Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2013 12:03:17 -0800 (PST) From: John Michaels Subject: Filipino Love - chapter 41 FILIPINO LOVE BY JM Email: mmanlookin@yahoo.com Disclaimers and other info: see chapter one This story is my personal intellectual property. Reproduction in any form is forbidden without my express written consent. This and all subsequent chapters are dedicated to my very own Filipino Love! CHAPTER FORTY-ONE As we walked along the beach toward Ronni's parents' house, with each couple holding hands, I tried to keep the conversation on the topics of the day minus any mention of the mall incident. The computer was obviously the big hit, and they talked animatedly about all the things Lorenzo had shown them and about how much fun some of the games were. I could still sense, however, a bad case of nerves in both of them, but at least they weren't operating on pure terror as had been pretty much the case until only recently. Ronni was also doing his best to keep them distracted, and it looked like the boys were going to do ok. Sure, they were nervous -- scared, even -- but they had made a vow of commitment to one another, and now, they were determined to take the first major hurdle together as a couple. Whenever you don't want it to, time has a way of speeding up, and that was the case now, as we all too soon, it seemed, found ourselves at the head of the alley leading to the courtyard outside the Martinez house. Everyone paused while Paulo and Mario seemed to physically deflate, any bravado they had quickly vanishing, as they knew that this was it. This would become a defining moment in their relationship, and one, I'm sure, they'd remember for the rest of their lives, no matter the outcome, and I said a silent prayer that the memory would be a pleasant one. The two boys turned face to face, put their arms tightly around each other and kissed sweetly, close-mouthed and no tongue. This was a kiss of deep love, which seemed to transmit strength into both of them, for as they broke apart, they both stood tall, and, with a nod at Ronni and me, took each other's hand and walked toward the house. We could see Sanie's motorcycle near the door, and that seemed to perk the boys up even more. As we reached the door, it was obvious that there were more people there than just Sanie and Ronni's parents. There were two other young male voices that could be heard, and Paulo and Mario froze at the doorstep. Suddenly, their faces both broke out in huge grins as they recognized the voices of their brothers and they quickly entered the room, only to stop dead in their tracks, a look of shock and horror quickly replacing the grins, all color draining from their faces. As Ronni and I entered, I could see Venus, Marcus and Sanie sitting on the sofa, and Jareth and Dhomz were seated on the floor beside a woman who could only be Paulo's mother. The family resemblance was striking, so there was no doubt. Seeing the look on the boys' faces, Dhomz and Jareth both jumped up, and each soon had his brother in a tight hug. "It's ok," I could hear Dhomz say to Paulo. "Everything is ok." Both Paulo and Mario were trembling in their brothers' arms, and they were about two seconds to meltdown. Mrs. Calinga quickly rose from her chair and came over to her sons, gently pulling Paulo out of his brother's embrace into one of her own. I could hear her talking softly to her distraught son as she gently rubbed his back. Paulo started sobbing hysterically, as he grabbed his mother even closer. Mario was also crying in Jareth's arms as he listened to the mother and son exchange beside him. "She's telling him everything is ok," he said quietly, leaning into me. "She says that both she and Mrs. Magsayo have suspected for some time that their sons had feelings for each other that were more than just friends. She says they have had many talks about this, and they both have decided that they are still the sons they have always loved, and they always will." Ronni's eyebrows shot up as he continued to listen and translate for me. "She just said that they are lucky to have such a good friend like me who can help them. Wow, Phil!" he exclaimed. "I had big hopes that things would be ok, but not as ok as this! She has given them the blessing of Mrs. Magsayo and herself." At that moment, Mrs. Calinga released one arm from hugging her son and pulled Mario into their embrace, kissing his tear-stained cheek. She talked quietly to him, as the tears continued to flow down the cheeks of the two boys. Jareth and Dhomz were also crying quietly and smiling, and both Ronni and I also had wet cheeks. Looking across to the other three adults, they were all in the same state, and all had gentle, loving smiles on their faces as they watched the scene before them. "Did you have anything to do with this?" Ronni asked Dhomz. "Just a little," he replied, then indicating Jareth with a nod of the head. "We both did, actually. We will tell you later." At