Ashes to Asher

 

Ashley barely waited for the truck to stop moving before she opened Danny's door, yanked him out, and proceeded to attempt to squeeze the boy to death. Ironically, despite his 'big kid image', Danny didn't complain or try to escape at all. If anything, he was embracing her just as tightly. He might have even sniffled just a little bit as he said, "I missed you, too, Mommy."

"I have returned your child safe, sound, and unharmed. If you damage him now, it's on you, not me, woman," Emil smiled as he came around to the passenger side of the truck.

"Oh, shut up, you," Ashley growled as she suddenly grabbed Emil and included him in the attempt at death by hugging. "Welcome home, guys."

"Unhand me, wench," Emil protested with a laugh as he squirmed away from her, but right into the arms of Asher.

"OH, I see how it is, you fight my hugs, but not his," Ashley teased. "And I thought we were best friends."

"I'll get back to you on that," Emil mumbled as his face was pressed into the older man's chest.

"I'm surprised you didn't go straight to the house," Asher said when he finally released Emil, only to be pounce hugged by Danny. "I love you, too, my little man."

"I could not bear driving another inch in that behemoth; far too butch for my delicate sensibilities," Emil scoffed.

"Yeah, that means he didn't blink or even breathe all the way up the mountain road," Danny gigglesnorted.

"It's also been a week and two days since I had a decent caramel kamikaze coma in a cup," Emil added, ignoring the imp who was teasing him. "The spawn did his best in the interim, but there was always something missing from the experience."

"That part is true, Grandpa," Danny blurted. "He would sit drinking his coffee, while looking around with a sad face. Had that same sad face right up until he could see your diner ahead of us," the boy continued to tease.

"Shush, spawn child," Emil growled.

"He also made that goofy noise when he saw it, and then said 'Home'." Danny then did his melodramatic over the top impersonation of the lovesick sigh, "Home." He then broke up into more giggles.

"Oh, did he?" Asher asked with a wolfish smile. He then took Emil's hand into his own, lifted it to his lips, and kissed the knuckles gently. "Welcome home, my purple prince."

"Grandpa, stop trying to stroke your boyfriend in public," the boy announced, rather louder than any of the adults thought he should. "What? If he don't stop, poor Auntie Em's head is going to pop like a giant zit or something. Give him an aneurysm in private, so I don't have to see him drop dead from a stroke. It might stunt my growth or something." Danny smiled innocently as he walked into the diner.

"Ashley, I swear I never… I wouldn't…. I didn't…." Emil stammered.

"Relax, Emmy," Ashley laughed. "The little hellion got that attitude from birth, not you, Mr. Innocence."

"That boy is a Danvers, through and through," Asher chuckled as he led his niece and Emil into the diner, following the monster child.

"He really is your mini-me," Emil told Ashley as they sat together at the table where Jimmy was already sitting.

"Oh no, he's much more, Uncle Ash than he is her," the constable corrected. "I've tried to tone him down some, but that kid… He may not be bad to the bone, but he is wild to the bone."

"Yes, and I love that while he has never known his deadbeat drip of a father, he's got three awesome men in his life to be the best role models I could ever hope to have for him," Ashley stated happily as she sat beside Jimmy.

"Well, you two have definitely made up while we were gone," Danny said with a big grin as he walked up to the table with a steaming mug he put in front of Emil. "So, do I still call him Papa Jimmy, or can I start saying Daddy now?"

"We'll discuss that later," Jimmy smiled. "For now, you get over here so I can have a hug from my favorite world traveler. Come tell me all about your trip." Danny went to sit beside the man, but Jimmy pulled him onto his lap instead.

Eventually all of the minute details of the trip had been shared with Ashley and Jimmy, and then reshared with Miss Moony and Mr. Barney. Emil stood and stretched a bit, then asked, "So, who can I get to drive that big beast the rest of the way to my new house, so I can start unloading?"

"Umm, about that," Ashley began nervously.

"I can still help unload and unpack, even though we're home now, right?" Danny asked Emil eagerly.

"You're still the hired muscle, kiddo," Emil agreed with a smile. "You can come over anytime your mother says you can."

