The Village

Seth’s Perspective

Saturday morning was loud and obnoxious in our house. The kids were so excited to go see their mother and were basically unbearable. They were up early (like 5 frigging AM on a Saturday) pounding on our bedroom door. Izzy refused to wear anything other than her princess dress and tierra, and Freddy had to wear his pirate garb to the detention center… nothing else would do. They made me bring the iPad with the vacation movie Brody made on it, there was a chance the guards wouldn’t let me take it in, but they insisted that I try. I pity the guard that told Izzy ‘no’. After we ate breakfast, Zach cleaned the house a little bit, and I spent some time in the garden. Izzy and Freddy ran around the house and yard playing… It was like they were on speed or something, they were so excited. FINALLY, it was time to go to the detention center.

There’s a whole routine you have to go through, the four of us had all been preapproved to visit so it was more of just a security check for us. When we walked in, the guard working the metal detector recognized the kids, “Freddy and Izzy” he said with a smile before commenting on their costumes. Poor Burt the security guard got an earful about princesses and pirates and A-cation in general. He was getting a kick out of it. After a minute he turned his attention to me and asked, “where’s Ms. Elkin today?” It was clear he had let them all in before. I explained that the adoption had been finalized and that Zach or I would be supervising the visits forward, Zach swooped in behind me and handed him some paperwork the judge had given us.

Burt looked it all over, checked our ID’s and let us through. “Only three of you can be in the room with her” he said. We nodded in understanding as we walked through the metal detector. I asked him about the iPad, he was hesitant at first until the kids pulled out their puppy dog eyes and he gave in, “but you need to stop back here before you leave and show me the iPad so I know you’re not leaving it wither. And you won’t be able to get a connection in there.”

“That’s fine, we uploaded a home movie that the kids want to show her” Zach said. He knew how to work the system better than me… Burt let us through. We went into a waiting room, then me and the kids were escorted to a cold room with drab walls and lots of reinforced windows, it was like being in a fishbowl. The kids were disturbingly comfortable with it all (it killed me that this was the world they knew).

We waited for several minutes until they came in with Karen, there were no partitions in the tiny room, just a table and chairs and Karen was allowed to hug the kids. “What a great surprise you guys!” Karen said, her voice was deep and gravely. “I couldn’t believe it when they told me you were coming.” Izzy and Freddy hugged her and were talking over each other. “Calm down you two” she said and then laughed when she realized they were dressed up as a princess and a pirate. She gushed over their outfits before looking over at me. “Hi, Seth. What are y’all doin’ here on a Saturday?”

“Hey Karen, you look good” I lied. She looked like hell! She looked like, well… like a prisoner who hadn’t seen daylight for weeks. “We took the kids to Disney with some friends and they could NOT wait to tell you everything and show off their outfits. I hope you don’t mind, but they wanted to see you so bad.”

“Mind? Hell no! I’d see ‘em every day if I could” she said then looked down as if she was trying not to cry.

Freddy broke the tension with, “Momma, Momma, I was a pirate and got to go on an adventure and rode in a car that turned into a boat and then we met Goofy and…”

Then Izzy joined in with “I a pwincess, and Wella wide in the car wif us and…” the two were overwhelming their mother with stories that made no freaking sense to anyone who wasn’t there. They were so excited to tell her everything!

I interrupted the chaos with, “guys, guys! Why don’t you show your momma the movie?” Then I put the iPad on the table and hit play. For the next several minutes Karen watched the video with rambling commentary from the kids explaining every little detail. Karen smiled and laughed several throughout; it was a happy smile with a sadness underneath. She laughed as the kids told her their vacation stories. She roared as she watched Izzy lecture Goofy. Izzy explained to her that he used to be a bad guy but now he’s her friend. The two wee ones were so freaking excited to tell her every detail… Freddy even told her about the hash browns at The Waffle House.

We were only allowed an hour visit hat day (sometimes we got two), the guard came in and gave us a ten minute warning. “Seth, can I talk to you privately?” she asked. I stopped the guard before he left, he took Izzy and Freddy to the waiting room to wait with Zach.

“So, what’s up?” I asked.

