The Village

Seth’s Perspective

Freddy loved first grade; I mean frigging loved it. Him, Theodore, and his pal Sammy (with the two moms) were inseparable. Freddy, Teddy, and Sammy were the in-crowd of the first grade (Theodore’s name had morphed into Teddy thanks to his teacher, Mr. Pringle… who we all loved by the way). Having a kid in first grade was so different than having a kid in kindergarten, there were more class memos, field trips to look forward to, PTA meetings, etc. The school expected the parents to be more involved. We were just a week into the school year when the “room parent” called the first classroom meeting. Each room had a parent who volunteered to wrangle the other parents and keep them involved and informed; ours was Carrie Anne Sloop. The meeting was in the school cafeteria on a Wednesday night, Me, Max, and one of Sammy’s moms (Ronda) attended together. The main purpose of the first meeting was to line up the volunteer schedule for the semester. There was a parent in the classroom twice a week to help Mr. Pringle on art day and on science day. They also needed parents to help with field trips, playground duty, and lunch duty. Every time Carrie Anne asked for volunteers, the three of raised our hands; and every time she ignored us. She literally looked right past us. “Anyone?” she would ask as if she didn’t have three willing, able-bodied parents raising their hands right in front of her. “Oh, there’s a hand in the back. Thank you” she would say as she ignored us. The three gay parents in the room were obviously getting snubbed.

Ronda stood up, “I’m free next Friday to help with art day” she volunteered, refusing to be overlooked.

“Thank you, darlin’, but I think we’re covered” Carrie Anne said dismissing her and moving onto the next subject.

Max stood and asked, “How are we covered? You said that all parents MUST volunteer, the three of us are still not on the schedule.”

To my surprise another dad stood and asked, “Can I ask why you so obviously passed over those three eager volunteers?”

Carrie Anne Sloop stood there dumbfounded, “I didn’t realize they wanted to volunteer” she lied with a smile.

“Yes, you did” The other parent replied sternly. “The three of them were waving their hands every single time you asked for help. Is there a problem, Carrie Anne?” He obviously knew her and was calling her out on our behalf. It was an interesting exchange that went on for a minute or so as he confronted her and she did her best to tap dance around the truth; she didn’t want gay parents in the classroom. The parent who confronted her (Ron) looked over towards us, “Sarah is our third, and we’ve lived through art day before, it can be chaotic and I would love if one of you would help me out next week.”

“I’ll be there” Ronda said without hesitation. Carrie Anne was NOT happy.

Another parent looked at us and said, “I’ve got the week after, who wants to help me?” I accepted, then another parent recruited Max to help during their week. The other parents were rallying around us and welcoming us into the fold, Carrie Anne was livid and did her best to be in control of the meeting with her useless protests of ‘we really don’t need two parents in the room.’ It was clear that she wasn’t thrilled with having three sets of gay parents in the classroom… but the other parents didn’t seem to give a shit, in fact the welcomed us with open arms. She was outnumbered. After the meeting there was a meet and greet and the parents were so supportive and very complimentary of our kids (I was amazed that everyone seemed to know Freddy, Teddy, and Sammy). The six of us made our way towards Carrie Anne to have a little conversation but that bitch made a beeline for her minivan and was long gone before we could get to her.

The three of us discussed the situation in the parking lot. It was clear Carrie Anne was a homophobe, but the rest of the parents seemed awesome and we decided not to make a big deal of it… at least not yet. We said goodnight to Ronda (after inviting her family to Pizza Night at our BroMax Farm) and Max and I got into his Camaro and dropped the top. Yeah, we took the fun car since it was one of those rare opportunities that we were kid-free. On the way home we talked about the meeting and how to best handle the situation.

“Head-on” Max said. “When I was teaching, I just dealt with it as it came, I found that you’ll get one or two a-holes, but the rest of the parents see right through them.”

“Yeah, I just hope it doesn’t get taken out on the kids.” I said. “Freddy loves first grade and doesn’t need a condescending bigot Carrie Anne Sloop to make his life difficult” I said in a loud voice to be heard of the sound of the wind whipping through the growling muscle car.

“I know, Theodore is still adjusting to the new school… well hell, his new life really. He seems so damn well adjusted especially considering the shit he’s been through. I hope this cunt doesn’t through a wrench into it” Max replied. “Damn, she ran the hell out of the school after that meeting!”

“Yeah, that’s because she knew she was outnumbered. She picked the wrong battle” I said. We talked about it for the rest of the ride home, Max dropped me off just in time to say goodnight to the kids and tuck them in. Me and Zach rotated tucking the kids in, I’d get one and he’d get the other… the next night we would switch. That night I had Izzy. “You wate, Zeff” she said to me as I tucked her in, admonishing me for being late and missing family dinner.

