Chapter One Hundred Eleven – Perry
I walked into my first class in economics
and took a seat in the back. I was a
little nervous since I wasn’t sure about my new major. Rick had tried to reassure me that
everything would go okay. Despite his
efforts, I still felt anxious about my class schedule this semester. This was only the first day of class and we
would probably go over the syllabus. I
pulled out my paper and prepared to take notes. I began doodling on my paper as I thought of
Rick and the quick kiss he had given me just moments earlier, before running
off to his class. I smiled as I
remembered, watching his great looking bubble butt as he loped down the hallway
so he wouldn’t be late to class.
I was brought back to the present by a
smooth baritone voice. “Hey, my name is
Perry. What’s yours?”
I looked over and noticed an
outstretched hand. I raised my eyes and
met the intense gaze of the most gorgeous man I had ever seen (next to Rick, of
course). His hazel eyes held mine and
he smiled. “Are you going to shake my
hand or not?” His thick arms showed
that he worked out on the weights. His
muscle shirt was so tight on him I could make out all of the muscles on his
chest and abs. His legs were like tree
trunks. He was deeply tanned. He wasn’t muscle- bound; but I could tell he
was very serious about keeping his body in top shape.
“Sorry,” I said and took his hand. His grip was firm and he held my hand for a
little longer than was necessary. “I’m
Glenn Nielsen.”
“Glad to meet you, Glenn. Who was the lucky guy?” Perry asked. He had released my hand; but my hand tingled
where our skin had touched.
I blushed as I realized Perry must have
seen us kissing in the hallway. “That
was my boyfriend, Rick.”
“I gathered he was your boyfriend,”
Perry said. “I wouldn’t have pegged him
as being gay if I hadn’t seen him kissing you in the hall just now. My gaydar must be malfunctioning these
days. You, on the other hand, I have no
doubts that you are gay.”
“Do you have a boyfriend?” I asked.
“No, but I’m looking at a very handsome
guy who I would like to get to know,” Perry said.
I laughed. “You need to work on your pick up lines!”
Perry grinned. “At least I got you to laugh. Seriously, I would like to get to know you
better.” After a slight pause, he
added, “And your boyfriend, of course.”
I smiled and said, “Why don’t we form
our own study group? You can come over
to our place and study with us.”
Perry’s smile widened and his eyes
seemed to shine. “I would love to become your study
partner. I’m sure we can manage to find
time to study economics among other things.”
I got the hidden meaning behind his words and blushed. I had never felt so out of control of a
situation. My heart was beating faster
than it should and I licked my lips. I
tried to look away from the naked passion in his eyes; but couldn’t tear my
eyes from his. Perry reached over and
rubbed his hand along my inner thigh.
“I think we are going to be great friends, Glenn.”
The spell was broken when the professor
entered the room and introduced himself.
He began his lecture. I
studiously took notes as I tried not to remember how Perry’s touch had seemed
to burn my skin as he ran his hand up my thigh up under my cargo shorts,
reaching nearly to my crotch. I had
never met anyone so openly brazen!
Well, almost no one. I
remembered how forward Brandon had been when I first met him. I knew that if I could handle Brandon’s
advances, I could handle Perry’s as well; at least, so I thought to myself, as
the professor droned on through his lecture.
After class, Perry asked, “What is your
next class?”
I moaned and said, “Another economics
class.”
“You must have the same one as I do,” he
said. “Let me see your schedule.” I pulled it out and we compared our
classes. It turned out we had three
classes together – both of our economics classes and the statistics class. “Looks like that study group idea of yours
would be the best thing for us to do.
I’ll follow you home after our statistics class.”
We stood up together. I found myself staring directly into his
eyes. We stood at exactly the same
height. He leaned forward and briefly
brushed his lips against mine. He
grinned and said, “I couldn’t resist. It
seemed like you needed to be kissed.”
I put my fingers to my lips and didn’t
respond. Perry laughed. “I’ve been told I’m a good kisser; but I’ve
never left anyone speechless before. Breathless
maybe, but not speechless.”
