Chapter 17.

Connor's POV:

"Attention Passengers, we are making our final approach to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. We will begin our final descent momentarily."

It's mid June now and I honestly don't think things could be going any better.

On December 3rd, 2018, it was Danny's and Harry's eighteenth birthday. On that day, Harry officially became an adult, freeing himself of any ties to his adopted family, and he filed to have his name changed. After it was approved, he was no longer an O'Reilly. He changed his name back to his birth name, Harrison Jackson Kennedy. The only reason we are going back to Georgia now is because he wants to confront his adopted parents for their treatment of him.

It's been seven months since I married Jude. Seven months since he became my husband. We've both graduated from high school at that top of our class, and have plans to go to college together. Both have us were on the honor roll, and I have a full scholarship, while Jude has a partial scholarship. Jude is studying to become a teacher, while my plans are more ambitious. I plan to become a doctor and a surgeon. We both know that this will take a metric ton of time and money, but we will accomplish it. Danny isn't going to college, instead choosing to form a band and trying to make it that way. Harry was going to college with us to study English, with aspirations of being a published author someday.

I stared down at my new drivers license with a sense of pride and accomplishment, reviewing silently in my head Jude and my plans for our future. Since Jude and I got married, we had to get new drivers licenses that had our married names on them. I couldn't help the overwhelming feeling of happiness that swelled in my chest as I stared at my new legal name.

Connor Adams Foster Stevens.

I smiled widely.

"Staring at your license again?"

I look beside me, to see Jude staring at me.

"Finally woke back up, huh?" I joke with a smirk.

Jude, Danny and Harry had been asleep almost as soon as the plane took off from San Diego. I had spent the majority of the flight alternating between napping, and listening to music and playing games on my phone. I could never sleep for very long on a plane because of anxiety. Stef and Lena spent most of their time leeching the plane's Wi-Fi, which I admit I did quite a bit as well.

"Don't dodge the question," He snarked back with a relaxed grin, "I told you I would sleep through most of the flight."

"Yeah. And yes, I am staring at it again. I can't help it." I grinned goofily, "It's still a bit of a thrill to see them say Connor Adams-Foster Stevens and Jude Adams Foster Stevens instead of Connor Alexander Stevens and Jude Jacob Adams Foster."

"Not nearly as much as I like hearing you say it aloud." Jude purred.

Oh, damn that's sexy.

"Are moms still asleep?" I asked him.

He peaked behind him. He turned back to me.

"Yeah, but they won't be for long." He said.

"Ever heard of the mile high club?" I asked him, only partially kidding.

He gave me an EPIC bitch face. And by epic, I mean a once in a life time epic bitch face.

"Yeah, no. Absolutely not." He deadpanned, "You may be my husband, but I still have to maintain at least some of my dignity..."

"Oh come on, I was just kidding." I apologize. He smirks at me and raises an eyebrow, "Okay, maybe I was a little serious."

"As tempting as the thought is," He sighed, "I don't think I could bear the quantity of smugness that Danny and Harry would exude if we actually fucked in the bathroom."

I stared at him.

"I knew flying makes you weird, but you swearing like that isn't helping me not want to drag you into the bathroom and bend you over the sink..."

"Oh fuck, what did I just wake up and overhear?" A voice interjected sarcastically.

We turn to see Danny staring at us from his seat across the aisle, smirking.

"Nothing." I said quickly trying to cover our tracks while trying not to blush to heavily.

It obviously didn't work, because Danny's smirk widened.

"Uh huh." He said, unconvinced, "Anyway, what's the plan for when we land?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy are already in Atlanta, and they're gonna pick us up straight from the airport. Then they are gonna take us straight to the O'Reilly's place. If all goes well, we should be on a flight back to San Diego by tomorrow night..."

"Yeah but you're not taking our bad luck into account." Jude interjected, "Since when does anything with us ever go to plan?"

"Never." Harry interjected from beside Danny.

"Hey, look who's awake." Danny said, leaning over to give him a kiss, "Those pricks are gonna have a coronary when we show up."

"Three same sex couples, two of which are married, the third of which is the adopted son they abandoned and his boyfriend? Oh, believe me, I'm counting on it." Harry snarled with barely concealed glee.

The plane landed without incident, and within the hour, we were standing at baggage claim to receive our luggage. One trip to the lost luggage department, and one extremely pissed off Jude later, we were walking toward the exit, where we saw Harry's birth parents standing there waiting for us. Harry approached them first, offering a shy smile and a small wave.

Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy were having none of that, as they both lunged forward and wrapped their son in a hug.

