Seth’s Perspective
Our vacation had been awesome, but we were about to be thrown back into reality headfirst! We pulled into the long driveway and instantly saw Petunia running towards the Atlas with River and Che behind her. I was the first one out of the car, Petunia wouldn’t stop licking my face, and when I opened the back door, she jumped in and was all over her brothers and sister. All the kids were giggling as Petunia jumped from seat to seat doling out the doggie kisses to her favorite little humans, it was the perfect welcome home; but it was short-lived.
As we were unloading the Atlas, River told Zach that Shadow Wolf never transferred the first rent payment for his inherited land. “I texted him about it and he sent this” River held out his phone to show Zach a text that said, ‘you want your money? Come and get it, landlord.’ Zach wasn’t surprised that he was making it tough for River, we expected as much.
“I’ll call his lawyer in the morning; don’t worry we’ll get him to pay up” Zach said.
“But what if he doesn’t? Am I just out the money?”
“We evict him” Zach said as we carried our belongings into the house.
“But it’s just land, how do we evict him?” River asked in confusion.
“He has equipment in your barn, Right? And crops in your fields. Right? We can take possession of all of it” Zach said. He figured this was going to happen, so he had a Plan B, and if I know my husband, a Plan C, D, and E.
Che chimed in, “but he owns all the damn sheriffs. Aint they the ones who need to evict him?”
“Ideally, but it’s your land. Don’t worry about it” Zach said confidently. “We knew he’d make this tough, River. The land is yours and the law is on your side.” I couldn’t help but smile, I loved Lawyer Zach. He was confident, smart, and didn’t back down. Zach continued to counsel the guys as we emptied the Atlas. The kids showed the guys the damage to the car and told their versions of the story. It was hilarious to hear the scene through their eyes.
“And the guy crashed inta’ Daddy Zeff’s car and drived away really, really, really fast…” Freddy said.
“He a bad guy” Izzy added with distain on her face.
Ali touched the dent and said, “it broked.” All three of them had a story to tell, and River and Che were a great audience. The guys listened to the kids intently and asked questions… the kids ate up the attention.
“Hey, you guys gonna go over to Craig and Colton’s tonight?” Che asked.
“Yeah, I told the guys we’d be there, I’m glad we made it back in time” I answered. Cay and Ella were heading off to college and the guys were throwing them a going away party, I was afraid that after the fender bender we weren’t going to make it… but we did. We all made our way into the house with the kids and Petunia leading the way, the place looked shockingly perfect. The guys had taken great care of it, and had obviously cleaned before we came home. Our sheets were in the washer and their own gear was already loaded in the Camry, they were ready to head back to their place at Harrington House after the party. I couldn’t help but notice how much the two had grown since we first met, and I realized that they had become part of our family. We trusted them, the kids loved them, hell, even Petunia dug them. They helped us unpack, get the kids settled, and put our stuff away while we talked. Thanks to them we finished quickly, after that I headed into the kitchen and started pulling stuff together to bring to the cookout. The guys had picked a bunch of stuff from the garden while we were gone, so I made a big, tossed salad, and a cucumber & tomato salad (not bad for a last minute, desperate throw together).
Freddy came into the kitchen in full Jedi gear with lightsaber in hand, “hey you guys, I’m a real Jedi now… I got to fight Darth Vader and everything!” He was so excited to tell River and Che all about it, and show off his moves… of course the two guys ate it up like the perfect big brothers they had become. Then Freddy turned to me and asked, “Daddy, when can I show Momma?” Zach walked in the room at the perfect moment. We exchanged nods.
“Hey guys, could you go and check on Ali and Izzy?” I asked the two older brother figures. They took the hint and left the room so we could talk to Freddy in private.
Zach lifted Freddy onto one of the barstools around the kitchen Island, looked him in his innocent, little, brown eyes, and said, “listen bud, um, your mom. Um… she…” poor Zach was struggling to find the perfect way to break our son’s heart, and he was not looking forward to it. The reality was that when we had to play good cop/bad cop, Zach heroically took the bad cop role almost every time. So, I decided to save him this time.
“Your momma got into trouble again while we were gone. She was hanging out with Johnny Black when she wasn’t supposed to be, and…”
“And they put her back in jail?” Freddy asked knowingly. Shit, that little man understood a hell of a lot more than he should. Then he let out a sigh and said, “shit. This sucks!” I was looking down at Freddy as he sat at the counter, then I looked up at Zach who was staring right at me… it was one of those rare, hilariously, heartbreaking moments. We wanted to laugh at Freddy’s words, and cry with him at the same time. “So, how long this time?” Freddy asked like the tiny adult he was.
