The Prince

The Prince -- Chapter 8

The Prince -- Chapter 8

Hola chicos y chicas!  I hope y'all are having a great week!  Listen.  I finished chapter 13 this afternoon after class, and I decided that it was time to go ahead and publish chapter 8.  Let me know what you guys think.  As always, you are welcome to email me at thefuturecanadian@yahoo.ca .  It was also brought to my attention that I put an incorrect address in the last chapter for the yahoo group.  The correct on is http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/futurecanadiansgroup .  Also always please enjoy that as well.  Have a good time!  ;)  David
The Prince
Chapter 8
"The Long, Long Weekend"

The next day, Gavin woke before Alex.  Even though he'd had boyfriends before, he'd always been the more dominant one who liked to hold rather than be held.  He never realized what an amazing feeling it was, though, to be held by someone.  He felt secure, safe, loved, appreciated in the arms of his boyfriend.  He felt Alex's breath on the back of his neck and smiled.  It was a very simple thing that made him so incredibly happy and excited to be alive.  It wasn't long before he felt Alex stirring.  The breath of the man behind him was slowly changing from sleeping to waking.

"Morning," Gavin said clearly.

"Good morning," Alex said, kissing the back of his neck.  "Sleep well?"

"Damn right I slept well."

"Good.  I'm sorry I was late."

"Not a problem.  I just felt myself falling asleep while you were gone.  It felt weird not to fall asleep holding you, though."

"Awww...You're so sweet to me, Gavin."

"It's not hard to be that way!"  Alex kissed him again on the back of his neck.  Gavin turned over and looked at Alex.  He gently kissed his forehead as Alex's arm wrapped itself around Gavin's waist once again.

"I love you, Gavin."

"I love you, too.  Did you and Margaret have a good night last night?"

"We did.  I told her about us," Alex said, with a positive tone in his voice.

"Really?  I take it that it went well then?" Gavin asked.

"Yeah.  It went very well.  She said that she didn't care and that she was jealous."

"Why is she jealous?" Gavin asked.

"Because I have a wonderful boyfriend and she doesn't."

Gavin smiled.  "She can have any man she wants, I'm sure."

"She could, but she always seems to find the losers around Europe."

"Who knows?  She might just meet a man over here or something and want to settle down."

"Ya never know," Alex said.  

An uneasy silence settled between the two of them.  Gavin could tell that something didn't feel right.

"You OK?" Gavin asked.

"I'm wonderful," Alex said, thinking about the question that his sister had asked him the night before.  "There's something I need to tell you," Alex started.

"What is it?" Gavin said, worried.

Before Alex could answer, there was a loud knocking on the door.  "Get your asses out of bed!!!" Margaret yelled through the door.

"You OK?" Gavin asked again.

"Yeah.  I'm fine.  We can talk about it later," Alex said.  He was partially relieved about not having to tell him right then, but he was also a bit saddened that he'd been interrupted.

"OK," Gavin said, climbing off the bed and walked to the door.

"Are y'all fucking?" Margaret asked again, from outside.

"Coming," Gavin answered.

"I hope it's not too much of a mess!" Margaret joked as Gavin opened the door.  Before Gavin noticed, she snapped a picture on her digital camera, thoroughly startling him.  "Good morning!" she exclaimed as she looked at the picture.

"Morning to you, too," Gavin said with a smile.

"Morning, baby bro!!!" Margaret said, walking over to the bed and snapping a picture of Alex.

"FUCK!" Alex said, still not completely awake.  Margaret smiled.

"Sleep well?" Gavin asked.

"I did.  This is an amazingly calm place at night.  I slept like a baby."

"I did, too, but then again, I've been getting a lot of good sleep lately," Gavin responded, looking directly at Alex.

"So you like my brother, right?" Margaret asked very seriously.

"Very much," Gavin answered quite confidently.  Alex looked between them seriously.

"Good.  No hesitation.  I'm going to tell you this once, and then it will be over.  If you ever fuck with him, if you ever hurt him, I will personally see to it that that nice penis he said you have is mounted on my wall.  Clear?"

"Yes ma'am," Gavin said, smiling.

"OK."  Margaret smiled again.  Alex still looked amazed at them; he'd never seen her act like that.  Of course, he'd never confessed to her that he was in love with someone either.  Margaret walked over and gave Gavin a hug.  It was truly the end of the conversation, as Margaret changed the subject and brought both of the boys to fits of laughter.  It wasn't 10 in the morning yet, but none of them seemed to care.

Around 11, Gavin announced that it was almost time for him to go to work.  He grabbed a few things for the shower, leaving the two of them alone in his room.  No sooner had the door shut when Margaret turned to Alex.

"Sorry about that.  I've been saving that speech for your first girlfriend for a LONG time," Margaret said.  Alex smiled.

"It's OK.  It's good to know that someone's got your back."

"True."

"To be honest with you, though..."

"Yes."

"I have a similar speech for when I meet your first boyfriend, too."

Margaret smiled.  "I figured you did.  We always seem to be thinking the same things about each other."

"It's fun being a twin, eh?"

"Oh yeah.  I had someone my own age to play with growing up!"

"Uh...play with!  I seem to remember a few times when we were little that you went into the formal throne room at the palace and sat on the throne like you were the Queen, ordering and demanding me to do things."

"Yeah.  And you would always tell me to do it myself!"

"But the look on Mr. Chamblis' face was priceless when we did that."

"Damn right.  I love that man!"

"I do, too."

"So, we should call and bother Mom.  When I left yesterday, she looked as though she was in kind of a funk."

"OK," Alex responded.  Margaret looked at her watch.  She pulled out her cell phone and dialed the Royal Office number.  She quickly put it on speakerphone.

"Royal Office," Marcia answered.

"Hello Marcia!" the two of them said simultaneously.

"Well hello there, Highnesses.  How are you?"

"We're fine," Margaret said.

"Is our mother around?"

"She's got someone with her at the moment, but I'm sure she'd love a distraction from the two of you."

"Thank you!" the two of them said.  They were placed on hold; it wasn't a moment until the Queen came onto the line.

"Hello?" she said calmly.

"MOM!!!" Alex and Margaret both said.  "How are things?" Alex asked.

"Well if it's not my precious twins.  I was just speaking with Dr. Stoyanov about you."

"Was it good?" Alex asked.

"Juicy!" the Queen found herself joking.

"I hope it wasn't too racy.  We don't want him going out and calling the papers and whatnot," Margaret chimed in.

