Now that they've graduated, registered with the university's placement service, and sent out resumés, Mike and Tommy come home to wait. With Tor, Mike, and I being in marine sciences, Tommy is the odd man out in our family, by which I mean he's of a more philosophical turn of mind. I'm not overly surprised then when he says one night at dinner, "I guess everything in life is some kind of a trade off."
"What do you mean, babe?" I ask.
"Well, I was thinkin' if my grandfather had lived, the tribe likely wouldn't have sent me to college. If they hadn't, I'd never have met Mike and you all. Then when my cabin burnt down, you all adopted me and helped me find what I was good at. So if all them bad things hadn't happened, I wouldn't have all the good things I got now."
"I suppose you could look at it that way," Tor says, " but I hope nothing bad has to happen before you get a good job."
"Me, too. I hope it ain't too long before Mike and me hear something from all those resumés we sent out. It would be great if all of us could stay together like we did before. I hope Stephan and Luc won't be moving too far away."
"Me, too. I really like those guys," Mike adds.
A few days later, I hear Mike yelling so frantically for me I'm afraid something has happened. I run down from my lab as quickly as I can to see him standing in the entry with a handful of papers, the rest of our mail dropped on the floor in front of him. "L … l …look!" He's too excited to talk, so I take the papers and look at them. On top is a letter from Langford asking Mike if he's interested in an assistant professor's position in his department. A contract from the university is included.
"Congratulations, babe. Are you interested?"
"Damn straight! Doctor Langford's great."
"Then you'd best sign the contract and send it back immediately. They have probably interviewed other candidates as well. Your pay is about what you could expect just starting out, but if you make tenure, you'll get a nice increase."
"Hey! I can get a flat where we lived that year."
"But not so large as ours was. Remember they won't like your having any noisy parties."
Mike gives me an aggrieved look I know is faked. "Would an assistant professor do that?"
"An assistant professor might not, but a kid would," I tease.
Mike draws himself up. "You might as well accept it, dad. I'm not a kid any longer, I'm a man."
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Professor Doctor Torrence. I must have mistaken you for someone else."
Mike grins and hugs me. "Guess I'll always be a kid to you, right?"
Remembering the waif Tor and I picked up, I can only answer, "Something like that, babe."
Tor is as delighted as I at Mike's news. Tommy puts a brave face on his dejection and hugs Mike, but I can tell he's worried at the lack of response to his own resumés.
"I sure wish I could get a job in the library there, then we could live together again. It would be good, cause I'll miss you. I love you, Mike."
Mike hugs him. "I love you, too, Tommy. Maybe something will work out."
"I sure hope so."
Our phone rings a few days later. Since I'm trying to finish up the manuscript of the text Joynes talked me into writing, I yell for Tommy to answer. A few minutes later he bursts into the study. "I gotta go up to school to see Doctor Ashford. Will you come with me?"
"When?"
"Day after tomorrow. He says it's important."
"I'll go if you want me to, because I need to see Joynes, but it's you Ashford wants to see, not me."
"Please?"
"I guess I can fit both in. We'll have to leave early."
The closer we get to the university, the more anxious Tommy becomes. I know he's hoping it's a job lead, but I'm certain there's no way they will be adding to the personnel in the library, not from the reports I've seen in the paper regarding the university's budget. Seeing Tommy so antsy, I'm wishing Paul had said something to indicate what it is he wants to see him about.
"Drew!" Ashford is surprised to see me. "You doing some research?"
"Have to see Joynes, so Tommy and I drove up together."
"Have a seat. It's good to see you again, Tom. Sit down and I'll explain why I needed to see you so quickly."
Paul gets coffee for me and himself, and sits down at his desk, taking several papers from the center drawer. "Tom, I have your resume, not that I need it. Unless a student is exceptional or has previous outside experience, it's the general policy of the university not to hire our own graduates to keep us from becoming ingrown." I see Tommy's hopeful expression vanish; he's well aware that he doesn't fit either category Paul has just mentioned. "However, I recently received notice that the alumnus who established our archives has given the library a large donation to endow a position he specified must be filled with a graduate of this school. This person will be solely responsible for maintaining and building the archive collection. Because of your diligence while you served as my assistant, you immediately came to mind. I know you hoped to teach, but that will come after you've gained far more practical experience. Are you interested?"
