Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2012 19:34:34 -0700 (PDT) From: John Michaels Subject: FILIPINO LOVE - Chapter 21 FILIPINO LOVE BY JM Email: mmanlookin@yahoo.com Disclaimers and other info: see chapter one CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE We managed to get changed into our suits without TOO much teasing and groping and were soon headed out the door, sharing a collection of beach-time requirements. Between us, we were carrying a small blanket, towels, sunscreen for yours truly (I was determined not to leave here looking white as a ghost but didn't want to burn to a crisp in the process! Getting sun poisoning on your second day of a 2-week vacation is NO FUN!!! Happened once. Never again!), and a picnic cooler, with bottled water. As we stepped onto the beach, we could see Ronni's friends, Mario and Dhomz, at the water's edge, seeing who could push who into the water first and laughing in those so-sexy teen voices. They were so engrossed in their play that they didn't notice our arrival. I was surprised to see that we seemed to be the only ones on the beach. I could see a few others maybe a quarter mile away, but it was like having our own private beach. I guess if you've lived your life in paradise, it doesn't seem to have the pull as it did for someone like me or for kids with free time. It was also mid-day, so I'm sure that kept working families away. "Dhomz! Mario!" Ronni hollered to them. They heard him, waved and came running up to greet us, still laughing and shoving one another in the manner of rambunctious teens. I couldn't help noticing again how good-looking they were. While definitely not in Ronni's league, they were very attractive. Dhomz looked to be slightly taller than Mario, about Ronni's height, and his face was slightly oval while Mario's was more rounded. They both had short, dark hair and the sleekly muscled bodies of active young teens. I started laying out our things as Ronni ran to meet them, and they were soon all headed in my direction, talking away excitedly. They arrived just as I was settling myself on the blanket, my ever-present sun glasses in place. Ronni' of course, flopped down beside me while his friends settled down beside us. Dhomz and Mario had gotten exceptionally quiet when they sat down, and I could sense that they felt a little nervous around me, so I decided to break the ice. "It's good to see you again, Mario...Dhomz," I said, nodding my head slightly at each as I said their names, so that they'd know that I remembered their names correctly. Being a teacher, I quickly learned to put names with faces, and it paid off now as both boys grinned with pleasure that I'd remembered them. The ice was melting. With Ronni as translator, we got to talking about life in Lapu-Lapu, school (professional curiosity), family, friends and girlfriends. This got a furious blush from both of them as they shyly admitted there were no girls in their lives. I had to suppress a laugh at their embarrassment. Typical teen! When asked about Paulo and Jareth, the other two friends I'd met my first day, I was told they were doing some chores for their respective families and might be along later if they finished in time. When I asked Dhomz why he didn't have to do chores also, he said the he and his brother Paulo took turns, and it would be his turn next time. While were talking, I was reclining on my arms, and Ronni had taken up a position with his head on my stomach. I noticed raised eyebrows at this from the other two at seeing such easy, comfortable contact between two people who didn't even know each other a few short days ago. But when Ronni started softly rubbing my chest with his hand, I thought the eyes of the other two were going to pop out of their heads. I honestly don't believe that he was doing this to shock his friends. I'm positive it was just an unconscious move on his part. I was his "comfort zone", and what he was doing was just a natural and automatic reaction to his feelings for me. I saw the others look at each other, then back to us. I was wondering and, yeah, a bit worried, too, how this would all play out. Then, I noticed how the boys were sitting with their hands propping themselves up, and also noticed Paulo surreptitiously rubbing his thumb across the back of Mario's hand. AHA! But I didn't say anything and neither did they for a few minutes, but it was a comfortable silence after the initial shock. It wasn't too much longer before I realized that I was getting quite warm from the sun and decided to see if the boys were ready to go swimming. Getting enthusiastic responses from all, we got up and headed toward the water. Ronni immediately grabbed my hand and started pulling me along faster. Mario noticed this and reached out to take Paulo's hand, who quickly looked at me to see my reaction. I smiled and nodded, bringing a big grin to his cute face, and we all ran into the surf. It quickly became "Jump On Phil" time, started by you-know-who and quickly joined by the others. I spent a while picking each boy up and tossing him to splash down, whereupon they'd rush back at me, laughing and waiting for their next turn. And since each waited for the other two to get their turn, there was no jockeying for position. We kept this up until my arms had enough, and the boys didn't seem to be disappointed when we stopped. Mario and Paulo went off a little ways and began splashing and trying to dunk each other, their youthful laughter echoing up and down the shore. When they'd moved off, Ronni was immediately in my arms, his legs wrapped around my waist and his arms around my shoulders. He gave me such a look of love as he leaned in and rubbed his nose against mine. "I love you so much, my Phil," he said. "You so good to me AND my friends. I so...I AM so happy!" He put his head on my shoulder and thrilled me with a soft, gentle kiss on my neck. "I love you so much too, my Ronni," I returned, rubbing his back. "My life is so full and good now that I have you to share