Date: Wed, 30 May 2007 18:03:41 -0700 (PDT) From: Matthew Templar Subject: Never Take Love For Granted - Chapter 14 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! Write to me with the date of your legal birthday and I will...Not! I will answer all appropriate emails, but, thank you in advance for your time to write. I also want to say, if you will write me, I will quit making spineless threats to stop submitting more. Unless you've submitted a story, you can't know how important it is to hear how you 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 resolving the problems I had with making legible sense out of this work and then encouraging me to hit the 'Submit' button. Read Brad's Idol in Adult/Youth and New Horizons in Authoritarian (it's really 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! I would also like to thank those who have trusted me with their stories, to edit and make suggestions to. Also, thanks Mike for your time. Your help has made a difference too, my friend. Your comments and suggestions are most welcome. Matthew Templar at matemp1148@yahoo.com * * * Never Take Love For Granted - Chapter 14 Having quenched my thirst by drinking half of the pool, I pulled myself up just as the second torpedo splashed into our midst. Petey needed a little help because he wasn't a swimmer yet. Dustin, however, could dog paddle with the best of them. He aimed for me and we were attached at the neck in no time. Clayton rushed over to gather up Petey while I had been busy inspecting the bottom of the pool, after his 'Slide for Life!' My life! Soon Russ and Sam showed up, walking down the path. As they reached our level I finally got it! That was why the 'stream' didn't look completely natural. Just imagine the ride down a water slide from 50 feet up and fifty feet over! Wow! Grant had the same idea. "Wow! I wanna try it!" he called out as he climbed out of the pool and danced in front of his dad. "I wanna go back up and try the slide, okay?" "Hey! Go for it guy. But I'm not running back up there until I have to." "Who's comin'!" He yelled as he disappeared around the first huge rock. I got out and ran after him and I could hear the kids laughing and screaming right behind me. By the time I reached the top I was exhausted! The little ones had passed me and I could hear them talking and laughing with Grant at the top of the stream. When I finally crawled up to them they looked at me like I was some pathetic old man. I felt like they weren't too far off of the truth. Whew! "So, I've been sick, okay? A day ago I was in the hospital, barely expected to live, remember?" "Oh brother," was the supportive reply from Grant. Dustin shook his head and walked over to the start of the slide. Petey grinned real big around his thumb, which he sucked as he played with his budding manhood. At least it was himself that he was flicking. The 'experts' had to take forever to show Grant how to sit just right and what to do if such and such happened. No one seemed to be interested in learning about brakes, though I was afraid that it might be a subject I wouldn't have minded knowing about. But, they were all gone in a flash; something about forming a train. I guess that left me as the caboose. I stepped into the stream to balance myself before I sat down, but I stepped too close to the edge and slipped onto the slide, head first! All I could think of, as my speed started to increase, was that I was very thankful that someone was extra careful not to leave any protrusions sticking up where my very delicate friend and his round boys were passing over at lightning speed, or so it seemed. Luckily, friction, the wearing down of something softer then the surface it was being 'sanded' over, didn't seem to be a factor, though I was heating up a little. I could make out the screams of the guys ahead of me, and soon, I was catching up to them. They whooshed into the pool and I was all over them a second later. Laughing and spitting, we all surfaced to see Clayton grab up Petey while Dustin was dog paddling to the side. I had had it! I was beat! Grant, the little swimmer, was already under his dad who was shaking his head in awe at the sight of us dropping in. "Alright, who's gonna help Uncle Clayton with lunch, guys?" Clayton called, tickling Petey in the process. Petey grinned and held up his hand. Dustin volunteered, and so did Russ. Sam was about to say something when Grant gave him a frown. He quickly registered the look and begged off of the trek back up right away. "I'll stay down here with Grant and David for awhile, okay?" he told the others. "Someone has to help Grant get David all the way back up when he's rested." I looked over at Grant in time to catch the beam shining from him to his dad, who had just made his day. The four cooks were soon gone and we were left to let me rest a little. I guess my full strength hadn't completely returned. I really could use the rest before we made our way up the path again. I did know that doing this path a time or two each day