Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 03:30:03 GMT
From: Wayne Patrick <wppsd@hotmail.com>
Subject: gay/beginnings/Searching for a son 12

Disclaimers:  See chapter 1.  If you do not belong here, please do not stay
too long.  I invite comments and suggestions.

*****

"I'm not crazy.  I've thought about it.  I am ready to face my demons.  I
want to pick up the pieces and go on.  Scott and Susan were my family.  I
know I can never replace them.  But I've got Joey now.  He is my family.
And I want my family in our home.  We are moving back into my house -  where
Susan, Scott and I lived."  He hugged Joey tightly.  "Joey, I was
emotionally dead for two years.  You restarted my life and I want to pick up
where I left off.  The movers will be here tomorrow."

Chapter 32

Saturday morning began quite early for Joey.  The alarm clock, usually shut
off for the weekend with the glowing red digital face usually covered by
clothes, sounded off at 6:30 am.  Joey heard it first.  He grumbled to
himself about it being too damn early and then reached across the bed, over
Stephen's body to hit the snooze alarm.  Stephen lay naked in the bed, on
his stomach.  The shrill, piercing sound of the clock did absolutely nothing
to wake him.  Joey's body rubbed across Stephen's back, first his arm,
feeling for the clock which was still a good three feet away, followed by
his chest.  Joey finally shut the thing off, but instead of rolling back
over to his side of the bed, he just lay down on the man beneath him.  When
he was alert enough to know that Stephen was still asleep, he went to work.
He softly blew air into Stephen's ear, making Stephen rub his face on the
pillow to escape the gentle breeze.  That was followed by kisses on the neck
just below his ear and trailing around to the back of his head.  They took a
sharp right turn at the spine turning down Stephen's body, past the width of
his shoulders down to the narrow middle of his back.  About even with
Stephen's navel, the kisses again turned right, away from Joey heading
around the side of the waking man.  These kisses brought moans and purrs
from the recipient.  Just when Stephen was becoming aware of the pleasures,
the lips of his lover were replaced by fingers.  Fingers walking around to
the side of the prone body.  Fingers that began tickling ever so lightly.
Softer, softer.  Then Joey grabbed both of Stephen's hips and dug his
fingers in deeply, and the attack was on.

"Okay, big guy.  Let's go.  This is your party.  Get to work!"

Stephen slithered to the edge of the bed, hoping to escape the scratchy
teasing Joey was laying on him.  He miscalculated the distance and when he
went to throw his legs off the bed, he found that the rest of his body
wasn't on the bed either.  So instead of up and out, Stephen found himself
going down, crashing onto the floor.  Still half-groggy, his bearings were
completely gone, Stephen was what they literally call "flat on his ass."
Seconds later, he found out which end was up, because a naked, flying body
came from the middle of the bed, screaming, "Banzai!"

Stephen involuntarily curled into a fetal position, protecting, of course,
the family jewels.  But guess where Joey was headed.  He landed on the
carpet next to Stephen's body.  Joey buried his face right in the middle of
Stephen's crotch.  He stuck his tongue out and attacked Stephen's dick and
balls like a frog zapping a fly.  The tongue struck quickly here and there,
then retreated into Joey's mouth.  Stephen quickly relaxed when he
discovered it was a friend, not a foe, who was laying siege to his body.
The legs stretched out and spread, and the hands quickly left the jewels
vulnerable to any and all welcome attacks.  Stephen tried to spin so that he
could share the fun.  "Come here," Stephen said reaching for Joey's
lengthening rod.  He wanted it bad.  When they were in bed they only cared
about the other one's pleasure.  Joey's youthful enthusiasm for his new love
caused the boys to occasionally change love making into a friendly
competition.  More than once in their bedroom, the words "bet I can make you
cum first" were said.

"Dammit, Stephen, we don't have time today.  How am I going to get you off
if you don't relax and concentrate on me sucking you."

"All right.  All right.  But I get to suck you off in the new house first."

A truce was made and peace came to the Andrews-Edwards household.  It took a
few minutes for the old man to get it going, but Stephen could never resist
Joey when he got on a roll.  When he was done, he kissed his young man, then
glanced back to the clock above his head.  "The movers will be here in 15
minutes.  Start packing your bags."

