There are so many well known statements about travelling that it seems a bit over the top to add one more, however: an American writer once observed that "all travel is always in the past tense," observing that, even as we travel, we speak of "where we were," and "when we were there," rather than the present. Travel is hurried. No sooner do we get to a place, that we're getting ready to go to another.
Our chosen family fell into this pattern as they crisscrossed France. Each person had a different mind frame, and that mind frame changed a little for each of them as they made their way across the country. For Carla and Richard, they were tasting: deciding what to add, or not add, to the restaurant when it opened. And visiting places that they had visited in their youth. Some remained, some were gone. They danced in clubs that had existed forever, wept when they found the place that made "the best baguettes" was gone, and relived a time that they both looked back on, with tears and smiles.
For Carla's husband, it was a chance to see his wife blossom. France suited her. The weather, the food, the language. Carla was not an aggressive talker back home. Not so here. She fell right into the rhythm of other women she met. Watching her argue at markets, was a thing of beauty to him. The fire he remembered, when they married, was back. He hoped it stayed when they returned.
For Mikel, coming back to Europe reminded him that, ultimately, he would always live between two worlds. He loved Europe. Did he want to come back? Yes. He loved the United States. Did he want to come back? Yes. He loved Paul immeasurably . Being away from his father didn't change his feelings about him. He'd have to walk that line, forever.
Paul hated France when they arrived. He hated the people, he hated the food, he hated the attitude. By the end of their stay, however, he was getting involved in pick up soccer games, eating sausage and butter sandwiches on baguettes, and learned to play French card games. Marrying Mikel had been something they had decided on before they left for Europe. It was Mike's idea not to tell Richard or davey. While they both seemed delighted to have a son in law, Paul would never lose the sense that he was "the one to blame" from his upbringing.
Richard's feelings were complex. He had come to Europe for the same reasons Carla had, and he tasted everything. But he also wanted to mentor his husband, who had never been out of state in his life. Maybe France was too much too soon. Davey did not become less affectionate, but it just seemed that he felt "out of place" in France. And indeed, it's difficult to feel "at home" in France for most of us.
Davey's feelings about being out of place were strong. He tried. He really tried. His style of friendship, however, did not seem to go over well with the French. He always felt he was dressed wrong, that he had used the wrong fork, and that he should have stayed home and let Richard and Carla have this trip. To be clear, he was NOT miserable, because he, like Sam, saw how his spouse opened up in the European atmosphere, and while he could never fairly say Richard was less than completely attentive and affectionate, he seemed moreso here.
Things changed, especially for davey, when they left France and arrived in Italy. Some people have said, rightly or wrongly, that everything that they dislike in France, disappears in Italy. So it was for davey. He felt at home. His clothes not only felt right, but he found that Italian cut clothing, was perfect for him. Before long, he was dressing in the close fitting linen shirts Italian men wear during the summer, with his "shorter than decent" shorts, and his Italian cap. He loved the tradition of the passeggiata, because he could hold onto Richard, and no one would look at them strangely. In fact, they smiled. During the day, Richard and Carla would, essentially, go off on their own on their excursions in each part of Italy, and davey, Sam, Mike and Paul made their own little group. Still, there were days when davey went off on his own, and sometimes, he would just find a spot near the water - be it a lake, a bay, or a river - he was especially fond of the Arno River - and sit with his thoughts.
They covered a lot of territory in Italy, and every time it was the day to pack up and leave, davey, normally an early riser, and the go getter, delayed. He slept late. He forgot things. He looked back as they left, and waved, every single time. Richard noticed.
One day, when they were in Cinque Terre, he begged away from Carla. She knew what was going on, and joined up with her husband and the boys. Richard found davey, sitting on a bench by the bay, just staring. He sat down next to him, and put his arm around his husband. "It's a beautiful place, isn't it davey?" "It is Sir. Is it possible for something to be TOO beautiful?" Richard laughed. "Know where I feel that? Umbria. We'll be spending a little time there. You'll see what I mean." Davey was quiet. "Sir, I feel like I belong here. Like I could live here. Now. Like I don't want us to go home. Because I don't want to live here without you." Richard pulled him closer. "Oh, davey, for the accidents of where we're born. Yes, we could have met here, but you know, then we'd want the US. Or we could have been born in France. And we'd want Spain." He paused. "I don't know the answer davey. Someone once wrote 'all of us are a little homesick always, we just don't know what we're homesick for."
