Chapter Text
A Stevens family dinner
by Irena Adler
Part 1 - Meeting the Stevens
Will pulled into a parking space along the familiar street in Anaheim Hills and tried to catch his breath.
Next to him, Don frowned and put his hand on Will's leg. "Will? You gonna be okay?"
"You don't know what it'll be like," Will said, his voice harsh in his ears. "Your dad and your brother were so nice and understanding. Don't expect that here."
"I know," Don said, "You warned me."
"But you don'tâ€""
"Will," Don interrupted him quietly. "You just have to remember one thing. We're going in there together and we'll be coming out together. Nothing in between is going to change that, okay?"
Pressing his lips together, Will nodded and gripped Don's hand where it lay on his thigh. "I love you, Don," he said softly.
"I love you too, Will," Don said. "I've got your back."
Will smiled wobbily and unbuckled his seatbelt.
"Wait," Don said, his hand on Will's arm. "Let me check my facts. Your dad is an anesthesiologist at Mission Hospital. Your mom runs a catering company. Your oldest sister, Jenny, is two years younger than you but she lives in New York so won't be here."
Thank god for small blessings, Will thought uncharitably. When Jenny and his mother were in the same room, it was usually Will that got caught in the cross-fire.
Don continued his recitation. "Your next sister, Cindi, is three years younger and works in the Angel's front office. Very cool, that. She's the friendly one. Amy is the youngest one, eight years younger that you, and she's working on her doctorate in molecular biology at UC Irvine."
"She's the darling of the family," Will said wryly, "So don't be surprised if she can get away with things that none of the rest of us could."
"Like what?"
"Like talking back to my mother."
Will saw Cindi's car down the street and was relieved that she was already here.
Don nodded, a thoughtful frown on his face. "Okay, we're as ready as we're gonna be."
"If you say so," Will sighed. "I should have never let Cindi talk me into this."
"Will," Don smiled. "Are you going to hide me from your family forever?"
Happily, Will thought. But he had pushed the issue to meet Don's family, so it was only fair. Will took a deep breath and murmured his kotodama, a personal mantra that never failed to calm and center him.
He gave Don a small smile. "Let's do it."
Will pushed the car door opened and stepped out. Don came around from the other side of the car, lightly touched Will's arm, then put a respectable distance between them.
"Be polite," Will said.
"You already told me that," Don said patiently.
"Don't try to be Korean polite, be American polite ... very American polite."
"Got it," Don said.
Will nodded and started walking across the quiet residential street to his parent's house. Unlike Don, his parents didn't still live in the house he'd grown up in. They moved to this house in Anaheim Hills after Will had left home, which had been more than fifteen years ago. Just as well. For Will, the old house was too full of bitterness and anger.
When he'd left home at seventeen, it had been fleeing parents who disapproved of everything about him, especially his sexual preferences. Will had run off to live with a man who he thought loved him, but he had been quickly disabused of that belief. That was just another step on his long downward spiral, and it had been a vile three years before he was dragged out of by Jim, an old high-school friend turned EMT. Jim had been Will's first positive romantic relationship.
Will glanced over at his current and future relationship. Don looked good, but then again he always did, even after three days of not showering, shaving, or changing clothes. Today Don was dressed nicely in tan Dockers and a navy-blue button-down shirt. Will was dressed similarly. Will had agonized over the choice of clothing, but finally decided that suits were too formal for what was supposed to be a casual family dinner. Yeah, right.
He'd told Don once that he and his parents had reached a tentative truce about his sexual preference. That truce only held if none of them actually mentioned it. Bringing Don here was going to force everyone to acknowledge the issue.
To distract himself from the coming moment, Will looked around and wondered what Don saw. A nice, neat house in an affluent neighborhood. The sort of house that a doctor would live at. It was larger than the house Will had grown up in, though only his parents lived there now. His mother has started her catering business in the kitchen here, but it now had its headquarters downtown.
Too soon, they were at the front door, and even though he'd been here many times, he still knocked and waited.
The door was opened by Cindi.
"Hey, Cee-cee," Will said warmly.
"Will!" Cindi said and gave him a quick hug. It was a measure of Cindi's mood that she didn't complain about the hated nickname.
"This is Don," Will said, waving Don forward.
