Tommy and Tanner

Tommy and Tanner Chapter 16

Warning:

This story contains scenes of love and sexual interaction between males of similar age. If the reading or possessing this material is illegal in your country, state, province, county, municipality, etc., please leave this site immediately and do not proceed further. If you are under the legal age to read this, please do not do so. It is not my intention to offend anyone or to get you in trouble.

The author retains the copyright, and any other rights, to this original story. You may not publish it or any part of it without explicit authorization from me.

This is not my first attempt at writing fiction. My longer stories on Nifty include: "Always and Forever" (March 25, 2004), "Jacob and Jacques" (May 30, 2004), "Zeke" (August 29, 2005), "Tales from Bentonville" (November 16, 2008), and "Second Chance" (September 24, 2010) under "High School" and "Someone to Watch over Me" under "Beginnings" in the gay male section. There are a few short stories also: "Brad and Alan's Canoe Trip" (April 22, 2004 under "Camping", "Of Angels and Dragons" (November 8, 2008) under "Camping", "A Christmas Tale" (December 22, 2009) under "High School", "Brazil Affair" (October 1, 2010) under "Beginnings" and "Seth's Gift" (October 10, 2010) under the Science Fiction/Fantasy category.

I am now listed on Nifty under the category of "Prolific Net Authors" which will make it easier for you to access earlier stories. Some of these stories are also posted at: www.storylover.us along with those of other writers that may interest you.

My only reward for contributing to Nifty is your emails. Please write if you like the story. Please include the name of the story in the title of your email because my email service sometimes puts them in the "spam" file.

Finally, thanks and hugs to Tom and David (boxerdude) who edit for me so that there are fewer mistakes! They not only proof-read, but make other valuable suggestions.

David (dlee169@hotmail.com)

Tommy and Tanner, Chapter 16

On Tim's next visit to Dorothy Cranston's home, he learned a great deal more about her life after the death of her children. She brought out a scrapbook which had pictures of all the little ones her husband and she had housed temporarily. In addition to a photo, there was a page or two dedicated to each child with their name and several paragraphs about them. Sometimes there was a lock of hair, a picture they'd drawn, or a hand-print as well.

As he casually flipped through the album, a name on one page caught his eye and he had to go back to study more closely.

"Oh my God! I know this one."

"You do? Let me see. Oh yes, little Randy; he was a sweetheart. We got him from another county because the state didn't want him placed locally where his parents could steal him back. He'd been neglected -- possibly abused, but he was a good boy. No one had bothered to potty train him, but he caught on within a couple of days and was quite proud of himself. His older siblings must have paid some attention to him and possibly read him stories because he was quite smart and spoke well, unlike so many from those situations. Please tell me what you know! I've often wondered what became of him."

"He's a counselor/therapist for children and teens with a master's degree in psychology and doing well. He's the uncle of my brother Tanner, you know, the guy we adopted last year."

"Oh my! I did know at one time that Tanner's surname was `Leads' before your parents adopted him, but, of course, I never made any connection. Do you think Randy would ever consent to visit me?"

"I'd bet the farm! He's very hungry to learn things about his past. He and Tanner have connected, and they're the only blood relatives that either has left as far as they know. By the way, his name is now Lee Ratliff."

"Please do ask, Lee is it, if I may invite him for conversation and cookies on some Sunday afternoon. It would make my day. I would want you to come with him since you know him."

"I'll do that. He's kind of shy until he gets to know people, but he's become an uncle to all us boys."

"Oh, I'm so glad you're my deacon! I did like young Jared a lot, but having you is giving me a connection to the past that I never would have thought possible. This is such a blessing!

It was about a week and a half later when Lee made the short drive from his home to meet his former caretaker. Tim thought it would be great for him to arrive on Saturday and spend the weekend with them so that he wouldn't feel as nervous about meeting Ms. Cranston. His parents and brothers were all for it, especially Tanner.

The warm welcome that Lee received from his recently acquired extended relatives nearly brought tears to his eyes. He felt like he had a real family at last. It was an answer to his unspoken prayers.

He arrived on Saturday afternoon in time to play Frisbee with the guys before dinner.

