Subic Surrender

DISCLAIMER: I don't fucking care how old you are. If you like the idea of two hunky young Marine's getting it on with each other then read on!

By the way, no Marine's were injured or killed in the writing of this story but that's not true of what's going on in the Middle East or other foreign places. I would ask your prayers, good thoughts or whatever for all the Marines serving our country (that's us guys!) around the world.

This is dedicated to every one who has ever served in the USMC - Semper Fi!

SUBIC SURRENDER - Part 28 MICHAEL'S STORY - Part 13 by RimPig 2003

I picked up the phone and said 'hello'. Mark Coventry's voice answered from the other end.

"Hello, Michael. How are things going?" he asked.

"Fine." I said. Looking at a clock I figured out what time it was in LA. "It's only 7:00 a.m. there. Why are you calling so early? Is something wrong?"

"No! No, quite the contrary. Everything is better than I expected it to be! I just talked to Barry. He says he can have his report written today. We're going to need you all back here tomorrow for the court date!" Mark said.

"Tomorrow! You're kidding! You said it would be at least three weeks!" I exclaimed.

"I know but that's before I ran into the chief judge of the Juvenile Court last night at a dinner party. He asked me if I had any interesting adoptions lately and I told him about yours. He told me he didn't see any reason to wait if the report from Paul was a good one. He's scheduled the hearing for tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m." Mark said.

"Oh, my God! You mean Brian could be ours tomorrow?!" I practically screamed.

"That exactly what I mean. With the report Paul tells me he's going to write, there should be no problems whatever. I just checked on my computer, there's a red-eye that gets into LA at 6:00 a.m. our time. There were no seats in coach so I've booked you all into First Class. Grab a pen and I'll give you the numbers for the e-tickets. That's all you'll need at the airport." Mark said.

I quickly went and got a pen and wrote down the numbers Mark gave me. I assured him we would be there and then went to tell Matt and my Dads the good news.

"Tomorrow! Oh, my God! That's wonderful!" Matt said, throwing his arms around me and kissing me.

Brian, knowing something good was up, immediately climbed down from Mike's lap and came over and raised his arms to us to be picked up. I picked him up in my arms and both Matt and I kissed an hugged him. I looked over at Mike and Rick and they were beaming at the scene in front of them. I smiled at Mike.

"Now you know what it looked like, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah. My thoughts exactly, son. Now I know what it looked like all those years ago and you know exactly how it feels." he grinned.

"Oh, Michael! Matt! This is wonderful! All of us were so scared that something would go wrong!" Rick admitted.

"We always believed that God had a plan and we think that this is it." Matt said smiling.

"Well, okay then, we need to go shopping! Right now!" Rick said.

"Shopping? What for?" I asked.

"Because neither of you has a decent suit and you are NOT going into a courtroom dressed in a t- shirt and blue jeans! You have to show them that you are the responsible, loving parents that we know you are!" Rick said.

I looked at Matt and we both got sheepish grins on our faces.

"Yeah. I guess you're right. I probably wouldn't do for us to show up the way we usually dress." Matt said.

"And, while we're at it, we need to get some clothes for Brian to wear as well." Rick said.

So after everybody went and got dressed, it was off to the Galleria Mall and Dillard's. We were able to find two beautiful Hugo Boss suits for Matt and I, along with dress shirts and ties. We also stopped in the shoe department and bought dress shoes to go with them, for us and for Brian. Then it was over to the boys department where we found the most adorable suit for him with a checkered vest. We got him a small white dress shirt and his own 'clip-on' tie. He looked so cute and yet very well-dressed for a court appearance.

Of course, Grandma and Grandpa as well as Matt's Dad's were waiting for us when we got home. They were equally excited about the news. We all decided to go out to dinner that night to celebrate as a family. It was later, when everybody left except Mike and Rick that I was able to pull Rick aside.

"Ahh...I don't exactly know how to ask this...but...ahh..." I fumbled.

"Would Rick and I watch Brian for a while so that you and Matt can have some time alone together?" he grinned at me.

I blushed deep red, I know I did because I could feel the heat from my face.

"Yeah." I said quietly.

Mike wrapped his arms around me and hugged me.

"It was the first thing that your Grandma and Grandpa did for Rick and me when we got home from New York with you. And we'd been with you for three days by that point!" he grinned. "I understand completely."

