Copy

  “Whoa there, Andy. You have to wait for Daddy and me.”

  The little boy squealed in delight as the man scooped him up and rained kisses all over the boy’s face. The other man caught up and scolded the boy gently.

  “Don’t scare us like that, Andy.” He tugged at the older man’s belt. “Dell, let’s find the others before it gets too busy.”

  “Sure Wyatt. Hey Bug, you want a juicy?” The man called Dell asked his son. The little boy yelled out a loud yes and people around them laughed. The two men blushed good-naturedly and walked away with the chattering toddler.

  I was amazed. Obviously, they were a gay couple and Andy was their little boy. From the people calling out to them cheerfully as they passed, they were well known at Stone Mountain Park by the regulars. I watched as they met up with a group of other men then turned back to Avery.

  Peg lay with his head on his father’s knee and Poppy was slumped against me. I wanted that. I wanted the little family and the husband. What can I say? I’m a romantic fool at heart.

  *

  The day of the dinner finally came and I was a nervous wreck but I had to be with him when he talked to his Mom and Mawmaw. We had to be united as a couple when we broke the news that we intended to move in together.

  I took great pains with my appearance and had gotten my hair cut that morning. I decided on a pair of khaki shorts and a blue, white and pink striped button up shirt. My favorite pair of woven sandals completed the outfit. Happy with the way I looked, I grabbed my keys and locked up behind me. My sedan and I made it over to Avery’s in one piece, despite the crazy Atlanta traffic.

  I loved their house. From the first time I’d been there, the sense of home permeated the air. I bounded up the front steps and rang the bell, immediately hearing a shout from Peg and the pounding of feet on the wooden floors. “He’s here. He’s here!” Peg yelled. Was it stupid that my heart clenched happily? The door swung open and Peg grinned up at me.

  “Hi, Martin, come in, dinner’s almost ready!” He danced from one foot to the other excitedly. Boone appeared behind him and poked him in the head.

  “Squirt, what did we tell ya about openin’ the door without askin’ who’s there first?” Boone scolded him and Peg stopped dancing and shuffled his feet instead.

  “Sorry, Uncle Boone. I forgot.” He was so cute.

  “It’s okay, Peg. Just remember next time.” Boone’s gaze shifted to me and I was given a thorough going over. His smile was downright lascivious. Leaning on the door jamb, he drawled, “When you gonna realize I’m the hotter Myer triplet and dump ole sour puss for me?”

  I laughed at his audacity. “I’m quite happy with ole sour puss. He smiles when he’s with me.”

  He looked me over again. “I bet he does.” He waved me in. “Come on in, beautiful, the inquisition awaits. Be ready, by the time the Grand Inquisitor and her muscle gets done with you, you might run naked and screamin’ into the night.”

  “Why naked?”

  “Was hopin’ to get a gander at that fine a—”

  “Little ears, Boone!” Avery strode toward us and shoved his brother out of the way. He took my hand and led me into the house. I thought he was going kiss me, but instead he wrapped his arms around my waist. I willed myself not to blush. He put his mouth close to my ear. “You look edible.” Peg and Boone watched the whole exchange.

  I smiled and bumped him with my hip. “Thanks. Not too shabby yourself.” He looked relaxed and casual in his jean shorts and brown t-shirt. His hair hung loose over his shoulders in waves and his long, boney feet were bare. The door closed behind me and Peg tugged at my hand. I looked down at him and grinned. He really was Avery’s mini-me.

  “You wanna sit by me, Martin?”

  “Sure, Peg.” How could I refuse such a sincere request? As I walked hand in hand with Peg into the kitchen, I overheard Boone say to Avery in a hushed whisper.

  “Damn, he’s hot.”

  “Yup, and he’s all mine. All mine.”

  I grinned as Peg led me into the kitchen. Avery’s mom, Lynda, and his Mawmaw were simultaneously cooking and setting the table, and the aroma of the food was heavenly. The table was set simply with a well-worn table cloth, white plates and old mismatched glasses. Lynda looked over her shoulder and smiled at me.

  “Hi, Martin, find a seat. Dinner will be ready in five minutes.”

