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Half an hour later, having washed each other thoroughly, they toweled each other dry, then dressed and went out to the kitchen. It was nearly nine o'clock. Maria was sorting pinto beans, removing the little pebbles and the bad beans, raking the good ones off the counter top into a big pan that sat in an opened drawer. She smiled brightly when she saw them enter with Buzz's arm around Neal's shoulders.

"Ai, it's past time. Sientate afuera. (Have a seat outside.)I will have food for you in a few minutes." She stepped to the back door and called the young ones.

The three teenagers came running over joining them at the patio table. Billy immediately asked. "What took you guys so long? We're hungry and Maria made us wait for you. She only gave us each a banana and told us not to bother you." Buzz ruffled his hair, and kissed him on the forehead, surprising him.

"Sorry, Bill, we'll try to be on time next time."

"So, what took you guys so long?" Tim asked, then frowned at Neal. "Why are you smiling, Neal? You don't smile when we're at the table."

Neal glanced at Buzz and grinned.

"I know why," Dori exclaimed. "And I'm glad Neal's finally decided I'm right." Neal just nodded his head and grinned.

"What do you mean, Sweety?" Buzz asked.

"I told Neal a long time ago that he should be nice to you, because you need a special friend. And now... Neal's decided to really be part of our family."

Buzz stared a moment at his daughter, then glanced at Neal.

Neal shrugged. "From the mouths of teenagers," he said.

Maria came bustling out at that point with a large tray laden with a family favorite, breakfast burritos.

She sat the tray down next to Buzz and studied him. He grinned at her. She turned and looked pointedly at Neal and he sheepishly grinned at her. "Aayyy!" She threw her hands in the air. "Gracias a Dios! Y Gracias a tu, Nilito. You have finally come to see sense. Now my Buzzy is so happy again." She clasped each side of Neal's head and planted a big kiss on his forehead below the bandage. "For so long I thought you were a little bit pendejo. But now I see you have brains."

Billy had sat through the whole meal stoically listening and watching the rest of the family. His dad had actually kissed him on his forehead like he was always doing to Tim, and he'd called him Bill instead of Billy. Still, he couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. As soon as he could, he left the table and headed for his car.

>< After breakfast, Maria, ever the astute observer, saw that Buzz and Neal needed time for themselves and took the twins into town to see a matinee movie. Buzz and Neal spent the day making up for lost time, lying by the pool talking, constantly touching each other, occasionally taking a dip to cool off. They made love, carefully, gently aware of Neal's bruises. Somewhere in that time they discovered they enjoyed being playful with each other.

Neal lay on his stomach on a towel by the edge of the pool. Buzz sat cross-legged beside him, combing his fingers through the black hair that trailed down his spine from the nape of his neck to his tail bone. Neal moaned, "That feels so nice, Buzz. I'm glad you like it. I was so afraid you'd think I'm a freak."

"You're not a freak in anyway, Babe. But you are my little satyr." He leaned forward and kissed Neal's shoulder, then asked, "Do all of you have this hair running up your backs?"

Neal twisted and looked up at him - appraisingly. "No, and not all of us have hooves and horns either."

"I meant your brothers."

"Nope, they don't have hooves or horns either."

Buzz straddled his back. Neal tensed and hunched thinking he was in for a tickling. He was ready to tell Buzz he was still too sore from the roll down the hill, but Buzz was running his fingers over his scalp.

"Ah hah! There are bumps. You're growing horns. I think they may be devil's horns."

"No they're not, they're just plain ol' horny horns. And the only way to make them go away is for you to rape me." Neal struggled and Buzz let him succeed in turning over. He grabbed Buzz around his neck with his good arm and pulled him down so they were face to face.

Buzz muttered, "You're too willing; you can't be raped."

"Well then, maybe they will go away if you ravish me."

"Well, whatever, I'm going to do my damnedest to make them go away." Buzz had discovered that it was difficult to be near Neal without getting a hardon. It was apparent to him that Neal had the same reaction to him. He could feel it poking him in the butt as he sat astraddle his young lover. He rocked against it and Neal moaned.

