Inheritance (29/30)
Previous Chapter
Scotty released a slow breath as he tucked in his shirt. There was a quiet knock on the door, and Scotty half-turned.
“Come in,” he called out.
The door opened, and Holly peeked around the edge.
“Hi Holly!”
Holly smiled, walking further into the room and closing the door behind her. She stepped over to Scotty.
“You look so handsome,” she said, lifting her hands to Scotty’s tie and straightening it.
“Thank you. Good genes,” he said with a grin.
Holly smirked. She moved her hands to his shoulders, brushing the fabric smooth as she exhaled. “Nervous?”
Scotty shook his head determinedly. “Not at all.”
“Good. No reason to be. You two are perfect for each other.”
Scotty ducked his head, then looked up at her again, flashing an embarrassed smile. “Holly, I know you and the Walkers have a…difficult…relationship. It means a lot to me that you’re here today.”
“Nothing could keep me away,” she said, squeezing his hands briefly. “I’ll let you finish getting ready.”
She reached up, kissed his cheek, and stepped away. Scotty said her name quietly, and she turned to face him expectantly.
Scotty swallowed. “Is it OK with you…I mean, do you think you’d mind…can I - can I call you Mom?”
Holly lifted her hands to her face, cupping them around her mouth and nose as she nodded quickly. Blinking back tears, she stepped close to him again, pulling him down for another hug.
“I’d like that,” she whispered. “I’d like that a lot.”
***
Kevin stared around the living room in shock. Somehow, it had been transformed into a botanical garden.
“Oh my God,” he muttered.
Nora turned around from where she had been adjusting a few flowers. She looked sheepish.
“I know. I got carried away.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Dammit, Kevin. You deserve this night to be beautiful. All right, yes, I got carried away; I don’t regret it. Because tonight, Kevin, you don’t get to be guarded or cynical. You and Scotty deserve this night to be as romantic and memorable as anyone else’s.”
Kevin stepped over to Nora, pulling her into a hug. “Thank you,” he said emotionally. “You gave us a wedding.”
***
Extraordinarily popular today, Scotty thought to himself at the sound of another knock on the door.
He had been sitting quietly, waiting for Justin to come tell him it was time. He wondered if that was him now, and suddenly, he started to feel just a little nervous. Scotty stood, walking over to the door and pulling it open.
It wasn’t Justin. It was his dad.
“Dad!”
“Hi Scotty,” Wally replied as he walked inside the room, one arm behind his back. “How are you? Almost ready?”
“Yep." Scotty nodded, swallowing. “I think so.”
“Something borrowed, something blue?”
Scotty laughed. “Uh, let’s see…blue underwear, actually. Old shoes. New suit. Nothing borrowed, though. Crap.”
“Ah, we can fix that,” Wally said, bringing his arm forward and presenting a small wooden box to Scotty. “It’s cheating a bit, because I’m giving these to you, not lending them, but…”
“Your cufflinks,” Scotty whispered. “You always said…”
They were both silent for a beat. Then Wally cleared his throat. “Here, do you need help putting them on?”
Scotty swallowed, then nodded. “Sure,” he said, lifting his wrists and beginning to unhook the cufflinks he was already wearing.
***
Everything went off without a hitch. Saul gave a lovely speech; Paige and Cooper served as ringbearers (thankfully, Paige had eventually accepted the argument that associating ringbearers with boys only was a gender stereotype. Unfortunately, that argument obviously hadn’t saved Kevin from a flower-free ceremony.). Nonetheless, Kevin seemed entirely happy with the turn of events as he said his vows loud and clear, staring into Scotty’s eyes. Scotty smiled at him, and when it came to his turn, he spoke of his love and affection for Kevin, his devotion to their relationship, and his promise for a long and happy life together.
At the end of the ceremony, Kevin and Scotty kissed, the guests cheered, and the music began. Kevin and Scotty walked around the room, hand-in-hand, as they greeted and thanked people for coming.
***
Nora stacked dirty dishes on the counter next to the sink. She could hear the sounds of people celebrating in the other rooms, and she grinned. She could deal with the extreme amount of clean-up tomorrow, if it meant there was so much happiness tonight.
