Secrets In Your Eyes
Secrets In Your Eyes
Chapter 6
Chapter Wordcount: 2464
Technically it was the first snowfall of the season. It was just a light dusting however, not enough to stick. And for someone from the wilds of Canada it hardly qualified as anything, let alone snow.
It did proceed to turn everything into a muddy slush, and there was a chill bite to the air that burned in his lungs.
Fraser was currently making his way through a section of town that Ray would refer to as a slum. So when Diefenbaker abruptly changed course and detoured down a litter strewn alley he was a bit concerned.
He turned the corner himself and watched Dief pawing at what looked like a pile of garbage.
Of course it hadn’t been a crime or someone in need, it was only the wolf’s apparently bottomless stomach.
“Diefenbaker! Really? I’m quite sure Ray has a donut waiting for you at the station. You are not so abused that you have to resort to garbage.”
But Diefenbaker refused to leave the alley. Rooting around in whatever it was before lying down and all but glaring at Fraser.
Fraser’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion and he walked towards where Dief was lying.
“What is it?” he asked, gently moving what looked to be old ratty clothes and maybe some stuffing from a pillow to the side with his boot. He didn’t see anything though. Until Dief leaned forward and licked a certain lump. A lump that moved.
It was a puppy. A cold, absolutely filthy puppy that had curled itself up in the worn fabric in a desperate attempt to keep warm.
Its fur was matted with mud and who knows what else, the small thing shivering in fear as Fraser gently picked it up.
“It’s okay little one,” he cooed, giving it a quick look over for injuries. Apart from being underweight and in desperate need of a bath and warm blanket the little girl seemed to be alright.
Diefenbaker jumped up, placing his paw on Fraser’s hip and licked at the squirming ball of fur and dirt again.
“Yeah, let’s go get her cleaned up and fed,” he said, tucking the bundle inside his peacoat where she could benefit from the warmth of his body.
Diefenbaker wagged his tail and led the way back down the alley.
***
As he turned the corner into the bullpen Ray was in the process of standing up from his desk. He stopped short when he saw Fraser coming towards him.
Fraser slowed his step at the wide eyed look Ray was watching him with.
“Uh, Benny…you doing drag again?”
He stopped dead in his tracks in confusion.
“No…” he said slowly. “Why would you think that?”
Ray gestured towards his chest with a stack of file folders he was holding. And jerked when whatever was inside Fraser’s jacket moved.
“Oh! Right!” he realized, looking down at the lopsided lump in his jacket. He unbuttoned his jacket as Ray moved closer, the puppy squirming against his chest.
“It’s Diefenbaker’s puppy.”
“Oh lord, Dief didn’t reproduce again did he?” Ray groaned, leaning in to see the bundle.
Diefenbaker growled and Ray rolled his eyes at him.
“Well no… but he found her.”
“She is kinda cute,” Ray grinned, letting the little girl lick his fingers.
“I was wondering if you would be so kind as to give me a ride home. I’d like to get her cleaned up and warm and fed. Who knows how long she had been outside.”
“Yeah, sure. Lemme just go file these,” he said waving the folders.
***
Fraser washed the puppy in his kitchen sink. Diefenbaker was ever watchful, sitting at his feet and putting his paws up onto the counter whenever the little girl whined.
As the mud swirled down the drain Fraser was glad to see she wasn’t quite as dirty as he had originally believed, it was actually her coloring. A steel grey splotched with black and rust red Doberman like markings.
After a quick towel dry he placed her on the floor where Diefenbaker took over and licked her until she was cleaned to his standards.
He mixed up a quick bowl of cereal and milk, just enough to make it mushy and offered it to her which she all but inhaled. It wasn’t the healthiest meal for a puppy, but it would have to do for now.
“You gonna keep her?” Ray asked, watching the pup chasing after the bowl as it moved a little more each time she licked it.
“Ah... no,” he replied, shuffling his feet and reaching up to scratch at his eyebrow. “I was actually thinking of taking her to Tayla’s.”
“You’re gonna give Tayla a puppy?” Ray asked, wide grin on his face.
