The Village

Seth’s Perspective

Monday morning was different from any other as I woke with Izzy’s tiny foot pushing against my face while the 6AM alarm blared from my phone. Zach and I got up and the two wiped out toddlers instinctively spread out on the bed in our absence. Zach hit the shower while I put the coffee on and started breakfast. Zach came down about fifteen minutes later wrapped in just a towel with his toothbrush in his mouth, carrying Izzy. He put her in the highchair Kelly and Nathan got us then kissed me on the cheek, “Good morning handsome we got a busy day. I texted my secretary to let her know I’d be in late so we can drop the kids off at their schools together and talk to their teachers.”

“Max told me to take my time getting in too. I already texted BA and clued her in. She’s moving my morning sessions to the afternoon” I responded.

“I gotta finish getting dressed and wake Frederico up” Zach said with flair, “What’s for breakfast?”

“Micky” answered the not so awake Izzy.

I laughed, “Pancakes again?” she nodded her head and almost smiled. Pancakes it was! By the time breakfast was ready Freddy and Zach had come down. The four of us ate together then Zach got the kids ready for school while I took a shower. We were all ready to go within an hour, we adapted quickly… I was impressed with us!

We went to Freddy’s school first, oh my god, the whole pick-up/drop-off process was confusing as hell. All the other parents knew the drill while we just kind of barreled through getting nasty looks and being beeped at. The principal was outside greeting parents and saw us two strangers approaching, he instantly recognized Freddy. “Good morning, Freddy, how are you?” asked the lean fortyish man in the navy blue suit before looking up at the two of us and introducing himself as Principal Ferris. Freddy greeted the man then pulled Zach towards his classroom. I stayed behind with Izzy on my hip and the paperwork from Ms. Elkin in my hand as I explained to Principal Ferris what was going on. He didn’t seem all that surprised and had obviously been through this before, he invited me to his office. He told me what he could about Freddy’s history, how he was doing in school, etc., overall, the report was positive. The takeaway was that Freddy was smart but a little behind, he was a good kid whom the teachers all loved but his mother had been a source of frustration for the faculty and pretty hands off. “his mother is very young and believes that educating him is our job. She doesn’t participate much.” He was supportive of me and Zach, and his focus was Freddy’s wellbeing… we were on the same team.

When we finished talking, he led us to Freddy’s classroom to reunite with Zach and our Freddy, I followed with Izzy still attached to my hip. Freddy excitedly showed us around his turf, it was the most animated I’d seen him since we met. When we left, he quietly said goodbye and took his seat. The principal walked us out and assured us Freddy was in good hands and that we had his support. We buckled Izzy in and drove her to daycare. Her school was a totally different vibe, it was in a crappy looking little building that needed paint and landscaping, definitely low budget. We weren’t greeted as warmly there; the administrator who was dressed in jeans and a flowered blouse that was long overdue for a good dry cleaning was rude and suspicious of us. She asked me where my wife was (twice) and I responded that Zach and I were Izzy’s guardians and showed her the paperwork.

“Gay?” she responded looking down her nose at us in judgmental distain.

“Problem?” Zach responded before I could.

She looked him in the eyes sizing him up and responded coldly, “nope. Her room is over there” she said pointing down the hall as she examined the paperwork. I took Izzy to her room while Zach went with the administrator.

It was a good twenty minutes later when Zach came into Izzy’s room and scooped her up from the play area where she was playing by herself in a corner. “Grab her stuff, we’re leaving” he said as he walked briskly out of the room unnoticed by the two supervising teachers. I grabbed Izzy’s belongings and followed behind in confusion.

“What’s going on?” I asked as I chased him into the parking lot and to the car. He put her in the car seat.

Once he closed the door and she was out of earshot he shouted in a whisper “That woman is a homophobic cunt, we’re not leaving our baby here!” He was PISSED! I had NEVER heard him use the “C” word before, and the words ‘our baby’ didn’t go unnoticed either. Zach was in Papa Bear mode… and it was fucking sexy.

“What the hell happened?” I whispered back over the roof of the car as he stood by the driver’s door with me on the other side.

