by C. E. Wilson
“I need the boxes in the first bedroom taken out and put either in your truck or in Alex’s car. Oh, by the way, what did you do to Alex. He won't even tell Bradley or me why he is in a foul mood.”
“To be honest, I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He won’t even talk to me. I can’t talk things out with him if he doesn’t tell me what’s wrong.”
“He’s in the spare room. Go see what you can figure out. I don’t like seeing my friend like that, Link.”
“I don’t like seeing my boyfriend like that either. I want him to be happy, and he’s angry. I don’t know what I did.”
“Maybe you need to go ask him what you did to make him so angry.”
“Yes, I suppose I need to. I want to get it straightened out. If he doesn’t want to tell me, I will just have to get it out of him some way.”
“Just remember that Jacob is running around here somewhere. He doesn’t need to see anything serious.”
“I wouldn’t do that at your house, Cade. We aren’t even to that point yet.”
“Maybe that’s what’s wrong?”
“I don’t think so. He agreed that we needed to get to know each better before we went there.”
“Well, go find out what his problem is then.”
Link nodded and walked back to the spare bedroom. He looked in, and Alex was stacking the boxes that needed to be taken out. Link went in and shut the door. He turned to Alex and walked over and took a box out of his hands and set it on the bed. “Sit down, Alex. We are going to have a long talk.”
“I don’t have time. I promised to help Cade and Bradley, and that’s what I’m doing.”
“We’ll both help them, but you’re going to talk to me and tell me what has you so upset with me. I want to know so I can fix this. I have missed you so much.”
Alex snorted and sat down. “I doubt you missed me. I would just have been in your way if I was there.”
“See, I don’t understand why you would say something like that. You’re never in my way. Don’t you know how much I care for you? Please tell me what you’re talking about.”
“You said last weekend that you didn’t feel we would need to reconnect on the weekends. You said you would be working seven days a week, and I could either help you with your work or I could do my own. I don’t want someone that will ignore me because he has to grade some fourth-graders’ papers. That should take all of five minutes to go through the stack. You should know if it is right or wrong by just glancing at it. I want a man that will want to spend time with me and not spend time while we are working. I want to have someone take me on a picnic or just a romantic walk down the sidewalk beside the river. You don’t know anything about that. You just want to work, so I don’t want to be with you. Can you understand that, or do I have to make it clearer?”
Alex got up and walked out of the room. Link sat there, stunned. Did he say all that? He tried to remember, and finally, it came back to him, and yes, he did say that. Is that what he wants to do with his life? Sit and work seven days a week with no fun or with no one by his side? He shook his head and went looking for Alex again. He looked everywhere but couldn’t find him. He found Cade and asked where Alex was, and he said that he had gone to the new house to unload his car.
Cade asked, “Did you find out what is wrong with him?”
“Yeah, I’m the backside of a horse.”
Cade laughed. “I could have told you that without Alex telling you. You have no idea how to treat him, do you?”
“I thought everything was fine. He said he doesn’t want a man that’s going to work seven days a week. He wants to go on walks by the river and picnics.”
“Put yourself in his shoes, brother. Would you want him to work all the time and ignore you? Wouldn’t you like to spend some one on one time with him doing something fun? Bradley and I are very busy with our work, but we love each other enough to take two days a week and just spend it together doing whatever we decide to do that day. As long as we’re together, we don’t really care what we do. We just get out and spend time together.”
“So, you think that will make him want me again?”
“If that’s what his problem is, I would think it would. You have to sit him down now and talk to him and tell him what you’re going to do. You have to do it, or he’s going to leave you again; he probably will move on next time.”
“I’ll try to catch him either here or at your new house. What do you want me to load?”
“Mostly boxes. We have someone coming to take all the furniture, but Bradley doesn’t trust them with the boxes. He’s afraid they will break something.”
“Ok, I’ll get the rest of the boxes out of the spare room. I’ll still have room, so what then?”
“I guess Bradley has the kitchen packed. You can start with the boxes in there next.”
Link nodded and went into the spare room and got some boxes and started to carry them out to his truck. When the bedroom was empty except for the bed, he went to the kitchen and started carrying them out to his vehicle. He took the first box to the truck just as Alex pulled in the driveway.
Link glanced over at him and smiled. He sat the box in the truck and walked over to Alex as he got out of the car. “Can we please talk. I didn’t mean what I said about constantly working. I want to spend time with you. I’ll take you on a picnic, walk next to the river with you. I will take you out to dinner like we do now. I want you, Alex. Please?”
“The most I can do right now is talk. After we get finished here, we can go to my apartment and talk. That’s all I can promise. I want you too, but I want to be first in your life. You have to understand, I don’t want to be an afterthought.”
Link nodded and smiled. He got a chance to talk to Alex, he wasn’t going to mess that up by saying something stupid. He went back into the house and grabbed another box and took it out to his truck. He watched as a furniture truck pulled into the drive. The men got out and started unloading the truck onto the yard. He waited for a few minutes and went inside and found Cade. “Um…there are men outside unloading furniture for your house. In the yard. Aren’t they supposed to take it to the new house?”
