Take Me, Tom Pt. 73-74

"Em, it really isn't. It's what kids do when parents have raised them properly. It's a double-edged thing. I want David and Chloe to grow up secure, self-assured, and confident. It'll kill me if they move away, but I'll understand, well, after plenty of tears and few tantrums!" she giggled. "The house is going on the market tomorrow, so there's no turning back now!" she smiled.

Chrissie and Emily had prepared some tuna steaks and salad for our lunch, with plenty of G&Ts to loosen the atmosphere.

We heard a knock on the door at precisely twelve. Go figure. Chrissie let them in, and hugged, and kissed both of them. I hugged mom, and heartily shook dad's hand. Emily warmly embraced them both, although they were surprised to see her here. We sat inside, as it was a bit chilly still to enjoy the backyard. We caught up with the generic things, keeping things light 'til dessert.

Emily poured a few more drinks afterwards, the kids off again.

"What's up, you two" dad smirked. There we go. Straight out with it.

Chrissie was all set to begin, but I took her hand, and squeezed it.

"Everything's good, dad. Really, it is," I started. "So. I have been offered a position... back in London," I said, calmly. "We're all moving...in June," I said, their faces drooping. "We have thought this through, and feel it's best for all of us, not you, obviously, but with everything that has happened between Chrissie and me, this comes at a good time."

The first thing Claire said was to Emily. "So, Emily. You...know about...the two of them?" she asked.

"I do, Claire. I've known for a while. It's unusual, yes, but they work so well together. They truly were meant to be with each other," she explained.

"I half expected this," dad said. "Your lives certainly are upside down, aren't they?" he asked.

"Actually, dad, our lives are better than ever," Chrissie said, defending us. "We'll miss you, the kids will miss you, but we need to do this. To start over. We both have these amazing opportunities waiting for us. We're doing this for all of us, okay, not just Tom's job. I...I have a new job, too," Chrissie said, stuttering somewhat.

"What? Where, Chrissie?" mom asked.

"At the V&A, mom. I've been offered a curating position at the V&A. Emily's coming with us, too. She'll be an assistant like she is here, and there'll be room for her to learn, and expand her role. I love London, mom. The kids will thrive over there. We can come back for visits, all right? Whenever you like, you can come to us," she tried to explain.

"This is all down to you, isn't it, Tom? Why...how can you take David and Chloe from us. We'll...we'll never see them," mom said, and began to cry.

"Mom! It's NOT down to Tom, okay. It's ALL of our decision. I want this. Tom wants this. Emily wants this. This is for us, and our future. Don't you dare blame Tom! That's NOT fair!" she said, a bit too harshly. "We're doing what's right for us all. I'm hoping you can understand that."

"Hey? Can we all just take a deep breath here?" I asked. "We've thought this through, understand? It works...for us. You've always...always encouraged us to find our way, haven't you? Well, this IS our way. We need to do this. You know we'll miss you, but as Chrissie said, our door is always open, okay?" I tried to explain.

Mom looked at us, sad and forlorn. "What did we ever do wrong? Why are you this way? I...I just cannot understand this! First...first you have this...relationship, and now you're taking OUR grandchildren away from us! Ohh, Fred, this is too..." she tried to say. "You're breaking our hearts...again! You do know that?"

Fuck! This is NOT the way I had it working out in my head. Dad was silent, torn between his wife, and kids. I didn't envy him.

"Emily? You actually agree with this? You condone this?" mom nearly spat out.

"Claire. Please," she said, and grabbed mom's hand. "I cannot even imagine what it's like for you both, all right, but they do need to live their own lives. You and Fred have given them the confidence to do the things they do. Take that as a compliment, please. Can you even imagine what these two go through daily? The stress it is for them knowing that they could be ostracised if anyone ever found out? I...I think they're brave...and beautiful," she sighed, and smiled at us.

"Dad?" I asked, putting him on the spot now.

"Sorry, kids. I need to support your mother on this one. For me, it's a step too far. Tom, it was a struggle enough to come to terms with your first, uh, revelation. Now this? Your mother always wished for more grandchildren, and you took that away from her. Now you're moving thousands of miles away with David and Chloe? If you need our blessings, well, I don't think that'll happen. You do what you have to do, though. You both always have, so," he said, clearly disappointed in us.

