Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 18:03:00 EST
From: KissAndCuddleGem@aol.com
Subject: TED AND LYLE:  A LOVE STORY (INSTALLMENT ONE)

This story is purely a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons
living or dead, or to events that may have occurred, is purely
coincidental.

Moreover, none of the actions of the characters in this story is presented
with the intent to condone, approve, or sanction their behavior.

If it is illegal for you to read the material in this story for any reason
whatsoever, including but not limited to you not being of legal age, or, if
the content of this story is to the best of your knowledge and belief
unlawful in your particular jurisdiction, please read no further and close
the part(s) of my story that appear onscreen immediately.

The above-expressed disclaimer also does apply to any and all installments
of this story, including those preceding and following this installment.

All questions and/or comments with regard to this story, my third story
(and likely series) for Nifty, are most welcome; and, if you wish to
contact me, please feel free to email me at: KissAndCuddleGem@AOL.COM; and
I will most definitely respond to email, as appropriate.


There was a great deal of food spread out across the metal folding table,
much more than Ted had recalled seeing in his humble condo in a very, very
long time.  Florida had proved to be a mixed bag for him and Lily, though
Ted believed that for the most part they had been happy and were enjoying
together their well-earned early retirement and the mild weather and
suburban lifestyle of Greater Fort Lauderdale.

A wooden crate was positioned near the far right corner of the living room
just in front of the taupe blinds obsuring the terrace from view.  Ted
intended to observe the entire Shivah period, a mandatory mourning period
involving ritual, in keep with his and Lila's faith: Judaism.

Ted felt completely numb inside, the voices and faces in the foyer as the
majority departed were all a shadowy jumble to him.  He absorbed little to
none of what was related to him; and whenever he saw a familiar face, all
he could think about was Lily gazing upon it.

"I am so sorry, Ted, you were so blessed to have Lily in your life, we all
were, please let me know if there is anything I can do to make this time
easier for you.", a gray-haired matriarch from Lily's side said to him as
she collected her things from the coat closet.

Ted just nodded and stared blankly in response.

"This is such a shock, I still cannot breathe, I feel like I cannot anyway.
Lily was my only sister, my baby sister.  Please let me stay, Ted, I will
help refrigerate the leftovers."

Ted just hugged the plump woman and kissed her.  It felt like Lily was
speaking through him, like the words were from Lily.  Yet, even so, he
managed to express his appreciation for Charlotte dropping everything and
coming all the way from California.  Part of him wanted Charlotte to stay,
yet another part of him wanted her immediately out of the home.  The
resemblance between the two in spite of the three years apart in age, was
uncanny: Every time he now looked at Lily, she was just a painful reminder
of his wound, of his loss of his beloved, his Lily.  So, though he does not
really recall this, he practically glided her out the door.

"Are they all gone?"

Ted, startled by the voice, jumped a bit and turned around.

"Oh, Lyle, you scared me almost out of my skin.  I completely forgot you
were still here."

"Well, of course I am.  I said I would stay and keep you company.  Also,
help you put things away.", Lyle said smiling, his cousin's smile very
comforting to Ted.

 and Lyle spent time in the living room catching up with one another.  The
two cousins had not seen each other in more than twenty years, though they
attended the same high school and were pretty close for most of their
teenage years.  Keeping in touch through phone calls and electronic mail
was certainly no substitute for in-person interaction, though the two
considered one another to be brothers in spirit.  Now seated in the
cleared-away room returned to its usual decor, Lyle could not help but eye
Ted and admire his attractiveness.

Lyle was taking in the handsome features of Ted, who had the lanky build,
white hair, and dashing features of television game show host Bob Barker of
"The Price Is Right".  He usually had the energy of a forty-year-old; and
his pep did much to disguise^@forgot you his actual age of fifty-six years.
Lyle, a robust fifty-three year-old gentleman with an engaging noticeably
white smile and a glint in doe-like brown eyes that highlighted his
beautiful tan, felt his eyes shift to below his cousin's waist.

But Lyle felt ashamed of himself for looking at his cousin this way,
especially when the man is seated on a crate as he was as part of his
religious mourning rite.  So he quickly excused himself, babbling as he
left about how Ted must be totally exhausted and how he really should get
some rest.  Ted clasped his hand in his as if he never wanted to let go of
it; and uttered: "Well, thanks for being here for me, Lyle, you truly are
the best."

A few weeks passed by; and Ted was doing his best, at least from his
perspective, to adjust to his new solitude.  Though he had made what in
hindsight was a very big mistake: Namely, not returning phone calls from
loved ones; and not answering his phone, letting the answering machine pick
up, pretty much every time the phone rang.  Well, with not that much of
Ted's family in Florida, Lyle found himself elected by "the others",
especially Ted's antsy cousins and nieces and nephews in New Jersey, to
check in on Ted and of course report back.

Ted was surprised to see Lyle when he looked through the peephole.  The
door was not even as much as fully open; and Lyle was already alarmed with
what he saw.

"Ted, I am sorry to say this, but you look like crap.  Have you been eating
anything?  Have you been sleeping?  And...what is that smell?", Lyle was
asking in an inquisitorial tone.

Ted raised his arms high in a gesture of mock-defeat, responding: "Your
highness, if you must know, I have not been sleeping very well; and, yes,
it has been a bit hard for me holding things together."

Lyle sighed and nodded; and, then, Ted added: "Lily was the rose in my
life, my reason for living."

