A Parent's Choices

William Anderson had two boyfriends in high school, and he had hooked up with two other men since graduating. He had a good job and a nice home on Winters Lane. His house faced the south, and two large trees in the front yard offered shade during the heat of the day, and a large Spanish Oak blocked the western sun. Not quite twenty-one, he had almost everything a man needs for a happy life. When he met Andrew Brown one day at the laundromat, he was closer to having everything. He fell in love with Andy.  

The night that Andy confessed his love to William, he had everything anyone could ever want.

Andy lay face down on the bed. William pushed his legs apart before pulling his ass cheeks open to expose his hole. William had joked earlier that Andy had a pussy when he rubbed his finger over it. Now, he leaned forward and rimmed it. The sphincter muscle tightened and relaxed in response to the massage given to it by William’s tongue. Soft moans emanated from his lover as he began to probe the hole. William had wanted to rim Andy until Andy begged him for penetration, but William was too anxious. He began to insert a finger into Andy, and when he thought Andy was ready, William grabbed the lube and prepared Andy for two fingers.

Andy had planned to come into William’s bedroom, tell him how much he loved him and wanted him. He had yearned to feel William’s cock inside him since the picnic in the park. He wanted to feel it stretch him, push into him, and fill him. He wanted to look into William’s eyes as William came within him. He had not expected William to pleasure him first and then to tease his hole in this way. Why was he giving so much? Andy gasped as two fingers stretched his hole. He felt light-headed. Could this go on forever? It felt so good.

William began to leave kisses up Andy’s spine. Andy shivered; each kiss, filled with electricity, pleasured and excited him. When William’s hard cock slipped between Andy’s cheeks, William pivoted his hips back and forth. The head of the erect penis rubbed across Andy’s hole, and Andy’s head jerked back at the sensation.  

Both of Andy’s hands moved down to grasp the dick now in his ass valley. He adjusted its angle and brought his own pelvis up. The head of William’s cock pushed into him. He was amazed at the size and the stretch and clenched his teeth. William rocked back and forth; with each motion, more of his shaft penetrated Andy.  

“I want to see you and kiss you,” Andy said as he tried to roll onto his side. William withdrew and helped Andy get on his back. Moving forward to couple again, William kissed the lips and looked into Andy’s dimly lit eyes. In the darkness, they appeared almost black. Desire and need took over, and the thrusts became more powerful, deeper.

Tears came to Andy’s eyes. “Oh, fuck yes, Willie. Just like that. I love you.”

William grunted and pushed himself again Andy. His ejaculations were the most intense he’d ever experienced, and when he finished, he was still. Their chests and abs pressed together, William’s lips grazed Andy’s ears. “I love you, Andy.”

“Can every night be like this?”

William chuckled as he slid to Andy’s side and pulled the sheet over them. “With my loving you with my whole heart, mind, and body? I hope so.”

They snuggle for a few minutes when the bedroom door pushed open.

“Pa. We-oh.”

“How the fuck did he get out of the playpen?” asked Andy.

William poked him in the side. “See, I said you’re the one who says ‘fuck’ all the time. What is it, Liam?”

“Di-pah.”

“Welcome to our life,” said William. “I love it.”

The early morning low hanging clouds and fog foreshadowed the damp day ahead. The three occupants of the William Anderson home, asleep in the master bedroom, did not hear the chirping of the birds who’d built their nest in the Spanish Oak.

Liam Brown, asleep between William and Andy, heard the knocking at the door and wiggled himself into a seated position. The knocking stopped as Caleb went back to Joseph’s house. He wanted to know what time Joseph was expected to arrive.

“Up,” said Liam. “Up.”

“Oh, come on, Liam, let daddy sleep a few more minutes.”

“No. Up.” Liam started to laugh. “Food.”

“Fuck, Liam, just five more minutes,” muttered Andy.

“Fuk no,” said Liam, and he laughed some more.

William began to laugh. “We’re starting a swear jar. The two of you will be paying for a trip to Disney within two months, I’m telling you.”

“Yeah?” said Andy as he sat up. “I don’t have any money, so I’ll have to borrow it from you to put it in the f-ing jar.”

“That’s fifty cents so far from you and a quarter from Liam,” laughed William.

“You’re making the kid pay, too?” Andy got out of bed.

“Them’s the rules. Only time you are allowed to use that kind of language is when we’re in here alone, if you know what I mean.”

“Which brings up the point,” said Andy, of keeping you know who out of here.”

“Food.”

“Eggs and a little bit of bacon, Prince Liam?” William scooped him up, kissed him, and put him on the floor. “Morning breath. Your daddy needs to brush your teeth for you. I’m going to brush mine, shower, and make some breakfast for us while you two get ready.”