"Thanks." I said sincerely, giving him a hug.

Mike walked back into the kitchen where Rick, Matt and Brian were sitting.

"Brian." Mike said and our son looked up at one of his grandfathers. "How would you like to go swimming in the pool for a while?"

Brian's eyes lit up and he grinned and nodded about as hard as he could!

"Mike, I don't know if he can swim." I said.

"Well, we're about to find out. And if he can't, then it's high time he got his first lessons in how to, don't you think?" Mike asked.

Mike and Rick had taught me how to swim within two weeks of me becoming their son. With the pool right outside our door, it was self-defense to make sure that Brian knew how.

"Yes, you're right. He needs to learn how as soon as possible." I said.

"Okay then, Tiger! Let's head out to the pool." Mike said.

"What about a suit?" Rick said.

"Suits are for wimps! Since when do any of us wear suits?" Mike asked.

"Okay, okay. I'll get the sun screen, though." Rick said as he got up and came closer to Mike. I could still hear Rick's quiet question to him. "Okay, Mike, what have you got up your sleeve?"

"You remember when we brought Michael home from New York? What's the first thing your parents did for us?" Mike asked Rick.

"Ohh!" Was all he said, but I could hear in his voice that Rick got the message.

I looked over and Matt looked confused however.

"Mike and Rick are going to keep Brian very active for a while...I think you and I could find something to stay active as well?" I said quietly.

At this, Matt's face lit up as well! He got up from the table, grabbed my hand and practically dragged me to the bedroom. We could hear Mike and Rick's laughter following us down the hall. But when we got to our bedroom, Matt suddenly became very pensive.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" he asked me, worry written all over his face.

I started to laugh as I took him in my arms.

"Babe! You already sound like a parent! He'll be fine. Those are the two men who taught me to swim when I was about Brian's age!" I said.

"Oh, I'm not worried about your Dads! I worried about Brian being without us." he said.

"Babe, he'd better get used to it. We still have to go to work everyday. We won't be around him all the time. He'll be fine without us for an hour or so." I said soothingly.

"Yeah. I suppose you're right. I'm just being silly." he said, somewhat ashamed of himself.

"Hey! None of that! You aren't being silly. That's our son. You love him as much as I do and there's nothing silly about that." I said.

Matt laid his head on my chest and I just held him for a while, stroking my fingers through his hair.

"God help me, Michael, I do love him." Matt said softly after a while. "I guess this is all getting to me. The fear that it wouldn't happen and now fear that it's going to. I don't know if I'll make a good parent."

"Of course you will. The fact that you're worried about it means you will be! Bad parents don't worry about it - they just don't care." I said. "Now, let's not let this time that Mike and Rick have given us get away."

He looked up at me and smiled. I kissed him deeply and before I knew it we were naked and on the bed. I was on top of him, kissing him and he was running his hands across my head and shoulders. I pulled back from the kiss to look at him, laying there, his long, golden hair spread out around him.

"God! You are so beautiful!" I murmured.

He smiled.

"Make love to me, Michael. Make long, slow love to me. I need to feel you inside me. I need to feel one with you. Please?" he begged.

"No problem, Babe. No problem at all." I said.

And for the next hour or so, that's what I did. I made long, slow, passionate love to my mate - the man I loved. For a time, it was just the two of us. Somewhere, in the after-glow I realized that it would always come back to this, just the two of us. Oh, Brian would be with us for a while, but then he'll find someone to love as we had and then we would know that same sweet sadness that our Dads did when we left them to begin our lives together. But Matt and I would always have each other, just as Mike had Rick, Grandma had Grandpa and Matt's Dad had his Brian. All our lives intertwined forever. And now our Brian would be part of that. Another 'branch' on the 'family tree'.

We walked out to the pool, naked, hand in hand. Mike and Rick were in the pool playing with Brian who was seemingly taking to water like a baby porpoise! We watched him dog-paddling between Rick and Mike and smiled at each other. We got in the water and Brian dog-paddled over to us, hugging each one of us in turn.

"He's quite a boy!" Mike said grinning. "He took to swimming faster than you did, Michael!"

"Yes, I think within a couple of months, he should be ready for the Olympic try-outs!" Rick laughed. "Well...maybe a little longer."

"Thanks, you guys." I said simply and I could see the way that Mike and Rick looked at me, they understood.

