Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 04:38:08 -0700
From: Mike <thornado5@netscape.net>
Subject: A Thousand Rainbows 17

Welcome back, everyone. With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, it's time to
meet the rest of the family.

This story deals with adult themes, primarily same-gender sexual
relations. Such relations have their basis in love and commitment, rather
than sex for the sake of sex alone. In some cases they will use protection;
at other times they will not. You and I should always use protection
because we do not live in the world of fiction.

If you are offended the idea of homosexuality or if you are under the age
of consent or if you reside in an area where such things are considered
illegal or immoral, then you should seek entertainment elsewhere.

Comments may be directed to the author at thornado5@netscape.net

This story is copyright 2004 by Mike Williams. All rights reserved. Thou
shalt not steal.

-0-


A Thousand Rainbows by Mike Williams

- 17 -

The next few days were filled with activity at the Connor-Larkin household,
getting ready for the Beckers upcoming visit and the preparations for the
Thanksgiving feast.

True to his word, Tyler had easily located Brenda Maxwell, who, while still
mourning her lost boyfriend, graciously accepted Paul's condolences. She
was unable to visit Paul in person, but called the very next day. She told
him of the memorial service that had been held at Franklin High School. It
was a beautiful service, attended by the entire student body.  The football
team had served as pallbearers, and the school band had performed a special
rendition of the Franklin High School fight song. Paul told Brenda that
Alan's last thoughts had been of her. After sharing a few tears they agreed
to get together after the holidays.

Paul's injuries were healing rapidly, thanks in part to daily visits by
Jason and Josh. Tyler was also a regular visitor to Paul's hospital
room. Their friendship grew stronger with each day, and they spent several
evenings studying their history notes together. With his jaw still wired
shut for another two weeks, Paul was released from the hospital Monday
afternoon, nearly a week and a half after the fateful game against
Franklin. To his great surprise he received a standing ovation in his home
room when he returned to classes on Tuesday morning. He smiled at Tyler,
thinking that the swimmer might have had a hand in arranging his
reception. And he was right.

Tyler just beamed and applauded with the rest of his classmates.

-0-

When classes ended in the afternoon, Brian and Bjorn were in the parking
lot, ready to pick up the twins. Jason and Josh climbed into the minivan's
back seat and strapped themselves in for the ride to the airport, to pick
up the surrogate mother they had not seen in twelve years, along with her
husband and adopted son.

As they drove along Interstate 5, Brian pushed a button on the stereo, and
classical music ... an opera ... came to life. Jason and Josh recognized
the music of Bizet's "Carmen."

"Turn it up," Jason requested.

"Yeah," Bjorn agreed. "It might help with your Spanish lessons."

"That's not it at all," Josh said.

"Then why the interest?" Brian asked.

"It's the aria that's coming up," Jason explained.

"Yeah," Josh, chimed in, winking at his brother. "The part where she sings
about how hot the soldier looks in his uniform ... you know ... `Hubba
Hubba'."

Brian laughed so hard, he thought he might drive the minivan right off the
interstate. When he regained control, he said, "I think you mean
`Habanera'."

Bjorn reached for the stereo and selected the appropriate cut on the CD. As
the orchestra began, the boys smiled at each other and knew what was
coming, a little game the family had been playing ever since the boys were
old enough to appreciate the classics. The singer began her aria, and each
line of her song was punctuated by a `pfft' from someone in the van. As the
aria continued, the fart noises continued, woven into the fabric of the
orchestra and the soprano. The farts became louder and louder until they
threatened to drown out the music on the stereo altogether, matched only by
the laughter from the twins and their parents.

Brian glanced at his partner. "Y'know, I always thought of `Carmen' as a
very tragic story."

"Oh, it could be," Bjorn said. "But, then, it could be a comic opera."

"How's that?" Brian asked.

"`Cause if Bizet was around today to hear us do `Carmen' ..." Jason began.

And Josh finished the thought. "... He'd probably die laughing."

And laughter erupted once again as the minivan sped along the interstate
highway.

After a few more pieces from the opera, they arrived at the airport, well
ahead of the Beckers' scheduled arrival time. They headed for the café to
enjoy a snack while they watched the airplanes arrive and depart. Even
though they had all traveled by air in the past, they always enjoyed
watching the activity down on the tarmac.

About fifteen minutes before the Beckers' arrival the two men and their
boys made their way to the gate where they would meet their friends from
Southern California. The mighty jet taxied up to the terminal, and people
began disembarking within just a few minutes.  Among the first group to
step into the waiting area were Sarah, Will and Todd.

Brian and Bjorn both noticed how little Sarah had changed since they had
last seen her.  Will's hair seemed to be thinning, and he was now wearing
wire-framed glasses. And then there was Todd, their adopted son. He had
certainly inherited Jill's dark hair, which he wore in a ponytail under a
black cowboy hat. And his eyes were dark blue, not at all like Jill's dark
brown eyes.

There were hugs all around, even for Will. He held out his hand to Bjorn,
who looked down at it, then looked up at Will's face with a smirk. He took
Will's hand, then drew him into a tight hug. As the adults greeted each
other, Todd stood off to the side, taking in the scene.  He was approached
by the twins.

