Life at Last

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I went to bed, hating myself for having the thoughts I had. Hating myself for the way I acted. Hating myself for letting him go. I had to change my thoughts and be more positive. I had finally reached the point I had been dreaming about for months and years and was spoiling it with thoughts of people who didn't care in my life. That was so stupid. That was so not like me at all. I would talk to Kevin in the morning. I tried to find sleep by hugging the pillow Kevin's head had been on. It still faintly smelled of him. I had to keep my own life in my own hands!

The next morning I got up and showered, had some coffee and went to the store a little early as I knew that Kevin was always there before the opening of the store. I rushed in and almost ran to his office, but only saw an empty chair. Kevin was not there yet. I went through the procedure of opening the shop and Kevin was still not there. I started to worry seriously. I called his cell but it was disconnected. I became a nervous wreck in a matter of seconds and was sweating as if I had run a five-mile trip.

It was well past eleven when Kevin came through the door. He didn't look well. He just apologized for being late, but nothing else. He was everything except talkative. When I asked him what was going on he just said "Nothing!" That was bullshit of course and we both knew it and I was even more convinced about it as his eyes were moist, on the verge of crying. I got up and went to close the door, something we never did. The girls in the office looked puzzled.

• Kevin, please... Talk to me! I said.

He pressed his lips together as to avoid saying anything. This was totally new to me. We had never reached such a point. I went around his desk, pulled his chair back and kneeled between his legs. I took his hands in mine and pleaded with my eyes.

• Please...

He looked at me with such an intense stare that it was almost frightening. I couldn't read that stare. Was he angry? Was he disappointed? Was he sad? Was he confused? I had no idea. He opened his mouth several time, about to say something, but nothing came out at first. I squeezed his hands, trying to show him I cared for him. I was determined to give him the necessary time to express his feelings and to tell me whatever was going on in his heart and head. The waiting was excruciating painful, but I didn't move.

At one point there was a knock on the door.

• Not now! I shouted.

My shout had probably been a little louder than what I intended and it shook Kevin out of his almost paralyzed state. He looked at me and a single tear rolled out of his eyes and over his cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb.

• Sorry, he said, I didn't intend to be late. I wasn't sure to come in today.

• Why?

• Ramses, you have to understand. Yesterday you made my dream come true and a few hours later you just shattered it to pieces. I can't live with that. If you don't want us to be together, tell me now and I will disappear because there is no way I can be here and work with you every day, knowing you prefer people's opinions above mine. I respect your thoughts, but can't live with them. I am devastated because I found you and lost you in less than a few hours. It is too hard for me. I don't want to be confronted every single working day with a person that I love and who rejects me, certainly on a basis of "what will people think" I know, I said I would be waiting, but I lied. Such a wait is totally inhumane. It is worse than a cancer eating you from inside. I know I am going to put some pressure on you, but I have to know what you want. If it is not according to my wishes, as I said, I will disappear. You are more than capable enough to run the business without me.

He dropped his eyes, but I was sure he didn't look at anything. I was still holding his hand but they were empty of any energy. He was sitting in his chair, but he looked as if he was not there. His words touched me in the deepest of my heart. I felt so guilty to be the cause of his desperation. My own eyes were moistening fast. I let his hand go and put my finger under his chin, forcing him to look me in the eyes. His eyes had lost their happy sparkle. I realized that my thoughts and my actions had done a lot more damage than I could imagine. Although it was I on my knees between his legs, it was Kevin who was mentally on his knees, begging me. He was in total agony! He looked like someone who was using his last strength to save a situation that was in MY hands. I had to act. I had to make a decision on the spot and respect that decision whatever happened afterwards. Indeed, he was putting pressure on me, but not that much after all. Angela's words of the previous night sounded in my head, telling me to be careful if I didn't want to lose him. I knew I was scared and feared to face a world full of prejudice, with people judging me and even condemning me. It was a reality, but I realized it was nothing compared to the hurt I saw in Kevin's eyes. Apart from Ken and Angela, Kevin was the most important person in my life and I loved him so much. I suddenly had the image of my mother before the accident. She had chosen for love. The love she had for my father had been stronger than the reaction of her parents, disowning her because they didn't agree with her decision! Was I going to follow my grandparent's way of seeing things, or was I to follow my mother's? It was not even the disagreement of my parents. It was the disagreement of "people" unknown to who they were!