“Well I know she had a dog that passed away while she lived in Florida. Do you think it would upset her?”
Ray chuckled and shook his head.
“Naw, she’ll love it. Tay’s never been able to say no to an animal.”
***
He planned on hiding the puppy inside his jacket and surprising Tayla with it. But the little girl was squirming wildly against his chest and he had just unbuttoned his jacket and reached in to stop her when Tayla opened her front door.
“Hey what…” she paused as Fraser froze, puppy in hand, half out of his coat.
“What the hell is that?”
Fraser just blinked and held it out to her, the little dog’s tail wagging and slapping against his wrist from where she dangled from his hands.
“I found her.”
“Uh… okay…” Tayla said slowly, reaching out to take the little bundle, pulling her to her chest. “Get in here, it’s freezing.”
Fraser removed his coat and wiped the snow from his boots, watching as Tayla scratched behind the puppy’s ears.
“Actually Diefenbaker found her,” he offered, following her into her living room where she set the puppy on the floor and it immediately took off sniffing everything it could reach.
“She’s adorable.”
“I thought maybe…” he cleared his throat, sitting down on her couch.
“Are you giving me a puppy?” Tayla grinned, adding another log to her fireplace before taking a seat next to him.
“If you want her.”
“Who doesn’t want a puppy,” she smiled.
Diefenbaker was following right on the little fluffball’s heels, steering her away from getting into anything she shouldn’t.
They laughed and watched as she explored her new home.
“Thanks,” Tayla whispered, leaning in to kiss him softly. He was still caught off guard for a moment, but was heartened by how quickly his panic resided, and responded to her kiss.
Tayla shifted to lean against his chest, turned enough so she could still watch her new baby and Fraser allowed himself to relax into her couch, arm coming down to hold her gently against him. He sighed, it was a comfort he was still getting used to. Being close to someone, being close to her.
He let himself be soothed by the quiet crackle and pop of the fireplace, the warmth of her body against his. The feel of her breathing in his arms. They watched as the two dogs continued their exploration.
The puppy finally exhausted her energy and crawled over to where Diefenbaker had laid down to watch over her and curled up next to him. Dief just snuffled her as she settled against him and then laid his own head down and fell asleep.
Tayla chucked and shifted to settle more comfortably against his chest.
“I don’t think I have the heart to wake them,” he said softly, grinning when Tayla looked up at him.
She watched him for a moment in silence.
“You wanna stay?” she whispered.
He paused. Held her eyes.
“Sure,” he finally whispered, lifting his hand to tuck some of her hair behind her ear.
***
The first thing he saw when he woke up was a moving swirl of colors.
In his half asleep state all he could process was how surprised he was to see the northern lights in Chicago.
Which is right around the time he realized there were no northern lights in Chicago. Nor had he been transported back home where they did dance across the sky.
He squinted and dug at his eye, willing himself conscious enough and realized it was a windchime Tayla had hanging in her window. Bits of colored glass and crystals reflecting the light from the gap in her curtains and throwing colors across her ceiling.
He smiled softly to himself, somehow not surprised that another piece of her life made him feel like he was home.
He turned his head slowly to watch where she still slept. Heat crawled up his neck at the memory of the night before.
He had been respectful, offered to take the spare bedroom, at which point she had kissed him soundly and told him he had no choice. It went unspoken but understood that neither of them were ready to take the next step into intimacy, but it had still been a nerve wracking experience, crawling into bed beside her. While his heart still beat wildly, he had been surprised how easily it had been to nestle into the pocket of warmth they created and before long they had settled against each other and drifted off into sleep.
He smiled, still flushed with the recollection of the emotional rush of the night before and carefully extracted himself from her bed.
Diefenbaker greeted him as he came down the stairs and he opened the porch door so he and the puppy could wander outside and relieve themselves.
He hesitated in the kitchen. Feeling somewhat uncomfortable, like he was interloping somehow, but chastised himself. He was welcome in her home. How many times had she told him that?
He set the coffee maker up to brew and opened her refrigerator to see what he might be able to cook for breakfast for the four of them.