  She went back to cooking and Peg pulled out a chair for me. Thanking Peg, I sat down and he took the chair to my left. Boone made for the chair on my right until Avery shoved him away. Grinning, Boone stuck out his tongue at Avery and sat down on a free chair. Avery glowered once at Boone and came over to Peg. He tucked the little boy’s napkin into his collar and poured Peg a half glass of milk from the carton on the table. He crossed behind me and brushed his bulge against my back. Sneaky man. Sitting down next to me, he took the glass of water offered by Boone, who was filling all the glasses on the table.

  “Scoot over, Lynnie,” Mawmaw ordered and Avery’s mom complied as Mawmaw bent down to pull out a tray of biscuits, golden and smelling like heaven, from the oven. She put them on the counter, closed the oven and set about putting the biscuits into a cloth lined basket. Mawmaw pivoted on her heels and put the basket on the table. “You need any help, Lynnie?”

  “Nope. Have a seat, Momma.” Mawmaw sat down and scooted up to the table. Lynda stirred the bubbling pot in front of her and tasted a sample from the spoon she dipped in it. I watched her add a dash of salt and give the dish a stir. She seemed satisfied after a second sample, grabbed a pair of pot holders and hefted the large pot onto a trivet on the table. “Hope you like chicken and dumplins, Martin.”

  “It smells wonderful.” Saliva had pooled in my mouth and my stomach rumbled loudly. Avery and Boone chuckled at the noise.

  Lynda sat and we all linked hands with Peg taking my left one and Avery my right. Everyone closed their eyes, so I followed suit.

  “Blessed Father. We want to thank you for this wonderful meal and the ones we share it with. We thank you for our health and happiness. And bless Cotton, who can’t be here with us tonight. Amen.” A chorus of amens and I opened my eyes in time to see a furtive glance pass between Avery and Boone. They had kept Cotton’s secret.

  Lynda served each person a large bowl of dumplings. Mawmaw passed around the biscuits and Boone took two, so did Avery and also snagged one for Peg, which he tore up and placed in Peg’s bowl. Once everyone had fixed their bowls, the table grew silent as we ate. The chicken and dumplings were amazing. The sauce was rich and buttery. The cubed up chicken was tender and savory, a perfectly deconstructed potpie. When we were done eating, I had to ask Mawmaw how she made her biscuits. They were so light, fluffy and golden; I wanted to know her secret.

  I’d swallowed my bite of food and had noticed his Momma and Mawmaw looking to us and then to each other.

  “You two are getting’ chummy,” Lynda said over a bite of chicken. “How close are we talkin’ here?”

  Boone wiggled his brows at me and Avery scowled at him.

  My fork froze mid-air, “Um, yeah. Well we… I mean—”

  “Momma…” Avery warned.

  “Oh leave her alone, Avery.” Mawmaw wasn’t having any of it! “She’s curious and so am I. Are you two just bumpin’ uglies or is this goin’ someplace?” Waving her fork at Avery and me, Mawmaw waited for an answer. Boone chortled beside Avery.

  “What’s bumpin’ uglies?” Peg queried. He wiped his mouth with his napkin and waited for the answer.

  “Don’t worry about it, Sugahbooger. It’s grown up stuff.” Mawmaw reached over and put another biscuit by Peg’s bowl. “I’m waitin’,” she prompted.

  I looked to Avery for support as I was unsure what to say.

  “I ain’t getting’ any younger, boys.” Mawmaw sat back and folded her arms. Lynda put her spoon down and waited expectantly.

  Avery’s jaw flexed and I took the lead before he exploded. “We’re talkin’ about the future and
we haven’t made any long term plans,” I babbled. “When we have more for you all, we’ll—”

  “I love Martin.” Avery blurted out and all conversation stopped. Three pairs of adult eyes and one kiddie pair stared at us. I’d been caught off guard and didn’t know what to say next. Avery’s hand found mine and he laced our fingers together, he smiled reassuringly at me and repeated the statement. “I’m in love with Martin.” His touch calmed my nerves.

  “I know how my grandson feels, but the question now is, how about you, Martin?” Mawmaw asked and Lynda and Boone leaned in closer. “Do you love, Avery?”

