The Village

Seth’s Perspective

 It was just a couple of weeks before Christmas and the holiday hustle and bustle was in full swing. The Holiday season was insane enough, but for a psychologist you can ramp up the insanity by a thousand times… it was a tough time for so many of the Villagers. For some, it was their first Christmas alone, for others, just another lonely holiday, but we were all determined to make sure no one was alone and everyone had a great Christmas. Luckily, Harrington House had become its own little community where the residents all took care of each other and kept each other company. That lessened the burden on me, but I was still doing back-to-back sessions to help the guys fight holiday depression, on top of that, I had the added pressure of pulling together the board meeting for The Village in Vegas.

It was about two weeks before Christmas and three weeks before the board meeting. Everyone was excited about Vegas… but I was stressed-the-fuck-OUT! All the reporting, prep work, and details fell to me. Thank god for BA and Rodney, they rallied around me to help with the logistics. BA worked with Scotty and a concierge from The Resort in Vegas to work out all the travel and itinerary details taking that off my plate. Rodney helped me pull together the agenda and develop year-end reports about cases, resources, and successes from our first year. He also helped me articulate goals and needs for the coming year and beyond, damn he was a great hire. We decided to “bring the Villagers into the room” with a video of them telling their stories. Rodney spent the next couple of days setting up a shooting schedule for us to go out and film Taylor at the dealership, Colton at the docks, Mason, Maverick, and the other guys at work at the candle barn, etc. and Scotty agreed to film Alejandro in Arizona for us. Our plan was to interview the guys at work and in their homes, letting them tell their stories, then we’d edit it down and show the video at the meeting so the board could see the results of our first year in a very personal way. They had all heard some of the stories, but this was a chance to put faces with the successes.

The Resort was covering airfare and expenses for Rodney and I to attend the board meeting… they had been very generous to The Village since we opened. Rodney was SO excited; he had never been to Vegas and planned on asking Victor to come along. He’d been checking out The Resort online and had a million questions about it. “Have you ever been?” he asked.

“Scotty’s my brother in-law and I worked for The Resort for a couple of summers when I was in college, so we’ve been to the one in Phoenix a lot, and we honeymooned at the location in Hawaii” I responded. I told him about my experience with The Pride Crew, and some of our experiences at The Resort… yeah it got a little “intimate” for an employer/employee discussion, but truth be told our tight little community at The Village had very few secrets and we weren’t exactly shy about our sexuality and exploits.

Meanwhile, Zach and I were planning our own Holiday trip to Wisconsin. We’d be spending Christmas Eve at the Hall’s and Christmas Day at Mom and Pop Nicholls’ (just as we had every year since we met), THEN we’d head back to NC for a few days of work before we flew off to Vegas for the board meeting. Kelly had called and asked me if I wanted to invite my dad for Christmas. Eli and I talked it over, then called him on speaker phone and extended the invitation. He was in great spirits when we called and seemed to truly appreciate the gesture, but he politely declined saying he had other plans. He was very secretive and vague about his plans at first, then eventually admitted that he and Best had decided to take a trip together. It had been a difficult year for him, fraught with change; the loss of my mother, reuniting with his family, fighting the church, and of course coming out. He just wanted to get away from Texas and his life for a while; we understood, but Eli came right out and asked if he and Best were going as a couple.

“Let’s just call it two friends going on a much needed break together…” he said before adding “for now.” Eli and I grinned at each other. There was definitely something brewing there, but he was obviously not ready to talk to us about it, so we dropped the subject. He would tell us if and when he was ready. Frankly, I was happy he was finally being honest with himself, and a little relieved that he turned our invitation down. As much as I was happy to be rebuilding our relationship, Thanksgiving was pretty heavy and I was looking forward to a nice, calm, Westin-Hall traditional family Christmas… there would be other Holidays with my dad. All that being said… Life went on. Like I said my days were booked with counseling sessions and making sure everyone felt included. We were planning a village Christmas party at our house for the upcoming Saturday night; all the villagers, and local village elders were coming. Max and I had gifts for the guys, and the board and sponsors had all pitched in and donated stuff for them too. Everyone was looking forward to it, including me.

I had a mid-week session with Colton over lunch and he was stressing out over the Holidays.

“This is our first Christmas away from my parents” he said in a quiet tone. “I need to make it a good one for Ella.” I could see the stress on his face and hear it in his voice.

“How is she doing?” I asked as I always did.

“Great. She loves that damn car, is working her ass off with her two jobs, socking money away, and is doing great in school” he answered. “One of her teachers called the other day to let me know they were going to a debate competition in DC and wants her to be there.”

