Finding My Soulmate

This Is It

The day had arrived. We drove to Bobby’s parents’ home in the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas, and then sat in the car in complete silence. Bobby looked straight ahead. I said, “Bobby Ray, you’re back home in Texas so see your parents. You can do this. Show them your love. Tell them how sorry you are. Let them see the new you. Babe, there’s no easy way to do this. Just knock or ring the doorbell. The door will open and someone once familiar to you will be standing there. Just follow whatever leads you get. Come on, let’s go. You’re a United States Marine, trained to deal with any situation life might throw at you. You will make this work, Bobby. Now get your ass in gear.”

We got out of the car and I followed Bobby Ray who walked at a snail’s pace to the front door of the house where he grew up. He stood there.

“Bobby!”

“I know, I know. FUCK!” He, paused and then knocked on the door. We heard shouting inside and the door suddenly opened.

Before us stood a woman who must be his mother. She had a look of shock, disbelief as though her brain couldn’t process what she was looking at. Then her eyes filled with tears as she choked up and called his name. “Bobby, oh Bobby. My boy is home.” She put her arms around his and held him tightly as though she was afraid, he would vanish before her very eyes. The woman was shaking with sobs. I started to choke up myself and was afraid I would start outright crying. I had never experienced something so wonderful yet so painful in my heart. I felt her emotion and understood it. I wanted to hug her but that would be too much right now. After a few minutes, she broke the embrace and just looked at her boy who had grown into a man. He had come home after all this time, a long five years for his mom. Sorry, come in, come in.” She stepped back to make room for us to get inside.

Inside she hugged Bobby again. I saw that he was looking over his mom’s shoulder at a man, had to be his dad, standing and looking on, not believing his Bobby had come home. Bobby gently pushed his mom aside and said, “Dad!”

Dad looked shocked, not knowing what to expect as his boy rushed to him. He remembered the old angry, unpredictable Bobby Ray. Bobby threw his arms around his dad and held in in a bear hug. Dad slowly put his hands on Bobby’s back, rubbing up and down and then grasped his boy as tightly as possible. They stood there in each other’s arms.

Bobby’s mom was standing beside me and under her breath, just loud enough for me to hear, she said, “Oh. my. God, oh. my. God.” She slowly approached husband and son and put her arms around them. A beautiful long overdue family hug. I wanted to leave the room so no one could see the tears running down my face. I walked over to the couch and took a seat while the family got reacquainted. The sight before my eyes was really something to behold. I felt extremely fortunate to have witnessed the home coming, but I felt like seeing this had somehow ripped my heart out of my chest.

Mrs. Michaels pulled back from the hug a little, apparently remembering that a stranger had also come into her home. She looked around, spotted me on the couch and rushed over and sat with me. “Honey, I’m so sorry for forgetting about you. My name is Mary Ann. I’m Bobby’s mother, but you probably guessed that already. Are you a friend of Bobby’s? Of course you are. I’m completely out of it because of the big surprise Please forgive me.”

“Mrs. Michaels, you have a lot going on right now and I’m happy that Bobby is here for his family.

“Please call me Mary Ann.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“I wish Billy Joe was here. He’s Bobby’s younger brother. He stayed out late and after their party last night. Probably stayed over with his friends rather than drive home. He should be back sometime today.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting him and getting to know all of you.”

“Do you know Bobby from work?

Oh, questions. I have to be careful with what I say. “Bobby and I met through a couple of his friends. I get together with them sometimes for a few beers.”

“You know, since Bobby left five years ago, we don’t know where he lives anymore.”

She looked at me as though she was waiting for me to fill her in. I said, “He’s living in Washington, DC.”

She simply said, “Oh.”

Before she could ask me any more questions, I told her Bobby would fill her in soon. She seemed OK with that.

Bobby and his dad came over to join Mary Ann and me. Bobby said, “Dad, this is Chris.” We shook hands. “Chris, this is my dad, Robert.”

Bobby smiled and said to me, “You have already met my mom, I see.” I smiled and nodded a ‘yes.’

