Composing a Family

by Sean Michael

  Tenor’s lips spread farther around his cockhead, all heat and long licks of that wet tongue. Each lick shot pleasure through him. He shoved his fist in his lips, hiding his cries, muffling them.

  Tenor took him deeper, lips tight around his shaft as they descended around it. He curled his toes, his calves tightening. Tenor’s suction became stronger, tongue licking at Daniel’s slit, again and again. He could feel the pleasure, screaming at him, clawing up his shaft. Daniel’s eyes rolled back in his head. Tenor just kept sucking, pulling the pleasure from him, building it in waves. How could he bear it, the intensity crescendoing inside him?

  Tenor began going down his shaft, head bobbing, moving the covers like they were breathing. He wanted to pull away, push deep, something. Anything. Tenor moved faster, sucking harder. It wasn’t practiced or polished, but it was enthusiastic. It felt like magic, and he reached for the headboard.

  Tenor sucked harder, like he was asking for Daniel to come.

  “Soon,” he whispered.

  That made Tenor nod, and it felt really neat, having the angles change briefly. He arched up, his heels digging into the mattress, sliding on the sheets. Tenor pulled off for a moment, then took him back in, the slurping sounds visceral and raw.

  He couldn’t wait a second longer; his body released, his balls emptying. Tenor swallowed a few times, making him spurt a bit more. Then Tenor cleaned his skin, tongue working over his flesh in the most delicious way.

  He closed his eyes, head falling into the pillows. When Tenor had done licking him clean, he slowly kissed his way up Daniel’s chest. Then Tenor pressed their lips together again. He opened up and they were sharing each other’s tastes. When the kiss was over, Tenor pressed their foreheads together, panting for his breath.

  Had they really done this? Really? God, they’d really done this.

  Tenor brought their lips together again, slow and easy. Daniel blinked, unsure of what to do, how to process all this. Tenor smiled and his eyelids drooped. It wasn’t long before his eyes closed and stayed closed.

  He turned the light off, one ear cocked to listen for Britt, just in case.

  It was warm and comfortable with Tenor sharing his bed. And exciting, too. He hadn’t felt like this in a long time. He liked it. He liked Tenor.

  He had a smile on his face as he let sleep have him.

  Chapter Seven

  A knee to the belly woke Tenor up with a start.

  “Ooof!” He blinked as he moved, getting out of the way of an errant elbow too. It took him a moment to figure out what was going on. He was in Daniel’s bed and that had to be Britt climbing in with them.

  “Uncle Danny, the man is here.”

  “Uh-uh. I was cold last night. C’mere.” Daniel grabbed her and hugged her, snuggling in. “Love you. Good morning.”

  Tenor blinked a few more times, then offered Daniel and Britt a smile. “Morning.”

  “Morning.” Britt offered him a tentative smile, then cuddled into her godfather. Oh, Daniel was going to be a great daddy. This was a man who wanted to share his home, his talent, his love.

  “What would you like for breakfast?” He could give them some time together.

  “Waffles? Can we have waffles?” Britt began to wiggle, laugh.

  “I’m sure we can.” If they didn’t have a waffle maker in that magnificent kitchen, he’d be shocked. And he’d have to put it on his list of things to buy because waffles, while somewhat time-consuming, were pretty easy to make.

  He climbed out of bed and pulled on his T-shirt. “I’ll call up when breakfast is ready.”

  “Can we help, Uncle Danny?”

  “If Mr. Tenor says so.”

  He wasn’t sure if he liked the Mr. in front of his name, but he didn’t say anything about it. “Sure, it’s always nice having help.”

  “I like to help. I like to help a lot.”

  “Do you? That’s great. I like helpers. They make everything go easier, don’t they? I’ll meet you down in the kitchen in a few minutes.” He pondered changing out of his pajamas but figured he didn’t need to stand on any sort of ceremony, so he just went downstairs.

  Matt was down in the kitchen, whistling and happy. “Good morning, Tenor.”