“Nope, that furniture goes in this house. What are you planning on sleeping on, the floor?”
“Well, no, but who did that? I was going to bring my bed from home.”
“Dad did it. He bought me and Bradley's furniture, so he said it was only fair for him to buy your first furniture as well. We wanted to take our furniture from here for the spare rooms and the den. So, he got you some too. Just take it and make him feel like he got us both off to a good start. That’s what he lives for.”
“I know, but I wanted to take care of myself.”
“You will Link, just let him take care of you until you start getting paychecks; then, he will back off. That’s what he did with us. It’ll give you a good start in life.”
Link nodded and grabbed another box and took it to his truck. Alex came up to him and said, “I think those guys are at the wrong house.”
“No, that’s my furniture they are unloading. I’m moving here in a couple of days. Dad rented me this house and bought me furniture.”
“I thought you said you wouldn’t let him do that. What changed your mind?”
“I like the house, and it’s only a few blocks from the school. I was going to borrow the money from him and then pay him back when I started school, but he said no, he wanted to do it.”
“Yeah, I know he bought the furniture that’s in the house now. Your dad is a pretty good guy. I like that he takes care of his sons.”
“He has helped my sister too.”
“I didn’t know you had a sister. Why, after living with Cade and Bradley for four years, am I just now hearing about a sister?”
“I have no idea. She doesn’t come around much anymore, now that she’s in college at Ohio State. She’s getting a business degree.”
“If she needs a job when she graduates, tell her to give me a call.
I’m getting so much business I could use a partner.”
“You have a partner if you want one.”
“Who do I have as a partner?”
“Me, of course. All you have to do is forgive me for acting stupid, and we are partners for life.”
Alex rolled his eyes and walked back into the house. He passed some men taking the furniture out to the truck. He guessed the men were delivering and then moving Cade and Bradley’s furniture. That would sure make it easier for them.
Alex got the last box from the kitchen and put it into the back of Link’s truck. He told Link, “That’s the last one out of the kitchen. Do you know if there is anymore?”
“No, Cade just told me the spare room and the kitchen, but I guess we better check. I still have room in my truck for more. Will you ride to the new house with me? I don’t know where it is, and I would like to spend a few minutes with you.”
It was then that Cade and Bradley’s mothers showed up with fast food for everyone. Link’s mother came and gave him a hug and kissed him on the cheek. He said, “Mom, I want you to meet my boyfriend that’s mad at me at the moment. This is Alex Duncan.”
“Hello, Alex. I have heard good things about you. I’m proud that my son has finally come out. It was the same with Cade. We knew both our sons were gay, but neither one wanted to come out and tell us the truth.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Maxwell. I’m not Link’s boyfriend at this time. Maybe we can work out our problems and maybe we can’t. It remains to be seen.”
“Well, if you need help straightening him out, just call me, and I’ll help you. He’s a good boy, just a bit headstrong. He’s like his father. Come and eat before the French fries get soggy. Nothing worse than soggy fries.”
Chapter 5
Alex chuckled and followed her into the house. Link came behind him and whispered in his ear. “I’m your boyfriend, and I’ll do anything to get you to like me again. I’m so sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I told you we would talk about this tonight after we were done. Don’t say anything more about it until then.”
“All right, baby, anything you want.”
Link’s mother handed out burgers and fries while Bradley’s mother handed out drinks. They all sat on the floor, eating and watching the men take out the furniture. When the men were done with taking out the furniture, they started bringing in Link’s furniture. At least these guys set up beds and arranged the furniture the way it should be. They didn’t just dump it all in one room.
When they finished their lunch, they finished loading a few things into the truck, and Alex got in the truck with Link. “When we get the truck unloaded, I need to come back here and get my car.”
Link smiled at him. “Sure, baby, whatever you need.”
Alex shook his head at the pet name. He turned his head and stared out the window. He wished that Link would wait and just act like he was any other man instead of his boyfriend until they could talk and see where they were going with this broken relationship. He loved Link, but he wasn’t going to be someone that was ignored all the time. It just wasn’t going to happen.
Link said, “You have to tell me where we are going, baby. I have never been to the new house.”
“I will if you quit calling me baby. I’m not your baby right now. I’m just another friend of Cade and Bradley’s.”
“Ok. I’ll stop, but I still need to know how to get there.”
Alex reached over and put the address into Link’s GPS. He sat back against the seat. “That should get you there.”
Link nodded but didn’t say anything else. He was hurt that Alex had put such a distance between them by saying he was just a friend of Cade and Bradley’s. He wanted things back the way they were.
When they got to the house, they quickly unloaded the truck putting the boxes where Bradley said to put them. Bradley made them some coffee, and they waited for everyone else to get there. Link wanted to go to Alex’s apartment so they could talk, but Alex said he wanted to stay for the pool party. After they got coffee, Bradley took them on a tour of the house. The men had already been there and delivered the furniture and had it all set up.
Link said, “Oh Bradley, this house is beautiful. I wish I could afford a house like this, but on a teacher’s salary, it won’t happen. I love it, though. Congratulations on getting it.”