He took my hand and said, “Let’s go to
class or we’ll be late.” He led me out
of the classroom and we walked to our next class together. The longer I was in Perry’s presence, the
more I liked him. He must have known he
was having an effect on me; because he stated, “I hope you don’t mind my advances. I’ve been accused of being too forward
sometimes, especially if I find someone very attractive.”
I gave a nervous laugh and said, “I
don’t mind. I find you extremely
attractive as well.”
Perry gave me a lecherous grin. “I hope your boyfriend isn’t the jealous
type; because I intend to have my way with you, if you’ll let me.”
I laughed and said, “You are crazy!”
“I’ve been called that before; but not
by you,” Perry said. “I am going to be
completely upfront with you, Glenn. I
want you to be mine. I’m prepared to do
what it takes to win your heart. I know
you said Rick is your boyfriend, for now.”
He raised his hand to stop me before I could interrupt him. “I know what you’re going to say; but hear
me out. I have never felt such a connection
to anyone else as I do with you. It’s
almost like we’ve known each other for forever. I know you feel that way, too. I’ve seen it in your eyes. Please let us explore our connection to each
other. If things don’t work out between
us, we will both know that it wasn’t meant to be.”
I was stunned by what he said. Not because it was so out of the ordinary;
but, because it was like he had been reading my mind! It was so uncanny! I finally gained control of myself and
replied. “Okay, I’m willing to see
where this leads us.” How little did I
know that I would live to regret my decision that day, walking between classes.
*** ***
At first, we met at our condo to study
every day after class. Perry managed to
restrain himself when Rick was around. He
was the perfect guest in our home. He
was a man’s man around Rick. They had
similar interests and really hit it off.
We joked around and had a good time hanging out together. Then, a few weeks later, Perry suggested
that we start studying in the library on campus. He said he was having a hard time
concentrating on his studies when he was at our place. I talked it over with Rick and he agreed
that maybe it would be better for us to study for a few hours on campus. Rick was having trouble keeping up in his
classes as well. He seemed to welcome
the extra time to concentrate on his studies.
Perry had reserved a conference room at
the library for us every day for three hours.
The first time we used the room Perry had closed the door behind him and
asked, “What do you think?”
I looked around the room. There were no windows. There were white boards on three walls with
a small conference table in the middle of the room surrounded by six chairs. “It’s a little claustrophobic; but it will
do.”
“I chose this room because I wanted to
do a little more than study economics,” he said. He approached me and took my backpack from
my shoulder, putting it on the ground.
He pulled me into his arms and began kissing me. At first I tried to resist; but soon, I was
kissing him back with equal, if not greater, passion.
When we came up for air, I said, “Perry,
please…”
Perry put his finger to my lips and
said, “You said you would let things move forward to see where they end
up. This is the next step in my plan to
win your heart.”
I grinned at him and said, “Perry, I
thought you had given up when you saw how much Rick and I love each other.”
“Yes, I’ve seen how that appears; but
I’ve also seen that Rick has a lot of interest in the women who pass us on campus. He’s not completely gay. In fact, I would bet you that he’s not even
bi-sexual,” Perry said.
I began to protest. “What…”
Perry cut me off, “Rick is straight,
Glenn. I would guess that he fantasizes
about fucking women when he’s fucking you.
Glenn, you need to wake up and realize that Rick is looking for a way to
end your relationship. I’ve listened to
the way he talks about women, about his military career and his desires for the
future. None of his plans seemed to
include you.”
I pulled away from him and sat down at
the conference table. “Perry, I don’t
want to talk about this.”
Perry sat next to me and put his arms
around me. “Glenn, please don’t hate me
for stating the obvious. Yes, I have a
vested interested in seeing you split up.
I want you to be mine in the worst way; but you know what I’m saying is
true. You have chosen to ignore what is
going on right in front of your face.
You love him so much, Glenn, that you aren’t willing to acknowledge that
Rick might not love you as much in return.
If you really want him, you will give him the option of leaving you
without turning it into a nightmare for him.
