---

Tim's Perspective

Kyle and I spent the night in the extra double bed in Jeff and Tyler's room. We had met the boys from North Carolina, and they needed a place to stay. Kevin and Kyle, and Jeff and Ty, worked it out that we would be the ones to sleep in their room, rather than the strangers. The only problem was, Kyle and I hadn't had any privacy in a couple of days, and we knew Jeff was going to be the last one up.

"Are you awake?" Kyle whispered.

He was spooned into my back, and he had his arms wrapped around me. We had turned the air conditioner as low as it would go the night before so we wouldn't get hot in that kind of position. I felt his erection against my back.

"Yeah, I'm awake," I whispered. "Get up and pee. I think we can be quiet enough."

"I already did," he said.

"I'll be right back," I said.

I sat on the toilet to pee, and I didn't flush it. I didn't want to make any noise to wake Jeff and Ty. Kyle was grinning hard when I came back to bed with a towel from the bathroom. It didn't take long, but it was sure good.

"We don't need showers," Kyle said. "We showered off last night after the pool, remember?"

"Are you going to shave?" I asked. We were both still whispering.

"Do you want me to?" he asked.

"No, you look okay," I said.

He brushed his chin across my left nipple. The stubble felt incredible on that spot, but there was a lot more of it than I thought. I looked at his face, and he hadn't shaved since Thursday morning.

"On second thought, let's shave," I said.

We took care of that chore, got dressed, and went down to Kevin and Rick's room. We tapped very gently on the door, so as not to wake them up if they were still asleep. We were about to turn and go downstairs when Rick opened the door.

"Hey," he said, holding the door open wide for us to come in. "Did you sleep good?" He was talking softly.

"Yeah. How about you?" Kyle asked. He used the same soft volume as Rick.

"Yeah, same here. Everybody's still asleep but me," Rick whispered.

Kyle got devilment in his eyes and a smile on his face.

"Have y'all ever heard of putting a sleeping guy's hand in warm water?" Kyle asked. "It's supposed to make them pee."

"I knew you were going to say that, and you're not doing it. You're not ruining these mattresses with some damn practical joke. Let's wait till a camping trip on the island," Rick said.

He and Kyle laughed. Rick had as much of the devil in him as Kyle did. The difference was, Rick was more mature and saw consequences Kyle didn't think of.

"The next time, okay?" Kyle said.

And he and Rick laughed.

"Absolutely, Bubba," Rick said. "Except, where are we going to get the warm water?"

"That's what fires are for," Kyle said, and all three of us laughed.

"Will you please go out in the hall to laugh and carry on," Kevin said in an annoyed tone of voice.

Rick did his face in a look that said, He's grumpy this morning, and Kyle and I laughed.

"We'll meet you downstairs, after you get the grumpster up and ready," Kyle said.

We laughed, but we left.

It was about 7:30 when we got down to the lobby, and there weren't many people around at all. We saw several guys come in from running, and we saw several go out to run, too. They had complimentary coffee out for the guests, so we each got a cup. It was from a Starbucks cart, and they served it in those paper cups they used. It was so hot that I could barely manage mine, even with the little cardboard handle they gave you.

"I've got to have some ice in this before I can drink it," Kyle said.

He went and found the ice machine that served the rooms on the first floor, and he brought back a paper cup of ice for our coffee. We each put some in our cups, and we were then able to start sipping it.

We decided to take our coffee out by the pool, and there were already people in it. They looked like serious swimmers, though. There wasn't any playing around, and the guys were obviously swimming laps.

We decided to walk around the area. It was landscaped like a garden, only the trees were all palm trees and not regular trees like we had in Emerald Beach. We had lots of palm trees, too, but that was all they had around there. No oaks or pines or other kinds of trees.

We went back in for a second cup of coffee, and we decided to get some Danish pastries, too. We bought two each as a little appetizer for breakfast. We went out to the pool deck to eat the pastries and drink our coffee. We couldn't find a free table, and we definitely needed one.

