Fic: Appearances Can Be Deceiving Part 2 of 2

[mrsmarit.livejournal.com]

Title: Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Author: mrsmarit

Fandom: Shelter / Donald Strachey Mysteries

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Shaun/Zach & Donald & Timothy

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, only the words

Words:  3612

Summary:  This is part 2 of 2 written for the smallfandomfest prompt about Shaun hiring Donald to prove Jeanne is unfit to raise Cody when she tells them she wants Cody back. I wrote alot more than I originally intended so this will be in two parts to be posted at the same time. Comments and thoughts are always welcome. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.
 

 

The next week seems to drag for everyone involved. Donald is still following both Allen and Jeanne as much as he can but he hasn’t seen anything to indicate what he really wants by getting Cody back. He has been talking to Timothy every night and Zach and Shaun as much as he can. Finally a few days before he has to head back to Albany he gets a break. He is sitting in a booth at Jeanne’s work listening to her talk with a co-worker when he overhears a conversation that he just can’t believe.  It seems there is only one reason that Jeanne wants Cody back and that is money. She knows that if she gets custody of Cody that she will be able to get all sorts of benefits and will have a built in excuse if she ever needs to miss work. She can just blame it on Cody being sick etc. or she tells her co-worker there is another possibility. She knows Shaun’s parents are rich and maybe she can get some money out of them so Shaun can keep custody of Cody. Her co-worker asks what brought all this on, that just a few weeks ago Jeanne was ecstatic to be free of Cody. She looks around completely missing the fact that Donald is sitting so near and tells her co-worker that she found out that Allen is cheating and is going to leave her and that means she won’t have enough money to get by and so she tells her friend that either way this plays out she should be okay. Donald watches her say goodbye to her startled co-worker and head out the door and get into her car. Donald walks up to the lady and introduces himself and asks her if she has a minute to talk. She looks at him questionably and then he explains why he is there and what he just overheard. Looking at him warily she asks him what he wants and he simply asks her if she would be willing to verify in court if necessary the recording he just made of their conversation. Nodding she gives him her information and as he is getting ready to leave she tells him that she hopes his clients get to keep Cody, that Jeanne doesn’t deserve that boy or anything she thinks she could possibly gain out of exploiting him. Donald tells her he agrees and pulls out his cell phone to make a call knowing that it can’t wait until morning.

At Zach and Shaun’s a phone rings and Shaun is startled awake at the sound. Glancing at the clock and noting the time he hops up from the bed trying not to wake Zach, knowing that his lover is exhausted from everything that has been going on. He reaches the phone and is surprised to hear Donald on the other end, and is even more surprised when Donald begins to play the tape recording he had just made. He asks Donald to pause for a minute so he can wake Zach up, that he knows Zach will want to hear it too. Donald agrees and Shaun heads into the bedroom with the phone and gently nudges Zach awake. As Zach slowly comes to he tells him that Donald is on the phone and has something that they need to hear. Zach blinks and nods his head and Shaun asks Donald to resume the tape.

Zach and Shaun listened at first stunned and then disgusted by what they are hearing they look at each other and can’t believe what they are hearing. Once the tape is done Donald lets them know that he has the information of the woman that Jeanne was talking to and she told him that she would authenticate the tape and that she didn’t think that Jeanne deserved Cody. Zach and Shaun look at each other and smile at this, they thank Donald and hang up the phone. They both lay back down trying to form words for what they just heard. Zach rolls on his side and looks at Shaun and finally chokes out his disbelief at Jeanne, how could she sink so low to treat her own son as a means to get money. Shaun pulls Zach to him and Zach rests his head on Shaun’s chest. Shaun doesn’t reply and Zach really doesn’t need one, he just needs Shaun to hold him and be there for him like he has been for the last 2 years.

