Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 23:44:38 -0800 (PST) From: Matthew Templar Subject: Never Take Love For Granted - Chapter 27 THEY'RE BACK! Thank you for your patience while the boys took a break and I wrote my other story. And thank you for the response to my other story. So, buckle up. We have a ways to go, questions to answer along the way and it could get a bit rocky, but fun. Oh, the final, final piece of 'One Gift To Give' will be at the beginning of the next chapter of this, which is 28. * * * * * * All rights reserved. Other than downloading one copy for personal enjoyment, no part of this story may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, except for reviews, without the written permission of the author. Furthermore, every word of this story is fiction. Nothing within this tale happened to anyone I know. Any reference to anyone, anything or any place, real, living or dead is coincidental. If there is someone that has written a law saying that you can't read this story because of age or local laws or other such 'wisdom', then you haven't really gotten this far into Nifty to read this anyway, right! But write to me and say how you liked it anyway. I will answer all emails. I enjoy emails. Thank you in advance for your time to write. Unless you've submitted a story, you can't know how important it is to hear how you, the reader, like an artist's work. Thanks again. Finally, there is not enough room to express my gratitude to my friend, Dwight Wilson for his dedication to the editing of this work and encouraging me to continue. Read Brad's Idol in Adult/Youth and New Horizons in Authoritarian (it's really a beautiful tale about freeing boy slaves and very anti-authoritarian) to know the experience he brings to my story. You will not be disappointed! Then tell him to write FASTER! I need my fix too! And I need you to continue to keep me honest. Mail me, Matthew Templar at matemp1148@yahoo.com * * * * * * * * * * * * Never Take Love For Granted - Chapter 27 The time grew close for the DeWitt men to forge off into unknown territory, bringing back for their family, the necessary provisions for the violent winter ahead. Or, they were going about 50 or 60 miles north to a campground that Russ knew about as a boy and had even taken Sam there when he was still very young, almost Grant's age. It was NOT Sun Haven Resort. Sam refused when Dustin offered to take them and show them 'all the neat stuff you can get into' there. Grant was hopeful and Russ enjoyed a good laugh at his son's expense. He and Clayton kidded Sam about who he might find there to brighten his nights. And, at one point Russ mentioned a horse back trip but Sam and even Grant wanted to wait on that one. It seems that neither of them could imagine miles and miles of bumping up and down on such a huge animal and then being expected to ever walk normally again. That sounded the most fun to me, though, and I privately asked Russ if I could be included on that trip. I stepped back as he was going to hug his okay into me, permanently. He also got some laughs out of that. I went back to helping at the restaurant. They'd had a contractor in and a foundation started. The old house was in the soon-to-be parking lot so James, Elliot and Trevor could still live there. I got to see their set up and, I had to admit, they'd done a nice job. James was bursting with pride, and all over both Elliot and Trevor, who were obviously partners to some extent. But it seemed like James fit in well and was always smiling around them. I guess I was a little worried for their safety at night. The two newest boys weren't that much older than James' 16 years. Russ also told me that when the crew came to pave the parking lot, they would also come up and pave the drive to the house. He told me that then he could spoil some little guys with bikes and they could play safely without the fear of the gravel being imbedded in their tiny knees. And, of course, Dr. Owen showed up with Charlotte, Thursday night before the trip. It was pretty uneventful until Petey asked why Aunt Charlotte didn't shed her clothes like the rest of the guys. He then went on to tell her about their skinny dipping. That was so great. All of us, except the blushing Sam and Russ, were laughing at the interaction between the youngest soul in the house and the oldest, as Petey told her about the spectacle of Sam and Russ on that slide to the pool. The little guy and his adopted auntie were certainly a pair together. I swear she would look younger every time we saw her; such was the effect that Petey had on one as wonderful as Charlotte DeWitt. Each night we would all end up looking out the picture windows. Sometimes the boys would be playing a board game or wrestling or just being themselves. Soon they would join the rest of us and just talk or not, as the sun set and the stars would come out, looking like they were so close you could grab them. But on Thursday night, I knew that it would be the