to follow the older couple before Riley lost control of his laughter.

Oliver took Louise over to the love seat and had her settled down when Colin and Riley came into the room.

"Sorry about that, Louise," Colin said. "We really haven't had any trouble with it for a long time. We did at first though and it's a bad feeling to find yourself stuck in a room."

"It is," she agreed. "It's simply horrible."

"Do you feel up to the tour of the rest of the house after that?" Riley asked.

"Not really, no," Louise said, pulling her robe around her tighter. "I think I'd rather wait until morning. I just want to relax a bit. It's been a long day."

Riley felt the slightest niggling of guilt at laughing at his aunt and for giving Samuel the idea in the first place. She had to have really been scared to give up a chance at nosing around. "I'm sorry you got a scare, Aunt Louise. It's nothing to be afraid of, really, but we'll make sure we get you out if it happens again."

"Which it won't," Colin said confidently. "It shouldn't have happened this time."

"She'll be fine," Ollie said with a pat to his wife's knee.

"How about a cup of hot tea? It's decaf," Colin offered.

"I made some cookies earlier this week, too. It's another old recipe I found," Riley said. "They're like ginger snaps."

"That sounds good," Oliver said.

"I'll go get the tea started," Colin said with a pat to Riley's leg as he rose to leave the room.

"So you do the cooking?" Louise asked Riley. "Are you the woman, then?"

"Louise," Oliver scolded even as Riley stiffened.

Riley bristled. It was bad enough to put up with strangers who didn't get a male/male relationship, let alone having to deal with family who couldn't understand it. "There are no women in our relationship, Aunt Louise," Riley said tersely.

"But I don't understand," she said honestly. "I always thought one of you had to be like the woman. The wife."

"If we were interested in women, we wouldn't be together," Riley snipped. "We share the cooking and neither of us pretends to be a woman. Ever."

"So one of you doesn't do all the housework and cooking? " she asked.

"Leave it alone, Louise," Oliver said.

"I just wondered."

"Colin and I share all the chores, just like most other relationships these days. We don't need to be a woman to cook or clean, nor do we need to be married to one for those things to happen in our home."

"Now, you've offended him," Oliver said wearily.

"Who's offended?" Colin asked, returning with a plate of cookies. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer, knowing Riley was the only other someone in the room.

"Riley is," Ollie said, confirming Colin's fears.

Colin cast a questioning look toward his partner and Riley resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Colin recognized the hardness in Riley's eyes, whether they rolled or not, and knew without a doubt he was not only offended, but flat pissed off, to boot.

"What happened?" Colin asked.

"Nothing happened," Louise said, her expression not only oblivious but questioning. "I didn't offend anyone, did I, Riley? I just asked a question so I could understand."

"Understand what?" Colin asked.

"Who is…" Louise started uncomfortably, twirling her hand in the air as she tried to think of the right words since her earlier ones didn't go over so well, "you know, I just thought one of you was like the wife?"

No wonder Riley was pissed. Colin gave her an indulgent smile, "No, no. We're both men, both husbands. No wives in sight."

"Two husbands can have a perfectly wonderful physical relationship," Riley announced then he stood up from the sofa and planted a hard kiss on a surprised Colin. "Can't we, honey?"

Colin couldn't bring himself to return the 'honey' moniker. He replied with a simple and surprised, "Yes. We can."

Riley slipped his arm around Colin's waist and pulled him close for another kiss, this time to the cheek. "We can be ourselves at home and get as physical as we want, even without wives. It's not like out in public where people are so judgmental about seeing two men together."

Colin tried not to notice Louise's mouth hanging open and he cleared his throat self-consciously. "The tea should be about ready. What do you take in it? Cream and sugar?"

Louise sat stone still, gawking at what she had just seen, but was able to think enough to nod. Oliver replied nonplussed. "Cream and sugar would be good. Thank you."

"Help me out, Riley."

Riley smiled sweetly at his aunt and uncle, pleased with his show. "Be right back," he said with a wink.

Riley's smile vanished when Colin cut him with a displeased glare as Riley entered the kitchen behind him. "What was that all about?" Colin demanded, then added, "Honey."

"It was about giving her something to quench her curiosity. She makes me feel like a goddamn lab rat. She's too curious about us." Riley complained bitterly as he pulled four mugs from the cabinet. "I mean, what's that crap about one of us being a woman?"

"She's from a different time and doesn't understand us," Colin explained. "She's just ignorant, that's all."

"Dumbass is more like it."

"Not dumb. Ignorant. There's a difference. Not to mention she's older and deserves some level of respect for that reason alone, if no other."

"It just pissed me off, that's all," Riley said.

"I managed to figure that much out." Colin poured the hot tea and turned off the coffee maker. "You're going to have to control that while they're here."

"That's a tall order," Riley complained.

"Listen to me," Colin said seriously. "Samuel's already feeding off your cues and we don't need him pulling anything else while we have company. If she annoys you, she's likely going to annoy him. I think you can manage a little tolerance for a couple of days."

"I'll try to be tolerant, but I don't need her trying to figure out gay people by watching everything we do. If she wants to do that, I think we should give her something to see."

"Hey," Colin said, taking Riley's hand. "We aren't giving her a show and we aren't going to let her get to us. She's a guest and family and we're going to treat her as such. Ok?"

Riley sighed and nodded. "I know. I guess I'm edgy because I didn't feel like we had a choice in having them here and then because she had to go and make a comment like that. And what was that about wanting to know what we paid for the house?"

"I know," Colin said. "We need to overlook stuff like that and not do things for effect. I'll tell you what though; when we're all alone, you can kiss me as much as you want. Or even in front of people when you mean it and it's not to satisfy a hidden agenda."

"She just hit me wrong."

"I understand." Colin pulled Riley close by the front of his sweater and kissed him hard, while he reached around and claimed one cheek with his hand. "And I promise you, when we're alone in our room later, I'll make everything all right."

Riley linked his arms around Colin's waist and managed to forget about their company for the moment. "Promise?"

"Promise," Colin replied hungrily. If there was one thing he knew that would take Riley's mind off their unexpected guests, it was sex. It should improve his mood, too.

"I'm going to hold you to that."

"You won't have any trouble doing that," Colin vowed. "Let's take the tea out before they start wondering if we're making out in the kitchen."