"I'm sorry to hear that, dad, but yeah, we will do what we have to do. We're leaving in June, okay? You're welcome to spend as much time as possible with David and Chloe until then, but we ARE going. These opportunities don't come around too often, dad. We have to do this. All of us," I said, emphatically.

Mom was stoic, looking at us, trying to figure out the words that would change our minds. Thank fuck we hadn't told them of Emily's part in our relationship! We'd be counting our inheritance sooner than imagined, two heart attacks looming!

Chrissie broke the tension, or hoped to by offering coffee and cake. They both thanked us curtly, and resolutely refused, mom standing up and announcing it was time to go. Poor fucking dad, I thought. I acted as nonchalantly as possible, helping mom with her coat, and calling the kids out to say goodbye. Chrissie proudly had her arm around my waist, as we said goodbye. I took it as little 'fuck you' to them both. As we said our last good byes, Emily had poured us all a drink. I swallowed the tumbler of whisky, and asked for another. Emily only smirked at me, but graciously refilled the glass.

"Well, that went better than I expected!" I laughed, sarcastically.

I had two sets of hands swatting me.

"Behave, Tom," Emily said. "It's not funny. Chrissie? You okay?" she asked.

"Surprisingly, yeah. If they cannot support us, and wish us good luck and all that, then...screw 'em. Sorry. That's harsh, I know, but what are our options. Sit around and mope? Don't go? Stay on the north side of Chicago for the rest of our lives? No thanks. The sooner we sell our homes, the better off we'll all be," she said, a bit too dramatically. She was visibly hurt, but couldn't say so. It was too raw, too early.

"I'm...I'm so sorry. I didn't see that coming at all! As they accepted you being together, I thought that this would be easy," Emily murmured. "Give them a few days, okay? They may come around?"

"Well, it's their loss. They'll miss the kids growing up, and have no contact with

them. Chrissie, this would have happened anyway, you know. If you were to move away, they'd feel the same way. It's up to them to come to terms with our decision," I said, trying to bring a close to the talk. There was nothing to be gained, but Chrissie was still getting more upset.

"So, should we grab the kids, and head out for a while? It may help us clear our heads. Anywhere you want to head to?" I asked.

"David mentioned bowling the other day? How does that sound?" Emily asked.

We grabbed the kids, who were happy with 'our' idea. We spent a leisurely few hours trying to teach Chloe how to bowl a ball straight. David was a heck of a lot better, Chrissie, hmm, but Emily shone through! We stopped off for dinner, and got home around seven, in time to start our nightly routine. I met Chrissie and Emily in the front room after reading, and tucking the kids in. They had a whisky ready for me!

Chrissie sat between us on the sofa, as she still seemed a bit fragile after the afternoon's debacle.

We all breathed deep, took stock of the day, and then delved into our regular meeting.

"Anyone need to bring anything up? This is our check-in time, so don't hold back!" I smiled.

"Everything's been good this week, Tom," Chrissie started. "I'm glad you and Emily have sorted yourselves out!" she giggled.

"With your help, Chrissie. Thanks. Oh, and yours, Tom!" Emily smiled. "Ohh, can we do that again, Tom? I'm still taking it all in, but...I loved it. I propose that we have a session like that once a month?" she asked, coyly.

We all laughed, agreeing. No surprises there!

"Anything else?" I asked. "No? In that case, sourcing a removals company. Would you and Emily do this? You both have more experience than I do. Can I throw that in your lap? We'll arrange to get Emily's pieces over here, at some point. Perhaps have two sections, one for the house, and one for wherever the hell we're going to rent. I'm sure that'll be easier than transferring paintings!" I laughed.

"We can do that, Tom. I have a fairly comprehensive list of companies, so we can

handle that for us," Chrissie said.

They were both pleased with the way everything was going, but I had one area that needed addressing.

