Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2003 17:48:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: rimpigfl <rimpigfl@yahoo.com>
Subject: SUBIC SURRENDER 26

DISCLAIMER: I don't fucking care how old you are. If you like the idea of
two hunky young Marine's getting it on with each other then read on!

By the way, no Marine's were injured or killed in the writing of this story
but that's not true of what's going on in the Middle East or other foreign
places. I would ask your prayers, good thoughts or whatever for all the
Marines serving our country (that's us guys!) around the world.

This is dedicated to every one who has ever served in the USMC - Semper Fi!

SUBIC SURRENDER - Part 26
MICHAEL'S STORY - Part 11
by RimPig   2003

Our first call that night was to our Grandparents, particularly Grandma. We
knew that with her on our side, all of the other mere males in the family
would instantly cease any objections they might have. Nobody - not even
Grandpa wanted to take on Grandma when she had decided that something that
Matt and I were doing was right!

"Grandma, it's Michael." I said. "We run into a little delay out here."

"So what's his name?" she asked.

"What do you mean?!" I asked.

"What's the name of the child you two found out there to adopt?" she asked.

"Grandma, how the hell do you know already?!" I exclaimed.

"I just got off the phone with an attorney named Coventry. He was asking a
lot of questions about the two of you and he explained it to me." Grandma
said.

"Well...yeah. We just left his office. We had no idea he was going to call
you. By the way, his name is Brian." I said.

I then proceeded to tell her the whole story. How we met Frank and that led
us to Barry which led us to Brian and, finally, to Mark Coventry. Grandma
was suitably pleased and surprised at Brian's initial reaction to us.

"I'm sure that boy is a Copeland! He recognizes quality when he sees it!"
Grandma laughed.

This referred to a sign that went up in front of every Copeland and Son job
site which said, "You'll recognize our quality when you see it!" Grandpa
had devised the slogan many years ago.

"Have you told our Dads yet?" I asked.

"No, but I'm sure they know something by now. I'm sure your lawyer has
called them as well.  I'm also sure that they will be thrilled. Or, let me
put it another way, if they aren't thrilled they'll have to explain that to
me!" Grandma said and I could almost grinning through the phone.

"Thanks, Grandma! That's what I wanted to hear more than anything! You
don't think we're too young, do you?" I asked hesitantly.

"Too young?! Lord's sake, child! I was three years younger than you are
when I had your father!  And your grandpa was a year younger than you are
now. Too young? I'd say you're a little late!"  she laughed. "And remember,
your Dads were only a year older than you and Matt are when they got you,
so don't let them pull that 'older and wiser' shit on you either! People
have children when they're young so that they have the energy to keep up
with them!"

Our next two calls went to our Dads. They had already been contacted by
Mark and were as thrilled as we were about the possibility of us having a
son.

"You won't mind being called 'Grandpa'?" I asked Mike.

"Well, about that...I think that Rick and I would rather have Brian call us
by our names, just like you and Matt do. But, I thought you said Brian
can't talk?" Mike said.

"He can't talk right now. I think we can love him enough that he will
eventually speak." I told Mike.

I went on to explain how the hysterical paralysis came about.

"Well, you guys don't do it the easy way, do you? But I must say how proud
I am of both of you for wanting this child. I think you two are just what
he needs!" Mike said and I could hear his pride in us in his voice.

Matt called his Dads and they were equally thrilled by the turn of
events. They had already talked to Mark and had offered, if necessary, to
fly to LA and appear in court as character witnesses for us. Matt told them
that Mark hadn't mentioned anything about the necessity of that.

After Matt hung up the phone, I took him in my arms and kissed him.

"Well, Daddy? How does it feel?" I asked him.

"Ask me that question again when Brian is sitting on our laps during the
flight home to Fort Lauderdale. I don't want to jump the gun and you
shouldn't either. As Father Gray says, take things 'One Day At A Time'."
Matty said.

"Okay. I just can't help believing that Brian was meant for us." I said,
squeezing him tight to me.

