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by
Erastes
Copyright 2017 by Erastes
Chapter
6
- Home and Back Again.
I got up early the next morning, finished packing my suitcase, and prepared to head downstairs with Reid. He hadn't been willing to leave my side since we woke up, and I didn't want to push him away, so I let him do what he wanted as long as he continued getting ready.
After we ate breakfast together, I said goodbye to each of the kids and gave them a hug, but then I pulled Reid aside so I could give him a kiss too. As the kids headed out the door to get in the car, I gave Pam a hug and a kiss on the cheek before she left to drop them off at day camp on her way to work. I also thanked her for everything she'd done, including trusting me with her son, and then once she'd driven away, Brad and I hopped into his vehicle and took off for the airport.
"I hope Reid doesn't become grumpy and start acting miserable after you leave," he commented while navigating through traffic.
"Why would he do that?" I countered, missing the point.
"I have a feeling he's not going to be very happy once you're gone. Hell, even a blind man can see how much he adores you, so I'm sure he's going to be upset once you leave. If I'm reading him correctly, I think I can safely say he's fallen head over heels for you. That's good, though, because it confirms that Pam and I made the right choice by asking you to do this, and if I'm not mistaken I believe you feel the same way about him."
"Yes, you're right about that. As strange as it may seem, I feel just as strongly about him."
"I'm glad to hear that, because I once thought you were going to be a confirmed bachelor and end up living alone for the rest of your life. I was fairly certain you preferred younger boys, but I wasn't sure how that was going to work out for you until now."
I quickly glanced over at Brad because his comment had caught me by surprise and I wasn't sure if he might just be joking. I hoped I'd be able to tell one way or the other by reading his facial expressions or seeing what clues I could pick up from his body language, but my efforts were unsuccessful. Therefore, I decided to confront him directly.
"Just what are you implying?"
"I have a feeling Reid has plans for you and they might include more than just having you live with us so he can fool around with you." A light suddenly clicked on in my brain.
"So how would you feel if that were to happen?"
"If it's what he wants, then I'll accept it and be happy for him. However, it might be a little awkward having my best friend, the guy I grew up with, as my son-in-law, although I'm sure I'll adjust to the idea eventually."
"So you think he'll want us to get married when he's older?"
"Yes, I do. If that happens it might be easier if I thought of you as my brother-in-law, even if you are married to my son, but I'll manage either way." Brad giggled somewhat nervously after finishing his comment.
"Whatever works for you," I replied, only partially tongue-in-cheek. I had to admit the idea of him becoming my father-in-law was more than a little disconcerting for me too.
"Moving on to another subject," Brad stated, interrupting my thoughts. "I'll give you a call the second I hear anything about the house, because I'm going to contact the realtor just as soon as I get to the office. I'll direct her to draw up a purchase offer on the property we've all agreed on, and then I'll call Pam and ask her to meet me at the realtor's office after work so we can sign the papers and give the realtor the down payment."
"That sounds great, so why don't I write you a check to cover my share in this venture?"
"That won't be necessary, because Pam and I are doing this for Reid."
"Come on! You've got to let me chip in something, since I'll be living there too."
"We can discuss that later, once the offer has been accepted."
"If you say so, but I'd prefer not to wait. I just hope everything goes well."
"Me too, because I think we all want this to happen - even the kids."
After Brad and I said our goodbyes, I still had a couple of hours to kill before the flight took off. After checking my bag, I made my way through the security checkpoint and then walked around looking for something to do until the plane boarded. Eventually, I found a quiet place to sit, took the laptop out of my carry-on and began to hash out the details about how I was going to work Reid into the story. I wanted to give his character a fairly important role, as I'd promised, and now I just needed to figure out how I was going to do it.
Once I began working on this, the time appeared to fly by and it didn't seem to take very long before I heard the announcement that my flight was boarding. After getting in line, I made my way down the 'Jetway' that connected the gate to the plane, located my seat, placed my carry-on in the overhead compartment, and got comfortable. I'd already decided that I was merely going to settle back, close my eyes, and continue thinking about how I was going to work Reid's character into the story. I hoped I'd be able to resolve at least a few of the issues in my mind during the flight and then jot those ideas down when I got home. In the end this proved to be an effective strategy and a valuable use of my time.
