Summer began for us in Emerald Beach on Memorial Day, and it ended on Labor Day. The weatherman didn't know that, of course, and we had highs in the eighties in March. For that matter, we had highs in the nineties in October, but summer officially consisted of the three glorious months of June, July, and August. A lot was going on that summer. It started with Kyle's graduation, and it continued through the visit of Chris and Dave. July Fourth was the pinnacle. Not only was it Independence Day, and our busiest weekend of the year at work, but it was also Justin's nineteenth birthday and the day Rob was born. Any one of those events would have been cause for high emotion, but, put together, they were almost overwhelming. Kevin and I had been in love for a long time. We had pledged our undying love and commitment to one another over two years before. But in the time from January till July of that year, I had a sense that we were growing even closer. A sense that our love was beginning to mature into something I had never dreamed of. And the expressions of that love were becoming both more frequent and more subtle. When we were first together, we would have sex, and I would think, "That was fun." By that summer, we would not have sex, and I would think, "This man makes me who I am." We were older, of course, and that probably contributed to what I was thinking. But the urgency to arrive at orgasm was gradually waning. Now, holding him in bed, or having him hold me, was often enough. Two, three, even four times a week, that would lead to orgasm, but just being together, just holding each other and caring for each other was often enough. We didn't talk about it, really, because we didn't have to. We each knew the other was the most important thing in our lives, and that gave us peace and tranquility with one another. We had to be a team for the boys, and we were definitely growing in that regard. It wasn't without family disagreements, though. "Brian, you know the rules about the dogs upstairs," Kevin said one morning. "Yeah, I know, but I thought Krewe was sick," Brian said. "So, what were you thinking, Bri? It would be better if she vomited or shit in y'all's bed than down here?" Kevin asked him. "I thought I could take care of her better if she was in bed with us," Brian said. "No, Brian. You love them, but not everybody feels the way you do about them. We don't want the dogs upstairs. Period. End of discussion," Kevin said. He grumbled a little bit under his breath. "Did you want to say something to me, Brian?" "No!" he said. He was adamant. "Brian, come here," Kevin said. "Kevin, I don't know why you're picking on me," he said. "I'm not picking on you, Brian, but you broke a rule, man. You know what the rules are about the dogs, and you broke them. Admit it," Kevin said. "But I thought she was sick," he said. "I know you did, and I want you to take care of her when she's sick. But do it down here, okay?" He was silent for a long time. "Okay. Are you mad at me?" "I'm angry at what you did, Bri, but I'm not angry at you personally," Kevin said. "I won't do it again, Kevin," Brian said. "Okay, Bubba," Kevin said. Kevin gave him a kiss on his forehead, and Brian smiled. Another time it was Kyle and Justin we had to get onto. Actually, on that particular occasion, Tim and Brian were much more pissed off with them than Kevin and I were. It was a Friday night, and the two couples were supposed to go out together. It wasn't a special occasion or anything, just a movie and to get something to eat, but Tim and Brian were counting on it and were looking forward to it. The usual time for Kyle and Justin to get home from work came and went. "I wonder where they are," Tim asked. "Why didn't you ride home with them?" I asked Tim. "I had some errands to run for my dad, so I drove my car today, and Kyle drove him and Justin to work," Tim said. "Paddy drove himself in the Mazda." "They might have stopped for something," Kevin said. "Maybe so," Tim said. Time passed. Tim and Brian were both reading and watching TV with Denny and Paddy, but I noticed each of them looked at their watches more than usual. "Why don't you call them," I said. "We already did. They're not answering their phones," Brian said. "I'll bet Justin's battery is dead, and Kyle probably left his phone in the car." "Why don't you guys go ahead," Kevin said. "You don't have to miss the movie just because they aren't here. Take Denny and Paddy, too, why don't you?" "But what if something has happened?" Tim said. "Shouldn't we stay here in case they need us?" Nine o'clock turned into ten o'clock, and ten o'clock turned into eleven, and we finally heard the two of them