DISCLAIMER: The following story is FICTIONAL. It contains descriptions of sexual activities between men, teenage boys, and between men and teenage boys. If you are not over 18 years of age, or if you find this type of story offensive, or viewing this material is illegal where you are, then please DO NOT READ IT! If you choose to read it, then - I hope you enjoy it!
The Abandoned Boy
Chapter 26
The clock read 4:30 AM when Tom woke to the telephone ringing.
"Shit he's early today!" Tom muttered, as he reached across Ethan, who was was lying on his stomach, still snoring lightly into his pillow, to pick up the phone.
"Yeah," Tom said, groggily.
"It's Dick," the voice of the school superintendent, came over the line.
"Kinda early today, aren't you?" Tom asked.
"We have a situation," Dick said.
Tom was instantly awake then.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"We have to get all the kids to school today if we can," Dick said.
"What about the ice?" Tom asked.
"I'm hoping the salt trucks will get the roads melted down enough. They're out already, and the freezing rain's stopped," Dick said.
"OK, but what's so important about today?" Tom asked.
"I need you to get in early if you can. I have grief counselors coming in first thing in the morning. There was an accident last night. One of our seniors was killed, and another was critically injured. They don't know if he'll make it or not," Dick said.
"OH NO! WHO?" Tom said loudly, sitting bolt upright.
Ethan stirred a little at Tom's outburst.
"Sean Riley was driving. Cody Mitchell was the passenger. They went over an embankment into the creek, not far from where you live I think. Sean didn't survive. He was killed instantly they said. Cody is in the hospital. He's in very bad shape. They're not sure he's going to make it," Dick said.
"DAMN!" Tom said, as his eyes burned with tears. "They're both good kids!"
"I know," Dick said. "No drugs or alcohol were involved. They think Sean might have been driving too fast, but they aren't sure. They're certain the ice was a factor."
"Yeah," Tom said. "I actually came past there myself last night, just as the ambulance was showing up."
"OK, sorry to bother you so early with bad news, but I thought you'd best be aware, so you could get into school early," Dick said. "You can assume there's school, unless I call again. And, I'll talk to you later at the school."
"OK, Thanks," Tom said.
They hung up then, and Tom laid back down, and pulled the covers up over him.
"Wha's matter?" Ethan muttered.
"Tell ya later. Go back to sleep now, it's early," Tom said.
Tom knew that Ethan was friends with both Sean and Cody. There was no need to upset him with the news at that point, since he wouldn't be able to do anything about it anyway, Tom thought.
"'K," Ethan murmured, snuggling up to Tom.
Ethan fell back asleep almost instantly, but Tom didn't get back to sleep at all. He was too upset. Both boys were great kids. Now one was dead, and the other was fighting for his life. Tom was still laying awake thinking about it, when the alarm buzzed an hour later.
Tom got up and looked out the window. A salt truck was lumbering by out on the road, and another smaller one that belonged to the apartment complex was salting the parking lot. The eaves were dripping, so it must've warmed up.
"Who was on the phone before?" Ethan asked, groggily, from the bed.
"Dr. Robinson," Tom said.
"No school?" Ethan asked, sounding hopeful.
"Sorry, but there's school," Tom said. "And, listen, I have some bad news."
"What?" Ethan asked, suddenly waking up, as a feeling of dread washed over him.
"You know that accident we came past last night?" Tom asked.
"Yeah?" Ethan asked.
"Well, it was a couple of seniors," Tom said.
"Who?" Ethan asked.
"Sean Riley and Cody Mitchell," Tom said.
"OH MY GOD! Are they ...?" Ethan asked, looking horrified.
"Cody's in the hospital. He's not in good shape. They still don't know if he's gonna pull through. Sean didn't make it. They said he was killed instantly. I'm sorry Ethan. I know they're friends of your's," Tom said.
"Oh my God!" Ethan exclaimed again, as tears welled in his eyes. "Wh-what happened? Was it the ice?"
"Yeah, and they think Sean might've been driving too fast too," Tom said. "That's why I was upset when I saw you driving fast last night. I was afraid that it might've been you who was in that accident!"
"I was driving fast because I was upset. But I slowed down soon, because I slid on the ice," Ethan said, as he wiped a tear away that was running down his cheek.
"I'm glad you did, or you might've joined them," Tom said, sitting down and wrapping an arm around Ethan, hugging him. "Promise me you'll watch your speed from now on!"
"I will," Ethan said, clearly shaken, and pretty upset.
The two sat silently for a couple minutes. Then Tom reached over and picked up the phone and dialed our apartment, but the phone was still out.
"Greg's phone's still out. Might as well get ready for school, I have to get in early anyway. There'll be grief counselors coming in right away," Tom said.
They got up then, and Ethan went to shower, while Tom made breakfast. The two ate together silently, each lost in his own thoughts. Afterward, they got ready and drove to school, each in his own car. The roads had been well salted, so they were clear of ice by then.
Simon and I woke up stiff, from sleeping half sitting up, all night on the couch. The first thing I did was pick up the phone. It was still dead. Simon put on the TV to check for school closings. We were both surprised we were open, and didn't even have a delay.
As we Watched the news, there was a story about an accident the night before that took the life of a local high school student, and critically injured another. My heart stopped and skipped a couple beats as I recalled Ethan's Carmaro streaking past Tom and I the night before. The newscaster said that they weren't releasing the names until all the family members, and the students at the school had been notified.
"Oh my God!" Simon said, looking at me worriedly.
"Let's get ready for school," I said.
We quickly got showered and dressed, and wolfed down some cold cereal for breakfast. Soon, we were out the door, on our way to school.
As we drove around Deadman's Curve, we saw the gaping hole in the guard rail. There were pylons and flashing orange lights everywhere. Already there was a bouquet of flowers tied to what was left of the guard rail.
Inwardly terrified for Ethan, I raced even faster toward the school.
Tom arrived first at the school, Simon and I were next, and Ethan was last, as he'd stopped for gas on his way.
As Ethan pulled into the student parking lot, he was happy to see my car parked over in the teacher's lot, next to Tom's. He couldn't wait to talk with Simon. He also wanted the latest news on Cody, if there was any, and he wanted to be with his friends to mourn for Sean as well. As he got out of his car, he was surprised when Rob Watkins walked up behind him.
"We need to talk!" Rob said. "Please, will you just hear me out?"
Ethan's first instinct was to punch Rob in the face, but then he remembered that he'd done to Tom, exactly the same thing Rob had done to Simon, so he checked himself. He gave Rob an annoyed look, and said, "Make it quick. I'm busy!"
"I want to apologize for what I did to Simon yesterday morning. It was wrong of me to take advantage of him. I'm a complete asshole. I'm so very sorry Ethan. I never meant to hurt anyone! You have to believe that Simon wasn't at fault. He was asleep. And he stopped me as soon as I went down on him. He didn't cheat on you Ethan! You have no idea how upset he was last night. He loves you more than you can imagine! You have to talk to him. He needs you, and he doesn't want anyone else! I know I'm just a loser and an asshole, and I always ruin everything for everyone. You don't have to worry about me anymore. I left. I won't be staying at Simon's and Greg's anymore. " Rob said.
Ethan looked at Rob for a minute as he thought, then he said, "Look, you're not a loser. Right now, because of what you did, I'll agree that you're an asshole though. But, maybe not as big a one as I thought. I mean, it sounds like you're trying to fix things. Anyway, it doesn't matter. With a little help from a friend, I thought a lot about what happened. I realize that what you said about Simon is true. So, I'm on my way to find him right now. I'm going to apologize for being such a big asshole myself, and hope he'll take me back."
Rob grinned, "That's great Ethan! That's the best news! And again, I'm really sorry!"
"Yeah, fine, but what's this about leaving Greg and Simon's?" Ethan said.
"I don't want to cause anymore trouble for anyone, so I moved out last night. I'll find somewhere else to live. Maybe I'll just leave and go south where it's warm. If I go to Florida, maybe I can live on the beach!" Rob said.