"I know. It's hard for me not to believe the same thing but we need to wait
and see how things turn out first." Matt said.

My next call went to Barry to discuss seeing Brian again.

"So I take it that things went well with Mark?" Barry said.

"Yes, wonderfully. He told us that you volunteered to fly back with us to
do the home inspection." I said.

"Yes, that's true. In fact, I'm working on bringing Brian with us to see
how he reacts in the home environment." Barry said.

I was stunned! I didn't think anything like that was possible!

"Oh, Barry, that would be fantastic! Then the whole family could get to
meet him!" I said.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure how the 'powers that be' will go for it. Seeing
the child in the home environment is usually part of the inspection but not
when the adoption is to someone out of state. However, since it will cost
the state nothing, and I've already talked to Mark about it so there should
be some pressure from his side, I think we can pull it off. Now, you do
understand he would have to come back to LA with me. I can't leave him
there." Barry said.

"No, I understand that. I'm thinking that at least one of us will come back
as well. Whatever state Brian is in, we want to be there, too." I said.

"That will help speed things along, I think." Barry said.

"When can we see him again?" I asked.

"Anytime you want to. I've already contacted the group home to expect
you. Evidently that little incident with you and Brian was observed by the
guard who told everyone about it. The entire staff is amazed at Brian's
reaction to you. They're all pulling for you guys. They want to see Brian
go to a home where people will love him. After what he's been through in
his short life, we all think he deserves it." Barry said.

"How early can we go there and how late can we stay?" I asked Barry.

"The children eat breakfast between 7 and 8. Anytime after that is
fine. They're in bed by 9 so you'd have to leave about 8." Barry said.

"Okay. We'll plan on being there at 8 and spend the whole day with him." I
said.

"If I can break away from the office, I'll drive out and I can sign Brian
out and we can take him out to eat or something. How does that sound?"
Barry asked.

"That sounds wonderful....Barry...I don't know how to tell you how grateful
Matt and I are to you." I said.

"Yes, you do. You give that boy a good home. That's all that matters to
me." Barry said quietly.

"Oh, that we'll do - as soon as we possibly can." I said.

We talked for a few minutes more and then said good-bye.

"Matt, I think I'm going down to the front desk and see if I can rent a car
since we're going to be here a few more days." I said.

"Well...are you sure? Think you can handle the freeways?" he asked.

"I can handle 95 and 595 at home. Hell! I can even handle 836 and the
Golden Glades interchange! I think I can figure out the freeways." I said
with a lot more bravado than I really felt. Matt just kind of smiled at me
like he knew this was my male ego talking - you know, the one that keeps
men from asking directions?

Luckily, I was able to rent a brand new Lexus which had a directional
navigation system in it which would allow us to travel all over LA. All you
did was program in an address and the small, in-dash monitor showed your
route and progress to your destination. When I told Matt about it, he was
visibly relieved. The concierge said it would be waiting for us in the
morning.

When I got back to the room, I noticed it was almost 10 p.m. It had been a
very long and emotionally draining day. Matt was already in bed waiting for
me. I stripped off my clothes and slid in beside him. He was laying on his
back with his hands behind his head. I stretched out on my stomach and
buried my nose in his armpit, breathing in the scent of him.

"Mmm! You smell good." I said.

"You always say that." Matt smiled.

"And I always mean it." I assured him.

My hand was tracing patterns on his chest and stomach and my cock was
laying hard underneath me. I could see Matt's cock rising and knew that we
were both eager to make up for missing sex this morning. Matt stretched,
his whole body arching, and then he rolled over onto my back. I knew
immediately what this meant. Matt wanted to fuck me and I was more than
willing to let him.

His hands started kneading my neck and shoulders and I moaned deeply at his
touch. His touch has always been magic - able to smooth the stress and
tension out of my muscles with seeming ease. I lay there feeling my whole
body relaxing - with the exception of my cock which was getting harder and
harder to the point that I could feel it leaking pre-cum onto the bed
beneath me. Matt let his mouth and tongue join his fingers and hands and I
began moaning louder as he licked as sucked at my neck and shoulders then
finally moving down my back until I could feel his soft breath against the
skin of my butt.

