John Gets What He Needs II
By: Hogan
(Copyright 2007 by the Author)
Editor: hs

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

Chapter 1
“A Summer to Remember”

The unusually hot July day was bearing down on Evan and Riley as he worked in his garden. July was supposed to be hot, but Evan couldn’t remember it ever being this miserably hot, and so far north in Indiana for such a long period. Thoughts of global warming crept through his mind as he weeded the black-eyed Susans. When anything was even a bit off with the weather these days, it was blamed on global warming. Evan had no idea if that was what was causing the unbearable heat, but he’d be glad when it finally turned to fall and cooled down.  Riley, being the smart German shepherd he was, lay under a dwarf ornamental tree that gave the garden some shaded protection from the glaring sun in the afternoon. Evan was wearing what John called his 'Gilligan hat', which he usually wore when he was outside in the garden pruning and weeding the flower beds. John had bought it for him as a joke a few years ago, and he liked it so much that he continued to wear it.  John and Jacob would chuckle and smile at the sight him wearing it, but Evan would just ignore them and go on about his work. When you get older, sometimes you just care a lot less about what others think than you did when you were younger, Evan would remind himself, as he wore it with pride. He only knew that it kept the sun off his head and neck while he worked outside maintaining the grounds of their home, fashion was the furthest from his thoughts.

The day was quiet except for the sounds of locust mating calls and Evan, along with Riley, was the only one at home. John was at work, and Jacob was at his summer job working at a store that sold livestock feed that farmers purchased for their farms. When he was working, he got an intense daily workout. Most kids his age would complain about all the hard work he had to do and quit, but not Jacob. He was happy to get paid maintaining his body. It was his job to load the customers' purchases of multiple bags of animal feed, fertilizer and so on, and then to carry it all to their cars or trucks. He was in good shape and this was his second year working during the summer. Jacob had such a defined physique, that he and Andy were constantly comparing to see who was more muscular. Of course, his Uncle Andy had always beaten him in most areas.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking . . . that it seems just like yesterday when John and Andy had brought little Jacob home from Georgia, for the first time spending the night in their home.  That little Jacob, who'd grown up with two fathers and two uncles, had turned into a handsome, well rounded, young man despite it. He looked like a true carbon copy of John at that age, snow white hair and piercing blues eyes, and with his dad’s kind, pleasing personality. He was eighteen and a man now, and this would be the last summer he planned on working, loading bags of feed, before he was scheduled to leave for college.

Time does that to you . . . you blink and a decade or more has passed by and you don’t even realize it’s happened. People change, deaths in the family occur, and milestones come and go. You get so caught up in the now, that you don’t see it all going by.

 Jacob grew up just as all kids do. His first bicycle ride, his first date, the prom, being taught to drive, and high school graduation, all were important moments in his life, some wonderful and some painful occur and before he knew what’s happened, his journey in life had moved along.

I’ll do my best to fill you in on all the tales of the boys over the years. A lot has happened, many happy times, but not all pleasant. But so goes life … and it’s mostly all the little things that make life what it is. For the most part, the whole gang was blessed to have each other, and they always knew that family and friends were the greatest gift in life to cherish.

A cool breeze came up and Evan caught a whiff of scent from the many flowers, like lavender, spearmint and marigolds, which were blooming. The concoction of smells always reminded him of his parents and their love of the gardens he tended. He could almost hear his mom say, “I smell Heaven.” That’s something she'd always said when the scents of the blooms would perfume the large country yard, or blow into the open windows of the old late-nineteenth-century country home along with the afternoon summer breeze.

 Evan looked over at a marker that his dad had made for Tyler after he’d died, a couple years before he himself had died. The grave marker read 'Tyler, a good friend'. Tyler was buried per Evan’s request in the garden amongst a patch of coneflowers that he'd always loved to carry back to Evan’s mom in his mouth when they had their gardening chores done. Evan’s dad, Louis, agreed it was a good final resting place for his beloved dog. Evan always stripped one of the coneflowers of its leaves and stuck its long stem with a purple flower into Tyler’s mouth, so he could strut up to his mom and give it to her. It was a trick Evan had taught him as a younger dog. Riley had learned the same trick and seemed to enjoy it also. Every day the two would walk down the long drive and pick up the mail, and then Riley would carry it back to the house in his mouth. This was another chore that Tyler used to happily do, but which, now, was Riley’s job.

Fetching the morning paper was his favorite task, and some mornings when Riley was feeling spunky, he would try to tease John and not let him have the paper till he'd chase and play with him. John would openly complain about a soggy paper while reading it and sipping his morning coffee before work. But Evan knew John enjoyed the play as much as Riley did.  Sadness came over Evan, as his memories of his parents gave him mixed feelings that were still hard for him to come to terms with. His father had passed away about six years earlier of a heart attack and his mom grieved so, that she too had died in her sleep not more than a few months later. They'd been together and never apart more than a dozen times, for over fifty years. The separation was too much for her to bear.

The loss of both of Evans parents so close together was more than he could endure also . . . he went into a deep depression, and had to be hospitalized for about three months. John thought he'd lost Evan once again. He was almost in a catatonic state and was non-responsive to any stimuli. Evan’s long time Doctor, who had always treated him for his schizophrenia, had told John that it was just going to have to run its course, and to hope for the best. It was now up to Evan whether he wanted to come back. He told John that he figured it would just be a matter of time before Evan would come back to reality, and to just be patient and supportive. John never gave up, no matter how hard it was for him, going to the hospital and seeing Evan expressionless, and apparently dead to the world.