"There are a couple of seats at that table over there," Kyle said.

"I know, but it already has people at it," I said.

"Let's ask them if we can join them," he said.

We walked over to the table.

"Er, excuse me, sir. Would you mind if we sat at the table with you?" Kyle asked.

It was a man and two teenage boys. They had on bathing suits and that was all. The boys looked like they were around sixteen or seventeen. It was hard to tell.

"No, not at all. Please have a seat," the man said.

He had a newspaper, and he was reading it intently. The boys both had pastries and cups of orange juice. Kyle and I were in our red shirts, of course, so they knew we were gay, if they were even aware of what was going on around them.

"This pastry's good, isn't it?" Kyle said.

Kyle was amazing to me in many, many ways, but one of the most amazing things about him was how he talked. If we had been at our house, or even with our guys right there, he would have said, "This pastry's good, ain't it?" And he would have said it Southern, too. When he said it just then, though, he could have just flown in from California or Colorado or whatever state doesn't have an accent at all.

"Yes, it is," one of the boys said.

"Where are you guys from?" Kyle asked, again, totally without an accent.

"Atlanta," the boy said. "What about you?"

"We're from Florida," Kyle said. "Emerald Beach. Ever hear of it?"

"Is that around Miami," the second boy asked.

"No, opposite direction. We're in the Panhandle. Right on the Gulf of Mexico."

Kyle even said "gulf," instead of "guff." Amazing.

"Cool. Are you guys, er, gay?" the first boy asked.

"Max . . . " the man said.

"Sorry," Max said.

"That's all right. Yeah, we're gay," Kyle said. "We're here for Gay Days. That's why we're wearing these red shirts."

Kyle had on a red tank top, and the many hours he had put in with the weights showed that morning. Those boys and that man noticed, too.

"We're here for that, too," Max said.

"Are you guys gay?" Kyle asked.

The man put his paper down, like he was interested in what they were going to say.

"We're here with our dads," Max said.

Just then a guy came up to the table. He had obviously been running, and he gave the man a peck on the cheek.

"Good run?"

"Yeah, but this humidity is about to kill me. Let me get a shower. I'll be right back," the runner said.

"That's my dad," the second boy said. "And he's a fag, just like you fruits."

The man got a real pained look on his face. I put my hand on Kyle's shoulder, and, just as I suspected, he had tensed up a little.

"Dan, we've asked you to please not use that kind of language," the man said.

"Whatever," Dan said.

"So, I guess you have a problem with your father being gay. What's the matter? Do you think you're gay, too? And can't admit it?" Kyle asked.

"Fuck you, motherfucker," Dan said, and he got up from the table. "And don't you touch me, you hear? You fucking queer." He walked away.

"Tim, let's go, Babe," Kyle said. "Thanks for the hospitality."

He started to get up, and I, of course, followed him.

"Don't leave, guys. Finish your breakfast," the man said. "By the way, my name is Saul, and you've already met my son, Max. Dan has a problem with homosexuality, as you probably guessed."

"Mr. Saul, we're from the Panhandle, and if we weren't where we are right now with you here, I would have taken his ass out for what he said," Kyle said. The Emerald Beach accent was back in full, thick force.

"I understand, son, and he might need that some day to learn that he can't bully gay boys. All I can say is, he has a problem with homosexuality," Saul said.

"I'm sorry I said what I did, about him maybe being gay, too," Kyle said.

"I think that's a very natural and logical conclusion to draw from how he acted," Max said. "Between us, I think he is gay."

"Are you?" Kyle asked.

"No, I'm not. It wouldn't matter to me if I were, but I'm just not. I'm straight. I didn't cause that, and I didn't choose that. It's just the way I am," Max said.

"So, why did you come to Gay Days?" Kyle asked.

"I came to have fun with my dad and Jake, his partner," Max said. "I've had a great time here, so far. Besides, I'm spending the summer with them. And so is Dan."

"Do you and Dan get along?" I asked.

