The Village

Seth’s Perspective

The next couple of weeks were some of the most challenging but rewarding of my life. We had settled into a routine and the kids were doing great… in fact they were thriving. But we had our challenges. The more comfortable they got, the more Izzy used the word ‘no’ and the more Freddy just out and out ignored us, nothing major they were just typical kids. The hardest day of the week was Wednesday when the kids saw their mother. Freddy was good with it, he seemed happy to see her, then happy to be back “home,” which was what he called our house. Home. On the other hand, when Izzy came back from their visits, she would be whiny, sad, stubborn, and asking for mommy the rest of the night, sometimes even the next day. She would cling to the little redhaired doll baby G-Ma Kelly gave her (which we convinced her to name Maxine). It was rough, but we got through it together and the highs overshadowed the lows. The biggest problem we were having as foster parents was emotional attachment. Their mother had a court date coming up and her lawyer was trying to get the charges against her dropped since it was her boyfriend they wanted, not her. That wouldn’t necessarily mean she would get the kids back immediately, but it could. We tried not to think about that, but Zach was keeping his finger on the pulse of her legal problems.

Meanwhile at BroMax Farm, the guys were hosting their first foster child, TJ, her real name was Taylor… yes, same as the Villager, and the similarities didn’t end there. She had a history of abuse and bouncing from foster home to foster home. At just eight years old she had led a hard life and was a handful but Max and Brody were amazing with her, especially Brody. His calm, patient demeanor seemed to rub off, those two were a great influence on her. We all spent a lot of time together with the kids, we even started doing Pizza Night with Brody, Max, Gina, Dylan and all the kids on Fridays after work with each of us taking turns hosting. Izzy and Maggie had each other to hang with, TJ was too old to hang with the other kids and too young for the adults, so she got to invite a friend when we got together. And Freddy was the lone boy so he got to invite a friend too. His classmate Sammy was his best bud, the two of them went to pre-K together and were inseparable. I met Sammy’s mom one day when I was picking Freddy up, Principal Farris introduced us, I’m guessing it’s because Sammy had two mommies and he thought we might bond. Anyway, we did. We hit it off and invited Sammy and his mom’s over for dinner at our house. After that, they had no trouble with Sammy hanging with us on Pizza nights. We invited his moms to join, but they used it as a night out instead… after just a few weeks with kids, we totally understood.

Having the kids around meant I spent less physical time at The Village… I came in late on days when I dropped them off at school and left early on days when I picked them up. Zach and I were juggling, but my schedule was more flexible and with Rodney and BA both stepping up to cover any slack, so I took on most of the drop off and pick up duties. Rodney was making sure everyone had the resources they needed, and BA was like Radar from M*A*S*H keeping things moving forward, always five steps ahead instinctively knowing what Rodney and I needed help with, and being kind of the Den Mother of Harrington House and all the other villagers too. She remembered birthdays, any anniversaries (jobs, move-ins, etc.), was aware of what was going on in everyone’s lives, and made everyone feel loved. That left me to focus on the mental health of The Villagers, funding, and the future of The Village. The three of us worked seamlessly together and as always had the full support of the board, it was a far cry from the one man show I was running when I first arrived several months prior.

It was a Tuesday morning; I had just dropped the kids off and parked the Audi behind the Village between Falkor and Old Blue. BA parked her big Chrysler a few spaces away and was unloading the giant trunk. I went over to help her. “Mornin’ BA” I said with a smile in my voice. It was weird to me that even though I got less sleep and was more tired since the kids arrived, I seemed to always be in a good mood. They had an influence on me… Zach too.

“Mornin’ Darlin” BA said back as she pulled bag after bag out of the silver behemoth. “Here hold this” she added handing me several bags.

“What’ all this?” I asked.

“Well, Ella goes to DC today, so I made her a care package with snacks for the big trip. Maverick is movin’ out on Saturday, so I got him a coffeemaker as a house warmin’ gift. Then I was makin’ cookies to welcome Derrick and I decided to keep bakin’ and made a plate for each of the guys upstairs and one for the office. Derrick was a new client that had been living with Tommy and Darius for a couple of weeks and moved into the empty apartment on the second floor over the weekend. BA amazed me, she thought about everyone. She had been semi-retired for a few years and when The Village opened, she threw herself into in and breathed some life into all of us, in return I think we breathed some life into her. “oh, and here, put this in your car” she said handing me a bag. “I got a watercolor set for Freddy and a doll baby dress for Maxine.”

