Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:39:32 +0000
From: Brad Goodman <bradgoodman30@hotmail.com>
Subject: Family Secrets - Chapter 4

This story involves consensual sexual relationships between males of
different generations.  It may include relationships between adult males,
young men, teens and adolescents.  This story is completely fictional.
Any resemblance to people, names or situations living or dead is
completely coincidental.  This story will include graphic depictions of
consentual sexual acts between males of varying ages.  If this material
is illegal in your area or if it is offensive to you then leave now.  By
continuing to read this means that you are not violating the law in your
area or you just don't give a shit what 'the man' tells you is right or
wrong.  The story belongs in the gay adult-youth section.

This story is to be posted only on the Nifty Archive and its sister
sites.  It should not be reposted without the expressed written consent
of the author.  Otherwise I will hunt you down and sexually assault your
hamster and shit on your front steps.

Feedback is welcome and appreciated.  Comments may be sent to
bradgoodman30@hotmail.com


Sorry for not posting last week but my schedule is very hectic.  Enjoy
this next installment of the story.

Family Secrets
Chapter 4
By:  Brad Goodman


My mother was an alcoholic and my father was a loveless tyrant.  However,
that was our family secret.  After losing Matt and his family I was
depressed.  I was lucky to have sports and a coach that cared about me or
otherwise who knows what I would have done.  Living with my mother and
father was a nightmare.  I avoided my father because I was afraid of his
abusive outbursts and I never saw my mother as she was always passed out by
the time I got home.  Despite all of these issues I was to find out that
there are things about my family that I didn't even know.  In fact, I was
never let in on another family secret, which was so big it was about to
change my life forever.  My mother and father had been trying to have a
baby for the past couple of years.  I guess they thought it would save
their worthless marriage.  I always wanted a brother or sister as I was
growing up but I now I just thought it cruel to subject another child to
this household.

Fortunately for any future siblings, my mother had developed problems with
her tubes and could not conceive.  They tried for three years and nothing
ever came of it.  They then decided to adopt keeping this all secret from
me.  My mother and father concealed their respective drinking problems very
well and passed the home inspections and background checks with flying
colors.  Even though we had a lot of family secrets and problems, my father
did earn a good living to support us.  My father was a salesman for an oil
and gas company and my mother was a stay at home drunk.  My father traveled
three to four days out of the week and unfortunately frequented bars while
he was on the road.  This helped him to develop a serious drinking problem
as well.  The one bright spot was that my mother and father had a very nice
home.  Our house was a nice two-story home with five bedrooms.  We were
located in a great neighborhood in the city of Sugar Land, Texas; which is
a small city on the southwest side of Houston.

For two years my parents waited to hear about getting a new baby and
finally one Wednesday the phone rang at 5:45pm.  I had just gotten home
from football practice and almost didn't answer it because I was tired and
hungry.  I answered the phone and the social worker told me the good news,
which I felt was bad news for the baby.  She asked for my mother and I told
her my usual lie that she was not home.  She was home but already passed
out drunk.  I knew my father would be home tomorrow and could get her sober
although I secretly hoped it wouldn't happen.  I had a football game that
Friday night (which my parents did not attend, but they never did come to
any before either) and a friend's mother dropped me home at 9:15 that
evening.  When I walked in I found my mother and father there with the
social worker and a baby.

They greeted me and my mother said "This is your new brother, Jacob."  I
walked slowly towards her and looked at my new brother.  He was tiny!  He
had a sparse growth of dark brown hair on his head and wide-open deep brown
eyes.  He had a dark complexion and this shocked me.  My parents and the
social worker explained to me that he was biracial.  He was half white and
half Hispanic.  As I stared at him I realized that he was beautiful to me.
I asked if I could hold him and they told me I could so I took him in my
arms.  I looked at his face and I am sure he smiled at me.  He was only
five months old and seemed perfect in every way.  I did not have some sick
sexual baby fetish quite the contrary I had some type of maternal or
paternal instinct that seemed to ignite in me.  I wanted to take care of
boy like I had never been cared for and I decided right then I would make
his life better than min had been.  The social worker left us and for the
next two months everything seemed to be better between my mother and
father.