 John visited him every day, even though Evan never acknowledged his presence while he was there.  Jacob came a few times, but it was too hard on him to see his other parent in such a state. Andy and Tom wanted to visit, but John wouldn’t allow them to see Evan. He didn’t want them to see him like that, and he knew that one day soon, Evan would come back.

 After about two months, during one of his daily visits, John was talking to Evan and holding his hand, telling  him about the events he'd missed that day, when Evan squeezed his hand.  Finally and suddenly, a sign from Evan that he was returning! John was so excited that he began running down the hall shouting for the nurses to witness Evan's return. Tears of joy had streamed down his face and he kept hugging Evan and cheerfully trying to pull him out of his self-induced coma. Evan slowly improved each day till he was back to being himself.

OK… let’s just say that’s the official story Evan and everyone else were told, but only John and his doctor knew the real reason he finally became responsive again. After no change in over a two month period, Evan’s doctor thought John might try one last thing before something more drastic and damaging was tried . . . ECT treatment was planned as the next step in treating him. He told John to start yelling at Evan and to tell him how mad he was at him for leaving him . . . and that if he didn’t come back, John wouldn't return to see him, but would move on. The Doctor explained he had to be stern and demanding with Evan for it to work. John wasn’t going to go for it, but the fact that the alternative treatment would cause harm to Evan made him reconsider. After much prodding, he reluctantly agreed to begin his verbal assault on his partner, telling him everything he could think of that was going to get a reaction out of him.

The words stung John’s lips and tears fell down his face, as he yelled and began telling Evan that he wasn’t coming back to see him any longer, if he didn’t snap out of it. He even went as far as to tell him he was falling out of love with him. The words came more easily out of his mouth, as he released a mountain of tension he'd kept dammed up since this ordeal had begun. The things he said even shocked him . . . how could he say them to someone he loved so much?

 After all the stress he'd gone through, losing his friend, lover and partner again, the dam had burst and there was no stopping it now. John told Evan that Jacob would soon forget who he was if he didn’t stop this and get better and come home. He cursed him for leaving him when he needed him so badly. When he was finally finished with his verbal assault and was emotional spent, John just sat quietly next to him sobbing and ashamed as he held Evan’s hand.

 The extreme shock of what came out of John’s mouth had done its job and he began coming back slowly. First with a squeeze of John’s hand as tears ran down his face. John … with mixed feelings of both shame and hope of progress, just sat next to Evan, holding him and stroking his hair, telling him everything was going to be OK from now on. Evan then slowly, over a few weeks, was back to near-normal again. John was never sure how much Evan remembered of what he'd said to him, but Evan never said anything about the things he had felt forced to say. The story told to others of his recovery was a bit of a fib, mostly because he was so ashamed of how he'd had to shock him back to reality.  It was just a day or so later that he began speaking again. A couple of weeks later, he was well enough to return back home to John and Jacob and yes, Riley too. During the whole ordeal, Riley hardly ate and would lie at the front door every evening with his head down waiting for Evan to come home. Jacob and John tried their best to keep him pre-occupied so he wouldn’t become sickly.

 Evan’s parents left him the house in the country and a nice nest-egg to make sure he'd always be taken care of.  His brother and sister were compensated with a larger portion of money to make up for him receiving the family home. They were actually glad to let Evan have the house and keep it in the family, as required in the will. Evan and John were allowed to live in the house as long as they wanted, but couldn’t sell it. It was to stay in Evans family and be handed down from generation to generation as their country home, in memory of his parents. I think his parents knew that if he could live in the house, it would make it easier for him to continue on without them.  They also knew that John would always make sure he was taken care of when they were gone.

They eventually moved into the country home after Evan got out of the hospital and John kept the house he'd remodeled, as a rental. He was always thinking about the future, and the rental property was a good investment for when they were older and would provide them with extra income they'd need to retire with when they got old. Evan’s older brother and sister shared power of attorney over Evan’s inheritance and medical decisions. They made sure that the money was well taken care of and wouldn’t be spent foolishly.  It’s not that they didn’t trust John; it was just their way of looking out for their little brother. The courts would never recognize John and Evan’s relationship, so John couldn’t legally make decisions for Evan when he couldn’t make them himself. But, thankfully, Evan’s brother and sister always did what John or Evan asked of them, and they never questioned their need for any of the inheritance or what they did with the country home. They were just glad Evan was happy with his own family. After all, they had their own children and spouses to attend to.

Jacob loved living in the country, and their home was close enough to town that he always had plenty of friends. John always kept a tight rein on him, though, and Jacob grew up with few problems.

Anyway, to get back to the present day, Evan was finishing up in the garden that he'd planted long ago when he'd first gotten out of the hospital, and his parents had brought him home to live. It was a place he could always find peace, and Riley, like Tyler before him, was always following him around the grounds where ever he went. Tyler had died many years ago and was now a distant memory in Evan's head, replaced by Riley, and now, rarely thought of except when he would see his burial marker amongst the flowers.