“She’s on the debate team? I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, and the teacher said she’s the star” he said with a proud grin. “No shock there, she freaking argues with me about everything!” He laughed. “The trip is at the end of January and is gonna cost about a thousand bucks” he said with a heavy sigh. “She wants to go so bad and is saving up for it, I’m picking up some extra shifts to help, but I have my first tuition payment due before the first of the year, so I’m struggling with it.”

“Your problems sure have changed” I said getting a scrunched face from Colton in response. “What was it, like nine or ten months ago you were a high school dropout living in your Corolla?” I got a sobering smile from him with that statement. “Now you have a job that pays the bills, a great apartment, you’re raising your sister, and you’re starting culinary school.”

He smiled and looked me in the eyes “I have real-people problems now.”

I smiled back and asked, “and?”

“And what?”

“And you’re solving them on your own” I said with exuberance. “Look at you, Colton! You’re crushing this!” He couldn’t hold back the smile; he was proud of himself… and he damn well should’ve been. After that, I asked him about his Holiday plans and he answered excitedly. “Well, Friday night is the BroMax party.” Max was having a company party and invited everyone who had worked for him that year… so that was literally ALL the local Villagers. “Then Saturday night is the party at your house, and on Christmas eve all the guys in Harrington House are coming to our place and I’m making dinner. We’re all pitching in for groceries and doing a Secret Santa thing. It was all Ricky’s idea to make sure Ella had a Christmas.” WOW! I couldn’t help but smile… Ella was right, she had “too many” brothers. Okay, I didn’t really think it was too many at all, but her point was spot on, they were all family and I freaking LOVED that fact!

“Damn, you have a lot going on” I responded. “I think the Harrington House dinner sounds awesome. I’m so proud of all you guys for thinking about each other… and Ella.”

“The guys keep an eye on her when I’m at work, I couldn’t do this without them, without all of you! Seth” he said in appreciation. “Ella had her visitation with my mom yesterday, they got into another fight and Ella stormed out. She told Victor she didn’t want to do the visits anymore.”

“What did he say?”

“He said it was court ordered and there wasn’t much he could do. Do you think Zach can help?” He asked in desperation.

“I’ll talk to him. But are you sure that’s what she really wants?” I asked.

“I’ll let her cool down for a couple of days before I bring it up again” he said speaking as a true guardian. About to turn nineteen years old, forced to drop out of high school, picked himself up and is providing for himself and his sister and building a bright future for the two of them… Colton amazed me. I listen as he talked about all that was going on in his life and marveled at his strength.

The rest of the week went by fast and Friday night was upon us. Me and Zach were on the BroMax board so we got invited to the Christmas party. Everyone was having a great time and it was so much fun to watch the guys interacting like that. I realized that Ricky and Timmy were the only straight guys there, and they were right in the middle of all the gay boys laughing, joking, dancing, and having a great time. Ricky and Timmy were good guys, I loved that they lived in Harrington House, It gave me, Max, and the board peace of mind knowing they were there keeping an eye on everyone. Zach, Brody, Max, and I were talking and watching the guys have fun when Ricky approached us. “Hey, you guys want to pitch in for Ella’s gift?” He asked quietly.

“Of course,” Brody said without hesitation, “What are y’all getting her?”

“She has a chance to go to a debate competition in DC next month, we’re all pitching in to help her raise enough to go.” Ricky answered as he looked around. “Don’t tell Colton, we know he’d try to talk us out of it.” Damn! All these guys were just such good people, not a freaking dud in the bunch.

“How much does she need and what have you raised?” Max asked.

“She needs a thousand bucks, I doubt we’ll raise it all, but we’ve got about four hundred towards it so far.” Ricky answered.

The four of us exchanged glances, Zach nodded at me, Brody nodded at Max, and I answered for the group “We’ll make up the difference.”

“Seriously?” He asked with a smile, “You guys don’t need to…”

“Hail, I think it’s a great idea and she deserves to go” Brody said. The five of us talked about logistics of us getting Ricky the cash, etc. The plan was for the guys to give Ella the money on Christmas Eve. Ricky handed us the card to sign, It said ‘Merry Christmas to the sister we always wanted, love your brothers.’ Then each of them signed and wrote a personal note. It occurred to me that having her in Harrington House was therapeutic for the guys.

The four of us exchanged glances again then I said, “We’ll give y’all the difference, but let’s just leave the gift from you guys.”

“Why?” Ricky asked. “She loves you guys, sign the card.”

“Yeah, but y’all are her brothers… and that’s the way it should be” Brody said with the rest of us nodding along in agreement. “This is all y’all. Yer good guys.”  Ricky nodded in understanding then hung out and chatted with us for a while.