She turned away from the sink, stopping in her tracks when Holly entered the kitchen.
“Do you need any help?” Holly offered politely.
“Oh, no. Thank you. I’m just going to leave it for tomorrow, I think.”
Holly looked at the mess. “I think I would just throw everything out and buy new dishes.”
Nora laughed. “I might at that!”
Holly gave her a small smile.
“Holly, this is ridiculous, don’t you think?”
“What is?”
“Us! We spend so much time avoiding each other, and faking politeness when we have to be in the same room. I mean, so what? William is dead. He hurt us both.”
“You’re right,” Holly agreed.
“I’ve spent so many hours of my life hating you, and it’s just not worth the effort. And besides - we’re family now.”
Holly smiled widely. “Let’s put it behind us,” Holly suggested. “I’ve moved on. You’ve moved on. Maybe we can even…be friends someday.”
“I’d like that,” Nora agreed.
“You know,” Holly said teasingly. “Friends share gossip about men.”
“What are you saying?” Nora asked.
“I’ve seen the looks you and Wally Wandell have been giving each other.”
Nora laughed out loud. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she scoffed.
Holly looked at her meaningfully.
Nora shook her head, walking out of the room. “You’re crazy.”
“You know, Nora. He’s technically still a married man. That’s so unlike you.”
***
The last of the unrelated guests had finally left. Meanwhile, Kevin and Scotty had collapsed on the couch in Nora’s den, cuddling as they relaxed after an extraordinarily busy day - not to mention the exhausting night before. Scotty looked around the room, smiling as he saw the other Walkers and their spouses…Elizabeth sleeping soundly in Julia’s arms, Paige and Cooper dead to the world on the opposite couch…Holly and David talking quietly in the corner…Wally picking up empty glasses and bringing them toward the kitchen. He had gone from being all alone in L.A., save a few good friends, to being able to call all of these people his family. And being able to call the man behind him, his arms wrapped tightly around Scotty, his husband.
Scotty twisted, smiling up at Kevin. Kevin turned at the movement and looked down at him.
“Ready to go home?” he asked Scotty softly.
Scotty’s smile turned into a grin. He was about to reply when Tyler’s “oh!” of alarm distracted him.
They both turned to face her. Tyler was holding her stomach with one hand, while she held a dangerously tilting glass of punch in her other hand.
“Oh my God!” she said.
Everyone started converging around Tyler. Justin reached out for her, taking hold of her elbow and putting his own hand to her stomach.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
She looked up. “I think I’m in labor!”
***
After several hours of pacing in the waiting room, drinking stale hospital coffee and eventually managing to nap on the hard chairs, Kevin and Scotty peeked into the delivery room. An exhausted Tyler held a squirming bundle of blankets. Justin sat on the bed above her, an arm wrapped around her shoulders as he looked down at the baby.
“Hi,” Kevin said softly.
Tyler looked up. She waved at them to enter. “Come in, come in!”
Scotty stepped closer, awwwing as he strained his neck to see the baby.
“You guys, I am so sorry for ruining your wedding,” Tyler apologized. “This little girl was just too impatient, I guess.”
Kevin scoffed.
“What are you talking about?” Scotty said. “What better sign for a wedding than it ending with a new life?”
“Besides,” Kevin added, “it wouldn’t be a Walker family event if there weren’t some crisis.”
“See,” Justin said. “I told you they wouldn’t be mad.”
“How are you feeling?” Scotty asked.
“Good,” Tyler said. “Tired. And frustrated.”
“Why?”
“We can’t come up with a name!”
Kevin rolled his eyes at Justin. “You only had eight months.”
“Less than that,” Justin argued. “We didn’t even find out until, like, two months in. And we came up with a bunch of great boys’ names. It’s hard to name a girl!”
“If you were a girl, you were going to be Justine,” Kevin said, smirking. “Mom and Dad hadn’t come up with any boys’ names.”
“Ha ha.”