I stood up, pulling Kevin out of his chair. I took his hands and put them on my hips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. He was reluctant at first.

• Don't kiss me and leave me standing here afterwards. Be sure of the direct and indirect implications of a kiss.

• I know what I am doing Kevin and believe me or not, I fully understand every single implication of this kiss.

I leaned in again and our lips brushed softly at first, but the kiss turned out to be a very passionate one in a matter of a single instant. I almost regretted I had closed the door. Suddenly I didn't care who saw me kissing Kevin and what they would think about it. A heavy weight fell from my shoulders. I hadn't realized how liberating it was to be oneself. I fully assimilated the fact I was committing myself to Kevin entirely. It was far more than a marriage. It was a promise. My father always had told me that when I made a promise I had to respect that promise even I was going to put myself in trouble, but he added to promise as less as possible.

We parted and I looked in Kevin's eyes.

Kevin, I promise you that your opinion will always be above other people's thoughts. I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you, as long as you want me. We don't need any legal paper to prove that. We don't have to go to Town Hall or to any church to prove that we love each other.

We had both tears in our eyes, but they were tears of happiness. Through his tears I could see that the sparkle in his eyes had returned. He was smiling again for the first time since he left the house the previous day. Our bodies were pressed together and formed only one. Once again there was a knock on the door and I shouted "Enter" without letting go of Kevin. The girl opened the door wide and everybody could see us standing there in each other's arms. The girl was standing there, petrified and speechless. I turned my head to her and asked her what was the matter. She shook her head as if she had to wake-up from a temporary paralysis and once she recovered her speech she said we had one of the providers who wanted to see us. She quickly added that she could ask the provider to come back later. I said it was ok to send him in. Kevin and I disentangled and a few moments later the provider came in. We both switched over to professional mode and had a business conversation as if nothing had happened before.

The business meeting was over around one o'clock and we went for lunch. I had warned the girls that we had a lot to talk about and wouldn't come back after lunch. My idea was to have a private meeting with Kevin after lunch, but I was not sure we would be able to talk a lot. Actually, we skipped lunch and went straight to the house. There was a trail of clothes from the entrance, on the stairs and leading to the bedroom. You could think we had some romantic lovemaking. Nothing of the sort! We were so hungry for each other that we climaxed a first time after only five minutes in bed. But our hunger was not fulfilled. Our juices had time to dry between our stomachs while we were kissing. We were stuck together, but not enough to avoid us to discover once again all the spots that made us go. Kevin showered my face with kisses before starting a travel all over my body, beginning at my ears and earlobes, softly biting them. Hi voyage went on nibbling at the tender flesh between my ears and my collarbone, kissing and licking his way down to my erect nipples, sucking them and softly munching on them, sending shivers from the first to the last hair on my head, to my toes that were curling to an almost painful position. His hands roamed over my body leaving a trail of electric jolts that connected directly to my steel-hard cock. When he reached my nether region I was about to unload again, but he sensed it and softened his attack on my nervous system. He licked out my navel and my cock-head was pushing under his chin. He was clean-shaven but nonetheless his stubble was coming through, scratching my over- sensitive cock-head. I was gasping for air and more than once hold my breath as if it would help me control my overloaded senses. Kevin looked up to me, opened his mouth wide and then engulfed my cock. The warm moisture of his mouth was adding a new sensation and I squirmed under his ministrations. He sucked it in till his nose was buried in my pubes. I could actually feel his throat- muscles at work and giving me more pleasure than I had ever experienced. He then started to withdraw till only my cock-head was between his lips, twirling his tongue over it and then going back down to burry his nose once again in my pubes.

I urged him to turn around so I could give him at least half the pleasure he was giving me. We were soon in a 69 position and I almost attacked his manhood with ferocity. I gulped it down and had to fight the gag-reflex a few times, but could feel his pubes at my nose after a few tries. I played with his buttocks while he massaged my balls. We had never talked about the fact who was top or bottom, and I didn't really care although I was still an anal virgin. If he wanted to penetrate me, I would open up to him with gusto. If he wanted me inside of him, I would do it with all of my heart. But we weren't there yet. In our 69-position I put my arms behind his legs and pulled till his legs were spread and his rosebud accessible. I let go of his cock and munched my way to his ass, dedicating some time to his taint. I knew mine was sensitive and guessed his must be as well. When I reached his puckered hole, I didn't hesitate a second. My tongue glided over it and I heard a loud moan, encouraging me to go on. I French kissed his hole and tried to push my tongue in, but he was so tight! I used my fingers to open him up a bit more and tried again. I must have hit a very sensitive spot as Kevin stopped doing what he did and let the sensations overwhelm him. That incited me to go on even more. Kevin resumed his actions and did as I had done: putting his arms behind my legs and pulling them towards him to spread my buttocks till he could approach my rosebud. From a cock 69-postion we had switched to an ass 69. We munched and licked and soon both our asses were bathed in spit. While Kevin continued licking my most private entrance I went back to his cock. He was oozing pre-cum and I drank it all and just loved it.