Joey grabbed one more kiss, pushing up to his knees to get up, in the
process running his hand back and forth over Stephen's hardening nipple.
"Not fair," Stephen groaned.  "You're trying to make me pack all day with a
hard on.  I'll get you for this."

They scrambled to their feet, threw on some grungy clothes, and started
throwing their clothes into the bags.  After Joey finished his clothes, he
went out to the living room and gently took the two photographs sitting on
the shelf.  He came back to the bedroom and placed them in the same box that
had carried his things when he had come to live with Stephen.

The doorbell rang.  "That must be the movers," said Stephen, "Joey, would
you let them in."

"Sure thing, Dad."

Joey walked into the living room again, to the front door, expecting two or
three really muscular big guys to just walk in and start grabbing the sofa,
the table, the heavy stuff.  When he opened the door, he was bowled over by
two little demons flying through the open screen.

"Joey, Joey, hey, dad says we're going to get to help you move."  The two
boys grabbed Joey, one on each leg, and he ruffled their hair.  He looked up
to see their dad standing in the doorway, a smirk of expectation on his
face, waiting to see what Joey would think of his moving help.

"Greg?  Glenn?  Jeff?  Where are the movers?"  Joey looked past Jeff,
expecting more help than one guy and a pair of seven-year-olds.

"Like the boys said, we're here!  The U-haul is parked out in the lot.  I
just picked it up on the way over."

Joey turned to head to the bedroom, wanting an explanation for all this when
the boys  sat down on his feet, wanting rides where Joey had to basically
drag 100 pounds of boys around the house stiff-legged.

"Stephen, Jeff and the boys are here," Joey called as Stephen was coming out
of the bedroom.

"Hey, bud.  Let's get started.  No beer for anyone until everything is back
home."

When the boys finally gave up their rides and went to hug their Uncle
Stephen, Joey turned to Jeff.  "How long have you know about this?  I saw
your face last night.  You looked as shocked as Donna and Katie."

Jeff grinned.  "Stephen told me about three weeks ago.  He had made up his
mind.  Although I tried to convince him that he was crazy, he said that
nothing was going to stop him.  He was convinced it felt right.  I tried,
Joey, but nothing I said got through to him.  He made me swear not to tell
anyone, and told me to act surprised when you got your present.  Donna's
look last night was real.  She thinks I've taking the boys out for a day to
give her a break.  I'll call later and she can meet us for pizza for dinner.
  My treat."

Joey was dumbfounded.  Stephen would actually keep a secret from him.  He
thought that they were partners and that major choices would be discussed.
A look of hurt was evident on his face.  Jeff stepped over and wrapped an
arm around his shoulder.  He turned them to make sure that what he had to
say to Joey could not be heard by Stephen.

"I've talked to Stephen about this move, about his sanity, and I asked him
if he had thought about you, too.  He once admitted that it made him feel
rotten not telling you, questioning whether to tell you he was going to do
it.  But, Joey, nothing you could have said was going to change his mind.
He said something I didn't understand.  He said you would be okay with this
because he said this was a `dad decision'."

Joey nodded.  He knew.  It was alright.

The five went to work, the boys given the tasks of packing soft goods, the
leftover canned foods in the kitchen, and anything else nonbreakable that
would keep them busy.

The men worked on the larger pieces of furniture and gave Joey the task of
packing the kitchen.  Stephen had moved before, and he remembered that he
hated all those plates and glasses, pots and pans.  Experience has its
advantages.

This was a one bedroom apartment.  It didn't take long.  By eleven, most of
the stuff was packed and everyone was working in and around the kitchen.
All that was left was the bedroom furniture and the bed.  But Stephen wasn't
through with his surprises.

When the kitchen was done, Joey said, "I guess that leaves the bedroom."

"Nope.  We're done."

"Now what do you mean?" asked Joey.  Today, nothing Stephen would say would
be a surprise.

"The bedroom furniture is being left behind.  A homeless shelter is coming
to get it Monday."

"Okay, so we are going to sleep???....." Joey raised his eyebrows at
Stephen.  Who knows what Stephen was going to say.  On the floor, in the
bathtub, in the backyard, hanging from the chandelier.