"Yeah, we get along okay. We're not best friends, or anything, but we get along. We don't really see that much of each other, usually. I live in Dallas, and he lives in Akron, Ohio. This will be the first full summer we've been together," Max said. "He seems real angry all the time, though. That's not fun."

All of our guys found us just then. They each had a cup of that lava-hot coffee in their hands, but we were out of ice. Kyle introduced them to Saul and Max, and then we went off to eat breakfast.

* * *

After we ate breakfast, we got on the shuttle to go to Islands of Adventure at Universal Studios. There were five islands, and each one was devoted to a different theme. The five were

1. Jurassic Park

2. Toon Lagoon

3. Marvell Superheroes

4. Seuss Landing

5. The Lost Continent

"Have you been here before?" Rick asked the group.

"I have," Kyle said.

"Me, too," Philip and Ryan said.

"I've been here before, but it was several years ago. I'm sure they've added a lot," Jeff said.

"The one I recommend we don't go to is Seuss Landing. All that is is Dr. Seuss shit. That's for little kids," Kyle said. "I had enough of the damn cat in the hat years ago. And green eggs and ham, too. That's disgusting to me."

"That was the last book you ever read, wasn't it?" Philip asked, teasing Kyle.

"Well, at least I've read one," Kyle said.

Ryan wet his thumb in his mouth and touched it to Philip's forehead.

"Ssssssss," Ryan said.

"Yeah, he burned me good, but I'll be getting his ass before long. You hide and watch," Philip said.

"Does it matter where we start?" Kevin asked, changing the subject.

"Not to me," Kyle said. "Let's start with Jurassic Park."

And so we did.

My, God! The River Adventure was another roller coaster, and a good part of it was in the dark. Not only did you get the effects of a fantastic roller coaster, but you also got the effects of monster dinosaurs jumping out at you from the dark.

Next we went to Toon Lagoon and rode Dudley Do-Right's Rip-Saw Falls. That was another roller-coaster, but it was through water. The same for the Incredible Hulk, another roller coaster.

"My head is spinning," Justin said.

"Mine, too," Walt said.

"Well, let's take a break," Kevin said.

We bought bottles of cold water and found a nice tree to rest under. It wasn't cool under that tree, like it would have been in the north, but at least we were out of the direct sun.

While we were resting, we saw the guys we had met that morning. Max, Saul, and the other man were wearing red shirts. Dan had on a white tee shirt, and he was dragging behind the rest of them, like he didn't want to be seen with them.

"That boy right there is a sad case," Kyle said, meaning Dan. "Should I go get 'em?"

"Yeah, go get 'em," Rick said. "We might be able to cheer that boy up."

Kyle trotted over to them. He talked to them and pointed in our direction. The two men kind of looked at each other and smiled, and they walked over to us.

We all introduced ourselves again. Dan seemed really disgusted with the three North Carolina boys, probably because they were effeminate. The other man's name was Jacob, or Jake, as they called him. I noticed Dan checking out Justin pretty good, though. He checked out Kyle, Brian, and me, too. Tyler had on a tank top, too, just like Kyle, and he and Jeff got a going-over, also. If that boy wasn't gay, neither were any of us. I didn't say anything, of course.

We spent the rest of the day with those guys, and we had fun. Even Dan seemed to enjoy the rides. I mean, what was there not to enjoy? The Dueling Dragons roller coaster on the Lost Continent island was unbelievable.

"This whole damn place is designed for one thing: to make me puke," Justin said.

"I know," Philip said. "Me too. So why do we love these rides so much?"

"Cause you're dumb, Philip," Kyle said.

"I ain't as dumb as you, though," Philip said.

"I know. That's why they don't bother me. If you could get down a few more notches on the dumb scale, they wouldn't bother you, either," Kyle said.

"I can't ever get as low as you, Kyle," Philip said.

"I know," Kyle said. And they both laughed.

