Warning: This story does not contain any sex. None of
the characters are based on real people, nor are they meant to resemble any
living or dead people.
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Copyright ©2010-2021
Blake's Saga
Book 5 –
Chapter 4
Blake's
Shopping Trip with Michael
Trace's
brother, Michael, plans on taking his nephew, Blake, out shopping at the mall
for a day. The trip was arranged by
Trace and Michael in hopes of taking Blake's mind off of his boyfriend's passing. The young man has no idea that he's going to
have a day out with one of his favorite uncles.
Michael heads straight for Blake's room.
He knocks on the door, and Blake looks up from the bed.
"Hey Uncle
Michael, what's going on?"
Michael
enters the room, and he is all smiles.
He's excited over the opportunity to take his nephew out with him.
"Get up, get
dressed if you aren't, and let's go shopping.
It's on me. If you want to go, that is?"
Blake is all
about going shopping and spending time with his uncle. It's been a while since he's hung out with
his uncle one on one like this.
"Heck yeah,
I'm going. I just have to get up."
Blake throws
the blanket off of him, exposing his briefs and the rest of his body to his
uncle's eyes. Michael laughs at his nephew's state of undress.
"You could
have warned me, dude."
Blake says
nothing as he grabs some clothes and runs for the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, Blake finds Michael,
who is sitting in the living room waiting for him.
"Are you
ready to head out, Blake?"
Blake nods
his head and then says goodbye to everyone before heading out the door to head
out to the mall.
***
In the car,
the guys sit and talk about life. They head out and talk about whatever is
going on in their lives.
"What's
going on, buddy?"
Blake has to
admit that he has been feeling a little better since the death of Ben. Ben's
death is a sticking point right now.
It's not something he wants to talk about, though. He wants to forget about it and move on as
best he can.
"I just want
to get passed it. Thanks for taking me
out with you and the guys."
Michael is
happy to get Blake out of the house.
"You're
welcome, my man."
Blake
wonders what is going on in his uncle's life.
He hasn't been around for a while.
He wants to know what's up with his uncle.
"Uncle
Michael, anything new in your life?"
Blake is
curious about the life that his uncle lives.
Michael has never brought anyone over the house before; he's had his
brothers' relationships thrown in his face, and even Blake's relationship with
Ben was thrown in his face. Blake has
never seen Michael down on himself, and lately, there seems to be a glow about
him.
`Is Uncle
Michael hiding someone or something from me?'
"Nope! Nothing new here."
Michael
tells his nephew, but Blake sees past his uncle's words. He keeps that thought to himself. He does not
want to shake things up. Michael has
been keeping something back from everyone in his life.
"What about
you, Blake, anything or anyone new?"
Blake
doesn't answer his uncle with words. His
body language says it all. Blake has no
one on the horizon. Michael wishes that
Blake had an idea of where he is going next in life. Still, there might be some hope for both of
them. Now, what exactly is Michael
keeping from everyone?
***
Michael has
been keeping something back not just from Blake but from everyone in his
family. He wants to tell Blake that he
thinks that he's brave. He wants to tell
his brother how brave; he believes that Trace and Ian are for living their
lives. He knows that some people in the
community don't think that bisexuality is a real thing. When Trace came out, people just seemed to
accept it, but he's been fearing coming out based on what he's seen around
him. He has to tell someone. He's been keeping this inside for much too
long. Time is ticking.
***
He doesn't
want to keep things away from Blake or his family. He doesn't know when his crush will make a
move or when he will finally get the nerve to ask his crush out. Once he starts dating, he wants to be
free. His dream wants to be free to
explore. It's the way that things should
be. Things are going to be
beautiful. If he can just push through
it, he'll see about spilling his guts to the world and the family. Friends and family may hate on him, but he'll
chance it. He'll fight it to the best of
his ability.
`I just
hope that Trace is okay with my secret.'
Maybe, Blake will cheer Michael on as he moves
forward.
***
Blake and
Michael arrive at the mall. Michael
parks the car, and the guys exit the vehicle.
After locking the car, the guys head towards the building. When they enter the mall, Michael sits down
with Blake to discuss the rules of this little shopping trip.
"Okay, there
are a couple of rules you have to follow, 1. You can only buy for
yourself. 2. You may only buy two items
in each store. Okay, are you ready to
shop?"
