Pfui Means I Love You

"Pfui, Archie," Wolfe said as he looked at the younger man sitting across from him.

It was the way he said it that made me sit up and really notice Archie and Wolfe for the first time. Wolfe has said pfui many times over the years, but this time it was different, and the way he looked at Archie was definitely different. I looked between them, and that was when I saw it: the slight blush on Wolfe's face as he looked at Archie, and the loving smile curving around Archie's face as he wordlessly replied to Wolfe's declaration of love.

Silently, I looked around the room to see if anyone else had caught the change between Archie and Wolfe's relationship.

First, I looked at Saul, as he was what I considered the older brother in our family. If anything was going on, he would be the first to know, especially since he and Fritz are together.

Unfortunately, Saul stood with his back to me, calmly turning the big globe around with his finger while he waited for Fritz to come back into the room with our drinks. I sighed. Well, I guess I will have to come back to him later.

Next, I turned to look at Orrie, to see if our black sheep of a cousin had noticed anything. Don't get me wrong here, I like Orrie, I really do, but there has always been something about him that seemed off to me. I looked at him sitting in the chair next to me with his head back, looking at the ceiling and his legs crossed. I remembered when Archie and Wolfe met. It was like a moth to a flame for them two. When Wolfe offered Archie Saul's old job, Orrie was furious. I had never seen him so mad before. I think I knew then that Orrie was going to be trouble for the family, but I didn't know how much. As I watched Orrie now, I knew that he had no clue about the new development in Archie and Wolfe's relationship and I debated on whether I was going to tell him.

A movement from the corner of my eye told me that Saul was now sitting down in his chair again. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and silently nodded towards the new lovebirds, asking the question.

Saul raised his own dark eyebrow up at me, looked at them, and then turned back to me and nodded his answer. He definitely knew.

I mouthed 'How long?' He shrugged as if to say 'Does it matter?'

I shook my head no. Then, I nodded to Orrie and silently asked if he knew.

Saul's eyebrows drew close together in thought as he looked at Orrie. After a moment, he looked back at me and shook his head. 'Don't tell him,' Saul ordered silently. It was then that I knew that Saul knew Orrie had gone against the family. Like I said before, Saul was our older brother. He was the first detective to work for Wolfe. He was the one to bring me in to become what I now consider the middle brother, while Archie is our baby brother. Wolfe and Fritz are our somewhat strange uncles.

So, when big brother Saul ordered me not to tell Orrie, I knew then that he, like the rest of the family, was waiting to see what Archie was going to do.

I looked towards Archie and Wolfe, then turned once again back to Saul, 'Do they know?' asking about Orrie's betrayal.

He looked at them and then nodded his head.

Fritz then walked in carrying a tray of drinks for us, ending our conversation.

I watched as Fritz offered Wolfe his beer and Archie his glass of milk then he moved on to Saul his drink, his strong hands teasingly brushing against Saul's. Saul looked up at his lover and gave him a playful wink as he nodded towards me and then to the lovebirds, silently telling Uncle Fritz that I knew about the change. He then looked at Orrie and frowned. He shook his head as he touched Fritz's arm. Fritz frowned at his lover, but that told me that Saul was protecting him the best way he knew how, and that was by not telling Fritz about Orrie's deception.

Fritz sighed and then lightly brushed his finger against Saul's cheek, silently telling him that he understood and he loved him. Saul smiled up at him and gave Fritz's finger a gentle kiss as he accepted his drink.

Fritz then turned and finished handing out the rest of the drinks and left the room. I took mine and saluted Saul with it. I then sat back and watched the two new lovers argue over our current case, waiting for Archie's next move.