Second Chance, Chapter 60
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This story contains descriptions of love and sexual fulfillment between people of the same gender. If possessing or reading this kind of material is illegal where you live, please leave this site at once.
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Chapter 60
Tuesday morning found everyone back at the old grind. Ben had an important case coming up which would require hours of preparation plus he needed to fill out paper work for the legal name changes that several people in the household were going to make. Eric and Josh were taking the same name, Larson-Brady, as their fathers were. Rob had started it when he became part of the family. Blake wanted to take Rob's surname and rid himself of his father's name. Besides, he felt that Ault-Larson-Brady would be entirely too unwieldy and sound like a law firm.
Blake went to the club to help serve the lunch crowd. Scott was on the computer checking stock and bond prices and making recommendations to his clients. Josh and Eric were off to the club to work on the grounds. And Rob was headed for the mission with Robbie.
Old Sam was delighted to hold Robbie during part of his lunch time. He was even more thrilled when Robbie called him "gam-pa" and giggled. Sam felt like he had a family again. But in the midst of his time with Robbie, he got a kind of misty, far-away look. Rob noticed and figured he was thinking of his own children and grandchildren.
Rob engaged Sam in a bit of conversation about his old life and his family. He made it seem like small-talk, but he was mentally storing away information of the names and ages of Sam's children. He would write them all down as soon as he left so he could search the Web to see if he could find any of Sam's family.
His father, Samuel Bradbury, SR., had been a prominent businessman in Minneapolis and known for his generosity – especially toward broken families. That came out when they were talking about raising money among the country club set. From the little that Sam was willing to say about him, it seemed that philandering was as strong a characteristic as philanthropy. Rob got the feeling that Sam had hated his father for his hypocrisy – supporting deserted women while cheating on his wife.
Their conversation was interrupted when a tired, but smiling, threesome sat down to join them.
Aaron and his boyfriend, Sam, had worked the noon serving line as they did nearly every day. Casey was often with them as he was today. Since the cook depended on them, they always found substitutes when they had to be gone. This guaranteed them a special place in the hearts of the regular staff. Everyone wondered how the program would function smoothly without them once school started again.
Rob subtly steered the conversation back to Sam's family, but didn't learn much more. He would try again in a couple of days.
"Am I an embarrassment to you? Are you ashamed to be seen with me?" Reese asked of Cameron as the two were unwinding in the living room after work.
"Why would you even ask a thing like that?" Cam exclaimed.
"Maybe because of my dark skin..."
"Damn! I love your coloring! I'm always proud to have my bronze brave next to me. I'm sure I walk taller when I walk with you. I'm delighted that you're willing to hang around with a light-skinned, blue-eyed blond."
"You're my golden-haired Viking warrior." Reese countered. "I fantasize that you've invaded my native land and plan to carry me off in your boat to have your way with me. I'm helpless in your strong arms. I submit to your every desire..."
"We could play out that fantasy sometime if you like. It sounds really hot!" Cam grinned.
"Well then, if you're not ashamed of me and we're good for each other, why haven't you taken me home to meet your family?"
"That's my problem, not yours."
"Your problems ARE my problems if we're going to make a life together. I thought you said you were out to your family and that they'd love me."
"I am and they will, but my mother told me awhile back she was tired of seeing a parade of boyfriends and the next one I brought home had better be THE one."
"I thought that's what I was. I'm not going to cheat on you. Are you having second thoughts?"
"No, I trust you and I feel the same about you. I just worry about "US" in the long haul. Does that make any sense?"
"Not to me! I've finally found the man I want to settle down with and now he's unsure."
"I'm not unsure, just scared I guess. I want us to last. I'm so afraid of losing you."
"Okay. I guess I understand. You probably don't trust me completely and that's to be expected given my reputation. But I have changed. Do you think it would be good for us to see a relationship counselor? I know it might seem like a silly way to spend our hard earned money, but it would be worth it to me if it means staying together. Besides, I'll bet there might be some free counseling at the university."
"I think it's a great idea. I'll call around tomorrow. Now, let me get into my Viking mode. You can pretend the bed is my ship and I'm gonna carry you off and have my way with you," Cam giggled as he scooped a surprised Reese off the loveseat and carried him toward the bedroom.
Scott was going to ignore the phone and let the answering machine take the call until he recognized the caller and picked up the receiver.
"Hello Sophia. How are things going for you?"
