Frank

I'd lain awake most of Friday and Saturday night worrying about my mom and missing my weekly snuggling sleepover with John. I'd have asked him to move in with me by now, except that my house wasn't big enough to accommodate him. I'd chosen it because it was a small house, and it seemed to fit me, even though I still had to use a 'step-up-on-wheels' in the kitchen and another in the bathroom in front of the sink, but the rooms were small, and when John was in one of them, it seemed to be smaller still. No, I'd have to wait for John to ask me to move in with him. As you've already figured out, John isn't the most communicative man, and for that matter, neither am I. So... I'd wait.

When I walked out of the hospital with Dad and saw those two big motorcycles parked on each side of my little bike, blocking it in, I was ready to take on a couple of big bikers, but when I saw John and Rich walking towards me, I forgot everything, except that John was there, and I wanted to be in his arms... which I was... as quickly as I could get into them.

As Dad and John introduced themselves, I watched my dad for his reaction to John. One would have thought he was meeting another farmer for all the emotion he showed. My dad isn't one to mince words; when John introduced Rich, Dad asked if he was the one that kept John from being stupid the day I stomped the guy in the bar. I'd not seen John embarrassed before, but that didn't stop him from admitting the truth. It just made me love him that much more.

I knew that my two middle brothers were still up visiting with Mom, so when I asked Dad if he thought Mom felt up to meeting John, I was also asking if Dan and Pete would be okay with it. I interpreted his answer to say that they needed to be meeting John.

Pete, my middle brother, number three of us five boys, and I have never been very close. He's different from my other brothers in that he has a wild crazy streak in his personality. Dan, my number two brother, the second oldest, has always been the quietest. It always seemed to me that he let Pete run his life for him a lot of the time. Dan's only eleven months older that Pete, so they're kind of like twins.

When I was fourteen, my friend Bill Joe and I were experimenting at 69ing one afternoon for the first time when Pete barged into my bedroom. He yelled to Dan, who had come into the house with him, "I caught a couple of queers sucking each other."

I was embarrassed at getting caught, but I wasn't scared of my brothers, even if they were both several years older than me, and it pissed me off for them to call me a queer. My friend, however, was cowering against the wall with a pillow covering himself.

"Let's get us a little head," Pete said, as Dan stuck his head into the room.

Dan went along with Pete, and walked over to the bed saying, "Give us a little blow job, and we won't tell what you were doing."

My friend's fear turned to anger. He yelled, "Go blow yourselves, you're the homos."

None of us realized that Mom was in the house. Just as Dan started to grab me, he got a wooden spoon across his back. "What in the world do you think you are doing?" she screamed.

Pete had backed up against the wall. "You should have seen what the little perverts were doing, Ma."

I could tell that Dan knew what she was asking, because he quickly moved away from my bed looking really ashamed. I was still standing on the end of the bed 'en flagrante', however, I'd lost my hardon.

"Franky, you and Billy Joe get dressed... and next time, lock your door." She then turned on Pete. "YOU! I am ashamed to call you my son. And you, Daniel Davis Bailey." She visibly shuddered. "You both are shameful." She stared from one to the other, then said, "Get downstairs. Sit at the kitchen table. I'm going to have your father deal with this."

"Ahhh, Mom," Pete whined, "we were just having some fun." He's been a whiner as long as I can remember.

"How stupid can you be, Peter Mathew? You just turned twenty-one three months ago. You two could go to jail for a long time for what you were going to do. Thank God, I was here to stop it before you did something really regretful." By then, she'd ushered them out of my hearing range.

Billy Joe hurried to get dressed. He refused to look at me as I slumped down the wall and just watched him. The adrenalin had gone and I was depressed. Once he had his shoes tied, he stood up and headed for the door, but before he reached it, it opened and there stood my mother again.

In a kind soft voice, she said, "Sit down, Billy Joe. I want to talk to you boys. Franky, get dressed."

As I put my pants and shirt on, Mom sat down beside Billy Joe and started talking.

