Reaching Out

Chapter 11: The Boys’ Plan Comes Together

By Grant Bentley

“I just made a fresh pot of coffee,” I said to Ian. “Want one?”

“Uh…yeah, sure,” he replied.

It seemed to me that John might have been giving his Dad a similar son-father talk to the one I had received from Jason. I smiled, because if he blushed like that from just looking at me, then maybe Jason was right; maybe he did feel the same way about me as I did about him. I was going to have to find out. I knew I had to be careful, though, because if he was struggling with it, I could easily blow it and lose him, even as a friend, and that would devastate John and Jason.

I poured two coffees and set them on the table before sitting down. After a minute or two, Ian had gathered himself together enough to sit down opposite me and start fixing his coffee. I think he stirred it for five minutes without once looking up at me.

Finally, I felt I had to say something. “So, how’s the house coming along?” I asked him.

He looked up at me, let out a big sigh, and as he smiled he said, ”We never quite got that far.”

“Something happen?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, something happened. But I’m not sure I know how to explain it…or even if I should,” he responded.

“Let me guess,” I said. “You got blindsided by John.”

“That would be an understatement,” he replied with a small chuckle.

“Welcome to the club,” I laughed. “I think we have a little conspiracy going on here.”

Ian suddenly became very anxious and began fiddling with his fingers, then his cup and then the spoon. Finally he looked up at me, his eyes tearing up, and said, “Look, Chris, I have to be honest with you here. I loved my wife dearly and was devastated when we lost her to cancer. I would never change a second of the time we had together. My god, I never would have had John otherwise and he means everything to me.”

I wasn’t quite sure what to say, so I didn’t say anything. I just gave him a little smile.

He paused, sipped his coffee and looked up the ceiling for a minute. He sighed and said, almost to himself, “I was so sure I had it covered.” Then he dropped his eyes back down to look at me, and in almost a whisper, he said, “I just never counted on meeting you.”

Now it was my turn to stare at the ceiling as my eyes filled with tears. When I looked back at Ian, he was looking right at me with apprehension written all over his face.

I looked into his eyes, reached across the table and took his hands in mine as I said, “You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to hear you say that.”

He smiled and gave my hands a little squeeze as everything came flooding out at once. “I’ve been so afraid. I’ve had so many things playing out in my mind these past few weeks. I knew how I was feeling about you. Since we’ve been staying here, I’ve felt happier than I have in years. That first night after the fire, it felt so right being in bed with you and being in your arms. I knew then that I wanted be with you. Only, I didn’t know if you felt the same way. But most of all, I didn’t know how to tell John. I mean, how do you tell your teenage son that you are falling in love with another man? I know he’s gay and in love with Jason, but still, he’s your son and you’re his dad. How do you tell him you’re gay?” he asked. I don’t think he stopped for a breath until he was finished.

I gave his hands a squeeze and replied with a laugh, “I guess you underestimated his powers of observation.”

“I guess I did,” he laughed.

“So?” I asked.

“Come here a sec,” he replied as he stood up.

I got up and walked around the table to where he was standing. We looked into each other’s eyes for a moment and smiled. He reached out and stroked his fingers across my cheek before moving his hand to the back of my neck and pulling me in for a kiss. It didn’t last for more than a minute and it wasn’t grinding and full of passion, but it was the most emotionally overwhelming kiss I ever experienced.

As we broke the kiss and moved into a hug, I opened my eyes. Looking over Ian’s shoulder, I saw the two boys with their arms around each other, tears running down their cheeks, but with huge smiles lighting up their faces. All I could do was smile back.

That night, we were quiet over dinner, but there were looks and smiles back and forth throughout the meal. After we were done, the boys volunteered to clean up and do the dishes, even though it was our night to do so. They all but pushed us out of the kitchen and into the living room. This time I didn’t sit in my favourite chair, but chose to sit on the sofa. Ian decided to lie down with his head in my lap. I don’t think he was quite ready to do the cuddle and kiss thing in front of the boys yet. He had no idea they had already seen us cuddle and kiss anyway.