coming in the back door. They both came into the den in great moods, laughing and joking. "Shit!" Kyle said when he saw the looks on our faces. "Where have you been?" Tim asked. His voice was calm, but I could tell he was angry. So could Kyle. "Babe, we forgot," Kyle said. "Gary and Allen from work asked us to go bowling with them, and we did. I thought you called them," he said to Justin. "I tried, but the line was busy. We were supposed to go out tonight, weren't we?" Justin asked. "Little Buddy, I'm sorry, man." "Why didn't you try again," Brian asked, "if it was busy the first time?" "Because I forgot," Justin said. "Are you mad at me?" "Yes, I am, Justin," Brian said. "I was worried." "I was worried, too," Tim said. "Kyle, you've never done this before. You just totally forgot we had a date?" "Yeah, and I feel like shit about it, too," Kyle said. "I'm sorry, Babe." "I'm sorry, too, Little Buddy," Justin said. "We can go out tomorrow night, okay?" Justin put his arm around Brian's neck. Brian didn't shake it off, but he didn't respond in any way, either. "Well, it's not that big a deal, but please don't do this again, okay?" Tim said. "I won't. Believe me," Kyle said. "We would have had a much better time with you two." "I won't, either," Justin said. Kyle and Justin looked so sorrowful and miserable that it was actually cute. "Are you still mad at me?" Justin asked, in a truly pathetic voice. Tim and Brian looked at one another and grinned. "Yes, and for your penance say three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys," Brian said. Kevin, Tim, and I laughed. Kyle, the new Catholic, looked a bit confused, and Justin didn't know what the hell he was talking about. "What are y'all laughing at?" Justin asked. "It's a Catholic thing, Jus," Kevin said. "It is?" Kyle asked. "You guys better do your penance, if you want to be forgiven," Tim said, still chuckling a bit. "You're not really mad anymore, are you?" Kyle asked Tim. "No. Come here, you lug," Tim said, and he hugged Kyle. Brian followed suit and hugged Jus. "Do we need to talk about lessons learned?" Kevin asked. "No, I don't think so," Justin said. "I learned I don't want to ever make him mad at me again." "Neither me," Kyle said. "I don't know about y'all, but I'm going to bed," I said. "I'm with you," Kevin said. The boys stayed up a while longer, and I heard laughing coming from the den while I was trying to get to sleep. That was a good sound.
When I first started to realize that I might be gay, when I was about fourteen, I panicked. I had been masturbating for a couple of years, which was bad enough in itself, according to my religion, but more and more I started imagining myself doing it with another boy. At first, the boy was just male, and all I could focus on in my mind was his penis. Gradually, though, he started developing facial features that looked just like a guy named Vito, who was in my grade in school. Vito was Italian, but he was a blond Italian, with blue eyes and beautiful olive skin. He lived in the next block up from us, and he was a jock's jock. I was lousy at sports, and Vito was great at them. He almost never gave me the time of day at school, except to borrow my homework from time to time so he could copy it, and we never hung out in the neighborhood, either. He had a basketball goal over the door of his garage, and, in the summer, I used to ride my bike back and forth in front of his house if he was outside shooting hoops. He usually wore just shorts and no shirt when he did that, and I would stare for all I was worth. To me, he was the quintessence of masculinity. He even had tuffs of blond hair under his arms, and I thought that was the best. Because I was masturbating so much, I went to confession a lot. Eventually, the priest told me it wasn't really that big a deal, but for a while I felt terrible guilt over that. Finally, one time I told him I thought about Vito when I did it. I didn't say his name, of course, because I knew the priest knew him. Vito was the only Italian in the eighth grade in a very Irish parish, and I knew the priest would know who it was if I said his name. He told me a lot of boys develop crushes on other boys and for me not to worry about it. But I did worry about it. What if I was a homosexual? How could I possibly live a happy life and be that? I was depressed all the time about that, and I felt as though everybody hated me, even though they didn't know. My brother, Tony, and I were pretty close in age. He was three years younger than I was, and, as I got older, I started noticing his body more and more. I didn't want to have sex with him, or anything like that, but we shared a room. Tony