The ‘den’ Triplets
by: E Walk
(© 2009-2010 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 4  

I’ll Starch Your Briefs

I must have slept like a log because I woke up before the alarm sounded, feeling refreshed.  I looked to see if Jill was still asleep and that’s when I remembered what had happened.  The funny thing was that I was sad that she was gone, but the anger I had felt previously had dissipated.  I realized that I had to get on with my life, so I could provide the boys with the best that I possibly could.

I felt a compelling need to see and hold the three boys.  I went to the nursery and the door was open and a lamp on the nightstand was on low.  Todd was lying on the sofa bed in his briefs and my attention was drawn to his pelvic area.  He must have been having a fantastically sexual dream, because the outline in the front his briefs left little to be imagined.

Aiden was starting to stir, so I picked him up and he definitely needed a diaper change.  I was changing him and Todd must have awakened.  He maneuvered so I wouldn’t see him.  "I’ll go get the boys’ bottles so they are ready for them since they haven’t eaten for four hours."

When Todd returned, he was wearing a robe and slippers.  I looked at him, “I liked the view I saw earlier much better.  You must have been having some dream.  I’m sure glad that you weren’t wearing net briefs or the boys would be seeing things their young eyes shouldn’t see.”

Todd looked at me, “Mike, for someone who is supposedly straight, you seem to have a fixation about penises.  Here, feed Aiden while I change Jaden.”

I was sitting on the sofa bed feeding the Aiden when we heard Mother.  “Guys, I'm coming up.  I assume you’re in the nursery since there is no one downstairs and the lights are on.”

Mom just walked in, “Hi, how are my five guys this morning?”

Todd turned to her, “Now I know why your son acts as he does.  Here, you feed Jaden, while I take care of Kaden.”

Mother was feeding Jaden and she looked at Todd, “Mr. Stodola, what did you mean by that comment?”

Todd turned to her, “Doctor Naylor, how many mothers do you know who would come into a room where there are nearly naked adult men and not even let on that it bothered them.  You both have an A type personality.  You have to be in charge.”

Mother frowned, “Todd, I’m a doctor, remember.  Why would I let seeing an almost naked man bother me?  Besides, these are my grandchildren, and we need to make sure they have only the best.”

Todd started to feed Kaden, “Doctor Naylor, you’re a obstetrician/gynecologist.   How many men do you see in your practice?”

“Todd, if it weren’t for the male reproductive organs, I would have no business at all.  You would be surprised at the number of naked males I have seen.”

I interrupted their conversation, “I’m going to take Aiden to my bedroom and get ready for the day.  I really need to go to the office since I haven’t been there for nearly a week.  What are my three sons going to think about talk like this?”

Mother looked at me, “We wouldn’t want them to be prudes like their father, would we?”

I took Aiden to my room and got dressed for the day.  I felt as if everyone was against me and picking on me.  I thought to myself, ‘I need to make sure that I pay attention to all three boys equally.  Perhaps I should take care of Aiden in the morning, Jaden at lunch and Kaden at supper time, and I have to show my love all the time.’

When I got downstairs, Mother was sitting there eating a bagel with cream cheese.  She handed me one, “Here, eat one of these, they were just made this morning.  Why don’t you get us each a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee with some cream, please?”

The three boys were sleeping in their carriers on the counter.  Mother stood, “I need to go.  I have an extremely full schedule today to make up for the people that had their appointments cancelled yesterday.  I’ll stop by after work to see if there is anything you need.”

After Mother had departed, I looked at Todd, “Todd, will you be okay here by yourself?  I really need to take care of some problems.”

Todd laughed, “Never fear, Daddy Mikey, I’ll muddle through.  If there is a catastrophe, I’ll call you at the office.”

It was a good thing that I went to the office because it was like the zoo when all the schools were there on their field trips.  Poor Gloria, my secretary, was almost beside herself.  She came to me about 10:30, “Mike, we need to hire another secretary.  There is no way that I can do all this typing and serve as a receptionist.”

I looked at her, “Gloria, I don’t know where all these people are coming from.  Do whatever you have to do to get sufficient help.  I guess it’s the economy that is causing people to act so weird.  Please try to keep my schedule clear between noon and one, so I can go home and check on my sons.”

Gloria came into the office at noon, “You’re cleared to take off, commander.  I have two people coming to interview for positions at one-fifteen, so don’t be late.”

As I was driving to the house, I had a funny feeling, ‘Even Gloria was telling me what to do.  I think I’ve lost control.’

When I went into the house, no one was in the kitchen, so I went to see where everyone was.  I walked into the living room and Todd was ironing and the three boys were sleeping in their carriers.  I looked at Todd, “Why are you ironing?  Haven’t you ever heard of a laundry?”

Todd didn’t even look up, “I just want to make sure that your briefs got starched so that they will be so uncomfortable that you will squiggle and squirm all day.  Mike, what do you want me to do, go stir crazy?  Right now the boys do nothing but eat and sleep.  If I just waited around for them to wake up. I would be a raving maniac.  I already am a maniac, but that would drive me over the edge.  Let’s take the boys to the kitchen, so we can get a sandwich and some of the goodies left over from yesterday.”

