Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 11:06:50 +1200
From: bob charles <pennywise3636@gmail.com>
Subject: Washed Up (Gay / Young friends) chapter 9

Washed Up.

Disclaimer:

Warning: this story contains sexual content, contact between young boys,
and other themes that may offend.  If the subject matter offends you, is
not to your tastes, or if you are under legal age for your area, then find
something else to read. In the following story all names and events are
completely fictional.  Although I may mention a specific location, place,
or person any resemblance to said people, location, or places is completely
unintentional.

Chapter 9:

The man looks extremely skinny, almost too skinny. He is 6'1" tall, and
weighs about 57kg. He has a really dark tan, but it has a weathered sort of
look to it. Like what you would expect on someone who has worked his whole
life under the elements. His face is craggy and wrinkled, with deep set
brown eyes. His long straight nose sort of reminds me of my own, as it
looks like it has been broken a few times. He has thin reddish brown lips
which are parched from years in the sun. His head is bald, and any hair
that still grows has been shaved off.

The man has on a blue and red flannel shirt, which is undone at the front
showing a grubby white singlet underneath. He is also wearing some dark tan
shorts. I try hard not to stare but seeing a makeshift wooden leg
protruding from the leg of his shorts is really hard to ignore. He must
have had an accident which has led to his left leg getting amputated. I
pull my eyes off his wooden leg, and try to focus on his face. I think he
is about to say something, but he just puts a clenched hand up to his mouth
and coughs into it. The cough is awful, and it sounds like he is trying to
cough his lungs up. Gradually his coughing stops and he looks at us again.

"Quelqu'un est à la porte pour vous!" The man yells in a deep booming
voice, back into the house.

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

I don't understand what he says. He has a thick accent and talks fast. His
accent is different to Pierre's, and the lady from the train stations,
are. He confuses me further by going back inside the gloomy interior of the
house, leaving the door wide open. I'm not sure whether he wants us to
follow him or not. We don't as he never motions for us to follow him and go
inside, so we stand outside nervously waiting to see what is going to
happen next.

I can see a couple of dark figures inside the house making their way
towards the door. One looks a lot shorter than the other, but the body
looks like it is slouched and the head is drooped. Gauging the height when
someone is standing like that is very hard to do. They slowly make their
way out from the gloom, but the shorter looking figure is dragging their
feet like going to the door is the last thing they want to do.

My heart skips a beat once they make it out of the gloom and into the
brightness of the outside world. I instantly recognise the wavy medium
length light brown hair, and the slim but muscular frame supporting the
head. His head is still looking at the ground and his body looks like it is
struggling to support his weight, like he is upset and depressed about
something. He is a really sad sight, much like I have been for a while.

"Pierre!" I say enthusiastically, as I recognise my boyfriend. Any remnants
of depression I had left quickly melt away and disappear for good. I run
over to him and give him a huge hug, and squeeze him tightly. My eyes start
to get a damp feeling in them as my emotions take control of me. I am just
so happy to see my boyfriend again and have started weeping because of it.

"Josh... but I wasn't expecting... I thought you weren't coming for a
little while yet." Pierre stammers as he looked up and recognises me. The
look on his face changes instantly from one of doom and gloom, to bright
and cheerful. He embraces me in as tighter hug as I'm giving him. Those
magical feelings are coursing through my veins and I feel complete again. I
know Pierre is feeling the same, as the contentment on his face shows it
all.

I give him a quick peck on the lips, because my emotions have taken such
control of me that I can't stop myself. The kiss is short but still enough
to remind me of just how wonderful it is to kiss my boyfriend. The feelings
are truly magical and I wish I could kiss him even longer, but I realise
that this isn't the time or the place.

Pierre's uncle is still standing behind his nephew, and watches the whole
thing. He has a huge smile on his face at seeing his nephew so happy
again. Since Pierre has come to live with him he has yet to see his nephew
smile properly. He has been so depressed, and the man was really starting
to worry about him. All his fears quickly melt away at seeing his nephew so
happy being held in my arms. Pierre has told him about me, but his uncle
didn't really understand what he meant, until now.

Mum has turned her back, as she still can't bring herself to accept our
feelings for each other. She has made the conscious decision that even
though she doesn't agree, it is the best thing for me. She knows that she
is just going to have to learn to live with it, but she is still finding it
impossible to do. The best she can achieve is trying to stop herself from
saying anything that will offend me, but even that is hard not to do, so
she makes sure that she doesn't see anything that she doesn't want to see.

Sarah on the other hand also has a huge smile on her face. She has finally
got to see just how much Pierre makes me happy. She really can't believe
how instant the changes in our mood are, but now knows just how important
we are to each other. Seeing both of us as happy as we are also gives her
those nice warm fuzzy feelings all over, because she knows it is because of
her that this has been achieved and she is truly thrilled to have
accomplished such a feat.

Once Callum realises it is Pierre, quickly runs over and latches onto us
both, so tightly that I think that I will have to pry him off with a
crowbar in order to remove him. I am not too worried about that at this
stage, because I really am glad that he is happy again. Well at least I
think that he is happy, but there are tears running down his cheeks from
crying. He has a big smile on his face, so I know that they are tears of
happiness, much like the tears rolling from Pierre's and my eyes.

"Did you realise that today is exactly two years?" Pierre asks me quietly,
it's almost like he is a bit scared to bring it up. I don't quite
understand what he means by that mainly because I have been so caught up in
my recovery and about seeing Pierre again that nothing else really had any
importance to me at all.

"What do you mean, it is two years?" I ask back, with a confused expression
on my face. I have a feeling that I should know what he is referring to,
but my brain is too overwhelmed from seeing him again to think straight and
to be honest due to spending too much time at the hospital I have no idea
what the date is.

"It's April 24." Pierre replies simply. My mouth drops wide open as I hear
the date that he says. I stare at him in disbelief. The date means so much
to the two of us, but for the first time it represents good news, not
bad. I hug him tighter, as I know it is the day his mum died. We just stand
there holding each other tightly for a while, with Callum still latched
onto the two of us. He hears the conversation but figures it is a private
matter, so he doesn't ask anything about it and just lets us be.

"Right, I think you should let each other go so we can get some lunch." Mum
says. She doesn't say it in a demanding voice like I think she will. It is
more in a tone to say that we have plenty of time for that, but we have
more important matters at hand. Reluctantly Callum and I let Pierre go, and
he does the same to me.

"What is the time?" I ask mum. I am starting to feel hungry but I am not
sure whether it is still breakfast time or whether it is lunch time.

"It's a little after ten. Oh shit... no its not, I'm still on New Zealand
time. Just wait a minute and I will work it out." Mum replies as she looks
at the watch on her wrist.

"It's a little after twelve, midday." Pierre's uncle says. Pierre's and my
mouths drop wide open and we both look at each other in complete shock and
disbelief. We finally find a connection with the time of our incidents. We
both passed out as a result of what happened to us, at the exact same
moment in time. It is only the time difference between our countries that
makes it look like there is no connection. We can't believe it. Everyone
looks confused at seeing the sudden change of expression on our faces.

"We will explain later. Pierre, are you and your uncle going to come to
lunch with us?" I say. It doesn't help to get rid of the confused
expressions on everyone's face, but it means I am able to ask Pierre to
come to lunch with no arguments.

It turns out mum has already organised with Pierre's uncle to take them
both out for lunch with us, and that is part of the reason mum doesn't
argue. Pierre and his uncle then take our bags and place them just inside
the front door, before closing it and locking up.

Pierre's uncle can walk surprisingly well on his makeshift prosthetic leg,
as we all walk toward the town centre of Vichy to find a nice place to
eat. It is a reasonable walk but Pierre's uncle has no problem keeping up
with everyone. Well he isn't really keeping up, because he knows the town
best so is sort of leading the way. We make it to the centre of town, and
Pierre's uncle leads us towards a restaurant which he has heard so much
about, and had always wished he had the money to try.

