Christian (The Beck Brothers Series) (16 page)

Christian did as he was told and blew his nose. Quinn
grabbed another wad of toilet paper and wiped his mouth next. Damn, he couldn’t
remember any of his brothers ever taking care of him like this; it was usually
Shea’s job, or he went at it alone.

“Are you alright?” Quinn asked, concern coloring his tone.

Christian had to swallow a couple of times before he could
answer. “I think so,” he rasped, his throat raw from the choking and now this.

Quinn smoothed Christian’s hair back from his forehead.
“Christian, you can talk to me, man, you know that, right?” he said quietly in
his deep raspy voice.

Christian closed his eyes. “I know.” He sighed, letting
Quinn help him sit on the floor with his back against the wall. Quinn then sat
down next to him.

“Is there anything you want to talk about? Do you want to
tell me why you almost passed the fuck out because of what Sebastian said?”

Christian dropped his head into his hands. Did he tell
Quinn? He was afraid of what he would think the most because of what happened
to him - a man raped him. Would he think that Christian was a freak for wanting
to be with another man? He was definitely closest to Quinn, and usually went to
him first with any problems that he had.

“Chris, whatever it is, you can tell me,” Quinn coaxed.

For the first time, Christian felt the urge to blurt it out,
just tell Quinn that he was gay and deal with whatever his older brother’s
reaction would be. Now he had to decide if he was going to give into that urge
or not.

“If I…if I tell you, you have to swear to me that you will
not tell anyone else,” Christian whispered, lifting his face to look over at
Quinn.

Quinn’s serious brown eyes studied him. “You have my word, I
will not tell a soul,” Quinn answered sincerely.

Christian knew for a fact that Quinn would keep whatever
Christian told him to himself, it was as clear as day in his eyes. Christian
nodded and took a deep breath.
Here goes
nothing
…

“Can you promise not to hate me?” Christian asked, his voice
trembling.

Quinn frowned in confusion. “I could never hate you,
Christian…never.”

Christian held Quinn’s gaze as he said, “I…I’m gay, Quinn.”

Quinn stared at him for a moment, nothing changing in his expression.
Then he started to nod slowly, a small smile playing across his lips. “Okay.”

Christian gaped at him. “Okay? That’s all you have to say?
Okay?”

Quinn shrugged. “What do you want me to say? I don’t care if
you’re gay,” he replied.

“You don’t?” Christian croaked, tears welling up so fast
that he didn’t have time to stop them from rolling down his cheeks.

Quinn’s face softened. “Of course not. You are still my
brother, no matter what. I still love you. Did you really think that would
change once I found out?”

Christian blinked rapidly and nodded. Quinn sighed sadly and
wrapped his arm around Christian’s shoulders, tugging him closer. Quinn kissed
his temple.

“You being gay changes nothing. I love you. You’re my
brother, and I will always be here for you,” Quinn murmured.

“What about Henry and Sebastian? What will they think? And
mom and dad?”

Quinn chuckled low. “Honestly, Henry, Sebastian, and I were
already starting to suspect that you were, and I’m sure mom and dad will be
fine with it.”

Christian’s eyes widened on Quinn. “What do you mean you
guys were already starting to suspect?”

Quinn shrugged. “There have just been a few things lately
that sort of pointed in that direction. Henry especially got suspicious when he
saw that painting of Shea that you did.”

Christian winced. He just knew Henry was going to pick up on
that. Dammit.

“So are you and Shea together?” Quinn asked curiously.

Christian nodded. “Yeah.”

Quinn snorted. “How did that happen? I swore Shea was
straight.”

“It’s a long story, and I really don’t want to get into it
right now. I don’t even know if he’s going to stay with me.” Christian sighed.

“Why not?” Quinn asked.

“We actually fought on our way over here because I kept
refusing to tell you guys, and he’s tired of hiding our relationship…”

“How long have you been together?”

“Five months,” Christian answered.

