Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2002 10:31:19 -0500 From: Michael Raburn Subject: Dylan's Hope Chapter 2 THIS WORK IS FULLY PROTECTED BY U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS. NO PORTION OF THIS WORK MAY BE COPIED OR REDISTRIBUTED BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE EXPRESS CONSENT OF ITS AUTHOR. THIS WORK DEALS WITH A FICTITIONAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TWO MEN. IF READING ABOUT HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS OR SEXUAL CONTACT BETWEEN TWO MEN IS EITHER ILLEGAL IN YOUR AREA OR OFFENDS YOU, PLEASE DO NOT READY ANY FURTHER. ANY SIMILARITIES TO ANY PERSON LIVING OR DEAD ARE PURELY COINCIDENTAL. THIS WORK IS ENTIRELY FICTITIONAL. DYLAN'S HOPE Michael A. Raburn Chapter 2 I eased back into the leather upholstery of the limousine and attempted to get out of my tuxedo jacket. Dylan realized I was struggling and helped extricate my arm that had gotten caught in the lining. I don't know whether it was the immense emotional roller coaster I had been on or if I had had too many toasts at the reception, but I was not functioning at my normal level. And to top it off, I had no clue what to do with this incredible man that had left no doubt about his feelings. What had I been thinking when I invited him home with me? "What is it Jon?" he asked, snuggled closer to my side. I wasn't aware of when he pulled my arm around his shoulders, after he took my jacket off, I suppose. "I'm not sure, Dylan. This is moving a little fast for me right now." I saw the pain flash across his blue eyes. "I do love you, maybe I'm even in love with you, but would it be alright if we slow things down a little?" I asked him. "I've known you my whole life, waiting a few days more is not going to matter to me." He smiled up at me. "Thank you. I know I should be jumping up and down about us, but..." "Don't worry about it. If it's meant to be, it'll happen." I pulled him closer to my side and stroked my fingers through his hair. As his eyes closed, he rested his head on my shoulder and started to stroke my chest through my shirt. I'll admit he felt right, oh, so right in my arms. I turned to look out the window as the car moved through the late night traffic towards my home. The passing buildings and lampposts transformed themselves in my mind; memories began to flash by, projected on the glass. "Daddy, daddy, daddy! Look what we got on our report cards!" The kids were yelling as I pulled up in front of their redbrick school, my time to run carpool. Andrea and Dylan opened the car doors and jumped in, so full of excitement they were barely making sense to me. "Oh, sweetie, I'm so proud of you. You too Dylan." I really couldn't see the grades on the papers they were waving frantically, but if they were this happy I knew I needed to be too. I smiled at both of them then pulled Andrea into a hug. Out of the corner of my eye I caught Dylan's grimace so when I released my daughter, I leaned over the seat and hugged him too. His lopsided smile lit up the car and I started to giggle. "What?" "Lose another tooth?" I asked, poking him in the ribs. "Yeah, it fell out today at lunch." Andrea answered for him. "Well come on snaggle tooth. We need to celebrate. How about ice cream?" That only started them off again on their yelling. Andrea and Dylan had been best friends ever since they started kindergarten together. Dylan and his parents lived down the street and around the corner from our house but we had never met until we were organizing car pools that first day of school. Andrea and I were standing looking at the maps on the bulletin board when his parents joined us. From that day forward they were pretty much inseparable. His parents were almost old enough to be mine, Dylan late coming into their life. We all got along well together and they understood what I was going through, trying to raise Andrea by myself and offered to help as much as possible. We brokered a schedule that day so we swapped weeks driving the kids. I'd take them in the morning and they would pick them up in the evenings and the next week, we'd swap. "Dylan, it's running down your chin. Here's some more napkins." I laughed at him. He didn't take offense at my teasing, just sopped at his mess with the towels I handed him and flashed me that funny grin of his. He always smiled not just with his mouth but with his entire face, his eyes sparkling blue. "How do they feel Andrea?" I asked, concerned. "It hurts and I talk funny." She tried to grin at me. "I know honey. You'll get used to them." She joined me in the waiting room of the orthodontist after her fitting. It worked out that she and Dylan both needed braces. His parents had to be out of town for a business