by C. E. Wilson
“All right, Dad, I’ll get them Monday and drop them off at his house, and he and Alex can look them over and decide what one they want. Are you going to adopt anymore? I’ll keep the papers for the next child you get.”
“I don’t know, son. Does Alex have a brother?”
Clayton laughed. “I have no idea. I’ll keep them anyway, just in case.”
Sam grinned at Clayton. They walked back to the group. Link was ready to go, but he didn’t want to make Alex mad again. He just waited and watched Alex talking to John. He wasn’t jealous because he knew that Alex worked for John to manage his business. He just wanted him to finish talking to John and say he was ready to go. He wanted to go to his new house and sit Alex down with a cup of coffee and talk about getting back together.
Alex glanced over at Link and saw that he was staring at him. He looked back at John and smiled. He nodded his head and walked back over to Link. “Are you ready to leave?”
“Whenever you are. I don’t want to make you leave if you’re enjoying yourself.”
“No, I’m ready to go get this over with. I want to know where we stand. I think it is time for us to settle things between us.”
“Are you saying that you are done with me? I sure hope not because I am far from being done with you. I want a future with you, Alex. I don’t know what to do to get that.”
“That’s what we’re going to talk about. Just wait until we are alone, and we can talk. Let’s say goodbye to everyone, and then we can leave.”
Together they walked around the group and said goodbye. Sam said, “Link, Clayton is going to be by your house after work on Monday. He’ll have some information on houses for you and Alex to go over. When you make your choice, then tell Clayton what house you want, and I’ll buy it for you. Don’t worry about the price. I just want the two of you to be happy in it.”
“Thank you, Mr. Willis. We sure do appreciate it. You’re welcome to come to the new house when we get it and grill to your heart’s content.”
“Hey, since you’re my kids now, just call me Sam. Everyone else does except John and Susan. They call me Dad, of course.”
Both boys nodded, and they got in Link’s truck and headed for his new house. “I figure since we had to go to my house anyway that we could just talk there. I think I have coffee and a coffee maker. My mom went shopping, and I’m sure I have whatever I need in there right now.”
“Yeah, that will be fine. As long as we’re alone. I want this to work, but I’m not sure it will Link. I don’t want to be ignored just because of work. I know there will be times that we have to do this or that, but not regularly.”
Chapter 6
Link pulled into his driveway, and they got out and went into the house. Link went into the kitchen, and there were a coffee pot and coffee, so he made a pot for them. When it was ready, he poured them each a cup and took it to the table where Alex was already sitting. Alex glanced at Link. “Well, I guess we need to talk to each other and get this either straightened out or ended.”
“I don’t want to end it, baby. I want to say I’m sorry for what I said at Cade’s house. I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that to start with, I might have to do some work on the weekends. I didn’t mean that I would ignore you and do just what I wanted. I would never do that to you.”
“That’s what you said. I’m not happy about it. You didn’t seem to want to reconnect with me on the weekends. I want certain things from a relationship, and sitting here watching you work all weekend is not my idea of a loving relationship. That’s what I want. I don’t know what you want.”
“I want the same thing you do. I’ll tell you what. I’ll make you a deal. If either of us has to do some work on the weekend, then we’ll work Saturday morning from say eight am to eleven am. Then the work is put away, and we spend the rest of the weekend together, having some fun or something. Also, we’ll have a dinner date night every week on a day that we agree on.”
“That sounds good and all, if that’s going to be the way it is. I just don’t know if I trust you to do what you’re saying.”
“Have I ever lied to you, Alex?”
“Not that I know of. I just think you’re going to get tied up in your work and not want to shut it down at eleven.”
“I’ll set my phone to go off at eleven, and when it goes off, I’ll put everything away. I give you my promise, baby. I have some powerful feelings for you, and I don’t want to lose you.”
“I guess we can try it. I don’t know if it will work, and I might have to break up with you. I don’t want to. I want a relationship with you, Link. If I have to go on a house call on Saturday, what will you do?”
“I guess I can clean the house while you're gone. I don’t know much about cooking, but it doesn’t take a genius to push a broom and mop.”
“Are you sure this is the way it’s going to be? I don’t want to invest time in you if you go back on your promise.”
“It’ll be this way, baby. I don’t want to lose you. I think I’m falling head over heels for you. I want what everyone else has, and I want it with you.”
Alex nodded. “All right, we are back together.”
“When is your lease up on your apartment?”
“The end of next month. Why?”
“Well, I thought when your lease is up, you could move in here with me if that’s what you want to do.”
“Let’s see how things go between now and then. I still want to see if you’re ready to make the total commitment. I don’t want to move in here and lose my apartment, and then you go back to your way of thinking.”
“That’s fair enough. You can always stay over when you want to. If you don’t want to sleep with me, that’s fine. I have a spare bedroom. I’m not going to push you into anything.”
“I want to wait for a while before sleeping together. I want to make sure before I give myself to you. I want it to be perfect.”