It is a quaint looking old building, but has a warm and vibrant air about
it. It is a busy place, as it is almost full by the time we get there. Mum
had got Pierre's uncle to make a booking at a restaurant of his choosing
when she had spoken to him on the phone. They had organised a lot of things
in that short period of time, but kept it all secret from everyone. We get
shown to our table by a waitress, and take a seat. We order our drinks
after taking a seat, and then just talk while waiting for the waitress to
return.

Pierre and I explain to everyone why we suddenly changed our expressions at
hearing the time. We don't go into detail as to the specific events, as it
isn't the right place for that. Mum, Sarah and Callum all know my event,
like Pierre's uncle knows his.  They still can't believe what we are
telling them, as it sounds too coincidental to be true. I have to agree
with them, but it seems like it really did happen that way, and as much as
I don't want to believe it I have to accept the strange twist of fate which
has inevitably led us together.

The waitress comes back with our drinks, and hands us each la carte, or a
menu in English. Once the waitress has gone Pierre and his uncle translate
the menu for us. It is an authentic French restaurant, which I'm glad about
as I want to try to absorb as much of the culture as possible. Nothing is
more passionate to the French than food. I do notice that Pierre and his
uncle have missed one item on the menu, but I don't say anything about it.

When the waitress arrives back, Pierre's uncle orders the missing dish from
his translation as the starter. Then we all order what sounds good to us. I
order a rabbit stew, as it sounds as foreign as anything on the
menu. Pierre opts for carnard a l'orange, or duck in an orange
sauce. Callum struggles to decide as he is a bit pickier about what he does
and doesn't like. Like most kids his age are. I suggest to him to try the
boeuf en daube, which is beef chunks and ham in some fancy sounding sauce.

Once we have finished ordering our meals the waitress leaves again. I can
tell that something is up as Pierre's uncle and mum are both looking a bit
weird. It looks like they have an important announcement to make but
neither of them want to say anything. They both look nervous, which gives
me a sinking feeling in my gut. When mum looks nervous it usually means bad
news.

"Alright, I have a something to tell you two boys'. Well three as I see it
is going to affect your little brother as well." Pierre's uncle says
finally, breaking the uneasy silence. Callum's ears prick up knowing he has
been included in this, as quiet often he is forgotten about. I'm not sure
whether I really want to hear this, but think I had better give Pierre's
uncle the respect he deserves.

"What do you want to tell us?" I reply ending the awkward silence.

"What is it uncle?" Pierre replies straight after me.

"Is it really going to concern me?" Callum asks uneasily.

"Yes, sorry I don't even know your name. I really should have introduced
myself first. My name is François Pompidou. I'm Pierre's uncle from his
mother's side, god bless her." He says. I see him wipe a tear from his eyes
after remembering his sister's tragic fate. Pierre also sheds a tear. It
really must be an awful day for them knowing this is the day Pierre lost
his mother, and Francois lost his sister.

"Yeah I'm sorry I should have introduced my clan properly too. This is
Sarah the oldest of my kids. The youngest is Callum. And well you sort of
already know Josh from what you told me." Mum says to Pierre's uncle on
behalf of us.

"Hello, and pleased to meet you all. Yes Callum, this will probably affect
you too, as I have seen how much Pierre means to you as well." François
says looking straight at my little brother. I see Callum gulp, obviously
nervous at what is going on. I have butterflies in my stomach as the nerves
start to get the better of me.

"After a lengthy discussion with your mother, one which none of you knew
about, we have made a big decision which will affect all of you."
François continues, and makes a barely perceptible nod at mum. I'm
really worried now. Nothing good ever comes from mums decisions.

"We have agreed that it would be in the best interests of Pierre that I
adopt him..." Mum never has a chance to finish as Callum and I leap from
our seats and run over to give mum a big hug. Pierre starts crying, totally
confused by the sudden turn of events. His uncle embraces him in a loving
hug.

"I thought that this is what you wanted?" François asks his nephew
confused by his reaction. I have let mum go and gone over to hug Pierre as
well.

"It is... but you have done so much to try and help me... I will miss
you. Can you come too?" Pierre blubbers to his uncle. We both hug Pierre
tighter, as I think that I already know the answer. His uncle definitely
knows the answer.

"No I won't be coming. I can't afford it, and due to my disability no
country will allow me residency as I will be deemed to be a burden to the
government." François replies. He starts to cry as well, as he never
considered whether Pierre actually liked him or not. I really don't envy
Pierre's predicament as in one way he is getting exactly what he wants, but
he has a big sacrifice to make in order to get it. He has to cut his ties
with the only family that he has left.

"Pierre, I promise that we will come and see him as much as we can." I say
to him, getting a smile from both my boyfriend and his uncle as well. Then
I am embraced in a strong hug by François which takes my breath away.

"You don't have to do that, but I will look forward to seeing you again if
you do come over." He tells me in a serious tone of voice because he
doesn't want to see us getting into trouble in order to see him.

"Look you are all the family that Pierre has left, and I do have the money
to be able to come over. Anyway I really love France and coming to visit
you would be the perfect excuse to come back again." I reply to Pierre's
uncle, who almost crushes the life out of me through his hug.

"I can see why Pierre loves you so much." He whispers so only Pierre and I
can hear him. I am gobsmacked hearing that from Pierre's uncle, as I don't
realise just how much Pierre must have told him about me. Pierre just has a
huge smile on his face as he hears what I say to his uncle. He really loves
that I will make a special effort so that he can see his uncle again.

"Right everyone take a seat as there is more I need to tell you." Mum says,
this time her tone is more demanding. It isn't because she is angry. It is
more because she has a bit to tell us.

Mum explains to us that we are going to be stuck here for at least a
week. Even though the adoption is fully backed by Pierre's uncle it still
has to be investigated properly by the French adoption services. They have
to do character reference checks on mum, which has me extremely worried as
I don't think too much of her character. They also want to check mum's
financial records to ensure Pierre is going to be well looked after.

Mum emphasises that this is all just protocol because between Pierre's
uncle and the New Zealand immigration services, the adoption is already
agreed upon on paper. The French adoption agency only has to do the other
things because the law forces them too, but it isn't going to change the
outcome, as mum has already fully disclosed our situation with the
appropriate people.

About halfway through mum telling us what is going to happen, the starter
which Pierre's uncle has ordered arrives. It is something called
escargot. We are all too busy listening to mum to take enough notice of the
plate, so just grab a bit and try it. Pierre's uncle stops me just before I
put the whole thing in my mouth and shows me how to eat it properly. It
turns out it is cooked in a shell so I have to pull it out of the shell
before eating it. It is different, but not disgusting. I'm not sure whether
I will pay for it again, but I won't turn it down if I am offered it. I
find out it is cooked snails in a garlic butter sauce.

I am not entirely sure what I expected snails to taste like, but then I
have never considered eating them. I'm glad that Pierre's uncle ordered
them because at least I can honestly say I have tried them. Callum
surprises me as he just keeps going back for more. He seems to love them,
even now after he finds out what it is. Sarah tries one but spits it out
straight away. Mum is the same as me and nonplussed about them. Pierre and
his uncle have almost as many as Callum does, as they have always loved the
French delicacy.

Mum has just finished explaining to us what is going to happen in regards
to the adoption, when the waitress brings our mains out. The food looks
magnificent. I am definitely happy with my choice of rabbit stew. I had
wanted to get something different, and definitely get rewarded for
it. Callum looks in heaven with what I suggested for him to try, and I have
to say that I feel a bit envious of him. Pierre's dish also looks
scrumptious and I get a little jealous of his food too. My food is great,
don't get me wrong, but all the food looks equally as good. Well we are
here for at least a week, so I should be able to try a few more dishes in
that time.