They were silent, and Richard kissed davey. "We'll be back. I promise. We'll come back as often as we can. We can't see everything in one trip, and we SHOULD see everything.
Davey squeezed Richard's hand. "only with you Sir. Only with you."
Their love making that night was, well, intense. So intense that the next morning, Paul felt compelled to mention the new Italian word he'd learned "Terramoto." "Terramoto?" Richard looked puzzled. "That means earthquake. Was there an earthquake? "Felt like one in the house last night." Mikel nearly spat out his cappuccino, and davey shot him a look. Paul just smiled. He loved Italy too. Pizza everywhere. And no one batted an eye if he wanted a whole pizza of his own, at any restaurant.
They were halfway through the Italy part of their trip, then they would be heading back home. Umbria and Venice were left to visit. They weren't getting to the south of Italy on this trip, and Richard promised they'd be back. "The home of pizza Paul." That was all he needed. Paul started looking at flights when he could get a connection because, if you've tried to use the internet in Umbria, well, you'd know they rely on it less than Americans do.
Umbria had resonances for Carla and Richard. When they had gone to Italy after school, Tuscany was too expensive to do more than visit the museums - and for Richard to have one one night stand with a beautiful man named FIlippo. People recommended Umbria "the poor man's Tuscany." They fell in love with the place, and they were going back to visit some of their haunts.
They were staying in this small, but beautiful hotel . In their room, Richard opened the shutters of the window, and it looked out on the countryside. Even Richard choked up. A very upset swallow yelled at him: a family of swallows had made their home on the shutters.
"Davey - come see." Davey came over. "OH, WOW. It's so much better than anything in a picture. " He just stood there, spellbound. Harris stepped back a bit, so that he could put his arms around davey. He whispered in his ear. "Tell me when you're full. Because I want to fill you again."
Davey leaned back into his husband's arms. "Fill me all the way Sir. Deep. Hard. Let me know... I belong to you." He kissed Richard aggressively, and Richard responded. He growled.
"France, Italy, wherever. You're still mine daveyboy. ALL of you.." He had started kissing the inside of davey's neck, where the lamb tattoo was located.
"Oh, yes sir. Yes sir. Yours..." Richard backed him gently onto the large bed. He began licking and kissing davey's chin, a new hotspot they had discovered in France, and davey began to whimper.
"MMMMM. Please Sir. You're making me so hot. Please.... " Harris took davey's ear in his mouth and began to nibble. One hand slid down and began slowly massaging davey's cock through his jeans. "This is nice, davey boy... But what I want... is your ass." "It's YOUR ass sir. It belongs to you. Take it. Please... Take it hard. Deep. Take it..." Harris smiled. He wasn't quite ready. He began undressing davey, button by button, stopping along the way to sample davey's body. He hadn't shaved in a few days, and the stubble was driving davey more than a little crazy. He loved what Harris could do with scruff, and with all of this... it was more than intoxicating..
When he got davey's jeans off, Harris wet his fingers, and he finger fucked davey, something he hadn't done in months. "OH SIR, that feels so good!" Davey moaned, and pushed down , trying to get more finger in side of him, while Harris began nibbling his nipples, one at a a time, and thoroughly. He moved his hand over davey's balls, and just rolled them in his palm. He smiled down at the man. "I'm going to teach you some Italian davey: 'te amo."
"Does that mean what I think it does Sir?" "I dunno. What do you think it means?" "I love you." Harris smiled and kissed him. "Perfect translation." "Te anchio" I love you too. davey answered.
Then davey smiled. "This is great, Sir, BUT I NEED YOUR DICK."
Davey realized that, if Paul bottomed, that would be the kind of thing he would be saying, in that tone of voice. Harris just laughed. "Oh, you're gonna get it. You're gonna get it hard and deep. Right now." His fingers had opened davey just a bit, and he slid in, with ease. Practice makes perfect, and so does desire.
