Chapter One Hundred Sixteen – The Nielsen Family Council
When we went up for breakfast the next morning,
Uncle Dave gave us the news. “It’s
official. Your Mom and Dad are back
together, and your Dad spent the night at your Mom’s place. They called us first thing this morning.”
Aunt Mary smiled and said, “I’m glad they worked
things out.”
Rick said, “So am I.”
I had mixed feelings about my parents being back
together. “I’m not sure how I feel
about it. I still remember how violent
Dad gets when he loses his temper.” I
looked over at Randy. “Do you remember
that day we hid in the attic because Dad was so angry at our mother? We watched him tear apart our furniture with
his bare hands and set it on fire in front of the house.”
Randy shuddered at the memory. “Yes, I do.
Mom sent us up in the attic to keep us out of harm’s way. We were up there until Mom came to get
us. Dad had left in his truck by
then. He didn’t come home for three
days.”
Uncle Dave looked at us in horrified surprise. “I didn’t know that was why your parents all
of a sudden purchased new furniture.”
Randy said, “There were many other things that
went on in that house while we were growing up that no one else knows about.”
I looked at Uncle Dave and Aunt Mary, who looked
like they were in shock. “You knew that
Mom attempted to commit suicide a couple of times when we were little. I was about 10 when she tried to kill
herself with Dad’s shotgun. He tried to
wrestle it away from her and it went off, blowing a huge hole in the front room
wall.”
“She overdosed on sleeping pills about a month
later,” Randy said. “I found her passed
out on the floor that day and went to get help.”
Aunt Mary had gone white as a sheet. “This is the first time I’ve ever heard
about these events.”
“That’s because Dad threatened to beat us if we
ever breathed a word to anyone about any of the things that went on in our
home,” Randy said. “We knew he meant it
and didn’t dare cross him.”
“Now you understand why I have mixed feelings
about them getting back together. I
know Mom loves him, but at the same time, he’s not good for her; unless, of
course, he has really changed. I kept
watching him to see if he was putting on an act for your benefit, Uncle Dave
and Aunt Mary. He had everyone fooled
at the church we used to attend. The
pastor thought he was the most God-fearing man in his congregation, but we knew
better. As soon as Dad left church, his
piousness would evaporate like water in a desert,” I said.
“That’s why it was such a shock to me when he
threw us out of his house,” Randy said.
“I knew that he wasn’t as religious as he liked everyone to believe;
therefore, I wasn’t expecting him to reject me and Shawn like he did.”
Uncle Dave shook his head in disbelief. “I thought I knew my brother.”
Aunt Mary said, “What I want to know is, why
didn’t your mother tell us about what was happening in your home?”
Randy said, “That’s simple; she was scared of
what my father might do. If you had
witnessed how angry he was; and the brute strength he demonstrated as he tore
apart our furniture, then setting fire to it, you wouldn’t be asking that
question.”
Uncle Dave said, “Now that I know some of what
happened in your home, I will do my best to convince Don to get some
counseling. He needs to learn to
control his temper and learn better coping skills.”
I laughed and said, “Good luck with that! Mom has tried to get him to do that for
years. He has always insisted that he’s
not the one who is crazy.”
Randy agreed.
“You won’t get far with him.”
I was tired of talking about my Dad. It only served to make me feel worse about
the whole situation. I decided to
change the topic of conversation and asked, “What are our plans for our last
day here?”
Randy said, “I think that Mom will try and
organize a family reunion.”
“I don’t want to see Gary or Eric after what
they had to say to us at Christmas,” I said.
“Mom set them straight about her reasons for leaving our Dad, but they
still didn’t really seem all that sincere when they apologized to us.”
Rick said, “Glenn, you need to bury the hatchet
and let things go. Holding a grudge
against them won’t help you or them.”
“You’re asking me to just let it go?” I asked,
in amazement.
“Yes, I am, Glenn. You don’t need to carry that burden on your
shoulders,” Rick said.
“It really hurt to have their homophobia on such
prominent display after they seemed to accept us,” I said.
Randy said, “One thing I’ve learned over the
years is that you can’t trust straight people.
They say one thing to your face, and then do another. If you expect them to betray you, you will
never be surprised when they do. It’s
better to take extra precautions when dealing with them. Even though the laws of the land state that
discrimination against gays is illegal, it doesn’t stop it from happening. The worst offenders are those who profess to
be religious. They claim the right to
be free of the laws of the land when it comes to treating us with respect and
dignity. They scream that we are
forcing our views on them and that we are violating their rights. Always beware of them and don’t let yourself
ever be seen as vulnerable. Our
brothers and their wives are prime examples of how straight people will turn on
you at a moment’s notice.”
Rick said, “Randy, you aren’t helping.”
Randy said, “I’m sorry, Rick. I can’t tell Glenn to turn a blind eye to
their homophobia nor should you.”
Shawn
said, “Randy is correct. You will be
much happier if you surround yourself with people you trust. We have a close circle of gay friends who
are like family to us. We have learned,
by sad experience, to limit our interactions with straight people. They have always told us they are okay with
us being gay; but they really aren’t.”