Before long all of our plates have been scraped clean. Everyone has a
satisfied look on their faces. No one has anything bad to say about any of
the meals, in fact everyone looks to be in bliss while they are eating. The
waitress comes and clears the table, and asks us whether we want a dessert
menu. After Pierre has translated what the waitress has asked we all say
no, as we are comfortably full as it is. We don't want to feel bloated.

Mum gets up and pays the bill, as the rest of us stand and stretch. We pile
out of the restaurant, and François takes the lead again. We walk a
little further down the road to a Hertz dealer. Mum thinks that we should
hire a car so we can see more sights while we are here. As there are now
six of us, mum thinks that it is best to rent a van. They have an eight
seated blue and silver Mitsubishi L300 in the lot which is perfect for what
we need. Mum signs all the forms, produces her licence when required, and
pays the rental company. They give her the keys and we all pile into the
van once she has unlocked it.

François and mum are in the front. Sarah takes the middle row of seats,
while us boys' take up the backseat. As soon as we are seated I have my arm
around Pierre, and his arm is wrapped around me too. Mum starts up the car,
and pulls out of the lot. We drive maybe fifty meters down the road before
she pulls into a hotel parking lot. She tells us to wait in the car while
she checks us into the hotel.

It is a period hotel, and looks pretty from the outside. The façade is
candy coloured with pale blue balconies and stripy awnings. It is yet
another glorious example of French history, and I really hope the inside is
as good as the outside is. Too many old hotels have a really nice looking
façade but the interior has been modernised and all the period charm has
been lost. I certainly hope this one hasn't followed that trend.

I am not going to find out just yet either, as when mum arrives back she
starts up the van. François directs her back to his humble abode, well
probably more to the point derelict ruin, so that we can get our bags. We
pull up on the curb beside his house, and mum gets out. Pierre and his
uncle get out of their seats and exit the van. Callum, Sarah and I sit
there not knowing what to do. We aren't sure whether we are to follow them
or not.

"Well are you coming or not?" Mum asks us. It becomes a mad scramble
between Callum and me as to who can get out of the van first. Sarah just
laughs at us, and as we almost fall out of the van she laughs even
harder. We try to recompose ourselves as much as possible, but with Sarah
in fits of laughter behind us it is rather hard to do.

Callum and I run off to catch the others, leaving Sarah to get back under
control of her laughter before she too follows us. François unlocks the
front door and opens it. We all follow him into the gloomy interior of the
house. It looks even smaller inside the house than it does from the outside
which is a little depressing knowing that Pierre had to live here for so
long.

Inside the house there is one main room with two doors coming off from it,
one of the doors goes into a small bedroom which is where Pierre's uncle
sleeps. It has ugly floral wallpaper in it, which is peeling apart at the
seams. A gross yellow stain covers what was once a white ceiling caused
from years of tobacco smoke staining the paint. The room is so small that
it is just only big enough for a single bed and a small set of drawers.

The other door leads through to a dingy grimy bathroom and toilet. Again
the room is tiny, but it manages to fit a toilet, a small vanity unit and a
compact shower cubicle. The room is tired and dated. It needs urgent work
done to it, as there is an ugly black mould starting to grow in the corners
of the room. The vinyl floor is cracked and peeling at the edges. There's
years old build-up of soap scum in the shower and in the washbasin, making
the room feel like you would get dirtier if you used it, than you would if
you didn't.

The main room is a tiny lounge, dining room and kitchen, all rolled into
one. One corner of the room has a curtain surround crudely put up in
it. The curtain was put up by Pierre's uncle to give Pierre somewhere
private to sleep. He has been sleeping on a dirty mattress since he has
been here, as it is all that his uncle could afford to buy for
him. Pierre's clothes are in piles around his makeshift bed, and most of it
looks like it is second hand and dirty, not something I want my boyfriend
to wear that's for sure.

The lounge has a two worn dirty armchairs sitting opposite a tiny fourteen
inch TV set, which is sitting on a wonky looking table which is only just
big enough to fit the tiny TV onto. The dining room has a small round
wooden table and two while plastic chairs. They are same sort of chairs
that you would usually find in someone's back yard, not your normal type of
dining room chairs.

The kitchen consists of a couple of benches, and small basin, and a
range. There are a couple of cupboards hanging down from the ceiling, and a
small pantry off to the side. It is dated, and the whole kitchen is in dire
need of replacement. The cupboard doors are only just hanging on, and the
bench top is peeling off the laminate. The bench is all skewwhiff and
warped, and the cupboards underneath it are only just support its weight.

The whole place looks grimy and mouldy. The yellow stain on the ceiling
extends through the whole house. I can smell a mixture of mould, tobacco
smoke and body odour in the air. The air is stale with very little air
circulating around the house. I really can't believe that anyone can live
here. I really feel sorry for François as it is the only place he can
afford. I also feel sorry for Pierre as he has had to live in this squalor
for too long.

Mum's face said it all, as she now wished that she hadn't forced Pierre to
have to live here. If she had just signed those adoption papers in the
first place then Pierre wouldn't have had to suffer. It really is a cruel
reminder to her as to how as to how wrong she was to let her opinions about
our relationship get in the way of her better judgement.

"Mum before we go back to New Zealand I want to buy Mr Pompidou a new
house." I say matter of factly. I know that the issue isn't going to stop
there, but I am hoping that it will. Everyone else in the room just stares
at me, as they don't realise that I can afford to do such a thing, well
except for Callum and Sarah to a certain extent but even she doesn't know
how much I have.

"Josh, honey, I'm not su..." Mum starts to say.

"Look I don't want to hear any excuses. No one deserves to live like
this. I can afford it, and you of all people should know that. If you put
my money in a half decent trust account then the interest I will have
earned on the money should be well more than a house will cost." I tell mum
deliberately cutting her off in the process. Everyone's faces grow wider in
disbelief with what they are hearing.

"How have you got so much money?" Pierre asks me in quiet timid tone of
voice because he is a little scared of the answer due to the other stories
about my life that I have told him.

"Mum can you tell them what happened, as I don't think I can handle it?" I
ask mum apprehensively, as I'm nervous about trying to tell everyone,
because it's one of those stories which tend to trigger a reaction. At
least if mum tells them then I can escape from the house if I start to
react. Mum looks just as nervous, as she doesn't want to put me through the
torture and humiliation all over again but I'm pretty okay with it as I
feel they need to know.

"Are you sure you want me too?" Mum asks me timidly, with an expression of
real concern on her face, because she doesn't want to upset me and least of
all does she want to see any trauma related reaction from me.

"Yes, Pierre definitely needs to know, so I figure it's about time everyone
knew." I reply. We all take a seat before mum begins. François and mum
take a seat on the armchairs, while us boys' sit cross legged on the
floor. Sarah decides to remain standing because there really isn't anywhere
that she can sit.

"Ok, well to start with François there is something you need to know
first, or the rest won't make any sense. Josh was physically abused by his
father for about three years. It all came to a head two years ago today
when my husband got drunk, came home and raped him." Mum says. Pierre's
uncle gives a look of complete shock and anguish. I can tell that he feels
sorry for me, but it is Pierre who hugs me.

We are sitting on the floor in the lounge as mum tells the account of what
happened after that day, and Pierre and I are sitting really close
together. It is so good feeling his comforting hug again, and I feel that I
can make it through this without any major sort of reaction.

"After he was arrested and sent to jail, he got in contact with a top
lawyer. As he still had access to our joint account he had a lot of funds
to draw on and so he took advantage of it. He decided that he wanted to
take his case to trial, with a full jury which had us and the crown lawyers
baffled. It turns out he bribed not only his lawyer but the judge as well,
and they both accepted it." Mum is starting to break down, as she too
relives the horrible trial which took an awful toll on both of us.

"We thought the case was going to be easy as there was no logical way that
he could get out of it. Things went south big time when we received a
letter in the mail from my husband's lawyer. They had subpoenaed Josh to
appear in court. Our lawyer fought fiercely to stop the craziness of it,
but the judge would have not part of it. So Josh was forced to sit in the
witness stand and get interrogated by my husband's lawyer." Mum is crying
heavily, so Sarah goes over to her and gives her a hug.

