Frankie’s (a.k.a. Sams’) Perspective
The humid little room was dank, dirty, and smelled of cigarette smoke. There were two doors, each with an armed officer standing guard while I faced my biggest fear, the source of my seething hatred, the thing that stole my childhood… my mother. I stared at her smug face but didn’t say a word.
My dad broke the silence, “Orange suits you, April” referring to her prison jumpsuit.
“I never thought I’d see your useless ass again, you spineless weasel” she spat back. “Has yer momma made you marry any more knocked up bitches?”
“Nope, just the one, that was more than enough” Dad said with an icy smile in his voice, “Hey look who’s here… our son! You know, the one you kidnapped and abused just to piss me off… it worked. I’m pissed off.” My sweet, loving Dad had taken a break, and replacing him was a pissed off, scorned husband and father.
“He’s as useless as you were. Y’all shoulda just let me abort him like I wanted” she growled back. That smacked me in the face like a scorned stripper who got stiffed on her tip after a boner inducing lap dance. I knew my mother never wanted me, trust me I felt it every day of my wretched life, but to hear it from her own lips was a jolting stab to my heart. I remained silent. “God, you came all the way here, now you’re just sittin’ there ya’ little chicken shit. You’re pathetic. C’mon, have some balls, boy. Say what you came here to say” she snapped at me with a scoff.
“Why? Why do you hate me so much?” I asked, my voice crackling as I feared her striking me.
She scoffed, “because you were born, you life stealing little shit, you took everything from me.” She was smirking when she said it, she knew it hurt me, that was her intent. Okay, no, she wasn’t smirking, she was sneering at me, purposefully taunting me.
“Oh, shut the hell up, Marnie” Dad rumbled using her alias in disgust. “The only decent thing you ever did was give birth to Sams, but of course you’re too goddamn stupid to know good from bad” Dad said. “I can’t fucking believe you stole my son and burned down my house to go live with some child abuser in a swamp. All you had to do was ask for a divorce.”
“Yeah, but you woulda liked that, and then I woulda had to talk to you for the next thirteen years. You stole my youth and I made you to suffer for it” she scoffed and shrugged smugly. They went back and forth like that for a while until I couldn’t take it anymore.
“I’m not a weapon, I’m a human being” I said very quietly. The two of them both looked at me, her with disgust and scorn, him with a smile of anticipatory pride. “I’m sorry your life was miserable because of me. If it makes you feel better, you paid me back a million times over. I’ve been lonely, miserable, and terrified for thirteen years.” She scoffed, even laughed a little as if she took pleasure in that fact. “I just discovered this entire, awesome family that I forgot even existed, you made them miserable for thirteen years too… but now we all win” I paused, stood, and put my hands on the metal table. One of the guards approached me and told me to sit back down. I took a deep breath and sat again. “I have a dad who loves me, a family who wants me, and a decent future ahead of me, and you get to be the fucking victim (I don’t think I ever swore in front of my mom before that day). You think your youth was stolen? Wait until you see what happens to your adulthood.” The guards were watching me closely as I spoke louder but remained amazingly calm considering my rage. I leaned in close so that my face was just inches from hers. The guards both stepped towards us with their hands on their holsters as I suffered through the smell of her cigarette-laced breath. “I will testify in every fucking court hearing, I will tell my story to any reporter who will listen, I will post my story all over social media, hell, I’ll write a damn book and make it a best seller just to piss you off! I’ll see to it that you not only rot in a prison cell for the rest of your life, but that April Willis, Marnie Morris, or whatever the hell you decide to call yourself in your next pathetic life is the most hated woman on the planet.” Then, I spat in her face. Oh my god I literally spat in her face!! I hadn’t planned it, I didn’t see it coming, I didn’t even know how I felt about what I had done… but I did it. “Rot in hell” I said to my own mother as one of the guards grabbed me under the armpit and pulled me back.
“C’mon slugger, time to go” he said as he escorted me out of the horrible little room. When I got into the hallway and out of her view, I leaned against the wall shaking and hyperventilating. “Hey, if it were up to me, I’d let you at her” the officer said with an empathetic smile. I just stared back blankly. “If it’s any consolation, child abusers don’t do well in these places. We already had to isolate her from the other prisoners to keep her from getting her ass kicked.” Sadly, that did console me a little… I wanted her to suffer. ‘Does that make me a bad person?’ I wondered although at that moment I didn’t really care.