Rick said, “We’re pretty much doing that
already, Shawn. We have many great
friends, most of them gay couples. It’s
so much easier to be around them, because we don’t have to worry about
offending them by holding hands or kissing each other. Straight people think nothing of holding
hands in public or displaying affection for each other; but when it comes to
us, they’re extremely offended and complain loudly that we’re violating their
space. They never stop to think that
maybe we think they’re just as offensive to us with their public displays of
affection.”
Randy said, “I’m glad to hear we don’t have to
educate you regarding who you choose as your friends. Just be particularly careful since you’re
living in a very homophobic part of the United States.”
I replied, “That’s true for most of the state;
however, Atlanta does have a very active gay community. I was surprised at the number of gay night
clubs there are.”
Rick said, “Atlanta really isn’t as homophobic
as it might seem.”
Randy looked at us doubtfully, “From what I’ve
heard, it’s not exactly gay-friendly.”
“Well, compared to Canada, it’s definitely not a
desirable place to live,” I said. “I
haven’t minded living in Atlanta; but I couldn’t live there permanently. I want to move home after I finish college.”
Shawn looked at Rick and asked, “Are you okay
with that?”
Rick nodded his head and said, “I’m okay with
moving to Canada; but only after I finish my obligation to the military.”
Shawn said, “Are you sure? I sense that you have some reservations
about it.”
Rick looked at me and took my hand in his. “I do have some concerns, but I’ve promised
Glenn that we’ll work those out, somehow.
For now, we are taking things a day at a time.”
I knew that Rick didn’t want to move to Canada,
because he still had hopes that his family would change their minds. To him, moving to another country made it
seem like there was no hope of ever being reunited with them. I got that part; so I didn’t push as hard to
move home as much as I would have otherwise.
The phone rang and we listened to Aunt Mary as
she spoke into the receiver. When she
hung up, Uncle Dave asked, “Who was that?”
“It was Eva.
She asked if she could invite her entire family to our home for dinner
tonight,” she answered.
Randy smiled and said, “I told you so.”
Aunt Mary replied, “That you did. You know your mother very well. She and your Dad will be here in the next
hour to help get everything ready for tonight.
Eva is calling your siblings as we speak, to make sure they can make it
for dinner with us.”
Rick looked over at me and said, “Are you going
to be okay?”
I shrugged and said, “It doesn’t matter if I’m
okay with it or not. Mother wants to do
this; so I guess I’ll deal with it.
BUT, I’m out of here if Gary and Eric so much as breathe a word about us
being gay. I am so done with dealing
with homophobic family members. I am so
disgusted with straight people’s sensitivities about gays showing affection in
public. It’s okay for them to hold
hands and give their loved ones a kiss in public for all to see; but it’s not
okay for me to hold hands with my boyfriend, or kiss him, because I might
offend some poor religious individual who can’t keep his/her thoughts out of
the gutter. Heaven forbid that I cause
them to sin because I happen to love another man. Their false piety makes me sick.”
Rick put his finger to my lips and said, “It’s
okay, Glenn. We get it.”
Randy said, “We’re all on the same page with
you, Glenn. If any of them start
mouthing off about us, we’re out of here.
I suggest we have our gear packed and ready; because we’ll drive back to
Regina tonight, instead of waiting until tomorrow morning.”
Uncle Dave said, “I’ll make sure they behave
themselves. They will be told that I
won’t tolerate it in my home, and they can leave if they have a problem with my
rules. It is my home, after all.”
I smiled and said, “Thanks, Uncle Dave.”
We spent the rest of the day running errands for
Mom and Aunt Mary. They did most of the
cooking, but we were sent for various and sundry items from the local
Safeway. Thankfully, Uncle Dave kept
Dad busy, so we were able to avoid having a lot of contact with him. I was still pissed off at him and everyone
knew it. It was good that we hung out
with Randy and Shawn for most of the day.
*** ***
Later that evening, the rest of my siblings showed
up with their families. Eric, Laura,
and Nancy arrived first from Saskatoon, where they are attending school. They greeted Mom and Dad
enthusiastically. Nancy said, “Mom, I’m
so glad you and Dad are back together.”
She smiled and said, “We aren’t completely
there, Nancy. We want to talk to all of
you at the same time. We will explain
everything then.”
Eric hugged Mom as did Laura. “We’re glad to see you both here.”
Dad said, “We’re glad you came on such short
notice.”
“We wouldn’t have missed it,” Eric said.
They moved out of the foyer and into the front
room. I waited to hear what Eric had to
say. I have to give him credit, because
he immediately said, “Randy and Glenn, I am really sorry for what I said at
Christmas. It was wrong of me and I
should have known better. I can’t blame
anyone else but myself for being so easily influenced by Gary and Jessica.”
Laura said, “I have to apologize, as well. I didn’t argue hard enough to convince Eric
he was wrong. I knew about some of the
things that were going on between your Mom and Dad, but I didn’t make Eric
listen to me.”
Nancy said, “I’ve been giving Eric hell for what
he said to you guys. He was dead wrong
and he knew it. He was living at home
with us when Dad disowned Randy; so he knew how hurt Mom was by it. More importantly, he also knew of the other
things that Dad has done over the years that I hope Dad is going to tell us he
is willing to change.” She glanced at
Dad and said, “That’s right, Dad, none of us has been blind to how you’ve
treated our mother over the years.”