"Greg let you leave? By yourself? With no place to go? During an ice storm?" Ethan asked, furrowing his brow.
"Not exactly. I sort of just left on my own. It was the best thing for everyone," Rob said.
"Fuck you it is! You're not leaving like that!" Ethan said, completely taking Rob by surprise. "I may not like you very much because of what you did to Simon, but you're not going anywhere! You have NO idea how good you have it right now! Greg and Tom will do ANYTHING for you! They're gonna fix things for you! So what you're gonna do right now is go find Greg and Simon and apologize for just running out on them. Then, you're gonna ask to move back in with them. Although I think that'll be a moot point. They'll make you move back in. Just one thing. You keep your hands off Simon! If you touch him again, I'm gonna have to hurt you! And I'm NOT joking about that!"
Rob stared at Ethan incredulously. "You want me to move back in with them?"
"Yes I do!" Ethan said. "If for no other reason than they'll be really upset if you don't! Now come on! We're going to go find them!"
Rob couldn't believe what he was hearing, but as Ethan headed for the building, he fell in behind him and nervously followed him inside.
Tom wasn't in yet, when Simon and I got to the school. I sent Simon to his locker, while I got my mail. He arrived back at the office, just as Tom walked in the door. Tom looked upset.
Before Tom could speak, I told him about Rob running off during the night, and how Ethan had been at our apartment earlier, while we were out at Rob's parents' house, but had left before I'd gotten home. I was about to ask who had been in the accident, but before I could, Tom interrupted me.
"Ethan was at my place with me all night," Tom said, smiling.
"Thank God! All I could think about was that Camaro last night. Then I heard about the accident this morning," I said.
"I know. It had already happened when I drove by, on my way to my place. It wasn't Ethan though. He was waiting for me at my apartment. Although, he said it was probably him we saw driving by in the Camaro," Tom said. "By the way Simon, Ethan and I talked a LOT last night. I know everything that's going on. You'll be happy to know that Ethan understands now, and wants to make up with you!"
"HE DOES???" Simon cried, as a huge grin spread across his face.
"Yeah!" Tom said, smiling. "He should be here any minute too."
Simon was speechless, and I could see tears in his eyes, as I grinned and winked at him.
"So, who was in the accident?" I asked Tom.
Tom told us then about Sean and Cody. He warned us that they were both friends of Ethan's.
"Oh no," Simon said, sadly. "I didn't know Sean really, except to see him in the halls, but I know he was friends with Ethan. And Poor Cody. I hope he'll be OK. I know him a little. How's Ethan? Does he know?"
"Yes, he knows, and as you'd expect, he's pretty upset about it," Tom said.
"Of course he is," I said. "Listen Simon, when he wants to talk to you, be nice, and don't come down on him too much over what happened between the two of you last night. I know he hurt you, but what happened with Rob hurt him too. And now, he's already going to be pretty upset about his friends. He's gonna need you to comfort him now, OK?"
"Don't worry, I'll be nice," Simon said. "Besides, it wasn't all Ethan's fault, so I'm not mad at him."
"Good," I said, smiling at Simon.
Tom told us then that grief counselors would be in shortly.
Ethan walked into the office then, literally pushing Rob in front of him. They both looked a little nervous and sheepish, each for different reasons.
"Rob!" Simon and I exclaimed together..
"Here! I found him in the parking lot. Tie him down and don't let him leave your apartment again till you fix his problems!" Ethan said, shoving Rob in my direction.
Smiling, I said, "Will do!"
Before anyone could say anything else, Ethan stepped over to Simon and said, "I'm sorry for everything. I know I don't deserve the opportunity to apologize and beg for your forgiveness, but that's what I'd like to do, if you'll listen. I want to do it privately though. Will you please skip homeroom with me, so we can talk?"
Simon grinned and said, "I love you Ethan. Of course we can talk!"
Ethan grinned then too.
Tom smiled and said, "Why don't you two go use my office. I'll write you late passes afterward."
Still grinning, both boys thanked Tom, then headed back to Tom's office.
"Well, that makes me happy at least!" I said, smiling.
Tom smiled, but his smile quickly left him. "I gotta go talk to Sean and Cody's teachers. I'll catch up with you later."
"OK," I said. "Touch base with me later."
I turned to Rob then, who quickly looked down at the floor.
"OK. We're alone now. I'm not mad at you, but how about you explain the last 24 hours to me!" I said. "C'mon, we can use the conference room."
I led Rob into a little conference room off the side of the main office, and closed the door behind us.
"So, what's been going on?" I said.
Hesitantly, and blushing profusely, as he continued staring at his sneakers, Rob related to me how he'd become overcome with lust for Simon the previous morning in bed, and how he'd started out fondling him, but then had moved on to sucking on his penis. He told how Simon had stopped him. He'd felt awful about it all day, but he and Simon had talked and Simon had forgiven him.
Then he told me how when Ethan had come over, apparently Simon decided to tell him everything. They'd had a scene and Ethan had left. I had come home shortly after that and found him sitting on the floor outside my bedroom crying, while Simon was inside my bedroom crying. After I went in to talk to Simon, he'd realized he needed to find Ethan and fix things, then he thought it would be best if he found somewhere else to go live. So he'd packed and left.
First he'd gone to Ethan's, but nobody was home. From there, he'd gone to the city mission, and spent the night in one of their dorms for the homeless. He'd only come to school today to convince Ethan that Simon didn't cheat on him. After that, he thought he'd just take off and hitch hike to Florida. He apologized then for everything, and said he wouldn't be a problem to us anymore.
"After everything we've done for you, you'd just leave?" I asked, after he finished his tale.
Rob looked at me a little surprised.
"Why would you want me cluttering up your life?" he asked. "I'm just a faggot loser, and an asshole to boot!"
I reached over and pulled Rob into a hug. I told him he was gay, he wasn't a faggot, and he wasn't a loser, nor was he an asshole.
"You're a wonderful young man, who's having some tough times at the moment!" I said. "But running away isn't going to help. You need to let me and Tom help you! We care about you, and we want to help you!"
Rob didn't answer, but I felt his arms tighten around me, as he hugged me tighter. Then I noticed he was trembling, and realized he was crying. I hugged him a bit tighter then.
"It's OK," I said softly. "You'll never be alone. I promise!"
Rob cried harder then, so I just held him, until his weeping stopped.
When he finally pulled away from me, wiping his eyes, he said "I-I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused."
Smiling I said, "Well, Ethan and Simon are making up right now, and you're safe, so the worries are over. I'm serious. We want you to move back in, but this time we want you to stay until we get your problems solved! I think to keep everyone happy though, you'd best bunk in with me, or sleep on the couch, instead of sleeping with Simon. It's not that I don't trust you, but I think Ethan would feel more comfortable about it."
"Greg? Does what I did to Simon mean I'm a rapist?" Rob asked.
"I don't really think you'd qualify for that title," I said. "What you did wasn't right though. Nobody should just 'Take' sex from someone, nor should they perform sexual acts on someone, without their permission, especially when they're not aware of it. You did stop though, when Simon told you to stop. Anyway, in the future, you need to only have sex when the person you're having it with is aware of it, and willing to. OK?"
"Don't worry. I learned my lesson about that!" Rob said.
"Good," I said.
"So, you really want me to come back?" he asked, plaintively.
"Yeah," I said, smiling.
"What about Simon?" he asked.
"Yup, he does too. We both do. So will you come back?" I said.
"OK. As long as you both want me to. And thank you so much for everything!" he said, and he threw himself back into my arms, and hugged me again. "The couch'll be fine. I don't want to cause you any more problems."
Snickering, I said, "whichever you prefer, but if you're taking the couch just because you think I'd prefer you to, that's not true. I have no problem sharing my bed with you."
We talked a little longer, then Rob said suddenly, "Oh my God! Did you see my parents?"
