A Tale of Three By J.C. Vascardi
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Legal Disclaimer: This story is fictional, as are the characters featured herein, which are solely the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, either living or dead, is entirely coincidental. If you are under the age of eighteen, offended by male/male material, or if such material cannot be legally viewed where you live, then you should be leaving now. Otherwise, please enjoy the story.
Character Profiles: http://jayson.worldofslash.com/a-tale-of-three/profiles/index.htm Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/storiesbyjayson Writing Journal: http://jaycolin.livejournal.com
This story is ©2004-2010, 2011 by J.C. Vascardi. This story is the sole property of its author and may not be copied, in whole or in part, posted on any other website, or included in any form of book or media, without the explicit written permission of the author.
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Chapter Four, Part One Christian's Perspective Tuesday, January 4, 2005
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To say that I was surprised to see Jake home early would be an understatement. I knew that he was supposed to drive two of his students home after school today and tutor one of them, so I didn't understand why he was home at that point, but of course that wasn't the main cause for my surprise. The fact that he'd come in carrying his younger brother Sean, who none of us had seen or heard from in months, was the biggest shock, as we honestly hadn't known until that moment whether he was alive or dead.
"Ryan, could you help me get Sean upstairs?" Jake asked, "And Chris could you call Kyle?"
"Okay, should I also call a doctor?" I asked, noting that Sean appeared to be unconscious.
"Good idea," replied Ryan, "Probably better to be safe than sorry."
At that point I walked over to the wall phone in the kitchen as Ryan and Jake carried Sean upstairs to one of the upstairs bedrooms. I picked up the telephone and quickly dialed the number for Jake's and my doctor's office, knowing that she does house calls. After explaining the situation to her, she said she'd be over as soon as possible at which point I hung up and dialed the number for Kyle's apartment.
"Jordan, Kyle, and Matt's residence," Matt said, as he picked up the phone, "This is Matt."
"Hi Matt, its Chris."
"Hey Chris, what's up?"
"Is Kyle home?"
"No he's out running some errands with Jordan," Matt replied.
"Okay, Matt, when they get home," I said. "Come over to the house."
"Why?"
"You're not going to believe this," I said, "because I barely believe it, but Sean is here."
"Sean?" asks Matt. "Oh my god, okay, we'll be over as soon as Jordan and Kyle get back. Is he okay?"
"I'm not sure to be honest," I replied. "Jake found him outside and carried him into the house. He appears to be unconscious. I've already called Jake's and my doctor, whose going to come over and check Sean out."
"A wise precaution," Matt said. "Okay, well, I'll pass the message on to Jordan and Kyle as soon as they get in. Later Chris."
"Thanks Matt," I said. "Bye."
After hanging up the phone, I went upstairs to the guest room which had originally been Sean and Kyle's bedroom, to find Sean lying on one of the twin beds, with Jake and Ryan sitting on the other watching every rise and fall of Sean's chest. As I looked at the two of them, I couldn't help but think that even though the situation with Sean wasn't the most pleasant, it was still nice to see them together. They were family and one only needed to look at them to know how concerned they were about Sean. I also couldn't help but think just how much I wish I had a family like them.
I'm an only child, so I never knew what it was like to have a brother, at least not until I got serious with Jake, at which point his brothers started treating me like a brother. As for my parents, well, I have absolutely no relationship with my father and haven't since I came out of the closet. The second the words left my mouth, I could see in his eyes that I was dead to him. He didn't even say anything to me, but instead just stood up, left the room and never looked back. As for my mother, she was visibly upset about it, but I guess she didn't want to lose me entirely, so she has made an effort to maintain a civil relationship with me, though it is very strained, and nowhere near the relationship I'd like to have with her.
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Chapter Four, Part Two Erik's Perspective Tuesday, January 4, 2005
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When I arrived home I couldn't help but be surprised by the fact that there were no cars I didn't recognize parked anywhere around my house. I knew that Jake Bradley was supposed to drive Aaron and Nick home that night and tutor Nick. Looking at my watch, I knew that the tutoring session couldn't possibly be over, so by the time that I walked in the back door of the house to find Karen sitting at my kitchen table, I was really beginning to wonder what was going on.
"Ah Erik, you're home," Karen said, as I put my briefcase down near the door and put my jacket on the back of a chair.