Riley’s ears perked up and Evan knew he had heard someone coming up the drive. It was John coming home from work. He still worked for the phone company, but was now a salaried employee working in an office. He really and truly didn’t like it and would much rather have kept on driving a van, working outside, but the money was hard to pass up and he wanted to have enough to retire on early. He and Evan wanted to be able to live off Evan's disability, the rental income, and the interest on Evan’s inheritance, as soon as possible. John also had more than enough in the bank to put Jacob through college, and still has some left they could use towards living expenses.

That was the plan anyway. Jacob hadn’t decided what he was going to do yet. John knew he couldn’t force him to go to college if he wasn’t into it, but he was firm on the issue, and told him he had no choice in the matter. This had been an ongoing feud the two had been having for the last few months.

Evan and Riley greeted John at his truck and John grabbed Evan and gave him a big kiss and then pulled back and said, “Damn …  you stink…you've been out in the gardens sweating, haven’t you?”

“What? The hat wasn’t a dead giveaway? You’re such a sweet talker!” Evan grinned teasing him.

“OK …I had a blond moment there …  how about we take a shower together, before Jacob gets home …  and I'll show you just how romantic I can be … Is that better?” John grinned back, with his signature smirk that Evan could never resist.

“Sounds like a good plan, let’s go …. Beat you to the shower!” yelled Evan as he took off, leaving John at the truck.

They raced into the house with Riley galloping behind them.  Evan told Riley to go lay down and he did as instructed after they got into the living room.

The two began stripping off their clothes and left them strewn all over the house, including the stairways on the way to the upstairs master-bath. Not much had changed in their relationship. After all these years the two were still in love and inseparable.  Jacob kidded them all the time, saying he didn’t know where one started and the other left off. Just as John had once told him over the phone during that trip to Georgia to get Jacob, ‘When they were apart from each other, that he'd felt like half of him was missing.’

Both …  finally naked, made it into the shower and embraced each other under the cascading water, and ran their hands up and down each other’s bodies. John grabbed Evan, spun him around, pressed him up against the shower wall and entered him from behind. Evan gasped in pleasure as he always did whenever his big lover was deep inside him. He was feeling a bit cocky that day and proceeded to grab Evan’s hands and hold him against the wall as he roughly slid in and out of him. The whole time, John bit and nibbled on Evan’s ear and shoulder, showing him who was in charge. Evan was in ecstasy, being dominated. It was something he'd always loved about his big, blond lover. John always knew how to take charge, even back when being with another guy was still new to him.

John wrapped one arm around Evan’s smooth chest and pulled him back onto himself, then took his other hand and began stroking Evans hard cock as he slid in and out of his now sore ass. John began grunting and sliding in harder, as he was close to cumming . . . this always brought Evan over the edge, and he squirted his load into the spray of the shower, with John right behind him, pumping his load into his lover’s hole. Both panting hard, they kissed and began soaping each other up to finish their shower.

Jacob arrived home and entered the house only to be greeted by Riley with the usual display of excitement. After giving his buddy some quick attention, he saw the clothes strewn on the floor and began picking them up smirking to himself. Jacob muttered the words, “Old PERVS!”  in disgust . . . living with two dads who could be such slobs at times, especially when they were 'going at it', as he would put it. OK . . . they weren’t exactly old, being in their late thirties. But the young Jacob, only eighteen years on this planet, felt like thirty-eight years was an eternity.

He continued up the stairs, picking up their clothes along the way as he reached the top of the steps and walked into the master bedroom. He threw the clothes onto the bed and could hear the sounds of the shower coming from the attached master bath which John and Evan shared. Jacob got the trademark smirk on his face, something he inherited from his dad and grandma. He then rushed into the master bath and began yelling at the two figures behind the frosted glass about picking up after themselves, just as his two dads would've done if circumstances had been reversed.

John yelled right back at Jacob, with a deafening volume, to get out of his room, with only the sound of Jacob laughing as he walked out. John looked at Evan, seeing a smile on his face and said, “I swear, that boy just likes to torment us sometimes!”

“Leave him alone, he’s just having some fun. He knows exactly how to get you riled up when he wants to, is all,” Evan laughed.

“Hey, it’s not easy having a damn teenager these days! What happened to that sweet little boy that always looked up at his dad? … I miss him.” John frowned.

“They grow up, so ease up on him … he’s a good kid. You have been a good dad and done a great job so far. You've just been a bit rough on him lately about college,” Evan said, trying to reassure John on his parenting skills.

“Yeah, I know he is. He’s just a bit too head-strong for his own good, though.  His two uncles and grandma have spoiled him too much, is the problem.”

Evan smiled and laughed quietly to himself as he left the shower to dry off, saying, “Oh … I know where he got being ‘strong headed’ from, and it’s not because he was spoiled by them.”

“Very funny, smart-ass! You always take his side, and I’m the one left looking like the mean one,” John retorted, as he, too, left the shower, drying his large frame off.

Evan grinned and kissed John and then said, “Only when you’re wrong and being a stubborn ass.”

John kissed him back, then smacked his still-bare ass, and smirked at him without a remark. John knew Evan was speaking the truth and he got the message he was trying to tell him.

The two got dressed and went downstairs to find Jacob at the dinner table with a scowl on his face. Evan thought to himself that Jacob looked a lot like John did before his last growth spurt . . . a lot like the sketch he'd made of John so many years ago that was, to this day, hanging on their bedroom wall.

Jacob looked up at the two and announced, “I’m starving…. what’s for dinner?”

