Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 10:06:55 EDT From: Bwstories8@aol.com Subject: The Castaway Hotel-book 7, chapter 16 Legal Notice: The following story contains descriptions of graphic sexual acts. The story is a work of fiction and has no basis in reality. Don't read this story if: **You're not 18 or over, **If it is illegal to read this type of material where you live, **Or if you don't want to read about gay/bi people in love or having sex. The author retains copyright to this story. Placing this story on a website or reproducing this story for distribution without the author's permission is a violation of that copyright. Legal action will be taken against violators. I wish to extend my thank you to Emoe57 for his editorial assistance with this chapter, and Art, the real Vinnie and John for their additional input on each chapter. E-mail responses to the stories, story suggestions, or other 'constructive' comments or advice may be sent to: bwstories8@aol.com. * * * * * * * * Although the boys in these stories have unprotected sex, I strongly urge all of you out there to be smart and protect yourselves from various sexually transmitted diseases by using condoms when having intercourse. * * * * * * * * The Castaway Hotel-Book 7-by BW (Young-Friends). Copyright 2004 by billwstories Chapter 16 - Welcoming another New Year. February 2004 The rest of Ted's stay was a whirlwind of activity, both in and out of the bed. He seemed to enjoy having all the boys around with whom he could talk, play games, or do all kinds of things with, as he explained he didn't have a lot of friends at home. The boys were sympathetic to this and went out of their way to make him feel comfortable during his stay with us and I think he was more than pleased by the abundant amount of flesh he got to see parading around. He even started to do the same himself, prancing around and showing off his shaved physique, and he began to feel comfortable with many different things. Of course his new boldness got him some attention from some of the others too, so Ted had more than his share of sexual encounters. He performed mutual masturbation with some, including Andrew, who wasn't about to be left out. Even though Ted came to me and questioned whether he dared do this with my youngest, as he felt a little ill at ease with Andrew's lack of physical maturity, I told him Andrew had done much more than masturbate with his brothers and was eager for additional experiences. Hearing this, Ted gave in and treated Andrew just like he did the others, which also helped to remove more of Andrew's insecurities. Ted also got to try giving oral sex, and Sammy and Graham let him take them anally, though no one pressured him to do the same, and even told him to wait a bit, when he suggested maybe he wanted to do that too. Instead, they took the smaller dildos and used those on him, which was about all he could take at this point, so they told him on his next visit they'd try again, and maybe he'd be ready to try it at that time. That seemed to satisfy him, or maybe it was the dildos that made him realize he wasn't quite ready yet, but he didn't push the issue further. As New Year's approached, we fine-tuned our plans for the evening, altering them a little, to accommodate our guest. We not only wanted him to enjoy himself and have the best New Year possible, but we also wanted him to explore the nonsexual side of being gay, and doing other things with a partner. None of the boys objected when I told them what I was up to, and I think a few of them even liked what I had in mind. When New Year's Eve arrived, we began our evening by going out to dinner, with many of our extended family meeting us at the restaurant. The only ones who were missing were the Becker's, as Albert explained that he and Richard had talked it over and decided they would like to spend a quiet evening at home, as Arlene hadn't been doing very well the past few days. I interpreted this to mean that Albert hadn't been getting much sleep as he needed and was worn out, so I again offered our assistance for the next few days, until the aide schedule was restored. Once more, he refused my help, telling me they only had a few days left on their own, but he did tell me he regretted that Richard wouldn't join us; as he'd tried to encourage his son to still go with us, by explaining that he could watch Arlene on his own. Of course, Richard refused, I believe emulating his father's stubborn streak, so both would stay home with Arlene and spend a quiet evening alone. We filled nearly half of one of the restaurant's dining rooms by ourselves, but we were far from the center of attention. Everyone was in such a good mood and having so much fun on their own, talking or listening to the band the owner had playing in an adjoining room, that we were a non-issue tonight. That suited us just fine and