"God," Riley grinned with a roll of his eyes.

~~~~~~~~

"All right," Riley said as he came out of the bathroom. "I laid out towels and washcloths for you. Toothpaste is in the top drawer of the vanity. Soap is where it should be. Anything else you need?"

"That should be it and if we need something we can't find, we'll call you," Louise said.

"I put an extra blanket at the foot of your bed," Colin said. "We keep the temperature lower during the night because we like it cooler while we sleep. I'm not sure if that's too cool for you or not. I can turn it up—"

"Don't do a thing you wouldn't normally do," Oliver said. "We're fine."

Colin nodded and smiled. "Call us if you need anything."

"I'm going to brush my teeth," Louise said as she headed for the bathroom. "I think I'll leave the door open this time."

Colin said, "We won't leave you trapped in there, we promise. Good night, Uncle Ollie."

"Good night. See you in the morning."

Riley said his good nights and followed Colin into the bedroom. He closed the door and leaned against it with a playful glance at his lover. "So, are you ready to make good on your promise?"

"Absolutely." Colin pressed against Riley, his tongue probing as he gripped Riley's face between his hands.

Riley closed his eyes and slipped his hands to Colin's waist, loosening Colin's turtleneck hem from the confines of his pants. "Do you think we should slip down the back stairs and make love in the kitchen?" he asked then grinned seductively, capturing his lower lip between his teeth.

Colin's mouth stretched into a smile. "No. Too far."

Colin's fingers nimbly managed the button of Riley's jeans and he released the fly to slide his hands between Riley's butt cheeks and his underwear. "We need to get you out of these," he said, his voice husky with desire.

He pushed his hands downward, dragging Riley's pants and underwear along slowly down his legs. Riley eagerly grasped the hem of his sweater and pulled it overhead, but he was startled by a knock before the sweater could clear his head. The sharp rapping on the door behind him caught him by surprise and he quickly yanked his sweater back down.

"Colin? Riley?"

"Shit," he mouthed to Colin. He tugged his pants back into place and called over his shoulder as he quickly re-dressed, "What is it?"

"Do you have an extra toothbrush?" Louise asked through the door, her voice muffled through the thick wooden barrier.

Riley huffed in annoyance and looked at Colin. "Just a sec," Colin replied.

"Her timing sucks," Riley muttered.

Colin tucked his shirt back in and Riley zipped his pants. Opening the door, he said, "Forgot your toothbrush, Aunt Louise?"

"No, I had it. It was Oliver's and I laid it out myself on the vanity for him when I was finished brushing my teeth," she explained as she went back to the bathroom.

"She said she left it here for me with the toothpaste," Oliver said as they got to the bathroom, "but it's not here. Neither is the toothpaste."

Riley looked past the vanity toward the back corner of the bathroom. "Is that it on top of the hamper?"

Louise's mouth fell open in a surprised "o". "Well! Why in the world would I have put it there?"

"Early Alzheimer's," Oliver winked.

"I do *not* have Alzheimer's," Louise argued with her hands on her hips. "I know where I put the toothbrush." She looked around the room. "Where's the toothpaste, then? I *just* used it."

Riley pulled the top drawer open in the vanity and peered inside. "You put it back. It's right here."

Her mouth stretched open again. "I looked in there. Besides, I would remember putting that back."

Riley smiled at her confusion, knowing full well what had happened. "Don't worry about it, Aunt Louise," he said with a kiss to her cheek. "We all forget things sometimes."

"But—" she started as he led her out of the bathroom.

"See you in the morning," Riley interrupted, depositing her back in her room.

"Good night," Colin said.

They went back to their room, Louise safely returned to the guest room, and Colin closed the door. "This has got to stop. She'll think she's crazy in two days."

"I don't think he likes her. I had nothing to do with that one," Riley defended himself. He raised his voice to their unseen roommate, "In fact, Samuel's the one with the sucky timing. Thanks a lot, buddy."

"Samuel needs to behave," Colin said to the ceiling. "Do something with him, James."

Riley wondered, not for the first time, if James ever would do anything with Samuel, and if he did, what would that be? "I actually felt a little sorry for her on that one," Riley confessed.

"I did, too," Colin said, stripping himself of his sweater in exchange for a t-shirt.

"Wait a minute." Riley stood with his hands on his hips. "Why are you putting clothes on?"

"Are you kidding me? Do you seriously want to try again?"

"Yes, I do," Riley said. "I'm willing to risk another interruption if you are."

Colin smiled at his lover's resolve, and he grabbed Riley's wrist, pulling him close. "What the hell. Let's live on the edge." He covered Riley's mouth with his own, picking up where they left off.

Oliver returned to the guest room to find Louise already in the bed. "Comfortable?" he asked, draping his robe across the end of the bed.

"Oliver, I know where I put your toothbrush," she commented with the back of her hand pressed dramatically against her forehead. "I don't like this house."

"Why? It's a beautiful house." Oliver yawned and pulled the covers over himself.

"I know it's beautiful," she whispered. "It just gives me the willies."

"It's been a tough day," Oliver said. "You just got confused with the toothbrush, that's all."

"I'm getting one of my sick headaches. I need my pills."

"Where are they?" he groaned, pushing the covers back after just having pulled them over himself.

"In my purse on the dresser." Oliver dutifully found the pills and brought her a Dixie cup of water from the bathroom. She tossed back the pills and washed them down. "You know, I think I interrupted something when I knocked on their door."

"Like what?" Oliver asked as he took the cup from her and sat it on the nightstand.

"Whatever gay men do behind closed doors." She lowered her voice to barely a whisper. "Riley's hair was mussed but they were dressed. I wonder what all they do?"

"God, Louise. Why are you so fascinated? I don't want to know what they do behind closed doors any more than I want to know what anyone else does. What they do is their business."

"I know it's their business, Oliver. I think it's nice they can be together, and I'm not judging or anything. I just… I wondered what all they do."

"Wonder away, just don't pry and ask this time. It isn't our business."

"For heaven's sake, I wouldn't ask."

"Good," Oliver announced as he went back to his side of the bed.

"I feel like we should do something to make up for them letting us stay here at the last minute and no notice."

"Such as?"

"I was thinking I'd make breakfast in the morning. Riley used to like biscuits and gravy when he was little. I think I'll make that if they have everything."

"They were saying something about wanting to try some recipe they have in the morning," Oliver informed her as he got back into bed. "Pumpkin bread. Maybe you should wait and do the biscuits and gravy Friday morning."

"Oh, they won't care about a new recipe once they wake up to a homemade breakfast."

"I think you should ask first."

"Nonsense. It's the least I can do." It was Riley's favorite, after all. She reached up to turn off the lamp and it winked out before her hand reached the switch. "Oliver! The light just turned off by itself!"

He rolled over away from her and tugged the covers up to his chin. "Or the bulb blew out. Stop being ridiculous, old woman."

Louise stared uncertainly into the dark where the lamp was. Yes, Oliver had to be right. The bulb just burned out, that was all. But didn't she hear the click of the switch turning? She couldn't be sure. No, it had to be a blown bulb; that was the pop she heard. She made a mental note to tell Colin and Riley in the morning so it could be replaced. She hunkered down under the covers and closed her eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louise opened her eyes and blinked at the unfamiliar surroundings and then it came to her. RV. Broken down. Thanksgiving at Colin and Riley's home. She checked the clock and saw it was only 6:30, her normal time to wake up, but the house was still eerily quiet. She slipped from the bed slowly so she wouldn't disturb Oliver, and she reached for her socks at the foot of the bed. Only one lay on top of her robe and she scanned the floor for the other. The sun was still waking up and the room was too dark for her to see, but she squinted under the bed anyway. Seeing nothing in the dark, she poked her hand under the bed and patted the floor, her hand searching for the single lost sock.

"Ah," she said to herself as her fingers danced over the carpet to find the soft fabric of her sock. She retrieved the lost footwear and pulled it and its mate on and she shivered despite the robe she wrapped around herself.

They really did keep the house cool at night, she thought. She popped into the bathroom and hesitated after she habitually closed the door, momentarily forgetting about its tendency to lock people in. She couldn't help a nervous and hopeful glance toward the door while she did her business. Lord, don't let it be stuck again! She finished then held her breath as she tentatively took the handle in hand. She exhaled with a sigh of relief when it opened.

Being free of the bathroom, she mentally outlined what she needed to do to get breakfast ready as she went downstairs. It would be so nice to surprise Colin and Riley with breakfast after they had been so kind to take her and Oliver in for two nights. She paused in the stairwell to look out the window. Well! It really did overlook a graveyard, she was shocked to see, and it was an old one, too. She shivered but not from the cold, and rubbed her hands down her arms.

"Gives me the willies," she said to herself.

Louise found the kitchen without having had a tour of the downstairs and managed to locate all the ingredients she needed to make the gravy, biscuits and a pot of coffee. She admired the kitchen as she collected all the ingredients. The shiny refinished cabinets were a beautiful complement to the updated black tile flooring and the new stainless steel appliances. It was absolutely gorgeous. The island gave the kitchen ample counter space for cooking, which was unusual for an older home, Louise realized. A very nice touch.

She picked up an old piece of paper that was lying on the kitchen island and looked it over. "Hmm. Pumpkin bread," she read the recipe's ingredients. "I'll bet it would be better if it had a little allspice added."

She pushed the aged paper away and spread the ingredients out where she could find them to make her biscuits. She could get everything ready while the others slept. She smiled to herself; Riley would be happy to have biscuits and gravy. It had probably been a long time since he had them for breakfast. He and Colin were both too thin. A hearty breakfast didn't seem to be on their daily menu.