Mom jumped to her feet, looking a bit distressed and said, “Lord forgive me. In all the wonderful excitement I forgot to ask if you men are hungry. Did ya’ll have breakfast?”

Bobby said that we hadn’t had time at the motel and we now have huge appetites after not eating. Mom rushed to the kitchen.

I followed and asked if I could help. She said, “Honey you are a guest in our home. Just sit over there at the table. I’ll get you a cup of coffee. You do drink coffee don’t you?”

“Mrs. Michaels, uh, Mary Ann, I do drink coffee and you make me feel so welcome, I don’t really feel like a guest.”

“Why Chris, that’s a nice thing for you to say. Thank you for that compliment.”

“You know, young people today don’t drink coffee but they have no problem guzzling all those energy drinks. They could just drink strong coffee and save money.”

Bobby and his dad returned to the living room.

Suddenly, I heard the front door open and close. Then a voice yelled, “Holy shit!”

“Billy Joe, language please, Mary Ann yelled toward the living room. “These kids talk so trashy today. But, he’s a good kid. And, he’s past puberty, so we are not worried about him.” She stopped what she was doing, stared into space, apparently feeling she had said too much.

I looked into the living room to see the brothers getting to know each other all over again. Another young man was watching the excitement. Eventually Billy Joe pulled him over and introduced him to Bobby.

Mom said, “That’s Billy Joe’s friend, Eric. Those two have been friends since the second grade. Never see one without the other. I don’t know what’s going on between them and I don’t ask. They’re both good boys and we don’t worry about them. Eric’s parents threw him out of the house when he was in the ninth grade. He told them he is gay and they disowned him. The boy had no where to go and Billy Joe asked if he could stay here for a while. Well, Eric’s parents never changed their minds so we told him he could stay with us as long as he wanted to. We just couldn’t imagine him living on the streets. Lord knows what would have happened to him.”

“That was a wonderful, brave, generous thing to do, Mary Ann.”

“Eric is like a member of the family. Always was, as I recall.”

Fuck, I thought what if Billy Joe turns out to be gay also. Both sons with no promises of grandkids. But Bobby has already addressed that problem for us and I am agreeable.

Looking at how happy the family is, I’m glad I pushed Bobby to make amends. They seem like really good people.

After Bobby and I had breakfast, we all gathered in the living room. Mom said we should bring in our things and she would show us where we would sleep. Dad, Billy Joe, Eric, Bobby Ray and I went to Bobby’s truck and hauled inside several suitcases and wrapped gifts. Mom took us down the hallway. She stopped in front of a closed door, opened it and stepped aside.

“You didn’t change anything! Chris, this is my room when I lived here. The same as I left it, except there’s a bigger bed.”

“Bobby, we knew you’d return someday and bring your spouse or a friend and your old bed was too small for two people.” Mary Ann stayed with us after the rest went back to the living room. “You two OK with sharing a bed?” She looked as though she knew the answer, but not a word was said.

“Yeah, mom. This is perfect. Thanks.”

“OK I’ll let you boys get settled in.” She turned and left.

“Chris, they left my room exactly the way it was, except for the bed.” Seeing his room unchanged seemed to give him strength and assurance that everything was OK. He was like a kid again, showing me all his toy soldiers, explaining the posters on the wall. I was so happy for him. We unpacked our clothes and put things away.

In the living room, the presents we brought had been put under the tree. When Mrs. Michaels saw us, she said, “You guys brought presents and we didn’t get anything for you.”

“Mom, how could you. You had no idea we’d show up unannounced. It’s OK. Just being with you again is the most precious gift you could give us.”

We stared at the beautiful tree and the pile of gifts underneath.

“Do you think we could all get together after lunch. I have some explaining to do,” Bobby said with a serious look on his face.

“Bobby Ray, that’s not necessary, mom said.”

“Yes mom. Yes, it is. I need to tell you about the present me and to beg for your forgiveness. It’s important to me that you understand who I am today and know I am not that angry kid who walked out on you five years ago. I need to fix this.”