Suddenly Kevin spun around, took my ankles in his hands and spread my legs very wide. He kneeled at my ass, pushing his knees under my lower back, lifting my hips to the desired height and I could feel his cock-head on my hole. I breathed in and out a few times and tried to relax. I was an anal virgin but had read enough and seen enough things on the Internet to know what to do. He pushed a few times, but my sphincter muscle was still quite closed. He used some more strength and his cock-head got in, causing an excruciating and burning pain. Kevin stayed still but didn't withdraw. He gave me time to get used to the sudden invasion. He didn't start any in-and-out movement till he felt my muscles relax. Once I could breath again and relax a bit, he pushed in slowly, using little thrusts that allowed him to get in further.

He took his time, but finally I felt the hair of his pubes tickle my ass-cheeks. He was in up to the hilt. He let go of my ankles and they immediately locked on his lower back. He leaned forward and kissed me with a newfound energy. His hips started to move slowly at first. When he felt I was comfortable enough he increased his speed. I was in heaven! I didn't want that feeling to ever stop. With every inwards thrust he pushed forcefully on my prostate and I didn't know what was happening to me! I didn't even know my prostate could give me so much pleasure. I had seen in some porn that guys, who were penetrated in the ass, lost their erection. I didn't! The friction of his lower belly on my hard-on was adding to the pleasure of him plowing my ass. I could feel my balls retracting into my lower abdomen. I felt that special tingling in my whole body that announced a building climax. Kevin's cock in my hole, his tongue in my mouth and his fingers pinching my nipples was all too much for me to keep my ejaculation under control. I knew I was going to unload very soon and as the first spurt erupted, I squeezed my ass- muscles really hard. It seemed this was the trigger for Kevin as I felt the throbbing of his cock in my ass. I added a supplementary load between our stomachs while he filled me inside. I didn't count the spurts but realized I had never cum like that before.

We stayed in our current position till our heartbeats came back to a normal pace. We caught our breaths. We kissed as if there was no tomorrow. Very slowly our cocks deflated and Kevin's left my hole although none of wanted it. It made me feel so empty although I had his seed in me. Kevin lifted his head and looked in my eyes. His smile was even brighter than what I had ever seen on his face.

This was totally incredible and awesome, he said.

I was still too overwhelmed to be able to answer and I just hoped my eyes were telling him how much I had loved it. I unlocked my ankles and let down my legs. Kevin rolled off of me and lay down next to me, opening his arms and inviting me to cuddle up with him. I rested my head on his chest and heard his heartbeat. I couldn't be happier and more satisfied. I closed my eyes and reveled in the afterglow of a post orgasmic bliss. I was so relaxed that I fell asleep. Not for long though. The physical activity had worn us out.

When we came back to our senses, we showered together. The warm cascading water and the slippery soap woke us up. I couldn't believe it when I looked down and saw that my cock was hardening again. While washing Kevin's back I couldn't help to slip my hand between his buttocks and tease his rosebud. He joyfully moaned. It encouraged me to push a finger inside him and his moans turned into groans and he wiggled with his bubble butt. It didn't take me long to understand it was a horny invitation. Although it looked too good to be true, I got closer and my cock nestled itself between his buttocks. Kevin pushed them backwards and after a few tries, without the help of our hands, my cock-head pointed straight on target. Wit all the soap I needed only a small thrust to pass his sphincter muscle. I wanted to give him time to get used, but Kevin pushed forcefully backwards and impaled himself on my manhood. Man! He had the hottest insides! I was still standing there without moving, but Kevin did all the work, moving his hips in such a way that I was going in and out. He used his ass-muscles to the best of his abilities and literally milked me. I wrapped my arms around his waist and grabbed his evenly hard cock in my soapy hands. I didn't even have to stroke him, as his hips were a perfectly oiled machine, causing pleasure to both of us. I was surprised at the speed I reached my third climax and unloaded inside of him while he deposited a load in my hand. I wanted to stay like that, but the water coming out of the showerhead turned cold in a question of a few seconds. We almost jumped out of the shower and dried each other.