“Dad says if I was a girl, I was going to be Rebecca,” Scotty commented, half-listening to the conversation as he rubbed the baby’s little belly.
Tyler and Justin looked at each other, smiles growing on their faces.
“They both joined the family the same day,” Tyler observed. “It’s only fitting.”
Scotty glanced up. “What?”
“Rebecca Walker,” Justin tested out. “I like it.”
***
The sun was up by the time Kevin and Scotty dragged themselves up the stairs to the loft. Kevin sighed, then yawned, as he unlocked the door. Before he could step inside, however, Scotty stopped him.
“Wait! Wait, wait, wait. Who’s going to carry who across the threshold?” he asked.
Kevin looked at him, then groaned quietly. “We don’t have to do that, do we?”
“Oh, if that’s the way you feel about it,” Scotty said, grabbing Kevin and swinging him into his arms.
Kevin half-yelped, half-laughed as Scotty stepped inside the loft. Then Scotty quickly put him down.
“Oh God, you’re heavy!” he said.
Kevin stared at him, faking offense. “You’re not gonna take me all the way to the bedroom?”
“It’s funny,” Scotty teased, focusing on removing his cufflinks as Kevin closed the door. “It’s our first time home as a married couple, and suddenly I’m not in the mood.”
“Yeah, Tommy warned me that would happen,” Kevin said. He stepped closer and gestured to Scotty. “Come here.”
Scotty held out his hands, and Kevin unhooked the cufflinks. He placed them carefully on the table, holding onto Scotty’s wrists with his other hand. He straightened again, tugging Scotty slightly closer and brushing his thumb over Scotty’s new ring. He looked up then, and Scotty smiled at him.
Then Kevin crouched, bending slightly and wrapping Scotty around his shoulders in a very awkward fireman’s carry.
“Oh my God!” Scotty exclaimed as his feet lifted a few inches off the ground. “You’re going to hurt yourself. Put me down.”
“I will,” Kevin grunted. “On the bed.”
Scotty laughed even as he continued to protest. Kevin ignored him, stumbling quickly into the bedroom.
Last Chapter
Main Page
Scotty released a slow breath as he tucked in his shirt. There was a quiet knock on the door, and Scotty half-turned.
“Come in,” he called out.
The door opened, and Holly peeked around the edge.
“Hi Holly!”
Holly smiled, walking further into the room and closing the door behind her. She stepped over to Scotty.
“You look so handsome,” she said, lifting her hands to Scotty’s tie and straightening it.
“Thank you. Good genes,” he said with a grin.
Holly smirked. She moved her hands to his shoulders, brushing the fabric smooth as she exhaled. “Nervous?”
Scotty shook his head determinedly. “Not at all.”
“Good. No reason to be. You two are perfect for each other.”
Scotty ducked his head, then looked up at her again, flashing an embarrassed smile. “Holly, I know you and the Walkers have a…difficult…relationship. It means a lot to me that you’re here today.”
“Nothing could keep me away,” she said, squeezing his hands briefly. “I’ll let you finish getting ready.”
She reached up, kissed his cheek, and stepped away. Scotty said her name quietly, and she turned to face him expectantly.
Scotty swallowed. “Is it OK with you…I mean, do you think you’d mind…can I - can I call you Mom?”
Holly lifted her hands to her face, cupping them around her mouth and nose as she nodded quickly. Blinking back tears, she stepped close to him again, pulling him down for another hug.
“I’d like that,” she whispered. “I’d like that a lot.”
***
Kevin stared around the living room in shock. Somehow, it had been transformed into a botanical garden.
“Oh my God,” he muttered.
Nora turned around from where she had been adjusting a few flowers. She looked sheepish.
“I know. I got carried away.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Dammit, Kevin. You deserve this night to be beautiful. All right, yes, I got carried away; I don’t regret it. Because tonight, Kevin, you don’t get to be guarded or cynical. You and Scotty deserve this night to be as romantic and memorable as anyone else’s.”
Kevin stepped over to Nora, pulling her into a hug. “Thank you,” he said emotionally. “You gave us a wedding.”
