Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 10:45:39 -0500 From: Jeff Allen Subject: "Love of a Lifetime" Part 39 This is a fictional story dealing with love and consensual sexual activities between males. If you are not of legal age, reside in an area where viewing such material is illegal, or are offended by homosexuality and/or homosexual themes, leave this site now. The author retains all rights to this story. No reproductions or links to other sites are allowed without the permission of the author. Note: I owe a special thanks to Robb for doing the final proofreading and catching all those silly little errors that I missed. LOVE OF A LIFETIME PART 39 Life returned to normal after Margaret Anderson's private vendetta against us was settled. At least life was as normal as it could be with an active kindergartner around the house, our classes, and my track practices and meets. On the advice of Sharon De Mascorro, our lawyer, Andy and I drew up simple wills leaving everything to the other if one of us should die. The really important part of the wills was having Andy name me as Greg's guardian in his will with Kevin and Kathy as secondary in case both Andy and I died at the same time. Sharon had pointed out to us that without a will, my chances of keeping Greg would be almost nonexistent if something happened to Andy. After our experience with the Family Court system and Social Services, we didn't want to take any chances. The first two nights Greg was home after his forced separation from us, he insisted on sleeping with us in our bed. The third night Gary stayed over at our place. When we went to bed, Greg insisted that both he and Gary sleep in our bed with us, but when I woke up in the morning the two guys had moved to Greg's bed. After that, Greg was content to sleep in his own bed although he would snuggle into bed with us in the mornings if he woke up before us. Gary joined in those early morning snuggles if he had spent the night. I really treasured those mornings. We did get an apology from Social Services. The Director and her assistant called three days after the court hearing and asked to visit with us in the evening. We called Sharon, and she thought it might be a good idea for her to sit in on the meeting as well. The Director was very apologetic about what we had been through. She gave us a formal letter of apology, informed us that Margaret Anderson had been suspended without pay from the Department and that disciplinary proceedings had been initiated to have her fired, and told us to be sure to send all our expenses directly to her. When the two women left, Sharon said she had expected we would be asked to sign an agreement not to file suit against the Department and the County, but that hadn't happened. She asked if we wanted to pursue a law suit. We told her we had no interest in suing. We were just thankful to have Greg back. ********** Both Justin and I had admission interviews at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the same day in the first week of December. Mine was at the medical school and his at the dental school. We took Justin's Pathfinder down for the interviews. I drove on the way back that afternoon. We discussed our two interviews, and we felt good about our chances of admission. It was an upbeat time for both of us. Suddenly the conversation lagged, and Justin seemed lost for a moment. "C.Z.?" "Yeah, Justin?" "It's going to be weird next year. You and I have been in most of the same classes for four years now." He smiled, but his eyes were glistening with tears. "I'm going to have to break in a new study partner." I reached over and grabbed his hand for a second before returning my attention to the road. "You've been the brother I never had, Justin." He reached over and rubbed the back of my neck. "I've got three brothers by birth, fella. You're my brother by spirit. That's why I want you to be best man at my wedding." "What? When? Have you asked her yet? Do you have a ring? Congratulations, bro, Megan is a great woman!" "Whoa. Slow down. I asked her last night. We're going to pick out a ring next week and tell our parents over Christmas. We're thinking of having the wedding in July. So will you be my best man?" "You bet! Nothing could keep me from doing that. Thanks, man." "What for?" "Asking me to be your best man. I assumed that one of your brothers would be your best man when you and Megan got married." "You're my best friend so you're the best man." ********** When final exams were completed, Brian, Stephen, and Mike had a party for Sergei. He was graduating with his MBA and had lined up a well-paying job in Raleigh working with a Research Triangle based pharmaceutical company that was trying to expand their market into Russia. The job would involve extensive travel back and forth to Russia. On one hand, Sergei was happy he would be making frequent trips to his homeland and would be able to see his family on company expense, but on the other hand it would mean being separated from Brian who still had three more semesters of school. Both Brian and Sergei were trying to be upbeat about the whole situation. The rest of us knew the separation would be difficult for them, but they were both trying to be "adult" about the coming change. It seemed like hundreds