"I'm doing well. I understand all the newlyweds are fine too. I love the pictures, by the way. That's why I called, about the wedding that is. I want to host a lunch reception for all three pairs of spouses. I think it might be better to do it at your country club rather than mine. When I mentioned the date I'd like to do it in mid September, it somehow got back to Roberto. He beat me to the punch and reserved it that Saturday for a company party. He NEVER has a party that time of year! I'm sure he'll put up some kind of fuss and do his best to block whatever date I settle on. He's a jerk, but he still has considerable influence with some people there. Anyway, I'd like to do this for you and your sons as well as for Rob and Blake. I'll blackmail Roberto into paying for it anyway."
"Whoa, that's very kind of you. Do you really want to spend your `leverage' with Roberto on that?"
"Don't worry; I have plenty of ammunition to use on Roberto. The divorce is almost final anyway and thanks to the lawyer Ben recommended, I'm getting an excellent settlement. I have an ace in the hole because Gloria found out his secretary is pregnant and her parents are pushing for a wedding date as soon as possible. Imagine the old goat starting another family! I can't figure out what an attractive young woman sees in him."
"Probably she sees dollar signs." Scott laughed. "His company is doing better than most despite the economy.
"I suspect you're right, but there will be a lot fewer of those dollars given the fact that he'll have to pay for the education of the children he's already fathered. Rob and Nick are covered out of my money, but unless the girls choose the convent and Nicky and Mickey still want to be firefighters, there will be many thousands spent on tuition.
Anyway, please give my offer some thought. Discuss it with Ben and the boys and get back to me at your convenience."
"Thanks Sophia. I will."
Dinner conversation around the table at the Larson-Brady household that evening was almost exclusively about the reception. The younger family members felt it would be a good way to get their marital status out in the open among their peers early in the fall term. Even though the luncheon would be held a couple of weeks after school started, the invitations would have to go out almost immediately. Then the rumor mill would start grinding.
"We can invite the guys from the swim team and the cheerleaders too." Josh said. "We're pretty close to most of them."
"I think we should include Coach David, Ms. Burgoyne, Mr. Shackford, and Mr. Gilbert." Eric proposed. "Oh, and let's not forget Norm."
"Each adult should be able to bring a guest too, in case they're married or in a relationship, or whatever," Josh added.
"Whoa, we should either keep the guest list short or offer to pay part of the expenses," Ben cautioned. "I'm not sure how we'll convince Sophia to let us kick in."
"If she's getting my sperm-donor to foot the bill, I say we invite the world!" Rob exclaimed. "I'm going to include Ms. Hovland who teaches the parenting class and probably Corray. I think I might invite Dr. Parsons too, but not any of the associate principals. And, of course I'll want Sam Bradbury."
Ben and Scott just shook their heads. They decided to keep their list really short. Of course they would invite Wade, Roger, Chuck, and Rob Crouser. Ben would extend an invitation to his staff, but Scott didn't really have anyone outside of their mutual friends to invite other than their minister, Dr. Mann.
Later in the evening, Scott called Sophia back to give her an idea of the size of the gathering. She was delighted. She advised him to come up with more names because they might as well get their money's worth out of the event. She'd have to guarantee a minimum number of guests to reserve the whole dining room anyway.
Formal invitations would go out as quickly as the boys could get them printed. However, most of their high school friends would be contacted by email or text message in the mean time.
Rob spent the next couple of days, on and off, piecing together the bits of information he's gotten out of Sam Bradbury and making a list of possible relatives to look up on the White Pages web-site. After meeting with little success, he finally struck pay dirt.
"Hi, I'd like to speak with Samuel Bradbury III," Rob said when his call was answered."
"That's me, but I go by "Mike."
"Okay. My name is Rob Larson-Brady and I'm trying to find the children of Samuel Bradbury, Jr. I'm assuming that you might be related to him."
"He's my father. Is he dead or in trouble?"
"Neither! He's alive, well, and working." Rob related.
"I can't believe he's not drunk in some gutter," Mike said unemotionally. "I'd have to see it to believe it."
"I'd love to have that happen. I'll be happy to set up a meeting. He's come a long way in the past eight months. He loves my infant son like a grandson. I'm sure he'd be thrilled to see his own grandchildren."
"I'm not sure I want to expose them to him. Is there some way we could arrange for me to see him without his knowing about it?
"He's been sober for the better part of a year, if that's what you're worried about. I trust him with my son; I'm sure he'll be fine with yours.
I think I can come up with a way for you to assess the situation before you talk to him. Let me work on it and get back to you. You have other siblings don't you?"
