Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 21:25:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: William Becker <billdrae2002@yahoo.com>
Subject: Protecting David 9

The characters in this story are fictional.  I enjoy your
email and if you would like to send me your comments my
email address is;  billdrae2002@yahoo.com


                    Protecting David 9

Late October in the Midwest is a time of cool crisp nights,
with fireplaces coming back into use for the first time in
months and of enormous, pale gold, harvest moons rising
slowly through the trees into the evening sky. The trees,
having saved their best for last, now let their leaves go,
and they drift down in a steady rain of gold and rust to
form a crunchy coating on the ground below.   It's a time
for trips to small orchards for bushels of apples and of
searching with little boys for the perfect pumpkin.  In a
tough year, the end of October can be a time of surprise
snowstorms, and in kinder years, warm dry days lit by a sun
at a lowering angle, but it's always a time of change, a
time of settling in, of nesting.  It's also David's
birthday, October 29th.
                         -----------------

When I walked into our favorite restaurant George the owner
greeted me like a long lost relative.  His son's in the Army
now and when he found out that I had been in too, it changed
our relationship.  Now I was an authority, someone to be
consulted, almost a member of the family.  I extricated
myself as best I could and worked my way toward David.  The
waiter was just setting martinis and menus at our booth.
David thanked the guy and then saw me and smiled.  I slid
into the booth.

"Happy birthday sweetheart."  I lifted the martini as did
David and we clinked glasses.

David gave me a twisted little smile.  "I have mixed
emotions."

"David you were a hot guy yesterday, you're a hot guy today
and you'll be a hot guy tomorrow."  I reached over and took
his hand.  "And besides, I love you, period, and I don't
care how old you are and besides, everybody thinks that I'm
older than you.  You don't show your age.  Geez, when you
were twenty you musta looked like twelve."

David laughed.  "I did!  God, how I hated it.  But don't
keep me in suspense, what did Frank give you?"

"Oh come on David!  You can't tell me that Frank didn't tell
you."

"Honest Mark, he didn't.  I made him promise not to.  I know
how you feel about that."

"Sure?"

"I swear Mark!  So fucking tell me!"

"Special Assistant to the President," I shrugged my
shoulders,  "sounds good anyway.  Big pay increase and I get
to hold the hand of every general on the planet."

"You don't sound too thrilled with it.  It sounds good."

"Actually I am thrilled with it.  I wasn't sure at first but
the more I thought about it, I realized that it gave me
maximum freedom and it lets me do what I do best, schmooz
the military.  Anyway my office is right next to Franks.
There's even a connecting door."

David looked down at his drink and then up at me.  "Sounds
like Frank wants someone close that he knows he can trust.
I have a feeling there'll be more to that job than you
think."

"Maybe, I hope anyway.  Who's with Alex?  Joan?"  I was
poking around in the relish tray.

"Yeah, they get along.  But I have a woman coming over later
in the week, a Mrs. Meurer, I think.  Anyway her husband
died about a year and a half ago and she's looking for
something to do but the neat thing is that she's originally
from the Alsace in France and she speaks German as well as
French, and of course, English.  I think that would be good
for Alex.  I mean not to totally lose his German and maybe
pick up a bit of French.  So far she's checked out okay,
too."

"David, how on earth do you check these people out?"  I
popped an olive in my mouth.

"We use a company in Los Angeles.  They do a very thorough
job and it's a vital thing for us."

David pushed his hand across the table until his fingertips
touched mine.  "So anyway.. Halloween.  You wanna give out
candy at the house or walk Alex around?"

I smiled.  "When you ask something like that you usually
have your own idea of what I should do.  Sweetheart, why
don't you just tell me?  It'll save a lot of time."

David laughed.  "Yeah, well, you're right.  I want you to
walk him around the neighborhood.  Cause you're big and
nobody would try anything with you around."

"Have you heard something?  Why would you be afraid of
that?"  I could feel the hair rising on the back of my neck.

"No, no!  Calm down!  It's just like a pet fear of mine.  It
happened in our town when I was a little kid and the parents
all freaked and scared the shit out of us kids and now I
always think of it."  David flexed his fingers against mine.
"So will ya do it?"

I put my hand over his and held it.  "Of course babe, don't
worry.  Nobody is gonna touch Alex."

"Good!  I mean I know that it's nuts but it's just one of
those weird things that adults put into kids heads that ends
up driving them crazy later in life."

David leaned back a bit and smiled.  "Okay, so where's my
present?"