of people showed up for the party. Not all at the same time mind you, but the guys upstairs still went through a lot of beer and munchies that night. All of us in our "group" were fond of Sergei, and it was obvious from the crowd that he was well-liked on campus as well. ********** We stayed in town for Christmas which we celebrated with the Williamses. The day after Christmas all of us drove over to the cabin in Carterville for skiing. Heather and Allison were more interested in the teenage guys in the ski lodge than in going up and down the slopes. Kevin, Kathy, Andy, and I took turns on the bunny runs with Gary and Greg and enjoyed the advanced runs when we didn't have "G & G Duty." On the 29th the Williamses left to go back home taking Greg and Larsen with them, and the normal crew for the Annual Ski Party started showing up at the cabin. By New Years Eve we had Justin, David, Brian, Sergei, Stephen, Mike, Doc, Matt, Mark, Jamal, Jason, Cory, Ron, and DeShaun along with the two of us staying at the cabin. Sixteen of us in all! Jamal and Mark brought up a portable sauna along with a bunch of high quality ground pads in the back of their Suburban. Jamal explained that he was thinking of expanding the lines of merchandise carried in his sporting goods stores so he had talked the manufacturers into giving him the ground pads and portable sauna unit to "field test." The ground pads proved to be a lot better than the bulky air mattresses we had used before. They were larger, just as comfortable to sleep on, and much easier to store during the day than the air mattresses giving us more room to move around in the living room. With sixteen guys sharing one house, that was a blessing. The portable sauna unit was basically a big tent with a propane heater in the center which was vented through an exhaust pipe in the top of the tent. The heater not only provided warmth for the tent but also heated the artificial rocks used to produce the steam for the sauna. When we came back from skiing on New Years Eve we cleared the snow away from an area in the yard to set up the tent for the sauna and collected ferns from the woods to put on the floor for insulation from the frozen ground. Sergei, who had regularly used a sauna at his family's dacha in Russia, and Jamal stayed outside to start the sauna heating while the rest of us went inside to warm up by the fire. Ron and DeShaun had drawn the cooking duties for the evening so they got busy in the kitchen while the rest of us started on beer and chips. After dinner the sauna was heated and ready. We all stripped naked and ran from the cabin through the snow to the tent. Sergei and Jamal had arranged some make shift benches out of logs and planks around the hot stones. When we were all seated and done laughing at how shriveled our "equipment" had become just from the cold run from the house to the sauna, Jamal poured some water over the stones. Steam quickly filled the whole tent making it almost impossible to see the guys sitting on the other side. Jamal produced a couple of bottles of schnapps that made their way around the group. With sixteen naked, sweating guys, the schnapps didn't last very long. The combination of heat, humidity, alcohol, and the closeness of the bodies produced a definite lengthening in every ones' cocks and balls. Even Justin and David, our putative token straight guys, were sporting semi erect penises. Suddenly Sergei jumped up off his bench. "Now everyone must roll in snow outside. It will be cooling off and then come back for more sauna. We do this in Russia. Come." He grabbed Brian's hand and headed out the door of the tent. Like fools we all followed. Talk about a shock to your system! Rolling naked in the snow was darn cold no matter how hot the sauna was. Plus it made our dicks and balls draw up so close that we all looked like girls. In less than 30 seconds most of us were back inside the warmth of the sauna passing around another bottle of schnapps. We repeated the "sauna torture" twice more. Get hot. Run out into the snow. Run back into the sauna for more heat and schnapps. It was sexy being in such close quarters with all those naked bodies, but if this was what the Russians and Finns did for fun on winter evenings, I decided they must be pretty desperate for entertainment. We retreated back to the house to towel off. Everyone kept just the towel wrapped around their waist or pulled on a pair of boxers or briefs. Mark put on some "classic rock" CD's while Jamal opened another two bottles of schnapps. Everyone was in a great mood. Mark pulled Cody out into the middle of the living room and started dancing with him. Jamal grabbed Andy, and Brian grabbed Sergei. Soon everyone was out dancing, switching partners, and laughing our heads off. I suddenly understood the reason for the sauna and snow routine. It had concentrated the alcohol from the schnapps in my head! It was having the same effect on all of us. Maybe that's what the Russians and Finns saw in the whole routine! The dancing didn't last too long. We were all tired from a day of skiing. The ground pads and sleeping bags came out and everyone crawled into bed with the correct partner. I was just beginning to drift off to sleep when I felt Andy slid under the edge of our double sleeping