I leaned down and gave Karen a quick kiss before sitting down and asking, "What's up?"
"I picked Nick and Aaron up early today," Karen replied, "Jake cancelled tonight's tutoring session, because it would seem Nick had one of his attacks today."
"Vomiting his guts out again?" I asked, knowing that my nephew has done it before. "I suppose I should go check on him."
"I checked ten minutes ago," Karen replied. "Aaron is there with him, they're cuddled up together fast asleep."
"Okay, well, I'm glad you were available to get them from school."
"Don't mention it Erik," Karen replied. "I'm Aaron's mother of course, and while you and I are not married anymore, I do still think of Nick as my stepson, so I'll always be around to help him if he needs it."
"Thank you, Karen," I said. "It's really good to know that."
"Um, Erik, there is something that I've been meaning to tell you," Karen said. "I'm just not sure how to say it."
"What is it, Karen?" I asked. "You know you can tell me anything, I mean, we were married to one another, so whatever it is just say it."
"Well, first off, I was just wondering if you've noticed that I've gained a little weight recently."
"Well, to be honest, yes I have noticed, but I figured I wouldn't say anything."
"I guess I should just come out and say it," Karen said. "Erik, I'm pregnant."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Karen confirmed. "I took two home pregnancy tests and they both said I was pregnant."
"You know those things aren't always reliable."
"Erik, I'm a registered nurse, of course I know that," Karen said, with an amused smile that clearly said she thought I was being silly by pointing out the obvious. "Which is why I also went to my doctor and he confirmed it. I'm definitely pregnant."
"Wow," it was all I could think to say for a moment, before asking, "So, do you know how far along you are?"
"Well, Erik, you see that's the thing," Karen replied. "I'm about a week into my fifth month. I've known for three months now, but I just didn't say anything because I wasn't sure how you would react."
"Why would you be afraid of my reaction?"
Giving me the look that I'd learned over the course of our marriage meant, 'Isn't it obvious, honey?', before she said, "Because you're the father, Erik."
"What?"
"I'm sure you remember last August don't you?" Karen asked. "The night before our divorce was final?"
"Yes, I remember," I replied, remembering that night in which Karen and I slept together.
I was out of condoms, but Karen and I figured that we were still married so it was okay to have unprotected sex. It certainly never crossed my mind that five months later Karen would be telling me that she was pregnant. Karen's and my marriage was basically a loveless marriage of convenience. She had recently been widowed when her police officer husband, Lance Forrester, had been killed in the line of duty and she wanted help raising their son, Aaron. I had recently gained the responsibility of raising my nephew after my brother and sister-in-law died, and I honestly didn't think I was up for the responsibility of raising a teenager, so I thought having Karen around who already had some experience in that department would be helpful.
The marriage did produce one child, a daughter that we named Amanda Lynn, but sadly she was stillborn. After that we never talked about having another child because we were both, of course, devastated about Amanda's death and by then we were also realizing that it probably wasn't a good idea to have another child because of the fact that we didn't really love one another. At least, not in the way that a husband and a wife are supposed to love one another.
Before I could say anything else to Karen, Nick and Aaron walked into the kitchen, clad only in boxers, socks, and tank tops. My nephew still looked pretty worse for the wear, with his head resting wearily on Aaron's left shoulder, Aaron's left arm wrapped tightly around Nick's waist. It was quite obvious that Aaron was supporting most of Nick's weight from the slowness of their walking. Without a word to Karen or me, the two of them went over to the refrigerator, at which point Aaron opened it and got out two bottles of water, two apples and a plate of assorted cheeses. Pausing only to grab a knife, Aaron then took the snack, and Nick, into the living room.
"I suppose we should probably tell them," I said, after Nick and Aaron left the room.
"Yes, they certainly do have a right to know," Karen said, "And perhaps a little happy news will make Nick feel better."
"Yeah, it's worth a shot," I said, as Karen and I stood up and walked into the living room to find Nick and Aaron sitting in the large overstuffed chair sitting near the fireplace. I must admit that the two of them looked very cute together and at the time I couldn't help but think that they'd make a very cute couple. Looking at them sitting there, they were like two pieces of the same puzzle, fitting together so well and comfortably that you'd think they were created for each other.