"Present?"

"Oh right!  You've been asking questions all week, you've
been maneuvering all week and you're really lousy at trying
to conceal things, so fork it over.  Whatcha get me?"

I laughed out loud.  "Well you little fucker I guess you're
right.  Okay, but if you hate it you gotta tell me.  No,
wait, it's been...well, you'll see." I reached into my inner
jacket pocket and pulled out the thin package and slid it
over to him.  His green eyes danced with the pleasure of the
moment and the light of the flickering candle on the table.

David tore the package open like a little kid and lifted the
watch out, the supple links of the band draping over his
fingers like heavy silk.  "Oh, wow!  It's beautiful!  Oh,
man, I love the black dial!"

"It's automatic.  You don't ever have to wind it or change
the battery.  And see that little dial tells you how wound
it is and the other one shows the date."

"Geez, it feels so heavy!"  David turned the watch over and
then held it near the candle so that he could read the
inscription.  "Oh...yeah."  He looked at me his eyes
glistening.
"Forever, Mark.... forever.  You know that."

                         --------------------------

We got home early to relieve Joan and maybe more because we
wanted to be there to put Alex to bed.  There's something
important about putting kids to bed, something big.

Alex came running to us when we came in through the garage.
Joe, as usual, was right behind, his tail going a mile a
minute.  I scooped Alex up and kissed his neck and made him
squirm.

He squealed.  "Daddy that tickles!"

"I know you little devil, that's why I do it."  I handed him
off to David who kissed him on the chin and then tilted him
over so that he was practically upside down and shrieking,
and then shrieking even louder when Joe came over and
started licking his face.

Joan came into the kitchen for a second with her coat on.
"You guys are home early."

David laughed.  "We missed the little monster."

Joan bent down and kissed Alex.  "'Night, sweetheart."

"'Night, Mrs.Gallagher."

"Guys, I'm gonna run.  This actually lets me get something
done tonight."

David saw Joan to the door while Alex and I walked to his
bedroom.

David walked into Alex's bedroom just as I was pulling the
covers up to his chin.

"Daddy, can I have the light on in the bathroom?"

Leaning down to kiss his forehead David asked.  "The big
light or the little light?"

"The little light.  Joe doesn't like the big light on."

"Okay, Sweetheart, you got it."

I hunkered down next to Alex's bed and touched his hair with
my fingers.  "'Night, Alex."

Alex sat up for a second and leaning over, hugged me.
"'Night, Dad."

I looked down the bed at Joe and he looked like he wanted a
hug, too, so I petted his head and scratched behind his
ears.  He closed his eyes and pushed his snout towards me.

When I got to the door I turned and asked Alex.  "Open or
closed?"

"Open, but just a little bit."

"'Night, Son."

                         -----------------------------------

David was in our bedroom hanging up his suit.  I stood in
front of him while I undressed.

"Alex is so cute.  I love it when we put him to bed,"  I
laughed.  "What is that smell that clean little boys have?"

David smiled at me.  "Probably the smell of innocence."

I stepped out of my pants and threw them on a chair and then
took David's face in my hands.  I spoke softly.  "He doesn't
smell as good as you do."   I kissed him slowly and deeply,
probing with my tongue and sucking on his.  I pulled him to
my chest.  "I wish I could tell you how good you smell.  So
clean, and well, kinda electric, and something more."  I
laughed, and then kissed him again and again, until he was
up against the wall.  I began kissing him under his left
ear, and he began to squirm and twist his head.  He draped
his arms around my neck and pulled me down, turning his head
so that our lips met yet again.

David laid his head on my chest while I rocked him gently.
Finally I lifted his head.

"Let's get you outta these clothes."

                         ---------------


Directly across from our bed, against the wall, is a
television set and sometimes when we put Alex to bed we'll
just go to bed ourselves and watch it for a while and that's
what we did tonight.  As usual David was lying with his head
on my lower chest and his right arm underneath me.  Like
tonight, it's not unusual for David to be cupping my cock
and balls in his left hand.  My balls have always intrigued
him and he likes playing with them, squeezing them gently
and pulling on them with great care.  I'm no longer sure
that he even realizes that he's doing it, it's just kinda a
natural thing for him to do.  This is something that
eventually makes me hard but not until it takes on sexual
overtones, but at the moment he's just playing.  At this
stage of the evening I'm usually, as I am tonight, stroking
David's hair and lightly massaging his neck and back with my
left hand.