last chunk of time that I would have with my little guy to myself. I was a little surprised that I was going through some kind of postpartum withdrawal before he even left for only a weekend. But he had my heart and it would be hard not to have him with me, or on me, for that matter. So I decided to remedy that a bit. I'd set the clock by our bed for the first time since I came up the hill the first day, to one in the morning. I figured it would be time enough for everyone to be asleep. When the radio came on softly, I woke up a sleepy guy and asked if he'd like to walk with me down to our new grassy field and fool around a bit. It took him a bit to realize that I wasn't loony or, any more than usual. He actually began to get excited by the idea of doing something so naughty. I took a blanket with us. I knew that it was getting warmer throughout the night as well as hot during the day, but I also figured on some dew on the grass. We did the walk until our feet met the softest carpet that God could create and slid our feet so the grass would stick in-between our toes and tickle. Nothing was said, we just did what felt good. As we walked, at one point I swung Grant around to face me. He had the 'you weirdo' look on his face, but I didn't care. I had to touch him. I pulled him to me and hugged him to me; not tight but very close. My hands were privileged to dive from his shoulders down to the small of his back and over the smooth skin of his tight little buttocks. They went past their favorite mounds and began their climb back up. Grant was moaning his pleasure until one of my fingers found the narrow passageway that lead to the depths of his pleasure spot. As it touched the entryway, he gasped and then melted into my arms. He was the hugger then, giving me the best his young arms had in him, around my chest. He looked up and gave me a slow, sensual kiss on my lips. Then Grant took my hand and led me up to the center of the whole field. It was huge and full of lush, thick grass. It would make a perfect place for our time together. "David?" Grant whispered. So I whispered back. "Yeah, lover?" "This is a good idea. I like being with you, you know. But being down here to feel good is so neat. And, and," he said and rubbed his backside, "You make me feel so good." He was still whispering. I never once thought of calling our intimate time together 'love making' or 'making love' to Grant. He was ten. What did he know about the responsibilities of love and commitment? This was just our fun time together. It did make me realize that one day he'd be bringing his girl down here to show her where he had fun with his first real friend. Oh well. "I like being with you the most, too. But why are we whispering?" Giggle. "I don't know. So's no one can hear us?" Giggle. I grabbed him up and made him giggle all the more. "I don't think anyone can hear us down here, silly. And if they did, they'd just be jealous of what we get to do, huh?" "He he! Yeah. We get to do good stuff, huh? He he." He was right in front of me, with his legs wrapped around me and my hands under his butt, holding him up. His hands were folded in between us and laying in the pouch where our bodies came together. There was just enough moonlight to show how beautiful Grant was. Oh, I know. He was no model. No one was going to rush to give him the cutest boy award. But he was so perfect; all boy and all mine. And he did have that smile that had me every time. "What are we gonna do, David? Do we get to roll around in the grass?" He'd made that big sweeping gesture with his arm to indicate the total expanse of our playground, when . . . . "Oh, oh! David. I got an idea!" The little bugger started kicking and jiggling until I let him drop to his feet. He went after the blanket and started working at spreading it out almost in the middle of the field. I went over to help and as soon as it was laid out, he plopped on it and patted the spot next to him. I sat down and he knocked me onto my back so that I was lying down. I have got to talk to this boy about foreplay. He scooted as close as he could to me and lay down even closer. He moved my arm around to make the best support for his head and moved around some more until he was practically on top of me and comfortable. Then he pointed up. Just at that instant, a shooting star made its way across the vast sky above. "Oh wow!" he said in a whisper again. But this time it really was a sight full of awe that called for quiet. It couldn't have been more perfect if I'd planned it. And, as I lay there, I realized that it was my first shooting star. "Well, I seen lots, but this one was my favorite because I saw it with you, David." I hadn't said . . ., I just thought! He did it again, but I didn't care. Wow! Sometimes you just can't put the most precious gifts in packages. Sometimes the world is too small to express that kind of love for each other. I rose up on one elbow and bent down to kiss his sweet lips. "Look!" Slurp! "Another