Tripod Chapter 38

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TRIPOD - Chapter 38

"Lung Fung never disappoints," Mom said, as she unpacked the piping hot order from the plain, brown, paper bags. "Let's double check: shrimp dumplings, stewed brisket, beef chow fun, choy sum in oyster sauce, and chicken lo mein. All set."

It was 8 PM on Christmas Eve. Mom, Dad, Asher, Darius, and I had spent the afternoon getting organized and preparing the following day's feast. Sticking to the rules of highlighting ingredients available in the Americas before Europeans arrived, I made a sweet potato pie sweetened with agave syrup with a cornmeal crust; a cranberry-maple-pecan tart; and chile-chocolate cookies made with Mexican chocolate and ancho chile powder. I had native North America covered from Canada all the way down to Mexico. Now it was time to enjoy a meal that we didn't have to cook.

We each piled our plates high with the tasty Cantonese fare. Asher was beginning to lose his food inhibitions, only stopping for a second before shoving the definitely-not-kosher shrimp dumpling into his eager mouth and sighing contentedly. Mom had purposely stuck mostly to beef, chicken, and veggies so Asher would feel more comfortable but it seemed largely unnecessary, judging from his actions.

"I think I'm going to do some video recording tomorrow. I mean, this is my last year of high school and our first with a new brother and me with a boyfriend and I want to be able to remember it," I said.

"I think that's a great idea, Jaime," Mom responded. "It's ironic how with your dad in advertising and me a filmmaker, we're usually just too busy to get out a camera and record the family at holidays."

Then Asher chimed in, "So, I guess that's how you got your nickname, Jaime? I had to look up what a tripod was but I figured it had to do with you making videos and stuff, right?"

My eyes shot open wide as I searched around the room for a clue on the right way to answer.

Darius was having a coughing fit. I could see Mom's wheels spinning but without missing a beat, Dad took hold of Asher's hand and said, "That's exactly right, Asher. Jaime has been lugging around some special equipment since he was about thirteen, right Jaime?"

"Uh, yup. You OK, Darius?"

Darius nodded, cleared his throat, and said, "Just swallowed the wrong way."

"That would be a first," I mumbled under my breath.

"I think we're all set for tomorrow," Mom said. "You boys can clean up here and then you've got the rest of the evening free. We start up again tomorrow at 8:30 AM. We're having the holiday meal at 2:30. The family arrives at 10:30 to help with the cooking. Jaime, since the desserts are done, maybe you three can make breakfast for us, along with stuff for the family to nibble on while we're cooking."

After we'd loaded the dishwasher and put away a few leftovers, Asher gave us all hugs and headed downstairs to stream some more shows. He'd suddenly gotten hooked on some of those superhero series. Mmm. Hot guys in skin-tight costumes. I wonder why?

"Thanks for covering for me with Asher, Dad," I laughed.

"He'll figure it out sooner rather than later. Eventually, he'll realize that `equipment' has nothing to do with cameras or photography," Dad said. "I'm sure that someone at school will fill him in. How are you planning to discuss that with Asher?"

"Ugh, well. Knowing Asher, he's going to start to worry that his is too small. I'll tell him that no matter what size it is, as long as it works, he'll be fine. In any case, I've seen him in underwear and the kid isn't small. But since he's a virgin, I don't think he's even seen another guy's junk up close, so he's got nothing to compare himself to. I'm sure it's gonna be a squirmy subject."

"I'm sure you'll handle it well. Get it...'handle it'," Dad laughed.

Darius and I groaned and Mom just rolled her eyes.

We exchanged hugs and Darius and I headed up to my room.

"So, are you gonna live at home or in a dorm at Northwestern?" Darius asked.

"I guess at home. I mean, that school is hella expensive. No reason to pay for a dorm when I can live at home and bike to school. Plus, the food here is really good, and in a dorm, mmm, probably not."

"But won't you miss out on parties and dorm room sex and stuff like that?"

