Nuff Rope

Chapter 15


 

Bree and Meghan were sitting in the mess hall finishing up their breakfast. The two weeks at camp were almost over. Today was the big game, the final game before they left camp to go home.

“Are your daddies coming for the game?” Meghan asked.

“Yeah, I can’t wait for them to get here,” Bree replied.

“I hope I score a goal so my mommy and daddy can see what I’ve learned.”

“I think you will. You play real good now.”

“Thanks,” Meghan replied with a big smile. She felt that she had improved a lot since the beginning of the camp. She knew she was much more confident. “I want my daddy to be proud of me.”

“Isn’t your daddy proud of you all the time?” Bree asked, puzzled by Meghan’s comment. Her daddies always seemed to be proud of her, except when she was really bad.

“Sometimes I think he likes my brother more than me. My daddy loves sports, so I want to be good for him.”

“Shouldn’t you be good for yourself first?”

“Um…” Meghan started to say something, but she wasn’t sure how to answer Bree’s question.

“Attention, girls!” Abigail Minton called out. The girls quieted down. “Today is your final day of camp. I want to tell you all how happy the counselors and I are at the progress made by each and every one of you since your arrival here. We hope you’ll have a great game today. Play hard and enjoy yourselves.”

The girls clapped loudly for the coach and their counselors who smiled at the group of girls, pleased by the response from their charges.

“Oh, and make sure you pack all your belongings after breakfast. Check the closets and drawers so that you don’t leave anything behind. You’ll be going home with your parents after the game.”

“I hate packing,” Bree said as they headed back to their bunkhouse after breakfast. “My Dada usually does it for me.”

“I don’t mind packing,” Meghan said. “I can help you.”

“That would be good,” Bree agreed. Meghan smiled happily.

 

*****
 

“Are you ready to go home today?” Tom asked Patrick as they finished up breakfast at baseball camp.

“Yeah, I’ve had fun here, and I learned quite a bit,” Patrick said thoughtfully. “But I’ll be happy to see my dads today. I missed them. I’m ready to go home.”

“Me too,” Tom agreed. “Can we keep in touch after camp?” he asked, his voice rather tentative.

Patrick grinned. “Sure, that would be great.”

“Maybe our dads can fix it so we can meet up.”

“Sure.”

Tom wondered why Patrick was so quiet. “Are your dads going to make it to the game today?”

“They said they would,” Patrick answered. “I hope they get back from New York in time.”

“Yeah. They can see what a good pitcher you are.”

Patrick smiled. “My Poppa will be proud if I get to pitch today.”

“I hope my dad will be proud too,” Tom replied. He didn’t sound very sure of that though.

“He’ll be very proud of you, Tom,” Patrick assured him. “We should go pack like the coach said.”

“Yeah,” Tom concurred. They headed for their bunkhouse.

 

*****
 

“Your little girl is coming home today,” Justin said smugly as Brian was driving them to Bree’s camp.

“That’s quite the newsflash, Sunshine,” Brian replied sarcastically.

“Don’t pretend like you’re not excited.”

“Haven’t we had this conversation before?”

“Maybe something similar.”

“I’ll be glad to have Bree home,” Brian admitted. “But then she’s going to start piano lessons, and then school, and probably university in a month or two.”

Justin laughed heartily. “You are such a worry wart.”

“I never used to worry about anything until I met you,” Brian said pointedly.

Justin was taken aback for a moment. He didn’t want to be the source of Brian’s worry. Then a smile crossed his handsome face. “That’s because you never cared enough about anything to worry about it,” he informed his husband.

“Is that right?”

“Yep, and now you have a home and a loving family to be concerned about. To say nothing about a hot, sexy partner who keeps you satisfied every minute of every day.”

“Is that what my hot sexy partner does?” Brian asked with a smirk. “I’ll have to introduce him to you one of these days.”

“Asshole!” Justin reacted. He gave Brian’s arm a swat.

“Hey, driving here. Keep your hands off,” Brian chuckled.

“I haven’t kept my hands off you all week,” Justin reminded him with a lustful grin.

“All two weeks.”

“True.”

“But now we’ll have to lock our door and limit our … activities to our bedroom.”