I didn't want Ken or Angela finding a trail of clothes all over the place and went down to retrieve them. We just pulled on jeans and T-shirts and went down to the kitchen. Ken and Angela were about to arrive home and I thought it was not a bad idea of starting dinner although it was only five o'clock. Maybe we could prepare something that was easy to heat up at the time we wanted to eat. We looked in the fridge to see what was available. We worked side-by-side and coordinated quite well. Yes, we were compatible and complementary, being it on a professional level, in the kitchen and even in bed... or in the shower as a matter of fact. We constantly touched, as if we needed the reassurance that the other was there. We kissed almost constantly. Some were just little pecks where others were frankly passionate kisses that caused stirrings in our jeans.

Since that day, we almost always arrived together at work and the word had spread at the speed of light what the girls had seen. Nobody made any comment about it, at least no directly in our faces. I guessed they did when we were not there or not able to hear them. My past fears showed their head from time to time, but Kevin told me that if people talked about us, it meant that we were interesting enough, but most of our personnel kept smiling and delivering a good job.

The idea of a second store came back on the table. If we wanted to avoid paying too many taxes, it started to be urgent to make the appropriate decisions. The following Saturday we went to explore the southern part of town. There was a smaller industrial zone there but nothing really available for our needs. The surface we needed was not small at all, but we also needed enough parking space. Our accountant had told us that if we wanted to reduce taxes, the best way to do it was to buy a warehouse with a loan from the bank, even if we could afford it to buy it cash.

I contacted Mr. Evans, my bank manager, and explained the situation. He looked over the different accounts we had, as well the personal account as the professional one. He didn't see any problem to give a professional loan and gave me an idea of how much would be available. It was going to cost us quite some money but he confirmed what our accountant had said: the interest would be lower than what we saved in taxes. So, it was a win-win situation. The biggest problem was to find an adequate building.

On our search we were confronted with a strike. It was a supermarket that had decided to close its doors and the workers didn't agree with it. They went on strike as to oblige the supermarket chain to keep their doors open. As soon as we got home, Kevin and I went searching for information on Internet. We found various newspaper reports explaining the position of the workers who were going to lose their jobs, but also the position of the supermarket's head quarters explaining that the costs were higher than the profits and that they had to close down. It occurred to me that the supermarket was probably having the right and necessary surface. If we bought the building we would automatically have a bunch of people to fill the jobs. We looked for a telephone number, or an address or e-mail address. Once we found it, I called immediately and asked to speak to the responsible people. I have to admit that the receptionist was kind, but not really efficient as I switched through to about five different people before I could speak to the right person. We made an appointment for the very next day.

We were three to present ourselves the next morning: our accountant, Kevin and I. We were ushered into a boarding room and met Mr. Haynes. He was the CEO of the supermarket chain. We sat down and went straight to the point.

There were a few facts that were quite important. First of all we needed to know if they were the owners of the building or not. The answer was affirmative. The second important information was the date they would definitely close. We were quite surprised that the supermarket had actually closed its doors the same morning. If we bought the building, how much time did they need to evacuate it completely? Mr. Haynes assured us that it was only a question of days. And last, but not least, what was the price they asked for the building. The figure Mr. Haynes mentioned was a little higher of what we could afford, as we had to re-arrange it completely and install quite a lot of things.

It was Kevin's negotiation skills that entered in the discussion. He had some obvious arguments that showed Mr. Haynes that if he didn't lower his price, he could lose a lot more. It was not every day that you could sell a warehouse as big as his. It would probably stand empty for several months and deteriorate. Kevin made an offer that was, of course, lower than the price Mr. Haynes had mentioned at the start. It was obvious the offer had to be submitted to the board of directors. We would receive news from him before the end of the week. What a horrible week that was! We had seen the original plans of the building and it was exactly what we needed. Even though we didn't have an affirmative answer yet, we were already organizing the available space. It would be a shame if the board of directors voted against our offer. We knew Mr. Haynes was in favor of our offer, but we hadn't met the other directors and didn't know what they were thinking.