Pierre looks at me in disbelief. He doesn't understand some of the words
mum has used, but still gets the idea of what mum is saying. François on
the other hand has a better understanding of English and the legal terms
mum has used. He really can't believe what mum has said so far, and also
thinks that he knows where this is going. I can see how outraged he is
feeling, which surprises me to know he cares so much, as he only met me
today. I suppose if I think about it properly it is because he knows
exactly what I have been trough and feels sorry for me, because no kid
deserves to go through what I have.

"It was my husband's whole plan to humiliate Josh as much as possible. The
judge allowed it even though he saw the affect it was having on Josh. What
sort of heartless human being would allow such torture of a ten year old
boy? Most of Josh's problems came from that court case. Josh was forced to
endure accusations that he had asked his dad to do it. He had to tell
everyone exactly what he could recall. His body shut down, as he relived
that night, and told everyone what is a humiliating story for a kid that
age. To add to his humiliation he wet himself on the stand. Thankfully he
was comatose at that stage, as they laid into him further." Mum takes
another break to calm herself down.

I am surprising myself as I still have full control of my emotions. I am
crying, but not uncontrollably like I had been expecting. Pierre has a
tight hold of me as he hears what I had to endure at court. Callum has also
latched onto me, as for the first time he hears what happened at court. We
have tried to protect him from that side, because he was in a fragile
enough stage after dad beating me to a pulp, that knowing what happened in
court would have destroyed him.

"The judge had no choice but to find my husband guilty, as the jury had
unanimously come up with that verdict. He still managed to cause further
uproar when he sentenced my husband to six months jail. We appealed the
sentence, and he did get a much longer sentence. We also sued the ministry
of justice for allowing a ten year old boy to take the stage to give
evidence in a rape trail. It was the first case of such a thing happening,
especially with the charges my husband was facing. We couldn't sue the
judge directly, which is why we took on the ministry. They settled
willingly out of court, and awarded Josh six million in damages. I also got
three million for the stress I endured through the case." Mum stops to take
another breather and calm herself down.

"As a result of the trial Josh started to blame me for everything, as yet
again I was unable to protect him. He also started getting night terrors
and wetting the bed. The judge lost his job and received a substantial
fine. The lawyer who represented my husband lost his mind. He felt really
guilty about what he had done, and shot himself but it was all too late as
the damage had already been done." Mum cries harder as the guilt trip hits
her again. She feels that she hasn't done enough to protect me, which I am
finally starting to see that she had no choice. Well at least as far as the
court saga goes, as she still could have left dad before it got that bad,
but it is all too late for that now.

"I still don't really understand what happened. My husband I mean. He just
seemed like he had truly lost his mind and I had never seen him like that
before." Mum sobs finishing up. Sarah is still hugging her tightly. Even if
I wanted to I couldn't hug mum, as I am still in the tight embrace of both
Pierre and Callum. Even Pierre's uncle gets off his seat and gives me a
little hug. He then tries to comfort mum.

"That's why I want to buy a house for Mr Pompidou. Toady has been such a
terrible day for both families, and I want to change it to represent
something much nicer." I say pleadingly to mum. Mum wipes the tears from
her eyes and looks at me. She gives me a warm smile and nods that she now
understands why I want to do it.

"Look, just call me uncle, or François. Mr Pompidou sounds far too
formal. Anyway I know you want to do something nice but you really don't
have to buy me a house..."

"I want to. Anyway when we can come over and visit I want to have a place
that we can stay in, as this place is too small." I say cutting François
off. I figure giving him a slightly selfish reason as to why I want to do
this will stop him arguing, and I think it works.

"Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me." He replies and comes
over to gives me another hug. I am starting to feel a bit hugged out, as
having three people hugging me at the same time is actually a little
exhausting. I still don't want Pierre to let me go, as I love the warm
tingly feelings I get from him but I think I could do without Callum for a
little while.

"Well anyway, get your bags so that we can go and spruce up at the
hotel. We will come back to pick François up and go out for
dinner. Pierre your uncle feels that it would be better if you slept in a
hotel with us, as he doesn't want you to spend any more time here." Mum
says after a while. She has totally regained control of her emotions now,
so stands up and goes to the door picking up her bag on the way.

I can finally move again as both Pierre and Callum release me. I am a
little disappointed when Pierre lets go of me, but knowing that he is
staying at the hotel with us, makes me happy. I'm really hoping we are in
the same room. I stand up, feeling all stiff and sore from being in the
same position for so long. I hobble over to the front door and pick up my
bag. I wave goodbye to François on my way out the door. By the time I
make it to the car everyone else was already seated, well everyone except
Pierre and I, as Pierre waits for me.

Mum has a pretty good memory and finds her way back to the hotel without
making a wrong turn. We get out and grab our bags, before we enter through
the front door to the hotel and make our way to the lifts, getting off at
the top floor. Mum then hands out some keys. She hands one to Sarah, Pierre
and me, leave me feeling gutted because of having to sleep in a different
room to Pierre, and I'm pretty sure that mum does that deliberately.

"I'm sorry Josh, but Callum is too young and they won't allow him to have
his own room." Mum says to me. It is believable but still who is going to
know. The worst part is that I know I can't leave Callum as I will end up
feeling guilty about ditching him, because I have already done that far too
much for my liking.

"Right, you need to take a shower and put on a nice set of clothes and be
ready by five o'clock. Pierre you should have a new wardrobe in your
room. I just hope it all fits, as I had the hotel buy them for you." Mum
tells us. She then opens the door to her room and goes in. Sarah has
already disappeared into hers, as I think she already knows what to do.

"Go on, I can clean myself." Callum says to me a little dejectedly. He is a
little jealous, as he knows that I'm going to want to spend time with
Pierre and not with him. Callum really likes Pierre but it is starting to
dawn on my brother that he will be competing for my attention. He's never
had to compete for me before and he feels a bit put out because of it.

"Callum, I'm not choosing Pierre over you. You will always be my brother,
nothing will change that. I love you so much that I won't just ditch you in
favour of someone else. Just remember that you are the reason I always came
back home when I ran away. I do love you, and I will still spend heaps of
time with you. All I want in return is a little bit of time alone with
Pierre." I say whole heartedly to him, and then embraced him in a loving
hug.

"I know. I don't know what came over me." Callum tells me a little
sheepishly, as he hugs me back. He then lets me go and takes the key and
makes his way into the room closing the door behind him. Almost as soon as
he closes the door, I knock on it to get him to open it back up. Once he
has opened the door I carry my bag in and place it beside a bed.

"Does that mean you are going to sleep in the same room as me?" Callum asks
seeing me put my bag in the room. His voice sounds so hopeful, with a tinge
of excitement at the prospect, but he is trying desperately not to get his
hopes up just encase.

"Of course little buddy. I wouldn't let you sleep on your own in a strange
town in a foreign country. I can't protect you then. Anyway mum would go
bonkers if I didn't, and I would feel guilty for leaving you all alone." I
tell him genuinely. He gives me a big hug again and mouths `thank you' to
me. He lets me go, and then opens his bag to find some nice clothes.

As I rummage through my bag to find some clothes I take a look around the
room. I feel hugely disappointed seeing that the room has been
modernised. They have stripped all the period charm out of the room, and
replaced it with cream colour paint. It looks light and clean, but has no
character. The room has two beds one a single which I leave for Callum, and
the other is a double which I take, hoping that Pierre will be able to
sneak in during the night.

The room also has a couple of modern white bedside tables, a medium sized
flat screen TV, and a couple of modern looking cream coloured
armchairs. There is a doorway on the left hand side leading to the
bathroom. Directly opposite the doorway to the bathroom is a good sized
built in wardrobe.