Rick loves you and doesn’t want to hurt you. However, you know as well as I do that I’m
right about Rick. He doesn’t have a gay
bone in his body. He’s straight and you
know it.”
I put my face in my hands to hide the
tears that were streaming down my face.
Perry’s every word hit home and it hurt so much. He was only pointing out what I already knew
in my heart and had tried to ignore, hoping that Rick would change.
Perry put his arm around my shoulders
and said, “I will always be here for you, Glenn.”
We stayed that way for some time. When my tears had stopped and I was more in
control of my feelings, I looked up at Perry.
“Perry, I know you’re right; but I don’t know what to do.”
“You know what to do, Glenn. You need to give Rick his freedom. If he truly loves you and wants to spend his
life with you, he will stay and will work out his sexuality issues. If he’s not as committed to you as you think
he is, he will leave; and you will be free to find someone who loves you and
will be by your side for the rest of your life. I’m offering myself up as that person. I’ve fallen in love with you, Glenn. However, you are the one who must decide
whether you stay with Rick or you let him go.”
I nodded my head. “I know you’re right.”
Perry pulled out his books and he handed
me my back pack. “We need to
study. We have a mid-term exam
tomorrow.”
We studied for three hours and then
Perry kissed me and said, “I will see you tomorrow in class.” He left me sitting alone in the conference
room. I sat there staring at the walls,
wondering how I was going to begin my conversation with Rick.
*** ***
A week later, I looked up from my notes
and glanced at the professor at the front of my economics class. He had just explained another one of the
central tenets of the science of economics.
My head was spinning and I knew I needed some help. He finished his lecture and left the
room. I heaved a sigh of relieve, as
did the rest of my classmates.
Why did I ever think I could make it
through a major that required so much math?
I had two economics classes, a statistics course and an accounting
class. The accounting class was tedious
but at least I understood the concepts.
The statistics class was killing me.
I walked out of the class and stood in
the hallway waiting for my friend, Perry. Since the first of the semester, when
we first met, we had spent a lot of time together studying for our shared
classes – both economics classes, and the statistics class.
Perry came up behind me and put his arm
around my waist. “Hey, babe.” He planted a kiss on my lips as his thick
arm pulled me close. Perry grinned at
me and his hazel eyes danced merrily. I
loved the feel of his toned body next to mine.
I ruffled his short dark brown hair and
said, “You know Rick doesn’t like you to do that,” I said.
“Well, the big man isn’t here to see
it,” Perry said, laughing. He released
me and took my hand. “Let’s move to the
next class.”
I resisted him and said, “Perry, why are
you teasing me?”
“Who said I was teasing? I want you, badly. I’ll do whatever it takes to win you
over. I know you’re attracted to me physically
and you know we are perfect for each other,” Perry said.
“Perry Robinson will you stop,” I
said. “I love you; but I’m committed to
Rick.”
Perry reacted with harsh words, “Yes, so
you’ve said. But is he really committed
to you? Is he really ready to
acknowledge that he’s truly a gay man?
Is he as committed to you as you are to him? Do you honestly think he will ever marry
you? Why do you continue to be blind to
the fierce struggles going on inside Rick?
Why can’t you see that Rick is not gay?
He may be bi-sexual but NOT gay.
Why do you choose to ignore how he looks at women? I know you’ve seen him salivating over the
hot chicks that walk around campus. Has
it ever crossed your mind that he’s going to revert to his natural state? He was a womanizer before he met you; and
he’ll quickly revert to that, given half a chance.”
“Perry, I do see the longing in Rick’s
eyes when he looks at good looking women.
It worries me; but I can’t let my worrying ruin my relationship with
Rick. I don’t want to be the jealous
boyfriend that drives his man away by nagging him all the time about his
desires to be with a woman,” I said.
Perry said, “He’s not going to stay with
you, Glenn. You need to face
facts. You have been an experiment in
gay sex for him. It’s not his true nature. He’s not like you or me. We’re both gay and we know it. Why can’t you see that?”