“Bobby Ray, we’re sorry that no one knew how to fix things back then and we failed you as your parents. We failed you.”

“Mom, life is what it is. You and dad did everything you could. Even the experts didn’t know how to fix me. But, I’m the product today of all my life’s experiences. I will explain it when we can get together after lunch.”

“Come on Chris, I’ll show you more of my teen years treasures.” We went back to Bobby’s room. He closed the door behind us and wrapped me in his arms. “Chris, thanks for helping me to deal with this situation. It seems that everything is forgiven. But I have to stand, facing my family and tell them why I left. I don’t think they even know I am a marine.”

“Your mom asked me where you live and I told her. I didn’t think it would be a problem.”

“Good that you did that to let them know I am not ghosting them again. Thanks.”

Bobby kissed me and pulled me down onto the bed with him. I lay there in his arms. We both fell asleep.

Billy Joe knocked on the door and woke us, asking if he could come in.

Billy Joe looked at Bobby with a serious look on his face and said, “Motherfucker, you broke my heart when you took off. You didn’t even say goodbye. I thought you left because of me, but I couldn’t figure out what I did to make you leave home.”

Bobby hugged him and reminded Billy Joe that he didn’t say goodbye to anyone. He just left. Disappeared.

“Billy Joe, I’ll explain everything this afternoon when we all get together. It will be so painful for me; I can’t do it twice. OK?”

“OK. So, what’s the story with you guys? Friends? Lovers? Secretly married?”

“Hey brother, not so fast. I’ll explain a lot this afternoon but maybe not everything. I’m not sure.”

“Whatever it is, I’m OK with it.” Eric and I have been a couple since ninth grade but mom and dad think we are just friends. We’ll eventually tell them.”

“So, I have a queer little brother. Who would’ve thought?”

“I may be off base but I would guess I have a queer big brother. Anyone who watches you guys for five minutes can see you are more than friends, hopelessly in love. Oh! Mom sent me to tell you supper is ready.”

The three of us went to the kitchen table to eat. There was so much food. Cornbread, fried chicken, potato salad, green beans, iceberg lettuce salad and sweet tea (iced tea in Yankee speak.)

Mary Ann kept putting food on my plate and finally I had to tell her I couldn’t eat another bite. It was a fantastic meal.

I helped with cleanup and dishes and then everyone gathered in the living room.

Robert brought glasses and a couple of bottles of white wine into the living room and poured for everyone. After a few words about the excellent wine, Bobby Ray stood and asked for everyone’s attention.

“I feel we are glad to be a family again and I’m really happy to be here. You can thank Chris for getting me to this point. Months ago, he made me promise to come here this Christmas and fix things with ya’ll. So, I’m here.

I left home five years ago because I couldn’t stand the thought of continuing to hurt everyone like I had been doing since I went into puberty. So, I just walked out because I couldn’t deal with the pain of saying goodbye. I tried to find a job but the chip on my shoulder was too big to hide and no one would hire me. I eventually decided I would join the marines and be one of those tough guys everyone would respect. The marine corps was not willing to put up with me and nearly tossed me out. Two training sergeants saw something in me that no one else could see, not even myself. They got through to me, forcing me to have respect and to demonstrate good manners. I finally got the message after realizing that even with all those other marines around me all day long, I was still alone. So, I earned the right to be one of the guys. My life was totally changed. The way I was in puberty had become a way of life for me and I was pulled out of that destructive existence, back into the real world. Today, I’m a US Marine gunnery sergeant and am reasonably happy with that life.

About six months ago, I met Chris through a couple of guys at work. We first met in a public place and Chris agreed to go to dinner with me that night. I was so taken with him, I panicked at the thought that he would cancel on me. I actually called him again to make sure I would get to see him that night.

