Michael looked up from making the salad as he heard the front door slam.
“Sounds like Hunter’s home!”
“And as always, just in time for dinner!”
“Yeah, I’ll give him two minutes before he’s in here demanding food” Michael laughed, reaching for a carrot and beginning to peel it.
Ben put the chicken pieces back in the oven before turning to Michael.
“Seems like we are wrong, I’ll go and see what he’s up to!”
Ben headed into the living room to find it empty, the only visible sign that Hunter was home was his school bag in the middle of the floor.
Ben picked it up and walked up the stairs, knocking on Hunter’s door before entering.
Hunter was sitting on his bed, knees bent, arms wrapped around them.
“Hey Pal, how was school?” Ben asked, dropping the heavy bag beside his bed.
Hunter didn’t look up, mumbling some thing that Ben couldn’t catch.
He moved closer to the bed, concern on his face.
“Hunter, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
He sat on the bed, trying to think what may have upset Hunter. He was fine when he left this morning, moaning of course about having to go to school, but Ben knew he was happy there and was getting good grades.
“Come on Pal, tell me, perhaps I can help.”
Hunter finally lifted his head his eyes meeting Bens.
“There’s nothing you can do.”
“How do you know that if you won’t tell me. Are you having trouble with a class…I could talk to your teacher…..”
“It’s got nothing to do with classes!”
“What then?”
Hunter sighed, knowing that Ben wouldn’t let things go until he got to the bottom of this. Even when he didn’t want to share his problems with Ben he always found himself doing so, and somehow, even if Ben didn’t have the answer, he felt better after talking to him. But this time he wasn’t sure.
“Hunter?”
Hunter took a deep breath before beginning haltingly.
“You know that kid Sam…”
“The one who came over on Saturday?”
“Yeah” ”What about him?”
“He told me today he doesn’t want to be friends with me anymore.”
“How come?”
Visions of what had happened at Hunters old school flashed through Ben’s mind. He just hoped that the same problem wasn’t going to resurrect itself again.
“Hunter…come on Pal….tell me.”
“He said he didn’t want to be friends with someone who had two fags as his fathers.”
Hunter buried his head back in his arms.
Ben sat there, taking in Hunter’s words, his initial feeling of anger turning to concern for Hunter.
“And what did you say?”
Hunter mumbled into his arms, but this time Ben was able to catch his words.
“Say that again!”
“I said…I fucking hit him!”
“You shouldn’t have done that….”
“What was I supposed to do let him get away with saying that about you and Michael.”
“Violence solves nothing Pal I’ve told you that before.”
“Yeah I guess that’s what Mr. Richards will say when you see him tomorrow.”
“I see. So did you feel better after hitting him?”
Hunter shook his head.
“And now you will probably be suspended.”
“I don’t care!”
Ben sighed, weighing up his words before he spoke.
“Hunter…listen to me. What Sam said….I can imagine how much that upset you…but unfortunately it is a problem you may face again…and solving it by violence is not an option…do you understand that?’
“Yes….but….”
“No buts Hunter…..that is not debatable….you have lots of good friends…who accept you and us as a family…don’t let the words from one boy….who more than likely is just imitating something he may have heard some one else say….get to you.”
“And next time someone says it….what do I do…just pretend I don’t care!”
“As hard as that might be…yes…just walk away, come and talk to me about it…I can’t stop it happening…some people just don’t understand what makes a family…it’s not about what gender your parents are…it’s about love…and Michael and I love you very much…”
“I know ….”
“Then remember that if it happens again…now….how about getting washed up…dinner will be ready soon!”
Ben ruffled Hunters hair, giving him a reassuring smile and trying to keep his anger at bay, the hurt still evident on Hunter’s face.
“Ben?”
“What?”
“Are you angry with me?”
Ben pulled Hunter into his arms, giving him a tight hug.
“No Pal…I’m not angry with you…you shouldn’t have done what you did but I understand why you did it….you were standing up for Michael and me….and I am proud of you for doing that. I will go and talk to Mr. Richards tomorrow and see if we can work things out.”
“Thanks.”
“And Hunter…don’t say anything to Michael about this ok?”
“You’re not going to tell him?”
“Yes I will….but later…you know how he gets sometimes…”
“Yeah!”
They shared a knowing smile about Michael and his well known emotional out bursts.
“Ben?”
“Yes?”
“What would you have done…..?”
Ben looked at Hunter, knowing he had to be honest, he wasn’t a child any more and neither he nor Michael had ever lied to him.
