The Cruise Ship

 by: Hankster

© 2012 by the Author

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Dan and Ellen Spenser left their pre-tagged luggage on the pier in the designated area.  With carry-on luggage in hand, they stood for a moment looking at the giant cruise ship before beginning the check-in process at Port Everglades in Florida.  Since 9/11 the port security was much the same as at any airport.  Passengers were getting used to it, and tolerated the inconvenience in the name of safety.  Dan was convinced that if terrorists wanted to bomb the ship, they would find a way.  It didn’t bother him at all.  He never allowed himself to live in fear.  He was a fatalist.  Whatever will be, will be.

This was the first cruise Dan had ever been on with his brand new wife.  They were on their honeymoon, at least for the next eight days, and they would be cruising on the Caribbean Sea.  As they waited on the incredibly long line to get through the first stage, Dan thought back to the only other cruise he had ever been on. 

It was nine years ago; he was fourteen.  His parents took him and his kid brother on a child friendly cruise.   There were a million activities planned for the children.  He was assigned to teen-aged activities.  His brother was assigned to a pre-teen group.  The first day out, after life boat drill, he went to a teen lounge for refreshments and dancing.  It was designed as a get-to-know-you event.  It was there that he was attracted to another fourteen year old boy.  Dan was gay and he already knew it, but he wasn’t yet ready to accept it.  The other boy caught Dan staring at him.  Jay Renault was very outgoing and extroverted.  It was no problem for him to approach Dan and introduce himself.

In the course of the first five minutes, Jay let Dan know that this was more of a vacation for his parents than for him, and therefore they had gotten him a separate state room.  Dan let Jay know that he shared a cabin with his kid brother.  Dutifully they drank punch and danced with some of the girls, but after a bit, Jay asked Dan if he would like to break away and come to his cabin.

Dan was a virgin, but in the weeks before the cruise, he had masturbated constantly to the same fantasy.  He would meet a handsome boy on the ship and they would have sex together.  Sometimes when he came, the handsome boy was shooting in his mouth, and other times he was shooting in the other boy’s mouth.  Other times they were cumming in each other’s virgin asses.  He couldn’t help praying that his fantasy was coming true.  It was.  Jay was as gay as Dan, but he was no virgin.  An older school chum had taken him under his wing, and “broken” him in.  Jay had no idea if Dan was gay, and if he would have sex with him, but he intended to try to bed him anyway.

They entered Jay’s cabin and Jay locked the door.  “Wanna fool around?” he asked.

Dan wasn’t sure what he meant exactly, but he hoped it was sex play.  “Sure,” he answered.

Jay smiled and started shedding his clothes.  Dan was a little surprised but he did likewise.  The boys were naked in no time and hard as rocks.  They were nearly full grown, and both their cocks were uncut and about six inches hard.  Dan was ever so slightly thicker.  They both had brown hair and brown eyes, and both were surprised that they each had as much pubic hair as any adult male either had ever seen.

It was obvious to Jay that he would be taking the initiative.  He enveloped Dan in his arms, pressed their hard cocks together and started to kiss him with lots of tongue.  For a moment Dan was frozen.  He nearly swooned, but he got hold of himself and started to respond.  Jay led his student to the bed and lay down on top of him.  He started to descend down Dan’s body.  He kissed everywhere and suckled Dan’s nipples until Dan began to cry with delight.  He took his sweet time, and finally started to lick Dan’s balls, his cock shaft, and finally, after what seemed like hours, he took Dan’s cock into his mouth.  His tongue went to work, and Dan knew he was cumming.  He wanted to warn Jay, but all he could do was moan and whimper.  Nonetheless, Jay had enough experience to know that Dan was cumming, and he was prepared to swallow every drop.

They lay side by side for awhile catching their breaths.  Then Jay said, “Suck me now please.”  With some minor instructions from Jay, Dan tried to repeat everything Jay had done, right down to swallowing his cum.  Afterwards they each took separate showers.  The shower in the small cabin was barely big enough for one, much less two people no matter how close they got to each other. 

After they dressed, Jay opened one of his suitcases.  From a side pocket he took out a box of condoms and a tube of lube.  “These are for next time,” he explained.  Dan was speechless.  All he could do was grin, and give Jay a wet, slobbery kiss.