  “Good morning, Matt. How are you this morning?” He mentally flipped through his recipes, going for the easiest waffle one he had in his repertoire.

  “Fine. I bought frozen waffles at the store yesterday. Britt loves waffles.”

  “Oh. Okay.” He supposed those would do.

  “You okay?”

  “We’re making waffles! Uncle Matty! The man is going to make real waffles!”

  He beamed. “My name is Tenor, honey. And yes, I’m going to make waffles from scratch and you’re going to help me.” He shrugged at Matt. “I like homemade ones better than frozen.”

  “Me too. Can I have some?”

  “Of course! We’ll make a whole bunch. You want to bring a chair over to the counter, Britt?” He started pulling ingredients out of the pantry.

  “Uh-huh. Uncle Danny! I’m helping!”

  Daniel came into the kitchen. “Me too. I’m making coffee.”

  “Coffee is icky,” Britt pronounced.

  “We could make some hot chocolate,” Tenor suggested. He liked some hot chocolate in the morning—if he had time to linger.

  “Hot chocolate for me and Mr. Tenor, please Uncle Danny.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Tenor got her set up with a bowl and measuring cups, and he recited the recipe, helping her get the ingredients together and letting her do the majority of the mixing as well. She was eager but careful.

  What a lovely little girl. He had to admit, he was charmed. Between them they got coffee, hot chocolate, and waffles made, and the table set. They sat and Britt poured way too much syrup on her waffles, while he used probably too much butter, but he loved the way it melted in the divots.

  “I like him, Uncle Danny,” Britt pronounced.

  “Me too.”

  “Thank you both.” He gave Britt a grin, then looked at Daniel. He thought maybe his smile got a little goofy, and he definitely felt warm from Daniel’s words.

  “You’re welcome. I like your waffles too.”

  Was there a little bit of a flirt there? “Yeah, and your hot chocolate is delicious.”

  Daniel bowed dramatically, making Britt giggle.

  Daniel really was a charmer when he came out of his shell a little. Ten laughed when Daniel got up and rushed Britt, grabbed her up and twirled her around in a dance, sweet voice ringing out in a gorgeous melody.

  “He’s going to be an amazing dad,” Tenor said to Matt.

  “He is. I have no doubts.”

  Ten finished his waffles, then sat back with his hot chocolate, watching Daniel and Britt play.

  Britt acted like Daniel was the center of the world, and Daniel obviously the same.

  “I’m gonna do the dishes. Is there anything you need, Matt?” Ten liked Matt a lot. He figured this might be him during his retirement.

  “Just to keep everyone company.”

  “Cool. You know you’re always welcome in my rooms, eh?”

  “Thank you. I just love having smiles in the house.”

  “We’re about to have a lot of smiles, aren’t we?” The anticipation was always there, underneath everything. Of course, he was sure the first few weeks with the kidlets were going to be insane, so they all needed to remember this feeling of anticipation.

  “Eventually, yes. It’ll take a few weeks, I bet.”

  He chuckled. “I was just thinking the same thing!”

  “You and I know what’s coming up.” Matt waited a beat. “Times three.”

  He laughed softly. “Yeah, we really do. It’ll be fine once we’ve found the right rhythm.”

 
; “They’ll all be fine.” Matt smiled as piano music filled the air, Daniel and Britt singing.

  “It’s nice, living in a house with so much music. Did you know it was his destiny when he was growing up?”

  “By the time he was in high school, yes. He never met an instrument he couldn’t master.”

  “That’s cool. Was it scary—having a gifted child like that?”

  “Sometimes. His focus can be scary, you know? He gets lost in his own world.”

  “I’ll have to remember that.” And not take it personally when it happened.

  “Yeah, it’s a part of his process. I’ve been known to lock the studio so he’ll eat.”

  If he’d been drinking, he’d have done a spit-take.

  Matt shrugged. “I worry.”

  “Yeah, I get it. You just surprised me.” He chuckled, then shook himself and got to washing the dishes.

