Tommy and Tanner Chapter 62
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," "Seth's Gift" (October 10, 2010) under the Science Fiction/Fantasy category, and "A Technological Christmas" (December 23, 2011) under "Beginnings."
I am 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.
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.
Finally, David has a new site that is hosting a number of authors. It's at: www.saberpeak.com. My first story, "Always and Forever," is posted there.
David (dlee169@hotmail.com)
Tommy and Tanner, Chapter 62
During the short time between the two major holidays, the university freshmen were hard at work. Their sexual desires got put on hold at times in order to get all of their work done. Most of the Middleton kids had been pretty faithful about keeping up their studies. The teachers at Coolidge had trained them to be responsible, and they were. Regardless, there always seemed to be more to do.
Tim and Melody had several term papers to finish. For the most part those needed only to be put into final form from the rough drafts that they'd already written after doing plenty of research. Fortunately they were both good writers and were available to proofread for each other.
Chris and Drake had a similar situation in that they would put aside their personal concerns for the moment to help each other. Drake was the better writer of the two, and Chris was very appreciative he was willing to make suggestions and corrections in grammar and sentence structure.
It wasn't quite the same for Chas and Mindy. Chas was a whiz at science and math, but wasn't as proficient in his communication skills. Mindy did her best to do rewrites that made his work look more professional, but often became frustrated because she didn't know exactly what he was intending to say. They had a few squabbles over how she misinterpreted the material, but usually found a pleasant way to make up afterward. Sometimes Mindy suspected that he was acting like he was upset, just so they could have an excuse for making love later.
Happily, Chas's grades in some of his classes were based almost entirely on tests and hands-on projects. Those he could ace. In fulfilling the requirements for an assignment in one of his science classes, he was able to incorporate his motion triggered video camera and light invention – the one that he'd made to catch the "succubus." He earned an easy "A" on that one.
In addition to their papers and projects, everyone had finals to take before the winter break. They would finish shortly before Christmas and then have several weeks off before the new semester began. All were looking forward to going home and being away from the daily grind for a while.
Christmas break at the Torrance home would be a quieter time than in some recent years, or so they thought. Jim and Lara were going to her son's home on the West Coast. Dorothy and Herbert were already in Minneapolis with Herbert's son. Lee, Peter, and Jared, were invited to Chris's dad's house to celebrate with his sons, Drake, and him, so they wouldn't be there for dinner on the 25th. Todd was taking his family to Ohio so his parents could see their granddaughter for the first time. That left Melody and her parents who were going to coordinate their Christmas dinner with the immediate Torrance family, plus Jeri and Floyd.
During the rest of the university break, the freshmen would have time to hang with friends who were going to junior college and their younger buddies, at least until those schools started up shortly after New Year's Day.
Jim had been emailing and texting to see when he could count of having his son's family assembled and dressed in coordinating colors on a particular afternoon. He said that since he couldn't be there to do it personally, he'd hired a couple of professionals to come over with photographic equipment to take their pictures because he wanted good ones of the family that included Tori.
It took a bit of doing to set up an appointment at a time when they would all be present and not interfere with Tori's nap. But eventually, they decided on December 27th. It seemed the photographers wanted them available for the whole afternoon. Therefore Teri would try to get Tori take a longer morning nap so she wouldn't be cranky later.
The Torrance boys saw some of their buds at the Christmas Eve service, but not all of them. Lance was accompanying Michael to Christ Church, and some guys were opting out altogether. Melody went to 1st Pres with Tim, and her parents came too. They figured that their daughter might eventually join Tim's church and were curious to see how it compared with theirs.
They were pleasantly surprised to see that there were many more similarities than differences. Since the two denominations were in full communion with each other, they were free to partake of the sacramental elements as if they were members.
Christmas Day dawned gray and bleak, but the warmth of the wood-burning fireplace in the Torrance's family room made the interior look bright and cheery. The large Christmas tree that the boys had decorated added to the holiday mood.