it with me. By the way, I think Mario and Paulo are a couple like us." If I was expecting a big reaction to my revelation, I was disappointed. (Not really!) "I am not surprised," he said. "I think so for a long time, but not sure. I not want to cause them shame if I ask and wrong." "But they know you're gay, right?" I asked. "Oo. But that is ME. I ok...I AM ok with me and gay. If they not say they gay too, they maybe not ready to say," he responded wisely. This guy never ceases to amaze me with his level of maturity. We spent a wonderful afternoon, splashing and swimming around, sometimes as couples, other times all four of us, which included a few more rounds of "Splash Down" much to the boys delight. We'd alternate with time relaxing on the beach to rest and drink some water so we wouldn't become dehydrated. Jareth and Paulo never did make it, but Mario said they'd probably be able to come next time. But all good things must come to an end, and all too soon, it seemed, it was time for Ronni and me to leave so we could have dinner and get to his parents at the appointed time. I started to gather up our things, getting ready to head to the cottage, when Ronni pulled his friends aside and talked quietly to them. I saw Paulo and Mario blush crimson at whatever he said to them, and then I saw slow smiles spread across their attractive faces as they looked over in my direction. Ronni hugged each of them, and then they came up to where I was waiting. "Everything ok, Phil," Ronni said. "They say they have love, and they know I have love with you. They not tell others, only when we ready." Oddly enough, I didn't feel the worry I had when Josie caught on to our relationship. Somehow, this felt different. We were two gay couples, and although I was quite a bit older than Ronni, they had no problems with that. I also noticed that they were openly holding hands as we got ready to leave. I know THEY would have used different phrasing, but they looked so damn cute together! I took Ronni's hand in mine, and said, "Congratulations, you two. I hope you'll always be happy together. Always take care of each other, too." Ronni looked proudly at me as he translated what I'd said just in case they didn't understand all the words. I knew all the boys had at least SOME English, but not everyone had Ronni's grasp of it. I was thinking that if we spent more time with them, I'd see what I could do to help them improve. They nodded their heads in tandem and turned to look at each other with such sweet smiles. I decided to take a chance and, dropping Ronni's hand for the moment, went up to first Mario and gave him a hug, which, when he got over the initial shock, he returned warmly. I turned and gave the same to Paulo, who hugged me without hesitation. By that time, we had to get going or risk being late for the meeting with the Martinez'. Gathering our stuff, and with a final "good-bye" to the others, we headed back to the cottage to get ready. Upon entering, I noticed we had a little over two hours before we had to be there, and knowing it would take about fifteen minutes to get there, decided we'd better get a move on. We still needed to shower off the effects of our beach and surf time, as well as prepare and eat dinner along with the attendant cleanup. We hustled into the cr, where we took off our suits and hung them on the towel rack to dry before stepping into the shower. We were both feeling randy for one another, but even Ronni agreed when I said we didn't want to risk being late to his parents and pissing them off, especially with the request we had for them about the trusteeship. But we definitely made plans to get it on when we got back. We managed to shower, wash and dry with only a bit of stroking and kissing, then got dressed and went to the kitchen to get something to eat. We decided that since neither of us was all that hungry, probably due to nerves and a feeling of uncertainty about what lay ahead, we decided to just have a salad. While I put the salad together, Ronni set our places at the counter and we were soon eating and talking about possible scenarios about what would happen when we met with his parents. Ronni tried to present a totally positive outlook, but I could still detect a sense of uncertainty about him. We finished eating, got everything ship-shape and headed out the door to follow the same route we had taken the other day along the beach to get to his parents' house. Unlike the last time, Ronni was uncharacteristically quiet, obviously not all that sure about how things would go. This did nothing to ease my own thoughts, knowing just how important to our plans this was going to be, and even the gentle sounds of the surf didn't ease our mood. We walked hand in hand and finally came to the alley leading to the house, where Ronni paused for a moment. Then, he took a deep breath, gave me a shaky smile and we headed down the alley to the Casa Martinez. Again the door was open, and Ronni took a hesitant step inside. "Nanay, Tatay," he called out. I could see movement from the back of the house as first Ronni's mother came down the short hall to the family room, followed by a man about Ronni's height but stocky, obviously his father. While his mother had a smile on her face as she came toward us, his father had a rather stony expression. This didn't bode well. A third person was behind him, and I thought at first that it was Lola Sanie but was surprised to see a rail-thin woman with graying hair and a distinct scowl on her face. "Tita Sara! Why you here? Where is Lola?" Ronni asked, with more than a touch of fear in his voice. Ok. Sorry for stopping here, but this is potentially the first bit of conflict so far. The next chapter will hopefully bring everything around to the positive side again. Thanks for hanging around. If you get time, I'd love to hear your reactions so far. And please thank the hard-working folks a Nifty by giving your financial support. Please donate to http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html.