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Jared the Paramedic III ~ Redemption
Copyright © 2018-2019 Snowblind. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 40: A Question of Gifts
THIS STORY IS COPYRIGHT © 2018-2019 BY SNOWBLIND. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DISTRIBUTION FOR COMMERCIAL GAIN, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, POSTING ON SITES OR NEWSGROUPS, DISTRIBUTION AS PARTS OR IN BOOK FORM (EITHER AS A WHOLE OR PART OF A COMPILATION) WITH OR WITHOUT A FEE, OR DISTRIBUTION ON CD, DVD, OR ANY OTHER ELECTRONIC MEDIA WITH OR WITHOUT A FEE, IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED WITHOUT THE AUTHOR'S WRITTEN CONSENT. YOU MAY DOWNLOAD ONE (1) COPY OF THIS STORY FOR PERSONAL USE; ANY AND ALL COMMERCIAL USE EXCEPTING EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS REQUIRES THE AUTHOR'S WRITTEN CONSENT. THE AUTHOR MAY BE CONTACTED AT: snowblind94@yahoo.ca
It was a few days after the sweat and Patrick and Adam were watching TV with Frank at his condo. Frank was in his comfortable Lazy-Boy giving the two young men a dirty look. Adam was rubbing one cheek of his ass but had a smile on his face. Patrick was trying not to smirk as he was rubbing one of the cheeks of his ass as well.
"I cannot believe you two," said Frank.
"I'm sorry, Dad. We didn't know you would be getting home so early," replied Adam.
Frank ignored the comment, "Where are the other two?"
Patrick replied, "They went to get a couple of DVD's to watch from a buddy and some snacks too."
"What is the number one rule in this house, you little brats?" asked Frank sternly, but with a smirk on his face.
"No having sex in the kitchen?" asked Adam innocently.
"I thought it was the living room," Patrick said to his boyfriend.
Frank rolled his eyes, "I'm going to add those to the list."
Adam smirked again, "When trimming pubic hair, clean up the bathroom after yourself?"
Patrick looked at Adam, "You're native, have you started to grow pubic hair? Let me see," as he pulled at Adam's pants.
Adam played being indignant, "I have a few of them. Long, straight and thick black ones. You need a weed whacker to trim your bush, Pat."
Frank was trying to remain serious as he listened to the two young men.
"I'm blond! And the drapes match the carpet but being blond there isn't much hair on my body."
"I know what it is," Adam said. Frank rolled his eyes as the young man said, "Piling the dishes on the counter over top of the dishwasher is like taking a shit on top of the closed lid of the toilet. Close, but no cigar."
"Your humour is definitely changing now that you're becoming a policeman, Adam." The young man smirked his answer at Frank.
Patrick sat up and raised his hand like in school, "I know, I know. Don't leave used rubbers on the floor."
"You know I could get up and smack both your asses again, don't you?" asked Frank.
Before they could reply, the front door to the place opened and then slammed. Frank sat back in his chair and stared at the ceiling as he said, "The other two are back. God help the door."
Conner and Mark came bouncing into the family room with a couple of bags. "Hey Dad," they both said.
"Freeze," said Frank. Both the young men did.
"Your brothers here are having a problem remembering the number one rule in this house. I caught them breaking it and they each got a slap on their ass not only to wake them up but to move. What is the rule?" Frank asked.
Mark looked at Adam and Patrick who were giving them big puppy-dog eyes, "You didn't, did you?"
They both nodded yes.
Conner looked disgusted, "I got my ass smacked a couple of times for doing that."
Adam got down onto his knees, Patrick following his example. They both crawled over and sat in front of Frank. "We're sorry we sat in your chair."
Patrick pointed at Adam, "What he said, Dad."
"I take it you didn't tell him about having sex on his chair earlier," Mark added.
"You did what???" Frank said as he reached for the two boys. He pulled them forward and gave both another smack on their asses.
Patrick got up and dove onto Mark who was sitting on the couch, "You peckerhead. That was a secret."
Adam attacked as well. The four young men were wrestling on the couch but soon ended up on the floor. Frank just sat in his chair and watched the boys playing. Soon enough, they slowed down and laid on the floor in a heap.
"You know guys, it gets pretty quiet around here now," Frank lamented.
