Kenny wasn’t far behind him. He woke up shortly after Ethan had gotten up and decided that he wanted to shower with his lover. He was as startled as Ethan had been to see their brothers in bed together for the first time. Stripping down and entering the shower stall, they looked at each other and raised their eyebrows as if to say “Did you see that?”
“Well, well, well!” Kenny said. “It looks like the good fairy of all things gay visited here last night and sprinkled some fairy dust on our unsuspecting brothers.”
“Good for them!” Ethan said. “Eric hasn’t said anything, but I’ve had the distinct feeling that he’s been a little envious that I was getting sex on a regular basis now and he wasn’t.”
“I can certainly understand that. How would you like some right now?” Kenny said, kissing his way down Ethan’s wet naked body and finding something quite hard between his legs. “Seeing Eric’s bare ass in bed just now triggered something naughty in me.”
“It looks just like mine, if you haven’t noticed.”
“Yes, I’ve noticed, and I like them both. How did I get stuck with yours instead of his?”
“Just your good fortune, my man. Stick to your mission down there, would you? And stop perving on my brother’s ass.”
Kenny did as he was told and was shortly rewarded with a mouthful of Ethan’s morning love juice. Despite his lover’s mock impertinence, Ethan rewarded him in similar fashion, barely finishing up before he had to dash off to his first class.
Eric had awakened during the shower in the next room, just as Max was stirring.
“I think we’ve been discovered,” Eric whispered. “Someone’s in the shower, and our door is partly open.”
“Go see who it is,” Max said. “I want to know who saw us in bed together.”
Eric slipped out of bed and, still naked, peeked in the bathroom just in time to see his twin brother shooting into Kenny’s eager mouth.
“It’s Kenny and Ethan, and you should see what they’re doing!” Eric said, crawling back into Max’s bed.
“I wish I could,” Max said. “That shower stall seems to be a very active place for horny young men – unless what we did last night was just a dream.”
“If it had been a dream, would I be here in bed with you this morning?”
“Good point,” Max quipped. “And I’m glad you are. Any time you want to do it again, just let me know.”
“There’s no reason why Kenny and Ethan – and Bobby and Grant, for that matter – should be getting all the fun. Besides, Max, I don’t think I ever told you how hot I think you are.”
“I haven’t heard that from anyone, as a matter of fact – much less from the likes of you.”
“Well, I do – think you’re hot, that is.”
Max was lying on his back now, with Eric’s nude body still snuggled up against him. Not in his wildest dreams did he ever think this would happen. Max had wanted Eric from the first day he laid eyes on him but had never come close to admitting it – even to himself at first.
“Thanks, Eric. So are you. We’ve been hanging out naked together – platonically speaking – since November. What made you decide to do what you did last night?”
“I’ve been thinking about it ever since I moved in here, but I was scared to act on it. I didn’t know if you’d want me to do that to you.”
“Well, now you know. I did. And I do. But why would an able-bodied guy like you be interested in me?”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Max. Like I said, I think you’re hot. Of everyone I know, you’re the guy I look up to most. You haven’t let this…condition of yours get you down or stop you from enjoying life. I’ve always been attracted to guys a bit older than me. And just because your legs don’t work doesn’t make you less of a man.”
Extremely touched by Eric’s unexpected candor, Max was about to respond, but then Kenny and Ethan walked through their room in their bathrobes on their way back to the hall.
No one knew quite what to say at first.
“Sorry about the intrusion, guys,” Ethan finally said. “Carry on like we weren’t here. More power to you guys!”
Everyone smiled, and the intruders walked out as quietly as they had walked in.
“Well, Max. It looks like our love life is going to be a little more public than theirs. Are you okay with that?”
“‘Our love life’…I like the sound of that. Say, you don’t have an early class today – do you? Why don’t you straddle my chest and let me nibble on you some more?”
“Good idea – why didn’t I think of that? But I think I’ll lock the door first.”
“Let’s just keep it locked from now on. Kenny and Ethan are just going to have to get used to using the shower in the basement.”
“Serves them right. Now can we get to that nibbling you offered?”
“Well, my man, just have a seat there on my chest and I’ll see what I can do about that.”
Two weeks later, in Boston, Philip Spencer was waiting in Logan Airport, pacing the floors, while Ian Wright’s two-hour-delayed flight circled overhead. A late winter storm had hit the area just as Ian was arriving to spend his spring break week “looking for a place to live,” as he told his mother. He hadn’t yet told her about meeting Philip in Boston on his job interview trip there in early February. He was out to her, but he felt that she wasn’t ready – so soon after her husband’s death – to deal with the fact that he already had a love interest in the city he would be moving to in late June.
