I n the weeks since Liam finally became involved
with Aiden, he discovered that his newfound love
came with a number of friends that couldn't be
ignored. Which was strange for the young Wahjee as
he'd never been particularly fond of anyone other than
Dakota. He viewed his interaction with the entire
gang, much like he would any kind of science
experiment.
It was one thing to develop a relationship with
Rosalie and Vanessa; they were after all Shays'
mothers. Danny was an annoyance because he was the
human equivalent to Dakota, though far more
irritating. Lisa came hand in glove with Danny; she
was his mother after all and had been of some benefit
to Aiden as he grew up. But then there was Evan and
Bob. Shay actually liked Evan. He liked the man's
ever-positive outlook on life and his unapologetic
fashion sense. So he was understandably confused
when he wandered into one of the many Starbuck's
expecting to have a few moments to himself when he
102 Magical Moonlight
discovered Evan nursing a latte that was being
watered down with his tears.
"What's up?" Liam asked sitting on the sofa next
to his friend. "Can I help?"
"No one can help." Evan sniffed. "Bob and I went
to get tested and I think I'm positive."
"Ev, you aren't positive." Liam could speak with
authority. While Wahjee couldn't do anything about
human diseases or illness, they could see when
someone was affected if they concentrated on the
person. Evan's aura showed no sign of illness.
"You can't know that." Evan sniffed. "Bobby was
called and he was told he was negative, but when the
clinic called me, they left a message for me to come in
on Monday." He almost wailed.
Liam looked around hoping they weren't causing
a scene, he was in enough trouble with everyone as it
was. "I'll get Aiden to check it out now. He doesn't
need to wait until Monday."
"No." Evan shook his head. "I don't want anyone
to know. I'm so ashamed of myself, I was sure I'd
always been safe, but somehow I must have slipped
up."
The only thing Liam could do for his friend was
to be there for him and hope the man would get
through the weekend. He tried to be upbeat, after all
Evan wasn't sick, unless you count his messed up
brain.
On Monday, Liam found himself in Bulge sharing
Evan's mixed set of emotions. "Evan, you have to be
true to yourself." Liam was sitting on a high stool in
ER Bryant 103
Bulge watching Evan unpack a new shipment of
shirts.
"But I might have been positive. It was so close."
"No it wasn't close. You're always safe. The fact
that the receptionist has a crush on you has nothing to
do with your health. The man is a freak to have scared
you. But you really should have listened to the rest of
the message. He did ask you to call him at home and
he did give you his cell phone as well."
"It was a sign and besides Liam, I made an
agreement with God." Though Evan had to admit, way
down deep, that he really should have listened to the
rest of the phone message. His weekend would have
been a lot more fun.
"You made an agreement with a mythical figure."
Liam sighed. "If there is a God, do you think he or she
would want you to be anything less than what he made
you in the first place?" Liam asked.
"I don't know." Evan sighed with all the drama
he could muster. "What about you, how do you feel
about the whole being gay thing?"
"What's there to feel about it?" Liam asked. "I'm
gay, I've always been gay. I've liked boys since I first
saw Tommy Miller's peepee when I was eighteen
months old. When I was two I saw Aiden Mac
Ruaidhri, he was fourteen and all gawky and geeky,
but damn, I thought he was the most beautiful boy in
the world."
"Oh my sainted aunt, you saw Aiden when you
were two and set your sights on him." Evan fanned
104 Magical Moonlight
himself with a nearby hat. "Tell me everything." He
leaned forward.
"It was at a kind of school my step father was in
charge of. I wasn't really supposed to be there, but for
some reason he decided I had to attend even if I was
only two."
"Oh, like a church school. I went to one when I
was three." Evan said as he clapped his hands.
"Something like that." Liam shrugged. "Anyway
Aiden was there. He was on the carpet for something
he'd done or refused to do, I'm not sure what. And he
was in my father's office getting told off in no
uncertain terms by the old man and a couple of his
henchmen." Liam giggled. "They were all old farts as
far as I was concerned."
"What did Aiden look like?"
"Kind of aloof. I mean he had this face on him
that showed no emotion at all. His eyes were focused
on something across the room and it was apparent to
me, and I was only two, that he wasn't listening to one
word that was being shouted at him."