As we were talking, I noticed Maverick sitting alone in a corner, so I joined him. “You having fun?” I asked.

“Not really, y’all” he muttered softly. “I miss my family. I know they don’t want me around, but it’s Christmas and I wanna go home” he said breaking my heart. Maverick was a sweet guy and he hadn’t been on his own very long. “My step momma is a mean ole’ bitch, but she was always nice to me at Christmas” he said with a sad, nostalgic look in his eyes. “Our old farmhouse smelled like turkey and cinnamon and no matter how tight money was there were always presents under the tree” he went on and on about family, step brothers and sisters, gifts, and what sounded like a perfect world. “I knew that on Christmas Daddy and step momma wouldn’t fight, and she wouldn’t yell at me, call me useless, or smack me around like she did the rest of the year.”

“Have you talked to them since you left?” I asked.

“I called my daddy a couple of times. He was happy to hear from me” he said mustering a half-smile. “I told him I had a job and a place to live and that I was somewhere in North Carolina. He told me he was glad I was safe, but he didn’t ask me to come home or nuthin’” I could see the pain in his eyes.

“That sucks” I said empathetically. I wasn’t sure what to say and thought for a second before speaking, “Look over there” I said. He looked at all the guys having a great time. “It may not be the original, but you got a family here” is all I could think to say. He gave me a nod and a weak smile.

“MAVERICK” Ricky yelled. “Get your skinny lil’ ass on the dance floor!” Maverick laughed at that as he wiped the tears from his face with the back of his wrist and took a deep breath.

“Seth?” he said. “Can I just hug you a minute?” We stood and embraced. He held me tight with his skinny little arms.

As we parted I whispered “Merry Christmas. You know where to find me if you need me.” He gave me a quiet‘thank you’ then took off to dance with the guys. Zach and I hung out a little longer before bidding farewell and heading home. “See y’all tomorrow night at our place” I yelled to the crowd.

That night as Zach held me in bed, I thought about how amazingly perfect it felt, then I thought about Maverick and what had happened at the party. He probably hadn’t had human touch, not even a friggin’ hug in months, as a psychologist I was a firm believer that human contact had healing powers. I flipped around so I was face-to-face with my almost asleep husband and kissed him on the lips. His eyes flew open and he smiled at me.

“What was that for?” He asked.

“Just for making me feel loved” I said with a grin before I reached down and massaged his soft manhood through his boxers turning our tender, loving moment a little more sexual. In response, he reached down and started to massage my sleeping member with his warm hand. It felt so good to be touched. We pushed our bodies against each other as we kissed passionately, his warm chest felt good against mine under the covers. For a brief moment his nipples touched mine… it was freaking electric. After all the wild stuff (well, wild for us) we had done over the years THIS, a tiny nipple touch, is what got my engine revving? Go figure. Heck our last session consisted of me using toys to attack his fine ass! But at that moment, his tool in my hand had my lust boiling over and I pushed my face hard into his, kissing him with desire and need. Yeah, I wanted him, but I needed him more. Our tongues danced as our hands stroked and pulled at each other. Zach massaged my balls tenderly, rolling them around in his hand, awakening them. As his hand cupped me, his middle finger stretched down and probed my hole. I mimicked his moves as my finger penetrated his tight little pucker and was greeted with a groan that transferred from his wet, moist mouth into mine sending and erotic vibration through me.

Zach stepped things up a notch by rolling me onto my back and pinning me to the mattress under his firm, muscular, athletic body. Our lips never parted and our tongues continued to wrestle while Zach smoothly moved himself into place, pulling his cock back between his legs and lining it up with my tight, dry hole. I could feel the bluntness of its big head as it tapped on my sphincter begging for entrance. He started to push and I put my hand on his chest to stop him as I reached my other hand into the nightstand and fumbled for the lube. I squirted a little in my hand then handed the bottle to him. I stroked the lube onto his petrified log and slicked it up with long, purposeful strokes as I stared into his beautiful eyes. He pushed his slickened finger into my needy hole and probed around looking for my prostate. JACKPOT! He hit my prostate perfectly and his payoff was a series of lusty moans escaping my wet lips. A smile of satisfaction lit up Zach’s beautiful face… he got off on getting me off. Goddammit it felt so good as his finger explored my ass like Marco Polo journeying through Asia, taking his time getting to know the native territory. He added a second finger and my ass pushed against his them, beckoning them to stay and enjoy its hospitable warmth. His fingers were completely enveloped within me and I gasped and whimpered, they just weren’t long enough to satisfy my desire. Zach sensed my need, and aligned his hard, slick timber with my pucker for a second time. He tapped the head against it as if knocking on the door hoping for an invite. I pushed out and my sphincter opened, welcoming his hot, fleshy tool. He entered me slowly, inch by inch filling the void in me and satisfying my lusty need.