"I can still go to parties on campus and as far as sex with anyone new, I'm not really thinking beyond right now. At least, I'm trying not to. It's almost a sure thing that you'll wind up in California and I'll be here and it's tough enough just with you on the other side of town. I really don't want to think about it. But it's definitely the elephant in the room."

Darius dropped to his knees, unbuttoned my jeans, and had them around my ankles in a second. He grabbed my dick and said, "This elephant is the only thing in this room that I want to think about, OK?" And he slipped my fast-hardening cock into his mouth.

I knew he was lying. He was just as uncertain about how we'd deal with a years-long separation as I was. I could see it in the way he looked at me. As inch after inch of my dick slid down his throat, he never broke eye contact and never stopped smiling, if it's even possible to smile while an 11" anaconda snakes its way past your tonsils.

I gently pulled him off of me and raised him to his feet. He knew what I wanted more than anything. He slipped out of his clothes, then slid one hand behind my head and pulled me into the most passionate kiss ever. Our tongues danced as our lips pressed together in desperate longing. If there were a way to meld together into a single being, that's what we wanted in that instant. We collapsed onto my bed, never breaking our kiss, and stayed that way for the longest time. Our fingers explored each other's hair, necks, ears, and bodies but our mouths stayed intertwined. We both knew that every opportunity to be together was precious because it would come to an end before we knew it.

Darius was the one to break the kiss but only so his lips and tongue could bring pleasure to the rest of my face. He gently kissed my eyes and forehead, then nibbled at my neck and ears. I reciprocated by slipping one of his nipples into my mouth and giving it a little bite. Darius sucked in a breath letting me know I'd hit the right spot.

My hands drifted south rubbing the light fur on his belly, then skipping over his groin to tickle the inside of his thighs. That's his most sensitive spot and just letting my fingers glide over the hairs made his dick bounce and his head writhe around on the pillow.

But that was just for starters, in a move that even a wrestler could appreciate, I flipped him onto his belly and raised his furry butt cheeks so that they were ripe for the eating. As I slipped one hand underneath him to grab his dick, my tongue darted into his eager hole.

"Oh, fuuuuck," he moaned under his breath.

He reached back, grabbed my dick, and started stroking it with a spit-slicked hand. "I want this in me in the worst way but I want to suck it first," Darius said, lifting himself off of my tongue and flipping around in another classic wrestling move so that my dick slapped him in the face. He wrapped both hands around it and smiled admiringly. "I'll never get tired of this...or you," he said just before deep-throating my meat, sending waves of pleasure through my body. Darius definitely has a bit of Eddie's perfectionism in him. When he sets his mind to doing something, he wants to be the best at it and boy, can that kid suck dick.

"That feels amazing. You been practicing on cucumbers?" I asked.

Darius pulled off of me and laughed. "Bananas. Gag reflex is history. I can also hold my breath for over a minute now. Time me."

"Ugh...no. Don't kill the mood. Just keep doing what you're doing, but let me suck yours, too."

I lay down on the bed, grabbed Darius's rock-hard 8" cock, and took it into my mouth down to the base in one move.

"Someone else has been practicing, too," Darius smirked.

"Nope. Just extremely motivated," I replied before shoving his cock back down my eager throat.

The two of us went at it, sucking, slurping, licking ,and swirling on the other's dick, trying to keep our moaning down to an undetectable level from outside the room.

I slipped first one, then two, and eventually three fingers up Darius's butt. He was riding up and down on my hand, obviously eager to have more than fingers up his insatiable backside. All of a sudden, he pulled off of my hand and let my cock slip from his mouth, "I'm getting close but I don't wanna cum yet. I wanna cum with the beast up my ass, OK?"

"Yes, sir. I don't need to be told twice, sir," I said, reaching for the lube.

"Let me do it," Darius replied, as he slid the bottle of lube from my hand.

