Treehouse

Chapter 3

Since Claire had not yet returned and John was quite used to getting up with the birds, he started breakfast. The other three men awakened to the sounds of pans banging and John shouting out orders from the bottom of the stairs.

"Up! Up, you lazy bums or I'll fire the lot of you and hire some of those guys from the Honey Bear. Let's go!"

John burst into a fit of laughter as he heard the cursing and the stumbling of three pairs of feet hitting the floor and searching for clean clothes. Bobby was the first down the stairs and that earned him a resounding kiss to his lips. Justin was next and was rewarded with a peck to his cheek and a mug of tea. Brian came down next, still cursing and mumbling for coffee which was gratefully put in his hand by Justin. John looked at his rag tagged carpenters and shook his head in disbelief.

"What a sorry bunch of fags you all are. Eat and we'll discuss our plans for today."

Caffeine and a hearty breakfast did the trick. The treehouse gang was ready to face the day.

As they moved outside John remembered what Justin had said last evening. "Hey, little bro', we need some three inch screws," John said.

"Nine inch screws are better," Brian retorted pinching Justin's ass.

"Metal ones, stainless steel," John said with an exasperated chuckle. Brian's sarcasm was funny but he still wasn't used to having his orders tossed off with a joke.

"And you would be telling me this because…?" Brian asked.

"Because I want you to get in the Jeep and go to the hardware store in Harrisburg."

"Me? Why me?"

"I think it's time you learned where materials come from. Your carpentry skills are improving but I don't feel that you have a true appreciation of the art of building."

"And I 'm going to gain this appreciation at a hardware store in Harrisburg?" Brian snarked.

"You never know."

"Shouldn't you go? You're the one who knows what you want."

"I wouldn't want to deprive you of the experience of touring Smitty's Hardware on Main Street."

"Touring? Are you fucking nuts?"

"Just go. See if you don't like it," John said.

"Go, Brian. You never know what life holds in store for you," Justin encouraged his partner.

"So you're all going to gang up on me, I see. You too, Bobby?"

"You should go. It's a neat place," Bobby agreed.

"I do like neat," Brian admitted with a chuckle.

"More like … immaculate," Justin said with a grin.

Brian kissed him and sighed. "How many fucking three inch stainless steel screw do you want?" He shook his head with a good natured grin on his face.

"Three dozen ought to do it," John said.

"Will I have to float a loan to buy these things?"

"Should be under twenty dollars."

"I think I can handle that. I'll be back in a couple of hours. Don't do anything I would do, and don't wear that tool belt for anybody else, Sunshine."

Justin kissed his man and Brian grabbed his wallet from the house. He peeled off down the driveway. The three men watched him go.

"Let's set the lumber we'll need for today up on the balcony and then you can tell me your story, Sunshine," John grinned.

They formed a chain and quickly had all the pieces for the floor of the main building up in the tree. They needed the screws that Brian was getting to attach the planks to the tree and then to each other.

"I'm surprised you don't have the right screws," Justin said to John. "You seem to have everything else."

"I have them," John smirked. It was the same smirk that Justin had seen on Brian's face many times.

"So you sent Brian off on a wild goose chase?" Justin grinned. "He better never find out."

"I'm not planning on telling him. Are you, Bobby?"

"I heard what he said to that guy who strong armed you last night," Bobby said. "I don't think I want to be on Brian's bad side."

"He's really a pussycat," Justin said with a smile.

"And pussycats, especially big ones, have claws," Bobby added.

"True," Justin admitted.

"So what's the story about that dance?" John asked.

They were now seated in the screen porch with glasses of iced tea.

"It's not a pretty story," Justin said with a frown.

"Why didn't you want Brian around when you told it?" Bobby asked.

"It still freaks him out."

"He did look kind of shell shocked when they played that song," John said.

"They played it at my high school prom," Justin said getting a faraway look in his eyes. "Brian came to my prom and we danced to that song."

"That's so romantic," Bobby said. "I would never have asked a boy to my prom even though I wanted to."

"It didn't turn out as romantic as you might think," Justin grimaced. "In fact I don't remember any of it."

"What do you mean, Justin?" John asked.

"Chris Hobbs, this homophobic jock from my school, bashed my head in with a baseball bat. Brian and I had gone to the parking garage and Hobbs snuck up behind me and hit me."

"Where was Brian?" Bobby asked.

"That's part of the problem. Brian had got into his car. I was going back inside to make sure that my date, Daphne, got home all right. Hobbs hit me before Brian could stop him. Brian has never forgiven himself for failing to protect me, as he calls it. He saved my life by calling out to me. The doctors said I would have been dead if Hobbs had hit me at another angle. I guess I was meant to live."

"Were you seriously hurt?" John asked.

"I was in a coma for several days and then rehab for months. I had panic attacks for a long time. My right hand is screwed up. It goes into spasm if I overuse it."

"Fuck!" John reacted.