William checked the flight schedules to find out when his father’s flight would arrive. He let Caleb know the time before heading to pick up the cake he’d ordered. Andy was doing some last-minute cleaning and straightening, and William had asked Liam to help his father.

Liam followed Andy around repeating the word ‘hep’ as they went. Andy had given him a dust rag, and Liam wiped things as he went.

William pulled into the Cake Topper. He was glad he hadn’t ordered anything else for his father’s homecoming since his plane was an hour behind schedule, and he’d be arriving after lunch. William walked up to the counter. The woman behind was someone from his high school class.

“Hi. Will. Are you going to need anything besides the cake? Grilled cheese sandwiches are on special today.”

“I’m thinking about a dozen chocolate chip cookies and a dozen peanut butter ones. Hey, Yvette, do you think cake pops are appropriate for a one-year-old?”

“Probably, depending on the kid.” She folded a box for the cookies. “You know what? The new girl made a bunch of cake pops today, but they’re too small to sell. I’ll get some for you. Why don’t you have a seat while I get them together.”

“Sure.” William moved to a seat closer to the front and noticed the people sitting in the shop enjoying pastries, sandwiches, and slices of cake. He froze as he saw the back of a man sitting at a table at the far end of the eating area. ‘It can’t be,’ he thought. He walked closer. The hair color was right; the shape was right; even the shirt was right. William felt his hands begin to shake. He walked up to the table. “Rodney?”

The man turned. His face was Rodney’s except for a scar near his hairline, but the expression was wrong. “Hello,” he said looking up from his sandwich. There was no sign of recognition.

“Do you know him, Rodney?” asked the man in the seat opposite Rodney.

Tears welled up in William’s eyes. How could Rodney not know him?

The other man stood up. “I’m Rodney’s cousin Steve.”

“William Anderson.” He looked at Rodney. “It’s Willie.”

Rodney looked down at his grilled cheese sandwich. Steve touched William’s shoulder. “Come with me, and I’ll explain it.” The two of them walked to the other side of the room.

“Do you know about Rodney’s injuries?” asked Steve.

“My dad got a phone call that he’d been killed in an explosion. We never got any other information even though my dad tried.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. He was badly injured by an IED. He had a head injury, and right now he only remembers when he was a kid. I brought him here to see if anything triggered his memory. We have his address before he was deployed, and he’d told friends about someone here, but we don’t know her name.”

“It wasn’t a ‘her.’ He and my dad had talked about getting married when he retired from the Army.”

“Rodney’s gay?”

“I thought his family knew and that’s why no one was talking to him,” said William.

“No.” Steve shook his head. “It’s because Rodney signed papers to have his sister committed to a hospital, and while she was there, she committed suicide. There was a lot of anger, and he left.”

“Aww, fuck. What now? My father’s coming back to town this afternoon. I mean, my finding Rodney alive was just chance. My dad’s a big boy, but…”

“I need to check with Rodney’s doctor,” Steve blew out a deep breath.

“Let me give you my number.”

“Will. I’ve got your stuff,” called Yvette. “It’ll be four dollars more.”

William's hands were still shaking when he pulled into the driveway. He couldn’t get the last image of Rodney out of his mind. He was holding his head in his hands and appeared to be in severe pain. William had a touch of a headache now. Life really is what happens to you when you’ve got other plans. “Fuck!” he shouted. ‘Shit,’ he thought, twenty-five cents, no that’s fifty cents in the jar. Just drop a twenty in; you know you’re going to use it up anyway. Poor little Liam doesn’t have a chance; he’ll be cussing up a storm by the age of five. He chuckled to himself as he carried the cake and cookies into the house.

“Willie, is that you?”

“What if it weren’t,” William said as he put the cake on the counter and kissed Andy.  

“Yeah, that is kind of dumb, isn’t it? Hey, I just checked the flight information, and the flight’s back on schedule. How the bleep do they do that?”  

“I have no idea.”

“What’s wrong,” demanded Andy.

William stared straight ahead.

“Don’t even try to hide it from me. What is it? I can already read you like a book.”

“I saw Rodney at the bakery.”

A puzzled look appeared on Andy’s face. “Dead Rodney?”

William let out a burst of laughter. “Yeah, dead Rodney. Only he’s not dead. He’s brain-injured and has memory problems.”

“Fucking hell.”

“I guess I’m putting forty in the jar over this one.”

Andy snuggled up to him. “You going to tell your father?”

“Not until Rodney’s cousin talks to the doctor.”  

Andy gave him a hug.