"They need more to eat than that pumpkin bread to start their day out right," she said to herself.

A slow creaking sound groaned in the corner of the kitchen, stopping Louise in the middle of putting the bacon on. She went to investigate and found a door standing open that she hadn't noticed before. A basement, she realized when she made her way over to the door. A chill encased her from the dank, dark area.

"Cold," she said aloud, closing the door.

She turned from the basement and jumped when she saw a man standing unexpectedly in the kitchen.

"Morning," Colin said. He surveyed the display on the island and recognized the makings of biscuits.

"Colin, you gave me a heart attack," Louise said.

"Sorry," he smiled. "This swinging door doesn't give you much warning that someone's coming in unless they're wearing heavy shoes."

"I guess not," she laughed, patting her hair into place. "I didn't know you had a basement."

"Yeah, it wasn't too functional when we moved in. It was a dirt floor. We've cemented it now, though. What are you making?"

"Biscuits and gravy. It was always Riley's favorite when he was a boy, you know. He should be excited."

Not likely, Colin realized. Riley had specific plans to make Samuel's pumpkin bread recipe and from the looks of it, Louise was too far into her plan to go back now. "He does like biscuits and gravy," Colin agreed. "He'll be up in a minute. He doesn't usually last much longer than me in the bed."

"Oh, Oliver could sleep the day away. Practically does anyway," Louise said as she worked over the dough in the mixing bowl. "I haven't made coffee."

Colin pulled a fresh filter from the cabinet. "You did pretty well, feeling your way around down here."

"I hope you don't mind," Louise said genuinely. "I just checked around until I found what I needed. I didn't mean to rummage."

"I'm sure you didn't rummage," Colin said, filling the carafe with water. He got the coffee started then pulled out a chair and sat down. "The kitchen was a big project for us. This is one room we're very proud of. We re-finished all the cabinets ourselves, put in the granite countertops."

"It's beautiful. The dining room is lovely, too, what with the hardwood floors and that gorgeous fireplace."

"We don't use the fireplace, but it does add a touch of charm. We want to convert all the fireplaces over to gas before we use them. We'll have to show you the rest of the downstairs today."

"What's going on?" Colin turned in his chair to find a demanding Riley, having surveyed the scene in the kitchen and put two and two together. Colin could read the body language loud and clear; he only hoped Louise couldn't.

"Oh, Riley! You're up," Louise sang happily. "I wanted to surprise you. Biscuits and gravy."

Riley didn't pause a beat. "We were going to make pumpkin bread."

Louise's face fell slightly. "I thought biscuits and gravy was your favorite."

Colin got up and pulled a couple of mugs out of the cabinet for their coffee. "It is a favorite of his," he commented with a soft peck to Riley's cheek. "We hardly ever fix it for ourselves."

"But we were going to make the pumpkin bread," Riley reiterated.

"We'll make it tomorrow. Have some coffee, ok?"

"I already started the biscuits and bacon," Louise said with her hands covered in dough.

"And I'm sure breakfast will be fabulous," Colin said with a smile.

She looked to Riley for confirmation and he stared at the counter as he sat down at the island, unwilling to comment.

"Do you need any help?" Colin asked her.

"No, but I could use a rolling pin if you have one."

I'll give her a rolling pin, Riley thought bitterly. Bad enough they had to have unexpected company on Thanksgiving on top of their usual plans being shot to hell, but then to have their guests upset the rudimentary plans they had in place was a bit much. They had gone from planning to make a full meal of Samuel's recipes, to one item, then to nothing. Fabulous.

"Here you go," Colin said, handing her the rolling pin.

Colin made small talk as best he could, his mind on his stewing partner sitting next to him at the island.

"You must have a draft," Louise stated with a slight shiver. "That basement door came open earlier."

Riley perked up a bit. "Did Colin tell you the story on the basement?"

As soon as the words were out of Riley's mouth, Colin understood the sudden hint of a smile that played on Riley's lips. "Riley…" he warned.

"No," she said as she rolled out the dough. "Nothing except you had to pour concrete down there."

"She doesn't need to know the dirty details of the basement, Riley," Colin stated firmly.

"Why not? Mom knows. I'm sure she told Granny."

"What about the basement?" Louise asked cheerily as she placed a cutout biscuit on a baking sheet.

"We had a dead body in the basement," Riley stated matter-of-factly with a satisfied smile.

Louise stopped mid-biscuit cutting, her jaw slack as she caught Riley's eye. She looked to Colin. "Really?"

"Yes, but it wasn't—"

"The guy's buried in the graveyard next door, now," Riley interrupted. "The cops thought he was murdered. Here. In this house." Louise blinked, speechless. "Pretty cool, huh? How many people can say they found a dead body in their basement?"

"Riley, quit," Colin commented tersely. "I'm sure Louise didn't need to hear that with another night to stay here."

"He really is buried next door?" she asked in morbid fascination.

"Oh, yeah," Riley continued. "His brother, too. Oh, his brother hanged himself upstairs. I forgot that part."

"Well!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, deader than a doornail," Riley smiled. "Neat history, huh?"

Louise patted out a final biscuit from the dough scraps and placed it on the sheet. "Oh, my." She wiped her hands on a towel and hugged herself.

"Thank you, Riley, for scaring our guests," Colin said, not hiding his displeasure.

"What? It's all true."

"Louise didn't need to hear all that. I'm sorry, Louise. It is true, but what old house doesn't have a history?"

"No wonder this house gives me the willies," she said. "You know, our family is very in tune with," she dropped her voice to barely a whisper, "the dead."

"We are?" Riley asked curiously.

"Oh, yes," Louise said. She stuck her butt out unashamedly as she bent over to put the biscuits in the oven. Riley was thankful that her robe was calf-length. "I can still remember Mother telling us stories about different things people in our families saw. Raises goose bumps on my arms still."

"Could just be your family's all touched in the head," Ollie said as he entered the kitchen.

Louise shooed his comments away with her hand. "We are not. I remember one time, Mother said that she was on the porch snapping beans with Aunt Betty when they heard your Uncle – well, I suppose he'd be your cousin," she veered from the subject thinking through the family tree, "or would he be your – oh, never mind. I'm talking about Aunt Betty's boy Benny."

"I always call him 'uncle' but I think he's technically a cousin for me," Riley said. "Morning, Uncle Ollie."

"Morning."

Louise got a dishcloth from the sink and wet it. Wiping down the island, she continued, "They heard Benny crying upstairs. He was still an infant and in one of those old-fashioned cribs that rocks? You know the ones."

"Yeah, I've seen them," Riley said, captivated by the story. Maybe that's why Samuel and James made themselves known to him to begin with. He might be from a long line of pseudo mediums or something.

"Aunt Betty went up to check on him and by the time she got there, he had stopped crying." She leaned closer to Riley and lowered her voice as though telling a family secret. "She was surprised to find a woman rocking the crib when she went in his room. When she asked who the woman was, she disappeared like smoke."

The hairs rose on Riley's arms. "No way," he said. "Granny never told me that."

"Oh, your granny thinks it's bunk."

"*I* think it's bunk," Oliver stated, raising his cup of coffee to his lips.

"I don't," Louise countered. "Why would my mother lie?"

"She wouldn't," Riley said. "What else has our family seen?"

Colin rolled his eyes. "Thanks a lot, Aunt Louise. He'll be obsessed now."

"I will not," Riley declared. "What else?"

"Oh, let's see," she said as she tossed flour in the hot bacon grease. "Mother saw a lot of things. I remember one day she told me she saw a man crossing the road in front of her and she threw on the brakes to keep from hitting him. He vanished into thin air."

"Bunk," Oliver said.

"My mother is not a liar, Oliver."

"I'm not saying she's a liar, but she's misguided," he said. "Had to be some logical explanation."

"Colin used to think that way," Riley interjected. "I've gotten him to believe in ghosts after much discussion on the subject. Haven't I, Colin?"

"He wore me down. It was easier to tell him I believed than to keep arguing."

"Whatever," Riley laughed. He slid the recipe for the pumpkin bread over closer so he could read it. He really had wanted to try that for Thanksgiving, even though he loved biscuits and gravy.

Louise turned around from pouring herself a cup of coffee and saw Riley looking over the recipe. She could tell by his expression that she had stepped on toes again even though she had been trying to make up for being an imposition. Instead, she had managed to impose some more.

"Was your heart really set on making that bread this morning?" she asked.

Riley laid the paper down and pushed it away. "We thought it would be nice for Thanksgiving, that's all."

"We can make it tomorrow," Colin said. "You won't see us passing up homemade biscuits and gravy."

"I told her she should have asked first," Oliver muttered.

"It's fine," Colin said graciously. "It smells wonderful."

"You hadn't tried that recipe before?" Louise asked.

"No, we were going to give it a trial run," Colin replied.

"I promise not to get in the way of the pumpkin bread in the morning." She turned back to the stove and added flour to the grease and began to brown it. "Can you get me a glass of water?"

"I'll get it," Riley offered. He filled a glass and placed it on the counter next to the stove and Louise promptly added it to the flour and grease concoction.

"No milk?" Riley asked as he watched her.

"That's next," she said, pouring a can of milk into the mix. "Now that can simmer while the biscuits finish." She peeked into the stove and found the biscuits rising right on time. "All right, you men get out of the kitchen and go set the table."

They dutifully left, plates and silverware in hand, and Colin and Riley set the table for breakfast while Oliver went to get his socks.

"I was afraid you were going to lose your temper over breakfast," Colin whispered.

"I did," Riley informed him. "I really wanted the pumpkin bread. I wanted it to be sort of special for Samuel, a tribute."

"I know you did. We can have the tribute tomorrow."

"It's not the same. It was supposed to be special for Thanksgiving," Riley said in disappointment.

"I'm sure she thought she was doing a nice thing," Colin said as he placed a fork at each setting behind Riley.

"Well, she wasn't, and Uncle Ollie was right; she should have asked first."