When the plane landed in Philadelphia, I had to rush to reach my connecting flight to Newburgh and made it with hardly any time to spare. I soon realized, however, that I might have been better off missing the connection for a couple of reasons. First of all, the woman I sat next to on the plane smelled as if she'd doused herself in an entire bottle of perfume, which made it difficult to breathe. She was also one of those people who liked to talk, and not only did she tell me things about herself that I had no desire to hear, but she attempted to pry into my life as well.
I was polite and didn't tell her to leave me alone since it was such a short flight, but I limited my responses and refused to offer any substantial information. It didn't seem to discourage her, though, because she continued to pester me throughout the entire flight. Needless to say, I was overjoyed when the plane landed, but it was also when I discovered the next reason for wishing I'd missed the flight.
As I was standing at the luggage carousel waiting for my bags to show up, I watched everyone else collect their belongings and then leave. Before long, there was nothing left on the conveyer and I realized my luggage had obviously missed the connection. As soon as I'd come to that conclusion, I reported the problem, filled out the required forms, and was advised that I'd be notified when my suitcase was located. Once that had been taken care of, I made my way out to the car, which I'd left in the long-term lot, and drove home.
It was nice being home again, even though I was missing a few of the items I'd taken with me. At least my laptop had been in the carry-on and hadn't been 'lost' too, so I pulled it out, booted it up, and opened the document with my notes about Reid's character. After I typed in the various ideas I'd come up with on the flight back, I took a few more minutes to consider how I was going to work his character into the plot outline that I'd made previously.
Over the next few days, I decided how I was going to use Reid's character and sat down to work on the first draft. I was even more motivated to complete this manuscript than I'd been for either of my first two books, and I knew I had Reid to thank for it. When I'd first told him about my idea for the story, I found his enthusiasm infectious, his antics captivating, and I liked the idea of basing a character on him. I found the idea of actually doing this invigorating, and it provided me with the impetus I needed to get busy and keep my nose to the grindstone.
I was consumed with the project and tried to write as much as I could every day, but on those rare occasions when my mind drifted to something else, my thoughts always revolved around Reid. I was totally and hopelessly hooked on him, so maybe it was a good thing that we weren't presently together. If we were, I was convinced I'd be unable to focus on the story and would possibly even start acting like a love-smitten teenager. I could almost picture myself behaving like a giddy schoolgirl and being unable to think of anything else except him from the moment I woke up in the morning until I eventually fell asleep at night. Hell, I'd probably even see him in my dreams too.
Although I tried to maintain the persona of a mature adult and attempted to concentrate on working on the manuscript, I wasn't always successful. I was never fully able to keep my mind from drifting to thoughts of Reid from time to time, especially when I started working his character into the story. This continued until Friday, when I received an unexpected call from Brad.
"Good news, Quinn. The purchase offer was accepted."
"That's great. When will you be able to close?"
"The bank estimates it might take up to two months before all of the inspections are done, the title search is completed, and the required paperwork is taken care of."
"Ok, that gives me a timeline to go by, so I'll discuss this with my landlord and give him notice that I'll be leaving."
"Don't cut it too close, though, because I imagine it will be a zoo here and I don't want you to end up on the street if there's a delay."
"Don't worry. I've already taken that into consideration too."
"Quinn, before you hang up I have someone at my elbow pestering me to let him talk to you."
"I was wondering if that might happen. Put him on." I thought it was cute that Reid had made sure to stay close to his father so he could talk to me, but I wanted to speak with him too. I was looking forward to hearing his voice again, even though I was convinced he was going to demand answers that I wouldn't be able to give him at this time.
"Hi, Uncle Quinn. I've missed you a lot, so when will you be coming back?" I was impressed that he was able to keep his composure, but I wasn't surprised by his question. No beating around the bush for him and straight to the point.
"It will be a while yet, because I have to wait and see when the closing will actually take place first."
"So you can't tell me how long that's going to take?"
"All I can tell you is that my best guess would be that I'll be there sometime before September, but I can't do better than that."
"Dang, that's a long time from now. Can't you come back sooner?"
"I'll try, but it will depend upon a few factors that are beyond my control. Just hang in there and I'll see you as soon as I can." He wasn't happy with my response, but it was the best I could do.
