Disclaimer: see earlier disclaimer in series

SequelTo: The Fall Part 4

Staring at the ceiling, Ray Vecchio listened to the crashing waves outside his bedroom window as he tried to will himself to sleep. On other nights those waves had soothed into sleep, but tonight was not to be one of those nights. He had a meeting at eight in the morning, that he could probably conduct with his eyes closed, but he didn't want that to actually be the case. The clock on the night table glowed three a.m. He'd been tossing and turning since going to bed three hours before.

It would be nice if this night was the exception but lately it was the rule. Ray sighed heavily in the darkness. Currently there were no indications that this situation would change soon. His hand slid past his silk waistband to his shaft. Maybe this would help. As his nimble fingers began to stroke, the phone rang. Its distinctive ring immediatly signaled which phone it was. The family red phone. Though it had been a long time since he'd gotten a call on the family phone, it was not entirely unexpected.

Ma was no spring chicken and her health had deteriorated steadily over the years. Snapping his hand out of his underwear, Ray flung his legs over the side of the bed. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the tiny phone.

"Tell me." The unfamiliar voice on the other end started talking. And as he listened, the retired cop's focus immediately divided in two. He listened to the voice on the other end of the receiver, filing away the info that he had to have as he simultaneously turned on the lights in his bedroom, began dressing and packing an overnight bag.

"Thank you for calling." He mumbled as he flipped the phone shut and pulled on his socks and slipped on his shoes. Now completely dressed, Ray reached for his keys and found that his hands were shaking. Without stopping, he grabbed the keys, his business phone and started dialing. Under an ordinary circumstance, Ray would have loved this drive in from the beach. On weekends past when he and Jersey had time, he would put the top down on the most recent classic version of the Riv and they would drive Sunset to PCH and back again.

Instead, at this moment Ray had little ability to appreciate the virtually deserted stretch. He made call after arrangement making call. Getting the things into place that needed to be put into place. He was aware enough to be grateful for these tasks at hand. It kept him from thinking of the real implications of the phone call that had him scurrying around his bedroom at three in the morning. Making the phone calls kept grief from overtaking him, kept him from driving his shiny sports car off the side of the road.

He was headed for the West Hollywood house but remembered last call was only just a little over an hour gone and his husband might still be at the Trattoria. As he cruised the street in front of the building, he could see light emanating from the main dining room. It took no time to find a parking space on the street. As the engine quieted, Ray Vecchio stared at the entrance to the place that held some of the best memories of his life. He and Jersey had gotten married at the Trattoria, celebrated birthdays and anniversaries here. Tears threatened as he squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't want to taint the restaurant with this news, but he had no choice. He could go to the house to wait but he didn't know when Jersey would be home. He didn't even know if his husband would be home. For the last four weeks it hadn't been Ray's business where Jersey spent his nights. That truth coupled with the grief clawing at Ray's heart almost kept him locked in the sanctuary of his car.

Unlocking the restaurant's front door with his key, Ray didn't have to go very far to find the man from whom he'd been separated for almost a month. Jersey sat at their table, facing the door, eating what Ray assumed was a very late dinner. His eyes tracked Ray as he moved a little hesitantly into the dining room.

Butterflies danced in Jersey's stomach as he watched his husband walk towards him. He missed Ray and it was easy in the first moment of seeing him to forget what had happened in Montreal. He stood and waited with his arms open. Ray stepped into them and they held each other.

"I missed you," he whispered into Ray's neck.

"I missed you too." Came the quick reply. Ray tightened his hold on his husband. He stroked his hand through Jersey's hair, inhaled the familiar scent of the restaurant on his skin. Took momentary comfort in the sweet warmth of his love's body and wished that there was some way to make it last.

**********************

"You wanna tell me why you're pimpin' our kid to the Mountie."

Ray had known that Jersey wasn't going to take Oscar's news well, but he had truly been surprised at the ugliness. After leaving his son's place he'd waited until he got back to his room to call his husband. Toeing off his shoes and shrugging off his jacket, Ray dialed Jersey on his cell.

"Hey, it's me." Ray said as he sprawled on the bed.

"Hey." Came Jersey's voice and Ray felt some of the morning's tension melt from his body. How's the kid? Is he there with you?"

"No, we just had breakfast. He's at his place."

"You meet the girlfriend...boyfriend."

"I met him." Ray could hear Jersey's grin through the phone.

"Okay, boyfriend. That's progress. What's the deal?"

"It's Benton Fraser." There was a silence on the other end and Ray clutched his phone tightly to his ear. Waited.

