Summer in the City

Chapter 1

“Dada?”

“Yes, Squirt.”

“When are we going?”

“When school is finished.”

“Oh.  Are we staying for the whole summer?”

“God, I hope not.”

“Why Dada?”

“Because even though I love it there, I want to spend some quiet time right here, at home with you and your daddy.”

“Oh.  Dada?”

“Yes, Squirt.”

“Can Gamma Joan come too?  We had fun together.”

“You remember?  You were only a baby.”

“I remember painting with Daddy.  I remember cupcakes and Gamma and Auntie Emm and a parade.  But I don’t remember other stuff.”

“You’ll remember more this time.”

“I know, Dada.  So can Gamma Joan come with us?”

“I’ll call her tomorrow and ask, but for now, it’s bedtime.”

“Okay, Dada.  Can Daddy read me a story?”

“Let’s go ask him.”  Brian picked up his daughter who was cuddling with him on the chaise in the sun porch.  Brian could hear his spouse putzing around in the kitchen.  “Justin, there’s a sleepy young lady here who requires a bedtime story from her Daddy.  Do you know a Daddy who is specially trained and adept at reading bedtime stories?”

Briana giggled at her Dada’s silliness.

“I think I may know a Daddy who is uniquely qualified for the job,” Justin quipped with a smile.

“Well, in that case,” Brian began, as he transferred their daughter into Justin’s waiting arms,  “I believe this young lady is yours.”  Brian gave Bree a kiss to her forehead and then one to the tip of her cute little nose.  “I love you, baby.  Sweet dreams.”

“Love you too, Dada.  Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Squirt.”

“Bri, I may be a while,” Justin said as he turned to bring Bree to her room.

“Take your time; I’m going to have a shower.  Meet you in our room, Sunshine.”  Justin’s smile transformed into his famous sunshine smile as he walked down the hall.

Brian quickly prepared a tray of tidbits and poured a couple glasses of brandy.  He took his goodies to the room he shared with his lover then hurried into the shower.

*****

It was early June of 2017.  Bree had a couple more weeks of school.  Kinnetik was on the verge of expansion.  Scott of Kinnetik Part Deux was expanding quietly, subtly, moving deeper into the southern and western states while Kinnetic N’rgy and Stacey were about to make a louder splash in the Big Apple.  Brian’s presence and talents were needed in New York.  Learning from his early experiences, Brian decided that Justin and Bree would accompany him from the beginning.  He did not want a repeat of the loneliness and misery he suffered the last time he was separated from his family.  So he and Justin were preparing for their trip, together.

“Hey,” Justin said as he stepped into their sanctum then stopped dead in his tracks.  Brian, clad only in a small towel, was draped languidly across their bed.  He was holding a brandy snifter, slowly swirling the amber liquid then taking a small sip.  Justin watched with fascination as the tendons and muscles in Brian’s neck flexed and relaxed as he swallowed. 

Still standing by the door, Justin watched as Brian put down the snifter and picked up a small wedge of orange.  As Brian bit the wedge, a dribble of juice ran down his hand.  Justin nearly came in his pants as Brian’s tongue snaked out to lick the errant juice.

“You don’t know whether to fuck me or draw me, do you?” Brian drawled softly with an amused expression.  Justin shrugged and shook his head.  “Why don’t you join me,” Brian suggested. 

Justin immediately secured their bedroom door then quickly stripped off his clothes.  His sneakers hit the floor with a thud; his clothes lay in a heap next to them.  Gingerly, Justin climbed up onto their bed. 

Justin took in the sight of his lover.  At forty-seven, Brian was still the sexiest, most sensual man on the planet.  While most people felt powerless without clothes, Brian’s confidence made him even more powerful.  It’s said that clothes make the man; in Justin’s estimation, it was Brian who made the clothes.

Brian handed Justin his own glass of brandy.  Justin took several small sips, letting the smooth liqueur slide down his throat, making him mellow.  Brian pitted a ruby red cherry and fed it to his lover.  Justin tingled with sweet sensations.

Not in any rush, the lovers finished their brandy and most of the fruit.  Brian removed the tray then turned his attention solely onto Justin.  Long elegant fingers carded through Justin’s tresses.  Brian kissed his forehead, the stubble of Brian’s beard tickling Justin.  Since Brian ran his empire from home, he had allowed his beard and mustache to grow.  He never kept the beard for long but for the time Brian did, Justin enjoyed it.