I could still hear my dad yelling at her through the thick walls, he had thirteen years of pent up distain to unleash. I didn’t hear everything but I heard phrases like, ‘I’m gonna spend my life giving that kid the love you stole from him’ and ‘I will personally see you never see the light of day for what you did to our Sams” and ‘there is a special place in hell for you and this Gary fucker… whose ass I plan on kicking for abusing my son, by the way.’ He was letting her have it… for me.
I slinked down the wall until I was sitting on the floor, holding my knees. I thought through what I said as I listened to dad continue his rant. I thought to myself, ‘Did I say the right things? Was it too much? Was there more to be said? She was my mom, should I forgive her? Did she deserve my hatred?’ Hell to the yes, she did… and more! Maybe my words weren’t the right ones, maybe I shouldn’t have spat in her face, maybe there was more to say… who knows? But NO, I shouldn’t forgive her, and YES, she deserved any attack she got. I was still shaking, but I felt like… well… like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders. I stood up when I saw Dad come out of the little room.
“How you doin’, bud?” I just nodded in response, then I hugged him.
I ignored the question and just quietly said, “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For giving me a chance to say it to her face” then I let him go and said, “and for sticking up for me.” He smiled; he got me.
“Let’s go find a hotel and get some sleep, we’ll head to Nashville in the morning” he said. We found a hotel, then he took me out for the best steak dinner I had ever had in my life. The next morning, we got up early and were on the road to Nashville by 3AM.
The first couple of hours, Dad drove while I slept. We stopped at a Bucky’s at about 7AM, got gas, got breakfast, and most importantly got coffee. After that, I drove. We talked, we laughed, we listened to music… I had never felt more like myself! I was leaving the past behind. Frankie Morris was dead and gone, and Sams Willis was alive again. I had missed him so much!
It was almost 9PM when we pulled through the gate of the suburban community and up to my dad’s McMansion. The place was big, new, and a complete 180 from the swamp-shack I grew up in. He opened one of the three garage doors and pulled the Rover in. A beautiful woman comfortably dressed, with long chestnut hair pulled into a ponytail came out of the door to greet us. “Sams, I’ve waited a long time to meet you. Welcome home” she said and hugged me even before she greeted her husband. She was crying tears of joy; this woman had never met me, yet he loved me more than my own mother ever had. She let go of me then hugged Dad. I was happy Dad had found someone to love him back.
“Where are my girls?” He asked after he kissed her lovingly.
“They wanted to wait up so mad, but they both passed out watching Moana for the one millionth time, so I put them to bed” Caroline answered, then she looked over at me. “Get ready to be woken up early and attacked by two little girls dying to meet their big brother.”
I laughed at that; I was actually looking forward to it. After my weekend with Seth’s family, I wanted a family of my own, I was about to get one. We unloaded the Rover, then Dad and Caroline gave me the tour of their beautiful (and extremely big and tastefully decorated) home. We peeked in on the twins, Charlotte, and Rosemary, (they were asleep and so cute, I couldn’t wait to meet them). Next, they took my up to my room above the garage, Dad called it a converted bonus room. Holy moly, it was bigger than my apartment at Harrington House, it even had a second entrance with steps that went directly outside so I could come and go. The room was decorated for… well for me. It had a queen-sized bed with a blue and white striped comforter. There was a desk with a laptop (my laptop) in one corner, and two comfortable, overstuffed chairs in a little alcove with windows that had a view of the big backyard. Aaaaaand… I had my own bathroom with a giant shower. “Recognize that?” my dad asked pointing at the wall above my bed.
“My toolbelt and fishing pole” I said in quiet disbelief. The only two remnants of my previous life and he had kept them all these years. I then noticed that the two nightstands were adorned with pictures of me and my family… there was one of me and Dad in a big frame, another of me and Uncle Rudy, one of me and grandma and grandpa (I assumed), and a couple of the whole family. Dad really did build this room for me, he had kept hope alive all these years, and Caroline encouraged it. “This is... amazing. You really built this room for me?”
“yup” Dad said before Caroline cut him off.
“It’s been like this since we moved in three years ago, no one has ever slept up here” she said with a smile, then added, “I just dusted this morning and made sure everything in the bathroom worked.” They really had been waiting for me. After I got settled in, we went down to the family room and talked. Caroline was sweet, it was clear she wanted to ask me about my life but was treading lightly.
Finally, I just said with a smile, “you can ask me anything. It’s okay.” She smiled at that and the floodgates opened. She wanted to know all about my life. I told them my story, then Caroline told me all about her, the girls, her gay brother, and his partner (who were apparently dying to meet me). Then me and Dad talked about our reunion with the family. We stayed up past midnight talking. I hugged them goodnight, thanked them for everything, then went up to my room I felt like I was finally home. I showered before I got into the big bed. Finally, I was home! I fell asleep almost instantaneously.
