Maddox

He couldn't stop smiling and boyishly giggling as he drove his truck down the dark and deserted two-lane country road. Maddox had the perfect night well, almost perfect it only missed the element of seeing the muscle-bound redheaded ape's reaction to his message. The dirty truck and driver finally reached the long dirt road drive where they resided. As he drove along the narrow and curvy former stagecoach road, Barksley's thoughts returned to wishing he'd seen the reaction to the photo. Then he realized he didn't want to see the two men he despised die. He only wanted them to wish they were dead. Death would be too easy and too final. Maddox wanted them to live with the guilt and suffer every day of their natural existence. By the time he brought the truck to a stop, turned the engine off, and was unlocking the door to the cabin he rented, the two-tone-haired man decided he would have to go after their most precious possession, Levie. Maddox resigned himself to making a new plan and giving his prey time to get comfortable before he would strike again. The man smiled at his new course of action. "They'll never know what hit them." He said to himself as he sat on the sofa and sipped his bourbon.

The Ranch

The early morning sunlight streamed into the room. The way it fell across Troy's slumbering body made the thirty-year-old look like a gleaming peaceful angel.

Ev'lynn was already up and working on breakfast for herself and her grown son. She barely slept through the night and still couldn't shake the feeling she'd seen the late visitor before. Then, the disturbing text and Jaycen's health scare Ev'lynn didn't even know where to begin telling Troy what happened while he slept. Honestly, she was not looking forward to the reaction. When it came to the protection of his family, Troy was worse than a mama bear. Shaking her head, Ev'lynn got her mind back on the task at hand and finished making her biscuits. The matriarch chuckled as she thought about the biscuit bake-off Levie, challenged her to one year. They tied because nobody wanted to say which ones were better. Ev'lynn leaned toward her grandson's biscuits. His were fluffier and taller than hers.

Troy instinctively reached over as soon as he realized his husband's body wasn't there and his side of the bed was colder than a fridge, the brunet's eyes flew open, and he started freaking out. His firm and muscled body shot up like a rocket going into space. Tears filled his eyes as he desperately looked around the room and strained to hear any sign of Jaycen's presence. "Jayce, babe, where are you?" He called out, not getting a response or seeing any indication his husband ever made it home drove Troy crazy. Jaycen always came home at night. "Where can he be?" The brunet asked himself as he threw on a pair of underwear and slippers then ran downstairs, calling his husband's name.

"Troy, please, calm down, sweetie." Ev'lynn came rushing out from the kitchen.

"Mom, I can't find my husband. No offense, but with everything that happened yesterday, how the fuckin' hell can you expect me to calm the fuck down."

"Troy! If you don't stop all that damned cussin', I'll knock you flat on your ass."

"As I said before, Mom, no offense, but I'm freaking out because I can't find my husband, and there's no indication he came home last night." Troy's tears streamed down his reddened cheeks as he fell into his Mom's loving embrace.

"I'm so sorry, baby boy, this is all my fault. I should've at least left you a note on your side table letting you know Jaycen stayed at Greg's last night." Ev'lynn did her best to soothe her terrified son. She'd never seen such fear in Troy's eyes. The woman kicked herself for not thinking far enough ahead to leave him a message.

Troy laid his head on his Mom's shoulder and soaked up her loving comfort. "I'm sorry for talking to you that way Mama. I was just worried about Jaycen and Levie. It's bad enough my kid's in the hospital after getting shot, and I wasn't there for him, but when Jaycen wasn't in bed with me, and the last time I saw him, he was leaving for the hospital, I didn't know what to think." 

"I know, my sweet baby. I'll get you some coffee and breakfast. Then, we can talk there, are things you need to be aware of."

Troy nodded and was about to sit at the table when he looked down and noticed how undressed he was. "Hey, Mom, I'm gonna run upstairs and get some more clothes on."

"That's fine, dear, but you don't have to. It's not as if I haven't seen you in less." Ev'lynn started cracking up as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

Troy stopped, turned around, and looked at his Mom's smirking face. "That's not exactly what any man needs or wants to hear from his Mother." The brunet turned and ran up the steps as he heard his Mom's laughter from the kitchen. After putting on a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt, Troy ran back downstairs and joined his Mom at the table. The thirty-year-old gasped when he saw the spread filling the table. "Mama, what the hell it's, just the two of us."

"Right now it is, Troy, but soon the house will be full again, and you'll need some food made." Ev'lynn fixed a plate for her son and placed it, a cup of coffee and a glass of orange juice in front of him. Troy kissed and thanked her.

