Date: Sun, 27 May 2001 23:39:48 -0700 (PDT)
From: Michael Freeman <mf900@yahoo.com>
Subject: Michael-and-Chance-8

Author's Note: Happy Memorial Day everyone!  Well, here's MC8: "Winter
Break," the anniversary installment of the Michael & Chance Series.  Wow, I
can't believe it has been a year already since I have started the Series!
Amazing how time fly.  Anyway, this is a pretty long one.  So grab a cold
drink, sit back and enjoy!

There's only a few musical selection in this installment.  I know, you're
probably devastated.  (lol).  But I'll make it up with MC10.  Tons of
musical selections in that one!  So hold onto your dancing shoes until
then. :o) For those who give a rat's ass (smiling), the musical selections
are: "Happy Xmas" (John Lennon);" "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow"
(Frank Sinatra); "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" (Luther
Vandross); "The Christmas Song" (Celine Dion); "The Prayer" (Bocelli and
Dion).  Ok, ok, I'll shut up now.  Oh, before I forget, there's a little
poll at the end of this installment. I've been meaning to do one for a
while now, and being the anniversary installment, I thought it would be
fitting to include one in this installment.  Anyway, I hope you'll
participate.  And now without further ado, I give you MC8.  Enjoy!

Disclaimer and Legal Stuff:
The following story deals with male-to-male relationship and gay erotica.
If this offends you or is illegal in your location and/or you are under the
age of consent in your jurisdiction to read such materials, then you should
exit this page now.  This statement releases the author of the story and
the site wherein this story is posted from any legal action or liability.

All rights reserved by author.  This series is not to be reproduced,
distributed, altered, or posted elsewhere without the expressed consent and
written permission from the author.  Copyright 2001.

                     Michael and Chance 8:
                         "Winter Break"
                               by
                       Michael T. Freeman
                            5/26/01

Chapter 17: Meeting the Parents!

Fall semester is finally over, and I'm ecstatic that Winter Break is here!
I'm so looking forward to some well-deserved rest and relaxation.  It's
been a crazy semester, and I was relieved to have my last exam over with
last Friday.  I believe I kicked ass on my finals; so I'm pretty content.
Anyway, who cares!  They're done and over with, and I'm ready for the
holidays!  Stacy and the gang have already left for Winter Break last
weekend.  Dade has also left last week for the break, and fortunately,
Chance didn't.  He's not going home this Christmas because he couldn't
afford to fly home.  After hearing the news, I promptly persuaded and
adamantly insisted that he comes home with me and spends the holidays with
my family.  After some initial resistance, Chance finally concurred.  He
shouldn't have to spend the holidays alone, and I really want to spend
Christmas with him.  It'll be our first Christmas together, and I'm utterly
excited about it.  Since our fall semester ended a week before Christmas, I
decided not to go home right away but hang in town for a few days.  This
will give Chance and I some private, alone time together which we fully
took advantage of especially in the bedroom. :o) I love spending time with
Chance, and I'm glad that we have the opportunity to do so before heading
home to my folks.

It's Friday before Christmas, and I'm driving home with Chance in the
passenger's seat, dozing off.  It's a bit past 9 o'clock in the evening,
and we should reach my parents' house pretty soon.  Chance looked so sweet,
sleeping like an angel with his head cocked to one side.

With nothing good on the radio, I inserted my "Superstar Christmas" CD into
my car CD player, and John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" immediately
came on.  I love this song; it has a nice nostalgic feel to it which
prompted me to sing along.  I guessed I sang a bit loudly because Chance
stirred awake.

"Oh, I'm sorry to have waken you up, Chance!" I apologized as Chance rubbed
and opened his eyes.

"It's fine, angel," Chance assured me with a smile.  "Are we almost there
yet?"

"Yeah, in about another hour and half."

"Cool," Chance smiled and sat upright.

"Had a nice nap?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm a bit wore out with all the last minute cleaning up
around my apartment!"

I smiled and laughed.

"Yeah, you should have had Dade helped you before he left," I suggested.

"Yeah, but it mostly my mess from my final art projects."  Chance lightly
laughed.

"Where did he go for the break by the way?"  I asked curiously.

"He went to visit a friend in Palm Springs.  He invited me along, but I
didn't feel right intruding on his friend who I don't know.  So I decided
not to go!"

"Well, I'm glad you didn't." I briefly looked at him and smiled.  "I'm
really glad that you agreed to spend the holidays with my family."

Chance smiled and looked out his window for a while without say anything.
He has been a bit pensive and not so talkative all day, and I was beginning
to wonder what he was churning over in his head. I figured that he might be
worried about meeting my parents.

"Is everything okay, Chance?"  I asked, getting a bit concerned about his
pensiveness.  "Are you worry about meeting my parents and spending the
holidays with us?"

Chance snapped out of his trance and turned to me.  "Uhmm..." Chance
cleared his throat.  "Yeah, I guess I am...I'm a bit nervous about meeting
your family, especially your parents."

I smiled understandably.  "Well, you don't anything to worry about, angel.
They're going to love you as much as I do," I reassured him.  God, I really
hope so!  I must admit, I'm a bit nervous myself since this is actually the
first time that I have brought a boyfriend home to my parents.  None of the
others were worth bringing home.  But Chance is different, and I wanted to
introduce him to my family and for them to get to know him.  I called last
week and told my dad that I was bringing home a "very special friend" (that
my parent's euphemism for "boyfriend") for the holidays.  He said that it
would be fine, but I'm a bit unsure of how my mom will react to Chance.
Anyway, I quickly pushed my worries aside and refocused my attention back
to the present.

We finally reached my parents' home a bit after 10:30pm.  I took in a deep
breath as I pulled into the circular driveway.  The motion-detector, porch
lights immediately switched on as I parked in front of the house.  My
parents quickly opened the door and greeted us.

"Hi honey!" My mom greeted me with a kiss as my dad hugged me.  "How was
the drive?"

"Hi Mom, it was fine!" I replied as I hugged her and my dad back.

Chance stood by smiling sheepishly as my parents shifted their attention to
him.  I guess that's my cue to introduce my "very special friend."

"Mom, Dad..hum...this is Chance, my boyfriend!" I strained out a bit more
nervously than I had thought.

"Huh, good to meet you, Chance!" My dad quickly greeted him with a hand
shake, followed by my mom.

"It's my pleasure, sir, ma'am!" Chance smiled nervously.

"Please call us John and Jacklyn," my dad suggested.  "Calling us sir and
ma'am makes us feel old."

"Alright," Chance politely agreed.

"Let me give you boys a hand with the luggage," my dad offered.

"No, that's fine, Dad, thanks. We got it!"

"Okay."

We quickly got our stuff into the house, and I parked my car in the garage.

"Are you boys hungry?  Have you eaten dinner yet?" my mom asked as soon as
I got into the house.  What is it with my mom and food?  That's usually one
of the first questions that she would ask me.

"Yes, mom we ate earlier at a diner on our way here."

"Okay, but if you're still hungry, there's left over chickens in the
fridge.  Just help yourself"

"Alright Mom, thanks."

"Chance, I have prepared the guestroom for you," my mom interjected as we
were marching up the stairs with our luggage.  "You can sleep in there."

I immediately turned around and frowned at her.  "Mom, Chance can stay in
room if he wants to...I have a big enough bed," I asserted.

"The guestroom will be fine, ma'am," Chance politely replied.

I quickly turned to Chance.  "Chance, you don't have to stay in the
guestroom if you don't want to, okay!" I assured him.

"Really, it's fine, Michael," Chance sweetly reassured me and turned to my
mom, "Thanks, ma'am."

"You're welcome."