Tark made most of their meal on the grill, but enlisted the boys' help in making a tossed salad. Lee pitched in too, setting up the dishes and flatware on the picnic table. They all worked together well, just like they had on the camping trip. It was everyone's attempt to spare Teri the extra work since she was doing most of the preparations for Sunday's lunch.

After eating, the family sat around in the yard enjoying the pleasant late summer's evening. There would not be a lot more of those before the busyness of the school year began again.

Lee slept in the top bunk in Tommy and Tanner's room like he had before. Again, they talked a while after the lights were out. The boys tried to get him to open up a bit more about his sex life; figuring he had a lot more experience than they did.

"I know what you're doing," Lee laughed.

"What?" Tanner asked, feigning innocence.

"You want to know what it's like to make love with another man. You seem to think that I'm gonna tell you all about stuff like screwing. Am I right?"

"Well, you didn't need to put it so bluntly!" Tanner snickered. "But, yes, I guess I do want to know, and I guess I wasn't being too subtle about it."

"Guys, your dad told me that I should feel free to discuss anything you wanted to know, as long as it wasn't too personal. I'm not trying to hold back. It's just that there isn't much to tell. Depending on what you guys are doing, you may know about as much as I do."

"We've messed around some." Tanner admitted. "Tommy, can I share what we've done?"

"You can or I can," Tommy said. "We haven't, uh, done it up the butt, but we've done other things to get each other off."

"May I assume that includes oral sex?" Lee asked.

"Yup! And we love it," Tommy giggled, a bit nervously.

"We've also rubbed our bodies together till we jizzed all over each other," Tanner added. "It's got some fancy name that starts with an f, but I can't remember the term offhand. Anyway, that's awesome!"

"Frottage is a great way to share your love and lust." Lee agreed. "I had a boyfriend for a short time and we did that a lot. I liked the closeness. He also liked me to top him occasionally."

"I'm not sure that I know what that means. Does it mean you did him up the butt?" Tanner asked.

"Yes. And before you ask, no, he didn't do me. That part of my anatomy is still virgin territory. And we DID use condoms!"

"So what happened? Did you dump him?" Tommy blurted out. "Sorry, that's none of my business."

"It's okay. No, he left me. His father is a minister and sent him away to get `cured' after he admitted to being gay. He got married two years ago and it lasted about six months. After the divorce, he was killed in a car crash. His parents would never admit it, but I'm sure he took his own life. I feel so bad because I wish I'd reached out to him, but I was still smarting over being cast aside. Maybe if I'd have called him I might have prevented it." Lee finished in a shaky voice.

"I'm sorry I brought up a sad memory," Tommy apologized. "But what happened to him isn't your fault."

"You can't blame yourself for what another adult does, Uncle Lee!" Tanner insisted. "Damn those people who think we chose to be gay! They think they can force us to change, but we know that's not true. It's their fault for making him feel guilty about something he couldn't change, not yours! They're responsible for his death."

"Thanks. I feel better having talked about it. You guys give me a boost. We need to get together like this more often. Do you think your parents would let you stay over with me? I love coming here, but I shouldn't impose all the time."

"I'll bet they'd let us," Tommy said. "But we can't drive yet. Tim can, but we can't expect you to invite him too. Besides, then Tucker would feel left out, and that's way too many boys in your place."

"We'll see. I don't have a really big place, but I do have enough spots to sleep all of you in reasonable comfort. It might be fun! Or if you want it to be just us gay types, I could always come over and take you home on a Friday night or Saturday and bring you back for church on Sunday. Speaking of which, we'd better settle down to sleep. Morning will come all too soon. Didn't you say that church starts at 9:30 in the summer?"

Tommy and Tanner had had serious hardons while talking to Lee about sexual matters, but had softened up when the discussion had turned serious. However, the feeling they were both experiencing as Tanner slipped his hand under the elastic of Tommy's sleep-shorts was making them rapidly stiffen up again. Spooned against Tommy's back, Tanner could not only feel him up, but nibble on his earlobe at the same time. Tommy's breathing was beginning to sound ragged.