Now, since we are adults here, anything else I say is needed, to more clearly explain what’s going on. I met Chris to have a boyfriend on the side, so when I couldn’t find a woman to date, I could call on Chris for sex. That is the blunt truth. I always thought I liked girls. After that dinner date, I talked my way into going up to his apartment. I was desperate to see him and get to know him. I was reacting to this guy like I had never done with a man before and I really didn’t understand but I was hooked. I stayed with Chris that night and that was when I started to learn what my true sexuality is. At this point I have pretty much accepted that I am gay. Being back in this home environment now, some of the past is coming back to me. I am thinking that when I went into puberty, I resented the fact that I was attracted to handsome guys at school and not girls. I left home to start a new life but it didn’t turn out as I had planned. I never had much luck with girls in school or women later in adulthood. Then I met Chris and I now can’t go through the day without contacting him from work. I am hopelessly in love with him.

The marines sent me to Afghanistan for a year, something I haven’t shared with Chris because I don’t want to relive any of that nightmare. Until I met Chris, I was like married to the marine corps. Now, I’m having second thoughts are remaining in the marines because I don’t think I could survive being away from Chris for a year. Chris keeps my head on straight. He is more important to me than the corps. It would be terrible if Chris invested a lot of time with me and then I returned to him as a cripple or even worse, dead. My job in the marines involves going on dangerous military missions. That’s something I also never told Chris. As for the missions themselves, I can’t discuss anything about them. Nothing. Most of the missions are top secret, nearly always involving some degree of danger.

Also, Chris and I have briefly talked about starting a family, having kids. Once we decide we are together for the long haul and get married we plan on having two kids. I will father one child and Chris will father the other. We will use a surrogate to birth the children and artificial insemination to start the pregnancy. We have no experience with this but we are not the first to do it, so, we know it is doable. That solves the question of grandkids for our moms.

Kids will be another reason for me not to stay in the marine corps. Kids need a live-in father and not a long-distance dad. I have a few months left on my enlistment so I have to make a decision soon.

I would like us to get together tomorrow again so you can ask questions, if you have any, and I can tell you anything I have left out today. Standing here, telling you my deepest secrets has taken a lot out of me, so please save questions until tomorrow.”

Bobby’s family came to him with kisses and hugs to say all is well. We went back to Bobby’s room to talk.

I didn’t bring up Bobby’s time in Afghanistan. He would tell me when he is ready, if he can. When he could no longer stand it, he spoke.

“Chris, I didn’t tell you about Afghanistan or my marine corps work because I was afraid you wouldn’t want to be with a guy who faces danger for a living. I couldn’t bare the thought of losing you. And, I didn’t want to remember the misery I witnessed there. It was a nightmare you couldn’t wake up from. Death, blood, scattered body parts after an attack, seeing guys carried away on a stretcher with their guts hanging out. I’m sorry but I would have told you eventually. I am leaning toward not signing up again. I have you and we want kids. The marine corps is not compatible with family life as far as I’m concerned.”

“Bobby I can’t make that decision for you. I obviously have my wishes but you will have to make the decision. I accept whatever you decide. With good always comes at least a little bad shit.”

“You’re the best babe. I love you so much.”

“Bobby, I love you with all my heart and soul.”

Bobby kissed me softly with love. He was such a good man and I had huge respect for him.

“I think I should go ask your mom if she needs any help with dinner, or supper as you say in Texas.”

I left Bobby and went to the kitchen. Mary Ann was busy preparing the evening meal. I helped where I could. We talked while we worked together.

“Chris, sending Bobby back to us is something we will always remember you for. I was shocked when I opened the door and saw him standing there. I didn’t believe my eyes. It was wonderful to realize he was really there. Thank you, sweetheart. Robert is beside himself with joy. Billy Joe is so happy to have his brother back. We are all indebted to you.”

“Mary Ann, I didn’t want something to happen in the family without it being a real family again. I know it would have messed him up. He loves you all so much. He told me the whole story about the hormonal problem, his attitude and not being able to do anything about it. You can be proud of the man he has turned out to be. I am lucky to have him in my life.”