After I'd ended the phone call with Brad and Reid, I contacted my landlord and advised him that I was giving him a little more than three month's notice that I'd be moving out. I had decided to give him this lengthy warning to allow for any unforeseen delays in the closing process, but it would also allow Brad and Pam the opportunity to move and get settled in first, before I showed up. On second thought, maybe they'd appreciate having my help moving, so I'll check with Brad about the idea the next time we speak.
I also knew that by giving such a lengthy notice it would mean I might be paying rent for when I no longer needed the place, but I was willing to do it to allow myself some flexibility. After I'd advised the landlord about my intentions, he said he was sorry to see me go and offered his best wishes on my future endeavors. I thanked him and said I'd give him a written copy of the notice the next time I paid the rent, and then I turned my attention to getting ready to move.
In between the time I spent working on the manuscript, I began packing up the items I would no longer be using. I set aside one room to stack the boxes in, because it would be quite a few weeks before I'd be able to do anything with them. Slowly, I was preparing to make this major change in my life.
I kept busy packing and writing throughout the next few weeks, and then Brad contacted me again to give me an updated report. "Quinn, we're scheduled to close in three weeks. I just wanted to let you know so you could start making arrangements."
"That's great and I'm just about ready on this end. I only have a few things left to do, so all I ask is that you call me if there are any changes. By the way, if you can use my help with the move and don't mind me returning early, then I'll be happy to plan on arriving the weekend after the closing."
"That would be great and we definitely could use the help! I'll see you then."
After we hung up, I called 'PODS', a company that supplies containers you can load yourself and then have the company move it when you're ready or store it for awhile. I figured I'd order one of those, get a few friends to help me load it, and then have it delivered to the new house a couple of weeks after the closing. That would give Brad and Pam time to get settled in before my things arrived, and I'd merely take the items with me that I needed in the interim.
I listed my car for sale too, because I didn't want to have to drive it across country. Not only would it be a lengthy and tedious journey all alone, but I figured the car wouldn't meet the higher emission standards that California has on all of the vehicles registered there. This way I'd get rid of it before I left and then I'd use the money I got for it to supplement what I'd be paying for a new car once I was ready. Besides, I felt it was time for a change and this gave me an excuse to buy a new vehicle.
To my surprise, it was easier to sell the car than I'd expected and it left me without a vehicle for about a week before I took off. As soon as one of my friends heard what I'd done, he offered to drive me around whenever I needed to go somewhere and also promised to take me to the airport when it was time to catch my flight. I thanked him and suggested I'd give him gas money whenever I needed his services, which left me one less thing to worry about.
As soon as the moving container arrived, I began to fill it with the boxes and smaller items that I could handle on my own. Then on the weekend before I was planning to leave, I had a group of friends come over to help me load all of the furniture except for the bed, because I wanted to leave that to sleep on until it was time to leave. The friend who'd offered to drive me to the airport agreed to help me take the bed apart and place it into the container before I left for good. Then, I would lock the container and call PODS to have it picked up.
Throughout the time between Brad's last phone call and my trip to the airport, I'd completely stopped working on the manuscript. It wasn't that I'd lost interest, but there were far too many other things I needed to finish and I knew I wouldn't be able to do it justice. After I'd put the manuscript away temporarily, I learned it wasn't quite as easy to keep from thinking about Reid. I was becoming anxious to see him again and could only compare the feelings I was having to those of a soldier who'd been separated from his loved ones for a long time and couldn't wait to be reunited. My absence hadn't been nearly as long as the soldier would have endured, but it didn't lessen my desire to be with Reid again. I guess this meant that I had stronger feelings for him than I'd thought.
The second I got on the plane, my desire to be with Reid grew even stronger and he was all I could think about throughout the entire trip. Damn, I'd never felt this way before! Sure I'd been involved with other guys in the past, and although I'd thought about them a lot, it was never this often or as strongly. It made me wonder why this time was so different, because it certainly wasn't due to the fact that I'd done more sexually with Reid than the others. I'd been holding off doing very much with Reid until he was older, so what accounted for this change?