Here’s the part where I would normally tell you about Zach fucking me, but he didn’t. I fucked myself with his hard cock. Yeah, quiet little me took control. I wrapped my arms around his muscular body, pushed myself up and him back until he was sitting on the mattress and I was sitting on his lap. Our kiss was wet, lusty, and hard as his hand found its way to the back of my head and pulled my face hard against his. I was fully impaled on him. He was deep inside me, hitting places I didn’t know existed, as his warm, smooth ball sac molded itself to the crack of my ass. I pulled away from our kiss, sat straight up, and moved my ass back and forth trying to feel every bit of his girth. I felt so full… so full of Zach. He laid back and stretched out on the bed while I threw my head back and braced my hands on his taut chest, pinching his nipples as a bonus. Zach yelped at my attacked and instinctively pushed his hips up trying to go deeper… there was maybe a centimeter left for him to own, but FUCK that little movement did everything to me! He hit something that freed me and I started bouncing up and down on his stick like I was competing to be the pogo champion of the world. “Oh fuck, Zach, fuck yes. Fuck me. Oh, my fucking god. Fuck me. Fuck me harder!” The obscenities flowed as I bounced and begged for more. There is little doubt that Riley and Eli heard it all… but who the fuck cared.

I stroked my cock as I bounced harder and higher. “Fuck, Seth. I’m gonna fucking explode” Zach said breathlessly.

“Fucking breed me, boy” I grunted having no idea why I said those words. I looked down into Zach’s eyes as I bounced higher and harder, and stroked myself faster. Sweat was dripping from my body onto his, our grunts, groans and dirty talk got louder and faster until BAM! We both shot within seconds of each other. I started a domino effect by shooting my plentiful load onto his chest, my hole convulsed and grabbed him tight as I did, pushing him to orgasmic release. I kept bouncing and stroking, and Zach kept pushing for a good minute or so after our mutually satisfying crescendo, then I leaned forward and collapsed on the only lover I had ever had. The only one I had ever wanted. We kissed as we rolled onto our sides and held each other. Zach stayed in me until he went soft… we eventually fell asleep in the aftermath of our lust.

The next morning, I got up early, showered and started cooking and prepping for The Village Christmas party. I was excited to open our home to the people I had come to love over the past several months. All the local villagers were coming, along with and local sponsors and board members, I did my damnedest to make this a family Christmas for them, not some lame, sterilized, corporate Christmas obligation. Riley was in charge of her office Christmas party that night, so the two of them disappeared early. Fortunately, Max, Zach, and Brody all pitched in to help make everything perfect. Max brought his family’s tradition of a seafood feast to the buffet along with the ham and every side dish known to man that I had prepared. There were presents stacked underneath the tree… a pile for every villager. Our board members, Villager Elders, and community businesses and leaders had all pitched in to make sure these guys weren’t forgotten. Marilee gave everyone mugs and gift cards for her shop, Daddy and BA bought each of the guys something personal (as did the four of us). We had restaurant gift cards, gas cards, and other stuff from local businesses. We wrapped everything up, we even put the gift cards in boxes or gift bags making a big deal of every heartfelt gesture. We invited Ella, but unfortunately, she had to work that night. Regardless, there was a pile of gifts for her under the tree… mostly from Mr. and Mrs. J. Everybody reached deep into their pockets to make sure no one was left out. The four of us stood there looking at the tree before our guests arrived and marveled at the generosity of everyone involved. It was clear these guys were truly loved. They fucking deserved it!

About twenty minutes later the house was loud and full of people. The guys were all there laughing, giving each other shit, and just loving each other’s company. They all had worked and/or lived together over the past year and knew each other well. Max and I had tried to design The Village to be more than a charity. We wanted to create a family for those who had none… it worked, and the proof was in my living room.