"Oh I know that face." Evan giggled. "I've seen it
lots of times."
"Yeah, I've seen it to." Liam giggled. "Especially
when he doesn't get his own way about something."
He looked at Evan, "The point I was trying to make is
that you are either gay or you aren't."
"But I made a deal." Evan said. "I'm negative."
"You're weird, that's for sure." Liam giggled.
"And you're flaming to put it mildly. But you aren't
ER Bryant 105
straight, not even close, no matter what kind of deal
you made."
"But I can stop being gay." Evan tried looking
away for a moment. "I really can try at least. At the
meetings they say that all of them have been able to
straighten out." In his distress, Evan had found a
group called Emissaries of the Divine, a group that
swore they could "straighten out" men and women
who were gay.
"What they meant was that they've all developed
a technique for living a lie and making a mockery out
of their lives. No doubt not only ruining their own
lives but the lives of everyone even remotely close to
them." Liam shook his head. He got off the stool and
walked over to Evan, putting his arms around the
taller man and hugging him close.
"Evan, I'm not going to tell you what to do. No
one can do that and I mean no one, including your
little Emissary groupies. You have to decide for
yourself if you want to be Evan Lilly, flaming queen,
or some heart broken shadow of your real self." He
kissed Evan tenderly but with all the skill he'd learned
from Aiden. "Let me know what happens." He said
before slipping out the door, leaving Evan breathless
from the kiss and envious of Aiden Mac Ruaidhri.
Liam walked down the street, aware of the
members of the high council who had suddenly taken
an interest in the shops on Davie Street. Like he was
too dumb or young to realize that they were spying on
him. He'd effectively blocked all of their attempts to
magic him off the street. He was more talented than
106 Magical Moonlight
any of them and they now had it confirmed. His
mother had called him today at school and suggested
he stay away from the house for a few days. His
father, or rather Cecil Taylor, was on the rampage.
He'd found out about Aiden and he wasn't a happy
wizard.
Unable to concentrate, Liam had skipped school.
He'd stopped at Bulge to visit with Evan and
hopefully convince his friend that gay was the way to
stay. Aiden was on a business trip to Toronto so he
was temporarily out of reach by both Liam and the
Wahjee freaks. Liam figured he could hide out at
Aiden's apartment without either Aiden or his father
finding out.
Aiden, who proclaimed to rarely if ever use
magic, had secured his apartment with an effective
locking spell. Effective to most, but not to Liam, who
laughed when he discovered the spells, right before he
removed them. He was going to have to bring Aiden
up to speed with some of the more modern methods of
safekeeping spells.
It was rather exciting to be in the apartment by
himself. Liam moved around making changes as if the
loft was his and not Aiden's. He figured he could
change it back before Aiden came home. First he
relocated the television and then not liking that, he
used a bit of magic and made the screen larger until he
was satisfied that it suited the space better. The sofa
was next. It had to be one of the hardest damn sofas
Liam had sat on in his life. He had to wonder about
the Italian asses who sat on their Italian designs. They
ER Bryant 107
must have some kind of padding that American butts
didn't have. But he liked the lines of the sofa so he
made it two feet longer and in place of the foam that
was inside, he had memory foam appear covered in
duck down. It took a couple of different spells to make
it thick enough for his satisfaction. Now he could
spread out in comfort. He added three down filled, silk
covered throw pillows.
Liam threw himself on the sofa, head on a plump
pillow and surfed the channels on his large screened
plasma television. This was much better. There was a
chill in the air though. This apartment was always
chilly. Liam sat back up and looked around. If he put a
direct-vented chimney up through the ceiling, cleverly
disguised to match the support beams in some way, he
could have a modern looking fireplace, perhaps one
that could be viewed in both the bedroom and main
room. Liam jumped up to search the Internet for the
design he wanted and the specs for installation. Magic
was one thing, but stuff as important as a gas fireplace
that could burn down the building or worse, needed to
be magicked properly.
Finally satisfied with what he'd chosen. Liam
placed a fireplace in the wall of windows that divided
the living room from the bedroom. He made sure it
was properly installed and even had a gas fitter and
inspector in to check it out. Both were fellow Wahjee
and didn't mind the interruption of their day.