"There was nothing wrong with what you two boys were doing. All boys experiment with each other. It was not bad. It's part of growing up. It isn't bad even when you're grown, if you both consent to do things. What Dan and Pete were going to do was very wrong. Forcing someone to do something like that is always wrong."

She hugged Billy Joe, and then held out her arms to me. "I want you boys to forget this happened. And next time you want to pleasure each other... lock the door. Now I've got to go take care of my other sons."

My mom was awesome.

That night everyone was subdued. Neither Pete nor Dan raised their heads. Dinner was consumed in silence; except for my youngest brother Will, who kept asking what was wrong. Finally, Dad told him to hush and eat his dinner. Will was the only one that completely cleared his plate, and had second helpings.

When he finished off his second plateful, Dad asked him to please go to his room and give the rest of us some privacy. When he objected, saying he was a member of this family, Dan said, "Let him stay, Dad. He can learn from our mistake."

"Fine, you may stay," Dad said, then looked at me. Despite what Mom had told Billy Joe and I, I wanted to slide under the table and hide. He must have read my mind. "Sit up straight, Franky. You've done nothing to be ashamed of." I sat up, folded my hands and rested them on the edge of the table. I still didn't raise my eyes. "I believe that first, Pete has something to say to you." He glanced at Pete, who had his head down. "Peter..." Dad said.

Pete raised his head. His eyes were red and puffy. "Franky, I apologize for barging into your room. I'm asking you to forgive me. I was really just messing with you."

He glanced at me, and I just stared at him.

Before Dad could say anything, Dan spoke up, "If I may, I'd like to say to Mom. Thank God, you stopped us. I don't know where my common sense was." Mom solemnly stared at him. He turned to me. "Franky, I hope you can forgive and forget this terrible afternoon. I almost did something that I would regret for the rest of my life. I wasn't raised like that, and I don't understand why I suddenly lost my sense of right and wrong. I am your brother, and I do love you. I'm sorry."

He was crying, which made me cry. "I love you, too, Dan," I blubbered.

"Would somebody fill me in?" Will asked. I was glad that my oldest brother Patrick was living down in Santa Barbara.

Mom stood and said, "Franky, help me clear the table while someone tells Will what happened."

She gathered a couple bowls of nearly untouched food and went into the kitchen. Everyone passed their plates and flatware to me, and I carried them into the kitchen. When I returned to take away the rest of the food, Dan was telling Will what they'd done.

When I returned for the glasses, Dad was explaining how wrong it is for someone to force another person do something sexual. I heard him use the word rape, and it shook me to my core. Until then, I hadn't really grasped the seriousness of the event. I managed to get the glasses to the counter without dropping one, then collapsed into a chair and bawled. By the time I calmed down, not only was Mom hugging me, but so were Dan and Pete, along with Dad.

I led John into the hospital to meet my mom and my two brothers, who had chosen to be farmers and stay with Dad. I'd never told Dan and Pete that I was gay, so I was apprehensive about how they would react.

John

I followed Farr through the hospital lobby and into the elevator. Inside, I knelt and hugged him again.

"I've missed you, Babe."

"Is that why you came looking for me?" There was a twinkle in his eyes.

"What do you think?" I asked. There was no way I was going to admit that it was Rich's idea.

"I think you were missing your Farr fix," he said with a big cocky grin. I grinned back at him, and quickly stood as the doors opened.

Farr took my hand as we entered his mother's room. I wasn't expecting to see two full-size versions of Farr sitting in the room. I glanced at his mother. Between his dad and her, it was easy to see where the three men got their good looks.

Farr grinned at them and said, "Look what I found outside waiting for me. Mom, Dan, Pete, this is my John." It seemed like all their eyes were on our hands. I'd never felt so oversized and out of place before, but my heart soared being introduced like that.

Mrs. Bailey smiled and raised her hand to me. "John, I didn't expect to get to meet you so soon. My! Franky didn't exaggerate about your size at all. You are a big fellow. Come give me a hug, Young Man."