One Sunday I came home from church (which I attended now with a new
friend's family) and found my mother and father fighting.  They were
screaming at each other and slapping one another.  Jacob was in the living
room in a play pin crying and I immediately went over and picked him up.
My father began telling my mother he never wanted another child, and in
fact he never wanted the first one.  He proceeded to tell her that she had
quote "fucked up their lives by getting pregnant the first time."  My
mother responded by saying she never really loved my father but new he
would make a lot of money so she married him.  That evening he locked
himself in a guestroom and she drank herself to sleep by 6:30.  I had found
myself caring for Jacob again.  I had been changing, feeding and playing
with him for the past two weeks.  On Monday I went to school and my father
left on another business trip.  That was the last time I would see him.  He
decided not to come back.

After my father left it took little more than six months for us to lose our
house and end up living in a housing project near downtown Houston.  Our
new place was a two-bedroom apartment in an all black housing project.  The
carpet was older than I was and the building itself should have been
condemned.  My new school was not an exemplary school like my old one, but
it instead boasted the lowest test scores in the state.  The school was
about 78% black, 20% Hispanic, and 2% white.  I continued playing football
and easily made the varsity football team.  Being only 15 going on 16, it
was a lot of responsibility for me to take on in order to ensure our
finances were managed and Jacob was cared for properly.  I felt like a
single parent.

This continued for the next three years and luckily in that time I
graduated high school and got a scholarship to play football at the
University of Houston.  Right after my nineteenth birthday, Jake and I
returned home and I noticed that the usually foul apartment was more dank
than ever.  Before it was always the smell of sewage backing up but this
odor was more like something rotting or decaying.  As I investigated the
smell I noticed it was concentrated around my mother's room.  She had
passed away from her drinking.  Later the coroner reported she had died
from sclerosis of the liver but that had caused the kidneys to shut down
and eventually it weakened her heart too.  Jake and I were able to keep the
apartment and social services awarded custody of him to me.  I just
couldn't bear to loose the once person in the world that I truly loved.

A month after my mother died a new young lady moved into our project in the
apartment next to ours.  She was 22 and had a four and half year old son.
I went over to meet her the day they moved in and to invite them to come
over for pizza.  Tanya and her son Nick quickly became good friends with
Jake and I.  I think the boys really hit it off because they were only a
month apart in age.  We all became very close very quickly and I even had
sex with a girl for the first time thanks to Tanya.  I knew I wasn't into
girls but I guess my curiosity got the best of me.  In fact, I let it get
the best of me several times, although we never thought about it as a
relationship.  This was an awkward time but a time of growth for her and
me.

For two years we continued to develop a strong relationship with Tanya
playing the mother role to both boys and myself playing daddy.  We were
never a couple but we did rely on each other.  At the end of my senior year
of college, I was contacted by several agents trying to sign me because
they all said I would definitely be drafted by one of the NFL teams.  I had
already gone through rehab twice for injuries to my left knee and was not
sure how long I would be able to play even if I made it on the roster of
the team that drafted me.  I decided to stay and finish my school since I
would not officially graduate until the following December.

My finance degree coupled with my quasi football celebrity was bringing
employers out of the wood works and by the end of November I had a job
offer from several firms.  It didn't hurt that a local station did one of
those pathetic "Beating the Odds" stories on Jake and me.  I got a $4500
signing bonus with a prestigious financial firm and a job that paid $38,000
a year to start.  I immediately used the money as a down payment on a house
in a nice little neighborhood in Sugar Land.  The house was a small
3-bedroom home with two bathrooms.  It was only about 1500 square feet but
it had a yard and no gun shots going off outside.  Jacob was ecstatic,
however, he was worried about losing Nick.  They had become the best of
friends and he was afraid that when we moved he would not get to see Nick
anymore.  To my amazement Tanya and I talked before the move and she asked
me if I would say Nick lived with me so he could go to the exemplary school
district in the new neighborhood.

The boys finished their first grade year in their new school and really
enjoyed it. Nick was practically living with us and we had moved most of
his stuff into our house.  The boys decided one day to start calling me dad
and they did ever since then.  We had been spending so much time together
over the past three years that we had developed a deep bond and I realized
that I thought of them as my sons.  It was a life changing moment and it
seemed that our past together had just become our new family secret.  No
longer were we the people that made it out of the projects but now we were
a new family linked together by love and admiration for one another.  The
hardships of the past were soon forgotten and replaced by our new found
enthusiasm for the future.  The past would be our family secret for years
to come.

