Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 19:19:54 -0800 (PST) From: T. Chase McPhee Subject: Natures Ways 04 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 Ways" 04 wriTten by T. Chase McPhee % When the evening drew to a close, Marco, Chad and Matty's `Jack-of-all-trades' household cleaner and cook, found himself alone with Antonio, due to unforseen circumstances. Chad wound up with the late shift at Barr's & Bridges. Such fun was Jeremy having at Steve and Barry's pool, Matty invited themselves to stay, even though Caleb and James left. "So, we have the place to ourselves?" Antonio brought the bowl of meatballs and spaghetti to the table, as Marco handled the hot bread from the oven. "Isn't it nice?" After the food was settled, the two situated themselves, across from each other. "Not too romantic, eh?" Antonio joked. Marco smiled, saying, "Plenty of time for that after the dishes are done!" The dinner went off without a hitch. They talked about each of them growing up, their hopes and dreams and their aspirations in life. "I never really thought about it before, but after working in B'n'B's, I might think about opening my own bakery or even cafe." "Sounds nice, but after B'n'B's is finished with their expansion, I think a freestanding bakery might not make it." "Then a specialty cafe, perhaps." "Sounds good." With those words said, Marco stared at the twenty year old. "What?" Antonio questioned. "Okay. I'm going to level with you." "You think my manners are atrocious?" "So, you stick your napkin under your chin. So what?" "What is it then, Marco?" Antonio quit eating temporarily, pulling his napkin from the collar opening of his shirt, dropping it to his lap. "Huh?" "Okay, you can tell me to shutup...." "Shutup!" "Nooooo, wait til I say what I have to say." "Serious, eh?" "Antonio..." Marco paused now, not sure he wanted to share his feelings. "Change your mind? The spaghetti's getting cold!" "Okay. Here goes. Antonio, I... I really like you." "But you've only known me for one day." "I know. I suppose that's the problem." "Problem? What problem?" Antonio questioned his motives. "Knowing you for one day. I'm sure you're not feeling anything." "On the contrary. I can't feel `any' heat coming from the garlic bread!" Marco smiled. He could tell Antonio was nervous, cracking stupid jokes. Just the same, he took it in stride as being a part of who Antonio was made up to be, personality-wise. "I guess we better eat." Picking up the oversized white paper napkin, Antonio stuck it in the drooping collar of his shirt, blocking out the curly, dark chest hair. He picked up his fork, twirled some spaghetti `round it, then dropped it on his plate, pulling the napkin from his chin. "I think you're cute!" It made the eighteen year old blush profusely. "Really?" "I don't say things I don't mean," Antonio replied, on a lighter note. "So, you like me?" "I'd like to get to know you more, only thing is." "What?" "Wait! What's today?" "Tuesday." "It's choir night," Antonio divulges. "I suppose you `have' to go?" "No. I could say I'm sick as a horse, but I'd rather be honest." "Then be honest," Marco tells him. "We can make dinner another night." "We still have time for our little supper." "Hold on. I have to give Matty a ring back." Antonio waited patiently for Marco to make his call to Matty and return. "What'd he say?" "Have a nice night." "Too bad I have choir." There was a pause. "Hey, I got an idea." "What's that?" Marco asked. Sitting down at the kitchen table, one across from the other, Antonio asks, "Why don't you come with me?" "Hee hee... do I get a choice. You don't have a car." "Oh that's right. Christian and Justin dropped me at work." "Were you expecting them to pick you up?" It became the eternal question for Antonio. This morning he experienced certain feelings for the two. Now the burning sensations of fiery love had quelled. "I'm confused." "Over what?" Placing his fork on the plate, interred with the strands of spaghetti, Antonio wiped his mouth like he was finished, placing the napkin by tableside. "You see," Antonio began, "over the last couple of days I got to know Justin and Christian. They're really nice guys." "I don't know them well, except from when they dropped you off. Yeah, I'd