Disclaimers: See chapter 1. If you do not belong here, please do not stay too long. I invite comments and suggestions.
"I'm not crazy. I've thought about it. I am ready to face my demons. I want to pick up the pieces and go on. Scott and Susan were my family. I know I can never replace them. But I've got Joey now. He is my family. And I want my family in our home. We are moving back into my house - where Susan, Scott and I lived." He hugged Joey tightly. "Joey, I was emotionally dead for two years. You restarted my life and I want to pick up where I left off. The movers will be here tomorrow."
Chapter 32
Saturday morning began quite early for Joey. The alarm clock, usually shut off for the weekend with the glowing red digital face usually covered by clothes, sounded off at 6:30 am. Joey heard it first. He grumbled to himself about it being too damn early and then reached across the bed, over Stephen's body to hit the snooze alarm. Stephen lay naked in the bed, on his stomach. The shrill, piercing sound of the clock did absolutely nothing to wake him. Joey's body rubbed across Stephen's back, first his arm, feeling for the clock which was still a good three feet away, followed by his chest. Joey finally shut the thing off, but instead of rolling back over to his side of the bed, he just lay down on the man beneath him. When he was alert enough to know that Stephen was still asleep, he went to work. He softly blew air into Stephen's ear, making Stephen rub his face on the pillow to escape the gentle breeze. That was followed by kisses on the neck just below his ear and trailing around to the back of his head. They took a sharp right turn at the spine turning down Stephen's body, past the width of his shoulders down to the narrow middle of his back. About even with Stephen's navel, the kisses again turned right, away from Joey heading around the side of the waking man. These kisses brought moans and purrs from the recipient. Just when Stephen was becoming aware of the pleasures, the lips of his lover were replaced by fingers. Fingers walking around to the side of the prone body. Fingers that began tickling ever so lightly. Softer, softer. Then Joey grabbed both of Stephen's hips and dug his fingers in deeply, and the attack was on.
"Okay, big guy. Let's go. This is your party. Get to work!"
Stephen slithered to the edge of the bed, hoping to escape the scratchy teasing Joey was laying on him. He miscalculated the distance and when he went to throw his legs off the bed, he found that the rest of his body wasn't on the bed either. So instead of up and out, Stephen found himself going down, crashing onto the floor. Still half-groggy, his bearings were completely gone, Stephen was what they literally call "flat on his ass." Seconds later, he found out which end was up, because a naked, flying body came from the middle of the bed, screaming, "Banzai!"
Stephen involuntarily curled into a fetal position, protecting, of course, the family jewels. But guess where Joey was headed. He landed on the carpet next to Stephen's body. Joey buried his face right in the middle of Stephen's crotch. He stuck his tongue out and attacked Stephen's dick and balls like a frog zapping a fly. The tongue struck quickly here and there, then retreated into Joey's mouth. Stephen quickly relaxed when he discovered it was a friend, not a foe, who was laying siege to his body. The legs stretched out and spread, and the hands quickly left the jewels vulnerable to any and all welcome attacks. Stephen tried to spin so that he could share the fun. "Come here," Stephen said reaching for Joey's lengthening rod. He wanted it bad. When they were in bed they only cared about the other one's pleasure. Joey's youthful enthusiasm for his new love caused the boys to occasionally change love making into a friendly competition. More than once in their bedroom, the words "bet I can make you cum first" were said.
"Dammit, Stephen, we don't have time today. How am I going to get you off if you don't relax and concentrate on me sucking you."
"All right. All right. But I get to suck you off in the new house first."
A truce was made and peace came to the Andrews-Edwards household. It took a few minutes for the old man to get it going, but Stephen could never resist Joey when he got on a roll. When he was done, he kissed his young man, then glanced back to the clock above his head. "The movers will be here in 15 minutes. Start packing your bags."
Joey grabbed one more kiss, pushing up to his knees to get up, in the process running his hand back and forth over Stephen's hardening nipple. "Not fair," Stephen groaned. "You're trying to make me pack all day with a hard on. I'll get you for this."
They scrambled to their feet, threw on some grungy clothes, and started throwing their clothes into the bags. After Joey finished his clothes, he went out to the living room and gently took the two photographs sitting on the shelf. He came back to the bedroom and placed them in the same box that had carried his things when he had come to live with Stephen.
The doorbell rang. "That must be the movers," said Stephen, "Joey, would you let them in."
"Sure thing, Dad."
Joey walked into the living room again, to the front door, expecting two or three really muscular big guys to just walk in and start grabbing the sofa, the table, the heavy stuff. When he opened the door, he was bowled over by two little demons flying through the open screen.
