Well-Kept Secrets

By: CrystallicSky

Disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown or any of its characters, nor do I make any profit or attempt to with the writing of this or any of my other pieces.

Warnings: Language, sexual implications, homosexuality, etc.

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Sylvia Spicer was beginning to grow worried when, after the third ring on her fifth call, her beloved son had not yet picked up the phone.

Recently, she and her husband Martin had made the decision to move back to the States due to business reasons and, mere days before they were set to leave (plane tickets bought and all things packed up), they received the shock of their lives when their son Jack flatly told them he wasn't going and then the reason why.

He had found someone here in China.

Jack had briskly explained to them that he had been in a committed, monogamous relationship for the past couple of years and that things were getting serious; so serious, in fact, that the couple were on the verge of tying the knot officially and moving in together.

This naturally came as a surprise to both Mr. and Mrs. Spicer who had never seen a girl around the mansion, but when Martin had said as much, their son had coolly replied that it was no wonder what with the fact that both parents were very rarely home to see anything.

The words had stung for the fact that they were true, and so Martin had growled something to the effect of, "We'll talk about this in the morning, young man," before storming out of the room. Sylvia had lingered only a bit longer, offering her albino child a comforting hug before going to calm her husband down.

The next day, the topic was brought up again, and this time, answers were demanded. Who is she? What's her name? How old is she? How did you meet? Is she pretty?

Jack, the clever boy he was, had somehow managed to deftly avoid the 'who' and the 'name' topics without drawing any attention to the fact that he did so: the Spicers only realized they had no idea of the woman's name or occupation until long after it was too late to ask. The young man did, however, vaguely explain that he was seeing someone a good deal older than himself (though not old enough to have wrinkles or anything like that, he'd promised) and that they'd met about four years ago at a get-together with some mutual acquaintances.

As the redhead's story went, they hadn't gotten along too well at the beginning, but that over time, they'd grown on one another and had started up a relationship a year or two back. They'd been going steady ever since, and a mere week ago, the albino had been proposed to.

"My, how modern!" Sylvia had exclaimed. "A woman proposing to a man!"

It had struck her as odd that her son looked distinctly uncomfortable with what she'd said, but she simply passed it off as his embarrassment that he hadn't been the one to propose to her.

In any case, the subject had been dropped for awhile, allowing the parents to grow used to the idea that their son, whom they'd been sure was an introvert that would never meet anybody, was engaged.

Of course, the fast-approaching trip to America cut that short and the family sat down together for a third time to discuss the matter at hand.

In Sylvia's opinion, this woman was a godsend: an answer to her prayers that her darling son would find someone to make him happy and settle down. That said, she was in favor of Jack remaining here, in China with his bride-to-be, even if that meant buying him a house to live in with her (the Spicer mansion had already been sold) and sending money every so often until the boy could get a job and be financially self-sufficient.

Martin was against it: they'd never even met this woman, and now they were supposed to blindly approve of her? Certainly not! And to waste so much money in consenting to this marriage; buying the house, sending checks, it just was not happening! Jack was his son and would do as he said, and he said Jack was going to America with them. He could find a new girlfriend there easy what with all the beautiful women eager to date rich men, and everything would be much easier. His plane ticket, after all, was already bought.

This conflict had set the two parents to arguing, an argument which had been deftly halted by their son.

Jack informed them in no uncertain terms that money and a home was no issue as the one he was marrying was even richer than they were and that a lavish palace had already been bought for them prior to the engagement. He'd also seen fit to make the point that he was eighteen, now, the age of majority in China and America and that it would be kidnapping for Mr. and Mrs. Spicer to force him to come along on their relocation without his consent: he was legally an adult and Martin and Sylvia, despite the fact that they were his parents, no longer had any legal control over him and what he did.

His father had attempted threatening him, pointing out that he had contacts all over the world in very high places and that it would be incredibly easy to override the legality of the situation in order to see his son brought to the United States.