Half an hour later, we both got ready for bed.  It's been a long day, and
we're both pretty tired from the drive.  I quickly took a shower as Chance
brushed his teeth and took care of his bedtime hygiene.  Chance soon
settled in his room which is adjacent to mine.  Before settling in bed, I
stopped by his room to see how he was doing and if he needed anything.  He
assured me that he was fine, so I gave him a goodnight kiss and left the
room.  I'm still a bit bothered by my mom's suggestion for Chance to sleep
in the guestroom.  I guess a part of me understand her parental concerns,
but still, I didn't like her suggestion.  Before heading back to my room, I
went downstairs for some water.  My dad was in the kitchen, eating a
chicken sandwich.

"Hi Dad," I said as got a glass of water.

"Hey son, how are you doing?  Why the long face?" my dad asked as he put
down his sandwich.

"Hum...I'm just a bit irritated with Mom for suggesting that Chance stays
in the guestroom.  It just doesn't feel right," I vented.

"Well, you know your mother.  She can be a bit old-fashioned and rigid in
her ways at times.  But I'll talk to her about it if you like," my dad
offered.

"Thanks, Dad."

"Sure!" my dad smiled.

"When is Catherine and Eric coming home anyway?"

"Eric is on his way.  He called earlier and said that he'll be here later
tonight, and Catherine's coming tomorrow.  Her flight should be here around
noon."

"Okay, well, goodnight Dad."

"Goodnight son."

I went back to my room and plopped on my bed.  I tried to fall asleep, but
I couldn't.  I kept tossing and turning, thinking about my mom's comment;
and the more I thought about it, the more agitated I got.  So finally after
about half an hour of restlessness, I decided to fuck what my mom said.
I'm not going to spend this break sleeping alone without Chance when he's
just a room away.  So I sprung out of bed, grabbed my pillow and headed for
Chance's room.  I gently knocked on his door.  When he didn't answered, I
quietly turned the door knob and entered his room.  Chance seemed to be
asleep; he must has been really tired.  I quietly pulled up his covers.
Chance was stripped down to his boxer, sleeping in slightly fetal position.
The soft moonlight, filtering through the windows, softly graced his
magnificent body and angelic face as I stood there momentarily, admiring
his beautiful body.  I then gently slipped into bed.  He moaned a bit as he
rolled over and slowly opened his eyes to see me lying next to him.

"Michael, what are you doing?" he asked, a bit startled and dazed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," I replied as I gave him a quick peck.
"I was lonely in my room, and I wanted so badly to lie next to you.  And
I'm not going let my mom stop me from sleeping with you."  I smiled at him.

"Oh, really?  Well, I missed you too, love," Chance replied playfully in
his baby voice before sounding seriously again.  "But I don't want to get
you in trouble," Chance whispered.

"I don't care.  I just want to be next to you right now, and that's all
that matters to me at this moment," I assured him as I leaned in and kissed
him passionately and deeply, probing his mouth with my tongue.  He quickly
reciprocated as our tongues danced and wrestled each other.  We finally
surfaced for air.

"Okay, Michael.  Whatever you want!"  Chance smiled and kissed me again.
We made out for a little while before falling asleep in each other arms.

*********

Chance squinted as the morning light shun into his eyes.  He gently rolled
over to see Michael still asleep and smiled as he admired his boyfriend's
sleeping body.  Chance gently traced Michael's lips with his index finger
and slowly leaned in and kissed his soft lips.  Michael slowly stirred
awake.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty!" Chance greeted me with a kiss.

"Hey, morning," I replied and our lips locked again.

"I need to use the bathroom before my bladder bursts," Chance exclaimed as
he gave me another kiss and hopped out of bed.

"Okay...hurry back!" I smiled as he put on a shirt and left.

Chance lazily rubbed his eyes as he walked haphazardly towards the hallway
bathroom.  When Chance reached the bathroom doorway, he was pleasantly
surprised to see a tall good-looking, partly naked guy, standing in front
of the bathroom mirror with a white bath towel wrapped around his waist,
shaving.  The guy turned and smiled at Chance as he put down his razor.
Chance quickly realized that this must be Michael's older brother, Eric.
He was a bit taken back by the guy's physical resemblance to Michael.  He
looked strikingly similar to Michael in features, a bit more
matured-looking with a slightly broader built, darker hair and deep blue
eyes.  Chance couldn't helped but stared at the toned body before him as
his eyes traced the curvatures of Eric's well-defined pecs, arms and
six-pack abs.

"Hi, you must be Chance, my little brother's new boy toy!" Eric quipped as
he extended his hand.

The comment quickly snapped Chance out of his trance.  "Yeah, I'm Michael's
boyfriend, but I'm not his boy toy!" Chance retorted with a bit of
irritation as he shook Eric's hand.  "I'll come back when you're done!"
Chance mumbled as he turned and headed back to his room a bit offended by
Eric's comment.  Eric smirked as he picked up his razor again.


"Wow, that was quick.  You didn't waste any time, did you?" I said
playfully as Chance entered the room.  "What's wrong?" I quickly changed my
tone when I saw the dejected look on his face.

"Nothing," Chance replied as he came back to bed.  "I just met your
brother."

"Oh, what happened?  Why the long face?  Did he say something to upset
you?" I bombarded him with questions as he sat down on the bed.  Chance
didn't say anything for a couple of seconds.

"Come on, Chance.  Please tell me what happened," I pleaded.

Chance finally looked at me and told me what happened.  "I don't mean to
make it a big deal, but I hate it when people refer to me as a boy toy,"
Chance explained.

"I completely understand, and you're not!  Not in any way!" I immediately
reassured him as I gave him a quick peck and smiled.

"I know," Chance smiled slightly.

"And I apologize for Eric's comment.  I think I know why he said that."

"Why?"

"He probably was testing you to see how you would reply to that comment.
How did you respond to it?"

"I asserted that I was your boyfriend and not your boy toy!" Chance
replied, still looking a bit confused.

"Good!" I smiled.  "He probably just wanted to see if you were an easy
push-over, or if you could stand up for yourself. Anyway, I apologize again
for his behavior.  He's really not an asshole once you get to know him."

Chance seemed to be satisfied with the explanation and settled back in bed
again.  We made out for a little while before Chance decided to go and take
a shower.  He quickly left for the bathroom.  I lazily got up a few minutes
later, put on my tee-shirt and left the room. I decided to stop by Eric's
room to give him a proper scolding.  He quickly opened his door when I
knocked.

"Hey, kid brother!" Eric greeted me with a tight embrace and a smile.

"Hey, Eric!" I couldn't helped but smiled as I hugged him back. It's so
good to see him again.  As we release our embrace, I gave him a quick,
playful punch in the stomach.

"Ouch!" Eric exclaimed, a bit bewildered.  "What the hell was that for!"

"That's for calling my boyfriend a boy toy!" I replied with smirk.

Eric immediately snickered.  "I'm sorry about that, Michael.  I was just
playing with him, to see how he would react!"

"Well, he wasn't too happy about it!" I interjected.

"Yeah, I figured that," Eric replied with a semi regretful look on his
face.  "I'll apologize to him later. I promise."

"Okay, I'll let you finish getting dress then," I said as I turned and
left.  As I walked past the hallway bathroom, I could hear that Chance was
still in the shower.  So I decided to go downstairs to use the downstairs
bathroom.

As I walked quietly down the stairs, I heard whispering voices of my
parents coming from the kitchen, apparently in an intense discussion.  As I
came down further, the conversation became more audible.

"Jacklyn, he's our son.  You need to make a better effort at accepting his
sexual orientation.  Otherwise, you'll pushed him away and lose him for
good!"  I heard my dad whispered earnestly to my mom.  "I don't know about
you, but I'm not going to let that happen.  I love that boy too much to
fight and lose him over this!"

