Chapter Thirty Eight – JJ’s Peanut Butter Adventure
The twins came into the family room and
announced, “The cookies are done.” JJ
held a plate of cookies in his hands, and Josh carried two glasses of milk.
Rick smiled at his boys. “Thank you, boys, for making the cookies.”
I took my glass of milk from Josh. “Thank you for doing such a good job baking
these cookies.” I retrieved a couple of
warm chocolate chip cookies from the plate.
I bit into one, and felt the warm chocolate chip melt on my tongue. I closed my eyes and savored it. “Hmmm!
That tastes good!”
Opening my eyes, I saw that JJ and Josh
were beaming. Rick followed my lead and
bit into his cookie. “These are the
best cookies I’ve ever tasted.”
Josh said, “We used real butter.”
“And we put in extra chocolate
chips. David said that would make them
super chocolaty,” JJ said.
“David was right. They are very chocolaty,” I said.
Josh said, “David and Purev are cleaning
up the kitchen.”
“Shouldn’t you be helping them?” Rick
asked, pointedly.
JJ piped up, “No, they said we were the
waiters. It’s our job to deliver the
cookies and milk.”
Josh said, “We have to take cookies and
milk upstairs to Kyle and Ashley.”
JJ said, “Let’s go, before the cookies
get cold.”
The two boys ran from the room. We heard them chattering excitedly as they
returned to the kitchen. A few minutes
later, we heard them on the stairs, as they continued on their errand to
deliver fresh baked chocolate chip cookies to everyone in the house.
I finished my cookies and milk, and was
about to get up to take them to the kitchen, when Purev appeared in the
doorway. He asked, “Did you like the
cookies?”
Rick said, “Yes, they were
delicious. You did a great job of supervising
the whole operation.”
Purev grinned. “I even got David to clean up his mess in
the kitchen.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s for sure. David is the only one I know that can make a
kitchen look like it had taken a direct hit from a tornado.”
Purev laughed, and said, “This time I
helped him clean as we went.”
David appeared next to Purev. He put his arm around Purev’s waist and
pulled him close. Purev put his arm
around David’s shoulders. I looked at
the two boys and raised my eyebrows.
David saw my questioning look, and said,
“Purev and I resolved our differences.”
I waited for more of an explanation. When none was forthcoming, I asked, “May I
ask what you two were arguing about?”
Purev glanced at David, who shook his head. It was becoming obvious that they weren’t
going to tell us. “Was it about Mark?”
David looked at me in surprise. “How did you know?”
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to
know that Purev still has feelings for you, even though he had been dating
Idree,” Rick said. “So, what was the
argument about?”
Purev said, “I was upset that David
decided to date Mark, and not me.”
David nodded his head. “But we’re okay now.”
Purev grinned and said, “I’ve decided
it’s okay for David to date Mark, because David is going to help me find a new
boyfriend.”
I looked at Rick and said, “Why do I get
the feeling that there is more to this situation that you guys are sharing with
us.”
David got a panicked look on his face
and said, “Please don’t ask any more questions, Daddy. I promise we’re not doing anything bad, I
just don’t want to talk about it.”
Rick considered his son’s statement in
silence for a moment. He knew something
was going on between the two boys, and he suspected what that might be. “It wouldn’t be something that would require
us to change some of our family rules, would it?” David shifted his weight from one foot to the
other. He couldn’t hold his Dad’s gaze
and looked away. He remained mute, so Rick continued, “Purev?”
Purev blushed and slowly nodded his
head. “I gave David a blow job.”
Rick laughed and said, “Is that what
resolved your dispute over Mark?”
Purev nodded his head. “Yes.”
David looked at his father in
surprise. “You’re not mad at us?”
“No, I’m not mad at you,” Rick
responded.
I turned to Rick and said, “I suspected
something like that had happened when I saw them this morning.”
David quickly said, “But we’ve never
done anything else, beyond that.”
“Would you tell us if you had?” I
asked. David looked guiltily at Purev,
but didn’t answer me. “Boys, please come
and sit down,” I said. The two teenagers
moved to the loveseat opposite us, and sat down. “We want you both to be happy and that is
why we’re asking questions. We don’t
want either one of you to get hurt.”
Purev said, defensively, “We’re not
fucking each other, if that is what you want to know.”
“I did want to know; but only because we
had an agreement. We expect you to live
up to that agreement. You both agreed
to the process to change our rules and to make sure everyone’s okay with those
changes,” I said. “It’s called keeping
your word; and shows that you are honest and have integrity.”
Rick said, “It’s not that we don’t
approve of having sex. We do. In fact, we had sex during high school
ourselves, boys. We aren’t saying it’s
not okay. We want you to think about WHO
you’re having sex with, and we want to encourage you to make sure you give the
precious gift of your body to someone who loves you; not to someone who wants
to get his rocks off.”
“When I was in my senior year of high
school, I made the mistake of letting Ian fuck me; because I thought, if I let
him, he would come to love me. I was
dead wrong. All he wanted was to have
sex, period,” I said. “He used me as
his fuck boy, and dumped me as soon as we graduated.”
Purev said, “We haven’t violated our family
rules in that way. Besides, you never
said we couldn’t suck each other’s dicks.”
Rick looked at me and said, “Purev has a
point.”
I laughed and said, “Okay, I’ll give you
that one. As long as it doesn’t go any
further than just a blowjob, I guess I’m okay with it.”
David looked relieved. He hoped they could escape the inquisition
soon. He said, “May we go now?”
Rick nodded his head. “Okay, I’m satisfied, but please talk to us
about what’s happening next time.”
Purev said, “I promise.”
The two boys practically bolted from the
room. “You would think they were wild
animals that we had held captive,” I said.
“They are wild animals,” Rick said. “With raging hormones, those boys are bound
to get into trouble at some point.”
“Well, it’s our job to try and keep them
safe, while at the same time, letting them learn how to live with all those
hormones,” I said. I leaned over and
kissed Rick. “It’s not like we don’t
have raging hormones, just like they do.”
Rick laughed. “I think in some ways, we’re worse than they
are.”
I put my hand up Rick’s shirt and ran my
fingers over his nipples. “It’s not
like we have sex all the time.”
Rick moaned and said, “No, just most of
the time.”
*** ***
David pulled Purev upstairs to their
room. “Whew! That was a close one, Purev!”
Purev laughed. “Yes, it was. I don’t know how you’re going to keep it a secret.”
“I don’t know, either,” David said. “Mark is pretty insistent that we keep our
relationship a secret. He doesn’t want
anyone at school to know that we’re having sex.”
Purev asked, “Are you guys really
fucking each other?”
David sat down on his bed and
grinned. “Yes, we flip-flop. Mark fucks me, then, I fuck him.”
“How does it feel?” Purev asked.
“It feels wonderful. It hurt the first time, but it got
better. We knew the basics, since we
both looked at stuff on-line,” David said.
“How many times have you guys done it,”
Purev asked.
“I haven’t kept count. It’s been a little over a month, since Mark
asked me to be his boyfriend, and we’ve had sex almost every day after school,”
David said.
“Weren’t you afraid that his parents
would find out?” Purev asked.
“No, because we’ve never had sex at his house. I don’t go over there, because his Dad is
very anti-gay,” David said.
David’s phone rang. He pulled out his cell phone and answered
it. “Hey Mark!”
Mark said, “Hey, yourself!”
“We’re at our house in St. Catharines,”
David said.
“I know. You said you were going there. Send me a photo of your place,” Mark said.
“Okay.
What are you doing today?” David asked.
“I don’t know. The Campbells have been really nice, but I
want to go home,” Mark said.
“Do you really want to go back home with
your Dad?” David asked, surprised.
“Well, no, I don’t want to be around my
Dad, but I want to be with my Mom. I
miss her,” he said.
“When will she get out of the hospital?”