would have me in much better shape in no time. "Come on, Dad. Get in with us," pleaded Grant, standing under him as his dad looked over the pool. "The water's great and we had so much fun. Come on! Please?" "Son, I haven't got a suit with me. Do you expect me to go skinny dipping? Nakers?" He said with a stern look on his face and his hands on his hips. This was not the same man that came into my hospital room only a few days ago to read me the riot act about me and his father. A man that ended up quaking as he heard the riot act plunked back on himself. Before us stood a man that was so serious that he could barely keep from smiling. I could tell, but I didn't know if Grant could, yet. Half of Grant's smile changed from radiant to slightly hopeful as he said, "Well, yeah. Why don'tcha skinny dip with us?" "Yeah! Nakers!" I added. "Well, I never...," he said and started to walk away. I guess this little game had been played once too often because even as he was walking away, Grant started slapping the water and laughing. He knew a good ruse when he saw it. But the best was that Sam turned and yelled and jumped in, fully clothed! Now, that surprised both of us! We were all babbling and spitting water from Sam's cannon ball. We were also laughing up a storm. Sam came up splashing at both of us, so Grant and I looked at each other as best you can through waves of water, and we attacked him with our own tidal waves. As we pounced he started taking off clothes. We finally had to stop and help him. It's pretty hard to balance in water and strip - nakers! I was wondering...but when he got to his skivvies, he just said, "Oh, what the hell!" and stripped them off too. Grant couldn't believe his eyes. He told me later that he'd never seen his dad in his shorts, let alone, totally naked. When all of his clothes were spread out to dry, including his wallet, we jumped back in and Sam and I took up my favorite game of beach ball Grant. At least once or twice I almost got beaned as Grant flew my way. I was so caught up in their laughing and enjoying each other that I had stopped participating. Trying to catch his breath, Sam asked me, "You okay, David? You still with us over there?" Grant had landed near his dad and was quickly whooshed into a squeeze hold with his back against Sam and both of them staring at me, grinning that grin I loved. That stopped the action so I had to say, "I just want you to know what a wonderful little guy you've got in your arms, there, Sam. Seeing the two of you playing together makes me really feel great." There was silence, almost as though he hadn't heard me. All I could hear was the water gently falling into the pool, off to the side. But soon I saw the expression on Grant's face change to one of shock and, maybe, pain? "David. David." I'd heard him sound like that before; just recently, in fact. I leaned toward him so I could hear. "Yeah? What's up?" "Would you mind never saying that lovey-dovey junk anymore, when someone is holding me?" he gasped, certain he was on his last breath. "Oh, gosh! Sorry, Son! I didn't mean...," Sam said, turning Grant around to see if there was any permanent damage. I could see that the only damage to Sam was the glistening tracks of the tears that my statement had caused him. "I know, Dad. I'm kinda getting used to it," said Grant, looking over at me, or through me. He swung his arms a bit to see if anything would fall off. Nothing did. "It still amazes me that someone could be so lame-brained as to ruin so many years that could have been filled with true, rich love. I...there's no excuse." Sam didn't really look at anyone when he said it, though he looked my way when he was done, and smiled. I waded over and put my hand on Sam's shoulder. I didn't think he was quite ready for an all out hug from some naked wet guy, and in front of his son. "I know what you mean, Sam. I've had so much baggage like that my storage bill was burning up all of my good love senses." They both looked at me with that look I was seeing a lot of lately. "I told you he was weird, huh, Dad? Sometimes he's a real loon. Hey, wanna know something?" He was asking his dad but he was looking at me with a big ole grin. His dad tried to look excited, anticipating the next words that came out of his most precious boy's young mouth. I was wondering what silly little thing he had learned that had him so anxious to tell his dad. "What is it, Son?" "David licked my thing...I mean my penis!" My life was over. I was a dead man. How could anyone let their son be manhandled like that? Sam's face sprung up to look directly at my eyes. Since I was using my face to look out of, I couldn't see exactly what my eyes were doing, but I'm sure there was the look of a lot of pleading and praying in them. Then, as quick as he did his piercing look, he softened and turned to Grant. That's when I noticed Grant looking up expectantly at his dad, never even questioning how he would take it. "Ew-w-w! Don't you still use that to pee through?" he asked, totally blowing my