I find a change of clothes, and pull them out of my bag. I give Callum a
little hug and a kiss on the forehead before leaving the room, closing the
door behind me. I head straight to the room Pierre is in and knock on the
door. The door quickly opens but just a crack. I open it fully and hurry
in, closing the door quickly behind me. Pierre unsurprisingly is standing
there in my favourite state of dress, completely naked, as he waits for me
to get my clothes and return to him. I chuck my clothes on the bed, and
then try to take my time to ogle his sexy body.

I don't get a chance to check him out properly as he launches at me and
shoves his tongue down my throat. We both fall onto the bed, as I
passionately kiss him back. Oh how I have missed the feelings his kiss
generates. He is almost like a ravenous animal, as he kisses me. I feel the
same way and can't get enough of him while I kiss him back. My senses are
in overdrive as I try to savour his sexy boy scent as it wafts up my
nose. All the while I'm trying to get a good taste of him as I shove my
tongue down his mouth. The feelings I'm getting are electric and intense
and I have missed them so much.

My head feels so light that I think it is floating. It is really starting
to get hot, as our make out session seems to intensify. Sweat is starting
to pour from my forehead, and I can feel my clothes starting to feel a bit
damp. My eyes are clamped shut but I can still see Pierre crystal clear in
my head. It is just too hot, so I desperately want to get out of my now
sweaty clothes, so I can be naked like Pierre is.

I break the kiss and stand up. Pierre looks up disappointedly at me, until
he sees me removing my shirt. He just lies on the bed completely naked
giving me a seductive look as I strip. Once my shirt has been removed I
take my time as I shuck my pants and undies. I use the time to get a good
look at my lover. His little dick is hard as steel which is of no surprise,
as I can feel my own hard member sitting uncomfortably in my undies.

It looks like it has grown a little bit since I have last seen him. Nothing
too noticeable, but it is a little bigger. The girth has increased more
noticeably than the length, as his bulbous acorn shaped head doesn't look
as prominent in his foreskin as it had the last time I saw it. His little
ball bag seems to sag a little more than it used to as well. I'm wondering
as to whether Pierre will notice any growth on my behalf, because I really
don't think that my little dickie has grown anything.

I have only just stepped out of my pants and undies, when Pierre sits up
briefly so he can grab hold of me and pull me down on top of him. Instantly
I feel his tongue slip into my mouth, and the feelings are a lot more
intense due to the skin on skin contact. I feel Pierre's dick sort of throb
underneath me as we continue to make out savagely.

The sweat dripping from our bodies is mixing together, causing me to slide
around on Pierre's slippery body. It's like sliding around on ice, except
the ice is hot, not cold. The sensations being created are still scaring me
a bit, as they seem to stem from my dick which I still haven't got used to,
or know why it keeps happening.

Our kissing gets even more passionate and intense, as the love we feel for
each has taken full control of our bodies and minds. The friction generated
by our bodies rubbing together is sending intense, strange sensations
through my body. Pierre has started to caress my back which is increasing
the sensations I feel.

I can feel Pierre instinctively trying to thrust his dick into me. I am
doing the same but I don't even realise it until I feel Pierre doing it to
me and suddenly realise I'm doing the same thing. Ours dicks are grinding
against each other sending shock waves of strong weird feelings surging
through my veins scaring me even more.

Our kissing has become frenetic, and as a result we are taking more breaks
to be able to breath. I can feel Pierre's breathing underneath me. His
chest seems to be rising and falling in short sharp movements. When I get a
chance to breath I gasp for as much air as I can get to fill my lungs not
knowing when I'm going to get another chance.

The powerful sensations that are still arising from my dick grinding
against his, are becoming so strong that it's starting to really scare
me. Pierre breaks off the kiss gasping for air. He then grunts as the
feelings he is experiencing become too overpowering. I shake from the
feelings I'm getting, and they are so powerful that I am starting to become
extremely scared and worried that something is seriously wrong, but I just
can't stop.

Pierre is too inundated by strange new extreme feelings too be able to kiss
anymore. He is moaning more than he is breathing. I am starting to wonder
whether he is breathing at all. I can feel his body as it quivers violently
underneath me. The only way that I know he is still on this planet, is his
dick keeps jabbing into mine. I'm still in enough control to continue
kissing, but even that is getting exceedingly difficult due to the
overwhelming sensations and because I'm struggling to breath too.

My breathing has become laboured as the tremendous feelings have taken
control of my sweat soaked body. My instincts are now in control of what I
do, as I can feel myself driving my rigid little prick into Pierre's with
ever-increasing ferocity. I'm feeling really, really scared at the
overwhelming sensations, but as hard as I try and can't stop it. My body
seems to have a mind of its own and it won't listen to anything I try to
tell it.

My mind suddenly goes all hazy, as the feelings seem to peak with
tremendous intensity. My body becomes rigid, as I thrust my prick one last
time. My breathing stops completely, as my whole frame quivers from
pleasure. My balls feel like they have shrivelled up, as they contract up
towards my body. An explosion of intense pleasure erupts from my pulsating
dick and radiates out through the rest of my body. I grunt heavily but no
sound comes out, as I experienced something I never knew existed.

"Ahh, Ahhh, Ooohhhh fuuuccckkk!" Pierre squeals. His body trembles like
crazy underneath me, at the same time as those strong magnificent feelings
overwhelm me. Pierre has gone all tense, and he holds his breath. His dick
is throbbing relentlessly underneath me, and my own dick feels like it's
having a seizure.

Once the pinnacle of our pleasure subsides, we collapse back down to
earth. We start gasping for breath, and I can feel my heart thumping like
crazy inside my chest. My mind is still all fuzzy, but I am feeling totally
relaxed. Pierre's breathing seems to have calmed down and his chest is
rising and falling with a regular rhythm. My breathing is still erratic as
I struggle to come down from my high.

"What the hell was that? I think I'm broken or something." I say to Pierre
once I have recovered enough to speak. My voice is raspy still, but filled
with the sense of panic and concern I am feeling.

Pierre looks at me wide eyed in terror. He still can't speak, as he opens
his mouth to say something but nothing comes out. I know that he has no
idea as to what just happened, as it is written all over his face. Our
dicks have gone limp again adding to my concern. Have we broken something?
Were we broken to start with? My mind is racing trying to come up with an
answer.

I have to ask someone but whom? I know that I can't ask mum as she will go
nuts knowing we were kissing. Callum is just too young so I don't think he
will know what's wrong with us. I could ask François, Pierre's uncle,
but I hardly know him and I will have to wait till we can get him
alone. The only real person I can ask is my sister, but is it something I
really want to discuss with her? I suppose so, because if we are broken
then I want to get fixed as soon as I can.

"I'm going to ask sis what's wrong with us." I tell Pierre frantically. He
nods, and we both get off the bed and pull on some pants. Then we rush
across the room to the door, open it and crash out into the hallway. We run
to Sarah's room and pound on the door. The door opens and we fall inside my
sister's room, she closes it behind us with a concerned look on her face.

"I think we're broken." I say in a hysterical voice. Pierre and I are
looking really distraught as we have convinced ourselves that there is
something severely wrong with us. Sarah gives a really worried look now.

"Why do you think you are broken, what happened?" Sarah asks trying to keep
herself calm and composed. I haven't thought this through properly, because
I now know that I have to tell Sarah what happened in Pierre's room.

"Um... well we were kissing... and after a while... um... we got this real
strange feeling. It... um... kept getting stronger until... um... it felt
like we exploded." I stutter, and flush red from embarrassment. Sarah's
expression quickly changes, and she starts to blush as well.

"Did you have clothes on when this happened?" She asks tentatively. I shake
my head to tell her no. She pretty much knows the answer but knowing that
we don't have clothes on almost confirms things for her. She is still
flushed red, but is also starting to chuckle. Pierre and I are confused.

"Were you dicks all stiff at the time?" Sarah asks. Her face is really
bright red as she asks this. Again all I do is nod my head as I really
don't want to actually tell her that we both had boners at the time. Sarah
now definitely knows what has happened, and it also explains the weird
noise she though she had heard come through the wall backing onto Pierre's
room. She starts to laugh a little harder now making us feel really
embarrassed.

