Second Wind

Chapter Thirteen

Ben

When we got up to go to the shower, I realized how much wine I'd consumed over the evening. My legs were wobbly and I really did need Joey's assistance in getting to the bedroom. He sat me on the bed and pulled my shirt off over my head. When he squatted down to take off my shoes and socks I fell back onto the bed. I just lay there while he pulled my jeans and boxers off. I suddenly realized nothing was happening and opened my eyes. Joey was standing over me, looking down.

"What are you looking at?"

"A beautiful man who I love very much."

I think I must have blushed from head to toe. I knew he had just told me that he was in love with me but I was having trouble accepting it. I couldn't understand how he could love someone like me, especially when I thought of all of the horrible things I'd said to him on the phone Friday night. And now here I was, too drunk to stand up on my own. How could he possible love me?

Joey helped me to my feet and we stumbled into the bathroom. He sat me on the closed toilet seat and quickly took off his own clothes. Man, what a great body he had for a little guy. Not that he was really little. He was only an inch shorter than me and while he had a small frame like me, his muscles were much more developed so he probably weighed a several pounds more. But he was smaller than the kind of guy I was used to being with. He turned on the shower and got the water adjusted, then pulled me to my feet and helped me into the stall. One of the things I'd liked about this house the first time I saw it was the large shower in the master suite but this was the first time I'd had a chance to share it.

I managed to hold myself upright in one corner of the shower while Joey washed me. He started by shampooing my hair. I kept my eyes closed and lost myself in the scalp massage he was giving me. After he'd lathered and rinsed my hair twice he began on my body, starting at the shoulders and slowly working his way down. Paul and I had showered together many times, mostly in the early days of our relationship, but it had always been about sex, not washing. Joey was concentrating on getting me clean, yet it was one of the most sensuous experiences I could remember.

He aimed the spray away from me and concentrated on soaping up every square inch of my body. He worked his way down my front, and then turned me around and soaped up my back and my butt. He pulled me close to his chest and wrapped his arms around me and scrubbed my chest and stomach, as if he were washing himself. By the time he got down to my crotch I was completely hard, in spite of all the alcohol in my system. He gently washed my balls and ran his hand up and down the shaft of my cock a few times, then turned me around to face him. I put my arms around him, lay my head on his shoulder and held him tight while he reached around and washed my back, then went lower and grabbed a cheek in each hand. He squeezed hard and then kneaded my ass in his hands, running his soapy hands into my crack, lightly touching and tickling my hole. My rod was poking into his stomach and I could feel his hardon pressing into me as well.

He pulled back a little and used one hand to lift my chin so that I was looking into his eyes.

"Would you mind if we, um, kind of relieved ourselves, Ben?"

"Mind? You have to ask? I'm still not very steady on my feet, but go ahead, whatever you want."

Joey grabbed the soap and lathered up our dicks some more, then propped me in the corner of the shower again. He leaned in and kissed me, just lightly at first, then he began nibbling on my upper lip, being careful of the nearly healed cut on my lower lip. He was stroking both of our cocks together in one hand. Then he pushed up against me and began humping his hips into mine, our two dicks sliding against each other and being pressed between us. His kiss became more passionate though still careful, with the focus on tongue action rather than lips. I knew I wasn't going to last long and when he reached behind me and slipped a soapy finger between my cheeks and pressed it against my anus I felt my balls pull up. I grabbed both of his cheeks and pulled his hips tightly into mine and exploded into the soapy slippery lather between us. He tensed up at almost the same time and I knew he was cumming as well.

We stood clinging onto one another catching our breath for a moment and then Joey leaned me back into the corner again. He reached up and directed the shower spray at me and gently rinsed all of the soap and spunk from my body. I watched the suds run down his beautiful body as he sprayed himself. He shut off the water and grabbed a towel and carefully dried me and then himself. He sat me on the toilet seat again and brushed my hair before helping me to bed. To tell the truth I was pretty sober my then and didn't need the help but I wasn't going to let him know that. He tucked me into bed and then he put on my robe and excused himself to let Lula out for a few minutes.

When he came back he sat on the bed next to me and lightly stroked my face.

"I love you so much, Ben. Please believe that. You are all I want."

"I'm pretty amazed, but I believe you, Joey."

"I know we're gonna have problems with my family but we'll get through it somehow. I'll figure out something."

"There's no rush. I know we keep trying to go slow and it doesn't seem to work but as long as we know where we stand with each other we don’t have to go public with this for while, you know."

