Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2002 01:42:36 -0500
From: T D <magickmaker7@hotmail.com>
Subject: Caleb's Love: "Family or Foe" ch. 1

(Author's Note): Ok I'll keep it short and sweet. Read responsibly. Hope you
like this Chapter. Also know that I have started the "Nightmares" series and
you can find it in the sf/fiction section.

"Family or Foe" - CHAPTER 1 - New Beginnings

******************************
Caleb's POV

	I had just gotten out of the shower. It felt so good to be back in our
house again. Sure it was smaller... or whatever, but it was, I felt,
something that was at least both of ours. It was where we lived and, like at
the end of any vacation, it was nice to actually be home.

	Of course, that didn't change the fact that we would still need a bigger
house. For now Arinna was staying in the guest room that, by chance, I had
never gotten around to using. That gave us a full house though. We both
decided that it would be nice to be able to have family over if we wanted
them. For that we would need a guest room. There was just no way around it.
We would have to move eventually.

	For now though, this was home. The shower I had taken was both relaxing and
refreshing. As I turned out of the bathroom though I wasn't ready for the
sight that greeted me. Immediately my legs seemed to turn to jelly, my
stomach did flips, and my heart fluttered uncontrollably.

	Dylan was sitting on the edge of our bed. He was totally naked! His legs
were opened. He was supporting himself with one hand while he slowly stroked
himself with his other hand. Oh god! I could just about see every inch of
him!

	My eyes traced the contours of his body. His lovely toned legs, abs, and
arms. His midsection so inviting that it sent a shiver up my spine. The
smooth amazing skin, the hair, his face... his eyes. Those eyes that were so
lusty, so pure, so penetrating. God help me I just fell into those eyes!
Then it really hit me, as it had several times before: this man was really
mine!

	I hadn't even realized I had moved. Nevertheless I bumped up against the
wall behind me. I thought, maybe, I saw a small smile play across his lips.
Then, once again, I was stunned as he spoke to me.

	It was just barely above a whisper. "Mmm. Caleb. Do you realize just how
beautiful you are? Please, Caleb, come here Baby."

	I was mesmerized. I couldn't tell you why, this time, he was having this
much of an effect on me. I really didn't know. At the same time I didn't
want it to stop! I felt, almost, powerless as my legs moved me slowly toward
him.

	The towel was a fleeting thought in the back of my mind. As it dropped to
the floor I barely even realized it left my hand until I felt it by my feet.
Then, like nothing I could quite describe, a wave of urgency just swept over
me. Reaching Dylan I knelt in front of him, and brought his head down a
little to my lips.

	Oh god his lips! It was like, for the first time, I was tasting just how
amazing they were. So soft and sweet and I didn't want to stop but I had to
taste more of him. I brought my mouth to his nipple and sucked it. His back
arched as he tried desperately to breathe as he was a *little* overwhelmed.
My little administrations traveled all over his chest. We needed each other
though. I needed him so much! Now!

	In an unspoken agreement we just stopped. I got up and made an attempt to
climb into his lap, facing him. The position was new and it just called to
me. I couldn't help but thinking that my mother always had told me to try
new things. Somehow I was sure that this wasn't what she meant.

	Of course all thoughts of my mother, my family, and the rest of the
universe, were chased away as I slowly sat down on Dylan's hard rod. I too
was feeling vastly overwhelmed as I felt it stretching and filling me. So
nice, so much! That thought was quickly replaced with how it was oh too
nice! Too much! as it rubbed against my prostate.

	Then I felt it. He was all the way in me and I was sitting fully on his
lap. Now, at this point, one might expect that we would start a session of
mad and frantic love making. They would be wrong. It was just the opposite.
Yet, it was everything that the both of us needed.

	We embraced. We hugged. We melted into each other as I wrapped not only my
arms, as he did, but also my legs around him. We kissed and rubbed each
other all over any body parts we could reach. The only thing, almost
carefully, avoided was my ever growing manhood. That would be all we needed.

	The tension built up excruciatingly slow. When the time came though I think
it took both of us by surprise. It was gentle and felt, almost, paralyzing.
Nice though. Very nice! As we came down from the heights of the orgasm we
would remember for years to come we just held each other. The feeling of his
heart beating against mine seemed so amazing. Everything I could have ever
hoped for. I wasn't sure I deserved it, but I was so glad to have it!