“Those kids belong with you. I aint got no business makin’ ‘em come here to see me every month” she started. Then she proceeded to tell me how she felt like she was a distraction and holding them back from moving on and having a better life. Apparently, she had been talking to a counselor a few times a week and she was thinking through what was best for the kids. I just listened as she told me her thoughts (like I do with the guys at The Village), when she was finished, I responded as thoughtfully as I could.

“Listen, Karen. When we were dealing with all the legalities and paperwork, you, me, and Zach all agreed that we would always do what we thought was best for the kids. We made a promise, remember?” She nodded. We had had a lot of discussions like that before the adoption went final and we agreed that if we ever disagreed, we would step back and look at what was best for the kids (even though legally the decisions were ours to make).

“Yup” she said quietly. “And I think it’s best if I just step out of their lives completely. I fucked em up enough already.”

I nodded in understanding, “I can understand why you think that. But those kids love you and they know you love them. Listen they’re young and don’t understand half of what’s going on. Freddy knows that you have to live with the police because you “were bad.” That’s the extent of it, Izzy doesn’t even get that much.” I paused and took her hand in mine as she sat across the metal table from me. “But what they do understand is that you love them. When I put Izzy to sleep at night, I tuck her in, read her a story, and then say I love you. You know what she says in response?”

Karen’s look turned from sadness to curiosity and a smile almost crossed her face, “What?”

“She says… ‘and momma love me’” I said making Karen smile. “Then she goes into this whole diatribe of everyone who loves her. But you’re always first and no matter what happened, those kids always felt loved. When she thinks of love, she thinks of you, I don’t think taking that away from them is the best thing for them. Do you?” She didn’t answer, she just squeezed my hand. “Listen, Karen. You made mistakes…”

She interrupted me, “a LOT of mistakes. I fucked up real bad. Them kids don’t need me around messing up their lives more.”

“Yeah, but through it all you loved them… and they damn well know it. THAT’S what they see. The love, not the mistakes” I said, then decided to take control of the situation. “We’ll be back for our next regular visit, you think long and hard about this and at the end of that visit be ready to tell me if you really think cutting Freddy and Izzy off from the mother they love and who loves them back is the best thing for them. Okay?” She nodded, squeezing my hand harder as she sniffled. Just then the guard came to get her. “Think about it. They love you” were my last words to her before the Guard came in to get her and I went to the waiting room to join my family. Zach asked what was up and I just told him we’d talk later. I was quiet on the ride home and Zach kept looking over at me as the kids entertained themselves in the back seat.

When we pulled into the driveway, Riley’s Mercedes was parked near the house and Grandma and Grandpa Hall were inside with the top down, the tunes flowing, and sipping coffee from to-go cups. Just waiting for us to come home. They got out of the little red convertible and came over to greet us. As soon as we unleashed the kids, they were all over grandma and grandpa, Kelly almost died when she saw the costumes. “What are you guys doing here?” Zach asked his parents.

“Well, we knew the kids had their visit with their mom this morning, and we hoped we could take you all to lunch and then spend the afternoon with the kids” Nathan replied.

“You guys can take the afternoon off” Kelly added. Zach and I exchanged glances then shrugged. We agreed to go to lunch with them and then let them hang out with the kids for the rest of the afternoon. We went into the house and packed up the kids bag for the afternoon away (snacks, juice boxes, wet wipes, all that crap), we also grabbed our swimsuits and put a couple of beach chairs in the back of the Atlas for us… what the hell… an afternoon off spent at the beach sounded good to us. The shiny Mercedes followed behind as we led the way to a little diner near the aquarium (Kelly and Nathan wanted to take the kids there). We got settled into a booth, the kids had their booster seats and we were perusing the menu. The waitress took our order, as soon as she wailed away Kelly said, “We’re so excited to spend the day alone with the kids, but that’s not the only reason we came to town.” She had our attention.

“Well, with all our kids, and now our grandchildren living here…” Nathan started.

“We want to spend more time here” Kelly continued. “So, this morning we made an offer on a Villa in Eli and Riley’s complex.”

“Our plan is to spend more time here, and Air B n’ B it out when we’re not using it” Nathan added. “I have to finish out my term as Mayor for the next couple of years and then I can pretty much work remotely and step back from my law practice a bit. Until then, this is a good compromise.”