we enjoyed a wonderful meal in relative peace and anonymity. Once we finished our meal, we enjoyed a few after dinner drinks, and I allowed all of the boys to have a glass of wine or two with their meal and dessert. Once we finished, we invited everyone up to the house, for a little private party. Except for Mark and his girlfriend, who had made plans with some of their other friends, everyone came up to join us for a while. The Spences warned us, in advance, that they no longer stayed up until midnight and would probably leave early, but that was fine with us. I was surprised some of the boys who chased skirts hadn't tried to get dates for the evening, either to take somewhere, bring home or go off on their own, but they decided they'd rather stay with the family too. When we got back, I set up an impromptu bar in the kitchen, with people sitting and talking in our dining room or going back to the rec room to dance. The boys had cleared that room out, after I told them about my idea, moving everything out of the way and creating a dance floor. They had also set up their best sound system in there to provide the tunes, so various combinations started going back there to unwind. Although the boys preferred to play slower songs that they could snuggle to as they danced, they did play some faster numbers too. They were considerate and also played a few songs especially for the older crowd, so we could wow them with what some would call the Lindy, jitterbug or swing dancing. Steve and his wife got into it, along with the Spences, and I took a turn with both Sally and Mark's mother, while Jake would dance with the one I wasn't dancing with at the time. We were all having a great time, and we also attempted to teach the boys how to dance like that too. Even my straight and bi boys were dancing with each other, trying to perfect their skills, so they could impress their next date. I was so pleased that no one had any problems with our couples cuddling affectionately during the slow dances, especially Mark's mother, as this was actually her first time being involved with something like this. She just smiled and nodded, giving me a knowing wink from time to time, because I think she could see the love these pairs shared with each other. The boys were also dancing with their honorary Aunt Margaret, Aunt Mary, Aunt Sally, and Aunt Susan, which thrilled the older women to no end, and gave their husbands a chance to sit a dance or two out. Jake and I even danced a few slow songs with each other, which got some catcalls and whistles from the peanut gallery, but it was all in good fun. Hell, I even had a dance with Steve and John Spence, of course at their wives' playful urging. To my surprise, Ted even asked me to dance with him, after he'd had some practice with Sammy and Graham, and he took that opportunity to tell me this was the most fun he'd ever had. He said he didn't realize how right it would feel for him to do all these things, even with his father's admonishments nagging at the back of his mind, and he just wanted to let me know how much this meant to him and was changing him. Although he wouldn't openly defy his father, he'd no longer be intimidated by his father's harsh words and abusive attitude, and he'd know in his heart there was nothing wrong with the way he felt or who he was. I told him I was glad we could help, though he probably owed more thanks to his Aunt Jane for setting the visit up for him, and he told me he'd make sure he gave her a special thank you when she picked him up. Everyone continued to have a good time. Though the Spences left about 10:30, the rest of us stuck it out for the big celebration. As midnight approached, we all went to the family room to watch the ball drop on television and we all counted down as the big moment arrived. After exchanging our Happy New Year greetings with all the others, and sharing more than a few hugs, I noticed a good deal of kissing going on too, including the one Jake planted on me. A few minutes after midnight, we got a call from Albert and Richard, as they wanted to wish everyone their own New Year wishes and let us know they were with us in spirit, if not in body. About twenty or thirty minutes after that, the party began to break up, as Steve, Mary, Sally and Susan all left to go home. Once we said our good-byes, the boys began to head to their rooms, though I was certain not all of them were planning to sleep. A few of us got up early enough the next day to watch some of the parades, but most of the boys slept in. Ted got up early, however, invigorated by all the wonderful new experiences he'd been enjoying. Jake and I were sitting on the sofa at the time, and he came over and sat on the other side of me, but he was as close to me as he could possibly get. Even though there was more than enough room on that side of the couch, so he didn't have to do that, he