Evan raised his hand and tousled Jacobs blond hair, then kissed him on the head and said, “How about pizza . . . ? It's Friday.”

“That sounds great, Ev . . . Dad how about it?” Jacob said questioning his dad.

“Sounds fine by me,” John said, as he sat down at the table beside Jacob. 

“Sorry about teasing you two in the shower earlier, Dad. I just couldn’t resist the temptation!” Jacob said, trying his hardest not to grin at the same time.

John looked over at his son and said nothing, but gave him a look of grief. John wasn’t really even upset with Jacob for the shower thing. He was still rehashing their ongoing argument about college. Time was coming soon for him to be leaving for his first semester at Ball State in the fall and Jacob still hadn’t decided yet if he wanted to go. The two had many heated arguments lately about the subject. Jacob’s argument was that he wasn’t ready for more school and he would just be wasting their money. John’s point was that if he didn’t go to college, he wouldn’t be able to find a good paying job. This was an automobile manufacturing town, and it was uncertain whether there'd be any jobs to be had in this field in the future.

Evan could see where both points had merit and tried to stay out of it and let them work it out, but for now, he saw the argument ready to start all over again. Hoping to keep the subject buried for now, he decided to interject, “You think we should call Andy to see if he and Tom will be over for pizza, beer and maybe swimming in the pool afterwards?”

 Most Fridays and several other evenings during the hot summer months, they'd come over to swim and have dinner. The gang would all be there, and Jacob especially enjoyed the attention he got when all of them were together. Naturally, he had his two uncles' complete attention when they came to visit. He would sometimes invite his girlfriend of that week, or a few friends over to join the backyard get-together. Having two dads was as natural to him as having a mom and dad was to someone else. Jacob's friends didn’t seem to mind, either. Today’s generation seemed to be more tolerant and accepting than the previous ones. Jacobs blond hair, good looks and winning personality always helped him to make friends. Growing up having a pool didn’t hurt his social standing either. Evan's parents had made a good investment when they'd had it put in after they retired, and being in the country meant that they had plenty of privacy, with the tall cornfields surrounding their yard. Even so, a tall privacy fence enclosed the pool area, for security reasons. Grilling by the pool was a long standing tradition during the summer months. John’s mom would also come out to see her boys and mostly come to spoil her grandson. Jacob adored her and was upset for months when she moved that first year to Florida for the winter. John was so sick of  hearing from his son about how he missed seeing his grandma, and that talking on the phone just wasn’t the same, that he bought both of them a cam for their computers, giving Jacob his and sending his mom hers in the mail express. That seemed to fix the problem in John’s mind, till Evan told him Jacob was actually trying to give his dad the hint that he wanted to fly to Florida and visit his grandma and see Florida, since he'd never been there.

She would still come back to live in the summer and they would make a point to spend time together and do something special, like go to Indy or Chicago shopping. Carol always acted like it was her duty to buy him his school clothes each fall, even though John and Evan could easily afford to buy them. It was just their own special thing the two did together that became a tradition each year.

Evan picked up the phone and called Andy’s cell to make plans, so he’d know how many pizzas to order. Feeding these guys could take almost a pizza apiece to fill them up. Andy said they'd be over shortly, and that he was waiting on Tom to get home from work. The two had been roommates ever since that first year Jacob came home to live. Of course, Tom, to this day, refuses to say openly they are any more than roommates . . . they have separate rooms for show . . . but it was an unspoken truth, that everyone knew of their relationship anyway. It’s a strange arrangement they have. I'll tell you more about those two later . . . that’ll take a whole chapter in itself to explain.

“Well, it looks like it’s all set . . . they'll be here shortly. How much pizza should I order?” Evan asked John.

“Guess you better get at least six large ones, just to be safe, Ev,” John smiled.

“Yeah … you’re probably right. Jake, will you please go pick them up after I call them in?” Evan asked.

“Sure, Ev,” Jacob quickly responded.

“Thanks, Jake … you're still a good boy; I don’t care what your dad says about you when you’re not around!” Evan snickered, giving John a look.

John gave Evan one of his mad-dog stares, and then looked at Jacob and said, “He’s talking out of his ass, Jake! You know I love you, and I’m proud of what a fine young man you've turned out to be.”

Jacob smiled from ear to ear and was happy his dad wasn’t still angry with him, and hugged him as he got up to leave to go into town to pick up the pizzas. Evan smiled at the sight of the two hugging . . . and not fighting, for once. He secretly hoped neither Tom nor Andy would bring up the subject of Jacob leaving for college soon. Evan made a mental note to catch each of them alone and ask them to keep the touchy subject from tonight’s conversation. A peaceful evening with the gang was a well needed end to the miserably hot and tense week.

Jake left down the driveway to pick up the pizzas just as Tom and Andy drove up to the house. John and Riley came out the front door of the house to greet them. Evan watched from the kitchen window as he finished preparing some summer side-dishes. Tom entered the house and came into the kitchen with a sack of chips and beer, and greeted Evan with his usual, “Hey, Evan.”

“Hey, Tom, how’s it going?” Evan inquired, as he watched John and Andy in the driveway talking. Riley was trying his best to capture either one's attention as they talked.

“I can’t complain, now that the weekend is here, and Andy'll let me drink some freakin' beer without bitchin' that I drink too much on a work day,” Tom said, while rolling his eyes.