"No!  Not at all!" the Queen responded.  "So I take you made it there safely, Margaret?"

"Yeeesss...," she paused, thinking of the right way to phrase what she was going to say.  "Alex and a friend of his were there to meet me at the airport when I arrived."

"That's good.  Who is this friend?  Margaret, you haven't tried to put the moves on him yet, have you?"

"MOM!  Give me a little credit.  I make the guy buy me dinner first," Margaret fired back quickly.  For the first time in days, the Queen laughed.  It wasn't a very strong laugh, as she was still hurting, but it was a genuine laugh.

"I'm glad to hear that everything is going OK," she said.  "And Alex.  How are you making out at school?"  Margaret and Alex turned to each other and looked, there was a smile exchanged between them.

"Everything is fine, Mom.  We're out of class today.  Tomorrow is a school holiday."

"Oh!  That sounds exciting," the Queen said, more interested in hearing the voices of her children because it helped ease the pain.  Dr. Stoyanov sat there quietly, watching the Queen as she moved from a quite negative personal space to a quite positive one.

"Yes ma'am.  They do original theatrical presentations as a way to celebrate homecoming," Alex responded.

"How interesting!"

"Yes ma'am.  It should be quite interesting.  Margaret and I, along with Gavin, are going to get dinner and then see the productions," Alex said.

"Gavin?"

"It's one of Alex's friends, Mom.  He's the guy that picked me up from the airport."

"Oh!" the Queen said as Gavin opened the door to his room.

"Speaking of, he just walked in," Alex said, cueing his mother to not say anything about princely titles or state affairs and such.

"Well hello, Gavin," the Queen said over the phone.

"Hello?" Gavin said, looking confused at Alex and Margaret.

"I'm Isabel, Margaret and Alexander's mother."

"Oh hi!  How are you, Ms. Saavedra?" Gavin asked politely.

"I'm quite well.  Thanks for asking.  And you?"

"I am  great!  I'm about to head out to work, though," Gavin said as he pulled his pants on.

"Oh!  Alright.  I won't keep you then.  I just wanted to say thank you for picking up Margaret and for making sure that Alex is OK at school."

"Not a problem, ma'am," Gavin said, winking at Alex.  The act made him blush for a moment.  "Alex is a really good guy.  I promise I won't let anything happen to him."

"Thank you very much.  And for hauling the two of them around, let Margaret give you some money."

"It's not necessary.  They're both cool people."

"I insist!" the Queen said.

"In that case, Alex and I will arrange something later."

"Alright," the Queen agreed.  "Well, all.  I must be off. I have someone sitting here with me."

"It was nice speaking with you, Gavin."

"Likewise, Ms. Saavedra."

"Call me Isabel," the Queen stated.  Alex and Margaret looked at each other.  Dr. Stoyanov looked oddly as well.  All three were intrigued by what the Queen had just said.  "And Alex and Margaret.  You two call me later."

"Yes ma'am," they both said.

"Bye!"

"Bye!" the three of them responded.  Margaret closed her phone.

"THAT has never happened Gavin."

"What?" he asked.

"The `Call me Isabel' part," Alex responded.

"Really?  She sounded like it was nothing."

"To her, sometimes, formality is a big thing," Margaret said, exchanging a knowing look with her brother.  Alex concurred.

"Oh."

"She must like you almost as much as Alex does," she joked.

"Is that a bad thing?" Gavin asked, pulling a shirt over his body.  Margaret quickly turned to Alex and mouthed `damn.'  Alex responded with a `that's my man' look.

"Not at all," Margaret said as she turned back to him.

"Cool," Gavin said.  "So what do you guys have planned for the day?"

"Well, I was going to see if Alex wanted to let me be a tourist and guide me around this place.  Then I was thinking I might take Alex for a bit of shopping."

"Wow.  Would y'all like to use my car?"

"It's not necessary, babe," Alex said.  "If we go anywhere out of town, we can take a taxi or something."

"And pay a whole lot more than what it would cost to just borrow my car," Gavin countered.

"It would be kind of fun to practice my driving a bit since I so seldom get to do it back home," Margaret said to Alex.  Alex looked toward Gavin and then back at his sister.

"Are you sure that you don't mind?" Alex again asked.

"Not at all, babe."

"OK."

"Great," Margaret said.  "Should we take you to work?"

"Yeah.  Then the car is y'all's," Gavin said.  Margaret stifled a small chuckle.  She was still getting used to Southern slang.

Alex got up and put on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt, seeing that it was going to be a rather warm day.  Within just a few minutes, they were on their way out the door.  Gavin drove them to the store where he worked so that he could show them exactly how to get there.  Margaret sat in the back the whole time.  When they arrived, Gavin leaned over and kissed Alex once on the lips.  "That's so cute, you guys," Margaret said.  Neither of them responded to her comment, as they seemed to be lost in the moment between them.

Gavin reluctantly pulled himself out of the vehicle, and was replaced by Margaret in the driver's seat.  They both watched as Gavin walked into the store.  Alex was thinking of his boyfriend; Margaret was thinking of Gavin, too, but in a much different way.

"OK.  So let's get going!" Margaret said as she started Gavin's car.

"Where are we off to today?"

"I thought we'd go do some shopping first, then swing back to Montevallo and such.  Then we can come back and pick up Gavin when he gets off...from work that is!"

Alex laughed at his sister as she pulled the SUV out of the spot.  She drove flawlessly out of the parking lot and with a little help from Alex, found her way to Interstate 65 going north, toward the Galleria.  It was only a few minutes before she was pulling into the parking space on the side closest to Sears.  Alex explained that they could go all the way down the first level and then come back on the upper level of the mall, ending up at the store where the journey began.  They entered the mall and each quickly spied things they wanted.  Alex bought some shorts and a couple of shirts that Margaret said looked good on him.  Then it was on to another store.  Halfway through the trip, they'd spent almost $1,000 each.  

     If Gavin had been with them, it would have seemed like an enormous amount of money just to spend on trivial items.  But for the twins, it wasn't a big deal.  They'd been able to do it since they were allowed to go shopping on their own.  What made these two different though--especially Margaret--is that when they decided they no longer liked or wanted an article of clothing, they would donate it to charity rather than let it clutter up their closets.  Margaret would often take boxes of clothes to local women's shelters in Cabocha and give the clothes to women in need.  She would also help the women in the shelter by giving them lessons in how to professionally dress and how to act when on an interview for a job and such.  Many of the women and the people running the shelter were so grateful for all her help that they offered to rename the whole corporation after her.  She considered it an honor to just help them out and declined.  In that, she showed the roots from which her father's family had come as blue-collar immigrants in the late 19th century.