Aaron was cutting up one of the apples he'd taken from the refrigerator and was feeding them to Nick, who looked a little better, but I could tell from the look on his face that he was still feeling a bit sick. By that point, I assumed that Nick wasn't really thinking of his tutoring session with Jake Bradley, because I knew from past experience that no matter what had set Nick off originally, when he got sick like that, his thoughts invariably always went back to one thing: the horrible memories of a past which no one should have had to endure.
"Are you feeling any better, Nick?" I asked, as I sat down on the nearby loveseat with Karen.
"A little," Nick replied, his voice shaky, weak, and sounding more like that of a frightened kid then a teenager.
"Well, um, do you think some happy news would make you feel better, Nick?"
"What kind of happy news, mom?"
"Well, Aaron, I think it's happy," Karen answered, as she took a deep breath and then said, "I'm pregnant."
Nick's head suddenly whipped off of Aaron's shoulder when Karen said that, shock written all over his face, and I could tell that any thoughts of his past were now completely gone, unfortunately it didn't last long. Before anyone could say anything however, Aaron let out a yelp of pain, as the shock of Karen's announcement caused the knife he was using to cut the apple to slip and slice his hand. As the blood started to come out of Aaron's hand, Nick cringed, his momentary reprieve from thoughts of his past quickly coming to an end at the sight of Aaron's blood. Without a word, I quickly got up from the loveseat and ran into the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit. Upon returning to the living room, I handed the kit to Karen, because as a registered nurse, I figured she'd be the best person to treat Aaron's injury.
Aaron hissed through gritted teeth as Karen applied an antiseptic to his cut, after which she carefully bandaged the wound. As she was tending to Aaron, I took a moment to take the knife that Aaron had been using into the kitchen to wash the blood off of it. When I returned to the living room, Karen was finished bandaging Aaron's hand, but Nick still looked stricken with the memories brought on by the sight of Aaron's blood.
Nick was brought out of his thoughts however when Aaron asked, "Mom, are you sure you're pregnant?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Karen replied. "I took two home pregnancy tests and had it confirmed by my doctor. I'm definitely pregnant."
"How far along are you?" asked Nick. "And whose the father?"
"I've a week into my fifth month," Karen said, "And as for the father, well, Nick, it's your uncle."
Obviously before taking the time to think about what he was asking, Nick then asked, "How?" at which point Aaron looked at Nick and replied, "Oh, Nick, that's gross. I don't know about you, but I don't need to or want to hear any details about my mom and your uncle, thank you very much."
After a moment of thought, I think Nick realized what he had just asked and couldn't believe he'd even said it, because his face drained of color and he hid his head behind Aaron's shoulder as if he was too embarrassed to show his face.
"Anyway, any idea if it's a boy or a girl?"
"Not yet, Aaron, but from what my doctor said at my last visit, she might be able to tell me that on my next visit."
"And when will that be?" I asked.
"Tomorrow afternoon," Karen replied. "So, Nick, hopefully you can get over your nervousness about Mr. Bradley because if you get sick tomorrow, I won't be available to pick you up because I'll be in the middle of an ultrasound."
"And I have to be in court tomorrow afternoon," I said. "So Karen is right Nick, you have to get over this somehow."
Nick simply nodded his head, although to be honest, I wasn't really convinced that he'd be able to get over this by tomorrow, but it would seem like someone decided he could use more time, because just at that moment, the phone rang, so I got up to answer it.
"Hello," I replied into the phone.
"Is this Erik Jensen?" a male voice asked.
"Yes, it is. Who is this?"
"Ryan Bradley," replied the voice. "I'm Jake Bradley's older brother."
"What can I do for you?"
"First off, if I may inquire, how is Nick doing? Jake got really worried after he saw him in the bathroom this afternoon."
"He's doing better, I think."
"Good, I'm glad to hear it and I know Jake will be too," Ryan said. "Now, as for the reason I'm calling. Jake asked me to call and tell you that he won't be able to tutor Nick for the rest of the week."
"Why not?"
"Well, we have a bit of a family emergency, so Jake is arranging for a sub to cover his classes tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday."
"I see, well, I hope everything works out," I said. "And I'll make sure to tell Nick. I assume we can count on Monday then?"
"Yes, Jake will tutor from Monday on," replied Ryan, "Due to the nature of this emergency, it probably won't be resolved by Monday, but I've assured Jake that our brother Kyle and I can handle it after this weekend."