Melody's family came over around 10:30, early enough to help with food preparation. Teri had a large spiral-cut ham in the oven and would put the yams in later so they wouldn't get overcooked. Marge had made two pans of the green bean casserole that everyone loved. She'd rather have leftovers than not enough to satisfy the kids' appetites.
She also brought a lovely frozen salad made with cranberries and cream cheese which was a crowd pleaser.
Jeri had baked several pies the day before, knowing that they'd go over well too. The choices were apple, pecan, and French silk chocolate. No one in her family liked pumpkin or mincemeat that well.
The ladies put Tark and Steve to work making up a veggie tray and a tossed salad. Those were welcome additions for Tuck and Melody who were watching their weight. Tuck in particular didn't want to have to starve himself later to remain in the same wrestling weight category.
Dinner was the focus of the day. Everyone felt a little stuffed at the end, despite having paced their eating.
Tim had seemed a bit antsy all day. His brothers had noticed and had wondered if it was the result of having to live as chastely as a monk for the past few days or if he was still hyper from end of semester pressure. They were sure that he wasn't on drugs or in any difficulty with his grades.
When dinner was over and the kitchen cleaned up, everyone adjourned to the family room where Tark added another log to the fire.
"I have an announcement to make," Tim said after everyone had gotten comfy. "I'm sorry that Grandpa Jim and Grandma Lara can't be here, but I've already apprised them of what I'm going to do."
Then Tim went over beside Steve's chair and squatted down to his eyelevel.
"Mr. Stack, you know that I'm in love with your daughter. I'd like your permission to ask her to marry me."
Steve gave a quick glance in Marge's direction before he answered, and Tim nearly had heart-failure in that short moment.
"I didn't know that young men still did things so formally these days. You have impressed me once again! If you and Melody have thought this through carefully, I will certainly give my blessing.
Tim smiled, biting his lip to control his emotions. He reached out to shake Steve's hand, but Steve stood up with Tim and embraced him. Now it was even more difficult for Tim not to shed tears of joy and relief. Then he went over to the chair Melody was occupying and got down on his knees.
"Melody Adele Stack, love of my life, will you consent to marry me?"
"You know I will Timothy James Torrance."
Tim opened a small velvet box and took out a flawless half carat diamond solitaire ring which he placed on her finger.
"Oh, it's beautiful!" Melody exclaimed. "It must have taken all of your saving to buy such a perfect stone."
"I didn't sell my blood or anything," he grinned. "Although I did pay for the mounting, Grandpa Jim gave me the stone from a piece of jewelry that his mother had owned. By the way guys, he has matching diamonds for you to have set in something in the future if you want. When I confided in him about my plans, he insisted on helping."
"That's wonderful," Tark said. "Dad is a generous man and can well afford to be.
When are you two planning to tie the knot? I'm assuming you don't want to wait until after graduation."
"We'd like to do it a year from now. Then we could move into married student housing for the rest of our undergraduate studies."
"It looks like you have it planned out," Steve smiled. "I know that I probably should say you're too young, but Marge and I got married right before our senior year and we've found that we were able to grow together instead of growing apart. I know I'd do it again, even though the budget was tight at times."
"I would too," Marge spoke up. "Teri and I have already talked about the possibility of sewing curtains and doing other things to help stretch your money. Steve and I will continue to pay tuition and the board and room allowance which you can put toward your rent and food bills."
"I've been told that I'll still receive the same kinds of help whether I'm single or married." Tim grinned. "My grandparents on both sides have 529 accounts for me. I'm very lucky."
The following day, Teri's parents left for a cruise in the southern Caribbean that departed from San Juan. They could have spent less on one sailing out of Florida, but hadn't wanted to chance cold weather. If they were making the expenditure, they were going to enjoy a tropical vacation.
The boys were sorry to see them leave so soon, but were happy that they could have a pleasurable trip. Their absence also kept the kids from feeling guilty as they went out with various friends.
