Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2012 18:47:24 -0700
From: Pete McDonald <bajabudfan@hotmail.com>
Subject: TIME-TO-SEE-59-

TIME-TO-SEE-59

Brandon paced back and forth, wearing a path in the carpet next to the bay
window in their bedroom while Max was packing his bag for Athens.

"You have GOT to tell Shannon about us, Max. You'll have plenty of time
with him staying here all summer, and if you move fast, you might be able
to capitalize on his acceptance of his travel friends who have Gay dads."

"Well, they didn't SAY they were gay, Brandon!" Max answered, throwing his
shirts into his suitcase.

"Oh! For goodness sake, Max. I read that email from Kevin.  He was very
candid about his family.  He sounded as if everyone was comfortable with
their arrangement too, and he all but used the word, gay." Brandon said.

"But he DIDN'T use the word, Brandon... That's just the point... What do
you want me to do; put words in his mouth?" Max answered impatiently.

"No.  I want you to tell Shannon that you are gay, that I'm your partner,
and that we share our lives and our home...  You can fill in whatever
details you think a kid that age will need," Brandon popped back.

His tone changing to one of wistfulness: "I'll do it! I'll do it, Brandon.
Just give me time..." And Max threw down another handful of clothes and
walked over to Brandon intercepting him in his circuit of pacing...

"I'll just have to wait for the right time, Brandon... Oh, please, Brandy.
I don't want to struggle over this.  I always want to be around you because
I feel my life is RIGHT when I am; and conflict like this blocks out the
truth of how much I love you and how good our life together really is..."

Brandon put his arms around Max and said, "Oh, you know I won't create
another problem for you Max.  I really do understand how hard it is for you
to actually say the words to your own son, but I REALLY believe being
honest is the ONLY way for ALL of us to have a happy life together: you,
me, & Shannon... "

"Shannon might want to come to Ireland to live with you at some point, you
know.  And we have to create an environment NOW, an environment that would
be accepting and filled with possibilities and encouragement for him,
should he want to do that in the future."

Max looked directly into Brandon's eyes and said, "I know you're right,
Brandy.  You definitely are.  And I won't forget how important you've
reminded me this step is.  Please don't worry."  And Max kissed Brandon on
the forehead, having to stretch a bit to his tip-toes to do that, given
that Brandon was a good two or three inches taller than he.

"Thanks, Hon." Brandon said giving Max an embrace that said he was not an
adversary but an ally in every way.

"Now. Brandy. Would you check my email for another message from Shannon or
Kevin.  I need to give instructions to Jerome for while I'm gone."

"Fine, Max.  Let me see..." and Brandon brought up Max's email account on
the laptop that he'd opened on a table in the bedroom.

"Hummm?" and Brandon read the email that Kevin had sent just minutes ago.

"Seems they'll be staying at Castle Clontarf here in Dublin for the first
few days.  And then they will have to relocate for the next conference,"
Brandon said after reading the email.

"They will be landing in about a half hour from now." Brandon added.

"Really?!" Max said, considering the possibilities while looking over at
the clock on the bedside table.

"I think that we could get over to the airport in less than an hour, to
deliver me for my outbound flight to Athens.  Please write an email in
reply for me, Brandy, suggesting that we'd like to meet Shannon and all of
them in the main lobby of the airport after their arrival, and before I
have to take-off, if possible."

Max continued to think out loud, "I'll still have plenty of time to clear
security and make my flight to Athens, even if we take time to meet and
visit with them for a little while.  I'd LOVE to surprise Shannon.  I'm
sooo eager to be with that little guy.  I'm feeling how much I miss him and
love him, you know..."

In seconds Brandon shot off the message Max had requested. Together they
hoped that Kevin would check his email by the time he arrived at Dublin
International.

"Come on, Brandy.  Let's get out of here," Max yelled.

"You sure you have everything, Max?"

"No.  I'm sure I've forgotten something important, but I'll depend on you
for back-up..." Max said as he picked up the bag, gave Brandon a quick kiss
on the cheek, and the two of them scurried down to the town car.