In a state of semi-shock, I let go of Farr's hand and approached her. She grasped my hand and pulled me down. I gently hugged her as she kissed my cheek. "I'm so happy that Franky found you. I was beginning to think that he was going to live his life all alone and lonely."

I straightened up, feeling warm and happier than I felt in years. My mother had been a 'born again' missionary to the Indians of New Mexico. She'd cast me out of her life when, at the age of sixteen, I told her I was gay. I never knew my father; she'd gotten rid of him as soon as he'd served his purpose in impregnating her and giving her his name.

Farr took my hand and turned me to meet his two brothers. I immediately got the feeling from them that I was a total surprise. Farr obviously hadn't told them about me... or himself. They solemnly shook my hand and mumbled something polite. I picked up a vibe from them that I certainly hadn't expected. I immediately suspected that they hadn't told Farr about themselves either.

Frank

Introducing John to my mom and two brothers went well. Since they had chosen to be farmers rather than heading off to college, I'd figured they would be small town-minded and hostile towards him, and maybe even to me, but they were friendly and polite.

When we left Mom to get some rest, the four of us went down to find Rich and Dad sitting on the tailgate of Dad's pickup, deep in conversation. I noticed how Dad observed Dan and Pete as we approached them. I suspected that it might be a remnant of the episode when I was fifteen.

I'd never told anyone, except Dad and Mom, that I was gay, and I didn't do that until just before I graduated from high school. I assume that they never told my brothers. I wasn't surprised; Mom and Dad had always held our individual privacy in utmost respect.

I sat on the tailgate next to Dad, and John moved to stand beside me, while Dan and Pete stood side by side in front of us. As we conversed, I began to notice that my two brothers were acting much like John and I act toward each other. There's not two men in the world more masculine than Dan and Pete, hell, they are farmers, but as we talked, Dan's arm casually rested on Pete's shoulder, then in a bit, I noticed Pete's hand slide into Dan's rear pocket. They were obviously comfortable doing this in front of Dad. I looked at him and he seemed oblivious to it. I thought about it, and mentally shrugged; they'd always been together in everything they'd done as long as I could remember, so I wasn't shocked to realize that they were lovers.

About the time I graduated from high school, Dad helped them buy a small farm up against the eastside hills. Most of that original farm, which had a grand view of the valley, was sold to a developer a couple of years ago for a big profit. They'd kept a plot that was a small hill that rose above the rest of the farm, and built a rambling ranch house for themselves. Over the years, the two of them have acquired several other farms around the valley, and along with Dad, the Bailey's farms were the largest garlic growers in the valley.

I never thought about it until now, I wondered if my friend Billy had known about their relationship back when we were fifteen. I remembered clearly that he'd called them 'homos' that day.

As we were preparing to head back to the city, Dan invited us to stay with them the next weekend when we would return to visit Mom. Nothing was said about them being a couple, but they obviously were, and apparently everyone accepted it... now, even me.

John

With Rich leading, and Farr right behind him, I brought up the tail as we headed back up to the city. When we pulled off the freeway, I took the lead and motioned for them to follow me as I led us to my house.

We shed our helmets and jackets, and headed through the back door into the kitchen, where I opened the fridge and pulled out three long-necks. We sprawled in my small back yard, Rich and I on the two chaise lounges, with Farr lying back between my legs.

I could feel Rich studying us while he sipped his beer. I rolled my head towards him and gave him a querying look.

He grinned. "You two just look right together."

Farr looked up at me, and then over at Rich. "We are," he said. I simply smiled and nodded.

"I sure like your dad, Farr. He's really a good man," Rich said.

"Yeah," Farr agreed," he's been a great father."

"He told me how he had a struggle to accept that you were always going to be small."

Farr sat up and looked at Rich. "Really? You know, it did always seem that he had an easier time accepting that I was gay. My small stature always seemed to stymie him. But he has always made it very clear that he loves me."

Rich smiled. "Like I said, he's a good man."

"What do you make of my brothers?" Farr asked.

"They are a couple, you know." It was a statement.

"You picked up on that, too?" I asked.