During the week of the cruise the two boys had oral and anal sex more times altogether than Dan was to have in all the following years until he met Ellen.  When the cruise ended, both boys knew they would never see each other again.  They lived half a continent apart.  They said goodbye and never even took each other’s home addresses or E Mails.

“A penny for your thoughts,” Ellen said, interrupting Dan’s reverie.  “We’re next in line,” she informed him. 

After going through security, the next long line was where they checked in to be given their room keys, and where they would register their credit card.  While waiting their turn, Dan continued his reveries.

He met Ellen in their first year of college.  She was the first woman who ever aroused any sexual emotion in him.  The first time he danced with her (a slow dance) he had to pull back because he was erecting.  His mind went into overdrive.  He suddenly and foolishly believed he could fight his gay tendencies.  He was almost delirious, and without thinking he pressed hard into Ellen, rubbing his erection against her belly.  Before he had a chance to exhibit regret, she responded by rubbing harder against him.  They had sex that night, and all through their college years.  Dan was totally unaware that in the heat of passion, he imagined that Ellen was Jay.  He didn’t even realize that he didn’t love Ellen, but since he was able to perform sexually with her, he deceived himself into believing that he could now live happily ever after as a heterosexual. 

They agreed not to get married until Dan got a job.  He had majored in finance, and right out of college he was recruited by a major corporation which was listed on the NYSE.  The HR officer made it clear to him that after a year of service and experience, the firm would pay for him to earn his MBA.  If he failed at it, he would be out of a job.  Dan was an excellent student with a high IQ, and he wasn’t worried a bit.

The ship’s check-in clerk gave them two key cards to their stateroom and informed them that the rooms were still being prepared.  It would probably be another two hours before they could occupy the room.  She hoped their luggage would be delivered before dinner.  She suggested they go up to the buffet on the eleventh deck for brunch or lunch.  They spent the next few hours eating and getting settled in their cabin.  Dan had splurged for a room with a balcony.  They were given a life boat drill that afternoon, and finally they found themselves dressing for dinner, without ever having had a chance to explore the ship.

There were two dinner seatings, and they chose the late seating.  After dinner they could go directly to the theater for the nightly show.  The first night, they stopped at the maitre d’s station and showed their key card which had the number of their table.  A waiter took them to their seats.  There were two other couples at their table and both were honeymooners.  The cruise line had done their homework.

Within minutes Dan realized that one couple had no interest in being friendly or socializing.  They didn’t even introduce themselves.  The other couple fairly gushed over Dan and Ellen.  In seconds Dan knew that Kate and Ben Slocum were from San Diego, and had been married the same day as he and Ellen.  Dan and Ellen were from Dallas, and given the time difference, the two couples figured out that the wedding ceremonies had begun at the exact same time.   Their staterooms were on the same deck, about four cabins apart.

Before the entrée was served Ben and Dan agreed that since they were on their honeymoon, they would treat their wives to dinner, at least one evening, at one of the five star restaurants aboard the ship.  Not that the passenger dining room wasn’t excellent, but it would be an extra celebration for the honeymooners.

The next morning found the ship docked in Key West, FL, the first port-o-call.  Dan and Ben had agreed to meet for breakfast at 8 AM.  Dan and Ellen knocked on Kate and Ben’s door at exactly the appointed hour.  Kate opened the door and said that she needed another minute.  She looked a bit disheveled, and Dan grinned to himself.

After breakfast they went ashore.  Immediately the two women started exploring the many boutiques with their husbands in tow.  At most of the stores Ben and Dan stayed outside and chatted while their wives shopped.

“When we get back on the ship let’s make reservations at the five star steak house for Tuesday evening.  We have a whole day at sea that day so it will be something to look forward to,” Ben said.

Dan nodded in agreement. 

Nobody was hungry for lunch, but they stopped and had a Margarita at one of the many bars on the main drag.  After lunch, the ladies continued their shopping and the men made up to meet them at 4 PM at a certain corner.  That would give them plenty of time to return to the ship.

When the ladies left and they were alone, Dan was certain that he heard Ben mumble under his breath “Good riddance.”  He didn’t attach any significance to the remark, and assumed that Ben was just not a shopper.  He wasn’t either.

“Let’s fall into one of these bars,” Ben suggested.  “I’ll buy you a real drink.”

“What’s a real drink?” Dan asked.

