Back for Good

by Heather Mar-Gerrison

  He grinned, “So, Mr Jackson. How do you feel about becoming the co-owner of the ‘The Celt’s Arms’?”

  I grinned, “I’m really excited but that name has to go.”

  Eduard snorted, “And what are we gonna call it?”

  I shrugged, “I haven’t got the foggiest, mate.” He said, “Any ideas?”

  He grinned, “Plenty.” He said, “Very few that would be appropriate, however.”

  I grinned, “What about Jackson’s?”

  Jackson’s? Actually, that had a really nice ring to it. “Jackson’s it is.” I agreed.

  *

  “Where do you want this, boss?”

  I wiped the sweat off my forehead and tried not to wince at the pain in my leg. I’d been stood for too long and I knew it. Trouble was, I knew that Ed was knackered too and I knew he was putting in twice as much work as I was. “Ummm…”

  Eduard appeared as if by magic and started barking orders at the guy as if he’d been born to project management. My dick stirred in my jeans, taking my mind off the pretty much unbearable ache in my leg.

  He turned to me, “You need to rest.” He said, his eyes full of concern.

  I nodded. I knew I did, too. I wasn’t that stupid or that stubborn to not recognise when I was beat – and right now, I was beat. “Okay.” I said, “Can you help me over to that chair?”

  His frown turned to a look of near horror, “You can’t make it?” he asked, his voice going up in concern.

  I shrugged, “I’ve overdone it.” I admitted, “I know that…”

  He scowled. “Let me see.”

  I hated anyone seeing my leg – or rather, what was left of it. “It’s fine…”

  He gave me one of his looks and I sighed, “Okay. Take a look if you must.”

  It felt horribly sweaty and incredibly painful.

  “Fuck.” He exclaimed as he peeled off the stocking, “You’re fucking bleeding, baby. Is that normal?”

  Bleeding? Shit. That couldn’t be good. “Really?” I asked, “Shit.”

  “So, that’s not normal?”

  I blinked. I had no idea if that was normal or not – but surely, it wasn’t if I didn’t know it was normal? “I dunno, mate.” I said, “Maybe I should call my doctor.”

  He nodded, “Maybe you should.” He agreed, “Your leg looks really swollen. Baby – you do too much.”

  I knew that. But I wanted so much to be as normal as possible for Ed.

  “Come on.” He said, “Let’s get you in the back where you can sit down and relax a bit.”

  God, I loved him when he took care of me…

  As it turned out, it wasn’t all that unusual to have pressure sores and to bleed – but it wasn’t exactly what the health professionals recommended and I was off the legs and in a chair as fast as I could blink.

  I really didn’t like the chair – for starters, I hardly knew how to manoeuvre the damned thing – secondly, it gave me even worse sores on my hands than I was suffering on my leg.

  “Fuck,” I exclaimed as I examined the three burst blisters on my hands, “This is fucking agony.”

  “What is, baby?” Ed asked, coming over to me and standing behind me. His hands were almost immediately on my shoulder, massaging my tight muscles and making me feel a hundred per cent better instantly.

  “My hands.” I groaned as he dug his thumbs into a particularly bunched set of muscles.

  “Oh. Baby.” He said, “You need a break.”

  Yeah, I did. “What did you have in mind?

  Chapter 16 – Surfing…

  Eduard

  Wade definitely needed a break away from it all. Not only was the pub taking up loads of time – time he should have been using to rehabilitate himself, he’d also taken the decision to tell his parents that he was now in a relationship with me.

  It would be fair to say that it hadn’t gone down particularly well. Apparently, his father had snorted and said nothing at all. His mother on the other hand, had gone off into floods of tears. Yeah, not great…

  So, I did what I could to make the most out of a bad situation, and whisked him off for a romantic weekend to my favourite haunt in the whole of the country. I threw my surf board (and Georg’s but he wasn’t going to be bothered about that) into the back of my car, packed a suitcase for the pair of us and then I basically kidnapped him…

  He’d had his compensation pay-out from the armed forces and he’d used some of the money to purchase the pub with it. I’d put in a matching sum of my own money so that we had equal deposits and we’d taken out a business loan out for the rest of the purchase price. We figured that if things didn’t work out, we could sell up and start again somewhere else.