Blake looks
at his uncle as if he is waiting for the shoe to drop.
"Umm... are
those all the rules?"
Michael
pretends to check his phone for the rules.
"Umm...yeah,
I'm sure."
Blake just
wants to get busy shopping. Michael just
wants to enjoy the day with his nephew.
"So, where
are we going first?"
Blake looks
at the map of the mall. His finger lands
on a hip clothing store.
"Right
there!"
With that,
the guys head out for the first shop of the day. After walking for five minutes and people
watching along the way, the guys are standing right outside the store.
***
Blake
remembers what his uncle said to him, only two items. They enter the store, and Blake heads for the
t-shirts. He combs through 2 dozen
shirts before picking out one that he likes.
He walks over to another section of t-shirts, and again he browses over
quite a few t-shirts before he finally picks his second shirt.
"Are you
sure those are two shirts that you want?
Because you can only have two."
Blake smiles
and walks towards the register to check out.
Blake hands the shirts to an employee so she can ring them up. Then, his uncle slides his credit card into
the slot to pay for them. Once Michael
pays for the shirts, Blake puts the receipt into the bag, and together they
head out to the next store. Michael
didn't even complain about the cost of the shirts, which surprised him.
***
The next
store sells video games, game systems, and console accessories. Blake walks in and heads straight for the
section to displays the games for his game system. He spends a few minutes looking over the
games.
"I can't
believe that I have these, I've wanted these games, but I haven't been able to
find them. So cool! Can I get them?"
Michael
smiles and then walks away to find someone to open the case.
"Excuse, can
you open the case? My nephew wants to get to games?"
The uncle
says to the store worker.
"Sure!"
The guy
seems eager to help out this patron. He follows Michael to where Blake is
waiting.
"Which games
did you want?"
Blake points
to two games that he's been wanting for a while. He watches anxiously as the employee gets out
the games that Blake wants to buy. One
is a role-playing game, and the other is a simulation game that he's been eager
to play. Now thanks to his uncle, he can
play them.
"You have
one nice uncle. Mine wouldn't buy games
for me. Are you ready to pay?"
Blake nods
his head, and then once again, his uncle gets out his credit card to pay for
them. Once they leave the store, Michael
wants to suggest something to his nephew.
***
Michael
wants this shopping experience to be a day out for him and his nephew. Right now, he has an idea of what they can do
next
"How about
we give our legs a rest for a little bit, and people watch?"
People-watching
is something that Blake loves to do. He
thinks it's just as fun as shopping.
They watch a stream of people walking by them. At first, no one stands out to Blake, and
then a guy walks by that catches Blake's eye.
He's older than Blake in his twenties, and he is hot. Blake nudges his uncle.
"I know you
don't like guys, but that guy is smoking hot."
He whispers so
that no one else can hear him but his uncle can hear him. If only he knew about his uncle. Maybe, they could do this together. For now, all Michael can do is just blow off
the comment. Michael wants to tell Blake
that the guy is pretty hot, but his crush is hotter. A little bit later, a lady in her twenties
walks by, and Blake instantly looks at Michael.
"Do you
think she is pretty?"
Michael can
tell that she is attractive, and she is stunning. However, he is crushing on someone pretty
heavily, and that someone happens to be a guy.
"Yeah, she
is pretty hot."
Michael says feeling a little weird as he says it. Blake nods his head because
and the guys go back to watching the people walk by. Blake comments on a couple of guys, and
Michael again sort of blows it off. Oh, by the way, Blake saw some guys his age
too, and he glanced at them.
Michael has to speak up, and it needs to be
now. Hopefully, this doesn't ruin their
shopping trip.
"What store
do you want to go to next?"
Michael
figures they can walk and talk at the same time.
"I want to
add some more rocks to my rock collection.
I can't remember the name of it, but they sell science stuff."
Michael
knows the store. Ian has dragged him
there a couple of times looking for stuff for his classes.
"Okay then,
let's head towards it. After that, we'll
have lunch."
Off they go;
Blake hopes he can get a couple of new rocks from the store.
***
As Michael
and Blake walk, they pass by a bench that sits pretty close to this indoor
fountain. Michael stops and sits.