“I’m on the same page with that. I want it to be perfect, and you do not have any doubts. Like I said, though, I do have a spare bedroom, and it’s yours.”
“When do you start school?”
“Monday morning at eight. I have to go in and do the planning for my class. I don’t have to stay all day just mostly mornings to get it together, and then I have to submit it to the principal. He’ll look it over and either approve it or edit it. School starts with the students in two weeks, so I have to have it done and approved by then.”
“Ok, I’ll stay on the weekends, and that’ll give you time to do your work in the evenings and give me time to see you on the weekends and how you’re going to act when you have a time crunch like this.”
“Only seeing you on the weekends isn’t going to work. Let’s plan on date night on Wednesday so we can see each other during the week. I’m going to give you a key to the house so that you can come and go as you please during the week. You also need to bring some of your clothes over, so you’ll have them for Monday morning.”
“Yeah, I was thinking about bringing some clothes over. If we do move in, then I’ll need them here.”
“Oh, I just thought about something. You need to come over on Monday evening, so we can look over the papers on the houses. Sam wants us to pick out one. He told Clayton to make sure it was like the one that Cade and Bradley have. I want your input on it since we’ll get married and live there together.”
Alex chuckled. “You’re pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you? What if we don’t get married and live together?”
“I have confidence that we will, baby. I want that more than anything. I also want us to have a couple of kids too.”
Link got up and walked around to Alex. He held out his hand, and when Alex took his hand, he pulled Alex to his feet. He wrapped his arms around Alex and kissed him. He smiled at Alex. “This is where you belong, baby. I always want you in my arms.”
“This is where I want to be Link. I love you. There I said it. I do love you and want all this, but I want to be specia
l to you.”
“You have it, baby. Do you want to go out to dinner?”
“Oh no, I’m still stuffed from eating at Cade and Bradley’s house. Let’s sit on the couch and watch a movie while we cuddle.”
“That sounds like a good idea. Let me see what snacks my mom put in the pantry. Cade said she got me some groceries.”
He walked over to the pantry and opened the door. He just stood there, staring at the pantry. Alex watched him for a few minutes and walked over to the pantry. He looked inside, and his jaw dropped. “I hope you are going to take some of that to school for snacks for the kids. If you eat all that, you won’t fit through the front door, babe.”
“What was she thinking? That’s more snacks than we both would eat in a year.”
“You should have seen the amount she sent with Cade and Bradley when they came to college. It lasted the three of us four years. I think they finally gave some of it away.”
“I guess I’ll be taking some snacks for the kids. Just let me know what your favorite is, and I’ll be sure to keep enough of that for you.”
“Babe, I don’t need any snacks. I have to watch my weight, or I’ll be like Dumbo the elephant.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll still love you, Alex. Now what’s your favorite? I hope there is more in this pantry than snacks. Check the refrigerator and see if there is any fruit in there. I’ll look behind the junk food and see if there is real food in here.”
Alex came back to the pantry. “Yeah, babe, the fridge is full of real food and fruit. The freezer is full of meat and microwave foods. Is there anything in there I can use for cooking when I come over on the weekends?”
“Yeah, there is a bunch of real food behind the snacks. I’ll get it sorted out before you come for the weekend. I was afraid that there was nothing but junk food in here.”
“Cade and Bradley had that same problem. They ended up taking the snacks to the boys and girls club near the college.”
“I don’t think we have a boys and girls club. I don’t remember ever seeing one here. Someone should start one, but it isn’t going to be us. We just don’t have the time with me teaching and you with your business. Maybe John will think about it. Of course, being a cardiologist, he has his hands full as well. Maybe our new daddy will start one.”
“Do you think he would? I agree they need something like that around here. It would be good for the kids.”
“I’ll bring it up to Clayton when he comes on Monday. It would be a good tax write off for Sam, that’s for sure. He mentioned about the house, it would be a tax write off.”
“I can’t wait to see the house you pick out. Make sure it has a deck and a pool. I’ll visit more often if it does.”
“We’re going to pick out the house together, baby. We’ll be living there when we get married, so I want you to say what you feel about each house. I think we can choose a good one together. When we get married and get kids, I want a house out back like Clayton and John have so that we can get a nanny for the kids.”
“I love your parents. I just wish I could take you to meet mine, but my dad wouldn’t let you in the house. I don’t know about my mom, but she will do whatever my dad tells her to do.”
“He needs some time with Sam. It sure made a difference with Clayton’s parents. His dad kicked him out of the house after he graduated high school. Lucky, he had scholarships to college, or he would be flipping burgers now.”
“Wow, I didn’t know all that. Charlie was so good to Bradley and Cade. It’s hard to believe that he was like that with Clayton. They seem to be getting along good now.”
“John had a lot to do with that, and then he met Sam at the wedding. He spent time talking with Sam. Now he couldn’t be happier with Clayton and Bradley.”
