The Village

Max’s Perspective

It was Saturday morning, and after two great days of family time, I was back at it. I had gotten a good night’s sleep but by 7AM I was up, dressed, and at the new plant putting the final touches on the new place before our grand opening. There was a Small Business Saturday event in the Waterfront District and our grand opening was at the center of it all. The Mayor and the head of the Chamber of Commerce were coming for a ribbon cutting ceremony at noon, then we were open for business. I had hired Colton to make finger foods and we were serving wine to draw a crowd. Brody was offering a free Sip & Paint class, Mason was leading a free Sip & Pour candle class, and Ricky planned on having a small crew of villagers working so he could give tours of the plant in action. It was a big fucking deal for all of us and I was stressed out… I had been working towards this day for years and it had finally arrived.

The retail space was ready to go thanks to Mason, I had promoted him to head of retail and he jumped in headfirst. He had procured an amazing collection of locally produced artisan gifts and art, and struck the right balance between that and our own products, the store was like no other and I was proud of it. There was an entire section of Brody’s BroMax Farm line of gifts that had been sold primarily online up until now.

I toured the rooms set up for the ‘BroMax Sip &’ events, they were perfectly set-up and had a fun, artsy feel to them. The old church felt more like a center for creativity, like a public art studio… Brody’s influence was shining through. I could never have pulled this off by myself, Brody was my true partner in every sense of the word.

I walked through the plant, it was shining with new equipment, there were some gaps where the equipment form the barn would be installed but it was more than functional as it was. It was so much bigger than the barn and we would be able to produce like ten times as much. We could more than meet our current needs and had room for the future expansion… it was a huge step up. I Walked up the old, wooden steps to the former choir loft and into my new office. I opened the French doors that looked onto the floor of the plant. I looked down and muttered to myself “holy fuck, this is real.” I could hardly believe that it was all really happening… my little candle hobby had turned into a profitable business venture, but it was so much more. Thanks to Seth’s work with The Village, we opened so many doors for so many young adults who thought they were alone and out of options. My grandfather believed in me, he believed I could do this… and to be honest, I’m not sure I believed it as much as he did, but there I was. “Hey Grandpa, Thanks for believing in me. I hope you’re proud” I said out loud into the empty space.

“Hail yeah, he’s proud of you. So am I, Maxwell” Brody’s voice said from behind me scaring the living shit out of me.

“I didn’t hear you come in’ I said, “What are you doing here? Where’s Teddy?”

“I dropped him off at Seth and Zach’s and came in one of the backdoors, I figured y’all could use some help” he said as he handed me a cup of coffee from Marilee’s across the street. I couldn’t help but smile as I grabbed the cup, like I said… there was no way in hell I could’ve done this without him. I put my arm around my husband as we looked down upon our new venture. “We’re in this shit deep, Maxwell” Brody said with a chuckle. We just stood there looking on for a moment before Brody said, “Okay. What the hail do we gotta get done?” The two of us went to work. I had a five page to-do list and we got through most of it by 9:30 when Ricky showed up with Timmy, Mason, and a team of villagers. They had all walked over from Harrington House together. They greeted us then went right to work, they all knew what had to be done and they did it. We worked for a couple of more hours before I went out to my pickup to get my change of clothes for the ribbon cutting.

We had built a bathroom with a shower upstairs near the offices, I jumped in and got ready for the big event… I barely had enough time to get cleaned up but that didn’t stop Brody. He had locked the door behind him and jumped into the smallish shower with me… nekkid. “I thought y’all could use a little stress relief before you cut the ribbon on this ole’ bitch” he whispered with a chuckle as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pushed his flaccid member into my wet crack. I was stressed and, in a hurry, but Brody was on a mission. I could feel him growing hard as he continued to push against my ass.

“Brody, stop. I got like fifteen minutes before the mayor and everyone else get here” I protested. Well, kind of protested. I pushed my ass into him and wiggled it around.

Brody laughed, “I only need five. Yeah, keep wriggling that hot ass against me, Maxwell. That really says “stop”.” I could feel his hot cock against my ass crack, he was almost at full mast when he reached down, grabbed it, and slapped It against my ass checks, the sound of the slap filled the tiny shower stall. I groaned quietly as I stroked myself with one hand while braced myself against the stall wall with the other. Brody soaped himself up then pushed his way into my tight hole. “Gotdammit, Maxwell that little fire hole is tight as hail” he whispered as he fucked me. He used slow strokes as he moved in and out, his hand replaced my own on my crimson firestick and his strokes matched those of his cock going in and out of me. I got lost in the moment and it almost felt like I was fucking myself as my cock and ass were both being stimulated in total harmonious bliss.