After meeting them for the first time, Harry had been exchanging Skype calls with his birth parents every night. He wanted to get to know them, and they wanted to be the parents that Harry had always deserved but never received. About a month after mine and Jude's wedding, Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy moved to San Diego to be closer to Harry, and begun the process of regaining custody of Harry. It was on my suggestion to just wait until after Harry turned 18, because then the O'Reillys wouldn't matter.

The day the Kennedy's arrived in San Diego, Harry immediately left his step uncles house, much to his step uncles delight, and moved in with them. It was not a pleasant day according to Danny and Harry because of Harry's step uncle. Danny ended up swinging at him with his sword before being dragged out of the house by Harry. The process was almost complete, and all that stood in their way was the fact that the O'Reilly's needed to sign a few papers.

Harry hugged his parents back after a seconds hesitation.

"Hey Mom." He whispered, "Hey Dad."

They both smiled and gripped him harder. I was a bit surprised too. It was, as far as I know, the first time Harry had ever called them mom and dad.

After standing there hugging for a few more moments, they pulled out and Danny lumbered forth.

"Hey Uncle, Auntie." He said, wrapping them both in a hug of his own.

After introductions were made, they led us to the waiting SUV.

The ride to the O'Reilly's house took three hours and ten minutes with the amount of traffic in Atlanta. The entire ride there, nobody said a word. The only sound in the car was the sound of the music that Harry had playing on the radio. He had his iPod hooked up via USB cable, and Jude and I both noticed that the closer we got to our destination, the more violent the music, and Harry's trembling, became.

When we left the airport, is was playing some country music that made Jude cringe. By the time we left Atlanta, it had changed to Led Zeppelin, then AC/DC. When we were about halfway there, it had been switched to Guns N' Roses. Three quarters of the way there, and it was playing Anthrax. When we pulled into the town where Harry's former home was located and started down the high street, he had switched it play "Angel of Death" by Slayer.

Funny how preparing to face down his almost cartoonish homophobic abandoning adoptive parents makes Harry want to listen to a song about the specific crimes of a Nazi war criminal.

When we pulled up in front of the house, he turned it to a different song. "From Skin To Liquid" by Cannibal Corpse started playing.

"Okay that's e-fucking-nough of that shit." Jude snapped over the music, and unbuckled his seatbelt and reached up and yanked the USB cable out of the radio, "AC/DC's fine, Led Zeppelin is fantastic, Slayer is just BARELY tolerable, but I draw the line at that death metal shit."

Harry wisely held his tongue, electing not to make his customary snark about Jude being a Thrash Metal and Hard Rock purist.

I looked up at the house.

"What a dump." Lena said from behind us.

She wasn't kidding.

It was hard to believe the place was occupied by a life form that didn't come in the form of insects and other such vermin. The roof was missing half of its shingles and there was a hole that was boarded up sloppily, the front screen door was missing it's screens, and the shutters on the windows were all hanging on by single screws. One of the front windows was shattered. The paint was peeling, and the plastic siding was falling off the walls.

Yep. Dump pretty much sums it up.

Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy stared at the building in horror.

"You lived here?" Mrs. Kennedy screeched, "Was it always this shite looking?"

"It used to be worse." Harry admitted, shaking like a leaf and twitching violently, "The place didn't have any front windows the last time I saw it, now there is one."

"You okay, love?" Danny asked him.

"No, but we won't be here long so don't worry about it." Harry said shakily, "The last time I was here, my adopted dad tried to burn my hand on the stove, and my adopted mom tried to wail on my head with a soapy frying pan. Since the camp didn't work, they were gonna try to burn and beat it out of me, but I fought back and they sent me to San Diego. I don't know how I'm gonna react to seeing them again, so if I start to break, get me out of here."

We all nod at his wishes.

We all get out of the SUV and slowly approach the door.

The first thing that hits me is the unmistakable skunk like stench of freshly smoked marijuana, and the smell of booze that was thick in the air. It was followed by the smell of rotting food, and what smelled like urine and feces.

We all peek in the shattered window. It looked like the aftermath of a 1986 Guns N' Roses party. The inside of the house was even worse than the outside. The walls were caked with gunk and dust and there were several large holes, and there was garbage strew everywhere. Half eaten pizzas that were at least three days old sat open on the cracked coffee table and smelled awful. The sofa and loveseat were both overturned, and the bottom of the sofa was ripped out. On top of the coffee table was a Tupperware bowl, filled to the brim with white powder, that I presumed was cocaine. There were hundreds of empty beer bottles on the floor... and the tables... and the TV stand. Everywhere. Next to the kitchen entrance sat a large bucket that was overflowing with bottle caps. I snorted.

If this was Fallout, these people would be rich.

"Jesus." Jude whispered, his voice thick with disgust and revulsion.