"Hey! Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt!" Mike roared!

"So what time's the flight?" Rick asked.

"Very early tomorrow morning - around 5:00 a.m." Matt said.

"So you'll be wanting to get to bed early tonight. We'll make early dinner reservations. How about, say, around 6:00?" Mike asked.

"Sure." I said. "That will be fine."

The dinner was held at one of our favorite restaurants, the High Life Caf^Â. There was lots of laughter and toasts to us on our becoming fathers. It reminded me of the dinner following our wedding. We went home early though and got ready for bed. Even though it was not a large shower stall, Matt and I usually showered together and there was room for Brian to join us - it just meant that we actually did nothing but shower. Well...Brian got to see his two Dads kissing a lot but nothing more than that. We kissed him a lot, too, and he returned them. There was no repeat of the 'masturbation' incident so I figured that we could leave that talk for another time. This time, I used conditioner on Brian's hair without Matt even having to tell me.

Matt and I tucked him into bed in his own room again. We weren't sure if he'd stay there but we didn't want to set the precedent of taking him into our bed ourselves. We also didn't bother putting any clothes on him because we figured he'd just take them off anyway. Then we went to our bedroom and found we were both too tired to make love - especially quickly, figuring that Brian would probably appear at any time to crawl in with us.

"Oh fuck! We are like parents, aren't we?" I said. "Too tired to get it on! I guess the honeymoon is over."

"No it's not. It's just moved into a different phase!" Matt insisted. "After all, this afternoon was incredibly beautiful."

"Yes. It was." I said kissing him gently.

It was about that time that we heard the door open and Brian came into the room. This time, he crawled up the middle of the bed from the foot so that he was right between us. He kissed us both and then settled down.

"No, Tiger. You can't sleep between us. We're big guys and we might roll over on you. You go on and get on the other side of Matt and lay just like you did last night with me." I said to him.

He smiled at me, kissed me and then did exactly what I said. Matt rolled over, too and I spooned to his back, holding both Matt and our son in my arms. As I drifted off to sleep, I sent a prayer of thanks aloft, knowing that there was no way I could ever be happier than I was at that moment.

The flight the next day was hell. Let's get something straight. Flying First Class is not comfortable. It is slightly less uncomfortable than coach. Worse, in First Class, there are only two seats across which meant that Brian couldn't sit between us. However, the minute we were airborne and the seatbelt light was turned out, Brian immediately left his seat next to Barry and crawled up in my lap and proceeded to fall sound asleep. For the rest of the flight, he remained in either Matt or my lap, mostly asleep. When we finally reached LA, Paul was there to meet Barry and Mark and his secretary/lover Tom was there to meet us. Since all we had was carry-on, Mark directed straight to a white stretch limo at the curb. Paul took Brian with him after we explained to him that we would see him in court in a little while. Paul had his clothes for court and would take him by the group home to get him dressed before brining him to court.

"I've booked you guys a suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel. It's right around the corner from my office." Mark said.

"We don't really need a suite." I said.

"Well, it gives you two bedrooms - one for you and one for Brian." Mark said.

Matt and I laughed.

"You arrange adoptions but you don't really know a lot about kids, do you?" I said to Mark.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Brian is sleeping with us and probably will for at least a month. He needs the security after all the changes in his life. He's not ready to sleep on his own. After all, he's still subject to the nightmares that Barry told us about. As long as he sleeps with us, he doesn't have them." I explained.

"Oh." Mark said. "I guess that interferes somewhat with your sex life, doesn't it." he asked.

"Yes, it does to some degree. But we're willing to deal with that for a while. Brian is more than worth being horny for a while." Matt said.

"When are you and Tom going to adopt?" I asked.

I thought Mark was going to have a heart attack! His mouth opened but no sound came out. On the other hand, Tom was doubled over laughing.

"How...how did you know?" Mark finally got out.

"What? That you and Tom are lovers? That's easy. All we had to do was watch the way you two look at each other." Matt said, smiling.

"I told you everybody knows." Tom said, still laughing.

"I still don't want to deal with it in the office. It's not professional." Mark said.

"So how long have you guys been together?" I asked.

"Tom's been my secretary ever since I opened the office. We've only been lovers for two years." Mark said.

"Congratulations." Matt said.

"Thanks." Tom replied, but I got the feeling that Mark was still uncomfortable with all this.