Quinn blinked in shock. “Well, shit. I knew something was
different between you two, but I never would have guessed you’ve been dating
for five months.”

“We’re in love,” Christian whispered, dropping his gaze to
his hands where they were clasped in his lap.

“I don’t doubt it.” Quinn smiled.

“I want to marry him,” Christian said, lifting his eyes to
see Quinn reaction.

Quinn smiled widened. “That’s great, Christian, really.
 
I’m glad you found someone who makes you
happy.”

Christian shook his head. “I just can’t get over how well
you’re taking this.”

“Please, dude, I think my secret was worse,” Quinn scoffed.

Christian found himself chuckling as a huge weight lifted off
his shoulders. A knock sounded at the door, making them both look over at it.

“Yeah?” Quinn called.

“Is everything alright in there?” Their mother’s voice
called through the door.

“Christian had a panic attack, he’s okay now,” Quinn
answered.

“We are getting ready to sing
Happy Birthday
; do you
think you guys can join us?”

“We’ll be right out,” Christian called.

“Okay.”

After a moment of silence, Quinn got up and helped pull
Christian to his feet and right into a big hug. Christian sighed in relief and wrapped
his arms around his brother’s waist. Quinn patted the back of his head fondly
before grabbing his shoulders and pushing him back so Quinn could see his face.

“What happened in the bathroom, stays in the bathroom.”
Quinn smirked.

Christian laughed. “Thanks.”

“You tell everyone else when you’re ready, but I promise
you, everyone will be fine with it.”

Christian nodded. “Thank you, Quinn.”

Quinn gave him a wink and opened the door. Christian rinsed
out his mouth in the sink before leaving. He walked out the back door just as
Shea was getting out of the pool. Christian tried not to gawk but…
goddamn!
The man was just stunning. His
shoulders were broad, covered in ropey muscle and tanned skin. His chest and
abs were defined and rock hard. The water ran down his body as he made his way
up the stairs. His board shorts were slung low on his lean hips, showing off
the V of muscle that was cut off by the waistband of his shorts. He brought his
hands up to wipe the water from his eyes, so he didn’t even notice that Christian
was watching him.

Shea grabbed a towel off a nearby chair and dried his face
some more before he looked around, his worried gaze finally landing on
Christian. Shea searched his eyes and mouthed, “You okay?”

Christian nodded and gave him a reassuring smile, but Shea
continued to frown. He dried off some more with the towel before wrapping it
around his waist. He walked over and stood next to Christian while everyone
sang
Happy Birthday
to Adalyn and Michael. Both kids were set up in a
highchair and given a piece of cake when the song was over. Amazingly, both
kids dove right in and got down and dirty with the cake. Everyone was laughing
and taking pictures and just having a great time.

Christian looked over at Shea to find him standing with his
arms crossed and his head down. Christian frowned. He was just about to tell
Shea that he told Quinn about them when Quinn actually asked for everyone’s
attention.

“Since everyone is here, Margot and I have some news,” Quinn
said.

“We just found out that we are going to have a baby!” Margot
squealed and started jumping up and down.
 

The crowd erupted. Christian’s jaw dropped, not expecting
that. He thought that they were going to wait longer before having kids - they
weren’t even married yet. Not that you needed to be married to have kids, but
that’s just what he thought they would do.

“We are also going to get married next Saturday at the
courthouse,” Quinn added.

“What? Why not have an actual wedding?” Sebastian squawked.

“Not my thing, man.” Quinn shrugged. “We’ll have a party,
though, at a later date, when Margot’s family can fly in from Paris.”

“Loser!” Sebastian huffed.

Everyone made their way over to the soon-to-be parents and
newly-weds to congratulate them. Christian hugged Quinn. “Congrats, Quinn.”

“Thank you. You could say something, too, you know,” Quinn
whispered.

“No, no fucking way. It’s your moment. I’ll have mine
another time,” Christian said adamantly.