"Look there is nothing wrong with you two. It sounds like... um... you had
an... orgasm. Have neither of you done a sex ed class yet?" Sarah says to
us a little awkwardly, and her face goes an even darker shade of red as she
says, it because she is feeling quite embarrassed at having to tell her
younger brother and his boyfriend about this kind of thing.

"Um... what's that? If it's anything to do with school then no, as you
should know I hardly turn up to school and when I do I don't concentrate."
I reply honestly.

"No, dad pulled me out of school not long after mum died, and we went
sailing around the world." Pierre replies to my sister shedding a tear at
the horrible memory.

"Look you have nothing to be worried about. You are fine. This is something
that mum should be discussing with you, but I know why you can't talk to
her. Come and see me tonight and I will explain things better. In the
meantime hurry up and take your shower and get changed. Mum will be furious
if you're not ready on time." Sarah says, and opens the door to shoo us
out. We are really relieved to hear there is nothing wrong with us, so
quickly leave her room and return to Pierre's to shower and change.

Sarah can't believe what has just happened. In fact she can't believe how
much has happened since she answered the phone the day we had to move. When
she told mum that she wanted to live with us again so that she could get
away from grandma, she never expected anything like what has happened. If
someone had told her that she would end up going to France to find her
brother, whom she hates boyfriend, then she would have laughed at
them. Well she has done that, and now she has agreed to talk to me about
sex. What has this planet come to? She thinks to herself. She chuckles to
herself again, realising just how naïve I am about stuff.

We drop our pants as soon as we re-enter Pierre's room, and wander through
to the bathroom. As I had expected the bathroom is small. It is
immaculately clean, and well-appointed but small and compact. The room
consists of a toilet, vanity unit with a large golden framed mirror hanging
on the wall behind it, and a decent sized shower cubicle. The fixtures are
all of modern design fitting in with the design of the main room. The
shower has a curved glass sliding door, and a massaging showerhead. The
room also has a fancy selection of soaps and shampoos placed in an orderly
fashion on the vanity. The selection is by far the most impressive I have
seen in a hotel.

There are a couple of pearl white towels hanging on the towel rack beside
the shower, which means we don't need to search around for some. Pierre
starts the shower running and adjusts the temperature. I wait till he is
happy, just enjoying looking over his sexy naked body again. As soon as
Pierre has everything just right he jumps into the shower cubicle and under
the torrent of warm water. I quickly hop in behind him. I huddle up close
to Pierre so the cascading water washes over me as well.

It feels so cleansing having the water flow over my sweaty, grimy
torso. The water setting is perfect and I instantly feel refreshed. Pierre
notices before I have, that we haven't got any soap from on top of the
vanity, so squeezes himself past me and gets out. He sorts through the
selection of soaps until he finds one that he wants, unwraps it and wedges
himself back in beside me.

The shower cubicle is unquestionably big enough for the two of us, but we
haven't adjusted the nozzle setting to increase the coverage of the water
gushing from the showerhead. The setting it is currently on has too small a
spread, that it scarcely covers one of us. I quickly grasp the idea that
the nozzle is adjustable, so tinker around with it a bit until I have it
just right. The water is now cascading evenly over both our naked bodies.

Pierre quickly lathers up his silky smooth body, even making sure to soap
up his bulbous reddish brown acorn shaped glans. He then hands me the soap
to do the same, as he rinses off his glossy body. I have my body quickly
covered in soapy foam as I lather myself up. Pierre hops out of the shower
as I rinse off. I ogle my sexy boyfriend who now has a polished look to
him, before shutting off the shower and joining him. We dry off admiring
the way the other ones body is shining in the light. We both look squeaky
clean as a result of the refreshing shower and the luxurious soap.

We mosey on back through to the bedroom to get changed. I start to put on
the clothes which I have flung onto the bed, as Pierre goes over to the
wardrobe to find himself something to wear. He had been too eager to get me
into his room that he has forgotten to get his stuff ready. Pierre scours
through the clothes which have been bought for him, in search of something
decent to wear.

I have already put on my tight maroon cotton jeans, and a white with red
lines collared shirt, by the time Pierre has found what he wants to wear. I
button up my shirt as I gawk at my adorable sexy darling getting
changed. He pulls on some snug fitting black denim jeans, and a blue and
white chequered dress shirt. I'm not convinced that the jeans are actually
supposed to fit so snugly, as he seems to have a lot of trouble buttoning
them up, but it really does look damn sexy.

I have to go back to my room to get some shoes and socks. Once Pierre
finishes buttoning up his shirt I give him a quick kiss right on the lips,
and then I leave the room. I see mum coming out of her room as I make my
way back to mine. I know I have to hurry. I approach my room and go to
knock, when Callum opens the door to come out. He smiles at me as I brush
past him to finish changing. I quickly pull on a pair of white ankle socks
and my polished black dress shoes. Now fully changed, I go back out to the
hallway to join everyone else.

I get out to the hallway and everyone is already waiting. Even Pierre has
put on his shoes and socks and joined everyone before I had. They all look
really smart. Sarah has on a velvet coloured silk dress, black high heeled
shoes, and a glorious pearl necklace which I never knew she had. Callum has
on some blue cotton jeans and a white dress shirt with black stripes. Mum
has on a black skirt, white dress shirt, and black high heels. She is also
wearing a sparkling gold necklace, which I have only seen her wear once
before. The last time she wore it was on her wedding anniversary before dad
went bad.

We all drift towards the lift and then out to the van once back on the
ground floor. We pile into the van in an unusually orderly fashion. We wind
our way through the streets of Vichy to François's place and pick him
up. François then directs mum where to go, as we make our way towards
the restaurant that he has picked out for us. It is situated just on the
outskirts of town on the main road. To look at it you wouldn't think that
it is a restaurant, as it looks more like a little farm
cottage. François tells us that this is a secret little family owned
restaurant which the locals just rave about. It sounds good and we all are
looking forward to trying it out.

Mum parks up and we get out of the van and go inside. It really is a small
restaurant with only about six tables. All bar one of the tables are full,
telling me that this is a popular restaurant as the empty table is reserved
for us. François had booked us in here as soon as he knew the date we
were going to be here. If he had left it any later to book then we would
have missed out. The best thing with this place is that it is a set
menu. So we don't need to choose what we want, let alone have to have the
menu translated for us in the first place.

Pierre and I take a seat right next to each other, which means Callum has
to sit on the opposite side of the table. Before Sarah and the adults sit
down, my sister motions them to go with her for a moment. Once they were
out of everyone's earshot Sarah starts talking. It is the first chance I've
had to see what François is wearing.

He is looking really smart. Dressed to the tee. He is wearing black dress
pants which he has recently ironed. It gives it a smart looking crease
along the legs. On top he is wearing a white dress shirt, with thin lines
on it of varying colours. He has his shirt buttoned right up to the top
button, which is hidden behind a royal blue tie. He is also wearing a black
blazer on top which he has left unbuttoned. Of course he is also wearing
the most immaculate dress shoes. I can't believe that this is the same
person who I had met earlier. It turns out that even with how poor he is,
he always makes sure he has some really good dress clothes.

The adults come back, and look a little strange. François and mum look a
little flushed, as their faces are a deep shade of red. I'm not sure what
Sarah has said to them but it seems to have embarrassed them a bit. Oh
well, I have more important things to worry about. Sarah takes her seat
beside Callum. Mum and François take the ends of the table, or should I
say the head of the table. I suddenly remember something which I would have
felt really bad about, if I had totally forgotten about.

"Happy birthday Pierre! I'm sorry I didn't get you a present." I say
enthusiastically to my lovely French boyfriend. He smiles at me, a warm and
loving smile which always makes my heart melt.