Then something clicked.

"So how long were you married to your wife, Mark?" I asked.

Mark looked at me in shock.

"Eleven years." he said, as if the words would strangle him coming out of his mouth. "How did you know that?"

"Well, it wasn't by way of the Internet." I said. "I can tell from how uncomfortable you still are with being in love with another guy. And you obviously are in love with Tom. What's really too bad is that you still seem so ashamed of it."

Mark looked at me like I'd struck pay-dirt. Tom sat there taking it all in. I could see that he was very glad that someone was confronting Mark with this.

"It's hard for me. I didn't think I was Gay until I met Tom. I knew I didn't love my wife and I knew something was missing in our relationship but I never understood what. Then I met Tom. The more I was around him, the more I wanted to be around him. Finally, I began to want him. I'd never had sex with another man before him. And haven't to this day." Mark said.

"You sound a lot like my Dad, Rick. He'd never had sex with another man before Mike. And he's never had sex with anyone else since the night they first made love to each other. It's not unusual. It can happen." I said.

"Did you always know that you were Gay?" Mark asked.

"Always. I knew I was attracted to guys since I was Brian's age." I said.

"Me, too." Matt said before Mark could ask him.

"Consider yourself lucky. Coming to terms with it after you're married is no fun." Mark said.

"Mark, being Gay, no matter what people say, is just like having green eyes. You're born with it and it's a perfectly normal variation of human sexuality." Matt said.

"I know that intellectually." Mark said.

"Then don't look at it intellectually!" I said. "Look at it emotionally. You love Tom, don't you?"

"Yes, more than anything in the world." Mark said, looking at Tom and taking hold of his hand.

"Then just remember this - the only reason you have him, the only reason that you feel that way - is because you're Gay. I'd say that if you really love him and he really makes your life worthwhile, the way Matt does for me, then you should be grateful that you're Gay. Otherwise, he'd just be another secretary to you." I said.

Mark looked at me.

"I never looked at it that way! How'd you get so smart?!" he grinned.

"I'm not smart. My lover is." I grinned back as I grabbed Matt's hand in mine.

By that time the limo was pulling up to the hotel. Mark told the driver to wait. He and Tom got us through check-in and up to the suite where Matt and I quickly showered (for once) and got into our suits for court. When we emerged, Mark and Tom looked at us like we were aliens.

"My God! You two are gorgeous dressed up! Why don't you dress this way all the time? With your money, you can clearly afford to!" Mark said.

"With our money, we can dress any damned way we choose and we hate dressing up like this! We didn't even wear suits at our wedding!" I said.

"To each their own, I guess." Mark said.

"Do we have time for some breakfast? I'm starving!" Matt said.

"Yeah! Me, too!" I reiterated.

"Yes, we can go downstairs. The Polo Lounge opens at 7:00 a.m." Mark said.

We went downstairs and had breakfast and then hopped in the limo and drove to the Edmund D. Edelman Dependency Court building in Monterrey Park. This is the only courthouse in the nation designed from it's inception to be child-friendly. It is through this one courthouse that all adoption petitions are heard as well as all the dependency and delinquency hearings for the County of Los Angeles. We were guided by Mark to the chambers of the chief judge, Michael Nash. Mark was speaking to the judge's secretary when Barry showed up with Brian who came running to greet us. He looked absolutely adorable in his little suit. I held him in my arms as Mark guided all of us into the Judge's chambers.

The Judge sat at a desk which had a conference table running perpendicular to the desk down the middle of the room. Mark directed us to sit on one side with Brian while Barry sat on the other. Judge Nash looked to be about forty-five to fifty years old. He was tall and had dark hair which was tinged with silver at the temples. He certainly looked like a judge to me! He asked us to be seated, that we were still waiting on the attorney from the Department of Children and Families to arrive. Judge Nash talked to Barry for a while, asking how Frank was so it was evident that this judge not only knew Mark, but knew Barry and knew him quite well. Mark leaned over to me and whispered in my ear.

"The judge isn't 'family' but one of his sons is."

That gave me a clue as to what was going on. Within a few moments a very harried young woman flew threw the door, apologizing profusely to Judge Nash for being late, explaining a hearing in another courtroom was delayed.