I could feel him pulling the cheeks of my ass apart and then felt his nose
running up and down my trench, his deep breathing telling me that he was
inhaling my scent. Then I felt the wetness and raspiness of his tongue as
it began to slide up and down my crack. I raised up slightly and pushed
back, offering more of myself to him. I could feel his mouth press against
my hole and the suction as he sucked on the lips of my ass. At the same
time, I could feel his tongue pressing against my hole and slowly sliding
inside of me. I pushed down with the muscles of my ass to make my hole open
more. Soon his tongue was fucking in and out of me and I was moaning at the
incredible feelings.

"Ahh, yeah! Fuck, yeah! Eat my ass! Tongue-fuck my hole! Really get your
tongue up there and eat me out!" I begged and he voraciously ate my butt.

I reached over to the bedside table and grabbed the bottle of Astroglide. I
wanted his cock in me.  His tongue was wonderful, but it wasn't enough! He
felt me moving and evidently looked up to see what I was doing because once
I grabbed the bottle, I felt his tongue pull out of my hole and his face
came out of my butt-trench. I heard a low chuckle in his throat as I
reached back, handing him the bottle. He took if from me and began to
liberally anoint my hole with the slick lube. Then he started running two
and then three fingers in and out of my hole, opening me up for his cock.
This took almost no time at all because, after all these years, my hole was
well-used to his cock being shoved in it.

I felt him raise up and heard him lubing his cock. He then rose over me,
his hands beside my shoulders and I could feel his cockhead at the entrance
to my body. Rather than wait for him to shove forward, I eagerly pushed
back, my ass sucking his cock inside of me. He moaned and pushed forward
allowing his cock to slide all the way inside my ass until I could feel his
pubic hair scratching against the lips of my ass and could feel the
thickness of his cock spreading the tender tissues up inside my chute.

He waited for a moment for my tunnel to become adjusted to his intrusion
and then began to fuck me. This was no tender and gentle fuck. He fucked me
hard and fast from the get-go. That was fine with me! I wanted an all-out
butt-fuck and that's what he was giving me! I pushed back with each inward
thrust of his cock, making sure that he slammed it into my ass as hard as
he could and buried it as deep inside me as he could possibly reach. He
quickly built up speed and my hole was feeling better and better with each
successive thrust. I loved getting fucked in the ass! I pitied straight
guys who never knew what incredible sensations could come from their asses.

I could tell that Matt was getting close. This fuck was far too intense to
last for long. I was getting there, too. I could feel the tingle in my
balls and I knew I was about to go over the top. I think Matt did, too,
because, all of a sudden, he reached underneath of me with one of his
hands, grabbed on of my nips and twisted it as hard as he could! I screamed
out and felt my cock unload all over the bed below me. At the same time,
Matt's cock, trapped in my chute, was being clenched and massaged by my
inner muscles as I shot my load. He moaned and I could feel the tremors as
his cock barraged my guts with his white, hot jizz. He thrust and quaked
for quite a while, causing more of my cum to fly out of my cockhead with
each movement.

Finally he collapsed on my back and lay there panting, trying to gather his
breath after his strenuous work out. I tightened my ass to keep him inside
me but eventually, his cock softened and my ass forced it out against my
will. At this point, Matt had recovered sufficiently to slide back down
and, pulling my cheeks apart, began to retrieve his load from my ass with
his mouth. I loved the feeling of his tongue inside my ass after the
punishment it had taken from his fat cock. It was so soothing! I could feel
his load exiting me and heard his moans as he delighted in what he was
doing to me.

As he left my ass and moved back up the bed, I rolled over, knowing what he
was going to do next. He planted his mouth on mine and shared his load with
me, fresh from my butt. We kissed deeply and I gathered with my tongue all
of his slick cum that I could find in his mouth, finally sucking his tongue
to get the last of it. At this point, Matt collapsed into my arms and,
laying his head in the crook of my shoulder, curled up and seemed to pass
out.