"It's great to feel needed," Brandon said... "I only hope that I'm more
important to you than just a back-up business employee," Brandon said to
chide Max a bit.

The doors to the car closed, and Jerome hurried around the outside of the
vehicle to the driver's side where he got in.  "Where to, gentlemen?"
Jerome asked as he started the engine.

"To the airport... We'd love to get there in 30-40 minutes, but don't be
unsafe or illegal.  We don't want any consequences to deal with," Max
called out to Jerome, leaning forward somehow feeling that he'd be clearer
if he were leaning forward.

"Yes, Sir." Jerome said, and the car sped off down the half-crescent drive
that was lined with bright pink and red azaleas from the main portico of
Max's estate to the County road.

*****


Walking quickly across the polished floor of the lobby that stretched out
in front of the main concourse, Max almost flew along with his suitcase,
which appeared to be nearly weightless, but that, in fact, was quite
densely packed with clothing and computer equipment.  Brandon could barely
keep up with Max, even carrying no bag himself, and with a stride at least
six inches greater than Max's.  Max was hell bent on getting to see his
kid.

In the distance, Max saw a little group of five people just standing and
waiting: two attractive young men, two older boys, and a younger boy that
he recognized as his very own Shannon.

"Dad!" Shannon screamed at the top of his lungs.... "We got your email,"
and he tore away from the security of his little tribe, protected by Hugo
and Kevin, to run ahead to his approaching father.

Max threw his bag down on the floor and swept Shannon up in his arms,
capturing the boy in mid-flight across the huge terminal lobby.

"Shannon! Oh, Shannon.  I missed you SOOOO much." Max said to Shannon as he
swung him around in circles right there in the middle of the throng of
travelers.

"Dad!" Shannon squealed again, hugging him tightly, not about to let him go
for an instant.

Nicky and Jilder followed Shannon's path across the lobby, running
together, caught up in the excitement and happy for their friend, even
though they'd never met Shannon's dad.

And pulling up the rear, Hugo and Kevin walked over to the meeting that had
quickly become a major "Scene" in the middle of the terminal!

After five or six twirls around, long enough to make Shannon thoroughly
dizzy, Max slowed his spinning and allowed Shannon to come down to earth.

"Son, you've GROWN!  You are such a big guy from when I last remember you,
last year..." Max said.

"Yeah! Dad.  I'm growing up and gettin bigger.... And YOU are gettin Older,
Dad!"  Shannon said. "You have little gray hairs over your ears..."

At that remark, Brandon laughed out loud doubling over in hysterics, "I
like your candidness, Shannon.  I KNOW you and I will get along just
great," and he offered his hand to Shannon, which Shannon took just to
steady himself, if for nothing else, being thoroughly woozy and walking
wobbly after his dad's whirling welcome.

Shannon looked up at Brandon in his 6 foot 2 inch stature, looked him
directly in the eyes and said, scrunching up his nose in a puzzled
expression: "Who are you?"

"Uh!" Max stammered, suddenly looking pale, uncertain, and definitely
on-the-spot, in contrast to the exuberance that had exploded from him
spontaneously just seconds ago when he saw Shannon for the first time.

"Uh... Shannon..... Uh, this is my dear, dear friend, Mr. Brandon
Johnathan,... Uh, Uh..... he and I have.... a LOT in common and we...." Max
prattled on nervously...

At which point, Shannon had had enough, and he interrupted his dad
finishing his dad's sentence for him: "And Brandon is YOUR partner, like
Hugo and Kevin are partners making Nicky and Jilder have two dads... Right,
Dad?"

"Oh, my God, the kid's psychic," Max said confidentially to Brandon,
looking panic stricken over to Brandon...

"Nonsense, Max," he's bright and savvy and you can't bullshit him... So
don't try.  He's just like his dad, if only you'd allow yourself to realize
it," Brandon replied to Max, indicating to him that everything was going to
be alright.