"You'll see when we get there."

They loaded the U-Haul, Jeff in the van, Stephen and Joey in their cars.
The caravan proceeded across town.  They stopped for burgers and shakes on
the way.  Each one of the twins was in a separate car.  When they left the
burger place, Jeff had told them that they were going to play a trick, to
keep asking, "Are we there yet?" every few blocks.  He knew how to get under
Stephen's skin.  He would soon find out that Stephen and Joey loved each
other because they were so alike.

Stephen's car led the parade to the new house.  As soon as they reached it
and all the drivers got out of their cars, Joey glared at Jeff.  Jeff looked
back innocently.

"You put them up to this, didn't you?"

Jeff just smiled.

Stephen came storming up.  "You put them up to this, didn't you?"

Jeff and Joey broke out in fits of laughter.  Stephen just fumed until the
laughter was contagious.

Just before all of the van had been unloaded into the house, a furniture
store delivery truck pulled up.  Two men climbed out, the driver holding a
clip board in his hands.  He approached the three men taking a break in the
front.  "I'm looking for Stephen Andrews."

"That's me."

"Where do you want it all?"

Joey caught the word.  "All?"  Another look at Stephen, another shake of his
head.  He remembered back to the parking lot of the Ocean Manor Motel.  A
perplexed young man had just taken the biggest leap of faith in his life.
He hoped for something good, but expected the usual crash and burn.  Then he
landed in the soft voice and caressing arms of the first man who ever cared
about him.  "If you need a car, I'll buy you a car."  Later, he was told,
"If you need a house, I'll buy you a house."  Those are always empty
promises, never kept.  Now he stood in the front yard of a two-bedroom
house, leaning on his car, watching delivery men bring out a new bed,
dressers, an armoire, a new desk, no, two new desks, a new sofa bed, and
boxes that appeared to be computers, printers, and monitors.  He walked over
to Stephen and wrapped his arms around him.

"Thank you, Stephen, you haven't made my dreams come true, you are my dream
come true."

Joey kicked back for a while, watching the boys and making sure they stayed
out of the movers' way.  He watched as the two men worked.  They were
practiced at what they did, they knew how to handle every piece.  Joey
studied them, then realized that he was watching the helper more.  The guy
was blond, tall, and not too bad looking, considering his clothing was
drenched in sweat.  Joey could see through the t-shirt to the body
underneath.  The muscles in his back, the pecs standing out like an awning
over the flat stomach.  This guy did heavy labor all day and his body showed
it.  It wasn't too long before Joey realized his pulse was up and so was his
dick.  Then the delivery man jumped out of the truck, carrying a smaller box
towards the house.  As he passed close to Joey, he turned and winked at him,
giving him a quick once-over.  Joey turned crimson, looking to see if the
boys had noticed, then got his composure.  He adjusted his pants, called the
boys and took them to the backyard.

That evening, after the furniture and boxes were in the house, and dinner
with the Woods had finished, Stephen and Joey returned to their new home.
Stephen offered, "My boy, we can either start unpacking boxes, or I can
unpack what you have there in your pants.  What would you like to do?"
Stephen raised his eyebrows quickly several times, trying to let Joey know
which way he voted.

Joey turned and walked out the backdoor.  Stephen stood in the kitchen,
watching him walk, wondering, "What did I say?"

Joey sat under the largest tree in the yard, far away from the house.  He
felt like the dirt he was sitting in.  Stephen waited just a couple of
minutes, watching Joey, before going out to his boy.  The ache in his heart
made him feel as downtrodden as Joey looked.

He walked up slowly, stepping intentionally on branches to make sure that
Joey would not be startled by his approach.  He sat down against the tree,
sitting about a third of the way around the tree from Joey.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The silence lasted a couple minutes.  The cool evening suddenly felt humid
and uncomfortable.  Joey could have been sitting in a sauna, the heat of
confession feeling oppressive in his mind.  "Have you ever felt like you
betrayed someone?"

"Tell me?  Who do you feel you betrayed?"

Joey sucked in, then released the breath that kept him from falling apart.
"You."