“BA, you didn’t have to do that, thank you. You were in a generous mood last night” I said.

“Yep, Daddy was at the shop late workin’ on a couple a’ cars with the boys, and I was just killin’ some time.” She responded. I put the bag for the kids in the backseat of the Audi between the kids seats, then we hauled all the other goodies inside. Rodney was already in the office and there was a cup of coffee sitting on my desk. Rodney helped BA organize her stuff and I went into the Therapy room to prep for my session with Taylor. I heard talking and laughing in the reception area and went out to greet Taylor who was giving BA a thank you hug for the plate of cookies. I greeted him and we went into the therapy room for our session.

“You look good. How are things going, Taylor?” I asked. Okay, I’m going to take off my therapy hat for two seconds at the risk of sounding creepy. All the guys in my world were good looking, several of them HOT, but Taylor was beautiful with this… this star quality about him. This charismatic charm that made him irresistible. He always had this mischievous smile on his face that was so endearing that you couldn’t help but smile back.

“It’s going good” he said still smiling. “I’m excited about Maverick and RayRay moving into my building this weekend. It’ll be like living back at Harrington House.”

“And that’s a good thing?” I asked with a little laugh.

“That’ a great thing, Seth” He responded in a serious ton. “This is where I turned my life around. Yeah, I stumbled but you guys never let me fall, now I’ll never let myself fall.” The conversation turned serious as Taylor shared his past with me again, giving me more details than he had before. It was almost like a cleansing of his soul, like he was dumping all the trash of the past out so he could just leave it there. “I feel so damn good about myself’ he said then he looked up at me. “Seth, I have never in my life felt good about myself before. I used to dream about being someone else, ANYONE else, I considered myself unlovable and was disgusted with myself for how I made a living” he said with a little bit of distain in his voice, then his mood turned. “But now, I like me. And I met a guy who likes me too” he said with a smile.

“That’s awesome, tell me about him” I responded. He went on and on about a guy he recently sold a car too. It sounded like the guy had a similar past, rough childhood, turned tricks, then turned it around. He was a few years older than Taylor but I didn’t see any major red flags from what he was telling me. I advised him to move with caution and he promised they were taking it slow.

“Seth, we’ve been dating for two weeks and haven’t even slept together” He said, then turned red. “Shit, I used to fuck strangers for money, but I don’t want to mess this up. I really, really like him.” Taylor the former rent boy was blushing!  He was smitten and I was truly happy for him, and truly proud of him for taking it slow. I liked that he cared about someone else. After our session I walked him to the reception area to find Ella going through her care package and squealing with excitement as she thanked BA over and over for the bag of snacks that could feed an army for a week.

“Now you go kick some butt in our nation’s capital, Darlin’” BA said as she hugged Ella goodbye. Me, Rodney, and Taylor wished her luck as she headed out the backdoor, jumped into Falkor, and went to meet the bus at the school. “That little girl is gonna be a big deal someday” BA said with pride as we watched Ella go. The rest of the day was the usual stuff, e-mails, applying for grants, sessions with clients, etc. I bugged out of the office a little before five to pick up the kids then back home for meatloaf and a night at home. That was pretty much our world now… and we loved it.

The next few weeks were more of the same, work, the kids, nights at home hanging out with the kids and our friends. Zach and I worked closely with the kids trying to help Izzy with her speech, she was a little behind the curve but smart as hell and just needed some attention. Freddy was the same; a smart kid that needed some attention so Zach and I both worked with him. He was only five but we had no clue how long he would be with us or how much attention he’d get from his mother when he went back home (a thought that terrified me), so we worked with him every night teaching him to count, teaching him his numbers, teaching him his letters. Principal Farris gave us some milestones to shoot for like him being able to count to ten, writing and identifying some numbers, and paying attention for five to ten minutes, little stuff like that. Damn, both of those kids were smart as hell and so, so sweet. Zach and I had to keep reminding each other that they weren’t our kids, they were our guests, trying to prepare ourselves for the inevitable. The day that they would leave us and go home.