"Brandy, what am I going to do now???" Max asked quickly, trying to inquire
privately of Brandon, while looking as if he were in physical pain...

"For God's sake, Max... Get a hold of yourself.  TALK to the kid... THE
TRUTH!" Brandon replied to Max.


Still pale but determined to answer, Max looked directly at Shannon and
said:


"Uh.  Yep! You're right, Shannon. And the truth is YOU'VE got two dads
too."

('There' I said it!' Max pointed out to himself... 'And I'm still
breathing'...)

"That's cool, Dad.  I'm glad I have two dads.  I just hope he's as nice as
Hugo and Kevin."

At that remark, Max looked above Shannon, past Nicky and Jilder to make eye
contact with Hugo and Kevin.  Max smiled, and with one arm around Shannon,
he reached with the other toward Nicky and Jilder and Hugo and Kevin.

"Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm Maxmillian Murphy, Shannon's
dad..."

Jilder responded, "Yeah! We noticed!"

(Pregnant silence...)



"Jilder! Where are your manners?" Hugo said mortified at how out spoken his
progeny turned out to be...as he "popped" Jilder on the back of the head
for his transgression...

"Please let me apologize to you for my son's impertinence," Hugo said. "We
have been looking forward to meeting you, and now that I discover that we
all have so much in common, I have to confess that I am REALLY happy to
meet you... BOTH", Hugo said smiling and looking over to Brandon.

Max replied: "Oh, Hugo? Am I right? Please don't make excuses for yet
another bright, impatient boy who clearly catches on to social realities as
a gestalt.  I feel so much better realizing I'm not alone in my floundering
to deal with my own son's candidness.  I know that I have sooo much to
learn from the both of you.  I am so extremely happy to meet you-- to meet
all of you."

Kevin extended his hand first to Max and then to Brandon.  "Nice to meet
you both as well.  We have been so looking forward to our visit with you."

Brandon was cheery beyond belief, with a broad smile across his face, he
met the whole brood and realized that his life would suddenly get much
better quite rapidly, given that Max would be free to be himself, and
Shannon seemed to be a terrific little kid-- if a bit out-spoken-- keeping
a person like Brandon on his toes, lest he (Brandon) how might one put
it?-- 'step on his own dick', in a manner of speaking....

*****

But life has its own demands, one of which Brandon just remembered. "Hon
(referring to Max)-- better watch the time.  You've got to get through
security if you're going to make that flight to Athens... And clearing
security these days is no dash in the park."

"Oh, my God, Brandy, you're right.  Can I leave our new friends in your
care, and you'll help them connect with Jerome and the car?"

Brandon asked Kevin and Hugo, "And will everyone, including Shannon, be
staying at Castle Clontarf?"

"Well, we made reservations for Shannon, because we had no idea that we'd
connect with you before Maxmillian left for Athens. But, if he wants to go
with you, Brandon, we certainly understand."

"Aw, Dad... We want Shannon to come with US! You promised!" Nicky said
plaintively to his dads....

"Let me relieve the boys," Brandon said.  "I'm sure they are all looking
forward to sleeping in a castle tonight; so allow me to encourage you all
to continue with your plans.  I will join you at Clontarf this evening for
dinner, if I may be so bold as to invite myself.  That way we can visit and
become acquainted while Max is away, and the boys can enjoy one another's
company as well..."

Turning to Shannon, Brandon asked, "How does that sound to you, "Murph"?
Shannon smiled from ear to ear when he heard the special name Brandon had
for him...

"Yeah.  I'd like that" Shannon said.  "And I like that cool name you got
for me too!" Shannon said reaching his arm out to grab Brandon's shirt
sleeve.

"Then it's decided.  We'll all go to Castle Clontarf, have dinner, visit,
and let the boys settle in.  And Max can get his butt over to security
right now, lest he miss his flight...MAX!!!"

"Shannon. I love you, and I'll be back in 5 days when my business in Athens
is complete. Stay with Hugo and Kevin and do as they ask... Be safe..."

"OK, Dad.  I will." Shannon said, and he waved at his dad as Max grabbed
his suitcase and ran off in the direction of security screening.



