An Earlier Heaven

by D. W. Marchwell

  “Something tells me you know that I’m not going to let you turn this down.”

  “What can I say?” Jerry puffed out his chest and winked. “You are powerless before my charisma.”

  Epilogue

  HE PUT the truck in park, turned the ignition off, and turned to look at Jerry. Jerry was smiling, so Cory assumed he hadn’t made too many mistakes. “So?”

  “Not bad, kid,” Jerry said as he nodded slowly. “If you drive like that at your test next week, I think you’ll be getting a driver’s license.”

  “Really? You think so?”

  “Sure do, Cory.” Jerry pulled on the handle and opened the passenger side door. “Oh, and by the way, if you do get your license, you’ll be happy to know that this truck will become yours. That is, after we get back from Europe. Even if you get your license, you won’t be doing any driving in Europe. Too dangerous.”

  Cory saw Jerry wink and bring his hand to his hat; Cory had come to recognize this as Jerry’s way of making promises. My very own truck, Cory thought as his hand came out to caress the dashboard. “I’m going to Europe,” Cory said to himself. It was only for six months, and when they returned, David would be home schooling him and William until the following September.

  Cory had thought about it long and hard, and he wanted to go with them. When he’d first heard about Jerry’s new job in Italy, Cory wondered what would happen to him, and to him and Tara. He still woke up some mornings and couldn’t believe that she really liked him, even after he’d told her about his father; of course, she’d heard the rumors at school, but it hadn’t mattered to her. He’d told Jerry as they were working in the studio one day about his feelings and how he feared that Tara would reject him because his father was a criminal. But Jerry had told him to take the chance, to take the risk. He did, and two months later, he still felt like he was floating some days. What made it all even better was that Tara thought she was the lucky one.

  He’d be off in Italy for six months with David teaching him and William in the morning, and then he’d be with Jerry all afternoon, working as an assistant. He wasn’t sure how he could assist a real artist like Jerry, but he couldn’t wait to learn more about art. Jerry even promised to help teach him about painting and sculpture. Cory would be living in a villa, learning some Italian, and spending weekends traveling to some of the oldest cities in Europe. After Jerry and David had made the announcement, Cory had used his new laptop, the one they’d bought just for him, to go on the Internet. He’d been amazed at all of the architecture and paintings and culture he would be seeing.

  CORY closed the book he and William had made after checking through it one last time. His aunt had thrown away the first one that they’d made. He felt the familiar sting of bile in his throat; she’d done it when he was at that awful military academy. He’d come home to find the ashes in the fireplace. She’d also taken some of his other projects and burned them as well. He’d told himself over and over again of the plan he’d made with Sara, Jerry, and David. He’d stay for two weeks at the most and then run away. There was no way his aunt or his father would be able to make him come back. Sara had confirmed that. But then his aunt had gone and said all those things about Jerry and David, and Cory knew he had to leave before the two weeks were up. If he hadn’t, he was sure he probably would have done something really bad.

  But here, with Jerry and David and William, Cory was happy. It wasn’t the same thing as his own family, and he still missed his mother, but it was the next best thing. Jerry and David weren’t at all what he’d thought gay guys would be like. He wasn’t sure what he’d really expected, but it wasn’t two men who rode horses and baled hay and dug fence post holes. And Cory would never admit it in front of anyone other than Tara, but he really liked it when they teased each other and hugged and sat watching movies with their arms around each other. It reminded him of his parents before his mom had died.

  He’d talked to Sara a couple of times in the past few months, and she’d really helped him to understand what was happening to him and his father. He knew that he didn’t have to see his father if he didn’t want, and it helped to know that he actually had a say in what happened to him. Cory didn’t know if his father would ever forgive him, but there would be plenty of time to see if there was any chance of a reconciliation. Cory was just beginning to realize that anything was possible now. Thanks to William, Cory was remembering what it felt like to be part of a family.

  Cory grabbed the book, placed it in the gift box, and headed down the hall. “Hey, Billiam, you ready?”

  “Do you think they figured it out yet?” William shut down his computer with a few clicks of the mouse and ran to join Cory.

  “I doubt it,” Cory said with a sly smile. “You’re too good at keeping secrets.”

  “It was hard,” William said with a heavy sigh, as if keeping the secret had winded him.

  “You did good, buddy.” Cory held up his fist as they approached the stairs and William bumped it with his own. “I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces.”

  “Me too!”

  “Hey, I was just going to come up and get you for dinner.” David removed the oven mitts and tossed them on the counter. “Can one of you go to the office and get Jerry, please?”