David asked.
“She gets out tomorrow, they said. She will come here to stay until things are
settled about my Dad,” Mark said.
“What are they going to do with him?”
David asked.
“He’s out of jail, but he can’t have
anything to do with us for the next 30 days,” Mark said. “Mom says that Dad is staying in the
barracks at Quantico until the Marine Corps determines what kind of help he
needs. I guess they’re doing a
psychological analysis on him. Dad’s
commanding officer called Mom to let her know that Dad won’t be getting off
base until the 30-day restraining order expires. He reassured Mom that they are taking care
of Dad’s mental and emotional issues. I
think Mom is going to stay with us here at the Campbells. She asked the social workers if that would
be okay.”
“I’m glad your Dad is getting some
help. We’ll be home next Monday,” David
said.
“I can’t wait to see you,” Mark
said. “Since Dad isn’t here, we can
have a sleep over. ”
David smiled. “You mean we can spend all night fucking
each other.”
Mark laughed. “Exactly!”
David said, “I told Purev that we’re
having sex.”
Mark asked, “You promised not to tell
anyone!” Mark couldn’t believe David
had told Purev, of all people.
“I needed someone I could talk to about
us,” David replied, defensively.
“But didn’t he have a crush on you?”
Mark asked.
“Yes
and he still does,” David said.
“You had better not let him fuck you,”
Mark said, jealousy coloring his voice.
“And you’d better make him promise not to tell anyone about us. I don’t want anyone to know that we’re
having sex, especially my parents.”
“I’ll make him promise,” David
said. He had intended to tell Mark that
he had given Purev a blowjob, but thought better of it.
Mark said, “Cool! I’ll chat with you later, okay?”
“Okay,” David said.
“Later, dude,” Mark said, ending the
call.
“Do you want to play a video game?”
David said.
“Sure,” Purev said.
The two boys spent the next couple of
hours playing games.
*** ***
Mark sat staring at his cell phone after
David ended the call. He was very angry
with David for breaking his promise not to tell anyone about their
relationship. He wanted to join the
Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) next year, and he knew
they wouldn’t let him in the class if word got around the school that he was
gay. He loved David very much; but also
wanted to go into the army, like his father.
He really hoped that the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell law would be repealed before
he became old enough to join the army.
Mark decided to go downstairs to the
music room. He was in the mood to play
the piano. He entered the room and sat
down at the piano. He started picking
out a melody, and soon was adding his own harmonies as he went. He kept working on it until he had worked
the entire song. He loved making up his
own music. He never wrote it down,
because he played by ear. But once he
had committed a song to memory, he never forgot it.
He was interrupted by the doorbell. He stood up and wandered into the foyer to
see who it was. Mrs. Campbell was
already at the door. She peered through
the window to see who was at her door.
She stepped back and opened the door.
She said, “Hello, you must be the
Pauls.”
Mr. Paul said, “Yes, I’m Markley Paul
and this is my wife, Michelle.”
“It’s nice to meet you both. Please come inside,” she said.
As they stepped inside, Mark ran to them
and threw his arms around them.
“Grandma and Grandpa, I’m so glad you’re here. I didn’t know you were coming.”
“We wanted to surprise you,” Mrs. Paul
said. “We called Mrs. Campbell
yesterday to let her know we were coming.”
Mr. Paul asked, “Where is Michaela?”
“I’m here, Grandpa,” Michaela said. She threw herself into her grandfather’s
arms. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“We’re glad, too,” Mr. Paul said.
Mrs. Campbell said, “Let me have your
coats.”
Mr. Paul said, “Mark, come help me bring
in the luggage.” He turned to his
wife. “Michelle, we’ll take care of
everything. You go with Mrs. Campbell.”
Mrs. Paul said, “Thank you, dear.” She took off her winter coat and gloves and
handed them to Mrs. Campbell.
After putting them in the coat closet,
Mrs. Campbell asked, “Would you like some coffee or tea?”
“Yes, please,” Mrs. Paul responded.
“Come into the kitchen,” she said. “I’ve also made up some hot chocolate for
the children.” She had made a fresh pot
of coffee, knowing that the Pauls were due to arrive within the hour. She also had hot chocolate warming on the
stove. She walked over and turned off the burner and
poured the hot chocolate into two large mugs.
She poured three cups of coffee, placing the hot beverages on a
tray. She carried the tray to the table
and set it next to the tray of cookies that was already there.
She had just settled into her chair when
the men joined them. Mark saw the hot
chocolate and exclaimed, “You are awesome, Mrs. Campbell!”
She smiled and said, “Thank you, Mark.”
Mrs. Paul said, “Thank you for taking
care of the children, and for opening your home to us and our daughter.”
“Mark and Michaela are fine young
people,” Mrs. Campbell said. “I wish
that they were here under happier circumstances.”
Mrs. Paul said, “As do we. Clay is a good man, but he has been through
a lot since he returned home from his last overseas assignment.”
Mr. Paul said, “That’s true, Michelle;
however, that is no excuse for what he did to our daughter.” It was obvious that he was very angry with
his son-in-law. “I hope she divorces
him, before he kills her or one of the children, in a fit of anger.”
His wife looked at him, and shook her
head disapprovingly. “Clay has made a
huge mistake, but that doesn’t mean he is an evil person, Mark.”
He shook his head in disagreement. “He hurt our daughter. He needs to be locked up for a long time.”
“Janelle told me he’s getting the help
he needs. The Marine Corps is taking
good care of him,” Mrs. Paul said.
“As long as their definition of help
means he stays in jail, I’m all for it,” Mr. Paul said.
Mrs. Paul said, “I’m sorry,
children. Your grandfather is still very
upset with your father for hurting your mother.”
“We’re angry, too,” Mark said. “He hasn’t treated us very well since he
came home from Afghanistan the last time.”
Michaela said, “He’s been really mean to
us. I’m almost glad that he’s not
around, anymore.”
“I understand that you’re angry and
hurt, but you need to remember that your Dad is a very sick man. I’m not trying to excuse his behavior,
because what he did was very wrong; however, we need to be willing to help him
get better. We don’t just abandon those
we love, because they make a mistake.”
“I don’t want to help him,” Mark said,
heatedly. “He hates everyone. He is always angry. I don’t want to be around him.” The memory of his mother lying in a pool of
blood on the kitchen floor still haunted him.
Mrs. Campbell said, “Mark, you need to
give yourself some time to heal, before you decide you don’t want anything to
do with your father. It’s never good to
make important decisions when you’re upset.”
The General rolled his wheelchair into
the kitchen. “Hello, everyone.”
Mrs. Campbell said, “Let me introduce
you to my husband. This is the
General. This is Mr. and Mrs. Paul.”
Mr. Paul stood up and crossed the short
distance to the General’s wheelchair.
He extended his hand to shake the one that the General offered him. “Please call me Mark.”
The General looked up into Mr. Paul’s
face, and said, “Nice to meet you, Mark.”
The General rolled his chair around the table to shake Mrs. Paul’s
hand. “I’m glad you are here with
us. Mark and Michaela are such
wonderful children.”
Mrs. Paul said, “Thank you for having
us. Please call me Michelle.”
The General moved his chair into his
usual place at the head of the table, where Mrs. Campbell had placed his cup of
coffee. He picked up the cup and took a
sip. “Hmmm….just the way I like
it. Thank you, dear.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling.
“Mark has been entertaining us with his
music, since he came to stay with us.
I’m afraid that he’s spoiling us,” The General said.
Mark blushed. The General’s words of praise embarrassed
him; however, he sat a little taller in his chair and smiled. “Thank you for your kind words, General.”
“Michaela and I have been working on a
cross-stitch pillow,” Mrs. Campbell said.
“She is very good at it.”
Michaela said, “I have a great
teacher.” She stood up from the table
and walked over to give Mrs. Campbell a hug.