masturbated in bed at night, usually right after we turned off the light, and I could hear him. I took every chance to see him naked, especially in the morning when he always had an erection. Eventually, he noticed. "I think you're a fag. I hate fags," he said. "I'm no more of a fag than you are. I hear you jerking off at night," I said. "So, you're spying on me, right? I'm telling Mom and Dad," he said. And he did. "Do you think you're gay, Paddy?" my dad asked me. It was him, Mom, and Tony. "I don't know," I said, and I started crying. "He is. I know he is," Tony said. "He's a fag, Dad." "Paddy, if you're gay, it's not going to matter to Mom and me," my dad said. "Then, yes, I am," I said. "I know I am." Tony got furious, slapped his hand down on the kitchen table, and stormed out of the room. My parents were good about it. They told me they loved me and that they would always love me. They said they hoped I would be happy and that I always had a place to live with them, if I wanted to. They were just great. My brother gave me no peace, though. At least until last summer when my cousin Tim came to visit. Tim is gay, and he punched out Tony on the road into town because Tony was being obnoxious about that. That was pretty dramatic, but Tony deserved it. And I think the fact that a gay guy did it startled Tony. My other two cousins, Steve and Billy Cook, didn't lift a finger to help Tony, and I didn't, either. We liked Tim a lot, and Tony deserved what he got. Later in the week, though, Tim and Tony patched it up, and they became the best of friends. Tony let up on harassing me, too, after that. He never said he accepted the fact that I was gay in so many words, but he said it in every other way. To make a long story short, I got to move to Emerald Beach for the summer. Tim didn't officially live with Kevin and Rick, but he and his boyfriend, Kyle, were there all the time. I saw my cousin, George Murphy, often, but I was definitely living with Kevin Foley and Rick Mashburn. And all of their gay household. I had been there for George's wedding, so I knew they had a nice place. Somebody in that crowd had money, and it was obvious in the kind of house they had. But the house and the money and whatever else they had in material things were nothing compared to the love and brotherhood in that place. I was the only one who didn't have a boyfriend, but that didn't matter at all to them. I felt real love in that house, but more than anything else, I realized I wasn't weird, strange, odd, abnormal, or a freak because I was gay. They were totally normal and ordinary, and they let me know, without saying it, that I was that way, too. It was all so different. They loved sports and played them all the time, but they never made fun of anybody for not being good at sports. They watched sports on TV a lot, especially baseball, but they talked the whole time, usually about who was cute or hung or whatever. Sometimes they talked real sports, too, but they never excluded me or made fun of me because I didn't know anything about the subject. One guy there, Denny, read constantly. He was even worse at sports than I was, but they didn't care. Another guy, Brian, was really big into dogs. In fact, he had a job training dogs. He was the best-looking one of them all, I thought, but he was so kind and unassuming that you didn't even notice his looks, after a while. Kyle and Justin were incredibly funny, and they were both pretty big boys. They weren't all that tall, but they were solid and muscular. Then Chris and Dave came to visit. Chris was crippled a little bit, and those boys, especially Kyle, treated him like he was Jesus Christ or something. Chris was straight, but his brother, Dave, was gay. Straight? Gay? It didn't matter to them. One time Kevin and I were the only two in the den. "How's it going, Paddy?" Kevin asked. "It's going great," I said. "Do you miss your family?" he asked. "Maybe a little bit, but not much," I said. "Are you calling them every now and then?" he asked. "Yeah, we talk a couple of times a week." I got quiet for a few moments. "Kevin, do you and Rick realize what you have here in your house?" "Maybe not. What do you mean?" "Kevin, this is paradise for me. These last few weeks have been the happiest time of my life. I feel so free, so accepted here. You guys are wonderful," I said. "I'm not afraid to be gay anymore." Kevin grinned at me. "That's what this house is all about, Bubba. That, and safety," he said. "Oh, I feel totally safe here," I said. "I know that nobody is going to mess with me here." "No, they won't," Kevin said. "They don't even make fun of me in sports," I said. "Paddy, when these boys play sports, they