As we were eating, Todd informed me. “A Mrs. Tolliver called to check to see if anyone was allergic to any food, since she is bringing dinner tonight.  I told her I didn’t think so.”

I was watching the time, “I need to go. I have to interview some people to see if I want to hire them.”

I deliberately kissed each of the three boys on the lips.  I turned to Todd, “They’re my sons and I’ll do what I want.”

I surprised Todd when I went and kissed him on his lips, “There, now you have all their germs too.  I’ll see you about five-thirty.

When I got to the office, there were two very handsome young men sitting in the waiting area.  I looked at them, “Hi, I’m Mike Naylor, how can I help you?”

The first young man shook my hand, “Good afternoon, Mr. Naylor.  I’m sorry about what happened to your wife.  Mother said you might be interested in hiring us.”

I looked at the young man, “Do you mean to tell me that Gloria Hawkins is your mother.  That must mean that you are Jeff because you were an only child.  I haven’t seen you for several years.  I thought you were in college.”

“I was, but I was graduated in December and am having a difficult time finding a job in today’s economy.”

I turned to the other young man, “And who might you be?”

“I’m David Lee.  I’m a friend of Jeff’s.  I’m looking for a full time job too.”

Gloria was sitting there looking very innocent, I pointed my finger at her, “I don’t think you can deny that this wasn’t a premeditated plan to get me to hire your delinquent son.”

I turned to David, “Mr. Lee, you said you were a friend of Jeff’s.  Just how good of a friend might you be?”

The look on the two guys’ faces was too good to be true.  Jeff spoke, “Mr. Naylor, if you must know, we are involved in a committed relationship.”

I was enjoying toying with the two guys, “So, are you saying that you have been institutionalized or are you saying that you’re queer?”

David stood, “Come on, Jeff.  Let’s leave; It’s apparent that Mr. Naylor isn’t interested in hiring any gay people.”

Jeff started to stand, but I barked, “Mr. Lee and Mr. Hawkins, sit your butts down.  Mr. Lee, for your information, I just happen to have a gay gentleman living in my house at the present time.  He is taking care of my three infant sons as we speak.”

“I have two questions.  Would you be able to keep personal life in check while you were in the office?  And secondly, would you be able to take orders from a bossy old woman?”

Jeff nodded, “Mother asked us the same questions before she told us about you telling her she could hire someone.  Just so you know, my degree is in criminal justice and David’s is in Public Relations and we are both very computer literate.”

I turned to Gloria, “I guess that since you’re the Office Manager, you will have to make sure that we have everything that we need.”

Our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of one of my best clients, Mr. Lingle.  We took care of the business and as he was leaving, he commented, “The scenery has just become much more interesting in the office.  I’ll have to make sure I find some more things that need to be taken care of.  By the way, who’s watching your sons?”

“I have a young male nurse who will be living at the house who will be taking care of them, especially when I’m working.”

Mr. Lingle smiled, “Oh, so you have hired Toddy, then.  I assume that you know he’s gay.  I saw him at the funeral, but didn’t realize that he was living with you.  I’ve known Toddy ever since he was born.”

“Mr. Lingle that was the first thing Todd told me when my mother suggested that I hire him.”

“Tell Todd that I said hello.  See you later.”

The afternoon was extremely busy.  I was packing my briefcase to take some work home, when there was a knock on the door.  I didn’t look up.  I heard Gloria say, “Mike, do you have a minute?”

“Sure.”

She closed the door, “Mike, thanks for hiring the guys.  After I get them trained, I’m going to cut way back on the number of hours I work.  Now that we have Jeff through college, we will have more than enough money to take care of our needs.”

I hugged Gloria, “Gloria, it’s not going to seem the same without you.  You have been with me ever since I opened my first office.  I am glad that you can finally get to enjoy life, though.  Maybe you and Howard can take some trips now and do some fun things.”

She giggled, “That’s exactly what we plan to do while we can.”

As I walked into the reception area, I nodded at the two guys, “It’s time to close shop for today.”

David approached me and hugged me, “Mr. Naylor, thank you for giving us an opportunity.”

I put my briefcase down, “Look guys, when there are no clients in the office, I would very much appreciate you calling Mike.  I already feel old enough and you will make me feel even older if you call me Mr. Naylor.”

Jeff decided to be a smartaleck.  He hugged me and added, “We’ll try to remember to comply, old man.”

When I got home, Mother was sitting there feeding Aiden.  She looked at me, “I figured that someone would be bringing food, so I decided to come and be a freeloader.”

“Mom, you are always more than welcome to come and eat with us.”

I quickly changed out of my suit and put on a warm up suit.  As we were eating, Mother admonished, “Mike, you really need to take care of the memorials that you received.  People will get concerned if their checks aren’t cashed.  You need to open accounts for the boys as soon as you receive their social security numbers.  By the way, don’t forget to write thank you notes to the people who bring you food.   Todd, you will need to make Mike a list of the people who bring food.”