“Perry, I don’t want to have this
conversation,” I said, pulling his arm away from my waist. I turned and walked off down the hall to our
next class.
Perry caught up to me and grabbed my
arm. He turned me around to face
him. “Glenn, you don’t get to just walk
away from me.”
I glared at Perry and said, “Perry, let
go of my arm.” The tone of my voice
must have shocked him; because he released my arm like it was a hot
potato. “I already told you. My relationship with Rick is none of your
business.”
“Glenn…”
I cut him off, “Perry, the answer is
no. We will not have any further
discussion about my relationship with Rick.
I’ve already told you I love him and I intend to stay with him.”
Perry’s crestfallen expression touched
my heart. “I’m sorry, Perry. I never intended for you to fall in love
with me. I love you as a very dear
friend; but nothing more. My heart
belongs to Rick.”
Perry said, with heavy resignation, “I
guess there isn’t anything more to say.”
“Please don’t be this way, Perry,” I
said, trying to ignore my heart’s impulse to reach out and comfort him.
“Then tell me how I can win your heart,”
Perry said, with a ferocity and passion that hit me hard.
I looked into his eyes and said, with my
voice barely above a whisper, “You already have.”
Perry’s eyes bored into mine with an
intensity that scared me, “Did you just say that you’re in love with me?”
I swallowed hard and nodded my
head. “But I’m still in love with Rick
at the same time.” I put a finger to
his lips as he was about to speak.
“Wait. Let me finish. I can’t explain it, Perry. I love both of you. I don’t want to hurt either one of you. I’ve been in a relationship with Rick now
for over 2 ½ years. I know that he
loves me and I love him. When I met
you, I was instantly attracted to you.
We seemed to connect on a level that I’ve never experienced with
Rick. Over the last couple of months,
I’ve fallen hard for you, Perry. Now, I
find myself in a very difficult position.
I still love Rick and I don’t want to ruin my relationship with him;
but, at the same time, I love you and want to be with you. I’ve tried to deny the fact that I love
you. That is why I’ve kept pushing you
away, hoping that you would move on and find someone else; but you keep coming
back. Now, you’ve pushed the whole
situation out into the open. I don’t
know how to move forward from here without there being a lot of collateral
damage on all sides.”
I paused and took a deep breath. “If I leave Rick and go with you, I will
feel like I’ve abandoned him. If I stay
with Rick, I will never know if you are Mr. Right and I passed up the
opportunity for my dreams to come true.”
“I thought you said that Rick was your
Mr. Right?” Perry said.
“He is, or at least, I thought so, until
I met you,” I said. What I didn’t tell
him was that Rick and I had argued last night.
“I’m going to class.” I walked
away from Perry, leaving him standing in the middle of the hallway.
I took my usual seat at the back of the
class. A few minutes later, Perry
slipped into the seat next to me. I
studiously ignored him as I tried to concentrate on what the professor was
doing at the front of the classroom.
My mind kept going back to last night:
Rick and I were snuggling on the couch
in our family room when I decided to bring up the subject of our
relationship. “Rick, we need to talk
about our future together.”
Rick pulled away from me and turned
around on the couch so he was facing me.
“Does this have to do with Perry?”
“Yes and no. I have to be totally honest with you,
Rick. I have fallen in love with Perry. I tried to resist his charms and the
attraction I feel toward him. However,
that being said, I love you, too. You
are still my first love and I’ve told Perry that you come first in my
heart. He knows that no matter what he
says or does; he won’t be able to change my mind.” I stopped as I watched a range of emotions
cross Rick’s face. First, I saw anger, then
relief; followed by a look of anxiety.
I continued, “I wanted to clear the air about my feelings for Perry and
where I stand with you. You are still
my life partner and I’m committed to staying with you. However, I need to know where your head
is. I know you have been chafing at
what you perceive as limitations that I put on you. I want you to know I’ve noticed how much you
long to be with a woman. I’ve tried to
ignore how excited you get when cute girls pay attention to you. You’ve tried to hide it; but it’s been
pretty obvious. My only question is
this. Do you fantasize about fucking a
woman when you’re with me?