"Hey Blake,
can you sit for a second? I have
something that I need to tell you. Please
don't freak out or anything, okay, because I have been keeping something inside
for a while now. I know that Trace is
gay, and I am fine with that. You know
that already so this seems sort of silly, but I'm...I'm bi."
Blake stares
at his uncle for a couple of seconds.
His uncle has nothing to fear.
Blake isn't about to laugh at his uncle.
In fact, he pats his uncle on the back.
"Dude, it's
fine. Why didn't you tell me sooner? Do my dads know?"
Michael
isn't sure which question to answer first.
"No, your
dads don't know. You are the only person
who knows; not even Ashley knows. I
guess I haven't come out sooner because I really didn't feel the need to, but I
decided that I should. I am crushing
pretty hard on a friend, and I don't want him to be worried about me being in
the closet."
Blake sees
no problem with his uncle being bi. He
wants him to know that he loves him, and that will never change. He is just trying to figure out how to say
it.
"Uncle
Michael, you know that my dads are going to be fine with your sexuality. They love you. Collin and I love you a lot. Don't worry about coming out later than most
people. You're fine."
Michael
smiles at his nephew's words. It's good
to know that his nephew won't reject him, and he's sure that Trace and Ian
won't think anything of it. Michael's fingers are crossed mentally, hoping and
praying that his nephew is right.
Michael wants to hug him, but he's not sure that the mall is the best
place for that. Michael gets up and
heads for the store with Blake close behind him.
***
The duo
makes their way to the science store. Where Blake slowly searches the displays
for something he doesn't have yet. He
finds a piece of labradorite and some red tourmaline.
"Uncle
Michael, I have what I want. We can
check out."
What happens
next surprises, Blake. Michael spotted
something sitting in one of the fossil displays. A rock with the impression of a fern on
it. He is very much aware of what he
told Blake, but this item is on him; a present for being so fabulous. He hands the fossil over to Blake. Instantly, the young man's eyes get
big.,
"Thanks,
Uncle Michael!"
Michael pays
for the crystals and the fossil. He
hands the bags over to his nephew, and then they head off towards the food
court for lunch.
***
While
ordering food, Blake spots a guy ordering from the spot next to them. He thinks that he recognizes him as a guy
that graduated last year. He's not
staring, but Michael catches on to who his nephew is looking at, and he taps
his nephew on the shoulder.
"I think you
need to get your eyes back in your head and place your order."
Blake
blushes just a little. He nudges his
uncle.
"I...I...wasn't
staring."
Blake tells
his uncle, who laughs. They place their
orders and then get their food. The pair
sit within view of the guy from back in the line. They eat their food. Blake can't resist getting a couple more
glances at the guy. Michael rolls his
eyes at his nephew. It's pretty evident
that Blake finds the guy attractive.
He's not exactly hiding that fact.
If the guy had bothered to look at Blake, he might have discovered
Blake's glances. It would have left
Blake with red cheeks had the guy made eye contact, but that isn't going to be
an issue. He got his food and left to eat it someplace else. Maybe he worked in
the mall somewhere, or perhaps he did get a view of Blake's stares and decided
to go somewhere that he didn't have to worry about being watched while he
ate. At least now, Blake can focus on
his food instead of checking out the guy's muscles. After eating, Blake takes his uncle to a book
store.
***
In the
bookstore, Blake takes his time searching through every section of the
store. He doesn't know where he might
find the perfect book or books. He
decides to buy a thick mandala coloring book.
He also picks up a book on identifying edible plants of the
Midwest. Blake walks them up to his
uncle is already holding all the other bags.
"We can
check out."
Once they are paid for, Blake and Uncle Michael get ready to head out for the
day. Blake isn't quite finished with the
discussion from their time at the fountain.
***
It shouldn't
surprise anyone that Blake is a little curious about his uncle's love
interests. He knows it's none of his
business, but he can't help himself from asking.
"So, are you
secretly seeing anyone?"
His question
catches his uncle off guard. Blake has
never really shown any interest in his love life.
"Umm...nope,
I'm not seeing anyone."
Blake isn't
satisfied, though, with his uncle's answer.
Maybe, he's tired of secrets, or perhaps it's his curious teenage mind.