  “I do,” I replied, nodding. He turned to look at me and I melted under his gaze. The love in his eyes humbled me and made my heat soar. The fairy tales are true. There is The One. The One who completes you and holds your heart. I’d found him. Avery Myer was The One for me. The silence to my noise and the calm to my chaos. My life was on the precipice and I was waiting for the next step. One that I wouldn’t be taking alone.

  “Are you gonna be my extra-Daddy?” Peg said the last two words as one and, again, all conversation stopped as we stared at him.

  “Wha-what did you say, Peg?” Avery stuttered and stumbled.

  “Well, Poppy said, when two people love each other, they get married. Like her Mommy and Matthew. She calls Matthew her extra-Daddy. You and Daddy love each other, Martin, so when you get married that would make you my extra-Daddy.” A child’s logic, so clear and concise, I couldn’t contradict his assessment and wasn’t sure if I wanted to kiss or kill my meddlesome daughter. I’ve come to understand over the years of being a parent that children see through the rigmarole of how complicated we make our lives and can be brutally honest.

  “Would you like me to become your extra-Daddy?” I asked tremulously and he pondered my words. Everyone seemed to be holding their breaths and Avery had turned an odd shade of white.

  “I guess so, ‘cause you love my Daddy.”

  And that was it. Well, at least he didn’t mind that I loved his father and didn’t mind me being his extra-Daddy. He looked around me to his father.

  “I’m full. May I be excused?”

  “Yes, you may. Go and do your homework and, when you’re done, you can watch some TV.” Peg slid off his chair and padded out of the kitchen. As soon as he was out of earshot, they pounced on us.

  “Oh my goodness! Avery you’re in love!” His mother crowed, her eyes alight with joy.

  “I thought you two were just doin’ it.” Boone admitted and looked to me for confirmation. “Dude, you love him? My brother?”

  “Yes, Boone. I do.” I squeezed Avery’s hand and he turned his head to brush a kiss to my temple. Mawmaw rolled her eyes at us and tapped the table with her finger to get our attention.

  “We get it,” she said. “You’re in love, but what now? Do you keep datin’? Do you move in together?” Mawmaw shot a look at Lynda. “It would be a pinch but we could make room for one more.”

  Avery cleared his throat and she stopped talking. He squeezed my hand and leaned against me for support as he explained, “We’ve talked about this over the weekend. Momma, Mawmaw, I appreciate the offer but the house isn’t big enough for Martin to move in here.”

  “Nonsense. You and your brothers grew up here and all five of us lived here for nearly twenty years. Martin would make it five again.” Lynda brushed aside his argument and I watched Avery’s jaw work. I’ve learned that look and what it meant—he was upset.

  “Momma, this is different—” Avery began, but Lynda cut him off.

  “How is it different? You’re not makin’ sense!”

  Boone looked from me to Avery and it dawned on him what Avery meant. His hand shot up in the air, as if he was asking for permission to talk. “Oh-oh-oh! I know the reason!”

  Mawmaw stared at me and I blushed deep red. The heat coming off my face could have cooked an egg. Then it dawned on her. “Ahh.”

  His mother’s gaze darted to Boone and Mawmaw, uncomprehending. “What? What am I missin’?”

  “Good lord, Lynnie, has it been that long? They want alone time!” Mawmaw scoffed at her daughter. “Sex, Lynnie, sex! They’re wantin’ to do it whenever they feel like it!”

  “Wha-oh. Oh!” Lynda’s cheeks pinked. She blinked several times and, when she did speak, her voice quivered as she realized what we were actually saying. “But if you move in with Martin, you’ll take Peg with you.”

  Dear God, is she going to cry?

  Lynda’s eyes were damp and I felt awful. I was breaking up a happy home.