His eyes glazed over as he lubed up my oversized member. It was as if he was hypnotized by its size and driven to impale himself on it. He squirted a big glob onto his own hand and reached around to get his hole ready. Then he leaned over and kissed me hard on the lips. With me on my back, Darius grabbed my dick and aimed straight for his ready-to-ride pucker. As the plum-sized head found the target and slipped into my hot-as-fuck boyfriend, a huge smile crossed his lips. Then he slowly lowered himself until his heavy balls were resting on my belly and his cock pointed straight up, ready for me to grab.

"Oh, yeah. I've wanted this so bad," Darius moaned.

He lifted himself up until just the head of my dick remained inside him, then impaled himself again, gasping as all 11" disappeared into him. He reached around to cup my big balls as he began to ride me faster and faster. In a scene that looked as though it had been taken from a horse race, Darius bounced up and down on my cock, taking all of the monster as deeply into him as physically possible with each downstroke, then slipping all but the glans out of him on the upstroke.

Once he'd established this marathon rhythm, I spit into one hand and grabbed his cock while caressing his balls with the other. Darius was in heaven, his eyes rolling back into his head and his breathing heavy. I wasn't exactly suffering either, as each cycle of Darius's horseback adventure brought amazing feelings to my cock.

After about five minutes at top speed, I felt my orgasm starting to build.

"I'm getting close. Get ready to be bred."

That inspired Darius to ride even harder. He tightened the muscles in his butt to give me even more pleasure-inducing friction. I spit into one hand and stroked his cock harder while I reached up to grab a nipple. The cum was boiling up at the base of my cock but I squeezed hard to hold off as long as possible. Just when I couldn't hold back any longer, Darius threw back his head and cum blasted out of his cock, landing on my face, hair, and chest. That pushed me over the edge and ten shots of cum jetted from my dick deep, deep into my lover.

Once the mutual orgasms had subsided, Darius slumped down onto my cum-covered body and began licking his own seed from my face.

"Don't move. I want to keep you inside me for a while, OK?"

"Do you hear me complaining? I'll be ready to go again in a few minutes, but maybe you'd like to fuck me?" I asked.

"Can we just stay like this?" Darius grabbed my hand, wrapped my arm around him, and we rolled over so that I was the big spoon and he was the little one. My dick was still hard and still in my boyfriend. "I want to cuddle with you and think about how amazing this is. I want to think about how my life has changed since I met you. I never thought I'd meet anyone like you. At least not at seventeen. I mean, I definitely wanted to meet guys to fool around with but never dreamed I'd meet someone who excited me not just here," he said, moving my hand to his still-hard dick, "but also here." He moved my hand to his heart. "And here, too," pointing to his brain.

"The last thing I ever expected was to meet a boyfriend in the ethnic foods aisle," I said. "I wasn't ready. I'd just come out. Just lost my virginity, and figured I'd get some experience first. Life's weird, I guess. Shit happens when you least expect it. You're amazing. I love you, you know."

"That's what's so cool about this. I DO know. Everything you do with me shows me that you love me. You're funny and kind and smart and hot and soooooo hung. I guess you've probably already figured out that I love huge cocks. But I don't think I'd keep coming back for more if I didn't love who it was attached to. No matter what happens in June, let's have the best fucking time for the next six months. I hope we stay together forever but if we can't, I know I'll never ever forget this year because of you. You know what, let's just go to sleep like this. We can start up again in the morning."

"You want to fall asleep with my dick up your butt?"

"Yes. I literally want you inside me so that you feel like you're a part of me."

And that's how we fell asleep. At some point in time during the night, my dick got soft and slipped out of Darius, but we slept cuddled up all night until around 7:00 AM. I quietly got out of bed and went to use the bathroom, then sneaked back into bed.

"Good morning, stud," Darius said, rolling over to face me. "I need to go clean up after last night. I'll be back in a few."

As promised, he climbed back into bed and started kissing me. "Is your offer from last night still good?"

"Hell yeah. Why do you think I went into the bathroom? All clear and ready for rear entry, sir."