Possibly it was that I'd never been away from the others for as long as my current separation from Reid, although I doubted that was the reason. Even though I couldn't explain it rationally, I felt that somehow I'd developed a deeper connection with Reid than with any of my previous partners. Please don't ask me how or why this had happened, because I honestly couldn't tell you, especially after considering the limited amount of time Reid and I had been in this unusual relationship. However, I didn't think our bond was due solely to his age, because I was praying his feelings for me would never change. Even with more than two decades age difference, I not only wanted to be with him now, but I also hoped we'd grow old together.
When the plane finally landed, I collected my luggage and headed toward the concourse. Even though I'd given Brad my flight number, I'd told him not to bother picking me up and said I would take a taxi from the airport to his house. That's why I was so surprised when I discovered Brad and Reid waiting for me when I exited the passenger area. As soon as Reid spotted me, he left his father's side, raced in my direction, and threw his arms around my chest.
"I'm glad you're back. I've really missed you," he gushed, but not loud enough for anyone else to hear.
"I've missed you too," I responded in the same low voice before he broke the embrace. Then, we walked over to where Brad was waiting for us.
"He never greets ME like that when I've been away," Brad teased smiling as he reached out his hand to shake.
"You've never been gone for as long as Uncle Quinn," Reid countered in explanation. He seemed worried that he might have bruised his father's ego.
"It's alright and I was only joking," Brad replied as he threw an arm over his son's shoulders and gave him a squeeze. Then, he grabbed my suitcase and we headed out to the Highlander.
I sat in the front passenger seat, and while Brad was starting the engine, Reid leaned forward from the second row, so his upper body was once again next to mine. "Reid, sit back and buckle in," I advised him as his father was backing out of the parking space.
"But I want to talk to you," he responded, disregarding my instruction.
"We can do that as we travel, but you don't have to be right in my face while we're chatting. Sit back and fasten your seatbelt, because I want you to be safe in the event that we encounter a problem on the ride to your place."
"But I want to be able to see you when we're talking!"
"Then you'll just have to wait and have this conversation when we get to the house, because you need to buckle up."
"Ok, I'll do that, but I still want to talk and I don't want to wait until we get home. So are you here for good now, or do you have to go back again?" I waited until I'd heard the click of his seatbelt before I answered.
"I'll be staying here for good this time. I've brought the things I'll need for now, and I told the company moving the rest of my belongings that I didn't want them to deliver the container until two weeks from Monday. That way I'll be able to help your family move in and get settled first, before my things arrive. I hope you don't mind sharing your room with me until then."
"Heck no! I like the idea!" Brad and I glanced at each other and smiled.
"Good, because I'll be sharing your room until everything is moved, and then I'll be sharing your room at the new house until my things arrive. I hope that's ok with you, unless you'd prefer I sleep on the floor in my new apartment."
"No way! You're staying with me."
"Wait! I thought you were only going to let your Uncle Quinn use your room while you bunked in with Evan again," his father corrected, which caused Reid to make a face.
"Yeah, I know, but I'll only be sleeping with Evan." What he failed to tell his father was that he often stayed with me during my previous visit and just went in with Evan when he absolutely had to, usually at the last moment. "Uncle Quinn and I will be spending a lot of time together in my room so we can talk about his new story. He's going to put me in this one."
"Oh really?" Brad asked rhetorically while trying to hide a smirk. "So how did you convince him to do that?"
"I just asked and he's doing it because he loves me!" Brad looked at Reid in the rearview mirror and raised his eyebrows.
"I'd bet you browbeat him until he finally agreed."
"No, I didn't!"
"No, he merely asked," I said, coming to Reid's defense. "I was happy to agree about creating a character based on him and then including that character in my next venture."
"See! So I want him to tell me how he's going to do it," Reid added looking smug.
When we reached the house, Reid got out and raced to the rear of the vehicle so he could grab my carry-on bag while his father latched onto my suitcases, and then they carried them inside. While they were taking those things up to Reid's room, I stopped to say hello to Pam, Ashley, and Evan. As soon as Brad and Reid returned, we all got a drink and Pam picked up a tray with snacks on it before heading into the dining room so we could sit and chat. It was apparent that Pam had baked several varieties of cookies in honor of my return, so we nibbled on those while we continued our discussion.
"So how did the closing go?" I asked once we had downed at least one cookie each.