******************************
Dylan's POV

	It was easily one of the most fulfilling sexual experiences we had ever
shared. I wasn't sure what had put Caleb in that kind of a mood but god it
was amazing! I seemed impossible that I could love him any more than I
already did but every day my love for him grew. Caleb was just so completely
easy to love! Maybe because we were meant for each other.

	Still, that thought led to others. It led to the people that had rejected
him. I couldn't help think of them for some reason. I couldn't shake the
thought of Caleb's parents. Maybe it was because we were talking more and
more about our ceremony and it just seemed wrong for him to not have anyone
there! How could none of them love him? Somebody had to care for him. The
mere idea that they didn't seemed impossible to me.

	It was two days after that experience that I had made up my mind. I was
going to contact them. I was going to reach out a hand to the people who had
hurt him so much. I wasn't doing it for them! I was doing it for Caleb.
Family was something that I wanted him to have! I wanted so much for him to
have that! I could not though, and would not, do this without his
permission. It was after dinner that night, as he was snuggled between my
legs, that I approached the subject with him.

	"Caleb Baby I wanted to talk to you about something." I said carefully.

	"Uh huh." He said lazily. He stroked my arm, willing me to go on.

	"Well, it's just, I was thinking..." now that the time was here for me to
say it I couldn't bring myself to. I was so afraid of what he would say, of
what he would think; so afraid that he would misunderstand why I wanted
this.

	He must have sensed that it was something important and that I was having a
hard time with it. He turned so that his back was now against the inside of
my left leg. He looked at my face and into my eyes. Finally he nuzzled his
face against my neck.

	"Dylan" he whispered to me. "Don't worry about it! Just say what you want
to say and then we can talk about it. It seems like it'll be something I
don't like. So if you don't say now I'll only get more nervous!"

	 I hadn't even thought about what my hesitance would do to him! He was
right though and now he had me! I had to ask him or now it would become
something between us that would loom over our heads. I sighed. "Well it's
just that I was thinking about your family." I practically whispered.

	"Dylan you... you are my family." he replied carefully.

	"Caleb, I mean your other family. Your parents, siblings, and anyone else.
I was thinking, well maybe, we should contact them." And lord knows I tried
to make that sound rational but, even as I said it, I knew it sounded
totally ridiculous.

	He didn't say a word. Nothing. He just got up out of my arms. I grabbed for
him but missed. "Baby come on, talk to me!" I pleaded with him as he
retreated to the bedroom. The look he gave me hurt. He looked, almost,
disgusted of me.

	"Dylan I just... please, I just need some time to think this out." he said,
before turning and closing the bedroom door behind him. My ears strained and
I felt a little relieved that he didn't lock the door. At least it felt like
he wasn't totally shutting me out.

	I had to be careful now though. I couldn't go in too soon. I had just
resolved to give him ten minutes when the door slowly opened and there he
stood. So much for waiting! He had tears in his eyes. I slowly got up,
giving him time to object if he wanted to, and went to him.

	"I'm so sorry!" he sobbed as I took him into my arms.

	"Sorry? For what?" I asked, appalled that he thought he did something
wrong.

	"I don't want to be without you! I shouldn't have left. I realized that me
leaving was like just walking out on what we have. Not trusting it enough to
see us through this. I... I was just stupid!" he practically whispered.

	"Ssh. It's okay. In a way you're right. This is different and I understand
that. Look, if you don't want to do this I will totally understand. What
about your parents though? What if they've come around by now? Don't you at
least want to give them that chance?"

	"No." he whimpered. "You don't understand Dylan. I know them. They wouldn't
have changed. They hate what I am. They don't even know me as a person! They
don't want to."

	I sighed. "Well, if.."

	"Wait! Please, wait... If you want to do this, then we can do this. I
almost think that I would like us to so that you can understand. If this is
what it's going to take, for you to understand, then I'll do it." he tried
to give me a smile. It was clearly only a half-hearted attempt.

	I gently kissed him on the nose. We agreed that we would make a call to his
parents the next day. I would start the call and if they wanted to talk to
him then he would get on the phone. He had come up with the plan and I liked
it. It was as if I was getting a chance to guard him from the possibility of
any danger.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dylan's POV, next day.

	The next day was one of nervousness. Almost nothing was said over
breakfast. I could tell that this was hard for him. He didn't want to do it.
I didn't want to push him but, at the same time, I knew that he would never
let me back out. As much as he didn't want this, I could tell that he needed
it.

