Together

(This is more an Epilogue than a final chapter, but we'll say I pushed them together. It just felt like a good ending. Another chapter might be added at a later time, but undecided at the moment.)

Tommy-

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Adam asked for what felt like the hundredth time as Jake finished packing the last of his possessions into two suitcases.

Jade was due over any moment to take him home, but it almost seemed like Adam was hesitant to let him go. This wasn't a foster to adopt program, bud. It was cute, though, that Adam cared so much for Jake that he was hesitant to let him finally go live with Jade.

They had all seen the move coming, but still. It wasn't easy to let go of someone you've gotten used to being around. Even if they weren't a significant other.

Jake nodded and smiled, leaning forward to hug Adam right as the knock on the door sounded. The look of excitement in the guy's eyes drew a grin to Tommy's face as he stood by the wall, his arms crossed over his completely healed chest. He had a nice scar, but that was pretty much all that remained of his past traumas.

Jake opened the door for Jade after a nod of approval from Adam. To Tommy's surprise, the guy was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a simple white button down shirt. Don't think I've ever seen him in something that wasn't a suit more than once.

He looked a lot less a dominant, and more a boyfriend now, somehow.

Or, he just looks a bit uncomfortable, but he's still smiling and probably changed clothes before coming to get Jake just because he wanted to make sure that the guy felt relaxed coming back to his home.

"You look really handsome, sir." Jake said with a look in his eyes that almost seemed a bit too personal.

Jade leaned down and pressed a kiss to Jake's lips, then straightened and offered a hand to Adam, who took it to shake. "Thank you for looking after him." He said with sincerity.

Adam smiled and squeezed Jade's hand, then slid both of his into his pockets. "You're welcome. Treat him well, or I'll come take him back."

The look in Jade's eyes told Tommy that he'd definitely fight to keep him. From what he'd heard over the past week, Jade had stretched even more of his rules to make sure that Jake was comfortable around him. Granted, several were still in place, like being called sir, and a few small touching rules, but they seemed to have come to an agreement for the important things and were ready to try living together again.

They left after a few more minutes of talking, Jade carrying the suitcases while Jake followed him like an eager puppy, his smile never fading.

"Well, there goes a ship I never thought would sail." Tommy said with a chuckle as he looked over at Adam.

The guy seemed a little stressed, but he was wearing an honest smile. "Yeah. I actually really enjoyed having Jacob around. He's a great guy and I'm glad that I could help him."

"Don't worry. We won't leave you out of the loop. You're part of the group now, whether you want to deal with all of us or not." Tommy said as he stepped over to the door.

Adam chuckled as he walked up and grabbed the handle. "Yeah yeah. I figured I was stuck now. Did you know, his former foster brother's boyfriend was actually his first crush?"

Tommy's eyebrows shot up, a smirk covering his general smile. "Really? He's okay with that?" He asked.

Nodding, Adam replied. "Yeah, he was actually really happy about it. He had been worried that someone was taking advantage of his little brother, but he absolutely trusts the guy. They only broke up because of how much stress Jake had been under when they'd tried to date. The guy was younger than him, too, so his brother and his boyfriend are pretty close to the same age."

"That's good, at least he knows the person and he's nice." Tommy said, pleased with that situation. He'd also heard that Jake and his former foster brother had been texting recently. Things were finally going well.

"Yeah. You have a good day, Tommy. Tell Christopher I said hello. I'm sure I'll see you guys at the club sometime." Adam said as Tommy stepped out, nodding his agreement before waving goodbye. "Same to you, and yes, we'll see you around."

Tommy headed toward the veterinarian on his way home to pick up Skipper. They had gotten so preoccupied with his injury, then with... other things, that they'd forgotten to update the pup's shots, heartworm test, and preventative bloodwork. Tommy didn't think the bloodwork was really necessary, since the pup was young, but Christopher had said that it was going to get done, so he didn't argue.

It turns out, that while Skipper was great at home, besides digging holes in the backyard halfway to China, he was terrible at the vet when his owner was  present. Thankfully, the vet already knew this, and they had just set up a time to drop him off and do his shots and tests, which happened to be before he headed over to Adams.

Pulling out his phone after parking, Tommy dialed Christopher. He picked up on the second ring. Tommy could hear the sound of a very early dinner sizzling in the background, making his stomach growl.

"I'm picking up Skipper right now, hun. I'll be home in about twenty minutes." The sound of him moving around the food in the pan made Tommy lick his lips.

"Alright. I'll be waiting."

Before Tommy could respond, Christopher ended the call. Dog better be ready! He thought as he go out and jogged up to the door. The receptionist recognized him and offered him a welcoming smile. "Hello sir. Your boy will be right out." She said as a technician nearby went into the back area.

Skipper came out a few minutes later looking none-too-happy. "Aw, come on boy. I know you're not a fan of this place but it couldn't have been that bad." Tommy said soothingly as he took the leash from the tech.

"Oh, he wasn't bad at all. He just pouted the entire time." She said with a small giggle that made Tommy chuckle. "I figured. Chris said that he was a bit of a brat when he needed to get stuff done."