one! An' another one too! Wow! They're everywhere!" I leaned back, a little frustrated, I'll admit, and kind of hard, but I was still with my guy, in this quiet paradise where no one would know where we were. "Hey, looky guys. They'ze here already. And they brung us a blankey to use to see the stars going, huh, Dustin?" Ah, the solitude. We both turned to see everyone, Russ, Sam, Clayton, Dustin and Petey, walking up to where we lay. Petey was actually already standing over us since he'd started running when he saw us. The older guys were dressed but the youngsters were as naked as Grant and me. I did notice that Sam was carrying some robes or something. Clayton had two thermoses and Dustin had what looked like a stack of paper cups. Man! They were ready for a campout! "Hi, guys. You here to see all the falling stars, too?" Grant asked. "Yeah," said Dustin, setting the cups on the edge of our blanket, "Unca Clayton read where there was gonna be a meter shower. It's where all the stars fall down." I noticed a couple of grins from the adults. "Yeah, and we get to watch cuz it doesn't happen all that much, huh, Unca Clayton?" By now we were all on the blanket or standing near it and, while some were looking up, others were trying to explain what was going on. We found out that a meteor shower was planned and, was centered in the heavens right over us. Grant and I had just stumbled upon the right night and timing. I looked at his wide eyes and knew that he wasn't disappointed. Luckily, I had lost my outside display of the pleasure I would be missing. "David, how did you know about the meteor shower? I came to wake you two and you were already gone." Sam had sat down behind Grant and Grant had scooted up, into his lap. Soon his daddy's strong arms were holding him as close as they could to his warm chest. I still can't get over the fact that it wasn't too long ago that this scene would have been impossible. As their eyes went up to see the spectacular display, I looked over at Russ. He was enjoying a wonderful display too; of his son and grandson loving each other. He let out a huge but quiet sigh and turned to look up as well. But as his gentle eyes passed by mine, which were obviously staring at the picture he created for me, he winked and smiled even bigger. "Well, uh, I guess . . . ohhh heck. I had no idea. I just came down here. I wasn't gonna get to be with Grant for weeks and I wanted to do something special." Blush. "And so, he brought me down here to see a show. I didn't even know about it," added Grant. "Isn't it great?" Clayton was sitting near me with two little guys on either thigh, leaning back against his full chest and enjoying the show thoroughly. "You had wicked ideas in your head, didn't you, you scamp?" he whispered, leaning into me. I could barely hear him, so I doubt if anyone else could. However, there might have been enough light to tell that I was blushing, probably with my whole body. "I won't get to see him for. . . forever! I had to have some one-on-one time with him." "M-m-m-m," said the evil minded one. Oh, I knew he was just pulling my chain. "And just who was the one on and who was the other one? H-m-m-m?" What a butt! But he had me smiling, even as I saw him finding it impossible to keep a straight face. He also said enough to get me hard again. Now what was I going to do? He grinned when he noticed and tried to swat at me. "Yeah, well, thanks for breaking it all up! Don't you guys know how to knock?" I said, hitting his hand away from my dagger. We both laughed, and, of course, everyone looked over. Petey got all excited that he missed something and jumped off of Clayton to come over and jump on my lap. "Hey! Whatcha laughin' at? Ow!" Ow is right! How was I to know he would sit right on my excitement? I don't think he broke anything. I was certainly in need of trying to find out real quick. "Hah, hah! He spiked ya, Petey." Helpful reporting by Dustin Hawes! "You gotta watch out around here. You might get stuck on something. Hah hah!" "Dustin, it was an accident. It could have happened to anyone." There. I defended myself pretty well, I think; until Clayton chimed in. "I'm picturing all these families in church, listening to the sermon, when little Johnny pops up on his dad's lap and yells, 'Ow!'" I don't think it should have earned that big a laugh from everyone. Who earned a laugh was Petey. He was rubbing his backside cheek and finally bent over, pointing his little butt cheeks at my face. Of course, he couldn't just stand up and present himself to me. He was bent over at the waist, hands on the ground and twisted around so he could see through his legs, but kind of to the side. "David, you broke me! You gotz ta kiss and make it better. You gotz ta!" He began to back up the few inches he was from my face. I looked around at everyone, who were all staring in awe. I gulped and planted firm hands on either side of his posterior. We managed to get him close enough so that I could kiss both of his cheeks; very noisily, I might add. It got a laugh; but not from the recipient. "Nuh-uh, David. That's not where my owie is. Here!" He then reached back and parted his two tight little orbs of boy flesh to reveal his tiny little portal and a very red ring around it. "You gotz to kiss the owie for it to get better." He would have to know the rules by heart. 