“I had to go to Freddy’s school for a meeting, but I rushed home to tuck you in” I said. I got a smile for that. I told her a Princess Izzy story, then said “I love you” of course, you know the response…

“And momma wuv me, and Sach Wuv me, and Fweddy wove me, and gwamma and Gwampa wuv me, and Aunt Wiley wuv me, and Unko Ewi…” And the list went on forever. She wasn’t wrong, she was absolutely loved.

After she was tucked in, I went into Freddy’s room and kissed him goodnight, he was already out like a light. Then I made my way to the living room where Zach was waiting for me with a couple of cocktails ready to go and I updated him on the meeting. He was pissed and loaded for bear, he wanted Carrie Anne out as Room Parent, he wanted us to rally against her, he wanted to go to Principal Farris and complain… he was truly pissed (and I loved it). “Ronda and Suzanne are coming to Pizza Night at Bromax on Friday, the six of us can talk about it then” I responded trying to calm him down. “Honestly, she was alone on this. I’m guessing it will blow over… she’s just an annoying little gnat… not worth the effort.”

Zach took a gulp of his drink, “I’m going to watch that bitch, she better stay the fuck away from those kids” he gnarled. Goddammit, why did Poppa Bear mode turn me on so damn much?

I leaned over and kissed him, “So, you up for some midweek nookie?” I asked, changing the topic and the mood.

“Like you have to ask” he said through an evil little smirk as he kissed me back and we had a quickie make out session on the couch before moving it up to our bedroom. We entered and locked the door behind us (we had made that a habit ever since the kids jumped into bed with us a few months back when Zach was under the covers going down on me) then stripped. Once we were under the covers things moved fast! I rolled on top of Zach as we kissed passionately… damn I loved the feel of his soft lips pressing against mine, and his hot skin burning against me. The feel of our flaccid snakes intertwining as if engaged in some weird reptilian dance as they filled with blood always got me excited. Damn I just loved that sensation, feeling Zach getting all frothed and knowing it was because of me always did it for me… from day frigging one.

I moved my hips in a circular motion and ground my now hard cock into his as our tongues tangoed. Without a word I flipped myself around into a sixty nine and took him in my mouth, without hesitation, he did the same to me. I was choking on his magnificent piece, loving the way it felt as it hit the back of my throat and pushed the tears out of my eyes. My thick saliva covered him from stem to tip, and my hand to made sure every inch was lubed up and ready. While I was tending to his manhood, I felt his tongue move to my ass. He licked up and down my crack several times before parting my cheeks with his hands and diving deep inside me with his hot, wet, oral appendage. Getting my ass eaten out was one of my favorite things, the warm, wet sensation, the vibration of his groans, the suction from his soft, plump lips… so many things working together to send me into a lust-filled frenzy. He was driving me insane! Without a word, I flipped myself around and sat on his divining rod, within second it found the moisture in my hot, wet hole. I slowly lowered myself onto him leaning forward to kiss him at the same time… our lips met just as he bottomed out in me, I growled into his mouth, he growled back in-kind fueling my lust even more. I lifted myself up off his spike slowly, then dropped myself back down on him hard. We kissed hard as I bounced up and fucking down on him several times unable to get enough of him inside me to satisfy my desire. His hardness was hitting all the right spots and driving me over the edge, my ass was opening and closing around him. “Fuck, Seth… oh my god you feel so fucking amazing” He grunted into my ear.

\“You too” I panted back as I rode him. “Fuck me hard and fast” then I pressed my lips against his again and shoved my tongue down his throat. I was on the brink of orgasm; I wasn’t even touching my cock… it was just… just… well just EVERYTHING all at once coming together sending me to the point of no return. “I’m cumming” I grunted into our kiss. His ass pushed up driving his cock into me deeper, harder, and faster trying to make himself cum with me… he almost did it, but I shot first. Just a few long, powerful streams that smacked our chins and landed between us… Zach kept pumping me… he lasted a minute or two be for he blasted deep inside my bowels. His warmth filled me just as my own cock was starting to deflate… it was such a perfectly satisfying ending to an unexpected romp. He stayed buried inside me until he went soft then I rolled off him, we kissed goodnight and fell asleep in each other’s arms covered in our own funk.