Before Dad could respond, the doorbell rang and
Uncle Dave answered the door. We heard
Gary and Jessica enter the house with Jack and Miriam. The children ran into the front room. Miriam ran to Mom, who scooped her into her
arms. Jack saw us on the couch and ran
over to Rick and climbed up on his lap.
“Uncle Rick, I’m glad you’re here. You missed my birthday,” Jack said.
Rick smiled and asked, “When was your birthday?”
“It was two days ago. I’m 5 years old now,” Jack said, showing
five fingers.
Rick said, “Congratulations! We’ll have to celebrate your birthday
today. Is that okay with you?”
Jack asked, “Does that mean I get more
presents?”
Rick laughed and replied, “I guess it could, if
you’re really good.”
Jack thought for a moment. “I’ve already been good today. I shared my candy bar with Miriam.”
Rick said, “I guess that qualifies as being
good. Did you give her exactly half or
did you keep the bigger piece?”
“We split it in half, so we’d have the same size
piece,” Jack said.
Rick said, “I’m glad you were nice to your
sister.”
Miriam looked at her grandmother and said, “Mom
says that you’re going to be living with Grandpa from now on.”
“Not yet, Miriam, Grandpa needs to do a few
things before I’ll agree to return to the farm with him,” Mom said.
“Mom says that you shouldn’t have left Grandpa,”
Miriam said.
“Well, Miriam, your mother needs to be a little
more discrete when expressing her opinions around you children,” Mom responded,
looking over at her daughter-in-law.
Jessica looked embarrassed and said, “I’m sorry,
Mom. I should not have said anything in
Miriam’s hearing.”
Mom said, “I think it’s time we all had that
talk I mentioned earlier. Don, please
invite everyone to join us here in the front room.”
Dad nodded his head and went into the
kitchen. He returned with Eric, Laura
and Nancy. Aunt Mary and Uncle Don
brought in a couple of extra chairs, making sure everyone had somewhere to
sit. Jessica leaned over to Miriam and
said, “Why don’t you take your brother downstairs to play for a bit, while we
talk with Grandma and Grandpa.”
Mom said, “I think the children should stay;
since they have already heard part of what has happened, they need to hear the
whole story. I want to make it very
clear how things stand between me and Don.
You, most of all, need to hear both sides of what has happened before
you rush to make rash statements, or judge me for leaving my husband.”
Jessica gazed at Mom with consternation. She said, “Okay, Mom.”
Mom turned to Dad and said, “Don, I believe you
have something to share with the family.”
Dad stood up and cleared his throat. “Gary, Jessica, Eric, Laura and Nancy, I
need to confess to you what I have done.”
He recounted everything he had done to me and Randy over the years. He explained his reasons and the fact that
he wasn’t proud of what he did. When he
finished, he looked at Eva and said, “I need you to understand that I have
treated Eva very poorly over the course of our marriage. A few days ago, we met with a marriage
counselor and worked through many of my failings as a husband; and believe me,
they are many.” He went on to relate to
us the results of that session. He
stopped and looked around the room. “I
need to ask for your forgiveness as a family for the mistakes I’ve made. I have acted selfishly, without regard to
the trust you had in me as a husband and father.”
There were tears in Eric’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Mom. I saw what Dad was doing and I didn’t try to
defend you, or talk to Dad about changing his ways.”
Gary looked sheepish. He had been the most vocal in his criticism
of our mother, taking Dad’s part against all comers. “Mom, I owe you an apology as well. I’ve taken Dad’s side in all of this, not
thinking about all of those times Dad mistreated you.”
Mom said, “I knew you had chosen to side with
your father, but I think he has a little more to share with you.” She looked at Don and said, “You promised to
come clean about everything, Don. You
said there would be no more secrets.”
Dad gazed into my mother’s eyes for a long time
before he finally sighed and said, “I did promise to put everything on the
table.”
“To help you out, I’ll start,” she said. “I had suspected for some time that your Dad
was cheating on me, but didn’t have any proof.
Then, one day I was putting away your Dad’s socks and found a stack of
love letters shoved into the back of the drawer. I opened one of the letters and found it was
from a woman named Rene from Hazenmore.
I confronted your father about the letters and he became very
angry. I sent you children to the
attic, because he was so angry.”
Dad said, “I’m not very proud of what I did that
day.”
Gary had gone completely white. “I remember that day. You tore apart all of our furniture and
burned it.”
Jessica’s mouth was open in shock and
disbelief. Looking over at her, Dad
said, “You can close your mouth now, Jessica.
Yes, you and Gary have said many hurtful things about Eva, as well as
Randy and Glenn.
Gary finally was man enough to look over at me
and Randy. “I think we both have some
major apologizing to do. I know we
apologized at Christmas, but I still believed you guys were the cause of Mom
and Dad’s problems. I was dead
wrong. I can see that now.”
Jessica stared at the floor and wouldn’t meet
our gaze. When she didn’t say anything,
Dad continued, “I have agreed to take anger management classes as well as
therapy sessions, to help me figure out why I get so angry.”