Conner got up and wedged himself next to Frank on the chair. He leaned his head on Frank's shoulder. Mark moved and got on the other side. "We miss the cuddle time, Frank," said Conner. "You're the first person who ever allowed me to cuddle like this."
Frank put his arm around both the young men. "I miss this too, guys."
"Seeing everyone is here; Patrick, what are your plans for your high school grad?" asked Frank.
Patrick was laying on his back, Adam next to him. "I hadn't thought of it much. I can't afford a tux rental."
Adam rolled over onto his side facing Patrick, "That's not a problem. Do you want to go to the grad dinner and dance?"
Patrick rolled onto his side facing Adam, "Only if I could go with you. Each grad gets their ticket and can purchase up to 20 additional tickets for the dinner, but they are each $25. Including me, that would be 17 tickets, along with mom, her boyfriend, Adam, Tyler, Troy, Grandfather Mathew, Grandfather Tom, Frank, Conner, Mark, Liam, Jared, Jesse, Zane, Nikita, and Trevor. I would love to take all you guys, but I just can't afford it. It's not important."
"We could each pay for our own tickets," suggested Conner.
Patrick rolled onto his back again. "Thanks, but it's not that big of a deal; I'm getting my diploma and that's all I need. The sooner I'm out of school the sooner I can get on with real life."
"If you were able to go, would you feel safe going as a gay couple to the school?" asked Frank.
Patrick thought for a moment, "The school is fairly liberal although a few have made some rude comments about the possibility of a few gay students coming with dates to the grad. There are a few who don't like any LGBTQ2 people, but you'll find those anywhere in life. The school students actually aren't that bad."
Frank thought for a moment and asked again, "How would you feel about it?"
"With Adam and my brothers, I would have no trouble going. I'm going to face criticism for being gay for the rest of my life but that will not deter me from doing anything I want to accomplish. As I said, the students are pretty good and the vast majority of the teachers are great there too, so I would have no fears."
"Ok, Patrick," Frank replied as he was in deep thought. "Let's get the movies going and the snacks open." The flurry of movement was amazing as Conner started to load the DVD, Mark got drinks, Adam grabbed bowls for the snacks, and Patrick gave everyone napkins. As soon as the movie started, the two couples were snuggled and ready to watch it. Frank was still thinking about Patrick's grad.
The next day Frank patrolled by the ambulance base to see if Jared was in his office. As he came in through the front door, he heard a blood-curdling scream from within the building. Frank rushed around the corner to where he knew the offices were located. As he made the turn he heard a strange sound coming from Melanie's office which he couldn't immediately grasp. Suddenly, ping pong balls started pouring out her office door and into the hallway.
From within the office, Frank heard, "Jared, if I get my hands on him or you..." The ping pong balls were still spilling out into the hallway, but at a slower pace now. Frank moved slowly from his end of the hallway towards the office door noting that Rob and Dawn were doing the same from the other end of the hallway.
The sound of moving ping pong balls (similar to walking through water with rubber boots) was heard from Mel's office, and more balls started to fly out towards her as they bounced off the walls. She went down the hallway two offices and looked into Jared's office.
"You little bastard, crawling out through the window won't help you," as she lunged into the office. A moment later she could be heard yelling, "I didn't think that fat ass of yours could make it through the window. You better run from me, both of you!"
Melanie came out of Jared's office and looked around. First, she saw Rob and Dawn and then Frank. She started laughing until she couldn't catch her breath.
Dawn finally approached her, "I told you that you had underestimated his abilities to prank you."
"You're right. He really is much more devious than I gave him credit for."
Rob asked, "How did he do it?"
Melanie replied, "Stroke of pure genius. He had installed cardboard above the false ceiling tiles like a big hopper bin. Then he had the ceiling tile above my desk rigged with a string which ran into Jared's office. It's still hanging there. He pulled the string, the ceiling slid open and the rest you see around us."
Frank had moved closer, "He must have been buying ping pong balls from everywhere in North America to get this many."
"You should've seen them going out the windows in Jared's office. Liam was almost stuck except Jared was pulling Liam under his armpits to get him through. I'm sure it's his chocolate-cheesecake-eating fat ass that was the problem."
Frank started laughing finally now that he felt it was safe to do so.
"Just in time to help clean up Frank," said Melanie as she gave him the evil eye.
"My radio just paged me," as Frank began to back up the hallway.