I told Rob then about Tom's and my visit with his parents.
He wasn't surprised by anything I told him, until I told him how Tom had peered back into the garage and seen his father crying.
"Crying???" Rob asked, incredulously. "He never cries!"
"Well, he was this time," I said.
"But why?" Rob asked.
"I'd guess he's very upset about losing you! And if that's true, and your mother wants you back, which she seems to, then there's hope!" I said.
Rob looked at me and after a minute he said, "I won't believe it till I see it, and even then, I'm not sure I'll believe it!"
"Well, for now, try not to dwell on it. You'll be living with us, until things work out for you," I said.
"Thanks Greg!" Rob said. "If it wasn't for you guys, I don't think I'd make it!"
I cupped Rob's chin in my hand and said, "well, you'll never have to find out, cause we're not abandoning you!"
Rob smiled at me, as his eyes watered again.
We talked a couple minutes longer, then I sent him off to go to his homeroom, telling him to come to my room after school, for a ride home. He said he would. I left then for my own homeroom, arriving, just as the bell went off.
Simon walked in the door a few minutes behind me. He was all grins, and gave me the thumbs up! I grinned back at him.
The mood in the classroom became somber a couple minutes later, as Tom's voice came over the PA system, and he made an announcement about the accident. He asked for a moment of silence to honor Sean. Then he asked for another one, to give anyone who wished to, the opportunity to say a silent prayer that Cody would recover. It was absolutely still throughout the building, except for some of the students' crying.
The next three days or so were strained for everyone at school, especially for those who knew Sean and Cody well.
As Sean lay in his coffin at the funeral home, Cody lay comatose in his hospital bed, teetering on the brink of death.
Ethan was very upset. He'd been friends with Sean, and was good friends with Cody. He grieved for Sean, and worried about Cody.
I was surprised to find that Rob was very upset about Sean. I hadn't realized, but Sean's family lived a couple houses away from the Watkins, and Rob and Sean had been friends.
The evening of Sean's wake, and the day of his funeral were very rough on everyone who had known him. Tom and I attended both, and took all three of the boys with us.
We were surprised to see Sean's casket was open, at the wake. The undertaker had done an excellent job though. Sean looked just like he was sleeping. In some way that seemed to make it even more tragic for those who loved him.
When it was Rob's turn to pay his respects at the coffin, he lost it and turned toward me, letting me take him in my arms, as he sobbed. Tom, Ethan and Simon, spoke briefly with Sean's mother, then made hasty exits. Both Tom and Ethan had tears running down their faces, and Simon's eyes were huge and wet, as they walked out of the room.
I spoke with Mrs. Riley, and attempted to speak with Mr. Riley, but he was completely out of it. He just sat in a chair off to the side, staring at his son's lifeless body. Mrs. Riley apologized, saying her husband was still in shock. I told her not to apologize, that that was to be expected. She was surprised to see Rob with me. Rob didn't explain, he just told her how sorry he was about Sean, in a croaking voice. Mrs. Riley took Rob in her arms and held him then. They both cried a minute. Then, Mrs. Riley let Rob go, and we said good-bye and left.
Later, toward the end of the calling hours, after we'd left, Howard and Linda Watkins arrived at the funeral home. Bill and Susan Riley were good friends of their's. They waited in line for 45 minutes, before they finally arrived at the casket. Linda retained her composure, most likely due to the large dose of valium she'd taken earlier. Howie on the other hand stood in front of Sean's casket and stared at the dead boy. As he did, tears began streaming down his cheeks. When he and Linda reached Susan and Bill, Howie was dismayed to see the condition Bill was in.
"I'm sorry," Susan said. "He's been that way ever since we heard Sean died."
Howie tried to talk to his friend, but the most response he got was when Bill looked up at him, and tears began running down his cheeks. Howie told Bill good-bye then, and helped his wife back out to the car.
At the funeral the next day, the church was filled to capacity, and then some. Tom and I took the three boys. Rob was upset enough over Sean to begin with, but then he watched as his parents walked past, and sat up in front of us a few pews. Rob never took his eyes off his parents after that. When Howie turned around to watch the coffin being escorted into the church, his eyes met Rob's. Both father and son froze and stared at each other. Neither made a sign of recognition, in fact neither changed their expression in the least. They just stared at one another. As the coffin glided past the pew Howie was sitting in, he jerked about and faced forward, and stared at the coffin. Tears welled in Rob's eyes then, and he began weeping. If Rob had been able to see his father's face, he'd have seen tears in his eyes too.
Tom had brought his own car to the funeral, so I asked him if he'd bring Ethan and Simon home later. He nodded he would. Then I whispered to Rob to get up and head for the back of the church. He got control of himself, then jumped up and walked swiftly to the back of the church. I was right behind him. Just as the priest began mass, Rob and I exited the church. Outside, he stopped short, and looked at me and burst into tears. I took him in my arms and let him cry himself out, then suggested we go home. He thought that sounded good, so we went back to the apartment. When we got there, we put on comfortable clothes and sat together on the couch and watched a movie.
When Howard Watkins saw his son sitting a few pews behind him, he was shaken to the core. Here they were sitting at their friends' son's funeral, and it was almost as if his own son was dead to him. Seeing him sitting there, looking at him, was like looking at a ghost. As he sat thinking, he realized how much he wished things were different, and Rob was sitting with Linda and himself.
"Why did he have to turn out gay?" Howie thought to himself.
All he could think about then was Bill Riley sitting, nearly catatonic next to his son's coffin the previous night at the wake, and now here at the funeral, again he sat next to his son's casket, just staring at it. Bill and Sean had had the best relationship a man and his son could have. Now, in a mere flash in time, the son was dead, and the man acted as though he were himself as well.
"I guess I know now why they say 'only the good die young'," Howie thought to himself. "Damn! Why couldn't Rob and I have had what Bill and Sean did?"
When he turned around again, later, he expected to see Rob staring at him yet. Instead, he was gone. For reasons he couldn't explain, that upset Howie even more.
The day after Sean's funeral, the swelling in Cody's brain had receded enough, so that he suddenly came out of his coma. Preliminary tests indicated that with a lot of time and therapy, Cody would most likely make a full recovery.
Ethan was elated when he heard the news. We all were.
Tom went to the hospital to visit Cody the following day. Ethan begged Tom to take him along, so Tom did, telling Ethan they were only staying a couple minutes.
When they came back from the hospital, Ethan wasn't as happy looking as when he had left. They'd gotten to see Cody, and cody was happy to see Ethan. He was very depressed though, and understandably was doing a lot of crying over Sean. Tom and Ethan had only stayed a couple minutes, then come home, they didn't want to upset Cody or tire him out anymore than he already was.
With all the stress and activities related to Sean's death, and Cody's injuries, Tom and I never got around to coming up with a plan for Rob. We'd just more or less had him move in with us again, and tried to keep things running as smoothly as we could while we dealt with the boys' grief over Sean, and their worrying about Cody.
Rob had broken down on his second night back with us, and joined me in my bed, rather than taking the couch, which he had the first night, as the bed was much more comfortable. Ethan spent a couple nights with us, sleeping with Simon of course. All three of the boys seemed content with this arrangement, and appeared to be getting along alright again.
Rob was happy to be with us, but as each day went by, he became a little more depressed, and almost embarrassed it seemed. He wouldn't talk to me about it, but apparently he talked to Simon, as Simon pulled me into his room one night to let me know what was going on.
He said that although Rob loved being with us, he felt like he was intruding on us, and was becoming more and more of a burden on us. He knew that staying with us was meant to only be temporary, but time was passing, and he was becoming more of a permanent fixture in our lives. It wasn't that he minded, in fact he liked it, because he liked all of us so much, and we accepted him and liked him for who he was. He was afraid though that eventually we would get tired of having him around. He was especially worried about me, as he was sleeping in my bed with me, and was still under the impression that I was straight.