On the 27th, Teri organized her family in choosing clothing that would coordinate for the photos. The agreed on rusts, browns, and creams that would look good with the color scheme of their house as Grandpa Jim had suggested.
Promptly at 1:30, the doorbell rang and they ushered in two young men who appeared to be in their early 20's.
"Hi, I'm Josh Brady-Larson and this is my husband Eric. He will be helping with poses and taking lots of pictures while I do some sketches that I'll use in the final work of art that Mr. Torrance has commissioned me to do for you."
"You're the artist, Joshua, aren't you," Tim said when he heard what their grandfather had arranged.
"That's my professional name. How did you know?"
"Well, I've seen your signature on the painting at Grandpa Jim's. I must say that you made us all look great!"
"Having quality subject matter goes a long way toward the end result. I'm satisfied with what I did last year for your grandfather, but I'm really looking forward to basing the new one on sketches as well – especially when there's a baby involved."
After they were all introduced, Eric guided the family through a variety of poses. Having done this with Josh numerous times, he knew what his husband was looking for.
First, he arranged them in front of the fireplace in the family room in a casual manner as if they were having a conversation. Tori was crawling over to Tim who was also on the floor reaching for her. Eric took several shots from different angles using the three cameras he had set up on tripods. He also took a couple with a handheld camera.
He photographed several other casual poses and then a couple of formal ones on the sofa in the living room, one with the boys all sitting on the floor in front of their parents and sister, and in the other standing behind.
As Eric snapped pictures, Josh was making quick sketches to record the relationship of shapes he wanted to emphasize in his later paintings to give a sense of design and unity. He never liked to work from photos alone, feeling that they made the end result look stiff.
"We'll leave soon and find a motel. Then we'll come back in a couple of days with some computer prints for you to look at. We can have some made into better quality photographs if you have secondary favorites that you'd like to keep as well as the final pastel."
"Where are you staying tonight?" Teri asked.
"We're not sure. I know there's a Hampton Inn not too far away. We didn't have time to deal with it."
"Could we persuade you to stay with us? My parents left yesterday and we have plenty of room. Besides, I need someone to help eat leftovers!"
"We hate to impose," Eric said, hoping that their hostess would insist.
"Please stay," Tommy pleaded. "You can have the queen bed in our room and we'll sleep on the trundle, that is, if you don't mind sharing a room with strangers. We'd like to pick your brains about married life because we plan to take that step in a couple of years."
Eric and Josh exchanged some kind of non-verbal communication and Josh spoke for both of them.
"We would love to, if we won't be kicking you out to sleep on something that's less comfortable. We can sleep on the trundle."
"Nah, we'll do it," Tanner spoke up. "It's a full sized bed that rolls under the slightly bigger one. We cuddle pretty closely in the winter anyway."
Tommy and Tanner ran upstairs to change their bed linens and pick up a little before inviting their guests up to see it. In the mean time, Tim and Tuck helped them bring in their luggage and computer equipment.
Eric and Josh were then given a tour of the house, ending in the room they'd be sharing.
"This is an awesome place! It reminds me of the house our dads own in St. Paul." Eric said. "You're lucky that you live out from the city this far in order to have a lot big enough so it doesn't look crowded. I used to live a couple of suburbs over and our yard wasn't as spacious."
"Do you have family there?"
"No, my mother lived there, but she died a few years ago. We do plan to stop and see my dear former neighbor, Alma, before we go back north.
We're also going to take in a big show of 19th and 20th century pastel artists at the Art Institute in the morning, so we won't be hanging around long after breakfast."
"We thought about going, but didn't order tickets early enough," Tanner sighed. "It would have provided great material for our humanities report."
"There was a mix-up," Tim added. "The guys thought I was ordering tickets for them too when I reserved the ones for Melody and me. I tried to give Tommy and Tanner ours, but they wouldn't take them because they knew how much Melody was looking forward to it. Ours are for the afternoon. I wish we could go when you are and that all of us could attend."