mind. After all, I was still alive and the water around me wasn't red. "Heh, heh! That's what I said. Then he did it twice and I 'bout screamed. I couldn't believe how good it felt. He really knows how to love me, huh?" I was just registering that they were slowly moving toward me. By the time Grant was done exposing me to his father, making good his dad's claim that he told him everything, we were almost pressed up against each other. What happened next almost darkened the pool. It would not have been pretty. I was near the deep end, so that, by the time Sam and Grant got over by me, Grant had to keep his head back and bounce to stay above water. So he just held on to his dad's shoulders and smiled at both of us. Suddenly, I felt a hand, a very large, strong hand reach over and grab me by my very testicles and squeeze, just enough to let me know what damage I could expect, and that ownership was no longer mine. This was it. I was hereby reduced to eunuch from this time on. Let the world know that they would miss the feel of one so young and hard, forevermore, slipping into those regions of pleasure that I would never enjoy again. I think I was about to close my eyes to anticipate ex'crush'iating pain. That's when I felt Sam lean into me and say, softly, "He is my most precious possession, David. This goes so far beyond trust that I don't know why you're still alive. But he trusts you; so I do to. All I need to hear is one remark about the pain he's endured, inside his little mind or anywhere outside his precious body and you're mine. Until then," he finished, releasing me, "have a ball." I gulped and he laughed. I had no choice but to look down to see if everyone was okay. I was too numb to feel anything. I looked up to see Grant look at each of us, oblivious to what his father had just done. You might have thought about how close I came to ruin by my lover's father's hand. I could only gasp again at the trust he had placed in my hands when he had left his precious gift with me the last few days and nights. I reached out and grabbed them both up in a hug, holding on for dear life, my head buried in Sam's hairy chest, Grant's smooth body warming the other side of my head. I might have been blubbering something about him never needing to worry and that he could depend on me and other shit that I had no control over. Thank god I was able to maintain control of my other movements. I swear I was looking for a ring on his hand to kiss. I was alive! Grant started giggling at my antics and Sam was almost hitting me to get me off and away. "Boy, you don't have to kowtow to me. Just love him and be gentle, okay?" I looked up into his serious eyes nodding like a spring loaded, bobblehead doll. Then he smiled. "See?" laughed Grant, "Didn't I tell you how weird he could be?" We both turned to look at Grant, whose eyes gleamed of love and devotion to two of the happiest guys on the planet. Those same eyes screamed of an innocence that we both would never fully understand. We both looked back at each other and shared the joy he gave us. Sam's arms came around our shoulders and pulled us all into a group hug. Mine went around two naked waists and squeezed too. Three wet, warm men feeling a connection so real, so tangible that it had to be as rare as diamonds. "Whoa, little one!" said Sam, letting go of us and holding onto Grant's hips. He raised him out of the water to expose a small, nail hard, spike that clearly was in its happy state. "I see all this lovin' stuff gets to ya, huh?" Grant, his hands holding onto his dad's shoulders for balance, was blushing and smiling. There was nowhere to tuck his head so he just blushed deeper. "Everything feels so good, Dad. I can't help it." He started kicking to try to get away or drop back into his father's strong arms, which Sam did for him. They hugged and then Sam threw him across the pool with a big 'Whoop!' That pretty much broke us all up, laughing at Grant's surprised look when he came up for air. Coming up for air? Hah! I knew that feeling just then! We finally got out and helped Sam gather his clothes and start the trek up the path to the house. When we got close, Sam said he just had to and pulled on his boxers. Grant was so proud then that he didn't care if his dad wasn't as naked as the rest of us. Lunch was simple and raucous and fun and we decided that, as great as naked was, twenty four sevens, we would at least pull on some shorts for meals at the table. Picnicking was something else. It was just a hygiene thing and everyone, even down to the littlest termite, agreed. Yes, Petey nodded. He also talked about their visit to the hospital. "Daddy was up and in a wheel chair when we gots there. Mommy was even awake. Doctor Owen was really glad but Dustin and I were gladder, huh Dustin?" "Yeah. And Dad has a orange cast on and we got to sign it. And Mom's got bandages on her head and some others but no cast. But we could tell she hurt lots. I could tell it made Dad sad, but they both laughed at our stories." "Stories?" I