That was the boy who was third in his class (Philip) and the boy who was one of four National Merit Finalists in his class (Kyle). Yeah, they were dumb, all right. Because they were Beach Rats, and Beach Rats were dumb, by definition, and they had the syllogisms and analogies and logical arguments to prove it.

We were having some coffee late in the afternoon, and all of us were sitting at a big table. Actually, it was several wrought iron tables that we had pulled together. Dan had been pretty quiet when we first hooked up with him and his guys, but he had gradually started talking more.

"Kyle, I want to apologize for how I acted this morning," Dan said.

"Dan, you don't have to . . .," Kyle started to say.

"Yes, I do," Dan said emphatically. "I was a prick and an asshole, and I'm sorry. You guys have been friendly to me all day, and I'm really not the kind of guy deep down like I acted this morning. Kyle, you asked me if I'm gay, and, yes, I am. Dad, I love you, but I didn't want to spend the summer in Atlanta. I have a boyfriend in Akron, or did, anyway. Mom sent me here to separate the two of us. Things have been very hard at home since I came out, and I know she wanted some peace. She and Tom, my step-father, I mean. I've been angry about that for weeks, ever since I found out I was coming to Atlanta. I'm so sorry. That's really not the kind of boy I am."

Tears were streaming down Dan's face, and the rest of us were dead quiet.

"Take a walk with me, please, son," Jake, his dad, said.

The two of them got up and went to another side of the patio we were on. We saw Jake hug Dan, and Jake started crying, too.

"Whoa," Kyle said. "That was pretty intense."

"It was, Kyle, but you forced the moment to a crisis without even intending to. What happened just now took us all to the heart of the artichoke, so to speak. Now Dan and Jake and I can get on with life. Thank you," Saul said. "Dan's only been with us for a week, but his presence has caused some very strained moments. I think that's probably going to be behind us, now."

"Can somebody give me a smoke, please?" Kyle asked.

Justin tossed his pack across the table, and Kyle lit up.

"You want one, don't you?" Kyle asked Max.

Max got red, and he looked at his dad.

"You're seventeen, Max. Have one, if you want to, son," Saul said. "I certainly smoked at your age."

Max took a cigarette and lit up. That wasn't his first one, that's for sure.

"The delegation from one of the biggest tobacco states in the country salutes you," Walt said.

That made us all laugh.

"I thought you were from Florida now," Kyle said. "Ain't you coming home with us?"

"Well, not directly. I need to go home and get my stuff. But I'll be there, Kyle. For sure," Walt said.

"You know what? This trip is working out for a lot of people," Kyle said.

"Yeah, I know. It's because you been working double time," Justin said.

"What the hell you mean by that?" Kyle demanded.

"Shut up, Kyle. You know what I mean," Justin said.

Kyle just grinned. Those of us who really knew Kyle knew exactly what Justin meant.

Dan and Jake came back to the table just about then, and they were happy. We had long since finished our coffee and water, and we were ready for the rest of the park.

Philip's Perspective

That trip to Disney and those other places for Gay Days was unbelievable, but I really don't think it had that much to do with being gay. Or having special Gay Days, or anything like that. I mean, almost everybody was just like us, and you couldn't tell if they were gay or not. Even the ones with the red shirts on. I don't really know what I expected, but what I got was the best fun with the best friends I've ever had in my life. I think we started laughing when we got in the car in Kevin and Rick's driveway in Emerald Beach, and I think we stopped laughing when we went to sleep the first night we were home.

"What did you think of that Dan guy?" Kyle asked me.

"I think he needs some support. Evidently, he's not getting along with his mom and step-dad. That can't be good," I said.

"I know. Have you ever heard of Akron, Ohio?" Kyle replied.

"No. I don't know," I said. "We'll have to look it up."

"Yeah, I guess. I heard of Dallas, though. That's where Max lives. I think Dallas is all cowboys," Kyle said. "He sure wasn't no cowboy, was he?"

"Are you being serious, or are you pulling my dick, Kyle?" I asked.

"What?" he said.

"The Dallas Cowboys is the damn football team, you dumb fuck," I said.