*****



Later that evening, all three boys with squeaky clean faces, all freshly
showered and dressed in coats and ties, hair pasted to their scalps with
shiny hair gel (except not-quite 'pasted', in Nicky's case), filed into the
grand dining room at Castle Clontarf.

They were three very handsome boys: Jilder was first in line; 'Murph' was
next; and Nicky was third; Hugo and Kevin followed close behind.  They were
greeted by the maitre-de who looked to the two gentlemen and asked, "How
many in your party, Sirs?"

"Six." Kevin replied.  "Mr. Brandon Johnathon will be joining us a bit
later."

"Very good, Sir. Please follow me."

And the Maitre-de turned and led the little family across the dining room
to a large, round table covered in an ornate, deep red and gold brocade
table cover, set with white china, dazzling silver flatware bearing the
Clontarf Crest, and shining gold goblets.

The table sat beneath an enormous silver and glass chandelier, bedecked
with chains of small crystal madallions and cascades of teardrop-shaped
crystals under each candle light.  The sheer grandeur of the setting left
all of the boys speechless.

Nicky looked up with his mouth hanging open, processing the intricacy of
the chandelier that captured his attention. Each element of shredded light
that sparkled as it twisted and turned traveling through the thousands of
crystals left Nicky in an hypnotic trance. He seated himself not taking his
gaze off of the magnificent chandelier for even a single moment.

'Murph' was puzzled over how he would negotiate the enormous gilded chair
to which he was lead, the seat of which met him almost at chest height.  He
didn't want to have to ask anyone to pick him up and place him on the
chair; that would have been too embarrassing for a young man his age; so he
stretched to get his belly up on the seat, after which he used the chair
back to pull himself up all the way onto the seat.  Finally on his knees in
the seat, he twisted around, disarranging his coat and tie a bit, but
finally seating himself facing the table.

Jilder required help.  He just stood there surveying the majesty of the
setting into which he'd been thrust.  Kevin came up behind Jilder quietly,
sensing Jilder's intimidation, put his arms around him from behind and
spoke quietly in his ear:

"So you are finally given the great luxury and beauty that a boy like you
has deserved his whole life.  Take it, Jilder, it's here for you now.  You
deserve it."  And Jilder stepped over closer to one of the enormous gilded
chairs and lowered himself to the seat, just looking at the great beauty
all around. 'Could ANY one person ever deserve this much beauty and
luxury,' he questioned himself silently.

Kevin stepped back to the chair right next to Jilder's.  Hugo moved up
behind Kevin and spoke quietly to Kevin.  "And you're equally as worthy of
this luxury, but even all of its beauty cannot compare to the beauty of
your love, which I see and feel everyday.  And your love is always
visible--unlike this luxury--nurturing and keeping our family together in
settings far less grand than this.  We are more blessed by your love, than
by the beauty of this lovely table which we may now enjoy.

Hugo kissed Kevin on the neck and pulled his chair out inviting him to be
seated.

Everyone in place, Hugo surveyed his wonderful family with a long and
satisfying gaze, savoring the blessings of his life.  He was a long way
from the little Burrito shop where he first saw Kevin.

A waiter, no, a CADRE of waiters, appeared, and one addressed Hugo, "Will
you be having the Castle Home Wine this evening, Sir?"

"Yes, thank you.  And the same for my partner," Hugo said nodding to Kevin.

"Very good sir," the waiter replied.

"We have special grape juice for the young men, if that would be suitable?"
the waiter suggested to Hugo.

"That would be very nice... a perfect way to include the young men even
though they are not quite up to the full rigors of adulthood," Hugo
replied.

"Thank You, Sir." And the waiter nodded to three other waiters who each
approached the table at once and began filling the boy's golden goblets
with grape juice simultaneously.