Later that morning as Donald is on a plane home to Timothy Zach gets the call he knew was coming after talking to Donald that morning. He answers the phone and just as he suspected it’s Jeanne and she wants to talk to Cody and he tells her that he still asleep and if Cody wants to talk to her he will have her call back later. She sighs and then tells him that since she has him on the phone she wants to know when they are bringing Cody to Portland so she can get him settled before school starts. Zach stares at the phone incredulously galled at the nerve of his own damn sister. Zach releases all of his pent up anger and disappointment and yells at her asking her how she can treat her own son like a piece of property, how she can casually ask for her own flesh and blood back this way like he is a DVD that Zach borrowed for 2 years not her son. He can hear Jeanne suck in a surprised breath, clearly she was not expecting this reaction from Zach, and once she gets her wits about her she tells Zach there is one way that he and Shaun can guarantee that Cody will stay with them. Zach pauses and hopes to god that she doesn’t actually go through with what she was talking about on that tape, but unfortunately she does do exactly that and tells him that if he were to maybe pay her ten thousand dollars then she wouldn’t press the issue anymore. Zach snorts and asks her where the hell she thinks they would get that kind of money from even if they would consider it. She points out that Shaun’s book is doing well and well there is always Larry. Zach has had enough of this crap, he can’t believe Jeanne is trying to sell them Cody and so he tells her no and that if she tries to press the issue he has measures in place to guarantee that no judge would ever let her have Cody. Jeanne laughs at him and asks what he could possibly have that would guarantee that.  His reply is simple; he hangs up the phone and walks away.

During this Shaun has woken up and heads out to the patio where Zach is sitting and staring out at the ocean. Zach looks up as Shaun sits down next to him and Zach proceeds to tell him what Jeanne wanted. Shaun is just as shocked as Zach is, he too was hoping that Jeanne wouldn’t stoop so low, to try and sell Cody to them like a used car. They continue to sit next to each other and Shaun puts his arm around Zach pulling him to his side and Zach rests his head on Shaun’s shoulder and sighs. Shaun kisses the top of his head and they start talking about how they are going to spend their day. They are debating between surfing and just staying home and vegging out with Cody on the couch when Cody comes barreling outside running into them and almost knocking them over. Cody asks if he can go to the park with Trevor’s family and then spend the night tonight. After checking to make sure it’s okay with Trevor’s parents they agree and walk Cody next door to his best friend’s house say hi to Lori and Jack and then decide to go surfing after all, that maybe it will take their mind off of Jeanne even for a little while.

 Meanwhile in Albany Donald has just gotten home from Portland and heads upstairs for a nap and is surprised to see Timothy still in bed. Realizing it is Saturday he strips and crawls into bed spooning behind Timothy. Timothy stirs a little as he feels Donald behind him. He starts to ask Donald about the trip but Donald shushes him with a quick kiss to the back of his neck and tells him they will talk about it later that he is worn out and needs to sleep. Timothy murmurs an agreement and they both fall into a deep sleep wrapped around each other.  After a few hours sleep Donald feels Timothy slip out of bed next to him and knows that he won’t get any more sleep until tonight. He hops out of bed and heads down to his home office to type up his notes and get his things ready to send to Zach and Shaun. Once he is done and has sent what he can via email he makes a copy of the tapes he has so he can send those to the guys as well. After he is done he heads into the kitchen where Timothy is whipping up some lunch for them. Timothy sets out the food and he and Donald start digging in suspending talking until they get finished with their lunch and are sipping at their iced teas. Timothy looks at Donald over his glass and asks him how it went in Portland and Donald tells him all of it, knowing that Shaun and Zach won’t mind him sharing the information with Timothy. Timothy listens to Donald tell him what he overheard at the diner and he is absolutely appalled. Donald shakes his head in agreement and he heads out to post the tapes to the guys so they can get them as soon as possible, there’s no telling what Jeanne might try and pull.

Zach and Shaun pull back up to their house to an extremely unwelcome sight. There on their doorstep is Jeanne and it looks like she has been sitting there for a while. Zach sees her there and his stomach drops, he can’t believe that she is sitting there like she belongs, he is glad though that Cody isn’t with them at the moment. She stands up as she sees them and Zach asks her what the hell she is doing here, she tells him that she is either here to collect Cody or the money that she asked for that she is only leaving if she has one or the other.  Zach storms up to her reaches past her unlocks the door and as he is opening the door he is pushing her inside, Shaun comes up behind closing the door as Zach is dragging Jeanne with him into the living room.  He lets go of her abruptly and she falls back onto the couch. Zach looks at her with fury and hatred in his eyes a look Shaun hopes to never to see again and yells at her that how dare she come into their house and demand that they pay for the right to keep their family together so loudly Shaun swears he can see the windows rattle. Jeanne looks horrified at this side of Zach like she can’t believe he just won’t roll over and give her what he wants. Shaun walks up and places his hand on Zach’s arm and he can feel the tension in his lover and he pulls Zach into him to try and calm him down. Shaun whispers to Zach that he needs to calm down, that they can’t stoop to her level and that there is no way in hell she is getting anything out of them, not Cody or money. Shaun can feel Zach let go of some of the tension he has been holding on to and he turns around and embraces Shaun shaking in his arms. Shaun looks over Zach’s shoulder and sees Jeanne sitting on the couch a mixture of fear and disgust in her eyes.