I looked in those eyes, and I knew.

"You asshole," I said. And we both laughed.

"So I guess all the people in New Orleans ain't saints," he said.

"You've been there. Do you think they're all saints?" I asked.

"Grandma, Grandpa, and Cherie are. I don't think Craig is, though. I think he's a devil like us, Bubba," he said.

"I think you're right, and we're the ones gonna have the most fun," I said.

We both laughed.

Kevin's Perspective

Gay Days in Orlando were fun, but the real fun came from the attractions, and being with people we loved. Except for the red shirts, you couldn't have told that the attractions were filled with gay people. Sure, guy couples and girl couples were holding hands, which they probably wouldn't have done under different circumstances, but, other than that, everything was the same. I think Philip was a little disappointed that he didn't have more of a "gay" experience. But, the bottom line was, he did have a "gay" experience: normal people doing normal things and having fun.

"Where are we going to put Walt?" Kyle asked on the trip home.

"Let's take a census of the house," Rick said. "You and Tim need a room. Brian and Justin need one. Denny needs one, and Chuck needs one. That's the second floor."

"Paddy's going to need a room," Tim said.

"True. That's the third floor, though. We can put Walt up there, too. We've still got that big bonus room up on three, too," Rick said.

"That's big enough for two beds," Kevin said. "For guests. We'll need to get furniture, though."

"Kevin, I've explored that warehouse top to bottom, and I know there are beds and mattresses and springs and such in that place. That ain't a problem, Bubba," Kyle said.

"Oh, we'll get it furnished. I'm just a little worried about some of our guests, though," Kevin said.

"Like who?" Kyle asked.

"Well, like Chris," Kevin said.

"The study room is his room, Kevin. You know that," Kyle said. "Besides, from what I understand, he's doing real good on his crutches. Don't think of Chris as, like, handicapped, Kevin. He's a little bit disabled, but he's made a huge amount of progress since we saw him last summer. Cerebral Palsy don't have to be a handicap, you know?"

"I know, Kyle. Did you ever think you would be an activist for Cerebral Palsy?"

"An activist? I ain't an activist," Kyle said.

"How much money have you donated to Cerebral Palsy causes?" Kevin asked.

"I don't know, and I don't want to know. Kevin, I do stuff for CP because I love Chris. Don't try to put a price tag on my love, man. It's going to be that way for the rest of my life. And your life, too, you dumb fuck, and you know it," Kyle said.

I laughed.

"Yeah, you're probably right, Kyle. Our lives together, man," I said.

* * *

We got home from the Gay Days trip on Monday afternoon. The dogs had stayed home with Denny and Chuck, and you would have thought Jesus had raised us from the dead to see them. They were so excited when we got home.

Brian spent time with Trixie first, and they reassured one another that he was home. Krewe was really cute, though. She wanted Brian's attention, but she wanted the attention of the rest of us, too. She was all over Brian, but she was also all over the rest of us, too.

"You've got summer school tomorrow, ain't you?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah. It actually started today," Brian said. "I missed the first day. I can only miss one more day. More than that, and I'm out."

"Brian, if we have to, we'll wait for you," Tim said. "Don't stress about this, Bubba."

"You won't have to wait for me," Brian said. "I'll make it."

* * *

Brian started summer school the next day, and the other boys started their summer jobs at the hotel. Summer school lasted until noon, and then Brian went to work at Mack Mixon's place, working with dogs. Brian was probably going to come out the real winner in terms of earnings that summer, and he deserved it. Brian was a pure joy to us, and everybody loved him. I had never seen him have a cross word with anybody, and more and more I thought he was the brains of the Big Four. He was the youngest one of them, but he was the guy with the ideas.

Kyle had his crab traps going, as he had the summer before, and he probably could have turned that into a business. His ancestors had started out in Emerald Beach as fishermen, and he could have reverted to that in a heartbeat, if he had wanted to. He certainly had the skill to do it, and he had the luck, too.