Darius grabbed the lube and slicked up his already-at-attention dick, then opened me up with his fingers.

"Face-to-face or doggy?" he asked.

"I like watching your face when you plow my hole. You know I can keep my knees up by my ears forever. All those years of gymnastics gotta be good for something, right?"

Darius laughed, flipped me onto my back and shoved my ankles up to the headboard. His tongue made a beeline for my pucker, making me giggle at first, then moan as the nerves around my asshole fired in delight.

"Let me watch you suck your cock," he ordered.

"My pleasure, literally." I grabbed the monster, aimed it at my mouth, and easily swallowed a good seven inches of it."

"That is so fucking hot," Darius said, his eyes glazing over with lust.

He got up on his knees and aimed his big dick at my hole, which opened easily as he pushed against it. It only took me a second to get used to the feeling, so I grabbed a furry butt cheek to urge Darius to go deeper. A wave of pleasure rolled through my body as the head of Darius's dick grazed against my prostate for the first time and I bobbed up and down on my own cock.

Darius could see I was loving his moves, so he started to fuck me faster, making sure that every inch of his eight was pounded deep into my hole. I met his moves with my own, adding my force to his, magnifying the intensity of his fucking.

It only took a few minutes for me to reach the point of no return.

"Shoot it for me! Let me see it! Right in your mouth" he screamed.

My whole body shook as he pounded his cock up my ass, bringing me to an earth-shattering orgasm. I moaned as blast after blast of cum shot out of my dick and onto my waiting tongue. I counted twelve jets of jizz.

"Holy fuck! Oh, yeah!" Darius shouted as his last few strokes brought him to a climax, dumping his cum into my twitching hole.

He leaned over, grabbed my dick, and brought it to his mouth, letting his tongue lick off the last few drops of my cum.

"You just make that so easy to do. It's amazing just how far 11" can reach."

He leaned in and we kissed, swirling my load around in our two mouths.

"That was fucking amazing, Jaime."

"I wish we could just stay in bed all day, but we've got work to do. Let's go take a shower, then we gotta go make breakfast," I replied.

I looked out the window, checking for a white Christmas on a bitterly cold morning. The ground was bare. Chicago weather never fails to disappoint.

We slipped down the hall and into the bathroom. Twenty minutes later and with our hair still wet, we ran into the kitchen to find Asher making coffee and getting the ingredients for pancakes together.

"Good morning! I thought I'd get things started. I figured I'd probably gotten a better night's sleep than you two horny boys," Asher smirked.

"We slept really good," Darius said. "Cuddled up like kittens."

"That's a good one. You don't even like pussy." Asher laughed hysterically, obviously proud of how his English was improving. "I'm going to make everyone blueberry pancakes, OK?"

"More than OK. How can we help?" I asked.

"Pour yourselves some coffee and make a fruit salad with whatever you find in the fridge. I'm making the bacon," Asher said proudly.

"Oy vey," Darius chided.

"It'll be our secret," Asher laughed.

Asher did a commendable job on the pancakes. He burned the first one but once I told him that you need to flip the pancake when the bubbles on the top start to break, he got the hang of it and the rest were nearly perfect. The bacon was a no-brainer for Asher. It turned out perfectly crisp.

Darius and I were working on the fruit salad when Mom and Dad showed up, dressed and ready for the kitchen marathon.

"You know what, let me run up and get my steady mount. I don't think we need to wait until this afternoon to start recording," I said, dashing upstairs.

Just as I returned, Dad said, "I think you should start recording now, Jaime."

"OK, give me a second. Are you going to say something amazing that I need to capture for posterity?" I asked, as I popped my cell phone onto the mount and fired it up.

"Are you rolling?" Mom asked.

"Action!" I responded.