“I wish there were time to take you to the bedroom and make love to you. I feel guilty for wanting that, but it’s what I’m feeling.”

“No need to feel guilty, Willie. But I’m kind of glad we don’t have time. My ass is still sore from that monster dick that hangs between your legs.” Andy chuckled.

“I’m not that big.”

“No?”

William kissed him. “That’s right; it’s that you’re such a tightass; an uptight tightass with a teeny-weeny little boy pussy.”

“And that’s a problem,” Andy asked.

“I wasn’t the one who was complaining.” William hugged and kissed him again.

A text from Joseph let them know that he was now out of the baggage line. A ride home provided by his office would bring him home. “I’m going to start the grill,” said William. Liam raised his hands to go along. “It’s not safe for me to hold you while I start the grill.”  

Liam put his hands down and started to cry.

“I’m not changing my mind,” said William. “Are you sleepy?”

“No nap,” he said through his tears.

“OK, but you stay here,”

“No. We-oh. Go.”

William shook his head. “I said ‘no.’” He turned and went outside to get things started. When he returned, Liam was still sitting in the same spot.

“I’m impressed by how you handled that,” said Andy.

“Hmm?”

“You stayed so calm. I get really frustrated. You handled it so well.”

“Oh, babe,” William said, “I lived frustration for weeks. That was nothing.” He smiled.

“Do I have to put money in the jar for thinking bad words?” Andy poked William in the ribs.

“I’ll let you off the hook this time,” said William. “Hey, I hear a car. Do you hear the car, Liam? Get your daddy and bring him.”

William ran outside; he saw his father get out of the car, and tears began flowing down his cheeks. Prior to that moment, he knew his father loved him and that he loved his father. At that moment, all the fullness of that love filled him. He grabbed Joseph and hugged him.

Andy walked up with Liam. When William finally released his father, they turned to face Andy.

“Who’s this?” asked Joseph.

“This is Andrew Brown and his son Liam. Drew is my boyfriend; he lives here,” William told his father while drying his eyes.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“You, too, sir,” replied Andy.

“Oh, call me Joe, please.

“Of course.”

The driver brought the bags and placed them at the edge of the sidewalk. “Anything further, Mr. Anderson?”

“No. Thanks.” The driver got back in the car.

“We’ll get those, Dad.”

“Me hep,” said Liam.

“Too heavy,” said Andy. “But I can probably take the smaller one.”

“Are you limping, Dad?”

“Yeah, Willie. My calf muscle got cut a little, and the skin is tight on the wound. It’s supposed to be back to normal in a week, and then about a month for the skin to heal. The muscle will take six to eight weeks. So you’re stuck with me for two months.”

“Not to worry. Andy gave up his room for you,” William laughed.

“Where’s he going to sleep?” asked Joseph. “Oh, wait, don’t tell me. He’s sleeping under you.”

“Technically, he’s not sleeping when he’s under me, but then neither am I, but yeah, we’re sharing a bedroom.”

“And the little one?” Joseph turned to look at his son.

“He’s supposed to sleep in his playpen, but he’s figured out how to escape, so he slept between us last night. We’ll have come up with something.”

“I think the problem was that I didn’t change him before he fell asleep in the playpen, and he got out to let me know he needed a new diaper.”

“Well,” said Joseph, “they can’t all be angels like Willie.”

“Let’s go inside so I can put the meat on the grill and get this celebration started.”

When Rodney’s brother Steve got in contact with Rodney’s doctor, he was advised not to let anyone fill in missing details for Rodney. “People will have a different view of the same events, and if Rodney hears that view and it conflicts with a developing memory, it can lead to confusion. There’s no problem with meeting people he knew and being told facts, such as names or that they worked in the same place.”

Steve texted the information to William.

Rodney had developed a headache after meeting William, and Steve drove him home. Rodney had taken a nap, and when he woke up he remembered that he knew William as a younger man; he’d even been at William’s birthday party. ‘Why can’t I remember the rest of it?’ he asked himself.

He sat at the edge of his bed and put his right shoe on. ‘Maybe it’s something horrible that I don’t want to remember,’ he thought, ‘like the explosion that did this.’ He reached down and attached the prosthetic that went from about ten inches below his knee. The shoe was still on the artificial foot. Rodney was determined to remember more.

Even with Joseph’s sister Karen and her husband Caleb and their two kids, James and Cookie, Chloe and her boyfriend Freddie, and the four of them, William had grilled too much food. While he wrapped up the extra meat and put away the potato salad and corn, the noise from the living room proved everyone was having a good time.