David suddenly looked down at his left wrist.  "According to
my really beautiful new watch, the time is now 9:36."

He pulled his arm out from underneath me and then swung his
leg over and straddled my lap, putting his hands on my
shoulders David leaned forward and kissed me lightly.  "I
love my present."

I smiled at him.  "It may not be the only thing you're gonna
get tonight."  I pulled his face towards me again and as his
lips met mine I shoved my tongue into his mouth.

Kissing David is one of the things that makes life worth
living.  He's so intense about it and so incredibly good at
it.  There's so much to him.  I mean, on the surface there
are his good looks, but inside him there's this incredibly
bright mind that never overwhelms.  He has a great reservoir
of kindness that is so much a part of him that you don't
always notice it, except sometimes, days later.   Somehow
when I kiss David I can feel this all inside of him and see
it in those incandescent eyes.

But right now the little fucker has my cock trapped under
his naked butt and is slowly massaging it as he moves
forward and back half an inch at a time.  His own cock is
pointing straight up.  He looks down at my dick sticking out
from between his legs but pressed against my stomach.

"You sure make a lot of precum."  He says.

"That's cause there's this hot little fucker playing cowboy
on my dick."  He smiles at me and those eyes flash.  He
reaches down with his right index finger and scoops up some
precum.  Then slowly puts the finger in his mouth and sucks
on it.

He smiles wickedly at me.  "Want a taste?"

"I already know what it......" But he's already scooped up
more and is shoving his finger in my mouth.  The precum is
pretty much without taste but any part of David in my mouth
is good and I suck slowly on his finger while he stares at
me like he's just fed me pizza with anchovies and is waiting
for my reaction.

My reaction is to reach forward and wrap my hand around his
cock.  "You remember that this was the first position that
we ever had sex in?"

"Geez, I hadn't thought about it, but you're right."  He's
slowly thrusting his cock into my fist.  "God, I needed that
fuck!"

I laughed.  "So, fucking, did I!  You're the first guy I
ever had sex with.  Geez, you're the only guy that I've had
sex with, now that I think about it."

David put his hands on my shoulders and leaned down and
kissed me again.  "Well don't dwell on that part of it.  I'm
all you need."

I gave him a twisted smile.  "Babe, you're all that I can
handle.  Believe me!"

David laughed.  " I consider it my mission in life to keep
you exhausted."

I pulled David forward so that I could free my cock.

He said.  "Are you ready for launch?"

"I got a feeling that if we don't launch soon there may be a
spontaneous ejection of fuel."  I took some of the precum
that had accumulated on my stomach and spread it on his
butt.

"That gonna be enough lube for ya?"

"Yeah, Babe, I think so."  David positioned my cock at his
asshole and sat back.  I felt the head of my dick penetrate
him and then felt the muscles of his butt gripping my cock
hard, just under the head.

David's eyes were looking up as he concentrated on adjusting
my cock in his butt.  Then he dropped his head to his chest
and said.  "Oh fuck....oh fuck that feels good."  He began
settling on my cock and I had to quickly defocus before I
came.

As my cock was hitting bottom David was staring at the
ceiling and quietly said, "Yeah!"  Then he leaned way
forward with my cock still in him and kissed me, his hands
on my shoulders and his cock pressed to my abdomen.

I wrapped my arms around David to hold him a bit longer to
my chest and then as I released him I ran my hands slowly
down his back.  His knees were bent, and on either side of
me.  I slid my hand up his thighs as he was raising and
lowering himself and gently took his balls in my hands, just
cupping them lightly.

He said.  "Uhhh, careful!"  He placed his own hand gently
over mine.

"You close already?"

"Yeah, for some reason, I got a hair trigger tonight.  Were
you always this big?"  David smiled.

I sat up wrapping my arms around David's lower back and
bringing my legs around and under me.  David wrapped his
arms around my neck.  I got to my knees with my cock still
in David, him in my arms, and his arms and legs wrapped
around me.

"Mark you're gonna break your fucking back, or mine."

"Relax Babe, just putting you on your back."

"Okay, but you've got no idea what your cock does when you
do that movement."

"Hit your prostate?"

"More like my liver."

I lowered David gently onto his back and then took his legs
from around me and pressed them to his chest.  When I looked
down at him, his black hair, askew as it usually is, against
the white pillowcase and his green eyes staring up at me, it
was like I just really saw him for the first time tonight.
The vulnerability, the need, the love, the trust, the
frightened little boy quality were all there, just as they
had when we first met.