"Typical man," she replied as she turned to where Rob and Dawn had been. Melanie yelled down the hallway, "Don't you two forget who signs your paychecks!"
Frank was out the door before she could say anything more to him. He looked at where he had parked the police car and saw an ambulance parked behind it. Frank walked over to the driver's side where he found Jared. "Liam hiding in the back?"
From the back of the unit, Frank heard, "Damn right I am."
Jared just smiled.
"Let's go for coffee. I have something to discuss with you. I need help and guidance."
"Let's go to Second Cup," the voice in the back called out.
"Jared, you can come in but leave the boy toy in the back."
"Boy toy! You're so old you old fart..." The words disappeared as Jared rolled the window up and began to drive away.
Liam had a large cup of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee in front of him looking as life was good.
"I can't believe coffee sidetracks him so easily," Frank offered.
Jared smiled, "I've got him to do a few things for a cup of coffee."
Frank stuck fingers in each ear and started to say, "La lalalalalalalala."
Liam stuck his tongue out at both of them.
Frank dropped his hands, "But seriously, Patrick's grad is coming up. We talked about it last night and he's not even planning on attending it."
"I didn't know that," Jared replied. "He's avoided any questions we've asked about his plans."
"I've noticed that as well. I watched a couple of movies with all four of them last night and realized how quiet the house had become when they are elsewhere. We used to do that a lot before; sitting together and watching movies."
"You need a girlfriend," Liam stated before taking a sip of his coffee.
"Funny you say that. My ex-wife and I are going on a date tomorrow night. We've been getting along very well since I've accepted the fact I was a terrible parent and husband."
Jared smiled, "That would be really nice."
"We'll see what happens. But, let's talk about Patrick. He told me he can't afford his suit, and he can't afford to buy up to 20 dinner tickets for family and friends at $25 each. Patrick did say he would have no problem going to the ceremony with all of us, but that it would never happen."
Liam looked concerned, "If we pooled our money, we could do it. Or maybe I could call John to free up some money for me from my accounts to pay for dinner."
Jared smiled at his husband as he took Liam's hand into his.
"I can help with some money, a couple of hundred is all I can spare," Frank said with fear. "I mean, that makes me sound cheap..."
"On the contrary Frank, knowing your financial situation from what you've told me previously, it's a wonderful commitment," Jared said quickly. "It's from the heart."
"I wish I could do more, but I thought if we all helped out a little..." Frank started to say but was cut off by Jared.
"Frank, he is family and we look after all the family members. His graduation is in what, two weeks?"
"That's about right," Frank confirmed. "What can I do to help?"
"Did he say who he would like to take with him?" asked Jared. "I mean besides Adam, Tyler, Troy, and his mom."
"He said he would love to be able to take his mom, her boyfriend, Adam, Tyler, Troy, Grandfather Mathew, Grandfather Tom, me, Conner, Mark, you two, Jesse, Zane, Nikita, and Trevor. He said it with clouds in the tops of his eyes, and tears on the bottom. He put up a real brave front to deny it meant anything to him at all. He said he just wanted his diploma, that was all that was important."
Liam squeezed Jared's hand, "He's lived on nothing and gone without anything for his entire life. His mother has been wonderful and provided everything she could..."
"I understand what you're saying. He's given up a lot that others his age take for granted and never complained" Frank added.
Jared had just drained the last of his coffee and said, "I'll talk to Grandfather."
Patrick was sitting at home in his room studying for a final when his mom knocked on his bedroom door, "Patrick, you have a visitor."
He got up and headed to the door, opening it he saw Grandfather standing in the entrance way to the apartment at the other end of the hallway. The young man rushed to him, "Grandfather, I'm honoured you're here. What can I do for you?"
"Well, Anna offered me tea, maybe you could have one too?"
"Of course, Grandfather." Patrick showed Mathew where the kitchen table was, and after his guest was seated, he helped his mother prepare the tea.
"Did you drive old Bertha here?" asked Patrick with a smile.
"This time I drove the new jeep Jared bought for me," the old man replied. Then with a smirk, "I didn't think I would bump into him today so I left Bertha at home." Both Patrick and Mathew laughed at the last statement. Patrick explained to his mother what had been happening with Bertha, the new Jeep and how Grandfather was driving Jared nuts with them. When Mathew explained he bought a new muffler and cut the holes into it, Anna almost spilled the tea she was pouring.