that moment, Mrs. Calinga turned toward Ronni. "You help them, yes?" she asked. Then looking at me added, "You help too, please." It was clear that English was definitely not her strong suit. Ronni went to her and hugged her, speaking softly. She nodded her head and smiled through her tears, as she kissed his cheek. "Good boy," she said, caressing his cheek. Then, looking at me, she said, "Good man." Paulo began talking to her, and as he talked, her gaze shifted between Ronni and me. She was still smiling, and, as Paulo finished, she looked again at Ronni, and me. "Good boy, good man," she reiterated, then added, with emphasis, "good friend." Ronni kissed her cheek and came over to stand beside me again, with his arm around my waist. "I need a drink!" declared Sanie loudly, some of the few words of English I'd ever heard her speak. I think those words were also in Mrs. Calinga's limited vocabulary as she joined in the laughter that erupted at that statement. The seated adults all got up and came over to where the rest of were standing, and we were soon in a group hug, which seemed to becoming a tradition in the Martinez household. While Sanie and Venus went off to get the drink fixings, the rest of us migrated to the seating area. Marcus told Mrs. Calinga to sit on the sofa with her youngest son, and the rest of us sat around on the floor, with Mario at his boyfriend's feet. Mrs. Calinga put her arm around her son and reached down to stroke Mario's head. Mario took her hand, and, turning toward her, pressed the back of it to his forehead in the sign of respect before kissing it. Mrs. Calinga was clearly touched by this and smiled lovingly at him. She had seen both boys grow from infants to teens, and it was plainly obvious that she had a deep affection for her son's friend, now boyfriend. I turned to Marcus and was telling him about the latest potential purchase when Sanie and Venus returned with ubiquitous bottle of rum and cans of coke, along with glasses. The adults all soon had a rum and coke while the boys each had their own can of coke. Paulo looked at his mother with puppy dog eyes, and she handed him her drink. He took a small sip and immediately made a face, going "yech!" Mario looked up with the same request in his body language, and, with a nod and a smile from his mother, Paulo passed the glass to him with the same results. We were all laughing at the faces the boys made, when Dhomz asked if he could try it. Sighing resignedly, she passed him the glass. He took a huge swig, most likely trying to show how adult he was, but he ended up coughing and sputtering furiously, as the fiery liquid burned its way down his throat. He quickly handed the drink to his mother and proceeded to down about half his can of coke, hoping to quench the flames. Everyone was laughing uproariously, and as soon as he was able, Dhomz joined in, good-naturedly. When everyone had calmed down, conversations broke out among various groups, and I took the time to finish telling Marcus about the new purchase and my reasons for buying it. He was very enthusiastic and thought I had come up with not only a good and workable solution to a potential problem, but also a smart business move, since the income from each property would most likely exceed what it would have otherwise. We clinked our glasses in a toast, then I asked if I could see him and Venus in the kitchen for a moment. He got a mild look of concern on his face, but I reassured him there was nothing wrong with Ronni. I did, however, feel that I needed to tell them about what had happened at the mall. Marcus caught his wife's eye, and, with a nod of his head, indicated that she should join us. Once we were seated at the kitchen table with our drinks, I told them in as non-graphic terms but as fully as possible about Ronni's assault. Both of them gasped in horror, and Venus looked like she was going to faint, while Marcus' face grew bright red with anger. They both took a good healthy slug of their drinks before saying anything. "First of all, Phil, we are not upset at all with you," he said, seeing the look of concern on my face. "In fact, if you and your friend had not been there, it could have turned out much worse. Ronni goes to that mall a lot, and if this had happened on any one of those other times, it scares me to death to think of what the outcome might have been. But you were there this time, and, thank God, there was no physical harm. The fact that this did not happen any other time other than this time when you were there to protect him I strongly feel is a sign from God and is solid proof that you are the one meant to be at his side through life and protect him. I am concerned, however, about the mental harm. Have you seen anything in him since then that would be a cause for worry?" "Those were my exact thoughts, too," I answered. "He seems to be working everything out in his mind, and there have been a few times when he's mentioned it. That's a good thing. I