For the next four years Nick lived with Jacob and me.  Tanya at first
visited a lot but it tapered off over those four years to one to two times
a month.  I had gotten two promotions at my company during those years and
I was now earning $65,000 a year.  It wasn't a huge salary but it was a lot
of money for me.  I began to look for a new bigger and better house for the
boys and I.  It was time we moved nicer neighborhood.  It must have been
fate or something because Nick and Jacob came home one day and said they
saw the house they wanted to live at when they were on their way home from
school.  The boys were eleven now and they had grown to be quite beautiful
and intelligent.  They insisted there was a `for sale' sign in the yard and
that we needed to go look at it right now.  I caved into their desires and
we piled into our car.  They pointed the way and I drove down the streets
wondering why this was so important to them.  I did not pay any attention
as to where we were going and then Jacob yelled "There it is, stop!"

My mouth fell open and I sat there awestruck.  It was the house I grew up
in.  There is no way Jacob could remember it, but I sure did.  The boys
were waiting for my reaction and for me to say something, but I was
speechless.  In a flash all the emotions I had ever felt about my mother
and father flooded me.  I began to cry and it scared the boys.

"What's wrong Dad?" they said in unison.

I looked in there little eleven-year-old faces and said "Nothing.  I think
it is perfect for us."

They both squealed with delight and felt very triumphant that they had
discovered our future abode.  We had a group hug in the car for about five
minutes.  It must have seemed a little odd to all the neighbors.  My mind
was racing on the way back home, but I kept thinking it would be fitting
for me to return to my childhood home.  What a better place than that to
right the wrongs of the past.  When we got back to the house I called the
real estate agent and made an offer on the house.  She asked if I wanted to
tour it first, and I told her it was not necessary.

Several days later the phone ran and I was expecting the agent, but it was
Tanya.  I was surprised.  I realized as I talked with her that I hadn't
seen or heard from her in about two-weeks.  I then realized that Nick
hadn't even noticed or mentioned it to me either.  Tanya said she and I
needed to talk because she had something very important to tell me.  We set
a time to meet at a local diner later that day.  My mind began to wonder
through what she was going to say.  I had a feeling of dread come over me.
Was she going to take Nick away from me?  Maybe she was getting married, or
maybe she was going to move to another city or state, or maybe she would
want Nick to live with her for now on.  I was very scared.  I began to
realize I loved him so much that I could not bear to have him leave.  He
was my son.

I then thought about Jake.  He would be crushed.  That would hurt me just
as much as losing Nick.  They were both becoming incredible young men.
Jacob was about five feet tall now and Nick had surpassed him about a year
ago and was 5 feet 1 inch tall.

They were stark contrasts in appearance.  Jake had a medium dark complexion
which left people guessing if he was just a dark white boy or if he was
Hispanic.  His dark brown hair had blond highlights which he insisted on
getting about a year ago.  Jake had a very slender build and was actually
quite skinny.  He kind of looked like Jake T. Austin from Wizards of
Waverly Place.  Nick on the other hand was a pale white boy.  He had
white/blond hair and had a lean but muscular build for an eleven-year-old.
His face and hair made him look a lot like a young Jason Dolley, it was
almost uncanny.  They did however share many traits.  Both of them were
polite, thoughtful, and considerate of others.  They both loved to hug and
kiss people as well as to receive them even more.  They both loved to play
sports and do outdoor activities.  Both of them were avid swimmers and
loved to go to the pool.  And they both told me that their favorite thing
to do was to watch wrestling on Mondays and Thursdays.  We used to wrestle
and play fight as we watched the shows and occasionally I would let them
win but mostly I would flip them around to their great delight.

After thinking about the boys for several hours I eventually left to meet
with Tanya at the diner with my stomach in knots and my mind fearing the
worse possible scenarios.  We ordered a couple of diet cokes, and just sat
there sipping them in silence for about ten minutes.

I could not take it any more and said "You have something important to tell
me?"

She nodded.

I waited for what seemed to be an eternity, but was in actuality probably
about 1 minute and blurted out "Are you going to tell me?"

Her mouth opened but nothing came out and she nodded again.

Tanya took a big gulp of her diet coke and said "I never put a father on
Nick's birth certificate.  I had them leave it blank so I could put the
person I wanted to be his father on it someday.  I want to have your name
put there."

 I was stunned.  What was she saying?  Did she want us to get married or
did she want me to take Nick permanently.  I said nothing but my mind was
racing.

She then said "I have a brain tumor and the doctor told me six months ago I
had six months to live."  My heart skipped a beat.

"What! But you look fine?"  I exclaimed.

"I have opted not to get chemo or any other treatment because the doctors
told me from the beginning it was terminal."  Before I could say anything
else she said "Will you be Nick's father?  He loves you very much, more
than you probably know, and he already calls you Dad."