Farr twisted around and looked at me. "So, I wasn't imagining things?"

"They've never told you?"

"They've never said a word to me, but then, I don't think they ever knew about me, until I introduced John to them this morning."

We sipped our beers in silence as we thought about Dan and Pete... two brothers... farmers... living in a small community... and apparently known and loved by all that community.

"You two are planning on going back with me Friday evening, aren't you?" Farr asked. "Dan and Pete invited all three of us to stay with them."

"Of course, I'm going with you, Babe. Rich, you gotta join us," I told him.

"Sure, I'll go," he answered.

Farr

The next afternoon after we got back from Gilroy, the door chimed as someone came into my shop. I stopped what I was working on and stepped out to see if I could maybe sell a light fixture. I was surprised to see Rafe standing there looking at the fixtures on the ceiling. I hadn't seen him in a suit and tie before. He's beyond GQ handsome. I had to force myself not to gawk.

"Rafe, it's good to see you," I said.

He smiled at me. "John did a neat job on your ceiling," he said, looking at the ceiling. Then, with a big shit eating grin asked, "What's this I hear about you beating up on da big guys again."

He'd obviously seen the article on the front page of the paper last year, since he added 'again'. I wondered if he'd known it was me that John was searching for. I shrugged and said, "Some men just don't understand that 'no' means 'no'."

"And you're on a crusade to teach them, huh?" I was glad to see that he grinned when he asked that, because I was ready to take umbrage.

"Do you resent that little ol' me doesn't need a big strong man for protection?"

"No, Frank, I think it's fantastic that you can, and do, stand up for yourself. I was just teasing you."

"So, what brings you into my humble shop, Guapo?"

"I was just driving through the neighborhood and stopped in to say hello... what did you just call me?"

"You mean 'Guapo'?"

"Yeah, that."

"You don't speak Spanish?"

He laughed, "No, why should I? I'm as much an American as you are. Do you speak Italian or Irish?

"The Irish speak English."

He shrugged it off. "So, what does that word mean?" he asked.

I grinned at him. "Handsome."

He blushed. "Oh." He looked around, then looking at the two club chairs I'd placed in the shop so people could sit back and look up at the fixtures in comfort, he asked, "May I sit?"

"Certainly, may I offer you a cold bottle of water?"

"What? No coffee?" he asked with a smart-assed grin.

"Sure, I'd like some coffee, too. Let me go put on a fresh pot."

I walked into the back before he could protest. I heard him follow me into the work room as I was measuring the grounds into the machine.

"This is quite a shop you've got here, Frank."

I turned around and looked at him. "Thanks. What's with you calling me Frank?"

"It's your name, isn't it?"

"You know John calls me Farr. That's how you first knew me."

"You want me to call you Farr?"

"You're John's best friend, call me which ever you like."

He nodded and wandered around my workroom looking at everything. I leaned back against my workbench and watched him. He obviously had something on his mind. He stopped at the storage room doorway and looked into the room, glanced at me and shook his head as though dismayed by my collection of old lighting and parts, before walking towards me.

"I stopped by John's yesterday... a couple of times.... he wasn't home."

"He and Rich went down to Gilroy to ride back with me. I'd gone down to see my mom who's in the hospital."

"She going to be okay?"

I shrugged and said, "I hope so." Rafe didn't push for details.

"Is that coffee about ready?" he asked.

"About."

He bucked his head and looked at me for the first time. "Actually, I talked to Rich this morning. You 'n John are getting along, huh?"

"Yep."

He watched me fill two mugs with coffee and took one, ignoring the sugar and powdered creamer that were sitting there in plain sight.

"He hasn't weirded out on you, has he?" he asked.

"Weirded out on me?"

"You know...gotten all macho and protective?"

I grinned. "He tried, but Rich set him straight. But you were there that night, surely you saw what happened."

He smiled his acknowledgement, sipped from his mug and studied me a moment, then turned his attention to the various fixtures hanging on the ceiling, some complete and ready to sell, some waiting for missing parts.