I began making long slow deep movements into him, avoiding
direct hits to his prostate to the extent that that's
possible.  His eyelids closed partially and he started
making small sounds.  While I was making long slow strokes
into him, I put my hand at the side of David's face and put
my thumb at his mouth.  His eyes were almost closed, but
when he felt my thumb at his lips he took it into his mouth
and began to suck on it.

After a while I bent down and pulled my thumb out of his
mouth and replaced it with my tongue.  I was still slowly
thrusting into him.

As I was raising myself up again, David touched the side of
my face with his finger tips.

"You taste good.  All Army guys taste as good as you?"

I smiled down at him.  "Don't you, dwell on that, I'm all
the military you need."

I pushed his legs forward a bit until my cock was slamming
into his prostate with every thrust.  His eyes opened wide
and he started to make the David sound.  His legs were slung
over my arms, which were planted next to his head.  I
stretched my body out so that almost all of the energy that
I was expending was going directly into his ass.

"Oh yeah, oh fuck, Mark!

I began to refocus and looked down at my cock going into
David's ass.  I could feel my orgasm building and reached
forward and grabbed David's cock.   I pressed my thumb into
his perineum just as I started the down stroke on his cock
and he practically screamed the David sound and began wildly
bucking his hips.  I was shooting into his ass while trying
to keep him on the bed and then he began shooting, the first
shot landing in his hair and the next three on his chest.

Minutes later, I was walking back into the bedroom from the
bathroom with a towel.

"Sit up, Babe.  Ya got cum in your hair.  You know you shoot
like half your body weight in cum.  Did you always do that?"

David knelt on the bed so I could wipe him off.  "Yeah, it's
pretty much always been that way."  He wrapped his arms
around my waist and leaned his head against my stomach while
I cleaned his hair.  "Ya know, I'm only two years older than
you, I mean that's not much."

I laughed.  "Yeah, right, Dad."  I knew that David was
giving me a look even though I couldn't see it.

"Oh, you wanna go to Mike's party?  He called me today.
Every year he gives a party for all of his gay patients.
Seems like he's got a big gay clientele, well `course, the
way he looks, I can imagine."

"I guess we could.  When's it gonna be?"  David said.

"Couple of weeks, on a Saturday.  I'll tell him we'll stop
by."

"David, we need to shower.  We're both covered with cum and
I'm not doin' a great job of getting this outta your hair."
I took his hand and pulled him up and into my arms.
"Besides I like the way you feel when you're wet and soapy."

"Okay sex fiend, come on you can wash my hair."  David
walked ahead of me into the shower.  I wish there was some
way that I could describe how great his ass is, the perfect
size, the perfect shape and the perfect color, always
slightly lighter than the rest of him.

"I get to wash your butt, too."  I told David as he was
adjusting the shower.

He turned and smiled at me.  "God, what a perv!  Okaaaaay,
you can wash my butt."

Later lying in bed, David's back to my chest, my cock
pressed against his ass, my nose buried in his wonderful
black hair and my arm wrapped around his chest, I can feel
his heartbeat, his life.  Now he's totally mine and I can
sleep.


                    ----------------------------------------
--


"Ya give him the watch?"  Frank is impeccably dressed in a
two button charcoal gray suit with side vents.   The black
shoes have a dull luster, the shirt a brilliant white, the
tie a broad stripe that's mostly burgundy.

I smiled at him.  "Yeah, I think he liked it.  He said he
did."

"Marky, anybody would like that fucking watch.  He know what
you paid for it?"

"No, Frank, and I don't want him to know."  Frank had
plopped down in the chair in front of my desk and put his
feet up on it.

"Shit, I need to lose weight, my feet are killing me."

"It's just that this was a really important day, like a
milestone."  I put my feet up too.  "I mean what do you get
for David?  He doesn't really care about material things,
anyway.  Not in the sense that he collects anything or cares
about.. just stuff."

"Marky.., don't worry about it.  David would be thrilled
with anything you gave him.  I can't fucking decide which
one of you guys is the luckiest.  Him `cause he's got you,
or you `cause you got him."

Frank took on his businessman tone.  "You talk to General
Shetlan?"

"Yeah Frank.  He wants me to fly out and look at the stuff
he's been talking about.  I don't really think it's
necessary but it's what he wants so I better go.  Everything
is deep penetration bombing.  I have a feeling that we're
going to really need the exotic metals capability that
David's deal gives us."