	Finally, I had gotten back from work and it was the time we were both
waiting for. After our greetings and hugs he just looked at the phone
ominously. I guided him over to the sofa before getting the phone. I
returned with the phone and I too realized that we were both dreading this
moment. We couldn't go into it like this.

	I took Caleb's hand. I looked him straight in the eyes. "Baby" I began,
"Listen to me. This doesn't matter. No matter what happens, when we hang up
this phone, we're still the same. They can't hurt you anymore. I won't let
them."

	He nodded and smiled. It was probably the first true smile I had seen from
him since last night. So, hoping that was sufficient, I picked up the phone.
I handed it to him and he dialed the number before handing it back to me. As
I put the phone to my ear I took his hand in mine and lightly kissed it.

	After several rings I heard the phone get pick up. "Hello?" said a woman on
the other end of the phone.

	"Yes, is Mr. or Mrs. Redding there?" I asked as calmly as I could. .

	"This is Mrs. Redding." she replied.

	I was shocked. I practically dropped the phone. Caleb, obviously
understanding the issue, just sighed at me. She sounded so... smart and
educated. I was expecting her to sound ignorant or something. Not this! This
did not sound like the kind of woman that would kick her son out of her
house for being different! People did some insane things in the name of
religion! The thought sent a scared shiver up my spine.

	"Hello?" she questioned. I guess I had been quiet for a little too long.

	"Oh. Yes, I'm so sorry Mrs. Redding." I replied, broken from my shocked
trance.

	"Mrs. Redding I'll get to the point here. I'm calling about your son, Caleb
Redding." I said confidently. I felt Caleb tense next to me.

	There was a rather long pause. I could hear whispering in the background.
"Yes, go on." she finally replied.

	I threw Caleb a hopeful glance. "Well, you see, me and him have become
fairly close and I just thought you should know what's going on in his life.
You see, he's getting married soon. He had the idea that you wouldn't want
to see him but I really don't understand why." I said carefully.

	I was sure I heard a stifled gasp. "He's... getting married? Oh I knew it!
I knew that he would find a nice woman one of these days and it would...
change things for him. You have to understand, things were quite different
the last time we all saw him. My husband and I wouldn't tolerate him really.
He was living a life of sin!" she said, as if she actually knew what she was
talking about.

	"Mrs. Redding, I think..." I started to protest.

	"Oh, please, call me Donna." she interrupted.

	"Ok, um, Donna. I think you misunderstood. Perhaps I should have explained
better. He's not marrying a woman. It's a man that he's met." I said as
calmly as I could.

	"A... a man?" she questioned. She sounded like she had probably gone pale
and was about to toss her cookies. Which is why it surprised me to hear her
say, with pure venom in her voice, "Well, you can tell him that NOTHING has
changed in that case. His father and I will NOT tolerate or approve of his
sin! It's unnatural, disgusting, and a disgraceful abomination to what God
wants! Who are you to come to me with this anyway?"

	This certainly was more than I really wanted to deal with! I cleared my
throat. "I, Mrs. Redding, am his disgraceful abomination of a husband."

	"YOU!" she shrieked so loud I instinctively pulled the phone away from my
ear. "How DARE you! My son was raised to know right from wrong! But you, all
of your kind, are just determined to drag him to the depths of hell with
you! Aren't you! Well I will NOT have any more of my children corrupted by
this! He is not welcomed back in to THIS house until he finds the lord and
repents for his sins! And as for you, you will NEVER be welcomed into my
home. If you ever even think about..."

	This was ridiculous and just had to stop! "Mrs. Redding! ENOUGH! He was
right about you. I don't even know why I called. Actually, no, I DO know why
I called. Because Caleb is a truly amazing man, no thanks to you! If you
raised him for seventeen years, and all you can see in him now is that he is
gay, you lived for seventeen years with someone you don't even know! What
makes you think we would even WANT to come to your home? Mrs. Redding I
thought you an intelligent woman. I was obviously wrong and I'm sorry I even
called." With that I hung up the phone, hoping that I would never have to
face that woman again.

	Caleb wasn't exactly crying. He actually just had a deer-in-the-headlights
sort of look to him. "Caleb." I called, no answer. "Caleb." I said a little
louder, no answer. "Caleb!" I almost shouted, wrapping my hand around the
back of his head and turning him to face me. That seemed to do it and his
expression softened.

	"Are you ok Babe? You were kind of zoned out there." I asked gently.