When Lee's breathing pattern changed, the boys were sure that he was asleep. Although it was getting late, they needed to finish what Tanner had begun. He turned around toward the bottom of the bed and pulled Tommy's shorts off. Tommy did the same to Tanner's boxers and soon they were gently sucking each other. They were already horned up and didn't attempt to hold off the inevitable. Within the matter of a few minutes, they were trying to stifle their moans while making sure that they didn't waste any of the fluids they were receiving. All in all, they were pretty successful; Lee didn't wake up, but they did get a few drops of cum on the sheets.

Lee was surprised that he actually liked the service at First Presbyterian. He'd avoided church for the most part after his adoptive family had thrown him out. He'd gone occasionally with his grandfather to please him, but had usually tuned out the sermons.

Something in the prayer of confession had struck a nerve. The sentences read, "God, you never give up on us, although we often give up on you when you don't answer our prayers according to our plans..." That set Lee to thinking about how true the statement was. He HAD given up on God, but possibly God hadn't given up on him.

The gist of the sermon was that all human beings are works in progress and that God isn't expecting them to be perfect. He loves them regardless of where they are in that journey, and other humans should not judge them because they don't have all the facts like God does.

Lee was left with a feeling of hope, but also of restlessness to take another step on his personal journey. He might have to come back on future Sundays to see what else this lady had to say.

Ms. Cranston had not come to church that morning, but had stayed home to rest so that she wouldn't be too tired to entertain her guests. Her anticipation had kept her awake longer the night before than she had wanted. So Lee didn't get to meet her in a public setting as he had originally expected.

However, he did enjoy the social time after the service for several reasons. Pastor Anna made a point to introduce herself to him and they discussed a couple of points from her sermon for a few minutes. When she had moved on, several people stopped to welcome him to their church.

One young man came up to shake his hand and the two seemed to be suspended in time for a minute as their hands were joined. Some kind of bells went off in both their heads.

"Uh, I'm Peter Parker. Yeah, like Spiderman. It's a curse I have to live with. Are you new in town? I don't remember seeing you here before."

"I'm Lee Ratliff and I'm thrilled to meet a super-hero." Lee giggled nervously. "I don't live here; I'm just visiting my nephews." Lee said, gesturing toward the Torrance boys who were talking to other kids about 10 feet away.

"Oh, I was hoping maybe you'd be here permanently," said Peter, a bit of sadness in his voice.

"I live only about 25 miles closer to the city. It's not like going to Africa. I'm actually thinking about coming back here to church sometimes. If traffic isn't bad, it takes me a little over half an hour."

"That would be great!" Peter brightened. "Do you ever go into Chicago for theater or clubs?"

"I go to theater productions, but not many clubs. That's not my scene. I do enjoy Second City."

"I LOVE Second City! There's a satellite version in Shamburg that I go to fairly often, but I'm not very much into clubs in general either. I'm kind of a home-body. I hate the loud music and the aggressive people."

"Me too."

"Would it be too forward of me to give you my email address?" Peter asked, seizing the moment. "I mean, you wouldn't have to use it if you didn't want to..."

"That's an excellent idea. Let's exchange. Here's my business card with my office email at the bottom. If you contact me there, I'll give you my personal one. It's kind of long and complicated."

"Wow! You're a counselor too! That's my job in the school where Tucker goes. I'm only a peon. You have a more important job as a clinical therapist."

"There's no job more important than working with school kids," Lee assured him. "Oops, it looks like my family is about to leave me. Perhaps I'll see you next week. We seem to have a LOT of things in common."

"I'd be interested in finding out how many," Peter said as he again took Lee's hand in his own just a moment longer than necessary.

"Shotgun!" Tuck called as he raced toward Tim's car.

"Uncle Lee gets the front seat," Tim insisted. He's our guest. You can have it next time we go somewhere."

"Now that he's family, he takes his chances," Tuck grinned.

"I'm fine with being in back with my other two nephews," Lee said, enjoying the bantering. "That's the `death seat' anyway."

"Hey, did you make a date in there during social hour?" Tuck blurted out. "Is Mr. Parker gay like I think he is?"

"Interestingly enough, the subject of sexual orientation didn't come up in our brief conversation." Lee informed him, with a wry smile.

"Yeah, but I'll bet something else did! I could tell by looking at you guys that you've got the hots for each other." Tuck persisted.

"Tucker, we've discussed this before. You can't go around talking about other people's orientations or what they may be thinking. It's not your place to decide if they're gay or not. Remember how you assumed things about your brothers and Chas and me?"

