The anonymous email Mrs Black had received was a little hard to comprehend. Caleb had remained in Modesh after his treatment, and there was no reason the boy from his company should have gone to the island at all. As far as she knew, all lines of communication between them had been severed.

'Tristan Scott is taking advantage of your son's obssession' it had read, 'After an accident in Modesh he feigned amnesia, and has been under the care of Caleb Black since his discharge from the hospital. His intentions are clear; with no regard for your son, he has designs on his wealth. The impact to Caffray and its employees will be immeasurable should things continue.

I beg you. Do not let Caleb's sickness be the undoing of all he has achieved.'

The first thing she'd done was call Fraser.

"How are things at the company?" she'd asked, "Are you still in Cabi..?"

Fraser felt bad lying to his mom, but he couldn't bring himself to admit he was conning Farang into letting him stay at his apartment in Modesh either.

"The company's fine" he'd told her, "Same as usual, still keeping busy with clients."

"And your brother..?"

"Also the same..." he'd lied, "You know we only speak when there's work to discuss. Oh! I think I'm getting a call from sales. I'll talk to you later, okay Mom? Let me know if you want to come visit soon!"

The next on her list was the only other person she knew in Modesh besides Dr Sharab. Bruce had been waiting for her call.

"Mrs Black! How are things? Are you trying to get a hold of Caleb..? He's not in the office right now but I can stop by his place if it's urgent."

"I just... wanted to know how he's been doing lately" she admitted, "You know how he is, he tends to keep things to himself... I worry that if I call him he'll only give me one word answers."

"He's definitely not much of a talker" laughed Bruce, "but there's nothing to give you cause for concern. Ever since his marriage he's been like a changed man; showing up for work and flaunting his husband every chance he gets."

Mrs Black's blood ran cold.

"His husband?" she asked, praying that the next word from her mouth would be challenged; "Tristan..?"

"That's the one!" said Bruce, "He dotes on him completely, though even I have to admit that all their honeymoons are getting to be excessive! I almost think it's time I found a partner of my own to treat me so well."

"Have you met him..?" asked Mrs Black.

"Only briefly" said Bruce, "he didn't have much interest in the company besides wanting to hear how much belonged to his husband! I'm sure he just wanted to show off to his family though, let them know how well he married..."

Mrs Black knew that Tristan had no family remaining. Thanks to her son's breakdown, she knew more about Tristan Scott than she'd ever cared to learn.

"Last I heard, your son-in-law was taking an extended break from his supermarket job to spend more time with Caleb. I think they were looking at villas to invest in somewhere up north... so I guess you could have a change of scene the next time you visit."

Mrs Black booked her flight that afternoon and arrived the next morning. According to Dr Sharab, it had been months since Caleb's last appointment. They'd been talking on the phone every other week, but the phonecalls had stopped around the time that Tristan arrived in Modesh. Rather than continuing to manage his obssession, it seemed it was consuming him again.

"Mom... what are you doing here?" asked Caleb, wringing the towel through his hands.

He knew that Tristan's phone was still in the bedroom, there was no way to reach him unless he could run down to the ninth floor and keep him there until things were settled with his mother.

"I'm here to take you to see Dr Sharab" she told him, "I'm not sure I can handle this on my own."

"Mom, whatever you've heard; it's not like last time. I don't know what Fraser told you but-"

"Fraser knows about this?" she asked, "It doesn't matter. You need help, Darling. What's happening now... it can't last. We need to put a stop to things before they get worse."

"We haven't done anything wrong..." he said, his voice small and broken, "We're happy Mom..."

Mrs Black held her son by the shoulders.

"You just think you're happy" she told him, "You get to play pretend that you're his husband, and he gets the use of your credit card. Darling, none of this is real... I want you to find someone that truly loves you and values you; someone you can build a healthy relationship with. What you have now, it isn't love... and when it falls apart it will break you." 

"It would break us both, Mom... that's what's different this time. We need each other."

Mrs Black wiped the tear from her cheek and resolutely grabbed Caleb by the wrist.

"If it's so different" she said, "Come and explain it to Dr Sharab."

"Husband!" cried Tristan, bursting through the elevator doors with a good mood and an empty tray, "Can I have the apartment on the ninth floor to do what I want with..?"

An older woman was in their apartment... Caleb was crying.

"Is this Mom..?" he asked, his giddy steps turning hesitant, "Is everything okay..? Husband?"

"I'm not your mother" said Mrs Black, leading her son to the elevator and brushing right past him, "And Caleb is not your husband."

Tristan felt the breath leaving his body.

Caleb broke free of Mrs Black's hold and ran to him, catching his husband's pale form between his strong arms. He would spend his life apologizing if he had to, but there was no way he could let go of this man.

"Baby" said Caleb, "I'm here, I'm here... I'm not going anywhere!"

"Husband!"

The men were clinging to one another while Mrs Black was trying to cling onto the last shreds of her sanity.

"Him I understand" she said, "He's been battling his obssession with you for a long time... but you... Tristan, is it? Is it only his money you want? Please, please don't hurt him just to give yourself a little comfort. He's very sick. As a mother, I'm begging you, please don't hurt my son. I can't bear to see him in pain again."

