Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:35:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: Pete Bruno <farmboy7456@gmail.com>
Subject: Single Soul Chapter 11

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full statement at the beginning of Chapter 1.)

A Single Soul
Chapter 11
Puzzle Pieces and Diapers

Kelly was sound asleep within minutes of hitting the road, just as Jim had
hoped. As he drove, Jim first called Matt, to check on his son's condition.
All was well there and Matt said they would be at the base hospital by 1100
hours.  Then, he called Finn, who also told him that everything was
fine. Finn told him also that he had done as Jim instructed; Linda's body
was to be cremated and her remains sent to her parents.  To Jim, it seemed
the best way to handle the situation, considering how things had ended.

Then, the call he dreaded, to his parents, who were now living in Florida.
When his mother answered the phone, Jim asked if his dad were
around. Luckily, his dad was just leaving for the golf course; so Jim asked
that he please wait and to put the phone on speaker.  Deciding it were best
not to simply blurt out "Linda's dead," he chose to tell them the entire
story, from moving day until the present.

His mother reacted as he expected, from shock to hysterics to concern for
Matty, and ending with tears of joy for her new grandson.  She insisted,
over Jim's objections, that they would be on the road within two hours.
They wanted to come and stay for a bit and help with the baby and Matty
until things settled.  Jim reluctantly agreed and they ended the
conversation.  After he hung up and thought it through, however, he decided
it might just be the best plan.

Kelly slept for more than an hour and a half, before Jim had to stop for a
changing and to feed the little guy.  While holding his son and feeding him
his bottle, Jim finally had the opportunity to study the boy.  His eyes
were light green and he had a head of surprisingly black hair; but, his
skin was fair.  As he nursed, his little eyes never left Jim's.  It was if
he were doing some studying of his own. Bottle finished, then rocked and
burped, Jim strapped the boy into his seat and continued down the road.  He
muttered a prayer of thanks that the boy was so content.

As he looked out across the miles of farmland, horse farms and suburban
crawl that had been steadily creeping in along the eastern shore of
Maryland, he began to reflect on Linda's actions over the last few months.

She had been a bit higher strung than usual; but, he had chalked that up to
the move and being pregnant. One thing jumped out at him, though, that
should have been a big clue to him early on. Instead of making a nursery
out of the spare bedroom, she had set it up as a guest room and simply put
a crib in there.  At the time, it didn't make much sense to Jim; but, he
thought it best not to push the issue.  Now, it made complete sense.

Then another thought hit him like a thunderbolt. Linda had been right; he
was paying so much attention to his job and the corps that he didn't even
notice what she was doing at the time.  No future baby plans were made; she
wasn't out buying clothes and supplies like she had done with Matty and,
now that he thought about it, she hadn't even bought a car seat. Jim made a
vow to himself, right then and there, that he would pay more attention to
everything around him, especially now that he would be raising two boys on
his own.

Just before crossing the Chesapeake Bay bridge-tunnel, Kelly started to
fuss; so Jim stopped at the rest stop to change him and give him another
bottle.  Trying to anticipate what he would need for the trip home, he and
Jane had prepared several bottles for the baby, and she loaned him her
travel bottle warmer, which worked off the cigarette lighter in the car and
was ideal for Jim's needs. While changing the baby and putting cream on his
little cock, Jim was pleased to see that Kelly had not been circumcised.
Linda must have wanted Kelly to be like his brother Matty, even though she
had been totally against leaving Matty uncut.

Back on the road, Jim checked in with Matt and found everything to be okay
at that end; Matt and Matty were at the base hospital.  Matt told him that
Matty's arm received only a Greenstick fracture and was not as serious an
injury as they originally thought. The arm would be in a cast for only
about four to six weeks. His leg injury, however, was more serious.  Matty
would be in a cast for at least eight weeks and another eight weeks in a
brace.  The good news was that the doctor told Matt that Matty could go
home the next day.

Matt mentioned that he had called Jim's CO to explain the situation, and
the CO had initially granted Jim a thirty-day leave.  Just as Jim had
instructed, Matt told the CO that Jim would only need one week to square
things away.  Matt also told Jim that he had sent Frank to Wal-Mart to
stock up diapers, supplies and formula, and some food for him and Matty.

Jim and Matt decided to wait until they brought Matty home from the
hospital before they would tell the boy about his new baby brother,
thinking it might be easier that way.

Jim told Matt that, with stops for feeding and changing, he probably
wouldn't be rolling in until about 2100 hours.  Because of that late hour,
Jim told Matt that he would just call Matty on the phone tonight and plan
to see him the next day; but, that he would see Matt as soon as he got to
the house.  Jim's mom called him a little later to say that they were going
to stop for the night and would be arriving about noon the next day.