On Friday I was in the store checking on a few things when over the PA system I heard I was asked into the office. I arrived at the same moment our accounted entered the office. Kevin warned Mr. Haynes on the phone that he was switching on the loudspeaker.

• Gentlemen, Mr. Haynes said, the board of directors would be in favor of you offer, but would like to put a condition.

• What condition is that, I asked.

• The condition is that, as far as possible, you would consider hiring the personnel that is about to lose its job. We are very concerned about them. In normal circumstances we would relocate them to other supermarkets we have, but for the moment we don't need any supplementary personnel in any of them. We would even consider lowering the price even more according to the amount of people you hire.

• Mr. Haynes, I said, we have a deal!

• I am very glad to hear that. We still have to put everything on paper and make an appointment to sign them.

• Of course Mr. Haynes. I will switch through to our accountant manager so that you can give him all the necessary details. If you agree, we'll meet on Tuesday morning to have everything official. Have a nice weekend!

• To you, too, gentlemen. See you on Tuesday.

We left the office to let our accountant write down whatever he needed. I immediately called Mr. Evans at the bank to prepare a certified check for about half the total price. He said it would be ready at the last hour of Monday. I took Kevin in my arms and hugged him and automatically our lips met and we kissed. The girls in the office got used to it!

On the Tuesday we met and signed a whole bunch of papers. I handed Mr. Haynes the certified check of the bank. He handed us the original plans of the building. We had asked them to make copies and start organizing the store, as we wanted, at least on paper. On the Wednesday we started interviewing the existing personnel of the supermarket. Almost all of them were immediately hired. Just a few of them, who showed incompatible attitudes, were discarded. The following Monday they were all on the payroll. We had organized a rotation. Every existing member of the existing personnel would have a new one following him or her. The next day they would follow someone else and so on during the time we needed to organize and develop the new store. This system was supposed to have everybody knowing almost everything. The existing personnel would have a sheet where they had to write their comments on specific points of the training. We had to thank our personnel because the reports were so accurate and precise that the task of distributing the different jobs in the respective departments.

The last difficult task we had before opening the new store was to find the adequate manager. Kevin would stay as the general manager of the first store. I would be the supervising manager for both stores. The selection procedure was given out to an outside company, specialized in hiring executives. They did the preliminary selection till they reduced the amount of candidates to about ten people. They presented their reports, which were very precise and complete. They also recommended in those ten people the ones that had specific qualifications and interesting for the job. I had to interview the ten candidates and Kevin assisted me as much as he could. They all appealed to me after the first round of interviews. Kevin, based on a few answers they gave, almost immediately discarded two of them. We had a second round of interviews and we warned the candidates that there would a more personal approach. When they heard that, two more abandoned the selection. We were left with six. The third round discarded three more who apparently had problems with gay people. We had to make a choice among the three that still wanted the job. There was no rational reason to select one or the other.

Finally, we chose the guy who was the most charismatic: Richard Miles. He was thirty two, married with two small children, a university degree in business management and a similar 3 years experience to what we were expecting form him. We called him to tell him he got the job and he was quite happy about it. His salary expectations were a bit lower than what we offered him, so he was even more pleased. He would start on the following Monday at the first store to learn the ropes about how we did things. He was a quick learner and we were happy about our choice. The two other candidates were not so happy, but couldn't do anything else than accept our decision with resignation.

Exactly two months after the purchase of the building, we opened the doors for the first time. Richard had had a few brilliant ideas about publicity and marketing and quite a lot of people came to buy during that first day. Kevin and I were there to help, but it was superfluous. Richard managed very well and had his crew under control. We decided to leave him do his job and he had our cell phone numbers in case he needed them. Our routine was to have a weekly meeting on Mondays and we went on with it, only that now Richard was present at the meetings as well. It didn't take us very long to discover that Richard was indeed the best candidate of the list we had started with. His monthly reports were as accurate and precise as Kevin's. The sale results were good and he had even done some prospection in his part of town and got new important clients who came on a steady basis.

Ken and Angela graduated, each in their own specialty, at the same time due to the fact Ken had a few more years to study than Angela to have his title. I was so proud of them. Ken was now officially a lawyer and even had received a few offers from big law firms to join their team. He hadn't decided yet and was looking at all the pros and cons of the different offers. The most appealing one was located at the other side of the country and that was pushing him a little out of his comfort zone, but he didn't discarded it.

