And Manny Makes Three: Gay Romance

by Solet, Trina

"I don't like Miss Olga. She makes me do homework even when I don't have any," Al complained.

  "Maybe she'll play the piano for you." Zack doubted it, but sometimes when she was in a good mood, she did play for Al.

  "Piano lessons are extra," Al parroted Miss Olga's often repeated warning if Al went anywhere near her piano.

  Zack had originally signed up Al for Miss Olga's piano lessons after kindergarten because she lived so close, and it doubled as babysitting. Miss Olga saw right through that ploy. Neither Zack nor Al wanted piano lessons for him so it was just as well when Miss Olga refused to teach him after only two failed lessons. Miss Olga had deemed Al incorrigible and also too young and undisciplined. But she was willing to allow him to stay with her but for no more than two hours on the condition that Al behaved himself like a young gentleman. In Miss Olga's book, that meant that he shouldn't disturb her TV watching.

  Sometimes Al sat in on her piano lessons with other kids. He didn't like that because he had to be even more quiet so he wouldn't distract the student during his or her lesson. But most of the time, there was only Al and the TV to keep Miss Olga company. She was not Al's favorite person, but Zack wasn't worried about Miss Olga's grouchiness. All Zack cared about was that he could trust her. Since Al didn't have any living grandparents, not any worth knowing anyway, it wasn't a bad thing for him to spend some quality time with a grumpy, old person. And maybe it would make him appreciate Zack a little more.

  The next day after work, Zack delivered Al and a takeout dinner for two to Miss Olga's. That was their arrangement if Zack dropped Al off after five. Zack had her favorite Chinese food memorized by now. Most of the time when Zack had her watch Al in the evenings, it meant he had a date. This time he was meeting Mark.

  Back home, Zack took a look around his house to try and see it from the perspective of a potential nanny. He only saw the house he grew up in and gave up trying to see it any other way. When Mark called to say that he was on his way, Zack had offered to get him dinner as well. But Mark said he already ate. Zack ate a little as he waited. But he found he was too nervous to really chow down.

  He was relieved when he heard Mark's light knock.

  First thing after introductions, Mark pointed to the warning sign attached to the front door. It was on both sides. It read "Careful! Don't let the cat out."

  "Yes, there is a cat," Zack said. But PJ proved her own existence by rubbing against Mark's legs. The slut. Mark bent down to pet the slutty cat.

  "You didn't have her declawed? That's good," Mark said.

  Zack was surprised he had noticed. He shrugged.

  "I couldn't do that. Especially to PJ. You see the note up there." Zack pointed a thumb at the front door. "She's always trying to sneak out. One of these days, she'll be out there, maybe lost. I want her armed and able to defend herself."

  Mark smiled, nodded in approval and straightened up from petting PJ. He looked around the place as Zack looked at him. The first thing Zack noticed was his eyes, dark and ... No, not pretty. That was not the right way to think about this guy. But Zack couldn't help looking at him the way he would look at any other attractive man. And he was definitely attractive, stunningly attractive. He had broad shoulders and a lean but strong looking body. He was no more than an inch shorter than Zack. That put him in a perfect position for Zack to look into his eyes. Those dark eyes, almost black, were made for a lover to get lost in them. His hair was dark brown and soft looking not coarse like Zack's. His skin was just a little darker than Al's. Zack was going to look as pasty as a cheap Band-Aid next to them.

  "I'll show you around since this place is part of the deal," Zack said as he led the way through the house. "Mia thinks you are a saint. Are you?" Zack was almost prepared to believe him if he said he was.

  "No."

  "You'll kind of need to be," Zack said, and he wasn't joking. "No booze, no drugs, no swearing. No having guys over, or anyone actually, not even friends. For now anyway. We can..."

  "That's fine," Mark agreed. His agreeing so quickly didn't mean that he would really follow those rules, but Zack felt sure of his good intentions. What he didn't trust was his youth. But more than that, Zack didn't trust himself around him.

  ***

  Zack Warner's house was in a nicer neighborhood than Mia's. There were a lot of big, older houses there just like the one Mark was approaching. He liked the feel of the neighborhood. The street was lined with tall trees and lush gardens. There was a wide sidewalk too. But he worried that the people living there might be too old fashioned to be gay friendly.