Thinking about how it had felt to be on the giving end, Buzz hadn't been on the receiver since the incident with Jere back in his UCLA days. It was time to try it again. Besides, he wanted Neal to experience what it was like to be the giver. He abruptly stood up. Neal looked at him in surprise. Buzz held out his hands and said, "Come on, Babe. Someone is going to get royally fucked."

Neal grinned at him, full of trepidation. He'd thought a lot about this and knew that he wanted it. But Buzz was so big that he just wasn't sure if he could take the pain of being stretched that much. But if Buzz wanted it, he was willing to give it his best, so he headed into the bedroom shucking his swimsuit as he went. Buzz was right behind him. He lay down, spread his legs, and grinned expectantly at Buzz.

"Close your eyes and keep them closed until I tell you that you can open them," Buzz told him, as he reached into the bedside chest and took out a tube of K-Y. He placed a foot on the bed and squeezed a generous dollop of lube on his fingers and prepared himself. Neal squirmed, not knowing what Buzz was doing.

"You just keep your eyes closed," he said, as he straddled Neal's thighs.

"What are you doing? Can I open my eyes now?"

"Sure, open your eyes."

Neal looked up at him and his eyes got big when Buzz took hold of his shaft and generously lubed it. "I thought you were going to fuck me."

Buzz grinned. "Oh, I will. But like I told you this morning, not until you are all healed up. Right now I've got other plans. Have you ever fucked someone, Babe?" He asked as he knee walked up to where he was aligned.

Neal blushed and started to say that he'd already admitted to being a virgin, but Buzz settled onto him and all he could do was gasp, "Oh, my God, what are you doing?"

Buzz smiled at surprising his young lover. He moved around, up and down, relaxing his sphincter. Neal gasped again, "I thought your mouth felt good, but this... Oh, God, Buzz, you're so hot inside."

Once Buzz got used to the intrusion, he lay forward, wrapped his arms around Neal and carefully rolled them over being aware of Neal's cracked rib and arm cast.

The look of disbelief on Neal's face tickled Buzz. "You don't think you're the only one who gets to enjoy this, do you?" Since Neal still hadn't moved, Buzz wiggled suggestively and asked, "You do know what to do, don't you?"

Neal's expression turned indignant. "Of course I do." He let his instincts take over. Thrusting, he made Buzz moan.

"That's it. Love me, Babe. Show me what a satyr can do."

* * *

After taking the tutoring job, Neal had avoided seeing Betsy since she was constantly on his case to accept being gay and let everything fall as it may. He went to see her first thing Monday morning. And being Betsy, she was happy to see him and ran to him immediately, giving him a big hug.

"Neal, you are radiant. Oh, my God, how did you break your arm?"

"Hi, Bets. Gee, I can be stupid in dealing with the people I love." He grimaced. "I came in to apologize for avoiding you these last few weeks."

"No apologies needed. I knew you were having a tough time. I've seen you several times, and you've looked like shit. But you knew you could talk to me if you needed to, so I just gave you your space. So tell me. You're not getting out of here until I've heard the whole story. First, why're you so happy?"

"I'm in love." He grinned like a fool. It was only with Betsy that he'd talk like this. "Better still… he loves me."

"Oh, Neal, I'm so happy for you. But you still look like shit. How much weight have you lost? You're skinny. I'm beginning to wonder if it's safe for you out there. You broke your head the first time you went out there, now you've broken your arm and they're apparently starving you... you still haven't told me how you broke it."

"Yeah, it was tough. It's hard to eat when you are in misery." He filled her in on the most miserable weeks of his life, and how happy he was now.

"See. You should have listened to me in the beginning. So when do I get to meet him?"

"You've already met him."

"No, that was some man who was looking to hire you for a job."

"All one and the same," Neal insisted.

"You weren't in love with him then, so he couldn't be the same man," she teased.

"Why don't you come to dinner Wednesday evening? I'll pick you up at six, right after my last class."

"I'd love to, Neal."

"Then it's a date. Listen, I gotta go. Can't be late for class."

"Okay, Wednesday evening. Looking forward to it."