would be very concerned if he didn't talk about it at all. Lorenzo, the young man who was with us, is going to keep an eye on him while I'm away, and he'll also be listening to what Ronni's friends say if they see any change whatsoever in his behavior. I'm sure both of you will notice any change, too, since it looks like Ronni will be staying here with you while we have some work done on the house while I'm away. I'm prepared to arrange trauma counseling for him if it comes to that, but if he continues as he is now, I don't think it will be necessary. "I should also tell you that I'm hiring a bodyguard for him. This will be especially needed once we get the hotels up and running, and my name becomes well known. And he'll become just as well known, since he never voluntarily leaves my side, so it will be clear to anyone who sees us that we're close. I was actually a little afraid of how he would take the news about the bodyguard, but he surprised me by having already thought about our security issues prior to today and is in full agreement with me. It's also very ironic that Ronni already knows the guy somewhat who I'm considering hiring for the position. He's coming to the house tomorrow morning at 11:00, and I'd like it if you could join us, with Christian and Sara, of course. You may have some questions for him that I may not, and your input would be greatly appreciated. We're planning to have a cookout and swim time after the interview period to which the guard and his spouse have been invited. And I should probably alert you now. They're another gay couple." "Who a person loves does not define that person," said Venus, joining the conversation. She was looking a lot better than before, but you could still tell that the news really bothered her. I also noticed that her drink was now more than half gone. "I think we should be there, don't you, Marcus?" "Definitely," he agreed readily. "I'm sure we will most likely have some questions for him, and if he's the one you hire to protect my son, I would like to also get to know him as a person." "Thanks," I said. "Aside from the interview part, I think we'll have a good time. Now, I have something I wanted to ask you both that I find hard to do, especially after telling you about what happened at the mall. I'm thinking this may not be the right time." "Nonsense!" exclaimed Venus. "Our son considers himself married to you, which makes you our son-in-law and a member of the family. You can say or ask anything." Marcus nodded his agreement. "Ok, here goes," I said, with an apologetic smile. "It's as you just said. Ronni and I consider ourselves married in spirit and in life. To strengthen that tie, he asked to take my last name as his. Ronni was and is your son long before he met me, although his dreams told him I was on the way and that we would be united in love for life. I told him that because of the fact that he is, and always will be, your son, he needs to honor you by keeping your name. My solution was to suggest that we hyphenate our last names to Martinez-James. I'd like to know how you truly feel about that." There was a heavy silence as Marcus and Venus looked at each other. Shit!! I hope I haven't pissed them off! I was relieved when I saw a small smile on Venus' face. "You know, Phil," she began, "once you actually showed up in his life and we saw how deeply committed the two of you are, we thought that something like this might happen. But we were afraid that he would drop Martinez completely and go with only James. What you suggest is a good compromise and one we can accept. And if I heard you correctly, you sad WE would make this change. I can't begin to tell you how happy and proud that makes me that you would also do this. When would you like to make the change?" Holy shit!!! YES!! YES!! YES!! Ronni's going to shoot to the moon when he hears this! "I'd like to do this for Ronni before I leave Friday, if it can be arranged," I said, desperately trying to keep my emotions in check. "I was thinking that I won't make the change for myself until I get back to the US. I'm totally committed to this and want to make sure I change all my official documents and records, including my passport. But I'll probably wait until I come back to take care of that one, since it will take too much time to process there along with everything else. Once I have all the other documents changed, I can always make the change on my passport through the US embassy in Manila." "Unfortunately, anything pertaining to official documents like birth certificates and baptismal records, both of which will need to be altered for Ronni, take time," Marcus said. My heart plummeted. "However, you have probably already noticed that a few, well-placed pesos can effectively grease the wheels of bureaucracy here. If you are willing to pay what is, let's face it, a bribe, I think we can get things done, not in the official months, but definitely within a few days. Maybe even within one day if we