As they walked from Abercrombie and Fitch on the lower level, they turned to head toward the pet store when they saw a mother and her child standing in front of KB Toys.  "But Mommy...You promised you'd get it for me."

"I know baby," the mother said, "but Daddy and I just can't afford it right now.  I promise that I will get it for you just as soon as I find a job."  She looked at the child, "I promise!"  

"It's the last one, though," the daughter pleaded.

Margaret and Alex could tell what was going on.  They looked at each other, and something about the situation tugged at their heartstrings.  Whereas most people probably would have walked by, they didn't seem to be able to.  After looking at each other for a minute, they knew what the other one was thinking.  Together, they walked into the toy store, where the employee, Mark, was setting the toy back on the shelf.  He looked upset.

"Excuse me, sir," Alex said.  "Can you direct us to the toy that that little girl just out there was looking at?"

"It was this one," Mark said.

"We'll take it," Margaret said.

"It's the last one, and I think she had her heart set on it," the man said, taking the toy off the shelf and reluctantly walking back to the register.  "That will be 74.18," the guy said, having scanned the bar code and added the sales tax into the equation.  He put it into the bag for them.

"Thank you," the two of them said.

"Yeah," the guy said in a not-too-pleasant voice, wishing for a second that he'd put the toy in another place to hold for the girl.  He walked to the opening of the store and watched as they walked past the little girl and her mother.  But then he saw them stop.

"Alex," Margaret said.  "I think Caterina already has this," she said.

"Really?  Whatever are we going to do with this one?"

"I wonder if that little girl would like it?" Margaret asked.  They caught the attention of the little girl's mother for a second.

"Excuse me," Alex said after they'd turned around.  "It seems that we've bought something for our niece that she already has."

"OK..." the mother said.

Margaret added, "And the gentleman in the store said it couldn't be returned because it was on sale."

"And we were wondering if your daughter might enjoy it," Alex said.

"What is it?" the lady asked.  Margaret pulled the toy out of the bag and showed it to the little girl.  Her eyes lit up.  "Oh dear!" the mother exclaimed.

"Can I keep it, mommy?" the little girl, in a light blue dress asked.

"Are you sure you can't return it?" the lady asked, reluctant to accept the gift on her daughter's behalf.

Alex motioned for Mark, the store attendant to come to them.  He'd been watching and listening to the whole conversation.  He quickly walked over to them, but stood in a place where he could continue to watch the front of his store.  "Yes sir?" he asked.

"Could you confirm for this lady that the toy that we mistakenly just purchased for our niece cannot be returned?"

"That's right," Mark said, looking over at the mother.

"Oh, well...I suppose she can keep it," the mother said.  Her daughter cheered for a second.  "What do you say to these nice people, baby?" she turned to her daughter.

"THANK YOU!" the little girl cheered.  She walked over to Margaret, who'd lowered herself to the little girl's level, and hugged her.

"You are more than welcome, baby," Margaret said, returning the hug.  She hugged Alex's leg as well.

"Thank you, very much, you two.  I owe you big!"

"No you don't," Margaret said.  "It was our mistake."

Alex and Margaret turned and gave each other a look and a smile.  They decided to head out of the mall at that point; they'd done a good deed and they both knew it.  The thing was, they never spoke of it again between just the two of them.  Upon leaving the mall, they noticed that there was a DSW in the shopping center next to the Galleria.  One had recently opened in Cabocha, and Margaret was hooked.  They went to the store, where she spent almost as much on shoes as she had in the mall.  Alex found a few pairs for himself, but spent more on Gavin than he did on himself.  They rounded out that stop with a short visit to a gellato store in Patton Creek shopping center.  All in all, it was a good shopping trip.

They returned to Montevallo just as the sun was beginning its evening descent.  There was still enough light for Margaret to get a plethora of pictures, and  She quickly filled the memory card in her camera.  They walked back to Alex's room so that she could download the pictures and start over.  It was at this point that Margaret had the (dis)pleasure of meeting Eddie for the first time.

Laughing as they walked into Alex's room, they were quieted by Eddie, who was watching TV.  "Hey Eddie," Alex whispered [why is he whispering?] as the two sat at Alex's computer.

"How are you?" Eddie said without changing positions.

"Good.  This is my sister, Margaret."

"Hi Margaret," Eddie said, fixed on the images coming through the TV.

"Hello.  Nice to meet you," Margaret added, but there was no response from Eddie.  The twins brushed it off as Eddie being Eddie.  Margaret had head a LOT about the man who was technically her brother's roommate.  They downloaded the pictures just as it was time for them to leave to meet Gavin at the end of his shift.  Alex didn't bother to shut down his computer as he normally did when he left the room, leaving Eddie with access to his computer.

At first Eddie was a bit apprehensive, but then when he was sure that they weren't going to be back for a while, he went over to Alex's computer.  He looked through the pictures.  Mostly they were the scenery of the town, but there were a few of Alex and Gavin, both half naked, taken that morning.  He didn't think that it was what Elizabeth wanted, so he didn't bother with them.  He left the computer the way he'd found it and returned to watching the TV.

Meanwhile, Alex and Margaret were driving toward Alabaster to pick up Gavin, talking about random, unimportant things.  By the time they got there, they noticed Gavin was still busy working.  The store seemed to be crowded, with customers lined out from the cash registers.  Seeing that it might take Gavin a while, Alex and Margaret decided to go into the store for a second.  The heads of the teenage grocery baggers turned as Margaret entered; only one head turned upon Alex's entrance-- Gavin, the only head that mattered to Alex.  Gavin smiled when he saw his boyfriend and his boyfriend's sister walking toward the produce section of the store.

"Damn...she's hot," one of the baggers working with Gavin said.

"She's really sweet, too," Gavin said as he continued to scan the customer's items.  

"Do you think she'd go out with me?" the guy, who was obviously younger than Gavin asked.

"I don't know.  Ask her."

"It's not that easy.  I'm kind of shy," the guy joked.  "Would you talk to her for me?"

"Nope.  You have to do that yourself," Gavin said.  "I will tell you that her name is Margaret, though."

"Thanks man," the guy said.  

"No problem."

It was only a few minutes when Margaret and Alex returned to the check out stand.  Alex was buying a bottle of juice and an apple; Margaret was buying a banana and a soda.  They had to wait a few minutes to get to the register, as the line to Gavin's station had grown longer than it had been when they first entered the store.  When they finally reached the checkout station, the boy enamored with Margaret had returned from bagging at another cash register so that he could get a good look at Margaret.