The albino, unlike the older man had expected, did not back down and yield to his will and instead very calmly retorted that his lover would come looking for him and had even higher contacts than any that could be imagined. Even if it did not come to that, he had hundreds of thousands of his robots programmed to obey his every order and could easily expose the whole matter of kidnapping to the media.

Martin, unable to afford a loss of face in the public eye or a civil rights lawsuit on his hands, had grumbled and bitched and moaned loudly and retreated elsewhere in the house.

The day of the trip had at last come, and Sylvia had given her son a pleasant goodbye (Martin refused to speak to him) before boarding their plane, wishing him the best of luck with his wedding and expressing her regrets that she would not be there to see it. Jack had given her a hug, thanked her for her support in this, and given her a small piece of paper with a telephone number on it, saying that she could reach him by it whenever she wanted.

The trip back to America had progressed uneventfully, and about a week later, the Spicers had completely moved into their new home (just as lavish as their old mansion). Feeling settled, now, Sylvia had decided to give her son a call and check in.

Jack had so far failed to answer after multiple and consecutive phone calls, and the woman's maternal worry was going haywire.

What if her baby was sick? What if he was hurt? He could be in some kind of trouble! He might need her help!

Anxious by now, she redialed the number her son had given her for the sixth time, praying he answered.

He did.

"Hello…?" Jack's distinct voice answered the phone.

"Oh, Jack," Sylvia breathed in relief, "there you are! I was starting to get worried that something had happened to you!"

"No, mom, I'm…I'm alright…" came the slightly breathless reply, and the woman found herself frowning in concern.

"Are you alright, dear?" she wondered. "You sound winded…"

"Oh, yeah, I'm…fine," Jack promised. "I was just out and heard the phone ringing when I came in, so I had to…to run to get it."

Sylvia Spicer had not, perhaps, spent as much time with her offspring as other mothers could boast, but in what time she had had with her child, she had at least learned how to tell when the boy was lying. In Jack's voice as he'd explained why he sounded as if he'd just finished running a marathon, she could hear the barely there but tell-tale quiver of nerves that meant he was being untruthful.

She could've easily called him on it, but she was sure her son must've had a good reason for fudging the truth and besides, it didn't really matter in favor of the catching up she wanted to do.

"So, how are you, Jackie? You know, I miss you already, and your father does, too, even if he won't admit it; stubborn old goat."

A slight chuckle. "I'm doing okay, mom," Jack said, "and whenever dad stops holding a grudge, you can tell him I said hi."

"Will do," the woman smiled, moving on to more important matters. "Tell me, how was your wedding? I'll bet it was just beautiful!"

"Oh, yeah, it was great," her son promised. "We had a real beautiful ceremony. Not too many people were invited; y'know just some lifelong companions my fiancé wanted to invite, and then, a couple of uninvited guests showed up, tried to keep us from tying the knot, but we had 'em kicked out and went on with it, anyways."

"Oh," Sylvia chuckled slyly, "old boyfriends, I'll bet! Your wife must be very pretty to have more than one ex looking to get her back at her wedding!"

There was a slight, barely noticeable pause, and then Jack agreed, "Totally gorgeous. I'll, uh…I'll have to introduce you sometime…"

"I'd love that!" she exclaimed. "Oh, please tell me there's talk of children, Jackie. You know how ready I am to be a grandmother!"

"Erm…" The Spicer on the other end of the line was silent for another moment, likely feeling awkward at the fact that his mother was prodding him to knock his wife up mere days after their marriage. "Well, uh…we haven't exactly talked about that," he admitted, "but I can ask about it. I'm, not totally sure what kinda reaction I'll get since we never talked about kids before, but I'll…I'll ask. Don't be expecting a gaggle of grandchildren, though, even if I get a yes; if anything, it'll be one or two kids, and we might even go the way of adoption."