“Anything except a Margarita.”

They went into the first bar they came to and found a quiet table.  A handsome young man came over and took their orders.  They both ordered a scotch and soda. 

“That kid’s as queer as a three dollar bill,” Ben observed.  Dan cringed.

“You realize that we have gone into a gay bar, don’t you?” Dan asked.

“Yeah, I thought so.  Does it bother you?  I’m OK with it?”

“It’s fine with me.”

They hadn’t sat opposite each other but rather at right angles so that they both had a view of their surroundings, and neither faced a wall.  Dan felt Ben’s knee touching his.  He decided not to make a thing of it, and didn’t move his knee away. 

When the waiter served them, he asked if he should run a tab or would they like a bill.  Dan was shocked when Ben said to run a tab.  They had nearly three hours before they had to meet their wives and Dan did not hold his liquor well.  He decided to sip his drink very slowly.

A half hour later Dan definitely had a buzz on, and wasn’t thinking straight (pun intended) so when Ben put his hand on his knee, he put his on Ben’s thigh.

“Look at those two guys over there,” Dan directed Ben’s attention to the bar.  Two middle aged men were sucking tongue, and Ben remarked, “They’re a   little long in the tooth to be doing that.”

“It’s making me hot,” Dan said, and he moved his hand further up Ben’s thigh.  “I guess what we’re doing is all right since we’re in a gay bar,” Dan slurred.

“If we go back to the ship now and have a little play time, we’ll still have time to meet the girls at four,” Ben said.  As he said it, he went to the waiter, slipped him some money and looked at Dan.  Dan had not hesitated.  He was right behind Ben.  They went to Ben’s room and undressed as fast as they could.  Immediately they fell into a sixty-nine position, and began sucking like two old pros, or at least, young pros.  They didn’t even have time to notice that they were both uncut, and when erect Ben was about eight inches and Dan was about seven, but he was much thicker.

When they came, they spurted generously in each other’s mouths.  Afterward they lay side by side playing with each other’s cocks and keeping an eye on the time.  After a long silence Dan confessed.  “That was so good,” he said.  “I’m gay, Ben, but I got married because I was able to perform with Ellen and I was afraid of living gay.  Did I make a mistake?”

“If you made a mistake I made the same one.  It’s too late for me.  Kate’s pregnant.  If you can still get out of this, use condoms and divorce her.”

“Can’t!  It’s too late for me too.”

That struck Ben as very funny and he broke out laughing.  Now Dan got hysterical and couldn’t stop laughing himself.

“Do we have time for a good fuck?” Dan asked.

“You betcha.”

They made love twice more, in St. Thomas and in St. Maartens.  They used the same ploy.  They shopped with their wives until noon.  Then they made up to meet somewhere at 4 PM, and they rushed back to the ship.  Neither one was particularly scared of getting caught, but they got away with it anyway.  This time the couples exchanged addresses.  The women wrote each other for a time, but eventually it stopped.  The same was true of the men.  Eventually they lost touch.

Neither had any more children after the one each woman was carrying on her honeymoon.  Neither marriage was ideal.  Sex was engaged in by diminishing amounts until eventually it ended altogether.  Both men were OK with it because they sought clandestine relief in the arms of a line of unknown male tricks.

When their children were a bit shy of their twentieth birthdays (both were sons in college, and no longer lived at home) Dan had to make a business trip to San Diego.  He had never stopped thinking about Ben and he often wanted to contact him, but he always thought better of it.

Before the trip, however, he googled Ben Slocum.  He found several in the San Diego area, but only one with a wife named Katherine and a son named Bradley.  But the best was that the Ben he found was the only one who was the right age.

He arrived in San Diego in mid morning, and went directly to his hotel to check in.  After lunch he went to his firm’s local office to get filled in on the essentials of his meeting the next morning with the client.  With nothing else to do until the meeting, he returned to his hotel.  It was only 4 PM, and he noted with a sly smile that 4 PM was always the time that he and Ben reconnected with their wives.

He waited until 6 PM to try to call Ben.  He figured he would be home from work by then.  The phone rang four times, and Dan prepared himself to leave a message.  Just as the fourth ring was ending, the handset was picked up and a cheery voice said, “Hello.”