I thanked Simon for the information, and told him, I'd take care of it. He asked me then what we were doing about finding a permanent solution for Rob. I told him that because of Sean's and Cody's accident, we really hadn't done anything about it, but told him we'd be looking into things as soon as possible.
"I'm not supposed to mention this either, but you might want to look at the sites Rob's been visiting on your computer... assuming he didn't wipe out the history," Simon said.
I looked at Simon quizically.
"Just look, and if you can't figure it out, I'll tell you. Rob'll be mad at me for telling you though," Simon said.
"OK," I said, smiling, and giving Simon a hug. "Thanks for the heads up!"
Later that evening, I logged onto the computer, and checked the internet history. It was clean. I poked around a little though, checking the temporary internet files, cookies, and other such files, and came up with all the URLs that had been visited recently. As I copied some down, I had an uneasy feeling of what Rob might have been up to.
I brought up the internet browser and plugged in the URLs I didn't recognize as sites I'd visited, one at a time. A couple turned out to be gay pornographic sites, which actually caused me to chuckle. I wondered which of the three had been checking them out. As I continued checking URLs though, I found what I thought Rob had been doing.
There were a number of URLs for adoption registries - bulletin boards where adoptees or birth parents of kids who had been put up for adoption, could post messages, in hopes of re-connecting with each other. I brought up the sites and perused the messages left by adoptees who were searching for their birth parents. Not too far down the list, which was in order by posting date, I found a query that was left by Rob. In it, he gave all the information he had about his birth, his birth parents, and his adoption. Then he wrote a heart-breaking paragraph asking that if either of his birth parents saw his posting, to please e-mail him, as he had been abandoned by his adoptive parents, and needed a place to live. He described himself, and told about his likes and dislikes. I noticed though that conspicuously, he'd left out the fact that he was gay.
I felt so bad when I read Rob's post, that I got tears in my eyes. I doubted that he'd get a response, even if his birth parents did read it. Most likely, even if they were curious about Rob, they had their own lives, and possibly the people in their lives didn't even know about Rob, and they wouldn't want to break their secret.
I checked a couple more URLs, and found similar message boards, where Rob had left similar messages.
I shut down the PC then, and went to find Rob, to talk.
Conveniently, I found Rob in what was now "our room". He was lying on his stomach diagonally on the bed, reading a chapter in his history book.
"Got a minute?" I asked.
"Sure! I'd love a break from this. It's putting me to sleep!" Rob said.
"HEY! That's the subject I teach!" I cried, feigning great disappointment.
Rob turned pink and said "Sorry!"
Chuckling, I said, "It's OK, I know it's not everybody's cup of tea."
He smiled slightly then.
"So," I said. "How are you doing? Are you happy enough being here with us?"
Rob looked cautiously at me but said, "I'm OK, and yes, I'm happy... but... I expect you're getting tired of having me in your way. Is that what this is all about?"
"Nope!" I said. "We all care about you a great deal, and like having you here with us."
"Oh," Rob said, "Well... thanks, but would you tell me if there was a problem?"
"Yup!" I said. "If any of us was having a problem, I'd discuss it with you."
"So, does someone have a problem?" Rob asked, studying me closely.
I chuckled and said, "No, I just wanted to make sure you were OK, and I wanted to remind you that I care about you, and I'm here for you, if you have anything you want to talk about with someone."
"Oh, OK, Thanks," Rob said.
"You're welcome," I said, and I mussed his hair.
Smiling, we looked at one another a moment.
"So, anything you want to talk about?" I asked.
"No," Rob said. "Everything's fine."
"Hmmm," I said. "Well... there is one thing I think we should discuss."
Rob looked a little nervous then.
"What?" he asked.
"Well, I was just cruising through all the junk files on my computer. You know, the old temporary internet files, cookies and such. I was going to get rid of them. I do that periodically to keep the computer cleaned up. Anyway I usually take note of the URLs that the guys are visiting. I noticed a few interesting ones and checked them out. I found your posts on the adoption message boards," I said.
Rob's eyes got big, and his face turned a little red. He didn't know what to say.
"It's OK. I don't care that you decided to look for your birth parents. It's not something you have to hide from me. But I want you to know that you always have a home with us, as long as you need it. You may have been abandoned by your adoptive parents, but you aren't being abandoned by us!" I said.
Rob's lip began to tremble slightly, and I could see his eyes were filling with tears.
"I just thought maybe if I put the messages out, my birth mother would see it. Maybe I could go live with her, and it would solve your problem of what to do about me," Rob said.
"I see," I said. "Well, it's up to you if you want to search for your birth parents. If that's what you truly want, I hope you find them, and that they're nice. I want you to understand something though. YOU are NOT a problem to me! And, even though I'm not officially your guardian, even if you did find your birth parents, I wouldn't just let you go off with them. I'd want to check them out first, to make sure they were on the up and up, and to make sure I thought you'd be OK with them. So, please - you don't have to hide what you're doing. In fact, I'm very interested in hearing what happens. OK?"
Rob looked at me a couple seconds, then with tears still welling in his eyes, he said, "OK, and thanks!"
"Promise?" I asked.
Smiling a little, he nodded at me. I reached over and hugged him.
"OK, anything else we should discuss before you get back to your history?" I asked.
"No," Rob said. "And thanks Greg. Really!"
"It's OK," I said, smiling.
I left Rob to his studying then.
Later that night, as we laid next to each other in bed, waiting to fall asleep. Rob opened up a little and told me how he really hoped to find his birth parents. It was something he'd always wanted to do, even before he was thrown out by Howie. We talked about it a while. He was terrified that if he ever did meet them, they wouldn't like him. And he had no intention of telling them he was gay. He sounded very sad, and in fact, on the verge of tears.
"C'm'ere," I said, holding my arm up. "Scootch over and snuggle up to me."
Rob and I had hugged each other often enough, but since he'd begun sharing my bed, he'd always stayed on his own side, by himself. We'd both also slept with our boxers on. I felt that it was more appropriate, given that our relationship wasn't as close as mine and Simon's or Ethan's. Besides, Rob still thought I was straight.
"Huh?" Rob asked.
"Scootch over and snuggle with me," I said. "Unless you really don't want to, of course."
Rob hesitated a minute, but then, he rolled toward me, turning on his side, so he was nestled up against me. I wrapped my arm around him, and he moved around getting comfortable.
"Comfy?" I asked, as he settled in.
"Yeah, but... what if I get hard?" Rob asked.
I snickered and said, "Well, if you do, it happens. Guys get hard all the time. Who knows? Maybe I'll get hard and you won't!"
"Well, if I do, I apologize in advance!" Rob said.
"OK, so do I," I said. "Now, let's try to get some sleep."
"Thanks Greg," Rob said. "I'm sorry I'm such a pain."
"You're not a pain at all!" I said. "I care about you a lot! And I can tell you're kind of sad and lonely right now. There's no reason for you to feel that way. Not as long as you're living with us!"
Rob sniffled a couple times, then said, "I wish you'd been my adopted father. Nobody could ask for a better one."
I kissed Rob on the forehead then and told him I thought it would've been great to have been his dad. We were both quiet then for a while. Eventually, Rob fell asleep nestled into the crook of my arm.
The next day, I realized there was only one more week left to Christmas. I had really hoped that we'd be able to reunite Rob and his parents by then. Tom and I put our heads together later that afternoon, to see if there wasn't something we could do. As it turned out, this wasn't necessary.
The same day Tom and I had our conversation about how to help Rob, things were changing for the Watkinses. It was Sunday, a couple days after Sean's funeral. Inexplicably Linda Watkins was in a more lucid mood than she had been since Rob left.
It seemed that Sean's death had had a sobering impact on Linda. Seeing her friend Susan's grief over the death of her son, seemed to bring her back to reality. She realized she wasn't the only one who had lost her child. For some reason, it seemed to revitalize her when she tried to comfort Susan. It also made her begin to question what she could do to get Rob back home. She'd tried several times since Sean's wake and funeral to talk to Howie about it, but each time, he'd refused to talk about it, or walked away from her. She wasn't sure what to do about the situation, but she knew it had to be corrected. Rob belonged home with them, and that's where she wanted him.
