Like a Promised Sunrise

By: JWSmith
(© 2012 by the author)
Editor:  Rock Hunter

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

Chapter 10

We got up and showered. I was pensive as we ate breakfast. After we'd cleaned up the kitchen, Dad asked if I was up to hearing the rest of the story.

"I don't know, Dad. I think I know where this story is going and I'm not sure I want to know."

"Knowing you, Judd, you won't be happy until you know the whole truth," Jace said wrapping his arms around me and leading me over to the sofa. He sat down and pulled me down between his legs and made me lay back against his chest.

I sighed and looked at Dad. His concern, gentle caring, love for me was written all over his face.

"Alright. I'm ready."

Dad settled into his chair. He stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Where did I leave off? Oh, yes, the Old Man's smile. I think he thought he had found a way to get around my edict and even get to enjoy my ass, too.

"So what are you smiling about, Old Man?" I asked.

"Ah, Tom. Tom the righteous. Tom the hypocrite. Tom who loves to get his ass fucked. Tom the queer."

I looked him in the eyes and said, "Well, you got two things right. I am a queer. And I love to get my butt pounded by Jim when he's making love to me." I walked up to him. We were almost nose to nose. "Don't think for one second that what you did to little Hank is anything comparable to me making love to Jim. We are both adults and we both consent to what we do with each other. And don't think for one moment you can get away with doing to me what you did to little twelve year old Hank. I still wouldn't kill you, but I'd damned sure castrate you like I should have done four years ago."

His smile disappeared. He turned and walked toward the door, stopped and turned back.

"I do not want Jim Brandis on my land again. Do you hear me, Boy?" He pointed a finger at me.

"I hear you, Old Man, but I'm not a boy. I stopped and had a long talk with our family lawyers up in Dallas awhile back."

He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head.

"I learned some interesting facts about this ranch and its ownership. I turned 18 nearly two years ago."

"So?"

"I have as much say as you about what happens on this ranch. And in a couple of years Joe turns 18, too. Grandfather knew what he was doing when he set up the Deason Family Investment Fund. How come you never told me about it?"

"I guess it slipped my mind," he said smoothly.

"Right." I walked past him and said over my shoulder, "So everything is still status quo. And Jim is welcome here. And you will be polite to him."

It took a few days of talking to Jim to get him to relax and get over his embarrassment. Betty had told him that even though she was shocked and jealous, she was happy for him. She promised him she wouldn't breathe a word about his being gay. She kissed me on the cheek and welcomed me into her family. That's what really got Jim to relax.

It was nearly eight weeks later that Jim came tearing into the yard in his Dodge pickup. That old pickup had a horrible noise all of its own. You could hear it a half mile before it got there. I ambled out of the house to greet him. I had never seen him so upset. He grabbed my arm and led me a good ways from the house.

"Betty's pregnant. She told me she's missed two periods," he said in a loud whisper. There was nobody around, but he wasn't taking any chances.

"Damn. Does she know who the father is?"

"Yes. She told me."

"So...are you going to tell me?"

"I don't want to, Tom."

"Well, it isn't me."

"Oh, God, that it were you."

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Well, then you could marry her and everything would be alright. If my dad ever finds out, he'll come gunning."

I thought a moment about that, and then it dawned on me.

"You are saying that the father of her baby can't marry her?"

Jim nodded.

"And your dad'll come here, to this ranch?"

He nodded again.

"So...... when the Old Man drove her out to the springs....."

"She says she seduced him."

"Are you sure it wasn't the other way around?"

"She insists that what happened was by mutual consent."

"God Damn him. This will kill Mom if she ever finds out."

"What are we going to do, Tom. This could shatter both families."

"There is only one thing to do. I'll marry her," I told him.

"You can't do that. You are mine."

"And I'll always be yours." I put an arm around his shoulder and led him back toward his truck. "Let's go talk to Betty."

><

Jace had his arms around me, holding me tightly. I took hold of his hands and forced him to let go. I don't know what he thought I was going to do, I'm not sure that I knew. I just had to be free to walk around the room and work out some of the tension I was feeling. Dad stopped talking and watched me, warily. I strode across the room and turned. They both were so anxious about me that I found it funny and started to laugh. They both looked offended.