'Well, here's hoping it was bath night', I thought to myself as I puckered up and dove in. I laid on that boy about ten of the noisiest, sloppiest kisses as fast as I could. I don't think I could have told you a thing about it, it was over so quickly. Amidst the roar from everyone and a delighted look from Petey, who promptly replaced his butt into my waiting lap, I heard his, "Yeah. That's it," as my thank you. A very few minutes later, each of the older guys had a sleeping angel in their arms and I had the combination of blankets, robes and thermoses. When we got to the head of the stairs, inside the house, Russ handed me his load. We all whispered our good nights and retired to our rooms, perchance to sleep. I could have held his nakedness to my bare body all night, but I laid my warm, bronzed bundle on the bed and brought the sheet up to his neck. He rolled to his side and stretched his arm out. I suppose it was to wrap around his roommate. But the roommate was hurrying to the bathroom to defuel. As I went about my business, a sleepy little guy came up beside me and aimed at my thigh instead of the bowl. I quickly turned him. I noticed that he wasn't doing anything to aim and, if he started in that direction, our feet would soon be baptized. I was done, so I knelt down and forced myself (hah!) to take his two inches in two fingers and aim him toward the bowl. I felt a tug and then a stream began, full-force. "Thank you," he said in his sleep, and patted my head like a good dog. I held back my chuckle. I was amused by my second encounter of his sleep walking and wanted to see where it might lead. I know I shouldn't! So what! Can't a guy play? Good grief! It wasn't like I was going to make him cackle like a chicken; h-m-m. Naw! I ended up by washing two sets of hands and guiding him back to our bed. I got in to find that he was just standing there, waiting; no, sleeping. I pulled on his arm and his knee hit the bed and he crawled up to me. As he plunked himself down, though, his head hit mine and woke us both up. "Uh. Ow!" He looked over at me and got his grin on; the mischievous one. "Ya gotz ta kiss my owie," he said, doing a poor job of holding back his giggle, and an even worse job at imitating the last little guy that I hurt. I reached for his head but he had other ideas. The little twerp grabbed both of his legs under his knees and pulled up, revealing his own pink treasure, surrounded by the smoothest skin, stretched tight and wide open, on display. I could play his game. "Unh-uh! No fair! I didn't bump your po-po." He giggled so cute for me. "I know, but kissing a forehead is no fun. I guess you don't love me," he sighed, once again, in Oscar form. If he'd had a hand free it would have gone up to rest on his forehead, poor neglected child that he was. A Challenge! I suppose if I was willing to go that extra mile with a little Petey boy, I could pucker up on the pucker of my own true love. It might even be fun. So, I did. I rose up on the length of my two arms after getting between his legs. I opened my mouth like I was going to gobble him up and watched as his eyes grew big and his mouth went open, mimicking mine. I had to chuckle once before I slowly started my way down into the valley that lay before me. I realized that I was getting harder with every inch of travel. It made me look up and see that he was experiencing much the same thing, except he was about to be the receiver. My attention went to what lay before me. All around, his legs were as bronzed as the rest of him, except for the swatch of skin that lay tight up against his crotch and was protected from the sun's rays. That skin was pulled in as it neared his perineum and was a little more brown and pink, like his penis and his tiny pocket holding those little twins. Just slightly below that area was my goal. A tender pink button, not even the size of a quarter, was looking back at me. It even winked when Grant giggled. I was enthralled by its simple beauty. I never even thought about how beautiful it was until it belonged to someone so special to me. We knew he was sensitive there. He reacted when I touched him there in the hospital and when I swiped it once before. I quickly decided that this deserved more than a little peck of my lips. This deserved some exploration. I brought my hand up and began to lightly circle the area, sweeping around into the indentations of his legs and over his tender perineum. I closed in slowly as I heard him gasp and groan softly. I closed the circles more and soon came to my destination. I took my thumb and gently rubbed it back and forth over the most sensitive place on his