"Wait until you see this stuff, Mom," Danny grinned happily. "I bet this furniture is even older than Grandpa. Did you know that he's even got the CGI lamp, you know the one that comes out at the beginning of the movies and stomps the crap out of the second letter in the logo?"

"Uncle Ash, why don't you let me and Ashley watch over the diner while you take Emil up to his house and tell him what you did?" Jimmy offered as he stood up and walked into the kitchen. "You know I was your assistant when I was Danny's age, so I know my way around the place."

"Ash… What does he mean? Was there a problem with the kitchen? Do I have termites or something?"

"Calm down, Em. Nothing is wrong with the house," Asher said as soothingly as he could.

"He just way overstepped his authority," Ashley said with a scolding tone as she glared at her uncle.

"What do you mean? I said he could do whatever was needed while I was gone," Emil asked her.

"No, what you signed says he could do whatever he wanted," Jimmy corrected from the kitchen.

"Let's just go see the place and I can tell you what's going on when we get there," Asher suggested. "Just remember that this is all Ashley's fault."

"MY FAULT?" Ashley screeched. "Uncle Asher, how dare…."

"You were the one that mentioned what a tight fit the furniture would be, and then you told me that from the description Danny gave you, Emil's clothes would never all fit in that tiny little closet. I can't help it if I made a suggestion to the work crew that they took and ran with and well…. Yeah, let's just go see the house," Asher said defensively and then practically dragged Emil out of the diner before Ashley could explode any more than she already had.

"Asher," someone called out when they got to the house. "I told you that you didn't need to come by today. The crew can handle putting up the scaffolding and ripping out that bad drug trip of a kitchen. I was going to come by the diner to ask one thing, though. I don't have it in my notes, but did you want a garbage disposal at the sink? Oh, and I'm afraid that the dishwasher can't go right beside the sink as you wanted. The kitchen just isn't that wide. Would it be alright to move it to one of the side counters? Wait, I have some sketches in my car, let me get them."

"Ash… who was that whirlwind of a person?" Emil questioned very quietly as they stood in the front yard of the house watching a work crew erect construction staging across the front of the house, wrapping around the corner of the future dining room.

"That is Miss Warren's brother, Jackson, who is an architect and interior designer. His boyfriend Dane is the contractor," Asher explained just as the young man in question came running back over with some large papers. "Jackson, I would like you to meet Emil, the actual owner of the house," he introduced. "Emil, this is Jackson Warren."

"I'm so happy to meet you," Jackson gushed. "Now I get to pick on Jannie even more, because I've met both of you and she only knows you, Emil. So, anyway, this is sort of what I came up with for the kitchen," he added showing them the first sketch of the new black and blue kitchen design with a stone looking arched opening in the wall to the dining room.

"Oh, that looks so much better than what I saw with your sister," Emil blurted and then blushed. "Not that I mean any insult to her, of course."

"Please tell me she did not say that she thought that kitchen blended with the…." his voice faded out as he saw Emil nodding. "I am so sorry. I'm trying to teach her, but she's so straight sometimes."

"Now, now, Jackson, straights are people, too," Asher scolded with a laugh.

"Yes, you wouldn't want us to sic Ashley on you," Emil giggled.

"Oh, no, I met her at the diner the other day. She would totally gang up on me with my little sister," Jackson grimaced.

"I thought you and Janice were twins," Asher said curiously.

"I am six minutes older," Jackson said and posed proudly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, but I'm curious as to why scaffolding is needed around the front corner of my house to remodel a kitchen on the ground floor at the back," Emil told the nice young man. "I love this design by the way. It actually does blend with the house just the way I had hoped."

"Umm, didn't you authorize the work on the master bedroom upstairs?" Jackson questioned in confusion.

"I ordered that work done as a surprise for Emil," Asher confessed. "I was under the impression that his furniture and clothing would be a very cramped fit as the house was, and well, he has the roof deck on the other side of that room already."

"Do you by chance have some sketches of that proposed work?" Emil asked with a smile.

"I do indeed," Jackson returned the smile and ran back to his car.