 

Thursday morning, we were up and at it by 5:30AM. The kids were still sleeping so we jumped in the shower together and had a nice, private, sensual wake-up. It was so nice just to touch each other and start the day so intimately. We were dried off and dressed before the kids even rolled out of bed. That morning, I dressed the kids while Zach made breakfast, then he helped me load them into the Atlas with their school bags, and kissed us all goodbye. I drove to BroMax where Teddy was waiting in his school clothes with his backpack on…he was such a cute kid, hell they all were. He got so excited when he saw us coming up the long gravel driveway. Next, I dropped the kids off at school, Principal Farris came out to greet me and Izzy as the boys jumped out of their car seats in the third row. “Seth, good to see you. How are the boys enjoying first grade?” The Principal asked. He would’ve asked them personally, but they ran from the car so quickly to go meet Sammy and their other friends that he never had the chance.

“They love it” I said, then decided to talk to him about the Room Parent situation. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know Max and I said we’d let it go for now, but he was right there and I knew he was an ally. “We went to our first classroom meeting last night” I said.

“Oh?” He asked with a pleasant smile, “How was that?”

“A bit awkward” I replied as his expression turned more serious. “Yeah, I don’t think Carrie Anne was thrilled with having three sets of gay parents in her classroom.”

“Really” He said with a surprise in his voice. “I don’t know her well, but wouldn’t have thought that about her.” I told him what happened at the meeting, he was surprised by it all, but impressed that the other parents came to our rescue. Just as I was getting ready to pull out Sammy’s moms came up to talk to the principal. They pretty much repeated the same story I had just told him and requested to file a formal complaint. The Principal invited them to his office, they asked me to join but I had to decline.

I had to drop Izzy off and then had a session scheduled with Asher first thing (well that was if he showed… He had skipped his last two sessions because he was so involved with work. Regular sessions were a requirement to live at Harrington House so I threatened him with eviction if he didn’t show up… we would never do it, but it was the only card I had to play). “We can set up a meeting if you need to talk to me and Zach, I’m sure Max and Brody would be willing to meet as well” I offered.  They understood and The Principal promised to call if he needed to talk to us. I dropped off Izzy at Mrs. Mavis’s and barely made it to the office on time. I beat Asher by about a minute and went to the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee (no time to stop at Marilee’s that morning), dropped my bag off in my office, and was sitting in the therapy room when Asher walked in. “Hi Asher. How’s it going?” I said as he entered and took a seat cross from me.

“Good” is all he said. ARGH! The first couple minutes of our sessions (and regular conversations) were always frustrating with Asher. He took forever to warm up and be open, it was almost as if every session was our first.

“How is the new apartment?” I asked.

“Good” He answered.

“I need more, Ash” I said. This was a tactic I had been trying with him lately, I was basically refusing to accept his vague answers. “Is the furniture okay? Do you have everything you need?” I asked. He just nodded. “What about the guys in the building, are they all treating you well? Are you getting along?” The second floor was all Villagers, the third floor had become all former Villagers, and the fourth floor was Colton and Ella in one unit, and Ricky and Timmy in the other. Over the year since Brody and Max bought the building (leasing it to The Village on a rent to own plan), we filled it with villagers and people we could trust to make it a safe haven for the Villagers. Again, Asher gave me a nod. I was getting a little frustrated with the vague answers, I really wanted to hear from him. “Tell me about it” I urged, “tell me a story about you interacting with the guys.”

He sat silently for a few moments then answered, “Well, Colton made dinner for everyone on Sunday night and they all came to his place to meet and welcome me” then he sat there and looked at me. That was it, a one sentence story, but at least I got a full sentence out of him that time.

“That sounds great. What did he make?” I said hoping to get him to talk more. It worked. He went on about the Chicken Parmesan and The Eggplant Parmesan, the fresh salad he made from vegetables grown at BroMax, and the “Welcome Asso” cake.

“And all those guys are really nice” He added without prompting. “The guys on the second floor all keep their apartment doors open when they’re home and hang out together.”

“How about you? Are you hanging out with them?” I asked.

“I left my door open for the first time last night and hung out with the guys for a little bit. It was okay” Asher said. I know that was a big step for him.

“Good for you!” I praised. It sounded like the guys were doing their best to make him feel welcome, they were good at that. I loved Asher but he could be difficult to get close to, I was glad the guys seemed to be making a solid effort. After we talked about his living situation, we discussed work. He was killing it, and Brody was working with him on life/work balance… Asher would work 24/7 without eating, without sleeping, or without even going to the bathroom if Brody didn’t force him to take stop and take breaks. As much as we all admired his work ethic, we were worried about his wellbeing. Brody was good for him… lord know he was hella’ more patient than me most days.

“Um, Seth?” He said quietly. “Brody keeps sending me to this print shop…” he said sheepishly, “Um… and there’s this guy there. I… I… I think he’s flirting with me” he had the cutest grin on his face as he blushed.

“What do you think about that?” I asked.

“I liked it” he said with a giggle. A giggle! I had never heard him giggle before.