It was a good thing that Dan was sitting.  He knew that voice immediately.  It was as young a voice as he remembered.  His knees grew week.  Now he had doubts for the first time.  What if Ben didn’t remember him?  It would kill him.

He hesitated so long that Ben asked, “Is anyone there?”

“Yes, yes,” Dan said quickly.  “It’s Dan Spenser.  I hope you remember me.  We met on our mutual honeymoon cruise.”

After a long silence, Ben said, “Oh my God, Dan.  Of course I remember you.  Do you know how often I wanted to find you and get together?  But I was afraid.  I think of you all the time.  Where are you man?”

“I’m in San Diego on business.  I’m staying at The Hilton.  Do you think we could meet and say hello?”

“Have you had dinner?”

“Not yet.”

What room are you in?”

“208.”

“Stay there.  I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“Bring protection.”

When Ben arrived, Dan was wearing a robe with nothing on underneath.  He let Ben in, and for a moment they just stared at each other.  They each insisted that the other hadn’t changed a bit.  It wasn’t true, but so what?  After a short, awkward hesitation they fell into each other’s arms and kissed passionately.

“How long can you stay?” Dan asked.

Ben smiled.  “All night if you’d like.  Kate and I divorced several years ago, and my son is in a college miles away.”

“I’m a widower, Ben.  Ellen died of breast cancer two years ago.  My kid’s in college also.”

If either of them was hungry and really wanted dinner, the pangs were soon gone with the fantastic, hot sex that followed.  Dan dropped his robe, and Ben undressed quicker than Superman.  Their hard cocks were just as beautiful as each man remembered.  At first they just kissed and fondled each other.  They both believed that nothing felt better than someone else’s cock in the palm of your hand.  Finally they got into bed, and assumed a sixty-nine position, and devoured each other.  Just a few deft strokes of each tongue got them both gushing multiple heavy spasms into each other’s mouths. 

“I’m not clock watching this time,” Ben said as he caught his breath, “but I’ll need more time to recover this time so I can fuck you.   I needed no time at all nearly twenty-one years ago.  Maybe we should go have dinner, and then return after we’ve eaten.”  He leaned over and began to devour Dan with hot, passionate, lots of tongue, kisses.

They celebrated with filet mignon steaks, and finally, when they came down from their high, Ben said, “You know, Babe, I’d like to go on a cruise.  This time it would be just the two of us.”

“Great idea,” Dan beamed.  My company’s busy sales season is winding down and I could get away anytime next month.  Do you want me to make the arrangements or will you?”

“I’ll do it.  Did you know that I am a published author?  I work at home, and make my own hours.  I can get away anytime you do.  In fact, I could even move if I wanted to, like to some ungodly place like Dallas.”

Wow.  Dan was flabbergasted.  Ben would relocate for him, if he asked.  “Do you write under your own name?  I don’t recall ever seeing anything you wrote,” Dan inquired.

“You probably would never have read my stuff.  I write male erotica under the name, Peter Banger.”

Dan’s eyes lit up.  “Don’t underestimate yourself.  I’ve read a lot of your stuff, maybe all of it.  I had many a pleasant jerk off session with your books, and I stained more than a few pages.”

“That’s terrific.  You know what?  After dinner, why don’t you help me research my next book?”

They spent every night of Dan’s business trip together.  When they came up for air occasionally, they booked a cruise leaving on the fifteenth day of the following month from Port Everglades.  It had the same itinerary as their honeymoon cruise, and they chose that trip for nostalgic reasons.  They even had time to book flights from Dallas and San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale.  At the end of Dan’s stay they timidly discussed the possibility of Ben relocating to Dallas.  Little by little the timid possibility grew stronger and stronger, and they began to make plans for its actually happening.

“Does your son know that you are gay?” Ben asked Dan.  “Is this going to be a big shock to him?”

“Not at all.  He came home from college unexpectedly one day and found me in bed with one of my fuck buddies.  I mean, former fuck buddies,” he smiled at Ben.  “So I came out to him.  I even admitted that I was gay when I married his late mother, and you know what he said?  He said that he was glad I did, because otherwise he wouldn’t be here.  Then he gave me a big hug, and let me finish my session with Teddy.  Afterwards the three of us went out to dinner together.  Can you believe it?  I still can’t.  We have actually been closer, almost like buddies, since the incident.  How about you?  Does your son know?”