give 100%. They're not all equally talented, but they give all they've got. And that's what they expect from you. For you to give all you've got to give. Your 100% might only be 50% of what they've got, but they respect that." "I know," I said. "Tim, Brian, and I aren't nearly as competitive as those other ones are, and Denny is pretty much out of it in that regard. They never make fun of us, though. And they choose us for their teams. Sometimes first, even," Kevin said. "I know. Kyle chose me first for volleyball the other day. That blew my mind. I've never been chosen anything but last. Ever," I said. "Well, it's just different with us," Kevin said. "I know. I guess that's why I'm so happy here," I said. "Well, you're welcome here anytime, Paddy. Your cousin, Tim, has a very special place and a very precious place in our hearts, and you can come see him and us anytime you want to," Kevin said. * * * I had been hoping that I would meet somebody that I would really like that summer. I mean, I was so horny, and I really wanted to go off to UMass that fall with at least a little experience under my belt, so to speak. They had some friends over to swim and ski one night after work. Some of them were guys I had already met, and there were four or five I hadn't seen before. One of them was a guy from work that I had talked to casually but hadn't really gotten to know. His name was Drew McCalister. Drew was my age and about my size. He had just finished his freshman year at Auburn University, and he was really smart. He was actually from someplace in Alabama, but his grandparents had a beach cottage in Emerald Beach. He and two cousins of his were living there that summer. All three of them were working in hotels, but Drew was the only one of the three at the Laguna. We started out just talking casually that night, but we hit it off really well. He was really good looking, but there was much more to him than that. He and I talked in the pool a good bit that night, and the next day at work we took break together. He was in housekeeping, though. We did that a few days running, and then we decided to go to a movie. After the movie we went to a coffeehouse he knew about. We both ordered sandwiches. "Paddy, I want to be your friend, but you have to know something about me," he said. He had a really thick Southern accent. "What?" I asked. "I like boys," he said. He pronounced it like 'boz." I wasn't exactly sure what he meant at first, but he had my hopes up. "What do you mean?" I asked. "I mean, I like boys. I'm gay," he said. I started getting an erection. "Do you still want to be my friend?" he asked. "Drew, I like boys, too," I said. That was the first time I had ever said that to a stranger, and my erection peaked when I did. "That's what I thought. I really like you," he said. "I really like you, too," I said. "You could tell that?" "Well, just because you live with a bunch of gay guys. You know they're gay, don't you?" he said. "Oh, yeah," I said. "Would you kiss me?" he asked. "Right now?" I asked in disbelief. "No. In the car or someplace private," he said. He chuckled when he said that. "Yeah, I would," I said. "I'm aroused right now because of you," he said. I was a bit taken aback at that revelation, but the truth was, I was, too. Because of him. "Me, too," I said. "Would you be willing to have sex with me?" he asked. God! I felt like I had been hit in the head with a baseball bat. I had wanted to have sex with another boy for years, and here was one who was handsome as hell, cute, and smart. And he was asking me if I would be willing to have sex with him. It wasn't the most subtle approach I could imagine, but I guess it got the job done. "I guess you don't believe in being romantic," I said. "What's the point of that? If you say 'yes,' then I'll be romantic. But if you say 'no,' why bother with that?" he said. I guess he had a point. "What do you mean by 'have sex?'" I asked. I wasn't really interested in anal sex, but I could probably compromise, if that's what he wanted. "Not the anal stuff, that's for sure. At least, not screwing. You know. Just kissing, holding, rubbing. Maybe jerking each other off?" he said. "That could definitely happen," I said. "Where?" "Well, my cousins both have dates tonight. We could go to my house," he said. And we did. I was a little nervous, but he took the lead and showed me what to do. It wasn't his first time. After that night, Drew and I became boyfriends, at least for the summer. In a week or so I worked up the nerve to invite him to our house as my date, and they welcomed him like he was family. He spent the night with me that night, and the next morning they treated us like they treated one another. That was easy, and I felt like a grown-up for the first time in my life.
