Appearances, copyright 2006, by Etienne. All rights reserved.

If the idea of two men loving each other and expressing that love in a sexual manner offends you, then you have clearly come to the wrong place. Feel free to leave.

-51-

Changes

Charles and I placed the boys carefully in their cribs and stood for a while, just watching them. When were back in the study, I said “if anyone ever hurt one of those two kids, I think I could commit murder without a qualm.”

“I know, babe,” he said, “I feel the same way.”

We went back to Steve’s room and found that the three boys had devoured all of the food, and all three of them appeared to be totally worn out. “Jeff,” I said, “why don’t you and Rob go back to your rooms and sack out. You look exhausted.”

They thanked us for the lunch and went back to their rooms as instructed. I could tell that Steve, too, was sinking rapidly, so I asked him if he needed another Tylenol, and he declined. I suggested that he should close his eyes and take a nap, and he eagerly complied. We sat in the room for a while until his steady breathing told us that he was sound asleep, then I took the lunch cart and rolled it out into the hall and pulled the door part of the way closed.

We went downstairs and talked to Gran, while we waited for John and Joe to arrive. A little while later, Goodman escorted the two of them to where we were sitting. After they had said hello to Gran, Charles and I took them up to the study and filled them in on the events of the day. When I showed them the pictures of Steve’s injuries, their reactions were explosive.

Charles told them what the Doctor had recommended, and they nodded in agreement. “Who is the Doctor?” John asked.

“The babies’ Pediatrician, Dr. William Butcher,” he said.

“We know him,” said Joe. “When John and I were working Pediatrics a couple of months ago, we saw him at work regularly. He is very good.”

John asked “what do you want us to do?”

“Hang around and keep an eye on the patient while we go to the airport and pick up his mother,” I said. “You can use the computers in here, or go into our room and watch television, or whatever. We just want someone to keep watch.”

Thirty minutes later, Charles and I were on the way to the Airport. He dropped me off at the arrivals area and went to park the car. “I’ll stay with the car,” he said. “When you and Marie are ready to be picked up, give me a call, and I’ll circle around and get you.”

I went to the security area, to wait for Marie. About ten minutes after I got there, she came through with a group of passengers that I presumed had all been on her flight.

The first words out of her mouth were, predictably “how is he?”

“He was asleep when we left the house. Do you remember John and Joe, two of the godfathers?”

“Yes, why?”

“They are both Registered Nurses, and they came over to the house to keep watch while Charles and I came to pick you up.”

I took out my phone, called Charles, and told him we would be at the entrance in a few minutes. Marie did not have any checked luggage, so there would be no delay. Charles pulled up to the head of the line of cars just as we came through the doors. I got into the back seat with Marie so we could talk, and Charles pulled away from the curb.

Before Marie and I could begin a conversation, Charles said “I just got a phone call from Detective Howard here in Atlanta. Frank was arrested in Monroe about half an hour ago. Because of the nature of the case, he will not be allowed to post bail until he is arraigned on Monday.”

“Good,” I said.

“Marie,” Charles said, “does your husband have any contacts in the police or court systems that he could use to defeat the system?”

“Not as far as I know.”

“Are you going to divorce him?” Charles asked.

“Indeed I am.”

“In that case you ought to arrange to clean out any joint bank accounts first thing Monday morning.”

“I’m way ahead of you, there. I don’t know if Philip has told you, but our brother Jack, who I am visiting in Alexandria, is a Lawyer. He will be at our bank first thing Monday morning with a power-of-attorney to take care of that little matter. He is also going to drain the company bank account down to zero.”

“Good,” Charles said.

“Marie,” I said, “I have some pictures to show you. They are of Steve’s injuries. I want you to look at them now, so you won’t be so upset when you see him, okay?”

I took out the digital camera and displayed the pictures, one by one. When I had finished, she was sobbing quietly. “That bastard,” she said. “That no good fucking bastard. To do that to his only son. It defies comprehension.”

“If Steve’s friend Jeff hadn’t hit Frank over the head with a heavy bookend and knocked him out, Steve might have been killed,” I said. “From Jeff’s account, Frank was totally berserk and out of control.”

