The view from the tenth story window shows the fall foliage in the park at its zenith. I saw myself walking among the trees in a light jacket as the leaves vibrated in the wind and rustled as they used the last of their strength to hold on to their branches. The image was so strong that I shivered at my desk as I gazed at the splendor before me. I was about to walk by the pond when Zachary Carr walked up and interrupted my promenade.
“Adam, I need a really big favor from you,” his voice sounded stressed, but then, it always sounded stressed.
I looked up at him with raised eyebrows. I knew that he had been given a last-minute meeting in San Francisco, so I assumed there was some office work he needed me to finish up for him.
He took a deep breath. “Do you remember my brother-in-law Paul?”
Oh my goodness, did I remember him! My thoughts went back to last Thanksgiving. I was invited to the Carr’s for Thanksgiving dinner. Paul was there with his wife and two kids. His wife looked ready to pop their third, and I was introduced to the sexiest man I have ever met. Shaking his hand caused my heart rate and blood pressure to shoot up. I did my best to avoid him; there was no reason to torture myself. Things were going well.
Then I went upstairs to use the bathroom. I ran into him coming out of one of the bedrooms. We were standing face to face, eye to eye. I’m sure he could tell how much I wanted him. I saw a look in his eye as well. Was it desire? Was it sadness? I wasn’t sure. He put his hand on my chest and whispered, “If things were different.”
I wanted to touch him back, but I knew I shouldn’t. I understood that he was acknowledging the tension between us and letting me know that he wouldn’t act upon it. I wouldn’t have regardless. I nodded to him, and he went around me and descended the stairs. I remember going into the bathroom trying not to be angry about the timing of things.
“So do you?” asked Zachary.
I looked up at him. “Yeah, I remember him.”
“He’s coming in tomorrow at the bus station of all things, and I’m not going to be here to get him. I was planning to because Marge is out of town.”
“Sure, that’s not a problem. You said the bus station, not the airport?”
“That’s right, and you’re going to need a car seat. I have one in my trunk. I’ll bring it up before I go. His bus is supposed to arrive at 3:00 in the afternoon from Oklahoma City.”
I made a note. “So he’s bringing the baby with him, huh?”
“Yeah. I tried to text my sister to see what’s going on, but she’s not replying to anything. She’s always been such a bitch; maybe he left her. I don’t know how he stood her this long.” He paused. “I shouldn’t say that. I don’t know what’s happened. He left a message on my voicemail telling me that he was coming; he gave me the bus info, and he asked me to bring a car seat. I guess I’ll find out when I get back. Hey, thanks for helping me out.”
“Sure,” I nodded. In my head, I wondered what would make a man come to Dallas by bus all that way from the east, was it New Jersey? I didn’t remember.
I stopped staring out the window and got my work done, so I could leave a little early. Zachary came up a little later with the car seat. I put it next to my desk, finished my work and left. Before leaving the parking lot, I attached the car seat in the center of the back seat of my SUV. I stopped at the grocery store to stock up on some basics and went home and gave my apartment a thorough cleaning. I changed the sheets on the spare bed. I’ve often wondered over the last several years, why I have a two-bedroom apartment with a guest bed. No one ever comes over; no has ever slept in it. Maybe I have it for emergencies like this.
I finished cleaning, ate dinner, cleaned up after myself, took a shower, and went to bed. I kept seeing Paul’s face as I tried to fall asleep. I eventually dropped off and slept until morning without any interruptions.
I was back at work the next day getting everything clear for a one-thirty trip to downtown Dallas and the bus station. A thunderstorm sprang up about noon, and I worried that the trip might take longer than predicted. I left on time, and I arrived at the parking lot at a quarter before three. I went inside, found out where to wait for arrivals, and at two fifty-five, the bus from OK City arrived. Paul got off the bus with a ten-month-old strapped to his chest in some sort of baby carrier contraption. He had a backpack on his back. His other two children, Bobby and Annette were right behind him. I didn’t realize all of them were coming. I went over to help.
Paul seemed to be waiting for luggage; he had a child in each hand.
“Hello, Paul.”
I seemed to startle him. “Adam?”
“In the flesh,” I laughed. “Annette, how are you, sweetie?” Annette moved closer to her father. “What about you, Bobby?”
“Adam!” He screamed my name in a way that made me feel good all over. He raised his hands. I reached down and brought him up to our faces were level and kissed him on the cheek. He remembered the fun we had playing last Thanksgiving. With my hand under his butt and his arms around my neck, I turned my attention back to Paul.
“Are you doing OK, Paul?”
“I’m getting by.” He sounded tired. “I’ve got some bags.” He tilted toward the area where the bags were being unloaded. He walked over to two large suitcases and grabbed one. “Can you get the other?”
“That’s why I’m here.” I smiled. Something wasn’t right.
“Where’s Zack?”
“He’s away on a last-minute business trip. I’m his substitute. I hope you don’t mind. My car’s in the lot over there.” We struggled with carrying the children and the luggage but made it to the car without incident. The baby fussed a little getting put in the car seat, but we got the luggage in the back and the children buckled in without incident. I was ready to start the car when I put my hand on Paul’s leg and said, “Everything’s going to be OK.” I could tell his eyes teared up, but he didn’t say anything.