I, however, was energized by the fuck and so I held him in my arms, gently
running my hand through his long, golden hair and watching him as he
slept. So long ago - twelve years to be exact - I had wished for this,
prayed for this - to have Matt in my arms, holding him close to me, loving
him. I thought that would be enough. But it wasn't. The desire for us to
share the love of a child was just too strong in me and, from all that I
could gather, in him as well. It was standing there in the lounge of the
group home, Brian in my arms, Matts arms around both of us, when my life
finally felt complete. That was what was right. That was what had to
happen! I couldn't accept that Brian was not meant to be our child and I
knew I would fight anyone, legally or even illegally if necessary, to make
this a reality.

Finally, I fell asleep, my arms still around Matt, his head still resting
on me. This is the way we slept most of the time. As Matt had pointed out
years ago, I did feel more comfortable 'on top' and he seemed to feel
comfortable letting me be. Not that we ever discussed it or even thought
much about it but it just naturally came about between us. Yes, there were
nights like tonight when Matt was the one to fuck me and, God knows, I
loved it when he did. But most of the time, it was Matt begging me to fuck
him and me only too eager to oblige. Just as most nights, it was my arms
that Matt curled up in to sleep rather than the other way around.

The wake-up call came early and Matt and I hurried to shower and dress,
again skipping sex in exchange for the chance to be with Brian. I know that
children disrupt a more 'spontaneous' sex- life, but Brian wasn't even ours
yet and was already doing so! And the incredible thing was, we didn't mind
one bit! We didn't even think much of it!

We found out that morning that the navigation system on the car worked
beautifully and we also found out that, at that time of morning, traffic
was very light and we ended up getting to the group home at 7:30 instead of
8:00. The guard we had seen the day before was there already and recognized
us immediately.

"You're a bit early! Must be eager to see that little boy again." he
smiled.

"Yes, we are. Also, we're not used to driving in LA and thought it would
take much longer to get here. We didn't want to be late." I said.

"Well, they're still in having breakfast. Have you had any?" he asked.

"No, we didn't." Matt said quietly.

"Well, you go on in the lounge, I'll go get you some coffee." he said.

He was being so nice, we didn't say that we didn't drink coffee
anymore. One cup wasn't going to kill either of us. We were waiting for him
to come back when he opened the door. He didn't have any coffee with him,
however. Instead, he opened the door wide and held it open. Then through
the door came Brian - a tray with two coffee cups in his hand and he walked
slowly towards us, very careful not to spill this offering for his new
Dads. At the sight of him, my heart caught in my throat and such
overwhelming feelings of love for him just coursed through me. He smiled at
us as he carefully set the tray down on the coffee table in front of the
couch we were sitting on. He then very carefully handed one cup to Matt and
then the other to me. Only then did he come around the table and climb up
in my lap and hug me tightly around the neck and kiss me.

My arm went around him and I held him too me, kissing the top of his head
and smelling the fresh boy-smell of his golden hair. So much like Matt's I
thought to myself. It was then I heard, again, the very distinct sound of
Brian taking deep breaths, his nose pressed against my chest, no doubt
taking in my scent through the t-shirt I was wearing. There was no doubt in
my mind this time.  Brian was purposely breathing in my scent and when he
looked up at me, his eyes shining and a bright smile on his face, there was
also no doubt in my mind that my scent was very pleasing to him.

He then wiggled out of my arm and slid down until he was standing on the
floor. He then walked over to Matt, crawled up in his lap and did exactly
the same thing. I could see the look of surprise on Matt's face when he
looked over at me questioningly.

"It would seem that we share something else with Brian." I told Matt. "I'd
suspected this yesterday, but I couldn't be sure. This morning I am." I
said.

"You don't think this means..." Matt asked, and I could hear fear in his
voice.

I knew what he was concerned about.

