His True Home (Gay Romance)

by Trina Solet

  It reminded Cory that he and Teddy didn't have baby pictures. His didn't matter but Teddy's... Cory got choked up as he thought about never seeing what Teddy looked like as a baby. That part of his life was lost to him forever. It made him want to chase down that woman with the rose tattoo and demand Teddy's baby pictures, no, his whole childhood. He wanted her to hand over Teddy as a baby so Cory could keep him safe and never let him go, never let him experience standing on the side of the road, wondering what kind of monster might stop to pick him up. Cory felt the sting of angry tears in his eyes, and he shook his head to drive them away. Through the mist of unshed tears, he saw the brothers drawing, and his vision cleared. Then he noticed Alec looking at him worriedly from the doorway.

  "I'm fine. I was just thinking too much about what I'm missing and not enough about what I have," Cory told him as he traced the word "brothers" at the bottom of the drawing.

  "I didn't teach him how to write that," Alec said. "He must have done it by looking at the photo I printed."

  "He's amazing. I was envying all your family pictures," Cory told him.

  "What's to envy? Ian has me in a choke-hold in half of them," Alec complained and held up one such picture.

  "I assume you deserved it," Cory said with a shrug. He already felt more cheerful. Alec had a knack for driving away all serious thoughts.

  "In my teens, I hated to have my picture taken," Alec said.

  "A narcissist like you?"

  "I didn't like having my good looks exploited," Alec claimed.

  Alec was something else. Always dressed carelessly, paint-splattered half the time, he was the embodiment of raw sex appeal. A wicked gleam was a permanent feature of those blue eyes. His mouth was an invitation to Cory to kiss him if he dared. But looking at the picture of a young Alec, Cory thought that maybe things were tough for him when he was growing up.

  "A gay guy in a small town, it couldn't have been easy," Cory said. He couldn't imagine coming out in a place like Seaview Pines.

  "It's not that bad," Alec said.

  "Your mom is the mayor. That's how you get away with it," Cory told him.

  "There is nothing to get away with. I keep it in my pants, which is easy because there is nowhere else to put it," Alec lamented. "That goes for you too. Around here, you'll be gay in name only."

  "If only there was another gay guy somewhere nearby, like this house, or this room, or right in front of me." Cory stared at Alec, who tried to act like he wasn't there.

  "Sorry, I'm not open for business. And even if I was, you aren't my type," Alec said and turned away.

  "Say that while you're looking at me," Cory challenged him. He knew he wasn't anything special, but at that moment he could swear that Alec wanted him.

  Alec looked back at him as if ready to deny it. Instead of forming words, his mouth closed into a tight line. He frowned while Cory grinned. It was nice to have the upper hand especially against Alec.

  "That's what I thought," he said triumphantly.

  "I guess you have some appeal," Alec had to admit. His voice sounded raspy, and he cleared his throat as he went back to staring at anything but Cory.

  *

  Oh yeah, Cory had won that round. With his hazel eyes, a slim body, and an awesome ass, he wasn't Alec's type at all, except for those last three things. If Cory wasn't so earnest and serious about everything, Alec would have been all over him already. Seeing Cory's tender heart beating inside that hot, young body paralyzed him before he could do anything crazy. No matter how much Alec was drawn to him, it couldn't happen.

  That would be easier if he could be coolheaded about Cory. In unguarded moments, Alec was consumed with visions of him coming, writhing under him, looking so beautiful. That wasn't fair. Alec didn't know how to deny himself. His life had been lived on the principle "Take what you want, don't bother getting his number, and forget his name." He was still looking for some new principles to live by. The one he had already discovered was "Don't do anything that will hurt Teddy." He was working on the next one. It went something like "Don't get involved with Cory, unless you just can't help yourself." Or was it "Tease him mercilessly, and if he makes a move on you, run away"? That one still needed work.

  He didn't expect a guy like Cory to be such a challenge to him. Cory was good, quiet, caring, considerate, unassuming, shy, hardworking. Any of those should have been a turn-off. At any other time, Alec might have overlooked those glaring character flaws and had him bent over and moaning for all he was worth. Then he would have dropped him cold. It was unthinkable to do that to Cory. All of Alec's old strategies were failing him at the worst possible time. The stakes had never been this high before, and the temptation had never reached so deep inside him.