Tommy just looks at Paul with a stunned expression for so long I put my arm around his shoulders. "Paul's waiting for your answer, babe."
"I… I want it more than anything!" He jumps up and grabs Paul's hand. "Thank you, sir, thank you."
"You realize that if you take this, you will be completely accountable to me."
"That's wonderful, sir. You've always been everything my dads said you were."
"Oh, my god! You couldn't possibly like me after that," he says with a straight face. I know Paul well enough to know he's teasing, but I doubt he's ever teased a student before.
"Yes, sir," Tommy says firmly. "When I started my degree they told me I couldn't have a finer man as an advisor, and you were always fair to me. I'll like working for you, Doctor Ashford."
"Huuumph! Then we'd best get one thing settled right now. You are now a colleague, so you will call me Paul unless there are students around, and there won't be in archives."
"But, sir …"
"And you can drop the sir also, Tom." He stands and holds out his hand. "I'm delighted to have you join us. I'll have your contract sent to you in a few days, with the date you start work. Enjoy what summer break you'll get."
"Thank you, P… P … Paul."
Ashford grins. "Now it wasn't that hard to say, was it, Tom?"
"No, sir."
I add my thanks to Tommy's. "God bless whoever made this possible for Tommy, Paul. He was getting discouraged, especially since Mike's joining Langford's department."
"Unless he's changed, and I don't believe that for a moment, what I told you when we talked about Tom going for his graduate degree still stands."
"Tommy, give me a moment with Paul." When Tommy has closed the door behind him, I tell Paul, "Once he knows what's expected of him, I think Tommy will settle in well. You know to call me if there's any problem."
"I won't do that, Drew. Tom's a professional now; he must deal with everything that comes his way himself." Paul smiles. "You and Tor have raised two fine young men, now it's time to quit being a parent."
"Sorry, I can't help it. It wasn't so hard with Mike, because he's always been independent, but Tommy… "
"Occasionally seems uncertain of himself. I know, and that's one of the reasons I want him in archives. He's never afraid to ask when he's unsure, instead of trying to impress me and then asking after things get really screwed up. I know how you must be feeling, because it was hard as hell for Linda and me to let go of ours. As Dickens put it, 'it was the worst of times, it was the best of times.'"
"You're right about that, but Tor and I have never had a moment's regret over our two."
"You're fortunate, especially with the way some kids are today. Don't you and Tor be strangers now your kids are out of school."
"We'll be up fairly often with the boys here, and we'll still be doing research from time to time. We both appreciate what you've done for Tommy more than you'll ever know."
"If he hadn't deserved it, he wouldn't have gotten it," Paul says flatly. I know that's true.
Tommy remains quiet until we're outside the library. Before this his strong emotions have always been expressed with quiet tears, but this time he lets go with a war whoop that could likely be heard across campus and almost strangles me with his hug.
"I'm happy for you, babe. Tor will be proud of you and so will Mike. Now you can live together as you wanted to. As soon as I've seen Joynes, I guess we'd better drop by the old place and see if they have a flat available for you guys."
Another small miracle! Joynes is in his office when we get there. I drop a CD containing my work on his desk. "Here's the manuscript of the text on micro and the illustrations. You said you'd read it, so have at."
"I've been looking forward to this, Drew. It'll give me something to do on my vacation." He smiles. "Something legitimate to use as an excuse when Helen wants me to go antiquing with her. She can spend all day looking at that junk. Damn house is full already. Can I keep this for reference? No way the book'll make in time for the fall list."
"Long as you make corrections and so forth and send them to me."
"By next week at the latest. I'm starting this tonight."
"Thanks. The publisher I use has been pushing me. That wouldn't have anything to do with you, would it?"
Joynes shrugs. "Just a note saying it's time we had an update. I did mention that you were doing a new one."
"No wonder! I owe you."
"Hell, if you've written something the idiots in class can read and understand without asking me ten thousand questions, I'll consider myself well repaid."