I waited a few minutes for her to regain her composure. “Sis,” I said, “one more thing.”

“What?”

“Don’t say anything to Steve about taking him home right now. He starts crying and gets borderline hysterical at the mere mention of going home. He feels safe with us, and we have told him he can stay as long as he wants to, if you will let him. Frankly, you will be going through your own trauma with the divorce and taking care of the girls, not to mention running the business, and you really don’t need a somewhat troubled son to handle as well,” I said.

Charles interrupted, saying “Marie do you remember Lydia Brannon from the Christening?”

“Yes,” she said, “I thought she was a nice woman.”

“She is that, and she is also,” Charles said, “a Clinical Psychologist, who specializes in dealing with abused children. We want to have her come over and talk to Steve a few times to help him deal with what happened. She will do it unofficially, so there will be nothing in any medical history to indicate that Steve ever saw a shrink.”

“The bottom line, sis,” I said, “is that we have Steve and his care well in hand, and you can go home when you are ready and deal with everything else knowing that he is both loved and well cared for.”

She let out a sigh of relief. “You are both absolutely right, and even though it is a hard thing to contemplate, he can stay in Atlanta. Thank you both.”

“By the way,” I said, “we ought to call Jeff and Rob’s folks and let them know what is going on. Do you have a cell phone number for them?”

“Been there, done that. I talked to the boys’ mother before I went to the airport. She said that Jeff and Rob can stay with Steve for a few days if they want to. She asked me to buy a few clothes for them and she will reimburse me later.”

“Good,” I said, “because they’re part of Steve’s support group right now.”

We pulled up in front of the house, and I led Marie upstairs. John and Joe came out of the study and met us at the top of the stairs. “Is everything under control?” I asked.

“He’s still asleep,” John said. “We check him every 15 minutes or so, and he is fine. I think he is simply exhausted, both physically and emotionally right now. We just refilled the ice pack a few minutes ago.”

“Thanks guys,” I said. “We really appreciate that you interrupted your day off to do this for us.”

Marie thanked them as well, and they said good-bye and left. I led her to Steve’s room. He was still asleep when we entered the room but woke up when Marie kissed him on the forehead. “Mom,” he said, “I hope you didn’t come to take me back home, because I don’t want to go there. I’m not sure I ever want to go back into that house again.” He started crying. “Please don’t make me go back there,” he repeated, openly sobbing.

She bent over and hugged him “it’s okay, sweetie, you don’t have to go back to Monroe if you don’t want to. I’ve already told Philip and Charles that you can stay here as long as you like.”

Charles had come into the room during Steve’s outburst, and was standing by the door, listening.

Steve got himself under control and said “thanks, Mom. You know I will miss you and the girls, but I don’t think I will ever feel safe anywhere near where that bastard is.”

“Well, the bastard is in jail right now,” said Charles, “if that makes you feel any safer.”

“Not much,” he said.

“Mom,” Steve said. “Jeff and Rob said that they would drive back to Monroe and get my stuff from the house.”

“Baby, that’s eight hours each way. That’s a lot,” she said.

I spoke up “I think Charles can handle that. He just happens to fly his own airplane.”

That was Charles’ cue “if we leave very early tomorrow morning, we can be back by late afternoon,” he said. “We can even stop by their house so they can get a couple of changes of clothes.”

Jeff and Rob chose that moment to walk through the door. Marie got up and hugged Jeff tightly. He said “I’m sorry, Mrs. Cox, I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” she said. “As I understand it you probably kept Steve from getting killed by his father, there is absolutely nothing to be sorry for. I am so grateful to the both of you for all you did for Steve. By the way,” she said, “I spoke to your mother this morning, and she said you two can stay here in Atlanta with Steve for a few days if you want to.”

Their faces brightened at that, and Rob said “we don’t have any clothes.”

“She asked me to buy some for you, but we have just had a better idea,” Marie said.

Steve spoke up “Uncle Charles is going to fly you guys down to Monroe tomorrow morning early in his airplane. You can get my stuff from the house, and you can go by your house and pick up enough clothes for a few days.”