Finally, he spoke with Matty at the hospital and told his boy that he would
be there first thing in the morning to bring him home.  Matty was, of
course, thrilled at the news; but, Jim kept the call short because he could
tell that Matty was sleepy from the pain medication, and needed his rest.

When Jim finally pulled into his driveway, he was exhausted.  Lights were
on in the house; so he figured Matt, Frank and Jimmy were waiting to greet
him and the baby.  He was right; he had no sooner stopped the car than all
three of them, plus Ian, were streaming out the door and walking swiftly
towards the car.  First, it was hugs all around; then Jim got Kelly out of
his car seat while the rest of the gang grabbed something from the car to
bring into the house.

Jim stood in the middle of the living room and, his voice choking with
emotion, said, "Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to James Kelly
Flannery, Jr."  He then handed the baby to Matt and continued, "And I think
his Godfather should be the first to hold him."

Matt cradled the baby in his arms.  He was so overcome with emotion that he
had to sit.

"Hey there, Kelly; welcome home, little buddy." As he kissed the boys
forehead, Kelly grabbed Matt's finger and began to coo, just as he had with
Jim.

Jimmy hovered over the baby, taking a close look at the new little brother
of his best buddy, Matty.  "Hey, wait a minute; I thought you said his name
was James," he exclaimed.

"It is, sport; but, we already have a Jim and a Jimmy.  So, to keep it less
confusing, I thought we'd call him by his middle name," Jim said.

"Yeah, that's cool," was Jimmy's answer.  As Frank took the baby into his
arms, he volunteered to do the changing and feeding so Jim could eat
dinner.  Jim sighed gratefully.  Changed, fed, and rocked to sleep by
Frank, Kelly was placed gently into his crib.

"Jim," Frank said as they made their way back to the family room, "you must
be exhausted.  So, Matt, why don't you stay here tonight and help with the
baby so Jim can get some sleep."

"Good idea, Dad," Matt replied, "If that works for you, Jim?" Matt asked,
looking at his friend.

"Works for me fine," replied Jim.

Frank and Jimmy said goodnight, and Jimmy turned to his uncle, "I'll even
take Ian, Uncle Gunner, so he won't bark and wake the baby," Jimmy said,
obviously proud of himself for thinking of something to contribute. Jim
gave him a hug, "Thanks, sport; that will be a big help," Jim said as he
ruffled the boys hair.

When the front door closed behind the three, Jim looked into Matt's eyes,
and Matt new instinctively what Jim wanted; actually, what Jim needed.  He
pulled Jim into his arms and hugged him tightly.

That simple gesture of love and friendship from Matt opened Jim's flood
gates. The past three days had been insane for him and, in true Marine
fashion; he had dropped the bullshit and completed the mission.  And, now,
the enormity of it all hit him like a ton of bricks. He laid his head on
Matt's shoulder, sagged gratefully into Matt's strong body and began to cry
tears of anger, anguish, and relief.  They stood for a moment and Matt
gently rocked Jim on his feet.

"Come on, buddy, let's sit," Matt said quietly, and the two men sank onto
the couch, sitting closely together.  Jim leaned into Matt, who placed his
arm around his old friend and held him tightly to his body.  Jim let it all
spill out. He needed this, someone to listen to him and not judge, just
understand and be supportive.  But most of all just be there for him.

Matt listened quietly and patiently as Jim told him about all the recent
events, leaving nothing out.  Finally, emotionally and physically drained
by it all, Jim yawned hugely and said to Matt, "I don't know about you,
bud; but, my ass is draggin'.  Whadda ya say we hit the rack, before the
`devil pup' wakes up and wants to eat again?" he asked tiredly.  Matt
agreed and followed Jim into the bedroom.

"Would you mind sleeping in here with me?" Jim asked, hesitantly. "It might
be better than waking the baby," he added quickly.  Matt agreed without
hesitating at all.

After hitting the bathroom and taking care of their nightly routines, the
guys stripped and slipped under the covers, just as they had done as
teenagers, naked and comfortable.  They both fell into sleep.

A little later, Kelly's crying awoke Matt instantly.  As he started to rise
and tend to the baby, he realized quickly that Jim was spooned against his
back, tightly holding onto Matt and his legs wrapped firmly around Matt's.
Jim's hard cock was pressed firmly against Matt's ass.  For a brief moment,
Matt enjoyed the warm, comfortable feeling of Jim's body against his, after
being gone for so many years.  But, the fretting baby's crying quickly
broke the spell.