"So, is
there a crush in your life?"
This time,
Blake has him. He can see it in
Michael's eyes, a glimmer of life. There
is even a slight blush on his cheeks.
"Yeah, there
is most definitely a crush."
Blake's face
has a curious look on it. He knew
something was up with his uncle, but he couldn't put the finger on it. He has one more question for his uncle. Blake has one more probing question meant to
invade his uncle's privacy.
"Is this
crush someone I know?"
Michael's
face says it all. You can tell that he's
thinking, "Yeah, right! I'm not telling
you.".
"Blake, I
want to ask this person out when the time is right. I promise that someday, you'll meet
them. When you do, all I ask is that you
treat them with respect."
He doesn't
want to take the chance of his crush running away because he found out that
Michael is crushing on him. Blake will
respect anyone who dates his uncle as long as this person treats his uncle
well.
"Okay, Uncle
Michael, it's all good. You know it's
all good. I'll love anyone you bring
over to the house."
Michael
knows his nephew is being honest with him.
Sometimes, he wonders if Blake has a mean bone in his body. They walked out to Michael's car. Michael helps get the haul into the trunk. After getting into the car, the crew heads
out for Blake's house.
***
When Blake
gets home, the first thing he does is find Ian to show off what he bought. He is pleased with the crystals that he
got. Ian spent a few seconds looking at
each crystal.
"I've never
seen the red tourmaline before; that is beautiful. Cool finds."
Then Blake
got out the books; he showed the edible plants book to his dad.
"Do you
think we could try our hand at foraging?"
Blake has
been curious about it since he saw some videos on YouTube on the subject.
"We can try
it out. But we are going to take our time to identify the plants before we try
them. Let's see what's growing in the
yard first, okay?"
Ian believes
that one of a parent's jobs is to support any worthwhile interests that their
child has. Blake's interest in nature is
one that he'll enjoy well into adulthood so, Ian will help him until he
physically can't. Blake finishes showing
off what Michael bought for him, and then Blake disappears to his room to put
his stuff away.
***
Trace and
Ian had already planned that Michael would take Collin out for lunch once he
got back to the house with Blake. It
won't be any special place, just a fast food restaurant that Collin likes. His little nephew gets chicken nuggets,
French fries, BBQ sauce for his nuggets, and root beer. For part of the lunch, Uncle Michael tells
his nephew some dad jokes, and Collin laughs no matter if they are funny or not. It's important to Michael to spend time with
his nephews once a week or once every other week. It helps strengthen the bond
between uncle and nephew. Sometimes, he
does it with both Collin and Blake, and other times it's separate. When they finish their meal, Michael gives
Collin's meal a chance to settle before heading out to a park to play for a
little bit before heading home. Another critical
thing to note about Michael's time with his nephews is that it's rare that they
do the same thing twice during the month.
***
While Collin
is out with Uncle Michael, Trace comes home and relaxes. His oldest son was in the backyard. Blake sits down in one of the chairs in the
living room.
"How was
your trip with your uncle? Did you go
shopping as planned? Did you get
anything good?"
Blake wants
to tell him about the news that Uncle Michael gave him, but he's not about to
break that trust. He'll answer his
dad's questions, and when Michael is ready, he can tell his brother.
"It was fine. He let me get two items in any of the stores
that we went to. He spoiled me, Dad. I
got two video games which I have yet to play, by the way. I have been out with Dad checking out the
wild plants in the backyard. I got a
book on edible plants in the Midwest, so Dad and I went out to see what we
could find in the yard. I got some red
tourmaline, which Dad thought was awesome.
We had lunch, chatted it up about stuff, and just had fun."
His dad was
glad to hear that Blake had fun with Michael.
Blake's moods have been getting better with every passing day. Ian walks into a house with one of his plant guidebooks
and a small handful of plants.
***
Ian sets the
book down on the dining room table along with the plants that he and Blake
picked up in the backyard. He then
walked into the living room and kissed his husband on the lips. Blake loves that his dads show their
affection for each other around Collin and him.
It's nothing he wouldn't see his mom and dad do if he were living with
them. It's normal, and Blake wouldn't
have it any other way. They are an excellent
example for a teen like him. Blake is
aware that they've had downtimes in their relationship, but he also knows that
they have weekly date nights.
