Old (Josh)

[Joshua Bernstein]

"I know."

This had come up before. Sean hadn't been happy when Claude was replaced, and had mentioned his disappointment occasionally ever since.

"I'm sorry he retired."

That has been an unexpected turn of events as far as Josh knew. Sean hadn't mentioned that Claude was considering retirement beforehand.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

One of Sean’s greatest regrets was his role in Claude losing his position with Hammel. Although the older man had never said as much, the telepath knew that his friend had been forced into stepping down as a result of the battle with M.S.A.D. and the events that Gabriel Underwood had caused. Sean could never regret stopping Gabriel Underwood, as the failure to do so would have spelled death for them all, but he regretted the aftermath.

The harm that Anya and Morgan had suffered, although those temporary disabilities had brought the two of them together. The trauma that the entire Campbell family had suffered. The trauma that impacted the rest of his coworkers and the students who had been exposed. The trauma and injuries that Josh had experienced. Claude’s sudden retirement.

He regretted each and every bit of those.

“So am I,” he said with a sigh. He said nothing else, staring instead into his stack of pancakes, while he kept his grip on his partner’s hand.

Finally, he lifted his head and turned to look at the other man. “How stable is your income right now?”

They kept the joint checking account for house expenses, but their finances remained largely separate. As someone in private practice, Josh’s income fluctuated far more than Sean’s did, since the psychiatrist received a steady paycheck every two weeks.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh dropped the spoon into the fruit bowl with a clatter. "Ahhh...it's stable enough. If we needed to survive on it we could do so."

He had never worried about his finances before moving in with Sean, and although Pilot Ridge didn't have as many cases for him to work on as the City had he wouldn't worry if they were single income, either. Sean's house was paid off, and so that wasn't a concern, and even if there was a temporary drought in his work he had savings and bonds (once helped by his father, and now largely left on their own.)

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean had never worried about his finances. The closest he came to worry was during his first relationship with Josh, back when they had both been students. Even then, he had been fine (his parents had paid his half of the rent, and he had been on his own for pocket money while studying), although the fear of losing that support should they learn of his relationship with the other man had kept him up at night. He would have chosen Josh, just as Greg had given up his family support in order to be true to himself, but that had been the nearest brush with financial strain that he had ever experienced, if one could even call it that.

Private practice had treated him quite well, and he had set aside a large nest egg. He had inherited money and investments from both of his parents, which Bobby Bernstein had assisted with managing before his retirement and subsequent illness. He had a pension from Hammel that he could begin collecting immediately, and he continued to set aside for a rainy day.

The cost of living in Pilot Ridge was far less than in the City. The house had been paid off a decade ago. Both the car and the van had been paid off years ago. The boat had been paid off years ago. He had no loans and so lived debt free aside from his credit cards, which he paid off monthly.

His biggest expense would be health coverage, but, even then, he was entitled to keep his plan as a retiree of Hammel, since he had reached the twenty-year bench mark.

It was feasible.

The telepath kept his gaze on his partner as he mentally considered all of that. Then he squeezed Josh’s hand lightly. “It would only be temporary.”

He couldn’t imagine not working in some capacity; he was only fifty-seven. “I could always put out a shingle.”