"That's all right, Nancy. Calm down." Judge Nash smiled. "Take a few moments and catch your breath. I'm sure there are some people in this room you don't know. Especially Mr. Copeland and Mr. Stevenson. They are the prospective parents for little Brian there. Now, Barry, I understand you have a home-study report for me?"

"Yes, your honor." Barry said, giving copies to the Judge, to the attorney, to Mark and to Matt and me.

We all sat reading Barry's report. Glowing wasn't the word for it. He'd almost nominated Matt, me and our entire family for sainthood!

"I must say, Barry, this is quite an overwhelming report! Not like the ones you usually present to me at all!" The Judge said.

"No, your honor. Not like the one's I usually present at all. That's because this is the type of family that we so very rarely get to see and usually only under these circumstances. You know in my work, Judge Nash, I don't often get to see healthy families. In fact, you rapidly reach the point where you don't believe there are any left. Then, every rare once in a while, a family like this comes along and they literally restore you faith in the bond of the family. I'm just grateful that they opened their home to me and allowed me to glimpse their very loving and caring lives." Barry replied.

"I'd say you were suitably impressed." The Judge smiled. "And so am I. I take it that your agency is recommending this adoption, Barry?"

"Judge, I've got about six more kids I'd love for Michael and Matt to take home as well and give a home to! Yes, your Honor, we are recommending for this adoption." Barry said.

"Nancy? Any objections from Children's Legal Service?" The Judge asked.

"No, your Honor. The child's history is a sad one. We are grateful that someone has come along with enough love to take this boy and give him the good home he deserves." the attorney smiled at us.

"Well, Mr. Coventry. It's not often that I see you in this court yourself unless there are cameras and reporters following you. Something special that you handled this one yourself?" the Judge asked, smiling at Mark.

"Yes, your Honor. Just what Barry said. Once I had met the petitioners and heard their story as well as Brian's, I couldn't resist handling it myself. These two young men deserved nothing but the best." Mark said.

"Well, Mr. Copeland and Mr. Stevenson, such wonderful words we've heard about you. What do you have to say for yourselves? Why do you want to adopt Brian here?" The Judge asked Matt and me.

Matt and I looked at each other and Matt nodded for me to go first.

"Your honor, there is a very simple answer to that. We love him. Plain and simple. We wanted a child to love and to raise and we found Brian thanks to Barry. All of our financial records are somewhere in those papers you have. They show that we can provide for Brian. But what we can give Brian really has nothing to do with money. We can give him - meaning us and our family - more love than any one little boy can ever need." I said.

"Your honor," Matt began. "Michael has really said it all. We love Brian and he loves us. I know it's not probably part of these proceedings but just ask him. Ask Brian if he loves us and wants to live with us. We'll be glad to let your decision rest on that."

The Judge looked at Matt for a moment.

"I think your attorney is probably having heart failure right about now, Mr. Stevenson." The Judge said, grinning. "You're right. Asking the child is not usually part of these proceedings when the child is so young. I was under the impression that this child cannot speak?" he asked.

"That's true, your Honor." Barry interjected.

"But he can hear quite well, your Honor. He can answer yes and no questions by nodding or shaking his head." Matt said.

"Very well then, Brian?" the Judge said and Brian looked at him.

"Well, you do know your name, don't you!" The Judge said and Brian nodded.

"Do you want to go and live with these men?" The Judge asked Brian.

Again, Brian nodded yes and smiled at the Judge.

"Do you love them, Brian? Do you love Michael and Matt?" he asked.

This time Brian grinned and nodded his head vigorously. He then leaned over and gave Matt a kiss before turning back and giving me one.

"I don't think I need to hear anymore. I'm entering an order placing Brian into the custody of Matthew Stevenson and Michael Copeland, the child's last name to be changed to Copeland. Thank you all." the Judge said and then tapped a gavel laying on his desk.

And that was it! With those words, Brian became our son - legally and forever. We hugged him and we hugged Mark. Then we hugged Barry and then we all went downstairs to the waiting limo. We all went to the group home so that we could collect all of Brian's things which only half filled a small cardboard box which the limo driver placed in the trunk. Barry congratulated us and wished us all the happiness in the world with Brian. We didn't let him leave until he promised to join us for dinner that night to celebrate. We told him to bring Frank along, too.

Mark had the driver take us all back to the hotel where we quickly changed back into jeans and t- shirts. We promised Mark we would put the suits back on for dinner as we would hold it in the Polo Lounge and they require jackets after 7:00 p.m.