"I'm so sorry," Bobby said.

"I'm okay, more or less. But Brian feels this overwhelming need to look after me, keep me safe. That's why he got so freaked when that guy was manhandling me."

"Remind me never to touch you," Bobby said.

"I don't think he's worried about you, Bobby, but John's another story," Justin said suppressing a giggle. John's eyebrows shot up. "Just kidding," Justin chuckled.

"Shall we make lunch for the wanderer when he returns?" John asked breathing a sigh of relief.

"That's the least we can do for the man when he returns from his wild goose chase," Bobby giggled.

By the time they had lunch almost ready Brian drove up the lane. He got out of the Jeep and opened the back waiting for everyone to come out of the house. He sat on the tailgate with a smirk on his face.

"Have a good trip?" John asked innocently.

"Very," Brian replied. "Help me unload all this stuff."

"What stuff?" Justin asked.

Brian started handing it out describing each item as he did so. He had purchased sleeping bags, two big ones and one small, for Gus, himself and Justin. He had a large battery-powered lantern to place in the treehouse. He had bought a little table and two chairs that would suit the little boy in his house in the air. When Brian was finished unloading all these things, they carried them into the barn to store them until the treehouse was finished.

"Gus is going to be so surprised," Justin chuckled. "He may set up residence in the tree and we'll never get him down."

"Me too," Brian laughed. Justin elbowed him gently.

"So you liked Smitty's I take it?" John smirked.

"Not bad," Brian said. That was high praise.

"Where are the screws you went for?"

"Smitty said not to bother. He remembered you had bought several dozen last week."

"Really?" John said trying to look innocent.

"He was sure you had sent me to check out the store. He appreciated all the business and I enjoyed a little retail therapy."

"You're not mad?" John asked. Brian grinned and shook his head. "That's good." John decided not to say anymore. He didn't think Brian would want to know what they had talked about while he was gone. "Lunch is almost ready."

"Good. I'm starved," Brian said throwing his arm over Justin's shoulder. "All this fresh air and manual labor and fucking into the wee small hours of the night makes a man hungry."

John watched them head to the house. He understood his little brother a bit more, but he was sure there was much, much more still to learn.

After lunch, progress on the treehouse moved quickly. Since a lot of the wood was up on the balcony level, Bobby and Justin were able to finish off the railing while John and Brian worked on the support beams for the second level. They were able to put up several planks for the floor before it got too dark to work. The treehouse gang jumped down from the scaffolding and stepped back to admire their work.

"Wow!" Justin exclaimed, "It's really taking shape."

"Yeah, I can't believe we're doing this and it hasn't fallen down yet." Brian added.

"Oh ye of little faith. When I design something, it stays up until I pull it down." John boasted.

"Well, big bro, I have to admit, you know what the hell you're doing. If Justin and I ever decide to move out of the loft, you'll build our house."

Justin beamed a smile toward Brian and sent a wink to John. Wisely, no one made any comments about Brian's slip of the tongue.

"I think we have time for a dip in the stream before dinner," Bobby suggested and received grunts of agreements from his companions. "Instead of cooking, how about I call out for a couple of pizzas. They make a decent pizza in town and given the right encouragement they'll deliver, even out here." They all conceded that they were a little tired to cook, so pizza sounded like an excellent idea. Bobby went in the house to make the call while John, Brian and Justin headed toward the stream.

John and Justin immediately dropped their clothes and swam out to the middle. Brian splashed a little at the shore while watching his brother and lover swim. With the feeling of satisfaction that hard work produced, he lay in a patch of warm grass. Within minutes Brian was asleep.

The sun was dipping on the horizon, when John and Justin headed for the shore to get their clothes. As they approached John indicated to Justin to move quietly. Near the edge they saw the sleeping Brian. John pointed to something that was hopping toward the sleeping queen. A big dark green bullfrog was about to stake his claim on Brian's patch of grass and call out for a mate. John and Justin squelched their laughter as the stirring Brian, feeling that he was being watched, turned his head toward the intruder.

Hazel eyes widened in horror as dark frog eyes stared back.

"Holy fucking shit!" Brian jumped up and ran for the safety of the house leaving his sneakers behind and John and Justin holding their sides as their hysterical laughter threatened to split them open. They walked back to the house attempting to get control over themselves before facing Brian. John and Justin were relatively successful until, of course, they saw Brian leaning on the screen door gasping for breath. Their mirth was then uncontrollable.

"Very funny. Have a good laugh at my expense. I could have been slimed to death and then where would you be," Brian stated in all sincerity.

Justin and John looked at each other then at Brian and immediately broke into laughter that brought both men to tears. Brian glared back, highly insulted and huffed his way into the house.

Dinner was pleasant and for the most part quiet until someone looked at Brian and started to snicker. At one point, having quite enough of being the comic relief, Brian took his pizza and beer and went to sulk on the porch. Scarfing down his pizza, Justin went to join him. Cautiously opening the screen door, Justin ventured into the lion's den.