“Well, you really can’t blame him; you were going at it a bit too much there for a while,” Evan said, while still looking out the window.

“I know, I was just bitchin. If it wasn’t for Andy, I don’t think I’d have made it this far, sometimes,” Tom said, with another eye roll and a goofy grin.

“Hey, Tom … do me a favor.”

“Sure … What, Beavis?”

“Well … first blow me … and second … Please try not to bring up anything about college tonight. John and Jacob are still arguing over it. They've made up, for now, and I’d like to keep it that way for the rest of the evening,” Evan said, nervously, while trying to get all the beer that Tom had brought into the fridge.

Tom just gave Evan a look and paused, like something was on his mind, and then looked away from him quickly and said, “Sure . . . no problem.”

 Tom then did something he rarely ever did . . . he came up to Evan and gave him a hug, and then slugged him on the arm, and left the kitchen without another word, to go out in the back yard by the pool. Finding a lounge chair, he got in it and popped open his first beer for the week, and lay back, relaxing, like it had been a rough day for him, also. Evan knew right away something was up, and as usual, Evan thought, Tom was horrible at hiding anything that was in that complicated brain of his. Andy, John and Riley left the driveway and walked to the back yard, entering through the back gate. They joined Tom and got their own loungers as Evan came outside with beers in tow for the rest of them. Andy greeted Evan with his usual hug and 'Hello', and they all settled down, drinking their beer, and waiting for Jacob to return with dinner.

Being summer, there would still be many more hours of daylight left, and enough time to swim while it was still a hot day outside. Tom was the first to shuck off his clothes (he was wearing his trunks under his pants) and dived into the pool in a can-opener style, just enough to splash everyone sitting in their loungers. Tom came back up from under the water to survey the damage he'd done, hearing moans and cursing from the gang he'd gotten wet. In sync, Andy, John and Evan shucked off their clothes down to their trunks and dived into the deep end of the pool. Andy went after Tom and begun dunking him under, for splashing them with their clothes still on. Evan was laughing at the two, as John grabbed Evan in the water and brought him up to him and gave him a kiss.

“Thanks for earlier in the kitchen,” John said, looking into Evan’s eyes.

“What are you talking about?” Evan coyly asked.

“Thanks for always trying to keep peace around here. I know what you were doing with me and Jacob earlier. I love you Ev,” John said, as he kissed Evans soft, wet lips once again.

 Before Evan could respond, John wrapped his arms around him as he brought him under water. John released Evan, and he came up gasping for air and coughing. John had caught him off guard, and he swallowed some of the pool water as they kissed under water. John just laughed, and wrapped his arms around him again and kissed his neck and held onto him, as both of them watched Tom and Andy wrestle around in the water, each taking turns trying to dunk the other.

 Andy was larger and much more muscular than Tom, who was no match for the macho cop. It was only in the bedroom where Tom was the dominant one, and he knew it very well. Andy had always kept himself in perfect condition. The Marine in him would never leave, it seemed. After all these years, he still kept the jar-head haircut, too. John, on the other hand, let his grow a bit longer, at Evan’s request. Evan had asked him years ago if he'd let it grow out just a bit longer, so he could pull and hold on to it  when they were having their spunky alone-time. John was reluctant to, until he heard Evan's reasoning, and then just gave him that trademark smirk and kissed him, calling him a “Perv”.

The four of them were cooling off in the refreshing water, and making so much noise splashing around and dunking each other that they didn’t even hear Jacob come home with the pizzas. Jacob just shook his head at the sight of them all acting like kids and loudly protested, “Hey, thanks for waiting for me, guys! Get out of the pool and get some pizza while it’s still hot!”

“Alright . . . I’m starved!” is all Tom said, as he was the first one to jump out of the pool, grab his towel and go after the food.

Andy laughed and said, “Hurry up, guys . . . get out of the pool and get some food, before Tom eats it all!”

“Blow me, bitch!” Tom shouted between bites, being a man of few words.

Everyone chuckled as they got dried off, and each snagged his own hot slice. The gang got comfortable and sat and ate and drank beer and caught each other up on what their week or day had been like. The boys' lives were all completely intertwined with each other. Each could always rely on the others for whatever life brought, and they were always together for the good times, too.

 Riley sprang up as he heard the gate open and close, and ran to greet Carol, John’s mom, walking towards them.

“How are my boys doing? Hope there’s a slice left for me . . . ?” Carol said, as she smiled and petted Riley.

“There’s plenty as always, Mom,” John said, as he gave his mom a hug after Jacob got to her first. “We got more than we could eat because we knew you’d probably stop by.”

Evan greeted Carol with a hug and a kiss and Andy and Tom said their usual Hello's.

“Thomas … will you be a dear and go to my car . . . there’s a case of beer and some wine that need to be put in the fridge to chill,” Carol said, smiling.

Hearing Carol call him 'Thomas', which he hates, made Andy laugh. Tom glared at him as he walked away to go fetch the beer and wine.

After John saw that Tom was gone out of ear shot, he asked his mom, “Why do you call him that? You know he hates it.”

“Because that’s just what moms do. Right, Jonathon Grant Clark?” Carol said, as she smirked at her son.

John just gave her a look as Jacob started laughing at his grandma’s sense of humor.