“That fucking bitch…” he said still whispering in a shout, “…basically called us pedophiles, abominations, and every other fucking term those nut bags use” he said in anger. In all our years together, I had never seen him this angry or protective before and I’d totally be lying if I said it wasn’t a massive turn on.

“But what are we gonna do with Izzy?” I asked in confused desperation.

“I called Ms. Elkin before I came to the room and got you, she said that Freddy has to go to school, but childcare for Izzy is optional at her age.” Zach said. “The state pays for this place but it’s up to us whether she shows up or not. We can make alternate arrangements on our dime… fucking fine by me.” OH, was he PISSED! We got in the car and he slammed the door.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“To your office to make a plan, I’ll work remotely if I have to, she is NOT going back there while she’s under our care. We don’t need her head filled with crap.” He was upset, I was amused and frankly a little turned on. I loved this protective side of him.

We got to my office and parked the Audi in back. Zach carried Izzy in, BA and Rodney instantly gushed over her, at first, she cowered into Zach broad shoulder, but eventually she started to bask in the attention. We told the story of how her and Freddy arrived unexpectedly over the weekend, and about our experience at the daycare.

“Call Gina” BA blurted. “Maggie stays with a woman who runs a small daycare out of her home, Magpie loves Mrs. Mavis. Maybe she can take her.” Then she volunteered to take care of Izzy while Zach and I went into my office to formulate our plan.

We called Gina, she called Mrs. Mavis and then got back to us immediately… she had room for one more. “Why don’t we come over tonight and introduce the girls so she has a friend tomorrow?”

“That’s a great idea. Why don’t you guys come over for dinner” I said in relief. This was a great solution. Zach worked remotely from my office for the rest of the day and I held sessions in the therapy room.

Zach came in after one of my sessions with his laptop open and said, “Well, the police officer sent over the report, and he also said she was charged this morning.”

“How bad is it?” I asked.

“Pretty bad, Seth.” Zach said in a serious tone as he sat down in one of the leather chairs still reading. “There was coke, heroin, weed, and a shitload of unregistered firearms in that house. Although it seems it was her boyfriend that was involved, not her, but the fact that she was there and let this happen in the house with the kids there qualifies as child endangerment, she’s damn lucky no one was hurt or she’d be looking at a Class G felony with eight months to four years in prison.”

“So, since no one was hurt she gets off scot-free?” I asked.

“Well, with her priors, and the fact that this same judge apparently threatened to take her kids prior to this… AND she was on probation, she’s in some deep shit” Zach responded still reading and trying to disseminate everything. “Looks like these guys may be with us for a while.”

“We should call Ms. Elkin again” I said. Zach dialed her and she told us what she knew (which was the same thing Zach and I had just discussed), then asked how we were doing and if we’d be willing to keep the kids until the end of the week. It was a no-brainer and we agreed. We worked from The Village until it was time to pick Freddy up. He was enrolled in an after school program that went until 5PM, Zach and I would have to take shifts picking him up since we both typically worked way past five o’clock… we’d figure it out. Freddy came out of school with a picture in his hand and was talking nonstop! Where did THIS kid come from? We dropped off a timid little guy and picked up an animated happy kid. He jumped in his seat and kissed his sister before he buckled up. Zach drove and I sat in the passenger seat and just listened to Freddy tell us about his day. I tried not to laugh; this was a whole different kid! Then he asked Izzy how school was, she just shook her head ‘no’ then he went back to talking. He talked for the entire ride… he was great entertainment. We stopped at the market to get pork chops and some other stuff for dinner and Freddy kept talking, we did our best not to laugh but it was hard… our quiet little houseguest was coming out of his shell and we both loved it! We pulled up the long drive and saw our pick-up parked near the garage, Kelly and Nathan must’ve dropped it off on their way to the airport. Their flight left around noon; they were probably back in Wisconsin already.

We got out of the car and opened the backdoors to unload the kids when Petunia came running up to us. “What are you doing outside, girl?” I asked. “I thought you locked her up in the house before we left” I said to Zach.

“I did” he responded. Just then Kelly came out of the house. “What are you doing here?! You’re supposed to be back in Wisconsin!” Zach said to his mother.

“I wasn’t going to leave you two here alone with two fulltime jobs and two kids. I extended my trip until Thursday” Kelly said. “Dinner’s almost ready” she added as if it was no big deal that she magically appeared on our doorstep.