young body. His breathing escalated and I noticed goose bumps on his inner thighs. I licked the little bumps and heard him gasp and try to pull away. "I thought you were just gonna kiss it a little." He sounded like he'd just run a marathon, all out of breath. "Well, if that's all you want, I can . . ." "No-o-o-o-o! It's okay, really. Just do what you were doing." That's kinda what I thought he'd say. Hoping too! I was getting a lot out of this 'experiment' too. Research is an important thing. I sat back on my calves so I could use both hands. My thumbs rubbed and smoothed either side of his treasure as I gained the courage to dive in. I lowered my head and heard his anticipation in another gasp. My tongue came out and found just the right spot. Wow! You'd think I let off a firecracker under my little love. He jumped as soon as my tongue made its mark and almost impaled himself on it. It didn't do any good to my licker either, but I couldn't help laughing. "Oh god, David! Do me more, please. Oh, wow!" Breathless. I dove back and held him down as I swiped and licked, tongued and nibbled; enjoying his noises, ruttings and panting. I found the flavor so light with a piquant of tang to it. It was thrilling to be able to cause his nerves the excitement he was experiencing. I concentrated on the aperture itself, moving my tongue in swirls and pushing once in awhile. His hands fell away and his legs came down on my back. I held them just so I could get the best access. Then something happened that surprised me. As my tongue was enjoying its new friend and I was enjoying the moans and coos from the other end of Grant, I noticed that the hole opened just a bit. My tongue lingered there and the wail from Grant said it was an exciting place to be. I was as stiff as could be and one hand stretched between his legs to see if Grant was too. His little boyhood had never been so rigid. He was proudly sticking up like the world was at his fingertips, instead of my fingertips pleasuring his world. But then another surprise took hold of me. I actually looked up to see my innocent, little Grant as my tongue traveled over his most private place. It was too, too soon. He wasn't ready for what flashed through my mind; the possibilities that existed down in this region. At the same time, I remembered the time that I felt, yes, felt, him say that it was okay. I immediately changed my strategy on further pleasuring my little man; my little man who was barely a boy. That's how I wanted him. Grant, just little Grant. Not someone I made into what I wanted. For some unknown reason, that excited me, empowered me. I dragged my tongue from his lovely little portal to his perineum and continued up until I had his thin prong embedded in my mouth and he was jerking and pulling up the sheets, arching his back and hips to get into me farther. He was so ready to conclude our play, well, my investigation, that he popped easily and heartily. It was so much fun to see him twitch and quiver uncontrollably as he went up and then came down from the special place he'd been taken to, where he enjoyed those wonderful feelings. "Oh, David. You really send me." I had to chuckle. It almost sounded like a song was coming on. "We need to do that one again, soon." I knew that we would revisit that special place often, and sometime, yes, sometime, we would make our commitment to each other and seal it in that very spot. "My pleasure, little lover. I had fun. Now we need to see if there is any sleep left in us before morning. Grant? Grant?" * * * * Grant was, understandably, so excited that he didn't have time to see the long faces on Petey, Dustin and me. We were three sad sacks. Oh, I was there to help get stuff together and help pack the truck, but it must have been apparent that I looked lost. Both Sam and Russ would slap me playfully and shake their heads at me. Dustin would go with them as far as his school, then Clayton would probably go pick him up as the others went in the other direction, with my Grant, without me, for a whole century. God, am I glad I'm over my petty selfishness! "Okay! Listen up!" Sam was taking charge of announcements. It was still early so most of us weren't dressed yet or were just wearing shorts or something at the breakfast table. "The two boys are going to school as usual. Dad, David and I will go to the restaurant and work until Grant gets back at 11:30. Then we'll take off. Clayton, you and Petey will pick up Dustin, visit their parents at the hospital and then come back and have a fun weekend, doing all the things you've got up your sleeve, well, if you were wearing any. Everyone got it? Any questions?" "Uh-huh, Sam. I gotz a question." It was kind of hard to understand Petey because he had one finger hooked in his mouth. "Where'z we gonna find some sleeves for Unca Clayton so'z we can play all weekend?" That was exactly what we needed. Petey brought down the house. Of course, he was quite serious, but he came back with a smile when he realized