Mom said, “Not only that, Don has been seeing Rene
again.”
Gary looked at his father in pure
astonishment. “You’ve got to be
kidding!”
“Don admitted that he has been staying with her
frequently since I left him,” Mom said.
Aunt Mary asked, “Why are you going back to him
if he’s been with Rene the entire time you’ve been separated?”
“I haven’t agreed to return to the farm with Don
until he has resolved his issues, including breaking things off with Rene once
and for all; in addition to the anger management counseling,” Mom said. “I plan to continue living here in Swift
Current, until I can be sure Don has met all of his commitments to me. One of those commitments was to tell the
family everything that has been going on; and I meant everything.”
Dad met her gaze and held it. “I’ve upheld my end of the agreement; except
for one thing.” He looked around the
room and said, “I need to inform all present that your mother and I won’t
tolerate homophobic behavior within the family; that includes making derogatory
statements or denigrating them in any way.”
He paused and met Gary’s gaze.
“I know I’ve been one of the biggest offenders in this area and I’ve got
a lot of changing to do. One of the
conditions your mother insisted must be met is that I lead the effort to make
us a family again; and that means everyone is treated with dignity and
respect. You may not always agree on
things; but there must always be kindness and respect. I have often failed my children as a father;
however, it is one of my goals to be as good a father as I can from here on
out. Do I have your support to help us
heal as a family?”
He continued to look directly at Gary and
Jessica and waited for their answer.
Gary squirmed in his chair and looked at his wife. Gary finally said, “You have mine. Jessica will have to speak for herself.”
Jessica looked around the room and stopped when
her gaze met mine. “I’m sorry I’ve said
some really nasty things about you guys since Mom left Dad. I didn’t know all of the facts and I made
some pretty hurtful statements.” She
turned her gaze back to Dad. “Yes, you
have my support.”
Eric said, “Laura and I support you.” He turned to me and Randy, “I’m deeply sorry
for what I said about you guys. Knowing
what I know now, I was very wrong; and I hope you guys can forgive me.”
Laura squeezed his hand. “Eric and I had planned to apologize to you
even if this meeting hadn’t happened.
We’ve felt bad about how things went down at Christmas, and wanted to
make things up to you guys.”
Randy smiled at Laura. “Thank you, Laura. Shawn has always insisted that you were
Eric’s better half.”
Eric laughed and said, “That she is.”
Jabbing Eric in the ribs, Nancy said, “I’ve
never doubted that fact. Dad, you have my support to move our family to a
better place.”
Dad turned to us and asked, “What about you
guys?”
Randy said, “Of course, Shawn and I will support
you.”
Rick said, “I’m in.” He put his arm around my shoulders and
leaned over to whisper in my ear, “It’s okay to speak your mind.”
Dad looked at me and I returned his gaze. He knew that I was the skeptic in the
room. “I’ll support you, but it’s going
to take a lot of work to make things better.
Change doesn’t happen overnight and the wounds from the last few months
aren’t going to disappear anytime soon.
It’s going to take time to rebuild the trust that once existed in our
family; and, to be honest, that trust may never be restored.”
Dad nodded his head and said, “You’re right
about that, son. We have a lot of hard
work ahead of us. Thank you for your
support.”
Uncle Dave looked at his brother and asked, “Is
there anything else we haven’t heard about?”
Dad sighed and said, “That’s about it. True confessions are over!”
“What can we do to help you, Don?” Uncle Dave
asked.
“Just be there for us when we need
encouragement. It’s going to be a long
road for all of us, and especially for me, because I have a lot of changes to
make,” Dad said.
Jack looked up at Rick and asked, “Does this
mean you can play ball with me now?”
Rick laughed and said, “Yes, we can go outside
and play ball; unless, of course, your parents had something else for you to
do.”
Jack slid off of Rick’s lap and skipped across
the room to his parents. “May I go
outside and play with Uncle Rick?”
Gary smiled at his son and replied, “Certainly.”
Jack turned around and looked at Rick. Rick said, “Alright, Master Jack, let’s go
outside.” He stood up and took my hand
to pull me to my feet. “Come with us,
Glenn.” I smiled at my boyfriend. He knew I needed some space. It was obvious to me that Gary and Jessica
still had issues with us. Rick
whispered to me, “Don’t say anything, please.”
I gave him my “who me” look and said, “Let’s go,
Jack.”
We followed a very excited little boy outside
into the front yard. Jack said, “I
brought my soccer ball. It’s in the
car.” He scampered over to his Dad’s
car and opened the back door, retrieving a soccer ball. He sat it on the ground and kicked it to
Rick. We dribbled the ball back and
forth around the yard.
I said, “Let’s go around to the back yard. I think we can rig up some goals back
there. If I remember correctly, Uncle
Dave still has our soccer gear in his garage.”
We walked over to the garage and were met by
Uncle Dave. He smiled and said, “I
thought you might want these.” He
handed me a set of bright red cones and a mini-goal net.
“Thanks, Uncle Dave. I thought you might still have some of our
soccer stuff,” I said.
Uncle Dave opened the gate to the back yard and
said, “I’ll send Randy and Shawn out. I
know how much Randy loves to play soccer.”