never tried to move away. I knew this probably meant he was craving a little attention from me, as his father substitute, so I lifted my arm and placed it over his shoulders, hugging him tightly to my chest. He beamed as I did this, but looked over at Jake, to see how he was going to react, and when he didn't respond negatively, Ted began to speak. "My dad would never hug me like this," he announced, with a tinge of sadness in his voice. "In fact, I don't remember him ever hugging or kissing me, not even when I was little." Although it was a pathetic commentary on his family life, it was not unusual for very macho, homophobic males to treat their sons that way, not wishing to show any effeminate tendencies that might 'turn' their sons gay. Although in my mind, the notion was ridiculous in the first place, it did persist among that group, so they continued to act accordingly, causing many of their sons to think they were unloved. This was probably not true, in most cases, as most father's had an overabundance of love for their sons, but by not showing it, the boys always doubted their father's affection for them. The rest of the day was spent watching a procession of football games, although the way they are scheduled now, these games will continue over the next few days as well, and are no longer all played on New Year's Day. Things got a little rowdy at times, as we tended not to root for the same teams every game, and Ted was getting a kick out of how we teased each other and the good-natured ribbing we were willing to endure. Sitting safely next to me, where he thought I could protect him if others took him too seriously, he got into the act too, but the boys just gave it back to him, treating him no differently than anyone one else. At first this shocked Ted, but then he began to realize this meant he was being accepted as part of the family now, and no one was going to give him any special quarter from the abuse. Feeling braver, he even started in on me, but I got even by tickling him, something else he wasn't prepared for. Jake and I had been taking turns getting up and working on dinner, but Jake told me to go back in and spend time with Ted, as he could see how much the boy needed me at this point. I thanked him for his understanding, and told him I knew Ted would thank him too, if I told him what Jake was doing. However, Jake didn't want me to do that, as it might make Ted feel uncomfortable, and he didn't want that to happen. Understanding his concerns, I honored his request and never mentioned a word of this to Ted. When I went back into the family room, Sammy and Graham had already taken their positions beside Ted, so he looked confused when I returned. I knew he wanted me to sit with him too, but he didn't want to hurt either of his new friend's, but Graham picked up on that immediately. "Dad come here," he told me, before telling Ted to "stand up for a second." He then directed me to sit where Ted had been seated, and then told Ted to sit on my lap, which caused Ted to stop and give me a look that said, 'is this okay with you?' Once I nodded my approval, Ted sat on my lap and both boys cuddled up against us. I think this solved Ted's dilemma better than he could have hoped for, and he leaned back against me, making sure our bodies were in nearly total contact. We watched quite a bit of the next game like this, before Ted had to get up to pee, and once he was out of sight, the boys filled me in on something I did not know. "You know he told us this morning that he wished you were his father and he could live here forever," Sammy announced. "I knew he felt comfortable with me, but I didn't know it had reached that level," I admitted. "Oh, yeah," Graham seconded. "Even though he likes us, it's you he wants to be close to. He told us he's tried to get close to his father but has always been pushed away. With you he can do all the things he's longed to do at home." This made me begin to consider what I was going to do when he came back or what I might say to him later, before this escalated out of control, with him refusing to go back home when it was time to leave. I didn't have very long to pursue these thoughts before Ted returned, this time sitting across my lap, with his head resting on my shoulder. "This is so awesome," he whispered in my ear. "I could stay like this forever." This propelled my mind into high gear. "Well, we'd have to separate when nature called," I joked, not yet sure what else to do, but he merely replied he knew that. "Ted, I have to admit I enjoy this too, but I don't want you to start building unrealistic expectations about what might happen. No matter what any of us might wish, we have to deal with how things are, which means when your aunt comes, you'll have to return with her." "I know," he said, looking up at me and nearly breaking my heart with his sad expression. "It's