Jeff looked at Charles, and said “Your own plane! Cool.”

“You two must be more than ready for a change of clothes,” I said. “I think I can find a couple of warm-up suits you can wear, while we run your clothes through the washer and dryer downstairs.”

Charles said, “I’ll go and get them.” He left the room, and came back after a while with two complete warm-up suits and a couple of tee shirts. “Here you go, guys,” he said. “These outfits will probably swallow you whole, but they will do for a couple of hours while your clothes are being washed and dried.”

Jeff and Rob said thank you and left to go change clothes.

“Steve,” I said, “do you need to go to the bathroom or anything?”

“Yes I do,” he said. “I need to do number two, can you help me to the bathroom?”

“Sure,” I said. “Charles and I can help you get there.”

Marie said “I can help.”

“Mom,” Steve said, “I’m naked under these covers.”

“So,” she said “I’ve seen you naked before.”

“Not since I was eight,” he said.

“Okay, I give up,” Marie said. “I’ll go quietly.”

“Thanks, mom.”

She left and closed the door behind her. I turned the covers back and helped Steve slide around sideways on the bed, and Charles and I walked him to the bathroom and got him seated. “Holler when you’re ready to go back to bed,” I said, and we went back into the bedroom to wait.

Eventually, we heard flushing sounds, followed by Steve saying “I’m ready.” We helped him back to the bed and got him settled back in place. He looked up at us and said “I can’t thank you guys enough.”

“For helping you to the bathroom, puhleeze,” I said.

“No, I mean for talking mom into letting me stay here,” he said. “I know the two of you had to have worked on her a bit.”

“I confess,” I said. “We did do a bit of persuading, but really we just pointed out the obvious, which is that she is going to have her hands full, divorcing your father, taking care of your sisters, and keeping the business going, and wouldn’t have time to take care of you properly.”

Charles said “Understand this, Steve. Your mother was not happy about leaving you here, but in the end she saw the wisdom of doing so.”

“Thanks,” Steve said.

“Now,” Charles said, “we want you to do something for us?”

“What?”

“Do you remember Lydia, from the Christening? She is the boys Godmother.”

“Sure,” he said.

“Lydia just happens to be a Psychologist, and she just happens to spend her entire working week helping kids who have been abused. I want to have her come by and see you a few times. She is a pro at this kind of thing and she can help you deal with what happened to you,” he said.

“I’m okay,” Steve replied.

“No you’re not okay,” said Charles. “If you were okay, you wouldn’t start crying at the mere thought of going back to Monroe for anything. That is definitely not a symptom of ‘okay.’ I’m not saying that we think you should ever go back there if you don’t want too, but Lydia can help you get over being afraid of it. So, will you do this one thing for us, and help yourself in the process?”

“I guess so,” Steve said.

“Good,” Charles said. “I’ll call her and set it up. We need to get you enrolled in school, as well. I’m going to call my old school on Monday and see if we can’t get you in there. I think you’ll like it, especially because it is a school for boys only.”

Steve smiled at that “cool,” he said.

There was a knock on the door, and Steve said “come on in.”

Marie came into the room, followed by Jeff and Rob. They were wearing the warm-up pants and the tee-shirts, all of which were several sizes too large for them. They handed me their dirty clothing, and I picked up the clothes Steve had been wearing when they arrived.

Charles said “dinner should be ready downstairs just about now, why don’t we guys go downstairs and leave Marie with Steve. They probably have a lot to talk about. I’ll have their dinner sent up to them.” We arrived in the sun room just as Mrs. Goodman was placing dishes of food on the table, which was set for five, and Charles made the introductions, and explained why the two boys were dressed in oversized clothing. Mrs. Goodman took the dirty clothes from Charles and said that she would attend to them. “Thanks, he said, and when you have that in hand, will you send a tray up to Steve and his mother.”

She nodded in understanding and went back to the kitchen.

I said “Gran, as you know, Jeff and his brother drove all night last night to bring Steve to us, and it is safe to say that Jeff probably saved Steve’s life last night. They will be staying with us for a few days.”

