Page 12 of Great Chemis-Tree

EPILOGUE

Three months later

Theo

The alarm clock went off,and Theo reach over to shut it off. Nudging Gabe, he said, “Wake up, sleepyhead.” Theo got up, scratched his ass, and plodded to the bathroom. “I’m showering first.”

He was washing his hair when Gabe walked in and stood at the toilet to pee.

“Hurry up,” Gabe told him. “You know there’s not enough room in there for both of us; God knows we’ve tried enough times. I heard there’s gonna be French toast at breakfast, and I want some before they run out.”

Theo stepped out of the shower, and Gabe handed him a towel. Gabe showered in record time, and they were off to breakfast quickly.

Life had been good for both of them the past few months. Their relationship had deepened, and Gabe told him that he found himself shaking his head on more than one occasion as he reflected on how good it was between them.I guess our friends were right, and Gabe wasn’t as good a matchmaker as he had thought.But then again, I didn’t see it either!Oh, well, water under the bridge since they were together now.

Just before Gabe’s roommate, Miguel, was scheduled to go home at the end of his contract, Carlos reminded Theo that his contract was ending a week later. They’d already discussed their relationship with Manuela, so now pretty much everyone knew they were a couple. Manuela was fine with it; she just reminded them to stay professional while working and to let her know if working together got to be a problem. With both Carlos and Miguel getting off the ship at almost the same time, Theo and Gabe asked if they could room together. With Manuela’s support, their request had been granted, and they’d been sharing a cabin for a little over a month now.

Both of their contracts would be ending in a few weeks, and they were trying to figure out how to spend time with their families and with each other during the three months they’d be off.

They were eating breakfast with Anton when Gabe’s phone buzzed.

“Oh, a text from my mom,” he told them. “Probably about when I’ll be getting home.”

As he read, the color drained from his face. Then tears fell from his now-closed eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Theo asked, concerned. He reached over and took Gabe’s hand.

Gabe shook his head, stood, and practically ran from the room. Theo quickly followed and caught up with him just down the hall. “Talk to me, sweetie. What’s wrong?”

Between sobs, Gabe said, “Mama wanted to let me know that her cousin Marla is coming to visit and will be at the house for several months along with her husband and two children. Mama said that since Marla and her family will be there, they won’t …” He stopped, unable to finish because he was crying so hard.

“Hey, whatever it is, we’ll figure it out together.” Theo wrapped his arms around him, gently rubbing his back.

Once Gabe got himself back under control, he went on. “They don’t have room for me. Mama said I should find someplace else to stay.” His voice suddenly went cold. “This is all my father’s doing. He’s been like this since I told them I like guys. And now that I’ve told them I have a boyfriend, he’s probably been trying to think of a way to stop me from bringing you home.” He shook his head, clearly totally despondent. “What am I gonna do? I have a few friends back home, but I can’t stay with any of them that long.”

“I have an idea.” Theo cupped his chin and looked into his eyes. “Why don’t you come home with me?”

“With you? But what would your parents think? I couldn’t,” he protested.

“Of course, you can. You know I told them about you, and they want to meet you. We can both fly to Oslo, and I’ll get my brother Lucas to pick us up. It’s less than an hour to Håkavik, where my family lives.”

“Really? You’re sure it will be okay?”

Theo wiped the tears from Gabe’s eyes. “It will be more than okay. They’re gonna love you.”

Gabe smiled. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but it seems like we have great chemistry together.”