Date: Wed, 13 May 2009 16:51:52 EDT From: HnstSkr4@aol.com Subject: The Journey Begins - Chapter 5 Author's Notes: Before I get into the Legal stuff, I want to say thanks first to my Editor, Pete. He always does a wonderful job. Second, I want to thank my Readers. You guys are the best. Okay, these characters are not meant to resemble any living or dead person. I make no apology to anyone who is offended by anything in this story. If you don't agree with the idea of guys being in love, then find something else to read. Let me know what you think of the story by emailing me at _Hnstskr4@aol.com_ Copyright 2008 by Chuck B. The Journey Begins Chapter 5 Acceptance Found It's 3:30 PM on a Friday afternoon and so far, it's been way too quiet. I wasn't really expecting to do anything tonight. I figured that I would stay home and play a game on the computer. Suddenly, the phone rang. I was a little reluctant to answer it, but I did any way. "Hello, Eric here." "Hey Eric, this is Mark. I wanted to invite you over to help me work on some spider tanks. Are you interested?" I don't know why, but I really enjoyed Mark's collection. He had about 25 different species of tarantulas, four scorpion species, and a very aggressive giant centipede. "Sure Mark, I'd love to come and help you out." Since Sarah married Mark, I've helped him do 12 different tanks. It gave me something to do with my night. I rode my bike over to the house and parked it along the sidewalk. I walked up the sidewalk and to the door. I knew Mark had his collection in a special room down in the basement so I made my way to the backdoor. Knocking on the door, I waited for either Mark or Sarah to answer the door. When Sarah opened the door, she smiled at me. "Why are you knocking? I don't want you pounding on the door to get in. Mark's waiting for you downstairs." "Okay, Sarah I won't knock anymore." She just laughed. Entering the house, I ran down the stairs making all sorts of noise. All the noise that I made must have told Mark that I was in the house. He never did make much noise. He had just opened up the box that the spiders came in when I got to the room. Mark looked like a kid on Christmas morning. He stood at this little island in the sea of shelves and cages. Five containers were lined up on the island. Mark was busy writing labels that would grace each tarantula's cage. I looked over the shipping list just to see what all Mark had bought: Brachypelma aliceps - Mexican Gold Red Rump Citharischius crawshayi - King Baboon Haploclastus nilgirinus - Nilgiri Dark Mustard Psalmopoeus pulcher - Panama Blonde Free Avicularia versicolor "Wow... looks like you got a few nice ones this time." "We'll just have to see how it goes." Everyone who comes into contact with Mark for very long, quickly finds out about his interest. Mark immediately got me setup with filling the tanks with peat. My favorite spider in this collection, as far as beauty goes, is the Avicularia versicolor. I also really like the King Baboon, only because I know it will grow up to be at least 9 inches. As we worked on the tanks, Mark was all business. When we were done, he took the Avicularia versicolor and placed it up on special shelf. I didn't think too much of it. Mark looked at me and smiled. "This is your shelf. I know how much you like the spiders, so I decided to get some just for you. This shelf is all yours. This little girl is your spider." "Cool!" I couldn't believe he would do that for me. Heck, I couldn't believe that Sarah is allowing him to do this. He looked at me and said: "Hey, I'm going to let you keep them here because, I know there is no way your Mom is going to let them in the house." After we got them in their homes, we retired to the family room. Mark and I sat on the couch, side by side. I had to say something. I wanted to thank him for today and for last night. "Mark, I just wanted to thank you for last night and thanks for the spider. You really made me feel great." Sarah and he had made my night. They had given me hope in a world that seemed to be changing every day. He put one of his big hands across the back of the couch and patted me on the back. "Any time Eric! I want to tell you something. I have a brother who is gay. I could never treat you any different than I treat him. My brother, Noah, is the nicest guy and he has an equally nice boyfriend." He quickly got out a pad of paper and reached into his pocket to get a pen. He wrote something on the paper and gave it to me. I glanced down at it and realized that he had given me his brother's phone number. "Eric, I know how lonely it can get, so if you need someone to talk to he's your man." I was quickly getting quite the support team. Honestly, it had me worried. I felt as if something was coming but I couldn't put a finger on it. I wonder what Steve will think of this. Here I am dating him and getting the phone number of another guy. Still, I don't think Mark gave me his number for a possible date. Mark looked at me and told me a little more about his brother. "Like I said earlier, Noah accepts everyone. He accepts everyone until they hurt him somehow. His partner, Isaac, might seem a little rough around the edges, but he sees people for who they are. Noah is one of the most sensitive guys that I know. Nothing is old to him. He's a writer. Noah and Isaac have been together for 2 years. I easily see them lasting for years to come." Questions were burning in mind. I'm not sure they are important, but I wanted to know the answers to them. "Mark, what do you think will make them last?" Mark thought for a moment before he answered. "I think what will help them last is the idea that you never go to bed angry. They find a way to deal with whatever is upsetting them and then they move on. Yeah... I think it's their ability to communicate that will help keep them together." "How did Sarah react to them at first?" "I don't think Noah would have associated with her if she would have reacted the way that some Mormons treat people who suffer from SSA (same sex attraction). Sarah just takes people for who they are, and that is just how she treats them. I think maybe she knew that at some point you would come out." Wow... Sarah suspected that I was gay before Mark and Sarah ever got married. Where did she learn to accept people like this? From what I've seen, it didn't come from Mom or Dad. "So Mark, do Noah and Isaac share the same bed?" Mark smiled! "Noah and Isaac share everything. They have no problem sharing affections in front of others. The guys live in a 2-bedroom apartment. One bedroom is for sleeping and the other bedroom is used for the computer." "So do your Mom and Dad accept them?" I didn't think that I'd get a good response from him on this question. "My Mom and Dad have always accepted and loved both Noah and Isaac. Noah was 14 when he came to my parents, but Isaac was his first boyfriend. They didn't get together till they were 17 and they've been together ever since." I heard Sarah coming down the stairs and I quickly shut up. Even though, Noah and Isaac seem to be on good footings with Sarah. I'm not yet comfortable with her knowing about me. She sat down close to me. I had Sarah on my right and Mark on my left. I didn't want to discuss my sexuality with her. I thought about what Sarah had told me about my parents. She warned me not to say anything about being gay in front of my parents. Deep down inside of me, I wanted to tell my parents. It burned deep inside of me. Now with Steve in my heart, I wanted them to accept him. More exactly, I wanted them to accept both of us. Of course, I was told by Sarah and Mark that I could move in there, if need be. The only good thing about it would be the fact that I could stay in the school system. I enjoyed the time with Mark and Sarah but it was time to go home.