Charles proceeded to tell her where he was flying to tomorrow, and why, then he excused himself to make a couple of phone calls. Gran, as always, was the consummate hostess, and she very quickly had the boys feeling at ease in what were for them, strange surroundings. Charles came back to the table and sat down. “Okay, guys, the plane will be serviced and ready at seven in the morning, that means we have to leave the house by 6:30, so we need to be downstairs at breakfast no later than six.”

“Philip,” he said “I just spoke to Lydia, and she will come by after lunch tomorrow to talk to Steve, and Detective Howard will be coming by later this evening with a bundle of paperwork for me to take to the Police in Monroe. There were some things, like the photographs of Steve’s injuries, that we did not want to send over the Internet. He is going to have the Monroe Detective that is handling the case meet me at Steve’s house. I also spoke to Dr. Butcher, and he is going to check in on his patient sometime tomorrow morning. Have I forgotten anything?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “You have forgotten to eat. Now please do so.”

While Charles and I ate, Gran managed to extract a mountain of information from the two brothers about life in Monroe and their school and other activities. She never ceased to amaze me with her ability to draw information out of people.

After we were all finished with our food, Charles stretched and said “I need to work the kinks out. Come on guys, we’ll show you the pool and Jacuzzi. If I’m not mistaken, I think some friends of ours are using it right now.”

We walked across the yard to the pool house, and when we entered it, we saw that the gang were busily engaged in playing their version of water polo. The game stopped when our presence was noted. “Hi guys,” Charles said. “This is Steve’s best friend Jeff, and Jeff’s brother Rob. We will be with you in a minute.”

We went back to the changing area and Charles said “I’m sure Steve must have told you we don’t wear swim suits around here.” He retrieved a couple of towels for the brothers, and then began to remove his clothes and place them in a basket. I did likewise, retrieved our goggles and earplugs, and followed him from the room.

While we were getting our gear in place, the two brothers emerged from the changing area with their towels over their shoulders, and I immediately understood why. As the saying goes, ‘when you’ve got it, flaunt it.’ In a word, they were hung. They jumped in the pool and began to play water polo with the gang, while Charles and I swam some serious laps.

We had just passed the mile and a half mark when I sensed that the other activity in the pool had pretty much ceased, so I pulled up in the shallow end of the pool and waited for Charles to join me. “What are you guys doing?” I asked.

“Watching you two swim like a couple of fish,” Joe said. “I don’t know how you do it.”

Charles laughed and said “practice makes perfect. Did you guys remember to turn the Jacuzzi on?”

“You bet,” answered John.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Charles asked, as he grabbed hold of the nearest ladder, and pulled himself out of the water. I followed him into the Jacuzzi, and we settled down on the tiled bench. Soon there were eight naked guys soaking in the hot water.

Jeff and Rob were clearly comfortable with the gang, and did not hesitate to participate in any discussion which took place. I think they probably appreciated being treated as equals by a bunch of older guys. “Jeff,” I said, “you and Rob seem to be enjoying yourselves.”

“You bet,” Jeff said. “This is awesome.”

Rob added, “I could get used to doing this every day.”

Charles laughed. “All you have to do is persuade your parents to move to Atlanta, then you can come visit Steve every evening and use the facilities.”

Jeff said “I wish.”

Later, when we had all cooled down in the pool and showered, and everyone was drying themselves vigorously, John, who was watching the two brothers, said “it must be something in the water.”

“Say what,” Joe asked.

“I was just noticing,” John said, “that they grow them big in Louisiana, and I thought that there must be something in the water down there.”

Jeff and Rob blushed, and Joe said “size queen,” and popped John on the butt with a perfect snap of his towel.

“I’ll get you for that,” said John.

“Promises, promises,” Joe said.

Everyone laughed at that, and we all finished dressing and went back to the house.

-To be continued-

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Your feedback, as always, is appreciated, be it good, bad, or indifferent.

Etienne.Reynard@Comcast.net

All of my stories can be read on the Rainbow Community Writing Project Website:

http://www.rcwp.homestead.com/

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