***
Extraordinarily popular today, Scotty thought to himself at the sound of another knock on the door.
He had been sitting quietly, waiting for Justin to come tell him it was time. He wondered if that was him now, and suddenly, he started to feel just a little nervous. Scotty stood, walking over to the door and pulling it open.
It wasn’t Justin. It was his dad.
“Dad!”
“Hi Scotty,” Wally replied as he walked inside the room, one arm behind his back. “How are you? Almost ready?”
“Yep." Scotty nodded, swallowing. “I think so.”
“Something borrowed, something blue?”
Scotty laughed. “Uh, let’s see…blue underwear, actually. Old shoes. New suit. Nothing borrowed, though. Crap.”
“Ah, we can fix that,” Wally said, bringing his arm forward and presenting a small wooden box to Scotty. “It’s cheating a bit, because I’m giving these to you, not lending them, but…”
“Your cufflinks,” Scotty whispered. “You always said…”
They were both silent for a beat. Then Wally cleared his throat. “Here, do you need help putting them on?”
Scotty swallowed, then nodded. “Sure,” he said, lifting his wrists and beginning to unhook the cufflinks he was already wearing.
***
Everything went off without a hitch. Saul gave a lovely speech; Paige and Cooper served as ringbearers (thankfully, Paige had eventually accepted the argument that associating ringbearers with boys only was a gender stereotype. Unfortunately, that argument obviously hadn’t saved Kevin from a flower-free ceremony.). Nonetheless, Kevin seemed entirely happy with the turn of events as he said his vows loud and clear, staring into Scotty’s eyes. Scotty smiled at him, and when it came to his turn, he spoke of his love and affection for Kevin, his devotion to their relationship, and his promise for a long and happy life together.
At the end of the ceremony, Kevin and Scotty kissed, the guests cheered, and the music began. Kevin and Scotty walked around the room, hand-in-hand, as they greeted and thanked people for coming.
***
Nora stacked dirty dishes on the counter next to the sink. She could hear the sounds of people celebrating in the other rooms, and she grinned. She could deal with the extreme amount of clean-up tomorrow, if it meant there was so much happiness tonight.
She turned away from the sink, stopping in her tracks when Holly entered the kitchen.
“Do you need any help?” Holly offered politely.
“Oh, no. Thank you. I’m just going to leave it for tomorrow, I think.”
Holly looked at the mess. “I think I would just throw everything out and buy new dishes.”
Nora laughed. “I might at that!”
Holly gave her a small smile.
“Holly, this is ridiculous, don’t you think?”
“What is?”
“Us! We spend so much time avoiding each other, and faking politeness when we have to be in the same room. I mean, so what? William is dead. He hurt us both.”
“You’re right,” Holly agreed.
“I’ve spent so many hours of my life hating you, and it’s just not worth the effort. And besides - we’re family now.”
Holly smiled widely. “Let’s put it behind us,” Holly suggested. “I’ve moved on. You’ve moved on. Maybe we can even…be friends someday.”
“I’d like that,” Nora agreed.
“You know,” Holly said teasingly. “Friends share gossip about men.”
“What are you saying?” Nora asked.
“I’ve seen the looks you and Wally Wandell have been giving each other.”
Nora laughed out loud. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she scoffed.
Holly looked at her meaningfully.
Nora shook her head, walking out of the room. “You’re crazy.”
“You know, Nora. He’s technically still a married man. That’s so unlike you.”
***
The last of the unrelated guests had finally left. Meanwhile, Kevin and Scotty had collapsed on the couch in Nora’s den, cuddling as they relaxed after an extraordinarily busy day - not to mention the exhausting night before. Scotty looked around the room, smiling as he saw the other Walkers and their spouses…Elizabeth sleeping soundly in Julia’s arms, Paige and Cooper dead to the world on the opposite couch…Holly and David talking quietly in the corner…Wally picking up empty glasses and bringing them toward the kitchen. He had gone from being all alone in L.A., save a few good friends, to being able to call all of these people his family. And being able to call the man behind him, his arms wrapped tightly around Scotty, his husband.