"When?"

"Couple of weeks.  Said he'd send a plane."

"No Marky, don't let him do that.  Not with all this shit
happening in Washington.  Pay for your own ticket and I
don't mean just reimbursing them.  Fly commercial."  Frank
raised his hand.  "I know that it's the way it's been done
but the times they are a changing.  Be aware of it."

"Got it Frank, no freebies."

"Oh, by the way Marky, Chris and Jason are coming for
Thanksgiving.  They're goin to Jason's parents for Christmas
but here for Thanksgiving.  Chris said to tell you he's
dying to meet Alex.  How's he doin'?  You guys handling it?"

"Oh yeah, Frank!  Shit!  I can't tell ya what it means
having that kid in our lives.  Well you know, you raised a
family, but man it's really something.  Ya know when you
come home at night and this little guy is running like crazy
just to say, `Hello!' to you."

"It's how ya get the average guy to go to war Marky."  He
took his feet off of the desk and stood up.  "Nobody would
be dumb enough to go unless they felt that they were
defending just what you just described."

I smiled at Frank.  "You're a very cynical guy, Frank."

"Riiiight Marky.., riiiight."

                    ----------------------------------------
---

Our house was beginning to look like pumpkin city.  David
and Alex worked as a team in carving them.  Well, only David
did the actual carving, Alex was more the designer,
dictating the overall look, monster faces here, laughing
faces there, and scary over there.

"David, have you given any thought to what you're gonna do
with these after Halloween?  You must have, like, twenty of
`em, and those two out by the driveway are huge."

David looked up at me, a small paring knife in his right
hand and his forearms covered in pumpkin guts.  "I'm the
creative end of this organization  That sounds like a
problem for the maintenance department."  He smiled and
pointed with his thumb at the middle of the kitchen floor
where Joe was lying on his back with all four legs pointed
at the ceiling; his head moved back and forth as he watched
all of us, upside down.  "I think Joe's in charge of
maintenance."

Alex was nodding vigorously with a crayon in his hand.
"That's right.  Joe is in charge."

I put my hands on David's shoulders and lightly massaged
them.  "Why do I get the feeling that the job is gonna be
outsourced to me?"

David tilted his head all the way back so that he was
looking at me upside down like Joe.  "That's what good
managers do.  And Joe looks like he's got what it takes to
go all the way to the top."

I laughed and hunkered down behind David's chair.  I wrapped
my arms around his shoulders, kissed the side of his neck
and then just held my face next to his.  I murmured.  "You
feel good."  I kissed him again and then got up and walked
around to Alex.

I knelt next to his chair.  "How ya doin', Bud?"  I kissed
his hair and rested my hand lightly on his shoulder.

Alex turned his head to me.  "I like Halloween, Daddy."  He
pointed his crayon at the kitchen floor.  "And Joe likes it
too.  But ya know what, Dad?  Dogs can't have chocolate.
It's bad for them."  He aimed his crayon directly at Joe.
"So no candy for him."

I asked Alex.  "You ready for trick or treatin' tomorrow?"

"I am, Dad!  I'm gonna be a monster!"  Alex curled his
fingers into claws and held them up by his face.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"  He dropped his
hands and then picked up his crayon again.  "See Dad, a
monster.  And I got a costume, too."

I glanced at David who was staring and smiling, entranced by
Alex.

I stood up and gently touched the top of Alex's head.
"That's great, Alex.  You're gonna be a wonderful monster."
Then I looked at David.  "David could you come into the
office for a second?"

David got a really weird look on his face but started to get
up.  "Yeah, Mark, just let me wash my hands."

"No, David, you're fine, like that is good."

David followed me into his office holding up his hands like
a surgeon after scrubbing up.

"Mark, what's up?"

I closed the office door and gently pushed David back
against it.  "I just really needed to do this."  I took
David's face in my hands and kissed him gently and then
deeply.  He was making a little sound and still holding his
hands up.  I broke the kiss and then ran my fingers through
his hair.  I kissed him again.  "It's just that sometimes I
realize, almost like I didn't already know, just how much I
love you."  I kissed him again and again, like somehow I
could never get enough of him.  I spoke very softly,
intimately, only to him.
"When I saw you there, with Alex, being a dad."  I pulled
his head to my chest.  "Well, it's not that I ever forget
how much I love you, but sometimes, like today, it hits me
like a wave and just kinda overcomes me.  Geez, I hope I'm
not weirdin' you out."