"Sorry, babe I was walking through the kitchen. I don't think I heard you right."

"You probably did," Ray answered quietly. "Oscar's been seeing Benton Fraser for the last four months."

And then there was silence on the other end of the line. Deafening silence. "Jersey?" Nothing.

Ray looked at the display as it flashed the duration of the call. Barely a minute. It took only a minute for his marriage to start to fall apart, but he hadn't known that at the time.

He didn't bother to try Jersey again on any of his other phones. He simply flipped his cell shut, put it on his chest and waited. Twenty minutes later Jersey called back. Ray let his phone dance across his chest a few seconds before he answered.

"Yeah."

"My flight will be there around six, do I need to get a cab or will you pick me up?"

With resignation, Ray swung his legs over the side of the bed. He opened the night table drawer to find a pen and piece of paper. "I'll pick you up. What's your flight number?"

The ride in from Dorval had been mostly quiet. Ray did his best to gauge his husband's mood. The flight hadn't done much to dissipate his anger, that was apparent in the tightness of his jaw. That much he could see. But he hadn't come off the plane screaming for Benton's head so Ray thought there might be room to work. In the car Jersey'd asked only one question.

"We going to Oscar's?"

"I thought we should go to the hotel and talk first." Jersey cut his eyes at Ray and said nothing else for the rest of the drive.

Once in the privacy of Ray's room, Jersey erupted. "What the hell is going on Ray?"

As neutrally as he could Ray tried to explain that their son was in love, that the Mountie apparently was in love. And that got Ray the coldest look from his spouse he had ever seen.

"You tell him he has to come home?"

"Come home? Baby, he's a grown man. And he paid for this program himself. We got no leverage here."

"So then your answer is no. What the fuck Ray? We can't let this go on."

"There isn't much we can do to stop it. They aren't going to give each other up."

"Oscar would if you told him to. If you told him the truth."

"He wouldn't. Trust me. I've talked to him. Parenting 101 honey, you know that."

"Give me the keys. I want to see my kid."

Shaking his head, "No, you're way too angry."

"Hell yeah and I can't figure out why you're not. The crazy ass Mountie is corrupting our son. I can't believe that you would allow this."

"I'm not allowing anything. He loves Oscar and -"

"Oh good Christ Ray. You of all people know what that means. You know what men his age want with boys like Oscar. He `loves' Oscar. You want our kid to be walking wounded like you were. You gonna let this son of a bitch cheat on our kid the way he cheated on you."

Ray paled. They had never talked details about his breakup with the Mountie. Ray had never said a thing about Kowalksi.

"Geez, Ray,"Jersey huffed as he ran his hands through his hair. "You think it's some big mystery, the way you were. It was pretty obvious what he did to you. That he cheated on you. And he's wrapping you around his finger again. You know that this is wrong."

"Jersey if we don't play this right - "

"You wanna tell me why you're pimpin' our kid to the Mountie."

And there it was. They'd had arguments during the marriage, but nothing like this. Maybe it was the fact that this was his third marriage, but Ray saw the moment for what it was. Things were about to be said that could never be taken back. All he saw in Jersey's face was bitter anger, no awareness that they had just run full speed to the edge of a cliff and were teetering.

"You son of a bitch," Ray whispered as he stalked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

*********************************

Running his hands up and down Ray's back, Jersey felt the tension and tried to pull away to get a look at Ray's face, but his husband wouldn't let him go. Jersey didn't try to pull away again. It felt good to be held by Ray. He could smell the ocean on Ray's skin. They'd owned the Malibu house less than a year, its purchase coinciding with the opening of a new restaurant off of PCH. A more intimate version of the Trattoria. The plan was for them to eventually sell the house in West Hollywood and retire to the beach. Now it looked like that plan would not come to fruition. As much as Jersey loved Ray. As willing as he would be even to indulge in a late night booty call, he wasn't ready for Ray to move back into the main house.

The restauranteur hadn't wanted to ask his husband to leave their home, but he didn't know what else to do. After their return from Canada, he couldn't bear for Ray to touch him. He found sometimes that he could barely look at him. As far as Jersey was concerned the man who was supposed to forsake all others had chosen Benton Fraser over his family. Ray had chosen to make a gift of their son's innocence to the Mountie.

"What's wrong?"

"Oscar has been in an accident." Jersey tried to pull away again but the arms around him were unyielding.

The words would barely come, but he managed to get them out.

"Is he okay?"

There was nothing Ray could do about the break in his voice.

"No....he isn't."

End Part 5 Part 6/6b - The End