After Mark and Tom left for their office, Matt and I were exhausted. Brian had slept on the plane but we had not. It was now almost noon and we decided to take a nap. We simply got undressed, undressed Brian and got into bed. We knew we wouldn't have to put Brian down for a nap. We knew the moment he saw us get into bed, he'd join us - and we were right. My head no more hit the pillow and his little naked body was climbing up on to the bed and into my arms.

When we awoke, I placed calls home to let everyone know that the adoption had gone through and that Brian was now a member of our family. Everyone was excited at the good news and asked when we would be home? We told them that we would be flying back to Fort Lauderdale in the morning. We wanted to get home as soon as possible so that life could start to become normalized for Brian.

The dinner that night was wonderful. Mark and Tom came as did Barry and Frank. We also invited Steve and Bart since it was thanks to their wedding that we linked up with Frank and Barry and through them found Brian. Brian, of course was the center of attention throughout dinner. He went around the table, sitting on the lap of each male. When he sat on Tom's lap I could see the yearning in his eyes for a boy of his own. The same happened with Mark. I didn't think it would be long before the two of them would find a boy to adopt. Brian, of course, knew Barry quite well and stayed with him longer than anyone else. When Brian got to Steve and Bart, I noticed some awkwardness on their part.

"If he's bothering you, just send him back to us." I said.

"No!" Steve said. "It's just that, to be honest, I've never had a kid sit on my lap before. I guess I'm afraid I'll break him or something."

"Me neither." said Bart. "But it feels awesome. Like your supposed to protect him or something."

"Yes, exactly." Matt said. "Don't freak out guys but those are your 'Daddy genes' coming out! All guys have them. The desire to father a child. Perhaps you two should think about doing the same thing we did."

Bart looked at Steve and they both grinned at each other. The Bart looked at Barry.

"Uhh...could we maybe have one of your cards? Just in case?" Bart asked.

"In case Matt's right?" I asked Bart who blushed a deep scarlet.

"Yes." Bart said quietly and Matt and I grinned at each other.

The dinner finally ended and we said good-bye to our friends. Mark and Tom were going to see us to the airport in the morning so it was not really good-bye where they were concerned. We thanked Barry profusely one last time for what he had done for us. He passed it off as just doing his job but we knew it was more than that. Bart and Steve both hugged us and said that they would keep in touch. We invited them to come home to Fort Lauderdale any time they wanted, that we would put them up and they wouldn't have to let their family know that they were in town.

Finally, we went up to our suite and, even though it was early by LA time, our bodies were still on Fort Lauderdale time which made it 3 hours later so we started to get ready to go to bed. We got undressed and then all three of us got in the shower. Brian had great fun 'washing' us and we had our hands full with a very happy, wiggly and slippery boy.

It was that night, even with Brian in our bed with us, that we experienced the first 'nightmare'. A truly dreadful, hideous scream woke us from our sleep around 3:00 a.m. It took some time to calm Brian down to where he would go to sleep again. I finally called down to room-service, which luckily was 24 hours a day, and ordered a pot of decaffeinated tea. This seemed to do the most to calm Brian down, sitting a drinking tea with us. The incident seemed to leave all of us somewhat rattled. I was greatly disappointed because I had hoped that being with us, sleeping in our bed, would end the nightmares for him. Matt reminded me that it had been a very stressful day for all of us so it was very possible that Brian was reacting to all the stress. I hoped that was true.

We had arranged with Mark and Tom to have breakfast again in the Polo Lounge before heading for LAX. As we talked, I was sure something was up with the two of them.

"Okay, you two. You seem to be holding back on something. What is it?" I asked, worried that it might have something to do with Brian's adoption.

"Oh, it's nothing to do with you." Mark said. "Well...maybe peripherally. Tom and I did a lot of talking last night after we got home."

"Yes, we were up until all hours of the morning." Tom said.

"Tom has finally convinced me that it's silly for our relationship to remain in the closet. Starting today, there will be some new policies at my law firm, including domestic partnership benefits and Tom gets acknowledged for who he is - my partner in life and also in the business." Mark said, smiling at Tom and taking his hand.

"We also are going to have a commitment ceremony and we're going to adopt a child." Tom grinned.

"Wow! That's fantastic!" I said.