The question hung in the air between us
like a thick black cloud that shuts out the sunlight. He didn’t answer and the minutes seemed to
stretch into hours before he cleared his throat and attempted to answer. “Honestly, I’ve been pretending I’m fucking
a girl. I thought I could make things
work out with you if I just worked hard enough. I really do love you, Glenn. I don’t want you to think that just because
I have sexual desires to be with a woman that I haven’t grown to love you very
much.”
I had already guessed what his answer
was going to be and thought I was prepared to hear it. However, the reality still hurt and I tried
to school my features to keep from betraying myself. This was one time I wanted to remain
completely in control of my emotions.
“I thought as much.” I was
surprised how flat my voice sounded. “I
need to know that you are really committed to me; not just as a roommate or a
friend with benefits.”
Rick looked me in the eyes and said,
“You’ve never been just a friend with benefits.” Anger flashed in his eyes. “I’m a little insulted that you would even
think that. I entered into this
relationship knowing that I was still attracted to girls. I wanted to be with you and to make it work
for us.”
“It still can, Rick. However, I think we are at a crossroads
where we both need to reassess where we stand with each other, and with
ourselves. I know how much the military
means to you. Being with me threatens
that; and we’re at risk of being discovered every moment that we’re
together. Your military’s policy of not
allowing gays to serve in the armed services will not allow us to be
together. I don’t want to be the reason
you lose a military career. I want to
offer you the opportunity to walk away from our relationship without any ill
feelings on my part.”
Rick started to speak and I cut him
off. “Rick, I’m not saying that I don’t
love you; because I do. But, I know
that if I don’t offer you your freedom, to let you pursue your dreams; I will
regret it the rest of my life, and you will never forgive me for destroying
your dreams.”
Rick’s face was completely red with
rage. “Did Perry put you up to this?”
“Yes and no. Yes, he encouraged me to be honest with
myself and to be honest with you. And
no, because I already knew that you were unhappy with me and my insistence that
you leave the military as soon as possible.
I already had observed your desires to be with a woman. Perry didn’t cause any of those things.”
Rick started to talk. At first, his voice was calm; but as he went
on, it grew in volume and intensity.
“This is all Perry’s fault. If
he hadn’t been pushing you to leave me, you wouldn’t be sitting here asking me
these questions!”
“You’re right, Rick. If Perry hadn’t made me realize you were so
unhappy with our situation, we wouldn’t be sitting here with you screaming at
me at the top of your lungs.”
Rick responded, “I’m not screaming! I’m shouting!”
“At least you acknowledge you’re
shouting. Please sit down. I want to continue our conversation, and we
can’t do that if you’re pacing around the room like a caged lion.”
He finally sat down and said, “Okay,
what more do you want to talk about?”
We talked about our plans for spring
break and moved on to other subjects.
Unfortunately, there was a wall between us now and things only got worse
as the evening went on. I finally stood
up and said, “I will sleep in the spare bedroom tonight. You are obviously too upset to think
straight. Good night, Rick.”
I left him steaming on the couch. His arms were folded across his chest and
his face was set with lines of anger.
*** ***
Tyler walked around his new home in Las
Rozas de Madrid. Las Rozas is a nice
community approximately 18 km. northwest of the city of Madrid. The rooms were empty of furniture; but he
went from room to room, snapping photographs of the rooms with his cell phone
and sending them to Joey. The home had
six bedrooms and an outdoor swimming pool.
His parents had lent him the money to
buy the home; since he and Joey didn’t have the necessary resources to purchase
it on their own. The home was
conveniently located near the railway station that he used to get into town to
attend his classes. He had picked up a
used Vespa scooter that he used for driving to and from the train station.
Tyler was happy that their residency
papers had been approved. He and Joey
were now permanent residents of Spain.
The girls’ passports had arrived yesterday and they were still
discussing the logistics of moving Joey and the girls to Spain. He sat down on the stairs and smiled at the
memory of Joey’s excited phone call.