"Yeah, and I was right, at least about my brothers and I still think you and Chas have messed around."

"He's got you there, Tim!" Tommy laughed. "Well about Tanner and me. I'm not gonna make guesses about your sex life."

"Uncle Lee, I apologize for my baby brother," Tim said with a straight face. "He's barely housebroken and we have a lo-o-o-ong way to go on his social manners."

"It's okay, Tim. I think Tuck has gaydar even if he IS straight. My sixth sense tells me that Peter could be gay, and I'm really hoping he and I can be friends whether or not he is. But since he's at your school, Tuck, I don't think it would be wise to discuss your suspicions with other kids. There're laws to protect gays in the workplace, but school systems are strange animals sometimes. It's like they have an unspoken `don't ask; don't tell' policy. Just because their jobs are supposed to be safe doesn't always mean they are. If some kid started a rumor that Peter had done something improper with him, it could ruin his whole career -- even after he'd been exonerated. It's not right, but it's as much a fact of life as puberty."

"I get your point," Tuck nodded. "I won't say anything to anyone. In fact, I'll have to defend him if there's a chance he'll be our uncle by marriage someday!"

"Oh you are such an imp!" Lee laughed. "No wonder I love working with kids your age."

"Yeah, I'm really cute aren't I?"

"Give it a rest!" Tim cried as he playfully backhanded him on the chest.

"Keep both hands on the wheel and watch the road," Tuck giggled. "You don't want to risk killing your adorable baby bro who's sitting in the death seat!"

"You'll be supplanted in that role in a few months, so you'd better enjoy it while you still can."

"Whoa, what is this?" Lee asked.

"Didn't you hear? Mom's prego," Tuck confided. "It's not a state secret, but I don't think she wants it spread too far until she starts showing. We think they had some hot times while we were at scout camp."

Tim was ready to chastise Tucker for gossiping about their parents' sex lives, but he was already turning into their drive and thought he'd let the matter drop.

Once home, most of the family changed into more casual clothes. Lee and Tim kept on their khakis and dressy shirts to wear to Ms. Cranston's later.

Teri served a lunch of minestrone, chicken salad, garden-ripe tomatoes, and homemade bread. The way the guys attacked it, she was glad she'd made extra. She hoped there'd be enough left over for supper.

At 1:20, Tim and Lee got into Tim's car and headed for Ms. Cranston's house. Lee didn't say much on the five minute drive. He seemed lost in thought as he checked out the streets to see if there was anything that looked familiar. But it wasn't likely that he'd remember much from when he was so young. Besides, in the intervening years there would have been a lot of changes.

Dorothy Cranston answered the doorbell on the first ring. She had been sitting on a chair in the foyer, excited to greet her visitors.

Lee's first impression of her was that she resembled a Jenny Wren, petite and lively. He felt strength and caring in her embrace. She seemed to radiate love.

He wasn't sure if he actually remembered this entryway or if he had set himself up for flashes of memory, but somehow it felt familiar. When she ushered them into the kitchen, the fragrance of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies washed over him. He'd read that the sense of smell tends to stimulate recall of places and events more than the other senses. Now he felt it was true.

"I know the breakfast room isn't a proper place to entertain guests, but you're not strangers and it's more comfortable in here." She said. "We can view the scrapbook pages better on the table than on a sofa."

"This is great!" Lee answered her. "I love this space. Did you make these cookies for those of us who stayed with you? The aroma stirs feelings inside of me."

"Yes I did. This is the famous so-called Nieman Marcus recipe. The urban legend that it was stolen from the company isn't true, but it always produces a good cookie, and the finely-ground oatmeal that replaces part of the flour makes it healthier for us than the usual cookies of this kind. I Googled their site recently, and saw that the recipe they have posted isn't exactly like this one."

After she'd seated Tim and Lee at the round oak table, Dorothy set out a platter of cookies and poured glasses of ice cold milk. She didn't bother to ask what they wanted to drink because milk was what she always served when having cookies with boys.

Lee took a bite, savoring it in his mouth and looked thoughtful. He appeared to be lost in reverie as if under a hypnotic spell. He took a second bite and washed it down with a sip of milk.

"This table was always here, wasn't it?"

