Chapter 36

- Dana's POV -

Oh boy, what did I stumble across here? I sit on the couch with my coffee, waiting for the guilty parties to show their faces. And sure enough, after a couple of minutes they both stand before me, now properly dressed. But if I strain my eyes a little, I can still see the hickeys on teacher Alex' neck. Does he not realize I can see them? Probably not. Otherwise, as shy as he is, he would have hidden it with a scarf.

I look at them more closely as they come down the stairs (I intentionally left the living room door open, so I could observe everything). That young teacher looks so tense. Also when I confronted him he looked like a deer in the headlight. He didn't even speak, if I remember correctly. Well, I would have left them to themselves, but it would be a pain to explain to Peter why his kindergarten teacher is in our house on the weekend only in his underwear. So I decided to give them a heads-up.

But why didn't my brother warn him? When he told me on Friday that the issues were resolved we agreed that I will enjoy the vacation until Sunday and then head back so Peter can go back to kindergarten on Monday. And now, here I am, a clearly unwanted guest in my own home.

I chuckle and finally focus on the two men in front of me "I can't believe you!" I can't help but tease them, but I immediately feel guilty when I see teacher Alex flinch. He looks close to tears. So I clarify "Daniel, did you forget we are returning today? We discussed this just on Friday! I take it the fridge is also empty!?"

The insolent brat that calls himself my brother just smirks "Sorry, sis. As you can see, I was a bit busy."

Does he not feel a hint of pity for his boyfriend? Teacher Alex looks torn between tears, blushing and running away. If his boyfriend doesn't help him, I guess I have to.

"Well, even when you forgot about me, I am happy you both finally resolved your issues." I intentionally show them a warm smile, directing it especially towards Alex. "Teacher Alex, please don't be afraid. I am a huge supporter of the two of you. Why do you think I so aggressively invited you to join us for dinner or nearly forced you to go with Daniel and Peter to the lake? It boarded on coercion what I did to you, just hidden under a layer of politeness." I chuckle, but I am genuinely glad to see the astonished look in Alex' eyes that already shows a clear glimmer of hope.

"Oh, and only to clarify: I don't really care if you walk around here naked. I mean, I am a straight woman and my husband is dead for two years. I allow myself to look at a beautiful man and enjoy it." I can't contain the laughter when I see teacher Alex blushing now for a totally different reason. But since I feel the murderous intent from my brother I leave the teasing at that. "I just didn't fully explain to Peter about his uncle's preferences since it was never really necessary. So I am avoiding that big talk." I shrug my shoulders. A four-year-old does not really need to know the different sexualities. For a kid it is enough to know that his family members are happy and surrounding themselves with people they like. "But if you walk around naked in the house, my best explanation would be 'Your uncle and teacher are playing with the play station and thought it would be more comfortable in just underwear.' And either he just does not buy that or he will start to also only wear underwear around the house... You see my predicament."

Alex blushes again, but finally manages to speak. "Yes, I will watch my behaviour in the future." Lowering his head and shifting his eyes even more to the ground he adds in a barely audible voice "But thank you for being so accepting."

I smile warmly, letting these words linger between us. My stupid brother interrupts the moment when he unceremoniously slaps his boyfriend on his ass and exclaims "See, I told you she wouldn't mind."

"Daniel!" He exclaims furiously. But before they can bicker anymore, Peter returns with Zero trailing behind him, clearly overjoyed at the dog's presence. "Teacher Alex, can I play with Zero?"

"Peter, first you should greet him!", aaah, why does he always forget his manners when I want to show him off?

"Sorry, Mom." He smiles at me apologetically and turns towards his teacher. "Nice to see you, teacher Alex. Can I now play with Zero?" I rest my forehead in my hand, not wanting to believe I spent the last four years of my life trying to teach this child of mine some manners. But teacher Alex doesn't seem to mind. Instead he says "Of course. We just wanted to take him for a walk. Do you want to come along? We can take a ball and Frisbee with us." Peter's eyes light up and with this, my now three men took off for a two hour walk.

I don't know what happened in this time but when they come back, teacher Alex seems visibly relaxed, tolerating my brother's possessive hand on the small of his back.

I smile. How can I not, when I notice the idiotic happy expression on my brother's face? Well, he deserves this and it is long overdue.

I serve dinner. It sure got lively in our small household.