  Right now, though, I was making good on my promise a while ago to take him surfing and we were currently heading down the M5 towards Cornwall, my spiritual home…

  *

  “Oh, my God.” Wade murmured as we wandered along, hand-in-hand, towards the city centre. We didn’t want to walk too far, since we’d done a lot already for one day and Wade was complaining that Petey was getting a little uncomfortable, “There are so many pubs for sale down here. Do you think we’re doing the right thing?”

  I nodded, “Yeah, I think so,” I said, I knew we’d driven past loads on the way in and had just passed three on the way down from our holiday cottage to the pub we were walking to but we had year-round custom where we lived. “I realise that running a pub is a risky business.” I said, “We both know that – but all we can do is try to make a go of it. If we fail, we’ll have to think of something else to do. I guess it’s better for us in that we’ll actually own the building.”

  Wade nodded, “Yeah, you’re right. It’s gonna be fine.” He said, “We can do this.”

  *

  We’d had the best day. Thankfully, Wade’s sore leg had healed well enough with a couple of days rest and he was back on Petey again now, not that he could take this particular Petey surfing… He had another one on today that was able to be taken in the water.

  Even with only one real leg. Wade was better at surfing than I was. I watched him in admiration as he wrestled with his board and then managed to stand within five goes. He really was totally unbelievable.

  I paddled over to him when he inevitably fell in the water, “Hey.” I shouted, “Are you ready to go in?”

  He bobbed up out of the water and shook his head like a dog. His grin was from ear-to-ear and pretty damned mesmerising. His eyes shining with excitement. He nodded, “I’m just about knackered, yeah.” He agreed, “Let’s go.”

  I laughed as we paddled back to shore and got out.

  Even though Wade was wearing his specially adapted prosthetic for sport, he was beginning to look as if he was in pain and I started to worry that his leg would swell – or worse, bleed again.

  “We should have gone in earlier,” I fretted.

  He grabbed my hand, “I love that you want to look after me, babe.” He said, “But I’ll do what I want to do.”

  I nodded, “I know.” I said, “I can’t help being concerned.”

  He smiled and leaned in to kiss me, “I know – and it’s amazing that you’re so caring. I never thought I’d find love after I lost my leg – and then, there you were, waiting in the wings to catch me when I fell. You really were my knight in shining armour.”

  “I’ll always be there for you.” I said softly, leaning in and kissing him softly on the lips, “Where else would I want to be?”

  Wade

  Eduard was absolutely perfect. I gazed at him, desperate for him to lean in and kiss me again.

  It was funny how much I craved his kisses, his body. Everything about him…

  I’d never considered kissing another guy before I got out of the army and reacquainted myself with Eduard and I’m not gonna lie, it was still kind of alien to me at the same time as feeling absolutely right. I’m sure I’d have figured out who I really was a lot sooner, had I never left him and gone in the army but we got t
here in the end and I guess I was going to have to get used to it being part of who I was – even if I had spent my whole life trying to be the son my father wanted me to be.

  There was no getting away from the fact that pretending to be straight was a hard habit to break but I was definitely getting there. I couldn’t wait to see my boyfriend after I’d been to tell my dad that that was exactly what he was to me now. He’d taken it as well as I could have expected. A grunt from behind his newspaper and a tut. Well, whatever. He’d have to get used to it if he wanted to see me again.

  Mum cried – again, something I was expecting. She was under the misapprehension that we’d never be able to have any kids. Someone really should educate them in the way modern England worked. Maybe I would. One day…

  Chapter 17 – Coming out in style…

  Eduard

  We’d decided to tell our folks that we were now ‘together’ together separately and being Wade, the go- getter, he’d gone and done it first.