"Ted, your 'flower' is still in bloom, as I see it.  You have no right to
be selfish and just let yourself fall apart this way.  Even Lily would not
have wanted that.  I am taking out the garbage; and it looks like I am
going to have to insist on staying the night just to make sure you have
things more on track and are going to be all right."

Ted's eyes welled up with tears.  The mirrors had been left covered in the
home, though the seven-day Shivah period was long over with.  Yet Ted knew
that he was only kidding himself, that he must look as unkempt as he
imagined himself to appear.  Ted usually took great pride in his
appearance.  Though never one to be muscular or to have a workout-bod, he
was into fitness, at least before Lily's passing, and usually did his best
to be well-groomed and well-dressed.  Now, laughing to himself, he could
not help but muse if he were indeed in need of one of those "Fab Five"
makeovers from television's "Queer Eye..." show.

When Lyle returned from the trash compactor unit, he meticulously washed
his hands.  Ted related to him that the sofa-bed was available for company,
but that a defective spring in the mattress still needed to be repaired and
a loud squeak caused by the defect would keep both of them up all night.

"Oh, okay, cuz, then what do you suggest we do?"

Ted, looking down at the floor, softly said: "I think we will just double
up in the master bedroom tonight.  Besides, this sofa-bed is such a hassle
to set up, even if we could do something temporarily to handle the squeaky
spring thing."

"Yes, I think you are right, doubling up will be fine.  I think Lily would
be most proud of your resourcefulness."

Ted began to smile; and muffled a giggle.  Yes, it was true: Lily was so
organized, so together, and loved taking on challenges.  Ted knew deep
inside that him leaving things to be handled by Lily was for him often a
given, not a choice.  Charlotte often would chide Lily for being a
perfectionist and a bit of a control freak.

Lyle began to wonder if he had allowed things to get a bit out of hand.
Yes, there was no doubt about it, his cousin was a bit depressed.  But he
was not stupid.  Surely, he would figure out that Lyle was gay.  Well, Lyle
vowed to himself that he would be cautious not to let Ted catch on about
him being gay.  At the same time, he questioned his sanity in agreeing to
the sleeping arrangement, especially since he did not exactly view this as
his ideal "coming out" time.

Lyle had been married and divorced several times, though his last marriage
was more than fifteen years ago.  Lyle, at one time, considered himself
bisexual.  Since about five years ago he came to realize that he is gay and
has no interest in having any relationship with a woman, other than perhaps
as a platonic friend that is.  Lyle was still in the closet.

"Time for bed.", Ted announced.  Ted was not asking, he was stating; and it
was clear to Lyle that he was expected to go along with this.  Lyle went to
use the bathroom, the one with the tub near the den, before the two retired
to bed for the night.  Lyle was nervous, very, and Ted was completely
oblivious to Lyle being nervous.  Ted, pretty much pooped, was very quick
in undressing; and so used to sleeping in the nude pulled off his loose
plaid boxers and chucked them aside without any hesitation before slipping
under the light summer quilt.

Lyle had on a pair of burgundy bikini briefs, pretty tight and pretty
low-cut and though by no means big in "that department", he had a pretty
nice package that was highlighted by the hugging silk fabric in the area of
his crotch.  He tiptoed over to the bed only visible slightly with the help
of a hint of moonlight coming through the blinds.  He was getting
accustomed to the darkness of the room as well as its coolness from the
air-conditioning.  Suddenly, he realized that if he slept the whole night
in his underwear under the cotton quilt, he would wake up drenched from
perspiration.  So, the pragmatism in himself awakened, he quickly removed
them under the covers and tossed them onto the night table near the bed.

In the darkness, Lyle listened intently to the sound of Ted's breathing and
found it extremely comforting.  Ted was sound asleep, curled up in a fetal
position and facing the window; and, after about a few hours of lying wide
awake in bed staring at the ceiling and reflecting on his life, Lyle, too,
managed to nod off.  Lyle was dreaming at least some of the time about
soaking in a hot tub with three muscular jock-types in a gay nudist resort.
Ted was enjoying finally being able to sleep after his many sleepless
nights, his dreams, quite jumbled, were solely of him and Lily together and
at times "together".

The tranquility of a peaceful night's sleep was rudely interrupted and
disrupted by the discord of the alarm clock, which went off for unknown
reasons.  Ted, quite used to the alarm clock at times having a mind of its
own, reached over Lyle to get to the clock, positioned to Lyle's right.
Both Ted and Lyle were snuggly embedded under the quilt still; and Ted, in
sliding over and reaching for the clock, lost his balance so that he fell
on top of Lyle and was now lying against him with the two facing each
other.

Ted was embarrassed and quickly began to apologize profusely: "Oh, I am
sorry, so sorry, how clumsy of me...."

"It's okay, really, Ted, it is.", a very flustered Lyle replied.

Ted began to raise himself off of Lyle, but, in doing so, he brushed
against Lyle's loins and quickly absorbed that Lyle had nothing on but his
birthday suit.  Ted felt himself becoming very aroused, felt his cock
becoming semi-hard; and was confused as to why he was reacting this way,
even with the briefest of contact.  Something inside Lyle stirred within
him; and just as Ted had almost completed his gingerly removing himself
from Lyle, he reached around Ted so that he was embracing him and pulled
him back down so that their cocks were rubbing one another.

Ted mumbled an "Oh!", as if suddenly now first awakening to Lyle's hidden
truth.

Lyle nodded yes; and the two began to passionately kiss as if they had been
lovers all along.