"Glad to finally meet you," Cindi said with a smile.
"You too," Don said, shaking her hand. Cindi gave him an unabashed once-over and then nodded in approval and winked at Will.
"Don't hang out on the porch all day," snapped a voice from behind Cindi. Cindi's eyes met Will's and her smile faded.
Cindi moved back from the door and gestured for Will and Don to come inside.
Standing in the doorway to the living room was his mother, a small Asian woman with sharp eyes and mouth that always seemed to be frowning. Coming up behind her was his father, a tall, white, distinguished-looking man. His father's face held its usual reserved calm.
"Hello, Mother," Will said, moving forward to take her hands and give her a peck on the cheek. "Hello, Father," Will said, shaking his father's hand.
Will stepped back and gestured towards Don. "Mother, Father, this is Don Eppes." Then just to make the battle lines clear he added, "My boyfriend."
His mother's face hardened but Don calmly reached out to shake his father's hand. "Nice to meet you, Dr. Stevens," he said, then bobbed his head respectfully in the direction of his mother. "Mrs. Stevens."
"Won't you come in," Mrs. Min Stevens said, her voice anything but welcome.
"Thank you," Don said and moved aside so that Cindi could close the door behind him.
"Why don't we sit down for a minute," Cindi said quickly. "Dinner isn't quite ready yet."
"It will be ready on time," Min frowned and Cindi winced.
"I apologize for arriving early," Don said smoothly, though they were right on time. "The traffic was lighter than we expected for a Saturday."
The five of them sat down awkwardly in the formal front room. Will sat next to Don on the couch, his leg defiantly touching Don's.
After a brief, awkward silence, Dr. Edward Stevens fixed Don with a stern eye, and asked, "So what do you do?"
"I work for the FBI, sir."
Min gave a scornful sound. In her mind, all successful people were either in medicine or business. The FBI - or the DEA for that matter - was little more than a glorified cop job.
Will gritted his teeth. "Don is lead agent for the whole Los Angeles division," he said, "And before that he ran the department in Albuquerque. He's also worked in Fugitive Retrieval and was a trainer for the FBI at Quantico."
Edward and Cindi looked impressed by this resume, but Min just said, "Not much for sticking to one thing, are you?"
Will bristled. She can always find something negative to say. Don spoke before Will could say something snappish.
"I was quite happy in Albuquerque, Ma'am," Don said evenly, "and would probably still be there if my mother hadn't fallen ill."
"Oh?" Min looked a little surprised.
"Yes, Ma'am," Don said. "I grew up in LA and my family still lived here. A few years ago, my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and I moved back home to be with her for the last few months of her life. After she died, I didn't feel like I could go back to New Mexico and leave my father and brother alone, so I requested a transfer here."
"Oh." Min said again.
Will mentally scored a big point for Don. This had certainly made an impression on his mother.
"Is Amy going to be able to make it tonight?" Will asked.
"She's very busy," Min said, "but she said she could make time to come here tonight."
"Good," Will said, "It'll be nice to see her." To himself he thought, As if only her time was valuable, forget the time of a lowly DEA agent.
"She is studying at UC Irvine, correct?" Don asked. "Molecular Biology?"
"Yes," Min said proudly. "At least we'll have one more doctor in the family."
Will traded glances with Cindi at this old refrain. Cindi's job as the Director of Ballpark Operations for the Angels hardly ranked high in his mother's estimation either.
"I look forward to meeting her," Don said. He turned to Edward, "You're at Mission Hospital, sir?"
Edward nodded.
"Excellent trauma center," Don said, with a disarming smile. "I'm afraid that I've visited it more than once."
"Glad to hear we could help you," Edward said, with a slight thawing of his reserve.
Min got to her feet. "Supper will be ready shortly."
"Smells good already," Don said.
Min left for the kitchen and Edward followed her. Cindi got up and followed as well, but not before shooting Will a "thumbs-up" sign.
Alone with Don for the moment, Will breathed out a shaky sigh and rested his head against Don's. That didn't go too terribly.
"I'm right here, aein," Don said softly.
"Yes," Will whispered, drawing strength from Don's presence. "You're doing good."
"Good," Don whispered back. "Now, let's not give your parents any time to wonder what we're doing in here."
Will gave him a strained smile and stood up.
end part 1
TBC