“What you laughing at, Jacob Spencer?” John loudly asked, as he looked at his son laughing at him.

Evan piped in and looked sternly at John and said, “So what’s wrong with 'Spencer'? You did give him my middle name, after all.”

“Just kiddin' … sheesh, can’t we all just leave it alone and eat in peace?” John said, as he walked off, hoping Evan would forget he'd said anything.

Evan began smiling at Jacob, and tousled his hair like he always did. To Evan, this was just as good as a hug, and Jacob had learned from an early age that this was one of  many little quirks he had.

Tom returned after putting the extra beer in the fridge, and grabbed a slice of pizza, as Carol came up and gave him a kiss on the cheek and thanked him.

“You don’t have to thank me Carol; I should be thanking you for the beer, because I'll be drinking most of it,” Tom said, and smiled looking Andy. Tom knew, after all these years that she'd finally warmed up to him, because she liked to tease him. Deep down, he knew she loved him as much as the rest of the gang. A year ago, Andy rushed Tom to the hospital, because his appendix burst in the middle of the night, and she was there at his bed side before his own mother was. She stayed the whole time during his surgery and recovery. Ever since that night, he knew that she no longer had ill feelings for him, and that she'd accepted him as a part of John’s family.

The pizza was half gone, and Jacob and Andy were in the water playing pool-basketball at the deep end. John, Evan, Carol and Tom were lounging, watching and drinking beer. Carol was the only one drinking wine. She preferred it, and John and Evan would also drink a good wine at special dinners, but at the pool (or during a Colts football game), it was strictly beer.

The gang relaxed and reminisced about good times . . . mostly stories of Jacob growing up. John’s mom went on about how Jacob’s childhood had gone way too fast. As everyone was having a good time, Evan noticed Riley had heard something, and watched him go to the gate to see who it was. As Riley was passing Tom, Evan heard a faint growl come from Riley and a quick quip back from Tom, “Flea bag!”

 In came Chris with some desserts, and she greeted Riley as she passed by him. Riley just watched her, and accepted her pat on the head as a pass to get into the backyard. Riley would have never let her come in if he hadn’t known her. He would've barked his head off and become agitated, if it had been a stranger at the gate. Jacob’s newer friends were always told to yell for someone to open the gate for them, because Riley wouldn’t know them. Evan didn’t want anyone to get hurt from just walking into the back yard. Being concerned about his being so protective, Evan put up many ‘Beware of Dog’ signs on the outside of the fence to warn people. To Riley, it was his territory, and he would defend it, at all costs. The only one Riley would growl at that he knew, once in a while was Tom. But to Riley’s credit, Tom deserved it, because of what he'd done to him one day early this spring. 

It had all started when Evan showed Tom how he'd taught Riley to play dead. Evan went through the trick with Riley and Tom thought it was really cool. Riley was so smart that Evan had been able to teach him to crawl along the ground while whimpering like he was hurt, then to roll over on his side, and lay still like he was dead. Well, a couple weeks later, Tom was with Riley in the front yard and he told Riley to go through the whole routine, then, instead of telling Riley to get up and then praising him, Tom just walked away and left Riley lying there, patiently waiting on the next command to get up and to get his praise for a good job.   After about ten minutes of lying in the heat, and realizing Tom had left, Riley got up, really pissed, and went looking for him. He finally found him in the backyard talking to John, as he came up behind Tom and began barking and acting like he was going to attack him. John had to yell for Evan to get Riley to stand down. The dog didn’t even register John’s commands to knock it off, and he, too, was intimidated by his weird demeanor towards Tom. When Evan came outside, he saw Tom cornered by Riley, who was acting aggressively towards him. Evan immediately told Riley to sit, and then to lie down. Riley reluctantly did what Evan commanded, but he continued to quietly growl as he watched Tom’s every move.

“What did you do to him, Tom?” Evan demanded to know.

“Me??? He came after me; I didn’t do anything to him!” Tom exclaimed.

“Tom, you must've made him mad or he wouldn’t be acting like this. What did you do?” Evan again demanded.

“OK, OK! I had him do the trick you showed me, but I left him there as a joke. I guess he didn’t think it was very funny,” Tom half-chuckled.

“Damn, Tom . . . that’s cold, man,” John said, trying not to let Riley see him laugh.

Evan just got a disgusted look on his face and told Riley to come with him into the house. As Evan walked away with Riley, he said “Tom … you know he’s is going to remember this for a while. I wouldn’t catch myself alone with him anytime soon.”

Tom looked at John, and asked nervously, “He’s kiddin' … right?”

“What do you think dumb-ass? Even you should know better than to mess with his dog,” John chuckled, as the two went into the garage to finish what they'd been doing.

So now and then, when Tom walks by Riley, sometimes you'll hear a faint growl come from him. Tom used to be a bit nervous around him after that, but now he just ignores him. The two get along OK now, but once in a great while, you can still hear Riley growl at Tom, quietly. I guess it’s going to be a while yet before he completely forgives him.

Now that Chris had joined the gang, like she does once in a while, they all continued to eat and drink and enjoy the Friday evening with each other. Chris filled everyone in on everything she knew that had happened to anyone in a 5-mile radius, and was as entertaining as ever. By the time night came, it was just John, Evan, Andy, and Tom left enjoying each others' company. Carol and Chris had both gone home. Jacob had gone out with friends to Indianapolis and wouldn’t be home until the next day. As Evan had hoped, there'd been no mention of Jacob’s college plans. No arguments . . . just friends and family enjoying each others' company.