The day was coming fast when we would be going to New Orleans to see our new baby. Denny hadn't wanted to go because he didn't want to miss a day of work, but Kevin and Rick made him. We left on a Friday morning, and we were there at Grandma and Grandpa's house by two o'clock in the afternoon. Cherie and Rob were there when we got there. "Oh, my God!" Kevin said when he saw him. He got first dibs with him, for good reason. He was holding little Rob and looking at him, and you could just about see the rays of love going from Kevin's face to Rob's face. Kevin passed him to Rick, and Rick did the same thing. Rick was a lot more awkward, and looked a lot more scared, holding the baby than Kevin did. I got him next, and he was as light as a feather. While I had him I heard him make a little baby fart, and I thought that was cute. I could smell it, too, but it didn't really bother me. Tim and Brian held him, and then Justin took a turn. "This baby smells funny to me," Justin said. "You're just smelling your upper lip," Kevin said. "Maybe, but I don't think so," Jus said. "I'm not an expert, but I think he might need to be changed." "Give him here and let me see," Cherie said. She checked him out. "Yep, he does," she said. "Take him in our bedroom, Cherie," Grandma said. "Can we watch?" I asked. I had never seen anybody change a baby, and I was curious. "You just want to see his dick," Justin whispered to me. That made me laugh. "What's funny?" Kevin asked. "I'd rather not say," Justin said. "Boys, you know you won't shock me. Knowing you, Jus, you probably said that Kyle just wants to see his penis," Grandma said. "Yes, ma'am, more or less," Justin said. That got a laugh from everybody. Everybody knew what the "more or less" meant. "You can watch, guys," Cherie said. She put a towel down on the bed and put Rob on it. She took off the little pants he was wearing, and then she took off his diaper. It was nasty to look at, but it didn't really smell all that bad. I expected little baby turds, but it was all soft and mushy. "Damn, his dick's as big as yours, Kyle," Justin said. "Very funny," I said. Cherie did think it was funny, and she laughed. "Don't laugh, Cherie. You'll only encourage them," Tim said. She got out one of those Wet Ones to clean him off. He actually had some shit on his dick, so she wiped that off, too. While she was getting a fresh diaper, he let loose a stream of piss up into the air. "He's pissing," Jus said, all alarmed. "Yeah, he does that a lot," Cherie said. "There's nothing we can do about it." I didn't realize babies were so messy, but that one damn sure was. Denny and Paddy got a turn to hold Rob once we were back in the den, but they didn't really seem all that interested. When Paddy gave him back to Cherie, she said it was time for him to eat. I really didn't know what I was expecting, but I got me an eyeful, that's for sure. Cherie opened her shirt and put his little head inside for him to get at her tit. I'm not one to notice girls' tits that much, but I had sure noticed hers when we first got there. They were much bigger than they had been before. I figured it was so she could feed him. You could hear the little fella slurping a little bit, and I started getting a fucking hard-on. How un-gay was that? I was embarrassed to death, and I was praying to God Justin and Rick didn't notice. They would give me down the country for that. Then I noticed Mr. Davis starting to swell up a little bit, too, and Mr. Mashburn, as well. I guess there were just some things you couldn't control. After he ate, she burped him, and he went to sleep in her arms. They had a cradle thing set up for him, and Cherie laid him down to sleep. "That's the cycle, guys," Cherie said. "At this point, he basically only does four things: eat, sleep, shit, and piss. You've seen all four." "Cherie, dear, that's not all he does," Grandma said. She was being real serious, and I figured she knew other stuff he did because she was a baby doctor. "Well, what else does he do?" Cherie asked. "He screams his precious little head off," Grandma said. We all thought that was funny. "Yes, you're right. How could I have forgotten that?" Cherie said. "Paddy, it's good to have you here," Grandma said. "We had such a good time with you and your parents at George and Sonya's wedding." "Thanks," Paddy said. Paddy was a great guy, and I loved him to death. But he didn't have Southern manners. What Grandma said was supposed to be the beginning of a conversation, and it called for more than a one-word answer. Paddy just didn't know that. "We had a