The traffic was rather light on the way back to my place. The children were very quiet. It turns out they fell asleep on the way. “That’s incredible,” remarked Paul. “I could not get them to sleep on the bus. They weren’t loud or anything, but they wouldn’t sleep, even the baby seemed restless.”
“Maybe they feel safe now that you’re here.” We were quiet the rest of the way home. Once there, we lugged everything upstairs and put the children to bed. We went back out to the living room. “You must be exhausted.”
He nodded. “Thanks, Adam. Thank you for getting us; thanks for letting us stay here.” He continued to look at me.
I put my hand on his chest. “Are things different?”
He put a hand on each side of my head. “Almost.”
My heart sank a little, but I realized that he was honest. I kissed him on the cheek and hugged him. He hugged back. “I want to keep you safe, but I don’t know how.”
“I don’t think you can, but you can help me keep my kids safe. Will you?”
“I’ll do anything I can for you except deny God and murder.”
He smiled. “It won’t come to that.”
Three weeks later, I was so wound up that murder didn’t seem like such a bad idea. It wasn’t the extra workload of having three children living with me. Nor was it the switching bedrooms. One of us slept with Bobby; the other slept with Annette and Thomas, the baby. The one sleeping with Bobby took the guest room. That's where I usually slept. Now and then, Annette would say that she wanted to sleep with Uncle Adam; sometimes Bobby wanted to sleep with his Daddy. We gave in at this point to keep calm. We knew it was hard to be away from the home they had always known and the mother who didn’t seem to love them. I was fond of them after Thanksgiving last year. It took no time at all to fall in love with them. They brought joy to my day.
I had fallen in love with their father as well. We had kept touching to a minimum. An occasional hug for reassurance or to express joy. It was difficult not to do more than that when Paul began to sob.
It turned out that his soon to be ex-wife had been planning her departure for quite some time. Their savings were gone; she claimed he had taken it, but she had been in charge of the finances, and a financial forensics expert told us that it could take years to unravel the convoluted mess of money transfers and financial transactions that had taken place. Their home was gone, too. She had used it as collateral for a business loan for a company that she was a partner in. There was nothing except the clothes in the suitcases they had arrived with. His lawyer was willing to fight.
One night, he looked at me and said, “I just want this to be over, but if I walk away, I’ll have nothing.”
“If you walk away,” I told him, “you’ll have me and them, and that’s more than everything.”
He looked at his kids, and then he looked at me. He put his hand on my chest. “Things are different.”
Paul had been blinded by what he had lost; he realized that night what he had. It was as though a miracle had happened at that moment. We put the kids to bed in the same room that night, we went to the guest room and showered together for the first time. Every touch of his hand sent electricity through me. We kissed and held each other, water running over us until it turned tepid.
We dried one another and snuggled together under the covers. Without realizing it, I had moved on top of him. Our mouths still locked together and our tongues dancing a jazz number, Paul moved his legs around my and pulled us together. The hardness of our desires grew, and I pulled back my head to look at him. He wanted me; I wanted him. I kissed him again and then explored his chin, his neck, his nipples, and his abdomen on my way down. His penis was perfectly straight. His foreskin barely covered the edge of his head, and the taste of him was clean and fresh. I placed kisses down the shaft before holding it at an angle that allowed my tongue to place with the hidden place under the hood of his cock.
His gentle moans urged me on. I began to suck him slowly but rhythmically. His dick fit perfectly in my mouth. I moved a little farther down the shaft with each motion of my mouth, but just a little farther. I was about three-fourths of the way down when I felt him tense and say, “No. No. No.” And he filled my mouth with his juice. I took it, swallowed it so it would become part of me. I savored the taste of it because it was Paul’s.
“I’m sorry; it was too fast, I know, but you were so good; it felt so wonderful.”
“Oh, my love,” I told him. “Don’t worry. It was the first of many, and I loved it. I love you.” I gently rolled him over. I kissed his shoulders, his spine, the small of his back, and his beautiful butt cheeks. I loved the space between them and ran my tongue down his crack. Then I hovered over is hairy sphincter. I tongued it. He moaned. I got it wet with my spit, then I moved up and kissed his neck. The head of my cock was caught in his crack. I adjusted myself and pushed myself in.
“Show me you love me,” whispered Paul. “Fill me; I want all of you.”
I continued to kiss him and push myself in. The warmth of his holding me inside and the friction is pelvic motion intensified my thrusting. I didn’t last ten thrusts before filling him. I withdrew and sat on my haunches. Paul rolled over. I wanted him more than I could put into words. He kissed me while the fingers of his left hand played with my balls, and the fingers of his left massaged my asshole.
“Put your fingers in me. Fuck me with your fingers. I need you in me. I want you in me.”
A finger was pushed inside. There was no pain, and then… intense pleasure. He was rubbing my prostate.
“More,” I begged. He pushed me on my back and with one hand, held my ankles together and angled them while he inserted two fingers. Again, no pain, just the sense of being stretched followed by intense pleasure. “Fuck me with your cock. Stick yourself inside me.”
Paul pushed my knees apart and pushed his rigid dick inside me. I wanted that since the first time I saw him. He began pumping. His eyes were locked with mine. His thrusts were deep; he could go no farther in. Once or twice I heard his balls slap against my ass cheeks. His body tensed, and he came. I felt the pressure inside me as he filled me. Then he collapsed onto me. I held him against me until his breathing slowed.
He was right, and things were different from then on.