"I'm not worried about a present. I'm just glad you remembered, especially
with everything that has happened. Anyway you came back into my life, and
that is the best present of all." Pierre replies, and then gives me a quick
hug and a peck on the cheek. By this stage Callum and Sarah have cottoned
on to what I have said. Mum gives us an evil disapproving glare as Pierre
kisses me.

"Yeah happy birthday Pierre." The both say in unison. Mum never says
anything which I think is a bit mean of her, but I bite my tongue as it
wouldn't be right to make a scene in such a cosy little restaurant. I also
presume that François has already given Pierre his birthday greeting,
but in saying that it is also a day that neither of them really want to
remember. I really feel sorry for Pierre having to share his birthday with
the day his mum died, because it really must be difficult for him to
celebrate what should be a special day.

"Thank you so much. I know today represents a really bad day for both
families, and I never thought that I would ever get to enjoy my birthday
again. I mean I lost my mother two years ago today. My uncle lost his
house, and of course what happened to josh. It really has been a terrible
day. But I have really enjoyed today, and it has all been because of
you. Thank you." Pierre says. Tears have started rolling from his eyes and
down his cheeks. I hug him, as I weep too. As much as I try to forget about
it, I always get remind about the horrors incurred on this day two years
ago.

"How did you lose your house?" Sarah asks François. We are all a little
concerned at the revelation. I don't think Pierre had intended to, but he
inadvertently dropped his uncle right in the shit.

"It's a bit of a long story, but I'll tell you a shortened version. I used
to be a farm worker. Until I rolled the tractor I was driving and crushed
my leg. It had be get amputated. With the loss of my leg I could no longer
work on a farm, and as a result I got really depressed. I started drinking,
and gambling. I lost everything, and before I could get on top of my
addictions I had also lost my house. The house had been in our family for
generations, and the plan was that when I pass it was to go to Pierre. I
have no kids of my own, so he is the next in line in our family." He says
and bursts out crying.

He feels so ashamed with himself for losing something that had been in the
family for ages. He also feels really guilty because it was supposed to get
passed on to Pierre, but he has lost it so he can't see that ever
happening.

"Do you think the new owners will sell it back to you?" I query Pierre's
uncle. François just looks at me, until he remembers what I had said
earlier in the day.

"No I just couldn't... I mean it is my fault I lost the place. I just
couldn't allow you to buy it on my behalf." François tells me. He still
has tears streaming from his eyes, which are now red as a result.

"Look you went through a really rough patch and I can understand that. But
I take it you also gave up gambling and drinking as a result. So just think
of it as a reward for all the good things that you have done, like allowing
your nephew to live with you when he had nowhere else to go, even though
you couldn't afford it. Now you are also willing to adopt him out so that
he can have a better life than you can provide. You have sacrificed a lot
so I think you well and truly deserve it." I say to him with all my heart
behind it. I am really envious with the sacrifices he has made, and really
appreciative that he has allowed Pierre to live with me.

"I can see that I'm not going to win against you am I?" François
mutters.

"No I have been told that I am really pig headed at times." I quip back. He
sighs knowing that he isn't going to win, leaving me smiling knowing he has
given up the fight.

"The people who bought it understood my plight. They told me that if I
could get my life back on track and find the money, they would be willing
to sell the house back to me. I suppose we just have to hope that it is
still the same people living there." François replies. He has given in,
and accepted my offer. I am really glad he does, as I want Pierre to be
able to take over the family house when it is his turn. I know that Pierre
appreciates what I have done, because he gives me yet another hug squeezing
my tightly.

The waitress comes over to take our aperitifs order, or should I say drinks
order. We don't even have a chance to get what we want as mum straight away
orders a bottle of champagne. The waitress then leaves without seeing what
anyone else wants, which surprises me as surely the restaurant won't allow
kids to have alcohol. I get a bigger surprise when she comes back and pours
everyone a glass of the expensive drink including us kids in a kid sized
glass. Pierre can sense my confusion so puts me straight.

"Look Josh, it's normal over here for kids to have a drink of wine, or even
champagne with their family over a meal. Mum and dad used to give me a wine
with lunch and dinner all the time." He tells me. I know I still have a lot
to get used to with the different cultures, but I think this is a good
thing. I mean French kids are educated on how to drink so then they learn
to respect it, which means that France doesn't have the binge drinking
problems that we do back home.

"I would like to make a toast for a happier and safer life for both
families." François says after the waitress has finished pouring
everyone a glass. We all hold our glasses up and then clink them together
with the person on each side of us. We then all take a small sip, savouring
the flavour of the delicious bubbly nectar. I can see why champagne is so
popular and expensive as it really tastes like it is made in heaven.

We sit around talking until the waitress comes back with our first
course. It is pote ?e auvergnate, or cabbage soup, with a couple baguettes'
to share between us. It is a traditional dish for the region, and probably
their best known one. It tastes pretty good, and with the bread it is so
easy to clean up the bowl afterward. We all eat up all of the soup. All of
us like it, which is a bonus as we are usually pretty picky at times,
Callum especially.

The waitress comes back once we have all finished and takes away our
plates. After a little wait she returns with the next course. The next dish
is a pork liver pate with a cranberry sauce drizzled over it. The pate is
made at the restaurant by the chef, and tastes beautiful. It is so nice
getting homemade product as opposed to the mass produced stuff. I try to
savour it longer than I had with the soup but it doesn't work and is
quickly all gone. This time I am not the first to finish, as Callum loves
it so much he has scoffed it all down in seconds. Again all the plates are
emptied, and everyone looks happy with the meal so far.

In between courses we just sit and talk. I also use the chance to hold
Pierre's hand. No one can see us as we are sheltered by the table and the
red and white checked table cloth. It is just nice to have a relaxing meal,
and be able to hold the hand of that special somebody. It is the closest we
have come to showing our affection publically, and yet no one other than us
knows what we are doing.

Again the table gets cleared, and the next course arrives. It is a dish
called aligot, and comes served with a locally produced sausage. The dish
is garlic mashed potatoes with Chantal cheese mixed in. It is a really
great dish, and the chef picked out the perfect tasting sausage to go with
it. I'm glad for the long intervals between courses, as otherwise I would
be full and bloated by now. I am starting to wonder as to how many courses
are left to come, as I have heard that some meals can consist of up to
seven different courses.

I'm glad to see the next course as it is dessert. It must mean that we are
coming to the end of the meal. Again dessert is another local dish called
clafoutis. It is a fruit tart with a flour batter and baked with egg poured
over the fruit interior. The fruit the restaurant has used is black
cherries. It is yet another great dish and I'm left wanting more. At least
with this meal everyone is having the same thing, so I'm not getting
jealous seeing what everyone else has ordered.

To my surprise it isn't the last course. The waitress comes back with a
couple of cheese boards after having cleared the dessert plates. The board
contains a selection of locally made cheese and crackers. The waitress
returns before we have started the course and gives the adults a glass of
cognac. She brings us kids a bowl of hot chocolate as even in France kids
aren't allowed the higher alcohol volume drinks. Well at least not in a
restaurant.

I have somewhat expected the next course, which I see the waitress bringing
over to us. It is the only variation from the set menu that we have had. It
is a gateau, or cake. The restaurant has made it especially for us, well
for Pierre to be exact. They have also dressed it with twelve lit candles
to match his age. The cake looks totally delicious, and it's a rich
chocolate cake.

"Joyeux anniversaire! ? Fe ?licitations sur douze ans!" The waitress
exclaims as she places the cake in front of Pierre. On the plate that the
cake comes on is an envelope which neither of us expected to see.

Before Pierre can open the envelope, he makes his wish and blows out the
candles. The waitress then gives him a knife to make a cut, which he
promptly does making sure to leave the knife in the cake. He then takes the
envelope and opens it, as the waitress takes the cake and cuts it up and
serves a slice of it to everyone.