"Joey, Joey, hey, dad says we're going to get to help you move." The two boys grabbed Joey, one on each leg, and he ruffled their hair. He looked up to see their dad standing in the doorway, a smirk of expectation on his face, waiting to see what Joey would think of his moving help.
"Greg? Glenn? Jeff? Where are the movers?" Joey looked past Jeff, expecting more help than one guy and a pair of seven-year-olds.
"Like the boys said, we're here! The U-haul is parked out in the lot. I just picked it up on the way over."
Joey turned to head to the bedroom, wanting an explanation for all this when the boys sat down on his feet, wanting rides where Joey had to basically drag 100 pounds of boys around the house stiff-legged.
"Stephen, Jeff and the boys are here," Joey called as Stephen was coming out of the bedroom.
"Hey, bud. Let's get started. No beer for anyone until everything is back home."
When the boys finally gave up their rides and went to hug their Uncle Stephen, Joey turned to Jeff. "How long have you know about this? I saw your face last night. You looked as shocked as Donna and Katie."
Jeff grinned. "Stephen told me about three weeks ago. He had made up his mind. Although I tried to convince him that he was crazy, he said that nothing was going to stop him. He was convinced it felt right. I tried, Joey, but nothing I said got through to him. He made me swear not to tell anyone, and told me to act surprised when you got your present. Donna's look last night was real. She thinks I've taking the boys out for a day to give her a break. I'll call later and she can meet us for pizza for dinner.
My treat."
Joey was dumbfounded. Stephen would actually keep a secret from him. He thought that they were partners and that major choices would be discussed. A look of hurt was evident on his face. Jeff stepped over and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. He turned them to make sure that what he had to say to Joey could not be heard by Stephen.
"I've talked to Stephen about this move, about his sanity, and I asked him if he had thought about you, too. He once admitted that it made him feel rotten not telling you, questioning whether to tell you he was going to do it. But, Joey, nothing you could have said was going to change his mind. He said something I didn't understand. He said you would be okay with this because he said this was a `dad decision'."
Joey nodded. He knew. It was alright.
The five went to work, the boys given the tasks of packing soft goods, the leftover canned foods in the kitchen, and anything else nonbreakable that would keep them busy.
The men worked on the larger pieces of furniture and gave Joey the task of packing the kitchen. Stephen had moved before, and he remembered that he hated all those plates and glasses, pots and pans. Experience has its advantages.
This was a one bedroom apartment. It didn't take long. By eleven, most of the stuff was packed and everyone was working in and around the kitchen. All that was left was the bedroom furniture and the bed. But Stephen wasn't through with his surprises.
When the kitchen was done, Joey said, "I guess that leaves the bedroom."
"Nope. We're done."
"Now what do you mean?" asked Joey. Today, nothing Stephen would say would be a surprise.
"The bedroom furniture is being left behind. A homeless shelter is coming to get it Monday."
"Okay, so we are going to sleep???....." Joey raised his eyebrows at Stephen. Who knows what Stephen was going to say. On the floor, in the bathtub, in the backyard, hanging from the chandelier.
"You'll see when we get there."
They loaded the U-Haul, Jeff in the van, Stephen and Joey in their cars. The caravan proceeded across town. They stopped for burgers and shakes on the way. Each one of the twins was in a separate car. When they left the burger place, Jeff had told them that they were going to play a trick, to keep asking, "Are we there yet?" every few blocks. He knew how to get under Stephen's skin. He would soon find out that Stephen and Joey loved each other because they were so alike.
Stephen's car led the parade to the new house. As soon as they reached it and all the drivers got out of their cars, Joey glared at Jeff. Jeff looked back innocently.
"You put them up to this, didn't you?"
Jeff just smiled.
Stephen came storming up. "You put them up to this, didn't you?"
Jeff and Joey broke out in fits of laughter. Stephen just fumed until the laughter was contagious.
Just before all of the van had been unloaded into the house, a furniture store delivery truck pulled up. Two men climbed out, the driver holding a clip board in his hands. He approached the three men taking a break in the front. "I'm looking for Stephen Andrews."
"That's me."
"Where do you want it all?"
Joey caught the word. "All?" Another look at Stephen, another shake of his head. He remembered back to the parking lot of the Ocean Manor Motel. A perplexed young man had just taken the biggest leap of faith in his life. He hoped for something good, but expected the usual crash and burn. Then he landed in the soft voice and caressing arms of the first man who ever cared about him. "If you need a car, I'll buy you a car." Later, he was told, "If you need a house, I'll buy you a house." Those are always empty promises, never kept. Now he stood in the front yard of a two-bedroom house, leaning on his car, watching delivery men bring out a new bed, dressers, an armoire, a new desk, no, two new desks, a new sofa bed, and boxes that appeared to be computers, printers, and monitors. He walked over to Stephen and wrapped his arms around him.