great time with Paddy and his brother and cousins in Boston last summer, Grandma," I said. "We spent the bulk of one day on some islands with them in Boston Harbor, and that night we went to a Red Sox baseball game. The Red Sox played the Yankees, and that's a combination that's hard to beat." "Have you ever been to Boston, Mrs. Foley?" Paddy asked. "Yes, I have, Paddy," she said. "In fact, Boston is one of my favorite cities. My husband and I have been to five or six medical conferences there." "Is Mr. Foley a doctor?" Paddy asked. "She is, too," Justin said. "She's my doctor, in fact. And she makes house calls when I get sick." "I was there as your grandmother, not your doctor, Jus," she said. "I know, but if I lived here, I would want you to be my doctor," Jus said. "Well, you're getting a little bit old for me, Jus," she said. "I know I'm not a little kid anymore, but couldn't you take care of me? You took care of Jeff that time," Jus said. "Of course I could take care of you, if you wanted me to. Are you feeling bad?" she asked. "No, ma'am, not at all. I just needed to make sure," Justin said. "Don't your face hurt?" I asked. "No, why?" he said. "Cause it's killing me," I said. The first time I heard that joke I was Rob's age, but that didn't keep 'em from laughing. "Justin?" Grandma said. "Ma'am?" he said. "Don't you have something to say to Kyle?" she asked. "Oh, yeah. You got me last. Big deal," Jus said. * * * Grandpa got home about 4:30, and he was really glad to see everybody. Craig got there right after he did, and he was glad to see all of us, too. "I've been waiting two weeks to do this," he said. He had a brief case with him, and he opened it up. He took out a handful of cigars, and he started passing them around to all of us from Emerald Beach. He gave them to everybody but Kevin. Then he went back into his briefcase and pulled out this gigantic cigar that was probably fake. "And this one is for my brother," he said. They hugged, and Craig actually kissed him on the cheek. I had never seen those two do that before. Everybody knew what that giant cigar was all about. Then he gave Kevin a regular one, too. I looked over at Grandma, and she was crying. "What's the matter, Mama?" Craig asked. "Nothing's the matter. I'm just a little too happy right now," she said. "My two sons, and their partners, and their sons, all in the same room celebrating family. I'm sorry." She left the room, and Cherie, grinning her fool head off, went after her. "I'm happy, but I'm not that happy," Craig said. "Who wants a drink?" All the usual ones did. Paddy was in the "drinkers" column. That boy never turned down a drink, but he never over did it, either. I figured it was the Irish blood, only that didn't compute for Tim. "Kyle and Justin, give me a hand," Craig said. We went back to the kitchen. Miss Odille was just fixing to leave, and there was a mighty fine dinner on the stove. She had a tray of hors d'ouevres that included six stuffed artichokes, my favorites. "Miss Odille, why don't you come to Emerald Beach and work for us," I said. I was just teasing, but I wished she would. "I was all set to, Kyle, after my husband retired from the college," she said. "Then he got a job here that he absolutely could not turn down, so all bets were off. Our children and grandchildren are here, too, and that was a factor." I didn't know about that, but I figured Kevin wasn't a slouch and was always looking for good people. And she was some of the best. "Well, any time you're looking for a job, you give Kevin a call, you hear?" Then it dawned on me. "When we come to school here next year, we're going to live out back. Will you make me a stuffed artichoke now and then?" "Kyle, baby, your breath is going to stink like a Portuguese whorehouse from the garlic," she said. We all laughed, but I got to thinking about that. I didn't want my breath to stink, that's for sure. Sheesh! Maybe I needed to buy some of those breath strip things. Or not eat so much stuffed artichoke. We had our drinks and the snacks Odille had made. I ate a whole stuffed artichoke, and then I got to thinking again about my breath. Tim got up to go to the bathroom, and I followed him. "Open up," I said. "Kyle, I have to go to the bathroom. Wait your turn," he said through the door. "Come on, Babe. This is important," I said. He opened the door and let me in. "What do you want?" he asked. He was a little bit pissed off at me. I could tell. "Does my breath stink?" I asked. "Blow in my face," he said. I did it. "No. It smells good," he said. "It smells like stuffed artichoke." "You swear on your honor it doesn't stink?" I asked. "Jesus, Kyle! No, it doesn't stink. On my