"I have a brother, Gary, in Wisconsin. I don't think he'd make the trip until he could be guaranteed that our father is sober."
"Okay. Thanks very much for speaking to me. I know you won't regret this. I'll call as soon as I can set something up."
"Okay, I'll wait for your call."
"Goodbye Mike and thanks."
On Friday, Rob asked Sam if he would like to go to a park with Robbie and him on Sunday afternoon. Blake had to work and Rob said he'd like company when he took Robbie out. It didn't occur to Sam that Rob had lots of guys his age who could accompany him. He was too excited over the prospect of doing something which involved getting away from his small room at the mission.
It wasn't as if Sam didn't appreciate the shelter he had. It was just that being cooped up in the inner city in August wasn't a thrill, but being at a park in a nice neighborhood would be.
Sam had never seen Rob's car and was really surprised at the luxurious vehicle that was to transport him to the old historic part of St. Paul. He felt almost unworthy of sitting in it, but noticed Rob acted as if it were no more impressive than an old Chevy!
The neighborhood they drove through became more and more familiar. As they neared the park, Sam gasped.
"That's the home my parents owned. I wonder what it looks like today."
"Well, you can have a look if you like. It's where I live with my husband and my dads."
"You live there?"
"Yeah, ever since Josh talked to his dad about taking me in."
"Yes! I'd love to see it if it's not an imposition. I had heard that this part of town had gone downhill, but it looks as good as or better than it did when we lived here."
"I'll make a call while we're at the park to let everyone know we're coming."
The park turned out to be different from when Sam had played there as a boy. Gone were the old wooden swings and teeter-totters. In their place were plastic and fiberglass creations that didn't put splinters in a kid's butt.
Rob sat in one of the swings with Robbie on his lap. He didn't swing too high in the beginning. Robbie seemed to be enjoying it, so Rob went a bit higher. Still, his son wasn't afraid. He giggled and waved his arms.
Sam was also enjoying it. Hearing Robbie's gurgles made his mind go back to his own children. Suddenly, Sam stopped and looked as if he'd seen a ghost.
"What's wrong?" Rob asked.
"I just saw a boy that I thought was my son – 25 or 30 years ago. I wonder if my mind's gone wacky from all the drinking I used to do. It seemed so real."
The boy in question walked their way bringing a younger boy with him. He stopped a few feet from Sam and spoke.
"Grandpa, is that you?"
"Yup, that's your grandpa," Mike said from behind Sam.
Sam turned toward Mike's voice with big tears suddenly streaming down his face. Mike's eyes were wet too as they embraced. They hugged for a couple of minutes before Sam turned back toward his grandsons.
"I don't know if you remember me. I'm Rory," the fourteen-year-old said, extending his hand.
"Of course I remember you. You look just like your father did when he was about your age," Sam assured him.
Sam was impressed by Rory's manners and firm handshake.
"This is my brother, Greg. He's kind of shy until you get to know him and then he's a real pain in the butt," Rory grinned.
"Hi Grandpa," Greg said, ignoring his older brother's comment. "I was pretty small the last time you saw me."
"But I do remember you too. You had just lost both of your front baby teeth. You swallowed one of them and you were upset because you thought the tooth fairy wouldn't leave you any money for it."
"Wow! How did you remember that?"
"I've spent lots of time thinking about the past and what I've lost. You're both practically young men now. It has been too long.
Mike, how is your mother?"
"She died a year ago in July. I'm sorry. We tried to find you to let you know. Honestly we did. Gary and I went to all the places that you might be, but couldn't locate you. Some men thought you'd gone south and others said you were dead."
"I was nearly dead. I had hitched a ride to Madison, but got beaten up pretty badly and was in the hospital about that time. When I got out, some kind man bought me a bus ticket back to Minneapolis.
How is Julie?"
"She's fine. She's volunteering at the hospital today or she would have come. In fact, she's the one who made me come. I was going to call Rob and cancel..."
"Oh Rob, I've been ignoring you," Sam cried. "You're a saint. Now I know where little Robbie gets his angelic qualities. I know that you're behind this."
"Well, I did make a few calls," Rob admitted. "But it's your son and grandsons who made this day special."
"I wouldn't have happened without you," Mike said. "Thank you so much."
Then Mike turned back to his father again.
"Dad, I want to help you. Perhaps you could stay with us until you get back on your feet since you're sober and all."