"Yeah, I know. The holidays are crazy enough with my family so I'd just as soon lay low, for a while anyway. Not that I have any idea how I'll deal with them later."

"Don’t worry about it, babe. We're gonna be just fine now, I know it."

Joey

I hadn't intended on anything sexual happening when I took Ben into the bathroom to shower. I mean, with the emotional roller coaster we'd both spent the weekend riding I don't think either of us had sex in mind. But put two wet, slippery, naked guys in love together in a shower and things tend to pop up on their own. It was the first time I had taken the lead physically and I was afraid maybe it wasn't the right time but Ben didn't object. It was such a basic sexual release but I couldn't help but think it wasn't really about sex. Okay, it was a fantastic orgasm, but it was really about reaffirming our love. And passion. Damn, was it passionate.

I woke up early Tuesday morning but Mom had breakfast ready as usual. Pop had already left for work.

"You got in late last night, Joey." Didn't she ever sleep?

"Yeah, I went over to Ben's after bowling."

"I thought you always went to Angelo's."

"We usually do but Ben didn't go bowling last night because he wasn't feeling well, so I went to see him to make sure he was okay."

"I hope he doesn't have anything contagious. You have to be careful with Connor."

"Don't worry, he's not really sick. He just had a rough weekend."

"I can imagine." No, I'm sure you can't, I thought.

Connor thankfully cut the conversation short by acting up about his breakfast. I was able to focus on getting food into his mouth while Mom cleaned up the kitchen.

Pop was at the front counter of the nursery reading the newspaper when I got there.

"Morning, Pop. Are John and Vinnie in yet?"

"No, it's just you and me, son. There's not much need to come in early at this time of year."

"Yeah, I know, but that doesn't stop you, does it? In another week or so John and Sal won’t have any outside work to do until the snow starts. And after Christmas things will really seem dead."

"I suppose it's only natural to panic when business drops off but it's just a part of our cycle. We work hard most of the year so we should enjoy this little break."

"Don’t get me wrong, Pop, it's nice, but it takes some getting used to after all the months of long days and long weeks."

I went into the office, poured myself a cup of coffee, sat down at my desk and thought for a while before starting work. I wasn't sure how I was going to deal with my brothers but I knew we had to talk. I was going to have to be careful. I had to keep in mind that to them I would be defending my friend, not my boyfriend, so my attitude and words had to reflect that. About a half hour later Vinnie walked in.

"Hey Joe, Pop said you were looking for me."

I looked up at him and an image of Ben's bruised face flashed through my head. I jumped up, crossed the room in three long strides, put my hand on Vinnie's chest and slammed him back against the wall. So much for being careful.

"What the fuck's gotten into you, Bro?"

"Just what I should be asking you, Vin, after what you did to Ben." I let go of him, turned and went back to my desk. I leaned against it, took a deep breath, folded my arms across my chest and stared at him. He averted his eyes.

"I don’t know what you're talking about."

"Don’t lie to me. I saw Ben last night." I still wasn't sure exactly what had happened but I had a pretty good idea. I was appalled that my brothers had physically attacked Ben and wanted to know how they could have done such a thing.

"I thought he didn't show up at bowling."

"He didn't, but I went over to his house later." Vinnie scowled. "Uncle Angelo saw you and John in the parking lot with Ben last week. Want to tell me about it?"

"We just wanted to tell him to back off. That queer's got the hots for you, anybody can see that. We told him to leave you alone."

"You did a little more than talk, didn't you?"

"I didn’t mean to hit him but he pissed me off. He made it sound like you were the one who was after him." I wondered exactly what Ben had said. I knew he would be careful not to give anything away but still... "Okay, so I hit him, but it was only once and not even that hard. It's not my fault the fag can't take a punch."

"The 'fag' is my friend, Vinnie. Get that though your thick head. He's not 'after' me and I'm not 'after' him. We both want to spend time together because we like each other a lot and enjoy each other's company. I'm old enough to know what I want and to pick my own friends and you guys can just butt out."

"But what are people gonna think if you spend all your time hanging out with him, Joe? They're gonna talk."

"I really don’t care what people think. It's none of their business. It's none of yours either. I'll tell you one thing, though. If either you or John ever lays a hand on Ben again you'll have one less brother. Understand?"

Vinnie knew what I was saying but he obviously didn't like it. "Yeah, I get it, but I still think you're making a big mistake." He turned and walked out of the office.