“Thank you, dear. It’s been a pleasure to teach you,” she
said.
Mark and Michaela finished their hot
chocolate before the adults were done with their coffee. Seeing that they were done, Mr. Paul asked,
“Mark, will you and Michaela take our luggage up to our room?”
Mark stood up and replied, “Sure.”
Mrs. Campbell said, “They will be
staying in the room next to yours, Mark.”
Mark nodded his head in
understanding. The two children left
the kitchen to complete their assignment.
The adults took the opportunity to discuss the state of affairs, and
their plans to help the children and Janelle to heal from such a traumatic
experience.
When the children returned, the General
said, “Let’s go into the music room.
Mark, will you play for us?”
Mark grinned, and said, “Absolutely.”
They moved into the music room, where
Mark entertained them with many of his original compositions, as well as his
favorite songs.
*** ***
Rick said, “You’re such a cuddle bug.”
“I know,” I said, as I snuggled closer
to him. I love being in Rick’s
arms. Somehow, just being able to lean
against his chest and have his arms around me makes me feel like a little kid
again. I like the fact that Rick is so
protective of me.
Rick was twirling my hair around his
fingers, when JJ came over to us. “I’m
hungry. When are we going to eat
dinner?”
“You just had cookies and milk. How can you be hungry already?” I asked, in
amazement.
JJ responded, “I’m a growing boy.” He jumped up and down. “See?
I’m getting taller already.”
I laughed, and said, “Yes, I can see
that.” I turned my head to look at
Rick. “What do you think? Should I start dinner early?”
Rick smiled, and said, “I guess you
could, but if you wait an hour, it will be closer to dinner time.”
JJ whined, “But I’m hungry now!”
I looked at JJ, who was giving us his
puppy dog look. JJ was very well aware
that he was cute as a button, and that he had us wrapped around his little
finger. Rick and I had talked about not
spoiling him so much by giving into his demands. However, neither one of us was very good at
telling the little guy “no.”
I said, “Okay, I’ll start dinner in half
an hour. Will that make you happy, JJ?”
JJ nodded his head. “Okay,” he replied, and returned to playing
with his trains.
Rick turned on the television, and we
watched a news program. When the
program was over, I stood up and walked into the kitchen to begin cooking
dinner for the family. I had just
placed a pot of water on the stove to boil, when JJ came into the kitchen.
“I just put the water on to boil for
some pasta, JJ. Dinner will be ready in
about twenty minutes,” I said, anticipating JJ’s question.
I was surprised when JJ said, “Daddy, I
don’t feel good.”
I sat down on a kitchen chair, and said,
“Come here and let me look at you.” He
walked over to stand in front of me. I
put the palm of my hand on his forehead to see if he was running a
temperature. That is when I noticed the
huge red splotches all over his face.
“JJ, what’s going on with your face?
It’s all red. Have you been
scratching it?”
“It itches, Daddy. I itch all over,” JJ said.
I lifted up his t-shirt to find the same
read splotches all over his chest and stomach.
“Turn around and let me see your back.”
JJ complied. Seeing his back was
also covered with them, I called out, “Rick, come here, please!”
Rick walked into the kitchen in response
to my call. “What’s going on, Babe?”
“It looks like JJ is having a major
allergic reaction to something. He has
hives all over his body,” I replied, noting that there were angry, red
splotches on his arms and legs, as well.
“Are you having difficulty breathing?”
“No, I can breathe just fine,” he
replied.
“Does your throat feel like it’s closing
off, or does your tongue feel like it’s growing too big for your mouth?” I
asked.
“No, Daddy. I just itch all over,” JJ complained,
scratching a particularly bad spot on his arm.
“Don’t scratch! We’ll give you some medicine to help with
the itching,” I said. I went to the
medicine cabinet and found the children’s Benadryl.
“Did you eat something new?” Rick asked.
“No, Dad,” JJ said.
“Whatever it is, we need to get him to
the emergency room,” I said. “I’m going
to give him some of this to help with the itching, but I want to take him where
we can get help if things get worse.”
Rick agreed. “Let’s go, then. I’ll let Kyle know that he’s in charge until
we get back.”
“I’ll call Aunt Hannah, too. I’d feel better about leaving the children,
if she could come over for a while,” I said.
While Rick told our teenagers what was
going on, I called Aunt Hannah. She
agreed to come over to stay with the children.
Aunt Hannah and Uncle Carl live a few houses away, so it made sense to
call them first. I called my parents to
let them know we were on the way to the clinic. Mom said they would meet us there.
Kyle came into the kitchen, looking worried. “Do you think JJ will be okay?”
“Yes, I do. He’s not experiencing any problems
breathing, so I think he’ll be fine,” I said, trying to reassure our oldest
son. “Will you help Aunt Hannah cook
dinner?”
“Yes, Daddy, I like helping Aunt
Hannah. I hope she will make us a pecan
pie,” Kyle said, rubbing his stomach.
“I love her pies.”
I walked over to the pantry and opened
the door to pull out a box of pasta and a bottle of spaghetti sauce. Aunt Hannah usually makes her own sauce; but
she might use the bottled stuff this time, given the short notice. I turned to leave the pantry, when I
stumbled over something on the floor. I
looked down to see what was in the way.
It was a large, open jar of peanut butter with a spoon sticking in it. I bent down to pick it up. I was surprised to see that the jar was over
half empty. I placed the pasta and
sauce on the kitchen counter; and, holding the half empty peanut butter jar in
my hand, I turned to JJ,.
“Did you eat the peanut butter?” I
asked.
JJ nodded his head. “I was hungry and didn’t want to wait until
dinner time.”
“How much of this did you eat?” I
asked. “Was the jar full when you
started?” JJ looked down at the floor
and didn’t respond. “You’re not in
trouble, JJ. I need to know how much
peanut butter you ate.”
JJ looked up and met my eyes. “It was full, Daddy.”
“So, you ate half of a jar of peanut
butter?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes, I did,” JJ admitted.
Rick joined us, and I said, “I think I
know the cause of JJ’s allergic reaction.”
I showed him the peanut butter jar.
“JJ ate half of a jar of peanut butter.”
Rick eyes widened in surprise. “Do you mean to say that JJ ate all that
peanut butter?”
“I do.
He just told me he did. I think
he’s allergic to peanut butter,” I said.
“Well, at least we know what caused him
to break out in hives,” Rick said.
We heard a knock on the door. “That will be Aunt Hannah,” I said.
Kyle left the kitchen and returned with
Aunt Hannah. Kyle said, “JJ ate a lot
of peanut butter, Aunt Hannah.”
She looked at JJ and exclaimed, “Oh
my! You look miserable, dear. Have you given him anything to calm the
itching?” This last was directed to me.
“Yes, Aunt Hannah, I just gave him some Benadryl,”
I said. “Kyle has agreed to help with
dinner. The pasta and sauce are there
on the counter.”
Aunt Hannah said, “Don’t worry about
dinner, Glenn. Just take the wee one
and go. I will take care of the
children here.”
We bundled JJ up in his winter coat and
grabbed our own winter gear as we left the house. It was a short drive to the emergency
department.
The triage nurse took one look at JJ and
said, “Let’s get him into an examination room.” She asked us questions as we went. As soon as JJ was settled in the room, I
stayed with JJ while Rick followed the nurse back out front to complete the
necessary paperwork.
The ER doctor walked in and introduced
himself. “Hi, I’m Dr. Siegel.” He was about my height and build, with
curly, dark brown hair, brown eyes and a Charley Chaplin mustache. He turned to JJ and said, “You must be
Jared.”
JJ said, “Yes, but call me JJ.”
“Okay, JJ. Can you tell me what happened to cause all
of these red bumps?” he asked.
JJ nodded. “Daddy thinks I’m allergic to peanut
butter.”