I was freaking out over the big event about to happen downstairs and all the stress that goes with success, yet I couldn’t resist the pure pleasure coursing through my body. “Fuck me, Brody. Yeah, fuck me” I begged in a desperate whimper.

I heard Brody snicker in my ear, “I knew what you needed, Big Red” then he started pumping harder and faster. Each thrust resulted in a guttural grunt from deep inside me. My hole clamped tightly on the one cock that I believed was created specifically to fill my hole. “Oh, fuck yeah, Maxwell. Grip onto me, hail yes! Squeeze that hot ass around me” he comanded as his lust took over and he fucked me with all he had. It took just a few minutes before he shot his hot load into my bowels with a mighty thrust. He bit down on my lobe and then his tongue into my ear. He pulled out of me, smacked my ass hard, and said, “There, now you should be calm, cool, and collected when the Mayor shows up… go make yerself purdy.” He got out of the shower, dressed and went downstairs. I hurriedly followed suit and headed down the back steps dressed in my finest. I made one last inspection of the place. Ricky had the melters running and the old church smelled like candles. The Villagers had lined up all the jars for pouring and were ready to go. I made my way through the event rooms; they were set up for the “Sip &” demonstrations. When I got to the retail area, I saw Colton and his team had the food set up and ready for our guests.

Brody was dressed and waiting for me by the giant door that led to the street. “Ya’ look good, Maxwell.” He said with a smile.

“You do too. Damn you clean up nice” I responded. Brody rarely wore a suit, but he wore it well.

“Y’all ready for this?” He asked.

I took a deep breath and nodded before he pushed the doors open. When I stepped out, the Mayor and the head of The Chamber were standing on the steps of the plant, just outside of the door. Bubba was poised in the bucket of a cherry picker ready to pull to tarp off and reveal our new sign after the Mayor cut the ribbon. I saw the crowd… a huge crowd… Teddy was in the front row with Zach, Seth, BA, Daddy, Gina, Dylan, and the rest of the family… including my mother, my father, and my grandmother. I had NO CLUE they were coming! I thought they were still visiting my cousin for Thanksgiving… but there they were in the front row. The employees who were working inside had gathered in front of the building to witness the big event. Father Westin, his boyfriend West, even Wests son and husband were there. Hell, half the town was there… I was NOT expecting that. All the PR Chip’s firm had done for us was paying off, everyone seemed to know about our grand opening; we had gotten a lot of press and people were excited. I noticed Merilee standing across the street on the sidewalk in front of her shop, then I notice a familiar face standing near her… Gerald the father of the two boys who The Village had rescued from the church last year. He had also come to the City Council meeting where they approved our proposal and permits with the intention of taking us down until Zach reminded him about the restraining order The Village had filed against him. Now he was standing across the street at a safe distance of more than fifty feet away from any villagers, he was alone this time. He knew the rules and was making sure he was within the letter of the law… but his presence was enough to fuel me. I’m not sure why he was there… there really wasn’t shit left for him to do. He lost, plain and simple.

I greeted the mayor and local dignitaries then addressed the crowd. “Wow” I said with a chuckle of disbelief. “I am so honored to see all of you here and as excited about this new venture as we are.” I got a little applause and some cheers from the crowd. “Who knew that when my sister in-law Gina invited me to a candle making class several years ago that it would turn into this?” I said holding my hand up and motioning to the church. “This little business that started in my barn has provided opportunities for a lot of people.” I saw Seth standing in the front row and invited him to come up by me. “BroMax Candle Company proudly donates ten percent of all profits to our neighbor down the street, The Village. The Village is a not for profit that also calls the Waterfront District home. They exist to open doors for LGBTQIA Youth and help them become strong, successful contributors to society.” Then I introduced Seth as the CEO of The Village.

Seth greeted the crowd and gave his elevator speech about The Village. He ended with, “BroMax does more than donate ten percent of its profits to The Village. They create opportunities and open doors for our clients, many of whom were cast aside or forgotten… why the hell that is, is beyond me because they are some of the finest people I have ever known.” Seth talked about the accomplishments of The Village and its villagers… he spoke with passion and pride, ending his spiel by making a plea to the crowd to donate and hire. Seth was an incredible spokesperson for The Village… hell, he was The Village.

He turned the spotlight back to me, I looked out into the crowd, and asked, “will anyone out there who has ever been part of BroMax Candle Company, or The Village please join me up on the steps… this moment belongs to you. To all of us. We worked out tails off for this.” Ricky, Timmy, Mason, and some of the other villagers started to make their way up the steps. I looked at the group standing in the front row and started calling folks out. “Zach, Brad, Scotty, bring the kids up here. Mr. and Mrs. J. Mom, Dad, Grandma, please join us. Gina, Dylan, BA, Daddy, Eli, Bubba, Rodney, Vincent, Stella, Taylor, Colton, Maverick, Ray Ray… all of you.” The steps were crowded by the time I looked at the Mayor and said, “We’re honored that you’ve come to welcome us Mr. Mayor. Thank you.”