Anything to please young Liam Taylor and piss off
Cecil Taylor, the much-disliked Grand Wizard.
108 Magical Moonlight
"Thanks guys." Liam said, beaming with
pleasure. It would be something that Aiden could keep
if he wanted to. He hoped the man would understand
the advantages to having something as practical and
romantic as a fireplace.
A fire lit, clad only in one of Aiden's silk wraps, a
bit on the large size, but one he'd worn recently so
there was the advantage of scent, Liam lay on the soft
sofa and watched the fire flicker behind the glass
protector. He was nodding off when a knock on the
door followed by a key turning and the door sliding
open, had him jumping to his feet, clutching the robe
to his chest.
"Oh Liam, I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you."
Vanessa stepped inside, Shay in her arms. "Seamus
has a bit of a fever and I wanted to ask Aiden some
family medical history before I start to worry." She
laughed nervously and looked around. "There's
something different about the place."
"Yeah, I'm here." Liam grinned. He held out his
arms for Shay and kissed the boy's forehead. "I
suspect he's teething. He's the right age. Did you
check his gums to see if they're red or swollen?"
"No, I never thought…" she looked embarrassed.
"You think that's all it is?" she asked.
"I don't know. Hey Shay, do your gums hurt?" he
asked the baby.
Shay smiled a lopsided grin and gurgled a
response. He took one of Liam's fingers and pulled it
into his mouth biting down hard.
ER Bryant 109
"Ouch." Liam laughed. "I guess that's his answer.
He's teething. I bet some baby Tylenol will help. Your
mommy will make things all better L'll Guy."
"Can you stay with him while I run to the
drugstore. He's been crying non-stop for hours, but for
some reason as soon as we got on the elevator, he
stopped. It was almost like he knew we were coming
here."
"Sure, I'll watch him." Liam smiled down at
Shay. He watched Vanessa walk out the door and slide
it shut. "Okay Shay, I need to get some pants on if
your mommy is going to be hanging around here."
Liam carried the baby up to the bedroom placing him
on the center of the large bed. Shay laughed out loud
when Liam made a light show on the ceiling for him
to watch as he found a pair of Aiden's sweats and
slipped them on. He was going to use the bottoms of
the silk robe, but he'd tried them earlier and they were
too long and looked ridiculous. The sweats at least
were meant to be baggy.
"Okay, that's done. Now what?" he looked at the
baby. "I know, we'll rock in the rocking chair in front
of the fire." He laughed. "Oh, we need a rocking chair,
something that your daddy will accept, nothing too
granny like." Liam picked up Shay and carried him
back to the living room. Shay watched him intently.
"Now let's see." Liam was at Aiden's desk,
searching for rocking chairs on the Internet. "We need
something Italian in design, ridiculously expensive
and uncomfortable. Your daddy will like that best. I
can fix the comfort part, don't worry."
110 Magical Moonlight
When Vanessa returned, she found Liam rocking
gently in a white leather designer chair in front of a
fireplace. Shay was sleeping soundly, his small hand
clutching one of Liam's fingers.
"You two look so comfortable." Vanessa said,
taking her coat off. "I never knew Aiden had a
fireplace and a rocking chair." She sounded surprised.
"It's been here awhile." Liam shrugged. A couple
of hours must count as awhile. Shay seems to like it. I
think his fever is down a few degrees."
"Rosalie is out of town. I just didn't know what to
do." Vanessa looked away, she wasn't quite telling the
truth. She thought she and Aiden could have a
mother/father bonding moment over Shay who wasn't
feeling well.
Liam looked hard at her and she knew that he
knew what she'd planned. "Aiden is out of town for a
couple of days on business. You should have called
him, I'm sure he has his cell phone with him."
"Oh, I never thought…." Her voice trailed off.
"What are you doing here if Aiden is out of town?"
her voice accused as she tried to turn the tables on
Liam.
"I'm staying here for a week or so." Liam said.
"Aiden knows." Well he didn't know, but he was sure
to find out once Vanessa had a minute to herself.