"Yes, I've always love this piece. It was my mother's and has lots of memories."

"Would you think me crazy if I looked under it?"

"Not at all!"

Lee got down on the spotless vinyl floor and peered at the underside of the table top.

"They're there! You didn't erase the crayon marks!"

"Of course not; they're memory marks. I'd forgotten all about them. You used to love to sit on the floor under there with paper and Crayolas. I remember the time you drew on the underside of this table. You were so frightened when I discovered you doing it. You were afraid you'd be punished and you cried inconsolably."

"But you didn't scold me or hit me. Instead, you gave me one of these cookies with milk and held me on your lap."

"You remember that from being three?" Tim exclaimed.

"I do. It was a traumatic time in my life. I think I might have been smacked around if I'd done that at my parents' house. I think I have this memory because I got love instead of a spanking!"

They spent several minutes looking at Lee's pages in the scrapbook. He'd never seen a picture of himself before he'd been adopted. The curly headed, blond cherub who smiled out of the picture made him smile.

"Could I get this picture copied?" he asked.

"I'll do better than that. I want you to have these pages that are about you." Dorothy said as she opened the binder.

Look at this lock. Your hair is a bit darker now, but it's nearly as fine as it was then. I'll bet the girls can hardly keep their hands out of it!"

"Uh, that's not something I'm interested in, the girls feeling my hair, that is."

"Oh," Dorothy said pausing for a moment. "Then I'll bet the boys love it!"

"Um, uh," Lee stammered, not knowing how to respond.

"I may be an old lady, but I DO live in the 21st century. I didn't mean to embarrass you. I hope I haven't frightened you away with my big mouth!"

"Not at all," Lee assured her as his breathing returned to normal. "I'm really pleased that you still like me even though you've guessed my secret.

"Of course I still care about you! Would you like me to fix you up with someone? I know as least one young man at church and I have a guess about another one."

"Does one of them have names that both start with the letter `P'?" Tim spoke up.

"Indeed!" Ms. Cranston beamed.

"Well, Lee and Peter have already met without having you as their matchmaker."

"That's absolutely providential! I'll bet if I'd have gone to church this morning it might not have happened."

"Well, thanks for the offer of fixing me up anyway, Mom," Lee smiled.

"Thanks for calling me that. You don't know how much it means to me," Dorothy said with tears in her eyes. "But you have a mother who raised you all these years. I can't take that title."

"Yes you can," Lee stated adamantly. "She abandoned me at 18, the moment she found out about my sexual orientation. I was shocked! They both always talked like they were open-minded."

"I think you young people say that some people talk the talk, but don't walk the walk!" Dorothy said, showing that she knew some of the common present-day expressions.

"I've used those very words to describe them!"

They spent a few more minutes visiting, but when Lee caught his "mom" stifling a yawn, he arose to say his goodbyes and leave before their visit wore her out completely.

"This has been a wonderful day, Mom. I'll be back often to see you."

"Thank you for making me feel like a mother again. You can't know how much this means to me."

"I think I can," Lee insisted, as he hugged her to his chest.

"Bye Grandma," Tim grinned. "I'll be back on Wednesday afternoon to take you for a drive if you like."

"Oh, Timothy, you are going to make me cry again! In such a short space of time, I have a son and a grandson."

"I have three brothers, so you're going to be up to your eyeballs in grandsons," Tim chuckled. "And, please call me `Tim' because all my friends and family members do."

"Alright, Tim, I'll see you on Wednesday and feel free to bring my other grandsons along if they're available."

Author's notes: I'm home again, so this should be posted more on the usual schedule. Thanks to all who wrote since last week: Rutabaga, Tony B (new), Jim C, Bill T, Trish R, Bill K, Tom A, Roger L, Bert H, Keith F (new), John McD, Don R, Anthony L ("Tales from Bentonville" -- 88th new reader since fall), Paul J, Jim W, Walt S, and Paul R.

Weather here is finally beginning to look like spring. A lot of the corn crop has been planted since last week, so hopefully it will be a big one. That bit of news affects everyone in the civilized world because it determines food costs and, in some cases, fuel prices too. We're all much more interdependent than we were even a few years ago.

Pray and work for peace, freedom, equality, and love in our global village.

David