*** ***
Tyler’s cell phone rang as he put the
finishing touches on the essay he was writing.
He saw that it was Joey and quickly answered the call.
“Hey!”
“We got the girls’ passports in the mail
yesterday!” Joey shouted into the phone.
“I would have called you last night but it was too late by the time the
mail arrived.”
“Great!
Now, we can get all of you moved across the pond,” Tyler said. “Have you given some thought to us getting
married in Canada before coming to Spain?”
“Yes, I have. I talked it over with your parents and they
think we should get married as soon as possible,” Joey said.
“And….?” Tyler asked.
“Yes, let’s get married in Canada,” Joey
said. “Mom suggests that we get married
the week before Easter. That would give
us the rest of your spring break to get us settled in Spain.”
“So where in Canada do you want to be
married?” Tyler asked.
“Toronto would work. There are a lot of flights to Toronto to
choose from. We could meet you there
next week. You would have to miss the
last couple of day of classes,” Joey said.
“That would work,” Tyler said. “I’ve already spoken to my professors about
what is going on in my life and they are willing to work with me.”
“Dad already booked the flights for us
and made arrangements for the hotel,” Joey said.
Tyler asked, in surprise, “What?”
“Dad said he would take care of
everything. I called Greg and Cory and
invited them to our wedding. They
suggested we use the same wedding chapel that the Scarboroughs did for the
twins’ wedding last January,” Joey said.
Tyler quickly recovered from his
surprise. He hadn’t expected his parents
to take care of cost of the wedding.
“So, what is there left to do?”
“Just show up at the appointed
time. Mom and I called the wedding
center this morning and everything is all set,” Joey said. There was silence on the other end of the
line. “Tyler, are you okay?”
Tears were streaming down Tyler’s
face. He finally was able to respond,
“I’m still here. I’m just so
happy. It’s finally happening! We’re getting married and you’re going to be
here with me.”
*** ***
He was brought back to the present by
the insistent knocking on the door. He
stood up and walked across the foyer to open the door. He smiled at the older couple who stood on
the front porch. “Sr. and Sra. Nájera,
please come in.”
Sr. Nájera was his gardener and chauffer,
while his wife was his housekeeper.
They had agreed to move with him to his new home. Both spoke impeccable English as well as
French and German, in addition to their native Spanish.
Sr. Nájera was 175 cm. (5’9”) tall. He had a slender build, greying black hair,
dark eyes and deeply tanned skin. His
wife was 152 cm. (5’) tall. She had
blond hair and blue eyes; but where her husband was slender, she was
plump. She always had a smile on her
lips and a twinkle in her eyes. She
filled the room with happiness when she entered.
She hugged Tyler and said, “Thank you
for asking us to come with you to your new home.”
Sr. Nájera said, “We’ve grown rather
fond of you, young man. As you know, you
remind us of our own son, Jaime.”
Jaime had been killed when a bomb went
off in a Madrid train station a year earlier.
When Tyler had arrived at their door, looking for a place to live; Sra. Nájera
had fainted. Sr. Nájera had invited him
inside after carrying his wife over to a couch in their front room. When she recovered, she smiled at him and
explained that Tyler looked so much like her deceased son that it caught her
off guard. She pointed to her son’s
photo. Tyler had looked at the
photograph and had to agree they did look very much alike. From that day forward, they had adopted him
as their own son.
“Let me take you on a tour of the
place,” Tyler said. He led them from
room to room. “You can choose whichever
room you want.”
“Thank you, Tyler,” Sr. Nájera
said. “There are three master bedrooms. May we have one of them?”
“Sure.
There is one for my parents, one for you and one for me and Joey. The girls will each have their own room and
we’ll have a spare bedroom for visitors,” Tyler said.
Sr. Nájera smiled and bowed to him. “Thank you.”
Tyler said, “It’s the least I can do for
you.”
Sra. Nájera moved to the end of the
hallway and said, “Let’s take this one with the view of the swimming pool.”