	"Oh. Yeah. Sorry. You're done right? I just didn't want to hear that. I
guess you could say I sort of put my mind somewhere else." he replied,
blushing a little.

	I sighed. This just wasn't right! "Caleb are you sure that there's no one
in your family that might like to see you? I just hate that thought."

	"Dylan you talked to my mother! That's how it is. There's no..." he stopped
dead in mid-sentence.

	"What? That's something! What did you just think Babe?" I replied, hoping
and getting just a little excited.

	"Uncle Chris." he said, sounding almost amazed. "UNCLE CHRIS! I don't know
WHY I didn't think of it before! It makes perfect sense!"

	"What? What about your Uncle Chris?"

	"That's just it, I don't know! What I DO know is that I NEVER saw him
growing up. He was barely even talked about... sort of taboo I guess you
could say. But around the time I came out I did hear him mentioned more. I
didn't even think about it! Us children just knew it was something we
weren't supposed to talk about. Dylan I wonder if he's..." he left the
sentence hanging. I KNEW the implications of it.

	"Well, um... listen Babe. He might just be. Don't get too excited about it
though. There are no guarantees here." Ok, I'll admit, I was VERY hopeful. I
didn't want him to be hurt though if he was wrong. Knowing these people
Chris could have done anything to make him a black sheep in the family!

	"Yeah, I know! But that would be someone at least..." he affirmed, sounding
a little sad. "Ya know I loved them Dylan. Towards the end, I can't really
say that I loved my parents. My sisters though, and my kid-brother, I cared
about them so much! They wouldn't even let me see them Dylan!" This was
something I hadn't even thought about. It obviously had him sad though. He
was on the verge of tears. At least it was that much. Now that wounds were
healing I noticed that he seemed to cry less than before.

	"Ok, it's ok." I comforted, stroking his back. When he seemed at a safe
level again I continued, "So, do you know how we can contact this Chris?"
That was really something I was worried about. There was virtually no way to
contact him that I could see. I was sure his family wouldn't be forthcoming
with the information.

	"I... um, no. Well, no. YES! Yes I do know a way!" he sounded pretty
pleased with himself. "I remember that they said he was a doctor. He's
supposed to work at some hospital in West Virginia. Something with a P...
not Peters... P... Pa... Parkers! Parkersburg! That's it. Shouldn't we be
able to find him with that much?"

	 I smiled. I was very impressed with my man! He had one sharp memory! I
know I probably wouldn't have been able to do half as well. "Yeah, actually,
I think that'll do."

	"Hey, what's all the yelling about?" Arinna was at the doorway.

	"We might be on to something about Caleb's family." I replied, probably a
little too excited about it.

	"Oh. Ok. Didn't you want to talk to me about something?"

	For a brief second my mind went blank. I knew I DID want to talk to her.
For the life of me though I didn't remember why! So I motioned her over and
she sat down. That's when it came to me: school.

	"I think we need to talk about school. About you getting some form of
education." I knew she would have something to say about it.

	She looked at me like I had just grown two more heads. "Um, education?
Dylan, what have you been smoking?"

	It was at the unfortunate moment that I had taken a sip of my water. It was
over! Before I even realized it I spit water all over the place. To hear her
using such slang really was funny! I suppose some people, especially with
teenagers, wouldn't think twice about it. But when an Avatar with the wisdom
of centuries asks you, with classic sarcasm, what you've been smoking... it
just ferociously attacked my sense of humor.

	Of course by this time I was choking all over the place and Caleb was
shaking his head as he got up to get something to clean the mess I made.
Arinna looked somewhere between proud and scared that she had said the wrong
thing. This of course made me laugh even more. Finally I calmed down a bit
and managed to pull myself together.

	"You know I don't smoke you lunatic! And I know that you know that, so good
joke! Really though, I'm serious here. You DO need to go to school."

	"Dylan have you forgotten that I am really even more than an Avatar and I
know all there is to know? It would be pointless for me to go. Ridiculous
even."

	I knew this would be the argument. "I know that. The problem with it is
other people. If the neighbors see you out of school too much then they will
call people and we'll have trouble. Not to mention that soon you would just
be home by yourself. Caleb is not going to stay home every day like this.
Not on a permanent basis." Ah, the one thing I had forgotten to talk to
Caleb about. I saw him look at me, totally confused now. I just gave him an
"I'll tell you later" look.