I looked at Todd, “Did you get all those orders down?  I guess you will be wanting more money now that you have become my social secretary too.  Mom, we just buried Jill yesterday.  Give me a chance to breath.”

“Mike, I’m just telling what you need to be planning on doing when you’re not taking care of the boys.  They need to be your first priority, and Todd shouldn’t be expected to take care of them 24/7.”

Mother stood, “I need to go.  I should be home about 9:30 if you need anything.  Thanks for dinner.  Sorry to eat and run.”

After Mother had departed; I looked at Todd, “Todd, Mother is right.  You need to have some time for yourself.  You’re welcome to take the van and go wherever you wish.  Why don’t you go visit your family?”

Todd looked at me and I detected some tears forming, “Mike, my family disowned me twelve years ago when my father found out I was gay.   He has banned me from ever stepping in his house again.  I occasionally talk to my mother.  But she has to call me when the coast is clear.  Right now she doesn’t even know where I am, unless Aunt Millie has told her.”

“My entire immediate family, except for Aunt Millie, lives in Nebraska, and I really have nothing in common with any of them anymore.  I’ll be fine here with you, if I won’t be bothering you.  It gets very lonely being alone.  It’s nice to have someone else around even if they aren’t saying anything.”

I stood, “Todd, I just don’t want you to feel that you are obligated to be here 24/7 as Mother suggested.  I’ll take care of the dishes.”

Todd started to help me, “Mike, if you will permit me, I can help you with the thank you notes.  Perhaps we could work on them together as we have time.”

“Todd, I brought home some work that I should do tonight before we start the notes.  I have to make enough money to pay the two queers that I hired today in addition to you.”

Todd looked me disgustedly, “Mike, please stop referring to us as queers!”

I put my arm around Todd, “I just did it to see if you were still awake.  I was trying to be funny.”  I told him about hiring Jeff and David.

“Oh, by the way, Mr. Lingle said to tell you hi.”

Todd punched me on the shoulder, “For a straight person, you sure do associate with a lot of people who are involved in the gay scene.”

I was lost, “What are you talking about?”

“Mike, Mr. Lingle is bisexual.  He’s married to a lovely lady who is very understanding.  She supports him stepping out from time to time if it’s with another man.  Heaven help him, if he were to be caught with another woman.”

I started to laugh, “Are you telling me that you have been involved with him.”

“I haven’t been, but I know some other guys that have been.  He’s not my type.  I’m not interested in a Sugar Daddy.”

“Todd, it’s as if you’re talking a foreign language.”

Our conversation was interrupted by the doorbell.  I went to see who was there,

David and Jeff were standing there with a basket. I stood aside, “Come on in, guys.  What can I do for you?”

 

Jeff handed me the basket, “Mother sent you a casserole and cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  She figured that your three sons will keep you up most of the night.   She doesn’t want you to come to work grouchy.  Where are your sons anyway?”

“Follow me; they’re in the kitchen with their nurse.”

When we got to the kitchen, “Todd, I'd like to introduce the two young gentlemen that I told you I hired today.”  I pointed to David, “This is David Lee and the other good looking gentleman is my office manager’s son, Jeff Hawkins.  Guys, the boys’ nurse is called Todd Stodola.”

Todd started to shake the guys' hands, “So these are the two queers you were telling me about.”  He stepped back and checked them out, “It’s a good thing that they are committed to each other or I might try to entice them into my bed.”

Both guys were laughing, Jeff spluttered, “Thanks, I think.”

The triplets were starting to stir, I handed one of the carrier to each of the visitors, “Let’s take the boys for your diaper changing lesson while Todd gets their bottles ready for them.”

Jeff was reluctant at first, but David had obviously done this before.  He had Aiden and was feeding him before Jeff finished changing Kaden with Todd’s supervising.  The four of us were sitting and talking as we were feeding the ‘den’ boys.

When the triplets were in there bassinettes, the visitors decided to leave, but as they were leaving, David looked at Todd and me, “Boss, if you ever need someone to stay with the boys, call us and we’ll be here.  They are probably as close as we’ll ever get to having any real sons.”

As we were walking back from saying goodnight to David and Jeff, Todd hugged me, “Boss, please don’t let them take our sons away from us.” 

He kissed me on the lips and started to laugh as he walked toward the stairs, “Payback can be hell.  I’m going to take a nice hot shower and relieve my frustrations, if you get what I mean.”

I watched as he climbed the stairs and thought to myself, ‘This can’t be happening.’

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  Let me see, having read quite a few stories By E Walk and several other people, I have to say that I am not one bit surprised to see people finding themselves attracted to each other.

Mike, don't let it get you down.  I am almost sure that you and Todd are going to find that you really care about each other.

It hasn't taken me very long to fall hopelessly in love with these people.  Of course, that doesn't surprise me in the least. I am going to sit back and wait for more chapters.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 09/10/10