can catch the right official at the right time." "I'll do anything it takes to make this happen," I said, with a huge sigh of relief. Marcus chuckled. "Had you worried there for a minute, didn't I," he said, obviously very pleased with pulling a fast one on me. "We can go to the record office first thing Monday morning, if that's ok with you." "Monday morning will be great!" I enthused. "The only other thing that might get in the way is that land deal I told you about. I'll probably be hearing on that sometime Monday, but I think it's going to be little more than offer/counter offer, and I can probably do that over the phone with Josie." Josie!!! Shit!!! She was supposed to have stopped by the house with that list of contractors. I'd completely forgotten about it, what with worrying about the boys and trying to figure out how to handle things tonight. And here it was, several hours later than she said she'd be by, and she didn't show, and there have been no phone calls. Phone calls! I quickly pulled out my cel phone and noticed the battery was dead. Dammit! I've got to remember to plug it in every night! Idiot!!! I suddenly noticed Venus and Marcus looking at me with some concern. Small wonder. I probably look like a lunatic, running my hand through my hair and muttering under my breath. "Sorry about that," I said, with an apologetic smile. "When I said her name, I remembered that Josie was supposed to have stopped by the house earlier with some information I needed. It just now occurred to me that she hadn't, and I wondered why she hadn't at least called. Dead battery," I added, waving my cel phone. Marcus chuckled. "I'm always forgetting to charge mine, and if was not for my very observant wife, it would most likely never be charged, but it's working now. Would you like to use it to call Josie? At least it will give you peace of mind knowing what happened, if you can reach her." "Thanks," I said, gratefully. Getting her business card out of my wallet, I quickly dialed her number. It rang six times and went to voicemail. "Hi, it's Phil," I said as soon as I got the prompt. "We've had a very hectic evening and I forgot you were even supposed to..." I was interrupted by Josie picking up. "Hi, Phil. I'm really glad you called," she said breathlessly. "I didn't recognize the number and waited to screen the voicemail." "Sorry about that," I replied. "I just now found out that my battery on my phone died, and I'm using Marcus' phone. We're at his house now. But it sounds like you've been trying to reach me. What's up?" "Good news, I hope," she said. "I was on the phone to the owners of that property shortly after you left. As we thought, they said your offer was too low and countered with 18 million. From the tone of the guy's voice, I could tell he was anxious to make some sort of deal right away. The pressure really must be on them to sell right away. I hope you aren't upset, by I countered with 13 million on your behalf. I could hear him talking to someone in the background and came back on and lowered to 16.5. I came back with 14, and I could hear him talking again in the background. Whoever it was sounded very upset and I could hear the guy I was talking to sigh. He came back with 15 million and said they couldn't possibly go any lower. I told him we accepted that offer on the condition that we can close no later than Thursday. He actually seemed quite pleased with that and said that it would be no problem, so they must really need the money in a hurry. I hope I did the right thing." "Josie, girl, you did great!!" I all but shouted. "I was even prepared to go a bit higher than 15, so you did the right thing. Thanks so much, and especially for pushing for an early closing. I owe you big time!" "Oh, don't worry about that," she laughed. "I'll get my pound of flesh." "Thanks again, Josie," preparing to hang up, then stopping. "By the way, I'm having a cookout and swim tomorrow after interviewing that friend of Lorenzo's. The Martinez' will be there too. Do you think you'd be able to join us?" "I'd really love to," she said, with obvious regret, "but Sunday is the caregiver's day off, and I need to stay with my parents. I'll take a raincheck, though." She chuckled. "I seem to be running a tab on those! That's now the second one." "I'm sorry you won't be able to make it," I said, sincerely. "We'll definitely have to find a good time to get together. But if there's any way you can get away tomorrow, just show up any time after noon. You're always welcome, and I feel I really owe you for all the extras you've done for Ronni and me. If we don't see you tomorrow, we can talk on Monday about the land deal. I'll probably be tied up in the morning with other business but should be free sometime after lunch." "That will be fine, Phil," she said. "And again, I regret not being able to join you tomorrow, but I'll see what I can do. If I could find someone to stay with my parents for a while, I'll definitely be there. It