"She should have, but she didn't. We'll try the bread in the morning; no harm done."

"Why didn't you stop her from changing our breakfast plans?" He added under his breath, "Why didn't *somebody* stop her?"

Colin stopped dead in his tracks and drilled Riley with his eyes. "Riley Michael."

"What?" he asked as innocently as he could without letting his irritation bleed through. "All I meant was you'd think he would have wanted us to make his recipe."

"I asked you to be careful of what you say."

"Well, I did think he would have stopped her and I just wondered why he didn't."

"You don't need to give him your approval to do things like that. As for me, she was up before I was. Breakfast was well under way when I came down."

Louise came through the swinging door with a plate of bacon. "Here's the bacon, boys. The biscuits are looking good. Maybe five more minutes and we'll be ready to eat."

She moved the centerpiece and set the plate in the middle of the table as Oliver came back into the room. "Now, don't your feet feel better with some socks on?" she asked.

An ear piercing shriek from the kitchen answered her instead as the smoke detector blared a warning. Colin and Riley exchanged a quick look of alarm before they ran to the kitchen. Riley pushed through the swinging door first and his lungs revolted at the smoke overtaking the oxygen in the room.

"What the hell?" he asked no one in particular.

"Turn the oven off," Colin directed as he rushed to open the back door. His eardrums seemed to pulse with each shrill blast from the smoke detector.

"Get the windows, too," Riley said as he opened the oven.

"What on earth?" Louise asked in alarm as she followed. "My biscuits!"

Riley pulled the pan from the oven to present twelve perfectly charred briquettes that had only a bit of a resemblance to a homemade biscuit left.

Colin fanned a clean cookie sheet under the detector to try to dissipate some of the smoke before he went deaf, and the detector finally went silent.

"I don't understand," Louise commented as she looked at her ruined biscuits with dismay. "They were just starting to brown when I brought the bacon in."

Riley and Colin caught each other's eye and a knowing glance passed between them. "Must have just timed it wrong," Colin offered. "It's ok. We'll have the gravy on light bread instead."

"That's no good," she fussed.

"It'll still be good," Colin consoled her with a peck to her cheek. "Look. The gravy survived." He passed the spoon through the thick gravy and stirred it.

"What did you do, Louise? Try to burn down their house?" Oliver asked, showing up after the main event.

"They're ruined. Just look at my biscuits," she grieved and he hugged her.

"Did you have the temperature too high?" Oliver asked.

"It was on 450 when I turned it off," Riley said. "That's right for biscuits, isn't it?"

"Yes," Louise confirmed. "Do you think your oven has something wrong with it?"

"We've never had a problem before," Riley said with a cough. "Colin's right. We'll just use light bread. That's what Mom used to serve it on nine times out of ten anyway when I was little because it was easier."

"It's not the same," Louise said as she looked at the scorched biscuits. With a sigh ushering in a new sense of resolve, she added, "I'll just make it up at lunch."

"Lunch?" Riley asked suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

"Well, naturally I'll help with lunch. If I had time to prepare, I'd do it all."

"You don't have to help," Riley said, taking the gravy to the dining room. "We can handle it."

"Nonsense," Louise replied. "A woman's place is in the kitchen. Men shouldn't have to cook."

Colin said, "If men didn't go in the kitchen in this house, we'd get pretty hungry."

"When I was coming along, men didn't go in the kitchen," she said, taking a seat at the table. "They were taken care of by their wives."

There was the wife thing again, Riley fumed to himself. "How long ago was that?"

"That was in 1402," Oliver said, sitting down next to his wife.

Riley's anger slipped at the joke and he grinned in spite of himself. He couldn't see how his Uncle Ollie and Aunt Louise ended up together. They were so different. She so flamboyant and he so reserved. Uncle Ollie didn't say a lot – couldn't get a word in edgewise – but when he did, it was usually a zinger or profound, one of the two.

"Well, times have changed, that's for sure," Colin said, dishing up some gravy and spooning it over a slice of bread. "We're pretty capable in the kitchen, if I do say so myself."

"Yeah, we are," Riley agreed.

He hoped Aunt Louise didn't plan on taking over in the kitchen, but from the sounds of it, that's exactly where things were going. It was bad enough that their plans got changed, but for their new plans to keep getting shanghaied was a bit much. He dreaded trying to cook the meal around Aunt Louise. He had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach that she was going to butt in come hell or high water.

He expressed as much when he and Colin were cleaning the kitchen and had some alone time while Oliver and Louise were showering and dressing.

"She'd better not try to take over. You know she's going to."

"Riley, please. Watch what you say while they're here. Look what happened to breakfast after you made it clear you didn't like that she changed the menu."

"She shouldn't have changed our plans without asking."

"That doesn't give you the right to address it through Samuel."

"You know what? I don't really care what Samuel did. If she tries to take over while we're cooking, I think it would be just fine if Samuel –"

"Riley –" Colin warned.

"What? I was just going to say –"

Colin stopped scrubbing the frying pan to make eye contact with his partner. "I'm telling you to watch it, Riley."

Colin could see the wheels turning in his partner's head before he completed his thought. Riley said, "I was going to say that I wouldn't care if Samuel put on a little show for her to run her out of the kitchen."

Colin's lips pursed in frustration with Riley. "You had to say it, didn't you?"

Riley shrugged, unconcerned. "Doesn't mean he'll do anything."

"You'd better hope not, because I'm telling you, if he pulls anything else as a result of your hinting, you're going to be the one in trouble."

"Why?" Riley demanded to know. "How is that fair?"

"It's fair because you know as well as I do that he's doing whatever he thinks you want him to do and you knew that when you just decided to hand him a free ticket to be your partner in crime."

"I just don't want her to take over Thanksgiving dinner, Colin."

"I understand that, but to give Samuel carte blanche to do whatever he thinks 'putting on a show' entails was not the thing to do and you knew it when you said it."

"He won't do anything," Riley said again, hoping he was right after the very serious promise of punishment if Samuel did follow Riley's lead.

"I hope he doesn't," Colin said curtly.

Riley looked away uncomfortably. "I'm going to see if they're done in the shower so I can take one." Riley hung the dishtowel over the handle of the stove to dry and then hurried from the kitchen, eager to escape his partner's indicting glare.

Colin watched Riley leave the kitchen. What was he thinking! He knew full well what kind of show Samuel could put on if he were so inclined and how Samuel would respond to Riley's cracking the door open for him; he would barrel right through! The poor woman could have a heart attack before it was all said and done!

Colin finished wiping down the counter with angry strokes and muttered aloud, "James, for God's sake, please do something with your partner. I'm trying to do something with mine."

With Riley giving Samuel the green light, there was no telling what was yet to come.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Turkey, stuffing, green beans, sweet potato casserole and broccoli casserole," Colin outlined the menu.

"No corn pudding?" Aunt Louise asked, trying to disguise her disappointment.

"Well, we thought that was enough," Colin said.

"It's plenty of food," Riley agreed.

"Do you have creamed corn?" she asked.

"Why?" Riley wanted to know suspiciously.

"I'm going to make corn pudding if you have the corn."

"We don't have the corn," Riley said without giving it a thought. "We'll have enough without it, though."

Her face fell. "Oh. It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without corn pudding."

"It's Thanksgiving here without corn pudding," Riley countered. "We don't have that every year."

"You know what?" Colin interrupted. "I think the grocery store around the corner is open until two today. I can go get some corn. What else goes in it?"

"Colin, we don't need anything else," Riley said.

"Sugar, corn starch, canned milk and eggs," Louise plowed ahead.

"We have all that except the creamed corn. We have regular corn in the freezer," Colin said.

"No, it has to be creamed corn."

"Ok," he said. "I won't be fifteen minutes." He gave Riley a warning look before he left the kitchen and wasn't the least bit encouraged by the indifferent response he saw on his partner's face.

Riley watched Colin leave, obediently bowing to his Aunt Louise and it rubbed Riley in all the wrong ways. It was starting already with just a run down of the menu! How can people do that sort of thing? How can you be a guest in someone's house and just take over? Riley knew she was older and felt like her place was in the kitchen, but God! The next thing would be for her to tell him everything he was doing wrong because after all, he had no reason to be in the kitchen, what with having a dick and all.

She already asserted herself with the turkey breast preparations after breakfast. How can you screw up a turkey breast? Apparently, by not rubbing it with rosemary and thyme, according to Aunt Louise. He and Colin made turkey breasts often enough to have one on hand, yet they've been making it wrong all this time. Lucky for them, Aunt Louise knew more about it than they did. He really didn't want to admit it, not even to himself, but the turkey was smelling good with those spices on it. But that wasn't the point! It wasn't that he didn't think it would taste good, it was that he didn't have a choice in changing the recipe. If it was going to be like that for all the rest of the preparations, he was going to be royally be pissed.

"Is that how you usually make broccoli casserole?" Aunt Louise asked as she watched Riley mixing up the ingredients.

Here we go. Riley's temperature started to rise and his blood started to simmer. "Yes. Why?"

"No rice?" she asked with a smile.

"No. No rice," Riley replied. His teeth threatened to crack with the pressure he was applying to keep from saying the wrong thing.

"Do you think we should put some rice in it?"

"No, not in this recipe, I don't."

"I always put rice in mine."

"I don't put rice in mine," Riley said with a forced smile.

Colin was back before Riley could finish mixing up the broccoli casserole and Riley glanced at the clock. He must have flown through the store to get back before any hell threatened to break loose while he was gone.

