90 The belly rules the mind
Word Soap: As The World Keeps Turning
Author: SYLnl
Title: #90 The belly rules the mind
Rating: PG
Summary: “Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.” - Mark Twain
Big Thanks To: ltklo, for brushing up my grammar
Previously on As The World Keeps Turning:
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20
#21 #22 #23 #24 #25 #26 #27 #28 #29 #30 #31 #32 #33 #34 #35 #36 #37 #38 #39 #40 #41 #42 #43 #44 #45 #46 #47 #48 #49 #50 #51 #52 #53 #54 #55 #56 #57 #58 #59 #60 #61 #62 #63 #64 #65 #66 #67 #68 #69 #70 #71 #72 #73 #74 #75 #76 #77 #78 #79 #80 #81 #82 #83 #84 #85 #86 #87 #88 #89
“Hey Chief, did you get a text too?”
Gwen swept herself around the doorpost and smiled when she saw Reid looking at his phone, slowly nodding.
“Yeah, sounds like our guys are enjoying themselves,” Reid looked up and motioned Gwen to come in. When she sat, he showed her a picture of Luke, laughing his beautiful laugh, and Danny sitting on his neck. Beaming.
“Wow, Danny is actually starting to look like a healthy little boy!” Gwen gave Reid a telling look. “You’re obviously doing a good job.”
Reid smiled, looking at the picture again. “It’s mostly Luke, but yeah… it’s great to see him prosper.”
He laughed when Gwen showed a similar one, but this time with Will and Hallie.
“Looks like they’re enjoying themselves too,” Gwen grinned. “Two dads in Sweet Home Chicago.”
“Hidehey,” Reid muttered, “I’m glad that the Winter Wonder Fest surpasses their expectations,” he gave Gwen a wicked grin, “but I’m even more glad I didn’t have to go too.”
Gwen laughed in assent. “I so hear you. I love the Navy Pier, but all those carnival-like events…not my idea of fun.”
“So I guess you’re stuck with me for dinner,” Reid waved his phone.
“I’ll manage,” Gwen’s twinkle in her eye made Reid grin.
“I do want a slight change in plans, though…” Reid read Luke’s text again and shook his head. “Because Luke suggests we meet at Al’s, but how about I treat you to dinner at the Lakeview?”
“I’d like that,” Gwen nodded. “We already had Bob’s for lunch…”
“Exactly my point. And I can almost taste the beef carpaccio. If you handle the reservations, I’ll wrap up my paperwork and we can go.”
After Gwen left, Reid grabbed his phone and send a text.
- Al’s for losers. See you at Lakeview:) LY
His phone beeped within a minute.
- Genius! CY soon. LY2
Lakeview was pretty quiet and Reid sighed with content. He accepted the menu from the waiter and leaned back in his chair.
“This is like having the cook all to myself.”
“Thanks for ignoring my presence,” Gwen teased and Reid raised an eyebrow.
“Excuse me… you are?” He bowed over to her, tapped her hand and gave her a naughty smile. “But okay, I’ll share him with you.”
“You’re too kind.” Gwen’s face told a whole other story and she stuck out her tongue at him when he nodded with a calm “I know.”
Their starters were served unusually quick, another benefit of a slow night. Reid wasn’t complaining. The amount of carpaccio on his plate suggested a double order and he looked absolutely happy when he finished, finding Gwen watching him.
“What?”
“You definitely love to eat, don’t you?”
“I do,” Reid smirked. “You know my passion for the brain, but the belly rules the mind. And I didn’t make that one up. It’s a Spanish proverb.”
Gwen laughed, looked like she wanted to reply but stopped.
“Sorry, Reid… I just saw Casey come in and I haven’t seen him in a long time…”
Reid moved his hand in a ‘by all means…go’ movement, while he turned a little so he could watch the young people interact. He liked the sincerity. Reid smiled. It told a lot about Luke. All his friends were genuine. Not all of them were Reid’s idea of great company - one anonymous barista came to mind - but they all were genuine.
He saw how Gwen motioned at him and noticed Casey hesitating. It made him grin internally. Poor Hughes. He obviously felt uncomfortable approaching Reid and - keeping in mind this was Luke’s close friend - the doctor gave him his most friendly smile. No, not the Garfield one. The real deal.
And it worked. Casey looked pleasantly surprised, shaking his hand.
“Hey Reid, good to see you.”
“Same here. Christmas break?”
Casey nodded. “Yeah, first day today. Thought I’d celebrate.”
“Smart,” Reid nodded, still on his best behavior, “If you don’t seize every opportunity to celebrate, you’re not truly alive.”
“Exactly,” Casey started to relax and gave him an open grin.
“Don’t tell me you’re celebrating alone, though…”
“No no,” Casey pointed to the doorway, “I invited Ali.”
“Ah…always a good choice,” Reid agreed, giving Casey a quick wink. He remembered Luke telling him about the whole Casey and Ali soap opera, but for the life of him he couldn’t recall any details, so he withheld from wittiness.
“Hi there, Reid.” Ali blew him a kiss, “cheating on Luke?”
“Yep,” Reid agreed with a straight face, “And he had it coming too. He left me for Will. So if he’s doing a close friend, I’m doing a woman. Sounds fair to me.”
“It does,” Ali nodded with a mischievous grin, “I’m just very disappointed that you didn’t choose me for this little outing.”