asked, "Stories? Stories about what, little guy?" I looked around to see if anyone was as nervous as I was. It must have been apparent, because they were all looking at me like I was...okay. I was beginning to realize that it was a look that followed me around a lot. But I have never, ever been in a situation where the show of affection was on display so much, to say nothing of readily accepted as it was. While it was a wonderful thing, it was still unsettling to me. Russ said that the parents were happy with the arrangement and were very touched by the generosity that 'Grampa Russ' had shown their two boys. He also assured me, making me wait as long as he could, that none of the stories reflected anything that would bring sirens to the cabin. I was not amused. I was relieved though. I suggested a tour of Russ's property after eating but Sam was eager to let the kids go explore and let us men talk about his ideas. He was so fired up about the restaurant that there was no way anyone would say no. What I liked was that the three boys had no problem just running off to play. Oh, lots of suntan lotion, at least for Grant, whose porcelain white skin was getting a good pink glazing. We didn't need a burn or heat stroke. They all carried a bottled water and set off for who knows where. Sam had done some sketches, both of the lay of his land, which was the whole forested area in town and along the river, and of the shack that once housed a restaurant, though sometime ago. I was listening but I was also enjoying his animation at the ideas he was popping out left and right. I looked over at a proud father, with that tear of his that was becoming common place, lingering in one eye. All of a sudden, in the middle of everything, Russ just up and grabbed onto his son, burying his head in his chest and squeezing him. Soon they were both blubbering and carrying on without an intelligent word escaping their babbling mouths. I could sure relate to the unintelligent babbling part. Clayton and I had been leaning over the table and we both sat down to wait out their emotional display. After a few minutes, though Sam and Russ had parted and were just talking, Clayton nodded toward the stairs and we left the two to continue their reuniting. I had to look over my shoulder again before moving down to the next floor. They were so beautiful together, they glowed; I swear it's true. At Russ' door Clayton said he wanted to tell me something. We stepped inside the room when thoughts of youth came to mind. When I was younger, what Clayton had said was a signal that something was afoot after the door was closed. So the door stayed open. "Oh, quit your worrying. I just wanted to explain something," Clayton said, waving off my obvious reticence about entering any private room with him. "I wanted to let you know that I've been coming on to you in the past. (He might have noticed my eyes rolling around in the back of my head.) I also wanted to tell you that I'm in love." To that I put up both hands and started to back away from him, toward the door. His reaction was to reach out for me, of course. "Honey, I do love you. I love all of the little rug rats too, but I'm not in love with you." So one minute I'm fussing about being the object of his love and the next minute I'm fussing over being dropped like a hot potato, or at least a semi-limp, baked potato. He had to notice this and started to chuckle at the misunderstanding. I kind of wilted and stood there as he hugged me. "God, you are so precious, it's all I can do to keep Russ from talking about you incessantly." "Russ?" I straightened right up, bristling. "Well, of course Russ. Who did you think; Petey?" I rolled my eyes and winked a bit, and was rewarded with a slap across my bare shoulder. "Ow!" "Good God man! I thought I made it clear to you that wonderful night at the hospital that I wanted my cavities filled with a man, not an appetizer like the boys! I love those tykes! I would no more touch them with a sexual thought than fly. Now, that might not be a good analogy because with Russ, I think I have learned to fly. H-m-m-m!" he finished with a big smile and closed eyes, soaring off somewhere with his next fantasy. "Russ?" I said, rubbing my shoulder. "But Russ is with me. Russ is letting me be with him, here. I thought he would...." Clayton wasn't paying much attention. It looked like he was looking over my shoulder. He blinked at me and continued to look beyond me. It made me mad that he wasn't in tune with what I was saying. "Clayton! Look at me! You can't have Russ. He's mine!" And then I heard a gasp behind me, and Clayton closed his eyes as he dropped his head into his chin. I turned around and there stood Grant. My Grant. As he stood in the room's doorway his mouth was open and he looked like he was about to burst into tears. His eyes went to Clayton, then back to me and then he ran out of the room and up the stairs. "Grant! Grant, no!" I turned back and Clayton told me to go get him if I still wanted him too. I spent about ten