"How are you guys tonight?" Gavin asked.

"We're wonderful.  I just need a big strong man to take me home," Margaret said, looking straight at Gavin.  Gavin smiled.

"Well, I'm spoken for..."

"Well, sucks for me then!" she said, joking with Gavin.

"But!  This man behind me is single," Gavin said, pointing toward the guy behind him.

"Oh?" Margaret said, inquisitively.  The guy blushed a little bit.

"Es muy guapo, ese tío," she said to Alex.

"Sí, estoy de acuerdo," Alex said, shaking his head.

"What's his name?" Margaret asked.

"Antony," Tony said.

"Very hot name!" Margaret said.

"Antony Moretti, to be exact!" Antony said from behind Gavin's station.

"Nice to meet you," Margaret said.  "I'm Margaret Saavedra."

"Where are you from, Margaret?" Antony asked as Alex paid for the few things they'd purchased.

"I'm from Lorenzia.  You?"

"Tennessee."

"So you're a country boy?"

"Yes ma'am," Antony said, smiling.  They spoke for a few minutes longer, but when it came time for the twins to leave, there was no desire on Margaret's part to stay.  The kid was cute, but not cute enough in Margaret's mind to warrant staying behind to take time away from his job.  It wasn't long before Gavin was walking out of the store and toward the car.

"I'm sorry that took so long, guys," Gavin said as he climbed into the back seat of his own vehicle.

"Not a problem," Margaret said.  "We were talking about you anyway."

"Oh really?  Was it good?"

"Alex says it was!" Margaret said, making Gavin laugh and her twin blush a little bit.  Gavin reached up and put his hands on Alex's shoulder for a second.  Alex turned around as best he could to look at the boyfriend sitting behind him.  Gavin winked.

"So what do you guys want to do tonight...other than each other?" Margaret asked.

"That was pretty much the only thing on my mind," Alex chimed in, getting a laugh from the two of them.  "I don't care, really, though."

"What about you, Gavin?"

"You guys want to get a movie and a pizza or something?" Gavin asked.

"Why don't you let me take you out for dinner, for letting us use the car today?"

"That would be cool, too.  I just have to shower!"

"Alex can clean your back if you want him to," Margaret offered.  Gavin and Alex winked at each other.

"...I could clean his, too, then..." Gavin pondered aloud.  Margaret chuckled.

"I suppose you could!" she said.

It wasn't long before the three of them were back in Montevallo.  Gavin quickly showered while Margaret and Alex sat in Alex's room.  Eddie was there, but he'd started chatting on his computer with someone.  It was only a few minutes before Gavin was dressed in a pair of tight fitting jeans and a shirt that was equally as revealing.  They decided on a local Mexican restaurant and drove quickly over to it.  It was crowded, but the host was able to seat them almost immediately upon hearing Alex and Margaret conversing in Spanish.  Another person brought out salsa and chips and took their drink orders.

"One day, I'm going to be able to speak Spanish as well as the two of you," Gavin said, looking between Margaret as she sat across from him and Alex as he sat beside him.

"It wouldn't be that hard for you.  You're picking up Cabochean pretty easily."

"That's just because that's what you speak after sex," Gavin said.  Margaret chuckled once again while Alex blushed.  "I'm sorry, babe.  I just saw a moment," he said sweetly as he pulled his boyfriend into a sideways hug.

"It's OK.  You can make it up to me later," Alex said, winking as he looked into his boyfriend's beautiful eyes.

"Can I take your orders?" the waiter asked as he came up to the table.  

"Can you give us just a few minutes more, please?" Margaret asked.

"Yes ma'am," the man said, walking away.

Margaret looked over at the two men across from her and saw, in their eyes, true, genuine emotion coming from both of them.  She loved the way Alex smiled a little when Gavin was talking.  Her twin found the voice of his boyfriend soothing and calm; Gavin obviously saw something in Alex that made him light up.

"So let me tell you what your boyfriend did today," Margaret said to Gavin.

"What did he do?  He didn't meet another man, did he?" Gavin asked.

"Not hardly.  He did the nicest, sweetest thing for a little girl at the mall," Margaret recounted.

"Margaret!  That was your idea," Alex said.

"No it wasn't," Margaret said.

"Yes it was!" Alex insisted.  

"What happened?" Gavin asked, breaking the sibling argument that was ensuing.

"Well," Margaret started speaking to Gavin, but keeping an eye for a second on her brother.  "We saw this little girl, and she wanted a toy that her mother couldn't afford.  So my brother walks into the store, talks to the guy for a moment, and then walks back out with the toy for the little girl."

"You did that babe?" Gavin asked, proud to have found a man with such a kind heart.

"It was Margaret's idea."

"No it wasn't!"

"That is so sweet!" Gavin said, leaning over and kissing his boyfriend's cheek.  Margaret and Alex never broke eye contact; she smiled as Gavin returned to his seated position.  

"That was so cute.  I need a picture of that," Margaret said, fishing through her purse for her camera.  Upon finding it, she powered the small device and focused in on the two of them.  Instinctively, they both moved closer into one another.  She snapped the first shot.  Alex thought that was the only one he'd have to sit through, so he pulled his head away a little bit.  Just as he was doing so, Gavin pecked him on the cheek and the flashbulb went off again.  "OH GUYS!  THAT IS SO CUTE!" she declared, turning to show the display to the two of them.  Gavin took the camera and held it there for a second as they both inspected the picture.

"You are so cute, babe."

"I'm so not the cute one in that photo, Gavin."

"Yes you are," Gavin said.

"I'm afraid that I have to agree with Alex on this one, as much as it pains me to do so!" Margaret fired into the conversation jokingly.

"You just don't have good taste in men," Gavin said.

"Obviously!" Margaret countered.  "One day, Alex and I will go down the list of men I've dated.  Even though I'm only 19, I've been out with quite a few losers.  One might say that I'm kissing frogs looking for a prince."  Alex, having just taken a sip of his water, almost spit it out with that comment, but he was able to keep it in.

"Well.  I've been there as well.  I've been out with a few people, but I was fortunate enough to kiss just the right frog this time," Gavin said, smiling at Alex's sister.  Alex got a little nervous.  The little piece of information that he'd kept from Gavin was, in that moment, weighing on his mind a little bit.  Thankfully, though, things returned to normal as the waiter returned to take their order.  They hadn't even looked at the menu, but seemed to be able to quickly decide on what they wanted.  Margaret, aware of her brother's nervousness, changed the topic to Gavin.  They talked about north Alabama, and Gavin recounted stories of his hometown and his family.  Margaret was impressed by him more and more.  She knew that he was the perfect man for her brother.