Zach and I both had our heads in the car as we were pulling the kids out and looked at each other. Um… yeah, we could use the help, but how about asking first? I was used to my mother in-law taking control and being a little invasive at times, but this felt like she crossed the line a bit. “Zach, I want to do this on our own” I said.

“Me too, and we need time to get to know these guys. I’ll talk to her” Zach offered.

“Wait, she means well, don’t hurt her feelings” I said. “Let’s talk to her together, after dinner.” Zach agreed as we got the kids out of the car and went into the house. The place was spotless, all the kids things were put away, and the smells of dinner wafted through our home.

“I hope everyone likes spaghetti and meatballs!!” Kelly exclaimed as we entered. She got a ‘yay’ from Freddy who was running ahead of us, which got a copycat ‘yay’ from Izzy who was running behind him. We were learning that Izzy followed Freddy’s lead on most things. If Freddy liked it, Izzy liked it. “I made my homemade sauce and meatballs. It was Zachy’s favorite when he was little.”

“Um, Mom, we didn’t know you would be here and we invited Gina, Dylan, and Maggie so that Izzy and Maggie could play together” Zach said hinting that we had other plans.

“That’s great! I didn’t get a chance to see them this trip, and I made plenty, I better go fix myself for company” Kelly said oblivious to Zach’s hint then ran up to the bathroom. We exchanged glances then just gave in and I put the porkchops in the freezer for another night. We changed the kids into their play clothes and got them settled in the den (AKA the playroom). Then we took turns changing out of our work clothes, by then the James’ crew had arrived. Kelly greeted everyone first, then we introduced the girls… they really didn’t need an intro. They just kind of started playing together like they’d known each other forever. Izzy was a few months older than Maggie but she was smaller and seemed a little behind in conversational and social skills, etc. Gina was so excited that we had a little girl staying with us, her and Dylan threw a million tips at us from meal hacks to ways to calm them, ways to entertain, etc. It was educational as hell. Of course, Kelly added her two cents worth. I felt bad for the way I was feeling… I loved my mother in-law and was used to her taking control. In fact, I usually stepped aside and let her go because her intentions were always good, but that night she felt like a buttinski, like she was stepping on our toes and pushing us aside. It was our wedding all over again. We wanted to do this together… me and Zach, but I bit my tongue.

We had a nice dinner, the girls got along great, Dylan and Zach were out in the cold with Freddy playing hide and seek, and Gina and I talked while Kelly pushed her way into the conversation. Yes. I admit it, I was getting annoyed with Kelly. Gina and Dylan left around 7PM, we walked them to their SUV and made plans to meet at Mrs. Mavis’s house in the morning to get Izzy set up and settled in as we said goodnight.

Kelly had followed us out, I assumed she was leaving too but instead she grabbed her bag out of the truck and went back into the house. I shot Zach a look as we followed her back in. “I’ll talk to her” he said in defeat. “Hey Mom” he yelled as he trailed behind her. She stopped in the living room and Zach said, “I didn’t realize you planned on staying, um… we have a pretty full house here…” he was treading lightly and she cut him off.

“The couch is fine for me, I figured if I stayed here, I could get up early and help get the kids ready.” Kelly responded as she made herself comfortable. Long story made short… Kelly ended up taking our bed and we slept on the couches… I was pissed. I woke up the next morning on the couch with a backache, the good news was the kids both stayed in their rooms all night (with Petunia keeping watch in the hallway). Kelly beat me to the kitchen and had lunches made and breakfast cooking. “Good morning” she said with a chirp in her voice, the lady was in heaven helping us all out and I was in hell.

Good morning, Mom” I said pouring myself a cup of coffee. “So, how long are you planning on staying?” I asked trying to take the bull by the horns.

“Well, I rescheduled my flight for Thursday, but I can stay longer” she said as she stirred the oatmeal on the stove and added some brown sugar and cinnamon.  She was humming a little tune, and I lost my nerve. Kelly spent her life focused on Zach and Riley and had been struggling to find purpose ever since they moved out. She got her real estate license and did a few sales on the side (mostly for family and friends), but there was still a void and she was filling it with Izzy and Freddy. I couldn’t burst her bubble so I just helped her with breakfast. Zach came in with the kids in tow. Kelly took over so I went upstairs to get ready for work.