David stood with his head against my chest.  "Oh God, Mark!"

"We better get back to Alex.  Okay?"  He nodded, "Yes," and
I lifted his face and kissed him again.  I was holding his
face in my hands and rubbed the beginnings of tears off of
his cheeks with my thumbs.

                    ----------------------------

Our house is on a very short dead end road off of a fairly
busy street.  There are only about a dozen houses on our
road and all of the houses are on pretty big lots and for
the most part are owned by older people; David and I being
the youngest people on our road.
There is, like in most things, both good and bad in this.
The bad is that Alex doesn't really have anyone nearby he
can be pals with.  He made some friends at day care but
there wasn't anybody near.

The good is that while all of the other residents of the
road are older, they all seem to love kids and have all
pretty much enlisted as surrogate godparents to Alex.  So I
wasn't too surprised when he made out like a bandit on
Halloween.  I know that realistically they must have had,
well, reservations, about two gay guys raising a kid.  But
I've never tried to guess at what they might be thinking, I
believe in reacting to what people say and do because you
can never really know what they're thinking.

A half-mile walk is a lot when you're only three, well,
almost four, and your legs aren't very long.  Alex did make
it all the way around to where the Fredon's live but with
home in sight he decided he couldn't make it another foot.

"Dad, carry me, okay?"  The afternoon was sunny but with
that late October coolness that tells you that you're seeing
the last of the good weather days.

I reached down and picked Alex up and he wrapped one arm up
and around my neck and the other over my shoulder.  He put
his head on my shoulder, too, and his eyes began to look
sleepy.

"You gonna fall asleep, Bud?"

"No, I'm just a little tired.  I don't wanna take a nap,
Dad."

"Well those eyes look like they're closing.  I betcha that
Joe is tired too.  He's probably looking for somebody to
take a nap with."  I turned into our driveway and David must
have seen us coming, because the garage door opened and we
walked in through that door.

I sat Alex down in the kitchen and he just kinda leaned
against David.

David says.  "Well what do we have here?  Maybe a tired
little boy?"

"No, Dad, I wanna look at my stuff."  Alex began to go
through his haul of candy.

David took off Alex's costume, which was just kind of tied
on at the back.  "Alex, I don't want you eating all that
candy.  Just take a couple of pieces and then we're gonna
put the rest away for later."  Alex was doing his best to
cram a miniature Baby Ruth into his mouth, while tearing
open a bag of M&M's.

David put the rest of the candy back in the bag and put it
up over the refrigerator.

"Dad!  I want some more!"  Alex pointed to the spot where
his candy disappeared and David looked at me.

I reached down and picked Alex up.  "Alex, you're gonna have
more candy later but right now we think that you should lay
down for a while."  I started walking toward Alex's bedroom.

"Dad, I don't wanna take a nap now!"

"I know you don't sweetheart but this is one of those things
that you don't get to decide about."  I sat down on Alex's
bed and took off his clothes with a minimal amount of
resistance.  "You don't have to put on your pajama's.  You
can just sleep in your underwear.  This is just a small
nap."

"Dad, I don't need a nap.  Naps are for babies."

"We'll leave your door open, Alex, and I'm not gonna close
the blinds.  I just want you to rest a little."  David and
Joe came into the room and Joe jumped up on the bed and laid
down at the foot of the bed.  As we were leaving the room
Alex called Joe and Joe resituated himself up next to Alex.

As we were walking down the hallway we heard Alex say.
"Close your eyes, you have to take a nap, too, Joe."
                        ----------------------------

Anna Meurer turned out to be a lady of about sixty with a
solid build and perfectly white hair, done in a style that
was attractive, if a bit old fashioned, and that never
changed.  She cooked like Escoffier and had one of the most
logical minds of anyone I've ever met, which followed
through to her abhorrence of dirt and disorder.

Luckily for us, one of Anna's six grandchildren was gay.
Anna's discovery of this led her to investigate the subject
in almost unbelievable depth as she did with every thing
that interested her.

The death of her husband left Anna with a house about a mile
away from ours, and a fairly substantial collection of
bonds.  She didn't need the work that we offered her, but
Anna was not someone who sat at home doing nothing.  This
was a dynamic woman who felt that the world needed her,
somewhere.

She would come to our house at seven-thirty in the morning
and leave at four-thirty, Monday thru Friday.  Thankfully,
she was also delighted to watch Alex on the occasional
evening when we went out.