“Okay, dear,” Sr. Nájera said, smiling
at his wife. “We will move our
furniture tomorrow. I have a friend who
has a truck we can borrow to move our things.
Our daughter and her family will move into our old home now that we are
moving here to live with you. She will
continue to rent rooms to students at the university and her husband will take
care of the house and gardens.”
Sra. Nájera said, “This is a fine
house. We also own a home in
Málaga. Maybe your parents would be
interested in buy a home in the same neighborhood.”
“I will ask them about it. I know they were still talking about a
summer home at the beach,” Tyler said.
“Málaga is a very nice city and there
are plenty of beaches nearby,” Sr. Nájera said. “Shall we return home?”
“Yes,” Sra. Nájera said. “Will you be coming with us?”
“Yes, I think I will,” Tyler said. They locked up the house and climbed into Sr.
Nájera’s Audi and he drove them to their house near the university. When they arrived, Sr. Nájera helped his
wife out of the car. Seeing Sr. Nájera
opening her door and helping, reminded Tyler of his parents. His Dad had always been a gentleman, helping
his mother at every turn. It was one of
the things his father had said kept their marriage going. He wondered what he and Joey would be like
in 20 or 30 years from now. They loved
each other very much; but they were still getting used to each other.
Sra. Nájera turned around and looked at
Tyler. “What is wrong, mi hijo?” She used the Spanish term for “my son” as
she had from the first day he had met her.
She had taken him into her heart and had called him “mi hijo.” At first, it had bothered him for her to
call him “my son,” knowing that her own son had died only a few months before
he came to live with them. It really
was uncanny how much he resembled her deceased son.
After a few months, he had grown
accustomed to being called, “my son,” and he accepted the fact that he now had
a second set of parents. Sr. Nájera had
also started calling him, “mi hijo,” as well.
Their daughter, Rocío, had accepted him as a member of the family and
teased him about being her brother by another mother!
When they entered the house, they were
greeted by the Nájera grandchildren, Pedro, age 5, and Alejandro, age 4. They were swept into their grandfather’s
arms. He hugged and kissed them before
putting them back on their feet. They
received the same treatment from their grandmother. They turned to Tyler and he followed suit as
was expected.
Pedro said, “We missed you, Uncle Tyler.”
“I missed you, too, Pedro,” Tyler said,
smiling at the little boy who had taken his hand and was leading him toward the
kitchen.
“Mommy, made paella for us,” Pedro said.
“She did?” Tyler asked. Pedro nodded his head. “That’s a special treat! Are we ready to eat?”
They entered the kitchen to find Rocío
and her husband, Rubén, sitting at the breakfast table. Rubén had blond hair, blue eyes, an
aristocratic nose and a generous mouth.
He stood at 175 cm. (5’9”). He
had a slight, wiry frame. Rubén smiled
and asked, “How’s the new house?”
Sra. Nájera said, “It’s very beautiful, Rubén. We are excited to be moving with Tyler.”
“Are you sure you won’t change your mind
and stay?” Rubén asked.
“No, it is time for us to turn over the
management of our little business to you and Rocío,” she said. They owned several apartment buildings
nearby and would be turning the management of those properties over to them, in
addition to the little hostel they ran as part of their main home.
Rubén nodded his head. “We’re ready; but I wanted to make sure you
weren’t having second thoughts about moving away.”
“We’re not really moving away. It’s a very short distance to Tyler’s new
house,” she responded.
Rocío was an exact replica of her
mother, only younger. Rocío said,
“Dinner is ready.”
She led the way into the dining room,
where the table had been set. They took
their places with Sr. Nájera at the head of the table. “Let’s give thanks.” Afterward, he said, “Let’s eat.”
They enjoyed their meal and Tyler
retired to his room for the night. He
pulled out his cell phone and dialed Joey.
With the six hour time difference, it was 4 PM in Virginia.
Joey picked up the call and said,
“Hello, sweetheart.”
“How are things going?” Tyler asked.
“The movers came today and took
everything away,” Joey said. We are staying
with the Stetsons until we fly out to meet you.”