We turned on the TV and found something we both liked. I gently ran my fingers through his hair as we sat there and soon he was lying back, looking up at me with a smile on his face. We saw no sign of the boys. I guessed they had quietly slipped off to their room to give us some privacy. He raised himself up as I leaned down and our lips met again. This time there was more passion involved and soon we were lost out own little world. When it was time to go to bed, instead of continuing down the hallway to what had become his room, Ian turned and followed me into my room, which would soon become our room. We undressed, used the washroom and were soon cuddled up in my bed. I was lying on my back and Ian was lying on his side, facing me. I turned my head and his lips touched mine in a quick kiss.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” I responded just before his lips met mine again.

“I can’t believe I’m lying here with you,” he said. “I’ve spent a lifetime denying who I am. If I knew it was going to feel like this, I would have come out years ago.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t,” I said.

“Why would you say that?” he asked. “You’ve been out forever and never believed in hiding who you are.”

“Because, if you had come out years ago, you wouldn’t be here with me right now,” I told him. He smiled.

We slept in until almost noon on Sunday. By then the boys were already up and, bless their little hearts, a fresh pot of coffee was waiting for us when we got up. So were six other boys whose smiles couldn’t have been bigger if they tried. We got hugs from everyone as they congratulated us.

“Its about time,” Pete said and kissed us each on the cheek.

“You deserve to be happy,” said Ross.

“I’m so happy for you guys,” said Aaron.

“We knew you’d figure it out sooner of later,” Theo smiled.

“This is so cool. We love you guys,” said Scott.

“You’ve made Jason and John so happy,” Evan assured us.

Apparently, we had been the topic of conversation between more than just Jason and John. It did feel really good getting the boys’ blessings, so to speak, especially for Ian. Knowing they not only accepted our relationship but were happy we finally got together simply felt good.

We spent the day lounging around the house. The boys were around all day, either playing Xbox or watching TV. It didn’t take Ian long to become comfortable being affectionate with me while the boys were there. Of course, I would give him a kiss every time I walked past him, so sooner or later it had to become more natural for him. Either that or he was going to have to lock himself in the bathroom all day.

Since we all felt totally lazy as dinnertime rolled around, we decided to go out. There was a great smorgasbord at one of the restaurants close by and they had the best beef ribs in the city. We piled into my car and Scott’s SUV and headed out. I think the poor guy who owned the place nearly had heart failure when Ian and I walked in with eight teenage boys. Ever wonder how many beef ribs two thirty-something guys and eight hungry teens can consume in one hour?

We got back to the condo at about 9:00. Everyone was stuffed so we ended up spread out all over the living room, watching TV. I can’t explain how good it felt to be able to cuddle up with Ian on the sofa. A couple of times, he actually leaned in to give me a kiss when he thought the boys weren’t looking. By eleven it was time for the boys to head home, as there was school tomorrow.

As he stood up, I looked at Ian and got a whole-body rush. ‘I couldn’t be this lucky,’ I thought as a big smile crossed my face. Jason looked at me and gave me a huge smile like he could sense what I was thinking and feeling. He and John said their good nights and headed off to their room. Five minutes later, Ian and I were cuddled up in bed and soon we were both asleep.

The next morning, after the boys headed off to school and Ian had left for work, I tried tidying up the place, but I gave up after a while. There is something about being in love that puts you on such an emotional high; it makes it hard to concentrate on anything. I had another coffee and sat smiling to myself for another half-hour. If anyone could have seen me, they would have been sure I had gone slightly insane.

Finally, I decided I had better get out my laptop and get to work on my story. I’ve discovered that publishers are a strange lot. They get really unpleasant if you don’t meet a deadline. I’m not sure how I did it, but I managed to get into writing. I was so wrapped up in the story that I didn’t realize the time until I heard the door open and the sounds of several boys making their way into the kitchen. I saved my work and went to see who had come home with the boys and who would be staying for dinner. That night it was Pete, Ross, Aaron and Theo.

“Hey guys,” I said as I entered the kitchen. “How was your day?”

“Hey Chris,” they all responded.

“I got 84% on my Bio test,” Aaron said proudly.

“Well congratulations,” I replied. “Good work.”

“We have our first help line tonight,” Pete replied. “Scott, Evan and Cary are manning the phones.”

“I can’t wait to find out how things go. I so want this to work,” Jason said as he dug out several cans of Coke from the fridge.

No sooner had he said that when Pete’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his back pocket and said, “Hey.” He listened for a few seconds before a look of panic came over his face.

Chapter 12