"How was
work, Babe?"
Ian asks his
husband.
"It was a
quiet night, to be honest. My night was
filled with mostly warnings. I did get a
call on a silver alert. It ended up
being the person that came up missing, and we were able to get that person to
the hospital to get checked out and returned to the family. It was a great way to end my shift. It sounds like Blake had a great day?"
Ian smiles
and looks at his oldest son. Hoping he
would comment, but Blake is tied up in coloring in his coloring book. Ian answers his husband
"Yeah, he
seemed to be pretty happy when he came into the house. I am a little envious; he has a red
tourmaline that he found at the science store in the mall. I may have to go up and see what I can find."
Immediately,
Trace comes up with a stop for this week's date night. It's his turn to plan out the date.
"I take it
that Collin is out with my brother?"
Trace asks
about their youngest. He wonders if
Collin is enjoying his time with Uncle Michael.
He knows the boys enjoy being with him.
Michael will do whatever he thinks the boys will like. Nothing with him will be dangerous or illegal,
so Ian and Trace don't have to worry about him.
"What do you
want for dinner, Blake? Trace?"
It's Ian
asking the question this time. It's time
to start thinking about getting dinner started.
Blake shrugs his shoulders.
"How about
that quick chicken roast?
Trace
suggests a recipe. It was a hit with his
husband and the kids, so it was worth doing again. They try to add a new recipe every week. Sometimes, the recipes are bombs, but they
get added to the book when they are good.
"Okay, well,
I am going to make extra in case Michael wants to eat with us."
Blake likes
the idea, but he gets up and heads upstairs.
Ian and Trace get up and head into the kitchen. While they are cooking, Collin and Michael
enter the house.
***
Trace walks
into the room living room to greet his son and his brother.
"Hey Collin,
what's going on, guy? Did you have fun
with Uncle Michael?"
Collin seems
quite happy.
"I had a
blast, Dad. Uncle Michael took me to
lunch, and then we went out and played at a park."
Both Collin
and Uncle Michael enjoyed the trip; Trace's brother is surprised that his
younger nephew isn't sleeping as much as he played. Instead, he is wide awake and ready to eat
again from the looks of things.
"Daddy, is
dinner done?"
The younger
kid asks his dad. Ian heard what his son asked Trace, and he's a little
surprised by his son's question.
"Not yet
Collin, why don't you go upstairs and see what your brother is up to."
Collin
listens to Trace and heads up to see his brother. He leaves Uncle Michael, Trace, and Ian. Ten minutes later, the meal is finished. Trace sends Michael upstairs to get the kids.
"Hey guys,
it's time to eat."
It didn't
take either boy long to get downstairs once their hands were washed. Michael is ready to walk out the door when he
hears someone approaching him from behind.
"Are you
hungry? You can eat with us if you want
to, you know?"
Collin
says. Ian had Collin give the invite
because the little guy asked if he could ask him. Michael pivoted around and followed his nephew
to the dining room.
"Uncle
Michael is eating."
Collin said
nice and loud. Everyone else sat down,
and as always, Blake said the blessing on the food. Trace and Ian make it a point always to have
meals together when possible. The family
talks and laughs through dinner. When
the meal is finished, Michael says goodnight.
***
Michael
makes it out to his car, and he's joined by his car by his brother.
"Michael,
everything okay?"
Trace asks
his brother. I guess he felt like
something was wrong. Michael looks a
little surprised that his brother would think that something was amiss.
"I'm fine.
Why would you think that something was wrong?"
Did Blake
say something to his dad? Nah, he
wouldn't do that; Blake is an honest guy.
He wouldn't do his uncle wrong like that, and Michael ends those
thoughts.
"Maybe, it's
a form of big brother sixth sense."
Michael
chuckles a bit at his brother's words.
He can't believe that those words even came out of his brother's mouth.
"You have to
be kidding me?"
Michael asks
his brother, hoping he'll give him a clue why he thinks something is up. Trace just stared at his brother as if trying
he's figuring out what wasn't being said.
Opening the car door, Michael gets ready to head home, but Trace replies
to his question before he gets into the car.
"Well, I
suppose if everything is okay. I can let you go home."
Michael gets
into his car, and then he heads for home.
***
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