say they are nice guys." "But..." Antonio started out and stopped. "What?" "Last night the three of us got kind of intimate." Marco felt all hopes of starting a relationship, dashed to bits. "So, you're already in a relationship?" "I don't think so. Well maybe." Then uncertain, Antonio faces the prospects, "I think it was a one night affair. No, I don't think it was serious, yet..." "You do sound confused, Antonio," Marco confided, forking another load of spaghetti in his mouth. "It wasn't until..." he looks into the eighteen year old's eyes. "Until what?" "Until we talked about the loose tile." "Loose tile?" It made Marco smile. "Yeah. I don't know what I felt, but talking to you I felt good. Like I'm talking with you right now." Losing his smile, Marco feels in the pit of his stomach, something other than the meal. Staring across the table, he gazes deeply into the twenty year old's brown eyes. Forseeing something, possibly the immediate future, Marco says, tenderly, "I feel it too." Reaching across the table, Antonio places his hand on the forkless one. "I think I'm feeling something different, with you here." His head bobbing up and down, Marco senses the same. Then, gazing over Marco's head, Antonio detects the time of day. "It's seven already?" "You're not finished." "Quick!" Antonio yells out. Then, like slobs, the two literally inhale the spaghetti, drawing up laughter, the spaghetti sauce slurping, flicking little bits of sauce all over the table. With haste they rush the empty bowls to the sink. Turning, Marco says to Antonio, "You're a mess!" He begins wiping off Antonio's mouth. Suddenly they are stuck in place, glued to each other's eyes. They kiss, embrace, hug for a minute. "More later?" Antonio whimsically asks. "Yeah. Cool!" Marco replies. % "Have you had enough rest, for choir rehearsal?" Reporting from Birdy's cafe, both had flopped onto the bed at Uncle Seb's house, where Justin had his room, now unofficially occupied by the two. "Choir? What time is it?" He sat up quickly, feeling dizzy. "I'm okay." "Like hell you are." "What time is it?" "Ten after seven," Christian reported back. "We've gotta go." "Justin, are you sure you're okay?" "Fine. See?" Sitting at the edge of the bed, Justin stood, then fell back into the bed. "Yeah, I see alright. You're not going anywhere!" "But the choir's gotta rehearse. You've gotta call Anne." "Anne?" "Anne Crook. Elementary school teacher who substitutes for me." "She'll sub for you fifteen minutes before rehearsal begins?" "She's there anyway." "Oh. I knew that!" Which Christian didn't really remember, having sung with the choir, only about eight weeks since Christmas. He wasn't one for remember names. "Where's her number?" "She's probably already there. You have to go tell her." So, Christian got himself together, jumped into the car and headed over to the church. However, once he told Anne Crook about Justin, she was most insistant on having Christian stay for practice, which he did. Standing in his normal spot, he watched Antonio come in, right next to starting time, 7:30. Accompanying Antonio was another guy, Marco. "Oh Miss Crook, you don't mind if Marco joins us?" Marco turned red, being the center of attention. "Of course we welcome him. Tenor or bass or don't you know." "I don't know," Marco smiled. She figured, let Marco sing between Antonio and Christian, letting Justin figure his positioning in the choir, another time. % Right around eight o'clock, things began winding down at the Clark-Barr household. "So you are okay with your dads?" Steve asked Jeremy. "I got to know one of them today and I know I like my other dad," Jeremy replied. Suddenly Chad walks in the back door. Steve says to Barry, on the side, "The creaking door is back!" "I know. It would probably take demolishing the house to get rid of it!" "Heeey!" Barry greets his son, as he approaches from the kitchen entrance. Ears perking up, Jeremy looks towards the blond twenty-one year old. "Can I give your hugs, dad-Chad." "Sure." Chad bends down and takes the eleven year old in his arms. After a long day, a new son and the hug to go along with him felt great. What was a single hug, multiplied triply, Matty joining in. Aidan came in with the digital camera and grabbed a few shots. "It'll