Harry's foster father is laying passed out in a chair, with a lit joint in one hand, and a half empty bottle of beer in the other. His wife beater tank top was obviously once white, but now it was stained brown and yellow and was ragged with several holes. His jeans were ripped on both knees and were caked with dirt and grime, as was every exposed bit of skin. His hair was matted, and he was very still. It was as if the man had never before heard of the concept of taking a shower.

"Good god, that's repulsive." Danny said disgustedly, "Is he even breathing?"

"Wouldn't it be great if he just died while we stood here?" Harry snarked malevolently, "Hell, maybe he already is dead."

The lump of lard in the chair snorted.

"Dammit, no such luck." Harry growled.

He stalked forward. Danny and I stood at his sides, while Jude covered his back.

Harry delivered a high stomp right to the man's testicles. Mr. O'Rielly awoke with a screech and slipped out of the chair to lay on the floor, clutching his bruised jewels. Harry leant down and stared right into his face.

"Guess who's back, you imbecilic ape?" He snarled. Mr. O'Reilly's face paled as Harry released a high, cold, almost Joker-esque laugh.

The filth quickly recovered.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" He snarled.

"Oh, believe me." Harry snarled right back, before kicking the slime in the stomach, "I have no intention of staying for very long. I'll say what I have to say and then I'll be out of your lives for good. Where's the witch?"

Mr. O'Reilly pointed to the ceiling.

"Of course the hag is still asleep at 5:00 in the fucking afternoon. No sense of manners. GO GET HER!" Harry thundered. The pitiful excuse for a man leapt to do as he was told. Almost immediately, I smelt the distinct smell of urine and feces.

"You made him piss and shit himself at the same time." Danny stated.

"Yes, indeed I did." Harry confirmed, "I guess potty training didn't take."

Danny exchanged a twenty dollar bill with Harry.

"Nice one." Danny commented. Harry nodded.

"Thank you." He said.

Not two seconds later, both components of the dirt bag couple stomped down the stairs, glaring at us.

Jesus Christ, and I thought my mom was bad. She's like Mother Theresa compared to this vile waste of blood and organs.

"I have something I need to say, and then I'm gone for good." Harry said angrily, "You thought you could break me, but you failed. I won. You all lost. I've finally got the family I deserve. I'm not alone anymore. These are my real parents. This is my boyfriend Danny, he knew and dated my brother Gideon, took care of him while he was dying. That's Jude and Connor, my best friends. They're married. That's Jude's moms, Stef and Lena. These are all my family."

Harry took a step forward.

"You were never my family." He snarled, "You treated me like dirt from the time I learnt to walk. Hitting me, calling me names, sending me to that fucking camp. You don't deserve to call yourselves parents. You will both rot in hell for what you put me through."

Harry took a calming breath.

"All I have left to say… is thank you."

We all looked at him weirdly.

"If you hadn't sent me to San Diego, I wouldn't have any of this." Harry said, "Your plan? It fucking backfired fabulously. I have a family, and I am happy. You? You've got your rundown little shack, your booze, your coke, and nothing else. So good riddance. Have a nice life, and stay the fuck away from me and out of mine."

Harry turned and marched out of the house, and we all turned and left without a word.

Stef got in the driver seat, and Lena got shotgun. In the second row, Jude and I sat cuddled up against each other, taking comfort from each other's physical contact. In the back row, Harry, Danny and Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy sat. The adults had their arms wrapped around the two boys.

Harry started to sob, but the sobs turned to squealing laughter as he hugged his parents.

"It's f-f-f-FINALLY OVER!" He screeched.

Danny moved forward to place a hand on Harry's back, and Harry turned and tackled Danny to the ground in a hug. Something fell out of Harry's coat pocket and it lay on the ground open.

Danny and Harry's gaze both locked on it, and Danny's eyes widened as he stared at it.

Harry reached out and grabbed it, before kneeling in front of Danny and taking his hands into his own.

"Danny. You've been there for me, and I can safely say that I love you more than anything." Harry said, "I bought this a month ago, and have been trying to find the perfect time. Here, now, in front of my real family, and our brothers, this is the perfect time. The perfect moment."

He opened the small box and revealed a small ring. It was silver, and was set with a single diamond.

Harry held it in front of Danny, shaking like a leaf.

"Daniel Evans, will you marry me?"

Danny's composure collapsed as soon as the words left Harry's mouth, With a shriek, Danny launched himself back into Harry's arms, nodding into his shoulder as he started to cry.

I felt an arm wrap around my waist as Jude laid his head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and placed a kiss on my husband's head as we stood there, sharing this moment with our two best friends. It felt good to be sharing something besides grief with our family. Jude and I were married, Danny and Harry were engaged, and we all had a bright future ahead of us all.

But that's what we've always done, us.

And that's what we would always do.

We were a united front, and we'd always share the burden.

Always.