“Well, ask him out!” I encouraged.

“NO!” he barked with wide eyes. “I… I… could never do that” he said with a look of genuine terror on his face. This was definitely out of his comfort zone. GOOD! He needed to get out of his comfort zone.

“Tell me about him” I urged. And he told me all about Jason the cute, scruffy otter at the print shop. It would take some encouragement, but I was hoping I could get him to eventually ask the guy out, and I was praying that the guy was nice and wouldn’t hurt him. We talked about Jason a little longer but I could see Asher had taken that conversation as far as he wanted to for now, so I changed the subject.

Lastly, we talked about his car. Daddy James had found him an old Jetta with high miles that just needed a tune-up and a paint job. Daddy had it running like a top, and Asher had been helping him sand it down and prime it for its new paint job.

“Daddy James has some paint left over from the Beetle and we’re going to paint it this weekend. He said it should be ready to roll next week. It’s my first car, I’m really excited, Seth” Asher said.

“It sounds like things are going great for you” I said.

“They are” He said. “I appreciate all you guys are doing for me, I won’t let you down.”

“You can’t.” I said sincerely. “This isn’t about me, Asher. It’s about you. Just do your best, build a good situation for yourself, but don’t kill yourself trying, okay?” He knew what I meant and nodded again. This time a nod was good enough. We talked for the rest of our session, Asher ran hot and cold, one minute he was quiet, then he rambled, then he was quiet again. Our sessions (when we had them) were difficult, I never knew which Asher I was going to get; quiet Asher, or motormouth Asher. Some mornings, like that one, I got both. But… I felt confident that he was doing well.

Taylor came in for his session right as I was walking Asher out the door, I had to smile at how red Asher turned when Taylor said a simple ‘hello.’ Poor Ash, he was so painfully shy. Asher fled through the exit and I escorted Taylor to the therapy room. I had talked to him a few times on the phone, but this was his first session since he got back from Philly last week. “So, you start” I said. “How are you doing?”

“Pretty good, Seth” he said with a beautiful smile, god I know it’s wrong of me to think this way, but Taylor was just so ridiculously hot. Bad therapist, Seth. Bad Therapist! “The trip to Philly was really life changing.” He told me all about his visit with his father, his ride through his old neighborhood, his trip to the cemetery… he even told me that he hooked up with some random guy on Grindr. The thing about Taylor is that (in total contrast to Asher) he usually told me everything, he didn’t lie or omit. “After the guy left, I was lonely and wanted to be with Noah” he said.

“Well, we’ve had this discussion before and you were clear that you weren’t ready to settle down yet… do you still feel the same?” I asked.

“I’m not sure, Seth.” He said. “I think I’m ready to commit to Noah, but… hell I love sex. I’m not completely convinced that I could give it up… I mean, I don’t trust myself and I don’t want Noah to get hurt” he was being honest. “And the whole family, kids, white picket fence thing… shit, that’s so new to me, Seth. I never had that. I don’t know if I’m worthy of it.” We talked and talked until he had to leave for work, almost two hours. Taylor was tackling some heavy baggage, ultimately leaving his horrid past behind and trying to blaze a solid, sustainable path forward. More than that, he was trying to set expectations he could live up to. I was damn proud of him. He was thinking like a grownup with an eye to the future.

After Taylor’s session I made calls, did paperwork, and worked on a grant application. I was buried all day long and was happy to finish the day. Max was picking the boys up, so I just had to get Izzy and head to BroMax. On the way to Mrs. Mavis’s, my dad called. “Hey what’s up Dad?”

“Did you hear about your neighbors?” he asked.

“Max and Brody?” I replied confused.

“No, I mean your neighbors at The Village. The church closed its doors” He said.

“What?! For real?! What happened?!” I asked in total surprise.

“They’ve been losing members steadily since all the controversy over their conversion therapy methods and apparently have missed several loan payments. The bank foreclosed on the building and the congregation just kind of dissipated” He replied. He told me what he knew as I drove to pick up Izzy, when I got to Mrs. Mavis’s, we said goodbye and I picked up Izzy and headed to BroMax Farm to get Freddy. As soon as I let Izzy her out of her seat, she ran into the barn to see the guys, her “fewnds.” She loved them all. I followed her in and found Max, standing by one of the big wax melters talking with Ricky and Brody about something.

“Hey Max” I interrupted, “my dad just called and said the church was foreclosed on and closed their doors.”

The three of them looked at each other in surprise, then laughed as if at some private joke. Then Max said, “Well, the place would be big enough to solve our problems.”

“That would be the ultimate F-U” Brody added, “I love it! I had no clue what they were talking about.

 

To be continued…