Zach and I were caught off guard, we figure this was inevitable, just not so soon. “Um… that’s great!” Zach said.

“Really?” Kelly asked. “Do you really think so, I know it’s kind of intrusive, and I know I’m a control freak, but I figured this way I can soak up my family without moving in and driving everyone nutso.”

“Really. It’s Great” I said sincerely, Zach agreed. Then I asked, “Do Eli and Riley know?”

“We told them this morning before we went to look at the place and make the offer” Kelly said. “We’ve been working with a realtor for a couple of months, when this one came on the market we knew it was right. We wanted to come out and see it in person before we made the offer.”

“We didn’t want to offer until we knew they were okay with us moving a few doors down” Nathan said. “They promised they were good with it. Are you? If not we can still pull out.”

“Absolutely” I said excitedly. “I love having you guys around.”

“Especially when you’re not staying at our already crowded house” Zach added. They were so excited and we truly were happy for them, besides I had gotten used to having Kelly around when I was recovering from my accident. The kids were busy eating and entertaining themselves while we talked, Kelly and Nathan didn’t want to say anything to the kids until it was final.

“So, how was the kids visit this morning?” Kelly asked changing the subject as she took a bite of her club sandwich. I just looked at her, then Zach and shook my head. Zach mouthed to his mother ‘not in front of the kids’ his parents nodded in understanding. We finished our lunch with Kelly talking to the princess and the pirate… yup, they were still wearing their costumes as if it were normal attire.

After lunch, my in-laws loaded the kids into the Atlas and Zach showed his dad all the features, Nathan gave us the keys to the Mercedes and we loaded our gear into it. Then the kids were off to the Aquarium with Grandma and Grandpa and we were off to the beach to relax. We stopped off at the Speedway gas station on the way and got a couple of giant sodas then headed to the beach to relax. Once we were settled in our spot on the beach and I had taken a couple big gulps of my colder than cold soda, Zach asked, “So, what did Karen talk to you about?”

I took a deep breath, “Well, the kids were so excited to see her and they showed her the video and pointed out freaking everything” I told him, he was smiling and laughing as I told the story… It was hilarious how excited the two of them got. “She was smiling and happy… but it was like this sad happy, ya’ know?” I asked and he nodded. “It’s like she loved seeing the kids happy but was miserable that she wasn’t part of it. Anyway, she told me that she thinks it will be best for the kids if she doesn’t see them anymore.”

Zach had a look of surprise on his face, I mean c’mon… the whole reason she voluntarily gave up parental rights to us in the first place was to ensure she didn’t get cut out of their lives. “What did you say?” he asked.

“I reminded her that the three of us promised to do what we thought was best for the kids, and that I didn’t think keeping the kids away from a mother they loved and who loved them back was the best thing for them” then I added, “hell, it would be easier on us not to have to take them for visits, or worry about what happens when she gets out… all the stuff we’ve talked about a billion times. But they love her” I said. “I told her that every time I tell Izzy I love her she says…” Zach cut me off.

“And momma wuv me…” He said laughing.

“Yup, then I told her we would see her at the next visit and she really needed to think about if that was the best thing for the kids” I added.

“You handled that well” Zach said. ”You’re right, it would be less of a hassle if we didn’t have to deal with her, but the kids would be heartbroken. And how the hell would we explain it to them? Shit, they barely grasp the situation as it is.” We continued to talk about it until our large sodas were gone and we were starting to feel the burn of the sun, then we headed home in the red Mercedes with the top down. I drove while Zach texted his parents who were having shitloads of fun with the kids. “Mom says they’ll be a couple more hours” Zach said, then added, “I’m thinking a shower to rinse the sand off… and of course shower sex.”

I laughed, then answered, “I’m in” and I hit the gas a little harder roaring towards home. We parked the Mercedes, got out, and started walking towards the house side by side holding hands.

Zach dropped my hand, smacked my ass, and yelled, “Last one naked bottoms” then ran into the house. I ran behind him as he darted through the living room towards the old staircase where I caught up to him. We were pushing each other out of the way and pulling each other down giggling like freaking kids as we fought to get up the steps first. In all honesty, I preferred to bottom anyway, but fuck that… Zach challenged me and I was determined to win.