everyone was laughing at his joke. I whisked him up, into my arms and hugged the little naked softy. "M-m-m, Petey. You know just how to make people happy, don't cha?" He was beaming and laughing by then. "Yeah! I sure duz! What'd I say?" As everyone went through another gaggle of cackle, I squeezed him again and set him down. "Unca Clayton and finding him sleeves, silly!" Dustin told his little brother, pushing lightly on his shoulder. Were these two kids normal? They never argued or got mad at each other. The confusion started to die down. Russ spent some time telling me about the dodger and handed me the keys so I could take it back to the house. Everyone was migrating toward the front door. Grant was heading for the door as well, right past me; headed for the unknown, for weeks of frivolity without me. He didn't even remember he'd spent his last night screaming out his passion at my loving him. I wasn't important enough to . . . Then he stopped abruptly, in the doorway and scratched his head. "Wait, Dad! I think I forgot something. Got my flashlight, my sleeping bag and clothes. Oh!" The little bugger slowly turned around with his conniving little head down and, quick as the proverbial bunny, launched himself into my arms! I'll have to admit, when I saw his head down, I knew something was up, so I was ready to execute my own plan. Nothing really. I just made a big deal about falling over so he was all over me on the floor. He was laughing with me. It made me feel very special, like he'd been planning it all along. He leaned in for a hug. One last one to last us an eternity, or a weekend, whichever came first. "I love you and I'll miss you," he said, sitting up on my bare chest. Too bad he had to be in his jeans. Probably just as well. I might have grabbed his 'attention' and everyone else's in doing so. "I love you more. I'll try to wait for you patiently. Miss me?" We started to pick ourselves up off the floor. Petey was helping me and Dustin helped Grant to his feet. Grant leaned over and was brushing off his pants. "Nope," he said quietly. He lifted his head and wasn't smiling. "It's just that Dad and I talked about the stuff we get to do and you're right! I wanna be with 'em this time. I might wanna do it again too, and I do, really do wanna do it with you too. But this time, I wanna sit between 'em and hear 'em talkin' 'bout when they were little kids; if they can remember that far back!" That got the four of us laughing; even Petey gotz that one! While I was pleased with his resolve to have a good time, I think I had already started to miss him. How would I keep warm at night? Okay, make that 'Hot'! M-m-m-m-m. "Get your skinny little b-u-t-t's out here Grant and Dustin. Time's a' wastin'," Sam yelled from his truck. And they were gone. I walked slowly away, to get dressed for the first of the longest days of my life. Woe was me! * * * * Actually, it hadn't been that bad so far. Oh sure, I was a mess and couldn't concentrate on the work at the restaurant, my mouth was dry and tasted like it needed the sweet taste of my boy puckering up to me and I think my big sighs were starting to get to everyone working around me. But other than that and an empty pit in my stomach from missing him for so long, I was fine. "David, for heavens sake," Sam laughed, obviously falling back to his old ways of not being sensitive to the ones that hurt, "You've only been here twenty minutes and he hasn't even gotten out of school, hell, out of his first class, yet!" Of course, all the other insensitive guys laughed or took no pity on me in my hour, okay, twenty minutes, of pain. It certainly didn't help that James had found the two boys to pal with and seemed as contented as possible. I thought I would puke they were so giddy and laughing about every stupid thing. They were so totally unaware of anyone else around them that they didn't seem to care if they were caught playing a little grab ass or whatever. Adolescence! Phew! Russ came up and shouldered me, knocking me off the rake handle I was leaning against, where I had been observing the kids playing immaturely. "Ha! Reminds me of you and Grant doing your stuff together. I guess love makes you act young and silly. You two were a great inspiration to me to seek some of it again." "Wha...?! No, you don't mean that I ever. . . ? Naw!" I quickly put my head down and started raking again. It's just a few days, 72 hours, 432 minutes, give or take. I'd be okay; maybe. Pretty soon the work was stopped as we heard the makings of an invasion coming into the town. As they got closer, we saw a line of heavy equipment trucks coming right for us! They didn't even stop at the edge of the road. They just came right up into the property, gave blasts of their air horns and stopped! "Humfpg!" said Russ, "I didn't expect them until Monday." "Russ DeWitt, it's about time you let me take care of this eye sore. I can't wait to make toothpicks out of that old shack. Why, when Sam and me were younger'n these