A few minutes later, there was a round of "hot plates" set onto the table.  Each of them enjoyed the food, the company, and the conversation.  When it was time to pay the check, Gavin, being the proud Southern man that he was, offered to pay for his and Alex's meals.  Margaret was having none of it, though, telling the waiter in Spanish not the divide the checks under any circumstances and then flashing her rack to woo the waiter into doing what she wanted.  He complied without question.

As they left, Gavin and Alex were holding hands while Margaret walked a few steps ahead of them.  Without notice, she turned around and snapped a picture of them holding hands.  It was very sweet for her to see that Alex had met someone that made him truly happy.

That night ended early for the three of them.  Gavin was tired from work, while Alex and Margaret were tired from spending the day shopping and going from one place to another.  Gavin drove Margaret back to the inn and then returned to the dorm with Alex.  He helped Alex carry in the bags that were left over after they'd dropped Margaret off at her destination.  "How much stuff did you buy?" Gavin asked as both of their hands were filled with bags from the various stores they'd been to that day.

"More than I care to admit right now," Alex said as they walked onto their hall.

"And since when do you wear size 13 shoes?" Gavin asked after looking into the bag.

"Those would be for you, love."

"You bought me shoes?"

"And some clothes.  I didn't really find a lot of things for myself, so I figured I would buy you some things," Alex said as they walked into Gavin's room.

"Wow.  It's not my birthday or anything!" Gavin joked as he and Alex set the bags onto the bed.

"I know, but every day with you is like my birthday, so I wanted to share the feelings that you send through me every morning when I wake up," Alex said.

"Damn.  That was good!  But you know what? You don't ever have to buy me anything.  Having you, knowing you, being with you in every sense of the word is more than enough for me."

"Touché."  Alex winked at his boyfriend as he pulled things from bags.  He inventoried in his mind what he'd purchased: three pairs of shoes for himself and five for Gavin, five pairs of pants for Gavin, a few shorts for each of them, and some shirts.  Gavin seemed to like the clothes and shoes but more liked the fact that Alex could have spent all that money on himself, but instead was thoughtful enough to purchase a few things for Gavin as well.  Then the image of the happiness of the little girl at receiving the toy came into his head.  Gavin, in his mind, really had found his 'prince charming,' despite not knowing that he was, in life, an actual prince.

Gavin helped Alex hand up the clothes and place them away.  Before long, they were off to bed.  They'd returned to their usual position, with Gavin proudly  and securely holding onto Alex's slumbering body.  

As they woke the next morning, Alex could feel Gavin's hard-on poking into his ass.  It then became painfully obvious that he was horny as well.

"Gavin," Alex said, waking his boyfriend up that morning, as opposed to waiting on him to wake up with the help of mother nature.

"Morning, babe," Gavin said, kissing Alex's head.

"I love you," Alex whispered.

"I love you, too," Gavin whispered with a naughty twinge in his voice.  He'd obviously realized his morning excitement.

"I'm horny," Alex said bluntly.  "And given yesterday morning, I wanted to know if you would help me take care of it before Margaret arrives to wake us up."

"I would be more than willing," Gavin said after having started to rub on Alex's body.  

Alex turned to face his boyfriend and began kissing him.  Their kisses were fueled by love, passion, and raw sexual energy.  Gavin returned the kisses equally while grabbing Alex's tight runner's ass with his free hand.  Beyond that, there really was no foreplay that morning.  Both of them were far too horny to tease and process  each other as they normally spent their mornings doing.  Gavin turned and reached for a condom and some lube.  He turned and lay on his back as Alex sat up and carefully rolled the condom out onto his boyfriend's dick.  He put copious amounts of lube and rubbed it all along the erect shaft protruding from his boyfriend's body.  After having lubed himself, Alex pulled himself to straddle Gavin.  He positioned the penis directly at his asshole and then sat down on top of it.  It entered his body effortlessly, as Alex had learned just how to relax himself.  Sure, it stung a little, but Alex had learned that the pain and discomfort would soon pass.  After slowly descending Gavin's dick, Alex used slow, long, deliberate strokes to excite Gavin and bring him closer and closer to climax.  

His boyfriend's motions brought Gavin quickly to the point of no return.  "I'm going to cum, babe," he said, sweetly warning his boyfriend who was still on top of him.

"Go ahead," Alex said as he started to stroke his own cock.  Gavin convulsed for a second and then shot his complete load into Alex's awaiting asshole.  Alex shoved himself down onto Gavin and feverishly tried to bring himself to orgasm.  He moaned at the exact moment his orgasm flowed onto Gavin's body.  He looked down to find that his splooge landed all over Gavin's chest and face.  A little bit was even in his hair.  

For a moment or two, they sat there and looked at each other smiling.  Their afterglow wasn't interrupted by the sound of a knocking door, but rather the sound of Gavin's cell phone ringing.  The two pulled themselves up quickly and Gavin went over to his desk to answer the phone.  

"Hello?" he said.

"Hey Gavin.  This is Mom!" she said frantically.

"Hey Mom.  What's up?"

"My blood pressure!" Paula said.

"Not good.  What's going on?"

"It's your brother.  We're supposed to be leaving this afternoon to go up to Tennessee for dinner, but he won't get ready to go.  Your father isn't any help.  He just left to go out to the barn to take care of the animals, leaving me to deal with your brother."

"Let me talk to him," Gavin volunteered.

"I was hoping you'd say that!" Paula said, conceding that Gavin had more influence over Conner than she did.  Paula called out for Conner to take the phone, which he did promptly upon finding out that Gavin was on the line.

"GAVIN!  DON'T MAKE ME GO TO TENNESSEE!!!" Conner said clearly.

"I wish I had that power, Con-Con.  Why don't you want to see Grandma and Grandpa?"

"I just don't.  I don't like them.  They act funny and say bad things about you."

"What do they say?"

"They say that they hope that I don't turn out to be a faggot like you.  What's a faggot?"

"It's a mean word that people use toward gay people."

"Why would anyone want to be mean to you, Gavin?"

"I don't know.  Some people just believe that it's wrong to be gay and that gay people are going to hell."

"You're not going to hell, Gavin!"

"I don't think I am, anyway," Gavin said.

"You and Alex have to be in heaven with me!"

"That would be nice, too."

