Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2007 17:10:27 -0700 (PDT) From: T. Chase McPhee Subject: Natures Trail 06 The story below is a work of fiction, set in the format of reality. Any resemblances to real people, alive or in the hereafter, is entirely coincidental in nature. It is not meant to accurately reflect upon persons, in towns, cities, countries, nor governmental areas, which the story is staged. If a sexual scene involving male-to-male relationships offends you, then you should not read this story. Additionally, if you are under 18 years of age, in most state and countries, you are not allowed to read this story, by law. Check with your local laws regarding such. % Sexual safety matters. Remember guys, this is fiction. In real life, use protection. % "Nature's Trail" 06 wriTten by T. Chase McPhee % Getting ready for breakfast has it's advantages. When Philip and Aidan arrived at the back door, letting themselves in, they saw their dads, decked out in their Sunday best, Denis and Mark in dress shirts, minus the ties, both teens wearing nice neckchains, Berk, in a shirt and tie, like their dads, all relaxing as they chowed down. "You boys better hurry up and get dressed," Steve told them. Barry quipped, "And don't forget to wash behind the ears." They both acknowledged their dads, hightailing it off, to their bungalow, forgetting to tell about Freddie's bacon and scrambled eggs breakfast. "Did you get to talk with Aunt Bernice about Matty's mustang?" Denis asked. "Not yet," both dads replied, Barry picking up on it, "Not yet. I'll mention it to her after church today." Mark inquires, "I wonder if it needs any work?" Steve says, "It's been sitting idle for about three years, so I suspect the fluids need to be changed." "Don't worry," Barry says, "we'll have it checked out for you before you take off on the road in it." Berk speaks up, "I could offer to change the oil and make sure it is running good." "You know about cars?" Denis asks. Max butts in, "Does he know about cars? He got my Kawasaki running after it stalled out and wouldn't start." "Cool!" Denis says. Along the lines of teaching responsibility, Max comes up with, directing to Steve and Barry, "I think Denis and Mark might be able to learn something, helping Berk check things out?" "Good idea," Barry replies. Mark asks, "Will we be getting our hands all greasy?" Steve says, "Possibility, but they make special soap for removing it!" Smirking, Mark accepts his dad's answer. Denis, reckons, "Yeah, I think it's a good idea." Aidan and Philip report back to the dining room, Philip saying, "We're ready!" "That was quick!" Steve says. "We didn't take showers," Aidan confesses. Barry was ready to say it, but instead Max picks up on it, spewing out, "Well you two boys better make sure it's either a shower or a bath before bedtime!" Philip says, "But we'll be swimming this-afternoon." "Yeah," Aidan seconds it. "Still," Barry reinforces the thought, "you need to wash the chlorine `gunk' off your skin." "Gunk?" Steve questions, "sounds like they'll corrode if they don't get it off their skin!" Light laughter fills the room. Denis asks, "Can we go?" "Anxious to get to church, eh?" Steve asks. "Yeah," Mark reads into Denis' comment, "we don't like getting there late. All the people stare at you walking in late." "Plus," Denis tells them, "we can get a place near the back, so we can make a beeline for the door when it's over!" "What happened?" Barry inquires. "It used to be you two loved to stay for coffee hour." "Yeah," Steve adds, "and help chow down all those goodies?" Denis says, "We've gotta get Berk home and to work on the mustang!" Barry explains first, they have to deal with Bernice over the transferring of papers. % Sitting at the table, eating breakfast, which will soon turn into brunch, Maury interrogates the boys, "Anything lined up for summer jobs?" Connor responds, "We saw a sign in the window of the Army & Navy, saying they're hiring." "Yeah," Jim Faulkner tells him, "if they don't hire both of us, one of us might have a chance of snagging it." "Still, you shouldn't rely on only one application," Maury tells them, stuffing a forkful of eggs in his mouth. "Oh, we know that," Jim says. "We've already applied elsewhere," Connor says. "Like?" "We filled out applications to wait on tables at Birdy's." "Birdy's? It's a grill." "Not from what the owner tells us," Jim tells him. Rearranging the eggs on his plate, Connor says, "Yeah, they're remodeling the diningroom. The owner, Michael Byrd, says he hopes it to be a very successful dinner club." "Oh, I know Michael. Still, that's only one other place," the thirty-two year old college professor states. "Oh, we still have to apply at a lot of other places," Connor tells him. Jim asks, "Did you know there's a lot of new businesses opening up near Birdy's?" "Like?" "There's an Italian restaurant called Balducci's and Degaugue's French Cuisine?" "Really? Anyone would wonder why Michael Byrd is going to the expense of remodeling," Maury asks. "We thought of it too," Jim says. "Michael tells us, it's because of the competition, are the reasons for the upgrade." "I suppose that makes sense. Balducci's, eh? There should be a lot of young, Italian studs running around!" "Only you'd think of that, Maury," Connor says, making them all laugh. Jim