Our Boys

The Arrival

The next day came quickly, yet not quickly enough for the anxious family.

One o'clock in the afternoon found Olajide Olatunji anxiously bouncing on his toes, craning his neck in an attempt to see farther down the road.

"Would you quit your bouncing?!" Simon growled for the third time in less than half an hour. Each time JJ would stop bouncing only to substitute it with pacing. Some minutes later, he'd think he spotted something down the road, stop pacing, and the bouncing would start up again. It was a vicious cycle, and it was beginning to drive Simon nuts.

Ten minutes later, Simon was just about to yell again when JJ stopped bouncing on his own.

"I see Rachel's car!" he called out, his face beaming with excitement.

This news caused Simon to jump out of his seat and stride over to stand next to his husband. "'Bout fucking time," he muttered, revealing his own pent up anticipation.

JJ grinned at Simon. He knew he hadn't been alone in his excitement, but getting his long-time partner to actually admit it was always a challenge.

"Harry and Tobi are up in their rooms, Ethan and Josh are in the study, practicing their reading," Simon reiterated, more from the desire to say something than from any real necessity to pinpoint the boys locations.

They had worked out how to introduce their new addition to the family the night before, and had decided that introducing Josh and Ethan first would be the best option. Well, more Josh, but it was hard to split the two and Ethan was usually better behaved around Josh anyway. Their middle son's low-key nature would hopefully be seen as non-threatening, plus, the one o'clock arrival time coincided perfectly with Josh and Ethan's summer study schedule. It would help the boys first encounter seem happenstance, and not so obviously planned out. Or at least, that's what the adults were hoping.

Taking deep breaths, the two men braced themselves for what lay ahead, and walked out the door into the day's heat, ready to meet the newest member of their family.

Rachel let her car roll to a stop near the front porch of the Olatunji-Minter home. She looked back supportively at her groggy charge, who was just waking after having fallen asleep during the long ride from the hospital. He blinked sleepily at her from his car seat, rubbing his eyes with his little fist. Rachel unbuckled herself, opened her door, and then gracefully slid out of her seat, unlocking the passenger doors on her way out. Closing her door, she waved to the two approaching men and walked around the car to the back passenger side.

"Hello boys. Sorry I'm a little later than expected, the nurses had a hard time letting this one go," she told them with a smile. "Hi sweetie," she spoke softly to the bleary-eyed youngster as she leaned into the back of the car to unbuckle his belt. "Did you have a nice nap?"

The boy narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her, but that was the extent of his response.

With a practiced hand, Rachel easily undid the complicated harness system holding the child in place. All the while, she spoke to the frightened child in a soothing tone. "The men behind me are my very good friends, JJ and Simon. I told you about them at the hospital, remember?" She didn't wait for a response. "You're going to be staying with them, at least for a little while."

JJ stepped up behind Rachel, a wide grin splitting his face as he looked down at the little boy. He immediately fell in love with the child sleepily looking up at them, with his large chocolate brown eyes and sleep tousled black hair. Inwardly, he cringed at the sight of the swollen, black left eye and stitched cut on his right forehead. JJ found his eyes locked with those of the child, captivated. He could now understand Rachel's statement of the day before. The boy's gaze truly seemed to be examining him, judging whether he was safe or not. JJ wasn't quite sure, but he thought the boy might have found him trustworthy, because JJ thought he saw some of the tension in the tiny body release.