"Why?  What did you do to me?"

"Stephen, I love you.  You are all I ever want.  But today, someone else
caught my eye.  I found myself staring at them.  And it excited me."

Stephen leaned in.  He asked seriously, afraid of the horrible things Joey
might admit to in his next words, "And what did you do about it?"

"I watched him. And I continued watching even after I realized what it was
doing to me.  I couldn't tear my eyes away.  I thought about how my hands
would feel running over those tight muscles.  I dreamed of shredding his
clothes from his body, leaving him naked for me to look at.  I closed my
eyes and smelled the salty sweat rising from his body.  And it wasn't you."
He was upset, burying his face in his hands, and falling silent again.

Stephen sat for a minute, thinking.  What made this so terrible?  Everyone,
man or woman, gay or straight, checks out the merchandise.  Why would Joey
be bothered?  "Don't tell me that you never in your life have looked at
someone else, checking them out?"

"Sure.  I did my share of checking out the guys at school.  I was curious.
But when I looked at them, I was just looking.  I didn't care about them,
and they didn't care about me.  But I have you now.  I don't need to look
anywhere else."

Stephen pushed away from the tree onto his hands and knees and crawled over
to where Joey sat.  Gently he nuzzled his ear and kissed his cheek.  "Do you
think I would hate you for thinking about things that feel good to you?  I
want everything good for you. Yes, I would be disappointed if you were to
follow through on your thoughts, but if it weren't for them you might not
have ever found that you loved me.  And that would have been too much for me
to take.  If you need to hear it, I forgive you.  But you don't need
forgiveness from me.  You need to forgive yourself."

He stood up.  Towering over his love, he offered his hand to the boy on the
ground.  Joey reached up and Stephen pulled him up and into his arms.  He
kissed him once again, this time deeply, his tongue searching through Joey's
mouth for the sweetness that had to be hiding there in one so tender.

"Let's go inside."


Chapter 33

Stephen walked in the house from work.  He had stopped on his way home as
the new renters at the apartment complex had told him he had some mail.  The
forwarding order didn't always work at the post office, and the renters were
nice enough to keep everything which Stephen picked up once a week.  Tonight
was the night to get the mail, and between the things from the old place and
the letters in the box at home, there was plenty of things for Stephen to go
through.

He walked to the dining area, throwing the mail on the table.  Joey was
already in the kitchen putting dinner together.  He walked over to Stephen,
hugged him, then kissed him gently.  He looked quickly through the pile and
saw nothing of note.  Stephen then flipped through the letters, the junk
mail, and settled on a small white envelope with a handwritten address sent
to "Mr. Stephen Andrews."  This piqued his curiosity.  He turned over the
envelope to look at the address on the back.  The address was vaguely
familiar, but he couldn't think of it immediately.  He snapped his fingers,
and said, "Danny and Claire,"

"Who are they?"

"Susan's brother and sister-in-law.  What could they be sending?"  He opened
it to pull out a smaller envelope which said, "Stephen and guest."  Inside
this envelope was an engraved invitation which read,

                Mr. and Mrs. Terrence Taylor
            announce the marriage of their daughter
                         Dawn Marie
                     to Mr. Adam Parker

"Hmm, Susan's nephew Adam is getting married."  A handwritten note fell out
of the invitation.  Stephen opened it and read it.

Stephen,
     Katie says that you're doing fine.  We are sorry that we haven't kept
in touch.  Please come.  We would love to see you.
	Danny and Claire

Stephen rolled his eyes back, looking to the ceiling.  He took a deep
breath, drawing the attention of Joey, who came back to him at the table.
"What do they want?"

"We are invited to the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, and to
the wedding and reception."

"We?"

"It says Stephen and guest.  You know of anyone else I would rather be
with?"

Joey hugged Stephen.  "You knew this time would come.  We don't have to say
anything, Katie won't say anything.  Don't let this get to you.  We will get
through this."

Stephen kissed Joey on the cheek, then grabbed him around the waist, giving
him a passionate kiss, filling their mouths with each other's tongue.
"That's why I love you.  You are the eternal optimist."

"When is it going to be?"

"The third Saturday of next month.  It's in town, so we don't have far to
go.  The church is on the other side of town."