We had a light Christmas Eve dinner to save room for cake, pie and other goodies that all looked so good. After dinner we had fresh coffee and chocolate cake. Throughout the evening, we ate cookies, chocolates and other rich, delicious, homemade sweets.

Opening presents would wait until Christmas Day. Bobby and I headed to bed about midnight. We were pretty exhausted from the long drive, meeting the family and too much rich food. In the bedroom, we hugged and kissed. We can’t go to sleep without sex but we would have to be quiet.

Bobby took me in his arms, hugged and kissed me all over, moving down to my nipples, reaching the abs, he kissed and licked, then stopped. I would guess he was thinking about whether or not to put his mouth lower, but realized he is not ready to go there. He rolled over and just held me on top of him for a few minutes, then he made his move.

He grabbed my ass, pulling my cheeks apart, two fingers pulling my hole open, stretching. With me on top, he reached to the bedside table, and grabbed a bottle of lube he had stashed in the drawer. Without seeing what he was actually doing, he managed to squeeze a generous amount of lube directly onto my hole. He used two fingers to grease my ass inside.

“Gotta get that pussy nice and slick so you won’t make a lot of noise when my big dick goes in there all the way to the balls, just as you like it. Gotta be quiet and polite on the first night,” he chuckled.

When he was satisfied with the lube job, he rolled us over so he was now on top of me. He kissed me hungrily, then pushed my knees back against my chest, my fuck hole high in the air. Bobby stood over me, squatting to line up with my asshole, rubbed his cockhead around the hole and said, “Take my cock, Chris, let it show you how much I am in love with you.” He pushed once and stopped when his lower belly slammed against my ass. It was at least an hour of true love making. Fucking, kissing, breathing in my ear, nibbling my earlobe. Shoving his big tool in and pulling it nearly out and repeating the process over and over. The bare skin of Bobby’s long, thick cock, rubbing inside me, activating all those nerve endings in my fuck tunnel and hitting my prostate in both directions with each stroke. Then he shocked me by giving me a hickey on my neck and this one would be big and brilliant. No one in his family would miss it. But I’m was in no mood to worry about it. Bobby started to come and it seemed to me that he was a little too loud but it really is hard to have self-control during an orgasm.

Bobby pulled out just after he came, quickly rolled over on his back and said, “Come on me.” I straddled his hips, pumped my cock hard and fast. It only took about thirty seconds before a gusher of thick, white cum fired out of my dick hole like bullets from a powerful handgun. The first shot hit Bobby on his chin, then another on his neck, the rest landed on his thick, square pecs. It took a few minutes for me to get my breath back and then Bobby said, “Rub it in. Rub that magic potion into my chest.”

As I rubbed, Bobby grabbed his cock and quickly bought himself to another orgasm. I looked as Bobby as I licked my hands, then I cleaned his cock the way he likes it. I ran my tongue around in my mouth tasting the cum combination. He was smiling at me the whole time.

Bobby Ray pulled me against him and held me tight but making slight movements to grind his cum-moistened chest against mine. I wondered about this pig I was creating, as I smiled.

“Chris, I can’t wait until we get home so you can show me a ruined orgasm.”

“We’ll go to a sex shop in DC and buy some restraints for your wrists and ankles.”

“Wow. I will be helpless.”

“Yes, that’s the idea. I will control if, when and how you come.”

“Chris, you better stop talking about that shit because I will never get to sleep. I’m already getting horny again.”

“You horny fucker, go to sleep.”

“Yes, SIR!

I woke up at the crack of dawn to take a leak and when I got back into bed, Bobby was already awake.

“Chris, I didn’t sleep much. Between thinking of those things we’ll do when we get home and the family gathering tomorrow, actually later today, I couldn’t sleep much.”

I reached over and felt his cock. As I thought, standing at rigid attention with a predawn salute.

“Chris, can you suck me off while I think about ruined orgasms and those things you told me about?”

I didn’t answer, but moved slowly into place and licked his hardon, sucked it slowly at first, then moved faster, up and down like a well-oiled piston, and swallowed until I had all of his sperm in my stomach.