The boys all sat speechless watching what was going on.  None of them dared
to touch the table without approval from their dads.  So with all eyes
trained on Hugo, Hugo reached for his own goblet, lifted it, and proposed a
toast:

"May love, good health, safe travels, and happiness always go with my
wonderful family gathered here with me tonight, and may the same always
accompany our honored guest, Mr. Shannon Murphy, on this special occasion
of our first day in the Republic of Ireland."

Kevin nodded to the boys and gestured to indicate that they too should pick
up their goblets.  When everyone was poised with chalices in the air, Hugo
cheered, "Here! Here!" and took a sip from his own, Kevin followed: "Here!
Here!," and the boys took their cue that they too should cheer out loud and
drink to the health and happiness of each other.

It was a wonderful moment for five spiritual beings, bound in concern and
love for one another, discovering how they are actually One.



*****


They had no sooner returned their chalices to the table than Brandon
Johnathon approached and asked, "May I join you?"

Jilder spoke up being the first to betray his delight at Brandon's arrival,
"Sure. Sit down. That seat's for you."

"Yeah! Brandon. We missed you.  I'm glad you didn't have to work late too,"
Shannon said.

"Oh, Murph! Come on... surely you don't think I'd miss having dinner with
you and your friends, do you?" Brandon said

"No.  I knew you'd come.  I just wanted you to hurry up and get here,
that's all," Shannon said.

Kevin addressed Brandon, "It is very kind of you to give up your evening to
join us.  It's really remarkable that we now have friends in this new
land."

"Well, I can confess for Max and me together that we have been thinking of
nothing else but Shannon's visit for months.  And to have him arrive in an
entourage of wonderful people too is OUR unmerited pleasure."

Nicky jumped in with his curiosity, "Brandon: Do they have any metal suits
here?"

"I don't quite follow you, Nicky.  What was that again?" Brandon asked.

Nicky continued, "You know.  Armor suits that the old knights used to wear.
We want to see some.  Do you think they have any here?"

"Oh, indeed they do.  Have you been in the Great Hall yet?" Brandon turned
to look at Hugo and Kevin with his question.

"I don't think so," Kevin said.  "At least we haven't seen any suits of
armor; so I suppose logic would say we haven't been there yet."

"Well, after dinner, boys, we'll all have to go to the Great Hall for an
after-dinner brandy and an inspection of the suits of armor and the battle
axes and such."

"That would be cool," little Murph said.

"Yeah.  We all wanted to see the armor suits," Jilder agreed too.

"This castle is not the oldest of castles, but 1172 would make it almost a
thousand years old, and well into the era when suits of armor were
important."

Hugo said, "I was looking over the seminar schedule up in the room and
found that we will be moving to Galway, Ireland, for one session next
Friday evening.  Maybe we can find some even older castles over there."

"Oh, indeed," Brandon said. "If you'll be going to that part of the
country, I know that Max will want to invite you to join us at Castle
Dromoland, which is a favorite of his and just another marvelous experience
for the boys."

"Well, that sounds like winning the lottery-- twice!... First Max allows us
to use his town car while he is away.  Next you are saying that you would
like to invite us to join you both at this wonderful castle.  Really,
Brandon, we appreciate your hospitality immensely, but --really--we
couldn't impose."

"Nonsense," Brandon wouldn't accept a 'no'.  "I'll text Max right after
dinner, and I'm sure he'll want me to set the reservations in motion
immediately.  Now THERE is a place with suits of armor AND..... GHOSTS!"
pausing for dramatic effect!

He crouched his head down close to the table and leaned toward the boys
speaking in a low, conspiratorial voice: "Real GHOSTS! there be in Castle
Dromoland!"

"Uhhh!" Shannon gasped taking a big gulp of air and putting his hands up to
his mouth.

"For real?" Nicky dared ask, somewhat inclined to include, "You GOTTA be
puttin us on"... but he didn't... He COULDN'T bring himself to say it!

"Ohhhhhhhh!" Jilder said, eyes bulging and body about to fall out of his
seat, now completely oblivious of the elegant surroundings in which he
found himself.

"Yes!!!!" Brandon shouted in one choppy syllable! And in his most ominous
and seductive manner Brandon went on....