"You're only seventeen, you should be at home,
not staying with a man twelve years your senior." She
began her rant.
"Just a minute. I'm eighteen on Saturday and
frankly it's none of your business if I'm staying with
ER Bryant 111
Aiden." He smiled to take the sting out of his words.
"Aiden needs someone in his life who cares about
him. And he needs to have someone to care for. It
works out for both of us. And don't worry, I know all
about his hang ups and his stupid rules that he thinks
he lives by." He snickered. "I think he's broken every
one of them in the few months since we met, at least
once."
"Please don't hurt him Liam." Vanessa pleaded.
"Aiden, Aiden doesn't love easily. He's never loved
anyone before. If he does fall for you, he'll do it with
everything he has."
"The last thing I want to do is hurt Aiden in any
way." Liam continued to rock Shay, kissing the baby's
head every now and then. And then looking at
Vanessa with eyes that were wiser than his years,
Liam said. "I've wanted Aiden for almost as long as I
can remember. It's kind of a family thing. I've needed
him for my own safety and sanity. I desire him for my
emotional well-being. I love him for that which is
truly Aiden Mac Ruaidhri, the part of him that no one
sees and few know. We may hurt each other
emotionally every now and then, but it is our destiny
to be together. I will always love him as he will
always love me." Liam let the words he spoke sink
into Vanessa's subconscious self, before muttering a
few words of a forgetting spell that would make her
forget he'd spoken them, but would allow her to know
the meaning of the words in his relationship with
Aiden and perhaps knowing this, she would cut them
some slack.
112 Magical Moonlight
"I think it's time to take Seamus home." Vanessa
said, taking the baby from Liam's arms. "When you
talk to Aiden tell him we're sorry we missed him."
She smiled, placing a small cap on Shay' head.
"Would you and Aiden like to come over on Saturday,
we could have dinner."
"I'll talk to him. I don't know his plans for the
weekend." Liam stood up, his arms felt empty without
Shay in them. The buzzer rang and Liam went to
answer. "Hey."
"It's Dakota and I have food." His friend called
up.
"Come on up." Liam beamed at Vanessa. "I guess
I get to eat tonight. I think I need to go grocery
shopping, Aiden doesn't know what that big steel box
in the kitchen is for. He thinks it's a water cooler."
Vanessa laughed. "I think it has to do with his
childhood. From what I gather, his mother wasn't
exactly motherly and they never had much in the way
of food around. She'd buy what they needed on a day-
to-day basis, if she remembered. His father thought
that the three basic food groups were rum, rye and
beer."
Liam laughed. "I guess it's up to me to show him
that we can keep actual food in there."
"You know Liam; I think you may be good for
Aiden. He needs to have someone around who really
cares for him and not just in a sexual way, but his
physical and emotional needs as well."
"Thank you Vanessa." Liam flushed with
pleasure. "I'm going to do my best. I may be young,
ER Bryant 113
but I know what I want and better yet, how to get it
and value it when I do."
Once Dakota arrived, Liam locked the door and
then put a spell on it so that no one could get in
despite having a key. He wanted to relax with his
friend in front of the fireplace without interruption.
Dakota was already kneeling on the floor with the
pizza she'd brought. Liam added some paper towels
for napkins and grabbed them both a cold beer from
the fridge, grimacing at the fact it was some kind of
imported crap that Aiden thought tasted good, but as
far as Liam was concerned tasted like piss. At least it
was cold. "So my little stud muffin, what brings you
up to my apartment?" Liam drawled in his best
imitation of Aiden.
Dakota snorted beer and laughed when she
recovered. "I knew you'd be hungry and thought I'd
visit. Besides, I've always wanted to see what this
place was like." She looked around. "It's kind of cool,
sort of like an old movie set. Hey you never said you
had a fireplace."
"All the better to fuck in front of my dear." Liam
said while wiggling his eyebrows. "I think I need a
furry rug there though." He made a mental note to add
one as soon as his friend went home.
"I can't stay long," Dakota began still giggling.
"My mom thinks I'm at the mall. It is a school night
you know."
"How could I forget." Liam sighed. "It's not like I
don't have half the free world reminding me. You'd