I set out my clothes on the already made bed then stepped in the master shower. The warm water was soothing, in all honesty I was wiped out after just a couple of days as a foster parent. I had little sleep and lots of activity lately. I was naked with my hands crossed against my chest and my face looking up to catch the spray of the showerhead when I felt a cold breeze then heard Zach’s voice whisper “shhhh, let’s take advantage of our alone time” before he kissed my neck. I could feel his cold body against my warm back as his strong arms wrapped around me and landed on my wet, lounging manhood. I instinctively pushed back against him. Damn, he felt good.

“You’re already hard?” I whispered.

“More like still. I’ve been hard since those two little hits cockblocked me Sunday night” He whispered as he nuzzled my neck. “I swear my balls are purple.” His breath on my neck, his horny confession, his hard cock against my taut ass, the warm water cascading down on us… it all culminated in a raging hardon.

“Me too” I said letting a guttural moan escape my lips.

“Shhhh, they’re all right below us” he said referring to his mom and the four tiny ears in our care as he continued to work me into a lather. Lickety split he had two of his thick fingers lathered up and buried in my ass stretching my hole.

“fuuuuuck” I breathed out as I gave in to his anal assault. I had my left arm against the wall with my head resting on it and my right hand stroking my engorged, neglected member. “Fuck me” I whimpered quietly into my arm. Zach pushed in effortlessly and his lathered warrior took possession of my yearning hole. He grabbed onto my hips and pushed in, not wasting a single second of our precious alone time. Slowly but powerfully, he fucked me. He pushed in and pulled out with steady, dominant strokes. My hand jacked my cock in sync with his thrusts. It was a down and dirty shower fuck but it was doing the trick and would have to get us through the next several days until we could sneak away from the kids again. Zach started to jack rabbit in and out of my soapy ass, his jock ass providing the power for him to keep going and going like the damn Energizer Bunny. I was whimpering and quietly begging for more. “Fuck me, breed me, fuck!” I said in an almost silent whisper to myself.

“I’m cumming” Zach grunted in my ear and delivered his final thrust. Simultaneously I busted my nut on the tiled wall in front of me. My body was sweating and the water was washing it down the drain with the soap and cum. Zach stayed in me for a few moments and let out his energy by biting my neck. When he finally pulled out, he flipped around and we kissed, soaping, and cleaning each other’s bodies. We stepped out of the shower, dried off, brushed our teeth, got dressed and went off to face the world together.

We went down the hall and Freddy was dressing himself in one room while Kelly was helping Izzy pick the perfect outfit for her first day with Mrs. Mavis. “Thanks for the help, Mom” Zach said walking into the room while I went to help Freddy finish up. About ten minutes later we all went downstairs where Kelly had lunches made for all of us. “What are you going to do today, Mom?” Zach asked.

“I’ll clean up around here and then just hang out. I’ll have dinner on the table when you get home” She said.

Zach seized the moment, “Mom, thanks for your help, but you really don’t need to stay. We got this.”

She just smiled, “That’s okay, honey. I’m happy to do it.” Another subtle attempt thwarted. We all got in the Audi and headed to Freddy’s school.

“Zach, I love her, but we’re gonna have to have a real conversation with her” I pleaded. “I’m not sleeping on the damn couch until the kids leave.” He sighed and said he would try again when the right moment hit just as we were pulling into Freddy’s school. That morning we knew the drop off routine and fit in seamlessly. Just like the day before, the Principal was in the corridor greeting the kids.

“Hey Freddy” he said genuinely happy to see him. Then he looked up at us, “So, how are you guys doing” he asked with a grin.

“Hanging in there” I said as Freddy pulled Zach to his classroom again. I set Izzy down and she walked around exploring but always within sight. “We had some trouble at Izzy’s daycare” I told him, then gave him a quick version of our introduction. His eyes were wide as he listened.

“I’m sorry, but that’s not exactly shocking around here.” He responded. Our experience as a gay couple in the south had been positive for the most part, but we all had our moments. “A few years back there was a parent that petitioned the board to get a fourth grade teacher fired because he was gay” he shared. “It was at Principal Simmons school in fact” he added when he realized I knew him.