just that this is the first time I've felt loved and accepted for who I really am. My mom loves me for who she wants me to be and I'm not sure my dad loves me at all. But here, you love me as I am and so does everyone else. You can't know how good that makes me feel." "He knows," Graham told him, before I could think of a response. "He's done that for all of us, because none of us came from very loving or caring situations." "Yes," I added, "and we'll all be here for you from now on, so it's imperative we don't do anything that will cause your parents to keep you from seeing us in the future." "But they couldn't stop me, if I lived here," he announced, as rays of hope radiated from his face. "You're only seventeen and still under your parents control," I reminded him. "Maybe I could get them to make Aunt Jane my guardian, and then she'd let me come here to live," he suggested, nearly beaming. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here," I reminded him. "First of all, you're not sure your parents would agree to any of this." "I'll have Aunt Jane help me convince them," he offered. "Even if they did, we're nearly in the middle of the school year, and transferring at this time could be rough on you. Are you a junior or a senior this year." "A junior," he answered, curtly, thinking I was trying to dash his dreams. "And there are many other things that would need to be considered," I advised him, causing him to get a serious look on his face. After sitting quietly for nearly a minute, his face seemed to brighten and he spoke again. "Oh, don't worry, I'll get a job and pay my own way. I promise I won't cost you any money." His face was pleading with me at this point, nearly causing me to give in to him, no matter what obstacles we might have to overcome. Instead, I locked my arms around him, gave him a squeeze, and then I responded to what he had said. "It's not the money I'm worried about, Ted. It's coming between you and your parents. No matter how bad things seem, I'm sure both of your parents love you in their own way. So, I'd hate to ruin whatever connection you might have. It's still possible for you to work your way through this with them, with your Aunt Jane's support and assistance, so don't give up on your mom or dad yet. That's a pretty drastic solution you're recommending and none these boys didn't have a chance to make or even a choice in the matter. In their cases, their parents either died, were deemed unfit, or threw them out of the house, and none of those things have happened to you yet." I think he interpreted this to mean I didn't want him now. I could tell, by the defeated look on his face, and I didn't want him to think that, so I continued. "Ted, if any of those things ever happened, I'd bring you here in a heartbeat, but maybe you should make an attempt to improve your situation at home and try to work things out with your parents first." "If I tell my dad I had sex with a boy while I was here, then he'd throw me out," he offered, missing my point, "and then I could come live with you." "If he doesn't have me thrown in jail first for corrupting the morals of a minor," I countered. "Not only that, but maybe he could have all my boys taken away too." His eyes were as big as saucers now, as he considered what I'd said. "He could do that?" "It's a possibility, depending on what court and what judge it might come in front of. There is still a lot of people who are afraid gays are recruiting young boys into the lifestyle and the wrong judge or jury might just do something like that, out of fear or ignorance." "I don't want that to happen!" he exclaimed, sounding sincere. "I just want to live here with you, that's all." He looked as if he were nearly ready to cry now. "Why don't you wait and discuss this with your Aunt Jane and get her reaction to it," I suggested. "She knows your parents better than any of us, so maybe she could give you a better perspective about how this would be received or what problems it might create." Looking slightly better than he did seconds before, he spoke again. "Okay, I can do that, because I certainly don't want to cause you any problems. You've been so nice to me that I wouldn't want anything bad to happen, just because I'm trying to get my own way." "Don't worry, Ted. We've survived worse, but let's go slow and think everything through before we act." He said he would, so I let the topic drop, but I still continued to hold him cuddled against my chest, just like a small child. I knew he felt safe and loved this way, and it was something he'd always wanted to happen, but never did, so I wasn't about to push him away and hurt him any more than he already was. Ted spent the rest of the day never moving farther than an arm's length away from me, except when he went to the toilet, and I began to feel like a mother duck whose ducklings had just impressed upon her