Bradley grinned. “Wait until you see the back yard. It’s awe-inspiring. Come on, I’ll show it to you.”
They walked out back on to a big deck with a built-in grill and smoker. It had a beautiful Olympic size pool. Beyond that was a small cottage with a path built between it and the main house. Link’s mouth dropped open. He couldn’t believe that his little brother and his husband owned such a beautiful home. They didn’t even have a mortgage that they had to worry about.
There was a knock on the door, and Bradley excused himself to go answer the door. Link and Alex had sat down in some chairs on the deck, waiting for Bradley to come back out. Link said, “Alex, you know that I would never be able to afford something like this for us, don’t you?”
“Link until we talk and work things out; there is no us. I just want you to know that I won’t be ignored just to get a second here and there with you.”
Link started to say something, but Bradley came out with an older man and woman. Bradley said, “Sam, Alisa, this is Cade’s brother Lincoln and his future husband, Alex Duncan. They brought a truckload of boxes for us. I think everyone else should be here soon. Link, Alex, this is John’s parents and the wonderful people that bought us this house.”
Link stood up and shook hands with Sam, and of course, Alisa had to get a hug. She was a hugger for sure. “Thank you so much for getting this house for my brother and his husband. They work hard and deserve some help.”
Sam said, “I know, Alex. He does work for me and some of my friends. This is the first time I have met you. What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a schoolteacher. I start my first job at it when school starts. In a few weeks. I’ll have your grandson in my class. He’s a brilliant little guy, and I look forward to being his teacher.”
“I think I know who you are. Are you the one that is renting my house just down from the school?”
“Yes, that would be me. My dad is paying the bills until I start to work. I just graduated from college at the same time Cade and Bradley did only I went to Ohio State.”
Sam’s eyes lit up. “I’m an Ohio State alumnus. I loved it at Ohio State.” Sam looked over at Alisa, and she nodded. “Look, Link, I might need that house soon. I know you're just getting started, so how about if I buy you a house like this one. Will that be alright? If Clayton is my son and Bradley is, and he is married to your brother, then I consider you one of my kids, too, so I always buy my kids' houses. Tell Clayton to get that realtor to send him some houses you and Alex might like, and then Clayton will let me know which one you want, and I’ll buy it for you. We Ohio State people need to stick together.”
“Oh, no, I can’t accept that. I imagine houses like these costs a fortune. Thank you, but I couldn’t.”
“Yes, you can, and you will. Tell him, Bradley, how I am about my kids and houses.”
“Link, you might as well start looking. Sam doesn’t understand no. Just take it and be thankful you went to Ohio State.”
Sam asked, “Are John and Clayton coming today?”
“Yes, Clayton called just before Link and Alex got here and said they would be here in about an hour. John wanted to try out the new grill.”
“I don’t think so. You know that grill is mine for the day. I’ll tell John to back off it for today.”
Bradley laughed. “He didn’t say that. I just wanted to see what you would say. It’s all yours anytime you’re here. I know you are the best griller in the world. I love your food.”
“Well, you need to get the boys and get the food out of the truck. Alisa brought enough to feed an army. I hope you did
n’t make anything. She’s had her girls cooking since yesterday.”
Bradley, Link, and Alex went out to Sam’s truck and opened the back doors. It was full of tin pans. There was foil on the tops, so they just started carrying everything into the kitchen. Alisa was there and lifted the lids on them and put what was cold in the refrigerator and what was hot on the stove and counters. She had brought enough to feed an army. Cade and Bradley had bought the meat, and it wasn’t long before the grill was going and was full of meat.
Cade came out on the deck with his and Bradley’s parents. It wasn’t long until John and Clayton, and the children showed up. They started making the drinks for them, and most all of them had either soda or beer. No one wanted the hard liquor that Sam brought. Not even Sam.
They ate excellent food and enjoyed the company. Sam took Clayton to the side and told him to get his realtor to send him some more houses and make them like what Cade and Bradley has. The pool and small cottage too. Clayton asked, “Dad, are you wanting some more rental property, or what do you need another house like this for?”
“For my new son. Link is another one of my kids, and I buy all my kids' houses. You know that.”
“I know Dad, but I didn’t know that you were going to adopt Link as well.”
“Well, sure. I adopted Cade, and Link is his brother. Anyway, he’s going to marry Alex one day, and I have Alex working for me. Just get the house papers and show them to Link and let him pick one out and call me with it and I’ll buy it for him. I still have over a billion dollars, son. I have to use it and can take the houses off my taxes.”
“Ok, Dad, I’ll call her first thing Monday morning and get her on it. When does he start school?”
“I don’t know. He’s going to be Jacob’s teacher, so you tell me when Jacob starts school.”
“Oh, I didn’t know he was going to teach Jacob. I imagine him being the teacher that he’ll have to start before the kids do so he can get everything ready and his lesson plan done.”
“He’ll be living in the house that Bradley just moved out of until we can get his house and get closed on it. Just take the papers over there when you get them.”