"This really has been a special year," Mom began. "We've seen you become the person we always knew you could be, Jaime. You've always been smart and generous but now you're confident and outgoing. And Asher, if someone had told Barry and me a year ago that we'd have a second son, we'd have told them that their tarot cards were defective and needed to be sent back to the factory. But here you are and we couldn't be happier. We know that you'll do incredible things and we can't wait until you start school in a couple of weeks. And Darius, Jaime couldn't ask for a better boyfriend and we love you, too."

"Yeah, what Mom said," Dad laughed. "By the way, we have gifts for all of you."

Dad disappeared down the hallway and came back with his arms full.

"This is for you, Jaime. This one for Asher. And here you go, Darius. Open them one at a time. Jaime, you go first."

I handed my phone, which was still recording video, to Mom so she could keep filming. In my box, I found a purple Northwestern hoodie and an envelope. Inside the envelope was a receipt for professional editing and special effects software.

"We figured you'd be busy with Darius last night, so we snuck your laptop out of your room and downloaded all the software onto your computer that you're going to need to put together professional-looking videos. No more amateur stuff. I'm guessing that you never noticed that the laptop was gone," Dad smirked.

Darius laughed. I just turned red.

"This is exactly what I wanted. Thanks so much. And I love the sweatshirt, too."

"Asher, you're next," Dad said.

Mom handed the camera back to me.

Asher's present was the largest one. He ripped off the paper to reveal a karaoke machine.

"Asher! Now you can sing karaoke for us," I beamed.

"Who's Carrie Oakey? I don't know any of her songs," Asher replied, looking puzzled.

"Not `who,' it's `what.' It's spelled k-a-r-a-o-k-e. It's when you sing along to a pre-recorded music track. You know all of those songs that Ariana sent you on a playlist? Now you can sing them to us," I explained.

"Really? I think you're going to curse the day you bought this for me. I'm never gonna shut up," Asher laughed. "This is an amazing gift."

Asher's face lit up, then the tears started streaming down his face. He looked embarrassed and ran to grab a paper towel. I ran over and hugged him.

"I was thinking about the terrible things that could have happened to me and how they didn't because I met Jaime that day at the Rainbow Center and how lucky I am to be here and be loved by all of you. Thank you so, so much."

"Darius, it's your turn," Mom said.

Darius opened the package to find nothing but a small envelope inside. He looked puzzled. He opened the envelope to find five $100 airline gift cards.

"You can use them for a trip back here, of course, but maybe you'd like to use them to fly Jaime out to see you if you wind up in California," Dad said.

"I can't. This is too much," Darius said, shaking his head. Then he looked at me and I looked at him and the realization that we'd soon be thousands of miles apart hit us.

"This was the best gift you guys could have ever given us," I said, as a tear snuck out of my left eye and rolled down my cheek. Darius and I hugged each other tightly for a long time.

"OK, let's eat," Mom said.

We dug into the pancakes, fruit, and bacon and soaked up the positive energy in the room. Darius and I sat with our legs touching and our free hands clutched together.

Mom and Dad cleaned up the breakfast dishes as Darius and Asher mostly watched me throw together a couple of snacks to keep us going until the main meal. I didn't want anything heavy, and in keeping with the native-to-the-Americas theme, roasted some cashews with a touch of chile and lime, and made a dip of roasted red peppers to spread on tortilla chips.

By 10:30, the relatives had started to arrive. Abuela Zyanya jumped in and grabbed Asher before he could sit down with Great Grandma Esther. Abuela began quizzing him on his schoolwork and how he was adjusting to living with us. Asher was glowing, talking about how he was studying like crazy with his tutors and about his coming out party, and how he couldn't wait to start at his new school.

Once she was satisfied with his answers, Abuela relinquished control just long enough for Asher to get kidnapped by his other new grandmother Mama Bernice. While I couldn't exactly hear the conversation, judging from the bright red flush of Asher's usually pale skin and his wide eyes, I was guessing that Mama Bernice was quizzing Asher about his sexual activities and if he knew about STIs and how to protect himself from them. Poor Asher. He'd only just figured out what his dick was for, now Mama Bernice was going to scare the shit out of him before he got the chance to use it! Well, it was for his own good anyway. How many kids are lucky enough to have a grandma who's a doctor and deals in reproductive health?