"You still mad at me?"

"You gonna laugh at me again?"

"No, I won't laugh. And I wasn't laughing at you. I was laughing at the situation. The look on your face was adorable."

"I don't do adorable."

"Priceless, then. So can I stay out here with you?"

"Yeah." Brian scooched over on the loveseat swing to make room for Justin. Justin sat and leaned into Brian as Brian put his arm around his shoulder. After a few quiet moments Justin quipped. "Slimed to death?"

"Justin, did you get a good look at that thing? That was one big frog. I could've been covered in slime." Brian shuddered at the thought. Justin patted Brian's thigh. "At the very least, I think I'm scarred for life. I'll never be able to watch the Animal Planet with you again without reliving the trauma."

Justin nodded and continued to offer his silent support. Justin let his queen, er, man, ramble on about the big bad frog until Brian was totally rambled out.

By moonlight, the lovers were able to make out the structure of the treehouse. "Brian, the treehouse is going to be amazing. I'm so proud of you."

"Me? It was you and your tenacity that got us here. You and your Sunshine File. None of this would ever have happened without it."

The lovers gently rocked in the swing until they were too tired to keep their eyes open.

"Come on, Sunshine, time for bed. We still have a lot more work to do and we need our rest."

The lovers went back into the house, bid John and Bobby a goodnight and went to bed. John and Bobby had cleaned up dinner and were also ready for bed. With the house secured for the night, they too retired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday morning brought gray skies but the clouds did not dim the tool men's determination for hard work. Arising early, they ate a light breakfast, broke out the tools and headed up the tree.

"John, after the scaffolding comes down, how are we supposed to get up and down this thing?"

"Very good question. See these two gaps in the sections of railing? I will make gates and there will be a ladder on one side and a slide on the other. I think Gus will have a great time sliding down. Call it a quick getaway."

Justin's face lit up with delight at the thought of sliding down out of the treehouse. "Gus won't be the only one sliding." Brian observed.

The four men found an easy working rhythm. By lunch, the floor, complete with trap door and steps leading to and from the balcony level and infrastructure was finished. Tacking up a copy of the plans to one post, John explained the next phase of construction to his men. As they descended the scaffolding, a truck was pulling up the drive.

"Ah, just in time." John said with a grin. "Just lean them against the porch," John called out. The delivery men waved at John and followed his instructions.

"What's all this?" Justin asked as John went over to greet his delivery.

"I have no idea," Brian answered. "I guess we should find out."

With its cargo unloaded and the delivery men well tipped, the truck drove off.

"Windows? You had windows made for the treehouse?" Brian stated with amazement.

"And a door. It does get chilly at night sometimes and you don't want to share your sleeping bag with mosquitoes. The plans called for windows and a door. I had them custom made."

"John, this goes above and beyond brotherliness."

"Maybe, but Gus is my nephew, I'd like him to have the best."

Justin, listening to the exchange between the brothers, offered his opinion. "I think he already has the best." Simultaneously the brothers blushed and dipped their heads. Before embarrassment could take over, John's Navigator pulled up and Claire got out.

"Mom! I'm glad you're back."

"Got tired of doing all the cooking?" Claire asked and then stopped in her tracks when she saw what the boys had accomplished thus far. "It's incredible! You've done a wonderful job. I'm so proud of all of you. This calls for a special dinner. After lunch, I'll get started baking."

There was no stopping Claire and the boys wouldn't dream of it anyway. Quickly eating lunch, the boys were anxious to get the walls up before dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Claire noted that Brian and Justin were a little subdued as they were getting cleaned up for dinner.

"What's the matter Brian?"

"I thought we'd make better progress by now."

"Brian, you're making great progress."

"Thank you Claire, but I was hoping the walls would be up by now. We spent the whole afternoon putting up more scaffolding."

Claire, who had been around while John was learning his trade knew that this was a necessary step in the process. "Brian, did you think you were going to stand on ladders to put up the walls. I know you're disappointed but the scaffolding is important so you all can work safely. Believe me, I worry a lot when John is on a big job. Accidents happen when you rush through something. Working safely is more important than working fast."

Brian conceded Claire's point but it made his disappointment no less real. "You'll see. Tomorrow not only will the walls go up but I bet the roof will be done and some windows installed."

Brian brightened; his mind's eye could see it happening. Kissing Claire on the cheek, he thanked Claire for her wisdom.

Claire had been very busy while the boys were putting up the scaffolding. A roast beef was resting on the sideboard along with several pies and fresh baked biscuits. There were also steamed vegetables and chilled summer fruit for dessert. The ravenous construction workers dove into dinner and ate with gusto.

Quietly enjoying dessert on the porch, Claire stated with a straight face, "Brian, I hear you've been enjoying our local fauna." Brian scowled, the furrows in his brow deepened as the quiet night was disrupted by the eruption of laughter.