and wouldn't leave her side. He even followed me to the bathroom a couple of times, waiting in the hallway until I was finished, like he was afraid I wouldn't return if he wasn't there waiting for me. I was flattered, though somewhat perplexed about how to deal with this, but I decided to let him work his way through this and hopefully wean himself on his own. When the final game ended and it was time to go to bed, Ted grabbed my arm and made me stay behind, until the other boys had left. "I know this is going to sound weird and all, but would you sleep with me tonight?" he begged. "No, it's not weird at all, and I think every one of the boys have slept with me at one time or another, so it's not an unusual request either. If you don't mind sleeping between Jake and me, I'll check with him to see if he'd have a problem with that." "You and Jake are lovers?" he asked, having missed a quite obvious fact. I don't think it bothered him, just that he had been so focused on me that he didn't see anything else. I guess he just wrote off my dancing with Jake as another guy I danced with the previous night, but I don't think Ted's interest in me was romantic. "Yes, Jake and I are romantically involved," I advised him. "I hope that's not a problem for you?" "Oh, no!" he quickly answered, making sure he didn't upset me. "It's just that I guess I'd never realized that. How does that affect the other boys?" he wondered. "It doesn't, except they think of us as two dads." He thought about this a few seconds and then he nodded. "They're luckier than I thought," he added. "Don't forget, they don't have a mother here though." "No, but I noticed they had some really neat aunts and uncles too." I agreed with this observation, while trying to explain how each of those people had came into our lives and he absorbed the information like a sponge. "Well, do you want me to ask Jake if he'd mind if you slept between us?" I asked, getting back to his original request. "I guess you could, but I was hoping it would just be the two of us," he replied, not sounding too thrilled about the choice I gave him. "Well, you could sleep in the middle, so you'd still be next to me," I informed him. "I know, but it still wouldn't be the same," he admitted, looking forlorn. "Hey, Ted, if you're looking for a sexual encounter here, it's not going to happen," I warned him, drawing a shocked response. "No! That's not what I was thinking at all," he corrected. "I just wanted it to be the two of us, but I wasn't thinking of anything more than that." He looked embarrassed that I had even suggested what I did. "Dad...oh damn, I mean, Mr. Currie...err, uh, Josh." I realized he had made some slips of the tongue, but I was surprised by how totally flustered and confused it made him. I thought he might even bolt from the room, because he was getting so upset, or maybe just embarrassed by his verbal mistake. "Calm down, Ted," I told him, reading the panic in his eyes. "You haven't done or said anything wrong." He still didn't look as if he believed me, and it appeared he might even start to cry. "See, I'm a total idiot," he scolded. "I've been thinking all day how I'd like to have you for my dad and that's the only reason I wanted to spend the night with you. Like you were really my father and I was still your little boy. I know it sounds dumb, but it's been a dream I've always had, where my father would love me that way." Now, he did start to weep, and I did my best to console him. "Look, give me a minute to talk to Jake and I'm sure that he'll bring Shannon down to spend the night with him so we can use Shannon's room, or he'll spend the night with Shannon so we can use my room. Either way, you'll spend the night just with me." "No, cuz now you're going to think I'm such a baby." Where in the world have I heard that line before? Damn, is it my turn to have to deal with all of the emotional kids, not that I don't understand why he's been acting the way he has. He's been robbed of most of his childhood by an overbearing father, when all he wanted was a dad who would love him and make him feel safe. "I don't think that, never have and never will. All I see is a young man who wanted his father's attention and his father would never allow himself to let down his manly facade long enough to give it, and now this poor boy longs for that lost opportunity. There's nothing wrong with that and I bet almost every one of my boys have felt similar longings, at one time or another, before they came here to live with me. It's something about the American male that won't let him show another male a little affection, not even his son. It may be changing slightly now, since you see football players holding hands in the huddle or other athletes hugging and such, but the mainstay American male is too homophobic to do that just yet, no matter who else he sees do it first. Trust me, Ted, this