A few minutes later, my brother and his husband
joined us. We ran some drills with
Jack. I have to admit I was impressed
that he was as well coordinated as he was.
I asked, “Who has been helping you learn how to play soccer?”
Jack said, “Grandpa has been teaching me. He says he wants me to be as good at playing
soccer as you are, Uncle Glenn.”
I looked at my nephew in surprise. “Did Grandpa really say that?”
Jack said, “Yes, he did. Dad said you have always been the best soccer
player in the family.”
Randy said, “Dad and Gary are right, you
know. You have always been the better
soccer player; but I wouldn’t let that go to your head, Glenn. You know I can always outrun you.”
I laughed and said, “That’s what you think.”
Randy grinned and said, “I not only think I’m
faster than you, I know I’m faster than you.”
Rick laughed and said, “Okay, boys, let’s not
start that.”
Randy ruffled my hair and said, “Okay, Rick, I
won’t give Glenn a hard time, even though he deserves it.”
“I do not,” I protested. “I’ve been a perfect angel, given the
circumstances.”
Rick said, “Yes, you have, and I’m very proud of
the restraint you’ve shown this afternoon.”
Shawn said, “Yes, I was very surprised you
didn’t lay into Gary and Jessica.”
“I thought about it and I probably will still
have some choice words to say to them, but it can wait until another time,” I
said. “Besides, we’re leaving in the
morning and I won’t have to deal with their issues for quite some time.”
Rick said, “What Glenn is trying to say is that
we don’t have any intention of having much to do with them for a good many
years to come.”
I looked at Rick and said, “Let’s just say that
our plans don’t include going down to the farm unless there is an emergency
that requires it.”
Randy nodded his head. “We understand where you’re coming
from. Shawn and I will have to see
where things go from here before we make our decision regarding how we plan to
interact with them.”
Aunt Mary called to us from the back door,
“Guys, it’s time to eat.”
Jack ran past us and shouted, “Race you!”
Rick broke into a sprint and caught up to Jack
at the back step. He scooped Jack into
his arms and opened the back door. “I
think I won.”
Jack threw his arms around Rick’s neck and said,
“I love you, Uncle Rick.”
“I love you, too, Jack,” Rick said, putting Jack
back on his feet.
The rest of us followed at a more sedate
pace. We joined the family for
dinner. It was pleasant enough, but
there were still some awkward moments.
After one particularly awkward silence, I said, “I’m heading to
bed. We have an early start tomorrow,
and I’m exhausted.”
I said my
farewells to the family and left them to visit with each other. Rick followed me down the stairs and into
Ben’s room. He closed the door and
said, “Thank you for not causing a scene with Gary and Jessica.”
“I did it for you, Babe. I certainly didn’t do it for them,” I said.
“You’re a saint,” Rick said. “Did you know that?”
I laughed and said, “Which saint might I be?”
Rick pulled me into his arms and said, “Let me
see…hmm. I think maybe Saint Russell
the Great might be too pretentious. How
about Saint Glenn, patron saint of all gay men?”
I grinned and said, “As long as it means you’ll
fuck me tonight, I think it’s a great name.”
Rick locked the bedroom door and proceeded to
seduce me. I was half asleep when I
heard someone knock on the door. I rolled
away from Rick and got up. I unlocked
the door and scampered back to bed, pulling the sheets over Rick and I as Randy
and Shawn came into the room.
Randy said, “I’m sorry for waking you up.”
“Not a problem.
We should have unlocked the door before we fell asleep,” I said.
Shawn said, “We waited to come downstairs to
give you and Rick some time alone.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I needed it.”
“We know,” Shawn said. “You were pretty amazing tonight. You didn’t make one comment about how poorly
they treated us, and you even were pleasant to be around.”
“We knew you had reached your limit with Gary
and Jessica when we heard you announce that you were retiring for the night,”
Randy said.
“Yes, I was ready to give them a piece of my
mind, but thought better of it,” I said.
“They asked us what they had done to offend you,
and I told them,” Randy said.
I looked at Randy in surprise. “I thought I hid it pretty well.”
“You did, Glenn, but you forget that Shawn and I
are gay men and were just as offended as you were,” Randy said.
I said, “I’m glad you told them, then.”
Shawn said, “Randy, we need to get some
sleep. We can talk tomorrow on the
drive back to Regina.”
Randy finished stripping off his clothes and
joined his husband in bed. “Yes, dear,
I’m all yours.”
“Yes, you’re all mine,” Shawn said, giving Randy
a kiss.
I curled up next to Rick and laid my head on his
chest. It wasn’t long before I was
out. The next morning, we returned to
Atlanta and things returned to their normal routine.
*** ***
Tyler and Joey snuggled together in their new
bed. They had gone furniture shopping
when they arrived from Canada. Tyler’s
parents had given them money to buy a new bedroom set, as a wedding
present. Tyler had never dreamed that
choosing bedroom furniture could be so much fun. He and Joey spent time researching prices
online and then, when they found what they wanted, they ordered it to be shipped
directly to the house. It had arrived
10 days later and they had finished setting it up earlier in the evening.
Tyler said, “How does it feel to be married to
the handsomest guy in the entire world?”