"Looka here," he said one day, when we came home from work. "You see those things? Do you know what they are?"

He held up a glass with what looked like sea water. It was a little cloudy, but there were obviously creatures in it.

"Let me get a good look," Rick said.

He held the jar up to look at it.

"Seahorses?" Rick asked.

"Exactly. Have you ever seen those before?" Kyle asked.

"Not live ones," Rick said. "Where the hell did you get these things?"

"I caught them in my cast net today," he said. "They're cute, ain't they?"

There were eight or ten little seahorses in that jar. I had never seen anything like that before, and I was fascinated. They ranged in size from a half inch to about two inches.

"I've never heard of anybody eating them, and they're pretty small, anyway," Kyle said.

"Kyle, these are beautiful," I said. "Look how graceful they are." They truly were magnificent in miniature.

"I know. They're playful little things, too. Look at 'em just playing," he said.

"How did you catch these things?" I asked.

"I just threw my net over the side of the boat, and there they were. I knew what to look for, and I found them. Most people don't even know they're there, but they are cute, aren't they?" he said.

"What are you going to do with them?" I asked.

"I'm going to turn 'em loose in the water. I just wanted y'all to see 'em," he said.

"Have you ever caught a big one?" Rick asked.

"No, sir, but they catch big ones in shrimp nets all the time. When I say 'big,' I mean, like, six or eight inches tall. Did you know the males are the ones who have the babies?" he asked.

"Really?" Rick asked.

"Yes, sir. That's what I've heard," he said. "I think the males have some kind of pouch or something, and the females lay the eggs into it. I don't know the details, but that's what I've heard."

"I can't believe you caught something you can't eat," Justin said.

"Yeah? I just caught me a shrimp I can't eat," Kyle said.

He grabbed Justin's penis through his pants.

"Give it a break, Kyle," Justin said.

"I think the shrimp is turning into a mullet," Kyle said.

"Goddamn it, Kyle. Leave me alone, you little pervert," Justin said.

He and Kyle both laughed hard.

"When are you guys going to grow up?" Rick asked.

"When you do," Justin said.

"Oh, so never, huh?"

More laughter.

When we had finished having fun, Kyle released the seahorses into the lagoon behind our house. That was where he had caught them, and that's where they went home. Seeing those things was pretty interesting, though.

* * *

Paddy Ryan was flying in on Tuesday night, the day after we got home from Gay Days. Tim was very excited about his cousin coming to spend the summer with us, and George Murphy was, too. In fact, George and Sonya went to the airport with us to meet his plane. He was due in at 7:10, and we were all there when he arrived.

He walked in looking pretty flagged out from the trip. He had two carry-on pieces of luggage, and there was a big suitcase that he had checked.

There was much hugging and kissing and hand shaking when he got to where we were, just beyond the gate. If that boy didn't feel welcome, I didn't know what else to do. He was grinning and laughing, like he had come home to his family.

"I expected Tim and George to be here. I didn't know all of you were going to be here," he said.

"We're all here because we're happy you're here," Kyle said. "All George wants to do is get at them teeth of yours. To see how many he can pull out."

We all laughed, and George actually grabbed Kyle up in a big hug.

"You little shit," George said, laughing.

"Is that how my father-in-law is going to think of me the rest of my life?" Kyle asked.

"If you mean he's going to think of you as his son, Kyle, then, yes," Sonya said. "Our son. But I can probably do more for his teeth than George can."

Paddy actually had great teeth, and I'm sure his parents had paid dearly for them.

Paddy hadn't eaten for quite awhile, and we hadn't had dinner, either. We took him to the Pelican's Post, our usual bar and grill place. We all got a good dinner. That place was totally reliable.

"So, when do I start work," Paddy asked.

"Tomorrow," I said. "Are you ready to start that soon?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," he said.

"Kyle, can you fix him up with a uniform?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, but he ain't wearing it to the orientation. He can put it on when the orientation is done," Kyle said. "Nobody else there is going to be in uniform, and he doesn't want to stand out. Trust me."