"I'll get a gift for them if you want, or we can get them a gift certificate
from somewhere."

"Let's keep it simple.  A gift certificate."

A couple of days later, the phone rang.  Stephen answered, "Hello."

"Stephen, it's Claire.  I'm calling to see if you got the invitation."  Joey
looked expectantly at Stephen.

"Yes, I'd love to come."

"Good, do you have someone that you want to bring with you to the dinner."

"Yes I do, a friend, my roommate.  He and I will be there."

Claire's voice reflected her surprise and disappointment.  "Oh, okay, I just
thought that you might want to bring a date.  Are you dating yet?"

"Dating?" Stephen asked, wondering how to keep it in.  Joey bit down on the
pencil he was using to do his homework.  Anything to keep from laughing.
"No, I'm not dating."

"Oh, all right.  We'll see you there.  Bye."

Stephen hung up the phone.  Joey dropped the pencil from his mouth.  "You're
not dating?  What a surprise!  I guess since you don't have to leave your
bedroom to get some, you haven't consider dating an option."

"Hey, remember, you said you didn't put out on dates.  How else can I get
any?"

This made Joey get up from his work and walk over to Stephen.  He put his
arms around him.  "If you promise not to date me, I'll put out for you
anytime you want.  Like, um, now?"

Stephen led Joey to the bedroom, and rather quickly pulled his clothes off.
Joey kneeled down in front of Stephen and unzipped his fly.  He reached in
and gently began sucking on Stephen's growing erection.  Soon Stephen had
pulled his clothes off too, and they fell into the bed.  Just as they lay
down, the phone rang.  Doesn't it always?

`Yeah, hello... Katie!... Yeah, we got one... Yeah we're going...Okay, talk
to you later."

"Now, back to where we were."


Chapter 34

The Friday evening of the rehearsal dinner had arrived.  Stephen had taken
Joey out the previous weekend and bought him a new suit.  With his stunning
good looks, he was drawing the attention of every young lady in the family.
Joey was polite but reserved.  They wondered if it would be obvious to the
family.  At least they knew that Katie and Tim would be there.  It helps to
have moral support.

When they arrived, the were met by Danny and Claire and by Dawn's parents.
They exchanged hugs and handshakes, then the two went off in search of
family members Stephen hadn't seen it two years.

Stephen walked across the room with Joey in tow towards a frail-looking
elderly lady sitting in a very large cushioned chair.  She could not have
weighed more than 90 pounds and the overly plush chair practically swallowed
her up.  She was holding court with several of the cousins, who she seemed
to be lecturing.  Stephen turned to Joey and whispered, "Get ready for a
shock."

He walked up to her, speaking in a slightly louder than normal voice, "Aunt
Lily, how long has it been?"  Stephen bent over to give her a kiss.

The lady nodded her welcome to him, then lit into him.  "I'm old, not dead.
You don't have to scream for me to hear you."  She peered at Stephen over
the top of her glasses.  "Besides, I just got a new hearing aid that works
better that all those other crappy ones I've had.  It's good to see you
Stephen."

Stephen placed his hand in the middle of Joey's back, encouraging him to
move forward.  "Lily, this is my friend Joey.  Joey, this is Aunt Lily.  She
is Susan's aunt."

Joey bowed down so that they more or less were on the same level.  "It's
very nice to meet you."

Aunt Lily took her cane that lay diagonally across her lap and swatted Joey
lightly on the calf twice.  "I have seen many a handsome young man, but you
are the best looking thing I've seen in this family in years."  Joey
naturally blushed.  And he took a step back from Lily.  "The girls will be
lining up to meet you.  But beware of Katie, she is a demon."

This made Joey laugh. "I know.  Katie was the first member of the family I
met."  He leaned a little closer to her.  "She doesn't scare me.  And I see
where she gets it from."

"I think I scared you the first time we met," Katie laughed as she walked up
to the group with Tim.  "Aunt Lily, you should have seen him run away.  A
jet couldn't have caught him."

"I'm not surprised, my dear.  You make every man nervous."  Her eyes
sparkled as she looked back at Stephen.  "I wouldn't be surprised if she was
the number one reason so many men are gay."