  Now the large living room seemed to close in around Alec. Looking away from Cory, he tried to pull himself together. He told himself there was nothing here he wanted or needed. That's when Cory took his chin in his hand and turned Alec's face to him gently. Cory's fingers caressed his face then threaded through his hair. His eyes drew him in more than the arm that went around his waist. As Alec breathed hard, he gazed at Cory under heavy eyelids. Cory's arms pressed him close, allowing no escape. The beating of Alec's heart was deafening as Cory leaned closer. His lips brushed only his lower lip. The hesitant touch of Cory's lips was like a question. He was asking, "Do you want this?" His next kiss was harder, demanding an answer. "Do you want this as much as I do?" it said. The terror inside Alec gave way to desire so strong that he had to give in. He kissed Cory back. He abandoned himself to the feel of Cory's soft mouth opening to him. His tongue gliding over Alec's, Cory let out a soft moan. It moved through Alec like a tidal wave that shook him apart, tore away everything in its path. All resistance was gone as Alec dove even deeper into that kiss. Leaving behind every thought that held him back, he pressed himself against Cory hard to let him feel what he was getting himself into.

  When he heard the front door open and his mom yell, "Hi, I'm home!" Alec snapped out of it. Letting go of Cory, he rushed over to greet her and give her a kiss.

  "What? Why? What is going on?" she said surprised by the sudden, uncharacteristic welcome.

  "Cory was trying to have his way with me," Alec tattled.

  "You poor, helpless thing," his mom mocked him while Cory stood in the hallway, red-faced.

  As soon as her eyes turned to him, Cory told her, "I found out today that Teddy's name might be Jimmy, but he doesn't want us to call him that."

  Immediately growing serious, Mom wanted to know more. Cory glared at Alec, who took the opportunity to make his escape. Cory mouthed the word "coward" at him. Alec waved at him and disappeared into the den.

  Chapter 12

  A few days later, Cory was folding Teddy's laundry one morning and Teddy was helping. They were stacking the clothes on the other bed in Teddy's room, and Cory noticed all the superhero underwear.

  "Who picked out this cool underwear, did you, or did Alec, or his mom?" he wondered aloud. He forgot to look at Teddy to figure out the answer until Teddy pulled on his shirt. When Cory turned, Teddy was pointing to himself, eager to get the credit.

  "You did. OK. I forgot to look. You know you can talk whenever you're ready. I'll wait. I'm just happy to have you as my brother," Cory told him. He didn't want him to feel pressured.

  "Me too."

  Cory couldn't believe his ears. That hushed, little voice had come out of Teddy. Cory just stared at him and grinned like a fool. Then he kneeled down and hugged Teddy for a long time. "Thank you for talking to me," Cory whispered to him.

  "Thank you for being my big brother," Teddy whispered back.

  If he wasn't afraid it would scare Teddy, Cory would have burst into tears when he heard those words. Instead, he took him to Alec's room. He barged in without knocking, remembering too late that that was a dumb move. Luckily, Alec was just sleeping. He raised his head groggily, his hair a mess, and looked questioningly at the two of them.

  "Do you have anything
to say to Alec?" Cory asked.

  "You look funny," Teddy said in a low voice, still shy about speaking.

  Alec made a face then his eyes went wide.

  "How abut 'Good morning,'" Cory suggested.

  "Good morning, Alec," Teddy whispered.

  Speechless, Alec sat on the edge of his bed and opened his arms. Teddy ran over to him for a hug. As he hugged him, Alec was teary eyed and overjoyed. He looked up at Cory.

  "Did you cry?" he asked.

  "No," Cory said.

  "How did you not cry?"

  "Willpower," Cory told him.

  "I don't know what that is," Alec said, and he looked down at Teddy. "So you finally decided to talk," Alec said to him.

  "Cory is my brother. I want to talk to him," Teddy said.

  "Good for you," Alec told him with a smile and ruffled his hair.

  "What about Alec?" Cory asked. "Don't you want to talk to him too?"

  "Alec too. And Mayor Miriam," Teddy said.