Finally, Patrick asked, "Grandfather, I love having tea with you but may I ask why you chose today to come for a visit?"
Anna was about to say something to her son when Mathew cut her off. "No worries, Anna. Patrick is speaking to me the way we've been teaching him. A polite, direct question being asked to redirect the conversation. Very good, my son."
Patrick nodded his head in acknowledgment.
"Patrick, your grad is coming up so I wished to give you my gift."
"Grandfather, no gift is necessary for my grad. Just being part of the family is the gift of a lifetime."
"There are times you accept the gift for yourself, such as on a birthday. There are also times you accept a gift, not for you, but for your friends and family to enjoy."
"I don't understand, Grandfather."
"You have explained to people that your grad is not important to you as long as you get your diploma. I accept that explanation."
Anna was surprised, "Patrick, I didn't realize you felt that way about your grad."
The young man looked at the table for a moment, then at his mother. "The grad is a huge expense, and not necessary. To me, it's a luxury item where even if I did have the money, it would be better spent in other ways."
His mother waited for a moment before saying, "I didn't let you get a part-time job so you could focus on your studies, and having fun as a kid. I've been working extra shifts and saving for years so I could pay for your suit rental and dinner for us."
Patrick had tears in his eyes as he moved to hug his mother. "Thank you, mom... but no. You could use that money in other ways."
After a couple of moments, Anna finally said, "We'll need to discuss this further later.
Mathew raised his hand, "If I may..."
Patrick sat down in his chair again. Anna nodded to Mathew to continue.
"As Patrick has been accepted into our family, he also gets the benefits associated with it. One of them is my gift for his grad." Mathew raised his hand to signify Patrick to remain silent while he spoke, which he did. "He is my grandson now, and I wish my family to celebrate this young man's accomplishment of graduation. You and Patrick have worked very hard to get him here."
"I didn't do it alone. Troy and Tyler, as well as the rest of them in recent years, have done so much to help him grow as a young man."
"Which makes this celebration for the entire family very important. Patrick, the one type of gift is for you to use while this type of gift is for everyone to enjoy."
"I think I understand, Grandfather." The old man nodded to his grandson.
"Good." Grandfather pulled an envelope out from under his old jean jacket and gave it to Patrick. While Patrick was opening it, Mathew continued, "My gift to you and the family is this. There is an appointment card for you to be fitted for a grad suit, and there are 20 tickets for the dinner and ceremony. Additionally, I have arranged for you and your guests to arrive in a very special way which will set some of the snobs back onto their butts."
Patrick was emptying the envelope, reading the tailor's card, then a dress shop card for his mother, counting the tickets, and reading another letter. He handed it to his mother to read.
"This is too much Grandfather," Patrick said.
"This is for you and my family; it is not too much."
Patrick's mother said, "Mathew, the money you spent on this..."
"No one may have explained that I live a very basic life, needing very little. Although I may appear to be a needy person it is far from the truth. I spend nothing on my needs, but I enjoy spending it on the needs of my grandchildren. Before you say anything, consider this. A poor man may wear silk clothing to look rich, but he's still poor. A well off man may wear jeans to fit in with everyone else, but he's still a well off man. Another type of man wears simple clothes but lives the life associated with those clothes. No one knows if he is poor or well off, and I like it that way."
It took a moment before Anna began to understand. Patrick took a moment longer to grasp what had been said to them.
Mathew continued, "If I couldn't afford it, I wouldn't do it. It's as simple as that. Patrick, I have spoken."
Patrick lowered his head for a moment, and when he raised it again his eyes were full of tears. He jumped out of his chair and embraced the old man. "Thank you, Grandfather. I love you and the family so much."
"We know grandson; we all love you too. Let us celebrate your achievement with you."
"I don't know what to say," Anna said through tears.
"Nothing needs to be said."
"Grandfather, this letter about me going to school in the fall to learn how to fly the helicopter, it's for real?"
"Is it what you want to do, my son?"
"Yes, it is."
"Then go learn and come back to the job which is being offered to you."
"I'll think about it, Grandfather. But right now I've got my exams and my grad to get through first."
Mathew drank the last of his tea and stood to leave. "I must get going home now. Thank you for the tea." He got hugs from both Patrick and his mother before he left the apartment.
End of Chapter Forty
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