"What?" I asked. "I am okay. So my grandfather was the sperm donor. So what?" I walked over to Dad and knelt in front of him. "You are my father in every meaningful way. And I love you, Dad." Tears trickled down his face. "I think you really thought you were really going to lose me. Didn't you? No. No way. I am the son of Tom Deason. Fuck anyone who says I am not."

Dad crushed me in a bear hug and I hugged him back for all I was worth.

"I love you, Judd, I love you so much, Son."

We got up and made a fresh batch of coffee. While it was brewing I turned to Dad.

"There is one thing I've always been curious about."

"What's that, Son?"

"I.....I guess that....well, being I'm not really your son, is that the reason I didn't get your name?"

Dad grabbed me by my shoulders and looked me in the eyes.

"No, Judd, that is not the reason."

"Why? It would have made my being yours even more believable."

"Believe me, the moment I first held you in my arms, you were my son. I wanted you to have my full name. Your mother refused. The Old Man pissed her off one day when she was about eight months along. One morning she was hanging on the rails of the corral watching me train a colt. He sidled up to her and whispered, as he rubbed her swollen belly, "Are you sure that's not mine?"

Your mom turned on him. "You can be sure that this baby is totally Tom's. And if you ever mention any other possibility again, I'll take a forty-five and put a bullet right between your eyes. And to remind you of that promise, Tom's and my baby shall be named Judd. Mom Deason is real fond of the name Judd. She told me once that if there was ever a fifth son she wanted to name him that."

When you were born, Judd, I fell in love with you. You are my son in every way that counts. I love you, dearly. Anyway, I gave you my middle name so when Tommy came along he had no chance of being a trey."

Jace poured three cups of coffee and handed us each one. "So, Tom, your tale is not complete."

"So get comfortable and I'll continue."

We took our seats as before. Dad continued, "Betty was beyond tears by the time we got over to the Brandis Ranch. I told Jim to stay at the house; I wanted to talk to Betty alone. I took her hand and we strolled out to the alfalfa field about a mile from their house. I questioned her at length about whether she was sure she was pregnant and how sure she was of who the father was. She assured me that she was certain about both, that she had been a virgin so there was no other possibility.

"Whoever would think that doing it one time could ruin one's life forever?" she wailed.

"Calm down. I've got a solution. As you know Jim and I are lovers."

She turned away from me. "How well impressed that is in my mind," she said, blushing at the memory of seeing the two of us naked wrapped in each others' arms.

"Well, you know he and I can't live together out here. That's what we both want to do. When we graduate from college it looks like the only option opened to us is living in a large city like Dallas or Houston."

"That's so sad, and unfair, Tom." She turned and gave me a comforting hug.

"Well, by solving your problem we could solve ours at the same time, if you are willing to do this."

"I'll do anything, Tom. The only other option I have is to get an abortion and hope that Daddy doesn't find out."

"Okay, here is the plan. You and I get married. I promise I'll be a good husband to you. But... you must promise to let Jim and me see each other and to occasionally let us go off to be together. Do you understand what I'm asking of you?"

"Tom, I love my brother. I would do nearly anything to make him happy. I've had a crush on you for years. I wouldn't mind living with you and sharing you with Jimmy. That way I can keep my baby, too." She paused and studied me a moment. "I've always wanted a bunch of kids, Tom. Will you give them to me?"

"Betty, I've never told anyone this. I like women, too. If Jim and I hadn't discovered each other, I'd probably be married already. I do believe I can love you as my wife. And we'll have as many children as you want."

Suddenly her life was bright and cheerful again. We got married a month later just as she was beginning to show. Her parents were happy. Mom was joyous. I think that she had really resigned herself to no grandchildren. Well, at that time I think she still held out hopes for Jace here. Dad chuckled as he said that.

Although, Jim was grateful that I had saved his sister and family from ruin, he was very unhappy at first. For weeks after the wedding he stayed away. I thought he understood that I had done this for him. Betty was so upset about how Jim was acting that she was all for getting a divorce so Jim would come back to me.

Finally, one day she went to visit her family. She was still driving her convertible. She told me later that she took Jim for a ride. About thirty miles from nowhere she stopped the car and asked Jim to take his boots off. He did, he'd do anything his sister asked. She took his boots and flung then as far from the car as she could.