The guys filled their plates and gathered around the tree sitting wherever they could. They pulled in chairs from the kitchen and dining room, sat on the living room furniture, or found a spot on the floor. Colton was sitting on the floor propped up against Zoey who was lounging in front of the fire, and Maverick was next to him laying down with his head propped up by Petunia. It was time to open gifts. We started with everyone opening one gift together, on top of every pile was a box from Kelly and Nathan Hall for each of the guys, they opened those at the same time. The Halls wanted to share their family tradition of wearing Ugly Christmas sweaters with the Villagers and hand-picked one for each of them. The guys laughed, and mock-scoffed as they pulled the sweaters on over their heads. Zach was taking a video to send to his parents, the rest of us took pictures to commemorate The Village’s first family Christmas. The guys took turns opening their gifts, the biggest most ornately decorated gift on every pile was from me, Max, Zach, and Brody. There was a BroMax Candle and a jar of homemade pickles in each one as a joke… it became a running gag. Every time someone opened their big gift they would say, “Gee, I wonder what this is?” And the boys would yell out some outrageous guess like “a new car” or “a sofa” or “a gold toilet” or whatever the hell else they could think of. Then the recipient would rip open the box and yell in their best fake exuberant voice, “it’s better! Pickles and a candle” and they’d all cheer. They thanked us all for each gift whether it was real or a joke, and their gratitude was genuine… none of these guys took anything for granted and they appreciated every little thing.

After the gift opening, everybody hung out, ate, and mingled. Zach disappeared for a while, then came through the front door with Taylor, looking suspicious. If I had been married to anyone other than Zach and he left the party with an ex-rent boy who also happened to be the hottest Villager, I would’ve gotten suspicious. Shortly after that our guests left with their arms full of gifts and leftovers. When everyone was gone, I asked Zach what was up, with him and Taylor, “We were just talking about cars.” He responded and I accepted his answer. After that we went up to bed.

Sunday morning, we got up and cleaned the house. About mid-morning I headed out to the barn to get more firewood. As I was opening the big door I noticed the Zach, Eli, and Riley had followed me outside, I assumed they came to help me carry wood back to the house. I slid the door open and there it was; a gray Audi A4 with a pearl finish and a giant bow on top. “Merry Christmas” Zach said.

“What the actual frig is this?!” I exclaimed as I looked at the shining vehicle in front of me.

“It’s your new car!” Zach said “Taylor got us an amazing deal, and I used part of my bonus as a down payment… It’s all yours… but I get to drive it when I have to entertain clients or just wanna look cool!”

“it’s so frigging extravagant! I thought we decided to get something used and basic” I said going into practical-Seth mode.

“It is used and Taylor got it for us cheaper than anything basic, it’s a year old but only has a couple of thousand miles on it. The guy bought it from the dealership then decided he wanted a bigger model; Taylor took it in on trade and hid it away for us.” Zach responded.

I opened the door and sat in the driver’s seat. It was SO different from The Green Dragon (AKA Falkor) and had every bell and whistle… damn, so that’s what thirty years of automotive innovation looked like. My practical self was fighting it, it was too fancy, too flashy, too much, however, inside I was jumping with excitement, I frigging loved it! Zach came to the open door and asked, “Do you like it?”

I hugged him and whispered “I fucking love it. And I fucking love you.”

Maverick’s Perspective

Christmas Eve at Colton’s was fun. The mood was loud and festive, and the food was so dang good (I had no clue Colton was such an amazin’ cook). This was our third holiday party together in a week, but this one was different, this one was centered on Ella; it was her Christmas. She was like a sister to all of us and we were all protective of her. She was smart as hail and had a good soul. She had a chance to go to D.C. for a debate competition but needed to raise a thousand bucks. We all chipped in and gave her the money… all of it (thanks to some help from Seth, Zach, and their husbands). Dang she was excited! When she opened the card all the money fell out, then she read what we had wrote inside and jumped up kissin’ and huggin’ on us all. It felt good to be hugged, I was so lonely.

I was havin’ a rough time with Christmas. Seth had come up to my apartment every day this week to check on me before he left the office. He could tell I was homesick and was worried about me. He and Zach had left the day before to go to Wisconsin for Christmas and he had already called to check on me. He really cared.

Ya’ know, as mean as my step momma was, she would put it aside at Christmas and we were like a family. My real momma passed when I was little, but I remember her. After she died dad married Shirley pretty darn quick; he didn’t wanna be alone and she was a widow with four kids to feed and needed help… I don’t think he ever really loved her, but he missed momma and didn’t wanna be alone. Anyway, Shirley moved in like a year after momma died and brought her four kids with her, two girls and two boys. They was like my brother and sisters and it hurt when she made me leave em’ all behind. Ella reminded me of my oldest sister Veronica… we called her Ronny for short. I was havin’ a good time at Colton’s party, but even surrounded by all those guys, I thought about home and started to feel even more alone.

After the party I went down to my apartment, packed a bag, took all the cash I had at home and headed down to the parking lot. Seth had been lettin’ me use The Village’s green VW Beetle to get back and forth to BroMax Farm for work.

I hopped in and headed home to Kentucky.

To be continued…