“Is that such a bad thing?”

“Not bad at all,” Brian admitted. “However, I did enjoy fucking you on most of the surfaces at Edna’s Treasures.”

“Yeah, I think we got everything scrubbed down,” Justin laughed.

“What’s a little spunk among family?” Brian countered.

“Eiw, gross!”

“Don’t sweat it, Sunshine. No one will ever know what we did while they were away.”

“Wanna bet?”

“What do you mean?” Brian asked with a frown.

“They all know you, and me, so well that they don’t even have to guess what we’ve been doing ever since Bree and your brother left.”

“You think?” Brian smirked.

“I know.”

“I could always feign innocence. I’ll tell them I’ve been digging in gardens and shoveling cow manure ever since they left.”

“Yeah, you’re so good at feigning innocence,” Justin chuckled.

“Twat,” Brian responded as he took the cut off to Bree’s camp.

 

*****
 

“Do you think we’ll make it in time?” Bobby asked as John was driving them to Patrick’s camp.

John and Bobby had decided to stay one more night in New York, and then get up before the crack of dawn to drive back for Patrick’s game at camp.

“We’re doing fine,” John said simply.

“We should have come back last night.”

“No, we deserved our vacation … all of it,” John replied.

“It was … great!” Bobby said. “I only love you more every day.”

John smiled. “I didn’t think I could ever be this happy. You have made my life complete.”

“Yeah,” Bobby agreed with a satisfied look on his handsome face. “But I don’t want to disappoint Patrick.”

“We’ll be there in time,” John assured his husband. “Even if we don’t see the first pitch, we’ll be there before the game is over.”

“And what if Patrick is throwing that first pitch?” Bobby asked.

“Oh, I never thought about that,” John admitted. He stepped down hard on the accelerator.

 

*****
 

Brian and Justin had gotten to the camp with plenty of time to spare. While Bree’s team was going through their warm-ups and last minute instruction, the boys packed her belongings into Justin’s Cherokee. Patrick’s camp had coordinated their games so that his big game was later in the afternoon. Bree, Brian and Justin were planning to go to his game.

“Come on, Bri, I want to get a good seat,” Justin whined as they were loading up the back of the SUV.

“If you’re that worried, go to the bleachers and save me a seat. I want to make sure the bags are secure.”

“How secure can two bags be?”

“Secure enough so that they don’t roll around. Bree said she made us all some things out of clay. She’d be devastated if anything got broken,” Brian explained as he carefully bungeed down the bags.

“Oh,” Justin replied thoughtfully then he smiled radiantly. The big bad ‘heartless’ Brian Kinney was taking the time to make sure a little girl’s treasures would make it home intact. “Okay. I’ll get us a couple bottles of water and save you a seat,” Justin said as he discreetly kissed Brian’s cheek before sprinting back toward the field.

“You do that,” Brian mumbled from inside the hatch of the Cherokee, intent on completing the job at hand. When he was satisfied Bree’s bags wouldn’t budge, Brian joined his spouse.

“Ms. Claire, fancy meetin’ you here,” Brian drawled as he kissed Claire’s cheek before he sat on the bench. Claire and Steve had decided to take in both games as well.

“And where else would I be? This is a big day for Bree,” Claire replied. Steve nodded in agreement.

“Nowhere,” Brian agreed with a smile. His heart was full of love and pride. Bree was growing up surrounded by love. Something that Brian had never dreamed of when he was Bree’s age. He leaned over to kiss Claire’s cheek. Justin patted Brian’s arm, sensing what Brian was thinking. Before things got way too lesbionic, Bree’s team ran out onto the field and they all cheered.

 

*****
 

“You scored the winning goal!” Justin shouted as Bree ran off the field into her Daddy’s waiting arms. The score had been tied two all when Bree’s fancy footwork paid off. She was able to snatch away the ball to score the tie breaking goal. Brian stood to the side marveling at the matching sunshine smiles his blond beauties were sporting as they hugged and laughed. His heart swelled.

“They are beautiful,” Steve, the normally stoic big man murmured loud enough for Brian to hear. Steve and Claire were waiting at the sidelines with Brian and several other cheering onlookers.