"Thank you, Stephen, you haven't made my dreams come true, you are my dream come true."
Joey kicked back for a while, watching the boys and making sure they stayed out of the movers' way. He watched as the two men worked. They were practiced at what they did, they knew how to handle every piece. Joey studied them, then realized that he was watching the helper more. The guy was blond, tall, and not too bad looking, considering his clothing was drenched in sweat. Joey could see through the t-shirt to the body underneath. The muscles in his back, the pecs standing out like an awning over the flat stomach. This guy did heavy labor all day and his body showed it. It wasn't too long before Joey realized his pulse was up and so was his dick. Then the delivery man jumped out of the truck, carrying a smaller box towards the house. As he passed close to Joey, he turned and winked at him, giving him a quick once-over. Joey turned crimson, looking to see if the boys had noticed, then got his composure. He adjusted his pants, called the boys and took them to the backyard.
That evening, after the furniture and boxes were in the house, and dinner with the Woods had finished, Stephen and Joey returned to their new home. Stephen offered, "My boy, we can either start unpacking boxes, or I can unpack what you have there in your pants. What would you like to do?" Stephen raised his eyebrows quickly several times, trying to let Joey know which way he voted.
Joey turned and walked out the backdoor. Stephen stood in the kitchen, watching him walk, wondering, "What did I say?"
Joey sat under the largest tree in the yard, far away from the house. He felt like the dirt he was sitting in. Stephen waited just a couple of minutes, watching Joey, before going out to his boy. The ache in his heart made him feel as downtrodden as Joey looked.
He walked up slowly, stepping intentionally on branches to make sure that Joey would not be startled by his approach. He sat down against the tree, sitting about a third of the way around the tree from Joey.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
The silence lasted a couple minutes. The cool evening suddenly felt humid and uncomfortable. Joey could have been sitting in a sauna, the heat of confession feeling oppressive in his mind. "Have you ever felt like you betrayed someone?"
"Tell me? Who do you feel you betrayed?"
Joey sucked in, then released the breath that kept him from falling apart. "You."
"Why? What did you do to me?"
"Stephen, I love you. You are all I ever want. But today, someone else caught my eye. I found myself staring at them. And it excited me."
Stephen leaned in. He asked seriously, afraid of the horrible things Joey might admit to in his next words, "And what did you do about it?"
"I watched him. And I continued watching even after I realized what it was doing to me. I couldn't tear my eyes away. I thought about how my hands would feel running over those tight muscles. I dreamed of shredding his clothes from his body, leaving him naked for me to look at. I closed my eyes and smelled the salty sweat rising from his body. And it wasn't you." He was upset, burying his face in his hands, and falling silent again.
Stephen sat for a minute, thinking. What made this so terrible? Everyone, man or woman, gay or straight, checks out the merchandise. Why would Joey be bothered? "Don't tell me that you never in your life have looked at someone else, checking them out?"
"Sure. I did my share of checking out the guys at school. I was curious. But when I looked at them, I was just looking. I didn't care about them, and they didn't care about me. But I have you now. I don't need to look anywhere else."
Stephen pushed away from the tree onto his hands and knees and crawled over to where Joey sat. Gently he nuzzled his ear and kissed his cheek. "Do you think I would hate you for thinking about things that feel good to you? I want everything good for you. Yes, I would be disappointed if you were to follow through on your thoughts, but if it weren't for them you might not have ever found that you loved me. And that would have been too much for me to take. If you need to hear it, I forgive you. But you don't need forgiveness from me. You need to forgive yourself."
He stood up. Towering over his love, he offered his hand to the boy on the ground. Joey reached up and Stephen pulled him up and into his arms. He kissed him once again, this time deeply, his tongue searching through Joey's mouth for the sweetness that had to be hiding there in one so tender.
"Let's go inside."
Chapter 33
Stephen walked in the house from work. He had stopped on his way home as the new renters at the apartment complex had told him he had some mail. The forwarding order didn't always work at the post office, and the renters were nice enough to keep everything which Stephen picked up once a week. Tonight was the night to get the mail, and between the things from the old place and the letters in the box at home, there was plenty of things for Stephen to go through.
He walked to the dining area, throwing the mail on the table. Joey was already in the kitchen putting dinner together. He walked over to Stephen, hugged him, then kissed him gently. He looked quickly through the pile and saw nothing of note. Stephen then flipped through the letters, the junk mail, and settled on a small white envelope with a handwritten address sent to "Mr. Stephen Andrews." This piqued his curiosity. He turned over the envelope to look at the address on the back. The address was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't think of it immediately. He snapped his fingers, and said, "Danny and Claire,"
"Who are they?"