“Honestly…I think I would have done exactly what you did…but that doesn’t make it right!”
“I know and thanks….”
“I can’t solve all your problems Hunter…but Michael and I will always be here to listen and do what we can to help… just remember that.”
Hunter nodded a small smile on his lips, realizing how fucking lucky he was to have two parents who cared and loved him unconditionally.
“So what’s for dinner?”
“Michael’s making a salad……”
“Should I be worried about that…..”
“Hey….be nice….his cooking has improved a lot….”
“It couldn’t have got worse….remember that stew he made last week!”
Hunter gave an exaggerated shudder as he climbed off the bed. Ben wrapped his arm around his son’s shoulders as they walked from the room together.
“Yeah….I know..…it wasn’t the best…but at least he is trying!”
“I’d rather he stuck to cleaning and you did the cooking thanks….otherwise I’m likely to starve to death!”
“I promise I won’t let that happen!” Ben laughed as they made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen to find Michael dishing up dinner.
“About fucking time….I was about to send out a search party….I could do with some help here!” Michael glared at them both.
“Sorry baby.” Ben dropped a kiss on Michael’s pouting lips before handing the salad bowl to Hunter.
“Go and put this on the table Pal!”
“It looks….delicious!” Hunter took it from Ben, winking at him before scurrying from the room.
Michael looked at Ben as he took the garlic bread from the oven.
“So…..?”
“What?”
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on Michae1”
“Why don’t I believe that!”
“Listen baby….Hunter just had a small problem at school today…okay…I will tell you about it later…..”
“What sort …….”
His words were cut off by Ben’s fingers on his lips.
“Later Michael….let’s go and eat!”
Michael huffed, ignoring the look from Ben, knowing he would get no where by pestering Ben for answers. One thing he had learnt very early on about his husband was that he would talk when he was ready and no amount of cajoling from Michael would change that.
He followed Ben from the kitchen and sat down at the table, watching Hunter as he loaded his plate, his mind full of the possibilities of what could have happened during the day.
Conversation was sparse as they each worked their way through the meal, Michael as always amazed at the amount of food Hunter was able to consume.
When their plates were clean and only a solitary piece of chicken left in the dish Hunter looked up at his fathers expectantly.
“So what’s for dessert?”
Michael shook his head, an indulgent smile crossing his lips.
“I actually made your favorite….blueberry crumble.”
“Right on dude!” Hunter knew that this was one thing Michael could make, without stuffing it up.
Michael grinned at him as he began to clear the table and came back minutes later with the crumble in one hand and a huge carton of ice cream in the other.
“That was fucking awesome!” Hunter declared as he took his last mouthful, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand before taking his plate to the kitchen, followed moments later by his fathers.
They were both surprised to see he had filled the sink with water and had started washing the dishes without being told.
Michael gave Ben a quizzical look, getting only a shrug from Ben in response.
“I’ve got some papers I need to grade, if I get started now maybe we can watch a movie before bed.” Ben said, handing Michael a dish towel.
“Mmmmm…..so I get to cook and clean up!” Michael pretended to be affronted but couldn’t stop a wide grin crossing his face as Ben pulled him into his arms.
“And you do both so well baby!”
“Flattery will get you everywhere Professor Bruckner!” Michael said, flicking Ben with the dish towel as he walked out the room.
“But I get to choose the movie!”
Ben stopped, turning back to his husband.
“As long as it’s not…..”
“Spiderman!” Hunter yelled from the sink, earning a glare from Michael.
“And what’s wrong with Spiderman?” Michael faced up to Hunter, a determined look on his face.
“Nothing…it’s a fucking awesome movie…and I really loved it…the first time…even the second time….but you know….after….”
“Ok you two that’s enough!” Ben decided he had better intervene before things got out of hand. “Michael can choose the movie tonight!”
“But…..” Ben held up his hand silencing Hunters protests.
“You can choose next time.”
Michael gave Hunter a triumphant smile which was answered by a handful of soap suds heading in his direction.
Ben walked from the kitchen, the continual bickering from them both still ringing in his ears. He was pleased that Hunter had been pulled out of his downcast mood from earlier; unwittingly by Michael; and if he had to sit through Spiderman for what would have to be the….he started to count but gave up when he got to eight…. it would be worth it.
He grabbed his bag, laying the papers on the table that needed grading and got to work on the large pile. By the time Michael and Hunter emerged from the kitchen, still seemingly picking on each other, he was more than three-quarters the way through.
He rubbed his face against Michael’s arm as he draped them around his neck.