He looked over at me for
confirmation. “Yes, he ate half of a
jar of peanut butter a little more than an hour ago. We gave him children’s Benadryl.”
“What did he look like before you gave
him the Benadryl?” he asked.
I described for him what I’d seen. He looked at JJ and asked, “Is that what it
looked like?”
“Yes, and I itched all over. It still itches, but not as bad as it was,”
JJ said.
Dr. Seigel examined his throat and
asked, “Does your throat feel funny?”
JJ shook his head. “No, it feels okay.”
“I think we’ll need to give JJ some
additional medication, just to make sure he doesn’t go into anaphylactic
shock. He had a systemic allergic
reaction. He is very fortunate not to be
having breathing problems. I would
strongly recommend that you take him to an allergist to be tested. He may have other severe allergies that you
don’t know about.”
He left the room, and I sat down next to
JJ. “You gave us a bad scare, JJ.”
He climbed onto my lap and hugged
me. I gave him a kiss on the
cheek. He said, “I love you,
Daddy. I’m sorry I ate the peanut
butter without asking you first.”
“It’s okay, JJ. I’m just glad that you’re going to be okay,”
I said.
Rick walked into the room, followed by
Mom and Dad. Mom sat down on the bed,
and JJ moved over next to her, giving her a hug. “Hi, Grandma.”
“Hello, JJ. I hear you have been eating a lot of peanut
butter,” she said.
“Yes, I ate too much, and it made me
sick,” JJ said.
Mom nodded her head. “I’m afraid you won’t be having peanut
butter anymore.”
Rick said, “That’s right, little
buddy. If you’re allergic to peanut
butter, like we think you are, you won’t be eating any more peanut butter.”
Dad said, “I won’t be surprised if JJ is
allergic to peanut butter. Our family
has a history of being allergic to different foods. Randy is allergic to milk and ice cream.”
I said, “I know, but he can eat cheese
without any problem.”
“Uncle Carl is allergic to watermelon,”
Dad said.
Rick said, “I’m allergic to sulfa
drugs. I had a pretty bad reaction to a
sulfa-based antibiotic drug.”
“What puzzles me, though, is that JJ has
eaten many peanut butter sandwiches, and never had an allergic reaction,” I
said.
The nurse came in with a syringe. “I’m here to give JJ a shot to help the
hives go away.” She smiled at JJ and
said, “Do you want your Dad to hold you, while I give you the shot?” JJ nodded his head. He got down off the bed and walked over to
Rick, holding his arms up to be picked up.
Rick picked him up, and said, “Are you ready
champ?”
“Yes, I’m ready,” JJ said, putting his
arms around Rick’s neck. Rick walked
over to the only chair in the room and sat down.
The nurse said, “If you’ll hold his arm,
I’ll give him the shot.” She took out an
alcohol wipe, and cleaned the targeted area on his upper arm. She said, “This is going to feel like a
mosquito bite, but then it will go away.”
Rick said, “Look at me, son.”
JJ looked up at Rick, and said, “Okay,
Dad, I’m looking at you.”
The nurse acted quickly, injecting the medication
and placing a bandage over the site.
“All done,” she announced, smiling at JJ.
JJ said, “That didn’t hurt.”
“You did a good job of not looking,”
Rick said. “I’m proud of you, son.”
Dr. Siegel returned. “We need to check on JJ in an hour or
so. If everything seems to be under control
at that time, you can take him home.
Meanwhile, if you want to go out to the waiting room, there are some
toys and videos he can watch.”
Rick said, “That sounds like a good
idea.” He stood up, carrying JJ out of
the room. The rest of us followed him
out to the waiting room.
Dad said, “I was surprised you weren’t
still waiting to be seen when we got here.”
Rick said, “They took one look at JJ and
took us right back to the examination room.”
“I think they realized his situation was
a little more serious than a sprained ankle or a runny nose,” I said.
“I wish we could go home now,” JJ
said.
“Well, we need to make sure you don’t
have any more problems,” I said. He
frowned and I quickly added, “We want to go home as much as you, JJ, but we
need to stay for a little while longer.”
Mom said, “I see that there are a lot of
building blocks over there. Could you
build me a train station?”
JJ looked up at her and said,
“Okay.” He walked dejectedly over to
the Lego table and began constructing the requested train station.
Rick walked over and sat down on the
floor next to the Lego table. “Hey,
buddy, may I help you?”
JJ said, “Sure, if you really want to.”
Rick said, “I want to help you, because
I’m just as bored as you are.”
JJ looked at his father in
surprise. “Are you really bored?”
“Yes, I am, JJ. I don’t like waiting anymore than you do,”
Rick responded.
JJ nodded his head wisely. “Daddy says I’m just like you, except I have
brown eyes.”
Rick looked over at me, and
grinned. “Your Daddy is right, you are
a lot like me, so that means you’re pretty special.”
“Josh looks like Daddy,” JJ said. “That makes him very special, too.”
“That’s also true,” Rick agreed.
Mom said, “JJ looks like Rick, but he
also looks like your Dad’s brother, Allen.”
Dad looked at JJ, appraisingly. “JJ does resemble Allen. Allen was always the best looking of all of
us. I think JJ has inherited Allen’s
good looks and charming personality.”
Rick laughed. “I always thought JJ inherited his good
looks from me.”
Mom smiled, “He did, but I think his
personality is more like Allen’s than yours, or Glenn’s.
JJ asked, “What does personality mean?”
Rick explained, “Your personality is
what makes you who you are, like being happy all of the time, or wanting to
share with everyone.”
JJ smiled, and said, “I like being happy
and I like sharing.”
“Yes, you do,” Rick said. He stopped putting the Legos together, and
handed them to JJ. “Is this okay for
the wall?”
JJ took the Legos and examined them. “Yes, but you didn’t match the colors.” JJ took the blocks apart and collected
blocks that were the same color. He
reconstructed the wall and handed it back to Rick. “See?
This is how you do it.”
Rick nodded his head. “Okay, what shall we build next?”
While they worked together building the
train station and an airport, Dad talked to me about the farm.
Dad said, “We need to go back to the
farm. I feel strongly that our family
has lost its way. We’ve left the land
and have become disconnected from reality.”
I looked at him in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“God meant us to work the land. In the Bible, we learn that it’s important
to have an inheritance that includes the land.
We need to go back to the farm,” Dad said.
I looked over at Mom and asked, “What is
this all about?”
Mom said, “Your Dad misses the
farm. You know how much he loved
farming.”
Dad said, “I’ve had a vision that our
family needs to return to the earth.
There are tough times ahead, and we need to be where we can raise our
own food. Here, in the city, we are too
dependent on others for our food and water.”
The more he talked, the more convinced I
was that something was wrong with him.
“What are you trying to say, Dad?”
“We need to keep God’s commandment to
till the earth. We have strayed from
God’s path for us,” Dad replied. “We’ve
lost our way. We need to move back to
the farm. You and Rick need to move your
family to the farm, as well. Rick
doesn’t have a job that is holding him in Virginia anymore. You
need to move your family to the farm.”
Rick overheard Dad and said, “I don’t
have a job, but Glenn does. He will be
working in Austin, Texas, for the next few months.”
Dad looked at me and asked, “Is that
true?”
“Yes,” I replied. “I’ll be leaving for Austin the day after we
return to Virginia.”
Mom asked, “What will you be doing?”
“I’ll be working with Todd on a software
development project. Todd is the chief
system architect, and I’ll be doing the programming. I’m looking forward to working on a new
project. I’ve worked on a couple of
projects with Todd, but I’ve always been able to work from home. This time the company we’re working for
requires us to do all of our work on-site,” I said.
“You could live on the farm, and fly out
of Regina,” Dad said.
“I could, but that’s a lot of driving to
get to the airport. Where we live now I
can get to the airport in about 30 minutes,” I said.