As Matt gently untangled himself from him, the exhausted Jim stirred awake
and muttered sleepily, "it's okay, Matty, I'll get him."

"No, I'll go. You just go back to sleep," Matt whispered softly to the
already slumbering giant.

Naked, Matt made his way into the baby's room, picked Kelly up and held him
to his chest, soothing the crying baby.  He quickly realized the main
source of Kelly's problems; the diaper was sopping wet.  After he changed
the baby and cleaning him up, he carried Kelly into the kitchen where he
began warming a bottle for the tot. Then, as he had done hundreds of times
with his own son, he sat down, still naked, fed the baby, burped him,
rocked him to sleep, and placed him gently back into his crib.

Satisfied, Matt quietly and carefully climbed back into bed with Jim and
lay there, pondering not only the events of the past couple of days, but
also the relationship between Jim and him, his thoughts stretching all the
way back to when they were young boys who shared a special bond.

Here I am, he thought nervously to himself, a happily married man in a
successful marriage with a successful woman, and sharing a beautiful
son. So, what could possibly be better than that?

At that critical moment in his search for understanding, the truth within
his heart that had been struggling to break through finally burst forth.
Almost gasping with the efforts it took to admit it to himself, Matt
struggled hard to cope with the inescapable fact that now squarely faced
him: The beautifully muscled, naked man lying next to him was the true love
of his life.

Immediately, his entire body and thought processes seemed to settle back
into a steady rhythm.

That's weird, thought Matt; I feel one helluva lot better, now.

Even though he had brought himself a step closer to true happiness, Matt
realized fully that the path ahead could be a rocky one. Even so ... Matt
smiled to himself and drifted into a contented sleep.

-------- When Jim awoke suddenly a few hours later, he noted the time was
0200.  He was surprised that Kelly was still sleeping.  He also realized
that he was spooning Matt from behind and holding his friend tightly, with
both his arms and his legs.  He felt his hard cock pressed into Matt's ass
and couldn't resist a slight move forward with his hips, the pleasure of
that simple act made his body quiver with excitement.  And just like in the
movies when the image of huge waves crashing onto the shore is shown, the
long buried desire for Matt roared into his conscientious from deep in his
heart.  For more than twenty years Jim had kept these feelings buried and
safely compartmentalized, living the life of a married father of a
beautiful and smart boy.  But as he lay, holding the man who was once the
boy he loved he knew this is where he belonged.  He wasn't sure how he
could make it happen, but he knew he wanted it.

The sound of Matt's voice brought him out of his reverie, "If you cum on
me, I'll make you lick me clean, doggie," Matt said in a gruff, playful
voice.

"Excuse me, sir, I forgot I was sleeping with a superior officer, sir," Jim
replied mockingly, but pressed his cock harder into Matt's ass.  He slid
his hands downward, grabbed Matt's equally hard cock, and skinned it back a
few times.

"My advice to you, dog-face, is don't start something you ain't gonna
finish," Matt said, desperately hoping that Jim would continue.

"Oh, I'll finish it alright, sir," Jim said, with equally-mixed
determination and passion.  Quickly, without actually thinking much about
it, he rolled Matt over onto his back, swept his own chiseled torso
downwards, and swallowed Matt's cock to the root.

All the times they had sucked each other as kids came rushing back into
Matt's over-heated mind.  The long-missed feel of Jim's hot mouth made Matt
quiver with excitement.  He couldn't hold back any longer, and maneuvered
himself into a sixty-nine position with the man who had always been in the
back of his mind.  And now, here was that man, actually before him, and
devouring Matt's body and senses, in all of his splendid glory.

After more than twenty years apart, both men hungrily slurped and moaned,
their hands roaming and caressing each other's body, re-familiarizing
themselves with the other's needs and desires, matching feelings that each
of them had held in for more than twenty years.

Far too quickly for both of them, they each heaved mightily into each
other's eagerly-awaiting mouth and shot simultaneous loads of hot, creamy
cum.

They lay there, unable to move and gasping for breath, with their slowly
deflating cocks reluctant to leave the warm mouth that encircled it.  Then
both sighed contentedly and began to drift into sleep once again.

Kelly's crying quickly interrupted the moment.  Affectionately, Jim patted
and caressed one of Matt's legs and said, "I'll go this time."  He arose
and left the bed to tend his son.

Matt laid on his back, savoring the afterglow of the intense orgasm he had
just experienced and the long-remembered taste of Jim's cum in his mouth.