"No, not at all. I think that it means that it is a way of establishing
security for him. I know that it means that for me as well as the rest of
what we feel about each other." I said, smiling at Matt.

He thought for a moment and then grinned back.

"Yes. You're right. Your scent has always meant that for me as well. I
guess this just confirms the fact that this little boy was meant to be
ours." Matt said.

Looking at Matt holding Brian, my eyes started to tear. The beauty of
seeing my Matt, the love of my life, holding this beautiful little boy in
his arms had feelings welling up in me that were so strong, I was afraid I
was going to lose it at any moment.

We didn't know exactly what to do with Brian. We didn't know what kind of
activities he liked and he couldn't tell us. One of the workers in the
center, an older black woman, stopped by the lounge to see how we were
doing, so we asked her.

"Oh, that's incredibly easy!" she laughed. "Read to him! I'm surprised he
isn't dragging his book around with him. He usually does. He corners anyone
he can to read to him. I'll go get it, it's probably in his room." she
said.

She came back in a few minutes with a rather battered copy of copy of
"Winnie-the-Pooh" by A.A. Milne with illustrations by Ernest
H. Shepard. Brian eyes glowed and he smiled when he saw her hand me the
book. He sat up in Matt's lap and, taking the book from my hands, opened it
up to the first chapter and handed it back to me. I looked at Matt who
smiled and nodded his head at me.

"I think you're 'on', love." he smiled.

I looked at Brian who looked back at me expectantly and then I looked back
at the page. Now, I could read, of course, but I always hated reading aloud
when we did it in school. I always became self-conscious and would sound
like I was practically illiterate. The other kids used to laugh at me and
those were painful memories I'd just as soon forget. But, there was Brian,
the boy I already thought of as my son, looking up at me expectantly. I
cleared my throat and started to read.

"Chapter One, In which we are introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh and Some Bees,
and the stories begin..." I began.

I felt a small hand reach out and touch my leg. I looked down and Brian was
laying across Matt's lap on his stomach so that he could touch both of us
at once as he smiled up at me. Suddenly all my fear about reading just
disappeared. No matter how badly I did, Brian was not going to make fun of
me. He was going to enjoy just being with us.

"Once upon a time, a very long time ago now, about last Friday,
Winnie-the-Pooh lived in a forest all by himself under the name of
Sanders..." I continued to the enraptured delight of Brian.

I read and I read until we reached the end of the book. I figured I was
going to have to start over when I noticed someone standing in the
doorway. It was Barry.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked, chagrined to have someone
else privy to my debut as a reader for a child.

"Long enough. I have never seen a more beautiful family in my life." he
said smiling. "I would almost say that Brian has no idea what a lucky
little boy he is, but I think he does. At least the look on his face says
so."

"He's not the only one that's lucky. We feel we are as well, having found
him." Matt said while gently rubbing Brian's back.

"Well, how about we take Brian out of here for a while? It's about lunch
time. We can go somewhere and get lunch." he said.

"Can we stop by a bookstore? I think I want to get him more books." I said.

"Oh, I think that can be arranged." Barry laughed.

We all went out and got into the Lexus. Barry directed us to a mall nearby
that had a Barnes & Nobles bookstore in it. We went to the children's
section and Brian's eyes about popped out of his head! I figured he'd never
seen so many books in his life. A very nice young man about 18 came over
and asked if he could help us. I told him that Brian loved Winnie-the-Pooh
and asked if they had the other books in the series.

"Oh, yes. We have 'The House At Pooh Corner', 'When We Were Very Young' and
'Now We Are Six' by Milne." he said.

"Is there anything else you could recommend as well?" I asked.

"Well...how old is he." the young man asked.

"He's almost five." Matt answered.

"Well, he won't be able to read them himself, but there is a wonderful
series of books about a bear named Paddington. They're by a British author
named Michael Bond. I would also recommend the 'Redwall' series by Brian
Jacques. There are a large number of books in the series. If you're going
to read them to him, he'll probably love them. 'Redwall' is a world of
animals who all talk and have adventures - some of them very
exciting. There is also my personal favorite, The Narnia Chronicles by
C.S. Lewis." the young man said.