As Troy prepared to dig into the expansive meal, he gasped and looked directly into his Mom's eyes. "Okay, Mom, spill. What's going on? You never make cinnamon buns unless there's a holiday, or you're delivering, really, bad news." He paused and sipped his juice. "Is this about why Jayce stayed at Greg's? Please, tell me, my son's okay. Please, Mom." Tears started trailing down Troy's cheeks as he began fearing the worst.

"Troy, calm down and, as far as I know, everything is fine. It's just there were a few things that happened while you were asleep."

Ev'lynn took a deep breath and spent the rest of breakfast explaining the text, Jaycen's getting checked out at the hospital, and the visitor. Just as she feared by the end of the conversation, Troy was a basket case and ready to kill. A couple of times, she had to stop and let her son get control of his emotions and keep him from destroying the table or anything else in the house as a way to relieve his anger.

"I don't fuckin' believe this. Everything blows up, and my husband can't even shoot me a text letting me know he's been to the hospital after passing out, not to mention my son being there, and he ends up staying with Lev's boyfriend because he's too tired to get home. I'm going to kill that redhead."

"Troy, please, understand. Nobody wanted to stress you out even more. Besides, you were asleep, and we sure as hell weren't waking you when there was no need." Ev'lynn paused. "You need to calm down before you do or say anything. As far as I know, your husband's fine the stress was too much for him to take. Greg was the one who got Jayce to get checked out. Be thankful everyone's alive, and there wasn't more damage."

Troy sighed and wiped his tears. "You're right, Mama, and I seem to be saying this a lot this morning. I'm sorry for overreacting." He got up and hugged his Mom.

"Go on, baby. I think you need to call Jayce. I can tell you need to hear his voice before you'll be okay." Ev'lynn said as she started cleaning up.

"Mom, don't…"

"Troy, you heard what I said. Now, get upstairs. Once I finish cleaning up, I'm going home to my husband."

"Thank you, Mama, for taking care of me last night and all my life. I love you very much." Troy smiled, then he hugged and kissed his Mom.

"I love you too." Ev'lynn chuckled and playfully swatted Troy's ass. His jump and yelp made her giggle even more.

"I'm gonna tell my husband and son you hit me," Troy whined and pouted.

"What are they gonna do, except ask you what you did to upset me." Ev'lynn cackled as her son ran up the stairs.

Levie's Room

The sunlight streaming in through the blinds woke Levie from his sleep. Gingerly, the redhead sat up, very carefully stretched, and yawned. The young man stifled a yelp as he used his hurt arm to steady himself when he got up to use the bathroom.

Brandon turned on his side so that he didn't face the sunlight. The blonde young man wasn't ready to wake up and face the day just yet. However, memories of the previous evening and night kept him from enjoying his slumber. Finally, unable to take the images of being knocked out by an unknown assailant and not quite knowing how to tell Levie about it, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Brandon turned his head and noticed his brother wasn't in bed, and after his experience, he was about to panic but heard the toilet flush and breathed a sigh of relief. The relief increased when he saw a head full of red locks come out. He got out of bed, walked over, then hugged and kissed Levie. "Good morning, bro. How are you feeling?"

Levie smiled and returned the show of affection. "I'm fine, a bit sore. Good morning Bran." The redhead noticed his brother's tears. "Bran, what's wrong?" Upon further inspection, Levie saw marks on Brandon's neck and other bruises that weren't there when they went to bed. "What are those marks?" Moving slowly, the redhead raised his hand to his blonde brother's neck and lightly ran his fingers along the soft, bruised skin.

Brandon flinched, scrunched his neck, and started squirming and giggling. "Lev, that tickles." He squealed and gently grasped the hand that stroked him. He smiled and wrapped his arms around the redhead when Levie laid his head on his chest. Brandon looked off into space and sighed. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I got attacked in here last night. Someone was behind me, and they used something, strong it felt like a trash bag or something close to it to strangle me." Tears fell from Brandon's eyes onto Levie's hair.

"It's okay, Bran, you're safe now." However, even as he said it, Levie wondered how true it was. He kept wondering who the hell would sneak into the hospital room and attack Brandon.

"How are my two patients this morning?" Stuart's question brought him an excited redhead launching himself into the doctor's arms.

"Uncle Stu." Levie very quickly grunted in pain from the gunshot wound.

"Slow down, Lev, don't hurt yourself any worse." Brandon shook his head and smiled at his brother's excitement.

"Thank you, Brandon, for saving Lev's life. From what I've heard, young man, you had an eventful stay with us." The doctor said as he walked over and hugged the other young man.

"How'd you know my name?" Brandon looked confused and pouted when he heard Levie cracking up with laughter.