Anna's first meal for us was a breakfast: a chive omelet
with these incredible little sausages that she brought with
her and toast made from a French baguette sliced length-wise
and toasted in the oven.  The toast was served with homemade
blackberry preserves.

I almost stayed home from work just for lunch but I missed
it.  Dinner, which she left for us, was a meat dish that
looked like chicken that had been browned to the point of
caramelization, and then stewed for hours.  The rabbit,
that's what it turned out to be, was served with carrots and
potatoes that had been carved into little footballs and then
cooked and caramelized like the rabbit.  The natural sauce
that all of this seemed to make was thickened with butter
and was fantastic.

Any reservations that Alex may have had about a strange
person in the house were overcome quickly by Anna's caring
nature, unbelievable cooking, and wisdom.  In no time at all
Alex and Anna were chatting in a strange combination of
German and English, with Anna tossing in the occasional word
in French.


                                             ---------------
-------------


Mike Baxter's condo was on the fifth floor of a fairly new
building downtown and while it was a huge condo, and really
attractive, it didn't look like it suited Mike's
personality.  It looked like he had hired a designer to do
it for him and they had done a great job of reflecting their
taste, but it just didn't look like the Mike we knew.

The place was packed with people and the crowd was creating
tides of conversation and laughter, sometimes rising and
sometimes falling, but always a background noise.

"Beautiful place, Mike. You do the decorating?"  David
asked.

Mike looked at us and smiled.  "I can't even match my socks
to my shoes.  No, I just don't have the time.  Somebody came
in and did it."  A faint look of frustration passed over his
face.  "I guess this is how it's suppose to look."

David smiled broadly at Mike.  "How would you really like it
to look?"

Mike look confused for a second and then looked at me,
shrugged, and said, "You tell him, Mark."

I laughed out loud.  "Well let's see if I get this right.
Concrete block walls painted gray, concrete floor painted a
slightly darker gray, steel furniture also gray, and a
little khaki, and, oh yeah, some tan, not fucking beige, but
tan."

Mike was practically doubled over with laughter but managed
to say.  "That's exactly, fucking, it."

David looked at the two of us like we were demented.  Then
he said to me.  "Remember, you don't ever get to pick out
the furniture."

Mike took us over to the bar that had been set up and got us
drinks.  Then he walked us around the room introducing us to
his patients and the people they brought.  Eventually, I
ended up standing at the back of the room with Mike as he
chatted with people circulating through the room.

I watched David work the room.  I don't think that I had
ever seen him in this kind of setting before and it was
something to see.  He would move into a group, introducing
himself and chatting briefly with his natural charm sweeping
all before him and then after one group had been conquered
he would move on to the next.

The people at the party were, Mike told me, almost all gay.
Obviously some were couples who had been together a long
time and had that, "I'm half of an `us'" look.  Some were
obviously half of a couple that were more independent of
each other and there were many loners and friends, and
friends of friends.

I was standing at the back of the room with Mike and Ted,
Shortly, Ted took off to check on guests and Mike went into
the kitchen to make sure the food was coming along.  As I
watched David at the other end of the room in a group of
about eight people I saw the guy standing next to him but
his arm casually around his back and then slowly but surely
he moved it down until his hand was resting on David's butt.
David never stopped talking to the guy on the other side of
the group but he was obviously trying to get the guys hand
off of him.  Finally he reached back and took the guys wrist
in his hand and removed his hand from his butt.  This seemed
to work for a while, but then the hand was back, this time
not even bothering with pretense but going right for David's
ass.  Again, David tried moving, turning and obviously
making a comment but to no avail.  Finally, he again had to
remove the hand.  This time it took only seconds for the
hand to return.

Mike returned from the kitchen and after glancing around
came right over to me smiling oddly.  "I assume you're gonna
kill him.  Could ya do it bloodlessly and not make a mess?
Tossing him off the balcony would be good.  Then the mess is
someone else's problem."  Mike had a handful of bar nuts
that he was eating.

"Does he deserve to live?"

"He's not the worst human on the planet, just thinks
everything is his."  He showed me the handful of nuts and
asked.  "Want some?"  I shook my head, "No."

"Why don't you ask him to come here, and then maybe go check
on the kitchen?  No need for you to loose a patient.
Actually, he could end up being a better one."

Mike looked at me for a long moment and grinned, then walked
over to the guy and casually pulled him out of the group and
pointing at me.  The guy came walking to me with a big smile
on his face.  Mike walked back to the kitchen.