Linda was aware that Rob was living with us, and was being well cared for, so until she came up with a plan to bring him home, she knew he'd be OK, and wasn't overly worried about him. She'd wracked her brain for ideas of how to convince her husband, and Rob, that Rob should come home, but hadn't come up with any. So, for the moment, Linda was focused on helping Susan.
"We should visit the Rileys," she said to her husband, that afternoon.
Howie didn't relish the idea of visiting the Rileys so soon after Sean's funeral, but since his wife was having a "normal" moment, he decided he'd best go along with her suggestion. Besides, it might keep her busy enough to not bring up Rob again.
Linda actually baked a pan of brownies to take with them.
After lunch they walked across the street and down a couple houses to the Rileys' house and rang the bell. Susan Riley answered the door, and smiled wanly, as she invited them in. Her eyes were all bloodshot. Bill was sitting in the living room, watching TV. He looked up at the Watkinses as they came in, and nodded slightly, then stared back at the TV.
"How about we get a cup of tea, and let the men visit in here?" Susan suggested.
Howie wondered how the hell he was going to make conversation with him, but sat down in a chair, adjacent to Bill, who was on the couch.
Howie was surprised, when Bill answered him with a nod, when he said, "Well, I can imagine that you're still feeling like shit, so I won't ask how you're doing."
"I'm really sorry Bill. I don't know what else to say. Just, I'm really sorry." Howie said.
"Thanks," Bill responded.
There was an awkward silence, then Bill surprised Howie and asked "How's Rob doing? I haven't seen much of him lately."
Howie hadn't expected to be asked about Rob. He didn't know exactly how to answer Bill. He didn't want to say anything to upset him. Finally, he said simply, "OK I guess."
"You guess? You don't know?" Bill asked, curiously.
Howie thought a minute, but then decided he might as well explain, since he expected Linda was out in the kitchen telling Susan all about it, in hopes of taking Susan's mind off her own problems, and possibly hoping Susan would help her come up with a way to get him to let Rob back in the house.
"Well, he's not living with us anymore," Howie said.
"What? What do you mean? Where is he?" Bill asked.
"We kind of had a difference of opinion, and he's not living with us anymore. He's living with one of his teachers I think," Howie said.
"Howie! This is your son we're talking about! He's younger than Sean! He can't be living away from home! Especially if you don't know where he is! How could you let him leave like that?" Bill asked. "And what difference of opinion could you have that would cause this?"
"Well, it's kind of by mutual agreement that he's gone. He didn't want to be around me anymore than I wanted to be around him," Howie said, sounding rather guilty.
Bill stared at Howie and thought a minute, then said incredulously. "Don't tell me you threw him out! Did you throw him out?"
Howie squirmed a little, then finally said, "Look, he turned out to be a faggot! He openly admits it! I wanted him to leave, and he wanted to leave himself!"
"Wait! Wait a minute!" Bill said. "You're telling me you threw your son out of the house because he's gay?"
"You know how I feel about queers! And what would everyone think? How would you like it if you found out Sean was queer?" Howie burst out, immediately cringing and wishing he'd never gotten out of bed that morning. How could he have been so stupid and insensitive to mention Sean at all!
Bill stared at Howie, completely flabbergasted. For a minute he didn't know what to say. Then, pain over losing his son, and anger at Howie for insinuating he could ever not love him started Bill to boil with anger. He leaped up and stared down at Howie and launched into a diatribe.
"I can't fucking believe you just said that!" Bill practically screamed.
Howie tried to interrupt to apologize about the comment he'd made about Sean, but Bill wouldn't let him. He continued hollering at Howie.
"I don't give a fuck what you think of homosexuals, but I can sure as hell tell you this! Everyone's going to think you're a complete asshole for doing what you did! Nobody who matters will care if your son is gay! If they do care, then they don't matter! Besides that, your son is adopted. Everyone knows now that homosexuality isn't a learned behavior, it's a genetic trait! So if you're worried someone's going to think he got it from you, you're wrong! You have no fucking idea how lucky you are to have that boy in your life! I'd take Sean back in a heartbeat, straight or gay, it wouldn't matter to me. He could be a flaming drag queen, and I'd take him back! Your son is no different today, now that you know he's gay, than he was before you knew! NO! I take that back! He's actually more mature now than he was then, and obviously he's more mature than you are, and more of a man than you are! He had the balls to admit to you he was gay, and what did you do? You threw him out!!!! How dare you! You fucking miserable excuse for a human being! A person is supposed to love their children unconditionally! Whether they turn out straight or gay shouldn't matter! I'd have loved Sean just as much as I still do, even if he was gay! People like you don't deserve to have kids! It's people like you who should be the ones who lose your kids to accidents like I lost mine. At least the kid would end up in a better place than the hell you put him through. And then maybe you'd realize what you'd lost, and that his orientation didn't really matter in the least! If you don't want your boy, I'll take him! He won't ever replace my son, but I'll raise him, and I'll love him, like he deserves to be loved! Now get your fucking miserable asshole out of my house, before I beat the everliving shit out of you! And don't you come near me again until you've fixed things and got your son back in your house, or unless you're bringing him here to live with us!"
Bill's bellowing had quickly drawn the women from the kitchen. At first, both women were shocked by Bill's outburst. Upon hearing what he was saying, their emotions went off in different directions.
Susan was distraught that her husband was so upset, and completely stunned at what she was hearing about Howie throwing Rob out.
Linda had never been so embarrassed in her life. She also now understood completely what the problem was between her husband and son, and the reason Rob was gone. As she listened to Bill yelling at her husband, she got angry. She got angry like she'd never been before.
When Bill finally fell silent, Linda walked over and pulled Howie up by the sleeve.
"I'm sorry we've upset you," she said to Bill and Susan. Then she pulled Howie out the front door.
Outside the house, she turned on her husband and said "You have 24 hours to move Rob back into our house. If you don't, then you can pack your own things and get the hell out! And if you don't do one of the two, I'm calling the police! One way or the other, my son is coming home!"
She let go of his sleeve then, and stalked off toward their house, leaving Howie staring after her, totally dismayed.
After a minute, Howie wandered home too. He walked past the house and went out to his garage. He got into the driver's seat of the project car he was working on, the same project car he'd been working on with Rob only a few weeks earlier. As he sat there, he kept replaying in his mind, how Bill had become so hysterical, and had screamed at him. Then he thought about his wife's threat. He'd never seen her that angry before.
Howie thought and thought. It wasn't that he didn't love Rob. He did love him. He missed him too. Especially when he was working on the project car alone. It wasn't fun without Rob anymore. He wished with all his heart that it was a month earlier, when Rob was still home, before he'd discovered that Rob was gay. He wished he'd never gone up to Rob's room to look for the gapping tool, which led to his discovery of Rob's gay porno magazines and that disgusting dildo! He wished his son wasn't gay, or that if he was that he'd never found out! Ever since he'd found Rob's stash of porn and toys, one image kept flashing through his mind. He kept seeing in his mind's eye, Rob laying naked on his bed, with his legs pulled up, shoving that huge greased dildo in and out of his exposed asshole, while with the other hand he masturbated to a climax, blowing load after load of cum all over himself.
"The Goddamn fairy probably wipes his cum up and eats it too!" Howie thought to himself, as he tried his best to banish the image of Rob with his dildo from his mind.
"How could a man, well, OK, a boy, do such a thing?" Howie wondered to himself.
"OK, sure, I know boys sometimes experiment together when they're growing up. Hell, some of them even suck each other's dicks to see what it's like to be sucked on," Howie thought.