"I wish I could just stay here."

"You're too young to do that, Con-Con."

"I know.  Mom keeps telling me that."

Gavin looked at Alex for a second.  Alex looked concerned, as he'd never experienced a situation like the one before him.  "Conner.  Will you do me a favor?"

"Yeah..." Conner said.

"I want you to be a good boy for Mom for a little bit, and do exactly what she says.  I will call you back in 10 minutes.  OK?"

"OK."

"Let me talk to Mom for a second."

"OK," Conner said, handing the phone back to Paula.

"Hey, Conner.  I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have called you like that.  You're probably just waking up."

"Nah.  Alex and I have been up for a few minutes," Gavin said to his mother.

"Oh!  Tell him I said hi," Paula said.

"Mom said hi," Gavin said to Alex.

"Tell her hello from me as well," Alex said as he cleaned himself a little bit from the morning's excursion.

"He said hey," Gavin said to his mother.  "Mom.  He really doesn't want to go, and I can't say that I blame him for not wanting to see those people."

"I know.  If it weren't for your father, I wouldn't have anything to do with them either."

"Yeah...Well.  I told him that I would call him back in 10 minutes to check and see if he was doing what he was supposed be doing for you."

"He's already upstairs taking a shower," Paula said.  "Whatever you said worked."

"I just asked him to do what you asked him to do."

"There are some things that I will never understand!" Paula said with a chuckle.

"Yeah.  So let me call you back in a few minutes," Gavin said.

"OK," Paula said.  "Talk to you in a few."

"Bye Mom, Love you."

"Love you, too, baby."

Gavin hung up the phone and fell back into the chair.  He took a deep breath while sitting there, still soiled from the morning's events.  "Everything OK?" Alex asked, lying on the bed wearing a pair of tight fitting boxer shorts.

Gavin thought for a second.  "I'm not sure.  Conner is saying that he doesn't want to see our grandparents because they talk bad about me."

"They talk bad about you?"  

"They use the F-word in front of him," Gavin said.  He got angrier as he thought about it.  "They really are evil people," Gavin said.

"So why don't we go save him from having to go," Alex suggested sitting up on the bed and looking at his boyfriend.

"What about the plays?" Gavin said.

"To be honest, I just wanted to go because you were going.  I really could care less to see them."

"What about Margaret?"

"She would like it up there, probably.  Would your parents mind if we came up?"

"Not at all.  She'd tell you to bring your clothes so that she could wash them, though!"

"I can do that next week, now that I know how to use a washing machine!" Alex joked about having to ask Lisa to show him how to wash clothes so that he wouldn't ruin them.

Gavin thought for a second.  It really was a good idea, and it was one that helped solidify that Alex was a genuine, good guy, unlike so many others he'd encountered.  "Call Margaret and see if she's up for it."

Alex jumped off the bed and grabbed his phone.  He dialed his sister's number and waited for her to answer.  "Hello?" she said groggily.

"So I've woken you up this morning!  Turn about's fair play!" Alex said.

"I guess," Margaret said through her sleep.

"Listen," Alex started, "there's been a slight change of plans.  We're going to rescue Gavin's little brother from having to go visit his evil grandparents."

"OK?"

"And you're coming with us," Alex said.

"OK..."

"When are we leaving babe?" Alex asked Gavin.

"As soon as I can shower and get some stuff together."

"OK," he said, retuning to the phone call with Margaret.  "We're leaving in about a half hour."

"OK.  That gives me time to get rid of the man in my bed."

"A man?" Alex asked.

"Yeah.  I'll explain it all later."

"Yeah...you're going to have to!" Alex said.  "Just be ready to go in about a half hour or so."

"OK," Margaret said, coming more and more to the land of the living.  They said their goodbyes and hung up their phones.

Gavin smiled.  "You don't have to do this, Alex."

"I know.  If the situations were reversed, though, you would do the same thing for me, right?"

"Right," Gavin answered.  "Let me call Mom back," Gavin said, reaching for his phone as it sat on the desk.

After one ring, Paula answered.  "He's still acting OK," she said, without a hello.

"Good.  Listen.  Want to hear why I think my boyfriend is so amazing?"

"Sure."

"He had this idea."

"Uh oh!" Paula joked.

"He was saying that, if you guys wanted, we could come up there and watch him.  That way, you don't have to worry about him acting up at Grandma's and Grandpa's, and he doesn't have to worry about dealing with them if he doesn't want to."

Paula thought for a second.  "Gavin.  I would love you forever for that."

"You're supposed to love me forever anyway!" Gavin jokingly protested.

"I know, and I will, but this just takes a big stress off of me!  It's a shame that I can't stay too!" Paula joked.

"You could."

"Nah.  Your father hasn't seen his parents in a while, so it's only fair.  You and Conner are the lucky ones, though!"

"True."

"I WANT TO TALK TO GAVIN!" Gavin heard Conner yell into the phone.

"Here he is," Paula said, handing the phone to the younger of her two sons.

"Hey Gavin!"

"Hey buddy.  Listen.  Alex had a great idea!"

"Did he propose?" Conner said out of nowhere.  Gavin laughed.

"No.  He didn't propose."

"Then what's his so-called 'good' idea?"

"He suggested that we should come up there and watch you while Mom and Dad go to see Grandma and Grandpa."

"Really?!"

"Really!  Does that sound cool?"

"YES!" Conner said.

"Still, though.  You have to do what Mom tells you to do, OK?"

"OK!" Conner said.

"Let me talk to Mom again."

"OK," Conner said, handing the phone back to their mother.

"Hey...You just made his day!"

"It's not a big deal," Gavin said.  "Listen.  We're going to be leaving here in just a little bit.  I just wanted to let you know that Alex's sister is coming with us."

"OH!  OK.  I'll set up our room for her then.  I'm assuming that you and your boyfriend will be cohabitating for the evening."

"Probably so, since I can't seem to keep my hands off him sometimes."

"Just remember that you're little brother will be in the house."

"I'll tell Alex to keep his moaning to a whisper then!" Gavin joked.

"GAVIN!" Alex and Paula said simultaneously.

"Way too much information," Paula said as Alex blushed.

"Alright.  Well, we will be up there in a couple of hours."

"I'll watching for y'all," Paula said.  "And tell Alex that there will be some gravy waiting for him when he gets here."

"I'll let him know," Gavin said.

"Love you, baby."

"Love you, too, Mom," Gavin said as he closed the phone.  "You know, Alex," Gavin started, "I really do love you."

"I love you too, Gavin."