sounds like it would be fun." "We'll be thinking of you if you can't," I replied. "And thanks again for a great job. Bye." "Bye," she said, and we disconnected. "I take it that the land purchase went through," said Marcus. "It did, thanks to Josie," I said. "She did a great job negotiating. I got it for 5 million less than the asking price." "That's great," said Venus, clearly impressed. "She seems like a very smart young woman. Oh," she added. "We need to tell you that Marcus and I have discussed it, and we have decided to accept your offer of employment." "Wow!" I exclaimed, slumping back in my chair in shock. "Can this day possibly end any better?" The two of them laughed. "Just let us know when you would like us to start," said Marcus. "I need to let my company know enough in advance." "Of course," I said. "I understand. It will be sometime after I get back, but I can't really say exactly when yet. I'll definitely give you enough advance notice though." "Good," Venus said. "We believe we will very much enjoy working with you. You are family now, after all." "Speaking of which, I guess I'd better get Ronni and head home. It's been quite a day!" I finally managed to say. Just as we stood, Ronni came into the room and straight to my side, putting his arm around my waist. Venus kissed both Ronni and me on the cheek, and Marcus kissed his forehead and patted me on the back, as they both left the room. "What took you so long?" he asked, putting his arms around me. "I missed you." "I missed you too, Sweetheart," I said, as I rubbed his back. "But good things happened here. Very good things. I'll tell you all about it on the way home." "Can Paulo and Mario spend the night again?" he asked, snuggling closer. "I don't mind," I said, "but that's up to their parents." "Mrs. Calinga said it's ok," he said. "She and Mrs. Magsayo talked earlier and said it was ok if they were asked." "Well, let's go get them and head home then," I said, kissing the top of his head. "It's getting late, and everyone's had a pretty long day." Hand in hand, we went through into the living room. Mrs. Calinga seemed a bit surprised at first by our little PDA, but got a soft look on her face as she looked from Ronni to me as a gentle smile graced her lips. As we were all hugging our goodbyes, I asked Ronni to ask his lola if she'd like to come to the cookout tomorrow. He bashfully admitted he already had, and that she said she'd be happy to come. I hugged him and told him that in situations like that, that it was ok for him to invite his lola without asking me first- that it was his house, too, and he was really pleased with my response. Then he looked at me with a shy smile and told me he had also invited Jareth and Dhomz. Smiling, I pinched his butt, and he giggled as he went over and retrieved a bag from behind the door, which, I guessed, had clothes in it for our guests. Someone was planning ahead, but it also told me how committed the boys' mothers were in helping to support their sons in their nascent relationship. Before we left, I went to Mrs. Calinga and thanked her for all she and Mrs. Magsayo were doing for their sons and for letting them sleep over again. Dhomz translated for me, and she seemed genuinely touched. She surprised me by giving me a hug, and when she stepped back, she said, "Very good man." I smiled at her in reply, then, after telling Dhomz and Jareth that we'd see them tomorrow, I gathered up the troops, and we headed home. The boys started chattering excitedly to one another the second we were out the door. They were so wound up over how the evening had gone that they were slipping back and forth between English and Tagalog without even noticing. Paulo and Mario were walking slightly ahead of us, and Ronni would give me the condensed version in translation, although it was plainly obvious that they were happily talking about the acceptance they'd gotten from their mothers, their love for them and their brothers, who had evidently gone to bat for them on some level, and their own love for each other. Their voices got quieter, as they put their arms around each other's waist and leaned in closer. I'm guessing they were getting into the more intimate details of their relationship, and this was confirmed when Ronni giggled. He obviously caught at least part of their conversation, and leaned his head closer to mine. "Boy, are they planning to have fun tonight!" he whispered excitedly. "I was horny for you before, but listening to what they're telling each other they're going to do when they go to bed has got me so hard, and my pants are getting wet from it leaking. I hope you weren't planning to go to sleep right away!" Shit!! Now he's got me in the same condition, although I had been pretty borderline to begin with. "Anything you want, sweet boy," I said, pulling him closer. "Anything you want!" He groaned softly and moved his hand down and caressed my butt. Is it really only 15 minutes to home? Seems like we've been