I held out my hand.  "Hi, I'm Mark Chauvet."  I could just
detect David watching without being obvious.

"Hey, I'm Gordy Tanner."  He took my hand and shook it.

"Gordy, you could really do me a favor if you would.  See,
I've got this potential problem with my boyfriend and I
could use your help with it."

Gordy looked confused and tilted his head to one side.
"What?  I guess, I don't know."

"Gordy, it's just that my boyfriend, he's the one who's ass
you were grabbing..., by the way you won't do that anymore
will ya?"  I stared into his eyes briefly,  "Well, anyway,
he hates violence."  Gordy opened his mouth but nothing came
out.  "And well, if I do anything violent, he won't talk to
me for days, maybe weeks, and I gotta tell ya, that just
drives me crazy.  See, I love the guy more than anything
else in the world, and when he won't talk to me, it's really
hard on me."

Gordy was just staring at me saying, "Ahhhhhh."

"So, Gordy, if you could just kinda keep your hands to
yourself, I'd really appreciate it."

I reached down and picked up Gordy's hand and shook it, but
it actually felt like it wasn't attached to anything.  It
was just kind of hanging there.  "Gordy, it was great
meeting ya, but I better go see how Mike and Ted are doing.
You're gonna be okay, aren't ya?

Gordy was nodding, "Yes," as I walked away to find Mike.


                    -----------------------------


"You pissed at me?"  I had just pulled the car around to the
front of Mike's building and David had hopped in.

David pointed straight ahead.  "Drive."

I pulled out into the traffic and eventually wound my way
around to the freeway.  Once we were driving straight and
clear, David reached over and picked up my right hand from
the armrest.  He kissed it and then put it down on the
armrest and covered it with his own.

David's head was back against the seat, but he turned it and
smiled.  "I thought it was very......I dunno.....romantic.
However, I could have handled the situation."

"Oh babe, I know you could, I knew you were just being
diplomatic.  Romantic?"

David laughed and gripped my hand tighter.  "You know, when
you're small, everybody picks on you.  I mean, I've been
picked on all through grade school and high school, not much
in college, but some.  So it's kind of a good feeling
knowing that someone is there."

"But in the past......"

"I know, but you're learning to control it.  Somebody your
size doesn't have to actually do anything, like tonight.
Poor Gordy."

"Poor Gordy?  I wanted to.....well, let's not go there."

David turned to me and laughed.  "I think Gordy thought he
was a goner."  A minute or two later David said quietly.
"Poor man.  Let's hope he actually thinks about it."

                    --------------------------

David and I were in our walk-in closet hanging our clothes
up and throwing some into the dirty clothes hamper.

"God, I'm fucking tired."  David was leaning against me in
his underwear.  "And I don't want you to go."

"Babe, you know that I have to."

David turned in my arms and laid his head on my chest.  "I
know."  He yawned.

I wrapped my arms around him and kissed the side of his
neck.  "You're cute when you're tired."  I shoved my hands
down the front of his underwear and cupped his balls.

"Ma!  Mark is playing with my balls again!"

I laughed.  "She can't save you now.  You're mine."  I bent
and picked David up.

"Oh fuck!  Don't drop me."

"David, I'm not gonna drop you.  But don't wiggle, and quit
looking at the floor."  I walked into the bedroom and laid
David on the bed.

I stripped off my underwear and so did David.  I slid into
bed and David slid in so that his back was against me.

"You horny?"  I asked.

David took my right arm and pulled it around his chest.
"How `bout tomorrow morning, unless you're just crazy
horny?"

"Babe, I can always wait for you.  Besides, I'm pretty tired
myself."

"Mark?  You like Anna don't you?"

"Yeah babe, why do you ask?"

"I just wanna be sure we agree."  David was talking into my
upper arm.

"David that's the only woman that I ever met that knows what
the laws of thermodynamics are.  Not only does she know, but
she knows how to apply them."

"Mark...you're not gonna tell me about them right now are
you?"

I laughed.  "No hun, we'll save that for another time."  I
reached over and clicked off the light.

"Good," David giggled, "that gives me something to look
forward to."

"David, I'll be thinking about you, like, constantly."

"You're not going!  You're just gonna be like, in the next
room.  Anyway that's how I'm gonna think about it."

I kissed the back of his neck.  "I'll be back in no time."
I could feel David's breathing evening out.  I whispered.
"No time at all."