“Fuck, that was perfect, babe. All the tension is gone from my body. I think I can sleep now.”

He turned on his side and I backed into him. He put an arm around me and we both went to sleep.

Morning came much too soon. Billy Joe knocked on the door and yelled, “Breakfast is ready. May I come in?”

Bobby looked at me and I nodded. “Come on in, dickhead.”

Billy Ray walked in. “Good morning,” he said, “Feels like old times being called a dickhead by my big brother.” We all laughed.

“I know you guys were trying to be quiet last night when you were, you know, fucking. But you were loud enough to make Eric and I next door very horny so we had to do it too. But we have always had to do it quietly, so no one would know.”

“Merry Christmas Billy Joe. Now get the fuck outta here so we can get up.”

“Can’t I stay and check you guys out while you get dressed? Billy said with a big grin.

“Dude, we don’t want to frighten you when you see us naked. So, get outta here while your ass is still virgin.”

“OK, I’ll have to wear you guys down until you let me see how hot you are in the nude. But you’d better get a move on because breakfast is ready and mom wants to start making Christmas dinner.”

“Close the door behind you, Billy Joe.”

We dressed quickly and went to the kitchen table for a big breakfast. Too much food, too much food.

We all exchanged, “Merry Christmas” before we sat to eat.

Later, when Bobby Ray saw that his mom had chased me out of the kitchen while she prepared the big meal, he told his mom that we were going out for a while. He wanted to show me a little of San Antonio.

Driving in Bobby’s truck, he pointed out where his friends had lived and gave me a bit of history about the neighborhood. The drive ended on a graveled parking lot overlooking a river in a truly picturesque setting.

“Chris, this is the San Antonio River that flows past the River Walk area downtown. I used to come here in my old truck to get some peace and quiet and to think about life and my problems. Being back here, looking at the river gives me a certain peaceful pleasure. Right now, it is bringing back a lot of things from the past.”

“It’s beautiful here. I can see what you came here to have a little privacy.”

“I brought a few girls here to make out but only had sex a few times. It never really clicked between girls and me. I didn’t know why at the time, but after meeting you, that part of my life is pretty clear now.”

“Changing the subject to something less serious, the San Antonio River originates from a few springs a couple of miles north of the downtown area.”

We sat quietly for a few minutes.

Bobby reached over and opened my belt and then unbuttoned my 501s. “Stand up Chris, pull you jeans down and sit on my lap with your back to me.”

Bobby pushed his seat back to give us more distance from the steering wheel. It was a little difficult getting into position and by the time I figured it out, Bobby had his dick out, hard as usual, waiting for fun.

I slowly lowered myself while Bobby guided his dick to my hole.

“I don’t have any lube, but I’m leaking precum like crazy.”

He moved his slick cockhead up and down over my pucker and pushed with short strokes to get his lube inside before entering. He stopped moving and pushed. I love that sting of penetration and the feeling of him sliding in, like a slow-moving train, going all the way inside my body. I lifted up and sat down, slowly at first and soon I was huffing and puffing, fucking myself hard on Bobby’s eight inches of hot, hard dick. Bobby reached and tweaked my nipples, but didn’t touch my dick.

“I want you to come with me without touching yourself. Do that for me. Focus on giving me that, Chris.”

This fuck was quickly building up to a gigantic, powerful climax. The end of the ride was approaching and I could feel it coming. I could hear myself whimpering, whining, gasping, squealing and then both of us crashed into that brick wall together. We were screaming and cursing, riding out the last seconds of the orgasm. I leaned back onto Bobby’s chest. He humped my ass a little and I squeezed hard, milking out the last drops of his warm sperm. Bobby had his arms around me, hugging me tightly against him, rubbing his face slowly on my back. I was speechless, as was Bobby. I looked out over the river and felt warm tingles all over from what we had just shared. A beautiful setting for making love.

Bobby reached under his seat and pulled out a small hand towel and handed it to me. You can clean your butt with that. I took it and glanced back and forth between Bobby and the towel.