“God will bless you for returning to the
land,” Dad said.
I wasn’t sure how to respond to Dad’s
statement, so I decided not to say anything.
Mom, seeing that I wasn’t going to comment on his statement, said, “Don,
I’m sure God will bless our family, no matter where they live.”
Dad shook his head vehemently. “No, Eva, we must return to the earth.”
I said, “Dad, we will think about
it. We don’t need to argue about it
now.”
Dad said, “Just don’t wait until it’s
too late.”
Rick said, “We’ll let you know soon.”
Dad seemed satisfied with Rick’s
answer. He nodded his head, and said,
“You are a fine son-in-law.”
I stood up and walked around the waiting
area. Dad had always had some different
ideas about religion, but this fixation with the farm and the necessity of
moving our family there was a little too crazy for me. I hated living on the farm, and Dad knew that. There was no way I would ever return to the
farm. Gary and Jessica still lived on
our family farm, but even they had purchased a home in Swift Current where they
stayed during the winter.
I stood looking out of the windows of
the emergency department, when my mother joined me. “Is Dad okay?”
“No, Glenn, he’s not okay. His diabetes is out of control, and he has
been acting really strange the last few days,” Mom said.
“Doesn’t high blood sugar cause mental
problems?” I asked.
“Not always, but there have been studies
that link diabetes to mental illness such as depression and schizophrenia,” Mom
said.
“I think Dad has gone wacko, Mom,” I
said. “I can’t believe he actually
wants us to move back to the farm.”
Mom said, “You haven’t heard the rest of
his REVELATIONS, Glenn. He’s been
predicting that the end of the world is at hand, and that we need to move away
from Ontario to save ourselves from being destroyed.”
“Have you taken him to see a doctor?” I
asked.
“Yes, but your Dad won’t take any of the
medications he’s been given. He won’t
even take the medication for his diabetes,” Mom said.
“Is he trying to commit suicide or
something?” I asked. “Doesn’t he need
to take his medications to keep his sugar from getting too high?”
“Yes, but he claims that God will fix
his blood sugar problem if he only has enough faith,” Mom responded.
I looked at her in shock. “He really IS nuts. Can’t we force him to take his medicine?”
“No,” she replied. “We would have to have him declared
incompetent, before we could do that.”
“Well, it seems he’s not exactly sane,”
I said.
“He’s still not bad enough for him to be
declared incompetent, Glenn,” Mom said.
“Is he hearing voices, as well?” I
asked.
“Yes, he says that God speaks to him all
of the time. He claims he is God’s
prophet, and has been sent to save the world,” Mom said.
“Have you told the rest of the family
what is going on?” I asked.
Mom said, “I haven’t had to do that,
because your Dad has called the rest of them, trying to convince them to move
back to the farm.”
“Why didn’t he call us before we came?”
I asked.
“He said he wanted to talk to you and
Rick in person,” Mom said.
I shook my head, still not fully
comprehending what was going on with my Dad.
We walked back over, and sat down next to Dad. Dad
said, “God has appointed me to be his messenger.”
I tried not to laugh in his face, but
the thought of Dad being God’s messenger was one of the most absurd statements
I had ever heard. I said, “Okay, Dad.”
Dad continued to recount his discussions
with God, while we waited for JJ to be checked by the doctor. I breathed a sigh of relief when the doctor
called us back. Rick and I took JJ back
into the examination room, leaving Mom and Dad in the waiting area. The doctor examined JJ and gave us the all
clear to take him home.
As Rick drove us home, I said, “Dad has
completely lost it!”
Rick nodded his head. “Yes, I think things aren’t working right
for him. He has certainly become
obsessed with the end of the world. What
concerns me, Glenn, is the fact that he’s hearing voices.”
“That does have me worried. He said he hears different voices in the
morning than those that he hears in the evening. He definitely needs some help,” I said. I thought for a moment, before continuing,
“With all of his religious talk about the end of the world, I guess we should
be grateful he isn’t on his anti-gay thing again.”
Rick laughed. “Yes, we should be grateful for that. I don’t want to repeat the experience we had
with him before we got married. Back
then, he thought he was being so crafty and sly about his campaign to split us
up and convince us to marry women and have a family.”
“I think he still feels that way. However, since we have children, there isn’t
much he can say,” I said.
Rick glanced in the rearview mirror to
check on JJ. “Hey, buddy! How are you doing back there?”
I turned my head to look over my
shoulder at our son. “I’m okay, Dad,”
JJ replied.
“Now, you can say you’ve been to the
hospital, just like Josh,” I said.
JJ nodded his head. “Yes, but it wasn’t any fun. Josh can go to the hospital if he wants, but
I don’t want to, anymore.”
“I don’t want either one of you to go to
the hospital again,” I said.
JJ asked, “When are Cameron and Skye
coming? I miss them.”
“They are coming to our house tomorrow,
along with all of our other friends,” Rick said.
JJ clapped his hands. “Yeah!
Then there will be lots of friends to play with.”
“That’s right,” I said. His question reminded me that I still had a
lot of things to get ready for our party.
Some of our friends from our college days were coming over with their
families.
*** ***
Zach and Todd had caravanned down from
Toronto with Robbie and Adam. Cameron
and Skye helped get their cousins out of their car seats. The five-year old triplets ran ahead of
Cameron and Skye. I opened the storm
door to admit the five boys.
Brian, Justin and Robin chorused,
“Hello, Uncle Glenn.”
“Hello boys. I’m glad you’re here. Take your coats off and hang them on the
pegs over there. Take your shoes off
and place them on the floor under your coat.”
Cameron and Skye had already complied
with my instructions. They were used to
taking off their coats and shoes and putting them on the pegs, since they
practically lived with us. The twins
helped their cousins take off their coats and shoes.
I knelt down and hugged each of the
triplets. “You guys are getting so
big,” I said.
Brian said, “We have to get bigger,
Uncle Glenn, because we will be in kindergarten next year.” His emerald green eyes holding my gaze, as
if to make sure I understood the urgency about the triplets need to grow bigger
before they entered school.
I smiled and ruffled his blond
hair. “I’m sure the three of you will
be big enough to handle going to kindergarten when it’s time.”
Three pairs of green eyes met mine. Robin spoke up this time. “We don’t want to be the smallest kids in
the class. Our Dads said we have to eat
all of our vegetables, so we will grow big and strong, like them.”
Justin wrinkled his nose in
disgust. “I hate vegetables.”
His brothers chorused, “Me, too.”
Being a father of twins still didn’t
stop me from being amazed at how alike the triplets were. Of course, JJ and Josh aren’t identical
twins, but still you would think I would be used to the strong similarities
there are between multiple-birth children.
“Let me tell you a secret,” I whispered, conspiratorially. “I hate vegetables too. Just don’t tell anyone, okay?”
The triplets grinned and chorused, “We
won’t.”
Robin said, “Did your Dad make you eat
your vegetables when you were little?”
I nodded my head. “Yes, he did, and I hated it.”
Justin said, “But Dad says we’ll learn
to like them as we get older.”
“He’s right about that,” I said. “I like some of them, but I still don’t like
spinach, broccoli, peas, or squash. I
especially hate sauerkraut. Green beans
are okay, and so are asparagus and celery.”
At that moment, Robbie and Adam came inside with their older brothers. “Remember not to tell anyone I don’t like
vegetables.”
Brian nodded his head. “We won’t.”
They turned and followed Cameron and Skye into the family room, where
they were greeted enthusiastically by the twins.
I stood up and hugged the
Anderson-Ingram boys. Adam asked, “What
was all of that about?”
I grinned, and replied, “We were just
discussing the merits of certain vegetables.”
Robbie laughed. “We’ve been trying to convince the triplets
that it’s okay to eat them.”
“I know. They just told me about that,” I said, as
they guys shed their coats and shoes.