Shaun pulls on Zach’s arms and leads him to the loveseat across from Jeanne and looks at her not disguising the contempt and disgust he has in his eyes. Looking at her he asks her what the hell she is thinking, that he knows she is a selfish bitch but he never expected her to stoop this low. Jeanne looks at him and then at Zach who has curled into Shaun not looking at his own sister, she can tell he is devastated at what she has done and she realizes that this is wrong; that she has gone about this the wrong way. She looks at them both and the weight of the last few months’ crash down on her and she breaks down, crying unabashedly. Zach and Shaun look at her questionably, wondering what he is trying to pull now.  Jeanne chokes down the sobs and wipes her eyes and looks at them ashamed at what she has tried to do, that they are right that she is selfish but she has gone too far this time that she should have just told Zach the truth but she was so embarrassed but how she feels now is so much worse.

Jeanne sighs and faces them and the story spills out, about how Allen has been cheating on her for months and about the consequences of his infidelity. They look at her and Zach asks her what happened, and Jeanne shudders and tells them; tells them that because Allen had to stick his dick in anything with a skirt that she has been diagnosed with HIV. Shaun and Zach are stunned at the news, they were expecting a pregnancy or maybe an STD, but HIV is horrific. Zach goes over to the couch and hugs his sister and asks her why she would try and take Cody away from them and why she thought they would give her money to keep him. She looks up at him and tells him she needed either the money she was asking for or to have custody of Cody so she could try and get some insurance to help with her medication and treatments. Zach reaches back and smacks his sister on the arm and tells her that all she had to do was ask, that they would give her some money is she needed it to help keep the disease at bay, she looks at him stunned and tells him she figured that with dumping Cody on them that they had already done so much for her that she was too ashamed to ask for more help. Shaun sits next to Jeanne on the other side and turns her to face him and asks her how could she think that having Cody was anything less than a blessing that giving Cody to them was the most selfless thing she had ever done.

Jeanne reaches over and hugs Shaun, surprising both of them with the display of affection considering the things she has called him in the past. He returns her hug and tells her that he and Zach will help her in any way they can, but she is not getting Cody back, she can’t expect them to let the boy go and she nods and whispers that she understands, that she is so sorry for being selfish once again. Shaun squeezes her and then lets her go as she settles back onto the couch, Zach is looking at Shaun and he reaches across the back of the couch to grab his lover’s hand. Shaun squeezes his hand and Jeanne sighs wishing she had that kind of love, instead of the mess she has with Allen. Zach lets go of Shaun’s hand and pulls Jeanne up and leads her to the spare room and tells her she looks exhausted and that they can talk more later.  Jeanne nods her head and walks into the room and lays down glad to realize that she hadn’t totally ruined everything that once again Zach was going to bail her out of the mess she was in.

Zach heads back into the living room where Shaun still sits and he heads right towards him and sits down on his lap, not even attempting to sit next to him. Shaun smiles wrapping his arms around Zach who cuddles into Shaun’s neck with a soft sigh and Shaun feels Zach’s tears as they begin to fall. As his eyes begin to mist up he pulls Zach in tighter placing a kiss on his head. Raising his head Zach looks up at Shaun and they begin to talk about what Jeanne has told them and they both agree that they can’t believe what has happened, and Zach whispers as if almost afraid to say it but he tells Shaun that he hopes Jeanne is telling the truth and Shaun looks at him surprised as he was wondering the same thing. Shaun looks at Zach and replies that this time he thinks Jeanne is telling the truth, that this would be even too much for her. Zach sighs and nods his head it agreement but a tingle of worry is still there.

Zach snuggles into Shaun more reveling in the feel of his lover knowing that no matter what he has someone who loves him, who would never treat him the way Allen treated Jeanne. Zach slides off of Shaun and onto the couch and reaches for his cell phone and Shaun looks at him and asks him who he is calling. Zach smiles and tells him that he needs to call Donald, to update him with the latest information and let him know that the case is closed. Shaun nods and heads into the kitchen to make lunch, he tells Zach over his shoulder to tell Donald that if he and Timothy are ever in town that their door is always open, and if they want they’ll teach them both how to surf. Zach chuckles imaging the straight laced Timothy in a wetsuit and Donald on a surf board.