“We don’t know, yet” Zach replied honestly, speaking to him like an adult. “Grandpa Nathan has to go talk to the parole board this week before he goes back to Wisconsin.” Then Zach told Freddy everything we knew, just like he would an adult client. He didn’t sugar coat it, he just told him what he knew. Freddy sat on the stool, his elbows crossed on the counter and listened. Then he asked Zach questions about the things he didn’t understand, and took in the facts.
With a sigh Freddy said, “maybe she’ll learn something this time.” Oh, my fucking, god. That kid! He understood what was going on, and he processed it like the tiny adult he was. As much as his premature maturity saddened me, I couldn’t help but marvel at it. I got a glimpse into his future, and it was impressive… I knew this kid could handle anything life threw at him. I guess that was the silver lining of his shitty start to life, it prepared him for the real world. “I don’t think we should tell Izzy unless she asks us” he added while making eye contact with each of us. He was taking control of the information. Again, I marveled at his maturity as the two of us nodded in agreement and then sandwiched him in a well-deserved hug. That kid was amazing.
“Are you Okay?” I asked Freddy quietly as we hugged. He nodded his head ‘yes’ into our chests.
“Do you have any questions?” Zach asked as a follow up. He shook his head ‘no’ into our chests.
Then he said, “I think I need a blue Popsicle.” Me and Zach chuckled quietly as we broke our hug, I went to the freezer and pulled out the Freeze Pops. Izzy, Ali, and the guys heard me open the freezer and came running. The seven of us sucked on popsicles while I finished up the salads for the party. After that, we freshened up from the drive and did a quick costume change before heading across the street. Freddy was in full Jedi gear (I texted Max to let him know, of course, Teddy was wearing his too), Izzy was in princess regalia (as she typically was), and Ali had a patch on his eye and a do-rag on his head. I carried the salads, Che carried the pirate, and River carried the princess while Zach, Freddy, and Petunia ran ahead making sure the path was safe.
We crossed the street and saw the BroMax gang walking to the party. Max and Brody each had a twin safely tucked into their BabyBjorn’s. Teddy (in his Jedi robe) yelled to Freddy, and the two best buds ran towards each other and did a quick battle with their lightsabers. The rest of us waited for the guys to get to the driveway, then we all walked up to the party together, things were already in full swing. The music was blasting, the smells of hotdogs, hamburgers, bratwurst on the grill wafted through the summer air. Izzy wriggled her way out of Rivers arms, found Maggie, and the two of them made the rounds working the crowd… they knew everyone and talked their ears off. The two little ladies had some Disney stories to tell and a live audience to tell them to; they were in their element. Ali was happy as a pig in shit nestled in Che’s arms, the face on the thug as he held that little guy was indescribable; I guess the word blissful would be a good start, Che had found his home here.
Ella and Cay were the center of attention as they opened going away gifts and thanked everyone. Two more examples of people that came into our world looking for a family and found one. Izzy and Ali presented the two college kids with cards (stuffed with cash), they were both so excited to give them the gifts. It was moments like that… little gestures, that shaped our kids. They loved to give, they loved to share… and they were kind. I loved that.
The party itself was another moment of realization for me. Craig and Colton were hosting a party for the extended village for the first time. They were coming into their own and it was truly amazing when you think about it. I first met Craig when Zach and I were still in grad school in St Louis, and I was volunteering at an LGBTQ youth Center. Craig’s dad had a visceral reaction to his coming out and attacked him, throwing him off our float in the Mardi Gras parade. That was the first domino that got all the others falling into place to create The Village. We needed to get Craig away from his father, so Max and Brody stepped up and took him in. Max’s grandpa was so impressed by what the guys did for Craig that he left Max in charge of a charitable trust to help others like Craig. That got Max thinking, and us talking, and The Village was born. Max appointed the board, and hired me. I worked remotely from St Louis until I graduated. Colton was the next one to come along… he was our first official Villager. Things took off from there, and the next thing you know, me and Zach moved to North Carolina so I could run The Village. You already know the rest of the story.
Anyway, I marveled at how far Craig and Colton had come. They made a home for Ella, got her through high school, and we all worked hard to make sure she could go to college. I was just standing there with a beer, being nostalgic, and taking it all in when Rodney came up behind me.
“How was vacation boss?” He asked.
“Ask the kids, they’ll tell you everything” I laughed. “How are things here?” As usual, Rodney held down the fort while I was gone.