“You nearly finished?” Michael asked hopefully, running his hands down Ben’s chest, his fingers moving between the buttons on his shirt until he found bare skin.
Ben reached for his hands and held them still.
“If you keep doing that I will never get finished!”
“Doing what?” he asked, as he tried to escape Ben’s grasp but his grip tightened and he found himself being pulled into Ben’s lap.
“You know exactly what!” Ben laughed as Michael fidgeted until he found exactly the right spot. He could feel Ben’s hard cock against his ass and he wriggled slightly, an innocent look on his face as Ben let out a soft groan before grabbing his hips and holding him still.
“Mmmmm…perhaps we should forgo the movie and have an early night instead!” Michael suggested leaning in and running his tongue over Ben’s lips.
As much as the idea appealed to Ben, he knew he had to finish these papers and also a conversation with Michael about Hunter had to be had before morning.
“I’ll do you a deal Michael!” Ben said, lifting him off his lap, standing him on his feet.
“You and Hunter start the movie and let me finish this and you can sit on my lap while we watch the movie!”
Michael stood there seemingly considering that for a moment but Ben could tell by the gleam in his eyes that he would get his own way, at least this time.
“Deal!” Michael gave the bulge in Ben’s pants a quick squeeze, a beaming smile plastered on his face before bounding off and diving onto the couch next to Hunter.
Ben shook his head, laughing softly as he heard them begin to squabble over the remote, Michael trying to hush Hunter without much success. Luckily Ben had become well used to shutting off from outside distractions and was soon ensconced in his student’s papers.
The next time he looked up an hour had passed and he took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes before glancing at the TV screen and could tell by the scene showing that the movie still had about forty minutes to run. He stood, stretching his back and walked slowly over to the sofa, placing a kiss on Michael’s head. Michael moved quickly as Ben settled down then climbed onto his lap snuggling into his chest as Ben’s arms wrapped themselves around him.
Hunter turned his head, casting his eyes over them, an affectionate look crossing his face for a moment. It still amazed him that his father’s acted like a couple of teenagers at times, but it gave him a warm feeling. He decided to give them some time to themselves.
“I’m gonna bed!” A yawn escaped him
“But you’ll miss the best part!” Surprise sounding in Michael’s voice as he looked up at him.
“Like I don’t know what happens!”
“Goodnight Pal.…see you in the morning.” Ben gave him a reassuring smile, before he took off, taking the stairs two at a time and they both jumped when his bedroom door slammed shut.
Ben relaxed against the back of the sofa, his grip not loosening around Michael, who had found a comfortable position and was back engrossed in the movie. He must have dozed off and his eyes shot open when Michael’s voice took over when the movie had ended.
“You fell asleep!” He gave Ben an accusatory glare.
“No I didn’t!”
“What you usually snore when you are awake then?”
“I wasn’t snoring!”
“Yeah right! I had to turn up the volume just to hear the movie!”
“Michael….I do not snore!”
Michael turned around, wrapping his arms around Ben’s neck.
“Yes you do….and your punishment is to carry me up to bed, undress me and….”
“And what?” Ben laughed, nuzzling Michael’s neck.
“You’ll see.” Michael jumped up, pulling Ben with him an expectant look on his face.
He giggled as Ben scooped him up with his strong arms and walked towards the stairs. He flicked off the light as they walked past; both of them trying to keep their laughter at bay, not wanting to wake Hunter, until they reached their room.
Ben dropped him onto the bed and he bounced, a loud laugh escaping from him as he pulled off his shoes, his eyes on his husband as he undressed, his cock hardening as each item of clothing was thrown onto the floor, until Ben was standing naked before him.
“I think you have too many clothes on!” Ben leered at Michael, bending down, undoing his belt. Michael lifted his hips and Ben yanked his jeans down his legs, quickly followed by his boxers, his t-shirt being pulled off seconds later.
Michael shivered momentarily as Ben pulled back the covers. He dived beneath them, snuggling up to Ben when he climbed in, his head resting on his chest, one arm draped loosely over his chest, his fingers tracing over his skin.
Ben reached for Michael’s hand, stilling it.
“Michael…we need to talk.”
“That bad huh?”
“I’m not sure. Let’s just say I will have to pay Hunter’s teacher a visit tomorrow.”
“What did he do this time?”
“You make it sound like he’s always in trouble!”
“I didn’t mean to…but you have to admit he does get into his fair share of scrapes.”
“I guess….but this one wasn’t his fault, well…. not to start with any way.”
Ben proceeded to relate the conversation he had with Hunter to Michael.