"Yes, congratulations!" Matt added.

"We owe it all to you." Mark said.

"To us? What did we do?" I asked.

"Your little talk to me in the car yesterday really got me to thinking. Then, when I held Brian in my arms last night at dinner, it was like something went through me - a yearning I never even knew I had! A desire for him to be mine. Now I truly understand what drives all of my clients." Mark said.

"Mark, I don't know what to say." I said.

"Well, I do!" Matt replied. "Just tell us when the ceremony is and we'll fly out to be there!"

And we all laughed at this.

When we flew home, the whole family was there to meet us at the airport again. This time, Brian was used to all these faces and seemed incredibly glad to see everyone again. We kept telling him that he was home now. No more flying. No more living in a group home. He got to live with us always. He seemed to understand this and, as day after day passed, he became completely adjusted to living in our home. The nightmares continued for a while, maybe three or four months, but then seemed to disappear. At least we thought they had.

It was the night of his sixth birthday. Brian had been our son for over a year now and though it was disappointing that his speech still had not returned, we thanked God every day for this beautiful boy who blessed our lives. Despite not being able to speak, he was a very active little boy. We'd gotten him into t-ball and this was the first year for him of little league. We worried at first how the other boys would accept him, not being able to speak, but that was before everyone learned that Brian was a truly incredible little athlete! He was the top hitter on his team and the best pitcher they had. In a pinch, he could play every position on the field. His popularity was assured - speech or no speech.

For his sixth birthday, Grandpa bought him a brand new bike - so what if his other one was only a year old! I was just grateful that Grandpa didn't buy him a car! We had a party with a big cake and he got lots of presents - especially books. Brian still loved books only now he didn't have to be read to, he read them himself. We were all quite used to Brian dragging a book everywhere with him as he'd always done. Now, however, he would only come to us with his book when he ran into a word he didn't know. He'd hand you the book and point to the word. I'd tell him what the word sounded like and then explain it to him. I noticed that he never had to ask about the same word twice. Once he saw it, that was enough.

It was funny, too, because just that morning, he'd brought me one of his books and pointed to a word that he didn't know. The word was 'Daddy'. Since it was not a term we used with him, just as Mike and Rick had not used it with me, he didn't know what it meant. I sounded the word for him and then sat him down and explained what a 'Daddy' was. How Matt and I were his 'Daddies' and that Mike and Rick were my 'Daddies' while Matt Sr. and Brian were Matt's Daddies and that Grandpa was my Daddy Rick's Daddy which made him my 'Granddaddy' and his 'Great-Granddaddy'. I'm not sure that Brian got all the relationships but he seemed to.

We had lots of fun at the party and Brian seemed to really enjoy himself. Grandpa, Matt and I took him outside after dinner and helped him get on his new bike and ride around for a while. As it grew dark, we took him back to the cottage where we all took a shower together (he still liked doing that!) before we tucked him into bed in his room. He'd been sleeping in his own room now for many months. We always tucked him in and read to him before he went to sleep. Even though he could now read, he still wanted us to read to him at night and we never minded.

Late that night, Matt and I were woken up with that piercing, dreadful scream which we had almost forgotten! We leapt out of bed and ran to Brian's room. I grabbed him up in my arms, holding him to me while Matt wrapped his arms around both of us. We both kept telling him over and over again that it was just a bad dream. We finally got him calmed down enough that he loosened his almost 'death-grip' around my neck. Then I carried him out to the kitchen where Matt made decaffeinated tea which was our now traditional way of calming him down after one of these episodes.

When he was completely calm again, I carried him into our room and he got into bed with us. He was laying between us and we were talking calmly to him and telling him how much we loved him and that he was safe here with us. We both kissed him on the cheeks at the same time and, when we pulled away, he reached up and pushed our faces together. It was obvious that he wanted us to kiss as he watched from below. Matt and I were deeply locked in a kiss when we suddenly heard this strange sound, almost like a rusty door opening after along time being closed. We looked down at Brian where the sound seemed to be coming from - but that couldn't be! As we looked at him, his mouth opened and suddenly we heard coming from it...

"Ddddaaaaddddyyyy."

THE END of SUBIC SURRENDER.

If you liked the story, write me at rimpigfl@yahoo.com.

I have a lot of other stories on NIFTY. If you want a complete list, write me and I'll be glad to send it to you.

RimPig