"I know John...but I just can't believe that he brought his boyfriend home.
I'm not ready for that.  I just can't seem to get use to the idea."

"Well, get use to it.  This is not about you; it's about him. What do you
expect, Jacklyn?  He's a very bright and good-looking boy.  And you expect
him to never date or bring boys home?  Of course, he will.  And he's going
to have boyfriends, and he should be able to bring them home without
us...."

My dad stopped abruptly in mid sentence when he heard my sneezing nearby!
They both turned around in a panic, seeing that I was within ear shot of
their hushed conversation.  My mom tried to avert my eyes.  But I wouldn't
let her.  I'm not going to let her get away with what she said this time.
I have held my tongue long enough, and I wasn't going to keep quiet any
longer.

"Thanks a lot Mom.  I knew I could always count on you for support; you're
so good at it!" I quipped with bitter sarcasm.

"Honey, I didn't mean to...." she started to apologize, but I wasn't going
to let her get off this easily.  So I quickly cut her off.

I looked at her straight in the eyes.  "Mom, you know what?  I'm so tired
of having to deal with the same thing with you every time I come home.
It's bad enough that I have to deal with the homophobic, discriminatory
crap out there in the world, but to have to deal with it HERE, in my own
home, with my own family..." I paused as I felt tears starting to well up
in my eyes and my throat muscles constricting, making it hard for me to
talk.  But I persisted and strained out as the first string of tears
streamed down my face, "It's the WORST, Mom!"

"Honey, I...," my mom reached out to comfort me, but I stepped back, out of
her reach.  She had a looked of shame and distraught on her face, unlike
anything I have seen before.

"Do you know, what it's like to be gay in America, Mom?"  I asked bluntly
which caught her off guard.  She was speechless with a helpless expression
on her face.  "Of course, you don't!"  I shook my head.  "You don't know
what it's like to get dirty looks from people when they see you holding
your boyfriend's hand in the park, or kissing him in public, or dancing
with him on the dance floor!  Or worst yet, getting the crap beatin' out of
you because you happened to like guys!"  I took a deep breath to compose
myself, trying desperately to halt the tears that were streaming
uncontrollably down my face.  I wasn't going to let her have the
satisfaction of seeing me cry my heart out like this.

But the tears continued to roll down my face as I felt my throat hardened
with pain.  God, I strained to hold back the tears.  But it was no use.
The floodgate has opened, and tears of hurt and frustration gushed out with
a vengeance.  "So it hurts, Mom..." I squealed out as I continued to stare
at her, "when my own Mom CAN NOT seem to accept me for who I am....and just
love me as I am, unconditionally.  Is that too much to ask?"  I whaled as I
cried my heart out for a couple of minutes without allowing anyone to touch
me.

I collapsed onto the floor with knee bent, hands cupping my face.  I was
emotionally expended.  I was all cried out, completely out of tears.  Yet,
I felt lighter, like a great weigh has been lifted off my chest.  In
retrospect, I'm glad that I got those words off my chest.  They needed to
be said.  It felt good to air them.  I took a deep breath and composed
myself as my parents stood there in complete shock and shame.  Silence
filled the room.  No words were spoken for what seems like an eternity.
Then, I felt an embrace from behind from my dad as he kissed me on the back
of the head and whispered, "We're so sorry Michael.  You know we both love
you very much."

Then, my mom approached me cautiously and wrapped her arms around me.  I
didn't fight back this time.

"I'm so sorry Michael.  I had no idea.  I'm so sorry for everything.  For
everything that I have done or not done, said or not said.  I'm ashamed of
my ignorance and behavior.  I'm especially sorry for not having been the
unconditionally loving mom that I should have been to you.  And I deeply
regret that!" my mom apologized as tears trickled down her face.  It felt
good to hear that.  We embraced a for a little while before my mom wiped
away her tears, sighed deeply and strained a smile.

Chapter 18: O' Christmas Tree

Eric, Chance and I arrived at the airport about half an hour before the
arrival time of Catherine's flight.  After checking the flight schedule
monitor and seeing that Catherine's flight will be on time, we settled in
our seats near the gate.  We sat and chit-chatted while we waited for the
Catherine's flight to arrive.  Eric and Chance seemed to be getting along
pretty well.  Eric has apologized to Chance on our way here for his comment
earlier which Chance graciously accepted.  I'm glad to see that they are
getting along well.  Catherine's flight soon arrived.  We quickly got up
when the gate door opened.  The first few dozens of passengers scurried out
of the gate before I saw Catherine.  We quickly waved and called out to
her.  She grinned when she saw us.

"Hey sis!" I exclaimed as I kissed and embraced her.

"Hey little brother!" Catherine smiled radiantly as she loosened our
embrace and turned to greet Eric. "Good to see you, Eric!"

"Same here gorgeous!  How was your flight?" my brother asked.

"It was fine," Catherine replied and quickly turned to a smiling Chance
which was my cue to introduce him.

"Sis, I would like you to meet my boyfriend, Chance," I said proudly.

Catherine smiled with delight as she shook his hand and gave him a hug.
"Very nice to finally meet you, Chance."

"Likewise!" Chance smiled shyly.

"Michael has told me much about you!"

"Oh, really?  Anything good?"  Chance chuckled.

"Oh, yeah." Catherine smiled. "Quite a few!"

We went to the baggage claim and quickly retrieved Catherine's luggage.  An
hour later, we arrived home.  My parents promptly bursted out of the front
door to greet Catherine.

"Hi honey!" my dad gave Catherine a kiss and a long embrace.  "How was your
flight?"

"It was fine, Dad!"

"Hi sweetie," my mom greeted Catherine.  "Good to have you home."

"Yeah, good to be here."

"Are you hungry?" my asked.

"No, I'm fine Mom.  They just fed us on the plane!" Catherine replied with
humorous grin .

I smiled at her comment as we followed Catherine and my parents into the
house with her luggage in hand.  Catherine turned to the 8 foot tall,
undecorated Christmas tree in the corner of our living room.

"I see that you waited again for all of us to be here before decorating the
tree!" Catherine smiled at my parents.

"Yup!" my mom snickered.  "It's a family event, and we don't want to get
started without all of you kids here.  Anyway, lunch is already set out in
the dining room for those who are hungry."

"Great, I'm starving!" I replied.

Eric and Chance concurred and joined me in the dining room for lunch except
for Catherine who decided to go upstairs to freshen up.  She soon joined us
at the dining table.  We sat and conversed while we ate.  My family
bombarded Chance with tons of questions about himself.  I felt a bit guilty
because I feel like I have thrown him into the lion's pit.  But he did a
beautiful job, handling all their inquiries with finesse.  I later
apologized to him for all the inquisition, but he assured me that it was
fine.

Later that evening, my parents busted out the Christmas tree ornaments, and
we all joined in to decorate the tree.  Chance was a bit hesitant about
joining us at first because it was a family thing.  But we quickly
persuaded him to do so.  My parents also brought out the camera and took
tons of pictures of us, decorating the tree.  And of course, my mom had to
set the holiday mood with Christmas music.  We soon heard Christmas
favorites such as "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" (Frank Sinatra);
"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" (Luther Vandross); "The Christmas
Song" (Celine Dion); "The Prayer" (Bocelli and Dion) and other classic
Christmas songs.  As I watched Chance helped us decorate the tree, I
couldn't helped but smile.  I'm really glad he's here to celebrate the
holidays with me and my family.  He noticed my leering of him, and smiled
back.