walking for hours!! We finally reached the house, and I think everyone was anxious to get behind closed doors with their lovers, and even though it wasn't really that late, sweaty, naked bodies on a bed was on everybody's mind. The last 50 yards was done almost at a trot. As soon we got inside, I told the two newly-sanctioned lovebirds they could use the cr first to get ready for bed, and they took off with toothy grins. Once I heard the cr door shut, I pulled Ronni into my arms and kissed him passionately. We both moaned into each other's mouth in sexual heat as our groins rubbed together, both of our cocks rock-solid. When we broke the kiss, Ronni looked into my eyes, panting from lust. From the look on his face, his itch was back with a vengeance, and I fully intended to scratch it very thoroughly. "Wow!" Ronni gasped. "I felt that right down to my toes!" "And that's just a starter for later," I said, caressing his cheek. "But there's something I have to tell you now since it may be happening Monday, if all goes well." "Was this something you and my parents were talking about?" he asked. "Yep," I replied "Monday, we put in the papers for Mr. Ronni Martinez-James." "What papers?" he asked. And then the lights went on! "You mean...my...I'll...you?" He was so totally blown away, he couldn't even speak, but it was obvious he knew what I meant, as he slammed against me so hard we almost ended up on the floor and he started bawling loudly. "Oh, Phil, Oh, my Phil! Oh, God! Oh, GodohGodohGod!!" He was sobbing and wailing, rocking within my arms, my shirt soaked with his tears as he continued to absorb and assimilate the news. I was also sobbing with emotion, and the loud wails he was making brought Mario and Paulo running from the cr in just their underwear, uncertain and scared for their friend, not knowing the reason for his outburst. They slowed as they got closer, fear written all over their faces. "Wha...What's the matter with Ronni?" asked a clearly frightened Paulo, as he saw the two of us clutching each other for dear life, crying. "Believe it or not, he's actually happy," I said, sniffling. "I just told him something that he really wanted to hear. We'll tell you once we've both calmed down. Why don't you two go finish up your shower, and we'll meet out here when you're done. He should be ok by then." Not really sure about things but taking my word for it, they both came over to us and put their hands comfortingly on his back and kissed his cheek. Ronni lifted his head and gave them a soft smile and nod in acknowledgement, which seemed to satisfy them, and they headed back to the cr, glancing a few times over their shoulders on the way to make sure their buddy really was ok. With a huge, shuddering sigh and sniff, Ronni pulled back enough so he could look into my eyes. "Mama and Papa really says it's ok?" he asked. "That I change my name?" "They're both ok with it," I assured him. "Actually, they were pretty happy about it. They were pretty sure you would want to do something like this, but they thought you would just want to use my name and not your family name. Having both names split with a hyphen was the perfect solution, and they were very relieved and happy." "Oh, Phil," he sobbed, putting his head on my shoulder, "I can't begin to tell you how very happy that makes me. Even though we can't get married here, at least all my official papers will have my first name with your last name on them. It's the closest thing we can do here to be married." "As far as we're both concerned, we're already married," I said, kissing his head. "Yes," he said softly. "You are my husband forever, and I am your spouse until I'm 18 and am a legal adult. Then, I will be your husband, too." He'd plainly given this a lot of thought, and it made sense for a relationship like ours. This young man has an amazingly sharp mind. "I think that's the perfect way to describe us," I said. Then realizing that Mario and Paulo would be back shortly for their explanation, I held Ronni at arms' length and wiped his tear-stained cheeks with my thumbs. "Let's use the sink over here and get cleaned up. We both look kind of rough. Mario and Paulo will be back soon, and I think we should look a little more presentable." I grabbed some napkins from the counter and handed some to him to blow his nose. I did the same, then also grabbing a clean dishtowel, we went to the sink where he splashed water on his face to get rid of some of the puffiness, then, drying with the towel, I followed his example. After getting some water from the ref, we went and sat on the sofa, waiting for his friends to return. While we waited, we just sat quietly with him sitting on my thighs with his head on my shoulder, as I slowly rubbed his back. It was a calm and peaceful moment, which we both needed right then to get our emotions under control, and we could probably have fallen asleep like this if the boys hadn't returned just then. After determining that Ronni was ok, I