"Oh, I know those! I read them as a boy!" Matt said. "They are wonderful!"

"Okay." I said. "We'll take all of them."

"All of them!" the young man exclaimed.

"That's right. All of them." I said.

"Okay, let me gather them up for you." the young man said and began to go
through the shelves of books.

"You don't intend to give them all to him, do you?" Barry asked.

"No, I don't intend to give any of them to him now. We'll have the shipped
home to Fort Lauderdale so that they will be waiting for him in his
room. I'll only keep the Winnie-the-Pooh one's with us and maybe a couple
of the Paddington Bear books if he likes them to read to him while we're
here and perhaps on the plane, if you were able to get permission for him
to come with us." I said.

"Yes, I meant to let you know that. I was able to secure permission for me
to have custody of Brian so that I could observe him in the home
environment." Barry said.

"That's wonderful!" Matt enthused.

"Yeah, that's great! I can't wait for our Dads and Grandma and Grandpa to
meet him!" I said.

The young man came back with a cart full of books.

"Your son is very lucky to have such a generous father." he said to me.

"He's our son." Matt said, looking at the young man.

"Well, he's almost our son. We're adopting him." I said.

"Really? God! That's so cool!" he enthused. "My lover and I have talked
about doing that eventually! We'd love to have a child."

"Well, then this is the man you need to talk to!" I said, indicating Barry.

"How old are you?" he asked the young man. "And what's your name, anyway?"

"I'm Andy. I'm twenty. I know I look younger. People are always mistaking
me for 17 or 18." he said.

"Well, I'll admit I did." I laughed.

"And how long have you and your love been together now?" Barry asked.

"For three years now." he said.

"Well, minimum required time is five years. Here's my card. When you two
reach that point, if you still want to adopt, give me a call." Barry said.

While he was talking to Andy, Brian again surprised all of us. He let go of
Matt's hand, who had been holding him, and walked over to Andy. He reached
up his hand and he took Andy's in his.  Andy looked down at him and smiled
and then squatted down to face him.

"I'm Andy. What's your name." he asked Brian.

Matt let out a little gasp but I just interjected, "His name is Brian,
Andy. He can't speak. He's mute."

"Oh!" Andy said, looking up at me. Then he looked back a Brian, "Brian's a
really nice name. I'm so glad that your Dads brought you to see us today."

Then Brian leaned over and gave Andy a kiss on the cheek before walking
back over and taking Matt's hand again. Andy watched him and I could see in
his eyes the same longing that I knew were in mine when ever I saw a little
boy before we found Brian. This young man would make a wonderful father to
some child. I only hoped it worked out for him and his lover.

Straightening up, Andy looked at Matt and me. "I guess words aren't always
necessary." he said quietly.

"No, they're not, are they?" I said and a look passed between me and Andy
that I knew he knew what I meant. "I really hope that you get your wish
just as we've gotten ours."

"Thank you." Andy said quietly. "And thank you for giving me hope." he said
to Barry.

We took the 'Paddington Bear' books which turned out to be small paperbacks
and the 'Pooh' books with us and arranged with Andy to have the rest
shipped to Fort Lauderdale. We returned to the car and Barry found us a
wonderful Italian restaurant for lunch. They offered a children's menu -
something that Matt and I were going to have to think about from now on -
and I read it to Brian. He indicated that he wanted spaghetti and
meatballs. I ordered Fettuccini Alfredo and Matt ordered Penne Ala
Vodka. Barry, like Brian ordered spaghetti and meatballs but an adult sized
portion.

The food was delicious and we discovered that Brian had quite an appetite!
He not only finished all the spaghetti and meatballs he was also eating
from my plate and Matt's, too! When all the food was gone, I asked him if
he was still hungry. He nodded enthusiastically so I also ordered him a
dish of chocolate gelato (an Italian ice dessert). He was enraptured with
it and I turned to Matt.