He picked up a carton of eggs and grabbed a packaged roll of sausage meat with his other hand, closing the door with his foot.
The sausage hit the floor, thankfully not bursting open, and he did a comically panicked juggling of the egg carton in midair when his father’s face met him from behind the door.
He froze, eggs now clutched to his chest, closed his eyes and groaned, slowly looking down and breathing out in a rush when there didn’t seem to be any egg oozing out of the container.
“First off,” he growled. “Could you knock or say hello or something, not just appear when I’m holding a carton of eggs,” he said, placing said carton on the counter and retrieving the package of meat from the floor, glaring at his father the entire time.
“Well it’s not like I knew you were holding eggs. I may be dead but I can’t exactly see through appliance doors,” his father huffed, as if it was the most obvious thing on the planet.
“And secondly,” Fraser continued, turning to face him and placing his hands on his hips. “What are you even doing here? Haunting me and my apartment is one thing, but don’t you think it’s a little rude to just appear in someone else’s home?”
“Nonsense,” he scoffed, waving his mitten covered hand, glancing out the window where the dogs were. “You know, giving someone a dog up north could be construed a certain way.”
Benton rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. “Please tell me you’re not here to lecture me.”
“Hardly, I’m just checking in. Am I not allowed to know what’s going on in my son’s life?”
Fraser sighed again and turned to find a skillet.
“Let’s not pretend you don’t spy on me.”
“I take offense to that! If I had been spying I could have just floated myself into that bedroom last night,” he grinned, looking at his son from the side.
“You did not?!” Fraser asked, horrified.
“Jesus no son, I do have manners. Also, there are some things I just don’t need to know.”
“Nothing happened,” he mumbled, turning back to the stove, face flushed in embarrassment.
“We’ll you certainly could do worse, she seems like hardy stock.”
Fraser turned to look at him with wide eyes, mortified.
“Hardy stock? She’s not cattle dad!”
“I know that! I just think she’s a better choice than…” the older man, trailed off, obviously deciding against finishing.
“Yes, I know,” Fraser said quietly, forming sausage into patties which he dropped to sizzle in the pan.
“Son…”
“I know you didn’t approve of Victoria dad, and quite frankly she haunts me just as much as you do…”
“I know,” his father offered softly. “I’m just…I’m glad you found someone. You two seem to understand each other.”
Fraser nodded, shifted the meat in the pan with a spatula and met his father’s gaze.
“We’re learning.”
“That’s good,” his dad smiled. “Anything worth its salt takes work and time.”
Cold panic sliced through him as he watched his dad’s gaze drift over his shoulder.
He spun around to see Tayla, her shoulder propped against the wall watching him.
“I…uh…um…I just…I was making breakfast…”
“You were talking to your dad?” she asked simply.
“Uh…” he grasped for something to say.
“Yes,” he finally spit out, unable to find any logical way to explain this away.
“You see him?”
“Sometimes…he tends to…visit…at the most inopportune moments.”
Tayla nodded, slightest tilt to her lips hinting at a smile and moved into the kitchen.
She braced her hand on his shoulder as she pulled a coffee cup from the cabinet and poured herself a mug.
“Sometimes I wish I could see my mom. Never really got to say goodbye to her. Or dad for that matter,” she added, pouring cream into her coffee.
“Pretty much every Lyman has blue eyes. Except mom. She had brown. I know she had brown eyes. But I can’t really remember them,” she finished softly, smiling at him from over her mug as she took a sip.
He couldn’t believe how lucky he was. This girl that had entered his life. Accepted every broken thing about him. From his mountaineer habits, to the scars on his heart, to the fact that he just carried on a conversation with his dead father in her kitchen.
“Thank you,” he whispered, unsure of how else to respond to the situation.
She smiled and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. He felt all the tension melt out of his muscles as she leaned against him.
“Morning,” she grinned.
“Morning,” he smiled back.
She laughed and headed towards the back porch to check on her new furry charge and he grinned to himself, glanced around the kitchen, not seeing his father anywhere and turned back to finish their breakfast.