“Stick around, I still might,” Reid rolled his eyes and they all laughed.
The quick look Gwen gave him didn’t go unnoticed and when he nodded, she turned to her friends.
“You are welcome to join us…”
“Are you sure?” Casey looked Reid straight in the eye and the doctor grinned. Yep, he started to understand Luke’s friendship with this guy.
“Absolutely. Unless you’re scared I’ll seduce Ali right under your nose…”
“Ha! Maybe I should be scared that you’ll seduce Casey…” Ali’s grin was absolutely wicked, “I mean… Luke and Casey have been a couple, as you might have heard.”
“What?” Reid’s expression showed he hadn’t heard. He looked confused and Gwen tapped him soothingly on his hand.
“It was a scheme to deceive the ICE agent,” she explained, but that didn’t help much.
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Casey offered and Reid raised his eyebrow.
“I did go to Harvard, Mr. Hughes. I know what ICE is. But this story is new to me…and it just doesn’t make any sense.”
“Of course it doesn’t,” Ali bumped his shoulder, “This is Oakdale.”
“Right…” Reid rolled his eyes again. “I need more food.”
While Reid found his way through the basket with French bread, Luke’s friends filled him in. About Ameera, marrying Noah - Reid nodded…yeah, he had heard about that - and how the ICE agent suspected foul play when he saw the interaction between Casey and Ameera.
“So before I knew it, Luke threw his arms around me and told the guy I was his boyfriend.” Casey pulled a face that made them all laugh.
“You could do worse,” Reid suggested.
“Not if you’re not gay,” Casey shrugged. “I love Luke like a brother, but Noah’s idea to act like a couple was a very bad one.”
“I’m taking the Fifth,” with a telling grin Reid put another piece of bread in his mouth and Casey laughed. He gave Reid a quick nod and the message was clear. You’re okay.
“So in brief…If you feel any need to seduce, please focus on the girls. I’m not playing that game again.”
“I’ll try to restrain myself,” Reid promised, making them all chuckle.
“So how’s Danny?” Ali changed the subject, “I haven’t seen him since that day his teacher brought him in.” She shivered. “That poor kid.”
“Yeah, he had a tough start,” Reid paused when the waiter brought their orders and while looking at his plate, Reid continued, “but he’s doing much better. It will take a while before all wounds are healed, though. Especially the scars on his soul.”
Casey had taken a bite and his chewing showed his anger.
“I just can’t understand who can hurt a child like that. Starving him. Beating him.”
Reid hesitated, but his whispered “and then some’’ was out before he realized.
“What?” Casey almost choked on this food. “You mean… Oh my god…” the young man paled. “Who does something like that?”
Reid shrugged. “I hope I’ll never find out, to be honest. Danny asked us not to pursue his foster parents, but I know Child Services is trying to find them. If they bring them to court, I hope to be out of town, because I don’t know what I’ll do if they’re in front of me.”
“I hope you’ll never have to find out,” Gwen whispered and Reid gave a nod.
“So do I.”
“But, on a happier note, Danny is doing great now.” During the meal he shared some stories and Reid was happy to see Casey relaxing again. He had appreciated the young man’s outrage. It showed him this young Hughes cared. And he liked that.
His beeping phone demanded his attention and when he saw the ID, he excused himself.
“I need to take this.”
He decided to stay seated. He was pretty sure Luke’s friends would like this.
“Hey Emma, everything okay?”
He smiled at the woman’s answer and nodded.
“Yeah, I can imagine. No, he isn’t here yet. Can’t wait to see his face…”
After some exchange of compliments and thanks, Reid disconnected and found himself in the center of attention. He smiled.
“What are you up to now?” Gwen softly slapped Reid’s arm. She loved how this so-called socially challenged doctor managed to come up with ways to surprise his spouse.
Before Reid could answer, his phone beeped again and he watched the screen with a content smile.
“Let me show you…Faith just sent me this…”
He turned his phone and showed the picture. They all held their breath.
“That is so beautiful…” Ali was the first to find her voice. “Luke is gonna love that!”
“That’s the plan,” Reid grinned. “He has no idea, so please don’t spoil the surprise…”
They all made zipping motions in front of their mouths and the timing couldn’t be better. Reid didn’t know why his eyes wandered to the entrance at that specific moment, but he was glad they did. With a little head movement he notified his table-companions and they all smiled, watching Will and Luke each walking in with a sleeping child around his neck.
He gasped, overwhelmed by this feeling of love inside his body. He hurried himself up and met Luke halfway. After a soft but intense kiss, he wanted to return to his seat, but Danny started to wake up and when the small brown eyes saw him, his whole face came to life. His extended arms were telling and with a huge smile Reid let the boy fall around his neck.
A deep sigh in his neck choked him up and when he looked at Luke, he could see his blond had heard it too. The soft and content “Daddy” touched his core.
Will and Gwen had a similar change trick and after Luke and Will pulled in a chair, the waiter rushed to them.
“Would you like to order?”
Luke watched the empty plates. “You’re all done?”
“We are, but we’re more than willing to keep you company if you guys want to eat,” Casey offered and Luke glanced at Reid.
“Are we in a hurry?” he checked and Reid shook his head.
“Nope, you take your time. I’m good.” He smiled, while watching the sleeping boy on his shoulder, his loving partner and their friends. Yeah. He was doing very good indeed.