"I appreciate the thought, Son, and I would like to visit you often to see my two fine grandsons grow up, but I don't think it would be fair to you for me to be underfoot. I have to prove I can stay sober. I have to make my own way if I'm going to feel good about myself. Can you understand that?"
"Yes, I think I can. But I don't want you to go without the things you need."
"I won't. The people at the mission are helping me. I need to become self-sufficient and I need to earn your respect, if that's possible after everything.
If you really want to help, you might see if Rob has a job for you in his fundraising efforts for the mission. We want to buy the old Morrison Hotel and turn it into affordable apartments for people like me who are getting back on their feet. Rehabilitating the building would really help in rehabilitating a lot of street people like me."
"Rob, let me know how I can help. I'm a partner in a public relations firm and I could handle the publicity for whatever events you're planning. It wouldn't cost me anything because I can write it off my taxes."
"That would be great, Mike. We don't really have that covered yet. I'm hoping to do a TV spot before our costume ball in October. I'll be in touch."
An hour and a half had passed quickly. Robbie was getting fussy because it was past his nap-time, so the gathering ended with several hugs and handshakes.
Mike and his sons headed home. Rob drove Sam to the house that he and Robbie called home and where Sam had spent part of his childhood.
Ben was in the kitchen working on dinner preparations when the trio came in the back door. Rob introduced Sam and then excused himself to put Robbie in his crib. Ben made small-talk until Rob returned a few minutes later.
"Sam tells me the outside of the house looks a lot like it did when he lived here. I want to take the tour with you to get his opinion on the restorations we've done. Let me slip this into the oven and then we can begin."
Sam was impressed with everything that had been done to the house inside as well. He couldn't get over the fact that the speaking tube in the dining room was still operable when Rob demonstrated.
"We have company," Rob said to Josh who has answered. "Make sure you're dressed before we get up there." He teased.
The only thing Sam noticed as a major change was the conversion of the original nursery into a master bath. He could tell it had been tastefully done so everything blended.
In the studio, he met Eric and Josh. They both had on shorts but were shirtless. Rob gave them a cheeky grin, suspecting that one or both had been naked a few minutes earlier. From the fresh sketches of Eric, it was evident he'd been posing.
Sam went over toward the closet in what had been the maid's bedroom. He looked at it curiously.
"It looks like no one's ever remodeled here at all. May I look in there?"
"Of course," Ben said.
"It has the original paneling. Please let me try something."
Sam pushed on the panel to the right and it slid into the wall rather like a pocket door. On the other side was a tiny hidden room under the sloping roof. There, covered with dust, were several children's toys from the 1950's.
"I'm not sure why the builder put a secret place in the maid's room, but my brother and I were up here horsing around after one of the maids quit and before we hired a replacement. We weren't supposed to be in here and we hid in the closet when we heard our father coming up the stairs. In our haste, we bumped into the wall and discovered the room. Father didn't find us and we had a new secret hiding place.
I was playing in here one rainy day when Father showed the place to a prospective maid. He, uh, interviewed her on the bed. I peeked out to see what the noise was all about and I learned things that I shouldn't have known at such a tender age. She got the job."
"Wow, those toys are collectibles," Josh said, changing the subject. "We should give them to you for your grandsons."
"No, they're yours. You own the place. Besides, I have several grandchildren and I wouldn't know how to divide them up fairly. Perhaps you could give one to Robbie when he's old enough to play with it. I'd like that."
"Consider it done!" Ben said.
"I should be getting back to my room," Sam mentioned. "It's been a really exciting day."
"Please stay and have dinner with us," Ben urged. "When Rob called about showing you the house, I decided to prepare for 12."
"We won't have that many, Dad!" Josh exclaimed.
"Yeah, but you guys can eat like seven or eight all by yourselves!"
Sam wasn't quite sure about the relationship of the guys in the all-male household. It wasn't that he was anti-gay; he was just curious. He knew Rob and Blake were a married couple and assumed that Ben and Scott might be.
After dinner, his questions were answered when Rob presented him with a formal invitation to the reception luncheon. The names of the grooms were all listed along with a simple note that said: "The pleasure of your company is the only gift we desire."
Sam smiled and assured all of them that he would be honored to attend.
Soon after, Rob and Blake drove him home.
Author's notes: Thanks to those who emailed recently: Rutabaga, Jim C, Jim We, Paul R, Bertrand, Caleb H, Brandon M, Mark H, Tom A, Patrick C, and Karserus.
It looks like DADT may get changed yet. It's interesting how certain congressmen are now against changing it because they fear they'll get defeated in the next election. Hope for the best!
David