He smiled and said, “It is with Immense pride that I welcome BroMax Candle Company and its entire crew to The Waterfront District and declare you officially open for business” then he cut the ribbon with the giant scissors. Bubba pulled the cord on the tarp and it fell, revealing our new beautiful BroMax Candle, Co. Sign.

The crowd applauded, I noticed Gerald scowling, and couldn’t resist saying a few more words. “Welcome to the new home of BroMax Candle Company. I wanted to give a special thank you to the previous tenants of this building. You motivated us, all of us, more than anything else. It was you that made us stronger.” My eyes were locked with Gerald’s as I spoke. To the members of the general public who were gathered there my words sounded like a sincere thank you. To everyone who knew the real story they were a declaration of victory.

Brody and I opened the big double doors together and welcomed the crowd that flooded in. Our crew all took their stations and went back to work. People crowded around the tables of food and helped themselves to a glass of wine before browsing the retail shop. Ricky waited until his team was hard at work and then started his first tour of the plant. Brody and Mason talked to the crowd and invited people to join their “Sip &” classes. Yeah, I said Brody talked to the crowd… my husband was always there for me even if it meant stepping out of his comfort zone. He was a true partner.

I made my way over to my mom, dad, and grandma, “What are you guys doing here?!” I asked as I hugged my mother, then my grandma, and lastly my dad.

“There was no way in hell we were going to miss this” my dad said with a smile.

“We changed our flight to take a detour on the way back from Thanksgiving at your cousin Collin’s… this is so much more fun” Grandma said. I was so happy to have them there.

“Where’s Teddy?” My mother asked. Brody and I had taken Teddy to meet my parents after Eli and Riley’s wedding during the summer, but that was the only time they had met their grandson in-person. I did my best to facetime with them regularly so they knew each other, and they were planning on coming at Christmas too.

I yelled for my son and he came running to my parents, “Look who’s here?” I said. They all hugged Teddy before he dragged my dad off to show him “his factory.” Teddy was as much a part of this as we were.

My family was impressed, “your grandpa would have loved this. He would have been so proud” Grandma said to me, her words meant a lot. I took her and my mother on a personal tour of the facility.

We eventually caught up to Teddy who was giving his grandpa all the details about our newest, biggest commercial wax melter. The funniest part was that he knew exactly what he was talking about. “The wax goes in there, and then you add the smells, and then you close that, and push that button, and the wax gets hot, and then…” he rambled on excitedly. Our six year old had been entrenched in the building of the plant and apparently, he picked up some knowledge along the way. I was proud of my little man.

“Grandma and I want to take Brody’s Sip & Paint class” my mother said.

I was going to take the candle pouring class, Teddy do you want to join me?” My dad asked.

“Take it? He could teach it” Brody said as he came up behind us making us all laugh.

“Dads’, can I?” Teddy asked.

“Go for it” Brody said before turning to my dad and asking, “hey how long are y’all stayin’?

“We fly out tomorrow afternoon, this was just a pitstop on the way back to Minneapolis” my dad answered.

“Y’all are stayin at our house” Brody insisted.

“You don’t have the room” My mother insisted. “We’ll find a hotel.”

“We’ll make room” Brody said.

“When you come back for Christmas, we’ll have the candle barn converted into a guest house for you” I added. We talked for a little bit, then they all departed for their classes and I went back to the retail space to mingle with the crowd. There were so many customers that I had to recruit Seth and Zach to help, after that I had to bail on our plans. “Hey, you guys, I didn’t know my family was coming. Don’t be pissed, but I need to back out of our big, gay, night out with Benny and Chris.” I said to Seth.

“Yeah, I kinda figured that when I saw them… but it’s so awesome they came” Seth responded. I soon got pulled away by a customer asking about booking a Sip & Pour candle event for their offices Christmas party, Seth and Zach both turned to help other customers, and Kelly Walked past us with Izzy on her hip as she helped a customer find the perfect scent (I’m sure Izzy was happy to share her input too). Anyone who knew anything about our products jumped in to help us out. Mason had three people working the store, he wanted to schedule five but I told him that was too many… I was wrong. I NEVER expected a crowd that size, I should have trusted my team, they all had great instincts. I guess I was so worried about the event failing that I wasn’t ready for its massive success… a good problem to have, I guess.