Then it was Abuelo Jose's turn. As an anthropologist, Abuelo had made many trips to the Middle East, including Israel, and had heard that Asher had been to Israel several times with his old family and wanted to see if they'd been to any of the archeological sites. Apparently, they had because Abuelo José was going on and on about the local ancient Jewish culture as well as invaders to the area, such as the Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans. Asher was working his hardest to keep a smile on his face.

Darius and I had been chatting with Uncle Noah and Jermaine while this was happening. It was clear from my vantage point that Asher needed some rescuing. Just in the nick of time, my mom's brother Uncle Julio, his wife Ximena, and my cousins Kimberly and Ricky walked in. Julio was carrying a pot filled with banana leaf-wrapped tamales, a Oaxacan specialty.

I left Darius with Noah and Jermaine, then I dashed across the room, grabbed the pot and set it down on the stove. I returned to give Uncle Julio a big abrazo, then gave Ximena and the kids kisses and hugs.

"You guys haven't had a chance to meet Asher yet. Come with me."

Asher spotted us walking toward him from across the room and a look of relief spread across his face. After kisses and hugs were exchanged between Abuelo José and his family members, I put my arm around Asher and introduced him to everyone, then added, "Asher, I bet that Kimberly and Ricky would love a tour of your room. Take them downstairs and play video games for a while, OK?"

"I would love to!" Asher said, just a bit too enthusiastically.

The three kids headed downstairs, leaving Abuelo to catch up with his son and daughter-in-law.

I headed back to Darius and the others.

"Well, you missed an interesting discussion, Jaime. Your uncle's been pushing us to get on PrEP. Says that he and Jermaine have been on it for years and that we can get it for free."

"Do you really think it's necessary? I mean, we get tested and we use condoms with guys we don't know," I said. "I don't want to be taking something I don't really need."

"Even though it's rare, condoms can fail. You're not 100% monogamous. Guys sometimes make bad decisions because they're horny," Uncle Noah said.

"I think it's a good idea," Darius said.

"OK, Uncle. I'll chat you this week and we can work it all out."

I gave Noah and Jermaine a big hug.

"I can't wait for you guys to meet Mr. Choi. He's my chem teacher and he's gay, too."

"Jaime says that Mr. Choi is a fucking snack. Straight off the runway," Darius announced.

"He's also an amazing teacher and has been tutoring Asher," I added.

"And he's single. Oh, and did I add that he's hot?" Darius laughed.

"You haven't even met him, dude," I said.

"Looking forward to it," Darius smirked.

"Since he's a guest, I told him to show up at 2:00, so you've still got a few hours to go. Grab a snack and let's see what needs to be done in the kitchen."

Work was already going on steadily in the kitchen, with Grandpa David, Mom, and Dad having been joined by Abuelo José. Abuela Zyanya had already done her part on the tamales and Mama Bernice, as promised, had made sweet potato rolls and a savory corn pudding.

By 2:00 PM, everything was ready. In addition to what the two grandmas had made, we'd managed to turn out a huge turkey with a chipotle glaze; venison loin dusted with cocoa nibs; a salad of corn, black beans, jalapeños, avocado, and quinoa; roasted chayote squash; garlic-roasted smashed potatoes; and a rice and wild rice medley with chopped pecans. Every single dish stuck to the pre-conquest-of-the-Americas theme.

Mr. Choi arrived right on time. He gave my mom and dad a hug and then I introduced him to the other relatives, saving Darius, Noah, and Jermaine for last.

"Guys, this is Mr. Choi."

"Honestly, Jaime, we're not at school. You can call me Lincoln."

"OK, Mr. Choi. This is my Uncle Dr. Noah Fine, M. D. and his husband the honorable Jermaine Robinson, Esquire, and my boyfriend the dishonorable Darius Ahmadi, will-be-esquire-someday, maybe."