“He fucking hit him!”
“Yes.”
“Well…..I know that was wrong and he is going to be in so much shit for it….but….I’m kinda proud of him!”
“I felt the same way…I’m just so damn sorry for him….it’s taken him a long time to make friends and start trusting people…..”
“And some little asshole of a kid comes along and says that.”
“I know. And unfortunately Hunter is going to be the one in the most trouble no matter what Sam said to him. I just hope Mr. Richards will be understanding about the whole matter.”
“A smack in the head is only a minute of pain; the words will stay with Hunter for some time I know.”
Ben heard the shaky tone of Michael’s voice and lifted his chin, slightly taken aback by the anger that shone from his dark eyes.
“What’s the matter Michael…did something like this happen to you?”
“Hardly..…I mean Uncle Vic was gay and although I know Ma sometimes wishes she were a gay man….”
Ben couldn’t help but chuckle and he could see a small smile touch Michael’s lips at that thought.
“So what then…?”
“You’ve heard enough of my childhood traumas haven’t you!”
Ben pulled Michael closer, his fingers gently caressing his shoulder.
“Michael…I could never have enough of learning about you! You came into my life so late baby… I wish I had known you growing up….watched as you fought your way through life to become the person you are….”
“I don’t think we would have had much in common back then…” ”Maybe not…..but you could say we didn’t have much in common when we met either… but we fell in love….and here we are five years later an old married couple.”
Michael reached up for Ben, his mouth finding his instantly and kissed him deeply.
“You always know exactly what to say!”
Michael found Ben’s hand, lacing his fingers with his.
“So…..are you going to tell me?”
Michael thought for a few minutes, knowing that no matter how difficult and sometimes painful it was to dredge up moments from his younger years, he would always share them with Ben because once he had, somehow they didn’t seem quite so bad. That was something he would never have the words to thank Ben for, his continual and never ending belief in him. He still had moments of self doubt; he was sure they would never completely leave him, but thanks to Ben they were becoming less and less frequent as the years passed.
“When I was in the second semester at Community College…which I hated by the way…”
“I sort of remember you mentioning that once or twice!”
Ben gave Michael a nudge, drawing a smile from him.
“Yeah well, this new kid, Tony, came to class, he’d moved to Pittsburgh from Georgia a few weeks earlier and knew no-one and we ended up being paired together for something, I can’t remember what but somehow we seemed to hit it off. He was really shy and I don’t think I’d heard him say two words to anyone since he’d been there. He always seemed to be alone…..you know what I mean….sitting alone at lunch….not having anyone to walk home with after classes.”
“A bit like you?”
“A lot like me!” Michael said wistfully. “Anyway the next day we only had classes till lunch time so I invited him to my place for the afternoon. We stopped by the Diner on the way home and I introduced him to Ma…”
“That would have been interesting!”
“Well he didn’t run away screaming from the loud woman with bright red hair, so I thought that was a good sign.” Michael laughed before carrying on from where he had left off.
“Anyways, we had a great time. Once he was away from all the other kids he was completely different and we became fast friends, going into town on a Saturday night, spending the weekends at each other’s houses.”
“Did he know you were gay?”
“I hadn’t told him, no. I was still struggling in some ways to come to terms with it myself, even at that age, but I think he picked up on it, I didn’t show the same interest in the girls that he did!” Michael laughed “And he’d probably heard the ‘fag’ and ‘poofter’ comments that came my way occasionally.”
Ben ran his fingers through Michael’s hair, pulling him closer, wishing once again he had known him then. He would have protected him from those slurs, knowing how much they would have hurt him, even if he didn’t show it.
“How did he react when you told him?”
“He said it didn’t matter, he was my friend because of who I was.”
“You’d known him for a while by then, did you really expect a different answer from him.”
“Not really, but apart from Brian I didn’t have any other friends.”
“Talking about Brian, what did he think of Tony?”
“Surprisingly enough he liked him. The three of us didn’t spend much time together, we occasionally all went to the movies, and my friendship with both of them was so different, if that makes sense.”
“Yes it does. You and Brian had and still have a friendship that will survive through whatever ups and downs there are in your lives.”
“And we’ve certainly had plenty of those haven’t we!”
“I could mention a few yes, but we’re not talking about you and Brian, we’re talking about your friendship with Tony.”
“I know.”
“So what went wrong?”
“What makes you think something went wrong?”
“Because what happened to Hunter today has obviously brought back some unhappy memories for you.”
“Am I that transparent?”