Previous: Chapter Five | Next: Chapter Seven
Chapter 6
Chapter Wordcount: 2464
Technically it was the first snowfall of the season. It was just a light dusting however, not enough to stick. And for someone from the wilds of Canada it hardly qualified as anything, let alone snow.
It did proceed to turn everything into a muddy slush, and there was a chill bite to the air that burned in his lungs.
Fraser was currently making his way through a section of town that Ray would refer to as a slum. So when Diefenbaker abruptly changed course and detoured down a litter strewn alley he was a bit concerned.
He turned the corner himself and watched Dief pawing at what looked like a pile of garbage.
Of course it hadn’t been a crime or someone in need, it was only the wolf’s apparently bottomless stomach.
“Diefenbaker! Really? I’m quite sure Ray has a donut waiting for you at the station. You are not so abused that you have to resort to garbage.”
But Diefenbaker refused to leave the alley. Rooting around in whatever it was before lying down and all but glaring at Fraser.
Fraser’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion and he walked towards where Dief was lying.
“What is it?” he asked, gently moving what looked to be old ratty clothes and maybe some stuffing from a pillow to the side with his boot. He didn’t see anything though. Until Dief leaned forward and licked a certain lump. A lump that moved.
It was a puppy. A cold, absolutely filthy puppy that had curled itself up in the worn fabric in a desperate attempt to keep warm.
Its fur was matted with mud and who knows what else, the small thing shivering in fear as Fraser gently picked it up.
“It’s okay little one,” he cooed, giving it a quick look over for injuries. Apart from being underweight and in desperate need of a bath and warm blanket the little girl seemed to be alright.
Diefenbaker jumped up, placing his paw on Fraser’s hip and licked at the squirming ball of fur and dirt again.
“Yeah, let’s go get her cleaned up and fed,” he said, tucking the bundle inside his peacoat where she could benefit from the warmth of his body.
Diefenbaker wagged his tail and led the way back down the alley.
***
As he turned the corner into the bullpen Ray was in the process of standing up from his desk. He stopped short when he saw Fraser coming towards him.
Fraser slowed his step at the wide eyed look Ray was watching him with.
“Uh, Benny…you doing drag again?”
He stopped dead in his tracks in confusion.
“No…” he said slowly. “Why would you think that?”
Ray gestured towards his chest with a stack of file folders he was holding. And jerked when whatever was inside Fraser’s jacket moved.
“Oh! Right!” he realized, looking down at the lopsided lump in his jacket. He unbuttoned his jacket as Ray moved closer, the puppy squirming against his chest.
“It’s Diefenbaker’s puppy.”
“Oh lord, Dief didn’t reproduce again did he?” Ray groaned, leaning in to see the bundle.
Diefenbaker growled and Ray rolled his eyes at him.
“Well no… but he found her.”
“She is kinda cute,” Ray grinned, letting the little girl lick his fingers.
“I was wondering if you would be so kind as to give me a ride home. I’d like to get her cleaned up and warm and fed. Who knows how long she had been outside.”
“Yeah, sure. Lemme just go file these,” he said waving the folders.
***
Fraser washed the puppy in his kitchen sink. Diefenbaker was ever watchful, sitting at his feet and putting his paws up onto the counter whenever the little girl whined.
As the mud swirled down the drain Fraser was glad to see she wasn’t quite as dirty as he had originally believed, it was actually her coloring. A steel grey splotched with black and rust red Doberman like markings.
After a quick towel dry he placed her on the floor where Diefenbaker took over and licked her until she was cleaned to his standards.
He mixed up a quick bowl of cereal and milk, just enough to make it mushy and offered it to her which she all but inhaled. It wasn’t the healthiest meal for a puppy, but it would have to do for now.
“You gonna keep her?” Ray asked, watching the pup chasing after the bowl as it moved a little more each time she licked it.
“Ah... no,” he replied, shuffling his feet and reaching up to scratch at his eyebrow. “I was actually thinking of taking her to Tayla’s.”
“You’re gonna give Tayla a puppy?” Ray asked, wide grin on his face.
