The Law of Attraction

“Well, I’m happy for you.” Alec stepped forward and gave Caspar a rare hug.

Caspar hugged him back and murmured, “Thanks,” into Alec’s shoulder.

“God. This means I’m going to be an uncle!” Alec grinned as he pulled away. “You know, although Mum and Dad might be a little disapproving of the shotgun wedding aspect of this, but the fact you’re giving them a grandchild will probably cancel out the rest once it sinks in. Mum will be over the moon that one of us is finally breeding.”

“I hope so.” Caspar chuckled. “I really hope so. Right, come on. I need to go and face the music. They’ll be wondering what the hell we’re doing up here.”

“Good luck.” Alec put his hand on Caspar’s shoulder and squeezed. “And congratulations again.”

“Thank you.”

Caspar left the room first, leaving Alec alone for a moment, his thoughts whirling.

It had been years since he and Caspar had connected with this level of honesty and intimacy. Maybe they never had. That awful summer, when Alec had been kicked out of school and was at loggerheads with their father, Caspar had been the one to rub ointment onto the cuts on Alec’s back. He’d tried to get Alec to show their mother, in case Alec needed to see a doctor, but Alec had refused. He didn’t want his mother to see what his father had done. Caspar had tried to get Alec to talk, but Alec hadn’t been ready to discuss what happened with anyone. He’d told Caspar the same as he told everyone else: it was a stupid mistake and it didn’t mean anything; he wasn’t gay. Eventually Caspar had given up trying to get Alec to open up. Now, Alec found himself hoping he could count on his brother for support when he eventually came out to his parents.

For the first time in his life, he was thinking of it in terms of when rather than if. When did that change?

Downstairs, their mother had made a tray of tea and was already pouring it into china cups when Alec came in. Caspar was sitting beside Serena on a two-seater sofa, and Alec took one of the armchairs.

Once they all had their tea and they’d finished passing around milk and sugar, Caspar took advantage of a break in the conversation to make his announcement.

“So.” He sat up straight and cleared his throat. “Mother, Father, I have some exciting news.” Caspar glanced at Alec, who gave him a small smile of encouragement, and then he took Serena’s hand and squeezed. Turning to their mother, he said. “I’ve asked Serena to marry me, and she’s accepted.” As his parents made sounds of surprise and congratulations, he quickly cut in. “That’s not all…. We’re having a baby.”

Their mother gasped and put a hand to her throat. Shock, a hint of disapproval, and excitement warred with each other on her features for a moment before social convention won out. “Oh my goodness,” she managed. “That’s wonderful news, if a little unexpected.”

“It was a little unexpected for us too,” Caspar replied, obviously having decided honesty was the best policy. “I know it’s rather sudden. But we couldn’t be happier about it.”

“Congratulations,” Alec’s father said. His expression didn’t give much away as he addressed Serena. “Welcome to the family.”

Serena flushed prettily but met his gaze without wavering. “Thank you.”

“When’s the baby due?” their mother asked.

“At the end of August,” Serena said.

“Do you know if it’s a girl or a boy?”

Serena shook her head. “Not yet. We’ll find out when I have a scan at twenty weeks.”

Alec watched the smile spreading across his mother’s face and saw that, as he’d predicted, her excitement at being a grandmother was washing away any of her other concerns. He tuned out of the women’s conversation as they branched out into discussing due dates and morning sickness, and he listened to his father and Caspar instead.

“Serena’s going to carry on with her degree,” Caspar was explaining. “I know it won’t be easy on any of us, but we’ll manage.”

Alec could see the reservation on his father’s face, but the older man kept his thoughts to himself for now. Alec was grateful for Serena’s sake. He suspected that Caspar would get an earful later.

Sure enough, after they’d finished their tea, their mother whisked Serena off to the small drawing room at the back of the house to show her photos of Caspar as a baby. Once the women were gone, their father pinned Caspar with the full force of his disapproval.

“Good God, boy. She’s what… eighteen years old? Couldn’t you have been more careful?”

Caspar flushed. “We were careful, Father. But no method of birth control is completely reliable.”

Their father shook his head. “If it really was an accident.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Casper’s face darkened.

“She wouldn’t be the first girl to trap a man into marriage, and she won’t be the last. You’re quite the catch. I assume she knows we’re not short of money.”