meeting so we coordinated their appointments for the same afternoon and I had agreed to take them. Dylan was staying over at our house for the weekend until his parents were back. "Where's Dylan?" I asked the receptionist. "He's being a little shy, I think." She grinned at me. "You want to come back and see if you can get him out of the chair?" She giggled. "Andrea, I'll be back in a minute." I left her in a chair with a magazine. "Buddy, what's the matter?" He was bawling his eyes out in spite of the dental assistant's best efforts to cheer him up. He was out of the chair and in my arms before I knew what was happening. I nodded to the assistant as she slipped from the room. He cried in my arms for a few minutes then seemed to remember that he was fourteen and shouldn't be crying. He tried to be embarrassed about it but I pulled him back in for another hug. I wiped his face with some tissues and made him look up at me. "Baby, it's okay to cry. I know it hurts." I started. "It's not that, I can't smile." He sobbed. "Why not?" "It looks funny." "Let me see." He tried his best not to smile. Slowly his lips eased back from his teeth and despite his attempts not to his smile broke through. "Yep, you're right. It looks funny." I giggled as I pulled him back for another hug. "You alright?" "Hey, don't laugh at me." He poked at my ribs. "With buddy, not at." "Yeah, right." He pulled my arm around his shoulders and we walked out to find Andrea. They started the ride home comparing metal and talking about rubber bands. By the time we got back to the house they were back to gossiping about friends and school. Several times I caught Dylan looking at me in the rear view mirror, smiling that great smile of his quickly before he broke eye contact. The auditorium was packed to capacity that Friday evening. Luckily Dylan's parent and I had arrived early for the ceremony or we wouldn't have gotten seats at all. I was looking around to try to catch a glimpse of Andrea, wondering what was going through her mind this, the last day of her high school career. The orchestra started the processional and the graduates began to file down towards the stage. All my dreams for her were now coming true, a stellar run in school, the valedictorian of her class, a full scholarship to my alma mater. What else could I ask for? Dylan's smiling face as he took the podium before Andrea's speech. He had only missed the top spot by a quarter of a point. They had pushed each other to learn and to be the best all through school. I caught his smiling eyes as they searched me out. I remembered how his gaze never left my face as he delivered his talk about the future. I always thought it odd that he had come to me first for a hug after the ceremony, and then later to his parents. "Daddy, he needs you." Andrea pushed me towards Dylan. "He's lost." We were walking towards the car when she stopped, looking over her shoulder. I turned to look back. Standing by the graves, he did look lost. I glanced at Andrea then hurried over to his side. "Dylan." "Daddy." He sobbed. I pulled him into my embrace, rubbing my hand gently down his back. He cried frantically against my chest, desperately clutching me to him. He had been so strong, never showing his grief during the public portion of the funeral. Now, alone in the cemetery I held him while he wailed. His parents had gone down in South Georgia in their single engine plane on the way back from a medical conference. It had taken days for the searchers to find the plane and to get their bodies back to Atlanta. All through the search and the waiting Dylan had been stoic, never showing the strain that I'm sure he felt. Andrea and I had been by his side when he made the final arrangements for them, trying to help shield him from his pain. Surrounded by the banks of flowers sent by the Sommers' friends and associates I held him in my arms. I felt him go slack in my grasp. Never slackening my hold on his shoulders with my left arm, I bent to sweep him up by the knees. Andrea opened the back car door so I could lay him on the seat. Andrea had gone to bed after she checked in on Dylan in the guestroom to see how he was. She pecked me on the cheek and told me he was sleeping. I checked the doors to see that they were all locked then went to my bedroom. I was just about to fall asleep when I sensed someone was in the bedroom. Knowing it was him, I lifted the corner of the blanket for him to climb in with me. I pulled him against me and caressed his hair until he cried himself to sleep, safe in my arms. "Jon, we're home." Dylan shook me from my trance. The chauffer had opened the door and was waiting for us to exit. Dylan had gathered our jackets and was holding his hand out for me. TO BE CONTINUED