"I think you're good for him," he said.

"Why do you think that?"

"John and I go way back. We were in the Corps together."

"Yeah?"

He nodded and sipped some more of his coffee.

I waited a few beats before saying, "I assume you're going to expound."

He quirked an eyebrow at me.

"What? I am a college graduate, you know. So, are you going to tell me more?" I said.

He smiled, pulled up a work stool and sat on it facing me. "About four years ago, John got involved with a guy. I didn't like the man from the moment I first met him; something didn't ring true with him. I pissed John off by telling him to be careful. The man turned out to be a real shit-heel.

"He asked John to meet him at the Crux one night. They'd been hanging out there since John had met the creep. When John got there, the bartender motioned with his head that the creep was in the toilet. John ordered a beer and waited for him to come out. He glanced at the bartender, who shook his head and grimaced before turning away.

"John slid off his barstool and headed towards the toilet. The bartender called out to him to not go in there. John looked at him a moment, and then opened the door. At first, he didn't see the creep, because there were several guys blocking his view. He pushed past them, and one of the guys told him to get in line. John pushed on into the room, and finally found the creep bent over a trash can taking it up the ass from a leather freak in chaps. One of the men, with his hard cock in his hand, waiting his turn, informed John that the leather freak was number four. It almost killed John. He managed to get outside before puking up his guts into the gutter. Took him a long time to get over the betrayal."

I looked at Rafe incredulously. Why was he telling me this? "You're thinking I'd do something like that? So... you're... warning me?"

"God, no, Farr. I suspect that you are a very moral man. I just want you to be aware of what happened."

I changed the subject. "Rich told you about meeting my family this last week end?"

"Yeah. He really likes your dad."

"My dad and my two brothers that live in Gilroy were really impressed by him"

"Rich said your dad really approved of John."

I laughed, recalling the show we put on greeting each other in front of Dad. "Yeah, Dad's cool with him." I then told him how I'd leaped into John's arms right in front of Dad.

"Do you go home very often?" he asked.

I sighed, thinking about my mom lying in the hospital. "Not as often as I should. I didn't even know that Mom was ill until Dad called and told me she was in the hospital. Then I rushed home for the weekend. For the last few months, I've been so busy trying to get this shop up and running, that I hadn't thought of much else."

"And, of course, John came into your life about the same time."

I must have gotten a goofy look, because Rafe laughed.

"Yeah, John came into my life," I agreed.

I offered him more coffee, which he accepted. We'd both fallen into a contemplative mood, and I found myself being comfortable with Rafe.

He sighed and looked at me. "The reason I stopped by to see John, rather than call him, was to tell him that Tommy and I have decided to commit to each other. Now that you've taken John out of the picture, we've realized that we have something special."

I smiled and wished him the best. "I'd wondered about you two. Of course, I'd only seen you in Pomodoro that first time, and at the Sidewinder. But you two really do look like you have something special."

"Yeah, John and I tried it right after we got out of the Corps, but we discovered that we make better buddies than lovers.

"I met Tommy while John was involved with that asshole creep, and we decided to pool our funds and rent a bigger apartment than either of us could afford separately. Then, when John caught the asshole getting fucked by that leather creep in the toilets, he really became a basket case for a while.

"Rich, John and I had been occasional fuck buddies for several years. Then Tommy came along and fitted right in. The two of us, Rich and I, literally nursed John back to being his old self. It was like the three of us, Rich, Tommy and I, were the only guys that John would have anything to do with.... you know.... sexually... until he met you.

"Damn, Farr, those months between the time he first met you and the evening we met you at Pomodoro... I didn't know what was going on with him. He wouldn't talk about it. He stopped fucking around with us, with no explanation why. I'd figured he'd met someone, but he wasn't seeing anyone as far as we could tell."

I laughed. "I know, he wasn't into small guys like me, and I'd gotten to him. It's funny how I couldn't forget him either."

"You two are definitely meant for each other."

We talked a bit more, then Rafe said he had to get back to work and left. I still don't know what he does for a living.