“I’ve never told him, so I don’t know if he suspects or not.  Anyway, there’s something I need to tell you.  One of the reasons I would like to relocate to Dallas is that my son is a junior at the University of Texas in Dallas.  Don’t ask me why he chose that school, except that his best friend was going there.  Then his friend dropped out early in the first semester.  I thought Brad would transfer back to a local school, but he told me he had made good friends there, and he wanted to stay.  He said that he might even want to settle in Dallas.”

“That’s incredible,” Dan said.  “My son goes to the same school.  I wonder if they know each other.  I’ll have to ask next time I speak to Kenny.” 

After Brad and his buddy Tim got settled in their dorm room at UT, they locked the door, and fell into each other’s arms.  “No more sneaking around,” Brad whispered in Tim’s ear.  “We can make love as often as we want to without fear of being caught.”

“How great is that?” Tim responded.

After a couple of hours of intense love making, the two young men dressed and went to explore the campus.  As they left their room they literally bumped into another young student just leaving the room next door.  He apologized and then he stuck out his hand.  “I’m Ken Spencer,” he said. 

Brad shook his hand and said, “Nice to meet you Ken.  I’m Brad Slocum and this is my room mate Tim Harley.  No relation to the bike family.”  Tim didn’t even bother to shake Ken’s hand.

“Let’s get going,” he said to Brad.

“See ya around,” Brad said to Ken as he and Tim left the dorm.  Ken returned to his car to retrieve some more of his belongings.

A few weeks later, Ken was just leaving the library, when he saw Brad poring over a book, and making copious notes.  He went over to say hello.  The two men nodded at each other, and Brad told Ken to hold up as he was getting ready to leave also.  They went to the cafeteria together for dinner.  Both men came to the same realization at the same time.  During the meal, they became aware that they had never engaged in a conversation with another guy with such ease.  Words and ideas just flew out of them.  By the time dinner was over, they were good friends and knew all about each other, except the important fact that they were both gay.  But each in his own way was trying to figure out how the other would feel about having a gay friend.

Ken never went out during the week, but it was Friday night and he decided to ask Brad if he was free that evening.

“Yeah, I am.  Why are you asking?”

“I thought that you and Tim might want to go to a nice bar and grill I know of.  It’s right near the campus.”

Brad’s face fell.  He looked like he might cry.

“What’s the matter?” Ken asked.

“Tim met someone in his first class on the first day of the semester.  I guess they started a torrid affair, because Tim didn’t sleep a single night in our room after that.  Then one day I came from class and found him packing up.  He looked terrible.  He said he was sorry, and told me a pretty sad tale.  He and his new friend had unprotected sex together, and last night, the friend admitted that he had been HIV positive for a couple of years.  Tim was going home to decide on his future, which was certainly not going to be as expected.”  Now Brad did begin to cry.

Ken was stunned.  He didn’t know what to say.  Finally he blurted out, “So Tim is gay then.  Good thing you never had sex with him.”

“I had plenty of sex with him, but it was all before he stupidly exposed himself.  I loved him, the bastard, but obviously I was just a fuck buddy to him,” Brad confessed.  He started to sob harder, and Ken took him in his arms.  Brad rested his wet face on Ken’s shoulder.

Ken whispered in his ear, “So let me take you out tonight without that bastard.  I think I know how I can make you feel better.  FYI, I’m gay also.  Brad didn’t, or couldn’t, say anything so he just hugged Ken as hard as he could.

Ken took Brad to a gay bar and grill that evening.  They hardly spoke a word, but they kept looking at each other and smiling.  They danced together and smiled some more, and then they went back to Brad’s room and fucked themselves into next year.

After some weeks passed, Brad told Ken that he had informed his father that he wanted to stay in Dallas after he finished school.  Ken was delighted. 

Early in their junior year, Ken said that he had something to tell Brad, but Brad had to swear to keep it a secret just between them.  Brad readily agreed.

Remember I went home last weekend because it was my father’s birthday.  Well, I caught him in bed with another guy.  He told me that he has been gay all his life.  He was so scared at how I would react that I just acted like it was no big deal, and I took him and his friend out to dinner for Dad’s birthday.  I left him pretty stupefied.”

“Shut the fuck up,” was all Brad could say.

“I’d like to come out to him, and I want you with me, but I have to decide how and when.  What do you think?”