Swimming at night was even more fun, since the pool had underwater lights. As on many other occasions, and after many beers, the swimming trunks had begun coming off and it was skinny dippin' time. The four had done it so many times that it was normal for them to be naked around each other. John and Evan always displayed their affection for one another in front of family and friends, but with Andy and Tom, it was a different story all together. Tom would have no part of it. It was personal to him what he and Andy had, and it wasn't for anyone else to see. Tom still considered himself straight to bi, but didn’t discuss it unless forced to or cornered on the subject.

He and Andy had an arrangement. Their relationship was always to be kept quiet. Tom still could see women when he wanted to, but only did on rare occasions. Andy was allowed to see other guys if he wanted to, but never would. It wasn’t the ideal situation that Andy had hoped for, but he'd decided long ago that it was what he could accept. He cared so much for Tom that he would agree to whatever he wanted just to keep him.

Rarely would Andy talk to John about the agreement unless Tom had done something to piss him off. John would just let him talk and get it off his chest. There was little John could do to help. Tom would talk to Evan, when he needed help figuring out what to say to Andy, or needed other advice. Evan and Tom may have started out not liking each other, but after that time they'd spent together, when John and Andy went to Georgia to get Jacob, they'd bonded and began a weird friendship that only the two of them understood. Tom would let Evan into his head and shared what he was thinking sometimes, more than with Andy. There was a trust there that Tom had with Evan. When Evan was in the hospital after his parents died, Tom was a mess, not being able to see him. He actually lost his cool with John and got into an argument about his decision to not let him and Andy visit Evan. John finally got him to understand that Evan would feel like he had lost some dignity if he knew his friends had seen him in that state of mind. He explained to him that it was very important to Evan that he be seen by others as normal, even though he had an illness. Tom would talk to John everyday to hear of his progress or lack of it. Andy and Tom had been there for John and Jacob the whole time John was going to the hospital every day. John had been a mess, but put on a good face for his son. This was what family did, and that’s exactly what they were.

After about 11 pm, all of them were pretty much drunk and having a blast. Evan hadn't drunk as much as the others because of the medicine he took, but he, too, had a good buzz going. He always loosened up when he was drinking, and he was feeling more sociable. Tom got more openly affectionate towards Andy around the gang when he was drunk. John and Evan would catch them copping feels and kissing when they thought no one was looking. As always, it was not brought up, nor was attention drawn to it. Tom wasn’t one who liked to be the butt of a joke or laughed at. John and Evan liked seeing the two having fun and being more open. They both wished Tom would come around and accept who he was and who he loved. They hoped and prayed for that day for many years. They eventually came to the realization that Tom was going to be Tom, and that was that.

As the night came to an end, Tom and Andy were too drunk to drive, so they'd spend the night, and it was just a given that they didn’t have to ask. The spare bedroom in the big house was always welcome to guests to use when they wanted.

John stood up and loudly declared, “I'm drunk and tired . . . let's go to bed, Ev.”

Evan looked at his big friend and smiled at the not so sober face and said, “Come on, big guy, let’s get you to bed before you fall over and break half the patio furniture.” Evan looked over at their guests and said, “Good night, guys! Enjoy the pool as long as you want, and sleep in the guest room. The sheets are clean. I’m putting my drunken giant to bed.”

“Night,” Andy and Tom said in unison, and went back to playing around in the pool.

Evan, with a not-so-sober John in tow, walked into the house and led him to their upstairs bedroom. John immediately got in bed as Evan went to the window to check on what Andy and Tom were doing. Their master bedroom overlooked the back yard and he could see the two in the pool embracing and kissing. Evan was glad they had each other, as he and John did. As Evan continued to spy on his friends making out, things quickly escalated, and soon he was seeing his two best friends having sex in the pool. The thought of feeling shame from spying on them collided with the excitement of it.

John looked around to see where his partner was, and saw him looking out the window. “Hey, what are you looking at?” John asked, trying to focus his eyes and not slur his speech.

Startled by John’s voice, Evan jumped and started to leave the window, but instead, smiled and said, “I think there are two hot guys having sex in our pool.”

John gave him a weird look, as if what he'd said hadn't registered, and then he quickly smiled, jumped up from the bed and staggered over to the window Evan was looking out. “Damn, they are going at it, aren't they?” John said excitedly.

Andy was on all fours on the steps of the pool with Tom behind him giving him a good fuck. Even from the window, which Evan had opened slightly, they could hear the moans of pleasure coming from the two all the way from the pool. Tom could be heard saying. “Oh fuck yeah!”, and intense moans, “Oh…Oh!” came from Andy as he was being pile-driven into ecstasy. Every now and then, you could hear the echo of a smack as Tom slapped Andy’s ass, followed by a louder moan from him. They had a backside view of the two going at it right out in the open. Tom was surely becoming more comfortable with Andy, to behave so boldly for him.

John looked at Evan and saw that he had a hard-on and began to get that smirk he gets on his face and said, “Hey, you perv, you're getting off on watching them, aren't you?”

“Well, duhh!!! They're hot, going at it like that . . . I've always wondered what they looked like . . . having sex, I mean. Haven't you thought about it, too?”