"YES. FUCK YES. YES. " davey gasped some more, as Harris began to move inside of him, deeper, and deeper, past the spot that drove davey crazy, onto the one that just pushed him to the border between pleasure and pain. Harris had always asked him if it was ok to stay there. Not today. Not in Umbria. Instead, Harris just smiled, and held his cock there. He moved the head a little bit, back and forth.
"If I had used a ribbed condom davey, I think you'd be on the ceiling. Davey was panting for breath. "This is more than I can take Sir." Harris laughed. "No it's not.." and pushed in deeper. Davey's eyes teared up like he had eaten a raw onion, but he took it. "GEEZ. I feel like you've got a beer can in me Sir." "Is that a bad thing, handsome?" NO SIR. It's a good thing. It's a very good thing." Harris smiled and began to slide, back and forth, very slowly.
"OH YES. OH YES. " He was in so far and so deep that every thrust re-awakened every one of davey's hot spots. "DAMN. DAMN SIR. I never thought I'd say I had enough of your cock. I think I have." "Too bad, sweetie. I haven't had enough of your ass." Harris laughed, and then thrust hard, once. He bit his lips so he didn't disturb anyone in the hotel. He shot a good 15 times, so overcome by how he felt for this sweet, gentle, giving man. For his part, davey knew that when Richard promised they'd come back, he meant it. Davey had never had any desire to go very far from home, now he wanted to see the world with this man. This sophisticated, smart, wonderful man who loved him so hard. Davey whispered. "I'm gonna cum Sir. I'm gonna shoot. KIss me so I don't scream. PLEASE." Richard covered davey's lips. No one heard a sound. Carla and Sam were napping, and Mike and Paul, well, they were going at it themselves. Paul had been introduced to cannoli on this trip, and he started referring to his cock as one, and to fucking Mike as "feeding him a cannoli." As davey came, Mike was getting fed, literally. His mouth was filled with Paul's cock, just before they fell asleep.
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"Sir, I've wanted to ask you a question for a while," davey was wrapped up in Richard's arms when he asked. "Well, what would that be, davey boy?" "You and Carla, well, you've been here, and you've loved it so much. And Sir, now that we're here, I really think you're more European than American. So why did you come back?" Richard sighed. "I'm going to say something that's going to sound fake, davey, it's not. " He pulled him closer.
"I knew I didn't have much chance of ever seeing you again, but if I moved to Europe, I knew there was NO chance. And I refused to give up hope. I didn't want to stalk you, but Carla had told me that a meeting was in the future, if I were patient. I just couldn't try to force it, because if I did, it wouldn't happen."
Davey looked at him. "Wow. So you knew we'd see each other again?" Harris smiled "I didn't know it, but I believed it." He smiled. "Carla's usually not wrong." He paused "And there was more. I think I'm centered where we are davey. There's too much at home I don't want to give up. My eagle. The sunsets. Our friends. " He sighed. "you know, there was a big pop song when Carla and I were here. About a man who had lovers on both coasts of the US. 'Bicoastal' was the name. Carla used to joke and say that that was nothing: we were bicontinental. " Now Richard began to cry.
"Honestly, I thought I'd never get to see Europe again. But I'm seeing it. And I'm seeing it through your eyes, and mine. It's more than wonderful." He rolled on top of davey. "Now, sweetpea, tonight, we're gonna go to an old restaurant Carla and I visited on our last day in Italy. It was our splurge. The owner, Patrizia , was very old. I hope she's still there."
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The little family gathered in the hotel lobby. Mike had forced Paul to dress up a little, and he had put on some new clothes he had bought too. He was waiting to see his father, and his step dad. He loved them both, differently, but he loved them both. And differently than he loved his young husband. Carla had made Sam dress a bit too, and she, of course, looked radiant. How did she know what the colors of that beautiful sunset would be? And then, Richard and davey. Again, if anyone had taken to Italian fashion, it was davey. Two Italians passed him in the lobby and spoke to him in Italian. Richard answered, and he laughed.