Quinn pulled back from the hug and smiled at him. It was so
good to see Quinn finally smiling all of the time. “Alright, if you insist.”

Christian nodded. “I do.”

Quinn patted him on the face before he was pushed out of the
way by Margot. “Christian! Are you okay? You did not look so well earlier,”
Margot asked, cupping his face in her dainty little hands.

“I’m much better now, thank you. And congrats.” Christian
smiled and patted her hands.

Margot beamed. “Oui, merci. It came as a surprise but we are
ecstatic.”

“Good, I’m glad,” Christian said warmly.

“I’m thinking us Beck men have some damn strong swimmers -
 
Raelynn got pregnant by accident, Henry’s
popping them out like a fucking bunny, now Quinn’s having an accidental baby - I’m
blaming our sperm,” Sebastian said, appearing next to Christian and Margot.

“Oui, me, too! They must have survived my birth control pill.
 
That is the only way because I was
vigilant with them,” Margot said.

As Sebastian and Margot got to talking about sperm,
Christian turned to find that Shea was no longer by his side, but sitting at
one of the tables, talking to Christian’s father. They were both smiling, so
Christian was guessing it was a light and happy conversation. He decided to let
Shea be and talk to him later.

Christian was clapped on the back a minute later. He turned
to see Henry with Adalyn in his arms in just a diaper and covered in chocolate.
It was everywhere, in her hair, all over her arms and legs, and smeared all
over her face and body. Christian couldn’t help but laugh.

“I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I didn’t mean to
make you so uncomfortable,” Henry said quietly.

Christian shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you alright? You looked like you were going to pass out
earlier,” Henry asked, concern drawing his brows down.

“I’m fine now, seriously, don’t worry about it,” Christian
assured him.

Henry nodded. “Okay.” He then shoved Adalyn into his arms.
“Here, take the chocolate monster so I can go get the hose.”

Henry’s naked torso and arms were smeared in chocolate from
holding his daughter. Christian held her out and away from his body so he
didn’t end up like Henry. Adalyn giggled and kicked her chubby little legs.

“Should I just toss her in the pool?” Christian chuckled.

Henry barked out a laugh. “Hell no! I don’t want chocolate
in my pool!”

“Too late!” Claire called.

Christian saw Henry whip his head around in the direction of
the pool. Christian turned to see Sebastian standing on the steps, dipping
Michael in the water to wash the chocolate off him.

“Dammit! Sebastian!” Henry shouted and started toward him.

Christian watched as Henry took Michael from him, handed him
off to a laughing Raelynn, before taking a flying leap at Sebastian who was
laughing hysterically on the pool steps. Henry caught Sebastian around the
waist and they both flew back into the pool. When they came up out of the
water, Henry had Sebastian in a headlock. Sebastian surged up out of the water
and flipped Henry over his shoulder. Christian shook his head as the two
continued to wrestle and tried to drown each other.

“I’ll take her, Christian,” Claire said, bringing his
attention away from his crazy ass brothers.

Claire and Raelynn were standing there smiling. “We’re going
to stick these two in the outdoor shower,” Raelynn said.

Christian laughed. “Okay,” he said and handed Adalyn to
Claire.

As they walked away, Christian heard Quinn yell,
“CANNONBECK!” He turned just in time to see Quinn leap into the air, hug one
knee to his chest, and splash into the pool right next to Henry and Sebastian.
Christian laughed and shook his head as Quinn got in on the fight, jumping on
Sebastian’s back. Christian figured he better get in there to make it even.

Shea turned in his chair when he heard Christian yell, “PENCILBECK!”
 
He had no freaking idea what the
hell a “PencilBeck” was, so he had watch and find out. Christian stood on the edge
of the pool at the deep end, hopped off the ledge, keeping his arms flat to his
sides, his body completely ridged and straight, as he entered the water. Shea
understood now what a “PencilBeck” was. He laughed and shook his head. Idiot.