  He pulled into the driveway next to a beige, late model Pathfinder, a parent's car. After taking some deep breaths, Mark knocked lightly. He hated an obnoxious, loud knock and figured other people did too. He was apprehensive as he waited for the front door to be opened. Then there was Zack giving him a quick smile and rushing him through the door so he could close it before the cat sneaked out. Mark met Zack then PJ. PJ's fur was striped black and brown and silky rather than fluffy. Mark focused on her rather than Zack. He wanted to get himself under control.

  Mark had started out being just plain nervous, but now he was nervous in a different way. He couldn't remember having such a strong reaction to any guy he had ever met. And he had certainly met more attractive men than Zack. But there was something about him. He was good looking in an unimpressive, blue eyed, dirty blond sort of way. Zack was only a hair's breadth taller than Mark but more solid and filled out. There was an easy masculinity about him of a young father and a family man, but also a sense of fun. His voice was just deep enough to tickle Mark's spine but still pleasant and unassuming. And he spoke like he didn't want anything he said to be taken too seriously. Though he must have been judging and evaluating Mark for the job, Mark didn't feel scrutinized. He only felt welcomed into his home.

  Now that he was a little more used to the effect Zack had on him, Mark turned his attention to Zack's home. It was a sprawling, one story house. On the floor, beige carpet alternated with beige tiles. The living room was large and furnished in an old fashioned but comfortable way that surprised Mark. It didn't look like a thirty year old gay guy's house.

  As if he could tell what Mark was thinking, Zack explained.

  "It used to be my parents' house. I moved in here when I got Al." Zack smiled as soon as he mentioned his son. "I didn't think my apartment was right for him. And I guess, it made me feel less alone. I was scared to be raising him by myself. Here I felt like my parents were watching over me and wouldn't let me screw up too bad. God, I wish they could have met Al," he said wistfully. Then he pulled himself out of that mood. "OK, I'm done being sentimental and embarrassing myself. For now. Until I start telling you about Al's mother."

  Zack looked sad when he said that last thing though a smile still lingered on his face through the sadness. After pointing out his office, he led Mark past the living room and down a hallway. He showed him the door to his own bedroom. He opened it quickly, but they didn't go in. Next Zack led him to the guest room that would be Mark's if he got the job. Mark liked it fine, especially the private bathroom he would be getting. The furniture was old fashioned like in the rest of the house, but that was okay. Mark had glimpsed the same kind of furniture in Zack's bedroom too.

  "I haven't changed much in here. Al's room used to be my room." Zack showed him the kid's room next.

  The first thing he pointed out was one of the pictures on the bedside table.

  "That's Al's mother, my stepsister. She had me adopt Al because she knew she was dying. She had acute myeloid leukemia. It had progressed too far before she even knew she had it. She was gone so fast." Zack's voice was very thick when he said this. It was almost like he was forcing the words out. Mark could see that he was teary eyed.

  ***

  Zack noticed that Mark let him stare at that picture of Kelly and Al without any impatience or discomfort. He felt as if Mark might be capable of waiting forever for Zack to pull himself together. The picture Zack had sh
owed him on Al's night stand was of Kelly, already looking a little pale, holding baby Al in the crook of her arm. Zack only told a few people who she was. Kelly’s family didn’t know anything about Al, and he wanted to keep it that way.

  Al knew all about her. He knew that the dark haired girl in the picture was his mother because Zack had told him that since the first night he spent without her. Al knew that she loved him and that she was gone. Zack wished that he had more pictures of Kelly. Her mother had kept the family photos. After she died, Zack didn't know what happened to them. He only had a handful of pictures, all framed and placed around the house. In most of them, Kelly was still a kid. There was one of Kelly with his dad. On the back, it was labeled "Father and Daughter" in his father's handwriting. That picture used to sit on Dad's desk along with ones of him and Zack and another of him and Kelly's mother. The sun used to hit it so it was a little faded now. With his father's arm around her, Kelly was smiling, and his father was too. Though there was no resemblance between them, they did look unmistakably like father and daughter.