After lunch Ben called. I smiled when I heard his voice. It was just like old times. Well, like those few days after Thanksgiving, anyway. Funny how they seemed to be my reference point to what was normal now. I was in a playful mood and would have liked to have flirted with Ben, but I had to be careful what I said since Margaret, our bookkeeper, was sitting her desk a few feet away from me.

"So how about joining Becky and me tonight, Joey? We're doing our usual takeout and TV."

"I don’t think so, Ben. This is your special night with her. Besides, you two haven't seen each other or even talked much in over a week. I don’t want to be in the way."

"You could never be in the way, babe. Are you sure you don’t want to come over? Please?" He sounded so sweet, like a little kid.

"I think you're just afraid to be alone with her after all that happened last week. You're afraid she'll rip into you."

"Well, maybe that's a little of it. I'm sure she's gonna give me hell for the way I treated you. But I really do want to see you."

"Same here, but I think it will do you both good to have an evening alone together."

"Hey, I know, what about Thursday? Are you doing anything?"

"No plans so far. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, it's not exactly a romantic evening, but I've invited my mother and Sam over for dinner to hear about their trip and I thought maybe you'd like to meet them. After all, I've met your family."

"Are you sure, Ben?" I looked over at Margaret and hesitated, not sure what to say.

"Mother will love you. Don’t worry about that."

"Okay, but how about if I cook? From what you've said, your mother doesn't sound like a steak and baked potatoes kind of woman."

"You don’t have to do that, babe. I could order out."

"Just leave it to me, Ben. I'll take care of it."

Ben

Things with Becky went in a different direction than I expected when she came over Tuesday night. When I called her during the day I briefly explained that Joey and I were back together, that it had all been a big misunderstanding. Of course, I still had some explaining to do over our Chinese food.

"Misunderstanding? It sounds more like you panicked, Ben."

"Panicked? What do you mean?" I hadn't told her about Vinnie and John attacking me. I hadn't actually told Joey about that either although he knew.

"Well, you say you tried to break it off because being with you would disrupt Joey's life too much, but you guys had already talked about that so I don't see why you thought that was still such a big problem. I think maybe it was more like you were a little scared about how deep your feelings for him really are."

"I know I love him, Beck. Why should that scare me?"

"Because of what Paul did to you. You said all summer that you didn't ever want to be in a position to be hurt like that again."

"I know I said that but I don’t think Joey would ever hurt me. I know this is all very new for him, but I think one of the reasons he wanted to go slow is that he's the kind of guy who only moves ahead when he's sure of his feelings."

"Well, you're the guy who craves security. Do you think you've found it in Joey?"

"Yeah, I do. It's funny, in a way. He looks like such a kid compared to Paul, yet the whole time I was with Paul, I was never completely secure. I was always trying to be just what he wanted, to do just what he wanted. Looking back, I can see that I was never totally sure of his love. With Joey, I've never tried to get him to love me but he fell in love with me anyway. And I believe he loves me. There's just something so solid, so steady about him. I know that he means what he says and I can trust him. I could never quite believe in Paul. I always thought that was due to my own insecurities, but it was him. He just wasn't trustworthy."

Becky didn't say anything for a few minutes.

"Well, I don’t know what your problem was last week. Maybe it was cold feet. Maybe you did think that Joey would be better off without you. But you seem sure now. And I think you're right. Joey is someone you can count on. Don't fuck it up, Ben."

"No way, Beck. I'm gonna do whatever I have to to hang onto him. He's the best thing that ever happened to me."

Joey

I debated as to whether to bring Connor to Ben's on Thursday. I hated all the time I had to spend away from him when I was working and didn't like to leave him with sitters, even though there were so many who loved him in the family. And Ben had said that Connor was always welcome at this house and not to think twice about bringing him along. But for a first meeting with Ben's mother, I thought he might be a distraction. We were going to have enough problems with my family; I had to make a good impression on Ben's family.

Wednesday night I got out my list of nieces to see whose turn it was to baby-sit. I'd made the list for two reasons. They all loved to watch Connor so I didn't want to play favorites, but I also didn't want to impose on anyone. This way they all got a turn and no one was burdened. I picked up the phone and called Anthony's house and made arrangements with his sixteen-year-old daughter, Carole.

Over breakfast Thursday morning I told Mom my plans.

"Ben had such a good time meeting our family at Thanksgiving that he wants to return the favor." I tried to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. "He's having his mother and stepfather over for dinner and has invited me." I didn't mention that I was doing the cooking.

"Stepfather? I might have known he came from a broken home."

"Ma, what's that got to do with anything?"

"You never know. The way a kid turns out has a lot to do with their family."