“Well I know she had a dog that passed away while she lived in Florida. Do you think it would upset her?”
Ray chuckled and shook his head.
“Naw, she’ll love it. Tay’s never been able to say no to an animal.”
***
He planned on hiding the puppy inside his jacket and surprising Tayla with it. But the little girl was squirming wildly against his chest and he had just unbuttoned his jacket and reached in to stop her when Tayla opened her front door.
“Hey what…” she paused as Fraser froze, puppy in hand, half out of his coat.
“What the hell is that?”
Fraser just blinked and held it out to her, the little dog’s tail wagging and slapping against his wrist from where she dangled from his hands.
“I found her.”
“Uh… okay…” Tayla said slowly, reaching out to take the little bundle, pulling her to her chest. “Get in here, it’s freezing.”
Fraser removed his coat and wiped the snow from his boots, watching as Tayla scratched behind the puppy’s ears.
“Actually Diefenbaker found her,” he offered, following her into her living room where she set the puppy on the floor and it immediately took off sniffing everything it could reach.
“She’s adorable.”
“I thought maybe…” he cleared his throat, sitting down on her couch.
“Are you giving me a puppy?” Tayla grinned, adding another log to her fireplace before taking a seat next to him.
“If you want her.”
“Who doesn’t want a puppy,” she smiled.
Diefenbaker was following right on the little fluffball’s heels, steering her away from getting into anything she shouldn’t.
They laughed and watched as she explored her new home.
“Thanks,” Tayla whispered, leaning in to kiss him softly. He was still caught off guard for a moment, but was heartened by how quickly his panic resided, and responded to her kiss.
Tayla shifted to lean against his chest, turned enough so she could still watch her new baby and Fraser allowed himself to relax into her couch, arm coming down to hold her gently against him. He sighed, it was a comfort he was still getting used to. Being close to someone, being close to her.
He let himself be soothed by the quiet crackle and pop of the fireplace, the warmth of her body against his. The feel of her breathing in his arms. They watched as the two dogs continued their exploration.
The puppy finally exhausted her energy and crawled over to where Diefenbaker had laid down to watch over her and curled up next to him. Dief just snuffled her as she settled against him and then laid his own head down and fell asleep.
Tayla chucked and shifted to settle more comfortably against his chest.
“I don’t think I have the heart to wake them,” he said softly, grinning when Tayla looked up at him.
She watched him for a moment in silence.
“You wanna stay?” she whispered.
He paused. Held her eyes.
“Sure,” he finally whispered, lifting his hand to tuck some of her hair behind her ear.
***
The first thing he saw when he woke up was a moving swirl of colors.
In his half asleep state all he could process was how surprised he was to see the northern lights in Chicago.
Which is right around the time he realized there were no northern lights in Chicago. Nor had he been transported back home where they did dance across the sky.
He squinted and dug at his eye, willing himself conscious enough and realized it was a windchime Tayla had hanging in her window. Bits of colored glass and crystals reflecting the light from the gap in her curtains and throwing colors across her ceiling.
He smiled softly to himself, somehow not surprised that another piece of her life made him feel like he was home.
He turned his head slowly to watch where she still slept. Heat crawled up his neck at the memory of the night before.
He had been respectful, offered to take the spare bedroom, at which point she had kissed him soundly and told him he had no choice. It went unspoken but understood that neither of them were ready to take the next step into intimacy, but it had still been a nerve wracking experience, crawling into bed beside her. While his heart still beat wildly, he had been surprised how easily it had been to nestle into the pocket of warmth they created and before long they had settled against each other and drifted off into sleep.
He smiled, still flushed with the recollection of the emotional rush of the night before and carefully extracted himself from her bed.
Diefenbaker greeted him as he came down the stairs and he opened the porch door so he and the puppy could wander outside and relieve themselves.
He hesitated in the kitchen. Feeling somewhat uncomfortable, like he was interloping somehow, but chastised himself. He was welcome in her home. How many times had she told him that?
He set the coffee maker up to brew and opened her refrigerator to see what he might be able to cook for breakfast for the four of them.