  That was the next picture Zack showed Mark as they went back to the living room. Mark said that Zack looked just like his father.

  "I'll take that as a compliment. I wish I was more like him in other ways. He was a top notch dad."

  "I'm sure you do fine," Mark said not overdoing the reassurance since he couldn't back it up with any first hand knowledge. "When you got Al, was it just you?" he asked.

  "No. My friend, Louise, moved in to help me out. That's her." Zack pointed out another photo on the side table full of them. In it, Louise had a big grin as she held on to baby Al in the back yard while he tried to walk. Her red hair was unruly from the wind, but she looked pretty good anyway. Zack told Mark more about her. "When I got Al, she had just broken up with a guy she was living with. She was kind of depressed. I wasn't doing so well either since Kelly had just died. And I thought, hey, two depressed people are better than one. Actually, having to take care of Al was good for both of us. She grew really attached to Al. But then she got married and moved to Boston."

  "You guys must miss her," Mark said turning his eyes to Zack with a look of understanding.

  "We do. Actually she met Jack, her husband, because of Al. We were taking Al for a check up, and Jack was working as a nurse at one of the other doctor's offices in the building. She struck up an instant friendship with him, but she thought he was gay."

  "Because he was a male nurse," Mark guessed. Zack wondered if he was sensitive to those kinds of assumptions since he was a male nanny. Of course, he actually was gay.

  "That and Jack is really buff. It was a good thing that she thought he was gay. Louise gets really nervous around hot, straight guys and makes a complete fool of herself. By the time she found out Jack wasn't gay, he had already fallen for her. She did make a fool of herself later, but it didn't hurt her case as much."

  "It must have been hard on Al when she left."

  "He was still little so it wasn't too hard. After Louise moved away, we had Mrs. Krinos for a while. Al learned a little Greek from her then forgot it all when she left to live closer to her daughter. Then these two sisters, Molly and Dianna, took turns watching Al during the day. They were college students like you. They were fun and Al loved them. Then they graduated, and we got PJ." To confirm that he meant PJ, the cat, Zack nodded at her. She was busy trying to wrap herself around Mark's leg. She was shameless.

  "So you don't even need me," Mark concluded.

  "Oh, we need you. Cats make terrible nannies. This one is always leaving Al in the hot car while she goes off to score catnip so she can get blitzed and gamble away her paycheck."

  Mark shook his head in disapproval at the cat, but then he petted her. Zack had never before wished so hard that he was a cat.

  Mark's visit had left Zack smiling as he went to the car to drive to Miss Olga's. When he picked him up, Al was full of questions. He pestered Zack about Mark the whole drive back. Zack told him a few things, but not too much. He wanted Al to make up his own mind about Mark.

  Mia must have already debriefed Mark by the time she called Zack. Zack assured her that he would have called her eventually if she hadn't beaten him to it. She scoffed at that.

  "What did you think?" she pressed him.

  "You mean when can he move in?"

  "Really? That's great," Mia said jumping way ahead based on a little bit of sarcasm.

  "What? No. I was being sarcastic. I'm considering this carefully. I will let Mark know my decision," Zack said to let her know that she wouldn't be the first one he called.

  "You're leaving me out of the loop?" Mia asked, appalled that her role as a middle-woman was already over.

  "Yes. Mark is an adult. Right?" Zack reminded her.

  "Fine. But I want to be the second to know," she demanded.

  "How about the fourth?" Zack offered.

  "Come on."

  "I'm first. Then Al then Mark," Zack explained the pecking order to her.

  "OK, fine. Al before Mark?"

  "I'll want them to meet before I make it final." Then Zack changed the subject a little bit to ask her, "How did he end up living with you exactly?"

  He knew the story but not all the details. Now that he had met Mark, he wanted to know more. Mia filled in the blanks.