  "Mayor Miriam?" Alec said in disbelief. "She'll get a kick out of that."

  "Is she going to be here for lunch?" Cory asked, eager for her to find out the good news.

  "She better," Alec said. He couldn't wait for her to find out either. "I'll call Nancy to make sure."

  After breakfast, Cory was antsy and dragged his feet about going to work.

  "Did you want to stay home and talk to Teddy?" Alec asked, seeing the state he was in.

  "He just started talking. I don't want to bombard him with questions," Cory said. That would be one advantage of being at work. He wouldn't be tempted to interrogate the poor little guy too soon.

  *

  Cory had gone to work reluctantly. That left Alec to enjoy the newly talkative Teddy. Looking at Teddy now, finally hearing him speak, Alec compared him to the child he had met in the early days after Teddy was found. It wasn't just that Teddy had been silent. His expression betrayed nothing then. The first sign of life didn't show up on Teddy's face. It showed up on a piece of paper. After setting paper and crayons in front of him, Alec stepped back. Alec remembered how Teddy pulled out the crayons. At first, he did it uncertainly, looking toward Alec but keeping his head down. It was as if he needed his permission for each one. In front of him, a picture came to life on paper, vibrant but undecipherable. After a while, Teddy forgot himself and Alec. The crayons got scattered all around. He only remembered that Alec was there when he broke one of the crayons. Scared, Teddy stopped drawing, held his breath and hunched his shoulders.

  "You have two orange ones now," Alec told him.

  Hearing that, Teddy started breathing again and got a funny look on his face. He got that same look whenever anyone told him something unexpected. Since then, Alec had seen that look many times. He had studied and tried to learn all the expressions on his sweet face. The whole time he was hoping that Teddy would start speaking. That miracle had to wait for another miracle to show up. Teddy's first words weren't for just anyone to hear. He was saving them up for his big brother. Good thing there was enough left over for Alec too.

  Teddy was self-conscious after being silent for so long so Alec tried not to ask him too many questions.

  "Cory will be here for lunch and the mayor too. Let's do our lesson before then. Mom will want to monopolize you once she gets here. Go pick out some books. No comic books," Alec reminded him. He had tried to sneak them in more than once with Cory's encouragement.

  "Cory lets me," Teddy said.

  Alec had to laugh. It was wonderful to hear his voice.

  "What you said just now, that's a classic," Alec told him. "Cory has his rules, and I have mine."

  "The other books are good too," Teddy said in his quiet, slightly croaky voice.

  "That's good to know, little froggy," Alec said to him.

  Teddy gave him an annoyed frown, wordlessly letting Alec know that he didn't like that nickname.

  "OK. I won't call you that," Alec promised and kissed the top of his head as a way of saying he was sorry.

  Teddy smiled at him before going to get his books together.

  During the lesson, Teddy sounded out the words for the first time. Alec was so proud of him. When it was time for the writing lesson, Teddy had a request. "I want to write 'Cory'."

  "I showed it to you before," Alec told him. It was right after Cory told him he was his brother.

  "Again," Teddy demanded.

  "What about me. Don't you want to write 'Alec'?"

  "Later," Teddy said, deadpan.

  "Now that you have Cory, you don't like me any more? Is that it?" Alec pouted.

  "You're OK," Teddy said. "I like you, but Cory is my brother."

  "I have a brother too," Alec told him.

  "Ian," Teddy piped up.

  "That's right. He's my big brother. I'm the little brother."

  "But you're big." Teddy looked up at him as if the idea that he was the little brother was too crazy to believe.

  "My big brother is even bigger than me. I bet my big brother could beat up your big brother," Alec said.

  Instantly Teddy looked fierce, like he was ready to fight Ian himself.

  "I was just kidding," Alec told him. "I'm sure our brothers would be best friends."

  Teddy said a cautious, "OK."

  "I'll show you how to write 'Cory'," Alec said.

  Teddy became very attentive, like the name was magic. Alec kind of envied Cory though he knew he had to go through a tough childhood to get here and Teddy did too. After he practiced writing Cory's name for a while, Teddy turned to Alec.

  "'Alec' too," he said.

  "Are you sure?" Alec said to tease him.