"Okay. Money. I'd like to talk about how we deal with that in the future. I'm not quite sure how comfortable you both are talking about it. I'm not!" I chuckled, "but it needs a talk, okay? We have to decide how we will contribute to the running of the new home. We're fine right now. I'm helping with food, and Chrissie's property taxes and utility bills, but that'll change soon. Emily, as far as I'm concerned, you should not be contributing anything whilst you are staying here. You have your own bills to pay, and we're not helping with that, so... Yeah, I know, you do buy groceries and things, and I appreciate that but, going forward in London. I know you both want to contribute to the cost of the house, so thanks for that. When we finally buy the house, I propose that all our names on the title, no matter how much each contributes, okay? I want us all invested in the house," I said.

"Hmm, Tom. That's not really fair, though. Emily and I are putting in way less than you, right?" Chrissie started. "So, shouldn't we all have a percentage share of what we put into the house? That seems a bit more equitable."

"Fuck. See? I hate talking about money!" I sighed.

They both laughed. "Well, you picked the wrong career, Tom!" they cackled.

"So, is what you are saying if you both put in twenty-five per cent for the house, you would be responsible for twenty-five per cent each of the upkeep on the house, you know, utilities, taxes, stuff like that? This is going to be tougher than I thought. I want you both to be happy with what you can afford, and save. Are you suggesting something like that? You know, contribute what you can afford type of thing?" I suggested.

"Perhaps," Chrissie said. "Emily, what do you see clearing from your house?" she asked.

"Well, we still have a mortgage, so maybe a bit over two hundred thousand after that's paid off. It's not much, but it's for us, so..." Emily disclosed.

"Okay. This place is worth six, easily, and it's paid for, so I'll have that," Chrissie said. "That's around eight, give or take."

"How much are we short, Tom?" Emily asked.

I hesitated, not sure if I'd scare them both. "Probably a million US," I murmured.

"What!" Chrissie exploded. "A million dollars...short?" she said, incredulously. "Looks like our eyes are bigger than our bank balances," she giggled.

After a few moments, I said, sheepishly, "I can handle the rest." I could talk money, and figures all day, but it was never an easy thing when it came to me personally.

"Tom! How can you possibly come up with that sort of money? In the nicest possible way, Tom, how much do you make? We both know you're rich already," they both laughed.

"Fuck," I accidentally said out loud. "In dollars or pounds," I asked, trying to buy some time.

"Either, Tom. I can do the math," Chrissie laughed.

"Around two hundred and eighty, in dollars. Two-thirty in pounds sterling," I said, embarrassingly, not telling them about my yearly bonus.

"Damn, Tom!" Chrissie laughed, her hand covering her mouth.

Emily laughed at Chrissie's outburst, probably more out of uneasiness, though.

There was silence in the room. I had nothing more to say at this point, so I stayed quiet, revelling in their discomfort.

"I told you he was rich, Em!" Chrissie finally said, her laughter infectious.

"I've applied for a mortgage, though. It'll be cheaper than using my savings," I said, trying to deflect my discomfort at this meeting!

"So, what you're saying that you could afford it WITHOUT a mortgage?" Chrissie asked.

"Fuck, Chrissie. I said I could come up with the rest, all right? Do we need to get into the finer points?" I asked, hoping this would be the end of this discussion. Me and my great ideas, eh? "I'd appreciate it if we don't talk about this again? Thank you both." I said, hoping they'd spare me in the future.

"Anything else?" I said, trying to change the subject.

"Can you give Em and I a week or so, to figure this out, darling?" she asked.

"Fine. I'll let you two bring it up next time, okay?" I said, glad this was over.

"He's so fucking adorable when he blushes, isn't he, Chrissie?" Emily laughed.

"Fuck off, Emily!" I said, half-smiling.

"Ooooo," she retorted, still laughing.

"I'm going to bed to read. See you in a while," I said, needing to get away from them. I kissed them both on the head curtly, and walked to the hallway.

I left with their laughter ringing in my ears. I changed and slipped into the right-hand side of the bed, not wanting to be in the middle of these two tonight. They tiptoed in twenty minutes later, still fucking giggling. I put my book down, pulled the sheet over me, and fell to sleep.

I felt Chrissie's arm over my side. "Night, darling," she whispered.

"Night, darling," Emily sighed. "And thank you for everything, Tom."