  “He’s always been a bit of a challenge, my boy.”

  “Yeah…” He stared off out the window, remembering last night. That hadn’t been challenging at all, it had been amazing. Acting like everything was normal this morning was definitely more of a challenge.

  He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to respond today. At all.

  He finished washing the dishes and putting away the bits and pieces from their breakfast. Once he was done, he figured he should probably head upstairs, find something to do with himself.

  As he walked toward the stairs, Daniel joined him with Britt. “Time to get dressed, hmm?”

  “Yeah. Not that there’s anything wrong with pajama chic on the weekend.”

  “My mommas are going to take me shopping for school.”

  “Oh, I guess you should be dressed for that. What kind of stuff are you getting?”

  “A Wonder Woman backpack and a leggings with flowers. Also, pencils.”

  “What about paper? And colors?” he asked, thinking back to when his last family of kids were her age.

  “Do I need that, Uncle Danny?”

  “Sure. Scissors. Pencils. Erasers. A lunch box.”

  “I bet the school gave your moms a whole list of things you need. Are you looking forward to your first day of school?”

  “I am now. It should be exciting. Music class!”

  “And gym class and English and art.” It was interesting, seeing how focused everyone here was on music.

  “Will I like gym class?”

  “I did. I loved playing baseball and doing gymnastics.”

  Britt’s little nose wrinkled. “I don’t like doing the ball sports.”

  “No? Your mom was great at basketball. Amazing.”

  “What about you, Daniel? What sports were you good at?” Ten asked, curious.

  “I enjoyed baseball, but I wasn’t good at it. Gymnastics, though? That I did for a while. What about you?”

  “I loved all the sports except for dodgeball—that was evil. I wasn’t great at any of them, but I always enjoyed them.”

  “Right? It’s actually all about the fun.”

  “It should be. I don’t think it always is, but it definitely should be.”

  “I agree. It should be.”

  They got to the top of the stairs and he gave the pair a little wave. He would have liked to have talked to Daniel about last night. Was this going to be a regular thing? Was it just nanny-with-benefits? Or was it more? Could it be more? Was it smart to be doing it at all?

  He had a lot of questions. They were just going to have to wait, though because none of them were kid-appropriate.

  Chapter Eight

  Daniel headed down to the studio to work out his shit.

  That was how he dealt with… well, everything.

  Tenor had made him feel so much, none of it was bad, but what if… what if Tenor regretted this? What if Tenor never wanted to do it again?

  They hadn’t talked about it at all. Like not a word since it had happened. To be fair, Britt had climbed into bed with them, and then he’d been invited to tag along on the grand pre-school shopping trip, which had left him needing time on his own…

  Now they had to go to the ultrasound appointment with Marsha tomorrow morning and…

  He hit a sour note and shook his head. This wasn’t going to work. He needed to speak with Tenor and see which way the wind blew.

  He headed upstairs and took a right to head to the kitchen when he heard whistling. He found Tenor in there, putting together what looked like a huge lasagna in a large pan.

  “Wow. That’s impressive.” He blinked at the big casserole, then inhaled deeply. Oh, tomato sauce and garlic and basil. Yum.

  “Thanks. It’s always a big hit, and it tastes better every day too, so leftovers are yummy. I’ll do up some garlic bread tonight to go with it.” Tenor slipped the lasagna in the oven and set the timer. “I know you have meals made, but I think I’ve mentioned how I enjoy cooking, and when the kids get older and I think it’s an important skill to teach them. So I want to stay in cooking shape, so to speak.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, I… Do you have a minute to talk? About Saturday night?”

  “Yeah, I do. I’ve been hoping we could talk about it. You want a water or something?”

  “I do. Please.” He sat on one of the stools and perched, his heart fluttering wildly.

  Tenor grabbed a couple bottles of water out of the fridge and handed one over. Then he sat on one of the other stools and opened his own bottle, taking a swig.

  “So, this is weird, huh? There aren’t any rules about what happened the other night.”