"Ok, here you go," Colin said. "I didn't think to ask how much you needed so I got four cans."

"Just two," she said, taking the grocery bag.

"I've got the broccoli casserole almost ready to go," Riley said. "The rolls are rising just fine and we need to start the sweet potato casserole. Other than that, nothing's changed since you left."

"That's good to know," Colin said, sincerely happy to hear it.

"I need a bowl," Aunt Louise said, as she opened a cabinet door.

"Here you go." Colin opened a different cabinet and pulled out a mixing bowl for her. "Will this do?"

"Perfect."

Louise took the bowl and found a free spot on the kitchen island to work. This would be a perfect complement to the other menu items that Colin and Riley had prepared for. It was one of her best recipes and she was proud to be able to contribute. She only wished she could do more.

"Can opener?" she asked. Riley pulled a drawer open and retrieved the can opener for Louise. "Oh, this is just like mine."

She clamped the cutting edge against the lip of the can and squeezed the can opener closed. Two twists of the handle was all it took to slip the can opener off the can.

"Well!" Louise said to herself. She examined the edge of the can for dents and finding none, she replaced the can opener on the can. She turned the handle once and the can thudded to the island countertop as the can opener let go once again.

"What in the world?" She inspected the can closely once again and saw nothing wrong. The can opener had done no more than pierce the lid. "Is something wrong with the can opener?"

"No," Colin said. "Are you having trouble?"

"I can't seem to get it to work," she said as the can fell free once more.

"Here, let me try," Colin said, taking the opener and the can. He closed the opener over the can and it cut through the tin lid without effort. "There you go."

"Well! What did I do wrong, I wonder?"

"I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong. I'm just used to that opener, that's all."

"But mine is just like it."

"I don't know," Colin said, opening the second can. He caught sight of Riley's poorly hidden smirk and hoped Louise didn't look his way. "There you go. Both cans opened and ready for business."

That was odd, Louise thought. She must be a total butterfingers today. She dumped the two cans into the bowl. "Oh, I need sugar."

Riley pointed to a cabinet door in the corner. "It's the medium canister in that cabinet."

Louise looked appraisingly at the broccoli casserole Riley was pouring into the baking dish. She hoped his dish turned out all right without rice. She had made broccoli casserole for years, but never ever without rice.

"This one?" she asked with a hand on the canister.

"That's it," Riley said.

She took down the canister and gripped the lid, attempting to peel it back. Gosh, but it was tight! There was no danger of the sugar getting any moisture in it, that was for sure. She pulled and pried, unable to budge the airtight seal. Suddenly, it gave way completely, succumbing to the pressure she was steadily applying. The lid flung out of her hand, the jolt of its release sending sugar airborne as well.

"Oh!" Louise exclaimed as sugar pelted her face and trickled down the front of her holiday sweater.

"What happened?" Colin asked, rushing around the island to investigate.

Louise blinked and tried to get her bearings. "I couldn't get the top off," she tried to explain, "then I guess I lost my grip on it when it finally came loose."

"It's ok," Colin said. "We'll sweep this up, no problem."

She looked questioningly at Riley. Was he laughing? Yes, she thought he was.

"I'm sorry," he apologized when he was caught out. "I don't mean to laugh but you have sugar everywhere. It's in your hair even."

"It's not funny, Riley," Colin reproved.

Aunt Louise brushed at the front of her sweater, now decorated with a sugar-coated turkey and pumpkin design. "I suppose it *is* funny," she said. "At least I didn't drop the canister. What a mess that would have been. My sweater is full of sugar; I should probably change."

"Bring it back down with you and we'll toss it in the washer," Colin offered.

Riley openly laughed after she closed the kitchen door behind her. "I'm sorry," he said around his laughter.

Colin was not the least bit amused. "I hope you're enjoying yourself," Colin said. "You remember what I told you. And Samuel, you can cut it out, too."

Riley tried to muster some contrition but wasn't too successful. "You don't know that Samuel had a thing to do with that."

"Sure, he didn't," Colin said disbelieving.

"The lid was stuck!"

"When was the last time the lid got stuck when you tried to open it?"

"She's older. Maybe she has a poor grip."

Colin dumped the dustpan of sugar in the bin. "You know what that was all about. The can opener, too."

He abruptly stopped the conversation when he heard Louise's voice as she said something to Oliver on her way to the kitchen. "Ok, let's try this again," Louise said as she got back on the bicycle.

Riley almost started to laugh again when he saw her donning yet another holiday sweater. They must have been on sale, he thought.

"I put the sugar right there for you," Colin pointed out. "And I'll run your sweater down and wash it."

"Thank you," she smiled. Now, if she could just add the rest of the ingredients without a hitch, she thought. She carefully measured a cup of sugar and dumped it in the bowl then picked up the can of milk. "I'd better get you to open this one since I can't seem to manage your opener."

Riley took the can and opened it without incident. "Here you go."

She hummed Jingle Bells with the singer on the radio and started to pour the milk. It immediately found a route down the side of the can and up her arm. "Well!" she exclaimed again.

"What's wrong?" Colin asked anxiously as he came back up the basement steps.

"I must have started pouring too fast," she said, setting the can down and going for a paper towel. "It ran right down my arm."

She wiped the milk from her sleeve and added, "I'm a mess! I can't seem to do anything right today."

She tried pouring the milk again and it went straight down the side of the can and down her arm again. "What in the world?"

Colin left his sweet potato mixture to dump the can of milk in while Louise was busy wiping more from her arm for the second time. "I'm all thumbs today!" she exclaimed. "I'm afraid to do anything else."

"We all have days like that," Riley interjected. At least Samuel was being somewhat discreet. If he was blatant about it, there would be no way Riley could explain it away and Colin was already threatening to go down a path Riley would rather he didn't. "Nothing unusual about it," he added for good measure. Colin raised a brow at him, not buying it in the least.

"Eggs," she said to herself absently. She tapped one egg against the edge of the mixing bowl and carefully pulled it apart. The egg crumbled despite her gentle touch and she blurted in surprise, "Well, I never!"

"What now?" Colin investigated. Little pieces of eggshell littered the top of her mixture and the remnants of the shell and egg coated her palms.

"How did I manage to do that?" she asked wearily. "I was being so careful after everything else. I don't understand…"

"Must have been a weak shell," Colin tried to explain. He took a spoon and extracted all the shell pieces he could see. "There. I think I got them all."

"I think I'm getting one of my sick headaches," she said.

"Let me crack the next one," Colin said and he followed his own recommendation. "What else goes in here?"

"Three tablespoons of cornstarch, and that's it. I can do it," she said as she reached past Colin for the box of cornstarch. "Oh!" she shrieked.

Colin jumped back to get out of the way of the flying mixing bowl as it was yanked from the counter. The clattering of the bowl against the black tiled floor echoed loudly in the room and Louise blinked in surprise as the corn pudding mixture splashed onto her face and down the front of her fresh sweater.

Riley's mouth dropped in surprise as he watched the concoction drip off Louise's chin. She was frozen in shock, her hands held up and her mouth open, as kernels of milk and sugar-coated corn slid down her face. This was not good, Riley realized, as Colin rushed to help her, not even bothering to ask what happened. He didn't need to. They both knew what happened.

"Let me help you," he said, reaching for a towel.

"I didn't even touch it," Louise said in confusion. "How did it fall?"

"Maybe you should go in the living room with Uncle Ollie," Colin suggested. "Just take it easy and let us get this cleaned up."

"But I wanted to help," she said sadly. "I've just managed to be more trouble."

Riley could see the genuine disappointment in his aunt's eyes and felt a pang of guilt for his part in encouraging the fiasco. "You're no trouble," Riley said, grabbing a wad of paper towels to help clean the mess.

"Come on," Colin said, taking her arm. "Let's get you upstairs and into something clean. We'll add these clothes to the wash."

"I just don't understand…" she was saying as he led her away. Placing the back of her hand to her temple, she said, "I need my pills."

"I'll get them for you. Come on," Colin consoled her. He wasn't interested in consoling his partner, drilling Riley with an accusing look as he left the kitchen.

"Shit, Samuel," Riley said as soon as they left the room. He swiped at the tile with a towel and wet another to try to get the rest up. "That's enough. There's going to be three men who died in this house when Colin's finished with me."

Feeling adequately guilty, Riley decided to make the corn pudding himself, hoping to salvage something. There weren't many ingredients and he easily remembered them and started mixing it all together. Good thing Colin got extra corn, he thought.

"Are you happy now?" Colin accused when he came back bearing a corn-covered sweater and pants. "I'm guessing you are since you kept laughing at everything that happened."

"I couldn't help it, Colin, but he went too far. I can't help that, either."

"You encouraged him. She's very upset, Riley."

"I know," Riley said, seriously sorry for the whole thing. "I'm making her corn pudding recipe to make up for it. I hope that helps."

"It might make her feel better, but it doesn't help your situation," Colin pronounced. "I'm going to throw these in the washer."

Riley watched his partner disappear down the stairs to the basement. Great. Now he was in trouble on top of everything else! What a shitty Thanksgiving.

Colin came back up the stairs and picked up where he left off with the sweet potato casserole. "This needs to go in the oven first, I think, and it's ready to go. I believe it takes the longest to cook."

"Colin, I shouldn't be in trouble for what Samuel does."

"You're absolutely right," Colin said as he slipped the casserole into the oven in place of the turkey breast. He stood up and put his hands on his hips as the questions played on Riley's face. "You're in trouble for what you did."

"But I can't control him!" Riley countered.