  We were back from Cornwall and I knew Wade was waiting for me to tell my father.

  He was very much an act-now-and-face-the-consequences-later type of guy. I was more measured. I considered everything before acting and therefore, it took me a little longer to pluck up the courage, even though I was quite sure Dad was going to be expecting what I had to say. Still, I was still pretty embarrassed. Hell, I was in my mid-twenties. My brother had come out in his early teens. My other brother on the other hand still hadn’t officially come out – even though he’d been living with his male lover for the past few years and we all knew they were planning their wedding for next year.

  There was no other way to say it, other than the truth. I’d promised Wade that I’d tell him today and he’d said he’d be over later. That time was approaching fast and I was still pacing my bedroom, trying to find the nerve to face him. It was ridiculous. There was no way he’d be bothered. He was perfectly chilled out about both Franz and Georg. Why not me, too?

  I ran down the stairs and burst into the lounge. Now or never, Ed. Now or never… “I’m gay, Dad,” I blurted out, “and I’m in love with Wade. We’ve bought the pub in the city next to where I work – and we’re going to make it into a bar where all orientations are welcome.”

  Dad beamed at me, “That’s fantastic!” he exclaimed, “I’m proud of you, son!”

  My jaw dropped, making him chuckle.

  He shook his head, “What?” he asked, “Did you think I was going to try to start telling you how to live your life? You fall in love with who you fall in love with. I’ve learned that with Franz and Buzz. How could anyone say they don’t love each other with every cell in their bodies?”

  I nodded, tears in my eyes that Dad was being so understanding, “I love Wade like that, too.” I said softly.

  He nodded, “I know you do.” He said, “I’ve known it since he left for the army, son. You were devastated when he left and I kind of had an inkling that you didn’t just like him as a friend.”

  I shook my head, “You could have said something. I’ve lived in the closet for the last five years, sure that you’d think less of me.”

  He frowned, “Well, then I guess that’s my bad. I never meant to make you feel like that, son.”

  “But you never reprimanded me for being awful to Franz, either. I called him all the names under the sun and you just let me.”

  Dad looked troubled, “It was difficult to jump in and defend him for every little thing, Ed.” He explained, “I figured that if he could defend himself well against you, then he’d have no trouble with defending himself against strangers. I thought I was doing the right thing.”

  I wrinkled my nose, “I’m not so sure. Franz just thinks we’re all homophobic arseholes – and we haven’t really dispelled the myth...”

  Wade poked his head around the door at that precise moment, a mischievous grin on his beautiful face, “Have you confessed your sins?” he asked, “Does your dad know that we’re a pair of raving queers, now?”

  I laughed loudly, “Yes.” I said, “But thanks for having all the sensitivity of a house brick being thrown through the window. What if I hadn’t plucked up the courage yet?”

  He shrugged, “Meh, I think it’s best to just get it out there. I was straight last week. This week I’m as gay as gay gets.”

  Dad smiled, “You weren’t straight last week, Wade.” He said, “You were in denial of your real feelings last week. Worse than that – you were repressed.”

  He nodded, rolling his eyes as my dad started to warm to his subject. Coming over to me he wrapped his arms around me and gave me a big kiss on the side of my head, “You could be right, Mr Krämer.” He said, “You could well be right.”

  Epilogue

  Wade

  “Oh, my God.” Eduard murmured as he came in through the door, “Could your cooking get any better?”

  He pushed past me and was currently almost nosing the pan of goulash that I’d been slaving over all afternoon while he’d been down at the beach, having a surfing lesson – I could have had one too, but honestly, I preferred cooking.

  We were having a couple of days down at the beach house we hired every year for a well-earned break. The pub, thankfully, was a roaring success with both gay and straight young people alike. We’d left our two bartenders holding the fort for the weekend, along with Eduard’s Dad and his new wife, who both loved spending time there, working behind the bar.

