Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2024 23:23:34 +0000 From: beachbum5599 Subject: Helpful Dad - Part 3 Please donate to nifty to keep this site going. Email me if you like this chapter and want me to continue. Chapter 3 - Preparing for the Big One That evening at dinner, Miguel reached out and softly held Jayden's hand. I smiled because I could tell that these two had held hands in prayer before. Miguel turned to me and said, "I cannot thank you enough already for all the help that Jayden has given me. Today was already an achievement and we will try to build on it. But, errr, do you think we could have your blessing to try ... the next step? The big one?" The big one? Did he mean ... baptism? Jayden had done a thorough job. I nodded and said, "Of course you do. It's everything a father could hope for from his son." Miguel looked surprised. "That's really not the response I expected. Did you ... bring me into this house as a guest for this purpose?" I shrugged. "I can honestly tell you that I did not. I wasn't expecting or even hoping that this would happen. But now that you guys have decided you want to pursue the big step, I can't imagine it not happening." I smiled and said, "The Lord works in mysterious ways." Miguel caressed Jayden's hand and said, "He sure does." He then turned to me, "Simon, we'll need some money to buy a few things. I want to make sure the process is as pleasant as possible for everyone. We all know the difficulty in just getting this far." I nodded. "Sure thing. I'll leave $200 bucks on the kitchen counter tomorrow before leaving for work." Miguel just shook his head in awestruck disbelief. "You are amazing, Simon!" It was hard being humble in that moment, but I managed to say, "I am just the Lord's instrument." --- "MMmmmmmmmmmmmm" Okay, so I was a little uncomfortable. "MmmmmmmMMMMmmmm" Look, it's not that I don't understand cultural differences. I do. I went through cultural sensitivity training at my workplace. "MMmmmmMMMM! Oh Mr. Miguel!" I turned the TV volume up a little more. I was not trying to be rude. I understood that Miguel was just behaving according to his culture. I just wished he could be a little culturally sensitive too. But instead, he was laying nude on the big couch, with my half-naked son on top of him, giving deep, friendly kisses to each other, while his hand was down my son's pants, caressing his bum. Ever since the day my son had led Miguel to the Lord, the two of them had become nigh inseparable. The religious fervor between them would often erupt into chaste kissing. Though I found out that in Miguel's culture, chaste kissing of close friends involved a lot of tongue. And caresses. I tried to not begrudge him his gratitude. My son had led him to the saving of his immortal soul. I suppose he was just less restrained in expressing his gratitude than I would have been. But I could not doubt his conversion though. Many an evening, he would grab Jayden by the hand and lead him upstairs for prayer. And even through the walls, I could tell that the prayers had the pure ecstasy of faith. The man must have had a hard life, because he took to sleeping in Jayden's room to help him deal with whatever night demons of sin and guilt plagued him. Every couple of nights, I would be woken up by the sounds of muffled but fervent prayer from their room. But no matter how many mornings I spent teaching Miguel to end all his prayers with "Amen", his nighttime prayers would always end in loud cries of "Oh God! Oh My GOD!" Still, some cultural differences were hard to ignore. I lowered the volume and turned towards them. "Miguel, how are the preparations coming along? For the big one?" I asked loudly. Miguel broke off the kiss and turned towards me brightly. "It's slow going, Simon, but it's coming along. Thanks to your generosity, we bought a bunch of stuff to start to loosen up and open up the whole..." I waited for Miguel to finish his sentence but he never did. "The whole ... ?" I prompted him. "Yes," he nodded firmly. "The beads in particular have been very helpful in opening up." Ah, a spiritual opening. And, of course, prayer beads would help. "Good idea getting the beads," I said, "But they must require a lot of concentration and focus. More than what I usually have. Jayden was blushing. He buried his head in Miguel's muscular chest. Miguel replied to me, "Yes, it definitely does. Jayden, do you want to have a session right now?" Jayden said something I couldn't hear. But it made Miguel laugh. "Yes, sure," Miguel said. "We can start with that." And he stuck his tongue out at Jayden. Jayden hopped off of Miguel, who then stood up himself. Both of them looked, umm, very excited. Jayden's was pushing up against his yoga pants, and Miguel's was sticking up in the living room like a baton. They must have been so embarrassed, they both just dashed upstairs. I chuckled to myself. I remembered the days when friendly activities with friends used to give me a hard on and how embarrassed I used to get. I wondered where my friend Oliver was now, and if he ever got his leakage issue fixed by a medical professional instead of just getting it temporarily drained by his friends. --- The next evening, when Jayden and Miguel came down for dinner, I frowned at them. I had finally gotten used to seeing Jayden without a shirt on, but this was new. "What happened to the yoga pants?" I asked curiously. Miguel's hand went down to my son's bare bumcheek and gave it a friendly, customary squeeze, and then ran his finger over the string between his bum, stopping partway to make a twisting motion. "It's all part of getting to the big one. Don't ask," Miguel said with a laugh. I couldn't quite tell what this was about. Was it about being naked, like the Lord had made us? But I just shrugged and went with it. "Alright. I won't ask. Let's sit and eat." We all sat, though Jayden did so a bit gingerly. I said grace. We had an otherwise normal meal. Jayden sat upright and tense the whole time. Whenever I asked him to pass me some food, he shifted, gasped, and adjusted in his seat as he passed the dish over. I wondered if it was some mindfulness technique. That's all anyone talks about these days. Mindfulness. As if humans couldn't already see clearly what was happening under their nose. Jayden and Miguel quickly excused themselves after dinner. I washed up, worried that there was something I was missing. After I was done all the washing, I went upstairs and knocked on Jayden's door. "Come in!" came Miguel's voice. I walked in to see that both of them in Jayden's bed - nothing unusual about that, they had been sleeping together for a while now. Miguel was hugging Jayden from behind, as they both faced the door. They had the sheet up their body, only their bare shoulders were visible. "What's going on, guys?" I asked. "Anything I can help with?" "Well, maybe," Miguel said. "The thing is, Jayden thinks all this preparation is a bit of a waste. He thinks we should just jumped ahead to the real thing. But I'm not sure. I think we need another whole day of opening up. What do you think, Simon?" I saw Jayden's pleading look. I knew what he wanted me to say. And we were on the same page. "Miguel," I said sagely, "Don't wait. You'll always find excuses to put it off. But you just have to go for it." Miguel looked uncertain. "Really? I mean, I guess...? If both of you are sure..." Jayden's face immediately lit up. "So can we do it tonight?" he asked, looking eagerly from me to Miguel. We both laughed. "Have some patience, Jayden," I said. "Tomorrow morning will be a good time for it." "I guess your dad has decided it for us," Miguel chuckled. "Thanks for weighing in, Simon. It helps to know we have your full support." "Of course you do!" I said, standing up and starting to leave the room. "I'm just here to be helpful."