isn't your problem, the problem belongs to your father." He just looked at me, as if he were trying to read me, but I wasn't sure why. I just told him what I thought and felt, so what was there left to read? I didn't have time to figure it out for myself, before he gave me the answer. "I think you're being serious, and if you are, you're the only person who understands how I feel." He began to sob lightly. "I've spent my whole life trying to please my father, just so he'd love me, but no matter what I did, he's only despised me...and now that he suspects I'm gay, he absolutely HATES me. Why does he treat me that way?" I grabbed him and began hugging him, trying to let him know all men weren't like that. "I'd be willing to bet he doesn't hate you," I tried to explain to him, it's just that he's been so conditioned to think that any kind of male to male affection is wrong. Please, don't give up on him yet. He's not hopeless, but he's not going to change overnight either." "I don't believe that," he sobbed, onto my shoulder. "I know he doesn't love me. In fact, I think he's embarrassed by me. I can't even stand being around him any more, cuz I know every time he looks at me he hates me even more for not being what he wanted." I knew there was no sense in arguing with him, so I just held him tight, hoping what little love I could show him would help to ease this lingering pain he's kept hidden in his heart. His body was trembling now, and I could feel the dampness soaking the shoulder of my shirt, as his tears began to seep through the material. I could also tell he was getting weak in the knees, so I moved him toward my recliner, sat down, and pulled him back onto my lap, letting him release all his pent up anguish. Hopefully, this catharsis will be good for him and allow him an opportunity to put this behind him, though I sincerely doubted it would end that easily. After he began to calm down, I went to talk to Jake, who understood the situation immediately and said he'd go tell Shannon he was staying with him tonight. That's the great thing about Jake; he's sooooo damn understanding about things like this. Even though he told me he was doing this because he wanted to spend more time with his son, I knew he was doing it for Ted's benefit. It was these special qualities about Jake that convinced me he was worth risking an estrangement with my older children over him, even though those same children might not have seen it that way. I went back to get Ted, who had seemed to settle down a little, and I took his hand, pulled him up from the chair, and led him back to my bedroom. He was walking in sort of a daze, until he hit the bedroom door, and then his face began to light up. "Thank you," he said, gratefully, "you don't know how much this means to me." "Oh, I think I do, but I'll bet I'll enjoy it just as much as you will." That made him smile for the first time in quite a while, and then he hugged me, holding me in that embrace for many minutes more. When he finally released me, we stripped down to our underwear and climbed into bed, and then he slid his body as close to mine as he could possibly get it. I could have sworn he was almost purring now, though I think it was just the sound of his gentle, even breathing that caused that illusion, but I could tell how content he was at this moment. After turning off the lamp, I rolled on my side facing him, put my arm across his chest, and kissed him gently on the cheek. We lay there for a few more minutes, with me watching him enjoy our closeness, but I finally felt it was time to try to sleep. "Good night, my boy, and sweet dreams," I whispered to him, before closing my eyes. "Night, Dad," he mumbled, already drifting off to sleep. "I love you." I wasn't sure if he was actually saying that to me, or if he was pretending it was his father who was actually treating him as he wished, but either way he was satisfied, and I knew he'd sleep well tonight. When I awoke the next morning, I was still on my side, but Ted was also on his side now, facing me, with his arm over my side and his leg draped across both of mine. He was also sporting his morning erection, which was poking into me, though I was pretty sure this was not created by sexual arousal, just his need to urinate. When I saw him beginning to wake, I closed my eyes, pretending to sleep, so he wouldn't be embarrassed about his woody. However, he remained, as he was, making no move to go pee, so after a few more minutes of this standoff, I opened my eyes and looked directly into his. "Good morning, my boy," I greeted him. "Morning, Dad," he responded, causing me to worry slightly. Was he making more out of this than he was supposed to? My concern must have registered on my face, because he began to panic a bit, in response. "Does it bother you when I call you Dad?" he asked alarmed. "If it does, I promise I won't do