The rest of the day was insanely busy thank god for all our friends and family helping in the shop and watching Teddy while I was preoccupied (and not just that day either, they were there for us through the entire rehab… I swear Teddy spent more nights at Seth and Zach’s house over the past month than he did at home). I stopped into the two Sip & classes to observe for a minute, both guys were doing great. Mason was doing a great job with the candle class… he had people engaged, laughing, pouring candles, and having a great time. And Brody… Brody was amazing to me! He was so shy and hated social situations, but people loved him. He had that class eating out of the palm of his hand as he went easel to easel and helped the dozen plus folks create their own works of art. Both classes were full and people were pleading with us to get in so both guys agreed to do a second class later that day… the classes were booked instantaneously.

Mason was checking on things in the shop between classes, “hey Max” he said. “Do we have any more sage candles in stock? We sold out. We’re running also low on mint candles too.”

“Yeah, I think so. What kind of mint candles do we need?” I asked Mason.

“Everything! If it has mint, they’re buying it” He said almost panicked. “Hell, we can probably sell anything we got.”

We had turned the old garage into storage. “I’ll have Timmy run out to the Storage building and see what we have. There’s enough stock back at the barn to fulfill all the current orders and then some, so if it’s in storage here, it’s fair game” I told him. We never dreamed we’d sell out of anything that day! I texted Timmy and he immediately texted back ‘ON IT!’ With things seemingly under control I started making the rounds talking to people again. I had noticed Grandma talking with the villagers one on one throughout the day, she wanted to know everything about all of them., The Village was her legacy too, not just my grandpa’s. I was standing near her as I helped a customer, and overheard her having a conversation with Asher.

“Ash is such a pretty name, is that a boy’s name or a girl’s name?” She asked. I knew where she was going, she wasn’t quite sure if they were a boy or a girl and was hell bound to find out (and Grandma wasn’t exactly known for her subtlety).

“Both” Ash said with a shy smile.

My grandmother loved people, all people, she really wanted to know all the Villagers, and Ash was no exception. She knew there was something special about him. “So, I understand you work for Brody’s company and live at Harrington House with the other boys” She said. That seems like a harmless statement, but “other boys” Was grandmas way of asking Ash if they were a boy without asking him. I thought about interrupting and saving him, but I decided to watch and see how he handled it.

He caught on, “Yes. I do. I’m the only intersex person who lives there” Ash answered with a knowing smirk. He knew what she wanted to know.

“Intersex?” Grandma asked. “I hope I don’t offend, Ash, but I don’t know a lot about intersex.”

To my surprise, shy Ash told her all about themself and their condition, Grandma listened intently, I could see it in her eyes, she was fascinated by it all. When Ash finished telling her more than she ever wanted to know, she looked at them and said, “So basically you chose to live as a male?” Ash nodded. “What a wonderful gift you were given to be able to choose.” The look on Ash’s face was priceless. I had known Ash for a few months and I can tell you that they did not think about his condition as a ‘wonderful gift’ well, at least not until that moment.

I think Grandma hit a nerve… Ash smiled and quietly asked, “Why do you call it a gift?”

“Oh my gosh, Ash!” Grandma exclaimed. “To be able to choose how you will live, who you will become! So many exciting opportunities. It’s almost as if you have no boundaries” she said. I could see Ash thinking; I doubted very much that he ever thought about it that way before. “You truly are special, no wonder Brody and the others speak so highly of you” she added as she put a hand on his shoulder, that put a smile on his beautiful face. I turned back to the customer to answer a question and had to tune out of my eavesdropping, I missed the end of the conversation, but I swear Asher talked to her for an hour… yeah, I said HE talked to HER. He was in his infamous motormouth mode and Grandma hung on his every word.

The rest of the day was nonstop! By the time we locked the doors after our first day of business, the shelves had been picked over, we had booked a half dozen parties for December, and had several other inquiries! Our grand opening was an incredible success. I thanked all our friends with a celebratory toast. Mason and a couple of villagers stayed behind to get the store restocked, and ready for opening again on Monday. Ricky and his team cleaned up the plant, we still had some equipment to move over, but Ricky planned on starting production up again on Monday. He was determined.

My parents insisted on taking us out to dinner to celebrate, Teddy was the center of attention. He had them all laughing and smiling through the entire meal as he told them about Halloween, school, his friends, and every other topic he could think of. After dinner we headed back to our place to do a quickie-cleaning and get everyone settled in for the night. My parents took our room, Grandma took the guest room, and me and Brody shared the extra bunk it Teddy’s room. It was a tight fight, but Teddy loved having us “sleepover” in his room.

The Grand Opening of the New BroMax Candle Co was a huge success, and the takeover of the church from hell was complete. I slept great in the tiny bunk bed wrapped in Brody’s arms.

To be continued…