Everyone laughed.

"Jaime, really, Lincoln is fine," Lincoln said.

You could see that when Lincoln, met Noah's and Jermaine's gazes, there was more chemistry than in any one of Mr. Choi's classes. It's just that weird sensation you get when the gaydar alarm starts blasting in your brain and your boys start jumping around in your jeans. Darius and I looked at each other, both of us having picked up on it. Sparks were flying and Lincoln hadn't even taken his coat off yet.

"So, I'm guessing you're Barry's brother?" Lincoln asked, the tone of his voice indicating that any idiot could figure out that he wasn't Mom's brother.

"His younger and more handsome brother," Jermaine volunteered.

"And he obviously knows good looks himself when he sees them," Lincoln responded, clearly flirting with Jermaine.

"Jaime told us that you're amazing...and a pretty good teacher, too," Noah added.

"Well, Jaime is an incredible student. Smart, inquisitive, and very kind. I can see where he gets his talents from," Lincoln added.

Darius and I looked at each other and you didn't have to be a mind reader to hear, "Get a room" screamed out between the two of us.

"Hey, the food's ready and we're about to sit down. Maybe you guys would like to sit together down at the far end of the table, away from the young kids?" I asked, getting the feeling that this was going to take a deep dive into the adult section of the pool really quickly.

"Jaime," Mom said from the kitchen, "can you go tell Asher to come upstairs?"

The three youngest came up the stairs in seconds with Asher grumbling, "We're starving and these two have been kicking the shit out of me at video games."

You could see the adults in the room do a double take.

"Umm, Asher, I don't think that's the kind of language that we use in front of Kimberly and Ricky," Dad stated in his most serious and rarely-used fatherly tone.

"Ooops, sorry. Still getting the hang of this English thing."

Then, Great Grandma Esther said something in Yiddish and Asher burst out laughing. He later explained that she said something like, "Don't let those little stinkers get to you. You can kick their asses next time."

Then she added in English, "Come sit down next to your Alte Bubbe. I've saved you a seat."

Asher looked as though he'd been given a true place of honor at the table. He hadn't yet had a chance to talk to Esther and he relished every second with her.

Everyone took their seats, with Mom at the head of the table and Dad next to her. Uncle Julio and his family were next, with Darius seated next to Ricky and I next to Darius. Uncle Noah, Jermaine and Lincoln had done as instructed and were at the far end of the table, engaged in deep conversation and looking as though they'd known one another for years. The rest of the family filled in the middle of the table.

As was our family tradition, before we got up to serve ourselves, Dad delivered a toast. The adults all had filled champagne glasses, except for Esther, who had sparkling cider, as did the youngest kids. Darius, Asher and I had each been served just enough champagne for the toast. I held up my phone and began recording.

"Well, another year has passed, my dear family and honored guests. And what a year it has been. Asher is now a part of our family and Jaime has a new little brother. How many kids can say they have a new baby brother who'll be driving in a few months? And Asher has been lucky enough to have Lincoln Choi as his tutor and mentor and we are thrilled that Lincoln has joined us today and we hope to see more of him in the future"

I smirked, thinking, "I bet there are a couple of people at the table that will be seeing a lot more of Lincoln Choi in the very near future."

Dad continued, "My own baby brother is deeply involved in a research study that could change the course of treatments for HIV/AIDS and Jermaine was voted as one of the top attorneys in Chicago's African-American community for his dedication to wealth-building and preservation in black middle-class families. Nayeli has been recognized for the peerless filmmaker that she is with three top prizes at international independent film festivals.

"My dear mother-in-law continues to protect the lives of at-risk families in Chicago, even though we keep telling her it's time to retire. Abuelo José, like most tenured professors, just keeps going on and on bringing new and exciting knowledge about current and ancient cultures to the world. Grandpa David has at last retired, forcing Mama Bernice to finally take every other Friday off from the clinic. Grandma Esther, well, what can I say?"