"Okay, but you take care of him, you hear me?" I said.

"Yes, sir. You know I will," Kyle said.

"Yeah, I do," I said.

We had a good time that night, just talking and playing with the dogs and eating ice cream. George and Sonya went home in about an hour, before ice cream, even, and we had us a new gay boy to nurture.

"Are there any rules I should know about?" Paddy asked.

We went over the simple house rules we observed. We told him about our rules about sex, and he seemed pretty embarrassed and self-conscious about that.

"I doubt that sex will be an issue for me," Paddy said.

"Yeah, but you never can tell," Kyle said. "You could meet a boy tomorrow, fall madly in love, and need a king-size pack of condoms tomorrow night."

Paddy blushed.

"Well, if that happens, it'll be a miracle," he said.

* * *

Paddy went to work the next day, and he quickly settled into the routine of the house. He was a charming young man, and it was obvious the other kids, and Rick and I, as well, genuinely liked him.

We had expected Walt from North Carolina to come down to stay with us and work, but that fell through. He called to say he had met a boy right after he had gotten home from Orlando and that he wanted to hang around North Carolina to see what might develop.

"I really appreciate the fact that you all were going to let me live there, and all, but I guess I'm not really ready to leave the mountains just yet," he said.

"That's perfectly understandable," I said. "Stay in touch, you hear?"

He said he would, but that was a big question mark in my mind. We'd see.

When I broke the news to the rest of the family, they seemed mildly disappointed, but not terribly so. Walt was a nice-enough guy, and I figured he'd fit in okay, but such was not to be.

Shortly after Walt's announcement, Chuck asked to see Rick and me at work.

"Is this personal or professional?" I asked, once we were settled in my office.

"Personal," Chuck said. "I love my job, Kevin, and I've already made a couple of sales."

"I know. Jack Rooney told me. He really likes you, Chuck. He told me he thinks you're a natural salesman," I said.

"I hate to be this way, but I've got a meeting in about twenty minutes," Rick said.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry," Chuck said. "Here's the deal. You guys know I've been dating Tony for a few months now. Well, he and I would like to take the relationship to the next level."

"Is this, like, sex advice you're wanting?" Rick asked.

Chuck thought he was serious for a second, but then Rick grinned. We all laughed.

"No. We've got that well under control. We'd like to live together. Jeff and Tyler have offered us a room at their place, and we want to do that," Chuck said.

"Congratulations, Chuck," I said. "From what I've seen of him, Tony seems like a great guy. I hope the two of you will be happy together."

"Absolutely," Rick said. "Kevin and I were your age when we started living together, and you see what it's done for us."

"Yes, I do, and that's what I hope Tony and I can have," he said. "Seeing you guys has made us know that we can be happy together. You and all your friends, too, and the other boys. We want to be like you guys."

"That's pretty flattering," I said.

"Yeah, but it's true, Kev. We both love you guys, and I'll be grateful to you for the rest of my life for giving me a place to live after Mom died. I still miss her terribly, but I don't know if I would be this far along in my own life if it hadn't happened the way it did," Chuck said.

"Well, we know how awful it was for you, but we're glad something good has come out of it all," Rick said. "When are you planning on moving?"

"Saturday, if that's all right with you," he said.

"Sure. Just know you're going to be missed, Chuck. But it won't be like you're moving away, or anything. You'll always be a part of our family, and you'll always be welcome in our house," I said.

"Thank you, Kevin, and thank you, Rick. I feel so good right now," Chuck said.

And thus it was that the Foley-Mashburn clan sent another of its own into the world, ready for life. Justin and Kyle helped Chuck move his things to the townhouse, and Tim and Brian and Denny helped Tony move. Jeff and Tyler supervised the arrival of their two new roommates, and we concluded the afternoon in our pool on North Lagoon Drive. We went to Mass, as we usually did on Saturday, and we had dinner together at the Pelican's Post as usual, as well. The summer was moving along nicely.