"Another 'chocoholic' in the making!" I laughed.

"Like father, like son!" Matt grinned.

I caught Barry just staring at the three of us and asked if anything was
wrong.

"No. On the contrary, if I didn't know better, I'd swear that Brian was
your natural child and you'd been a family since his birth! I've never seen
a couple bond with a child so quickly and so naturally. It's amazing. I'm
starting to believe that maybe God did have a hand in all this." he said.

"Don't ever doubt it!" Matt grinned.

When we got back to the car, I asked Barry if there was a park anywhere we
could take Brian which maybe had swings so that we could let him ride them?
He directed us a few blocks away and there was a very nice park called
Robert L. Burns Park on Beverly Boulevard. There we played with Brian for a
couple of hours, taking turns swinging him and watching him climb all over
a 'jungle gym'.

"I wished we'd thought to bring a ball to toss around with him." I said to
Matt.

"A football, no doubt!" Matt laughed.

"Or a baseball." I said. "I started in t-ball when I was about his age."

"Yes, but you're a Sagittarius remember!" Matt kidded me. "Rick says that's
why you were so into sports and such a handful."

"Hey, that reminds me! Barry, when does he turn 5?" I asked.

"Sometime in early August, if my memory serves." Barry said, sitting down,
relaxing under a tree.

"Oh! Good!" Matt laughed.

"Why is that good?" I asked.

"Rick is going to have a field day with this!" Matt laughed.

"Why?" I asked him.

"Well, you know how into Astrology he is. He's even taught me some of it."
Matt said.

"I didn't know that." I said, looking at him.

"Well...we decided to keep that kind of between us because we know that you
and Mike don't believe in it." Matt said.

"I don't disbelieve it either. So why is Rick going to have a field day?" I
asked.

"Well, do you know about the four elements - Earth, Air, Fire and Water?"
he asked.

"Yeah, I seem to remember something about it. Aren't you a fire sign?" I
asked.

"Yes, I'm and Aries. And Sagittarius is a fire sign as well. The third fire
sign on the Zodiac is Leo.  If Barry's correct about Brian's date of birth,
then he's a Leo so we will be a family of all fire signs! Just like you and
your Dads." he said.

"Well...that's good!" I said.

"Yes, it probably is. At least we'll all understand each other." Matt
grinned.

We eventually had to take Brian back to the group home. He seemed to
understand that we would be back the next day to see him again. Barry
invited us to dinner with he and Frank and we accepted. We spent a lovely
evening with them, talking about our lives and how we had ended up
together.

Barry and Frank had met their first year at college and had fallen in love
with each other almost from the start. They'd spent five years together on
campus while Barry got his M.S.W. and Frank entered the Ph.D. program. He
had about a year to go. Even before Barry got his degree, he'd gotten a job
with the State of California working in foster care so that Barry could
continue with his degree. Barry had made supervisory level about six months
before. His career was starting out very well.

Barry was amazed at our story, with us becoming lovers so young. What, of
course, puzzled him the most was how we had managed to remain completely
faithful to one another.

"How did you guys avoid the temptation - especially in high school?" he
asked.

"What temptation?" I asked and Matt started laughing.

"What temptation? The temptation of all those other high school jocks that
you were around all the time." he said.

"There was no temptation, Barry. There never has been. There's nobody that
I've ever wanted but Matt. It's a simple as that. From the moment I saw
him, I had one idea in my head and only one - I wanted Matt to be mine. I
wanted to hold him in my arms and make love to him forever.  That's
it. Nobody holds a candle to him." I said.

"And you feel the same way?" Barry asked Matt.

"Absolutely. The minute I saw him, it was like this little voice went off
inside my head saying, 'He's the one!'." Matt said.

"Do you hear these voices often?" Frank joked.

"Not too often." Matt replied. "I hadn't heard it for a very long time
until yesterday. When we first saw Brian. There was that voice again,
saying the same thing - 'He's the one.'."