"Welcome to Oregon, half-bro," Jason greeted him. "I'm Jason."

"And I'm Josh."

"I'm Todd. Yeah, you're the twins." Todd said, looking from one to the
other. "I've seen your pictures. How can I tell you guys apart?"

"It's real easy," Jason explained.

"Ya just gotta remember ..." Josh continued.

"... He's the ugly one," the both exclaimed in unison, pointing to each
other.

"Okay." Todd's face broke into a wide grin. The twins recognized that
captivating smile from the pictures of Jill Mason they had seen. There was
no doubt that this was Jill Mason's son.

Sarah had been watching the exchange between the boys. "Oh my god! My
babies."

The twins turned and walked into the embrace of their birth-mother. "Hi,
mom." And they all exchanged a big hug.

Todd watched from the side, and Bjorn thought that something might to be
troubling him.

"Something on your mind, big guy?"

"Well, Uncle Bjorn ..." Todd stammered.

"Hold it right there, Todd," Bjorn interrupted with a smile. "It's just
Bjorn. Alright?"

"Bjorn." Todd seemed a little more at ease. "Bjorn. Okay. Well ... it just
seems so strange to hear someone else call her `Mom'. She's `Mom' to me,
but ..." His voice trailed off.

"When we all lived together, back when we were in school, Brian and I often
thought of her that way."

At that moment Brian stepped up to the two and put one arm around his
partner and the other on Todd's shoulder. "I think we actually called her
`Mom' once or twice. Welcome home, Todd."

Todd smiled up at the two men. "Thanks, Uncle Brian."

"Uncle Brian?" Brian raised an eyebrow and glanced at his partner. "Well,
despite the fact that you witness our sons wearing jackets and ties
... school uniform, you know ... I think the first order of business is to
teach this young gentleman that we in Oregon are not quite as formal as
they might tend to be in San Diego. What do you think, Mister Larkin?"

Bjorn fell right into Brian's joke. "Oh, Mister Connor, sir, I couldn't
agree more." Then he turned to Todd. "What say you, young Master Becker?"

Todd felt just a little overwhelmed, looking first from Brian to Bjorn,
both of whom could barely contain their laughter. Finally, he gave in and
laughed along with them. His laughter was a pleasant sound. "Okay, I get
it. We're all family, right?"

Brian turned to Bjorn with his eyes wide. "I think he's got it!"

"This is gonna take some getting used to," Todd said to no one in
particular.

Jason and Josh came to rescue Todd from their fathers' antics. "You'll get
used to it pretty fast, Todd," Jason said.

"Ya just gotta stay on your toes around those two," Josh finished the
thought.

After more hugs they all walked to the baggage claim area, where they
retrieved their suitcases, before heading out to the parking lot. The
minivan was roomy enough for all seven people and their luggage. Brian
strapped himself into the driver's seat, with Sarah in the other front
seat. Will and Bjorn sat in the center section with the three boys in the
rear, Todd sitting between Jason and Josh, who pointed out various sites
along the drive homeward.

"There's something missing in this ride," Sarah noticed.

Brian did a quick head-count and cast a quick glance at his partner in the
rearview mirror.  "We're all here," he said. "We collected all your
luggage. What could possibly be missing?"

"I seem to recall that you guys never drove anywhere," Sarah said, "not to
the airport, not even to the grocery store, without music. This ride just
seems so quiet."

"Oh?" Bjorn asked innocently.

Sarah continued, "And I also recall that it was always classical music you
played in your cars and at home. Oh, those were the good old days."

"Oh, we still have music playing most of the time, Mom," Jason said.

"That's right, Mom," Josh said innocently. "Just this afternoon on our way
to the airport we were listening to ... what was it, Dad? Some kind of
opera?"

"You're quite right, Josh," Brian answered, just as innocently. "That was
an opera we were listening to."

Sarah looked at Brian with an open-mouthed expression of horror. "Oh, my
god, no.  Please tell me it wasn't `Carmen'. You know how I love that
opera. Will, please don't let them do this."

Bjorn's face was a mask of innocent surprise. "`Carmen' is your favorite?
No kidding? I could have sworn your favorite was `The Marriage of Figaro'
or something by Mozart."

Having been witness to all of this before, Will hid his face behind his
hand, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter as he anticipated what was
to come. Todd looked askance at the twins, wondering if the center of the
rear seat was the safest place for him to be.

"Maestro?" Brian said.

With a fiendish smile Bjorn pointed the remote at the stereo, and the
speakers came to life with `Habanera'. Sarah hid her face in her hands, but
she too was laughing uncontrollably as the men of the Connor-Larkin family
punctuated each line of the melody with fart noises.  Even Will joined
in. And after a few moments Todd, whose taste leaned more toward country
music, pulled a Jew's harp out of his pocket and added a few twangs.

As the aria came to an end, Brian pulled the minivan into the left lane to
pass a sedan driven by an old man and his wife. Through her laughter Sarah
clawed at the side window, yelling, "Help me! I'm being held prisoner by a
bunch of people who murder the classics!"

Laughter filled the minivan. The joke they had started as college students
so many years earlier had lost none of its humor.

-0-

to be continued in Chapter 18