So Evan patted Kenny on the back and said, "And if you keep it up, young man, I'm going to kick you in the ass." They'd been joking around this way since Kenny had been a child, which was one reason why they were more like friends than father and son. And Kenny was straight, which seemed to make all this malemale interaction even more entertaining to him. Kenny had told them early that he was attracted to women in an almost apologetic way-as if he'd disappointed his two gay fathers. Both Jeffery and Evan hugged him and told him he didn't have to apologize for anything and that he could be whoever he wanted to be, gay, straight, or bi-sexual for all they cared. They just wanted him to be happy. This was something else Evan never said aloud to anyone and he often felt guilty about it: he was glad his son wasn't gay because he'd have a much easier life all the way around.
When they reached the corner, Evan said, "Let's go to that little coffee place near the house." He was talking about the townhouse where Jeffery and Kenny lived, not his own apartment in Alphabet City downtown. "We'll talk and then I'll walk you home and get a cab."
"Why don't I get a few things and go back downtown with you tonight?" Kenny said. "I'm thinking of moving in with you anyway. I might as well start moving my things now."
When Evan heard this, he stopped breathing for a moment. He turned, with his palm to his throat, and said, "What on Earth are you talking about?" Kenny had a habit of springing things on him this way without warning.
Kenny smiled and said, "I've already talked to Dad about it and he's okay with it. I want to move in with you full time."
At first, Evan didn't know how to react. He couldn't reject his son, yet he didn't want him living with him full time because he wasn't sure he was strong enough yet to deal with a teenager. "We have to talk about this more. And my apartment is so far from your school."
"Dad said he'd have a car there to pick me up and bring me home every day," Kenny said. "We both think it's a good idea."
"I saw your dad this afternoon," Evan said. "He didn't mention any of this to me." Wasn't this just like Jeffery? He did things like this all the time. He would plan and calculate, setting Evan up without letting Evan know anything until the final moment. Evan also had a feeling he knew their motivation. They both thought he was too unstable to live alone and they wanted Kenny there at all times to keep an eye on him so he wouldn't wind up drinking again. This point he knew he couldn't argue. The only way to prove to everyone that he could remain sober forever was to show them, not to tell them. And he had a lot of showing to do.
"Dad wanted me to bring it up first," Kenny said.
They crossed the street and Evan said, "I'm sure he did. That's how your dad operates."
"Don't get mad at Dad," Kenny said. "It really was my idea. At first, he wasn't even sure about it. I kept bugging him."
"I just wish he'd said something to me this afternoon when I talked to him," Evan said. For the first time since he'd left Havilland, he felt like having a drink. An ice-cold glass of vodka would have hit the spot.
"You could just come back home and have your own room," Kenny said.
Jeffery and Evan had explained their complicated situation to Kenny as honestly as they could without going into any of the sexual details he did not need to know. "I'm not ready to do that," Evan said. "You know your dad and I love each other. But we can't live together right now, and I'm not sure we ever will."
They talked more about this in detail over coffee and Evan still wasn't convinced he was strong enough emotionally to deal with a teenager full time. He knew Jeffery couldn't be depended on for anything but the next business deal he was working on. It wasn't that Jeffery was totally absent. Neither Kenny nor Evan had to worry about money. But Jeffery couldn't be depended on to deal with the ordinary mundane issues of everyday life that required more attention sometimes than a major crisis.
What made Evan's chest cave in was when Kenny said, "I'm going away to school next year and I want to spend as much time with you as I can. Dad's never home. You know how it is. He's always working or traveling. I spend most of the time with Ellie."
Ellie was their live-in housekeeper at the townhouse, a short, stout proper British nanny who baked kidney pie and brewed loose tea with a contraption that looked like it came out of one of Evan's historical novels. Evan had hired her when they'd first adopted Kenny and she'd been there ever since. Evan knew Kenny had a point. With Ellie around all the time Jeffery never had to worry about being home for Kenny, not that Jeffery ever actually worried about anything.