Donald meanwhile is sitting at his desk when his cell phone rings and he smiles as he sees who the caller is. He answers wishing Zach a good evening and Zach chuckles and tells him it’s still afternoon where he is. Donald smiles and updated him that the tape recording is in the mail and that he has emailed all the information he gathered about Jeanne. Donald can hear Zach sigh through the phone and Donald listens intently as Zach tells him what they just found out from Jeanne and he is dumbstruck. Zach tells him to send him a bill that he will pay it as soon as he gets it and Donald tells him it is in the mail with the tape and before they sign off Zach extends Shaun’s invitation to Donald who can’t help the laughter that escapes at the thought of him and Timothy trying to surf. Donald thanks Zach for the offer and asks him what he and Shaun are going to do now. He hears Zach sigh again and he tells Donald that they will try to help Jeanne in any way they can that even with what she pulled she is his sister and Cody’s mother that he has to do what he can those two are the only family he has left, well at least blood relatives.  Zach and Donald say their goodbyes and as Zach hangs up the phone he feels Shaun come up behind him gently kiss the back of his neck and leads him into the kitchen for lunch. Zach turns into Shaun and finding shelter in the arms of his love, the one person who looks after Zach and expects nothing but Zach’s love in return.

 

One Year Later

                Cody, Shaun and Zach stand near the grave as the preacher concludes Jeanne’s eulogy. None of them had suspected that when Jeanne had gotten that cold six months ago that it would morph into pneumonia and due to her weakened immune system from the HIV that it would kill her. Cody has been trying to be brave during her illness but he has slept with them every night since she passed. From a distance they see two men walking up to the gravesite and realize that it is Timothy and Donald and once the men reach them they both take turns embracing these two men that through all this have come to mean a great deal to them all. Zach and Donald had spent many a night talking to each other while Jeanne was sick when the constant pressure of responsibility was too much and he had tried to push Shaun away it was Donald who pushed him right back where he belonged. Timothy and Shaun had also grown closer over time, talking about everything and nothing, anything to fill the long hours where Zach was with Jeanne and Shaun stayed with Cody at the house, Shaun had needed someone to take his mind off of everything that had been happening and Timothy had been more than willing to do that for him.  One by one they toss in the flowers they had brought with them each saying a silent goodbye to the woman who had brought them together, not in the most traditional way, but in a way that had made them more than just acquaintances or even friends but had made them a family.

Comments

[anjelmati.livejournal.com]

Good to see these two fandoms brought together,they make a nice fit.I'm glad you didn't totally demonise Jeanne,she was wise enough to let Zach and Shaun have Cody in the first place.And I'd love to see Timmy try surfing!
Thanks for a nice read.

[mrsmarit.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the comment. I noticed part of the way through that Jeanne was turning out worse than I intended so I backed off her and it went from there.

[yana-ambf.livejournal.com]

omg, I love this, mrsmarit! REALLY love your depictions of the family together--Cody is so happy with them! But the heart of it, for me, were the moments between Zach and Shaun. God, Zach's tears were heartwrenching. I almost died when Zach sat on Shaun's lap in tears. LOVE how supportive and loving Shaun is throughout all this. Great emotion in this story!

[mrsmarit.livejournal.com]

Yana


About time you got around to reading this usually you are the first one to respond :). I am glad you liked it, I always look forward to your comments. I am working on another fic for the fest and should have that up soon.

The emotion in this killed me too, bt I imagined how devestated Zach would be at the scope of emotions, from anger to despair within a day and also the lingering distrust that he has for Jeanne.

[yana-ambf.livejournal.com]

haha I know, I was unusually late, wasn't I? *blasted computer issues!*

Can't wait for the next one! :)

[mrsmarit.livejournal.com]

I know.. I was starting to thing you didn't love me anymore :(


Hopefully the new one will be up later. I have like 3 shelter fics in the works and I can't seem to get the inspiration to finish 2 of them.. it's driving me crazy.

[cogzzz.livejournal.com]

I really liked this ... had me on the edge of my seat, actually. Though I don't know anything about these Donald Strachey characters (who are they?)

And I think it's the first Shelter fic I've read where someone dies? Dark, but interesting. Love to see it worked into a screenplay ... and filmed, the whole bit. :-)

[mrsmarit.livejournal.com]

I am glad you enjoyed it, and if you liked it you should definately check out the Donald Strachy mysteries. Donald is a gay P.I. in Albany and Timothy is his husband. The characters are from a series of books and there are also 3 movies that are currently out and they are fantastic.

Yeah I debated back and forth about killing off Jeanne but it seemed to fit in the story.