  “Momma, Peg and I aren’t movin’ out today. Martin and I talked and not stressin’ Peg is important to both of us. School’s just started and he’s only begun to get comfortable there. We think we should take our time movin’ in together. You know, bring him around to the idea of livin’ with Martin slowly. I don’t want to upset him. So, for now, we’re stayin’ put but, from now on, Peg and I will be spendin’ weekends with Martin.” He gripped his mother’s fingers with his free hand. She had been ringing her hands anxiously and he gently stilled their movement. “We will be movin’, Momma. I want to start my life with Martin. ”

  She squeezed his hand and nodded. “I know. I’m so happy you’ve found Martin, and you’ll only be five minutes away.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

  Darn…

  Chapter 8

  Avery

  Well, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I am head over heels in love with Martin Gaither. Since the dinner with my family a few weeks ago, Martin and I had spent as much time together as we could. Recently, we’d decided to sleep over at Martin’s house on our next weekend, as I had to get Peg used to spending the night there. I talked to Peg for several days about the sleep over. He was excited but I knew, once we were there, he might have problems sleeping in a strange place. To counter this, the three of us had spent quite a few late evenings at Martin’s to get Peg used to the house. If Martin and I were going to make this work, my son had to be comfortable and feel safe. Now the day had finally come, I was as nervous as hell. We’d decided to spend Saturday together and then go back to Martin’s for the night.

  Martin, Peg and me spent the whole day swimming at a Six Flags White Water. I had expected Poppy to be with us but Martin told me she was with her Mom and Matthew at a family barbeque. She had informed him that she expected to go to White Water the next time she came over. She was in high dungeon with her mother because Jackie had promised her own mother that Poppy would be at the barbeque. Poppy’s nose was highly bent out of shape at missing White Water. Martin assured me she would get over it and that his little girl’s temper came on fast and dissipated just as quickly.

  We arrived at White Water at ten in the morning and the day was already shaping up to be a hot one. Summer, even late summer, in Georgia could be brutal and I was glad Martin had suggested White Water for our weekend outing. To be honest, when I was at White Water, I happily regressed to being a kid. It would probably be the last time we went for the season.

  We parked in the lot, got our tickets and strolled around the park until we found a spot to set our stuff down. We didn’t have to go to the changing rooms because we’d worn our shorts into the park and only had to take off our T-shirts. Peg thought it was hilarious how much sunblock Martin put on himself. Did I laugh? Not quite. All I saw was Martin slathering his pale skin and was more than happy to watch. He rubbed the lotion deep into his skin, over his chest and stomach. Then he bent at the waist, with his ass to me, to do his legs.

  Sweet God, he had a magnificent ass and I had to cross my legs to hide the tenting in my board shorts. Martin had on board shorts, too, but his were orange and pink. I chuckled to myself when I saw them.

  Nope, nothing gay about those shorts at all.

  I wore a more sedate pair of black swim shorts and Peg’s were blue striped. I sprayed Peg and me with our own sun block and after securing our items by a trio of chaises, we headed straight for the rides.
My son was a fearless little shit and rode every slide and tube there was. He took after me that way. Only the severe drop off slides scared him and truth be told, they scared the shit out of me, too. We sensibly avoided those slides altogether.

  The afternoon sailed by as we played, ate and enjoyed a day in the sun and chlorinated water. We were like a trio of little boys and, by the time we left, it was after five in the evening. I drove back to Atlanta as the other two slept, my window rolled down all the way ‘cause the jeep reeked of sweat and chlorine. I was too tired to cook so I made a bee line to the Panda Express on the way to Martin’s house for takeout. I didn’t think either of them would mind, and I wasn’t going to ask them. Peg was asleep in the back and Martin dozed beside me. Martin’s head lolled as I drove and Peg slept open mouthed in the back seat.

  In spite of the sunblock, Martin’s nose and cheeks were red and so were Peg’s. I thought I’d covered him with enough, but I guess eight hours in the sun was probably too much for any SPF factor. By the looks of it, the summer sun had sucked all the life outta my guys. I pulled into Panda Express and quickly ordered several dishes at the drive thru. I gently deposited the bags of food between Martin’s legs and copped a feel of his junk as I did. He didn’t wake up, only mumbled and a smile flitted across his lips. The remaining drive back to Martin’s was mercilessly quick, because I was running on fumes myself.

  I parked my jeep in Martin’s driveway and killed the engine. I grinned when neither of my two sleepyheads stirred. I patted Martin’s thigh to wake him to help me with the food. He was so damn cute sprawled out in the seat next to me. Lips parted, snoring like a buzz saw with a tiny bit of drool in the left corner of his mouth, he snorted loudly as he opened his eyes. Smacking his lips, he gazed drowsily in my direction. I pointed to the food and he nodded slowly as he picked up the bags.