"Susan's brother and sister-in-law. What could they be sending?" He opened it to pull out a smaller envelope which said, "Stephen and guest." Inside this envelope was an engraved invitation which read,
Mr. and Mrs. Terrence Taylor
announce the marriage of their daughter
Dawn Marie
to Mr. Adam Parker
"Hmm, Susan's nephew Adam is getting married." A handwritten note fell out of the invitation. Stephen opened it and read it.
Stephen,
Katie says that you're doing fine. We are sorry that we haven't kept in touch. Please come. We would love to see you.
Danny and Claire
Stephen rolled his eyes back, looking to the ceiling. He took a deep breath, drawing the attention of Joey, who came back to him at the table. "What do they want?"
"We are invited to the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, and to the wedding and reception."
"We?"
"It says Stephen and guest. You know of anyone else I would rather be with?"
Joey hugged Stephen. "You knew this time would come. We don't have to say anything, Katie won't say anything. Don't let this get to you. We will get through this."
Stephen kissed Joey on the cheek, then grabbed him around the waist, giving him a passionate kiss, filling their mouths with each other's tongue. "That's why I love you. You are the eternal optimist."
"When is it going to be?"
"The third Saturday of next month. It's in town, so we don't have far to go. The church is on the other side of town."
"I'll get a gift for them if you want, or we can get them a gift certificate from somewhere."
"Let's keep it simple. A gift certificate."
A couple of days later, the phone rang. Stephen answered, "Hello."
"Stephen, it's Claire. I'm calling to see if you got the invitation." Joey looked expectantly at Stephen.
"Yes, I'd love to come."
"Good, do you have someone that you want to bring with you to the dinner."
"Yes I do, a friend, my roommate. He and I will be there."
Claire's voice reflected her surprise and disappointment. "Oh, okay, I just thought that you might want to bring a date. Are you dating yet?"
"Dating?" Stephen asked, wondering how to keep it in. Joey bit down on the pencil he was using to do his homework. Anything to keep from laughing. "No, I'm not dating."
"Oh, all right. We'll see you there. Bye."
Stephen hung up the phone. Joey dropped the pencil from his mouth. "You're not dating? What a surprise! I guess since you don't have to leave your bedroom to get some, you haven't consider dating an option."
"Hey, remember, you said you didn't put out on dates. How else can I get any?"
This made Joey get up from his work and walk over to Stephen. He put his arms around him. "If you promise not to date me, I'll put out for you anytime you want. Like, um, now?"
Stephen led Joey to the bedroom, and rather quickly pulled his clothes off. Joey kneeled down in front of Stephen and unzipped his fly. He reached in and gently began sucking on Stephen's growing erection. Soon Stephen had pulled his clothes off too, and they fell into the bed. Just as they lay down, the phone rang. Doesn't it always?
`Yeah, hello... Katie!... Yeah, we got one... Yeah we're going...Okay, talk to you later."
"Now, back to where we were."
Chapter 34
The Friday evening of the rehearsal dinner had arrived. Stephen had taken Joey out the previous weekend and bought him a new suit. With his stunning good looks, he was drawing the attention of every young lady in the family. Joey was polite but reserved. They wondered if it would be obvious to the family. At least they knew that Katie and Tim would be there. It helps to have moral support.
When they arrived, the were met by Danny and Claire and by Dawn's parents. They exchanged hugs and handshakes, then the two went off in search of family members Stephen hadn't seen it two years.
Stephen walked across the room with Joey in tow towards a frail-looking elderly lady sitting in a very large cushioned chair. She could not have weighed more than 90 pounds and the overly plush chair practically swallowed her up. She was holding court with several of the cousins, who she seemed to be lecturing. Stephen turned to Joey and whispered, "Get ready for a shock."
He walked up to her, speaking in a slightly louder than normal voice, "Aunt Lily, how long has it been?" Stephen bent over to give her a kiss.
The lady nodded her welcome to him, then lit into him. "I'm old, not dead. You don't have to scream for me to hear you." She peered at Stephen over the top of her glasses. "Besides, I just got a new hearing aid that works better that all those other crappy ones I've had. It's good to see you Stephen."
Stephen placed his hand in the middle of Joey's back, encouraging him to move forward. "Lily, this is my friend Joey. Joey, this is Aunt Lily. She is Susan's aunt."
Joey bowed down so that they more or less were on the same level. "It's very nice to meet you."