Karen had brought the stroller she had used with Cookie, and Cookie and James were outside pushing Liam around the back yard. Andy came into the kitchen to help but only succeeded in keeping William from finishing. He held William tightly to him, “I’m so lucky. I think your dad, and your aunt and uncle, they all like me.”

“We’re a smart family.”

“They want to play cards later, I’m the worst at card games,” admitted Andy.

“Then maybe I’ll have a chance not to finish last. I knew you’d be good for something besides, well, you know.”

“William Anderson, I will not be treated as a sex object.”

“No?”

“Not unless I get to treat you like one first.”

The back door opened with a bang. “Dad,” called James. “There’s a man walking around Uncle Joe’s house.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Caleb announced.

“I’ll go with you,” said Joseph. “My leg can use the exercise.”

The same thought crossed William’s and Andy’s mind.

“Why don’t I go,” said Andy.

“Yeah, Dad. There’s something I need to say, and it won’t wait.”

Joseph looked at the two of them. He glanced from his son to his son’s boyfriend and back again. “One of you proposed to the other?”

Andy laughed. “Fuck, no.”

William glared at him.

“Shit, more money in the swear jar. I am such a fucking loser at that game.”

Caleb and Andy left the house. “I think I’ll go out to watch the kids, said Karen. Joseph sat down at the table.

William walked over and put his hand on Joseph’s head.

“What the fuck, Willie? Do you have cancer?”

“No., Daddy, I need you to let me say all of this before you say anything.” He pulled up a chair and sat next to his father. “Rodney wasn’t killed in the explosion last year. He was badly hurt. I saw him today; he doesn’t remember us. If we see him, we’re only supposed to tell him our names. We have to let him remember the stuff on his own.”

“Oh, Willie.” Tears welled up in Joseph’s eyes. “I don’t know if I can do that. He’s alive?”

William kissed his dad on the forehead.

“Why are you telling me now instead of when I first got home?” Joseph turned and looked toward his house. “You think… Could Rodney be over there right now?”

William shook his head. “I don’t know, but in case it is, I needed you to know.”

“I need to find out.” Joseph stood up. He and William headed next door. “He won’t recognize anything.”

As Caleb and Andy approached the man in the backyard of Joseph Anderson’s home, Andy noticed the artificial limb. William had not mentioned any injuries like that.  

“Hello,” said Caleb, “can we help you?”

“No. I don’t think so. I could have sworn this was where William Anderson lived. I couldn’t remember the address, but I thought it was here. But this doesn’t look the way I remember it.”

“It’s been remodeled,” said Andy. “William lived here when he was a kid.”

“I’m sorry. It’s not clear to me.”

“It’s OK, Rodney,” continued Andy. “You came to the correct address.”

“Do I know you?” asked Rodney.

“No. We’ve never met, but I’m Willie’s boyfriend, so I’ve heard about you.”

“Willie’s gay, too? I didn’t remember that. Why would I though? It’s not like he would be just because his father is, right. Where is Joey? I need to talk to him. I need to talk to him now. I remember him. I remember him; we’re going to get married when I get out. Tell me where he is.”

“I’m right here, Rod.”

The two men limped toward one another and held each other so tightly that William wondered if they’d ever let go.

That night, Liam lay in bed between William and Andrew. “I can’t tell you how I think this will improve our love life,” said Andy.

“Well, I didn’t want him to walk in on them. He can reach that doorknob if he uses that stool he has for washing his hands. He’s done it before.”

“The downside to having a genius,” said Andy.

“Well, the next kid…” William started to laugh, “will have to come potty-trained.”

Liam started to giggle.

In the spare room, Rodney and Joseph had kissed so often that their lips were getting chafed. Joseph lowered himself onto Rodney’s stiff member and moved his ass up and down in one of Rodney’s favorite positions. Rodney was too busy feeling the pleasure of the moment to remember the number of times they had engaged in this particular way, but he would later. It didn’t take him long to seed Joseph making Joseph realize that the two of them would need lots of practice to build up his stamina.

As Joseph detached himself from Rodney’s love pole, Rodney rolled onto his back. The tough army man chuckled and said, “Do me now,” in the same little boy voice that he had always used. Joseph knew he had his Rodney back, and he moved into him in the same gentle way he always had. They kissed and the frequencies of the thrusts increased until, both men filled with the seed of the other, lay quietly side by side, holding the other until sleep came.

Dear Reader

More is yet to come
Joseph’s story may seem complete
And perhaps it is
But what has life in store for William?
Is Andrew his forever man
Or just for a few more chapters?
The next part is not ready for publication
But I may have a few micro-stories for you
While you wait.

I want to thank everyone for their positive comments or for the critiques that help me improve.

--Danny