Joey looked into Tyler’s eyes and said, “Tyler, it
feels like I’m living a real life fairy tale.
I’ve found the love of my life, and I’m so happy.” He caressed Tyler’s chest and abs with the
palm of his hand. “It helps that Rachel
and Sarah have really taken to the Nájeras.”
Tyler said, “Mom and Dad have become good
friends with them, too. Dad told me
that Sr. Nájera has got to be the most interesting man he has ever met. Mom and Dad are planning to drive down to Málaga
tomorrow to look at some property. Do
you want to go with them? We could find
us a place at the beach near them.”
Joey smiled at his new husband. “I’ll go anywhere you want to go, my
husband.”
Tyler grinned.
“You don’t know how much that thrills me to hear you call me your
husband.”
"I think I do, because it makes me very
happy to call you my husband. There
were a few days there that I thought you would escape me,” Joey said.
Tyler leaned over and gave Joey a tender
kiss. “But that is all ancient
history. We are happily married and
raising a family here in Spain, where our marriage is recognized and we have
the same rights and privileges as straight people.”
“I’m even beginning to understand some Spanish,”
Joey said, grinning at his husband.
“I’m very impressed with how quickly you’re
picking up the language,” Tyler said.
“However, Rachel is learning it much faster than you are.”
“That’s because she’s not afraid to make mistakes,”
Joey said. “I’m very proud of her. She has adapted much quicker to her new
surroundings than I have.”
Tyler cupped Joey’s cheek with the palm of his
hand. “I have faith in you, because I
know that love will conquer all. No
matter what comes our way, we will face it together, hand in hand.”
Joey put his hand over Tyler’s and said, “I love
you.”
“I love you, too,” Tyler said.
*** ***
The next morning, they were awakened by
Rachel. She climbed onto their bed and
managed to squeeze her way in between them.
Joey said, “Good morning, Rachel.”
Rachel said, “Good morning, Daddy. When are you and Dad going to get up?”
Tyler said, “I don’t know, Rachel. Maybe we should stay in bed all day.”
Rachel giggled and asked, “Does that mean you
want breakfast in bed?”
Joey looked over at Tyler and said, “I think it
does, Rachel.”
“Nana told me I could make you breakfast this
morning,” Rachel said.
“She did?” Joey asked.
“Yes and Abuela said she would help me,” Rachel
said. Sr. and Sra. Nájera had become
Abuelo (Grandpa) and Abuela (Grandma) to Rachel and Sarah. Sra. Nájera was completely taken with the
girls. She had become ‘enchanted’ by
them (those were her words) when they entered the house. There wasn’t any doubt that Rachel knew the
Nájeras loved her. She wriggled out
from between her two dads, and gave them each of them a kiss on the cheek.
Joey helped her down off of the bed and said,
“We’ll wait until you come back with our breakfast.”
They heard her little feet pad across the room
and the door click shut after she left.
Tyler said, “She is such a lovely child.”
“Yes, she is,” Joey said. His thoughts went back to their first day in
Spain and how Sra. Nájera had won over Rachel.
*** ***
They had just arrived at their new home. Hank had paid the taxi driver and turned to
look at the home Tyler had purchased.
He said, “It’s a very handsome home, Tyler. I’m looking forward to meeting the Nájeras.”
They didn’t even have a chance to move away from
the driveway with their things when the front door opened and the Nájeras
appeared. They made their way down the
flagstone walkway and greeted Tyler.
“Welcome back, mi hijo,” Sr. Nájera said. The he said, “Introduce me to your family.”
Tyler turned to Joey and said, “This is my
husband, Joey.”
Sr. Nájera stretched out his hand and said, “I’m
Jose Alejandro Nájera Tello and this is my lovely wife, Marimer Elena Santander
Cordova de Nájera.”
Sra. Nájera said, “Or you can call us Mamá y Papá. I believe that God sent me a replacement son
in Tyler; and now, he has married you; so I’m doubly blessed.”
Joey smiled and said, “Then I will call you Mamá
and Papá, since my own parents are so far away.”
Sra. Nájera pulled Joey into a hug and kissed
him on both cheeks. She smiled and
said, “Welcome home, mi hijo.” She
turned to Hank and Louise. “You must be
Tyler’s parents. I hope you don’t mind
that I’ve claimed Tyler as my own son.”
Louise smiled and said, “I’m very glad that
Tyler has another mother to watch over him.”
The two women hugged and Louise said, “Thank you for taking such good
care of Tyler.”
Hank said, “Yes, we are very grateful to you for
everything you have done for Tyler.”
Sr. Nájera shook Hanks hand and said, “We are
very happy to finally meet you. Please
call me Alex and my wife prefers to be called Mari.”
“This is Sarah,” Hank said. He was holding Sarah in one arm. She had both arms wrapped around his
neck.
Sr. Nájera said, “Hello, Sarah. We’re glad you’re here.”
Sra. Nájera looked down at the little girl
standing behind her father and said, “You must be Rachel.”
Rachel clung to Joey’s leg and peeked around it
to see Sra. Nájera. Joey said, “Rachel
this is Grandma Nájera.”
Sra. Nájera said, “You can call me Abuela.”
