The Village

Seth’s Perspective

“What about this one?” I asked Izzy as I held up a simple sun-yellow one-piece bathing suit with white polka dots.

“No. Dis” She said holding up this pink monstrosity with a 3D puffy flamingo on the front and ruffles covering the butt that I couldn’t seem to talk her out of.

“Or this…” I said holding up another plain, cute teal suit.

“The one she has is perfect” Gina said as she bulldozed her way over to Izzy. “Oh my god, it’s so cute, here let’s try it on” Gina said taking her into the dressing room leaving me on the other side of the door with Maggie.

Freddy came running up with a handful of clothes, a bathing suit, some shorts, a couple of T shirts. “I like these, Seth” he said with a serious look on his cute face. They were all different sizes, but he knew what he liked. I walked him and Maggie over to the boys department and collected the items Freddy liked in his size and set him up in the fitting room next to Gina and Izzy.

Izzy came running out of the other fitting room with (eight and a half months pregnant) Gina waddling behind her. “Zeff, I’m pretty” Izzy said turning her backside to me so I could see her ruffle covered butt. I tried to convince her to get something a little plainer one more time, but truth be told she looked cute as hell.

“Jesus, Westin. She’s a little girl, little girls like ruffles… lighten up, butch boy” Gina said as she rolled her eyes at me. “Look at the smile in her!”

“Did you just call Seth Butch boy?” Came Max’s voice from behind me with a laugh. “That’s a first. Sorry we’re late guys” he said as he approached us with Theodore running ahead of him. He needed clothes too, so Gina invited them to join us. The three of us helped the four kids get outfitted with new wardrobes for spring and summer.

“I think the last time the three of us went shopping together was during college at the liquor store on Prospect Ave in Milwaukee” Max said with a laugh.

“Oh my god!!!” Gina squealed, “and Teddy tried to buy liquor with that fake ID that said he was a forty four year old Jamaican!” We all laughed as we reminisced about our college days. “Now we’re shopping for kids clothes at a Target in the middle of freaking nowhere.”

“Who woulda’ thunk it?” Max asked, then he looked over at me. “So, you’re driving again? How’s that going?”

“Meh” I said. “I’m still a mess, especially with the kids sitting in the backseat, but I’m doing it.” I said. My friends understood my fear and empathized, we continued to talk as we browsed and piled kids clothes into our carts. After we bought out the clothing department, we went over to luggage to get the kids suitcases for the trip, then Gina took me to find sunglasses, the right sunblock, travel snacks, etc. Thank god she was there to help me with all this parenting shit… I was clueless. When we were all geared up, we checked out and headed to the parking lot. Gina and Max helped me load the bags into the SUV before they left… I still had limited mobility and got winded easily, so everyone babied me (Yeah, I admit it. I kinda like the attention and having everyone else do the hard stuff). “You guys should come with us to Arizona, I’m sure someone has room and would love to take y’all in?” All our friends were happy to have guests, they’d be fighting over them.

Gina laughed out loud, “I’m about to shoot a baby out of my privates, I can’t get on a plane.”

“Brody and I have been looking at condos in Phoenix since he’s been going into the office more, we figure we can Air BNB it, I’d love to go out there and look at some of the places he’s seen. Buuuuuut… we just took on a huge candle order and I can’t leave. Maybe next time” Max said as we all loaded our bundles of joy/mayhem into our vehicles.  “Pizza night, our place tomorrow!” Max yelled across the lot before we got in our vehicles and went our separate ways.

One thing I had achieved during my downtime was creating a driving playlist for us and the kids. It was mostly 80’s and 90’s feel good stuff with clean lyrics (some 70’s disco and some new stuff thrown in), of course as soon as the engine started Izzy yelled for her usual favorite… I would have to ease them into the new stuff. I was getting less and less nervous behind the wheel, but I was cautious as hell.

When we got home, Zach unloaded the Telluride and I put another dinner from Colton in the oven. Izzy and Freddy told Zach all about our trip to Target as we ate dinner, they were hilarious! Freddy was telling Zach all about how the new shoes he got would make him run faster, and Izzy announced that her clothes were prettiest. God, they were so excited over new clothes, but I LOVED it. After dinner, they each got to model one outfit for Zach before bedtime, of course we recorded it and sent it to Kelly and Nathan. After the fashion show we tucked them in, then Zach tucked me in. It was only 7:30, but I was exhausted. I had been doing more and more each day and it was wiping me out. Zach stayed up and worked on his laptop.

Friday morning when I woke up, Zach was already in the kitchen making breakfast and the kids were in their PJ’s at the table waiting for me. All three of them were wearing sunglasses “Seth TOMORROW is airplane day! Just one more time at school!” Freddy yelled in excitement.

“Me too” is all Izzy had to add. It was so much fun to see them so excited! Seriously, after all the shit I just put everyone through with my accident, this felt like a major turning point. The kids were loud at breakfast as we talked about swimming, going to the zoo, playing with the other kids, and all the other fun stuff we’d do on “a-cation” as Freddy called it.

After breakfast, Zach helped me load the kids into the SUV “when we get back from Arizona, we’re going to find you a new car. Got it?” Said Zach with conviction.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah” I answered. He had been nagging me about it since I got home.

Zach kissed me, told me he loved me and then jumped in the GTI and went to work. I cranked the rental and took the kids to school. After I dropped them off, I went home and spent some time in the garden, I was slowly planting whatever I could… it was still early in the season, but there were several things like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. Maverick had promised to come by and work in the garden while we were gone, and Ricky offered to stay at the house and dog sit while we were gone. So, things were covered at home. After a couple of hours in the garden I cleaned up, and Petunia and I started our daily trek to BroMax for lunch. When we got there Max was already in the kitchen with a couple of guests. “Seth” Max said as I walked in, “I want you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Perkins, Grayson’s parents.”

“Grayson Joseph Perkins Senior” the man said holding out his hand. He was lean and in his mid-forties, very handsome and very well dressed “we’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I’m Lillian, Grayson’s mother” offered the woman. “We were so sorry to hear about your accident. You look like you’re healing up well.”

I laughed a little and said, “I look like crap.” That got a laugh. “But after seeing my car, I’m grateful I walked away at all.” They asked me about the accident and my injuries… general post-crash small talk that I’d had with everyone I’d talked to since the accident.

Then Lillian said, “we can’t thank you enough for all the help you gave Gray. We were devastated when he ran away and worried sick until he called us a couple of weeks ago. I understand that you’re the one who convinced him to do that.” I just gave her a smile and a nod.

“We’ve been searching for him for months,” said Mr. Perkins. He went on to tell me everything they had done to find him from posters and ads, to hiring a PI, etc. How Grayson stayed off their radar is beyond me. “All this insanity because he was afraid to come out to us? We don’t care who he loves as long as he’s happy.” They seemed like rational, decent people who loved their son. “We came here to make sure he’s really doing okay.”

“And hopefully convince him to come home” Lillian said. “God, I miss that kid.” As we were talking, Grayson entered the kitchen.

“Hey Seth! I see you’ve met my mom and dad.” He said. “I’m glad you’re all here. I wanted to talk to all of you.” I was starting to get tired and took a seat on the barstool next to Max, Mr. and Mrs. Perkins sat across the island from us and Grayson stood at the end. “Um, I think I want to go home.”

Lilian couldn’t help herself; she stood up and embraced her son. Grayson Sr. did the same and the couple sandwiched the boy. “Max, I don’t want to leave you high and dry, I know we’re in the middle of a big order so I want to give you at least two weeks’ notice.”

“I think that’s great news. Listen, we can talk to Ricky and work out an exit plan that works” Max said. Ricky was used to the guys coming and going and knew how to work around it.

“What’s your plan when you get home?” I asked. Lilian gave me a look like I was pissing on her parade, but Grayson Sr. backed me up.

“That’s a good question” he said.

“I think I want to start school at Old Dominion. I was accepted before I left, maybe they’d take me back and I could start in the fall.” Grayson said. “I want to be a psychologist” he said looking straight at me. “I know after all I’ve been through, I could help people, like you helped me, Seth” he said. Apparently, I had made a difference. We all talked for a while before I went home and I said my goodbyes realizing that Grayson could be gone by the time I got back from vacation. I thought about Grayson’s situation as Petunia and I walked home, I so happy that he was going home and I was proud that I inspired him. All our villagers had success in some way shape or form, but so few of them reunited with their families, in fact he was the only one I could think of that moved home. I couldn’t help but smile this was a really happy ending. When I got home, I left to pick up the kids, then we went back to BroMax for pizza night. The kids were in one room and the adults in another when Zach and I quietly told our friends about the kids mom reaching out and our hopes that it meant a road to adoption.

“That’s the best gotdamn news I ever heard” Brody said. Everyone else threw out similar sentiments. It was a great night with friends and a great start to out vacation.

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We were finally on the flight to Phoenix and ready for a long day of travel (well really Charlotte, we had one quick layover). We had to leave our house at 2AM to make it to Raleigh on time for our flight (the kids slept in the car, I’m not sure they even knew we left the house). The flight was over 5 hours long… Zach and I had packed so much shit in our carry-ons to entertain the kids. Both of our laptops, both iPads with every kid movie known to mankind downloaded on them, headphones for the kids, books, snacks, juice boxes… Gina was a huge help in prepping us for the long haul ahead. She had this parenting thing down; we were freaking novices on our first family vacation.

Freddy was so excited to finally be on the plane. Before we left the ground, he convinced the pilot to let him in the cockpit… I was surprised they let him in, I guess they still do that but only while the plane is on the ground. It didn’t matter to Freddy that we weren’t in the air yet; it was still the greatest moment of his life. They gave him wings and we took his picture taken with the pilot. Izzy on the other hand couldn’t give two shits. She was busy telling Maxine the doll baby all about how they were gonna go swimming when we got to Arizona, etc. She was in her own little world.

When the plane took off, Izzy got into a movie on the iPad and eventually fell asleep. Freddy just looked out the window most of the trip in awe of everything, he thought it was amazing to be in the clouds and clearly, he was on cloud nine.

We finally got to Phoenix about 10:30AM, we had a rental SUV with two seats waiting for us but first we had to get our luggage. Zach and I were laughing so much just watching the expressions on the kids’ faces. Oh my god, they were amazed and excited by everything! When the flight attendant pushed the drink cart down the aisle of the plane, Freddy yelled in excitement then both kids clapped. When we got on the escalator you would’ve sworn we were on a ride at Disneyland. As the escalator moved downward, the baggage carousel came into view Freddy yelled “Lookit, Izzy! Those suitcases are on the merry-go-round!” Everything was an adventure to them, god they had not experienced life at all… Zach and I vowed to change that. I swear Zach was attached to his phone as he recorded every moment. We got our bags, picked-up our rental, and drove to Brad and Scotty’s (home). Freddy was amazed by the cacti that were literally everywhere, and Izzy must’ve asked, “What dat?” a couple of million times on the ride over. When we got to the house Brad, Scotty, Maddox, and Brooklyn all came out in their bathing suits to greet us. Their kids were a little older (6 and 8) but they welcomed ours and made them feel like they were welcome there (did I say our kids? Yup. That’s how I thought about them).

As everyone was greeting us and meeting the kidlets, Brad came over to me with a giant smile of relief on his face, “I’ve never been happier to see anyone, little brother. You scared the living shit out of all of us.” He embraced me gently, knowing that my body was still sore, I didn’t care, I hugged him until it hurt. While we hugged, Zach and Scotty unpacked the SUV and the kids got to know each other. Izzy discovered the pool almost instantly and was begging to put her bathing suit on. We just dropped the bags in my old bedroom and all got our bathing suits on. Within an hour after landing in Phoenix, we were all suited and SPF’d up, in the pool, and vacation was in full swing. Kev and Randy showed up around an hour later with Scotty and Matty, god they were growing up fast. The six kids played in the pool while the grownups sat in lounge chairs and caught up on everything. At one point Scotty and Zach went in the house to move our bags around and get us settled. The girls shared Brooklyn’s room, the boys shared Maddox’s room, and Zach and I shared my old bedroom. Brian and Olivia joined us for a nice family cookout that night. It was good to be home.

It was March in Phoenix and our poolside fun came to an end at sundown. It was in the 70’s during the day but once the sun went down the temperature dropped down to the 40’s. Before everyone went home and we tucked the kids into bed, we all agreed to meet for breakfast at Jordy’s Café’ the next morning, then spend the afternoon at Randy and Kev’s, they had planned a Sunday afternoon cookout with the rest of our original Phoenix village. I guess everyone wanted to see me alive and meet the kids.

Zach and I settled into my old bedroom; it smelled like home to me. Over the years we had had some fun in that room on our visits and that night wasn’t any different. Just being back in that place that Brad and Scotty made my home, made me feel safe. So much of the stress from the last several weeks just disappeared and I felt like a different man… I was starting to feel like myself again. Zach was asleep on his stomach under the covers. I pulled the covers back, there lie Zach, all spread out, wearing his old gray plaid boxers (I swear he had those things since our freshman year) … and I just couldn’t resist. For the first time since the accident, Iwas the aggressor. I was horny as hell looking at the hot blond jock I had lusted after since my first day in the dorms. The man who was my partner as we struggled through college and grad school. The Lawyer I made my North Carolina home with. The coparent I planned on raising my children with. He was freaking everything. EVERYTHING all rolled into one, hot, tight, sexy package. I leaned over and pulled his boxers off; it was a struggle to get them off, but he didn’t even stir. I maneuvered my way between his legs and knelt there with his perfect ass before me, the little moonlight sneaking in through the blinds made the sparse blond fuzz on his perfect ass shimmer. I parted his perfect little ass globes with my hands exposing his sweet, pink pucker. I leaned down and licked his ass crack, he still didn‘t stir. My tongue moved up and down his trench as I inhaled the scent of chlorine and man musk. I licked tiny little circles around his hole and finally got a response… it winked at me just as a moan escaped Zach’s sleeping body. I kept working, pushing my tongue into his breaching his ring. I pushed in hard then pulled out, I did it over and over until finally he woke up. He turned his head back and whispered with a sleepy smile, “What are you doing?”

“You” I said, then added, “I finally feel good enough to return the favor” then I went back to the task at hand… payback. He let out a scoffing laugh, buried his face into the pillow, pushed his sweet butt up, and gave into the pleasure that I owed him. It felt amazing to be pushing my still scarred face into his crack, like a rebirth almost… I was leaving the accident behind and enjoying life. Zach reached his hand back and put it gently on my head. “Push my face down harder” I commanded. I didn’t want to be coddled anymore. The attention was nice for a while, but I wanted to be healed, to be normal, to feel good again. No. To feel great again! I worked Zach’s hole like my life depended on it, swirling my tongue in and out as I smashed my face into his perfect, firm ass. Zach whimpered into the pillow as he pushed down on my head a little bit harder. Fuck that, I wanted him to treat me like he used to before the accident. I put my hand over his and pushed hard against me head… he took the hint. I move my hand back to pulling his cheeks apart for better access. I was lost in his hole! The smell, the texture, even the taste. I swear I worked his hole for a good two hours (okay, it was maybe only five to ten minutes, but it felt like I was in there forever), and it felt GREAT! I pulled off his ass and sat back on my knees. FUCK it still hurt, but I was ignoring my pain that night.

Zach maneuvered his legs around me as he flipped onto his back. “How’s your knee?” he asked.

“It’s normal. I’m normal. Can we just ignore that tonight?” I asked in breathless lust.

Zach shot me that brilliant fucking smile of his that cut through the darkness. “if that’s what you want” he said before pulling me in for a hot, wet kiss. “Now suck my cock normal boy” he chuckled as he push my shoulders down and I went in for the kill. I suck that perfect specimen of virility with all my strength and skill. His bulbous cockhead made its way down my throat as the fuzz on his balls tickled my chin. I slowly, methodically, and with purpose bobbed up and down his magnificence. My purpose? To strike white gold in the hills of the dessert. I worked him up and down, my mouth providing the slickness and warmth, my hand stimulated all the right nerves, and my free hand coaxed his balls into giving me their payload. At first Zach lay back with his hands behind his head enjoying his reward for nursing me towards health, but eventually his desire took over and his hands moved to my head holding it firmly as his hips tentatively started to buck up and fuck my mouth. It was clear he was being careful not to hurt me.

“I’m good” I whispered taking a break from his cock. “Fuck my face, I need you to.” He started slow and gentle but got faster and rougher… he didn’t quite fucked my with all the power and fury I desired, but I understood. He loved me and was afraid of hurting me. After several minutes he pushed my head down, held it there and… PAYDIRT! His hidden treasure was mine and I swallowed every precious drop of it. Zach’s body shuddered and convulsed as I milked him dry of his bounty. I sucked and licked long after every drop had been expelled… this was my moment. I ignored the accident, my wounds, my pain… all of it; and staked my claim.

I snaked my way up so we were face to face (well more like fumbled in my state), and gave him our customary cum-filled kiss. When we finished, he tried to spoon me, but my body wasn’t ready so I lay on my back with his head on my chest and we fell asleep.

I woke up in the morning to sounds of screaming laughter outside my bedroom window. “SACH FROW ME!” Izzy’s high-pitched voice echoed through the backyard.

I looked around the bedroom, I was all alone. I checked my phone, it was past 8AM Phoenix time… damn, I hadn’t slept that late in a while. I looked out the window and saw everyone playing in the pool. Zach and Brad were tossing Izzy around and Freddy and Brooklyn were trying to save her. I pulled on my swimsuit and a sweatshirt, brushed my teeth, and went out to join the family. I walked into the kitchen where Maddox was sitting at the kitchen island and playing on his iPad. “Hi uncle Seth.”

“Hey Maddy” I said as I poured myself a cup of coffee. “You too cool to hang with the little kids?” I asked.

“Yup” he said never looking away from the iPad. I just laughed and took my coffee out to the pool, it was a little chilly, but not too bad.

“Morning sleeping beauty” Scotty said as I took up residence in the lounge chair next to his. He looked towards the pool at the kids playing, “Oh my god those two are awesome.”

“Yeah, I can’t believe how comfortable they are in any circumstance. They just kind of blend in and go with the flow” I responded.

“Well, god only knows what hell they lived through before they found you guys” Scotty said, then told me about some of the issues they had with Brooklyn and Maddox when they first adopted them, it was nice to talk to someone who had been through it. “They had a great foster family before us, but Maddox had some bad foster experiences in his younger years. You guys are so much better equipped than we were… we did family therapy for the first year or two… it helped a lot.”  Well, I was a psychologist, but maybe some outside help would be good if we really did adopt them. Then Scotty asked, “Is there a chance you guys can adopt.”

“We’re hoping. Their mother’s lawyer reached out to us before we left. We’re meeting with her when we get back” I told him. “I’m afraid to get my hopes up until I know what she wants” I added. It felt good to talk to Scotty about everything. It felt good to be home.

For the next half hour or so, I just kicked back, drank my coffee, watched the craziness in the pool, and listened to the kids giggling and having the time of their young life’s on our first family vacation.

 

To be continued…