Angela, on the other hand, accepted immediately the first offer that came her way as she had opted during her studies to be a surgery nurse. That was kind of a specialization that not a lot of students followed, but she was fascinated by it. Our local hospital was in urgent need of people like Angela and was quite happy that she accepted the job. One of the inconveniences was that she had to be on stand-by on her days off, but she didn't really mind.

To recompense them both on their achievements I used some money of the sale of our grandfather's house to buy them each a new car as the Miata was getting too old and wasn't safe anymore. Angela wanted the newer version of the Miata as she just loved the car and as soon as the weather allowed it, drove it with the top down. Ken was more of a conservative kind and opted for a basic BMW. He preferred a basic BMW than an upscale other brand. Both were on cloud nine with their new toy.

Ken made his final decision and accepted the offer of the law firm at the other side of the country. The contract came with a company car, but he shyly declined it as he had a new one of his own. As the contract came with a big apartment, he asked if there was a possibility to have furniture instead of the car. His new bosses were a bit surprised by his request but finally accepted. Ken's move turned out to be a family trip. He had to drive to the new place and was not looking forward to do all the way on himself. Angela had still a few weeks before starting her new job, so she went with him so that he wouldn't be alone. Kevin and I took a plane to join them. We spent a few days there to help Ken picking up the necessary furniture and help him settling down in his new apartment. Then we all three flew back home.

It felt so strange at first to be only three at the table to eat. We all missed Ken a lot, but knew that he had made the right choice. We talked almost daily on the phone and connected Skype at least once a week to update each other. When Angela finished her trial period at the hospital and was offered a definite contract, she decided to be as independent as possible and rented an apartment very close to the hospital. I helped her with the furniture and she soon was on her own as well. That left just Kevin and I at the dinner table, except for festivities or birthdays, or whenever Ken came to visit.

That was the time when I thought it would be good to refurbish the house. We had kept everything in good working order, but it was obvious nothing had changed since my parents had bought it. The kitchen for example was functional, but it was really old-fashioned. A few of the appliances were really in need to be replaced. Then there was the general layout of the house that had been built in the 1960's. Before starting the refurbishing I asked Kevin to come and live with me on a permanent basis. Just as I suspected, he didn't hesitate at all. We were both good in DIY, but some of the works we wanted done were a bit too specialized and we had to contract a constructor to do them. We knew most of the constructors in town, but we didn't want to show any favoritism to any of our clients. We asked for offers to most of them and based on those, and their good reputation, we decided for one of them.

I don't know if any of you has ever been living in a house where works were on their way. It is horrible! Dust everywhere! And of course, by the fact all cupboards, drawers and closets had to be emptied, as new ones would replace most of them. That meant that during the time of the works we were spending a lot of time searching for the things we needed and that were in boxes. It worked on my nerves and Kevin had to be very patient with me. He tried to calm me down as much as he could, but, I admit it, I was a real pain in the ass. Of course, as always when starting works on an older house, quite a lot of problems came to daylight. The general structure of the house was good, but plumbing and electricity were not really safe any more and had to be replaced. We wanted a few walls out and discovered we had to put in beams, as they appeared to be vital for the stability of the house. All in all, the foreseen time of works (two months) AND the budget were doubled! The only compensation we had was that the house was a lot safer and ready to face another century. On the ground floor we had now an open space with an ultra modern kitchen and a fireplace. On the first floor we had reduced from four bedrooms to three and added an extra en-suite bathroom to our bedroom. We used the third bedroom as a walk-in dresser. The second bedroom was a guest room for when Ken came over. Angela was living not so far away and wouldn't sleep over anymore.

As the works ended in early December, we decided to have Christmas all together in our new surroundings. I even invited Sam over as he had told me in his last e-mail that he had some time off in the army. I was curious to see if he had changed a lot being a marine now. I hadn't seen him for over three years.

Kevin and I spent a whole weekend to find the appropriate Christmas tree and decorating it. You could wonder why we needed a whole weekend to decorate a tree. It was just because I felt more relaxed, as the works in the house were finally over, and Kevin was one horny beast! The Christmas spirit got to him and he said that I was the best Christmas present he ever had and wanted to "unwrap" me all the time. After round one of passionate lovemaking, I dressed again to continue the decoration, but he was still so horny that he had to "unwrap" me a second time. We had made love twice on that Saturday morning before we even had lunch! The afternoon was a repeat session of the morning. Around seven that night, the only thing we had achieved was to have four climaxes and the lights in the tree! The Sunday was a lot like the Saturday, but at least we managed to finish the complete decoration of the tree.