"Margaret isn't going to be upset that we're not going to the plays is she?"

"If she is, she'll get over it," Alex said, smiling.  "For real, though, she will be fine with it.  Just explain the situation to her, and she'll understand.  With her, family comes first."

"Cool.  I really do like you sister, by the way."

"Yeah.  I'm quite fond of her myself."

The guys picked up their pace a little bit and ran for a quick shower.  It was more to wash off the evidence of their morning escapade than to really cleanse themselves of any impurity that might have grown to rest on their body.  They walked back into their rooms and grabbed a change of clothes for the evening.  Within just a few minutes, they were going to pick Margaret up from the inn.  She was waiting on them when they arrived, standing next to a quite attractive man that both Gavin and Alex had seen around campus.  They were smiling and laughing as he smoked a cigarette and she sat there watching him.  She said her good-byes as the vehicle pulled up to the inn.  

"So who is that?" Alex asked inquisitively as she climbed into the back seat of the SUV.

"His name is Chuck," Margaret said, with a smile.

"Was that the man who was with you when I called this morning?"

"Oh yeah.  He doesn't look it, but he is an amazing lover, probably the best I've ever had."

"Nice," Alex said as he turned to find the man still standing there waiting on them to leave.  He turned around as Gavin backed the car out of the space to find his sister waving at him through the window.  It wasn't until they were pulling off that Alex noticed the guy walking toward Napier.

"So why are we skipping the plays?" Margaret said.

"Well," Gavin started, "my little brother doesn't want to go see his grandparents because he says they say mean things about me."

"Oh.  Poor kid.  What do they say?"

"He said that the last time he saw them, they were complaining about me and saying things like they hoped that Conner wouldn't turn out gay like me...well, rather a faggot like me."

"Oh God!"

"Yeah.  I had to explain to him what a faggot was," Gavin interjected.

"So we're going up to save him from a long, long weekend?"

"Pretty much," Gavin responded.  "I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all.  I love to travel to places and see how the real people live.  Birmingham is nice and all, as is Montevallo, but it doesn't seem to be the `real' Alabama, if that makes sense."

"It can be.  It's just not like that all the time."

"What town are you from?"

"Albertville."

"North Alabama?" Margaret asked.

"Yeah."

They stopped for gas and then headed up the interstate.  Margaret asked if it would be OK to play her iPod through Gavin's stereo.  He didn't care, so Alex hooked up the device in the same place he normally hooked up his own iPod.  There were a couple of songs in Spanish at the beginning of her playlist, but then there were quite a few in English as well.  One stood out to Gavin.  It was a song called "Never Fades Away" by Australian singer Delta Goodrem.  Gavin found it a powerful song about how true love always lingers, despite the situation that one finds himself in at a particular time.  They were energized a bit when they stopped for breakfast on the way up to Albertville.  Alex ordered a gravy biscuit, as usual.  Gavin and Margaret each had a sausage biscuit.  The time seemed to fly as they drove up the interstate.  Margaret looked at the country side, amazed at how beautiful the country seemed to be, even along the side of the interstate.

After pulling off the interstate, they drove toward Albertville.  They turned onto highway 75 and drove south upon arriving in the town.

"Wow," Margaret said as they pulled into the long driveway leading to Gavin's house.  "This looks like an amazing farm!"

"Dad tries to keep it up as best he can, but it's not a big producer.  It keeps us in veggies all year, though."  
"That's really enough then," Margaret said.

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Be ready for my little brother," Gavin warned Margaret.  "He's going to ask a million and one questions."

"Then I'll just have to come up with a million and one answers."

"He'll love you for that!"

They pulled into the driveway behind Gavin's mom's van.  He assumed that since Conner wasn't going that they'd be taking his dad's truck.  Conner was sitting on the front porch waiting on them to arrive.  When he saw the car come to a complete stop, he ran to the driver's side of the vehicle and waited on Gavin to climb out.  Gavin effortlessly bent over and picked up his little brother.

"Hey Con-Con."

"Hey Gavin!!!" Conner said, wrapping his arms around his brother's neck.  They squeezed each other tightly as Alex and Margaret walked around the front of the car.  Margaret snapped a picture of the two brothers.

"Hey Alex!" Conner said, weasling his way from Gavin's arms and running to Alex for a hug.  

"How are you, Little Man?"

"I'm good.  Who's that?" Conner asked, pointing to Margaret.

"That's my sister, Margaret."

"But you can call me Mags," Margaret said to him.

"OK, Mags."

After a moment, Paula walked out of the house.  "Hey y'all," she said as she walked up to them.

"Hey Mom."

"Hi, Mrs. Butler," Alex said.

"Uh...what did I tell you about that?" she said to Alex after hugging Gavin.  

"I'm sorry, Paula!" Alex said, setting Conner down and hugging Gavin's mom.

"Thank you," she whispered in Alex's ear.

"Not a problem," he whispered back as the two broke their own embrace.  "Paula.  This is my sister, Margaret," he said, pointing to his sister.  "And Mags, this is Gavin's mom, Paula."

"Good afternoon, ma'am."

"Good afternoon.  Nice to meet ya."

"Likewise."

"So I hate to spoil y'all's weekend."

"It's not a problem," Margaret answered for the three of them.  "This really is a beautiful farm and a beautiful part of the country."

"I like to think so myself," Paula said.

The five of them walked into the house in just a second.  Conner had taken hold of Alex's hand and pulled him into the living room to watch cartoons.  Paula took Margaret to show her where she could sleep and such through that evening.  Gavin looked into the kitchen to find his father sitting alone in the silence and calmness of the kitchen.  "Hey Dad," he said, turning his dad's attention away from his thoughts for a moment.  Ray looked up and smiled.

"Hey son.  How was the ride up?"

"It was good.  Alex and Margaret kept me from falling asleep."

"That's a good thing," Ray said.  Gavin could see something in his father's eyes.

"What's wrong Dad?"

"You know that I love you, right."

"Yeah.  That's never been a question."

"And Gavin, I really don't care if you're gay or straight.  I just want you to be happy and healthy."

"I know, Dad."

"I wish I could say the same thing for my parents, though."

"Dad.  I love them very much, but I can't stand to be around them because of who they are.  I hate that they're trying to have as much an influence on my little brother.  Has he ever told you what they tell him about me?"

"No.  He won't talk about it with us.  He just gets around them and then stays in a bad mood for a few days."

"Let's just say that I had to explain to him what a faggot was this morning."

Ray looked away for a second.  "I'm sorry for that, Gavin."

