Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2014 23:17:22 +1100
From: Robert A. Armstrong <rob.aa@hotmail.com>
Subject: Schoolie - Chapter 24

If you are new to this story, may I suggest that you read from the
beginning, to understand the plot and the characters.

If you are a regular, thank you for your continued interest!

Warning: If relationships between boys and men is not your scene, or if
you're under age, or if it is not legal for you to be reading this, then
please leave, now, before somebody finds out!

Otherwise, enjoy!



From Chapter 23


When we get home, the house is still empty. Will and I go through to the
deck at the back. There is something that I want to check out. I look
upwards towards Simon's place and can clearly see him and Luke leaning on
the balcony railing. I had never noticed people up there previously.

I put my phone on the outdoor table, strip naked and tell Will to do the
same. We step to the edge of the pool and wave our arms to attract their
attention. After a few moments they acknowledge us. Will and I hold each
other's cock with one hand and wave with the other.

I soon hear the message tone on my phone. It's from Simon's number and it
reads `OMG. It's U!!!'


Chapter 24


I turn my eyes to the balcony and give Simon the `thumbs up', indicating
that he is correct, and that it was indeed I whom he had seen frolicking
with my friends. He gives me a return salute in acknowledgement.

Will and I go upstairs to change. I do not want to be `sprung' naked by Mum
and Amelia arriving home unexpectedly, considering that it is now almost
time for lunch. Mum is just as likely to change her mind and come home
instead of eating out.

Considering that we have just showered at Simon's, Will and I simply change
into something a little more casual, instead of looking like `a pair of
matching giant garden gnomes', as Luke had cheekily described us to Will.

"Let's grab something to eat and talk about Simon and Luke," I
suggest. Will agrees and we peruse the refrigerator shelves for something
quick but tasty. A variety of meats, cheeses and also tomatoes and salad
greens make for some delicious and refreshing sandwiches.

I start, "So how was that, mucking around with someone else? I mean, doing
more serious stuff than with Jake and the twins back in The Village?"

"Hey, I loved it. Luke and I just seemed to have `clicked'. Everything that
he did to me felt great, and he seemed to really like me too. But it was
just good sexy fun. No chemistry beyond getting off with another guy. I
didn't tingle the way I do when you touch me. But, you know what I really
loved?"

I just look at him. I don't need to ask because he's going to tell me
anyway!

"I loved watching you giving Simon a blow job and taking him right in. It
was like watching a video of you doing it to me - from a totally different
angle to what I can normally see." He giggles. "And I liked having you
watch me do it to Luke. The smirk on your face just encouraged me to go for
it."

I reply, "Yeh, I enjoyed the expressions on yours and Luke's faces
too. However, I have to admit that I'm a little embarrassed by what I was
thinking when we were side by side blowing the pair of them." I just know
he will ask!

"And what was that?" Haha. I knew he couldn't resist!

"Well, I imagined, just for a moment, that it was you and I with Karl and
Kurt. Weird eh?"

"Yeh, well you wouldn't be the first one to have those thoughts!"

"Eh?" I ask.

He laughs, "Well, if they haven't thought about it, I certainly have!

"You're incorrigible!" I say.

"Hey, I don't know what that means, but I'll bet that you're right!" he
smirks at me.

"Do you need any practice?" I shoot back at him. "I know where you can get
some." I smile at him and hold it, awaiting a response.

"Yeh, Luke would love that."

"I didn't mean HIM!" I say, raising my voice, but playfully. And I punch
him on the shoulder.

The banter continues until I hear a car pull up. "Mum's home!" I announce,
fearing that the moment of confrontation is very near. What a pity she
didn't stay away longer. She and Aunty Doris could have bent each other's
ears for a few more hours, thank you! For that matter, so could have Amy
and Karen.

Moments later the front door opens to unleash a cacophony of female voices.

`What the hell?' I think, then look up to see Mum, `Aunty' Doris, `cousin'
Karen and Amelia. I don't know how many separate conversations are going on
at once but it certainly sounds like more than one or two.

`Good!', I think to myself. `More delays. I hope they stay for dinner.'

As the fearsome foursome come through to where Will and I are sitting,
their babble comes to an abrupt halt. Aunty Doris and Karen look from me to
Will and back again. A few times. I've become accustomed to THAT confused
expression and I smile at Will. He smirks too.

I stand to greet them. "Aunty Doris, you have no idea how good it is to see
you again." I say, taking her hand and kissing her on both cheeks. "And
Karen... don't you look amazing?" I know that the way to a woman's heart is
flattery.