"I think I was very clear about just getting work done on the kitchen," Emil said softly while Jackson was out of hearing range.

"Are you mad?" Asher asked nervously.

"I don't know, I haven't been told what is being done or how long it will take," Emil responded.

Jackson returned with even more papers and excitedly started showing both men his vision for the project. The kitchen would be rebuilt in black with shades of blue and would look much more like the correct style for the house, although the appliances would all be new.  Emil made a noise of surprise when he saw the two separate ovens beside the cooktop instead of one oven below it.

"This is what you get for letting a professional cook plan your kitchen," Asher said imperiously.

"I wasn't complaining, I just didn't expect it is all," Emil smiled.

"You guys are so adorbs together," Jackson gushed. "I hope Dane and I are just like you when we get to be your age, or I guess ages since there's a gap just like us. I'm twenty-four and Dane is thirty-two. Ok, so that's the kitchen work, simple enough and should only take a few weeks because we had to get the appliances shipped from a specialty company, of course so they would be new but styled appropriately to the house. Now…. These are my ideas for the Master Bedroom. It really helped me out when I got to see the furniture you have planned for in there and the measurements."

"I clearly underestimated Ashley's skills at stealth," Emil snickered. "I didn't know she had taken the pictures, much less measurements of everything."

"I raised her right," Asher said, puffing his chest out proudly. "A true Danvers, sneaky as a thief and smart as a whip."

"I was never aware that whips were known for their intelligence," Emil snorted.

"You guys," Jackson giggled. "You get along just like my parents; it's just too cute. Such an old married couple."

"Pretty good trick considering we've only known each other a few weeks, really," Asher pointed out. "Purple people here breezed into town and just naturally clicked like a missing puzzle piece in all of our lives, especially mine."

"That is so tv rom-com sweet," the designer gushed. "Okay, enough with the romance or you're going to have me crying all over the place," Jackson told them. "Back to the sketches. So, we're taking out the closet in the master bedroom right now, and we'll knock out that wall behind it. We'll enclose that open deck making part of it the new larger closet as well as giving the bed room more space as well."

"This is incredible, it really is," Emil said quietly. He was a bit overwhelmed that Asher had not only been so thoughtful, but had taken charge to get it done. Jackson being so excited about the project helped as well. "You remind me of a cousin I used to have, always so hyper about everything. I miss him the most of my biological family, actually."

"Did he… pass away?" Jackson whispered sadly.

"My family disowned me while I was in college for choosing the wrong career, and then they banished me when I came out a week later. I figured I was already disowned, so I might as well get it all out of the way," Emil explained. "I haven't heard from my cousin since, although he was younger than you even. I had babysat for him when he was really little, so we were extra close, or so I thought."

Jackson smushed all the sketches between them as he grabbed Emil and hugged him tightly. "I am so sorry. I will be happy to be whatever family you need… well except husband, because I've got Dane and you've got Mr. Meatloaf here. Oh, I do not mean anything sexual by that, I swear. It's just that he gives us all a free meal at the diner every day and his meatloaf is to die for, I swear. My mother is so jealous because I've never liked hers. She keeps threatening to come after Mr. Asher, but I promise if you just throw a recipe at her, she will calm right down."

"Good to know," Asher chuckled. "I would hate to be gunned down in the parking lot for my meatloaf."

"I'm sure I don't need to ask this, but closing in the roof deck up there… It will blend in with the rest of the house, right? Not like your sister said the old kitchen blended?" Emil asked Jackson.

"Oh, for sure, I swear you have nothing to worry about there," Jackson assured him. "I did a paper and presentation on the Art Deco movement for a History of Architecture class in college, and Dane is an expert on stucco, thanks to so many people wanting it on their houses lately. It is a very versatile medium, used in so many different styles."

After that, Jackson called Dane over and it was cleared for the furniture waiting in the rental truck to be moved into the new office through the garage and kitchen as the crew was already used to moving things out of the house that way. Also, as no work would be done in that room, the office things would be perfectly safe in there. This brought up the idea of bringing the beds and dresser for the other bedroom, but Emil decided all the furniture for the second floor could just wait until the work was completed up there.