Suddenly, what they had just done impacted him, and his thoughts began to
scream.

What the fuck are you doing, you idiot!?

After a brief, panicky moment, though, he remembered his earlier
self-reflections.  He smiled to himself as he realized it was time to be
totally honest with everyone around him about his feelings for Jim.  He
knew that, in the long run, it would save himself and everyone else much
aggravation.

If, twenty-two years ago, their last conversation had been Jim saying to
him, Matt I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, what
would have been his answer?  Man that was a rhetorical question!

In his heart, he now knew his answer would have been a resounding YES!

As much as he loved his wife, he realized fully that it had never matched
the intensity of love he had for Jim.  So, assuming Jim felt the same for
Matt, which now seemed to be an obvious fact, they were left in an equally
obvious quandary.


Where do we go from here? Matt puzzled to himself.

Matt got out of bed and hit the head, then he made his way to the babies
room and found Jim standing over the crib rubbing the babies back, he went
over and stood next to Jim and trying not to intrude in the incredibly
beautiful bonding moment.  After a few moments Jim turned and said quietly
to Matt, "I'm sorry Matt, I should have never done that."

"Somehow I don't think you were alone back there."

"It's just that I've been thinking, even before this cluster-fuck that has
become my life that I had made a giant mistake all those years ago and the
only good thing to come of it was my son, well sons; and now I've gone and
fucked it up again.."

Matt interrupted Jim by pulling him into a hug and kissing him deeply,
after the initial kiss Jim wrapped his arms around Matt and pulled him
closer and kissed him deeper.  When they pulled apart and looked at each
other they just laughed.

"Come on," Matt whispered, "let's go back to bed and talk."

The guys made their way back to Jim's bed, they climbed in and snuggled
close to each other and Matt started.

"Look, this is what I'm thinking, I know how I feel and I don't want to
play the games like a bad TV show.  You know how they drag things out,
'Will they get together or not? One wants a relationship, the other
doesn't, the other decides they do and the other changes his mind.'  That
is not what I want, we're grown men and I know I love you, I always have, I
spent all those years trying to forget it but I only succeeded in pushing
it deep inside myself and moving on," as he was talking he was rubbing
Jim's chest.  Matt had never felt so at peace, and he never felt so
complete or as in sync, in fact he couldn't prove be he could almost swear
that their hearts were beating in sync as well.

"Matty, I can say this now, it's what I should have said that fucked up
day, I love so much it hurts, I loved you then and I was just too scared to
admit to myself, I was young and stupid.  Remember it was a different time
back then and gay men were not accepted very well, especially boys who were
in high school.  Then Joe started in on me, pushing me and Linda together,
telling me that people would think I was gay if I didn't have a steady
girlfriend and like an idiot I believed him; but it wasn't long after we
were married that I knew I had made a mistake but she still wanted me then
and kept bringing me back in with sex, then when Matty was born it was the
end, I could never leave my boy," Jim said with glassy eyes.

They looked deep into each other's eyes and slowly moved into a deep and
breathtaking kiss, the energy that moved between them was palpable, Matt
was left shaking from the experience.

Pulling back Matt said, "Look buddy we have come a very long way in a very
short time, but from now on we need to take it slow and figure out how we
can move forward without any collateral damage."

"Shit, what about your dad, Matt he's going to have a shit fit, I mean
hanging out naked is one thing but what's he going to think about this,"
Jim said sounding a bit panic, and then got a pissed off look on his face
when Matt started laughing.

"I'm sorry," Matt said and he gave Jim a quick kiss, "there are a lot of
things I need to explain, but for now let's just get some sleep."

And they did fall asleep quickly and didn't wake until Kelly started to
cry, Jim looked over at the clock and it was 0530, he eased himself away
from Matt and headed off to attend to the baby.  He was sitting feeding
Kelly his bottle when he smelled coffee brewing, walking out into the
kitchen with the baby he found Matt leaning on the counter looking out
window in deep thought.

"Morning captain, how about holding the devil pup while I take a shower,
the morning is going to fly by and before you know it my parents will be
here," Jim said handing the baby to Matt and kissed him on the cheek, and
Matt planted on right on his lips, they did a little tongue dueling with
the baby between them.

"Well ain't that sweet, the newlyweds are sharing a kiss," Frank said and
then laughed.

"Dad!," Matt said, "Uncle Frank!" Jim said looking like a kid again.

"Relax boys, I'm surprised it took this long," Frank said, "come on Matt
give me the devil pup and you two go get a shower."