"Don't apologize.  He understood that it wasn't a good thing."

"I'm going to have to have a talk with Mom and Dad about it later.  They can't be telling him that kind of thing.  Did they do this with you?"

"Never."

He put his hand on Gavin's shoulder and asked if everything was OK, but both of the Butler men tried to assure him nothing was wrong.  They continued talking for a little bit until Paula was ready to go.  They left the boys and Margaret there to spend the afternoon and evening how they wished.  Conner ran the show, wanting to play games and monopolize the time of everyone there.  He knew the rule about bedtime and at seven in the evening, a full two hours before bedtime, he began pandering each of the three of them for a story.  Margaret volunteered--without protest from Gavin or Alex.  At 8:30, after he'd showered and gotten everything just so for bed, he pulled Margaret up the stairs to his room.  Rather than reading a story with Gavin or having Alex tell him a story in one of his native languages, Conner and Margaret made up a story.  In it, there was a gallant prince, whom Conner named Alexander.  There was also a beautiful princess, whom Conner named Margaret.  Margaret then told the story until Conner fell peacefully into the land of slumber.

Around 9:15, Margaret descended the stairs once more to find that her brother and his boyfriend had slipped peacefully from inside the house to the screened in front porch.  The door was open, but she couldn't hear them.  She could only hear the sound of the crickets and other insects that peacefully orchestrated the symphony of that warmer-than-normal country night.  She found herself unable to care about anything in the world at the moment.  Standing in the doorway, behind a screen door, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the breeze that calmly ran through the door.  She grabbed her camera and slipped quietly through the screen door.  She set the camera to video mode with the intention to record the sounds of the evening.  There wasn't enough light to record anything else.

"Hey Mags," Alex said, breaking her concentration.  She turned off the recorder and sat down in one of the chairs next to the wooden swing.

"Gavin.  Thank you for inviting me up.  This is an amazing place!"  She couldn't get over the way the place made her feel, with its total lack of worry and the total presence of peaceful solitude.

"It's not a problem, Mags," Gavin said.  "I love being from here."

"I understand why now."

"So how did the story go?" Alex asked.

"I love the little man.  He's so inquisitive and jolly."

"He can be a handful, too," Gavin said, "but that's not always a bad thing."

There was another moment of silence between the three of them.  It was interrupted only by Margaret after she looked over at her brother resting his head gently on Gavin's shoulder.  "That's so cute.  Can I take a picture of the two of you?"

"Sure," they both responded.  They looked in her direction as she focused in on them.  The flash snapped and captured a really beautiful picture.

"Now.  For a posed one!  Alex, put your head back on Gavin's shoulder and close your eyes like they were a moment ago."  Her brother complied and another picture snapped.  Out of the blue, Gavin lifted himself up and quickly switched positions.  He kissed Alex on the lips once for good measure, and Margaret snapped yet another picture.  "That was a good one," Margaret said of the picture.

"Yes it was," Alex said of the kiss.  Gavin seemed to know each of them were referring to two different things.

They sat outside until around 10 in the evening.  It had been a long day for them, but all three of them found it to be a good one.  Margaret retired to Gavin's parents' room.  After locking up the house, Gavin and Alex climbed the stairs to Gavin's room.  

"I'm sorry we didn't get to see the plays," Gavin said to Alex as they undressed down to their boxers.

"Not a problem.  Remember that it was my idea to come up here."

"Yeah."

"So no worries."

"Right," Gavin said as they pulled back the covers and climbed into bed.  Gavin turned his back to Alex.  Alex grinned, as he would again get to snuggle with Gavin through the night, holding him securely.  

They were both awoken temporarily in the night as Conner climbed into the bed well before sunrise.  As the sun was coming up, though, Alex was awoken by the bright light in the room.  He looked over Gavin's shoulder at the sight of the two brothers holding each other.  He smiled and then slowly pulled himself out of the bed.

He pulled on a t-shirt and walked out of the room, slowly shutting the door behind him so that he wouldn't disturb the resting products of Ray and Paula's love.  He walked downstairs and felt the cool breeze of a country Sunday morning creeping through the front door.  He assumed it was Margaret, walking into the kitchen to find a fresh pot of coffee in the kitchen.  He poured himself a cup and walked back toward the front door.

"Morning," he said to his sister, who was sitting and enjoying the calmness.

"We really should have a house in the country out here," Margaret said.

"It would be nice," Alex said.

"Baby Bro.  You have to tell him soon," Margaret said wisely.

"I know.  I'm still just waiting on the right time."

"I know.  He's totally in love with you, though, and he doesn't know that side of you.  He's only in love with part of you, and it's not fair to either of you for him not to know."

"Margaret.  I know the feeling.  I'm totally in love with him as well."

"Just keep that in mind, Alex."

"Yes ma'am," Alex said, smiling at the thought of Gavin.

Before long, Gavin was awake and had joined them downstairs on the porch.  Conner got up shortly after that and climbed into Gavin's arms as he sat on the porch swing.  At around 11, Ray and Paula returned home.  Ray, especially, seemed to be happy at the sight of his own house.  The three stayed through lunch but then found themselves on the way back to Montevallo around 4.  After fighting Sunday afternoon traffic through Birmingham, they made their way back to town.  Their first stop was at Napier Hall.  Margaret had managed to again fill the memory card in her camera.  Eddie wasn't there, thankfully.  The three of them sat there as Alex downloaded the pictures to a special folder on his desktop.  They hung out for a few minutes, but Eddie's return warranted their move to Gavin's room.  The evening seemed to pass quickly.  Margaret almost didn't want to return to the inn, as it would be her last night there.

Eddie saw their departure from the room as an opportunity to get the pictures for what he thought was a surprise photo album for Alex and Margaret's birthday in just a few weeks.  He locked the door for a second and went over to Alex's computer.  He opened the folder and saw a wealth of new pictures, including the ones that Margaret had taken the night before.  He thought that most of them were sweet examples of love; moreover, he thought that if Margaret knew of his sexuality then the rest of his family must as well.  He found a few really good pictures of Alex and then a few of Alex and Gavin and forwarded them to his email address.  Upon hearing his computer announce the arrival of the message, he deleted any trace of his presence on Alex's computer.  He returned to his computer and sent Elizabeth a message to let her know that he'd gotten her some really nice pictures from that weekend.  He sat back and waited on a reply.

The next morning, Gavin and Alex took Margaret back to the airport.  There was an emotional good-bye shared between them, but they knew they'd see each other before too long.