Chapter 19: Christmas' Eve

I stirred awake to the soft kisses of Chance as I felt his hand stroking my
hardened dick.  I quickly woke up as I felt his tongue probing my mouth,
and I instinctively reciprocated.  After a couple minutes of tongue
wrestling, our tongues finally untangled, and we surfaced for air.

"Well, good morning, sleeping head," Chance greeted me.

"Good morning!" I smiled.  "I could definitely get use to be awaken each
day like this!"

"Well, I'm just getting started." Chance winked as he leaned in to kiss me
again and slowly kissed his way down my neck to my chest.

"Ahhhhhh...," I moaned with pleasure as I instinctively rested my right
hand on his head.

Chance continued his wet kisses towards my right nipple and gave it a
tongue bath as he massaged my left pec and gently squeezed my left nipple.
Chance looked up at me and smiled as I groaned in ecstacy.  He then
continued the same lingual treatment on my right pec and nipple. I arched
my back a bit as he slowly kissed his way down my abs towards my belly
button.  He spent a few of moments kissing my abs and massaging my obliques
and then dug his tongue into my belly button.  I squirmed in pleasure as I
moaned softly.  Chance, then, proceeded to my engorged cock.  He wrapped
his manly left hand around my throbbing manhood as I felt his wet lips
against my head.  He started to jack me off as he probed the slit of my
head with tongue.  I shivered with excitement as Chance licked the sweet,
clear dew of my pre-cum.  Suddenly he deep throated me.

"Oh, God.....," I uttered heavily.

Chance continued to suck and lick me hungrily, up and down my shaft.  I
moaned a bit more loudly as I felt tingling waves of pleasure, rippling
throughout my body.  Suddenly he slowed down his pace and sucked up towards
the head of my cock.  Then, he wrapped his left hand around my shaft and
started to jack me off again as he sucked rhythmically up and down my head.

"Oh, fuck...that feel so good, angel...," I mumbled.  "Aahhhhhhhh..."

After a few minutes of the simultaneous pumping and sucking, I was ready to
explode.  "Angel, I'm going to cum!" I warned Chance which prompted him to
suck even harder and faster.  He brought me over the edge, and I exploded
into his mouth.  "Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"  I moaned in ecstacy. Chance engulfed
my sweet nectar eagerly as I shivered.  Chance sat up, smiled and leaned
down to kiss me, allowing me to taste a bit of my sweetness.

"God, that was great!"  I exclaimed in between heavy breaths.

"And yummy too!" Chance smiled.  "Who needs morning cereals and milk when I
can have you for breakfast."

Chance and I chuckled.

"Well, you're welcome to have me for breakfast any time," I offered with a
fat grin.

"Oh, really, is that a promise?"

"You know it!"  I exclaimed.

"So what do you want to do today?" Chance asked.

I scratched my head as I turned to look at the time.  It's only 6:30 am,
and I haven't heard anyone roaming around the house yet.  The rest of my
family probably is still asleep.

"Do you feel like going for a brisk morning jog before breakfast?" I asked
after I thought for a minute what we could do at this early time in the
morning.

"Yeah, that sounds good!"

"Great!"

Chance and I quickly took care of our morning hygiene, and changed into our
jogging clothes.  After a short stretching session, we took off for our
run.  The sun has already risen behind the foothill as we exited the house.
It's a beautiful morning, usually warm for this time of the year.  It feels
like the temperature is in the 60s.  We decided to jog to a nearby park.
After about a half an hour, we both worked up a pretty good sweat and
decided to head back home.  When we got back to the house, my family was
still not up so Chance and I decided to take a quick shower together (to
conserve water, of course...being in California and all...lol...:o).

Chance and I quickly stripped down and hopped into the shower.  We both
immediately became erected as we stared at each other sweaty, naked body.
As soon as I turned on the water and adjusted it to the right temperature,
we embraced and kissed each hungrily as cool water streamed down our
bodies.  I could taste the salty sweat of his skin and lips.  We kissed
passionately for a minute before I abruptly break away from the kiss.
Chance was bit surprised by the sudden gesture.

"What's wrong, Michael?" he asked as his eyebrows furrowed.

"Nothing...it's just that I'm a bit hungry right now from the jog," I said,
sporting a mischievous grin.  "And I was hoping that you could help me out
with a little creamy breakfast!"

Chance's eyes immediately lit up as he smiled seductively and nodded.
"That I can do!"

"Good!"

We embraced each other and kissed passionately.  His wet lips tasted so
heavenly as my wet hands slithered sporadically on his back.  I soon kissed
my way down his neck and stopped momentarily at his nipples, licking and
sucking his hardened nipples.  Then, I slowly slid my hands down the side
of his obliques as I knelt before his magnificent, throbbing manhood.  It
greeted me with sweet pre-cum dew.  I gently licked it and savored his
sweetness as I grabbed his erected cock with my left hand and cupped his
hanging balls with my other hand.  Chance moaned in pleasure as I started
to lick up and down his shaft.  Then, I abruptly engulfed his engorged,
slippery cock as water trickled down my face.  Chance arched his back and
moaned in ecstacy.  I continued to deep throat him as best as I could for a
few minutes when I noticed that his ball sac was tightening.  He was on the
verge of eruption, and I picked up my pace.  Sucking harder and faster.

"Ahhh....Angel, I'm going to explode!"  Chance warned me as he
sighed. "Uaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

Chance quickly erupted into my mouth.  Load after load of his milky white
cum hit the back of my throat as I swallowed hungrily. Chance's body
shivered in spasm as he leaned against the wall to support himself.

I quickly stood up and embraced him.  I leaned in and kissed him
passionately.

"Yum, just what I needed after a good jog!" I snickered.

"God, that was great, Michael!"

I smiled, and we started to lather up each other's body.  We soon finished
our showers, and stepped out of the bath tub.  I wrapped a white cotton
towel around Chance's waist, and he did the same for me.  We kissed each
other for a little bit before I turned to the mirror to finger comb my wet
hair. When I opened the bathroom door to exit, Eric was standing in the
doorway, about to knock on the door.  He quickly sported a curious grin
when he saw Chance and I, wrapped in white cotton towels.

"Well, I glad to see that you two are doing your parts in conserving water
around here!" Eric quipped with a smile.

"You know it!" I exclaimed with a smirk.  We both laughed as we scurried
out the bathroom and headed back to our room.

After breakfast Chance and I helped my dad with some yard work.  My dad and
Chance conversed quite a bit as we worked.  My dad asked Chance about his
life aspirations and plans, and Chance didn't seem to mind answering his
questions.

"Well, I would love to travel around the world for a while, sir, and do my
art work.  Eventually, I would like to have my own art gallery," Chance
replied.

"That sounds great, Chance!" my dad exclaimed.

"Yeah!" I concurred with a smile.

After the yard work and a heavy lunch, I was ready for an afternoon nap.
Even though Chance wasn't sleepy, I persuaded him to lie with me for a bit
and hold me until I fall asleep.  I soon doze off in his warm embrace.
When I woke up a few hours later, Chance wasn't in bed with me.  I lay
still for a couple of minutes, wondering where Chance could be.  I soon got
up and went downstairs to look for him. No seems to be around except for
Eric who was in the living room, busy wrapping up presents.  He greeted me
with a smile.

"Hey bro, finally decided to get up, huh?"

"Yeah, where's everybody?"  I asked as I plopped myself onto the sofa.

"Catherine is out on some errands.  Mom and dad went to do some last minute
shopping," Eric replied as he finished wrapping the last present.

"And Chance?"

"He went shopping also.  He borrowed your car."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind.  I told him he could when he asked," Eric
informed me as he started to put the presents under the Christmas tree.

"Yeah, that's fine.  Did he say when he'll be back?"

"Any time, now." Eric smiled.  "What...you missed him already?"