"The way I see it, you were co-conspirators. You came up with the idea and Samuel made it happen. You didn't want her involved in making dinner and you got your way with his help."

Riley put Reynolds Wrap over the turkey breast to keep it warm. He knew Colin was right, but at the same time, it wasn't like he and Samuel could sit down and have a conversation to plan what they wanted to do. "I didn't know he'd do all that."

"What did you think he'd do, Riley?"

Riley raised a shoulder as he searched for the answer. "I don't know. Flicker the lights a little? Make the bathroom door stick again?"

"You said you wanted him to do something to stop her from being in the kitchen and he complied. Have you forgotten how it felt when weird things happened to you and you didn't know what was going on?"

Yes, he had pretty much forgotten. It had been a long time since the unusual happenings in the house caught him by surprise. He was so used to knowing ghosts were afoot that the memory of those days had faded like yesterday's news. "I didn't really think about that."

"No, I don't think you did. And like you said, you can't control him. Knowing that fact is all the more reason not to get him started in the first place." Colin paused to let his words sink in, while Riley fidgeted on the bar stool, an outward demonstration of his conscience being riddled with guilt. "We'll talk about this later when we don't have people in the house. Living people," he added with an eye roll. "I'm going to find out how long to cook the corn pudding."

Riley pushed the casserole dish away from him and started cleaning up the kitchen. Co-conspirators. He was glad Colin didn't say it out loud, but he was certain he would be spanked. He knew as well as Colin did that Samuel seemed to listen to Riley. He remembered having an odd conversation with an unseen Samuel to explain how their relationship worked, hoping to avoid Colin getting pummeled by flying books and the like whenever Riley got disciplined. He and Colin had thought explaining it might be worth a shot once they were aware that their two houseguests seemed to have taken up permanent residence and one of the two was apparently against corporal punishment. Explaining it seemed to be a better option before they started doing what Colin suggested: drive to Timbuktu or as far away as necessary to get clear of Samuel and do it there.

"So, even though I don't *like* it when it happens," Riley had said aloud to the seemingly empty house, hoping Samuel was listening, "I don't need you defending me. I'm seriously *not* ok with you assaulting my partner. I know you have trouble understanding it but if you and James had a relationship like ours, your lives probably wouldn't have ended so tragically."

"That's a good point," Colin had said while at Riley's side. "I can't imagine us having a fight that would escalate to that level."

"We wouldn't," Riley agreed. "Because I'd be over your lap before I had a chance to think about risking a fall from storming off."

Colin had admitted later that even after their "talk" with Samuel, he was still more than a little preoccupied the next time he had to discipline Riley, fully expecting to have to dodge some sort of missile, but nothing ever happened again. Knowing what he was likely facing after the mess with Aunt Louise, Riley mildly regretted ever having the conversation. Although, it really didn't matter if talking to Samuel had worked or not. Colin would have just made good on his threat to drive to Timbuktu and spank him anyway.

"Samuel, it's enough," Riley said aloud. "Colin is ticked now and I'm in trouble and I don't want to make it any worse; I really don't."

"Thirty minutes," Colin said as he returned to the kitchen. "Another fifteen minutes and we should put the broccoli casserole and corn pudding in. Then when they come out we can make the stuffing and bake the bread and we should be ready."

"Is she ok?"

"I suppose. She's trying to find something seasonal to watch on TV and Oliver's still snoozing in the recliner."

"More holiday stuff after watching it all morning? How many Christmas shows can she watch?"

"Apparently one more."

Riley put another mixing bowl in the dishwasher. "I hope she likes football as much as she does holiday shows."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After all the hoopla over the meal preparations, the actual dinner went smoothly. The men retired to the living room after Louise insisted on putting the dishes in the dishwasher by herself.

"Time for football," Riley said as he stretched out on the couch. He found the NY versus Dallas game he had waited all morning to see. It just wasn't Thanksgiving without a Dallas game.

Oliver opted for the loveseat over the recliner and stretched out. "I doubt I'll see much beyond the kickoff. I'm so stuffed, I'll never stay awake."

Riley laughed. "You weren't awake before we ate, Uncle Ollie."

"That's beside the point," he grinned in response. "What time does it start?"

"Four-fifteen," Riley told him. "We have about ten more minutes."

Colin sat on the sofa and let Riley use his lap for a pillow while Colin made a footstool out of the coffee table. "I'm miserable. Why did I eat that pumpkin pie?"

"Because it's Thanksgiving and you're supposed to eat pumpkin pie and be miserable," Riley said.

Oliver was asleep before the kickoff, and Riley turned the TV up to be able to hear over his snoring.

"What are you watching?" Louise asked as she came into the living room. "Football?"

"Yeah," Colin said. "It just started."

"Are you drinking more wine?" Oliver asked his wife.

"It's the holidays. I'm allowed," she said, raising her glass.

"What's your excuse the rest of the year?" he teased.

"Well! I don't drink that much." She took another sip as she stood in the middle of the room looking at the widescreen TV. "You like football? I've never been a fan."

No, no! She was *not* messing up the Dallas game! "We watch football every Thanksgiving. Every year," Riley said tightly before she had a chance to take over the TV. "It's tradition."

She reached for the remote anyway. "Do you mind if I see what else is on?"

Riley huffed out loud and bolted upright, ignoring Colin's pat to his thigh. "Wait until half-time, Aunt Louise. The game has started!"

She pointed the remote at the set despite the request and said, "It doesn't look like they're really doing anything right now. I won't take a minute, I promise."

Riley ground his elbow into Colin's ribs with an angry silent stare for him to *do* something.

"Aunt Louise, maybe you'd like to watch TV upstairs?" Colin offered. "We really need the big screen for the game."

"Oh, I don't mind going upstairs. I just wanted to see if anything else was on before I go all that way. I'll only be a minute."

"The game is only on this channel," Riley said. "You'll be able to find something else on the other channels upstairs."

"Just a sec," she said.

Colin sat helplessly while his partner stewed beside him. He mouthed "just for a minute" to Riley but he could see that even a minute was causing sparks to fly off him.

Louise clicked the channel button and the picture winked out to travel to another station, but the NY/Dallas game came back on instead. She tried changing the channel again with the same result. And again. And again. She mashed the channel button harder and aimed the remote more pointedly toward the TV.

"Well!" she exclaimed as the NY/Dallas game popped on again. "It's stuck on that channel. Or is it a problem with the remote?"

Samuel's the only thing wrong with the remote, Colin thought. "I didn't know anything was wrong with it. Maybe it's just being glitchy or needs new batteries."

This was taking longer than 'just a minute'! Riley knew it was going to take even longer because she was headed for the recliner. Why would you get comfortable if you were going right upstairs?!

"You should just go to our room and use that TV before you get comfortable," Riley said tightly. "It works fine."

"Why isn't this one working?" Louise sat down in the recliner and pushed against the back of the chair to put the foot rest up but it refused to move. "How do you get this to go back? Do I need the lever?" She asked, still pushing against the floor with her feet.

"No, it should just go back—" Colin started when the chair suddenly gave in without warning, the foot rest lurching out with a thud.

"OH!" Louise declared in surprise. Red wine soaked the front her sweater and the remote went flying with the jolt of her body being carried along with the momentum of the chair's movement.

"Aunt Louise!" Colin exclaimed.

Colin and Riley rushed to her side as her eyes fluttered in disbelief, her hand still raised in a toast never uttered. Colin asked, "Are you ok? What happened?"

She slowly turned her head to look up at him. "The chair must have been stuck or something," she said in wonder. "I guess I pushed too hard and it gave."

Oliver roused in the commotion, getting up from the loveseat. "I told you you had too much to drink."

"It was the chair, Oliver," she said.

Her hand went up to pat her hair back into place and Riley hated to see that yet another sweater was dirtied. "Your sweater is messed up again. I'm sorry, Aunt Louise," he said to her sincerely. "If you want to watch something down here, I'll see if I can get the remote to work. Why don't you change clothes and then stretch out in the recliner? We'll wash this sweater, too."

She shook her head, her eyes still wide with the shock of the ordeal. "I'll have to put my robe on. I'm out of clean clothes," she said. "My headache is back. Ollie, if you'll get my pills, I think I'm just going to go upstairs and change then lie down."

"How many of those have you had since we got here?" he asked while obediently going to her purse to retrieve them.

"Not too many to have another," she said.

"Go on upstairs," he told her. "I'll bring them to you."

"Let me help you," Colin offered.

"No, no," she said, waving him away as she headed for the stairs. "Thank you, though."

Riley watched his aunt pause on the riser by the window overlooking the graveyard; she visibly shuddered then rubbed her hands up and down her arms before she started moving again.

Colin turned to Riley with his hands on his hips. Riley argued quietly so he wouldn't be overheard, "What? I didn't say anything that time."

"I could feel you bristling next to me."

"She was taking over the TV and we might have missed the game! Samuel should be in trouble for that one, though, not me."

"Samuel *should* be in trouble," Colin muttered. "But he is not my concern. You are."

That didn't sound the least bit promising to Riley. "I feel like a heel, now, if that counts for anything. I probably won't even enjoy the game. You think we can convince her to come back down here?"

"I think we need to leave her alone. She said she wants to take a nap, so we should probably let her. Let's just hope she can manage that without Samuel interfering. Again."

Riley sighed. "Don't do anything else, Samuel, for God's sake." He stretched back out on the sofa and vowed not to give Samuel a bit more ammunition before Colin decided they needed a trip to Timbuktu rather than wait until his aunt and uncle left.

