WHAT MAKES A FAMILY BY: Julien
This story is 100% fictional and is by no means depictive of the life of any person, place or thing. It contains sexual activities between males and should only be read if it is legal to do so in your area. Read at your own risk and enjoy. Comments are welcomed at juniorj009@gmail.com and would be very much appreciated. ENJOY!
This will be a short mini series of sort. Comments are always appreciated. Thanks. J.
NEIL
Seventeen...I couldn't believe my little boy was just a few days from becoming seventeen, almost an adult. I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that in roughly a years' time, he would be graduating high school and leaving for college. Leaving for bigger and better things, leaving me. As I thought about a life without David's constant presence, I felt tears come to my eyes and I wiped them away quickly. I wasn't prepared for this. I knew he had to grow up sometime but I didn't want that time to be now. I wanted him to remain my little boy forever. I could recall a time when I was the center of David's universe. A time when he would run into my arms after a full day of pre-k and shout, Ôdaddy, I love you!'. Times like that were now few and far between. He no longer called me daddy, choosing instead to address me as Ôdad' or Ôpops', and he most certainly did not throw himself into my arms, for God forbid one of his friends should find out that he showed his parental units some physical affection. No, my little boy was now a young man, a young man with a plan.
I refocused my thoughts quickly and tried my best to focus on David's words to me as I simultaneously graded my students' papers.
"...so I was gonna invite Jimmy and Michael and maybe Chris but maybe not, he's been an asshole to me for the past few weeks and we could go fishing and maybe rent jet skis and of course we can go canoeing and kayaking and there's supposed to be a cool hiking trail near there and..."
Before he could continue, I interjected.
"David, I don't think is a conversation that we should be having over the phone. Why don't you wait till I get home tonight and then we'll talk about plans for your birthday. Remember, we might not be able to go all out as we did last year, you know that money has been tight and that I just don't have it."
I hated how my words sounded, even as I said them but they were the truth and David needed to hear them. With only one income coming in, I had to be so careful where my money went. Not to say that I wasn't going to try and accommodate a birthday celebration for my son, but realistically though, I couldn't afford to do the weekend getaway thing.
I heard him sigh in frustration before responding.
"Well it's not going to be a problem because James is going to chip in. It's his birthday gift to me."
And I wondered if David had planned this interlude. He knew that I wouldn't say anything to him about taking James' money if it was a part of a birthday gift.
"Well we still need to sit and talk about this David. There is the issue of the number of guests that you can have, getting a suitable place rented, chaperoning. It's not something that we can hash out in a ten minute phone conversation...." And before I could finish, my cell phone started to vibrate. Looking down, I saw that it was Tim. A smile found its way to my lips and before I got too caught up in this feeling, I cut my conversation with David short.
"David, I have to go but I promise we'll talk more about it tonight, ok?"
"Ok, but can I invite someone over for dinner?"
And without it even thinking about it, I told him yes and hung up. Picking up my cell phone, I was greeted with Tim's smooth voice at the other end of the line.
"Hey you. How's your day been?" And I had to admit that hearing his voice had me blushing from head to toe.
"Ahh, the usual. Been pretty busy. Can't wait for my last class to be over at seven." Truth be told, if finals week weren't coming up, I probably would have held class online or cancelled it all together. I was stressed out to the max and horny to boot and that combination did nothing to enhance my focus, something I let Tim know right then and there.
He chuckled at my train of thought before speaking, "So...maybe you can come over and I can help you alleviate some of that stress. You know they don't call me doc for nothing." His words were low and his tone devilish. And if I didn't think that it was too dangerous, I would have pulled out my cock and proceeded to engage him in phone sex, right in the middle of my office with my T.A. just a few feet away in another room.
I was on the verge of agreeing with him when I remembered my earlier conversation with David.
"As much as I would love for you to alleviate my stress, Tim, I promised David that I would have dinner with him and a friend tonight."
I could hear Tim sigh in the background and I have to admit that a part of me felt guilty. Guilty that I couldn't spend as much time with Tim as he deserved, guilty that sex between us was usually short and was tandem to a booty call and above all, guilty that I couldn't be for Tim, what he wanted me to be. We had never had a frank discussion about what to call our relationship or what we were to each other, but the fact that I had been seeing Tim for over eight months and had not officially introduced him to David spoke volumes. He had not asked me to make a commitment and I for one was grateful for that reprieve. Breaking out of my train of thought, I allowed my mind to return to our present conversation.