“I told my Dad I wouldn’t come home for Thanksgiving because it was too big a trip for a few short days.  I agreed to come home for Christmas.  What say you get me an invitation to your house for Thanksgiving, and we spring it on him then?”

“I hope he takes it as well as I did when I found out he was gay. He’s on a business trip right now…coincidentally in San Diego.  I’ll talk to him about it Sunday night when he gets home.”

For the next several hours, Brad kept repeating over and over, “Wow! Your dad is gay. I can’t believe it. Wow!”

When Ken called home on Sunday night, even before he could tell Dan that he had invited a school chum for Thanksgiving, Dan said, “Me first son.  I have some wonderful news.  At least I hope it will be as wonderful news for you as it is for me.”

“OK Pop, shoot.”

“I reconnected with an old friend on my business trip.  He’s planning on moving to Dallas so we can be together.  And next month we are going on a cruise together.  Please give me your blessing, Kenny.  I am so happy, really happy, for the first time in my life.”

“That’s great news Dad.  Of course, you have my blessing, and I’m very happy for you.  I can’t wait to meet my step-father.”

“Thank you, Son.  Now what was your big news?”

“Not as big as yours.  I have a friend who lives too far away to go home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I was wondering if I could ask him to join us for Thanksgiving.”

“Of course you can.  Won’t I see you before then?”

“Maybe.  I’m not sure.  Classes keep me so busy.”

“Well, if you get a chance before I leave on the cruise, let me know.  I love you, Son.”  After he hung up, Dan realized that he forgot to ask Ken if he knew Bradley Slocum.  It would have to wait until next time.

The boys then really got caught up in study and mid-term exams, and gave little thought to coming out to their fathers.  At least Ken had a plan, but they were yet to discuss Brad’s situation.

Before they knew it, Dan called Ken to say he was leaving on the cruise and he would see him when he returned just before Thanksgiving.  Coincidentally Brad got a text message from his father saying that he was going to be away for a week or so, and not to call.

“It’s funny,” Brad admitted to Ken, “with both our fathers out of reach, I feel kind of lost and abandoned.”

Yeah,” Ken agreed.

When the boys got off from school for the Thanksgiving weekend, they went to Ken’s house.  It was the day before Dan was due to return.  They put Brad’s stuff in Ken’s room, since they intended on coming out the moment Dan returned.  There was little Dan could say to Ken, who had found his father in the arms of another man.

That night they made love in Ken’s bed.  Brad’s tongue did not miss a spot on Ken’s body, until Ken had to beg him to take him and bring him to climax. 

“Patience,” Brad proclaimed, and he proceeded to rim his lover.  His tongue went so far up Ken’s ass, he thought he might actually reach Ken’s prostate. 

“Please, Ken begged, I need relief,” so Brad went down on him just as Dan entered the room.  This time it was the father who caught the son.

When the cruise ship got into Ft. Lauderdale, Dan called his office.  He and Ben had intended to stay the day and night in the port city and fly home in the morning.  But there was an urgent matter in Dan’s office requiring his immediate attention.   They were both able to take earlier flights home, for a fee of course.  At least they were able to cancel their hotel reservation without penalty.  The cab let Dan off in front of his house.  The house was dark, and when he heard noises in Ken’s room, he went upstairs to investigate.

“What the fuck,” he proclaimed as he saw what was going on.  The two men jumped out of bed and tried to grab their underwear to cover up,

“It’s a little late for that, boys.  Let it be,” Dan said trying to relieve the tension.  He could imagine now how Ken felt when he caught his own father going at it.  Dan sat down on Ken’s bed and said, “I guess you guys have something you would like to tell me.”

Even though he was naked, Ken put his arms around his father and hugged him.  “Meet Brad, Dad.  He’s my lover.  I’m just as gay as you are, but I wanted to tell you in my own time, this week, in fact.  I hate that you found out this way.”

Dan hugged his naked son back.  “Hell, I guess it’s a case of like father, like son.  Well, guys I am bushed and I need a shower badly, so you two carry on.  I need to go to the office early tomorrow, so we’ll talk when I get home in the evening.”

After Dan left them alone, Brad noted, “Well, honey, that’s one half the hurdles over with.   Now I have to tell my father.”