We joined the boys in the family room.
Rick stood up from the couch, and
greeted the guys with a hug and kiss.
“I’m glad you guys made it.”
The guys sat down, and Robbie let out a
huge sigh. “I am too. We’ve been unpacking boxes for the last two
weeks, and we’re still not done.”
“How do you like your new house?” I
asked.
“Much better than the old one,” Adam
said.
“Thank you for letting us stay here
while we looked for a new place,” Robbie said.
“It certainly made it easier on us after
Justin’s death,” Adam said. “We sold
our old house just last week.”
Rick said, “Good. That will finally allow you guys to move
on.”
Robbie said, “Yes, it is a relief to
have it sold. We still have to go
through Justin’s things. I wasn’t emotionally
ready to deal with that. Even now, I’m
not sure I’m up to it.”
Adam put his arm around his husband’s
shoulders. “We’ll get through it
together, Robbie.”
Robbie leaned over and kissed Adam. “As long as you’re with me, I’ll be fine.”
Zach said, “I like their new house.”
Todd agreed. “It’s much better than the old one.”
Adam asked, “Are you guys still planning
to stay with us tomorrow night?”
Rick said, “Yes, we are. We can’t wait to see your new place.”
Robbie said, “The boys are very excited
to have their cousins stay with them.”
Todd gave Zach a long look, and said,
“Cameron and Skye want us to move back to Toronto, so that they can be with the
triplets.”
Zach nodded his head. “I know they want to move back here, but I’m
still under contract with the Capitals.
We’ll have to wait until my contract expires with them.”
Robbie asked, “What will you do after
you end your hockey career?”
His brother looked out the window, his
expression pensive. “I don’t know,
Robbie.”
Todd said, “He’s going to be a stay at
home Dad, while I work to support the family.”
Zach put his arm around Todd’s
shoulders. “Todd is growing his
business, and I’m thinking I will retire from hockey to support him.”
“I’ll be working with Todd in Austin,
starting next week,” I said.
Robbie looked at me in surprise. “Who will watch the children?”
“I will,” Rick said. “I’m currently unemployed, so I’ll take over
Glenn’s duties with the children.”
Robbie looked at Rick in amazement. “I don’t see you staying home, playing the
role of Mr. Mom, Rick.”
Rick smiled and said, “You’re right, it
will be a big change for me. I’m
actually looking forward to it. I won’t
be alone, since Zach will be around some of the time.”
Zach said, “I’m the one who will suffer
the most, with Todd and Glenn gone for a couple of weeks at a time.”
Todd patted Zach’s arm
sympathetically. “I think you will
survive, Babe.”
Zach grinned. “I don’t know about that. Who will keep my bed warm at night?”
Todd laughed. “We’ll have to get you an electric blanket
and a teddy bear.”
Zach said, “Okay, as long as you get the
same thing for Rick.”
I looked over at Rick, and asked, “Is
that what you want, as well?”
Rick shook his head. “I’ll be okay, especially since you guys
changed your plans, so you will be home on weekends, instead of staying in
Austin for 3 weeks at a time.”
The change had been my idea. I didn’t like being away from my family for
such extended periods of time. It also
would give me and Todd a break from each other. Todd wanted to save money by renting a
studio apartment. I agreed, but had
insisted that we get two twin beds.
Todd had been disappointed, but accepted the fact that I wasn’t going to
allow him to tempt me into having sex with him. As much as I loved him, I didn’t want to
ruin the friendship we had by engaging in activities that we would both
regret.
Todd’s relentless pursuit of me was
starting to have a negative impact on Todd’s marriage. Before the holidays, we had sat down with
Zach and Todd to have a very candid discussion about the whole situation. Todd had admitted that he needed to refocus
his priorities on maintaining his marital relationship with Zach. Todd seemed to finally recognize how much he
was wounding Zach every time he made a pass at me. Rick and I had left them alone to work out
their differences after we had made it clear to Todd that we wouldn’t tolerate
his behavior anymore. I love Todd very
much, but I’m married to Rick and that is where my loyalties lie. He is the father of our children and we are
very happy together.
I watched Zach and Todd very closely for
any signs of tension between them.
Seeing none, I breathed a sigh of relief. We hadn’t had much interaction with them
since our discussion. Rick and I had
timed that discussion to coincide with our departure for winter break, so the
two of them could work things out without any interference from us.
Todd said, “I won’t be staying the
entire week. I will be there to get the
project kicked off and introduce the project team. I’ve hired another programmer to work with
Glenn in Austin.”
I looked at Todd in surprise. “When did you do that?”
“Yesterday,” Todd responded. “We will meet up with him in Austin. His name is Lenny Matarossa from Allentown,
Pennsylvania. He helped build our
client’s current system and will be a great asset to our team. I’ve also made him the project manager. He will be on-site for the entire project. His wife is from Austin, and wants to be
near her parents. He comes highly
recommended by our client as someone they trust. “
I was very surprised to hear that Todd
had ceded his role of project manager to someone else. I started to ask a question, but Todd cut me
off. “With the change in project
leadership, I’ll need you to stay three consecutive weeks with one week at
home. I can’t afford to bring you home
every weekend.”
I looked at Rick and said, “I think
we’ll have to re-evaluate whether I will be able to work on the project for
you. We’ll discuss it and let you know
before we leave for Virginia.”
Rick said, “We won’t be discussing it
today. Let’s stop talking about work
and enjoy being together.”
*** ***
Later, I was in the kitchen getting
things ready before the rest of our friends were due to arrive. Robbie and Adam joined me. Robbie said, “What happened between you and
Todd? Things were pretty tense in there
a little while ago. Zach mentioned that
things got pretty intense between the four of you, just before you left for the
holidays.”
I explained what happened and why. Robbie gave a low whistle. “That’s heavy stuff. I wondered what was wrong, because they are
talking about putting their house on the market. I thought you guys were getting along really
well from what Zach and Todd have told me.
I had no idea anything was going on that shouldn’t be.”
Hearing Robbie tell me that they were
planning to sell their house told me that we had pushed them too hard to change
things. We never intended for them to
become so offended that they would take such drastic steps like selling their
house. I stopped what I was doing and
walked into the family room, where Zach and Todd were still talking with
Rick. “Would you all come into the kitchen
for a few minutes?”
Robbie looked at Adam. He whispered, “I think I’m in trouble.” Adam gave him a blank look. “I’ll tell you later.” He sat down next to Adam, and looked
worriedly at me.
Rick looked up at me in surprise. My tone of voice must have tipped him off
that I wasn’t happy about something.
Todd and Zach picked up on it as well, because they looked at each other
before they stood up and followed me into the kitchen. I motioned them to take a seat at the kitchen
table.
“I think we need to clear the air a
bit,” I said, fixing each of them with an intense stare. “I know we haven’t spoken much since we had
our discussion, but I think we need to know where we stand with each other.”
Todd’s expression hardened as he said,
“I thought you made it pretty clear where we stand. What more is there to say?”
“So, instead of coming back to talk to
us, you’ve decided to sell your house and run away?” I said, with an accusatory
edge to my voice.
Rick’s eyebrows shot up in
surprise. “What are you talking about,
Glenn?”
“I’m talking about Zach and Todd’s
decision to sell their house and move,” I said.
Zach looked guiltily at Todd. “I told you we should have talked to them
first.”
Todd said, “Why? We’re not obligated to clear our every move
with them. They made it pretty clear
that they wanted there to be more space between us.”
Rick said, “Todd, you have it all
wrong. Glenn and I never said we wanted
more distance between us. We needed you
to reconsider what you were doing.
Throwing yourself at Glenn needed to stop, because you were hurting all of
us. We didn’t say we didn’t love you,
because we do. I thought you understood
that you guys are part of our family.”
Todd wouldn’t meet our gaze. I walked around to where Todd was
sitting. I straddled his lap and pushed
my face close to his, rubbing noses with him.