Sr. Nájera knelt down to look Rachel in the eyes,
“May we be your Grandpa and Grandma?”
Rachel said, “I have a grandpa and
grandma.” She pointed at Hank and
Louise.
He smiled at her and said, “But you don’t have
an abuelo and an abuela. You can call
us Abuelo and Abuela. Is that okay?”
Rachel nodded her head and said, “Okay.”
“Would you like some cookies and milk?” Sra. Nájera
asked.
Rachel said, “Yes, Abuela.”
“Then follow me and we will get you some cookies
and milk,” Sra. Nájera said.
They followed her inside the house, hauling
their luggage with them. Sr. Nájera said, “Hank, your things have
already arrived. They were delivered
yesterday.”
Hank said, “Thank you for being here to receive
them.”
“I stored them in the basement for now,” Sr. Nájera
said.
They followed Sra. Nájera into the kitchen. Rachel climbed onto a chair. Hank put Sarah in the high chair and
fastened her seat belt. Sra. Nájera
pulled out cookies and milk and put them on the table. The milk was the shelf stable kind in a
box. Sr. Nájera said, “Rachel, you can
have as many cookies as you like.”
Rachel looked up at Joey, and he smiled, “You
can have as many as you like, but you have to listen to Abuela when she tells
you that you have to stop.”
Rachel smiled and asked, “I’ll eat three now,
but can I have more, later?”
Sra. Nájera nodded her head and said, “Yes, you
may, and if you want to learn how to make cookies, there will always be cookies
for you and Sarah.”
Rachel’s eyes got big as saucers and she asked,
“May we make lots and lots of chocolate chip cookies?”
Sra. Nájera laughed and said, “Yes, and many
other kinds.”
Joey smiled and said, “I think that Rachel likes
being here already.”
Tyler looked at Sra. Nájera, with a smile, and
said, “We’ll have to keep an eye on Mamá, because she’ll spoil Rachel and
Sarah.”
Sra. Nájera said, “It’s my job to spoil my
grandchildren. Don’t you agree Louise?”
Louise laughed and said, “Yes, it is, Mari”
Sr. Nájera said, “I think it’s time we left the
women folk to watch the girls while we get your things situated.”
Hank agreed, “Yes, let’s get unpacked.”
They followed Sr. Nájera out of the kitchen and
spent the rest of the day unpacking suitcases, as well as the boxes they
shipped over from Virginia.
*** ***
Tyler said, “Joey, our breakfast is here.”
Joey looked at Tyler and asked, “What did you
say, Babe?”
“I said that our breakfast is here,” Tyler said,
smiling at his husband.
Sr. Nájera said, “Good morning, boys.” He came into their bedroom, carrying a
breakfast tray.
Rachel ran ahead of him and pointed to us. “Abuelo, the tray is for them.”
Sr. Nájera said, “I will give it to them, just
as you say, mi corazón.”
He leaned over and placed the tray between the
two men. “Mamá says that you must eat
well today. We are driving down to
Malagá as soon as you boys are ready to leave.”
“We won’t be long, Papá,” Tyler said.
Sr. Nájera left them, and Rachel followed him
out of the door. Joey looked over at
Tyler and said, “Have you decided whether or not we’re going to buy a house in
Malagá?”
Tyler smiled and said, “I think we should. Staying with the Nájera is okay, but I still
want us to have our own place on the beach.”
“I agree with you,” Joey said. “I know we’ll live half of the year on the
beach if we have our own place.”
Tyler gave Joey a lecherous grin, “I want you to
be tan all over, no tan lines for my husband.
For that, we need our own place, where we can sunbathe in the buff,
without offending anyone.”
“What about the girls?” Joey asked, knowing
Tyler’s answer.
“We can leave the girls with the Abuelos. You know that the Nájeras and our parents
will jump at the chance to have the girls all to themselves. They practically monopolize all of their
time now.”
Joey nodded his head, “The girls are really
thriving with all of the attention they are receiving from their grandparents,
both sets of them.”
Tyler said, “And so are their Dads. However, it’s the one-on-one kind of
attention that has made the most difference.”
He leaned over and kissed Joey.
He whispered into his ear, “especially from you.”
Joey gazed into his husband’s eyes and said, “I
love you.”
*** ***
They caravanned down from Madrid. Tyler and Joey took the girls in their car
while Hand and Louise rode with the Nájeras.
A few hours later, they arrived at the Nájeras’ beach house. The gate swung open to let them pull into
the driveway.
It was a beautiful villa with a tile roof and
red cement walls. Tyler turned to Joey
and said, “I’d love to have a place like this one.”
“You haven’t even been inside it, yet,” Joey
said, smiling at his husband.
“I know it’s going to be wonderful inside,”
Tyler said.
They got out of their car and opened the back
doors to retrieve the girls from their car seats. Rachel asked, “Are we at the beach now, Daddy?”
Joey replied, “No, we aren’t on the beach yet,
but we are at the beach house. Abuela
said that there is nice swimming pool here for us to enjoy. Do you want to go swimming?”
Rachel clapped her hands and said, “Yeah, I want
to go swimming. May we go swimming
right now?”
“Let’s see what Nana and Abuela have planned for
us first. Is that okay?” Joey asked.