Scotty twisted, smiling up at Kevin. Kevin turned at the movement and looked down at him.
“Ready to go home?” he asked Scotty softly.
Scotty’s smile turned into a grin. He was about to reply when Tyler’s “oh!” of alarm distracted him.
They both turned to face her. Tyler was holding her stomach with one hand, while she held a dangerously tilting glass of punch in her other hand.
“Oh my God!” she said.
Everyone started converging around Tyler. Justin reached out for her, taking hold of her elbow and putting his own hand to her stomach.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
She looked up. “I think I’m in labor!”
***
After several hours of pacing in the waiting room, drinking stale hospital coffee and eventually managing to nap on the hard chairs, Kevin and Scotty peeked into the delivery room. An exhausted Tyler held a squirming bundle of blankets. Justin sat on the bed above her, an arm wrapped around her shoulders as he looked down at the baby.
“Hi,” Kevin said softly.
Tyler looked up. She waved at them to enter. “Come in, come in!”
Scotty stepped closer, awwwing as he strained his neck to see the baby.
“You guys, I am so sorry for ruining your wedding,” Tyler apologized. “This little girl was just too impatient, I guess.”
Kevin scoffed.
“What are you talking about?” Scotty said. “What better sign for a wedding than it ending with a new life?”
“Besides,” Kevin added, “it wouldn’t be a Walker family event if there weren’t some crisis.”
“See,” Justin said. “I told you they wouldn’t be mad.”
“How are you feeling?” Scotty asked.
“Good,” Tyler said. “Tired. And frustrated.”
“Why?”
“We can’t come up with a name!”
Kevin rolled his eyes at Justin. “You only had eight months.”
“Less than that,” Justin argued. “We didn’t even find out until, like, two months in. And we came up with a bunch of great boys’ names. It’s hard to name a girl!”
“If you were a girl, you were going to be Justine,” Kevin said, smirking. “Mom and Dad hadn’t come up with any boys’ names.”
“Ha ha.”
“Dad says if I was a girl, I was going to be Rebecca,” Scotty commented, half-listening to the conversation as he rubbed the baby’s little belly.
Tyler and Justin looked at each other, smiles growing on their faces.
“They both joined the family the same day,” Tyler observed. “It’s only fitting.”
Scotty glanced up. “What?”
“Rebecca Walker,” Justin tested out. “I like it.”
***
The sun was up by the time Kevin and Scotty dragged themselves up the stairs to the loft. Kevin sighed, then yawned, as he unlocked the door. Before he could step inside, however, Scotty stopped him.
“Wait! Wait, wait, wait. Who’s going to carry who across the threshold?” he asked.
Kevin looked at him, then groaned quietly. “We don’t have to do that, do we?”
“Oh, if that’s the way you feel about it,” Scotty said, grabbing Kevin and swinging him into his arms.
Kevin half-yelped, half-laughed as Scotty stepped inside the loft. Then Scotty quickly put him down.
“Oh God, you’re heavy!” he said.
Kevin stared at him, faking offense. “You’re not gonna take me all the way to the bedroom?”
“It’s funny,” Scotty teased, focusing on removing his cufflinks as Kevin closed the door. “It’s our first time home as a married couple, and suddenly I’m not in the mood.”
“Yeah, Tommy warned me that would happen,” Kevin said. He stepped closer and gestured to Scotty. “Come here.”
Scotty held out his hands, and Kevin unhooked the cufflinks. He placed them carefully on the table, holding onto Scotty’s wrists with his other hand. He straightened again, tugging Scotty slightly closer and brushing his thumb over Scotty’s new ring. He looked up then, and Scotty smiled at him.
Then Kevin crouched, bending slightly and wrapping Scotty around his shoulders in a very awkward fireman’s carry.
“Oh my God!” Scotty exclaimed as his feet lifted a few inches off the ground. “You’re going to hurt yourself. Put me down.”
“I will,” Kevin grunted. “On the bed.”
Scotty laughed even as he continued to protest. Kevin ignored him, stumbling quickly into the bedroom.
Last Chapter
Main Page