When the plane finally landed, Ian was one of the last passengers off, and Philip was beginning to wonder if he was really on it or not. When they spotted each other, Philip stepped forward to greet his eagerly awaited visitor with an excited hug that lasted longer than most men would hug in a crowded airport. Neither one cared two hoots about what anyone else thought – they were just so glad to see each other again.
“You’re even handsomer than I remembered,” Philip said when they finally broke the hug.
“You are, too, you sexy devil. Are you happy to see me?”
“If I didn’t have this coat on, you’d be able to see for yourself just how happy I am to see you. I’ve been hard for the past four days just thinking about your arrival. Unless you’re starved, let’s go back to my place and I’ll show it to you up close and personal.”
“I thought you were supposed to call for medical attention if you had an erection lasting more than four hours – much less four days!”
“I don’t need a doctor – I need you.”
“Well, I’m here, Philip – Ian to the rescue. Let’s go take care of business.”
“You’re on!”
Over the winter Philip had found an entry-level job in Boston, which enabled him – with a little help from his parents – to rent his own apartment. They were finally able to be the empty nesters they had longed planned on being, and Philip was happy to have his own place.
Philip had promised Ian a tour of Boston’s historical sites during his spring break, but the storm had dumped so much snow on the city that the only tour Ian got was one of Philip’s apartment and immediate neighborhood – and of course Philip himself. In their first 24 hours together, the young lovers had explored every inch of each other – both outside and in – as far in as their hardnesses could penetrate each other, that is.
By the end of the week, Ian’s decision about where to live had been made. He would live with the handsome man that Bobby Rushton had so thoughtfully set him up with.
“We should call Bobby and tell him, don’t you think?” Philip said on their last day together of Ian’s “apartment hunting trip.”
Ian, of course, readily agreed and they called their not-so-surprised mutual friend in Evansville. Bobby was excited and delighted that his matchmaking had turned out so successfully.
“I had a hunch you guys were meant for each other,” he told them. “I’m really happy for you, and Grant and I will come out there as soon as we can for a visit.”
/> Grant was a bit taken by surprise that evening as Bobby – perhaps inspired by the giddy happiness he’d heard over the phone earlier from Boston – verbalized his love for his man in no uncertain terms and then proceeded to take him to the moon and back with his gentle, caring lovemaking.
They slept contented that night – and committed more than ever to each other.
The rest of the semester hummed along nicely for everyone in the household but was over far too soon to suit Kenny and Max. Once their final exams were over in early May, Eric and Ethan packed up their belongings and headed back home for the summer. The three-month separation was going to be hard on all four of them, but they knew it was inevitable. Eric and Ethan pledged their love to their respective new mates. Al and Barbara had made it clear to Eric and Ethan that they wanted them to return in August to live with them while starting their junior years at UE, and the boys gladly accepted.
Kenny worked for his dad all summer, and Max – newly energized by his growing relationship with Eric – devoted himself even more diligently to his online writing classes. By now Al and Barbara fully recognized that all of their three sons were in love with their mates and would likely stay that way.
Al had something more in mind, however. His business had turned much more profitable now that he was fully recovered from his heart attack of the previous fall and now that Grant was successfully bird-dogging past due accounts. Recognizing the rather primitive conditions under which Kenny and Ethan had been living in the basement, he took out a large home improvement loan and announced to the family over dinner one night in mid May that he was going to remodel the basement into a fully functional bedroom suite, to include an exercise area for all the boys, a forced-air heating system, a queen-size bed and other furnishings, and – best of all – a complete bathroom with a full-size shower with dual shower heads.
Kenny was elated at this news but didn’t tell Ethan. He wanted it to be a surprise when the twins came back. A contractor was hired and completed the job just in time for a three-day visit from Ethan and Eric for the Fourth of July weekend. The twins could hardly believe their eyes at what had transpired in the few weeks since they had left.
Eric looked a little envious at the new digs his brother and Kenny were going to be sharing until he went to his and Max’s room. The two beds had been removed and replaced with one queen-size bed with pull-up bars on one side for Max. Max beamed as he saw the expression on Eric’s face.
“Wanna try out our new bed, Eric? No use waiting till bedtime, is there?”
Clothes went flying in all directions in both bedrooms as Max and Eric, and Kenny and Ethan, made up for lost time and “enjoyed” their new beds together for the first time. As much as the twins were enjoying their summer in Vincennes, they couldn’t wait to get back to Evansville and the Rushton household for a full school year.
Bobby worked in the UE registrar’s office for two months until his contract with the temp agency expired. As he suspected, the search for a permanent person was taking a long time, and it was working to his advantage. Not only could he continue there until his contract expired, but he had decided to apply for the permanent position. The job had been very enjoyable and just challenging enough to keep him interested and fulfilled.
He was hired on a full-time basis in late July – just in time for the busy fall enrollment period at the University. He was told that his position could be upgraded to a supervisory one if he would complete a master’s degree within a few years, which he could pursue part-time while working full-time.