“It’s ok baby. I’ll be happy to share my parents with you. They are great people. Both are civil rights lawyers, and if anything ever happens, they will file lawsuits against anyone. Just keep that in mind while dealing with your dad over you being gay.”
Alex chuckled. “That would totally blow my dad’s mind. He would never expect me to do something like that.”
“Sometimes it takes something like that to wake them up and show them what they’re doing. My parents are both good at it, so if he gives you a problem, then we’ll go see my parents.”
Alex smiled. “Sounds like something I would love to do. He doesn’t have the right to treat me like he’s doing. He promised if I went to business classes when I graduated, he would put me as the vice president of his company. When I called to say I graduated he told me, so go find a job. I wanted to go to culinary school, but he refused to pay for it. I found out later that his girlfriend’s son is now the vice president of his company.”
“Why would he pick his girlfriend’s son over his own son?”
“He’s straight and married to a girl. That’s why. He doesn’t like the fact that I’m gay, but it isn’t like I can change that and suddenly not be gay anymore.”
Link wrapped his arms around Alex. “I’m so sorry, baby. I know that has to hurt you. At least you have a good business here, and it did let me meet you and fall in love with you.”
“Yeah, that’s a plus. I don’t even talk to him anymore. I don’t have anything to say to him. I don’t want to hear anything he says either. My mom and I talk. Thing is she knows about his girlfriend. She doesn’t want to do anything about it.”
“Wow, my mom would castrate my dad if he did anything like that. Of course, they are together all the time so he wouldn’t have a chance. I don’t think he would anyway. He loves my mom so much.”
“My dad thinks he hung the moon and stars. I guess after all these years she thinks that too. She doesn’t see that he is doing wrong. She only had one son, and it was a disappointment to him to find out his only son was gay.”
“Well, I sure as hell am happy about you being gay.”
Link kissed Alex, but he could see the pain in his eyes that his father had put there. He wished he could change things, but he didn’t know-how. He was going to talk to his parents about it. Maybe they could figure out what to do about his father.
Chapter 7
Monday morning, Link was up early so he could have his coffee and then get ready to go to school. He put on his suit so he could make a good impression with the principal. He had his coffee and made him a couple of sandwiches and some fruit to take to school for his lunch. He filled his thermos with coffee and left to go to school. He went to the principal’s office to find out what number his classroom was in and to get his books for the year.
The principal was happy to see him and took him into his office to talk for a bit. He told Link that he was so glad to have him working there. He gave him his books and walked him down to his classroom and gave him the key for the room and one for the front door of the school in case he had to come back after something. The principal left him at his door, and Link unlocked it and went inside, looking around. He sat his books down on the desk and went to the supply closet to see what he would need to get.
The supply closet was completely filled. Everything he would need was there. He went and sat down at his desk and glanced through the books. He set them aside and took out the planner he needed to fill out to make the principal happy. He turned to the first page and got to work. The books helped him as he would reference the books with the timeline of his classes. He was about a quarter of the way through the planner when the principal stopped by. He talked with Link for a few minutes and looked over his planner and was pleased. “I have two other new teachers, and one of them, a woman, hasn’t even started her planner yet. I don’t know if she’s going to get it done before school starts, but if she doesn’t, I’ll have to get another teacher in here to take her place.”
“If you reference the textbooks, it isn’t hard to do. You have all that information right in the books.”
“Exactly. Let’s not tell her about it. If she can’t figure it out, then I don’t need her.”
“I agree, but the teachers have to be smarter than the students. She’s teaching second grade. You would think she would have learned all of this in school. Didn’t you?”
“Yes, sir, I did. I went to Ohio State, and they have a good teaching program.”
“That’s where I went too. Yes, they do have a great teaching program. Did you always want to teach elementary school?”
“Yes, I did. I like children. Their little brains are like sponges, and they absorb things so fast. It’s amazing to watch a child learn new things.”
“You’re right. Did you bring your lunch? I’m afraid the cafeteria isn’t open yet. It won’t be until school starts.”
“Yes, I did. I figured I would eat while I work. I want this done and approved as soon as possible.”
“You’re way ahead of everyone else in the entire school. I just went around checking. Just keep up the good work, and we won’t have a problem.”
Link nodded, and the principal left the room. Link got back on his planner, and when a bell rang, he looked at his watch and noticed it was time for lunch. He took out his bag and started eating his lunch. He poured himself a cup of coffee and set it on the desk. He still worked through the lunch hour even though he was eating his lunch. He was halfway through the book when the bell rang to let out for the day. He put his books in his desk and put his planner in the top center drawer and locked it with the key that was sticking out of the drawer lock. He put it on the keychain for his room and front door to the school.
Link went home and made a pot of coffee for him and Alex when Alex got there. He poured a cup of coffee and decided to check his email. It wasn’t long before he heard the front door open, and he smiled. Alex was here. When Alex walked in, he saw Link in front of the computer, and he frowned. He thought that Link was working. “How much longer are you going to work tonight?”