We got to the first landing and Zach got ahead of me and ran up the last couple of steps, so I stopped and got naked right there on the landing and yelled “I’m naked. I’m win.”

“You’re not even in the bathroom yet” Zach protested from the second floor.

“So, what?! You said last one naked bottoms. You’re the last one naked, so get ready to get fucked bottom boy!” I yelled back. Leaving my clothes behind, I made my way up the final steps and to the bathroom where Zach was stripped down to his underwear and just about to step out of them. I stood there naked with my arms in the air and declared myself the winner.

Zach shot me that brilliant, dimpled smile of his and said, “You are such a fucking cheater.”

“You made the rules. I was the first one naked. I win. Now bend the fuck over bottom bitch” I said in a serious tone trying not to crack a smile (I failed and laughed a little). Zach was doing his best to pretend he was mad (he failed too… we were about to have shower sex, who the hell could be mad about that?). Zach came over to me, grabbed my flaccid member, and used it like a leash to pull me into the shower. He turned on the water, it came out cold at first, I jumped at the shock and Zach dropped to his knees and warmed my cold cock with his mouth. The sensation was amazing, my skin was still burning from the sun, my body was cold from the water, and my cock was warm and safe inside Zach’s talented orifice. I stood there under the water with my eyes closed as it turned warmer, just enjoying the ride. Zach worked on me for a while bringing me to the edge and back several times, then he stood and kissed me, put his hands on my ass, and pulled my body into his. His skin had just a touch of pink from our time at the beach and was hot and wet against mine.

In the heat of our passion, I tried to turn him around and push him against the wall but he fought me. “You got this backwards, I’m gonna fuck you” he said trying to turn me around and take control.

“Nope. I won fair and square bottom boy” I joked.

“You cheated!” he claimed still wrestling me.

“You made the rules, it was a legit loophole” I shot back as I got him turned towards the wall. I pushed him forward and he braced himself on the slippery tile, then I dropped to my knees, pulled his cheeks apart and ate out that sweet little pucker. I was feasting on his sweet hole and he was moaning in pleasure, at that point it was clear we both won. My cock was rock hard when I stood up and started soaping my manhood up along with his hole then I put my cockhead against it and pushed.

“Fuck” Zach said with a primal groan. I wrapped my arms around him as I pushed in until my wet pubes smashed against his tight, wet ass. He groaned out another “fuck.” I reached around with a soapy hand and stroked him while I pulled out and pushed in his tight ass fast and hard making him wail in ecstasy over and over. He grunted each time I bottomed out and I kept going until I exploded deep inside of him. I pushed myself all the way in and held my cock there and continued to stroke him faster and faster until he shot his load against the tile. He was bracing himself on the wall when I collapsed on him and pushed him against it. We stood there huffing and puffing, leaning on the wall for support trying not to slip on the wet floor. “Holy shit that was intense” Zach said with the warm water still falling on us. “Sex with you never gets old or boring” then he added with a laugh, “Fuck my asshole is sore.”

We finished showering, soaping each other’s toned, sun-kissed bodies, rinsing ourselves, and drying each other off then got dressed and just cuddled on the couch watching TV until the Halls came home with the kids. Eli and Riley came over a little later with some KFC and we all hung out watching Disney movies with the kids. It was so nice to be home! On Sunday Kelly and Nathan learned that their offer on the villa was accepted and we all went over to meet the realtor and check out their new place before the flew home. Like I said, they were so excited about spending more time near their kids and grandkids… as crazy as Kelly could get, I loved her and was excited too. The last act of our vacation consisted of all of us going out for ice cream and then following Eli’s Bronco to the airport so the entire family could see grandma and grandpa off.

Monday morning it was back to the grind. Freddy was getting ready to start first grade on Wednesday and was done with all his camps for the summer, so Max invited him to hang out at BroMax with Theodore until school started (thank god Brody and Max both worked from home). I dropped Freddy off around 8:30, by that time BroMax was a hive of activity. The candle barn was going at full steam so Izzy and I got out to say hello to everyone before I dropped her at Mrs. Mavis’s for the day. Uncle Max entertained Izzy in the candle barn while I went upstairs to Brody’s office to check on Asher. After I said good morning to him and Brody I asked, “so how did you do on your own last week?”