“Tell them ‘hello’ from me,” Tyler
said. “I’m glad they were willing to
let you stay with them.”
“Me, too,” Joey said. “Our parents have really hit it off with the
Stetsons. It’s almost like they have
been friends for years.”
“I hope that same thing happens with the
Nájera family. Sr. and Sra. Nájera are
the best,” Tyler said.
“I remember you telling your parents
about them before you returned to Spain at the beginning of the year,” Joey
said. “I’m glad they will be living
with us. I was afraid I would be all
alone during the day, trying to figure out how to speak Spanish. I hope they will be willing to help me learn
to speak their language.”
Tyler said, “I’m sure they will be very
willing to do that. They speak perfect
English; so you won’t have any trouble communicating with them. Did you get the photos of the house?”
“Yes, I did. I’ve downloaded them onto the laptop so I
can see them better,” I replied. “Mom
has asked to help decorate it.”
Tyler said, “Only if she agrees that you
and I get the final say.”
“She already said she would abide by our
decisions if we don’t agree with her,” Joey said.
“Then it’s okay with me,” Tyler
said. “Dad said he wanted to make our
new house our wedding gift from them.”
Joey whistled! “That’s a huge wedding gift. I’m not sure we should let them do that,
Tyler. Won’t they need the money to buy
a new home for themselves?”
“Dad said they were already planning to
buy me a home when I graduated from college; but were waiting to see where I
finally settled down. So, when I
proposed to you and we decided to move to Spain, they decided it was time to
buy us our first home,” Tyler said.
“I still think we should pay them back,”
Joey said.
“I argued with Dad about it, too,
Joey. His answer was that they expected
us to care for them when they become too old and disabled to care for
themselves. That is all they ask of us
in return. Both of them have said that
they don’t want to live in a nursing home if their health declines to a point
where they need 24/7 care,” Tyler said.
“I can relate to that. I wouldn’t want to be in one of those places
either,” Joey said. “But if we don’t
have the training to care for them; what then?”
“I guess that one of us needs to learn
more about the medical field; so we won’t have to hire a nurse,” Tyler said.
Joey said, “Okay, I get the point! Do you want me to go back to school and
become a nurse?”
“No, but I think we both can take some
courses to become certified as emergency technicians or something along those
lines,” Tyler said.
“We have plenty of time to do that. Our parents are in good health and I don’t
see them needing that kind of medical care for quite some time,” Joey said.
“You’re right; but it would be good for
us to think ahead; so we aren’t caught unprepared when something does happen,”
Tyler said. “Have you talked to Rick
and Glenn? Do they know we’re getting
married in two weeks?”
“Yes, I called them this morning. They are planning to be at our wedding. What do you think about inviting the guys to
spend spring break with us?” Joey asked.
“I’m okay with that; but I think I would
rather have them visit us during the summer.
That way we can go to the beach as well as do some sightseeing. Mom and Dad should have their beach house by
then,” Tyler said.
“You’re right. It would be more fun if it were warm enough
to go to the beach,” Joey said. “I’ll
mention it to them, so they can plan their summer vacation.”
Tyler heard Rachel talking to Joey in
the background. Then, Rachel came on
the phone. “Dad, when are you coming
home?”
“I will see you soon, sweetheart. Daddy is going to take you on a big airplane
and I’ll meet you in Canada,” Tyler said.
“Where’s Canada?” Rachel asked.
“A long way from where you are,” Tyler
said. “You can ask Daddy to show you on
a map.”
“Okay.
I love you, Dad,” Rachel said.
“Bye.”
“Bye, Rachel. Kiss Sarah for me,” Tyler said.
“Okay,” Rachel said. She handed the phone back to Joey.
Joey said, “We miss you, Tyler.”
“I miss you, too,” Tyler said.
“Get a good night’s sleep and I’ll talk
to you tomorrow. I love you,” Joey
said.
“I love you, too,” Tyler said, and broke
the connection.
*** ***
Author’s Note:
A tribute to those who died on the 11
March 2004 in Madrid = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHsqis3bk34
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