Shamefully, Howie remembered back to when he was 13, and he and his best friend Joey had experimented together once while they were out hiking alone in the woods. They'd been talking about sex and both gotten very horny. Neither had ever done anything with anyone else before, and they were both curious. It started off with the two of them peeing together. They both noticed they were looking at each other's dicks. Playfully they had each bragged that their's was bigger. They ended up comparing dick sizes. Joey's was a tad shorter than Howie's. Joey said it wasn't fair to compare them unless they were hard, so they'd both massaged their penises to their full hardness and compared sizes again. Howie was still a little longer. Both of them were pretty horny by then, and when Joey had jokingly started masturbating in front of Howie, and Howie had followed suit, they both realized how much they needed to get off. So, they started off jacking off in front of each other. One thing had led to another, and they ended up having a feel of each other. Then Joey had suggested they suck on each other. Howie was horny as hell, so he'd agreed. Joey got on his knees and sucked Howie's dick into his mouth and started sucking on it then. Oh fuck that did feel good, Howie remembered. Then Joey stopped, and it was his turn to suck on Joey. He hadn't wanted to do it, but a deal was a deal, so he'd sunk to his knees and sucked on Joey's tool. He was embarrassed to admit, even to himself, that it wasn't awful, not that he liked doing it. Joey seemed to like what he was doing though, because suddenly he'd yelled that he was gonna cum. Howie spit out his dick and stood up. The two boys had finished themselves off then, squirting their loads all over the forest floor. It hadn't been awful, and in fact, it was one of Howie's best orgasms up to that point. It wasn't something he wanted to do again though. Joey had asked him to do it again a few days later, but he didn't. After that, he stuck to jerking off on his own, until he started fucking girls.
Howie could understand if Rob had done something like he'd done with Joey, but to do anymore - he just couldn't understand. The thought of it disgusted him.
Howie thought then about Rob. He wondered if he'd ever had sex with anyone. He couldn't remember Rob ever having a friend who was close enough to him, that they'd ever have gotten to the point that he and Joey had. Maybe the boy didn't really know for sure what he wanted. Maybe he was confused. Maybe he was really straight. The thought that he'd thrown Rob out for being gay, when he might have really been straight upset Howie even more.
Howie remembered the things Bill said then. He felt so sorry for Bill. Bill had had such a wonderful relationship with his boy. Howie had often envied Bill and Sean's relationship, wishing he had one like it with Rob. Sean was a different kind of boy though. He appreciated the things men like. Rob never had liked anything Howie liked, except of course cars. As a result, the two had never been very close. Although, Howie did remember a few times when Rob, as a little boy, had crawled up into his arms and hugged him and kissed him on the cheek and told him he loved him. God! How Howie wished he could go back to those days.
As Howie continued thinking about the good times he'd had with Rob, he started crying. His crying eventually turned into full-fledged sobbing then, as he realized he no longer had his son. He was just as bad off as Bill, only it wasn't an accident that his son was gone, he'd thrown his son away!
Then Howie thought about how much Linda missed Rob, and what she was willing to do to get him back. He thought too how Bill offered to take Rob. If everyone else didn't mind having him around, even though they knew he was gay, why did he?
Howie sat for hours in his garage, thinking. He completely missed supper. It was getting late, when finally, he realized that Bill was right. He was an asshole. He'd ruined everything for Rob, for Linda, and even for himself. Rob had never demonstrated any outwardly gay behavior. He didn't flaunt it. If anything, he kept that side of himself hidden. If everyone else was willing to have Rob in their lives, even though he was gay, then why couldn't he?
As Howie pondered all this, it got even later, and eventually, he dozed off.
The next morning, during my third period class, Tom tapped on my door.
When I stepped out into the hallway, he grinned and said, "You had a phone call. He wants you to call him back right away. Says it's urgent!"
Tom handed me a slip of paper then. It read "Howie" and a phone number.
"What? Who's Howie?" I asked.
"Rob's father," Tom said, still grinning.
"What? What'd he want?" I asked.
"Relax. I think he may want Rob to move back home," Tom said. "At least that's the impression I got."
"Son of a bitch!" I said.
"I know!" Tom said. "I told him you had a free period coming up and you'd call him back then.'
"OK, Thanks," I said.
Tom left then, and I went back to my class. I could hardly wait for it to end. I was very curious about what Rob's father wanted.
I ran down to the office during my free period. Tom motioned for me to come into his office and use his phone. I dashed in, picked up the phone, and dialed the number on the slip of paper.
"Hello," came a male voice.
"Hi, is this Mr. Watkins?" I asked.
"Yes, is this Mr. Winslow?" Howie replied.
"Yes, it is," I said.
"I understand my boy is still living with you. Is that correct?" he asked.
"Yes," I said.
"Well, I'd like to have him move back home." Howie said.
"Just like that? You throw him out, then four weeks later, you want to take him back? Just like that?" I asked, incredulously.
Tom suddenly looked horrified, as he saw me getting angry, and wrote a note to me on his scratch pad. "Cool it or you'll ruin it!"
"uh, yeah, basically," Mr. Watkins said. "Look, I know you think I'm an asshole. And, well, you're right. I am. Thing is, with some help from my wife, and a neighbor, I've been doing a lot of thinking. I know now that I was wrong. My wife wants our son back home, and well... I do too, I guess."
"You guess?" I asked.
"Figure of speech! I know I want him back!" Howie said. "Listen, I expect we should talk face to face about this, rather than over the phone. Could you come over here so we could talk?"
"When?" I asked.
"I'm here now, if you want," Howie said.
"I'm teaching right now," I said.
"Oh," Howie said.
Tom was waving wildly at me. He scrawled "Go! I'll handle your classes!" on a pad of paper.
"Well, as luck would have it, I can get coverage while I'm gone, and Rob's welfare is a major concern to me. I'll be over in a few minutes." I said.
"OK, Good," Mr. Watkins said. "I'll see you soon then?"
"Yeah," I said. "I'll be there in a bit."
We said good-bye and hung up then.
"He wants him back," I said.
"I got that much out of it," Tom said, grinning. "Why don't you look happier?"
"I'd be happier if I knew that he really wants him back, and will treat him well," I said.
"Well, why don't you go talk to him. But Greg, give the man a chance. I know he doesn't really deserve it, but Rob and his mother do!" Tom said. "And I'll sub for your classes. You've only got two more after lunch, right?"
"Yeah. Thanks Tom!" I said.
"Hey, makes me feel like I'm helping too!" he said.
I left then to go over to the Watkins' house.
After my last visit to the Watkins' house, I was surprised when a nervous, embarrassed, and remorseful Mr. Watkins opened the door and asked me to come in. He invited me to sit down, and offered coffee. I declined the coffee, but decided to tone down my temper, at least at first.
I sat quietly and listened as Mr. Watkins told me the whole story about how he'd come to throw his son out, then how he'd come to realize he'd made a mistake, and that he wanted him back now.
When he finished talking, I said "So, you expect me to believe that you want Rob to come home, because YOU want him to, and not just because your wife threatened you?"
"No Sir, I don't expect you to believe much of anything I tell you, but I don't know how to prove to you that I mean what I said," Mr. Watkins said. "All I can tell you is that I know I screwed up. I know I screwed up royally! I want to fix things now!"
"Well, if your wife is so concerned, where is she?" I asked.
"I'm right here Mr. Winslow," Mrs. Watkins said, descending the stairs, into the living room.
My eyeballs practically bugged out when I saw her. She was dressed in a very nice suit, and had her hair done up, and was wearing pretty makeup. She looked completely different than she did the last time I'd seen her.
Mrs. Watkins must've realized what I was thinking, because the next thing she said was, "I'd like to apologize for the state I was in when you were here the last time. Understandably, I wasn't myself."
"I'm glad you're feeling better now," I said.
"Thank you," Mrs. Watkins said. "I can't speak on my husband's behalf, but I can tell you that I didn't completely realize the reason my son had left home, until yesterday. Now that I know he didn't leave of his own choice, I want to rectify things. He belongs here in our home, with us. I'm his mother! I love him very much! And, I want him home, regardelss of how my husband might feel!"