  "Well, I kind of thought he might be gay. He was babysitting for us one night. He came over just as we were waiting for this really cute guy to finish fixing our internet connection then we were going to leave for our monthly dinner and a movie. That's when I saw how Mark looked at this cute guy, and I knew. He was adorable around him." Here Mia's voice grew more serious. "I was a little worried about Mark's parents though. Some things I heard about them nagged at me. Something about the church they went to. I asked some of our former neighbors about his parents. I told you we used to live near them before we moved, that's when Mark started babysitting for us. But he did it even after that. He just rode his bike to our house. Anyway, the neighbors said his parents were really conservative. And I was thinking ‘Uh-oh’. So I had a little talk with Mark and told him not to come out to his parents until he was out of the house and independent from them. Kids can be so impulsive and not think about practical things. And I also told him if anything ever happened, that we would help him and to come to us."

  "That was nice of you." Zack was genuinely touched, and that wasn't the big stuff yet.

  Mia continued.

  "I didn't realize what would happen though. I said it just in case. But late one night, there is Mark at our front door. We saw him through the window. He was afraid to knock and so apologetic when we opened the door. Now this is late November, and he has just been thrown out on the street by his parents because he was caught with some boy. I was ready to drive over to his parents' house and kill them. But I didn't. Anyway, that sweet boy asked if he could sleep in our garage for the night. Can you imagine? He looked so pale and cold and sad. And I still didn't go and kill his parents. I should get a medal."

  "You should, for that and for other reasons," Zack praised her.

  "I actually thought it was temporary. That he would only stay with us until we could find him somewhere else to live. Until then, he watched Dorie for us and did all sorts of things to help out. He went to school too. But there was nowhere else for him to go and live. Some of his relatives just refused outright to have him. And others made excuses. By then, Frank and I were used to having Mark around. He's so quiet and helpful, plus we knew we could trust him. So we made him our live in nanny. At first he wouldn't let us pay him. He was so grateful. It broke my heart. But he did later. I think because he wanted to go to college and needed the money."

  "You're a nice lady." That was an understatement.

  "Oh, give him the job already."

  "Stop nagging."

  Hearing more of what happened to Mark made Zack wonder about his own motive for wanting to hire him. And it wasn't because Mark was hot. If anything, that was an obstacle. Zack just
couldn't help thinking about Kelly and how he had failed her when she needed a safe place to live. Mia saved Mark from living on the street. Mark could probably manage better now that he was older, but he wouldn't have to. Zack still suspected that he wanted to give Mark a home, not just a job, and that worried him. But he also felt like the decision was already made. He made it as soon as he met Mark.

  Chapter 4

  On his second visit to Zack's house, the place already felt more familiar. Since he was about to meet the kid, Mark looked again at the photos of Al on the side table. Al was pictured from the days when he was a baby to some very recent pictures with the cat. Zack was holding Al in some of the pictures, the proud, happy father in every way. In one photo, Zack was holding Al while Al was holding the very small PJ as a kitten. There were also pictures of Al’s mother as a young girl. There was an unmistakable resemblance between her as a kid and Al. It was sad to think that Al would only know her second hand.

  As Mark waited in the living room for Zack to bring in his son for their first meeting, he could hear the murmur of Zack telling the kid about him. Zack's deep, more even tones were punctuated by the higher, unmodulated sounds of a child's voice. Mark waited for the father to bring the boy in, but the little boy ran into the living room ahead of him.

  "Him?" the boy said pointing at Mark with his arm straight out.

  "Yes. That's Mark. The rude one is Al." That's how Zack introduced them to each other. He had a very casual attitude toward his kid. That’s not what Mark expected since Mia had warned him that Zack was uptight and overprotective of his kid.

  The boy regarded Mark very seriously. Finally he said, "Hi" as if to sum up all his conclusions about Mark in that one word.

  "Hi. Nice to meet you."

  "Nice to meet you too," the boy parroted, stringing the words together without giving them any meaning. He seemed almost unfriendly, very direct while at the same time cautious. He looked a little older than in any of the pictures Mark had seen of him. That wasn't unusual for a child his age. His father would have to take pictures every minute and frame them right away to keep up with his growth. Mark liked that Al wasn't skinny or frail but more robust. Good for him. He had dark, curious eyes and his complexion had some brown in it, like Mark's. As Al was slowly coming in for a closer look, Mark was surprised that Zack kept completely out of the way like nothing significant was going on. He was only watching Al's progress with an amused expression.