"Me too. Bye"

When they sat down to dinner Wednesday evening, Tim said the blessing. "Heavenly Father, thank you for the food we are about to eat. And thank you for sending us Neal. Amen."

There was silence around the table as they each thought about that. Buzz grinned and looked up at Neal, who was grinning and looking back at him. And everyone else was watching the two of them grinning. Maria was the first to speak.

"It is so nice to have company for dinner, Betsy. It's been so long."

"Yes, and this is an auspicious occasion. Betsy… as our first guest, welcome."

"Thank you, Buzz, I'm so happy to be here."

All through dinner there was lots of lively small talk. The three of them sat on the patio after dinner enjoying a cup of coffee and visiting.

"Buzz, you have the most darling kids."

"Thanks, Bets, I couldn't agree more. They are the best."

"That Timmy's going to be a heart breaker when he grows up. He's already starting. I bet you looked just like him when you were a kid," Betsy said.

"He's a chip off the old block, Betsy," Neal said. "I've seen pictures of Buzz as a kid. It's hard to tell them apart,"

"Hey, who are you calling old?" Buzz objected.

"Well, now that there's no chance with Neal, I guess I'm just going to have to start seriously looking for Mr. Right. I want a couple of kids just like yours."

At one point in the evening's conversation she said to Neal, sotto voce, "I can certainly see why you turned gay, I would too, if I could have him." She smiled wickedly at Buzz.

Buzz grinned back just as wickedly. "Sorry, my dear Betsy, but no way can you have me. I belong to Neal,"

Neal stretched over to Buzz and planted a kiss on his lips.

"Damn right you do and don't you ever forget it." He turned to Betsy. "If you were gay, Dodo, you'd be a dike, I don't think you'd want him. And I didn't turn gay. I've always been; just too dumb to know it."

"You two are so beautiful together, and so lucky."

"Don't you think we know it?" they said in unison. They all laughed.

"So, Buzz, I'm dying of curiosity. Tell me, at what point in your life did you discover you're gay? Like you were married, you have kids, were you aware back then?"

Buzz sat there for a moment, his thoughts turned inward.

"Well, I guess I've always been. I've never thought about it in terms that included the word gay or homosexual. Neal's my soulmate, the other half of me. That's all. So, to answer your question… just now. I just now realize that my loving Neal… classifies me as gay."

There was a long silence. Buzz and Neal communicated their love for each other with their eyes. Then Betsy burst the silence with an explosive "WOW!"

Buzz grinned at her. "Anymore questions?" Betsy just shook her head in quiet wonder.

"Well, I think it's time to take you home, unless you wish to stay the night. We have a luxurious guest room."

"I would love to stay, but I have to work the morning shift which starts a six."

They took her home. It was a very quiet ride with each of them involved in thoughts about the evening's conversation. On the drive back to the ranch, Neal sat sideways in the corner of his seat so he could look at Buzz as he drove.

"You know, I think I could have married Betsy and had a happy normal life. It might have worked. But then you came along and woke me up. How did you know we were mates and I didn't?"

Buzz looked at him. He pulled the car over to the side of the road and parked. He reached over and pulled Neal to him.

"You knew, you just had issues to clear up before you could see the fact. Maybe I saw it because I've lived longer, experienced more. Maybe I was searching. I didn't know I was looking for you until I found you. I am in continual amazement that you and I have happened. And it blows my mind that you love me." He let out a bark of laughter as he said, "And it flabbergasts me to think of myself as a gay man."

"You are the most remarkable person I have ever met, Buzz. I'm without words to tell you how much I love you."

Neal wrapped his arms around him and kissed him. Buzz reciprocated for all he was worth. He eventually broke away and sat back, grinning at Neal. "Let's go home. I think it's time."

Neal looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Are you saying I'm healed enough?"

Buzz just gave him a lusty grin.

The rest of the ride home was quiet. They exited the car and headed for the master bedroom when they entered the house.

"I want to be inside of you, Neal. Will you let me in?"