"So you thought Rob left on his own?" I asked.
"Yes," Mrs. Watkins said. "I did know though that my husband didn't want him to come home either. So, I figured it was a mutual decision on their part, and that my opinion really didn't matter to either of them, since neither had discussed the situation with me."
"I see," I said. "Have either of you considered that Rob might not want to come home anymore?"
A look of shock and misery swept over both their faces.
"H-has he said that?" Mrs. Watkins, asked, shakily. Her husband looked appropriately upset at the thought too, which surprised me a little.
"No, but once he hears he has the option, maybe he'll feel like he doesn't want to come back," I said.
"Do you think that will be the case?" Mrs. Watkins asked, nervously.
"In all honesty, no, I think he still wants to come home," I said. "I don't think it's going to be very easy on him though. Especially with you Mr. Watkins. He's going to have a lot of pain and anger to work through, which you're the cause of."
"We'll do whatever it takes to fix things," Mrs. Watkins said, as her husband looked guiltily at the floor.
"I'm glad to hear that," I said. "Because, I'm not going to let you just take him back! First of all, if he doesn't want to come home, I'm not going to make him do it. Secondly, if he does decide to come home, I'm going to insist that all three of you enter counseling. Finally, you can expect periodic surprise visits from me to see how the boy's doing. If at any time I think he's not being well taken care of, I'll take him away from you. I don't really care if you like my terms or not. You'll adhere to them regardless. If you don't, I'll report this whole mess to the appropriate authorities, and Rob will be taken away from you for good! Do you understand my terms?"
They both sat there a little stunned, staring at me with huge eyes.
"That will be fine," Mrs. Watkins said, after a moment.
I looked at Mr. Watkins. He didn't speak right away.
Mrs. Watkins opened her mouth to say something then, but before she could, her husband said, "Agreed."
"OK then. Why don't you come over to my apartment at about 4:00 this afternoon, and we'll see what Rob has to say about it," I said.
"Very good," Mrs. Watkins said, smiling nervously.
I gave them directions to my apartment, then left and drove back to the school.
It was the beginning of last period when I got back, so I took over teaching again. When classes ended, I waited anxiously for the boys to appear at my door. All three of them showed up together.
"Can we go to the game room with Ethan?" Simon asked.
"Well, I suppose YOU two can, but Rob's gonna have to come home with me," I said, smiling.
They all gave me confused looks. I explained then about my visit with Rob's parents. Ethan and Simon both beamed when they heard. Poor Rob looked very confused though. I saw hints of joy, despair, and fear, all crossing his face, as a blur of muddled thoughts apparently ran through his mind.
"It'll be alright Rob," I said. "I'll be there with you the whole time, and if for any reason, you don't want to go with them, or if I think something's not going right, you'll be staying with us! On the other hand, if you want to go, and I think everything's alright, then, you can go! And, it won't be like you won't get to see us anymore after this, if you do go. We'll be visiting you, and you can visit us. And we'll see each other here at school too!"
Rob looked up at me, and I saw that he had tears in his eyes. I couldn't tell if they were from happiness, sadness, or fear and frustration though. Regardless, I reached over and pulled him into a hug, and whispered into his ear that we'd miss him if he went home, but that I'd make sure everything was OK for him, and if he ever needed to, he could come back to our apartment, all he had to do was call and I'd come get him. He hugged me tightly then, and buried his face against my shoulder. I could tell by the way he was shaking, that he was crying.
Simon and Ethan stood by watching sadly.
Eventually, Rob got control of himself and pulled back from me.
"Thanks! Thanks for everything! If it wasn't for you guys, I don't know what would've happened to me," he said.
"Don't worry about it," I said. "Let's go home now though, so you can get ready for your parents' visit."
"OK," Rob said.
I looked at Ethan and Simon and said, "Maybe it would be a good idea if you did go hang out at the game room a while. It'd give Rob and his parents a little privacy."
"Oh," Simon said. "Then, we won't be there to say good-bye."
"Well, why don't you spend a few minutes doing that now," I said. "I'm going to talk to Tom, down at his office. Shut off the lights and close the door behind you on your way out and meet me down there, OK?"
"OK," they all said, somewhat sadly.
I found Tom in his office and filled him in on what was going on. I suggested that he come over later for supper, and if Rob really left, he could spend the night.
"Damn! I sure hope it works out for him!" Tom said, grinning.
I chuckled, as I felt my dick tingling. Looking down, I saw that Tom's crotch was bulging slightly too.
A couple minutes later, the boys appeared.
Simon and Ethan said they'd see us later at home, then, with a final good-bye to Rob, they took off.
As they headed down the hallway toward the parking lot, Ethan said to Simon "So you really want to go to the game room? We could go to my place instead! Mom's at work!"
He waggled his eyebrows at Simon, who grinned and said, "That sounds MUCH better! We can go to the game room anytime!"
Ethan grinned, then suddenly broke into a run. Simon started running after him. Both boys couldn't wait to get to Ethan's!
Tom had an afterschool meeting with some parents to get to, so he left right after Ethan and Simon did.
Rob and I went home then to wait for his parents. While we waited, Rob packed, in case he decided to go with them.
At 4:00 on the dot, the door bell rang. I answered it, and ushered the Watkinses in. They took off their coats and we all went into the living room. Rob, who'd hung back in my bedroom, came out then.
"Oh Robbie!" Linda Watkins cried, jumping up, when she saw him. She ran over to him and threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
She told her son then that she loved him very much, more than he could ever imagine. Then she told him she didn't realize he'd been thrown out by his father. She thought he left because he wanted to go, and that his father was just bitter because of it. She said she knew the whole truth now, and that she loved him and wanted him to come home!
Rob hugged her tightly then too, and whispered that he loved her too. When they parted, both had tears in their eyes.
Mr. Watkins, who'd risen from the couch and walked over to his wife and son, cleared his throat meaningfully then. They both looked at him. Rob looked miserable.
Mr. Watkins started talking then.
"I know I don't have any right to ask you anything, after the way I treated you," He said. "But, I'm hoping you'll agree to listen to what I have to say."
Rob didn't say anything, but his look of misery lessened a little, and he just continued looking at his father.
"I'll take it you're willing to hear me out then, as you didn't walk away," Mr. Watkins said. "What I did, throwing you out of the house like I did, was wrong! Completely wrong! I had no right to do that. When we agreed to take you and raise you, we agreed to do so, no matter what. Part of that agreement was to always make sure you had food, clothing, shelter, and a nurturing and loving environment. Well, I took all that, and a lot more away from you, because I didn't like your chosen lifestyle. That was wrong of me, and completely reprehensible. For everything I did that was wrong, I apologize. I know that simply saying I'm sorry, isn't nearly enough. It's all I can do during this conversation though. I'm not asking you to forgive me for what I did to you. I don't know as that's something anyone could ever forgive someone for. I am asking you though, to give me a chance to try and begin to make it up to you. I've done a lot of thinking while you've been gone. I realized that I do love you regardless of your orientation. Believe me about this. I loved you before I knew you were homosexual. After I found out and threw you out, I tried to stop loving you. I told myself I had. I lied to myself though. I hadn't stopped loving you, and I knew it. It took your friend Sean's death, and seeing his father's reaction to it, and to the news that I'd thrown you out, for me to realize just how lucky I was to have you. I'm sorry I've been so utterly stupid, and I'm asking for a chance to prove that to you."
Tears had started to run down Mr. Watkins' face now. He started crying.
"Please Robbie! I know I don't deserve it, but please say you'll come home and give me another chance! I promise, I'll never do anything to hurt you again!" he said.
Mr. Watkins was silent for a minute. Rob had tears in his eyes now, and couldn't find his voice.
"If you can't do that, then please come home anyway. Not for me. But for your mother, and for yourself. If you don't want to come home because of me, come anyway. I'll leave. You and your mother can be together then. I'll get an apartment somewhere," Mr. Watkins said.