"Just a little!" I smiled embarrassingly.

"Boy, you're so fuckin' love wiped!" Eric bantered.

I couldn't help but laughed.  "Yeah, I guess I am.  I really love him a
lot."

"Yeah, I know.  I could see that he loves you a lot too." Eric smiled as he
put the last present under the tree.

"Really?" I asked, a bit surprised by Eric's comment.

"Yeah.  I see how you two look at each other.  How he looks at you, and how
happy you seem.  I'm really happy for you, Michael.  You deserve all the
love and happiness in the world."

"Thanks Eric.  That means a lot to me."

"You bet." Eric smiled as he gathered up the wrapping materials and went to
put them away.

I went upstairs to the bathroom and took a leak.  As I was in the middle of
shaving, I heard the downstairs door slammed shut.  I quickly finished my
shaving and went back to my room, hoping to see Chance there.  And there he
was, lying on my bed, grinning when he saw me.

"Hey you!" I exclaimed as I leaned down to kiss him.  "I heard you went
shopping."

"Yeah, I did," Chance replied matter-of-factly.

"Bought anything?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, just a little something for your family."

"Chance, you didn't have to do that!"

"No, but I wanted to." Chance smiled.

"What did you get them?"

"You'll see tomorrow when they open it!" Chance said nonchalantly with a
wicked smile.

"Oh, come on," I pleaded as I pouted playfully.

"Certainly, your wish is my command!" Chance grinned lasciviously as he
pulled me on top of him and kissed me passionately.

*******

Later that night, Chance and I decided to exchange Christmas gifts.  Chance
volunteered to go first.  He dug into his suitcase and pulled out a big,
flat-looking present, wrapped in Christmas red foil paper with a holly
green bow and ribbon. It looked to be 24"x30"x1" in dimensions.  Chance
smiled as presented me with the gift.

"Here you go, love.  I wanted to give you something that shows how much you
mean to me, that illustrates my love for you," Chance explained.  "Anyway,
I hope you'll like it."

"I'm sure I will." I smiled goofily as I slid off the green bow and ribbon
anxiously and opened up the box.  I was pleasantly surprised by what's
inside.  It was a beautiful pencil sketched drawing of me against a beach
scene.  I was flabbergasted by the artistic composition which consisted of
3 wonderfully superimposed vignettes.  The central focus of the composition
was a sketch of my upper bare body, resting on a sandy beach with my eyes
closed, apparently sleeping. This central image was superimposed against a
beach backdrop and another smaller vignette of a silhouette of me,
meditating on a boulder.  In the lower, right corner of the drawing was a
short inscription which reads: "Truly, madly, deeply in love with you.  Now
and forever CS."  The drawing was matted in cool grey and maroon borders,
and framed in a stylish matte silver metal frame.  It was simply perfect,
one of the best gifts anyone has ever given me.

"Chance, this is incredible..." I trailed off, becoming speechless and
overwhelmed with emotions.

"I'm glad you liked it." Chance smiled radiantly.  "I drew it while you
were asleep on our camping trip.  You looked like an angel, lying there
bare on the beach, sleeping, and I couldn't resist drawing you."

"God, this is beautiful.  It means so much to me!" I exclaimed as I felt my
heart brimming with love and tears welling up in my eyes.  "I completely
love it!" I immediately embraced him and kissed him passionately.  "This is
one of nicest gifts that anyone has ever given to me.  Thank you so much,
Chance!"

"You're very welcome, love!  That camping trip was one of the most
memorable experiences of my life. I will never forget it, and I wanted to
capture it for you."

"And you did a marvelous job of it!  God, you are so incredibly talented
and amazing Chance!  You truly are, and I love you so much.  So very much!"
I wiped away my tears and kissed him deeply again.

"I love you too, angel, with all my heart and soul.  Truly, madly, deeply!"
Chance grinned and reached again into his suitcase and pulled out another
smaller present which looked like a CD of some sort.

"Here!" Chance exclaimed as he handed me the gift. "This goes with the
drawing."

"What is it?" I asked stupidly.

"Well, open it and find out!" Chance instructed.

"Ok," I quickly pulled off the ribbon and bow and peeled of the wrapping
paper to reveal a home-made music CD, entitled "Truly, Madly, Deeply."

"It contained all the songs that we listened to on the camping trip,"
Chance informed me.

"God, you're too much!  Thank you.  This is amazing!"

We hugged and kissed for a few minutes before I decided that it was my turn
to bust out my gifts for him.  I opened up my closet and brought out a big
paper bag.

"Well, angel, you know how much I love you and care for you, and I also
wanted to give you something that shows that, that money can't buy.
Anyway, I put together a care-package for you," I said as I pulled out a
small box, wrapped in green Christmas paper, tied with a maroon bow and
ribbon, and handed it to Chance.

Chance smiled excitedly as he accepted the gift.

"God, thanks angel.  That's so sweet and thoughtful of you!"

"You're welcome, love.  There's 10 items total in the box, each item has a
little tag attached to it that describes why I gave you that particular
item," I explained..  "But I want to ask that you wait until you get home
to open it when I'm not around."

"Oh, no, that would drive me crazy to wait that long." Chance gave me his
puppy look.  "Come on, please let me see at least a couple of the items!"

I could tell that he was very curious as to what is in the box. I laughed
understandably.  "Okay, okay, I knew you would whine about it.  So I
actually left 2 of the 10 items out of the box to give to you now.

Chance eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as I pulled out a home-made card
and handed it to him.

"Here's a card that I've made for you.  I figured nothing says "I love you,
then a home-made card." I chuckled.

Chance laughed as he pulled out the card from its brown envelope and
grinned goofily at it.  I made the card out of thick brown card stock.  On
the front flap of the card, I texturized it with a thick layer of maroon
rice papier-mache, giving it an interesting relief, and cut out a
rectangular, viewport window which framed a pencil sketch that I did of
Chance's face.

"Oh, my God...Michael...this is unbelievable!" Chance smiled appreciatively
as he stared at my portrait of him. "Wow, Michael drew this?"

"Yeah, I know, I'm not the world's greatest artist, but I hope you..."

Chance leaned in abruptly and kissed me deeply and lustfully, shutting me
up.

I giggled as we broke the kiss.  "I take it that you like it!"  I smiled
beamingly.

"I absolutely love it, Michael!  I can't believed you did this.  It's
amazing."

"Well, there's more," I informed him.  "Open up the card.  There's a poem
I've written for you inside."

Chance hurriedly opened up the card to the middle inserted flaps and read
the poem.  Tears quickly welled up in his eyes as he quickly hugged me.  I
felt his warm tears rolled down my back.  We locked lips again.  He kissed
him hungrily, probing my mouth with his eager tongue.  He finally broke the
kiss, cupped my face with his hands, and stared into my ocean green eyes
for a few seconds without saying anything.

"God, I love you so much, Michael.  This is the most thoughtful gift anyone
has ever given me," Chance exclaimed.  "It's absolutely beautiful, angel.
You're so good with words.  Thank you."

Chance then flipped the card to the back flap to reveal a circular cut-out
window, framing a picture of two baby boy angels, huddling together,
reading a book.

"They signify us, as soulmates, angel." I smiled.

"I know..."Chance paused to wipe away his tears.  "I know...God, you have
put so much thought into this....It's perfect just like you. I love you so
very much."

"I love you too, Chance...and I have one more gift for you!" I grinned
wickedly.

I reached into the brown paper bag and pulled out a small jewel-like box,
wrapped in green tissue paper, tied with maroon yarn, and adorned with a
couple dried flower branches.

Chance eye's widened with anticipation as I handed him the gift. Chance
held the small box in his hands for a few seconds with his mouth slightly
opened, speechless.