Pierre's mouth drops wide open as he sees what the envelope contains. He
then drops it on the table and runs over to mum and gives her a big hug. He
has started crying. I can't resist and have to see what has got Pierre so
emotional. So I pick up the envelope and look inside. There are two bits of
official looking paper inside, which surprises me as I can't understand why
that would get Pierre so worked up.

I think that I had better look at the properly. My mouth drops wide open as
well as I see the first piece of paper is the adoption papers, which have
been approved by the French authorities. The second is a certificate of New
Zealand residency. Pierre is now legally allowed to come back to New
Zealand, and live there as well.

"Happy birthday Pierre, I hope you like your present." Mum says to my
boyfriend as he continues to hug her. I have got out of my seat and
embraced her in a hug as well. Pierre and I are both crying with
happiness. The adoption is complete so Pierre is one of us now. Pierre lets
mum go and goes over to his uncle and hugs him. Pierre knows that it is his
uncles doing as well as my mums. Well our mum's now.

"Thank you mum." I whisper, as I continued to hug her. I have started to
get my tears under control, but I still want to hug mum. This is by far the
best thing she has done for me in ages, and I really appreciate her for it.

"It is my pleasure Josh. I hope this can go some way towards you forgiving
me for failing to protect you so much." Mum whispers back, and gives me a
small kiss on the cheek. Usually I would have thought yuck, and wiped her
kiss off, but today I actually enjoy it. It is probably the closest I have
felt to mum in a long, long time. Pierre and I release our respective
adults from our hugs and take our seats again.

It dawns on me that yet again I have been lied to by my mother, but this
time I am glad she did as it really was a great surprise. Her and
François must have put a lot of effort into it because everything mum
had told us at lunch can't have been thought up right then on the spot. I
really do wonder how long they had been going behind our backs to organise
everything, but I really appreciate everything that they have done because
it really has made it a special day.

"What was your present Pierre?" Callum asks earnestly. He is bouncing
around in his seat as he can sense that it must be something important. I
am struggling to stop myself from cracking up seeing Callum so excited.

"It is the adoption papers, which have been approved. Your mum also managed
to get me a certificate saying that I'm now a New Zealand resident as
well." Pierre says with the broadest smile across his face. Callum gets us
all in hysterics as he leaps out of his seat and cheers. He gets so excited
that his chair almost falls over as he hurriedly gets out of it. All the
other patrons in the restaurant burst out laughing at the little boys
antics. We are just relieved that he doesn't annoy them with the way he
abruptly interrupts their meal with his excitement.

Callum sits down again looking a little shamefaced at the way he
reacted. We don't help the way he feels either as we continue to laugh at
him. Even the waitress who is dishing up the cake is laughing at him. As
the waitress hands the cake around she congratulates Pierre on the
adoption. It turns out that she can speak English, which we hadn't
realised. Mum had been getting François to do all the ordering so we
never found out whether or not she could speak English.

We all savour the cake as much as possible knowing that there is nothing
left to come after it. The cake is really well baked. It is still very
moist, and the taste is like a party on the taste buds. All too soon the
cake is gone and our plates empty. The waitress clears the table, and mum
decides that it is time to head back to the hotel. She gets up and pays for
the dinner, as we all ready ourselves. Once she has paid we all amble out
of the restaurant and back to the van. We have all enjoyed an exceptionally
good meal, and a lovely ambience which the restaurant created. I'm feeling
nicely full, as due to the waits between courses it allowed the food to
settle so that I'm not feeling bloated.

We all bound into the van and belt up. Mum starts it up and makes her way
from the parking lot onto the main road. Pretty quickly we get back to the
hotel which surprises me, as I thought that we would be dropping
François off first. Mum has other ideas as she quite often does. We jump
out of the van and make our way into the hotel and back to our rooms.

"Callum I think it's time you went to bed. The others will be in
soon. Josh, Pierre follow me." Mum tells us boys' in a semi-stern tone of
voice. I know that we aren't in trouble as we have done nothing wrong, so
why does she want to see us? Callum still has the key to our room, so
quickly leaves and goes to bed. Mum opens the door to her room and goes in
followed by Sarah and François. I know it has to be something pretty
serious if everyone else is involved, but I still can't think of what.

We grudgingly follow them into mum's room still not sure what it is all
about. I close the door behind me and lock it. I'm not sure why I locked
it, force of habit I suppose. Mum and François are in the armchairs, and
Sarah is sitting on the single bed. Mum motions for Pierre and me to sit on
the double bed, which mum is using to sleep in.

"So I hear you two had a bit of a scare earlier today." Mum says to us. I
flush red, and I can see Pierre is just as embarrassed as me. I didn't have
any inkling that mum would call us into her room about this. I give my
sister wicked look knowing that she must have told mum about it.

"I'm sorry but I didn't really know how to approach this with you. It is
mum's job to talk to you about this sort of stuff anyway." Sarah tells me,
after noticing my evil glare. She looks as embarrassed as I feel so I know
it isn't something that she would normally want to talk about.

"So, anyway I think you should tell me what happened. Also I want to know
how much you already know about sex." Mum says. Surprisingly she is keeping
herself cool, calm and collected given the nature of the conversation. It
is really impressive for her, as she knows that she is going to have to
discuss gay sex with us which is something she never wanted to have to do,
but realises that it is safer for us if she does.

"Um... well we were kissing naked... and we got this... um... really
strange feeling come from our... well you know." I reply to mum. I am
feeling really uncomfortable already, and this is only the
beginning. Pierre is as darker shade of red as I have seen him get, he is
that embarrassed.

"I don't know anything about... um... sex." Pierre states totally
flustered. All we know about sex is that it is a bad word. Mum used to make
sure that any movie I watched had no sex scenes in it, and used to try and
hide anything to do with the subject.

"What so neither of you know how nice it feels to play with your penis?"
François chimes in, as he is unable to believe that two boys' could have
never played around with their own little dicks.

"No, mum used to tell me off if I played with it." I reply. I really just
want to curl up in a grave and die, as opposed to have this sort of
conversation. I'm humiliated enough already without getting told how
naïve I am as well.

"But I caught you playing with Pierre's... well you know, in the shower."
Mum counters. She is starting to lose her composure now, and is blushing
herself.

"What? Oh yeah that. I wasn't playing with it, I was just cleaning it when
it got stiff." I answer matter of factly, remembering the incident she is
talking about.

"Oh, well it seems that I might have overreacted then. I'm sorry about
that, but I really thought you were playing with him." Mum says blushing
bright red. It should have been an apology, but it doesn't feel like it as
mum just doesn't put any weight behind it. I know this is hard for her, but
she could at least try harder. I mean she is my mother so she should have
been prepared to have this conversation with me. It just seems that she
still can't get past the fact that I'm gay.

I think Sarah and François pick up on mum's negativity a bit, as they
seem to take over the conversation from here. We find out that Sarah didn't
want to talk to us about it because she has no experience herself with
sex. She also knew very little about how the male anatomy works. She must
be a rarity, as most sixteen year old girls seem to have had sex these
days.

François unsurprisingly knows more about the male anatomy, but even he
doesn't have a lot of experience with sex. He had been working too hard
during his life, and never really found anyone who he wanted to settle down
with. He has had the odd fling but even those have been few and far
between.

Even with their general lack of knowledge, they manage to explain what they
need to pretty well. Mum does chime in from time to time, but generally she
feels too uncomfortable talking to us about gay sex. Pierre and I feel
totally embarrassed at the whole thing. We do learn a lot, and all our
fears about what had happened earlier are laid to rest. We both are
actually amazed to find out that our little dicks can provide such fun and
pleasure. I had always thought that its only purpose is to piss out of, so
to find out this other stuff really intrigues me.

"Josh, what we are going to tell you next will most likely confuse and
upset you. We have to tell you as it will be worse if you find out any
other way." Mum says. That completely shocks the two of us as mum has
hardly said anything for a while. I feel really nervous, as I am not too
sure as to whether I want to hear any more, especially if it will upset me.

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

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