I didn't like the idea of preparing a "traditional" Christmas meal. Most of the times those traditional meals were falling like a heavy stone on your stomach. I wanted to have something light and that wouldn't interfere with a good digestion. I found some living lobsters and thought it was a good idea, but I had never prepared lobster before! I went on the Internet to look for a good recipe and was flabbergasted when I saw that I had to put them life in boiling broth! I did it because that was what all the recipes said, but I did it once and will never do it again although the result was absolutely delicious. Why I will not do it ever again is because when you drop them in the broth, you hear like a whistling sound, as if they blow out their last breath. Never again!

Under the Christmas tree there were already quite a lot of beautiful wrapped packets. I was not really a "shopping" guy, but at Christmas I always got in the mood. All the shops were nicely decorated. Hundreds of things were for sale on Christmas that you didn't even notice the rest of the year. I never had a problem with what to buy for whom, on the contrary. If I didn't held back, I could buy an entire shop.

Ken arrived two days early. I went to get him at the airport. He was loaded with presents as well. When he entered the house he was at awe. He didn't recognize it! I showed him all the things we had done and told him in detail all the problems we had encountered and fixed. I had made pictures all during the works and I proudly showed him the evolution of the house during the four months. The only thing in the house that not changed was the staircase that led to the first floor and the outside of the house. He liked the new layout, the colors of the walls, the curtains... everything received his approbation.

He unpacked his two suitcases, but there were very little clothes in them. Almost everything was Christmas presents. He put them all under the tree next to Kevin's and mine. Knowing Angela would be loaded, too, we were in for a few hours of unpacking them. The day before Christmas, she dropped by and unloaded them. I knew that there was not a lot of loading space in the Miata, but even the front seat next to her was full of wrapped-up packets.

We were going to be five for the Christmas dinner, so I dressed a table for six. It is an old tradition with us to always dress the table for one more person than the foreseen guests. It is called the "Invisible Guest". It is also meant to make any unforeseen guest feel welcome and not having that awkward moment where you have to add plates, cutlery and glasses at the last moment. We always celebrate Christmas on December 24th with the dinner and the presents given out and received. On Christmas day it self, as usual we eat the leftovers from the previous night. I don't know if you have the same thing as me: I always prepare far too much food in those occasions.

Kevin and I had been busy in the kitchen all afternoon, preparing little toast for the aperitif, the first course that consisted of three mousses of salmon, halibut and shrimps. The main course was the lobster with tree sauces you could chose from and an Italian Tiramisu was the dessert. Out of experience we served Champagne from aperitif to dessert, as we knew that mixing drinks could be fatal for a hangover the next day.

Angela could arrive at any time she wanted and Sam was expected around seven. I was a bit puzzled when they arrived both at the same time and in the same car. They didn't give voluntarily any explanation about it. I guessed they had agreed on it because Angela was not going to drink as she was on stand-by. Sam, being a Marine, was probably used to drink more but didn't want to be stopped by the police after the evening.

Sam was just as much in awe as Ken had been. He had known my parent's house for so many years without the slightest change and now, even if the house looked identical outside, he couldn't believe his eyes with what he saw inside. We had all quite a lot to talk about. For Kevin and me it was the fact we were finally living together, the refurbishing of the house and the success of the second store. Ken was over the moon with his new apartment and the new job. Angela was so passionate about her work in surgery and Sam had hundred and one stories to tell about what he was living in the army. The conversations were as varied as animated.

We were just about to sit down at the nice decorated table when we heard the front doorbell ring. Kevin got up to answer it. After about ten minutes he was still not back and I guessed there was a problem somewhere. I went to the entry hall to find him with Richard in his arms. Richard was obviously crying. Kevin looked at me and silently sent me a message to leave them a moment longer. I went back in, trusting Kevin entirely. If he asked me to keep out it was because there was a good reason to it. I suddenly realized that putting a sixth plate on the table was probably a good tradition.

To be continued if you guys tell me you like the story. All comments welcome at amahy1957@gmail.com