He picked up a carton of eggs and grabbed a packaged roll of sausage meat with his other hand, closing the door with his foot.
The sausage hit the floor, thankfully not bursting open, and he did a comically panicked juggling of the egg carton in midair when his father’s face met him from behind the door.
He froze, eggs now clutched to his chest, closed his eyes and groaned, slowly looking down and breathing out in a rush when there didn’t seem to be any egg oozing out of the container.
“First off,” he growled. “Could you knock or say hello or something, not just appear when I’m holding a carton of eggs,” he said, placing said carton on the counter and retrieving the package of meat from the floor, glaring at his father the entire time.
“Well it’s not like I knew you were holding eggs. I may be dead but I can’t exactly see through appliance doors,” his father huffed, as if it was the most obvious thing on the planet.
“And secondly,” Fraser continued, turning to face him and placing his hands on his hips. “What are you even doing here? Haunting me and my apartment is one thing, but don’t you think it’s a little rude to just appear in someone else’s home?”
“Nonsense,” he scoffed, waving his mitten covered hand, glancing out the window where the dogs were. “You know, giving someone a dog up north could be construed a certain way.”
Benton rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. “Please tell me you’re not here to lecture me.”
“Hardly, I’m just checking in. Am I not allowed to know what’s going on in my son’s life?”
Fraser sighed again and turned to find a skillet.
“Let’s not pretend you don’t spy on me.”
“I take offense to that! If I had been spying I could have just floated myself into that bedroom last night,” he grinned, looking at his son from the side.
“You did not?!” Fraser asked, horrified.
“Jesus no son, I do have manners. Also, there are some things I just don’t need to know.”
“Nothing happened,” he mumbled, turning back to the stove, face flushed in embarrassment.
“We’ll you certainly could do worse, she seems like hardy stock.”
Fraser turned to look at him with wide eyes, mortified.
“Hardy stock? She’s not cattle dad!”
“I know that! I just think she’s a better choice than…” the older man, trailed off, obviously deciding against finishing.
“Yes, I know,” Fraser said quietly, forming sausage into patties which he dropped to sizzle in the pan.
“Son…”
“I know you didn’t approve of Victoria dad, and quite frankly she haunts me just as much as you do…”
“I know,” his father offered softly. “I’m just…I’m glad you found someone. You two seem to understand each other.”
Fraser nodded, shifted the meat in the pan with a spatula and met his father’s gaze.
“We’re learning.”
“That’s good,” his dad smiled. “Anything worth its salt takes work and time.”
Cold panic sliced through him as he watched his dad’s gaze drift over his shoulder.
He spun around to see Tayla, her shoulder propped against the wall watching him.
“I…uh…um…I just…I was making breakfast…”
“You were talking to your dad?” she asked simply.
“Uh…” he grasped for something to say.
“Yes,” he finally spit out, unable to find any logical way to explain this away.
“You see him?”
“Sometimes…he tends to…visit…at the most inopportune moments.”
Tayla nodded, slightest tilt to her lips hinting at a smile and moved into the kitchen.
She braced her hand on his shoulder as she pulled a coffee cup from the cabinet and poured herself a mug.
“Sometimes I wish I could see my mom. Never really got to say goodbye to her. Or dad for that matter,” she added, pouring cream into her coffee.
“Pretty much every Lyman has blue eyes. Except mom. She had brown. I know she had brown eyes. But I can’t really remember them,” she finished softly, smiling at him from over her mug as she took a sip.
He couldn’t believe how lucky he was. This girl that had entered his life. Accepted every broken thing about him. From his mountaineer habits, to the scars on his heart, to the fact that he just carried on a conversation with his dead father in her kitchen.
“Thank you,” he whispered, unsure of how else to respond to the situation.
She smiled and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. He felt all the tension melt out of his muscles as she leaned against him.
“Morning,” she grinned.
“Morning,” he smiled back.
She laughed and headed towards the back porch to check on her new furry charge and he grinned to himself, glanced around the kitchen, not seeing his father anywhere and turned back to finish their breakfast.
Previous: Chapter Five | Next: Chapter Seven