seconds stammering and ran after him. As I hit the top of the stairs, all eyes were on me. To a person they looked stunned, not knowing what had caused Grant to go running past them. Dustin and Petey were near the side door and pointed out and to the path. I ran. I had no idea how many directions he could have gone but I ran until I got to the top of the path to the pool. In a split second it hit me that the path to the pool was the only direction he knew, so it was the only direction I knew. I looked at the path down to the pool and then the path up and ran up as fast as my naked ass would take me. In only a few dozen feet, I stood before a grass clearing with the garage in front of me. I hadn't been running hard enough to cause me to breathe as labored as I did. I knew it was panic and fear. I knew I had hurt him deeply. Duh, you idiot! That was as obvious as the jealousy you just put on display before your little guy. Asshole! I ran to the door of the garage and was about to go in when I heard a door slam on the far side. As I rounded the corner I saw a stairway to a second floor. I heard something and turned toward the path behind me. Dustin stood there and Petey was running up to stand beside him. I waved them back as I walked around to go up the steps. I had about twenty steps to decide what I was going to say, what I was going to do. My eyes were clamped shut, as though, if I didn't use that sense I would have more brain-power or something. I was pathetic. 'What have I done', I thought. The last step came too fast. The time was upon me. I just didn't want him to hurt. I opened the door and let it swing open, letting in some light. It looked like half of the space was a wood shop and half, an artist's studio. There was really plenty of light from the huge windows, once again, overlooking the valley, and the skylights above. It was also hot! I immediately started sweating. Of course, that couldn't have been partially related to anything going on in my life right about then. There was also enough sawdust on the floor to see where two ten year old feet went looking for a place to hide their owner. I stopped. If I didn't go any farther, I could just leave and never hurt him again. That's it! A wave of nausea came over me and I shook as I thought about what a coward inhabited the skin I wore. I couldn't believe that I had thought that. I had screwed up royally. I wasn't going to do it anymore. Not with Grant; not with my guy. I flashed on what Clayton had told me and the thought that I had set him up with Russ, myself. I thought about Russ and my relationship to him and smiled about two things: that I was grateful for him for showing me the way out of my old darkness and into the light of the knowledge of who I was really discovering myself to be. I also knew that Russ and Clayton were right for each other. I gulped to hold back a sob. I had blown it; that was the bad news. But I had him captive; that was the good news. I wouldn't leave until I groveled and pleaded and cried and anything else it would take to apologize to Grant; my Grant, I hoped. "Asshole is here," I announced, though quietly. "That's for sure," came a whisper from in front of me, over, behind the drill press I thought. Remind me never to partner with him for hide-n-seek. "Grant, Russ was the first person I met in Euphoria. He was the first one ever to talk to me like he knew me, like he cared." "Who cares? Get out!" "You care, Grant." "Right! Then get out and go lick his thingy. And I don't care." He wasn't talking much louder but I could tell by the way his voice was quaking that he was having a hard time trying not to cry or, more likely, he hadn't stopped crying. "Grant, he showed me who I was. Don't you see? I couldn't have allowed myself to love you if he hadn't been there first. I was too selfish and too self-absorbed, uh..., I thought too highly of me and not about others." "Yeah, like that's changed." "I know. I'm sorry. God, what an asshole I am. Grant, I'm still pretty new at this stuff. Russ opened my eyes and when they focused, there you were. Russ is so important to me that I got jealous when I heard Clayton say he wanted him, that Russ wanted Clayton; at least, that's how it seemed these last few days. I reacted to words because I'm a fool. I don't want to lose Russ, but he's my friend." I could hear him sniffling. He wasn't being strong, anymore. I just wanted to hold him. "Grant, you're my angel. You're my life. What I did was a reaction, a bad reaction to something I helped happen. Hell, I put them together in the first place." "You did? Why would ya do something so stupid if ya wanted grampa so bad?" "'Cuz I'm an idiot. I..." "...can say that again," came out so low I could just make it out. "Okay. I'M AN IDIOT!" I shouted. "I'm not an idiot for helping Russ, uh, your grampa and Clayton get together. I'm an idiot for opening my big, fat mouth at Clayton." "There's a first. Hm-m." "Guilty! Grant, I had a teacher in fourth grade that was the neatest guy. He taught in a way that