continues, "And there's a sports and fitness place opening, DiVito's." "More stud-meat!" Maury jokes. "One track mind," Jim comments, looking to Connor, who bobs his head up and down. "Then there's a bakery," Jim adds, but Connor steals the introduction, saying, "Yeah, owned by this hot guy named Dean." "Oh really?" Maury shows interest. "Yeah," Jim agrees, "Dean's Bakery. We filled out applications right away." Right on, Connor says, "Then there's an art gallery, Durufle's, which we didn't apply at." "Right," Jim continues, "and there's always Barr's & Bridges to fall back on, if we don't get any of those." "Nice new store they're opening," Maury tells them. "Right. They're closing the old location and have a grand opening on Saturday." "Guess what's opening at the old location?" Jim asks. "What?" "Mr. Pinque's," Jim says. "Yeah, they're tearing down the old building and building a new gay night club on the spot," Connor tells them. Jim informs Maury, "But we didn't apply there." "Why not?" their unofficial guardian asks, adding, "I think you two would make cute cube-boys!" "Cube-boys?" Jim inquires. "Yeah, I could just picture you two guys, dressed up in a g-strings and dancing your asses off!" Getting a kick out of it, the two boys laugh, saying it'd be the easiest job in the world, but inform Maury the employer was looking for older young men, not guys that would be fresh out of high school. % Right after the service, Denis and Mark were hounding their dads, "Talk to her!" Barry, looking to Steve, smiled, saying, "Bernice isn't going anywhere." "Yeah," Steve was inclined to agree, saying, "She hasn't missed a coffee hour in years." Still, the two, instead of trying to make a get-away, stayed around, with greats hopes for a future of riding their own wheels in the morning to school, work and swimming practice at WRCC. Straightaway, from another pew in the church, Tom and Eric appeared. "Where were you two hiding?" Barry asks, hugging Tom, as Eric hugged Steve. "Oh, we were over there," Tom points out, almost the pew in the front of the sanctuary. Steve asked Eric, "Did you guys have fun?" "It wasn't all fun, but yeah, sometimes Pastor Jack would say something that made us laugh." "Yeah," Tom agrees with Eric, expanding, "Y'know, Pastor Jack can be just like a regular guy?" "Really?" Steve says facetiously, looking to his other half, who smiles, giggling. When Tom and Eric said hello to their brothers, Denis and Eric, the dads knew what the utmost topic of discussion entailed. "I guess you better talk with Bernice before we get pestered to death," Steve tells Barry. "We'll talk to Bernice," Barry says. "Oh yeah," Steve chimes in, "that's what I meant. You and me talk to her." Barry can't be fooled, but just laughs it off. Walking into the banquet hall, Barry gets a tap on the shoulder. Denis says, "She's over there," pointing. "What'd I say?" Steve asks his lover, regarding the pestering. As if a ping pong match, Denis and Mark look to their father, Barry, as he chats with Bernice, then to her, then back to their dad. Steve got torn away from the conversation, by one of the elders, inquiring whether or not he would like to serve as usher some Sunday morning. At the same time, Sunday School lets out, a wave of children streaming into the room, attacking the food tables before even greeting their parents! Off to the side, Justin was greeted by folks, admiring the choir anthem for the morning. Several approached Tony, the foreman handling Michael's renovations, telling him how much they admired his operatic voice, even though he was part of the tenor section. The tenors were glad to have him, considering the section was comprised of Christian, Antonio and two other men, all four stating they felt inadequate with Tony's professional timbre. Of course he was always the object of their sarcasm, taking it good-naturedly as joking. "Feet still hurt?" Christian tried to keep a smile affixed to his face, moving from one foot to the other, replying, "A little." Justin thought, `What a saint!', then told Christian, "There's Antonio. Why don't you go sit down with him?" "Okay." Taking a lemonade from the table, Christian dropped his butt down on a folding chair. "Eh Christian, I thought we sounded decent this morning. At least that's what people are saying," first words out of Antonio's mouth. "Right. I know, where I'm concerned, he's hiding all my goofs!" Antonio laughs, but then comments, "Whenever he sings, I lean to the left and see if I can get the pitch from him." "Hmm... didn't think of that one," Christian says, taking the last gulp of his lemonade. "I thought him kind of nice looking for an older guy." Christian smiles, saying, "I don't think Tony is very old." "I didn't mean like sixties, but older than us." "He's gotta be in his early to midthirties. Kind of old for you, Antonio, no?" "I figure liking somebody can be ageless. I mean, I figured before I hit twenty-two, I would know a guy, kind of feel like settling down, like you and Justin." "So," Christian begins to rub it in, "you've got the hots for Tony?" "Hey, I don't even know if he's gay!" "If I find out about him before you, I'll let you know. I gotta get up and walk around." "But I thought your feet hurt from hiking?" Antonio asks. "Are, but my leg muscles are going berserk, so I need to get