Rob looked ready to burst into tears. Without saying a word, he spun around and dashed down the hallway to my room.
I excused myself, saying I'd go see if Rob was OK.
As I walked down the hallway, I heard Mrs. Watkins ask her husband, "How much of that did you really mean?"
"All of it," he croaked, sadly.
I found Rob sprawled on my bed, crying his eyes out. I sat down next to him and started rubbing his back. He sat up and turned toward me and threw his arms around me, sobbing. I held the boy as he wept bitterly for a couple minutes. Finally he stopped crying.
"should I go with them?" he asked me.
Smiling a little, I nodded, and said "If that's what you want to do, I think it'll be OK."
"So you think he's telling the truth?" he asked.
"Yeah, I do Rob," I said. "Tom saw him crying in the garage after we visited him. He knew even then that he was wrong, and he wanted you back then I think. Regardless, I believe you mother. I can tell she loves you and wants you. I believe she'll be watching your father, and will make him behave appropriately, if he doesn't. Worst case - you come back here to us!"
"I have something I'm going to tell my father, that you might not like," he said.
"You can say whatever you want to him. It's OK," I said.
Rob smiled faintly then and said, "OK. Thanks Greg! I mean it. Without you, I might be dead now! Thank you so much!"
Rob hugged me then, and I hugged him back. After a minute, Rob got up and picked up his bags. I opened the door for him and we walked back out to the living room.
Both Rob's parents smiled and tears welled in their eyes when they saw him with his bags.
Rob walked up to his father then and said, "I know you hate it that I'm gay. Believe me, there are times I wish I wasn't. I can't change it though. That's what I am. I'm sorry if it bothers or embarrasses you. If you're willing to let me come home, I promise I won't flaunt my gayness. I'll keep my feelings in the closet, and I'll never do anything to embarrass you."
Tears streamed down Rob's father's cheeks then, and I couldn't believe he said what he said to Rob.
As Rob looked at him, Mr. Watkins said "Thank you so much for saying that. I know I have a problem accepting homosexuals. If you're willing to go that far to accomodate me, then I promise you I'll do whatever I have to, so you won't have to do that for me. I want you to be yourself around me. If anyone's going to learn to live differently, it's going to be me. I'll get counseling, and I'll learn to live with a son who's living his life the way he wants to."
Rob was so overcome by then, that he couldn't restrain himself anymore, and he hugged his father. The two stood crying in each other's arms for a couple minutes then, as Mrs. Watkins looked on crying happily.
Once everyone regained their composure, I looked at Mr. Watkins and said "It sounds as if you're truly interested in putting your family back together. I'm happy that things seem to be working out OK for all of you. I think if you all go together for some family counseling, you'll find things will progress smoothly. Counseling for all of you is still one of my conditions for letting Rob move home with you, although you seem to be willing to follow through with that. And, I'm still going to be stopping by and calling periodically to check that Rob's doing OK too. If problems develop, I'll step in and do what's necessary to help Rob. Is all of this still OK with you?"
"Yeah, that'll be fine," Mr. Watkins said. "Um... any counselor you want to recommend?"
Smiling I said I'd check around at school and see if they couldn't come up with a name, and then I'd call him the next day with the information.
"Thank you Mr. Winslow. Thank you for everything you've done for Rob, and for all of us," Mr. Watkins said, holding out his hand.
"You're welcome. I was happy to help. You have an incredible son. Don't take him for granted!" I said, shaking his hand.
"I won't. Not anymore," Mr. Watkins said.
We talked a few minutes longer, then Mrs. Watkins said it was time they get going. Rob came over to me then and gave me a long, firm hug. I kissed him on the cheek and said I'd be in touch one way or the other the next day. Smiling the three of them left together then.
Ethan and Simon had gone over to Ethan's house and spent the afternoon making love with one another, rather than going to the game room, like they'd told me they were doing.
As I was saying good-bye to Rob and his parents, the two of them were in Ethan's bed, both in throes of their third mutual orgasm.
Simon was laying on his back with his knees drawn up to his chest, and his feet thrown over Ethan's shoulders. Ethan was deftly shoving his well-lubed hardon in and out of Simon's asshole. Both boys were gasping and moaning, as Ethan pumped Simon's rectum full of hot jism, and Simon squirted his all over his belly and chest.
After a minute, both boys' orgasms finally ended, and Ethan pulled his penis from Simon's hole, and laid down next to him.
"Damn! That was the best one yet today!" he exclaimed, as Simon grinned at him.
"Too bad we have to get going," Simon said. "I think I could go for fourths in a while!"
"Later! I'm drained right now!" Ethan said, chuckling. "Besides, I'm sleeping over tonight. Remember?"
Simon grinned then. After a few minutes, the two boys got up, took a quick shower together, dressed, then they left Ethan's and drove over to our apartment.
Shortly after Rob and his parents left, Tom arrived. He was disappointed that he missed Rob's send-off, but eagerly listened to my description of how it went. He was grinning at the end of my story.
"I told you he cared for Rob!" Tom said.
"Yeah, it appears he does," I said. "I'm still gonna keep my eye on the situation though. Probably will for some time."
"Good! Best not to take any chances! Besides, it'll make Rob feel more comfortable knowing someone's watching out for him." Tom said.
"Exactly!" I said.
"Exactly what?" Simon asked, as he and Ethan walked in the door. "Is Rob gone?"
"Hey guys!" I said. "Yeah, he's gone. It went well too."
"Cool!" Simon said. "I'm gonna miss him though."
"Well, you'll see him at school, and you can visit back and forth," I said. "So, how was the game room?"
Both boys blushed and looked a little guilty.
Hesitantly, Simon said "Um, we went to Ethan's instead."
Ethan glared at Simon.
"Sorry. But I promised Greg I'd never lie to him, and I'm trying my best not to," Simon said, smiling a little.
"So, you were 'kissing and making up' I take it?" I asked.
Both boys blushed, and Simon nodded.
Tom and I chuckled.
"Alright, well, how about we all rustle up some grub and have supper?" I said.
Everyone grinned and we all trooped into the kitchen. In no time we had a plate of cheeseburgers and a big basket of French fries ready, and we sat down to eat.
"I liked having Rob here, but it's nice to have things back to the way they were - just the four of us!" Simon said.
Everyone agreed with him.
We spent the evening together watching Christmas specials on TV. At 11:00 the boys were yawning. I suggested we go to bed.
"Not till we've had 'Snuggle Time'!" Simon said, grinning, as he suddenly appeared to be a little more awake.
We all grinned, and I said, "Wouldn't have it any other way!"
We all went and got ready for bed then. Tom and I finished up first and got in our bed. The boys dashed in, already naked, a few minutes later and crawled into bed with us. Simon on my side, Ethan on Tom's.
We spent several minutes tickling each other and wrestling around then. Afterward, we snuggled together for a while, with Tom and I on the outside, and the boys between us. It wasn't too long before I felt Simon's erection poking me. My own dick started to fill with blood then too.
"Time to call it a night?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said, blushing.
He and Ethan crawled out of bed then. Both were hard as a rock, and blushing slightly. We said good-night, and they went down the hall to Simon's room. After they left, Tom and I straightened out the sheets a little, as they'd all come untucked with our tickling and wrestling. Then Tom and I crawled back into bed together and spent almost an hour enjoying each other, and making love together. It was after 1:00 by the time we snuggled together and finally drifted off to sleep...
The next chapter in this series will be published shortly.
Author's note: I'm going on vacation in a few days and will be gone for a couple weeks, so there won't be any new chapter posted to this story until the beginning of August. I also won't be able to respond to any e-mails while I'm away. Anyway, as a consolation for this, look for another new single-chapter story of mine - "My Friend and His Little Brother" under 'gay/high school', which I posted recently. Enjoy! And I'll see you all when I get back!