"Okay, well, thanks for calling, Ryan, goodbye."
"Goodbye," Ryan said, before I hung up the phone, turned to my nephew and said, "Well, Nick, it looks like you've gotten a reprieve."
"What do you mean?"
"That was Ryan Bradley," I explained. "Jake Bradley's older brother. It seems they've had a family emergency and you're going to have a sub in his class for the rest of the week. So, he won't be able to tutor you until Monday. I suggest you use the next five days to prepare yourself, Nick, because you need to face Jake and your crush on him at some point, as you need the tutoring if you want to graduate on time."
"I know," Nick acknowledged. "I'll work on it."
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Chapter Four, Part Three Drew's Perspective Tuesday, January 4, 2005
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I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as I hung up the phone, ending my conversation for the day with step-mommy-dearest, Veronica. She was quite upset with James and I when we decided to stay in Wilmington over our winter break, rather than coming back home to Atlanta, and she'd been making that extremely well known by calling every single day to yell at either James (or Jay as he's often called by friends) or myself, depending on who had the unfortunate luck of answering the phone. One reason in particular that Jay and I decided not to go back home to Atlanta was because Veronica is always trying to set us up on dates with the rich young daughters of her friends from the country club. I suppose that wouldn't really be such a bad thing, if it wasn't for the fact that both Jay and I are gay, a fact which Veronica was unaware of at the time.
The other reason for it though was because James and I really didn't want to have to attend our parent's annual Yuletide Ball, because we didn't want to have to listen to all of our rich friends asking us why we were even bothering to attend college, considering the fact that both Jay and I have trust funds which will more than allow us to live comfortably for the rest of our lives. Actually, they'd allow us to live in the lap of luxury for the rest of our lives, but Jay and I have never really liked flaunting the fact that we're well off, unlike some other people we know who love rubbing other's peoples' noses in that fact.
It was our great-grandfather, Kenneth Matthews, who made the first of what would become a family fortune exceeding the billion dollar mark. He had used his last hundred or so dollars back in the 1800's to purchase a tract of land in rural Texas, intending to try and make a living off of farming. Of course, it wasn't long before he realized that the land he bought wasn't really fertile enough to grow any bumper crops and for awhile he considered selling the land, but that all changed one fateful day when he struck oil on the property and became a millionaire practically overnight. Using his new found wealth, he moved his family to Kansas and got involved with cattle ranching and eventually railroading, which pretty much set my family for life.
Since my great-grandfather's death, each successive generation of Matthews has worked to do something which would increase the family wealth. My grandfather, Karl Matthews, got involved in real estate and made several more million dollars for the family, but it wasn't until the early 80's when my father, Keith Matthews, began investing heavily in technology stocks that the family bank balance sky-rocketed up over the billion dollar mark. One thing about our father is that he is a very shrewd businessman and very good at the stock market, because he's always had a very good record for knowing when to buy and when to sell, but as closely as he watches his investments, it'd be amazing if he ever lost a substantial amount of money on anything.
Jay and I grew up on the family cattle ranch in Kansas and lived there with our parents until we were six years old. The summer of that year however, the mother of all tornadoes struck our area and we had all made it down to the storm shelter, but unfortunately the high winds managed to break the lock on the door and when it flew open our mother jumped up and tried to pull it shut. Normally our father probably would have done it but he'd broken both of his arms two weeks earlier when he fell of a horse. For a brief moment, it looked like mom was going to be successful in pulling the door shut, but then disaster struck, as the wind fought back and tore the door from its hinges, sucking both it and our mother out of sight, while we could only sit there horror-struck, listening to the ever softening screams of our mother and the deafening roar of the intense winds.
Ever since that day, both Jay and I have been terrified of tornadoes, but I suppose when you see your mother killed by one at the tender age of six, that isn't really a bit surprising. It wasn't long after that day that dad hired someone to run the cattle ranch and moved us to Atlanta, where we lived for awhile in a penthouse apartment in the downtown area. It was about a year or so later that dad met Veronica Carmichael, a wealthy young socialite, and they started dating and eventually got married, at which point dad moved us into Veronica's family mansion just outside of Atlanta. In marrying Veronica, our father managed to bring several hundred million more dollars into the family, but it would take an idiot to think that that was the only reason for the marriage, because one only has to watch them together to know that they are deeply in love.