"Well, Ben turned out just fine. He's a fantastic person." Mom just frowned and shook her head. "Anyway, I hope I make a good impression on his mother."

"How could you not? You're a wonderful boy. Any mother would be proud of you. She'll probably prefer you to her own son."

"Ma-a-a."

I dropped Connor off at Anthony's at five and went food shopping. I'd decided on Caesar salad followed by shrimp scampi over linguine. I knew Ben loved shrimp. While I hoped to impress his mother I was really doing this for Ben. I got to his house a little before six and he had already set the table. It was a pretty simple meal so we had plenty of time before his mother arrived at seven. Ben followed my instructions as we made the salad together, then he peeled the shrimp while I chopped the garlic. By six-thirty everything was pretty much ready. I would sauté the shrimp with the garlic while the pasta cooked but that was last minute stuff. All of the preparation work was done so we poured ourselves some wine, went into the family room and snuggled on the couch.

I was a little nervous about meeting Ben's family. I knew they'd be far less intimidating than my own, but I was meeting them as Ben's boyfriend, not just his friend. That made it a lot more intense for me. Ben assured me that they were going to love me. Twenty minutes of tongue wrestling seemed to relax me. Well, maybe relax wasn't the right word but it did take my mind off his mother.

We both jumped when the doorbell rang. We'd gone off into our own world for a bit. When we got up we were both aware of a problem. Two problems, actually. A very obvious bulge in both of our pants. My pants were tighter so mine was more pronounced.

"I'll go get the door and stall them, Joey. Go in the kitchen and do some calisthenics, something to tame that beast." As he turned toward the living room he gave it a squeeze, which only made things worse.

I went into the kitchen and did as he said. I jumped up and down a few times and did a few deep-knee bends, all the while staring at the raw shrimp, trying to focus my mind on dinner. I only had a minute since it would be rude to leave them standing by the door too long. When I walked out to meet them my erection had gone down a bit but I was sure it was still noticeable.

I was surprised by how young his mother looked. I knew she was a lot younger than my parents but she didn't look close to fifty. I could see that Ben took after her quite a bit. He had her coloring and her slim build, but the resemblance was especially clear in their eyes. Sam looked somewhat older but he was obviously younger than Pop also. I held my hands clasped in front of me and tried to relax as Ben performed the introductions.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Thurston."

"Oh please, it's Sam and Gale." Ben's mother smiled as she held out her hand. I shook hands with her and then Sam.

"Okay, Gale, nice to meet you." I glanced over at Ben and he rolled his eyes.

Gale looked back and forth from Ben to me, a thoughtful look on her face.

"Are we too early? I hope we're not interrupting anything." She raised an eyebrow as she added that.

"No, Mother, you're right on time. Don’t worry, Joey and I weren't planning on having wild sex until after you left."

My mouth fell open in horror as I turned to Ben but Gale just laughed and even Sam smiled and shook his head. This was definitely a different kind of family than what I was used to.

Ben

I wasn't nervous about Mother meeting Joey. I knew she'd love him. I was a little uncertain about Sam. He could be pretty cool and distant. He'd never really warmed up to Paul, which was more evidence toward my theory that he was okay with me being gay as long as he didn't have to deal with it up close.

I directed Mother and Sam into the living room and made them drinks, a cosmo for Mother, Chivas on the rocks for Sam, while Joey refilled our wineglasses. We sat and made small talk for a while, the weather, the upcoming holidays, work, that kind of thing. Joey was pretty quiet and seemed to be trying to get a feel for things. I think Mother and I had shocked him at the door.

After a while Joey excused himself to go to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner. Mother's eyes followed him across the room.

"He's a doll, Ben, such a sweetheart. Not your usual type, though. I thought you went for older guys."

"So did I, but Joey is just so perfect. Wait until you get to know him better. You'll see what a great guy he is."

"I'm sure. So how long has this been going on? I don’t even remember you mentioning a Joey until the other day but you two seem so comfortable together."

"Well, it happened slowly, starting out as friends. I didn't want to say anything until I was sure where things were heading and by then you guys had left for Europe. We're still just getting started but we both know it's serious."

"I can see that in the way you two look at each other. He seems like a nice young man, Ben. I wish you the best of luck."

I turned toward Sam, a bit surprised. "Why thanks, Sam, that means a lot to me."

Just then Joey stuck his head into the room, announced that dinner was ready and asked that we move to the dining room.