“Not to others maybe; but I know you baby; I just need to look at your eyes to know how you are feeling.”
“Actually everything was great. We both left college at the same time; neither of us really liked it that much, and found jobs and continued to spend lots of time together. Tony lost a lot of his shyness as the years passed and even got himself a girlfriend; Chrissy. She was really nice and we got on well together.” ”But something happened?”
“Yeah and to this day I still don’t understand why or what caused it and I think that upsets me more than anything.”
“Sometimes there is no reason for something that happens and no matter how hard you look to try and find one it is never resolved.”
“How did I manage to find such a wise husband?” Michael looked up at Ben.
“I don’t know just lucky I guess.” Ben smiled back at Michael “And the fact that the moment I saw you I was never going to let you out of my life might have something to do with it.”
Michael let his head rest back on Ben’s chest, glancing at the bedside clock.
“It’s getting late and we still have to talk about what we’re going to do about Hunter!”
“Hunter will be fine; he’s a very resilient kid, so stop trying to change the subject. I can tell you’re still feeling hurt by whatever happened even after all these years Michael.”
“Pretty silly huh?”
“No baby…it’s not silly, don’t ever think or say that. It affected you and like a lot of things from our childhood we still bear the scars from it.”
“You as well?”
“Of course; but this is about you.”
Michael began again; his voice hardly about a whisper and Ben had to strain his ears to hear him.
“We still saw each a lot or spoke on the phone every day, like best friends do. He’d bought a car and he decided to go back to Georgia one weekend and asked me to go with him. I think Chrissy couldn’t get the time of work or something. So we headed off on the Friday night and had a wonderful weekend. He showed me where he had grown up and we did all the usual sightseeing stuff, drank too much beer and just had a great time.”
Ben heard Michael sigh softly and knew he was about to reach where this story had been heading.
“The next evening he came round to our house. When I let him in I don’t know why but I could just sense something was wrong. We chatted as usual, mainly about the weekend then in the middle of it he just blurted out that he had decided we shouldn’t see as much of each other. I just stood there, waiting for him to say more. When he did, I wish he hadn’t. Apparently Chrissy and some of his friends from work had been teasing him because his best friend was gay and he said he’d decided he wanted to find some straight friends and that he wanted to spend more time with his girlfriend. I could understand that, but I couldn’t work out why that should affect our friendship. I mean it’s not like he had just found out I was gay, we’d been friends for nearly three years. I was hurt and wanted to ask him if the narrow-minded and bigoted thoughts of other people were more important than our friendship, but I already knew what his answer would be.”
“All of a sudden I want to punch this Tony.” Ben said, drawing Michael closer to him.
“I was angry but I think more than anything I was sad that he didn’t value our friendship enough to tell these other friends to ‘fuck off’, he would choose his own friends. I said to him, straight out, is it because I am gay. He had the decency to look slightly shame-faced when he said yes. So when you told me about what that kid said to Hunter, I felt all over again that I was being judged because of my sexuality.”
“I’m sorry Michael, I wish I could tell you that it will change but I can’t. There will always be bigoted people in the world, and unfortunately those people pass their views onto the next generation and unless a new generation has enough courage to stand up and say it has got to stop, nothing will ever change.”
“I know that too, and I’m sure I’m not the only person this has happened to, but it still hurts. I have a home, a husband and a family just like them, just because I am gay, why can’t I…or any of us….just be accepted for who we are.” Michael took a breath. “Do you know what else worries me?”
“What Michael?”
“That it will continue to happen to Hunter, that he will be judged because of us, and that he will lose friendships because of that.”
“And if that does happen Michael, we will be here for him, we won’t be able to make it disappear and stop him being hurt but he will always know that we love him.”
Michael sat up, then slowly climbed out of bed.
“Where are you going?” Ben looked at him as he watched him grab his robe.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” ”He walked out their room and over to Hunter’s, opening his door quietly and padding to his bed.
Hunter was sprawled out in the middle of his bed, sound asleep. Michael pulled the covers over him and brushed a loose strand of hair off his face. He stopped when Hunter stirred, his eyes opening slowly, surprise showing in them when he saw Michael standing there.
“What?”
“Nothing…go back to sleep.”
Hunter gave him a half smile, before burying his face in his pillow.
Michael stood there for a few minutes longer, watching his son sleep, vowing to do all he could to protect him from the hurt and pain that people could inflict on you with no more than a few words.
He turned, leaving the room as quietly as he had arrived and walked back to his husband and his waiting arms.
The Fiction Corner
Reminiscent-Designs
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.