it any more." "Ted, it doesn't bother me, and in fact I'm flattered that you'd do it, but I don't want to replace your dad. I think you could still work things out with him, but if you can't, we can discuss this issue again later." "I know, and I'm not using you to replace him, it's just that I feel too close to you now to call you Mr. Currie or Josh," he explained. "Well, I can give you two other options then. You can call me Uncle Josh, if you'd like." I paused here to study his reaction, which wasn't as positive as I'd hoped for, so I continued, "or you can call me Pop. Some of my other boys do that too, like Brandon and Nick, so they didn't confuse me with their own fathers." His face lit up again. "Yeah, I like that...Pop," he said tentatively, trying it out, to see how it felt to him. "Yeah, I like that a lot," he grinned, once more squeezing me with the arm he had draped over my side. We stayed like that for a few more minutes, before I thought I should say something more. "Well, do you think it's time we got up?" I asked him. "Do we have to?" he whined. "Can't we stay like this a little longer?" He gave me a pleading look, hoping that would make me give in to him. "We could, but isn't there something you need to do?" I asked him, hoping that would give him the required hint, without causing him any embarrassment. He thought for a minute, trying to figure out what I was referring to, and then it dawned on him. "Do you mean my boner?" he asked, pressing it into me a little more firmly, but again, not in a sexual way. "Yes, I thought you might need to use the toilet," I explained. "I do, but I don't want this to end," he reasoned. "Well, go urinate and I'll wait for you to come back, and we can cuddle some more, if you still want, but having that spear sticking into me is beginning to get a little uncomfortable." That statement made him chuckle, but he got my point, jumped out of bed and raced to the bathroom. I could hear his stream hitting the bowl, and he must have really had to go, because it lasted a long time. However, shortly after I heard the toilet flush, he was bounding back into bed, and a big shit-eating grin on his face. "You look happy," I told him, as he scooted back in beside me. "I am. Happier than I think I've ever been before," he explained, as he swung his arm and one leg over my body, getting as close as he possibly could, without crawling inside my skin. Wanting to keep him feeling as good as he was, I slid my arm under his body, reaching around behind him, so I could hold him close to me. I know it was just my imagination, but the room seemed to brighten at that point, as if he was glowing now, adding more brilliance to the natural lighting. Although I knew this was scientifically impossible, it did make me wonder if his momentary euphoria could actually affect the physical laws of nature. I guess my doing that gave him a little more confidence of his own, and he kissed me - not a sensual kiss, but a kiss like a child would give his mother. That simple gesture was so sweet; it brought a tear to my eye, which he noticed almost immediately. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to upset you and make you cry." "You didn't," I explain. "That's a tear of happiness." After the meaning of my words sunk in, he wiped the tear from my face with his fingertip and placed in his mouth. "Must be why it tastes so sweet," he beamed. I let him enjoy our continued closeness for another half hour or so, before I told him we had to get up, but by that time he was so completely satisfied, it wasn't an issue any longer. As we were both slipping on our clothes, he walked back over to me and gave me another hug, leaving the side of his face resting against my chest. "I still do wish you could really be my dad," he stated, his love and affection for me evident in his tone. "So do I," I replied, shocking him, "but we both know that can't be. I'll continue to be your 'Pop,' if that will suffice, and I'll be here for you, if and when you need me." He hugged me a little more strongly after I finished my sentence. "Yeah, I'd like that a lot," he agreed, lifting his head, so he could give me another soft, gentle kiss on my cheek. * * * * * * * * If you have enjoyed reading this story, you will find other stories by me at 'BW's Rainbow Youth Connection,' at http://bwsryc.gayauthors.org/ You can also locate my stories by clicking on the Nifty author link and scrolling down to "BW". This will give you the links for everything I have posted there. I also love to hear from my readers and get their reaction to my stories. If you don't mind, please share whatever information you feel comfortable with, because it helps knowing my readers better when I decide what to write or how to gear it. Please email me at bwstories8@aol.com and let me know what you thought, so I can do even better in the future. Thanks, Bill.