pups . . . Sam?" This all came out of the guy in the lead truck. He was the passenger in a pickup that said, 'Farmington Construction' on the side. He had a charisma that said he was the foreman or owner; that is until he saw Sam walk up. He went white and froze on the spot. It took me a second to realize that this was probably a common reaction from people who hadn't heard about Sam being 'born again' to his family. Sam just kept walking; never slowed down. He walked right up to the loud mouth, stopped and took a big breath and then wrapped his arms around the guy. I thought the guy would cream his knickers; the look on his face was priceless. Russ was laughing up a storm and, soon, so was everyone else. When Sam finally let go, the poor pale guy wobbled back a step and tried to remember how to speak. There was a great display of hems and haws and such that even I was impressed. "Bobby, I'd like you to meet my beautiful son, Sam. H-m-m!" The 'h-m-m' was more of a chuckle coming from Russ as he approached the two men. Bobby just kept staring at Sam like he was trying to add up numbers that didn't, add up that is. "Yeah but. . . I thought you and I were. . . . Shit! I'm so confused." Sam was laughing so hard he had to use this guy to hold him steady. When he finally stopped, this Bobby guy's expression hadn't changed. Wait! Bobby. I've heard that name around Sam before. I can't quite . . . . "I'm sorry, old friend. I guess we should have warned everyone at your place that they let me out. Ha! Actually, Bobby, I have been an asshole for so long I don't even know where to start all the apologies. But I want you to know that if you don't want to work with me, I understand. I think my coming around to my senses has shocked quite a few people around here." Now, Sam had moved back a step as he was speaking but, still, Bobby's mouth was open in amazement and awe. It really spoke of how far Sam had slipped into whoever he was, and how far he had climbed up to regain his family and friends. Bobby finally gave a shake of his head and began to build a smile on his face. Then he gave some sort of a hoot and jumped at Sam, wrapping his arms around his reformed friend. After a few minutes and some explaining, even some tears passed by, they turned to the rest of us. "Guys", Sam said, his arm around his friend's shoulders, "this is Bobby. David, this is the Bobby you heard me compare to your, um, Richard, I think, back at the hospital. I screwed up our friendship so bad, he should have cold-cocked me instead of hugging me. That's the kind of guy he has always been. Haven't you?" It took a little longer to introduce us to him and his men, who had been gathering around all the commotion. It seemed like the two of them hadn't talked much after Sam's anger really started to take hold of his life. Oh, they'd worked construction for Bobby's dad for a few years, together, until Sam walked out, in anger, of course. That was the last time Sam had anything to do with Bobby until he and Russ discussed hiring Bobby's company to do the major work on the restaurant. Bobby learned to avoid Sam at any costs, because the alternative was far more frightening. It had been very hard on Booby all these years, being so close, yet so distant from his best friend form his youth. But things had changed. They soon had things patched up between them, for now, and started talking, with plans in their hands and fingers pointing to important spots across the land in front of us. They both looked forward to long talks and renewing the friendship they'd treasured as kids, once again. Pastor Mike and Joey were there to take the men that had been helping back to the church, since the heavy equipment was too dangerous to work around. The three boys made for the house to haul out their few treasures and blankets and stood looking like they'd lost their best friend. Pastor Mike was talking to Russ and looking at the youngsters, then discussing something. Russ started walking toward them, but was waving me over. "David, you know these guys pretty well. Do you think we can put them up at the house for a few days until they can get a ride organized to wherever they need?" The three guys all dropped their jaws simultaneously, and then started smiling as they realized that they weren't being deserted. But two of them had no idea of the accommodations awaiting them. James jumped up shrieking like a loon and then started whispering excitedly to his friends. Soon they were all prancy and dancy when they realized what was in store for them. I didn't think that what I thought of the situation could be described as prancy or dancy. I just thought how nice it would be to survive this weekend. God, I missed him. * * * * * * NTLFG - The End of Chapter Twenty-seven To be continued Comments on the story are very much appreciated. Thank you for the emails you've written. Each one is an encouragement. I get to answer all of them. Please don't stop. I'm Matthew Templar at matemp1148@yahoo.com