We spent the next day with Brian again at the center. We both read to him
all day and then even went outside and played with him. I'd bought a small,
rubber ball at a store near the hotel and Brian and I played toss. I was
surprised, he had a good arm! He also seemed to have good hand- eye
coordination. Maybe he would go out for football or baseball! We explained
to Brian that the next day we were all going to go for a trip on an
airplane and he was going to get to see where we lived and meet our Dads
and our Grandparents. He seemed to understand this. He hugged and kissed us
before we left and then one of the workers took him back to his room. He
was still clutching one of the 'Paddington Bear' books I had been reading
to him.

The following day, we were up early again, checking out of our rooms. We'd
made arrangements to meet Barry at the center at 9:00 a.m. We had a 12:15
flight out of LAX and this would give us enough time to turn in the rental
car and make it through security. We had been able to book seats on the
plane in coach which gave us three seats across so that Brian could sit
between Matt and me. We got a seat for Barry on the aisle just across from
us.

Brian was absolutely fascinated with the airport and especially the planes
taking off and landing, just as I'd been when I was his age. I still
remembered that flight from New York to Fort Lauderdale when Mike and Rick
first brought me home. I wasn't scared at all. I knew that they were there
to protect me and I remembered how huge they seemed to me at the time - and
how strong. I realized that Matt and I probably appeared the same way to
Brian now.

The airlines had changed since I was a little boy, however. There were no
trips to the flight deck of the aircraft and I noticed that several
passengers looked at Brian with some trepidation. I guess they were afraid
that he would scream and carry on during the flight. None of them could
know, of course, that Brian couldn't speak.

It is a very long, exhausting flight from LA to Fort Lauderdale, even
flying non-stop as we were.  Luckily we had packed all of the
Winnie-the-Pooh and Paddington Bear books in our carry on cases so Matt and
I took turns reading to Brian the whole trip. He just sat in the lap of
which ever of us was reading to him, smiling and enraptured by either the
story or us or both - I couldn't tell which.

As I was on the aisle across from Barry, while Matt read to him, Barry and
I had a chance to talk.

"You know you really don't have to stay in a hotel. My Grandparents have a
guest room and would love to have you." I told him.

"And if it was Frank and I coming down for a vacation to visit you, that
would be fine. But the agency requires that I have some 'professional
distance' from the prospective parents and will be expecting me to be
turning in receipts for the hotel room, even if you're paying for it."
Barry explained.

"Oh. Does Brian have to stay at the hotel with you?" I asked cautiously.

"Well, they'd probably prefer it that way but since they are not going to
know, I'd just as soon let Brian spend the nights with you and Matt. It
will help with the bonding - not that there's much need of that - and it
will also give me a better idea of how you will handle full-time
parenting. It will also give you some experience with that. It will help
you both decide for sure that you want to be full-time parents." Barry
said.

"Barry, I keep telling you - we made that decision a long time ago. After
meeting Brian, there's no way we would ever change our minds about that." I
grinned.

When we landed at Fort Lauderdale, Matt grabbed the carry on bags while I
carried Brian. As I walked up the sloping walk to leave the secure gate
area, I could see our Dads and Grandparents waiting for us. I remember so
long ago, Mike carrying me to meet my Grandparents just as I was carrying
the boy that I hoped was to be my son to meet Mike, Rick, Grandma, Grandpa,
Matt's Dad and his lover Brian.

I walked up to Mike and looked into his eyes. I knew he had been thinking
the same thing I had because his eyes were filled with tears but had a far
away look in them.

"Mike, I want you to meet Brian who I'm going to make our son." I said and
Mike enfolded both of us in his arms and tears poured from both our eyes as
Brian leaned over and kissed Mike gently on the cheek.

THE END of Part 26 of SUBIC SURRENDER.
MICHAEL'S STORY - Part 11

If you like the story, write me at rimpigfl@yahoo.com. 

I have a lot of other stories on NIFTY. If you want a complete list, write
me and I'll be glad to send it to you.

RimPig