She takes both of my hands and gives me the double-kiss greeting.

This kissing is a family and friends thing, and I know that Will is about
to get his wish.

Mum says, "Doris, Karen, I'd like you to meet my nephew, Will, about whom
we spoke."

"Hello, darling," Aunty Doris says. "How wonderful to meet you!" Then she
plants a polite one on each of his cheeks. Turning an inquiring face to
Mum, she adds, "I still can't believe that Bill has a son!"

Mum smirks, "Neither could we, but that's another story." She smiles at
Will and me. I wink back. Will blushes a little.

Will extends his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Karen," he says most
politely. "Tom has told me a lot about you."

Always the extrovert, Karen grabs his shoulders, pulls him into a hug then
gives him a triple kiss. Will looks at her, stunned.

She relieves his confusion with, "one for good health; one for good luck;
and one just for `good to meet you'". She smiles. He is definitely
blushing, big time! Sis giggles.

Then he turns to me and gives me a cheeky smirk. I know what's going
through his mind! The kids at The Village will enjoy hearing about this, as
much as he will enjoy telling it, probably with a little embellishment!

Amelia, not to be forgotten, simply pretends to kiss me on both cheeks with
a loud `mwa, mwa', then mockingly pokes out her tongue. However, she
doesn't fake the two kisses that she gives to Will. He laughs. She giggles
then races upstairs.

Mum explains, "Amelia has really taken a liking to her new-found cousin!"

Pleasantries are still being exchanged when Amelia re-appears, clutching a
bunch of papers. I recognise them.

"Aunty Doris, Karen, would you like to see my new drawings? Will's been
helping me." Coming from Sis, this is not a question; more of a polite
directive to make her the centre of attention.

Some cursory interest is shown in her unique monstrosities (even with some
realistic eyes). However, when Will's pencil sketch of Amelia is produced,
their attention heightens.

"Amelia, darling, is this one of yours? No, it couldn't be... it's of
you. Who did this?"

"Will," she replies, looking at him proudly.

Karen joins in. "Hey, Will, this is good, really good. Congratulations!"

I'm not sure whether it's appropriate to congratulate people on their
talent, but Will nods in appreciation of the compliment.

Mum continues, "Doris, Karen, you must come and look at a painting that
Will gave me." She leads them to the lounge room and proudly indicates
Will's `Weir and School'.

"Oh, my!" Aunty Doris exclaims.

"That's beautiful," Karen adds. "Is it a photograph?" Then, looking more
closely, answers her own question. "No. I can see the brush strokes. It's a
painting. What a beautiful landscape. Where did you find it?"

Mum says, "Yes, and Will painted it."

Following two gasps, between the two of them, Aunty Doris and Karen begin a
series of incomplete questions.

"When did you...?"

"How did you...?"

"How can you...?"

And others.

I think, `Will, bro, you're going to have to get used to these questions
and comments from people'.

With amazed interest from them, and encouragement from Amelia, Will, shyly
retrieves his portfolio and, with all of us sitting around him, he begins
to show them what he has brought with him, adding comments on the subject
matter in more detail than he had done previously with Uncle Bill present.

The perverse thought that enters my mind is that the longer everyone is
focussed on Will, interspersed with tea, coffee and food, the less inclined
Mum will be to corner me and dump stuff on me.

I decide to see how far I can push the envelope. "Aunty Doris, are you
going to stay for dinner? There is so much that we could catch up on."

It's Mum who responds. "I have already tried to persuade her, Thomas, but
Aunty Doris says that she has other commitments and that Karen has some
research that she needs to undertake."

Aunty Doris looks at her watch and exclaims, "Goodness me! Where has the
time gone? Thank you, Susan. Karen, darling, we really must be going."

They both gush over Will and his work one final time before giving him more
smooches to tell the kids about back at The Village.

Mutual kisses and hugs all around and they are gone.

Sis asks Will for another lesson. I try to dissuade her, but Will is more
than accommodating. Bless him! Curse him! Now Mum and I will be alone
together.

Mum makes us both a fresh coffee and gets straight to the point. "Thomas,
let's go to your dad's study and we can talk in private."

I recall Uncle Bill's words once again, "Get it over and done with!"

Closing the study door, Mum indicates for me to sit in one of the arm
chairs. I envisage her sitting behind the desk and berating me over some
issue, or dumping some dirt about Uncle Bill, my biological father, on
me. I'm surprised when she sits in the other arm chair, alongside me.