honor. Get out. I have to piss," he said. "I want you to promise me you'll tell me if it starts stinking, you hear?" I said. "I promise. Now will you let me piss?" he asked. "I have to piss, too," I said. We stood side by side and took a leak. "Tim, don't let me down on this, okay, Babe?" "Kyle, what is your prob . . . ?" He didn't finish it. "Okay," he said. "I won't." We had one of those big ole fantastic New Orleans dinners. That Miss Odille could out-cook just about anybody I knew. I hoped she still worked for Grandma when we lived there. I was going to go to cooking camp with her, that's for sure. After dinner we got together in the den for a little while, but Cherie and Craig wanted to get the baby home. We got to hear him scream a little bit, though, before they left. He was wet and hungry, and his mama took care of feeding him. She made his daddy take care of the diaper, though. I went with Craig into the bedroom to change him. "He pooped, and then he pissed all over the place while Cherie was changing him this afternoon," I said. "I know. He does that all the time," Craig said. "He's beautiful, isn't he?" "I don't think he's beautiful. He looks just like you," I said. He laughed a little bit. "He looks just like Kevin, I think," Craig said. "Yeah, he does, but you and Kevin look alike to me," I said. "I know," he said. "We're going to go out tonight. You want to go with us?" I asked. "No. I want to go home with my wife and child," he said. "That sounds so good, Craig," I said. "Kyle, if you and Tim want a baby in a few years, I swear to God I won't stop until you get one to adopt," he said. "Can gay couples adopt in Louisiana?" I asked. "No, but single men can. It's very rare, but Cherie and I will make it happen," he said. "Count on it, Bubba." I did want one, messy as they were. I didn't really think Tim had thought about that kind of stuff yet, but I had. I knew he'd want one, when the time came. * * * Paddy grew up in the suburbs of a big city that had a big nightlife, but I was pretty sure he hadn't experienced any of it, especially the gay part. We took him to the Faubourg Marigny, which was a really big gay neighborhood. There were clubs, bars, bookstores, shops, coffeehouses, restaurants--all that stuff--and it was all gay. A lot of the houses were over a hundred years old, and a bunch of them had been fixed up. It was pretty nice. "This is unbelievable," Paddy said. "I'm sure there are sections of Boston like this," Kevin said. "You might want to check them out." "Maybe so, but I haven't been to anyplace like this," Paddy said. "I thought Bourbon Street was the big thing here." "It is, but it's not the only thing," Kevin said. "We'll go to Bourbon tomorrow night." "Cool," Paddy said. We had a great time that weekend. We did some sightseeing on Saturday because of Paddy, and we went to the French Quarter Saturday night for fun. We called up Seth and Curt, and they met us down there. Craig and Cherie went with us Saturday night, too, but Cherie kept an eye on her watch the whole time. That was the first time they had left Rob for them to go out, and he was with her parents. She wanted to be home for his next feeding, though, so they didn't stay out late with us. Everybody else did, though. "Are we going to church tomorrow at the cathedral?" Justin asked before we went out. "We can," Grandma said. "Oh, I think we should," Justin said. "Maybe we'll see BG." "BG?" Grandpa asked. "Bishop Greg," Justin said. He kind of lifted his eyebrows to Grandpa and smiled a little. Grandpa started laughing. "You stinker," Grandpa said to Jus. "You're not going to ever give me any rest about him, are you?" "Grandpa, I will support you in whatever decision you and Bishop Greg make," Justin said. Then it was Grandma's turn to double over laughing. "Justin, you are the only person on the face of this earth who has ever teased me about being gay," Grandpa said. "I'm not surprised. You don't come across as gay at all," Justin said. "It took a keen eye to spot you and ole Greg, that's for sure." Grandpa laughed, and we all laughed, too. "Jus, what is your problem with him? He is extremely smart and very competent. And he's a very nice guy," Kevin said. "Did you say he's a fairy nice guy?" Jus asked. Some of them laughed, but I knew Kevin was being serious. I knew Justin had a problem with that Greg guy because Greg was effeminate. I knew it every time it came up. "I don't have a problem with him, Kevin. Let's forget it, okay. I was teasing Grandpa and just joking," Justin said. He said that like he meant it. "Okay," Kevin said. "I'm not in the mood for a fucking lecture," Jus said to me in a whisper. Nobody but me heard him. |