I mumbled out "Yes, I would be honored."

She got up and said "I was sure you would say yes so I went to Austin this
week and had you added as his father.  I will call you tomorrow."

She walked out of the diner as quickly as she could.  I could not move or
speak.  My body was paralyzed by the news.  I wanted to chase after her and
talk some more.  I had a thousand questions and a million emotions
overwhelming me.  I sipped my diet coke for about 30 minutes and finally
regained control of my body.  I went home and when I got in I saw Jake and
Nick on the floor watching TV.

I sat on the couch turned the TV off and said "Come here, I need to talk to
you two."

They looked scared like they had done something wrong.

"You're not in trouble."  I reassured them.

They came and sat with one on each side of me.  I was speechless again and
just grabbed the boys into a big bear hug.  I kissed them both and held
them tighter than I had ever done before.  I know I was freaking them out
and crushing their little bodies with my hug but I just couldn't stop.
Just then the phone rang and broke me from my trance.  I rushed over to it
expecting to her Tanya's voice, and when I picked it up the voice on the
other end said loudly "Congratulations, they have accepted your offer."

 After setting up a meeting for the following Monday afternoon to finalize
the paperwork I turned to the boys and said "We got the house."  They both
smiled their big beautiful smiles and ran and jumped into my arms.

The next day I still had not said anything to the boys.  We went to church
and out to lunch afterwards.  When I got home there was a message on the
machine.  The first message was Tanya.  All it said was "I love all you
guys very much and will miss you."  The next message was from the police.
In fact the next three messages were from the police.  I called the number
the officer left and as it rang my mind was thinking "What did they want?"
The officer answered and I told him who I was.  He paused for a minute and
then said "What was your relationship to Tanya Sanders?"

"She is the mother of my son."  I told him fearing what he was about to
say.

"Mr. Goodman, Ms. Sanders is dead.  She shot herself this morning at 9:00
am."  The officer announced almost robotically.

I felt a sharp pain run down my side and up my back.  I could not believe
my ears.  I almost dropped the phone but the officer used a stern tone that
kept my attention.  I felt my eyes began to leak and tears started running
down my face.  After, the officer and I talked for several more minutes and
we made arrangements for me to meet him, I finally hung up the phone.  I
wondered aimlessly into the kitchen and took a seat at the table.  I sat in
the kitchen crying for about 20 minutes and didn't stop until Nick came in.

"What's wrong, Dad?" he asked.

I put my arms out and Nick stepped into them.  "Nick, I love you very much
and will never leave you, I just want you to know that."

He smiled and returned my embrace.  I could tell he was concerned about me
and I just kept thinking I couldn't tell him what I needed too.  "Nick I
have to tell you something very sad and I want you to know it is okay to
cry."

"What is it?" he said.

"Your mother passed away this morning."  His little pale blue eyes began to
swell with tears.

"Cancer?" he asked.

I nodded and he burst into tears.  He fell into my arms again and I held
him tightly.  We both cried for about 15 minutes before I was able to ask
him the question burning in my mind.  "How did you know?"

"My mom told me a couple of weeks ago and told me not to tell you."  Nick
said sniffling.

I did not have the heart to tell him the truth, but in a way the cancer did
kill her.  I held him as he sobbed for about an hour.  I took him and Jake
to our next door neighbor's house and met the officer handling the case.
On my way home I stopped by her apartment to gather some things and bring
them to the house.  When I got home I picked up Nick and Jake from the
neighbor's house.  That night both boys insisted on sleeping in my bed and
I really wanted the company as well.

The next few weeks were difficult.  We had a funeral and had to prepare to
move all at once.  I was stressed out and the boys were on the edge.  I
decided to take off the Friday the week after the funeral and the day
before our move.  The boys stayed home from school and we packed up the
last few things we could not live without (mostly videos, CDs, and toys).
That weekend was hectic.  I had hired movers to help us out and it was well
worth the cost.  There was a lot of new furniture being delivered, because
we had spent a day buying new furniture for all of our rooms.  We used the
boys and my old furniture to decorate the guest rooms.  The next week was a
blur, but I returned to work and the boys returned to school.  They
insisted on sleeping with me every night that week.  I was afraid I was
spoiling them or just doing something weird, but after Tanya's death and
the move I justified it as just temporary until the boys got settled again.
Although, we were at a crossroads I never could have known that something
was bout to occur that would be our biggest family secret of all.

To be continued...