I took his face in my hands and kissed him deeply. He stiffened and tried to pull away. I didn’t let him go, but continued to kiss him
until he started to respond to me.
When we came up for air, I pulled back
and looked deeply into his eyes. “Don’t
you dare tell me you don’t love me, Todd.
We’ve been closer than brothers for too long for me to let you throw in
the towel now. I love you Todd
Anderson-Ingram.” I rubbed noses with
him, and kissed him gently.
He held me tight and said, “I thought
you hated me.”
“What made you think that?” I said,
incredulously.
“Just the way you told me I needed to
stop throwing myself at you. You made
me sound like I was a real creep, and that you didn’t want me hanging around
anymore,” he said, his voice was thick with tears.
I reached up and wiped away the tears
that were running down his cheeks. I
said, in a firm, but loving voice, “That isn’t what I said, and you know it,
Todd. Even you agreed that you needed to
refocus your attention on Zach.”
Todd nodded his head, and said, “I did
need to refocus on our relationship. I
admit that, but you said some things that really hurt.”
“I’m sorry, Todd. I never intended to hurt you. I wanted you to have the best marriage
possible and to be happy with Zach. I
didn’t want to be the cause of problems within your marriage.”
Zach said, “We’ve had some pretty heavy
discussions since that night. We’re
much more united than we were; but, most of all, we’ve come to an agreement
about setting certain boundaries in our relationship.”
Todd said, “We modeled them on the
boundaries you two have set in your relationship.”
I gave them a surprised look. “I thought you guys already had agreed to
those same boundaries a long time ago.”
Zach shook his head. “No, we didn’t. We both wanted to have sex with you and Rick
since before you guys got married.”
“I know that,” I said, laughing. “I remember having conversations with you
about being faithful to Rick when he was overseas.”
Zach grinned. “I was heartbroken that you wouldn’t even
consider giving me a blowjob, because you were saving yourself for Rick.”
“Well, I did save myself for him,” I
said, looking over at my husband. “I
still do.”
Todd said, with feeling, “Yes, we know.”
“But that doesn’t mean I don’t love you,
Todd,” I said. “I love Zach, too. You two have been our closest friends since
forever.”
Zach said, “Yes, and you have been
ours. That is why it hurt us so much
when you and Rick laid down the law about maintaining certain boundaries in our
relationships with each other. We
thought we were getting along great and that you two were okay with where we
were.
I moved off of Todd’s lap and sat down
next to him. I took his hand in
mine. “I’m the one who was
uncomfortable, Zach. I love Todd so
much that I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to maintain control, if Todd
kept pushing me to have sex with him, especially when we’re alone in Austin for
such an extended period of time.”
Todd grinned, and asked, “So, I was
getting pretty close to victory then?”
“Yes,” Rick said. “That is why I agreed to have a discussion
with you guys about it. I’m not opposed
to having sex with you guys, but it really bothers Glenn. He has always insisted on a monogamous,
closed relationship. Out of respect for
him, I’ve never stepped outside the boundaries of our relationship. It is also the reason I’ve been able to
accept how close he is to you Todd. I
know that he will never cross that line, and cheat on me with you. When things got to a point where he couldn’t
honor his commitment to me, he asked for my help to keep it. We never intended to destroy our friendship
with you guys over this issue, but we needed to give Glenn some breathing room.”
Todd nodded his head. “I understand now. I still haven’t given up hope that someday,
you two will agree to play with us.”
Zach said, “We still want to have a much
closer relationship with you guys.”
Here, he stopped and looked at Todd.
“I’m just as responsible for encouraging Todd to have sex with you,
because I wanted to do the same with Rick.
We still want to have a foursome with you guys. We think that the four of us get along so
well that we could live with you guys in an intimate relationship.”
Rick looked at me, and said, “We’ll have
to talk about it, guys. Until we’re all
comfortable taking such a step, I think we need to respect the boundaries we’ve
set in place.
I looked at Todd and said, “If there
were two people in the world that I would invite into my relationship with Rick,
it would be the two of you. We love you
both very much, and we’re highly attracted to you guys.”
Todd said, “I’m sorry I’ve kept pushing
you to do something you aren’t ready to do.
I guess I deserved to be scolded for what I was doing.”
“It’s okay,” I said, smiling at him. “You’re family, Todd, and we always make
allowances for family. Are we good?”
Todd squeezed my hand. “Yes, we’re good.” He leaned over and brushed his lips against
mine. “I love you.”
“I know you do,” I said, grinning.
*** ***
We finished getting things ready for our
guest. While sitting around the kitchen
table, Robbie said, “Glenn, you should try having an open relationship with
Zach and Todd. Adam and I included
Justin in ours, and it was a very rewarding experience for us. Justin provided maturity and balance to our
relationship with each other, especially after Brian left him.”
Adam agreed. “Justin was such a wonderful person. I really miss him.”
“I miss him, too,” I said. I paused to give some thought to what Robbie
had said about opening up our relationship.
“I guess I’m just not secure enough in my relationship with Rick to open
up our relationship like you guys did with Justin. You guys took him into your relationship
almost from the beginning. Maybe if we
had taken Zach and Todd into our relationship early on, it would seem natural
to us now.” I looked over at Rick. “I know that I’m being illogical about my
fears, but that’s how I feel sometimes.”
Rick grinned and said, “You’re right
about the illogical part. At least
you’re willing to admit it.” He put his
arm around my shoulders and leaned over to kiss me. “As for your fears about losing me to
someone else, they are completely without merit, because you’ve got me so
addicted to you that I would never leave you for someone else.” He looked meaningfully at Todd and
Zach. “Call me old fashioned, but I
still believe in fidelity in marriage.
However, I do enjoy taking a shower with you guys!”
Zach laughed. “That’s only because you always win our jerk
off competition!”
Rick grinned, broadly. “Of course, I have to remind you guys who is
the boss around here.”
Zach playfully cuffed Rick up the side
of his head. “Down, boy, down!”
We all broke into laughter. Rick and Zach, being the alpha males in our
relationships, were always trying to outdo each other. It was a friendly competition, but one that
was very real. Of course, Todd and I
weren’t wallflowers in our relationships with our husbands by any means. We both had them firmly in our grasp, and
they knew it.
I looked at Todd and grinned, “Our
husbands think they’re in control; however, they are sorely mistaken about
that. Should we disabuse them of such
silly notions?”
Todd smirked, and said, “No, I think we
should let them continue thinking they’re the alpha males in our
relationships. I wouldn’t want them to
attempt a palace coup to try and upset the balance of power.”
Zach looked from Todd to me and back to
Todd. “Rick, I think we need to show
these two who really rules the roost.”
He winked at us and gave us a wicked grin.
I had seen that grin before and knew
what it meant. I looked over at Rick
and saw the same wicked gleam in his eyes.
Rick said, “I think you’re right, Zach.
We’ll have to wait until tonight, though. We have too many guests coming to dinner for
us to show them right now.”
At that moment, the doorbell rang, and
Kyle shouted, “I’ll get it!”
We heard Kyle open the door. We stood up from the table, and walked out
into the foyer to greet our guests.
Mark and Brandon were standing in the doorway, with their daughter,
Giselle.
“Come in out of the cold,” I said,
inviting them inside.
They took off their coats and shoes. We exchanged hugs and kisses with them. I looked Brandon over from head to toe. I grinned and said, “You haven’t changed,
Brandon. You’re still just as good
looking as the day we met.”
Brandon put his arm around my waist, as
we walked into the kitchen. “Does this
mean you’ll finally have sex with me?”
He leaned over and kissed me.
Mark laughed. “Brandon still feels slighted that you
wouldn’t have sex with him, Glenn. You
really did a number on his ego that day, when you told him you wouldn’t give
into his charm and good looks.”