“Pretty tame. Nothing happening that can’t wait until you’re back in the office on Tuesday.”
“Don’t forget, I’ll be late on Tuesday” I reminded him. The kids started school on Tuesday, so Monday we’d be shopping for back to school clothes and supplies, then Tuesday it was back to school for them, and back to work for me and Zach. As Rodney and I talked, people kept coming up to join us. Eventually, Rodney left and I was standing there talking with Zach, Max, and Brody.
It had been a long trip and the four of us were all starting to fade a\when Colton and Craig came over to talk to us. “This is great you guys” Zach said, complimenting the guys on the party, the rest of us agreed and made small talk.
Then Colton almost burst out of his skin as he whispered loudly “We’re getting married!” The four of us (even Brody) broke out in excitement. This was a big flipping deal! I’m sorry, not to pee on anyone’s special moment and take credit, but WE DID THIS! This was like proof of concept for The Village. Two homeless, hopeless, forgotten young gay kids found each other and built an amazing life together with our help.
“We’re keeping it quiet because today is all about Ella and Caleb, but we wanted to tall y’all” Craig said.
“We want you guys to be our best men.”
“All four of you” Craig added. Of course, we all accepted and were congratulating them with hugs and slaps on the back… I guess we weren’t really doing a great job of keeping quiet. But we were pretty damn excited. They started talking details… they wanted to get married soon but weren’t sure where, Max suggested the Candle Factory.
“We could move the production stations to the side, bring in some rented chairs for the ceremony, then move stuff back for the reception” Max said excitedly as he reimagined his candle factory as a wedding venue.
“It’ll save y’all a lot of money” Brody added. The six of us brainstormed ideas for the wedding, we knew the guys didn’t have much money but we wanted them to have an awesome celebration to kick off their life together. With all the wedding talk, the night went by fast, and before we knew it… it was time to put the kidlets down for the night. After we said our goodbyes, we walked our gang across the street, well, our gang minus Freddy. He went home with Teddy for a sleepover, Max and Teddy were going school shopping with us in the morning, so why not.
We thanked River and Che for babysitting Petunia before they drove off to Harrington House. Izzy and Ali both passed out the second their heads hit the pillows, and Petunia camped out in her usual spot in the hallway between the two bedrooms, she seemed happy to have us back home where we belonged.
Watching all the villagers come into their own, and seeing how Freddy handled the news about Karen gave me hope for the future. In fact, I don’t think I had ever felt more hopeful than I did that night. I truly believed that we could give any villager a chance at a great future and I wanted to talk about it… I was in a chatty mood. Zach and I talked about it all as we lie in bed, well, I did most of the talking while Zach listened. The room had just a hint of moonlight slipping in through the blinds, enough for me to see him grinning at me as he rubbed my leg. “What?” I asked with a chuckle.
“You” he whispered back, still grinning. “I love how passionate you get about the kids and the villagers.” His hand was snaking its way up my thigh, grazing my balls, and waking the sleeping giant (yeah, yeah, yeah, I know… it’s more like a “sleeping average,” but that sounds stupid… anyway). Zach was horny (no shocker there). Well, I had had a couple of beers and kept on talking as his ‘grazing’ turned into full-on fondling. It was a hot night, so we were both on top of the covers in just our boxers (I would’ve been naked if Izzy didn’t have the annoying habit of bursting in on us in the mornings). I kept talking and Zach kept stroking until my manhood peeked out of my fly. “Oh look, Lil’ Seth wants to come out and play” he said, then he leaned over and lick the head. I shut up and groaned, the little fuck smiled up at me and said, “by all means keep talking” before he took all of me into his mouth. That shut me up for the night. Oh. My. Flipping. Lord! He went up and down on me, swirling his tongue around my stretching serpent. Although his mouth was giving its full attention to my hardening manhood, he did not neglect the rest of me. His hand was working my scrotum like a stress ball and he was an accountant on tax day. He squeezed and tugged adding little moments of pain to the infinite pleasure his mouth was providing. I wanted to just lay back and enjoy but he had my blood boiling out of control with his unexpected assault. I instinctively pushed his head down until he choked a little, then I eased up. Zach pulled off my cock and looked up at me with his watery eyes as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Then, after a quick flash of his brilliant smile, he went back to work. His mouth and hand worked in perfect harmony orchestrating a Grammy worthy performance on my instrument. Verse after verse he created with impeccable rhythm until he came to the crescendo… a mind blowing orgasm that blared from my balls, into his mouth and down his throat soothing the savage beast. I moaned and twitched showing my appreciation for Zach’s solo performance.