“Yeah, I guess it has crossed my mind a few times. I can’t believe we're watching our friends having sex . . . let’s go to bed and have our own show, since you're already hard,” John said, as he grabbed Evan’s hard dick and led him back to the bed.

Being intoxicated and tired, the best the two could do was sixty-nine till they got a mouthful of each other’s warm cum. It was the perfect ending to a nice evening. John and Evan quickly fell asleep in their bed snuggled up against each other, and it wasn't long before Tom and Andy quietly walked up the stairs and disappeared into the guest bedroom.

Andy closed the door quietly behind them and sat on the end of the bed next to the guy who'd just dropped a load into his ass. “Tom, I can’t believe we just did that in the pool! That was so fucking hot, dude. You don’t think they heard or saw us do you?” Andy questioned.

“Nah, John was really drunk . . . I'm sure he went right to sleep,” Tom quietly said.

They both got into the large bed, naked, and snuggled together, and quietly talked about the fun night they'd had. Andy lay on his side and played with Tom’s hairy chest as he lay on his back. The two always enjoyed lying in bed and talking. For some reason, Tom seems to be able to speak his mind easier when they were in the dark, snuggled safely alone together. Andy realized this, years ago, and knew that Tom was open to talking about almost anything while he was in bed. This, too, was the way he and Evan eventually opened up to each other and became good friends, when Tom had stayed with Evan, during the time Andy and John had made the trip to Georgia to get Jacob back, so many years ago.

“Thanks for the great time tonight. You really surprised me and out-did yourself, Tom. Sex in the pool was great, and I’m glad you suggested it,” Andy quietly said in the dark, as they lay next to each other.

“You were unbelievable . . . a good fuck, as always, officer Andy!” Tom chuckled.

“Such a sweet talker you are, Tom,” Andy said, as he massaged Tom’s furry chest.

“Hey, Andy?”

“Yeah . . . what's on your mind?”

“When I got here, Evan asked me not to say anything about Jacob going to college . . . that he and John were still arguing about it. I didn’t know what to say, so I just said, 'No problem',” Tom said.

“So … what's the problem?” Andy asked.

“Fuck, Andy… you know Evan can sense when I’m not telling him something, or trying to dodge him. He reads me like a book. He gave me that look,” Tom said, getting agitated. “You know the look he gives me when he thinks I’m full of shit? It was something like that. I just know he knows something is up.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure he didn’t think anything and besides, Jacob said he's going to tell them tomorrow,” Andy said, trying to reassure Tom.

“Shit, let’s just hope we're up and gone when Jacob comes back. I don’t want to see John’s face when Jacob tells him he's joined the Marines and leaves in a week for basic training in California,” Tom said quietly, as he lowered his head against Andy’s and sighed.

“Hey, we're going to have to be there for them. This isn’t going to be easy on either one of them, knowing there’s a war going on in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he could be sent into harm’s way,” Andy said, and then sighed.

“Andy, don’t get down on yourself. You tried to talk him out of it. It’s not your fault that he looks up to you because you were in the Marines. He's made his own choice,” Tom said, and then tried to reassure his bud by kissing him deeply.

“Yeah … I know … I just don’t think John's going to see it the same way. I’m afraid he is going to blame me for putting his only son into danger. I bet he'll think it was me that made being in the Marines seem so exciting and rewarding, that it was a good option for him to consider. I don’t think Jacob realized it was during peacetime that I served. There’s a huge difference,” Andy stated, more or less just thinking out loud.

Tom rose up and rolled over onto his muscular lover’s smooth chest and looked into his face and said, “Andy, John won’t blame you . . . he'll deal with this and live with it. He wants the best for his son, but he'll stand by him no matter what he does. We'll all get through this together.”

“I know he'll eventually have to, but I just can’t stop thinking that John and Evan are going to know that Jacob talked to us about this before talking with them. John's going to be beside himself as to why we didn’t warn him, so he could try to stop him from signing up. This is so going to come back on us . . . John's going to be really angry, I just know it,” Andy said solemnly. “It doesn’t matter that we promised Jacob we wouldn't say anything . . . we should've warned them, Tom.”

“Look, Andy, he pulled ‘the best Uncles ever' routine on us, and we weren’t thinking clearly. Jacob always did know how to play us like that. I know John'll be upset, to say it mildly, but he'll eventually deal with it. I’m more worried about Evan, and how he'll cope with the news. You know this kind of stress can do some wicked shit to him, mentally,” Tom said, with thought and clarity that even surprised Andy.

“Shit, Tom… careful, there… you’re showing some compassion for other people’s feelings,” Andy smirked, trying to change the subject and lighten things up.

“I’m tellin' ya … this isn’t gonna be good.”

“We'll get through it together. Don’t worry.” was all Andy could think to say. He had the same worries as Tom did, but kept them to himself.

Tom looked into Andy’s face and quietly said something that rarely came out of his mouth. “I love you, Andy.” And then put his face beside Andy’s while he lay on top of him and became very quiet.

 Andy could feel wetness on his cheek and was in disbelief. It was the first time Andy knew of that Tom had wept.

End Chapter 1 

Special thanks to ‘hs’ for all the help and to Chuck for posting my story. As always e-mails are always welcomed and responded to. You can also keep current on what I’m up to at www.groups.yahoo.com/group/Hoganstories/

Posted: 09/07/07