"You can just begin by saying I'm not dead yet," Esther shouted, causing everyone to break up laughing.

"And no one could argue otherwise," Dad replied.

"Julio, you're still the guy everyone wants to call at tax time, keeping us all just barely on the right side of the law, and we thank you for that, as does the federal prison system. Ximena, I'm still not quite sure what a civil engineer does, but I guess the next time I drive over a bridge that doesn't collapse, I have you to thank for it. You and Julio have done a magnificent job raising Kimberly and Ricky, by the way.

"But I wanted to save the one who is closest to me for last. Jaime, you have grown into an incredible young man. Your dedication to gymnastics and your schoolwork has made us proud. Northwestern is so lucky to have you. But more importantly, you have found yourself and your happiness is infectious. And we are honored to welcome your boyfriend Darius here today."

"Boyfriend!?" screamed Ricky. "You're gay? That's disgusting. Kids at school say that people like that are weird and sick."

"Ricky!" said Julio firmly, "Jaime is your favorite cousin and has been since you were a little kid. What you said is mean and untrue. You apologize right now."

"No. He used to be my favorite. This is gross," Ricky snapped back.

"Barry, this probably wasn't the time or place to put this subject in front of an 8-year-old," Ximena snapped.

It seemed like everyone was trying to shout out an opinion at the same time.

Asher was crying, the sting of being labeled as disgusting was bringing back all-too-familiar memories.

My camera was still rolling.

Great Grandma Esther grabbed his hand and shouted out, "Everyone, just shut up right now."

The room fell silent.

"Ricky," she began, "Has anyone ever said bad things about you because you're Latino?"

"One kid at school got mad at me when my team beat his team at kickball and said I should go back to my country," Ricky responded.

"And how did that make you feel," Esther asked.

"I told him he was stupid. I was born here and my parents were born here and my abuelos came here because they could get better jobs and they're really nice people. But deep down it made me really mad because he told me I didn't belong."

"Did you choose to be Latino?" Esther asked.

Ricky looked at Esther as if she had two heads.

"Of course not. I was born this way. I'm just as good as everyone else," he responded incredulously.

"When I was a little girl, and I know it's hard to believe that I was a little girl once, some people hated me because I was Jewish. And soon more and more people hated others who were Jewish. It wasn't for any real reason; they were just told to hate people who were different from them. Pretty soon it got so bad that Jewish people were sent to a kind of prison and many were killed just because of who they were. Well, gay people don't choose to be gay either. Being gay may seem strange to you but Jaime is the same cousin you've always loved. I bet you always wanted him to be happy, right?" she asked.

"That was before," Ricky replied.

"Jaime hasn't changed at all. You're acting just like that stupid kid at school who made you feel bad because he said dumb things, and I know you're not dumb. But what you're saying is that Jaime doesn't deserve to be happy."

"But..."

"No buts, Ricky. You hurt Jaime's feelings and the feelings of everyone else here because they love Jaime, too. Now say you're sorry."

Ricky paused for a second, then turned toward me and mumbled, "I'm sorry."

"That's OK," I responded, capturing the moment on video.

Darius reached out his hand toward Ricky, "I'm Darius. It's nice to meet you. I hope we can be friends. I'm really good at video games and I bet I can beat you."

Ricky smiled, "Bet you can't."

"OK, after we eat dinner and Jaime's amazing desserts, how about all us kids head down to Asher's room and you can try to beat me," Darius continued.

Ricky nodded.

"Now let's eat!" Esther implored. "The food all looks delicious!"

I hit the stop button on the camera app, set the phone down, and grabbed Darius's hand. I leaned in and whispered, "Your skills as a negotiator are unbelievable. Almost as good as your skills as a bottom."

"Nice of you to notice. My other hole needs to be fed now. Let's go," Darius said, as we got up from the table and joined the food line.