"Come on. The last batch you sent me weren't all that bad, except the ones that stayed seasick when we were out."
"What is it about marine biology that attracts the ones who get seasick just looking at the ocean?"
I chuckle. "I don't know, but the drug store in our town has started stocking dramamine in the large size. It's good for our economy down there."
"Knew you'd find something good about it. Going to take a vacation?"
"What vacation? You know damn well I've got your summer students to teach."
Joynes gives me a crafty smile. "The pleasure of being senior faculty, passing off the crap to you juniors so we can go to the mountains and relax where it's cool."
"I figured you'd be gone already."
"Just taking care of some last-minute stuff. We won't be leaving town for another couple of weeks. I'll read your manuscript and get back to you before then."
"Thanks. I'll need to do any revision fast. Have a good one. Got to run and see if I can help the boys find a place to live."
"Does that mean both of them have been hired here?"
"Right. Mike's with Langford, and Tommy just got hired as custodian of the archives."
"Unheard of! I think it's great, though. Might have known you and Tor wouldn't raise any idiots."
Tommy and I go by the building we lived in for a year. When we get there, there's a new guard on the desk. He lets us in reluctantly, and calls the manager.
"Aren't you Doctor Torrence?" The manager asks.
I'm surprised he would remember. "Yes. This is Tommy."
"He's certainly grown up. What can I do for you?"
"Need a flat. Both Tommy and Mike will begin work at the university before long. They enjoyed living here before, so they want to return."
"They've graduated?"
"They are both professors now."
"Very good. As I remember you were perfect tenants. The furnished flats are filled at the moment, but let me see if I have anything coming available."
We follow him into his office where he consults a chart then shakes his head. "I'm really sorry, but there's nothing available for at least a year."
Tommy looks crushed. "Unfurnished?" I ask hopefully.
He takes another look. "There's a small one bedroom coming up at the end of the month. I can show you that."
"Please."
We ride the lift up to the fourth floor. This flat is smaller than the one we had, but far cheaper, putting it within the means of the boys. "Well, Tommy?"
"If Mike and me got twin beds we'd be fine, but getting furniture is gonna cost a bundle."
"Small as this place is, it won't take much to furnish it. You want me to leave a deposit?"
"I wish Mike was here, but I like it here with the swimming pool and all."
"Okay. We'll take it," I tell the manager. "Let us know when we can have furniture brought in."
"Be happy to. It'll be nice having you back. Oh, yes, we have a no pets policy now."
"How'd that woman take that?"
He grins. "It was actually because of her. That damned poodle got to pissing all over the place. When it finally croaked we put in the new policy. The long-term tenants with pets were grand-fathered, but no new ones. She got so indignant over it she moved out."
"Mike will love that."
The manager's grin broadens. "He hated that damned dog more than I did. That's why I liked him so much."
"Tor and I will bring you and Mike back up to pick out some furniture, then everything should be taken care of," I tell Tommy on the way home.
"Thanks for coming with me, dad. I couldn't have done what you did about the flat an' all."
"Yeah, you could. The first time's the hardest."
"I'm really happy now. Andrea will be finishing up her masters this year so she can teach. I'm glad I'm going to be close to her."
"Don't rush things, babe. You've got to get settled in your job and she's got to finish."
"I know. We promised each other we wouldn't do anything before we got married."
"I'm proud of you. I know that's hard for a young man."
"Guess that's one good thing about being gay, you and Tor didn't have to worry about things like that."
"Not that, but the risk of something like AIDS is far worse. That's why it's important to stay faithful to each other. But you know Tor and I love each other too much to be tempted by someone else."
"I know. I think of that when I've been tempted to go too far with Andrea. You give Mike and me a good example of how love ought to be."
I can't resist teasing him a little. "And you were so worried the first few times you came home with Mike, because we told you Tor and I are gay."
"That was before I knew the difference between gay and queer."
"There's a difference?"
"Damn right! And you taught it to me. I love you and Tor."
"We love you, too, babe."
Mike is elated over the flat when Tommy describes it to him, and tells Tommy to call Stephan to see if he and Luc can come down for the weekend.