Aunt Lily took her cane that lay diagonally across her lap and swatted Joey lightly on the calf twice. "I have seen many a handsome young man, but you are the best looking thing I've seen in this family in years." Joey naturally blushed. And he took a step back from Lily. "The girls will be lining up to meet you. But beware of Katie, she is a demon."
This made Joey laugh. "I know. Katie was the first member of the family I met." He leaned a little closer to her. "She doesn't scare me. And I see where she gets it from."
"I think I scared you the first time we met," Katie laughed as she walked up to the group with Tim. "Aunt Lily, you should have seen him run away. A jet couldn't have caught him."
"I'm not surprised, my dear. You make every man nervous." Her eyes sparkled as she looked back at Stephen. "I wouldn't be surprised if she was the number one reason so many men are gay."
Have you even seen a ghost? Well, Stephen turned paler than that. Aunt Lily tapped him with the cane, signaling for him to lean in. "Only one time have I've seen the look on your face when you walked in. I still remember at the family picnic when Danny hit Scott with a ball when he was 3 or 4 years old. You were so protective of him that we couldn't even see if he was alright. All he had was a bump on his head. But you didn't let him out of your sight the rest of that day. I can see the same look in you now. You are just as protective of that young man. It's him, isn't it?"
Stephen smiled. What could he say? "You are an amazing woman."
"I gave birth to and raised nine kids, watching them grow up. I've had my share of fun. And I could tell you secrets about everyone in this family. I don't pass judgement, that's God's job. I just know that if you hadn't claimed him, I might even try myself. That is one handsome man. I may be old, but I still have my imagination. Don't lose this one."
"I won't." Stephen kissed Lily one more time. "I'll see you later."
Stephen and Joey sat at a table with Katie and Tim. Katie drilled Stephen for the details of what Lily had said. And just as she had predicted, all the young ladies at the party came up to say hello to Stephen long enough to be introduced to Joey, at which point Stephen became invisible. The dinner went off smoothly for our heroes, and if anyone in the family had their suspicions, they kept them quiet.
The next day was the wedding. Dawn was gorgeous in her wedding gown, and Adam was a handsome, but nervous young man. Of course, Stephen, Joey, Katie, and Tim sat together towards the back of the church. More noise came out of that pew that in the rest of the church. Giggling, whispering, and just commotion. But as the ceremonies came to the vows, they all became very quiet. Katie leaned her head on Tim, he wrapped his arm around her. Stephen and Joey scooted closer together, and they rested their hands on the bench so that they could touch without anyone seeing. The four were quiet for the rest of the service.
Soon the ceremony was over, and it was on to the reception. Once again, if anyone wanted to challenge the relationship between Stephen and Joey, nothing was said. All the girls approached Joey to dance, and he graciously fulfilled each girl's fantasy. And fantasy was all it would be. If it was a slow dance, Joey would make sure to look to Stephen, who was visiting with Susan's sister and brothers. He tried to let Stephen know that he was thinking of him, wishing that it was Stephen who was holding him in his arms. Stephen didn't need Joey's transmissions to see what he was thinking.
They both loved each other enough to know, and weren't worried if anyone noticed.
Then it was time for the traditional reception activities. First came the cutting of the cake. Then the throwing of the bouquet. All of the girls gathered in the center of the ballroom, waiting for Dawn to toss it. When she did, a quick move to the front and a stretch of the arms that would have made Gumby proud resulted in the flowers winding up in the arms of Katie. Everyone in the family howled their laughter. Katie was their darling, and besides, this was the third bouquet she had caught. A voice from the corner of the room bellowed, "One of these days, Katie, one of these days!" Another voice yelled out, "Tim, you the man!"
Then it was the garter. They called for all the single men. The only guys that came out were a couple of Dawn's cousins and a couple of boys from Susan's family who couldn't have been older than 11 or 12. Then someone called out, "Hey, there's some single guys." They pointed across to where Stephen, Joey and Tim all sat with Katie. The hoots and hollers for Stephen drowned out anything that the MC was saying with his microphone. The three knew there was no getting out of this. So they joined the others in the center, waiting for Adam to remove the garter from Dawn's thigh.
Adam stood with his back to the men. The master of ceremonies begged the crowd, "All everyone, on the count of three...1...2..3!" Adam threw the garter over his shoulder. All the hands reached for it. But when they parted, two hands firmly grasped a half of the garter each. The man with the mike announced to everyone, "Well, it looks like we have a tie. I've never seen that before." When the shouting died down, it was Aunt Lily who succinctly said it for all the family members around her to hear.
"Well, I guess Joey and Stephen will be the next two to get married."