Have you even seen a ghost?  Well, Stephen turned paler than that.  Aunt
Lily tapped him with the cane, signaling for him to lean in.  "Only one time
have I've seen the look on your face when you walked in.  I still remember
at the family picnic when Danny hit Scott with a ball when he was 3 or 4
years old.  You were so protective of him that we couldn't even see if he
was alright.  All he had was a bump on his head.  But you didn't let him out
of your sight the rest of that day.  I can see the same look in you now.
You are just as protective of that young man.  It's him, isn't it?"

Stephen smiled.  What could he say?  "You are an amazing woman."

"I gave birth to and raised nine kids, watching them grow up.  I've had my
share of fun.  And I could tell you secrets about everyone in this family.
I don't pass judgement, that's God's job.  I just know that if you hadn't
claimed him, I might even try myself.  That is one handsome man.  I may be
old, but I still have my imagination.  Don't lose this one."

"I won't."  Stephen kissed Lily one more time.  "I'll see you later."

Stephen and Joey sat at a table with Katie and Tim.  Katie drilled Stephen
for the details of what Lily had said.  And just as she had predicted, all
the young ladies at the party came up to say hello to Stephen long enough to
be introduced to Joey, at which point Stephen became invisible.  The dinner
went off smoothly for our heroes, and if anyone in the family had their
suspicions, they kept them quiet.

The next day was the wedding.  Dawn was gorgeous in her wedding gown, and
Adam was a handsome, but nervous young man.  Of course, Stephen, Joey,
Katie, and Tim sat together towards the back of the church.  More noise came
out of that pew that in the rest of the church.  Giggling, whispering, and
just commotion.  But as the ceremonies came to the vows, they all became
very quiet.  Katie leaned her head on Tim, he wrapped his arm around her.
Stephen and Joey scooted closer together, and they rested their hands on the
bench so that they could touch without anyone seeing.  The four were quiet
for the rest of the service.

Soon the ceremony was over, and it was on to the reception.  Once again, if
anyone wanted to challenge the relationship between Stephen and Joey,
nothing was said.  All the girls approached Joey to dance, and he graciously
fulfilled each girl's fantasy.  And fantasy was all it would be.  If it was
a slow dance, Joey would make sure to look to Stephen, who was visiting with
Susan's sister and brothers.  He tried to let Stephen know that he was
thinking of him, wishing that it was Stephen who was holding him in his
arms.  Stephen didn't need Joey's transmissions to see what he was thinking.
  They both loved each other enough to know, and weren't worried if anyone
noticed.

Then it was time for the traditional reception activities.  First came the
cutting of the cake.  Then the throwing of the bouquet.  All of the girls
gathered in the center of the ballroom, waiting for Dawn to toss it.  When
she did, a quick move to the front and a stretch of the arms that would have
made Gumby proud resulted in the flowers winding up in the arms of Katie.
Everyone in the family howled their laughter.  Katie was their darling, and
besides, this was the third bouquet she had caught.  A voice from the corner
of the room bellowed, "One of these days, Katie, one of these days!"
Another voice yelled out, "Tim, you the man!"

Then it was the garter.  They called for all the single men.  The only guys
that came out were a couple of Dawn's cousins and a couple of boys from
Susan's family who couldn't have been older than 11 or 12.  Then someone
called out, "Hey, there's some single guys."  They pointed across to where
Stephen, Joey and Tim all sat with Katie.  The hoots and hollers for Stephen
drowned out anything that the MC was saying with his microphone.  The three
knew there was no getting out of this.  So they joined the others in the
center, waiting for Adam to remove the garter from Dawn's thigh.

Adam stood with his back to the men.  The master of ceremonies begged the
crowd, "All everyone, on the count of three...1...2..3!"  Adam threw the
garter over his shoulder.  All the hands reached for it.  But when they
parted, two hands firmly grasped a half of the garter each.  The man with
the mike announced to everyone, "Well, it looks like we have a tie.  I've
never seen that before."  When the shouting died down, it was Aunt Lily who
succinctly said it for all the family members around her to hear.

"Well, I guess Joey and Stephen will be the next two to get married."