offered them something to drink. They both opted for juice and told me to stay with Ronni. They knew where it was, and they were soon sitting beside us on the sofa, each with a small can of pineapple juice. They each took a sip, then turned so that Paulo had his back resting on the arm of the sofa with Mario snuggled between his legs, leaning on his boyfriend's chest. "So what happened to Ronni?" asked Mario, looking with concern at his friend. "Do you want to tell them, Love, or should I?" I asked my young lover. "I think you better tell them," he said softly. "I don't think I can say it without crying again." He snuggled closer and put his head sideways on my shoulder, facing his friends. "A few days ago, Ronni and I were talking about our relationship, and we both felt that what we had was just like a marriage -- that we both felt that we were married to each other. Ronni said that in a real marriage, one spouse takes the last name of the other o they both have the same last name. He wanted to take my last name as his, but I thought that he really should keep his family name to honor his parents. We decided that we would use both last names with a hyphen -- a dash -- between them, so that his name would be Ronni Martinez-James. The next step was to get his parents' permission, and tonight, they gave it. They were really happy about our double name, because they had a feeling that because of how much Ronni loved me that he would want to take my last name, and that made them kind of sad. Ronni is and always will be their son, and if he dropped his family name to take mine, it was like they were losing a son. The way we'll do it now, keeping his family name as at least part of his last name would show that he was still their son, although I know he'd never stop being their son just over a name. But, as you both know, family is very important here. That's why you have your mother's family name as your middle name. So, to make a long story even longer, (they all laughed), the reason Ronni was crying so hard is because this was something that he really, really wanted. And when I told him his parents were ok with it, he was so happy inside that there was too much to keep inside and it all came out. So, does that explain it well enough for you? Do you have any questions for us?" "Are you ok now, Ronni?" asked Paulo. "I'm so much more than ok that I can't tell you!" answered Ronni, hugging me tightly and kissing my cheek. "We were pretty scared when we saw before," said Mario. "We thought something really bad happened." "I'm sorry," said Ronni. "You two are my best friends. I didn't mean to upset you." "We are just so glad that you are ok," said Mario. "We love you and want you always to be happy. I think, when we are old enough, I want to change my name like yours. I think `Mario Magsayo-Calinga' sounds good." Paulo gasped and clutched Mario tightly and started crying. "My Mario," he sobbed, "I love you so much!" This got Mario going, and both Ronni and I had silent tears running down our cheeks. What a beautiful thing his friends had between them. "There's one thing I haven't told Ronni yet," I said, once everyone had calmed down somewhat. "Now that Ronni's parents have given their blessing to changing his name, once I'm back here and settled, I plan to have my last name changed to match his." Ronni's eyes flew open and his face crumpled. "Oh my God!!" he shouted, hugging me so hard it seemed like he was trying to pull himself inside me. "Oh, Phil! My Phil! My husband! I love you, I love you, I love you!!" He was soaking my shoulder with his tears, since my shirt was already sopping wet from his earlier outbursts, and I was doing a pretty good job of wetting his. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mario and Paulo with tears streaming down their faces and with ear-to-ear grins, and Mario was clapping his hands in glee. Once this present emotional typhoon passed, we talked for a while about love and relationships but oddly, nothing about sex. There were some more tears, more laughter and a roomful of love. I finally noticed the time and offered cr rights to Paulo and Mario first. Once they returned from their nightly ablutions, Ronni and I hugged and kissed them goodnight, and went into the bedroom, shutting and LOCKING the door behind us. After our round in the cr, we went back to the bedroom, and Ronni quickly got onto the bed, lying flat with his legs spread and bent at the knees and began stroking his now-hard young cock. "Husband," he growled sexily at me while waving a tube of lube he'd grabbed on the way, "I have a very bad itch deep inside that really needs to be scratched!" Being the dutiful and loving husband that I am, I more than willingly obliged him. Twice!! I hope you're enjoying my tale and would really like to hear from you if you do, especially from the female audience. Your emails help keep me motivated, and I always reply. 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