Neal looked at Buzz, who was being so serious. He could help but tease him. "You mean you want to fuck my butt?" he asked innocently, childlike

Buzz studied him thinking that Neal didn't seem all that eager to try it. "Will you let me?"

Neal stared into Buzz's eyes, seeing the hunger, the eagerness, the doubt, he started chuckling. "Of course, I'll let you. I told you that first morning that this was my dream. I want it as much as you do."

"I promise you I won't hurt you. And if you really don't like it, I'll stop. I swear I won't hurt you."

In answer Neal spread his legs and pulled his knees to his chest. His cock was throbbing.

"I totally trust you, Buzz," he said.

One look at Neal's spread cheeks his mind filled with lust. He followed the black hair that trailed into his crack from his tail bone and surrounded his rosy little pucker. He caressed it and proceeded to loosen him.

Neal found he liked for Buzz to play with his rear. There was only a momentary sharpness when he involuntarily clamped down as he was breached. After that, he couldn't get enough. His loud explicatives tickled Buzz. Soon they had both built to a high and together tumbled into a shattering climax. Buzz rolled to the side and collapsed next to him aware that Neal's ribcage was still tender.

Once Neal had caught his breath and calmed down, he asked, "Does this get any better?"

"I don't know how it could."

Neal rolled his head to look at Buzz. "You think you'll be ready for me in a few minutes?"

Buzz grinned and answered with a question, "You are a horny little satyr, aren't you?"

* * *

As the days went by, their relationship fell into a natural rhythm - back into the regular daily routines of school for the young ones and Neal, while Buzz went back to his office at OE. Martha commented that she was glad to see him smiling. He just smiled bigger, but didn't tell her the reason.

* * *

Neal slumped down on the sofa. Buzz sat in a club chair facing him. He'd just told Neal that the gossipmongers hadn't quite given up, and that they were going to have to play it cool for a while longer. He studied Neal's glum expression for a moment, then stood and started pacing.

"Unfortunately, it is you, Neal, that is going to have to make the most sacrifices in this situation. But it won't be anything difficult. First, you'll have to deposit a small weekly paycheck in your local account… say five hundred. The rest will be deposited in your account in my bank in L.A. Just don't write any checks to locals from that account."

Neal sat up straight. Anger flared in his eyes. "What do you mean my account in L.A.? I never opened an account there. I haven't even been in L.A. in three years."

"I just set it up for you." Buzz answered. He wasn't looking at Neal as he talked and continued as though he hadn't been interrupted. "Second, you will have to continue to drive your old pickup for awhile. I was planning on you getting a new one, but on your $500.00 a month salary you can't afford one. When you graduate next June and start to work for O.E. you'll get one."

"I don't want a new pickup. I did the overhaul on this one myself, besides doing the body work and paint job. I'm not getting rid of it."

Buzz quirked an eyebrow, but continued, "Third, you'll have to continue wearing your present wardrobe." He stood and walked across the room, unaware of Neal's incomprehension. "Fourth, you will have to start seeing Betsy on a regular basis in public like you did before you moved out here… at least until this all dies down. If she's as good a friend as you say, she shouldn't mind being used." Neal sat there looking at him as if he was speaking in tongues. "Let's see, what else?" He had his back to Neal as he thought.

"Jeez, suddenly I feel like a deprived concubine," Neal said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Buzz whirled and stared at him. "What?"

"All this crazy talk. I'm feeling like I'm being kept."

"What are you implying?"

"New car. New wardrobe. New bank account. Are you trying to buy me? I am not for sell, Buzz. I don't want your money. The salary you're paying me as a tutor is way over the top to begin with. I am capable of supporting myself."

"Neal, we committed ourselves to each other for life. Everything I own is now yours, too. All the legal paper work has already being drawn up. You are a very wealthy young man." Buzz sat down facing him. "Of course, all the documents have to have your signature on them to make them completely legal."

"Jee-zus Kee-riste." Neal exploded. "I didn't expect this." He got up and tromped around the room, his hand stuffed into his pockets. "I don't think I want it, either." Buzz sat there calmly waiting for him to wind down. "All I wanted was to love you on an equal base. I can't take all that money. Shit! It's bad enough receiving that ridiculous salary. I feel like a fucking prostitute as it is." He stopped in front of the window, staring out but seeing nothing.