"Well, are you going to stare at it all day, or are you going to open it!"
I asked jokingly.

Chance finally snapped out of his trance and quickly undone the yarn ribbon
and opened the box slowly.  Chance grinned funnily as he picked up the
object from the box and waved it in front of me.

"Tell me this is a key to a brand new car!" Chance quipped with a broad
smile.

"You wish!" I laughed.  "Actually, it's a key to something much better!"

"Oh?" Chance's forehead creased as he raised his right eyebrow curiously.

"Well, Chancel, you know you have the key to my heart.  And now, you have
the key to my apartment!" I smiled matter-of-factly.  "You've been spending
a lot of time at my place, so I figured it's time for you to have a key to
my apartment."

Chance immediately pounced on me and kissed me.  I chuckled as I broke our
embrace.

"So does this mean you like it? I asked jokingly.

"You know it!  God, this is too much, Michael.  Thank you."  Chance smiled
sweetly as he looked at the card and key in his hands.  "You're amazing.
So incredibly romantic.  And practical too!"

"Yup, that's me!  Insanely romantic, yet practical too!" I grinned.  "And
don't you forget it!"

"Yes, sir.  Never!"  Chance chuckled and gave me a quick peck on the cheek.

Chapter 20: Christmas Day

I woke up to the aroma of French roasted coffee.  It's a little after
eight.  I turned on my side and saw that Chance was still asleep.  I smiled
as I admired his beautiful, sleeping body and face.  I gently reached over
and brushed the hair from his forehead and kissed him on the forehead.  He
slowly stirred awake and opened his eyes and smiled.

"Hey, sleeping beauty." I smiled at him.

"Hey, morning," he replied and gave me a kiss.  "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

We made out for a little while before decided to take care of our morning
hygiene.  The smells of cooked bacon and eggs greeted us as we exited the
bathroom and headed downstairs.  Everyone was up and has congregated in the
kitchen, apparently busy preparing breakfast.

"Morning, everyone!" I announced as we entered the kitchen.

"Good morning boys," my parents greeted us.

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Chandler," Chance replied.

"Please, none of that Mr. and Mrs. stuff either," my dad reminded Chance.

"Right, I'm sorry." Chance smiled apologetically.

"Hey guys," Eric turned from the stove to greet us.

"Morning, Eric," I replied.

"Hey Eric, how are you doing?" Chance inquired.

"I'm great.  Thanks."

"Merry Christmas, guys," Catherine came over and gave both of us a kiss.

"Merry Christmas," we both replied unanimously.

"Well, have a seat boys," my mom instructed as she set the pitcher of
orange juice and bowl of fruit salad on the table.

"Can we help?" Chance asked.

"It's fine, Chance.  We're just about done," my mom informed him.

After breakfast it was time to open presents.  We gathered around the
Christmas tree and started to hand each other's gifts.

"This is for you, honey," my mom handed me a present from her and dad.  "We
were racking our brains trying to figure out what to get you when we sat
these items in a store in Tokyo.

I quickly ripped off the wrapping and opened the gift box.  I grinned with
delight as I pulled out a beautiful purple meditation rug with an
intricately embroidered border and a multi-colored, quilted mandala at the
center.

"We know how much you enjoy meditation.  So we put together a meditation
kit for you!" my dad explained.

I reached over and hugged both of them.

"Thank you so much, Mom, Dad.  This is so great.  I love it!" I exclaimed
as I pulled out the rest of the stuff in the gift box: a red meditation
cushion in the shape of a lotus flower, a couple of lavender scented
candles, a dull brass incense holder and a box of "Nag Champa" incense
which is my favorite scent.

"And this is for you." I smiled and handed my parents a small thin
rectangular gift box.

My parents grinned as they slid the ribbon off and opened the box.

"It's a gift certificate for a weekend retreat at the Saratoga Resort where
both of you will be pampered from head to toe."

"Thanks, Michael." My parents hugged me.

"You're welcome.  I know how hard you two work.  You deserve the break."

"Thanks, son.  We really appreciate it."

"You're very welcome, Dad.  And this is for you," I announced as I handed
Eric a similar size box.

Eric looked at me curiously and opened the box.  Eric chuckled as he waved
a couple pairs of rodeo show tickets.

"It's been a while since we have gone out together so I figured we could
spend some quality time together at a rodeo show," I suggested.

"I would love that, bro." Eric came over and hugged me and kissed me on the
cheek.  He does that sometimes which I find to be quite endearing.  That's
one of the thing that I love about Eric, his uninhibited displays of
affections. I immediately reciprocated the gesture.  Chance grinned as he
watched me kissed and hugged Eric back.  I winked and smiled at him.

Eric broke our embrace and reached down for a present and gave it to me.

I quickly ripped off the wrapping and saw that he has gotten me a Rio 800
MP3 Player.

"Wow, Eric!  Thank you.  I've been wanting to get one."

"I figured you would." Eric smirked.  "It has 128 bits of RAM so you can
play over 4 hours of music."

"I know!" I interjected.  "Thank you."

"You bet, little brother."

My dad turned to Chance.  "Come on over here, Chance," my dad instructed.
"We haven't forgotten about you.  We got you something too."

I could tell that Chance was a bit surprised by announcement as he stood up
from couch and came over to my dad.  My dad handled him a small rectangular
gift box.

"Sir, you didn't need to get me anything."

"Now if you keep calling me sir, I'm going to have to take this back," my
dad joked.

We all laughed as Chance quickly apologized and opened the box.

"It's a gift certificate to "Art World." They have the biggest selection of
art supplies there.  Hopefully, you will find something there that you
like."

"Thank you, sir...I mean, John," Chance quickly corrected himself.  "Thank
you so much."

"You're welcome, son."

"Well, we got something for you too, Chance," my sister announced as Eric
handed him a large, flat rectangular gift box. Chance's eyes widened, and
he looked as pleasantly surprised as he was.

"Hum...I'm don't know what to say?" Chance replied.

"Well, you don't have to say anything.  Just open it," Eric instructed.

Chance quickly complied and opened up the large, flat box.  A big grin
formed on his face when he saw what's inside.  It was a large, black
leather portfolio with his initials branded on the lower right corner.

"Oh, my God...this is too much.  Thank you so much!  It's just perfect for
my art work," Chance exclaimed as he hugged Catherine and Eric and turned
to my parents.  "God, I'm truly speechless.  This is so very nice of you
all.  You didn't need to get me anything.  Your hospitality is a gift in
itself.  So thank you for everything.  I truly appreciate it.

"You're very welcome, Chance," my family assured him.

"Now it's my turn to give a little gift to all of you," Chance announced,
"as a way of saying thank you for opening your home to me."

My family and I glanced at each other and smiled, pleasantly surprised by
Chance's thoughtful gesture.  He reached behind the tree and presented a
large flat, rectangular shaped gift to my dad.  My dad thank him and opened
up the wrapped box.  He chuckled and showed us what Chance has given us.
We soon joined in the laughter.  Chance has given us a beautifully framed
caricature drawing of us all.

"Wow, this is awesome, Chance!" I exclaimed as my family stared at the
drawing in amazement and complimented him on his artistic ability.  "When
did you do this?"

"I drew it from the family photo in your room while you took your nap
yesterday."

"I'm amazed. It's beautiful, Chance," Catherine complimented.  We all
nodded in agreement and thanked Chance.

"You're very welcome."

"Okay, my turn," I declared and grabbed my present for Catherine.  "This is
for you, sis."

Catherine smiled and opened the present and held up a pair of tickets to
"Contact."

"Thanks Michael."  Catherine kissed me.  "God, I've been meaning to see
this show."