“Brian,” Justin moaned as Brian kissed him deeply and thoroughly.  As their tongues met and explored, so did their hands.  Strong learned hands that knew where to apply pressure, where to caress and where to fondle.

“Gonna cum,” Justin whispered, his whole body on fire with the heat of desire.  

“Let go, Sunshine,” Brian murmured.  “Cum for me.”  Spurred on by his lover’s encouragement, Justin’s body arched up and he came.  Thick ropes of pearly white cum dotted the lovers.  Justin flopped back onto the bed.

“Mmm,” Brian purred as he dipped a finger into Justin’s cum and brought it to his lips.  “You are my sweet boy.”  Justin felt Brian’s words wash over him, as Brian covered Justin with his body.

“Make love to me, Brian,” Justin begged, spreading his legs so that Brian could lay between them.  “Love me.”

“Always, Justin,” Brian said as they kissed.  “Always.”

*****

“So what do you want to do?”

“I’d really like to have my own restaurant,” Emmett replied.  He and Drew were lying in bed.  They had been discussing John’s ‘Village Project’. 

Drew smiled.  “Then what’s the problem?”

“I’m not sure I can do it,” Emmett said, screwing up his face.

“You can do anything, Babe,” Drew said reaching over to take Emmett’s hand.  Emmett’s toothy grin followed by a kiss to the cheek were Drew’s reward for those words.  “I love it when you say things like that.”

“I merely speak the truth.”

“And that makes it even better.”

“Emmett, I truly don’t understand what the problem is.  Sean practically runs Emmett’s Place.  You have very competent people looking after your party planning business.  They need you for your creative expertise, but it’s not like you have to be there every minute of every day.”

“But I’m not a chef,” Emmett said sadly.

“Were you thinking of cooking for the restaurant?”

“Yeah, why?  You don’t think I could do that either, do you?” Emmett replied.  He knew the whole restaurant idea was too much.  He should set his sights lower.

“I think you can do it if you want to, but I don’t understand why you would want to.”

“Huh?”

“Being chef in a restaurant means that you have to be there every night, cooking and slaving in the kitchen.  You would have menus and staff and ordering to look after.  How many hours do you think there are in the day?  I’d never see you,” Drew told his lover.

“See, I knew I couldn’t do it.”
 

“Why don’t you find the best chef available, someone who will cook the kinds of things that reflect the way you want your restaurant to be?  He would be in charge of the staff there and the ordering.  You could set the tone for the menus, but you wouldn’t have to be involved in all the day to day stuff.”

“Do you think I could use some of the great recipes I have?” Emmett asked with a cute little smile on his face.

“It would be your restaurant.  You could do whatever you want.”

“Like what?”

“I’d put those blue cheese and pear puff pastries as an appetizer.  You could serve your famous popovers.  Then you would need to look at fish, meat, vegetarian dishes, to decide the type of thing you want the restaurant known for.”

“I’d kind of like to keep the popovers for Emmett’s Place,” Emmett said shyly.

“Or serve them at the restaurant and tell the wait staff to inform the customers that they can buy them at your other establishment.”

“Establishment,” Emmett chuckled.  “I guess I am part of the establishment of Pittsburgh now.  Who would have ever guessed that the flaming homo from Hazelhurst would…”

Emmett didn’t get to finish his statement as Drew spread out on top of him and kissed him into incoherence.  When the kissing ended, Emmett said, “I’m going to do it.”

“I knew you were,” Drew chuckled.

“And you’re okay with it?”

“I’m more than okay.  In fact I was talking to John the other day about maybe opening a specialty sports shop in his complex.  I think I’m going to invest one way or another.”

“Your store would be right next door to my restaurant.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“I love you, Drew Boyd.”

“That’s good, because I love you right back.”

*****

“What’s up?” Raph asked as he checked Curtis’ room.  It was late and the boy should be asleep.  He found Curtis’ eyes staring at him as he opened the door.

“I can’t sleep.”

“Why not?”

“I…” Curtis hesitated.  His hand scrubbed at Matty’s neck as he tried to explain what was wrong.  He didn’t think he had the words, and he was sure that Raph wouldn’t want to hear them anyway.

Raph listened to Matty purr.  It seemed loud enough to fill the room and it made Raph smile.  “What’s bothering you, Curtis?” he asked gently.