Matt and Jim headed off to the shower, once in the bedroom Jim turned to
Matt, "I can't believe he caught us, but he was so cool about it," Jim
said.

"I told you doggie, I'll explain everything, but all in good time," he said
heading for the sower, "let's get cleaned up and ready for the invading
hordes," Matt said.

They made it through their shower without giving their hard cocks any
attention, they got dressed quickly and made their way back into the
kitchen and saw the baby sitting in a new infant seat looking all around
and just enjoying himself.

"Wow Uncle Frank where did that come from" Jim asked.

"Jimmy and I took a quick to Wal-Mart last night after we left here, he'll
be over later with his gift, and he's so excited I just hope he got some
sleep" Frank said, "but listen boys about earlier."

Matt and Jim both got very worried looks on their face.

"Calm down guys, listen I knew in my heart this would happen, but I just
want you both to take it slow and work thorough it with as little damage as
possible.  My suggestion is that you try and keep your relationship under
wraps until Denise gets back.  That way Matt will have a chance to speak to
her in person; and Matt while Jim's parents are here you should try and
limit your visits, the way you two are looking at each other I'm sure his
mother will pick up on it PDQ," Frank said.

"Okay Dad, I agree, we'll work it out but we really do love each other,"
Matt said.

"Me too Uncle Frank," Jim added.

"I know guys, I've always known it and I'll help as much as I can," Frank
said and going over and joining the boys in a three way hug.

Later that day after Jim's parents arrived, Jim and Matt went to pick up
Matty from the hospital.  Jim asked Matt to be with him when he told Matty
about the baby.  When they got to the room the boy would have been bouncing
off the walls wanting to get home if he didn't have two casts on his body,
he couldn't wait for Jimmy to be the first to sign his cast and to see his
grandparents.  Jim told him to settle down and that they needed to talk.

"Listen sport, you know how sometimes people say things that aren't really
true," Jim started.

"Yeah, you mean lying," Matty said.

"Correct, that is something I never want you to do, and it would be the
only thing that would truly disappoint me. But there is something else that
I want, well me and Uncle Matt want to talk to you about before we head
out, go ahead captain you take over," Jim said.

"Matty, this is something that my dad taught me when I was about your age
and also your dad, now you know who Jesus is right," Matt asked the boy.

"Sure Uncle Matt," he said with a look that said what do you think I'm
dumb.

"And you know about the Ten Commandments," the boy shook his head yes,
"well this is about what Jesus said was the greatest commandment is 'Love
your neighbor as you would Love yourself' and that just means treat others
the way you want to be treated.  Well sometimes you will hear people say if
you do this or that God will punish you, but you dad and I agree that it's
not like that, we think that when you do the wrong thing you're really
punishing yourself by making the wrong choices. See a long time ago your
dad and I didn't treat each other the way we would want to be treated and
our punishment was that we lost our friendship for over twenty years," Matt
said.

"And then," Jim said taking over, "there are times when someone lies to the
people they love and make wrong decisions, and then something bad may
happen and they never get a chance to apologize and fix there mistake, like
what your mom and uncle Joe did.  She should have never tried to take you
away from me..."

"I didn't want to go Dad, she made me and I tried to run but Uncle Joe
caught me and made me get in the car," Matty said with tears streaming down
his face.

Jim went over and kissed him while wiping his tears away, "I know sport,
you've always been my good boy, but your mom was not herself.  She wasn't
following the commandment, not just with trying to take you, but when she
told us that your new baby brother had died that wasn't true either he was
in Jersey with your grandmother and now he's home waiting to meet you," Jim
said.

"Really! Why would she do that," the boy asked looking both happy and
confused at the same time.

"Well I'm really not sure buddy, like I said she really hadn't been herself
lately," Jim said trying not to speak ill of the boy's dead mother.

"Wow, this is so cool, I have a baby brother, what's his name," he asked
excitedly.

"It's James Kelly Flannery Jr., but we're going to call him Kelly," Jim
said.

"Thank God, we have too many Jimmy's already," Matty said with a smile.

That got a laugh out of Jim and Matt, then Jim hugged him and said, "just
remember what me and uncle Matt have told, don't ever lie especially to us
and always treat everybody the way you want to be treated," Jim finished
and kissed his son.

"That is the best advice you could ever give your son," a voice said from
behind the curtain that opened to reveal a doctor carrying a chart.  "Good
afternoon gunner, I'm Dr. Chang and your boy is ready to go, we'll just go
over his discharge instructions and an orderly will wheel you out."

"Great, I can't wait to go home and meet my new brother," Matty said.

To be continued...

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