  We had a great mix of live-music nights, pub quizzes and a pretty decent snooker and darts team. Our profits were up on the previous year and we were considering expanding our business and opening another one on the other side of town.

  I’m not gonna lie, I’d been tired when we first arrived and I’d wanted a bit of a slob around without Petey. It made me smile to be alone for a couple of hours.

  Looking back to when I’d first come home after being injured, I’d spent hours alone until Eduard came bursting into the house after I’d had a particularly bad day.

  After he’d gone back to work, four o’clock had seemed like a lifetime away sitting around, doing nothing but wait for him to come and see me on his way home – but now…? Well, we’d been together pretty much every day for three years since we’d bought the pub and I could honestly say I’d loved every single minute of it. Staying behind while he went down to the beach to go surfing had seemed like a pretty good idea but it was barely past three o’clock today but I was already missing his company.

  I grinned at him and winked, “Well,” I said, “Mum always said the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach.”

  He grinned, “And she was right – she just never thought it would be you that took her advice. I’m guessing she was talking to Frances?”

  I chuckled and nodded, “She’s a lot more accepting of it all now that we’re looking into adoption and surrogacy.” I reminded him.

  Eduard grinned, “Yeah, she just didn’t want to miss out on spoiling her grand-babies. Now, how long can this dish wait before it spoils?”

  I grinned, “I’ll turn it right down to a candle and it’ll go for another hour, at least.”

  He waggled his eyebrows at me, “Then get your sweet ass up those stairs because I’ve been missing you like mad and I want to make love to my man.”

  Well, who was I to argue? “Race you.” I teased.

  Of course, he beat me up the stairs, but not by much. I was really accomplished at walking on Petey these days – and Petey had been replaced a few times, too – but we were so used to calling the prosthetic Petey that neither of us seemed able to let go of the name I’d come up with a few years back.

  I had a variety of Petey’s these days and actually had a blade for running. It was so damned cool being able to go running with Eduard. We’d gotten a few stares in the beginning but now most people had gotten used to seeing ‘those two gay fellas – you know the ones – the blonde one’s only got one leg…’

  Eduard dived straight into the bathroom and came to bed t
en minutes later, smelling as divine as he always did.

  I was waiting for him. “Okay, baby – what do you wanna do?” I asked.

  He grinned, “Whatever you like,” he said, “But I’ve gotta tell you – I’m absolutely knackered after all that falling in the sea every two minutes – so you might have to take the lead.”

  I grinned, “Get over here.” I said, “Your ass is mine.”

  He smiled, “It absolutely is.” He agreed, “For as long as there’s breath in my body. All yours.”

  I’d left Petey stood up at the side of the bed. I didn’t need him to make love to my beautiful boyfriend. I could kneel almost as well as anyone, even without both knees. I was just a little lop-sided but we made it work between us pretty well. I made to get up but Eduard clearly wasn’t quite as tired as he was making out. He crawled over to me and started to kiss me, making me go boneless all over and my mind go completely blank.

  I fucking loved kissing him. In fact, it was one of my favourite activities of all time.

  “Baby,” he murmured as he trailed kisses down my chest, paying attention to both of my very sensitive nipples before continuing his trail down my stomach and finishing with him enveloping the tip of my cock with his mouth. Oh, yeah. This is what it’s all about…

  I groaned as I pushed my hips up to meet his eager mouth.

  Eduard settled himself between my legs and really started to get into his stride. He was deep throating me in a matter of seconds and I was matching his rhythm with my own, thrusting my cock into his mouth as he lapped and hummed around me. Perfection.

  I looked down at him. In the beginning, he’d been very tentative around my leg but right now, he had a hold of both of my legs, pushing them apart as he devoured my cock. He wasn’t in the slightest bit bothered to touch my leg where it had been amputated and I loved him for it. He’d never shown any distaste towards me for being slightly less whole than he was. Eduard loved me, simple as that – just as I was.