go down in iffimy." "You mean infamy," dad-Steve corrects his son. A few more shots and he's vanished. "Dads, may I go finish watching our TV show?" "Yes, then we're going." "Thanks! You're the bestest!" "Sure," Chad informs the other dads, "first day together and already we're the best!" "So, how'd your day go, Preppy?" Chad slipped his jacket off, then sat. Steve got up to get him a cup of coffee and piece of pie. "Thanks, Steve." "You're welcome." "How did today go? Let's see, to start off, Susie asked me for a raise." "Who's Susie?" Barry asks. "Head cashier," Matty fills them in. "So, what did you tell her?" "I said right now things are uncertain, with the move, but once we get settled, I'll see about it." "And?" "She has the damn nerve to ask for retroactive!" "Smart businesswoman," Barry sticks up for her. Chad levels with them, "She is very good with the front lines, plus I've caught her cleaning up a spill." "What? I suspect she'll ask to be reimbursed for that as well!" Matty jokes. They all laugh. Chad glances at the clock on the wall. "Time to head back to the love nest." "Hmm," Matty says of Chad's idea. Matty and Chad report to the den, finding the TV program ending. It hasn't been the ideal conditions for the absolute meeting between Jeremy and the adults, especially with Max off. "How about dinner, this Saturday at our place?" Chad inquires. "Fine with us," Barry states, "but who will be minding the store?" Matty says, "Oh, I forgot to mention, we've been looking for another manager and have narrowed it down to two." "Since we're expanding," Chad adds, "we may hire both, per the Letterli bro's." "Are you sure they are not `taking over' the business?" "No," Chad stood adamant, "I agreed with them on this one." "As long as they are being fair." "From the start that's how it's been. Now, let me gather up my family." % Around 8:45, Christian keyed the front door, letting himself into Uncle Seb's house. "Well hello, Christian." "Oh sorry." "No harm. I thought you and Justin were in bed." "I was at choir rehearsal. Justin called out." "What's wrong with him?" "Nothing to get upset over. Michael laid him off for his own good. Said he needed rest. Is he still sleeping?" "Like I said, I thought it was your two in there." "I'll let you know if he needs anything." "I'd appreciate that, Christian. Have a good night." Slipping through the living room, Christian found his way into the bedroom. He turned the jon light on, so as not to wake up Justin. In the blade of light, cutting through the room, he stripped, leaving his boxer shorts on. At the edge of the bed, he lifted the covers and climbed in. "How did choir practice go?" "I thought you were sleeping." "I was. So?" "First, you'll never guess..." "What?" "Antonio shows up with Marco, in tow." "I guess we handled that little problem." "Not only that, but Marco turned out to be a good singer." "Really?" "Right. Seems his grandfather used to listen to opera when he was a baby and he grew up on it." "He sings opera?" "Bits and pieces of it, but from singing it, he has developed a really `suberb' voice, according to Anne Crook." "Really? To get Anne to say something like what she said, well he's got to be good." "She and the rest of the choir raved about the eighteen year old `Pavoratti'!" "So, he's stidking with it?" "As far as I know." While they lay there, in the blade of light shearing the bed in half, Justin cozied up to Christian, rubbing his arm as they chatted. "What about Marco and Antonio?" "I didn't pry to much. They came together and left together. Go figure." "I figure our worries are over." "Except one thing." "What's that?" "Missing you like hell!" Lifting the covers between them, Christian moved towards the center of the full sized bed. "You're still in your clothes?" "I can remedy that real quick!" Justin said. This time when he got out of bed, he didn't sway, nor fall backwards. "You're feeling better," Christian commented. Pressing his briefs down, he slipped them off, over his feet. Justin broke-down his streetclothes quickly and climbed back into bed. Their bodies slipped together like two equal parts. % Copyright 2007 T. Chase McPhee This story may not be sold, nor made part of any collection, without prior consent from the author.