"How many more would you need?" Josh asked.
"Just two, because Tuck is going skiing tomorrow."
"I wish we knew someone with clout who could get them for us..."
Eric and Josh looked at each other pensively for a half a minute and then, slapping themselves upside the head in unison exclaimed, "Tinker Bell!"
"That might work in a Disney movie, or we could wish upon a star." Tommy giggled.
"No, no, it's Mrs. Pamela Bell, the angel who helped launch my career," Josh told them. "She was instrumental in getting this show to make a stop in the Twin Cities next month and contributed substantially to the cost of bringing it there. If anyone can pull some strings, she can. Let me call her right away."
The rest of the guys couldn't hear her side of the conversation, but did pick up on her hearty laugh. It made them all smile.
"She's going to see what she can do. Tickets for the afternoon are in higher demand than for the morning, and she's relatively certain that she can get yours and your girlfriend's tickets switched at least. She also has high hopes of scoring a couple more."
"Out of curiosity, how come you're seeing the show here if it's coming to your own backyard soon?"
"We'll be leaving to study in Paris spring term," Eric said. "I managed to put together a plan that will allow me to be with my husband and keep up my studies at the same time so I won't fall behind in credits. I couldn't bear to be away from him that long, and it's an opportunity of a lifetime for him."
"Eric's so sweet and unselfish," Josh beamed proudly.
They were interrupted by the ringing of Josh's phone. >From the growing grin on his face, the rest figured it was good news. They found out for sure the minute he ended the call.
"It's all arranged! Four tickets for the morning admission time will be waiting at the front desk in my name. Tim will be able to exchange his and everyone will be happy, including a couple of people who are on a waiting list for his.
We're also supposed to eat in the restaurant on the top floor of the modern gallery when we finish. I'm not sure how much it will cost, but Tinker said to leave our money in our billfolds, so she's worked out something."
Tark helped Teri put dinner together for their two guests and their family. It was built around leftover ham, but with several new additions. Everyone enjoyed the results.
During their conversation around the table, Teri and Tark got better acquainted with Josh and Eric. The young men made a very favorable impression. Teri was very happy that she'd made the offer to have them stay. They looked like good role models for her middle sons.
"You will be able to spend tomorrow night with us too, won't you?" she enquired.
"If we haven't worn out our welcome by then," Eric said. "It's gracious of you, and much appreciated by us, to be able to stay here instead of some plastic hotel room. I truly love this house. It will also speed up the process of selecting which poses you like the best because we could view them through your HD TV set instead of making up prints."
"It's a treat to have you stay with us," Tark replied. "Dad is going to be jealous that we're having this extended time with you. How often does one get to entertain a famous couple?"
"I'm afraid it's only Josh who is well-known," Eric demurred. "I'm just his lackey, though he treats me like a prince."
"He was the brains behind our little children's book." Josh said. "He made up the rhymes and I did the illustrations. We've sold quite a few copies, but not enough to live on, of course."
"It's obvious that you care deeply for each other." Tark mused.
"We've been in love for at least five years and it was love at first sight for me," Eric said with a dreamy look on his face.
"Me too," Josh agreed.
"And to think I never would have met you if my dad hadn't practically forced me to go on that trip to the Boundary Waters." Eric shook his head.
"You guys go canoeing too?" Tuck said excitedly. "All of us guys have done a lot of that, but not way up there. That would be an awesome trip! I want to do it sometime."
"It would be a blast to get a whole bunch of guys to go up to Ely." Eric agreed. "Perhaps that might be a possibility. We've discussed it with our buddies Dane and Colt Johnson from Iowa."
At the mention of the name, Johnson, Tommy and Tanner looked at each other. Each was wondering if those guys could be related to Greta who had helped host the wedding for Lee and Peter. She had mentioned that her grandsons were gay.