  They both sat for a long moment, then Tenor laughed a little. “This would have been easier to start on Sunday morning while we were both still in bed.”

  “Yeah, but I suppose getting interrupted by little girls is going to be constant soon enough.” He was beginning to look forward to it, the fear easing back some.

  Tenor grinned. “Absolutely. Of course, by then we won’t have just slept together for the first time.”

  “Right. Are you… I mean, you liked it?” God, he was a dipshit.

  Tenor’s eyes went wide. “Did it seem like I didn’t? Because yes, yes, I did like it. It was phenomenal. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been blown?”

  “Probably as long as me. It was stunning.” He’d had his world turned upside down.

  “Yeah, yeah, it was. It was great. And I have to admit, I’m hoping it wasn’t a one-off.”

  “Oh.” He couldn’t hide his grin. “No? Cool. That makes it… easier because, well, me too.”

  They were teenagers in adult bodies somehow.

  Tenor beamed at him. “That works out well, then.” Reaching out, Tenor touched his hand lightly. “What about when we’re not in bed?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t like the idea of hiding like we’re ashamed. If we’re ashamed, we shouldn’t do this.”

  “Then we don’t hide, because I’m not ashamed. I’m not talking playing tonsil hockey or anything, but touching, holding hands, stuff like that. Maybe a hug. It won’t freak Matt or Elle out will it?”

  “I’ll speak to them, but it’s really not their place to comment on it.” He was an adult and so was Tenor.

  “No, it isn’t, but they’re in our lives, and I wouldn’t want to upset anyone. I mean, I don’t see why it would, but…” Tenor shrugged. “I’d rather know now than unexpectedly later.”

  “They both know I’m gay. I mean, I’ve had lovers. So have they—both of them. Is it weird? To be on the payroll and in the bedroom?”

  “It wasn’t until you asked that.” Tenor laughed. “As long as it’s not my duties, then no. If we’re just us in the bedroom, then the pay for looking after the kids shouldn’t matter.”

  “Okay. Well, I… I want to be upfront and everything, so if it starts bothering you, you should talk t
o me, okay?” That was important. Lying never got anyone anywhere good.

  “Yeah, I’ll let you know. Like I said, though, if at night we’re just two bodies instead of boss and employee, then I’m good.” Tenor let go of his hand and came around to stand next to him. “Right now I’d really like the kiss I wanted to give you the other morning.”

  “I think I would like that.” He lifted his chin, his body aching the barest bit.

  Tenor stepped closer, moving between his legs. Then Tenor cupped his face, fingers sliding on his skin, and slowly brought their mouths together.

  This kiss was almost gentle, was sweet and slow. It was like Tenor was breathing him in and tasting him all at the same time. He let his hands slide up along Tenor’s ribs, just touching carefully.

  Tenor shivered slightly and stepped a little closer, legs pressing against his inner thighs. He could feel the heat between them despite their clothing.

  The kiss deepened, Tenor sliding his tongue along Daniel’s lips. He moaned, the sound slipping out of him in a rush.

  “Oh man. I think I want more than just a kiss,” Tenor confessed, pressing their foreheads together. Tenor rubbed the sides of Daniel’s lips with his thumbs. “I want to take you back to your bed and explore every inch of you.”

  “What about your casserole?”

  “It takes lasagna an hour to cook.”

  “I can take it out for you,” Matt suggested from the doorway.

  Uh-oh. Busted. Tenor mouthed the words silently.

  “You two know what you’re doing?” Matt asked.

  “Being two men who are interested in each other.” It was the best answer ever.

  Tenor smiled. “Yeah. And that’d be great if you could take out the lasagna. It’s got about fifty minutes to go.”

  “I can do that. No problem.”

  “Come on. Let’s go upstairs and… chat.” He took Tenor’s hand.

  Tenor’s fingers curled around his as they left the kitchen and headed up. “I hope we’re going to do more than just chat.”

  “I do too. Come on. My room?” Was this weird?