"Neither can I" said Tristan, taking hold of his husband's hand, "I know it may be hard to believe... but I think we found each other for a reason. As much as Caleb loves me, I've come to love him too. I know it's not conventional..."

"Conventional?!" cried Mrs Black, "The day he found out you were seeing someone he almost killed himself and his brother in a car accident! Do you know how long it took for him to recover..? For all of us to move on from that? He wasn't supposed to see you again in this lifetime!"

"Mom..!"

"The life we have together" said Tristan, "This is a new lifetime for us... one where things worked out the way they were supposed to. I'm sorry about the past, but it doesn't matter anymore. The lives we lived apart are over; in this lifetime we met, we fell in love... we're planning our future."

"Mom" said Caleb, "this is my husband, Tristan. I'd like for you to finally meet him."

Mrs Black's head was spinning. The couple sat her down on the couch and Caleb rushed to fetch her a glass of water.

"You'll feel better soon" Tristan assured her, "If you like cats I can bring you some kittens to help calm you down?"

Caleb handed her the glass as she cast a skeptical eye over Tristan.

"My son is allergic to cats" she told him.

"Barely!" said Caleb in defense of Tristan and the kittens, "And Angela's been giving me shots... There's nothing to worry about, Baby. They aren't going anywhere. We're a family."

Tristan looked up at him guiltily, and Caleb smiled back.

The smile was full of love and kindness, Mrs Black burst into tears when she saw it.

"Mrs Black..?!" cried Tristan, "Caleb's been fine with them, I promise! I haven't heard him so much as sneeze! Look! They're out on the terrace anyway, and I'll be more diligent about removing the fur from my clothes."

"To hell with all that" said Mrs Black through her tears, "My baby is smiling... Caleb... show me, show me again." 

Mrs Black had not been sold completely, but by the time Tristan had to go to work, she seemed to be a little calmer about the whole situation.

"I thought you'd stopped working?" she asked Tristan as he readied himself for his shift.

"Huh? Oh, no, not at all! I had to take a break when my health was bad but it's all better now. I'm even thinking about another job I'd like to take on... Husband, you don't need to drive me over today, stay with your mom; you can pick me up as usual."

Caleb reluctantly agreed, kissing his husband good-bye before walking him to the elevator and sending him off.

Mrs Black sighed. Had it not been for Caleb's smile, she would never have dared to cave so easily.

"Where did you hear that?" he asked, his usual cold exterior returning in the absence of Tristan's warmth.

"Hear what, Darling?" asked his mom.

"It seemed before, that Fraser wasn't the one who told you about us... so where did you hear that Tristan had quit his job?"

"Not from the same person that alerted me to what was going on" she assured, "I had an email come through about the two of you. It was only when I did some digging to see if it was true that I heard about Tristan taking a break from work."

"Who?" asked Caleb.

"The email..? I'm not sure."

"The job" said Caleb.

"Oh Darling, there's nothing to be paranoid about" said Mrs Black, "Bruce just probably had his wires crossed."

That Caleb and Tristan were together, the unusal path they'd decided to follow; that much was the truth, as hard as it would be for everyone to accept it as such. But that Tristan had stopped working; well, that was a lie. He didn't like people lying about his husband.

"Whatever happens between you and that boy-"

"Tristan, Mom" said Caleb, "My husband's name is Tristan."

"Whatever happens between you and Tristan... I want you to at least make an appointment with Dr Sharab to talk things over. If you're really planning to see this through with him, that is."

Caleb agreed to resume his therapy appointments... at least while his mom was in town.

"And as to that big brother of yours! It seems he was covering for you once again... little brat told me you only had work to discuss. Not a word about your relationship with Tristan. Once I finish up here I may well fly to Cabi and have a talk with him!"

"Cabi..?" asked Caleb.

Before Mrs Black had time to answer, the elevator doors dinged open.

"Mom!" cried Fraser, half shocked and pleased to see her sitting in Caleb's living room.

"Fraser..! What are you doing here?" she asked, rising to her feet and coming to greet him, "Have you just arrived..?!" 

"Oh Mom!" sobbed Fraser, throwing his arms around Mrs Black's waist and ignoring whatever reason she'd come for.

"RayRay what's happened?" she cooed, stroking his back as he cried on her shoulder.

"It's all his fault!" Fraser declared, pointing an accusatory finger at Caleb, "He said if I made Farang jealous he'd want to hold onto me... but instead, Terrana told me that her daddy's happy I found a rich boyfriend to take care of me! Oh, Mom! What do I do..? I love him!"

Mrs Black tried and failed to make sense of her eldest's anguished wails.

"Explain" she said to Caleb, soothing Fraser from beneath a mountain of questions.

"Fraser's fallen for a low-income single dad" Caleb explained, "Not only has he found you a son-in-law but a granddaughter too... the only problem is he's not so committed as my Tristan."

"Your Tristan should be committed!" cried Fraser, "He knows what you're capable of and still he wants to be with you..!"

The words had left his mouth too quickly.

Fuck.

He looked between his mom and his brother.

"You know?" he asked Mrs Black, noting her lack of reaction at the mention of Tristan's name.

"Whatever I think I know, you boys never cease to surprise me" she said.