opened up all kinds of cool stuff for me. He was really neat. And I worked for him at school stuff more than any other teacher. But I wasn't in love with him. I didn't want to be next to him and hold him. I wanted him to be my teacher. But I knew that if anyone would have tried to take him out of that place in my life I probably would have socked 'em." "Yeah, and got your sorry butt beat up. Heh." Was that a laugh? "Probably. But what I 'm saying is, I know I want, I need Russ in my life as a friend, as a teacher, as a, a, hell, a grampa!" "Hm-m-m, me too." "Well, you've taught me a lot too, you know. Grant, I said I was new at this stuff. I promise you I will make mistakes that might hurt you again. But I promise you that I will love you no matter what. And I promise to try really hard to not hurt you. I don't have a choice, little man. You've captured me. I'm yours to do with what you want, forever." And, having said that, I very dramatically lay down in the middle of that sawdust covered floor, and sprawled out as vulnerable as I could look. I closed my eyes and waited. I could hear some noise over by where I imagined him hiding. I heard something fall and an "Ow!'. I almost opened my eyes, but I didn't. Then I heard his light footsteps shuffle and stop right at my feet! Then they started up again to go right past me, toward the door! I had lost him. The door slammed closed. I wilted. I was drained. I had never felt so helpless, so reduced to nothing in my life. What life? What had I done? I'd lost the best thing, person that ever happened to me. I sat up and threw my arms around my knees and put my chin on them; then I opened my eyes. He wasn't really smiling, he was doing that stare thing with his smirk. Grant, the little butt, had slammed the door with him on this side of it. Then he snuck over and waited for me to surface, about ten inches in front of me, sitting back on his heels. For some reason it didn't surprise me; the sight of him there. Oh, not because I expected it, but because he was an angel, and what he did was perfect. I reached for him but he moved back a few inches. I guessed that I was being punished. "You hurt me inside me." I buried my head in front of my knees. "I'm just a little kid, ya know. I don't know about all the stuff you went through or why you were such an asshole." I looked up at him at that statement. He wasn't pulling any punches. He raised himself up and leaned over, putting both of his hands on my knees, our faces only inches apart... "Well, none of it counts. You can't toss people around like a ball in the pool; not when you're not playin' and there's nothin' soft to land on. Ya just can't." I closed my eyes and nodded my head at his young wisdom. Wait a minute! I looked up at him. Was that smirk turning into a smile? He squinted his eyes a little and asked me, "So, this teacher of yours?" I nodded, waiting for him to continue his question. "Did you lick his thingy, uh, penis too?" And he pushed me over and landed right on me, tickling and screaming at me as I finally recovered enough to tickle the little boob right back. Soon we were rolling around and, with the sweat from our bodies, were quickly covered in sawdust. We were laughing and spitting up sawdust and rolling around on each other. But then something happened. He was pushing me over and climbing on me. I was still laughing but I had noticed that he wasn't. Then his pushing was more of a hit, then a lot of hits. Soon he was laying into me big time, uncontrollably. I tried my best to protect myself and let him have his release. I should have known that I had gotten out of that argument a bit too easily. It had obviously built up inside him enough to boil over. I could hear him crying hard now, as his strength began to wane and I was able to get up enough to try to hug him to me. Unfortunately, when I pulled him into me, his knee slid over too, right on target. I tried very hard to only grunt at the renewed pain to my very sensitive twins down there; the same pain that I'd remembered from the other day. It wasn't anywhere near as hard, but it hurt just the same. Of course, I knew I had it coming to me. In fact, I figured I'd still gotten off pretty easily. I would have said I was smelling like a rose, but that wasn't going to happen until we could get this sawdust and pungent sweat off of us and out of us. Grant was finally in my lap and I got to squeeze him close to me again. He did a few quivering, deep breaths, trying to regain control, I suspect, and then he said, "I thought I lost ya." He ground himself into me as much as he could without fitting beneath my skin, so I hugged him even closer. "Hey!" he shouted, though he sounded breathless for some reason. "Wha-at!" "Don'tcha squeeze me to death. You guys think I won't break. But I will." I just held him to me and felt us both breathing deeply, together. NTLFG - The End of Chapter Fourteen To be continued Comments on the story are very much appreciated. Thank you. I'm Matthew Templar at matemp1148@yahoo.com