Curtis shook his head and stared at the wall refusing to meet Raph’s gaze.  “I’m not sure.”

“I think you are.  How be you sit up and tell me what’s going on?”  Raph sat down on the edge of Curtis’ bed.

Curtis slid up and propped some pillows behind his back.  Matty was bounced around so she stood, stretched and plopped down against Curtis’ leg.  Curtis’ hand immediately returned to the soft fur around Matty’s neck.  The purring began again almost immediately.

“She really loves you, Curtis,” Raph said with a smile.  “She’s turned into a lovely cat.”

“She always was a lovely cat,” Curtis said adamantly.  “She stayed with me when I was all alone.”

“I know,” Raph replied.  “You two belong together.”

“Yes, we do.”

“So, can you tell me what’s keeping you awake?

“You won’t like it,” Curtis said softly.

“Try me.”

“If … If I come to live with you and Hector … permanently, how permanent will that be?” Curtis asked.

“I don’t understand,” Raph said with a frown.  “Permanent is permanent.”

“And when I screw up, what happens then?”

“What makes you think you’ll screw up?”

“I will,” Curtis declared.

Raph stared at the boy.  He didn’t understand where this was coming from.  “I don’t see what screwing up has to do with being here permanently.  I guess everyone screws up from time to time.  I know I do too, although I try not to.  If it happens, we fix it and then we go on.”

“And if it’s really bad?” Curtis asked with tears in his eyes.

“Curtis, has something happened?” Raph asked, suddenly concerned about what he was hearing and its possible implications.

“No, nothing’s happened yet,” Curtis assured him.

“Yet?”

“Are you planning to do something bad?”

Curtis shook his head.  “No,” he mumbled.

“Is everything all right at school?”

“Yeah, it’s not bad.  Since Officer McGinty scared the bullies off, they’ve pretty much left me alone.  The kids know that I’m friends with Gus Kinney and that has helped a lot.”

Raph smiled.  He knew Gus was a good kid, and this just proved it.  “I’m glad you have Gus as a friend.”

“So am I.”

“So, you still haven’t told me what the problem is.”

“If I do something bad, will … will you send me back to foster care … to the Hardigans?”

“Good Lord, no!  What would ever make you think such a thing?  Hunter tells me the Hardigans won’t ever be able to have foster children again, and there are charges pending against them.  If all goes well, they’ll be going to jail.”

“Yeah, but I could be sent somewhere just as bad,” Curtis declared.

“You’re not going to be sent anywhere,” Raph stated clearly.

“How do I know that?  How do you know that?  I could do something that makes you really mad.  I could do something awful.”

“I don’t think that’s very likely,” Raph said with a smile.  Then his face sobered.  “You’re not planning to do something … awful, are you?”

“Of course not,” Curtis said with a frown.  “I just know that when I was at the Hardigans, I could do bad stuff even when I was trying to do good stuff.”

“You mean they would say you had done something wrong even if you were being good.”

Curtis nodded, an errant tear running down his cheek.  “It happened a lot.”

“And they would punish you?”
 

Curtis nodded, more tears following the first.  “They usually locked me in a closet.”

“What?” Raph asked in disbelief.

“They locked me…” Curtis repeated.

“I heard you, Curtis,” Raph said gently.  “I just couldn’t believe my ears.  How … how often did this happen?”

“A few times,” Curtis admitted, his voice barely audible.  He held onto Matty’s fur, causing the cat to squirm beneath his touch.

“That’s a few too many,” Raph declared.  “The Hardigans did this?”  Curtis nodded.  “I don’t understand how they could have been allowed to look after children.”

“They didn’t look after us.  They were mean.”

“You never have to worry about Hector and I doing anything like that,” Raph promised.

“I know,” Curtis said.  “I see how nice you are.  But…”

“But what?”

“I can’t go back there,” Curtis sobbed.

“You are never going back there.  You have my word on that,” Raph said tugging Curtis against his chest.  He felt the boy heave with sobs.  “I promise, Curtis.  No one is going to hurt you like that again.  I will never send you away.”

“Thank you,” Curtis sobbed and his arms went around Raph’s chest.  They clung to each other making silent vows about how the future would be different from the past.

Matty looked up, worried about the loss of Curtis’ hand from her fur, and the suddenly strange emotions swirling in the room.  She let out a pitiful mewl to get their attention, but neither of them noticed as they held onto each other.

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