Page 78 of The Titan and the Trainer

He sat back and relaxed as the helicopter took off. Ascending slowly, they left the pad, and he saw they were at the opposite end of the building from the penthouse. As he looked down, he saw a retractable roof, much like the swimming pool one. As they circled, the helipad platform lowered slowly, and the roof started to close over it. Callum just rolled his eyes… Bond was back.

The views of Manhattan were fascinating as they flew over the city. Callum had never been in a helicopter before, and it was amazing to see things from above that he recognised. They flew north where he saw areas of midtown, Central Park, including the fountain, and then upper Manhattan, with the huge skyscrapers bordering the park.

They left Manhattan, travelling along the coast past Stamford and Bridgeport towards New Haven. Where on earth were they going? Somewhere along the coast perhaps? But then the helicopter turned inland, and Callum lost track of where they could now be headed, not recognising any landmarks, but still fascinated by the sights playing out below.

Julian reached for his hand, and he turned to kiss him. He had no idea what was going on, but he just knew it would be something special.

After about an hour, they started to descend. Callum could see they were coming into land at a very small airfield, with just a few tiny planes, definitely not any main airport, and nowhere he recognised. They seemed to be on the outskirts of a small town. He spied the G-Wagon waiting for them, with Ben in the driver's seat. They exited the helicopter, Julian holding Callum’s hand, Markus with the gift bag.

In the G-Wagon, Julian handed Callum a black blindfold that was sitting on the seat.

“Please put this on. All will become clear.”

“OK, kinky,” Callum said, laughing, but did as he was told.

The car was soon moving, and Callum sat tight. He could hear Julian texting on his phone next to him, occasional pings, then the warmth of his hand giving Callum’s a squeeze.

Callum listened intently, but all he could hear was traffic as they drove. This went on for a while before they finally pulled to a stop. He heard the door open, and Julian let go of his hand. Cool air entered the car before he felt Julian’s smooth hands reaching in, guiding him out, still blindfolded. He could hear street sounds, but nothing to give him a clue where he was.

Julian’s warm hands guided him forward, and he sensed grass underfoot, then a hard surface like pavement or road. He felt hands on his shoulders, slowly turning him to face a certain direction.

“Cal, I’m going to take the mask off in 3, 2, 1,” Julian shouted, ripping it off.

“Surprise,” yelled a chorus of voices. His eyes took a split second to adjust to the brightness, but he saw his parents in front of their house, his brother and sister-in-law and most importantly his two nephews who were now sprinting towards him, rapidly shouting his name, followed by the biggest hugs ever, which knocked him down and all three of them ended up in a happy pile on the grass verge. Julian reached to help them all up.

Callum had tears in his eyes. How had Julian arranged all this without him knowing? How did he even know who Callum’s parents were and how much he missed them?

“This is the best surprise ever, thank you,” he said, giving Julian a huge hug.

It ended up being a very emotional day, all told. Callum hugged and kissed his parents, and his brother, his sister-in-law, Virginia, but mostly the boys whom he loved, and they in turn adored him. He’d just not been able to get to see his family for a while but kept in touch by text and phone. They lived in Springfield, which was a three-hour train ride each way for Callum, Something he just couldn’t fit in very often because the journey took a whole day. He missed them terribly and felt guilty for not seeing them more often, but ongoing issues with the Iron Works and his new relationship had kept him busy recently.

He introduced Julian. “This is my mum, Veronica, my dad, Peter, my slightly older brother by two years, Andrew, his wife Virginia, and their two sons, Rufus, who is now … eight?”

“Yes, I’m eight,” chirped Rufus.

“This is Max, who we usually call Maxi, because he’s maximumly naughty, who is now twelve, I reckon. Right, Maxi?”

“Yes, Uncle Cal,” Max said in a fed-up-of-this-nickname tone.

Callum’s family were on their best behaviour, shaking Julian’s hand, but his mom couldn’t resist giving him a big hug, whispering in his ear, “Thank you for doing this, Julian, and bringing our boy home to see us.”

“You’re very welcome. I can’t wait to get to know you all better,” he replied.

What followed was a lovely Sunday family day.

Veronica had cooked a large pot roast with all the trimmings, which was served at the extended dining table. They were a traditional family, the house clean and tidy, simply decorated with homely furniture, lots of knick-knacks, photographs of the boys growing up, wedding pictures, and special moments from family life.

Julian noted a picture of Callum and Jack outside The Iron Works on its opening day. He took photos with his phone of some hideous childhood pictures of Callum, including one of him just in his underwear on roller skates in the backyard, vowing to get them blown up onto a canvas to hang in the penthouse. Callum rolled his eyes but couldn’t help smiling.

Everyone fussed over Julian, who coped well. Callum couldn’t have been prouder.

Julian was coerced into basketball in the yard with the boys and Andrew, which gave Callum and his mom time to chat in the kitchen as she made last-minute preparations for lunch.

“Julian seems lovely, Cal. I can see why you like him.” She was clearly fishing for more information.

“Yes, he is. We get along very well, Mom,” he replied, still wondering how the day had all come about. “How did this get organised? I knew nothing about it until I opened my eyes out front.”

“Well, it was as much a surprise to me as to you son,” she started. “I was sitting here on Wednesday when the phone rang and this posh voice said he was Julian. At first I didn’t know who he was, but then I remembered you’d mentioned a Julian. Anyway, he introduced himself and said he knew you’d not been able to get to see us for a while, and he wanted to bring you on Sunday, if that was ok. He was so polite and well-mannered, and he has a lovely speaking voice. We jumped at the chance, so we rang Andrew and just got it all arranged.” She was talking as she worked, Callum helping out along with Virginia, who was transferring vegetables from cooking dishes into serving bowls.