It wasn’t even 5AM when I heard loud whispers, one in each ear, “Sams, Sams, are you up?” the sweet little voices uttered. I opened my eyes to see two adorable little girls, my sisters. Their tiny faces illuminated when they saw my eyes open. “Did you really live in a swamp?” one asked. “Were there alligators there?” the other asked. “Did you make friends with them?” Oh my god, they asked my question after question. I sat up, trying to shake the best sleep I had had in years.
“Wait, wait, wait… you guys know everything about me, and I don’t even know your names” I joked.
“I’m Charlie” Charlotte said with pride, “And that’s Rosie.”
“We’re you’re sisters” Rosie said. “What took you so long to get here, we’ve been waiting for like…”
“Ever!” Charlie finished her sister’s sentence. “I like your long hair.”
Rosie disagreed, “You need a haircut.”
“She’s not wrong” a voice said from across the room. I looked up to see Dad and Caroline standing in the doorway, grinning ear to ear as they drank their coffee and watched the three of us getting to know each other. “When was the last time you got a haircut?” Honestly? It was never, really. I always had gotten my haircut by my mom or did it myself.
“Oh, leave the guy alone” Caroline joked. “He just got here.”
“Actually, I never had a professional haircut, I could use one.”
“Well, I was thinking we could take you into Nashville, show you around, get you some clothes, get you a haircut” Dad offered.
“What about work? Don’t you need to get back.” I asked.
“It’ll be there tomorrow. If you’re interested, you can come with me when I go back. But for now, I’d rather hang out with my family.”
“We wanna go” Rosie said.
“You have school” Caroline responded.
“Pulllllleeeeeeeaaaaase?!” the two identical siblings said in sync.
“Sams just got home, we wanna play with him too” Charlie said. My Dad and Caroline exchanged looks. Yeah, my two sisters had their parents wrapped around their little fingers. So, I got up and got dressed while Caroline called the school to say the kids wouldn’t be in. Dad took us all to breakfast at some greasy spoon in downtown Nashville that all the locals loved, our next stop was the Verizon store where Dad got me a proper phone, from there it was to my step uncle’s coffee shop. They introduced me to everyone, and everyone seemed to know me. I was like a local celebrity. My step uncle escorted me to the hair salon down the block and I got my very first professional cut.
I looked in the mirror and for the first time in my adult life, I saw Sams Willis… And I freaking loved it!
Seth’s Perspective
What a crazy couple of months it had been, Spring had been kind of a turning point in a lot of ways. The Village was turned into a media circus and our house was a turned into a flophouse for villagers for a bit. Our kids loved every damn second of it and were having so much fun, but what was even more fun, was watching how the villagers responded to the kids. Our three little demons had those guys wrapped around their fingers. Cheese (formerly known as Che) was afraid to swear for fear of the wrath of Izzy, Freddy tired them all out playing soccer, and Ali just cuted the hell out of everyone. The three guys gave those kids their full attention, and nothing else in the world mattered… my kids were like emotional support humans.
Sams was off to Nashville with his dad, and settling in with his new family. He and his father made a detour to Texas along the way to see his mother and bare his soul. Therapeutically speaking it was a good thing, but Zach was pissed and lectured him about speaking to her without his lawyer present. Since then, Sams and I have regular sessions, and he and Zach consult regularly. He legally changed his name back to Samuel Willis. He’s working with his dad at the construction company fulltime, and with his Step Uncle’s partner at a coffee Shop off Church Street parttime. He’s out, proud, and loving life… he even found a boyfriend. He sent a pic of the two of them, I couldn’t help but laugh at how much the couple looked like River and Che. Marnie Morris (a.k.a. April Willis) was extradited back to North Carolina and awaiting trial later that summer. Sams promised to come see us all when he came back to testify.
Sams’ time with The Village had changed his life, it had also changed ours. Chip had done an amazing job of spinning the media attention to highlight The Village while keeping the villagers out of the limelight. I was giving interview after interview about The Village, and fielding call after call from people seeking our help, or wanting to support us. Since we had helped Sams, our network of allies (individuals, corporations, and other organizations) had grown immeasurably. Demand for our help was massive, but so were donations so we ended up calling an emergency board meeting to brainstorm on how to best capitalize on everything that had happened. More corporate partners, a bigger network, and of course more potential villagers meant growth; we had to manage it wisely. We had demand from all over the country, but we decided to focus our efforts on North Carolina for now. With so many added cases, Rodney was spread extremely thin, so we added another social worker to handle cases in other parts of the state. Phil (the new guy) was a friend of Rodney’s from college and worked remotely from Charlotte… so far it had been working out great, we were helping so many more villagers (which meant my days were full of in-person and virtual sessions).