‘MAX’ I thought to myself. I had forgotten about that entire episode. When Max first moved here, one of the parents tried to get him fired from his teaching job, but the school board, faculty, and other parents came to his rescue. “That was my friend Max” I answered. He nodded and we talked about it a little longer. Even though we didn’t see it daily, homophobia was alive and well.

“Listen, don’t let a few nut cases turn you off. This is a great place, and what you guys are doing is admirable” his words were appreciated. “Their mother tries, but she’s young and can’t seem to keep herself away from bad influences and out of trouble… she’s been in and out of lock-up and rehab since I’ve known her” the Principal said, then he shared what he knew about Freddy and Izzy’s homelife. His mother was only sixteen when Freddy was born, thrown out of the house by her family, and moved in with the kids father who was about ten years older than her and a drug addict. Apparently, he disappeared before Izzy was even out of the womb. “She really has tried” he said with a sigh, “but these poor kids have been through hell. Oh… and compliments to you guys, Freddy has never smelled better” He said with a grin. He was obviously paying attention. Good.

Zach came back from Freddy’s classroom, we collected the wandering Izzy and went off to her new daycare. Mrs. Mavis had a cute little house in the suburbs. She greeted us warmly at the door and led us back to the great room where Gina was standing talking to another young mother. Maggie came over and hugged Izzy like they had known each other forever. Izzy didn’t skip a beat and went right into the room and found herself a dolly and a stroller. It was such a better fit. Gina introduced us to Mr. Mavis, she totally understood our situation and said Izzy was welcome there as long as we needed. Then we talked money and Zach wrote her a fat check… we were putting his bonus to good use. Both kids were in good hands.

Zach drove me to The Village and dropped me off “I’ll pick you up about 4:30” he said as we kissed goodbye. I wished him a good day and went into the office where BA and Rodney were talking.

“Didja’ get the little darlin’ into Maggie’s daycare?” BA asked as she handed me a cup of coffee from Marilee’s.

“Yup, it seems awesome” I responded.

“Mrs. Mavis, Mrs. Mavis, Mrs. Mavis, that’s all I ever hear outta little Magpie She loves it there” BA said.

“Well Maggie and Izzy hit it off, I’m happy she’s got a friend. Things are coming together” I told her and Rodney about all the things we’d been dealing with, all the cute things the kids do, and of course about Kelly’s surprise stay. A lot had happened in the last couple of days and It felt good to talk about all of it to someone other than Zach. We talked until Maverick showed up for his session.

“Hey Y’all” he said as he walked into the reception area. “here” he said throwing me the keys to the beetle. “Thank y’all for lettin’ me use her so long.”

“You don’t need it anymore?” I asked as we walked into the therapy room for our session.

“Nope. BroMax Farm bought a brand new pick-up from Taylor this weekend and made me a deal on Old Blue. Daddy already gave ‘er the once over for me.” Maverick said with a proud smile, he finally got his pickup. “And RayRay got a job, and we signed a lease on a two bedroom place in Taylor’s building.”

I replied with a proud smile, “damn, you had a busy weekend.” I was impressed, Maverick was making things happen for himself. “Where did RayRay get a job?”

“At the drycleaner that Rodney set him up with. He had a couple of offers, but they made him manager of their plant and eventually two more stores” Maverick was smiling ear to ear. “I’m excited that it’s all comin’ together.” During our session we went through his budget and his plan… I was impressed, he had his shit together. It was a good start to the workday. The rest of my sessions and day went well as I caught up on everything, I had been slacking for the last couple of days and it felt good to be back at it.

I bugged out of the office at 4:30 when Zach rolled up to the curb in the Audi and beeped the horn. I jumped in, gave him a kiss, and went off to pick up the kids. First Freddy, then Izzy who had an awesome first day with Mrs. Mavis. When we got home, Kelly had the porkchops in the oven and instantly took over with the kids. Zach and I both sat at the kitchen counter with our laptops open, working until it was time for dinner then it was a nice night at home with the family.

Later that night I got a call from Ms. Elkin. The kids mom was charged with several things including reckless endangerment of a minor which means the kids could be with us for a while if we accepted.

We accepted.

To be continued…