Now you both know we cowboys have the most tender feet in the world. Jim had to walk barefooted across that sharp stony ground to get his boots. Betty said he was "Ow"ing every step of the way." When he got to his boots and got them back on, he stomped back to the car.

"What did you go and do that for?" He asked her.

Betty smiled at him. "Painful, wasn't it."

"Damn right it was. I've got bruises all over the bottoms of my feet."

"Well, it didn't hurt you half as bad as you're hurting Tom. If it hadn't been for his love for you he wouldn't have married me. And now you’re acting all jealous and mean. Don't you understand you can be together all you want now and nobody will talk because Tom is married? Jim, I agreed to marry him as much to give you more freedom as I did to save my own self. I wouldn't have married him otherwise. He is yours, you stupid nit. And he is hurting because you're acting like his sacrifice was worthless. But it is only worthless if you make it that way."

Betty stopped her tirade and looked at her brother. He had tears in his eyes.

"I didn't want to intrude on your marriage."

Betty snorted and continued. "I want you two to go off hunting or something. Go down to Big Bend. That area is wild enough you can go for days without seeing another person. Go down there and make love to each other until neither of you can get it up again. I want to see you both walking bowlegged when you get back.

"Betty Jean! I can't believe you're saying such things."

"Well you get the picture, don't you?"

"Yeah, I definitely get the picture."

"Well, she brought Jim back to the ranch and he and I had a long talk. After our discussion, and Betty's earlier diatribe, he had no doubts about my love for him or his sister's."

"So did you go to Big Bend?" I asked when he paused.

"Yeah, we did. And it was just what we needed.” He chuckled. “We pulled a good one on Betty. When we got back we both fell out of the pickup and walked like we had cobs up our butts, and acted like it was painful to sit. Betty was beside herself.

"You really did it," she squealed. "Oh, my God, I feel so guilty telling you to do that. Maybe soaking in Epsom salts would help. Oh my, I can't believe you'd do that to each other. I mean do it so much that you can't sit down," she said, turning bright red.

By then Jim and I were both laughing so hard we literally fell off our chairs. It began to dawn on her that we were pulling a fast one on her.

"You guys are kidding me, right?"

We laughed harder, unable to answer her.

"This is a joke isn't it?"

We could only nod and laugh some more.

"I'm going to get you guys back for this."

"So began a long wonderful relationship. Sometimes I wonder which of us made the biggest sacrifice. I guess it was pretty well equal until now. Judd, your mother is one hell of a big hearted woman. I truly love her."

><

I was contemplating the difference in Dad's love for Mom and his love for Jim, when Jace mention that Jim would be arriving in less than an hour. There was no question about the difference when I saw how his face lit up at the thought of being together with him again. Thirty something years they've been loving each other.

We hustled down to the Range Rover and Jace sped us to LAX. I got a kick out of watching Dad's excitement build. I looked at Jace in the rearview mirror. It was obvious that he was having the same thought I was. We were both praying that thirty years down the road that we would both still be as eager to be together. I've got a strong feeling that we will.

Since we couldn't go to the gate to greet Jim, we stood at the base of the escalators below the security check point and waited. I had wandered over to the side where I could watch the reunion. Our timing was good; it wasn't a full five minutes before I saw Dad's face light up. Looking toward the escalator I saw that Jim's face was just as radiant. They've only been apart for three days. One would assume they hadn't seen each other for three years the way they just held each other for several minutes.

When they broke apart, Jim hugged Jace and kissed him on his cheek. By then I was right behind him waiting for my hug. Uncle Jim and I have always had something special. I found myself wondering if it was because of the way I was brought into this world, because of the sacrifices Dad and Jim made to protect my mother's honor and to give me a proper name.

"Thank you, Uncle Jim," I whispered in his ear as I hugged him. He knew what I was talking about and hugged me tighter.

"I'd not hesitate to do it all over again, Judd."

That night I lured Jace up on the roof for a bit of privacy. I didn't say anything as I took him in my arms and embraced him to my chest.

He eventually pulled back and looked at me. The city lights reflecting off of the low coastal overcast made it seem like we were under a dim flood light.

"Are you still mad at me, Bro?"

"No, Babe. But don't ever call me Bro again. We may have the same gene donor, but Tom Deason is my father and that makes you my uncle. But more important than that...you, Lover...are my one and only. I love you, Jace."

The End.

Posted: 06/29/12