When Dan got home the next evening, he found the dining room table set for three, and pleasant aromas coming from the kitchen.  He made a bee line to the kitchen and found both boys busy cooking.  They were both wearing gym shorts and nothing else, and Dan swelled with pride at the man his son had become, and at his new son-in-law as well.

“Wash up and get comfortable, Dad,” Ken said.  Dinner will be ready in about five minutes.

“OK,” Dan said, “but remember, tomorrow morning we have to get up really early and buy the fixings for Thanksgiving dinner.  We only have one day to shop and cook.”

Dan got himself as comfortable as his sons.  He put on a pair of gym shorts, but modestly he also put on a tank top shirt.  It actually made him look sexier than the bare chested boys. 

As soon as they were settled and eating their appetizers (grapefruit halves) Dan asked, “So Brad, tell me about yourself, and I want to know how you two found each other.”

“Well, sir….”

“Please drop the sir.  I’m Dan, or if it won’t kill you, Dad.”

“Sure Dad,” Brad exaggerated the Dad, and Dan felt all warm inside.

“My name’s Brad and I’m from San Diego.” Those were Brad’s last words for awhile.  Dan dropped his fork and turned white.

“What’s wrong Dad?” Ken asked.

“What’s your last name Brad?”

“Slocum, why?”

“Is your dad Benjamin Slocum?”

“Yes, do you know him?”

Dan didn’t answer the question, but he said, “Give me a couple of minutes, boys.  I’ll be right back.”  He ran into his bedroom and called San Diego.  He returned a few minutes later and he resumed exactly where things had been left off.

“Yes,” he said to Brad.  I do know your dad.  We met on a cruise ship on our honeymoons.  We corresponded for a couple of years and then lost touch.  Please, continue to tell me about yourself.  This is such a small world story.”

“There’s not much to tell.  I had a normal childhood until my folks divorced a few years ago.  My mom met a Canadian, married him, and moved to Vancouver, so I took up residence with my dad.  Ken and I met in college.  Our rooms were next to each other.  My original room mate left in the middle of his first semester and we moved in together.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Brad gave Ken a kiss on the cheek.

“I am so happy for both of you,” Dan said.  When the boys saw a tear in his eye, they both embraced him.”

“How about you Dad?  You told me that you met someone on a business trip and that he was moving to Dallas.  We want to hear all about him.”

Dan lied.  “It isn’t a sure thing between us.  When I know for sure that he is moving and we are committed, I promise you, you guys will be the first to know.”

The next morning when they were shopping, Ken remarked several times that Dan was buying too much.  Dan lied again.  “I invited a co-worker who has no family in Dallas, but he wasn’t certain if he could make it.  He said he’d let me know this evening.  I want to have enough if he does come.”

“That evening, the phone rang during dinner, and after speaking for a few minutes, Dan announced that his friend was coming after all.  Thanksgiving morning dawned cool and cloudless.  The three men were each assigned different jobs and set about doing their tasks.  In no time at all, the dining room looked festive and inviting.  The house smelled like a gourmand heaven from the aromas emanating from the kitchen.

“When will your friend be here,” Ken asked Dan when all the preparation was completed. 

“He should arrive in about an hour.  I suggest we shower and dress for the occasion.”  They all bounded upstairs.  Dan showered in the master bathroom by himself, but Ken and Brad not only shared the guest shower, they enjoyed a quickie as well.

After their showers, they busied themselves with last minute this and that, and then the doorbell rang.  Dan yelled, “Ken, I need you in the kitchen a minute.  Brad would you get the door please?”

“Sure,” the boys answered in unison.  Brad opened the door, and there stood his father with a shit eaten grin on his face.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Brad yelled as he fell into his father’s arms.

“Let’s go inside and I’ll explain,” Ben said.  He picked up his carry on bag, and they went into the house.  Dan and Ken came out of the kitchen and as they did Brad said, “Ken, I’d like you to meet my father.  I know that he and Dan already know each other.”

“Yes, we do,” Ben said.  He and Dan fell into each other’s arms and kissed passionately, leaving Ken and Brad with their jaws hanging open.  When finally they separated, Dan said, “Boys, this is the guy I told you about; the one who is moving to Dallas so we can all be a family together.

Ken and Brad both gave out a weird squeal, and all four joined in a group hug.  It was the best Thanksgiving any of them had ever had.

Posted: 02/17/12