We exercised our lease-to-own option on Harrington House a little earlier than planned. We bought the building from Max and Brody who were more than happy about the transaction because it freed up their assets so they could buy the 20 acres adjacent to BroMax, and expand the herb farm. Harris and Terrance moved back to Boston at the end of the schools year, and Craig and Colton moved into their house. I reveled in watching two of our first villagers make it on their own and build a life together. Raj and Mason moved into C&C’s two bedroom apartment on the 4th floor, and the village took over all the apartments on the 3rd floor… all units on two and three were filled with Villagers and we had a waiting list of guys wanting in.
My plate was full and my stress level was high as hell. I did what I could to take care of myself like spending time in the garden, and like now while I was laying on my back with my ankles pointed in the air toward Jesus while my hot, blonde, perfectly built husband fucked the living shit out of me with his magnificent cock. I was holding the back of my thighs, grunting like a stuck pig, begging him to fuck me harder and not giving a flying fig if I woke up everyone in the house. I wanted it bad… no, I needed it bad. Sometime when life gets too crazy, you have to let go of some things; I had let go of self-care, and my hole overflowing with Zach meat was the best care I could give myself… I was making up for lost time.
His face was inches from mine, I could taste is breath. My eyes were rolled in the back of my head and the darkness enveloped us as he mercilessly plummeted in and out of my ass cave. My ring opened as he pushed his way in and hit all the right spots along the way. He would withdraw and my sphincter tightened, trying to keep him in me; the sensations were overwhelming and the dripping of his sweat onto my own sweaty body just added to the eroticism. “Fuck me” I whimpered, “please fuck me harder” I begged as I lie there splayed open for his pleasure. I couldn’t get enough as my head banged rhythmically against the headboard. The pain, the pleasure, the eroticism of our raw, unbridled fucking.
My cock was hard as a rock and I was on the verge of a touchless orgasm. It had happened to me a few times in my life, but mostly when I was in college, but here it was happening again. “Fuck, Zach. I’m gonna shoot my load, keep fucking me” I panted.
“Hell yes” Zach said with pride, leaning in to kiss me, and nestling his tongue deep into my mouth. “Cum for me” he begged, “shoot your load.” I did. I shot hot, thick ropes of my juice in between our hot, sweaty bodies from our abs to our chins. Zach kept pumping my taut ass as he licked the remanence of my orgasm from my chest and chin, then with a final powerful thrust and a mighty grunt he bred my ass. He kept fucking in and out of me and I could feel his cum frothing at the entrance of my hole. Finally, he collapsed on top of me, our sweaty bodies heaving as we kissed passionately. “You feel better?” Zach asked with a smirk.
“Much” I said with a snicker, then fell asleep in his arms.
The next morning, we were back in chaos mode. In addition to everything going on with The Village, we were in the throes of finalizing Ali’s adoption and it was our day in court. Breakfast was loud, it was awesome how comfortable all the kids had become, this was their home and we were truly a family, and that day it would become official. After breakfast we all went upstairs to get dressed for court. Freddy dressed himself, he even put on his own clip-on tie. Zach put Izzy in one of her favorite (non-princess) dresses, and I dressed Ali up in a tiny suit that Kelli had sent him. Oh my god he was so adorable! We had been talking to him about the adoption to give him a basic understanding. At dinner the night before, Zach asked him what adoption meant and he pointed at him and said, “you my daddy” then pointed at me and said, “you my daddy” then pointed at Freddy and said, “you my brother,” and finally at Izzy and said, “you my sister.” We all cheered and laughed at his interpretation of adoption… he understood enough.
Once the kids were all dressed, and Zach and I had our suits on, we piled in the Atlas and went to the courthouse. When we adopted Freddy and Izzy, it was just us, Riley, Eli, and Ms. Elkin at the courthouse. This time it took a village. Our family was all there to support us and officially welcome ALI to the family: Grandma Nafan and Grandma Kelly, Uncle Eli, Aunt Riley (just a few weeks from her due date), The entire BroMax clan, and lastly, the entire Dylan-James crew… and of course Ms. Elkin were all there as we stood in front of the judge, (yup, the same judge who questioned the kids growing up in a home with two dads just a year ago).
He officially proclaimed Ali a Westin-Hall. The cheers and clapping were deafening and the smile on Ali’s face as he cheered along… it could’ve lit the world. The courtroom was filled with love as our family grew even bigger.
To be continued…