~~~~~~~~~

The drive home from dropping off Louise and Oliver was a quiet one. Riley turned the radio on and listened to the Christmas music that seemed to be playing on every channel.

"Are we going to put the tree up today?" Riley asked, hoping to keep the conversation off unpleasant things.

"We can if you want to later. We need to talk before we do that. You can decide afterward if you still want to, but I imagine it will be too late."

'Talk' wasn't high on Riley's list of things to do. It was about as high as shopping on Black Friday, which he didn't have to worry about since they had company. It never even came up as an option this year. Given a choice, he'd rather shop on Black Friday than 'talk'. He knew the talk was coming and he had been dreading it since the realization hit him the day before.

Riley went in the house first and hung his coat up then headed down the hall.

"Where are you going?" Colin called after him.

Riley looked over his shoulder at his partner. "Bathroom."

Colin nodded. "Meet me in the office when you're done."

With that command, Colin turned on his heel and disappeared into the office leaving Riley alone in the hallway. Riley took a deep breath and his shoulders sagged as he exhaled and trudged to the bathroom. He couldn't believe how badly things had gone the last couple days; bad enough to cost him a trip to the office. He used the bathroom then washed his hands, his image in the mirror catching his attention. He couldn't maintain eye contact, not even with himself.

He really shouldn't be the only one in trouble, though, he thought on the way to office. He wondered – not for the first time – if discipline relationships could exist on the other side. Could Samuel be in just as deep as Riley? Had they gotten any ideas from watching how Colin and Riley interacted and how they managed their relationship? Riley fully believed what he had said that day when he tried to convince Samuel he didn't want him interfering when he was being disciplined. That if Samuel and James had been in a discipline relationship, they never would have died tragically, not for the same reasons at any rate.

Colin was on the leather sofa waiting when Riley came in, the straight-backed chair already standing at attention in the center of the room. If ghosts practiced corporal punishment, did they have a particular place to do it like he and Colin did? Could you even feel being spanked as a ghost? Can you touch each other when you're dead? Riley remembered the time when Samuel slapped Colin. Colin certainly felt it. If the dead could reach out and touch the living enough to feel it, then surely they could touch each other.

"Have a seat," Colin said, interrupting Riley's thoughts. Riley sat down at the opposite end of the sofa. Colin dove in, "I asked you to stop feeding Samuel ideas, didn't I?"

"I had no idea he would go as far as he did."

"Is that the problem here? That you couldn't control Samuel?"