"Johnson is a pretty common name in the Midwest, so I'll look foolish asking this, but could they be related to a lady named Greta?" Tommy blushed.
"That's their grandmother's name, and it's not nearly as common as Johnson! I'll bet it's the same person. How do you know her?"
"She did a lot of the arranging for Uncle Lee's ceremony," Tanner grinned.
"She and... Oh, I can't think of the other lady's name..."
"Jane Masterson?" Tommy hazarded a guess.
"Yes! They did ours and our dads' ceremonies too."
"With Father Jerry?" Tanner asked.
"Yup!" Eric nodded.
"No way!"
"Way!"
"Wow, this is a small world. I can't believe it."
Their conversation about their mutual connections went on for several minutes. All of them were amazed and excited over the ways their lives had intersected. Teri suggested that it was kismet, or providence that made this moment happen.
They talked more about their connections until Teri announced that it was time for dessert. Instead of anything really heavy, dessert was sherbet and Tuck's cookies that he's made following Grandma Dorothy's recipe. He blushed and grinned in appreciation of all the praise that was heaped upon him from family and guests.
"We appreciate you're sharing your room," Eric said as the four of them were preparing to go to bed. "I'm sure we're probably preventing you from having some `quality time' tonight."
"And we're probably doing the same to you. We could have put you in a different room, but we wanted to talk to you about married life. We know how our uncle is doing, but you're a lot closer to our age," Tanner remarked. "It was selfish of us. We've made love after the lights were out with our buds in the other bed doing the same thing, but you might feel awkward since we're not as well acquainted."
"We've been known to do that too... So, what is it you want to know about married life?"
"Mostly how do you manage to get along with each other day to day and who does what around the house or whatever." Tommy said.
"We never had a serious disagreement since our wedding day, but we had a big one once, before we learned to trust each other completely." Eric told them. "Do you want to tell the story, Josh?"
"Nah, I want to listen to see if you remember it correctly."
"Okay, Josh was changing our bed and found a piece of paper with another guy's mobile number on it. He confronted me about it and I lied, trying to keep from upsetting him. I should have explained that the other guy was hitting on me, but that I wasn't going to cheat. I should have trusted that he would believe me."
"I got all upset because I knew he was lying. You see, the same guy was hitting one me and have given me his number. That's how I knew. If I would have really trusted Eric and approached it differently, we never would have fought."
"And never would have had that romantic night when we made up," Eric grinned widely. "Anyway, we learned our lesson. I could be jealous when Josh draws cute naked boys, but I trust him completely and he's never cheated on me."
"That's cool. We'd be the same way about things like that."
"As far as housework, we do that pretty much as a team." Josh told them. "Eric does the lion's share if I'm working on a big commission and I try to reciprocate when he has a load of school work. Otherwise, the laundry gets done by whoever gets to it first. We try to take turns cooking, and whoever isn't doing the cooking cleans up. Our dads are our role models in that."
"We see our uncles doing that too," Tanner nodded. "I guess there's not as much difference between young married people and older ones as I thought. Maybe you get more sex."
"That's debatable. Our dads seem to get their share," Josh giggled. "You should try getting to sleep when you're camping near them in an otherwise quiet spot by a lake."
"Speaking of sleep, is everyone ready for lights-out?" Tommy inquired.
Seeing nods from all, he flipped the switch and headed for his side of the bed.
"The lights are off and so is our underwear," he giggled. "Please feel free to do whatever."
Nobody talked about it the next morning, but it was likely that the two couples pleased their partners in some fashion before morning.
Author's notes: The list of reader who emailed since last posting includes: Walt S, Bill T, Rutabaga, Ott H, Jim C, Berto G, Steffan F, Tom A, Roger L, Harry T, Vann, Bob, Jim W, and anyone else I missed! I've had problems with the file that has the list of people who responded since last posting.
I hope everyone had a good Easter, Passover, or whatever you were celebrating recently.
Remember the people in Indonesia who have suffered more earthquakes.
David