Well, that day came a few days before Valentines. The kids had been with us for almost a month and a half when Ms. Elkin called to let us know that the kids mother had been granted a conditional discharge and she would be allowed to be reunited with the kids. I didn’t get the legalities of it all, but Zach did his best to explain. The mother pleaded guilty and the judge granted her a conditional discharge… if I understood it all correctly, it meant that she was on probation and if she complied with all the terms, her case would be dismissed by the judge after her probation ended. As part of her probation, she was subject to regular home visits from DSS and her probation officer to ensure Freddy and Izzy were being cared for and that there were no drugs or firearms in the home. Dammit, I knew the kids needed their mother, they deserved to have a great mother, they deserved a happy ending and god I hoped this was it… but my heart was breaking… and frankly, I didn’t trust the mother. I kept thinking back to the night when the kids arrived smelling like mold, cigarette smoke, and pot, and how the next morning they ate their breakfast and ours too. They were so obviously neglected and it broke my heart to think of them going back to that life. I hoped that the visits from DDS and the Parole Officer would motivate their mother to step up and give the kids the love and care they deserved.

It was a very early Saturday morning (more like the middle of a Friday night) when Ms. Elkin dropped those two smelly little angels into our lives, and it was a Saturday morning five weeks later when she showed up to take them away. Zach and I sat them down and explained that they got to go home to their momma now, we did our best to sell it as a great thing even though our hearts were breaking. Izzy was happy and didn’t quite grasp the concept that we weren’t going with them. Freddy was happy but made us promise to visit… that was a promise we weren’t allowed to make him although I would’ve fucking given my life to be able to make and keep the promise to see them regularly. This was the heartache of foster parenting. The kids bags were packed and they were dressed and ready to go. They were leaving with more than they came, not just dolls, art supplies, and clothes, but hopefully knowledge, memories, and a feeling that they were loved. Truly loved. I held back the tears as we hugged goodbye and then watched Ms. Elkin’s SUV take Freddy and Izzy out of our lives. Oh god, I hoped it wasn’t forever.

After they left, I cleaned the house from top to bottom trying not to think about it. Saturday night Zach and I fell asleep holding face-to-face holding each other. Sunday, I slept in late and then just kind of dragged myself around the house in my sweats, Zach did the same. We didn’t even bother to shower. We both sat in the living room with our laptops open for a couple of hours catching up on work, we barely said a word to each other. Petunia spent the day laying in the hallway between the two bedrooms waiting for the kids to come home. Sunday night we got into bed and were lying there face-to-face and he whispered, “I really miss them” all I could do was hug him in response and nuzzle my face against his. We both just wanted to cry but did our damnedest not to.

The next couple of days sucked as we settled back into our childless life. We both had more than enough work to take our mind off things, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about them about a hundred times every damn day. I even instinctively started driving towards Freddy’s school to pick him up when I left the office on Monday. Valentine’s day was in the middle of the week and Zach surprised me by picking me up at the office and taking me out to dinner. He made reservations at this great place on the water and we had a table with an amazing view. The atmosphere was quiet and romantic; the waves of the ocean outside the giant windows were calming, I looked across the candlelit table at Zach and for a few moments my heartache went away. God, he was beautiful… I mean like an unbelievably perfect specimen. I know I’ve gushed about him before, but from the second I saw him he became my epitome of perfection. It was mindboggling to me that he loved me like he did, he could have anyone and he chose me. ME! Damn. The last month or so with Izzy and Freddy made me even more sure that I wanted to raise kids with this guy, he was not just an awesome human being and the perfect partner, he was an awesome parent.

While we were eating Zach subtly announced, “I got us a room at a hotel down the beach, I thought it would be good to get away for a night. Happy Valentine’s Day” then he smiled that brilliant smile of his. “I packed you an overnight bag.” God he was thoughtful.

“What about Petunia?” I asked.

“At Bromax” he said as he put of forkful of prime rib in his mouth. “I dropped her off when I went home to get our bags.” He had thought of everything, and frankly, I had thought of nothing. I was so worried about the kids that I forgot it was even Valentine’s Day. He reached over the table and held my hand, “Listen, I know the last couple of days have sucked. But we got to spend over a month with Freddy and Izzy and now they’re home with their mom… we helped them when they needed us and hopefully their mom will step up and give them a good home.” I knew he was right, and hoped they were happy and well taken care of. We put our thoughts of the kids aside for the night and enjoyed our romantic dinner together, including this giant, flaming chocolate dessert for two. As much as I missed the kids, it felt good to be alone with Zach again.