Brandon said, “You sure knew how to
bring a guy down.” He stole another
kiss, before releasing me. He sat down
next to his husband, Mark.
Mark said, “Have you been out to see
Adam and Robbie’s new house?”
“No, we haven’t, but we’re going out
there tomorrow,” Rick said.
Robbie said, “We managed to find a place
a few blocks away from Mark and Brandon.
Zach and Todd are looking at buying the house next door to us. You know the one with the big oak tree in
front.”
Brandon smiled. “That sounds great! If we can convince Peyton and Jonathan to move
here, all of our former roommates will be living in Ontario, at least part
time.”
“Peyton and Jonathan love living in Boston,” I
said. “I’m not sure we could convince
them to buy a place here, unless they could get some waterfront property.”
Rick said, “They were looking at some
property on Cape Cod a couple of months ago.”
Robbie said, “Well, they can afford to
buy a home there with the kind of money they are pulling in.”
I agreed. “Their law firm is doing very well. They are on a cruise of the eastern
Mediterranean.”
“I’m glad they are enjoying themselves,”
Zach said. “I’m lucky to get a week
off, given my hockey schedule.”
Robbie chuckled, “That comes with the
territory, big bro. You can’t be the
hot shot hockey player without sacrificing something.”
Zach grinned. “Well, this hot shot hockey player is
thinking of retiring.”
Robbie’s eyes widen in surprise. “You can’t be serious!”
“I am, little bro. I’m getting tired of being on the road all
of the time. I miss being with my
family,” Zach said.
The doorbell rang again. As before, Kyle answered the door. This time Ben and Janice walked into the
kitchen. Ben was carrying their newest
addition in the infant carrier. Ben
said, “It’s good to see you guys.”
Janice said, “Thanks for inviting us
over.” Their two boys clung to her
legs. She pulled them loose and said,
“Alain, take Mitchell to the family room.
You know where it is. I’m sure
the rest of the children are already there.”
I said, “I can’t believe how big they
are getting.”
Janice smiled. “Alain is 6 and Mitchell is three, just like
your twins.”
Rick said, “I remember now. Mitchell was born about three months after
the twins.”
Ben said, “That’s right.”
“The twins will be four next month,” I
said. “May I hold the baby?”
Janice said, “Sure. Merodee is a sweet little thing. She never fusses or cries.”
Ben unbuckled Merodee from her car seat,
and passed her to me. “How old is she
now?”
“She is almost two months old,” Janice
said, smiling at her tiny daughter.
I held the tiny infant in my arms and
looked down into her face. Her eyes
were open and she was very alert.
“Hello, little one.”
Ben said, “She has a pretty strong grip
for such a small one. She likes to hold
onto my finger.”
I put my finger close to her hand, and
she curled her tiny fingers around it.
Rick, seeing my expression, said, “Don’t even think of trying to adopt
another baby.”
I looked up at him and laughed, “You
know me too well, Babe. I had just been
thinking how much I would love to have another child.”
Rick said, “We have five children of our
own already, plus one foster child. How
many more do you want?”
“At least a dozen,” I said, teasingly.
Rick shook his head. “You are so crazy, sometimes, Glenn.”
“You have to admit that our children are
the light of our lives,” I said.
Rick agreed. “Yes, I love them very much, but we need to
make sure we can continue to meet their needs before we add more children to
our family.”
Janice said, “I think that if you’re
meant to have more children, things will work out that way. So, I wouldn’t worry about it, guys.”
I laughed. “You have always been the peacemaker,
Janice. Of course, you’re right that
things will work out for us.”
The doorbell rang, and, this time, Kyle
returned with Uncle Dave, Aunt Mary, Mom and Dad. Uncle Dave looked around the room. “It looks like the gang is all here.”
Rick said, “Almost everyone. We’re still missing Aunt Hannah and Uncle
Carl.”
“Not anymore,” Aunt Hannah said, as she
came into the kitchen bearing two pies.
Uncle Carl followed her with two more.
Rick looked over the pies and nodded his
head approvingly. “My favorites: pecan and pumpkin.”
“I also made an apple and a cherry pie,”
she said. “I wanted to make sure there
was enough pie to go around.” She
turned to me. “Is everything ready?”
“Just about,” I responded. “The turkey is almost done. The potatoes have been mashed and the salads
are in the refrigerator.”
“The sodas and beer are chilling in the
cooler,” Rick added.
Kyle said, “We set up the banquet tables
in the recreation room.”
David and Purev crowded into the
kitchen. Purev said, “David and I set
the tables.”
I said, “I think we can eat as soon as
the turkey’s been carved.”
We spent the rest of the evening
enjoying the company of our family and friends.
*** ***
We had seen off the last of our guests
and the children were in beds. Well, at
least in their rooms for the night. I
could see light escaping under the door of Kyle’s bedroom. I turned to Rick and said, “I’m sure Kyle is
talking with Catharine.”
Rick laughed, “I’m sure he is. He is quite taken with the young lady. Ashley told me Kyle has a serious crush on
her, and, apparently, she has one on him.”
“I just hope he doesn’t get hurt,” I
said.
“Well, Babe, you have to let him
experience love for himself,” Rick said.
“Even if you know that it’s more like puppy love at this point. We’ve taught him to control his sexual
desires and to respect the people he dates.”
“I have no doubt he will treat Catharine
with respect, but I worry about how Kyle will react when the inevitable breakup
happens. You know how sensitive he
is. I’m afraid of the damage that will be
inflicted on his self-esteem. Kyle puts
up a good front, but his self-concept isn’t as good as it needs to be,
Rick. We need to be extremely vigilant.”
Rick said, “He’s not as fragile as you
think he is, Glenn.”
“I know you disagree with me about his
mental and emotional state, but I think we need to keep a close eye on this new
relationship. I want to make sure we’re
there to help him pick up the pieces, if you know what I mean.”
Rick nodded his head in
understanding. “Just like I was there
for you when Ian dumped you?”
“Well, not quite in that way. More like how my Uncle Dave was there for me
when I needed to talk to someone. He
listened to me without making judgments, and offered his advice when asked.”
“Okay, I get it; however, I think we
need to give him the space to make his own mistakes.”
I put my arm around his waist. “I promise not to hover over him, but
promise me you’ll help me keep an eye on him.”
“I promise,” Rick said, as we walked
down the stairs to join our friends in the family room.
Todd looked up and asked, “Are the boys
settling down?”
“Yes, they have already dropped off,” I
said. I walked over and turned on the baby
monitor. We still kept the monitor in
the twin’s room, despite the fact that Josh hadn’t had a seizure in months. We could hear the sounds of their breathing
coming over the monitor.
Todd said, “I’m glad you keep the baby
monitor in their room. I still remember
Josh’s seizure at the pool. It really
freaked me out to see him flailing around like that.”
“You seemed pretty calm to me,” I said.
Todd met my eyes. “I tried to stay calm, so you wouldn’t lose
it, Glenn.”
“I’m glad you were there,” I said.
Rick said, “The baby monitor not only
helps us keep tabs on the boys, but it also gives us a warning if they’re
coming when we’re having sex.”
“Speaking of sex, I believe that we
promised to show these two who was boss,” Zach said, grinning at Todd.
Rick said, “You’re right, Zach. I think it’s time for us to do just that.”
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Zach exclaimed.
We followed Zach and Todd up the stairs
to our bedroom. Rick locked the door
behind us. Rick looked me over and
said, “Strip.”
Zach repeated Rick’s words, “Todd, you,
too.”
The look in his eyes made me shiver in
anticipation as I stripped off my clothes.
Rick looked at Zach, who nodded.
They began a strip tease routine that had both of us amped up. They ended by picking us up and carrying us
to the king-size bed. That was the
beginning of a very wild night!
*** ***
Author’s Note:
Music for this chapter:
