The Village

Seth’s Perspective

On Saturday, Zach and I split up for the morning. Zach took Freddy to a kids class at The Home Depot with Brody and Theo while Izzy and I spent the morning in the garden. For the first twenty minutes all I did was answer the question ‘What dat, Zeff?’ as she walked through the expansive garden pointing to every plant, sprout, vegetable, weed, or rock she could find. After she ran out of stuff to point at, she busied herself in a corner of the garden. Her ability to entertain herself was amazing. While I was weeding, picking, and watering, she and Petunia seemed to be having a tea party with a group of tomatoes she made friends with. I was dying watching and listening to her talk to the vegetables (or technically fruits) like they were her best friends. She entertained them long enough for me to bring my neglected garden up to speed.  After we finished up in the garden we cleaned up and went over to BroMax to pick-up Max for lunch, Izzy insisted on bringing one of her friends along (a still ripening heirloom tomato she named Belle). God that kid had an imagination.

We turned onto the long driveway to BroMax Farm and drove up to the house, Max came out and jumped into the passenger seat of the Atlas greeting me with a hug before he turned and greeted Izzy in the back seat. “Hi Izzy!” he said with excitement in his voice. Then he noticed the tomato she held in her tiny hands. “What do you have?” He asked.

“Belle” She said proudly holding up the tomato.

“Wow, that’s a big tomato” Max said trying to make conversation with her.

“No. Belle” she insisted.

“That’s her friend Belle” I explained. “She’s one of the many friends Izzy made working in the garden with me this morning, she insisted on inviting her to lunch with us.” I can honestly say that in all the years I’d known Max, I can’t remember a time where he laughed hardier or more genuinely. Then he did what all my friends do when introduced to someone new, he welcomed Belle to our village.

“It’s nice to meet you Belle” Max said reaching back to pat the tomato. “I’m so glad you decided to take a break from ripening in the sun to join us.” Max’s conversation with Belle the tomato put an amazingly huge smile on Izzy’s face. After finishing up his conversation with Belle, Max turned to talk me, “How’s the garden coming?” He asked. But that was as far as he got before our conversation was over for the rest of the ride, Izzy decided to monopolize his attention.

“Mac, talk more” Izzy said to my friend. She was reveling in the attention he was giving her and her new friend. So, Max ended up talking to Izzy and Belle the tomato for the entire ride to Chuck E. Cheese. I pulled into the parking lot and found a spot near the door; we got there before Zach, Brody, and company. I begged and pleaded with Izzy to leave her “friend” in the car, but I lost that battle. Max and I were accompanying a two and a half year old and her new best friend the tomato to lunch. We found a booth and sat waiting for the others. Max and I talked, so did Izzy and Belle. She was perfectly content carrying on a conversation with her new friend. Zach and Brody finally arrived with the boys. The two kids ran into the restaurant, they couldn’t wait to show us the butterfly houses they made in class. While they were excitedly showing us the fruits of their labor, Zach and Brody sat down in the big booth, then all hell broke loose. Zach dared to try and move Belle to the table and take her seat… “NO!” Izzy protested, then I explained to Zach who exactly he was moving out of his way. We eventually solved the issue, and ordered lunch. The boys talked to each other about their morning projects, and Izzy continued her conversation with Belle, I’m sure she apologized for Zach’s rude behavior.

Meanwhile, the adults talked to each other. “So, did Asher email you his resume?” I asked Brody.

Brody laughed, “Um yeah, along with like twenty samples and a two page bullet pointed letter that outlined his skills and categorized his samples. Hell Seth, I thought you said they were quiet” he said with an amused grin.

“Well in person they were like a timid little mouse…” I responded, “well, until he gets comfortable, then he, um opens up a little” I said with a smirk.

Then Brody retorted, “You undersold him, he might just be in his first year, but he can do anything. He knows Adobe, Photoshop, color editing, he’s got a good eye for detail… he’s way more advanced than I figured. He could be a huge help.” Brody explained. I was so happy to hear that there might be an opportunity for Ash with Brody, not just because the kid deserved a break, but because Brody is kind, patient, and talented as hell… he could be good mentor for Asher. The food came while we were talking.

After we ate, the kids took off to play with me following behind to make sure Izzy kept out of trouble… as suspected, Freddy kept a watchful eye on his little sister as they played skee-ball. Once I knew she’d be fine without me I returned to the table where the three guys were in deep discussion.

As soon as I sat down Zach said, “okay, okay we’re both here, now what is it?” The guys had been talking and had something to ask us but were waiting for me to join them.

“Since Theodore’s adoption is official, we’ve been working on our will and talking about what would happen to him if something happened to us.” Max explained. We understood because we had been having the same discussions about Freddy and Izzy.

“We’ve asked my brother and Gina to take him if somethin’ happens” Brody said, “But we want you guys to be the back-up, in case for some reason they can’t… or god forbid somethin’ happens to them.”

Then Max jumped in and said, “I hope you guys are cool that we didn’t pick you first, but you know… they’re family and…” I cut him off, it was clear he felt bad.

“We get it” I said.

“Yeah, we were planning on asking Eli and Riley when they get back from their honeymoon, and wanted you guys as our back up too.” Zach explained.

“Well MORE than that” I said looking at my husband, he nodded. “We want you all to swear that you will be in their lives if something happens to us. I fucking love the family we’ve all built together and I don’t want them to lose that if we’re not around.” Zach and I had talked in length about this as we worked through the adoption details with Dan.

Brody jumped in, “Ya’ll gotta swear to do the same thing.” Then he took a deep breath leaned in a little and said, “Listen, y’all know me, I aint a people guy.” Then he locked eyes with me and said “Until you pulled my ass outta my studio in Milwaukee and made me be sociable, I was happy hangin’ with Witchy and avoidin’ people. Y’all made my life better. I want that for my son.” It was a heartfelt plea… if it was anyone other than Brody I would’ve hugged him, but I knew where Brody stood on that subject.

Zach reach his hand across the table, “deal” he said. The four of us shook hands and agreed that those three little shits who were playing skee ball would always be surrounded by love and never end up back in the system. It was a nice moment… that was ruined by Izzy running in from nowhere, looking for her tomato, and yelling, “Belle, Belle I winned” with the boys running behind her, protesting.

“Nuh uh, she cheated” Theo yelled in retort with Freddy agreeing. Oh my god, we went from promising these three would be loved forever to arguing over skee ball. The next hour was more of the same until we loaded all three kids into the Atlas and Max and Brody left in the Gladiator to meet Taylor.

Max’s Camaro just wasn’t cutting it now that Theo was a permanent part of the team, so they were going car shopping while Theo hung out with us for the afternoon. “I can’t believe you’re selling the Camaro” Zach said.

“We aint” Brody responded, “We’re keepin’ it as a toy. This is the South, son. We don’t get ridda’ cars, we just pile em up in the yard” he laughed. Max and Brody were doing pretty damn good financially and could afford to hang on to an extra car just for fun. They both made good money, didn’t have a mortgage or any student debt like us, and they barely ever did anything extravagant. They were excited about a new car and we were excited for them. They went off to the dealership, and we headed back to our house with the kids, Theo and Freddy played wildly out in the yard for a couple of hours (good. I wanted them to tire themselves out), and Izzy sat at the tiny table in the playroom (our former den) and continued to play with Belle, the tomato.

Meanwhile, Zach and I sat at the kitchen counter talking about the kids and our wills again (for like the billionth time since we started the process). Eli and Riley were coming back from their honeymoon Sunday night, we decided to invite them over for dinner later in the week and ask them if they would take the kids if something happened. We had vowed that no matter what, we would never let those two fall back into the foster system. They were ours to protect. Zach pulled up his laptop and filled in the names on the will we had been working on, we had made our decisions. So, that was enough death talk for one night. We finished just in time to hear a horn blowing outside. “Who dat?” we heard Izzy ask as we made our way to the front door and out onto the porch with Zach scooping Izzy up in his arms along the way. We got out outside just in time to see Theo and Freddy running towards the unfamiliar blue Chrysler Pacifica minivan coming up the drive beeping its horn.

“Oh my god” Zach laughed as we moved closer to the moving vehicle.

The minivan stopped; the back doors slid open. The passenger door opened and stepped out, then Max’s bright red hair popped up over the roof as he lifted himself out of the passenger door. “Well, what do you guys think?” Max asked with a big smile on his face and his sunglasses on his head trying to look cool… in a MINIVAN.

Zach and I just laughed, “It’s just as cool as the Camaro… Janet” I joked.

“Oh, shore there, Janet, dontcha’ wanna take the kids for a pop?” Zach asked in his best midwestern soccer mom accent. Max was turning into a soccer mom before our very eyes.

“This is all him y’all. I wanted a Wagoneer” Brody said shaking his head in faint protest as he got out of the vehicle.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, get it all out of your systems now” Max said as he came over to our side of the van. “This thing is awesome! Look, we can put Theo and Freddy’s booster seats in the third row, Izzy’s in the middle of the second row, and you guys can sit on either side so all of us can ride together! And Look at all the cargo room behind the third seat” he said as he led us behind the vehicle and opened the hatch. “And it just freaking floats down the street.” It was hilarious to see Max so excited over a frigging minivan, and I would NEVER admit it out loud, but it was kind of cool in a practical ‘take the kids to karate and ballet’ kind of way.

“So, is this a test drive or did you sign on the dotted line?” Zach asked.

“Um, she’s all ours, Freddy’s seat is already installed in the back” Brody said rolling his eyes.

“Oh, c’mon guys. It awesome and I LOVE it” Max exclaimed. “Besides, I still got the Camaro if I want to feel butch.” It was cute watching Max mature into a soccer mom. I couldn’t help but think back to when he got his first teaching job and Dylan talked him into buying his Red Hot Camaro convertible telling him he was ‘gonna need a little muscle under him living in the south.’ Here we were four years later… oh how the times had changed. Well, Max took me and Zach for a spin while Brody watched the kids. When we got back to the house, we threw together an impromptu cookout. We parted ways about 7PM after we called Gina and Dylan to plan a Sunday family beach outing. All in all, it was a great Saturday.

When it was bedtime, the kids passed out. Of course, Izzy fell asleep holding Belle in her tiny little hands. I snuck the tomato away in the middle of the night and set her down with her friends on the kitchen windowsill before I joined Zach in bed.

It was a hot night, when I got into bed Zach was already laying down on top of the covers in just his boxers. I let out a heavy sigh as I laid down next to him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as we both lie there with our hands behind our heads staring at the ceiling.

“Nothing, just too much death talk, I guess” I answered. Yeah, we had to discuss it to make sure the kids were taken care of, but after what I had gone through with my accident, the conversations felt too real… too depressing.

“I know, but we have to talk about. There is no way in hell those kids are ever ending up in the system again” Zach said going into sexy poppa bear mode again. “We have to make sure they’re taken care of for life, even if we’re not here to do it.” God, I loved that man.

“Yeah, you’re right. But all this death talk is just so depressing” I answered.

“But we’re not dead yet” he said still lying on his back. Then his hand landed smack-dab on my crotch, slipped its way into my fly, and grabbed my sickle as he tried to move the subject from death to life. It worked well as my sleeping member emerged from my fly like a phoenix and came alive. We turned our heads and looked at each other with sly smiles both knowing we would finish what he started. I reached over, slipped my way into the fly of my main reason for living’s boxers. We just lie there looking at each other and stroking each other’s cocks. I made the first bold move as I flipped myself around, pulled off my boxers, and straddled his beautiful face dropping my musky ass onto it. He didn’t need explanation or coaxing; he instinctively pulled my ass cheeks apart and slipped his tongue into my pink hole. I pushed his boxers to his ankles and took him into my mouth with my lips… no hands necessary.

He was semi-erect when he entered my mouth and the sensation of him resurrecting as my tongue slithered around his shaft sent thrills through me. Meanwhile his tongue… oh. My. Frigging. God! His tongue probed my insides and licked at the very essence of my being making me moan around him and sending pleasureful vibrations through him. We were both lost in a sixty nine to end all sixty nines. I was working on his cock, bringing it to new levels of hardness while he was lubing my hole with his saliva, prepping it for breeding. We both indulged for a while until Zach got impatient. He gently pushed me off him and in an urgent breathy tone said, “On all fours.” It was like a command and mutual agreement all rolled into one. I complied with exuberant obedience.

I was on all fours with my ass in the air and my face in the pillow, then *THWAP*, Zach landed a smack on my left ass cheek as he simultaneously dribbled spit into my hole. “Fuck me!” I uttered without forethought; it was a response to the pleasure and a desperate plea for mercy. Zach granted mercy almost immediately by lining up his cock with my hole and pushing breached my well-lubed, but very tight little hole with his head. I gasped as his spongy head entered me and was instantly greeted with a handshake from my sphincter. I contracted around him as he pushed steadily forward without stopping until he hit bottom. As soon as he hit, he pulled back… his usual slow build to extasy was cast aside as he went for the kill. Instantly we were entangled in a furious fuck fest. He moved in and out of me hard and fast with his balls slapping my firm as with a clap with every thrust. Over and over again he fucked me. I was out of it, lost in lust, enjoying an amazing fuck with my face pushed into the pillow, biting it. “Flip over” Zach commanded but I was too out of it to hear, “flip over” he said louder, this time adding a smack to my ass to get my attention. He kept his cock buried deep inside my ass as I flipped over onto my back… damn, it took some maneuvering to get my legs over him and keep him in me. Harder and faster, he fucked me, then without warning he pulled out, pointed his stream at my cock and unloaded on me. His body shudder as he milked out the final drops, then his hand moved to my cock and finished me off using his load as lubricant. It didn’t take but a few strokes for me to release, and let me say it was a heavenly release… so much pleasure shooting from my balls while my ass was still reeling from the satisfaction of an amazing fuck. Zach collapsed onto me and ended our session with a wet, sloppy, lust-induced kiss then we rolled onto our sides and my big spoon kissed me on the neck before we dozed off.

Sunday morning was an exciting one at our house, the kids couldn’t wait to go to the beach with their friends (Izzy seemed to have forgotten all about her friendship with Belle, thank god). Zach fed them breakfast while I pulled out the bathing suits, packed the towels, and everything else we’d need for a day at the beach. I was in charge of snacks and juice boxes, Gina was in charge of sandwiches for lunch, and Max was in charge of bringing the cooler. After breakfast I got the kids ready while Zach pulled our beach chairs, umbrellas, and other assorted beach paraphernalia out of the garage and pile it all up by the porch. I was up in Izzy’s room still pulling her into her pink flamingo bathing suit (after I slathered her with sunscreen) when we heard Max’s Pacifica crushing the gravel as it moved up the driveway towards the house. “They here!” Izzy squealed as she tried to squirm away from me.

“Wait, wait, wait” I pleaded as I tried to steady her so I could finish getting her dressed. “You’re not going anywhere until you’re dressed.” Oh my god, I sounded like a parent. I put a hat on her head, sunglasses on her face, and flipflops on her tiny feet. “Now!” I said as I released her from my grip.

She toddled her tiny butt out of her room, into the hallway, down the steps, through the living room and onto the porch where she yelled “I READY!” getting a huge laugh from Max and Brody, and an eyeroll from Zach who was walking over to the minivan with her car seat. Brody already had Freddy and Theo’s boosters buckled into the third row. Zach installed Izzy’s seat into the middle of the second row while Brody added all our beach gear to theirs in the cargo space. Okay, okay, I admit it. As much as the idea of driving a minivan made me shudder, that thing had a crapload of space. It held all our shit, and the seven of us comfortably.

With everybody and everything packed-up and ready to go, Max got behind the wheel and asked in a loud voice, “who wants to go to the ocean?!” All six of us responded “ME!!!!” and we took off on our journey. Max was right, the minivan floated like a cloud as we made our way to the beach.

The radio was playing loud enough to hear, but soft enough for us to talk when the song “Stuck In The Middle With you” came on. “Turn it up” Zach shouted to Max and then started singing to Izzy who was buckled into her car seat between the two of us. When the lyrics “clowns to the left of me” played, Zach turned to his left and kissed her cheek after he sang the words then added “You’re my little clown.”

“I not a clown. You a clown” giggled the little diva as she sat there in that godawful bathing suit, her sun hat and sunglasses loving the attention. The ride was a lot of fun with the seven of us all in one vehicle for the first time. When we got to the parking lot near Wrightsville beach, we saw Gina unloading the white SUV while Dylan carried a tent onto the beach on his way to claim a spot for us near the water. The two boys ran ahead with Dylan ready to play, the two girls admired and complimented each other’s beachwear, and the adults busied ourselves with unloading the vehicles, setting up tents, umbrellas, and beach chairs, then slathering everyone with sunscreen. Eventually, the two little princesses settled under an umbrella with Brody, hard at work building a sandcastle… well, the girls were piling up sand while Brody crafted the masterpiece. Zach and Dylan were wading in the ocean with the boys as they hunted for shells, shark teeth, driftwood, and any other treasures the ocean held for two almost six year old’s. Meanwhile, Gina and I sipped our diet Coke’s under the tent while baby DJ took in all the new sights, Sounds, and smells of his first trip to the beach.

After a great day at the beach, we ended up at our place for a cookout. Eli and Riley blessed us with their presence stopping by on their way home from the airport. We helped ease them back to reality after what sounded like an amazing honeymoon cruise.

It was a great day with our North Carolina family. I could never have imagined this life back when we all first met in college, I don’t think any of my friends could have. But judging by the smiles and laughter we shared that day, none of us were complaining.

  

To be continued…