“Yes,” was all that Brian was capable of saying at the moment. Just then Bree became surrounded by her teammates as they all jumped up and down, screeching with joy.

“You’re a lucky man,” Steve added with a pat to Brian’s back.

“Yes, I am,” Brian got out just before Bree launched herself into her Dada’s arms.

 

*****
 

“We made it,” Bobby said as he and John pulled into the parking lot of Patrick’s camp. They hurried out of the Navigator to get to the stands.

“Over here!” Justin called out as he stood to wave the guys over. Hugs and kisses were passed all around just before the singing of the National Anthem.

“Play ball!” called the umpire and the game commenced with Patrick throwing the starting pitch.

 

*****
 

It was the bottom of the ninth, two outs and the tying run on second. Patrick was up at bat with one strike. He was tired and his chest and pitching arm were aching. The August sun was beating down making heat waves ripple across the turf.

“Concentrate,” Bobby said softly as he intensely watched his son. “Pick your moment, don’t let it pick you,” he said as his eyes flicked back to the pitcher then down to the catcher signaling behind Patrick. “Fast ball,” he murmured. “You can do this. You can do this.”

The pitcher let the ball fly, Patrick zoomed in on the ball, watching it spin toward him then, “CRACK!” Patrick caught a piece of it. He took off like a shot not knowing if it was enough. The player on second scored as Patrick’s ball soared toward the outfield. The ball flew over the pitcher toward centerfield but the boy in the outfield misjudged Patrick’s strength and was a little too far in. Patrick made it to second base and for a second he held on.

“Run! Run!” Bobby shouted more to himself than to Patrick, as they were sitting too far up the bleachers to be heard. Bobby knew there was power in Patrick’s long lanky Kinney legs. As if Patrick heard his father, and before the outfielder could fully recover the ball, Patrick ran.

Passing third base, Patrick thought he heard, his father.

“Slide! Slide! He doesn’t have it,” Bobby yelled. Patrick slid toward home, his long arms outstretched just as the outfielder threw toward home.

When the dust settled... “SAFE!” called the umpire then Patrick felt himself hoisted up on the shoulders of his teammates.

“Yes!” Bobby and John shouted. “That’s my boy!” they said again, hugging and laughing. Bree, not all that familiar with the rules of baseball, jumped up and down, understanding well enough that her Patrick helped to win the game.

Slowly, the family made its way down to the field as the teams lined up to shake hands. Patrick stood tall, easily visible above most of the other boys with his red hair gleaming fire in the sun.

“Poppa!” Patrick shouted as he made out his father in the crowd.

“Patrick!” Bobby called out as he made it through the crowd. The red-heads hugged tight, patting each other on the back. “I am so damn proud of you,” Bobby said with tears of joy glistening in his eyes.

John stood on the sideline waiting, taking it all in as his family made it over to his son. Dr. Dan and Emily were also there. They were sitting on the other side of the field, watching the game just as they did when their own son was playing. Rachel and George were adding their congratulations as well.

Brian sidled up to his brother and nudged his shoulder. The Kinney brother’s briefly gazed into each other’s eyes. They smiled knowingly as Brian patted his brother’s back, acknowledging that they were the luckiest men on the planet.

Rachel kissed the boy she called ‘nephew,’ smiling softly, her mother and Claire at her side offering silent support for the sacrifices Rachel had made. As mothers they felt her pain, longing and pride. Patrick had an extra long hug for the woman he called ‘aunt.’ He had been told the truth several years ago when he was old enough to understand. Patrick had a special place in his heart for his aunt.

“Paaatwick!” Bree called out. Her petite body shoved the taller ones around her so she could get to her Patrick. Patrick grinned ear to ear as they hugged. He even allowed Bree to kiss his cheek and didn’t wipe it off.

As John got in his hugs, Brian made a suggestion. “I think this calls for a barbecue!” The family all agreed. John and Bobby quickly loaded up Patrick’s gear into the Navigator as Patrick said goodbye to his camp buddies. Then the family caravanned back to Edna’s Treasures for a celebratory feast.