  Teddy nodded. He was such a sweet boy, so much like Cory. He was timid but when it mattered he had it in him to ask, no, to demand what he wanted and never let go of the people he cared about.

  It was scary to think that Cory had that quality now that he was coming after Alec.

  When Cory came home, Alec met him at the door and hugged him. Cory was surprised for a second, but he recovered his wits quickly.

  "I'm not here for you. I'm here to see Teddy," he said.

  "What's with the rejection? I just wanted to thank you for getting Teddy to talk," Alec told him.

  "You don't like rejection? Remember that feeling when you're rejecting me," Cory said then he asked, "Has he been talking?"

  "Yeah, it's been great. He's been kicking the crap out of my ego just like his brother," Alec told him.

  "Good for him," Cory said and headed straight for Teddy to give him a hug.

  "Hi," Cory said to him.

  "Hi," Teddy said.

  "Don't overdo it. Save some for later, you chatterboxes," Alec told them.

  "Is your mom on her way?" Cory asked.

  "Any minute now. But she doesn't know anything," Alec said.

  It didn't take long for them to hear her car in front.

  "It's the mayor. Let's surprise her. Say 'Hi, Mayor Miriam' when she comes in," Cory said to Teddy.

  "Hi, Mayor Miriam," Teddy said when she arrived. He was so quiet that Cory wasn't sure she could hear him.

  She gasped and looked like she would cry. Then she got a more playful look on her face and stared all around like she couldn't see Teddy.

  "Who said that?" she said.

  Teddy said a quiet little "me." Miriam came over to him and picked him up into a hug.

  "You are just the best little boy in the world," she told him with tears in her eyes.

  "Hi, Mom," Alec told her.

  "Say 'Hi Madam Mayor.'"

  "No," he said simply.

  "How about you?" she asked Teddy.

  "Hi, Madam Mayor," Teddy said in a shy voice.

  "Such a sweet boy," she said and hugged him tighter. It was obvious how much it meant to her to hear Teddy speaking.

  "How are we going to celebrate?" Alec asked.

  Teddy looked hopeful but didn't say anything. Though he could guess, Alec asked him what he wanted for lunch.

&n
bsp; "Pizza?" Teddy said in a whisper.

  "That's the way to use your voice. Now you can tell us what you want," Alec told him. He ordered pizza then watched his mom tear apart the refrigerator.

  "You didn't get the Heineken?" she said, not finding it.

  "Cory was shopping. He can't get you beer. He's underage," Alec told her.

  "Why didn't you get it?" she asked.

  "Why didn't you?" he asked her right back.

  "I'm the mayor. I'm a very busy woman," she said indignantly. Then she huffed. "I guess I'll have to settle for wine."

  "Poor you," Alec mocked her.

  "Yes, pour me... some wine."

  "I guess you're not driving back to work."

  "Are you kidding? I'm declaring this a holiday. Teddy Day."

  "Cory takes the rest of the day off too, right?" Alec prompted her.

  "Of course."

  Cory was going to protest, but it was Teddy Day so how could he?

  *

  Miriam couldn't get enough of hearing Teddy talk and neither could Cory. No one asked him any hard questions though. It wasn't time for that yet, and Cory was glad to put it off for as long as he could. He just wanted Teddy to be a happy little boy.

  They sat around after lunch, and Miriam told stories about Alec and his brother and all the trouble they caused growing up. Alec had some stories of his own. He managed to horrify his mother with a few escapades she didn't know about. Teddy loved those stories. Alec and his brother were his heroes. That worried Cory a little. They were terrible role models. He hoped Teddy wouldn't get any ideas.

  By the time they cleared up the pizza boxes, Miriam was already talking about dinner. To celebrate Teddy's new eloquence, the only menu she would consider was steaks.

  Alec, Teddy, and Cory drove into town to buy them. Cory was ready to shout the news to everyone, but he didn't want to overwhelm Teddy with the attention that would follow. In front of the Smorgasbord, they ran into a middle-aged woman Cory didn't know. She looked from Alec and Cory to Teddy and said, "I guess it's left up to you boys to take care of this poor, mute child since the mayor doesn't have time for him."