The tech nodded, then handed him the receipt for the charges. "The bloodwork was all good. He got all of his shots for the year and his heartworm was clear. We added the normal six pack that Christopher gets him for preventative."

If the dog had been his to pay for, Tommy would have fidgeted at the bill, but he knew that Christopher had more than enough money and this was nothing to him. Doctor privilege. Grinning, he walked over and paid, then hurried back outside.

Once Skipper relieved himself, they headed home. He felt more eager than the dog to get back home to Chris. I swear, if he fed me tonight and gave me a belly rub, I'd be pretty damn happy. Shaking his head as he pulled into the driveway, Tommy turned to Skipper.

"I think I like him a bit too much. How do you handle that?"

Skipper gave him a look, then flicked his left ear.

"Right. Act cute... that's not helpful." Tommy said as he grabbed Skipper's leash and headed inside after locking up the car.

The door was unlocked since he'd called ahead, so Tommy let himself in. The smell of burnt bacon, beef and onions made Tommy swallow several mouthfuls of drool. Christopher had been spoiling him lately, and thankfully, laid off a bit on the sex. Not that he didn't love it, but he needed to be able to walk in order to do his job. He hadn't thought that Christopher could be so excessively intimate.

He had let him top once or twice, though, which had been appreciated. Tommy realized, though, that he usually preferred to let Christopher have him.

After letting Skipper out into the backyard, Tommy made his way to the kitchen and wrapped his arms around Chris's waist from behind, nuzzling against the man's strong back.

"Missed me?" Christopher asked as he poked at what was in the pan.

Curiosity made Tommy glance around him, licking his lips. "I knew I smelled caramelized onions, bacon and burgers."

It looked absolutely amazing, and just about ready to eat.

"Get the plates down, hun?" Christopher asked, getting an immediate nod from Tommy as he did as told. He added silverware and napkins to the small dinner table, then filled two glasses with ice water.

Hearing Chris dishing out dinner, he headed outside and called Skipper in, fed him, then filled his water bowl. When he finished, he washed his hands, then sat himself down at the table beside Chris and leaned over, kissing him happily. "Thank you for dinner, love."

Right as they were about to dig in, Christopher's phone rang. Being a doctor, he was never really off the clock, so Tommy set his fork down and relaxed back into his chair as Chris answered it. After a moment, he set the phone down on the table and turned on the speaker function.

"So things have been going well, Jana?" Chris asked, immediately filling Tommy in on who he was talking to.

"Yeah. The therapist said that I only need to come once every two months now to just check up on things." He said, drawing a small smile from Christopher.

"That's great. How do you feel toward your brother's former foster brother?"

There was silence for a long moment before Jana sighed and replied. "I don't like him, but that's okay. I don't have to like him, but as long as he isn't causing Jacob any problems, I will leave them alone."

Well, someone's matured a whole lot, and learned to control his mind much better.

"My brother would be very proud. Is Tera still bothering you?" Christopher asked.

Tommy expected another bit of hesitation, especially after mentioning Emmet, but Jana replied almost right away. "She's annoying as hell." He said, though Tommy could hear the smile in his voice.

"Great. Then she's doing her job well. Give her a pat for me." Christopher said.

Jana huffed, but agreed to. They then said their goodbyes and Chris hung up, leaving them in a comfortable silence as they began eating.

"How was work yesterday?" Christopher asked, since he hadn't gotten home until early morning, having worked overnight.

"It was good." Tommy replied as he savored his early dinner.

He was a bit curious as to why Christopher had decided to cook so early, actually, but he wasn't arguing. The man could definitely hold his own in a kitchen. While I tend to burn cereal... somehow.

"No chest pain? Walking fine? Not getting abnormally tired?" Chris asked between bites of his own food.

"Do you work tomorrow?" He added.

Tommy shook his head, then raised an eyebrow when Christopher turned a devilish grin toward him.

Ah.

"So I can do things to you tonight?"

Stuffing a piece of steak in his mouth, Tommy chewed slowly, but Chris didn't stop staring at him. Swallowing, Tommy licked his lips and gave a slight shrug.

"Yeah. Just... I want to go grocery shopping tomorrow, so take it a little easier than normal?" He asked, begging a bit with his eyes.

Christopher gave a quiet laugh that he possibly meant to be reassuring, but Tommy knew better by now. He would be in for a long night, but he couldn't help smiling anyways.

"I love you, but sometimes you're an ass." He said, earning a real laugh from Christopher.

"And I love doing things to yours." Chris said.

Rolling his eyes, Tommy leaned back in his chair, only to receive a soft kiss.

"Love you, Tommy. Sorry to say, but you're stuck with this horny doctor." Christopher said as he took another bite of food right before Tommy stole a kiss of his own.

"That's okay. That just means that my trap worked perfectly." Tommy said before winking.

Jana was doing well with Domino. Jacob was finally back with Jade and they were taking things slowly but steadily, and even Jake's former foster brother had someone. Adam gained a pretty nice, and strange, group of friends, and...

Scooting his chair closer to Chris, Tommy wrapped the guy in an odd side-hug, then rested his head on his shoulder.

And I managed to finally get you. I think we all got pretty lucky, don't you think?

End-

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