*****

Later that night when the cottage was settled, Brian and Justin took a moonlit stroll to the stream. Their two weeks of solitude was over and they were very happy about it.

“So I guess this means we can’t fuck all over the cottage anymore,” Justin said wistfully as he hopped up on the great rock.

“Nope,” Brian said as he stood in front of his spouse, in between Justin’s thighs. He hung his arms over Justin’s shoulders. “We’ll just have to wait until next summer when the kids go away to camp again and Bobby spirits my brother away,” Brian stated with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek.

“Sounds like you have it all planned out,” Justin responded with a smirk.

“Never let it be said that Brian Kinney leaves anything for the last minute.”

“You are the epitome of organization.”

“Does that mean I can organize a kiss out of you?” Brian said leaning in closer to Justin’s ruby red lips.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Justin said breathlessly leaning up to meet Brian’s lips as they descended upon his own. The boys kissed, their tongues exploring, promising so much more.

“How about a stream-side fuck?” Brian suggested.

“I don’t know. What if a big bad frog hops close?” Justin teased.

“Let him get his own Sunshine, you’re already taken,” Brian bravely quipped with another kiss. The local night noises of crickets and frogs were singing happily by their little stream.

“My big brave prince,” Justin cooed. However, a loud croaking of a bullfrog persuaded Brian to change his mind.

“On the other hand, we do have a big comfortable bed and central air conditioning.”

“Very true,” Justin agreed nonchalantly as he hopped down from the rock. He would never mention his husband’s feet of clay. Justin took Brian’s hand, leading him back to the path and on toward the cottage.

They were almost to the sun porch door when Brian’s cell rang. Brian arched his brow at the number. They stood just outside the door as Brian took the call.

“Sonny Boy? What’s up?”

“Dad, I think I want to come home,” Gus said disappointedly.

“What’s wrong?” Brian asked, shrugging his shoulders when Justin patted his arm with concern.

“I guess I’m just not cut out for this business. I can’t seem to do anything right.”

“Gus, why don’t you let me be the judge of that? What happened?”

“Stacey was giving a pitch to this new beer company and I kept dropping the boards and then I backed into the table that held the beer and one fell and it exploded and glass went everywhere and...”

“GUS!” Brian shouted to break the loop Gus seemed to be caught on. “Breathe. Did anyone get hurt?”

“Yeah.”

“Who?”

“Me.”

Brian’s heart stopped for a second. Then he took a breath. “How bad?”

“A couple of stitches.”

“Why wasn’t I called?”

“I’m over eighteen, I asked them not to. But Uncle Ken and Uncle Simon insisted I call you.”

“And I’m glad they did. Are you all right? Not badly injured?”

“Only my pride.”

“We can fix that. Is Raymond there?”

“Yeah, right here.”

“May I speak to him?”

“Sure,” Gus said dejectedly as he passed his phone to Ray.

“Ray? Just answer me yes or no.”

“Okay.”

“Is he hurt bad?”

“No.”

“Really just his pride?”

“Yeah.”

"So I don't need to fly there tonight?"

"No."

“Good. Your GLC, is it holding any summer dances? He’s still too young for clubs.”

“Yes, tonight.”

“Take him. I’ll get Stacey to give him a couple of days off to get his head screwed on straight. Beer bottles shouldn’t shatter that way. Something stinks.”

“We didn’t think of that.”

“That’s why they pay me the big bucks. Let me speak to your boyfriend.”

“Okay.”

“Dad?”

“Gus, do what Ray tells you and we'll talk more tomorrow afternoon.”

“But?”

“Goodnight, Gus. I love you and I’m very proud of you. Go out and have fun.”

“But...”

“And call your sister tomorrow, her team won!”

“But...”

“Night, Sonny Boy.”

“Night, Dad. I love you too.” Brian cut the connection.

“Is he all right?” Justin asked, worried.

“He’ll be fine. He’s learning the hard way that life isn’t always that easy.”

“Hmm, like I learned the hard way?”

“You mean all that hard work you had to do, deep into the night?”

“Something like that. Why don’t I show you just how hard working I can be?”

“Lead on, McSunshine,” Brian said as he slid open the door for Justin.
 

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