"David, ahh, so when am I going to get a chance to spend time with this lovable kid, Neil?" His words weren't angry, just exasperated, fed up, over it.
I thought about my next words before I said them, "Right now things are at a weird place Tim. I mean with the break up and all. But I promise you that as soon as things get sorted out, I'll introduce you two. Just give me time."
And for once, I was glad to hear the all too familiar knock at my door from my T.A., letting me know of the arrival of students for my 4:30 class. I wasn't ready to get into this with Tim, not now and definitely not for a long time to come.
"Tim, I gotta get ready for class so I'll give you a call tomorrow. Maybe we can meet up for dinner and a movie."
"Ok professor, go do your thing. And don't think that I'm gonna let this conversation slide. We both know we need to sit and talk about us." And deep down, despite this not being what I wanted to hear, I knew that this was a discussion that Tim and I needed to have.
I told him goodbye before hanging up, grabbing my stack of papers from off my desk and exiting my office, heading in the direction of my class.
DAVID
I gotta hand it to James. He was taking this surprise much better than I had expected. Don't get me wrong, he was still pissed as hell at me for springing this on him but I think deep down he knew that there was no time like the present to get the ball rolling. I mean shit! It had been over a year since they spit. It was time to move forward.
"David, I swear to God if you weren't going to be seventeen I would take you over my knee and whop you for this. You know your dad is gonna flip, don't you." And as serious as his threat sounded, it was hard to take him seriously when a small smirk made its way to the corner of his mouth.
I tried my best though to not laugh. I mean why tempt fate.
"I'm sorry dad but you know he would never have agreed to this and I mean it's my birthday. You guys should be able to put aside all this shit for my birthday. After it's over, you both can go back to pretending that the other doesn't exist."
And as much I was trying to make a joke out of the whole situation, it hurt me to even say those words. But I wasn't gonna show emotion, what's the point.
James sighed and reached over to me, gently grabbing me by the shoulder and pulling me into his massive chest before encircling both his arms around me.
"Oh David...you have so much of me and your dad in you it's not even funny, you know that. I love you kid and I'm gonna do what I gotta do to make your day special."
And if it wasn't for the opening of the front door and gasp that followed, I might have stayed in James' embrace.
Turning around, I saw that the look on my dad's face and I quickly stepped in to diffuse a potential situation.
"Dad, this is my guest. I thought we could all sit down and discuss the plans for my birthday....you know, before finals week starts. James is gonna be out of town next week so I had to jump on him as soon as I could...." And as I spoke, I could feel the weight of dad's eyes on me. His lips were pursed together so tight that I thought for a minute they would change color. And I felt as if I wanted to sink into a hole in the floor and hide from his stare. This all of a sudden was turning into a bad idea.
Finally dad spoke, "David.....kitchen....now!" He didn't exactly yell it but there was no room for doubt that he was restraining himself in front of James. He turned around and walked into the kitchen, leaving James and I standing in the hallway. I turned to look at James who mouthed to me the words "go talk to him", before perching himself on the edge of the sofa that he and my dad had cuddled on numerous times over the years.
I took a deep breath before walking into the kitchen and confronting my very angry looking father.
NEIL
I tried to keep my breathing under control and my rising temper in check as I stared at my soon to be seventeen year old son. The shock of walking into my house and seeing James embracing David.....seeing James period was just too much for me to handle. We hadn't see or spoken to each other in God knows how many months and I wasn't prepared to have that fateful first conversation anytime soon, especially not now.
"What the fuck David!" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them and I had to mentally remind myself that I was talking to my kid and not some stranger on the street.
"Dad....calm down or James will hear you...geez!" He was shifting from one foot to the next, a nervous habit he had had since early childhood. I thought about my next set of words before I said them.
"David, I can't do this right now ok. It's late, I'm tired and we're not going to have this conversation right now. You need to ask James to go." I looked at David's face to gauge his reaction but nothing prepared me for the words that flowed out his mouth next.