"I know, and now we can see it together!" I winked.

"I would love that." Catherine smiled and turned to grab a gift from under
the tree.

"And here's a little gift from me," Catherine exclaimed as she handed me
the beautifully wrapped gift.

I quickly opened it, and I was flabbergasted by what's inside.

"Oh, my God....Catherine," I gasped and paused as I held up the gift and
stared at it, completely overwhelmed with emotions.  "Where did you get
this....how did you manage to get this put together?" I uttered in
astonishment as I felt tears welling up in my eyes.  Chance, Eric and my
parents were as pleasantly surprised and stunned as I was by the look on
their faces.

Catherine has given me a hard bound, mock-up book of a writing project that
I've been working on, that I hope to get publish someday.  The book jacket
depicted perfectly what I have envisioned for the illustration and graphics
of the cover.  I was completely shocked.  It felt so surreal, staring at
the title of my book and seeing my name on the cover.  I opened up the
book.  On the first page of the book was an inscription that reads,
"Michael, Don't ever give up on your dreams.  Always believe in yourself,
because we believe in you.  Love, sis."  I bursted into tears, overwhelmed
with love and joy as Catherine immediately hugged.

"I know you dream of getting a book publish someday, Michael.  And I know
that you doubts your ability to do so sometimes and wonder if it's just a
pipe dream.  But I believe in you.  We all do.  And I know it will happen
someday.  And the next time your doubts creep in, I want you to take out
this book and imagine copies of it on the shelves of bookstores throughout
the country.  Because it will happen.  I want it to motivate you and to
remind you to never give up.  To never lose faith.  And to always believe
in yourself."

Catherine spoke with such gusto that I felt inspired and intoxicated with
emotions.  I felt the warmth of her words permeating into my heart, body
and soul.  My family and Chance stood by, smiling as tears trickling down
their faces as they watched Catherine and I hugged each other tightly.

"Thank you so much, sis. You don't know how much this means to me.  It
means the world," I exclaimed as I wiped away my tears and smiled
crookedly.  "This is one of the most thoughtful things that anyone has ever
given me."

"I'm glad you like it.  The pages of book are blanks so you can use it as a
journal for your writing ideas."

"I love it.  And I love you.  Thank you so much!"  I embraced her again
tightly.

"You're very welcome, Michael."

"What a thoughtful gift, honey," my mom exclaimed. Everyone nodded in
agreement.

"How did you make this happen?" Eric asked curiously.

"I have a friend in the publishing business, and he helped me to put it
together."

"That's so wonderful," Chance interjected.

After staring at the book for a few minutes, I finally passed it to Chance
and the rest of my family for a gander.

********

Later that evening, we had our Christmas celebration dinner.  My mom has
cooked up quite a feast.  She's the world's greatest cook.  And fortunate
for me, I have inherited her culinary talent.  None of my other family
members can really cook like Mom and I.  They just don't possess the same
culinary flare and finesse.  We all chipped in to help my mom cook,
including Chance.  I noticed that he has been a bit pensive all day, and
I'm not quite sure why.  I asked him repeatedly if his pensiveness had
anything to do with my parents or how they have been treating him, whether
they have made him feel uncomfortable or unwelcome.  And he reassured me
that it was not that at all, that it was nothing.  So I didn't push it.  I
really hoped that it had nothing to do with the way my parents have been
treating him because from what I have seen, they seemed to have been very
cordial with him, even my mom.  Anyway, I'm glad that he joined in on the
cooking festivity which later turned into a little food fight.  I powdered
Chance's face with flour.  However, Chance took his revenge and wacked me
with a carrot stick.  Needless to say, my mom wasn't too happy with a
little food fight.

We all got dressed up for dinner, and of course, my parents busted out the
camera for some family photos.  The food was great.  Everyone seemed to
have a good time, including Chance.  I would occasionally stop eating and
glance over at Chance, watching him eat, or conversing with my family.  He
would notice my leering and would smile back.  I'm so glad that he's here
with me for Christmas.  The celebration soon ended, and later we all
retired early to bed since we were feeling pretty sluggish from the feast.
I snuggled up closely against Chance and soon felt fast asleep.  When I
stirred up it was past 1:00am, and Chance was not in bed.  I lay in bed for
a few minutes, wondering where he could be.  After waiting for a few
minutes, thinking that he probably went to the bathroom, I decided to get
up to look for him.  I checked the bathroom, but he wasn't there.  When I
went downstairs into the living room, I notice that the sliding glass door
to the backyard patio was opened.  I heard a faint hissing sound coming
from the patio area as I approached the sliding glass door.  When I peered
out the screen door I was relieved to find Chance leaning against the patio
deck's railing with his back to me.

"Chance," I called out softly.

Chance's body jerked suddenly, apparently startled by my present. He
quickly wiped his eyes before turning to face me.

"Michael!" Chance exclaimed.

"Hi, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," I apologized.  "Are you
okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Chance strained a smile.  But trace of tears, illuminated
by the moonlight, told me otherwise as I approached him.

"Chance, what's wrong?  Please tell me.  I can tell that you have been
crying from the sheen of your tears."

"Really, I'm fine.  I just had something in my eyes," Chance tried to
reassure me.  But I wasn't buying it.

I quickly took hold of him and stared searchingly into his eyes.  They were
glassy and watery, clearly indicating that he has been crying.

"Please angel, please tell me what's wrong?"  I pleaded, getting a bit
concerned.  "Did I do something wrong?  Did my family upset you in some
way?"  I frowned.

"No, no! Not at all," Chance quickly interjected.  "They have been so great
to me...and...it just makes me...," Chance started to explain, but suddenly
erupted into tears.

I quickly embraced him, completely confused as to what's going on.  Why is
he crying?

"It's okay, angel.  I'm here.  I'm here," I assured him as I held him
tightly. Chance continued to snob quietly as I stroked the back of his head
and back.  A few minutes later, his hissing subsided.  I gently cupped his
face and wiped away his tears.  "What's wrong, angel?  Please don't shut me
out.  Please let me know what's going on, Chance? Why are you crying?" I
pleaded as tears started to well up in my eyes.  As soon as these inquiries
escaped from my mouth, I suddenly felt sick to my stomach.  I don't know
why, but all of a sudden, I had this terrifying feeling in the pit of my
stomach, like some ominous thing is going to happen between us.  And as
much as a part of me wanted to know why he was upset and crying, another
part of me was suddenly afraid to know the reason, afraid that it might
have something to do with me, that I was partly the cause of his misery!

"Does it has something to do with me?  Did I do something wrong?  Did I
upset you in some way?"  I blurted out as my mind raced to figure out the
possible reasons for his behavior.  Now tears were streaming uncontrollably
down my face which startled Chance a bit.  He quickly stopped crying to
comfort me.  He cupped my face and looked deeply into my eyes.

"Angel, please don't cry.  Please Michael!" Chance pleaded as tears started
to trickle down his face again.  "I didn't mean to upset you.  Please don't
cry.  It's not you...it's me.  You haven't done anything to upset me, nor
did your parents, ok?  It's the truth.  I promise.  Please Michael, please
stop crying."

"Okay." I nodded and halted my tears. "But would you please tell me what's
going on?  What is upsetting you?"  I finally composed myself, feeling much
better knowing that my parents and I was not the reason why he was upset.

Chance looked briefly away and took in a deep breath.  He composed himself
and nodded, agreeing to explain.  He paused for a few seconds before
looking me in the eyes and proceeded to explain.

"I want to make it perfectly clear that the reason why I'm upset and crying
is not because of you or your parents.  However, it indirectly has
something to do with you and your family!"  Chance began his explanation.

Now I'm really confused!  "I'm sorry, angel, but I'm confused!"