“Ho-lee fuck, Zach” I said breathlessly with my heart pounding. “That was flipping amazing.” Zach moved from my cock to my lips and kissed me, treating me to the taste of my own juice. When the kiss was done, he looked at me with those sweet hazel eyes, begging for relief. “Tell me what you want me to do” I whispered with a smirk.
His smile got broader and brighter as he whispered, “eat me out.” Well, he didn’t have to ask me twice, that’s for damn sure. He rolled onto his back and pulled his knees to his chest. I moved to the bottom of…well, I guess I can just say ‘I moved to HIS bottom’ and leaned in. I parted his ass cheeks and his brown eye winked at me in lustful anticipation. I kissed each cheek as I looked up at him and made eye contact. With a seductive smile, I gave him a long lick from the top of his crack, over his hole, up his taint, onto his shaft, and ended with a kiss to his purple, straining cockhead.
“Ohhhhhh fuuuuuuucckkkk” he groaned in a voice that came from his throat. Next I changed up my game and dove into that tight little pucker. I started by spitting into his hole and rubbing it around sensually with my forefinger, kinda penetrating, and kinda not at the same time. Zach wiggled his hard, muscular, soccer-built ass in response. I smacked it, getting an “ooooof… yeahhhh” in response… that earned him a second smack. Then I pulled his cheeks apart, gave his crack another lick before shoving my tongue deep inside his hole. Zach’s right hand let go of his knee, his leg wrapped around my neck and his hand grabbed his swollen member. I took a momentary break to spit on his cock for him then went back to my feast. I know I’ve told you this a million times before, but his scent was my kryptonite. I was taking in his musk and it sent me into another world, I seriously could not get in deep enough. My fingers were lodged in his crack doing their best to rip him open and my face was pushed tight against his hole is if I were trying to insert my whole head into him (who knows, maybe I was). Meanwhile, Zach was pumping his cock furiously and whimpering like a hurricane. It was quiet and loud, calm, and frantic, relaxed, and urgent, all at the same. He was writhing as he pumped his shaft and finally yelled (and I mean fucking yelled), “I’m cumming!!!!” Petunia barked from the hallway as Zach shot his load into the air and I prayed that the kids didn’t wake up. I pushed my tongue into his depths and could feel his sphincter tense up around it as he shot.
I stayed there for a few more seconds, then moved up and licked the cum off his abs and chest, then, we shared our second cum-ladened kiss of the night. It was a hard, dirty kiss, and the perfect end to a surprise sex session. Satisfied, I fell into a blissful asleep with his muscular arms wrapped around me.
The next morning it was up and at ‘em! The new school year was just a day away and we needed to fall back into our routine so we ready to tackle it. I got up and made breakfast, Zach came down in his suit, grabbed a cup of coffee and a piece of toast, then was off to the office to get an early start, he had to make up for his week of family fun. The two kids hugged him goodbye then finished their breakfast. We all got dressed and loaded up the Atlas to go meet Gina, Max, and all the little ankle biting baggage that came along with them at Target for back to school shopping. Max pulled out of his driveway at the same time I did and followed us to the store. As soon as the vehicles came to a stop, Freddy jumped out of the minivan and told me all about his sleepover with Teddy. Max was happy to leave the twins behind with Brody and focus on Teddy. Just as we were about to go into the store… Vice Principal Gina pulled up with Maggie and DJ. Once they were out of the Suburban, our brood descended upon the unsuspecting retail store.
Oh my god, I swear we went down every flipping aisle at least twice!!!!! Gina and I fought with the girls over every damn outfit as they went for frilly and flashy and we went for cute and durable. Teddy and Freddy were easy… they liked all the same things, just in different colors. Then there was the school supply aisle. The boys had a list from the school, the girls needed backpacks, with playdough, dry erase markers, and a bunch of stuff like wipes, paper towels, and snacks… the Pre-K teacher was very specific. While Gina, Max, and I tried to control the chaos with the four school kids, Ali and DJ just sat in the grocery carts the whole time eating snacks and taking it all in.
After shopping we all went to McDonald’s for lunch, then home to put away our school year treasures and get ready for the first day.
When Zach got home from work, we sat down to a family dinner and enjoyed the last few minutes of summer vacation. The kids told us their favorite parts about summer vacation as we ate.
It had been a great summer. I loved watching our kids grow up, but I also hated that they were growing up at the same time. The joys of parenthood, I guess… it was becoming clear that it wouldn’t last forever.
To be continued…
