YOU PROMISED ME FOREVER -- Sequel to "DIFFERENT"

23 -- HOME

Laurent's knuckles were clenched white, his hand a death grip on Larry's, his face a grimace as he stoically looked straight ahead, and not out of the tiny oval window.  He hated flying.  Well, not the actual flying part, or being at the airport part.  He loved the buzz and the excitement of airports, everyone seemingly happy and excited to be going wherever it was that they were going.  The heart rending arrivals of long lost lovers, family and friends, and the heart breaking goodbyes of the same.  He liked the atmosphere in the plane, the mostly calm resignation of having to be in a confined space, held aloft at 36,000 feet, for five or six hours, with complete strangers.  A glass of wine, a movie, even the food.  His love sitting next to him.  The loving looks, the quiet chatter between themselves, their own excitement of going somewhere together, the relaxed atmosphere.  He even found amusing the looks they would get from fellow passengers when it registered that they were a couple.  They were both male, extremely good looking, and were always more than affectionate towards each other in public.  So of course people would look at them.  They sometimes got recognised too, and that just made him smile all the more, and it added to his already good mood.  If he could just enjoy all of this, get to their destination, happy and unhindered, without actually having to take off, without having the plane leave the ground, or having to descend and come in to land, and with no turbulence whatsoever, he'd be more than happy.

So as the plane trundled along the tarmac to it's allotted place at the head of the runway. Laurent's heart was in his throat, his guts almost following it's lead.  They had treated themselves to First Class going home, thinking, a)  they deserved it, and b) having better service, nicer food, and more importantly, much more room, might make the things he hated about flying, seem better.  It didn't.

"Breathe, Lau, just breathe.  Remember your exercises"  Larry reassured him, squeezing his hand no where near as hard as Laurent was squeezing his.  Getting him to look into his face, doing his breathing exercises for him, much like a pregnant couple in a Lamaze class.

"Yeah, I know, I know, I'm sorry .... "

"Don't be, it's OK.  I know the routine by now."  He smiled at him, lifting Laurent's hand to his lips for a reassuring kiss to his knuckles.  "All the times we have flown, and nothing has happened to us yet, nor will it"  he reassured Laurent again.

As the plane left the ground, that gravitational pull making itself felt in the pit of his stomach, Laurent squeezed his eyes shut, and squeezed Larry's hand even harder, making him grimace with the pain.  But he would endure it, because his love needed him right now.  He looked over at Laurent's contorted features, thinking he would endure anything for this man.

Anything.

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Larry had texted Leyla that they had cleared immigration, were on their way to baggage claim, and would be home within the hour.  She relayed the message to the kids, eliciting different reactions.  Kayden was fit to burst.  He had missed his papa so much, and he loved him just as much too.  He was 7 now, old enough to be aware that his papa and his sister had a special bond because of what they had been through together.  But afterwards, when Laurent came home, even though he was having a tough time, and sought comfort and solace with Michaela, Kayden was always there for him.  He spent time with Laurent, asked him to play their favourite video games, gave him extra time, hugs and kisses, and his complete and utter, undiluted love.  Just extra him.

Michaela was ambivalent, however.  Her papa had abandoned them, she felt, and had hurt her daddy so badly.  She was looking forward to seeing him again, of course she was, but she wasn't going to give him an easy ride on his return.  She would make sure he knew how she felt about his disappearance, and his treatment of them all.  Plus, she didn't know how he would be, mentally, emotionally, when he returned.  So she would hang back a little, and not rush towards anything.  Towards judgement, towards reconciliation, towards him.  She would wait, she had decided.  Let's see how that goes, then.