	"But... come on! That's not right Dylan and you know it! I know how those
schools are. It'll be like torture for me!" she protested.

	"No, you're not getting away with it that easily. It's just not going to
happen. You have to get some kind of education or it'll mean trouble for
us." she looked absolutely defeated. Which she was.

	"When?" she asked, sounding like she had just heard she was dying.

	"I'm not sure. Soon though. Within a week from tomorrow. I'm actually
having the right documents created at this point. Needless to say I'm a
little on edge about it. It'll work out though. And once we have them we
have to look into a school for you." She didn't like the idea. I could tell.
I also knew that, in this country, I had to do it or we would have problems.

	With a "fine" she turned and grumbled, heading off to her room. I knew that
it would be hard for. There was no doubt in my mind about that. It was just
a sort of necessary evil that we had to get through.

	I knew that Caleb didn't like the idea either. Like me though, he knew it
as it was. I knew he wanted to ask about what I had planned for him. Not yet
though. I took his hand and together we went to the computer. I got online
and searched for medical licenses. Caleb wasn't sure what kind of doctor his
Uncle Chris was, but in the end that was still okay.

	We began our search under "Christopher" and Caleb's mother's maiden name,
"Haden". A little to my dismay the search turned up nothing. That was the
point that I would have stopped. Luckily, Caleb was thinking. The search had
been for an exact name. Caleb clicked an option for a license "including,
but not limited to" the name we had tried.

	There it was, plain as day. Dr. Christopher Haden-Bailey currently working
at a hospital in Parkersburg, West Virginia. It showed that he was a
Cardiologist. After exchanging knowing and hopeful glances me and Caleb
looked up the hospital. Sure enough the website for the hospital had a
telephone number for him. Of course it probably wasn't a home phone number.
It was still a number though.

	"Well, you want to?" I asked Caleb, making sure.

	"Hell yes! Lets do this. Lets do it now, I have to know." He looked excited
and worried. With the thoughts running through my head I could only imagine
what was going through his! "Please, let me make this call." he added.

	A little weary of where this could go, I handed him the phone. At the very
worst, it was only a phone. The only reason I let him make the call was that
I was right there next to him.

	After a couple rings the phone, which must have been a cell phone, picked
up. "Dr. Haden speaking."

	I could tell the Caleb was a little nervous. "Ah yes, Dr. Haden. You
probably wouldn't know who I am but, I have to know, do you have a sister by
the name of Donna Redding?" Ok, so maybe not how I would have approached it.
I still thought my man was doing fine though.

	"Oh. Um, well, yes I do. Who are you and what is this in reference to?"
Chris was apparently caught off guard and it showed.

	"I'm sorry doctor, my name is Caleb Redding and I'm sure..."

	"Caleb Redding?!" the man interrupted. "Oh I DO know who you are! I just
never thought... how are you? Where are you? Are you okay?" he must have
sounded pretty worried because Caleb just smiled at me.

	"First of all, yes, I'm fine. I'm actually at home right now. Well, not my
mother's house, but mine. Pennsylvania actually. A bit far from home, I
know. So are you apparently. I'm fine though. Better than fine." It was
amazing. Caleb looked more happy than I could ever admit to having seen him
before.

	"Oh God that's good! I... I'm so glad to hear that. When I had heard that
you ran off and they didn't know where you were I felt, almost guilty
really. I mean I... listen, now is not the best time to talk. Do you think
that you could give me your phone number there? Or I can give you mine at
home? I do want to talk to you, kid, more then you know!"

	"Yeah. Ok. That would be fine. Great actually." he replied. In the end they
both exchanged phone numbers and Caleb was told that he could call the next
day and that around ten o'clock would be fine. Caleb insisted that he wanted
to call, not the other way around. I knew that it was probably a fear of
losing touch with the only family he felt he had now. For now though, that
was fine with me. I knew there had to be someone...

*****************************************************************
Haha! That's it for now people. Thanks for reading and such. By the way, if
anyone is interested, you are welcome to join my newly formed group, RWR:
Rainbow Writers & Readers, at Yahoo Groups. It's easy enough. And if anyone
can't figure out how to do it then you can just email and ask me to send you
an invite. I'd be happy to! It should be lots of fun and lead to all kinds
of interesting discussions (Really it already has, in a way)

Questions, Comments, or whatever, email me at Magickmaker7@hotmail.com -or-
Magickmaker579@yahoo.com