up and walk around." "You better get to the gym." "Maybe. See you at choir practice." While Christian sat with Antonio, Justin found himself a place at a table, where the kids sat. Philip asked him, "Know why Noah didn't do a lot of fishing while he was on the ark?" It seemed to Justin he's heard this one, but there's nothing like hearing a kid say the punchline. "Why?" "Because he only had two worms," Aidan told him. As if the first time, told in Sunday School, by their teacher, the children laughed out loudly, along with Justin. "Cute joke." "Our Sunday School teacher, Mr. Gannon, told us it," one of the other kids said. Now, since a lull occured, kids leaving, coming back with more cookies, or a doughnut, Justin thought it time to spring his idea on them. Meanwhile, across the room, Denis, Mark and Barry still chatted with Bernice. From a distance, an observer would wonder about the bright smiles crossing their faces. Also joining them, after awhile, Berk became the main talker, asking her questions about the mechanics of the mustang, of which she would only answer, "I don't know a piston from a spark plug. You'll have to take'r for a spin." Of course, as Steve had imagined, she wasn't asking anything for the mustang, which too made the teens happy, anxious to acquire the vehicle. Soon the hall started to empty out, so Barry gathered up the clan for the trip home. When they got home, it wasn't the dads getting pestered about the car, but Berk, Denis' and Mark's new mechanical consultant. Of course it was alright with Bernice that they come over and take a look, so after lunch, that's where they headed. Aidan and Philip wanted to go swimming, inviting Diego and Seth over, along with a phone call to Jeremy. Chad and Matty had no objections. While they visited, they slipped away next door, when they heard Denis, Mark and Berk were checking out the Mustang. Tom and Eric, fresh home from their labors at removing mud from the high school, with Pastor Jack and the youth group figured they would be relaxing, but got elected to lifeguard duty. In a way, it was a way to relax for the day. "So, is she calling you?" Eric asks Tom. "I told Penny, I'd call her tonight," Tom said of one of the girls from the church youth group. He watched, as Eric sat their, looking down into the water. "What are you thinking about?" Smiling, he turned briefly towards Tom, then said, "I'm remembering the stuff we did. I was almost positive you were gay." "You're not jealous are you?" "Of Penny? Nah. I'm just glad that I was the one you played around with, while making up your mind." "That's nice of you to say Eric and I'm glad it was you, too. I'm just sorry I put you through all that anxiety." "It was nothing. It was like... like we were on a date." Though, Eric couldn't get it out of his mind. The first guy to give him a blow job, was Tom and still retained thoughts Tom couldn't be totally heterosexual. But he kept his opinions to himself, saying to himself, `there's plenty of other fish in the sea!' % While Barry headed over to check out how far they got with the mustang, Steve spent some quality time at the Barn, swimming with the kids. He had the opportunity to spend time with the older, as well as the `squirts'. "Hey, dad, you know what Mr. Beanhacker asked us?" "What?" Aidan breaks in, "First tell dad the joke." "Oh yeah," Philip says, asking, "Ya know why Noah didn't spend much time fishing?" "Why?" "Because he only had two worms!" As with this morning, Philip, Aidan and the other boys howled, as if the first time telling it. Steve joined in, being a good sport, even though he's heard it before. In fact, he mentions, "I think they were telling that joke around when I was in Sunday School! Some good jokes never die. So, what's this about Mr. Beanhacker?" "Oh yeah," Philip says, "He asked us to be in the choir!" "With the adults?" "No, dah," Aidan sets him straight, "He's starting up a kid's choir and asked if we wanted to join." "So, do you?" Instead of answering for themselves, Seth makes his input, "Sure. All us kids are joining!" Steve asks, "When are you all getting together?" "Mr. Beanhacker isn't sure." Diego says, "He wanted to meet after the service, but us kids didn't like that." "Oh? Why not?" Steve asks. "Because then we'll miss out on all the brownies, cookies and stuff!" Seth tells him. "Oh," Steve replies, with a smile, "Good reason!" "Then Mr. Beanhacker says he's not sure. Maybe after school or on a weeknight," Aidan tells his dad. "Well, I'm sure he'll work it out." "But he says we have to get out parent's permission," Philip states. "You have mine, as long as it's not too late on a week night." Diego clues him in, "It could be on Thursdays, before the adult choir rehearses." "And dad?" Philip asks. "What?" "Mr. Beanhacker says the choir needs `choir parents'. Do you think you could be one?" "Sure. As long as it's alternating." "What's that?" Seth asks. "Sometimes it's me and other times it could be another parent." Seth then says, volunteering, "I think our dads could help out!" "I think it's a good idea. Now, who wants to race to the end of the pool and back?" Steve holds back his stride, letting the five boys race ahead of him. % Copyright 2007 T. Chase McPhee This story may not be sold, nor made part of any collection, without prior consent from the author.