I knew that the food would be good but still Joey amazed me. I'd watched him with all of the preparation and it all seemed so simple, but there was obviously magic involved somewhere. For the first few minutes of the meal there was very little conversation except for raves about the food. Once conversation resumed I'd expected it to be all about Mother's trip but instead she was focused on getting to know Joey. He had relaxed a bit by then and talked about the nursery, his parents and siblings. I noticed he didn't mention Jenny. I hadn't really given Mother any of his background other than that he was just coming out.

"It sounds like you have a wonderful family, Joey. Did you learn to cook from your mother?"

"Pretty much, although this scampi is my Aunt Josephine's recipe. She used to do all of the cooking at Uncle Angelo's place when I was growing up and still does a few nights a week. She's even better than my mother at some things, though I'd never say that to Mom. I guess it's just as well that I didn't bring Connor. He may be half Italian but he hasn't acquired a taste for garlic yet."

"Connor? Who's he?"

"My son. He's eighteen months old." The smile that always appeared when Joey talked about Connor broke out on his face as he reached for his wallet and took out a few pictures. I knew parents always did that and I usually found it so boring to look at pictures of some generic looking baby and have to ooh and aah over them and make the same bland comments but I knew Connor and how much Joey loved him. I found I was the one raving about him as Mother and Sam passed the snapshots between them.

"You should see him on the floor playing with Lula, Mother. They've become best friends. And he can almost say her name."

"I can't imagine you playing with a baby, Ben. I wish Joey had brought him just to see you with him." Mother turned to Joey. "So is he with his mother tonight?"

A flash of pain appeared on Joey's face and I started out of my chair, but he recovered quickly and motioned for me to sit.

"It's all right, Ben." He turned back toward Mother. "No, Gale, one of my nieces is baby-sitting him. My wife passed away right after Connor was born."

"Oh my God, Joey, I'm so sorry. Ben didn't tell me or I wouldn't have said that." She shot me an annoyed look.

"That's okay. I should have said something when I was talking about my family, but it's still hard for me to talk about."

"I understand. I just want you to know how sorry I am." Mother reached over and took Joey's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze.

There was a lull in the conversation so Joey and I got up. I cleared the table while he made coffee. I pulled him into a hug before we sat down again.

"Are you okay, babe?" I whispered into his ear.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm getting better at this. Thanks." He smiled and gave me a little peck on the cheek.

Over coffee we finally talked about Spain and Portugal. We adjourned to the living room and Mother had a little Sambuca while Joey, Sam and I sipped Remy. The conversation flowed much easier than before and it was eleven o'clock before we knew it. Mother and Sam got up to leave and we walked them to the door.

Mother hugged Joey and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "It was so nice meeting you. We'll have to have you boys over for dinner very soon." She hugged and kissed me and whispered in my ear. "He's a keeper, Ben. I'm so happy for you."

Sam surprised me by hugging Joey and then me. I couldn't remember him ever hugging me before. He also whispered in my ear. "He's very special, Ben. Hang onto him."

After they'd left Joey headed for the kitchen to clean up but I grabbed him.

"No way, Joe. I'll take care of that later. I just want to hold you for a while right now." I poured us each another brandy and we went into the family room and cuddled on the couch.

"That was really nice, Ben. I like them a lot. From the way you described them I was expecting them to be a little, I don’t know, stiffer, or something."

"Yeah, Mother is usually a lot more formal and dramatic and Sam is often a bit distant but they both took to you right off. Tonight, Mother was more like the mom I grew up with and I don’t think I've ever seen Sam be affectionate like that."

"Well, I'm glad they liked me. I wanted them to but I didn't want to seem to be trying too hard."

"You weren't, babe. You were just being yourself so of course they loved you. Who wouldn't?"

I was sitting between Joey's legs, leaning back into his chest. He had his arms around me and pulled me tight to him. We just lay there for a long while like that. It felt so perfect, like I never wanted the moment to end. At last, he slid out from behind me and got up to leave.

"I really don’t want to go but I'm keeping someone up at Anthony's house. I just hope it's not Carole. She has school in the morning."

"But what about the wild sex I told Mother we were going to have?"

"Next time. Ben, I promise. In the meantime, this will have to do."

He pulled me into a tight embrace and kissed me, starting lightly but becoming more passionate. As he probed my mouth with his tongue he ground his hips into mine, rubbing our hard cocks into one another. I was beginning to think he was going to make me cum in my pants but he must have sensed the change in my breathing as I got close and he pulled away.

"Sleep tight, babe." He grinned as he turned toward the door.

"After that?" I gasped. "I'm gonna have to work on a little problem as soon as you're out the door."

"As long as you think of me while you do."