After dinner we drove the Audi a few doors down to the hotel, it was a beautiful place and our room was nice. We put down our bags, Zach turned all the lights off except for one little lamp in the corner that lit the place perfectly, then we stood in the middle of the room and embraced. We just stood there hugging each other for several minutes, it wasn’t a sexual hug, it was two partners supporting each other through a rough time. It had been an emotional week and we were just being there for each other. Zach kissed me tenderly, “Everything will work out for them” he said reading my thoughts. Those damn, lovable little shits were in my head. They were all I thought about since I had met them and it had gotten worse since they went back to their mother. I needed an escape from my thoughts, Zach kissed me tenderly on the lips and gave me one.

Our lips locked, our hands roamed, and our minds started to fill with different thoughts, thoughts of love and lust for the only man I ever truly wanted. He slipped his hands down the back of my pants and under the waistband of my underwear grabbing two handfuls of my firm ass and kneading them like ball of lovingly handcrafted pizza dough. He pulled my hardening cock against his own, I moved my hips in a circular motion grinding into him wanting to feel anything but sadness and worry. Lust was a great substitute. I put my hands down the back of Zach’s pants and grabbed his ass like he had done to me. I maneuvered until I had one hand on the middle of his heart shaped ass with a finger teasing his hole, and the other massaging his hard arrow in the front, working that heart and arrow like I was Cupid. Zach fumbled with his own belt and zipper dropping his pants to the floor before he did the same to me. We were both standing there with our junk hanging out and our pants at our ankles as we undid the buttons of each other’s dress shirts.

He pushed my shirt off my shoulder and attacked my nipples biting them hard. “Fuck, go easy” I yelled in protest as my hand betrayed my words and pulled his face tighter into me begging for him to be rough. While he was roughing up my nipples, I was squeezing his balls tight. His groans and whimpers of pleasureful pain vibrated my tight chest as his bites got harder. We moved our way to the side of the king-sized bed and I pushed Zach onto it while we continued to devour each other’s mouths and torture each other’s bodies. The full weight of my body was on top of his athletic frame and grinding mercilessly into him. He took the pain like a champ, pushing his hips up and harder into me begging for more. I flipped my body around and sat on his face forcing my musky hole onto his lips. His tongue lapped around my entrance and eventually speared into my passage as I sat up straight with my hands braced against his chest pinching and twisting his nipples.

After several minutes of smashing my ass into his beautifully chiseled face, I leaned over into a sixty nine and took his cock into my mouth wasting no time before lodging its bulbous head in the back of my throat. I clenched my teeth around the base of his magnificence giving it a playful bite. Zach Smacked my ass hard in retaliations and the sounds of skin on skin echoed through the dark room. We were both lost in our own lustful escape lubing each other up with our natural juices. His hard tool was slick with my throat slime and his saliva had my ass ready for conquering. Zach took control rolling us over, then rolled off me “Get on all fours” he commanded, and I complied. He knelt behind me and parted my cheeks with his hands as his tongue made its final assault. He straightened himself up and put his engorged head against my hole, gave my ass a hard, double smack turning both cheeks red and pushed. He pushed hard and savagely into me until his hefty balls slapped against mine. I whimpered in pleasure as I bent down to bite the pillow in pain. Although I was silent, the voices in my head were screaming, ‘Fuck me, Zach. fuck me hard, fuck the pain away!!!’ It was as though he could hear my thoughts as he fucked me harder than ever before, his balls slapping wildly against mine in abandon. It was like we were letting all our feelings out on the luxurious hotel mattress, and on each other. Zach fucked hard and rough until he shot his load deep inside me and I palmed mine out of my hard member and onto the white bedspread, then we collapsed on the wet spot in a heaving pile of hot, post-sex flesh. Zach stayed on my back with all his weight pinning me into the mattress for a while.

Eventually we got up, took a sensual shower together, then did our best to wipe my cum off the bedspread and hide the evidence of our escape sex. We lie there face-to-face as we had every night since the kids left. “I love you” I said first.

“I love you too” he whispered back. The other words we were both thinking went unsaid, ‘I miss them.’ Then we fell asleep. 

The next morning Zach dropped me off at The Village and we resumed our normal, childless lives once again. I was sad for our loss, but grateful for the time we time we had with Freddy and Izzy… they made an impression on us that wouldn’t soon fade.

 

To be continued…