"They think you're one of them." "I am Sir. I feel like this is my place."
When they got to the restaurant, a young woman met them. She paused for a minute, and then smiled. "I remember you." She spoke to Richard. " "You and this lady. You were here a long, LONG time ago. And I remember. My mother said to you 'you'll be back.' Mother was never wrong." Richard looked at Carla "Your mother: Aureliana?" The young woman smiled. "Signore, my mother passed about 3 years ago. You may not remember me, I was clearing tables. I'm her daughter. Patrizia." Carla smiled. "OH YES. Of course. I remember. We exchanged bottles of nail polish." Patrizia smiled. "We did. I painted my nails every week after that. " Carla reached into her purse. "I'm an old lady now, but.. " she handed Patrizia the nail polish she had in her bag. Patrizia smiled. "I will have something for you from my mother. She recognized a fellow strega when she saw one, and she left you a remembrance of her." Patrizia looked at Carla's hand, then she looked at Richard's.
"So you are married now." Carla smiled. "yes, but not to each other. This is my husband.." She presented Sam "And this is Richard's husband." Patrizia smiled when she saw davey and she looked at Richard "So you married an Italian?" Richard laughed "No, no. He just looks so much like one doesn't he?"
Patrizia smiled. "GOOD. He can look like one, but NEVER marry an Italian man. " Carla laughed. "And these are our children."
Patrizia looked them over. "SUCH HANDSOME YOUNG MEN. My daughter is too young, but if she weren't..."
She sat them at a table. When Richard and Carla had been there, the restaurant had no menu. It still didn't. Instead, Patrizia pulled up a chair and told them what was on the menu. Richard looked at Carla "If we don't have the yellow pepper soup, the trip was a waste." "D'accordo caro." I agree darling. Patrizia smiled. "You were getting that soup whether you ordered it or not.
The meal that followed went on for more than three hours. Even Paul devoured everything, including the rich chocolate crostata at the end, that no one had been able to finish. Paul wiped the plates clean. Patrizia laughed. "This one... Your son Signora Carla - he should be a cross country man."
"Cross country skiing?" Paul asked When Patrizia nodded he looked around. "I need to try that back at home." Mike interjected. "you can use some exercise. You're gaining weight. " Paul leaned over and whispered "To pin you down more easily. You squirm too much."
At the end of the meal, Patrizia came to them. "My mother told me that she knew you'd be back, and I do too. I will see you again. " She hugged Mike and Paul first. "Not for a while, but you are going to have children. Lots of them. " Then Sam "Carla chose well. You provide what she doesn't have, and you accept what you don't understand because you love her so much." Then davey: "My Italian. Yes, you can come back any time you want. I may marry you myself. I don't care about the rest. " She looked at him and said "Nothing is ever going to eliminate that sadness in your eyes, but Signore Ricardo - he'll do anything he can.. She paused again "Because he loves you more than he loves himself." Finally to Richard. "My mother once said ' that man is going to make something that will stand up to everything. I thought she meant a house, or a building. No. I was wrong. " She spread her arms. "THIS is what you made. You are not a proud man Ricardo, but you should be filled with pride. " She kissed him after a big hug.
Then she pulled out a small bag. She gave it to Carla. "These are the last herbs my mother gathered. She also put a spell on them so that they can't be detected. You'll get them to the US. Please don't open them before then. You'll know what to do with them." Carla smiled. "I will send up incense to your mother when we are back Patrizia. Before I do anything else. " "She will know it's from you. As will I. " She paused. "Before I cry , because I do not cry in public, go back to your albergo. Enjoy the rest of your stay. And come back. Patrizia will always greet you all."
They spent three more days before they went to Venice. The time in Umbria was wonderful, including a visit to an Italian production of "Hello Dolly" that had them all laughing. But nothing. No, nothing in Umbria, or even Venice, was quite like their trip to Patrizia's restaurant.
Venice was next. "The magical city," Richard told davey. "You read the Harry Potter books, didn't you?" "I did Sir." Richard laughed. "You're going to think of those books when we get there. Everyone, pack tonight. It's a short flight, and the luggage is going on ahead, by train."