"I know, I can tell from the expression on your face.  Let me try to
explain it better."  Chance sighed before continuing on.  "You see Michael,
I told you a little white lie.  I didn't go home this Christmas, not
because I couldn't afford to, but because I didn't want to deal with my
parents' negativity.  I had an argument with them the week prior to the
start of the break.  And I didn't want to go home and engage in another
argument with my parents over my major, or the countless things that we
typically fight about.  I'm so tired of it, all of it!  And I didn't want
to spend another holiday arguing with them."

I was beginning to understand.  I nodded sympathetically as he continued
on.

"I love my parents to death, but they can be so rigid in their ways of
thinking that it drives me up the wall sometimes." Chance sighed as tears
started to roll down his face again.  I gently wiped them away as he
proceeded on.

"And being here, seeing how much your family loves you and cares about you,
and how supportive and opened they are of your being gay, just saddens me
inside because I don't have the same relationship with my parents.  And it
hurts so much, Michael!"  Chance suddenly erupted into tears again and
sobbed uncontrollably which prompted me to cry too because I felt his pain.
It hurts me to see him so sad and hurt.  I love him so much, and I wanted
more than anything to take away his pain, to bear it for him if I could.  I
immediately hugged him tightly, trying to squeeze out every ounce of pain
from his body.

"I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to make you cry," Chance stammered as he briefly
halted his tears to comfort me.

"Please don't apologize.  I'm crying because it hurts me to see you so sad
and hurt."

"I don't want my pain to be your pain," Chance asserted.

"God, angel..of course, it is!" I exclaimed matter-of-factly.  "How can it
not be?  How can I be happy when you are sad, or hurt inside.  I love you,
Chance.  And it kills me inside to see you like this!"

"God, I'm so sorry, Michael."  Chance started to cry again.  "I don't want
to burden you with my family problems."

I stopped my tears and looked him straight in the eyes.  "Chance, listen to
me...no more apologies, ok?" I said firmly.

Chance quickly stop crying, nodded and sighed.

"It's not a burden to me," I asserted. " I want to do what I can to help
you through this, ok?  No more apologies, no more tears.  Let just talk
about this!"

We both agreed to compose ourselves and talk about Chance's situation
calmly.  Chance waited a few minutes before continuing on.

"I think you're family is great, Michael.  You all are so loving and
supportive of each other.  You're very lucky.  I hope you know that."

"Yeah, I guess I do.  Sometimes, I forget that, and take it for granted.
But I tried to always remember how lucky I am," I replied.

"You should because you truly are.  It warms my heart to see how loving and
supportive you are of each other, but at the same time, a part of me is so
envious of that.  And it saddens me that I don't have the same thing with
my parents."

"I'm so sorry, angel."

"It's okay; it's not your fault.  I can handle it.  I have all these
years," Chance said matter-of- factly as he looked briefly away, trying to
hide the hurt and sadness in his deep, sky blue eyes.

"I know," I replied softly as I kissed his forehead gently, "but you don't
have to deal with it alone anymore.  I'm here to help you through this,
ok?"

"I know, thanks love."  Chance strained a smile. "And what hurts the most
is not being able to come out to my parents at this time."  Tears welled up
again in his eyes.  "I truly envy you for being out to your family, and how
accepting and supportive they are of your sexuality."

"Well, it really didn't happened over night with my parents.  It was hard
for my dad initially and even more so for my mom.  It took her a while to
accept that fact.  But overall, I know I'm very lucky," I explained.  "Are
you sure your parents won't understand if you come out to them, angel?  I
asked curiously.

"I'm pretty sure that now is not the best time to come out to them, not
when I'm still in school.  I know that they love me in their own ways, and
I know that they want the best for me.  They only problem is that their
ideas of what's is good for me differ with mine.  But I know they mean
well.  It's just they're too rigid in their way of thinking and doing
things.  Take for example my major.  We constantly argue about it because
they keep thinking that I'm wasting my education and money studying studio
art, that it's not a lucrative profession, that I will have a hard time
finding work when I graduate.  And while I appreciate and understand their
concerns, I need to do what makes me happy even if it might not be the most
lucrative thing.  They just don't seem to be able to comprehend that."

"I see."

"And it's not just my major, we fight about. It's other things, and I'm so
tired of arguing with them.  All my life, I have done my best to try to
please my parents, to live up to their expectations; but no matter what I
do, it never seems to be enough for them."  Chance broke down and sobbed
again.  I immediately hugged him and kissed away his tears.  Chance's body
shook sporadically as I held him.

"It's okay.  I'm here, angel...just let it all out."

"I know," Chance nodded as his hissing slowly subsided.  "Thank you,
Michael."

"You don't have to thank me.  It's my pleasure." I kissed him lightly on
his wet, salty lips, tasting his tears.

"I think what scares me the most, Michael, is how they would react when I
come out to them.  I'm terrified of the thought of being rejected by them.
I don't think I can bear it.  It would hurt too much..." Chance trailed off
as tears poured down his face again.  I squeezed him harder.  "It would
kill me.  I'm petrified by the possibility of being disowned by them, of
being cut off financially from them while I'm still in school.  I don't
know what I would do if they cut me off financially."

"Let's just take it one day at a time, love.  First of all, you don't have
to do anything you don't want to do at this time," I reassured him.
"Coming out to one's parents is a big deal.  And timing is everything.  If
you don't think that they would understand at this time, or that it would
be financial unwise, then perhaps, it's best to wait until you are more
financially secured and emotionally ready to come out to them.  But
whatever you decide to do, know that, I'm here for you.  Always, ok?"

Chance smiled with tears in his eyes as he quickly hugged me.

"Thank you so much, Michael," Chance exclaimed.  " You don't know how much
that means to me.  I love you so much!"

"I love you too, Chance.  Always.  Please promise me something.

"Of course, anything, angel!"

Promise me that you'll never shut me out when you're feeling down," I
pleaded.  "Please love me enough to trust me with your problems.  You don't
have to bear them alone.  I want to help you if I could."

"I promise."  Chance smiled appreciatively.

We kissed and held each other as we stared at the night sky filled with
stars.  My heart and soul felt so light and free as I stood behind Chance
with my arms wrapped tightly around his waist and my chin rested on his
shoulder.  I'm glad we had this heart-to-heart talk.  I feel more connected
to Chance than ever.

To be continued!

**************

Author's Note: Well, there you have it!  Hopefully, it will tie you over
until MC9 comes out.  I'll try to get it posted before I leave for my
vacation.  But no guarantees though, I have too much to do!  Also, MC10,
which contains the first of the Series' major cliffhangers, will soon
follow.  I hope you'll stay tuned for that one!  Anyway, I want to take
this opportunity to thank all of you who took the time to write to me and
let me know what you thought of the Series.  I truly appreciate it. :o).

Ok, on with the poll!  I just want to take a quick poll to see who is your
favorite character in the Series thus far.  Just curious, that's all.  If
you want to voice your opinion, just drop me an email and let me know who's
your most favorite character from the MC Series and why.  Is it Chance,
Dade, Michael, or any of his friends: Trance, Kindred, Essence, Stacy, or
Michael's siblings: Eric, or Catherine; or perhaps, Winston (the stripper),
or Behrd (Chance's neighbor)!  Try to only pick one, but if you must choose
two because you like them equally, that'll be fine too!  I'll post the
result in future installment.  Alright enough of that.  Have a great summer
everyone!  Stay cool and don't forget the sunscreen.

As always, I welcome your comments, suggestions and constructive
criticisms.  Let me know what you think of my story.  They can be sent to
mf900@yahoo.com All flames can be forwarded to: trashcan.com (he.hee.).
Take care!