bag. His mouth settled around my flaccid penis. It didn't stay flaccid for long. I tried not to make any noise, but I know I groaned when he brought me to my climax. He moved up and shared my load with me in a kiss. I held his head against my chest as we went to sleep. We hadn't been as quiet as I'd thought. ********** The next morning David asked, "Was it good last night?" I tried innocence. "Was what good?" Innocence didn't work. "The blow job, dufus. Do you know how hard it was for Justin and me to lie there next to you guys and know what you were doing? We couldn't decide whether to laugh or jack off." I could feel myself blushing deeply. "Sorry, David." He smiled and clapped his hand on my shoulder. "Hey, I was just jealous. I thought it was hot. Don't apologize." ********** David's comment made me determined to find a time to talk with him about his personal situation. Even though we saw each other five or six times a year, it seemed like it was always in situations where we really couldn't have very private conversations. Whenever I asked Justin or Brian how David was doing I always got the "he's fine" response. I knew David had questions about his sexuality; he had seen a counselor about it. I was curious if he had made any progress on the issue. That afternoon on the ski slopes, I got my chance. David and I shared a ride on the chair lift up to the top of one of the expert ski runs. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but have you decided if you're gay, straight, or bisexual?" He flashed one of those patented Barnes Brothers smiles. "Oh, I'm definitely bisexual. Life would be a lot easier if I wasn't." "I'm not sure I know what you mean." "C.Z., would you ever think about being married to a woman?" "No. I've known I was gay for a long time. I like women as friends, but I don't think I could ever be in love with one." "There you go. Do you think Justin could ever be romantically involved with a man?" "No. Justin's so straight I just can't imagine that." "There you have it. You know what you want, and you've got Andy. Justin knows what he wants, and he's got Megan. My problem is that I can imagine being in love with either a man or a woman. I don't know which I really want, and I just don't see how I could ever have both. The result of my indecision is that I haven't been in any kind of relationship for the last year and a half. I told you one time that I don't want to marry some girl only to find out that I really want a man. At the same time I don't want to get involved with a guy and then start lusting after some woman. I just don't know what I want." "I'm sorry to hear that, David. It must be kind of lonely for you." "Yeah, some times it gets to me. I'm still putting in a lot of hours at the office, but I'm only 25 so there's still time for me. Someday I'll decide what I want, find the right person, and settle down. Until I decide, I'm just avoiding both men and women." "Maybe you have the order wrong." "What do you mean? "Maybe you need to find the right person first. That might help you decide." "Yeah, my therapist suggested that. I've seen lots of women and men who really attract me sexually, but I just haven't felt that 'love connection' with any one yet." He hugged my shoulders just before the chair lift reached the top of the run. "There was a reason I chose you to introduce me to gay sex. If you and Andy hadn't been lovers, I think I would have made a play for you myself. I could definitely imagine that 'love connection' with you." We slid off the chair onto the snow at the top of the run. It was starting to snow as he made one more comment before pushing off down the hill, "I guess I'm a romantic, but I always thought there would be this instant electricity when I met my love match. I'm still waiting for lightening to strike." The snow started coming down harder as we made our way down the slope. The weather report had predicted some heavy snow for the evening. It looked like this was the start. I made a mental note that this would probably be our last run for the day. It was getting hard to see. Just then David took a tumble. He went down hard and slid in the snow for several yards. I had quick memories of two winters before when he'd sprained his ankle on this same ski run. I managed to stop myself a little below where David lay crumpled in the snow and slowly made my way uphill to him. He was picking himself up when I got close. I noticed a lot of blood on the side of his face. "David, you're bleeding!" He looked down at the blood in the snow at his feet, brought his hand up to his eye, looked at the blood spreading over his hand from the cut in his eyebrow, and said, "Well, at least it's not my ankle this time." Just then another skier angled over from the slope and stopped next to us. "I saw the blood. I'm a doctor. Let me take a look at you." He had David sit down in the snow as he looked at the cut. "This doesn't look serious, but I want you to come down to the first aid station with me as soon as I get the bleeding to slow down a little." My attention was focused on David as the doctor pulled off his fanny pak and produced a small first aid kit from within. David's eyes were riveted on the stranger. "Th...thanks. I...I usually manage to get down the hill without doing this." "I