Rachel nodded her head and said, “Daddy, you can
put me down now.” She wriggled to get
free of her Daddy’s arms.
Joey set her on her feet and she ran to Abuela
and grabbed her hand. She looked up at
Abuela and asked, in Spanish, “May I go swimming, Abuela?”
Hearing his daughter speaking Spanish, Joey
said, “I can’t believe how quickly she has picked up the language.”
Tyler said, “You would pick it up much faster if
you stopped speaking English all the time.”
Joey responded, “It’s just so hard to
communicate when I don’t have the vocabulary to express myself in Spanish.”
Tyler smiled at Joey, “It will come with time
and lots of practice. I know how to
help you. Let’s speak Spanish
everywhere except when were alone. That
way, you can practice your Spanish, but, at the same time, we can continue to
have clear communication between us.”
Seeing Joey’s doubtful look, Tyler continued, “Let’s just try it for a
few days, and, if it doesn’t work, we can always revert to speaking English
most of the time.”
Joey sighed, in resignation, “Okay, I’ll try it,
but only for a few days. However, you
have to promise you’ll help me.”
Tyler wrapped his arms around Joey’s waist and
gazed deeply into his eyes, “Trust me, sweetheart. It will be okay. I promise.”
He kissed Joey and rubbed noses with him. “Are we good?”
“Yes, we’re good,” Joey replied, with a smile.
Tyler turned and undid Sarah’s seat belt and
lifted her from her car seat. “Sarah,
let’s take Daddy inside.”
She made some happy gurgling noise and wrapped
her arms around Tyler’s neck. Tyler
said, “She needs changing.”
Joey smiled and said, “It’s your turn. I changed her just before we left.”
Tyler sighed, “Okay, I’ll do diaper duty. Will you grab the diaper bag from the
trunk?”
Joey replied, “Gladly.” He opened the trunk and retrieved the diaper
bag, handing it to Tyler. “I’ll bring
in the suitcases.”
Tyler left Joey to finish unloading the
car. He walked inside the house. The foyer was beautifully appointed and made
him fell like he was in some upscale hotel lobby. Sr. Nájera said, “The girls’ room is up the
stairs and all the way to the end of the hallway. It’s the door on the left. Your room is next door to theirs.”
Tyler said, “Thank you, Papá.” He made his way upstairs and found the
girls’ room. He entered the room and
found that the baby crib had already been made up for Sarah. There was a changing table and a chest of
drawers. Against the opposite wall was
a youth bed for Rachel. Tyler smiled
approvingly. The Nájeras had thought of
everything, as usual. They were the
perfect grandparents for the girls. The
Nájeras had charmed his own parents as well.
Hank and Louise couldn’t say enough good things about the couple. As he changed Sarah’s diaper, he reflected
on how perfect his world had become. He
had a wonderful husband, two beautiful daughters, not one, but two sets of
parents to watch over him and his family.
Some guys would have balked at having two sets of parents caring for
them, but not Tyler and Joey. They both
thrived under the care of the four older adults. Theirs was a charmed life.
He finished diapering Sarah and returned downstairs
to find that Joey had finished unloading the car. Louise said, “Hand Sarah to me while you
help your husband with the luggage.”
Tyler did as he was directed and handed Sarah to
his mother. He walked over and grabbed
two suitcases. Joey picked up the
remaining two bags and the two of them walked up the stairs. Hank and Sr. Nájera followed them with their
luggage. Tyler opened their bedroom
door and stood there in amazement. The
room was huge! There was a giant
king-size four-poster bed with a gauzy white canopy that hung from the four
bedposts. The floor was covered with a
deep, white carpet. At one end of the
room, there was a fireplace with a loveseat and a couch arranged in front of
it. At the opposite end, sliding glass
doors opened onto a balcony that overlooked the swimming pool with a clear view
of the ocean in the near distance.
Joey said, “I love it already.” He put down their suitcases and walked into
the en suite where he found a Jacuzzi tub, and a walk-in shower with six shower
head at different levels. Everything
looked to be made of marble and bronze.
Joey called to Tyler, “Sweetheart, I think we should start our little
vacation in here.”
Tyler joined him and whistled, “Wow! Yes, I agree, we should start here; however,
we need to finish unpacking first.”
Joey nodded his head in agreement. “This is going to be the best vacation
ever.”
Tyler grinned and pulled Joey into his arms, “I
can’t wait to get you naked.” He kissed
him deeply before releasing him.
Joey protested, “That’s not fair! You can’t get me all amped up and then leave
me hanging like this!”
Tyler gave Joey his evil laugh and asked, “I
can’t I?” He arched his eyebrows and
grinned.
Joey laughed, “You are such a tease.”
“I never said I wasn’t,” Tyler said, as he
opened up his suitcase and began hanging up his clothes.
Joey helped his and then opened the other
suitcases on the bed. They kept
touching each other as they put away the contents of the suitcases. They went next door to put way the girls’
clothes. After they finished, Tyler
pinned Joey against the door and said, “I want you inside me right now.”
Joey grinned from ear to ear. He knew they were going to make many good
memories on this trip.
*** ***
Author’s Note:
Music that inspired this chapter