As a first anniversary gift, Al gave Grant a week off with pay and he and Barbara gave some money to Bobby and him to take a vacation of their choosing. Having never been to New England, the boys picked Provincetown and enjoyed holding hands on the beach and happily mingling with their own kind for a week. They also spent a fun evening catching up with Philip and Ian in Boston before returning to Evansville, tanned and rested.
Finally the summer ended and once again all the laughter and love of the previous spring returned to the Rushton house as the Potter twins moved back in to resume their studies – and their love lives with Kenny and Max. Hugs and kisses were dispensed freely on that hot August Sunday afternoon when Eric and Ethan drove down from Vincennes to occupy their remodeled digs and become more deeply immersed in the energy and love that all the Rushtons and Grant had for them – and for each other.
The Rushton household had gone from just four family members the previous summer to eight, with the addition first of Bobby and Grant in the fall and now Ethan and Eric. Barbara and Al looked around the table at the six beaming young men – all thrilled to be reunited once more – and then looked at each other. They smiled, knowing that they had raised three very special young men and that their sons had now all found very special, loving mates for themselves.
CHAPTER 32
One year later
Bobby paced nervously in the hospital’s visitor waiting room. He and Grant had been there for hours with no news, and they were getting worried. This was taking much longer than they had expected. Barbara’s frequent calls to her son’s cell phone weren’t helping their tension any, but they knew she had a vested interest in what was going on behind the closed doors.
Finally at 6:30 p.m. a nurse came into the room. Her professional expression and demeanor betrayed nothing.
“Mr. Rushton? Mr. Collins? Come with me please.”
They looked at each other and jumped up to follow. When they got to their friend Elaine Jorgen’s room, she smiled weakly at them. She was holding what they had been waiting for all day.
“Bobby. Grant. Meet your new daughter,” she said. “Seven pounds, two ounces and perfectly healthy and beautiful.”
The boys rushed to the right side of the bed where they could both see the little girl’s face. The rest of her was wrapped tightly in a blanket. With a kiss on her forehead, Elaine handed their daughter over to them, never to touch her again herself. Having been paid for her surrogate services, she would honor her commitment to step out of the baby’s life and let her fathers, who had commingled their sperm to give her life, take over from that point on.
Bobby and Grant looked into her eyes for a clue as to which one of them might be the child’s real father, but she had neither the eye nor the hair color of either of her proud papas. They were glad for now, but they knew that eventually their daughter’s biological paternity might become obvious – not that it mattered much to them. She was theirs, and that’s all that really mattered.
After a short visit, they decided to let Elaine get some rest, and the baby was returned to the nursery for a routine overnight vigil. Both men raced back to their car, where they excitedly called their parents – one set at a time – on their cell phones to give them the good news. Of course, all four wanted to know the name of their new granddaughter, but Bobby and Grant were not yet ready to make that announcement. They slept well that night, especially knowing it might be the last night that they would for the next few weeks.
The next day, the whole Rushton family was gathered in their living room to greet the new arrival. Bobby and Grant had squeezed a baby bed and a host of related natal paraphernalia into their bedroom. They had considered getting their own apartment, but the rest of the Rushton family – and Eric and Ethan as well – had talked them out of it for now. Grandma Barbara would be the primary caregiver for the baby while Bobby and Grant were at work, and the rest of the family wanted to participate in her care as much as possible.
Max spoke up first and asked the question that all of them were most curious about.
“Okay, guys, what are you going to call this new kid on our block? We can’t call her Baby X forever.”
“It’s funny you should say that, Max, because her name does have an x in it.”
“Not Xaverie, I hope,” Kenny said, rolling his eyes.
“How about Alexa?” Eric chimed in.
“I know – it’s Roxanne, isn’t it? Ethan added.
“No, you’re all wrong,” Bobby said, eager to make the announcement. “Meet Maxey Ella Collins-Rushton.”
Her Uncle Max beamed proudly from his wheelchair as Bobby gave him a loving wink and placed his older brother’s namesake in his arms. Barbara – thrilled to finally have another “woman” in the house – snapped a photo of the proud moment.
Families come in many different forms, and not all of them work out to meet the needs of the individuals within them. But as hands were joined around the dinner table that evening, the five Rushtons, Grant Collins, and Ethan and Eric Porter all knew that they were now a part of a very special one.
Little Maxey would come to realize it, too, but right then the only thing that was on her mind was her nap.
Perhaps in time they would all move on to their own homes, but for now they were all right where they wanted to be – together.
About the Author
Writing under the pen name of Carson Wescot, the author lives in retirement in the Western U.S. with his long-time partner. This is his first published work. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] and invites feedback.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
Someone to Bank on Page 30