“Good” Asher said, leaving it at that.

“Bullshit, he didn’t do good” Brody yelled from his desk. “He did awesome.” Asher just grinned, he was so damn shy. “He finished everything I left for him on the first freakin’ day, then the guys from the Phoenix office kept sendin’ him more and more work. Asher’s the golden child over there right now. My email was full of thank you’s and compliments on Asher.”

I smiled and scrunched my face then looked over at Asher and asked, “Really?”

He turned bright red and smiled, “Yeah, it was easy work and I liked doing it” Asher responded almost embarrassed by his own success.

“And all you answered to me was a simple “good?” I joked. “Ash, that’s awesome. You were so worried about this job being over your head and you’re freaking nailing it!” He just blushed and smiled some more. “Are you ready for your big move this weekend?”

“Yeah” he said quietly, then finally made eye contact with me. “I was packed a week ago. I can’t wait to get out of there. And Daddy found me an old Jetta that just needs a tune up and a paint job and we started working on it over the weekend. He says we should have it ready in about a week or so.” Asher was shifting into motormouth mode. I had learned early on that that meant he was excited.

“What the hell do you know about cars?” I asked with a laugh.

“Not a damn thing” He responded. Asher said damn! I don’t think I’d ever heard him swear before and took it as a sign that he was getting comfortable around us all. “But Daddy James knows EVERYTHING and is telling me what to do. I spent the weekend sanding the body down, we should be ready to put the primer coat on later this week.” He was actually excited… about working on a car for god’s sake. This was a whole new side of Asher. He ranted on for a little longer about his great week, then he kind of just stopped and said “I have to get back to work” then busied himself at his desk. It was an odd transition, but that was Asher.

Brody followed me down to the kitchen in the barn to get a cup of coffee before I wrangled Izzy and hit the road. “So, did he really do well?” I asked Brody in confidence.

“He did Amazing. The head of production in Phoenix sent me a long email with a list of stuff he cranked out and said he did more work than the other four production artists combined.”

“Seriously?” I asked in elated shock.

“Yup” he said. “The only negative is that they said he never took a break.”

“That’s a negative?” I asked. “I mean if the guy wants to work let him go.”

“Well, they question if he even went home at night. He was here late, sent files all night long, and here early” Brody said. “Ricky confirmed that he was here before him and left after him every night, and that they invited him to come down for lunch every day but he never made it down.” I remember when I was researching Klinefelter syndrome I read that often they get so intensely involved in what they’re doing that they might not take a break to eat, sleep, or even go to the bathroom sometimes, I shared that with Brody.

“I’ll make him take breaks now that I’m back” Brody said. “He’s already impressed the hell outta everybody in Phoenix, he can take a breather.” I was glad to hear he was doing well, but concerned that he might push himself too hard… especially once school was back in session. Brody and I agreed to keep a collective eye on him.

“C’mon, Izz! I yelled through the candle barn. “Say goodbye, time to go to daycare.” She came running as she yelled her goodbyes to all the guys. She stopped to give “Unko Mac” a big hug around the knees before she bolted towards the Atlas. I buckled her in and we were off to daycare. When we got there you would’ve sworn that she and Maggie hadn’t seen each other in decades (even though they spent almost an entire week together and just had Pizza together on Friday night). Poor Mrs. Mavis was in for a day of vacation stories straight from the mouths of two princesses.

Gina and I talked briefly, I updated her on Nathan and Kelly’s plans to move near us. Then I said my goodbyes and headed for the office.

Taylor called me while I was on the way in, “Hey Seth. I got your message and just wanted to let you know that everything is alright.” Then he changed the subject. “How was your vacation?”

“It was awesome… but where are you?” I asked not falling for his deflection tactic.

He was silent for a moment, then I heard him take a deep breath. “The parking lot of the Greene County State Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania” he said in a monotone voice.

“What the hell are you doing there!” I asked.

“My father somehow tracked me down, the prison called and said he wanted to see me” he sighed, “I said yes and drove up here to see him.”

  

To be continued…