  “Sure.” Cory placed the box on the counter beside the microwave and headed to get Jerry for dinner. He knocked on the door and announced dinner. Jerry, who was on the phone again, waved and started saying his goodbyes, holding up two fingers. Since he’d agreed to take the position in Italy, Cory noticed that it required Jerry and David spending a lot of time making arrangements.

  “What’s this?” Jerry came into the kitchen and saw the box on the counter. Cory saw him look at William, who looked like he was ready to explode if he had to keep the secret one moment longer.

  “Go ahead,” Cory said as he tapped William on the shoulder.

  “It’s for you and David,” William announced proudly. “Cory and I made it for you. Happy Father’s Day!”

  “Happy Father’s Day,” Cory echoed as Jerry handed the box to David. Cory watched as David and Jerry exchanged looks, both of them seeming at a loss for words.

  “You didn’t have to get us anything,” David said finally as he lifted the top off the box.

  “We started working on it a couple of months ago,” William announced as he left his chair and stood beside David.

  Cory held his breath as he watched David take the book out of the box. He heard the sharp intake of breath as David saw the cover and the title.

  “The Adventures of Cowboy and Mountain Lion,” David said as he brushed his hand over the colorful cover. “Cory, William, this is amazing.” David opened the book. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “How long did it take you to do this?” Jerry asked as he took the book in his hands. Cory’s smile grew as he listened to the awe and appreciation that was evident in both Jerry’s and David’s voices.

  “We worked on it forever,” William said, his eyes rolling in his head. “And we had to do it all over again when—”

  Cory reached out and put his hand on William’s shoulder. “It was a lot of fun doing it. William made up the story, and I did the drawings to go along with it.”

  “You did this twice?” Jerry asked, handing the book back to David.

  “It’s nothing,” Cory said trying to avoid mentioning his aunt; he really didn’t want to spoil this moment. “William was so excited to do something like this, just for the two of you. And I can’t think of two people who deserve it more.”

  “I’m just speechless,” David said, pulling William into a tight hug. “You two….” Cory watched as David kissed the top of William’s head and then stood, moving toward him. He stood and hugged David, feeling a little embarrassed at the tight hug and the way David stroked the back of his head, but was amazed at how quickly that feeling vanished.

  “I’m glad you like it,” Cory said when David released him.

  “Like it?�
�� Jerry came over and put an arm around Cory’s shoulder, giving a quick squeeze. It hadn’t taken Cory long to figure out that David was the hugger in the family, while it took Jerry a little longer to show that kind of affection. It was another personality trait he shared with Jerry. “We love it. It was incredibly thoughtful.”

  “Billie helped too!” William was standing beside Jerry and holding up the puppy, who wasn’t really a puppy anymore; she’d grown quite a few inches in the last couple of months and had also developed a fondness for Cory’s running shoes.

  “And what did you do, you beautiful girl?” David kneeled down beside William and began scratching behind Billie’s ears, her favorite spot.

  “She gave us the idea for chapter three,” William answered as he handed the dog to David.

  “We’re going to read it tonight, for sure, to find out what’s in that chapter,” David stated as he stood. Cory saw Jerry make his way toward William and pick him up effortlessly.

  “And we thank you and Cory and Billie. All of you are very special to us.” Jerry said. Cory chuckled as he saw Jerry form his hand into a claw and place it on William’s head. “But I hope you didn’t write about the claw. You know how upset he’ll be.”

  “That’s chapter two.” William giggled as the claw came down on his head. “We had to write about the claw, Dad.”

  “It’s actually a really funny part of the story,” Cory commented as he pretended to wrestle the claw off William’s head. “I think he secretly likes the claw,” he said to Jerry as William was returned to the ground. “Even he couldn’t stop giggling when we were working on that chapter.”

  David had moved back to sit in front of the book and, Cory observed, was studying the title page. Cory watched him shake his head in disbelief as he opened it. “To David and Jerry,” he said as he began to read, “the best fathers, whose story has been an inspiration to us. Love, William and Cory.”

  Cory leaned back in his chair and smiled. He was pretty certain that whatever he did with his art during his lifetime, no moment would ever equal this feeling, and—regardless of where he ended up—these three people sitting at the kitchen table with him would always be part of his family.

  WILLIAM finished loading the dishwasher with Cory and then scooped Billie up and headed into the living room to see where David and Jerry had gotten in the book. He still couldn’t believe how much they’d liked it. They must have hugged and kissed him and Cory a hundred times today; they liked their present that much. He perched himself on the arm of the sectional and waited for his dad to look up. I’ll have two official dads, soon, he reminded himself. David was waiting for the official papers that meant William belonged to both of them now. When he’d arrived here last year, William didn’t know where he would be living or if anyone would want him. But only a year later, both Jerry and David wanted him. And Cory wanted him. And they all wanted Cory.