Putting her cup next to mine on the small coffee table, she takes my hand
and looks into my eyes. "I love you, Thomas," she says as a conversation
starter.

"I love you too, Mum," I reply, almost automatically, and with a little
less tenderness than I would have offered normally.

She looks at me and I see that her eyes are showing signs of becoming
moist. I think, `This is going to be bad! She loves me but she thinks that
Will and I being together is wrong'.

She says, "Thomas, I'm glad that you and Will have found each other. He is
so much like you. I really like him." I'm anticipating a big
`BUT...'. However, she continues, "And do does Amelia. I think that the two
of them are going to be good for one another."

Now I'm confused. She's OK with Will and Sis enjoying each other's company
but she doesn't want her gay son and gay nephew being together and `doing
stuff'. That's not fair! We are the brothers that each of us always wanted
yet never knew. Our mutual magnetism (albeit sexually orientated) is some
karma, I feel, for the years of `lost time' together growing up. Surely!

"Thomas, your father and I have talked about something and he thinks that I
should be the one to tell you." Whatever it is, I'm not giving up Will! It
will break my heart. And his! She has Dad and Amelia. I want him.

"Thomas, there's something that you need to know."

My patience is wearing thin, but I take a deep breath and say, as clamly as
possible, "What Mum? What do you need to tell me?"

She squeezes my hand, and her voice suddenly seems a little croaky as she
says, "I have inoperable cancer. The doctor thinks that I may have only
three to six months to live."

I am instantly overcome with guilt because of what I was thinking of her
and supposing that she was going to say to me. I am totally devastated. I
clamp both hands over my mouth in an attempt to stop my bottom jaw from
quivering. My eyes fill and overflow. I can't hold it in. My emotions
erupt. OMG.

A loudly-whispered "No!" escapes from my trembling mouth. "No, Mum! Not
you! It can't be. You are so healthy! There must be some mistake. No! No!
No!"

Then I am so wracked with emotion that all I can do is stand, urge her to
her feet and hug her to me, and hold her and cry against her.

"Thomas, honey," she begins, attempting to comfort me by rubbing my back,
"I'm afraid there's no mistake. I've just finished having the blood tests,
scans and biopsies. The specialist confirmed everything a few days ago. I
will start a course of chemotherapy probably late next week."

Attempting to allay my own emotions I ask, "Does Amelia know?"

Mum replies, "No, not yet. That will be the most difficult. For all her
extroversion, she is really quite fragile. I need to pick the right time
and place to tell her. Please don't say anything to her at the moment."

I contemplate the plight of my little sister at her vulnerable and needy
age, being left without a mother, without Mum, and I burst into tears
again. I revert to a childhood habit and wipe my nose and eyes with my
forearm and shirt sleeve.

"Come on son," Mum says, trying to be positive. "Let's go and get a fresh
coffee and sit out by the pool. I would not want Amelia or Will to see you
upset when they emerge from her drawing lesson. Let's talk about some good
things, like Uncle Bill, and Will's future as an artist." She pulls a small
handful of tissues from the box on Dad's desk and hands most of them to me,
dabbing at her own eyes with the others.

We pass Amelia's closed door. Their laughter is evidence that Will is
making this lesson an enjoyable one too.

I go straight to the table by the pool, almost inadvertently glancing up to
Simon's balcony. Nobody there. The memory of our fun brings a slight smile
to my dial and I mop away the remnants of my tears. I hope that my eyes are
not red and puffy. I use the tissues in an attempt to fan away the heat
that I feel, and to accelerate the evaporation of any remaining moisture.

Mum emerges with a plate of custard tarts. "The coffee will be ready in a
minute. You still like these, I hope?" She waves the plate in front of my
face. Now that's a perfect example of a redundant question, if ever I heard
one! "I thought that they might help."

There are five. One each for Mum, me, Sis and Will. She sees me counting
and doing the mental arithmetic. "If we leave four for when they others
come down, they'll never know that you had a head start!" She smirks at
me. She knows me like nobody else does. I love her. I contemplate `only 3-6
months?' And for nearly all of that time I won't be here with her and Dad
and Amelia. I'll be teaching back in The Village. At least I will have
Will. But he's not Mum. I love them both, but it's different. Perhaps God
has led me to Will to ease the pain of losing her. Is that ridiculous? It's
not fair! It's not an eye for an eye! It's a love for a love! That's cruel!
I want both.

OMG. How is Amelia going to cope?



To be continued...

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