"Bran, he just called us his patients. He looked at your chart, not to mention he was probably here when they brought me in yesterday." Levie giggled and kissed Brandon's cheek. "Damn, you really are a blonde." The redhead ran to his bed when he saw the look in the blonde's eyes.

"I'm sooo gonna hurt you when you're not injured, ya little punk." Brandon chuckled. "I still love ya, though."

"Bran, you can call the doctor, Uncle Stu. He was a good friend to my late parents. He's an honorary Uncle to me, Troy, and Jayce and even delivered all three of us and is our PCP." Levie smiled, then he softly moaned in pain as he massaged his shoulder.

Brandon turned to face the older man. "You delivered this little redheaded imp? Couldn't you have put a return to sender stamp on him or something?" Brandon and Stuart laughed as Levie fixed his brother in a narrow death stare.

"Sleep with one eye open, bro." Levie couldn't keep his threat credible because of his giggles.

"Wisecracks, and joking aside, Brandon, if you want to, you can call me Uncle Stu." The older man warmly smiled as he got a Brandon-style hug. Stuart looked at Levie. "You must be relieved to hear Jaycen's spell was most likely the stress from seeing the picture sent to him last night."

Levie and Brandon looked at each other, then almost broke their necks looking at Stuart. "What picture?" They asked in unison. "And, what do you mean, Jaycepop's spell?" Levie asked as tears trailed down his cheeks. He knew Troy was hurt but had no idea Jayce had issues too. Suddenly, the redhead started getting lightheaded and hyperventilated, his balance faltered, and everything went black. Brandon caught him before he hit the floor. Stuart rushed over and started checking on his nephew the minute Brandon placed him in the bed.

"What happened to him, Uncle Stu?" Brandon asked with tears rolling down his cheeks. The redhead became very important to him. Levie was a second brother to him.

"I think he just got overexcited, and his body gave out. Lev's been under a lot of stress very quickly. He needs rest knowing my nephew that's going to be very hard."

"Don't worry, Uncle Stu, I'll make sure my brother gets some rest. Brandon stated, then giggled when he saw the look Stuart gave him.

"I see he's adopted you." Stuart chuckled and hugged the younger blonde man.

"I think we adopted each other." Brandon paused and wiped his tears. "We met yesterday, and I'm sure you know he's dating my foster brother. From the moment we spoke on the phone, I knew I'd love him. He's the perfect brother, other than Greg."

"Yes, I knew he was dating Greg. There's not much that happens in this family that I'm not aware of." Stuart looked at his watch. "I've got to go check on other patients. I'll be back." The doctor hugged his new honorary nephew and went on his rounds.

Jaycen & Greg

Greg yawned in his sleep and turned over, so the light wouldn't be right in his eyes. The second he felt another body sleeping beside him, the brunet started to freak. The young man sat up and rubbed his eyes. The memory of the previous night was momentarily gone from his mental storage space. He looked over, and the minute he saw the flaming red mane, looking like a ball of fire in the morning sunlight, Greg finally remembered Jaycen staying over. The twenty-year-old softly chuckled to himself for being silly and forgetful as he got out of bed and headed to the bathroom.

The young man walked to the kitchen, started the coffee, and began making a breakfast of scrambled eggs, English muffins, bacon, and grits. As Greg was cooking, his mind kept returning to his special angel in the hospital, as well as his new brother upstairs. He'd just gone to the fridge and was stifling a yawn when a pair of arms wrapped around his chest in a bear hug.

Jaycen chuckled and kissed the younger man on the cheek. "Good morning, bro." He stretched and gave Greg a menacing stare when the brunet giggled as the redhead's bones cracked. "Just wait till you get older, see what noises your body makes." He playfully ruffled his brother's hair. The aroma of fresh coffee brewing woke the thirty-year-old man's senses, and after making sure Greg didn't need his help, Jaycen waited at the coffee maker for it to finish brewing.

Greg giggled at Jaycen's impatience. "Umm, have ya ever heard the expression, "a watched pot never boils?" The brunet cackled and jumped out of his brother's reach.

"You're sooo askin' for it, Greg." Jaycen chuckled and wrapped the younger man in a brotherly hug. The hug morphed into a chokehold and a Jaycen-style noogie, the kitchen filled with the twenty-year-old male's giggles and squeals of protests. Finally, the coffee finished, and Jaycen poured himself and Greg a cup.

Greg finished cooking breakfast and set the plates on the bar. Jaycen got the glasses for juice, then poured some for himself and Greg. The two men sat beside each other, eating in comfortable silence until the ringing of their phones broke the peace.

To be continued...

Posted: 10/21/2022