"AND... King Brian, the first king of Ireland is said to walk about his
castle grounds, about the lakes and grottos, even today!  And some say that
they've even SEEN him!  YES!!!!"

"Ohhh!" Shannon gasped putting the fingers of both hands over his mouth.

"And do you want to find the ghost of King Brian, "Murph"?" Brandon asked
in his best conspiratorial tone.

"Aw!!! Come on, Brandon." Jilder said, trying to call Brandon on his
nonsense.  Still though...

"NOOOOOOO!" Brandon went on in all seriousness: "Right there HE BE! Walking
the grottos and land on which he lived over a thousand years ago!"

The boys were captivated by Brandon recounting the local lore and the
implied possibilities.  There would be no-way these boys would give up a
chance to go ghost hunting for King Brian! No-way!

Kevin spoke to Brandon, "Well, my goodness, we would certainly want to see
King Brian if we could... What would we have to do?" Kevin enjoyed the
fairytale quality of Brandon's story, and he also enjoyed toying with the
boys acceptance of the fantastic and stretching their gullibility.

Usually, Kevin was reality personified, but something in Brandon's fanciful
tale about King Brian tweaked Kevin's childhood fantasies too; so that he
was more than ready to travel to Castle Dromoland and see for himself....

Thus, all through dinner the men considered the possibilities that they
might get to see a ghost if they were to visit Castle Dromoland.

"If Brandon can't get dad to go to Castle Dromoland, I'll ask him to take
us myself. I know he'll let us go, if I ask him." 'Murph' reassured
everyone present.

Here he was.  Shannon was only hours into his dad's far away life with
Brandon, but he was absolutely SURE that his dad would honor his
request. He was that sure of his dad's devotion to him.  THAT in itself was
worth the trip to Dromoland: to see a man and his young son embark together
on a journey important to the boy.

*****

After dinner, the men and their charges retired to the Great Hall and
after-dinner brandy for the men and hot chocolate for the boys.

Remarkably large suits of armor stood about the grand hall, and charging
poles and monstrous battle axes hung on the walls. Indeed, this was turning
out to be a wonderful vacation for everyone.



*****


It began to grow quite late.  The fire in the grand fireplace had died
leaving only glowing embers to crackle and pop every now and then, and the
boys had begun to yawn.

The boys shirt tails were now evident here and there, their ties were
askew, and their suit coats were hiked up from squirming around on the
large sofas.  But they were supremely delighted planning their quest to
meet the ghost of King Brian in Dromoland.  Were any of them frightened?
Not that they would admit... It remained to be seen how they would react if
they really should meet a ghost!

The sound of a cell phone signal interrupted their conversations, and
Brandon reached in his pocket to discover that Max had just sent a text
message in reply to his earlier one.

It said,

"Brandon: Marvelous idea. If you won't feel that I am abusing your devoted
attention, may I ask that you make reservations at Dromoland immediately
for you, me, Shannon (uh? 'Murph') and our 4 American friends. Please
invite them to be our guests at Dromoland, if their schedule permits. We
can stay through the weekend and return to Dublin in the middle of the
week, or perhaps later, if we have good fortune.  Kiss 'Murph' for
me....Love... Max"

"Well, that's it, gentlemen.  If you think you can join us, we'd be
delighted to host a week or two at Dromoland," Brandon said.

Even though their energy was definitely on the wane, all of the boys
managed to yell out, "Hurray for Max! Hurray for Max!"" while bouncing
around on the sofas...

"Boys! Calm down. Sofas are for sitting, not for use as substitute
trampolines..." Kevin said.  Then he turned to Brandon and gave him an
embarrassed smile... "Guess you can tell the boys are ready to accept your
gracious invitation, and Hugo and I would be ecstatic to join you and Max.
Thank you so much, Brandon..."

*****

Brandon shared his message from Max, leaving everyone delighted with the
invitation.

"See, I told you Dad would take us to Castle Dromoland," Murph said.

"Yes.  And you were right too, Murph."

*****