  That was the best part. William had gone from being alone at a boarding school in Switzerland to having two dads and a brother on a ranch in Canada. He still missed some things, though, and still felt sad sometimes that he would never get to see Frau Zimmerman again, but he would do what Cory told him and close his eyes and picture her big smile and her warm hands. It’s one of the reasons that he thought Cory’s idea of naming the dog Wilhelmina was so great. It was like part of her was still with him, that part that made him happy and made his tummy feel like it did when he would go on the roller coaster.

  He knew that nothing stayed the same forever, but having Wilhelmina helped him never to forget that—before he found a home with Jerry, David, and Cory—he’d had someone else who thought he was special and loved him very much. Now, he could give that love back to her. He knew that Billie was a dog and that Frau Zimmerman had been a person and that they weren’t the same, but thinking of it all this way made sense to him. It was like the time David was trying to explain fractions, and William just didn’t get it. Finally, he told David how he did all the work with fractions, and it turned out that his way was just as good as David’s.

  Frau Zimmerman was gone and William knew he would never see her again, but having Billie helped him to focus on something other than losing her. At least that’s the way David had explained it to him. He hadn’t wanted to get the puppy at first. Why would anyone? He’d watched that show with his dads that showed the poor seal being killed because he had something weird growing in his mouth. And before that, Cory had had to go away, and William knew he would miss him so much. And then Frau Zimmerman had died; Opa Niels had tried to explain to him about how people needed to die and go somewhere else so that they could be with loved ones and be there to welcome the rest of us when it was our turn to die. It all helped, but William still remembered being sad, remembered feeling like nothing would be fun ever again.

  But then Cory came back and wanted to stay. And it had been a lot of fun, the last couple of months. Cory had learned how to drive, had been taking some lessons on how to paint from Dad, and even tried to help David cook in the kitchen. Dad had teased Cory one day that he should stick to painting; David had been upset at that and told everyone that Cory would get better, but that he needed encouragement. Dad apologized right away. And now, Cory was getting just as good as David at making mac and cheese.

  The only thing William didn’t understand was Tara. Why would Cory want to spend so much time with her and not him? Tara didn’t like practicing driving since she already had her license, didn’t like to go swimming in the lake, didn’t really like camping, and she sure wasn’t as good a rider as Cory had become over the past several months. No, William just didn’t get it.

  Dad had told him one day that he would get it soon enough and that he would want to spend a lot of time with girls, but William had just shaken his head. No, he’d announced proudly, girls are icky; I’m going to marry someone like David. He likes to have fun, he knows how to ride and he likes dogs, and he never complains about getting dirty or about how terrible his nails look after mucking stalls. They’d all laughed, but William knew he was right. He’d find someone like David and live happily ever after.

  William heard the doorbell and saw David get up off the sectional, so he plopped down beside his dad, Billie still in his arms.

  “Cory was right, partner, this is very funny,” Jerry said as he put his arm around his son. “I think you should consider being a writer.”

  “Nah, veterinarian,” William announced and squirmed as Billie tried to lick his face. The phone rang once and then William heard Cory calling for Jerry.

  “You can be both, chief. How about that?” Jerry put the book on the coffee table and ran to his study. William shrugged as he watched one of his dads leave and the other return.

  “Good news, William!” David said as he came back into the living room and held out a small pile of papers. “That was the vet and all of the papers have been verified and it looks like Billie will be able to come with us to Italy.” He watched David put the papers back in the big brown envelope. “We’ll have to make sure we keep her safe, though, and watch out that she doesn’t run away or get hurt.”

  As he watched David go to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner, William held Billie out at eye level and then pulled her back to nuzzle the soft fur at her neck, giggling when she yipped and started to lick his cheek. “Did you hear that, Wilhelmina?” He only called her that when no one else was around. “You get to come with us.” He held her out in front of him and looked into her light blue eyes. “And I promise to take very good care of you. You’re part of my family now, and that’s what family is supposed to do.”

  Read the beginning of the story in

  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  About the Author

  When D.W. MARCHWELL is not teaching future generations the wonders of science, he can usually be found hiking, writing, riding horses, trying new recipes, or searching for and lovingly restoring discarded antique furniture. A goofy and incurable romantic, D.W. admits that his stories
are inspired by actual events and that he has a soft spot for those where boy not only meets boy but also turns out to be boy’s soul mate. After almost fifteen years of working his way across Canada, D.W. has finally found the perfect place to live at the foot of the Canadian Rockies. He still can’t believe how lucky he is, and, as his grandmother taught him, counts his blessings every day.

  Visit his web site at http://www.marchwellbooks.ca/.