hope so!" the man laughed a deep rumbling sound. I took a good look at the doctor for the first time. He was extremely handsome. He looked like he was several inches taller than either David or me. I put him at around 6' 4". Even with his ski clothes and jacket, it was obvious the man had a solid build. He had coal black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, dark brown eyes, wide cheek bones, and a slightly hooked nose. His cheeks were reddened from the cold and wind, but it was still possible to see that his natural complexion was a light olive tan. When he smiled, he revealed perfectly even, white teeth. The doctor held a gauze pad up to the cut above David's eye. He looked straight into David's eyes and said, "I'm Adam Hawkman." He pronounced it like two words...Hawk Man. David didn't respond, but he brought one hand up and placed it on Dr. Hawkman's as he pressed the gauze against the wound. "This is David Barnes and I'm C.Z. Johnstone. We were lucky you were here. Thanks, Dr. Hawkman." He laughed with that deep rumble again. "Well, I worked in the first aid room all morning, and no one came in. The management will be happy to know that I did do some 'doctoring' today in exchange for the lift ticket. "The bleeding seems to have stopped now. The cold temperature has probably helped that. Can you stand up? Let's take it nice and easy down the rest of the run and go to the first aid room. I want to take a look at that cut in better light to see if you need stitches." David continued to stare into Dr. Hawkman's face. "David," I said, "can you stand up? Are you all right?" "What? Oh, yeah. I think I can make it down to the first aid station. Thanks." We helped David to his feet and made our way slowly down the rest of the run. We left our skis at the door and entered the first aid house. My old family doctor, Frank Kalian, was inside. He recognized me immediately. "C.Z., how are you doing?" He looked over at David's blood spattered ski parka. "Isn't this the same guy you brought in the last time I saw you?" Then turning to Hawkman, "Hi, Adam. I thought you'd be out on the slopes for the rest of the day." "Hi, Frank. I was until I saw David here take a tumble. I want to see if he needs any stitches." They directed David to take off his parka and had him lie down on one of the first aid tables. The two doctors washed their hands, donned latex gloves, and began examining David's eye. Dr. Hawkman spoke, "David, the cut's not very long, but it is deep. I want to put in a couple of stitches just to help keep it closed. It would be a shame to have an unnecessarily large scar on that handsome face." David blushed immediately. As Dr. Hawkman worked on David, Frank Kalian came over to talk to me. We caught up on the local news. I brought him up to date on my applications to medical schools and the story of Greg's coming to live with us. He clapped me on the shoulder. "You and Andy will make fine parents. I'm sure of it." The expression on my face must have been something because he laughed. "Oh, come on, C.Z. I've had you and Andy figured out since before your mother died. It's fine with me." We finished our conversation as I saw Dr. Hawkman help David into a sitting position. He put his hand on David's shoulder, and David seemed to melt into him. I'd never seen David react that way to anyone. I wondered if he was in some short of shock. "David, I want you to take it easy the rest of the night. Don't take a shower tonight to give the wound a chance to close properly. You can start taking showers again tomorrow. Just don't scrub at the stitches. Take some asprin or tylenol for any pain, and I want you to have your doctor look at those stitches in a week or so just to be sure things are healing the way they should. Any questions?" "Shouldn't you look at the stitches again?" Again I heard that rumble of a laugh. "Sure if you want. I work in the emergency room at Asheville General Hospital. Like Dr. Kalian, I trade my time in the first aid room here for free lift tickets. Do you live in Asheville?" "No. I live in Raleigh." "Well then, it would be a long drive from Raleigh to Asheville just to have me check your stitches. Better have your own doctor look at them." "O...okay. Ah...thanks, Dr. Hawkman." David extended his hand. "Call me Adam or Hawk." He grabbed David's hand. They held the handshake longer than necessary. When they finally released their grip, both David and Adam appeared to be blushing. We left the first aid room and made our way to the ski lodge to meet up with the rest of our crew. In the lodge David suddenly sat down at one of the benches. He looked pale. "Are you okay? Do you need a coke or something?" "C.Z., what just happened?" "You got clumsy and put a gash in your eyebrow. That's what happened." "No, not that. Something just happened between me and Adam. I can't explain it. When he put his hand up to stop the bleeding up there on the slope, it was like this wave of warmth rushing all over my body. Every time he touched me, I had the same feeling. Now I'll never see him again." I sat down next to him, put my arm around his shoulders, and said, "Hey, bro, you can always drive up to Asheville General to have him look at your stitches." David smiled. "I'm thinking about it." (To be continued)