Before Sylvia could question if her son was considering adoption because his bride was infertile or had a health problem that prevented a safe pregnancy, the young man abruptly moaned.

"Jack? Sweetie?" she questioned. "Are you okay?"

"Uhn, yeah," he promised, "I'm fine, I just…stubbed my toe on the…damn dresser…"

The breathlessness was back as was the tone of lying, and though it made her wary, Sylvia decided not to question it. "Well…alright…so, how's your home? Is it nice?"

"Really beautiful," Jack replied. "Place's been in the family for generations; if it were on the market today, it'd be worth trillions…"

"Oh, ocean-front property?" the woman wondered.

"Mountain-side," her son corrected. "You'll…you'll see it when you come for a visit; you'll totally love the place…"

"I'm sure I will," Sylvia happily agreed. "So, when can I come visit you two? I'm dying to meet your wife!"

There was yet another suspicious pause. "Ah, well…I dunno…both of us are pretty busy, and-oh GAWD, so good…!"

The woman's blue eyes immediately went wide. "Jack?" she inquired, her voice automatically pitching higher in her confusion. "What's going on?"

"Erm, I, uh…it's just this, um…cake I'm eating…it's…really delicious and-hey, what are you doing?! Don't-"

"I apologize, Mrs. Spicer," a deep, masculine voice suddenly said over the phone, replacing Jack's voice, "but Jack is going to have to let you go, now."

"Who are you?!" Sylvia all but shrieked in fear. "What are you doing at my son's house?!"

A low, amused chuckle drifted across the phone-line, drawing an involuntary shiver from her. "I am Chase Young," the voice introduced, "the man your son married. This is my home. Now, if you'll excuse us, we're quite busy at the moment, and I should like to hear my husband scream when I make him come. Your son will call you back later."

The call abruptly ended, but it went unnoticed by Mrs. Spicer, who had already collapsed into a dead faint.

Back in the Land of Nowhere, two men had just finished making love, the redhead glaring vehemently at his partner.

"What the hell, Chase?" Jack demanded. "You had to tell my mother we were doing the horizontal mambo?"

The everlord laughed in response and held his lover close, pointing out, "You're the one who answered the phone while we were doing said horizontal mambo, Spicer. It seems to me as if you wanted her to know."

"She called, like, six times in a row!" the albino protested. "If I hadn't picked up, she would've started a damn manhunt!" Jack moaned abruptly, burying his face in his hands. "Ohhh," he realized, "and now she knows I'm a fag, too…dammit…"

"It is better that your mother knows the truth, Spicer," Chase informed. "She would've found out, anyways, when she came to visit; you couldn't have put that off forever, and at least this way, she won't be shocked into a heart-attack when she walks in the door and sees her son cozied up to another man with no prior warning."

"Yeah," the goth conceded, "but…but…"

"Jack," the warlord spoke firmly, drawing his lover's attention to him immediately, "she loves you: that much is obvious. It may take some time for her to get used to, but she will accept you for who you are; affinity for cock or no."

Jack snorted. "Yeah, I guess you're right…"

"Of course, I am," Chase asserted. "That settled…" he rolled his newly-declared husband on to his back, moving to settle dominantly over him, "how about Round Four?"

"Are you kidding?" the goth demanded. "After you just totally humiliated me and outed me in front of my own mom?"

The dragonlord simply cocked an eyebrow, giving his lover a look that said, 'I know how sexy I am, Spicer. I know you can't resist me.'

Jack sighed in defeat. "Fine," he conceded, "rut away…"

Chase laughed triumphantly. "Don't mind if I do…"

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A/N: ...I honestly don't know where this came from, but lo and behold, here it is. XD

Just as a side note, 'fiancé' is the word for the man someone is going to marry. Unfortunately for Sylvia who would've been saved a lot of shock in knowing this, 'fiancé' is pronounced the same as the word for the woman someone is going to marry, 'fiancée.' :3

Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it! :D