“That’s my cum rag for when I’m underway, although I never thought about using it like this.”

“Right. I remember you said once that you needed a cum rag in your car for when you are underway. I thought you were kidding.”

Bobby laughed and said, “Man should never kid about such important matters.”

“Bobby, you are the most over-sexed guy I have ever known.”

“Maybe I’m not gay but just oversexed and since no woman can meet my needs, I’m just turning to a gay man who never gets enough cock and cum.”

I looked at him, slowly moving my head left and right in disbelief. However, I DID think about how lucky I am to have a man whose sex drive is stronger than mine.

We drove down to the beautiful San Antonio River Walk, strolled along and stopped at an outdoor café to have a glass of wine. We spent nearly an hour there before driving back to the parents’ home.

Dinner was almost ready by the time we returned. Half-an-hour went by and then Mary Ann called us to the dining room table. It was a beautiful sight. We sat, and wished everyone a ‘very merry Christmas,’ all around. Robert stood, raised his glass and said this Christmas could not go by without giving thanks for the miracle of the son returning home. He had a few kind and sweet things to say. Bobby was blushing. The rest of us had tears of happiness in our eyes.

The dinner was more than fantastic. Mary Ann had really put a lot of effort into making this a memorable Christmas for us all.

After dinner we opened presents and the family apologized over and over for not having anything for us. But, we DID just drop in without any prior announcement.

Bobby seemed nervous and I didn’t know why. He hadn’t said anything to me about it. Suddenly, he stood and asked for everyone’s attention. No one had questions so Bobby began speaking.

“Before yesterday, I often wondered if I would ever be able to return here and face those people I love, the people I walked out on five years ago and never once made contact with before arriving yesterday, unannounced. And, here we are today. Forgiveness on both sides. Me for deserting my family and my family feeling they had failed me, when they really didn’t. Chris is responsible for me coming back. I don’t think I would have ever done it without him standing behind me and teaching me the right thing to do. I am indebtedly to him for more than I can remember. As I stand here, I am terrified with the reaction of what I’m about to do. But I have to do it, right now, this special day. Bobby reached into his pocket, faced me, got down on one knee. He looked up at me with watery eyes, opened a ring box and said, “Chris, will you marry me?” He cried.

I grabbed him, pulled him to his feet and held him tightly, rubbing the back of his head. I whispered in his ear, “Of course I will.”

He turned around and proudly yelled, “He said, ‘Yes.’

Everyone applauded and then came to us and we did a group hug.

Mary Ann said, “I couldn’t be happier than right now. First Bobby returns home and now I’m getting another son.”

Suddenly, Robert walked into the room carrying a tray with glasses and two bottles of champagne. “This calls for a celebration.”

While Robert was pouring, Mary Ann asked when he had bought the champagne. He said he had bought it a few days ago, for some reason, thinking there may be an occasion to celebrate something this year.

Then Mary Ann asked Bobby about the proposal and the ring.

“I bought the ring three months ago and have been carrying it with me everywhere I go. At home I hid it but before I left home, I put the ring case in my pocket. Yeah, I know we’ve only been together for six months. But I knew already early on that we would get married. I even told Chris even before I bought the ring that marriage for us is inevitable. I think I was falling in love with Chris that first day, even before we slept together that night.”

Mary Ann smiled and hesitated, but then spoke. “I don’t want to interfere but if you guys want to, we can have the wedding at our church or here at home. Whichever you choose is fine with me.”

Bobby said, “We have no real plans right now but we will keep in touch about arrangements after Chris and I talk it over.”

We would stay in Texas for three more days before driving back to DC. At home there would be a day to rest up before returning to work. Before leaving Texas, bobby took me to see The Alamo, Mission San Jose church, the beautiful botanical gardens and the historic Market Square. We drove out to our spot at the San Antonio River late on the afternoon of the day before we would depart.

The trip to Bobby’s hometown and meeting his family had really been a magical time for me. I will always remember it, especially his marriage proposal on Christmas Day.

To be continued…..