Buzz's voice was low, soothing, and reasonable as he spoke. "You think that we can live together on an equal basis with you making only fifteen hundred a month? You couldn't afford a quarter of the bills."

He stood and walked across the room to stand behind Neal. He put his hands on his shoulders and massaged the taut muscles.

Neal turned around to face him. "As soon as I graduate I'll be making a lot more money," he said.

Buzz wrapped him in a hug. Neal stiffly refused to return the hug. "Do you think I accrued all this wealth myself?" Buzz asked. "I inherited most of it. I have added to it, but the vast majority of it was handed to me on a gilded platter. I didn't earn it." He pushed back grasping Neal by his arms so he could look him in the face. "When you accept it, I expect you to add to the pot, too. Use the wealth to create more. Make it work for you. Make it work for us."

Neal grimaced.

"Neal, do I have to fight you every step we take. Just accept it."

Neal snorted and twisted away, moving across the room.

"I love you, Neal Martin, and you're being crazy again."

Neal whirled and leaned on the desk, staring across it at Buzz. "Crazy? Again? What makes you think I ever stopped being crazy?" He frowned at Buzz. "To hell with it. I can't take it." He abruptly walked out the door, left the house, jumped into his pickup and drove away.

Buzz followed him out the front door and watched the pickup disappear in a cloud of dust as it sped around the hill. When the dust settled, he returned to his office and called Betsy. "Betsy, my dear, this is Buzz Ogden."

"Hi! What's up, Sweetycakes?"

Buzz grinned and shook his head at the name. "Neal's on his way to see you."

"Oooooh. What's happened now?"

"I'm sure he will tell you the whole story when he gets there. Please talk some sense into him. He listens to you."

She laughed. "Yeah, right." She then sighed dramatically. "Alright, Buzz, I'll do what I can."

"That's more than I have a right to ask for. Thanks Bets."

Neal wheeled up to Betsy's apartment and knocked on her door.

"Come on in, Neal. The door's unlocked."

As he closed the door, he asked, "How did you know it was me?"

"Oh, you have a special knock. You know … knock, knock, knock." She impishly grinned at him.

"Buzz warned you. Didn't he? What did he tell you?"

"He just said you were headed this way and asked that I please knock some sense into your hard head. What was he talking about?"

Neal turned red. "I'm not a fucking prostitute. And I won't take his money," he yelled as he stomped across the room.

"Neal… Neal… Neal," she called to him soothingly. "Calm down and tell me what you're talking about."

"You know he's very wealthy. Like a billionaire. He had all these papers drawn up saying that it's all half mine." His voice rose to a near yell. "And I'm not going to sign them. I can't let him pay me to love him. I won't let him support me. I've got my pride, you know." He stuck his hands into his pockets, huffed and stared defiantly at her.

She smiled benignly, sat on the sofa and patted the cushion beside her, saying, "You do get screwy, Love. Sit down here and shut up a minute."

Neal glared at her before plopping down on the far end of the sofa.

"Let me see if I've got the story straight." She looked at the ceiling, then back at Neal. "Okay… Buzz is really rich. He wants you to be really rich with him." She looked at him to see if she had his attention. "Question. If you were a woman and marrying Buzz, you would be expecting to share his wealth? Right?"

"Well... yeah, but this is different. We're both men."

"Oooh, I see. This is a man thing. It's okay for a woman to share her man's wealth, but being you're a man, you can't share your man's wealth. I suppose that's totally logical… IF you're a man."

"Betsy," Neal whined. "You're making me feel foolish."

She grinned. "Well, you have the shoe, try it on."

"I just can't win."

"Hey, Dope, if you win, you lose."

Neal looked at her like she lost her mind.

"Think about it," she said in a singsong voice.

He did, and after a couple of minutes he started laughing. "I love ya, Gal. You always put my head on straight." He pulled her to her feet and hugged her.

"Try keeping it that way. I love you, too, Oaf. Now go home, sign those papers, and get on with your life."