Riley shrugged. "I thought it was. If he hadn't done anything, I wouldn't be in trouble, would I?"

"No harm, no foul if he hadn't acted on it?" Colin shook his head. "You might not be in as much trouble, but the problem is, your intent in saying anything to start with was meant to get him going and going he did. That's where you went wrong."

"I lost my temper. She was taking over, changing our plans," Riley defended himself. "Anyone would have gotten mad."

"But not many people would have retaliated. I don't care that you lost your temper so much," Colin explained. "It was that I had just warned you to be careful of what you said and did, and you deliberately planted a seed for Samuel, which he watered and fertilized with Miracle Grow."

That, Riley couldn't exactly deny. It was so obvious when he purposely baited Samuel. He had been too angry to even try to disguise it. Feeling thoroughly guilty as he looked back on things, he resisted the urge to shift his gaze to his hands in his lap, feeling that to do so was somehow incriminating.

Colin continued, "Samuel is not your personal genie to give you your every wish, even if he doesn't mind acting like one. You used him to retaliate when you didn't like something your aunt did."

It was true. He knew it and so did Colin. To deny it was lame, with the truth being a glaring neon sign. "I shouldn't have done that. I wasn't thinking."

"Or listening," Colin stated crisply. "I tried to warn you but you weren't having any of it."

Riley tried to mitigate the damage. "I know I planted the seed—"

"Gave him a wide open invitation."

"Whatever. I know I did do that, but my part wasn't that bad. I just blurted a comment. If he hadn't jumped on what I said, I wouldn't be in trouble this deep."

"Samuel is not my problem. Riley is my problem and you, Riley, ignored my warning and threw the door open all the way for Samuel to do whatever he wanted with your aunt as a target. If you hadn't started the ball rolling, all the things that happened yesterday would never have occurred." Colin tapped Riley's knee. "Would it?"

Colin's co-conspiracy theory flashed through Riley's mind again. This was a clear case of joint and several liability: one conspirator was going to be made to pay even though he was jointly liable with others. Riley realized he was that one conspirator and as right then, he wasn't caring about Samuel or any predicament he might be in. As far as Colin was concerned, Riley's part was the cornerstone, the kingpin, to all of it happening anyway.

"He already did a couple things the night before," Riley pled. "He did that stuff on his own without any ideas from me."

"He acted in response to things you said." Colin held up his hand before Riley could argue. "Now, I don't blame you for that night because you weren't saying things intentionally to get him to react, except for the bathroom door. But that *was* when we realized he was doing it and you used that knowledge Thanksgiving Day."

Riley dropped his head and nodded. He was so sunk.

Colin asked, "Anything else we need to cover before we deal with this?"

"No," Riley muttered quietly.

"Ok," Colin said as he stood. He held out his hand to Riley until Riley placed his own in Colin's palm.

Riley went with Colin to the chair and waited beside it for what he knew would be next. He wondered if ghosts wore clothes? Samuel had clothes on when he saw him, but did they come off? If he got spanked, would it be bare? As soon as Colin's fingers moved to unbuckle his belt, Riley's thoughts went directly to his own situation without a care in the world for Samuel or his clothes. All he could focus on right then was his own pants being lowered as Colin tugged his jeans and underwear to his knees.

He went across Colin's lap as directed and grabbed the rungs of the chair, gripping them hard enough to turn his knuckles white. Colin's hand cracked down on his backside several times in the same place before graciously moving to another spot. Riley choked on the tears in his throat as his partner continued to cover his backside, relentlessly striking it with his open palm.

"Colin! Stop it, I didn't mean it," Riley pleaded.

Colin ignored his vocal partner's promises and concentrated on evenly distributing the smacks while still listening to Riley's tone and body language to know when he was truly repentant. He still couldn't believe Riley had done what he did. Colin had tried to warn him, tried to keep him from starting something neither of them could stop, but Riley ignored every single caution light, blew right past them into the busy intersection. Sometimes, Riley only listened after it was too late, and this, unfortunately, was one of those times.

Whether Samuel would have pulled all those stunts on his own, they would never know. What Colin did know was that Samuel definitely responded to Riley's baiting him and Riley had intentionally dangled the hook in front of Samuel, purposely and deliberately. Colin had to be sure Riley didn't do something like that again without thinking twice about it first.

Riley's tense body finally relaxed over Colin's lap and his tears flowed unhindered, showing Colin he was beyond bemoaning his backside and had turned the corner. Knowing his point had been made, he swatted Riley's butt a few more times then stopped. He left Riley where he was to start getting himself together then helped him up when Riley started to push himself off Colin's thighs. Colin gathered him in his lap and petted him while Riley cried on his shoulder. Sometimes the process took longer than others and this was one of those times, probably because Riley accepted his part in everything that happened to his Aunt Louise.

When Riley's tears finally slowed to hiccupping breaths, Colin spoke, "We have an unusual situation in this house with Samuel and James, Riley. We have to be conscious of it if we're ever going to have guests over."

"I know," Riley sniffed. "I did feel bad for Aunt Louise, I really did, especially when her corn pudding got thrown at her and when she messed up a third sweater."

"So did I."

"I knew it was my fault when everything happened. I did feel guilty," Riley admitted.

"Just be careful next time. We don't need to give Samuel any ideas."

Riley hoped there wouldn't be a next time. This time was bad enough.

~~~~~~

Riley huffed into the night and Colin sighed. "What's the matter with you?"

"I can't get comfortable."

"Come here," Colin said, pulling him close.

As Riley's mind drifted to why his butt was sore, he thought again about Samuel and James. "Do you ever wonder if they could have a discipline relationship on the other side?"

"I did several times over the last two days. Why?"

"I've just been wondering over the last two days, too. I mean, I have before, but especially yesterday and today."

"What did you decide?"

"I decided that if they can't have one, the rules should be changed so they can," Riley grumbled. "I shouldn't be the only one that got in trouble for Aunt Louise. So what did you decide?"

"I decided that if they are in one, James has about as much control over what Samuel does as I have over what you do," Colin said with a smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that sometimes, you're going to do what you want to no matter what I say or do to stop you. Samuel's the same way."

"Did you just figure that out about me?" Riley asked.

"No, definitely not," Colin laughed. "I learned that lesson long ago. But I also learned long ago what to do about it."

Colin patted Riley's butt causing him to fidget again against him. "It would only be fair if Samuel got in trouble, too."

"I told you before, I'm not worried about Samuel, I'm worried about you. I guess we'll never know if he is even in a place where he would get in trouble for his choices and actions."

Riley rose up on his elbow. "What about the Ouiji board? We could ask."

"Not that again," Colin groaned. "Besides, you know as well as I do that it's too personal to just ask someone if they're in a discipline relationship."

"It's different with them. We all live together. We shouldn't have any secrets."

"Except that one," Colin pointed out. "Unless they start talking back, we'll never know the answer to our question anyway."

"Riiiley."

The disembodied voice sent shivers down Riley's spine and the hairs on his arms rose to stand perpendicular to his skin. "Did you hear that?" Riley whispered.

Colin squeezed Riley closer to him and pulled the covers up over his goose-pimpled skin. "Yes. Scared the shit out of me."

"He hasn't done that since we first moved in," Riley remembered. "Hey," Riley rose up on his elbow again with a finger jabbed in Colin's chest. "You planted that seed. Does that mean you should be in trouble?"

"No one told me not to do it before I did and I'm not scaring houseguests. Besides, he doesn't usually listen to me."

"I should ask about the discipline thing."

"I don't know," Colin said uncertainly. "If you ask, he might answer."

"We both wanted to know."

Colin sighed. "How would you even pose the question?"

"I don't know. I think I'd just say something simple like…," Riley thought for a minute. "Are you? Yes or no."

And there was the question. A simple yet tangible inquiry, formed out of curious fascination and conversation, a desire to know more not only about this elusive couple who shared their home but about the afterlife. Colin and Riley lay deathly quiet, listening intently for the whispery and hollow voice, the voice that might dare to grant an answer to the question Riley volleyed into space then left dangling in the air.

They waited in the dark for the answer.

End

Nelson's Library