"More smoothly than I'd expected," Brad answered. "Amazingly, there were no glitches or delays. Once the papers were signed and we'd been given the keys, all that was left to do was to start moving in."
"Have you seen the new house, Uncle Quinn?" Ashley asked with a grin. "It's really nice and way bigger than this one."
"Yeah, and my new bedroom is really big too!" Evan added, smiling broadly.
"Yes, so there's enough room for you to keep all your toys in there too and I shouldn't find them scattered all around the house," his mother warned, giving him a stern glare.
"I'll try, but I want to play with them downstairs too, not just in my room," Evan griped to let her know that he didn't want to be confined solely to his bedroom.
"That's fine, but if you can carry them downstairs to play with, then you can also carry them back to your room when you're done," his mother countered, giving him an even harsher glare.
"Ok, I'll try," Evan agreed.
"You'd better, young man, if you know what's good for you and don't want to find your toys disappearing," she added. I think Evan got the message, but he had a very sour expression on his face showing he wasn't pleased by the not so subtle threat.
"So when are you planning to start moving?" I followed, in an attempt to ease the tension between Evan and his mother.
"We've packed up quite a few things already and those boxes are currently being stored in the garage," Pam answered.
"We were planning on moving them and some of the smaller furniture in the Highlander this weekend," Brad chipped in. "Pam and I have also taken next week off from work so we can pack up and move as much as we can on our own, and then four of our friends have agreed to come by next weekend to help us move the rest."
"Don't you feel we can do it all without them?" I asked, thinking Brad, Reid, Pam, and I could take care of most of the items ourselves.
"Well, I can call on Monday to see if there's a truck available that I can rent on Tuesday if you want to try doing that," Brad agreed. "I'm sure we can move the beds, dining room table and chairs, and even some of the living room furniture by ourselves, but I'm not so sure about the heavier items."
"Like what?" I followed, wondering what he was referring to.
"For one thing, the china cabinet which is huge, and then there's the buffet, the dressers in the bedrooms, and the large living room sofa which are all quite heavy," Brad replied. "If we're unable to move those things without help, then I'll reserve the truck for next Saturday too, when the others are planning to show up to give us a hand."
"But once we've moved the things we can handle by ourselves then we'll be able to stay at the new house starting on Tuesday, even without the other stuff," Pam added. "We'll just have to rough it for a few days." She giggled after saying this, because she knew it wouldn't be too rough without those other items. They'd just have to live out of a few boxes until the other things arrived, which would be similar to my living out of my suitcases.
"I'm up for getting started as soon as possible," I offered, while looking between my hosts. "Why don't we take whatever we can now."
"Ok, you, Reid, and I can load up the Highlander and take the boxes then," Brad readily agreed. "While we're doing that, Pam, Ashley, and Evan can stay here and pack up more boxes with whatever we won't be needing for the next couple of days."
"Sure, the kids and I can do that," Pam agreed. "I know we can do without some of the cookware and dishes, and we can also move some more of the items out of the cupboards."
"Pack up as much as you can and we'll just eat out until we're at the new house," Brad suggested. "Ok, I'll go outside and fold down the extra seats in the Highlander to give us more room to load things. Reid, while I'm doing that I want you to show Uncle Quinn where the boxes are stored, and then you two can start carrying them out to me. I should have the Highlander ready by the time you get there."
Brad quickly turned and went outside, while Reid grabbed my hand and led me toward the garage. "I wanted to talk to you about the story first," he complained as we made our way there.
"We'll have time to do it later, because I'm here to stay now," I advised him, which earned me a smile.
"Yeah, I forgot about that, so let's get this stuff over to the new house so we can spend some time alone." Reid then began to pull on my arm even harder, as his way of encouraging me to pick up the pace.
* * * * * * * *
E-mail responses to the stories, story suggestions, or other 'constructive' comments or advice may be sent to: ErastesTouch@aol.com - but please put the story title in the subject line, so it doesn't get deleted as junk mail.
My other stories:
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/different-points-of-view/
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/a-throw-away-kid/
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/the-guardian/
* * * * * * * *
Although the boys in these stories sometimes have unprotected sex, I strongly urge all of you out there to be smart and protect yourselves from various sexually transmitted diseases by using taking appropriate precautions before engaging in sex.