At any rate, it soon became tradition every Christmas to have the Yuletide Ball, where everyone who's anyone in Atlanta society comes to the mansion and dances and socializes well into the night. It might seem like fun at first, but after awhile, it gets boring because it's pretty much always the same people every year talking about the same subject: money and how much of it they made for the year. Even the dancing doesn't lend a ton of fun, because it's all waltzing to classical music, despite the fact that Jay and I have told our parents on multiple occasions that it couldn't hurt to at the very least play one or two songs written in the last decade just for a little variety, but they never listen.
I guess they don't think that all their rich friends would like any of the music written within the last decade because they seem to think that it's blasphemy for James and I to even suggest playing anything other than Beethoven or Mozart or some other classical composer. It's not that Jay and I don't like classical music, but iwe've always believed in the old adage that variety is the spice of life. And while it may very well be true that some of the older members of Atlanta society might not care for music written in the last decade, with each year that goes by the Yuletide Ball gains more and more people from James and my own generation, so I really don't think they'd mind a little more musical variety.
I was brought out of my thoughts when Jay arrived back from the grocery store. Some people might think that because James and I live together, we should probably both go to the grocery store; to make sure that everything both of us want is gotten. Of course, considering that Jay and I are identical twins we long ago figured out that we didn't both need to go to the store, since we like all the same things. So when we'd both go to the store we ended up usually buying two of everything, which despite the fact we aren't concerned about money, was still wasteful because then a lot of the stuff would end up spoiling because too much was bought and then not used.
"Hey Jay," I said, as I stood up from the sofa in the living room and followed him into the kitchen to help put the groceries away.
"Hey Drew," he said, "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"
"No, not really," I replied. "Step-mommy-dearest called but that's not really a surprise."
"Ouch," James said. "I wondered why my ears were hurting at the store. Did she call about half-an-hour ago?"
"Yeah, she did," I replied.
Like a lot of identical twins, Jay and I have always been very close. We always wear matching clothes, we sometimes finish each other's sentences, and we often have instances of what's commonly referred to as twin telepathy, in which we have like a sixth sense and can sense when the other is in trouble or in pain. In this case, Jay's ears were hurting, just like mine where, while I was on the telephone being yelled at by our step-mother for not coming home over our winter break. Sometimes the telepathy thing can be pretty cool, but other times, it can be our own personal inescapable curse.
"I suppose she's never going to forgive us," Jay commented, as he put a bag of red seedless grapes in the refrigerator.
"Well, she might eventually," I said.
"But it's doubtful," Jay added, finishing my sentence for me.
"Come to think of it," I said, as I started putting canned goods in the pantry, "I was downstairs getting the mail and I ran into Dan, Ky, and Matt on their way down to the parking garage."
"Oh? What's up with them?" Jay asked, knowing I wouldn't have said anything if there wasn't something interesting about the encounter.
"I guess Ky's brother-in-law Chris called," I supplied. "It seems that their brother Sean is back. They were in quite a hurry to get over there."
"Oh, wow," Jay said, as he put a bottle of orange juice in the refrigerator. "I think I heard once that Sean Bradley has quite a few problems with drugs and alcohol, so I can certainly see why they'd be in a hurry to see him."
"Yeah, I heard that too," I said. "Well, maybe Sean has finally turned his life around."
"One can certainly hope," said Jay. "From what I've heard, Sean's problems have nearly cost him his life on more than one occasion."
"Well, I'm just glad that I don't have any siblings to worry about."
"No siblings?" Jay asked, in a mock hurt tone, as he finished putting away the last of the groceries. "What am I, chopped liver?"
"Nah, you're not chopped liver," I replied as I walked over and hugged Jay. "But you know perfectly well that you and I so alike that we're practically the same person, so I don't really think of you as a sibling."
"I know," Jay said, as he returned the hug. "I feel the same way. Essentially, we are the same person in two bodies."
As the hug ended I nodded my head and said, "Yeah, basically extensions of one another."
"Well then, extension of me," Jay said with a grin. "How about we go see a movie?"
"Sounds good," I replied, as I playfully punched Jay in the arm, before grabbing our jackets as Jay grabbed the car keys and we headed out.
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To be continued.