"No! If you want him to leave, you're gonna have to do it yourself! I'm tired of this shit! I just want things to go back to the way they were." He stood in front of me, straight and tall and ever so defiant that I didn't know how to respond. My initial reaction was to order him to his room, but from past experience, I knew that that approach hardly ever worked and would often times result in David giving me the silent treatment for days at a time. I took a deep breath and surprised myself for saying what I did.
"I know you're hurting David and I know you're disappointed in me as a parent. I'm disappointed in me as a parent but I don't think I can handle dealing with James right now." And that was probably the most honest I'd been with my son in over a year. His features softened and his eyes welled up a bit, but no tears flowed and for that, I was grateful.
"I know it's over between you two....I get that Dad. I just want....I just want us to be able to sit down together and be civil. That's all I want. Can't we just sit down together and talk about my birthday. That's all I want. If you guys don't want to say a word to each other after this, then so be it, I'll deal with it. But please, daddy, just for my birthday, I want things to be back to normal. Is that too much to ask?"
And how could I look my little boy in the face and deny him that simple request. Daddy! He called me daddy! And in that moment, It was like I was seeing a four-year-old David looking up at me with those bright green doe eyes and saying Ôdaddy, I love you'.
I took two giant steps to reach my son and embraced him in my arms and for the first time in a long time, he embraced me back, burrowing his head into the crook of my neck and tightening the grip that he had on my waist. And in that moment, I vowed that I would put aside all my animosity towards James, if it meant that I could have my little boy back...happy...intact...whole.
JAMES
I had gathered my coat in the event that Neil went off on me again and told me to get the fuck out. I know he was beyond upset at having me in his home, having me remind him of our broken union and I was prepared for the onslaught of words that I knew he was capable of. But this...this I was most definitely NOT expecting. Neil actually being courteous to me...being civil...being rational. He stepped out of the kitchen without David, eyes a bit red and it left me with no doubt about what had probably transpired. I was halfway up from the edge of the sofa, ready to make a quick get away when he spoke to me, not yelling, not condescending, not angry, just speaking as one person would to another.
"I'm sorry, this....was a shock. I just didn't expect to come home and find you here. David planned this out like a pro didn't he." I could have sworn his lips curled upwards as he ended his sentence.
I sent a smirk his way, not looking him directly in the eye as I responded,
"Yeah...that he is. He's really growing up...I can't believe ou...your son is turning seventeen. Shit man, it's like just the other day he was coming home from his first day of Kindergarten all excited."
And it was as if we were both reminiscing over that memory.
The school bus had dropped David off on the corner of our block and Neil having a more flexible schedule than I did, was there to greet him. When I had come home around six, David had ran into my arms, a picture in hand of me, him and Neil as one big happy family. He proudly announced that he had painted it at school and that he had met many new friends and that he didn't cry his first day but that other kids had. David had prattled on for a good twenty minutes about his day and both Neil and I had sent silent smiles across the room to each other, proud parents, proud partners...we had been so in love then.
But this train of thought was useless and there was no point in reminiscing about the past.
"Neil, I know that having me here is uncomfortable for you...I get that, ok, I just want to do this for David. The kid has been through hell and back and it's my doing. But what's done is done. I just want to put aside all this shit for the time being and give him what he deserves. He deserves a little happiness on his special day."
Neil wouldn't look me in the eye and for a minute, I thought he was going to get up and walk out but he surprised. He surprised me big time.
"As much as I would love to agree with you, I can't. This hasn't all been your fault. I haven't exactly made shit any easier. But at least we agree on one thing. David does deserve to be happy on his special day. And we as his parents need to make sure that happens."
Comments for this and other stories are encouraged and appreciated and I do reply to all emails. My new email address is juniorj009@gmail.com
Thanks for reading. Other stories of mine include:
BEGINNINGS December 3rd 2002 YO B Dec 27 2002 heart-and-soul/
INTERACIAL Nov 5 2004 story-of-us/ Jan 2 2003 to-sir-with-love/
Dec 27 2002 heart-and-soul/
MILITARY Dec 21 2002 the-recruiter/
RELATIONSHIPS Nov 5 2004 story-of-us/
Jun 6 2005 redemption/
BI RELATIONSHIPS
Dec 20 2002 graduation-day/