WATCHING BRAD
Part 144
Since I'd met him, that Sunday morning in early July was the first time I'd ever seen Brad with a hangover. I felt so sorry for him, but it was so funny at the same time. He was worse than the kids with a tummy ache, moaning and groaning in agony and swearing that he was going to die.
I stroked his hair and soothed him as I smiled to myself, telling him in a soft, whispery voice that he wasn't going to die and that I would get him some Aspirins and he could go back to sleep for awhile. I'd have coffee ready for him when he woke up again. I left the bedroom after pulling my housecoat around me and stopped off at the bathroom for a quick piss before heading on to the kitchen to get the Aspirins and a glass of orange juice for him. After he was all tended to and tucked in and suitably and properly kissed, I went back to start coffee. It was almost nine o'clock and the twins were still asleep. Brook was still snoring softly in the livingroom and Nathan and Barry were also noticeably absent..
The coffee was brewing and I was sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for it, when I heard Justin calling me. I hurried to their room to get them before they awakened Brook. They were standing on their bed, their arms outstretched for me. I grabbed them up into my arms and got bookend kisses on my cheeks for my efforts, and they got genuine lip smooches from me. And then I heard the words that every father longs to here: "Daddy, we have to pee."
I gave them a quick hug before setting them gingerly on the floor. "You're old enough now that you don't have to wait for me to take you. Run along and go pee, then come to the kitchen and we'll have breakfast together."
I expected them to shout, "Okay!" and to run off to the bathroom, but they just stood there in the bedroom, looking up at me.
"You heard me," I said cheerily. "Off you go." Still, they didn't move. Instead, their index fingers moved to their mouths and curled over their lower teeth. I knelt down on one knee and put one hand on each small waist. "What's wrong?"
"Don't you need us anymore?" Justin asked.
"Of course need you, Justin. Why would you ask me something like that?"
"Why don't you want to help us pee?" Jeremy asked.
I didn't understand what was going on here. Maybe I wasn't awake enough to see it, but I simply didn't understand their reaction that morning. I moved my hands around them and pulled them to me. "You're five years old now. I thought you were grown up enough that you don't need my help anymore."
"We
always need you, Daddy," Justin answered, removing his finger from his mouth so he could speak.
I hugged them hard this time and rose to my feet, lifting them with me and kissing their cheeks. "And I will always need you, my Sonskyns. Okay. You tell me when you don't need me to help you anymore, okay?"
Their faces brightened with their smiles once more and they hugged me as I carried them into the bathroom. I think I understood.
* * * * *
The three of us were eating our cereal and toast and the twins were drinking their juice and I was sipping my coffee when Brook appeared in the kitchen doorway. He was dressed in a pair of forest green jogging shorts. "Coffee smells good," he said.
"Good morning to you, too," I smiled. Then, with a wave of my hand toward the maker, I added, "Help yourself. Eggs and bacon are in the fridge. It's self-serve now."
Brook stepped toward the table. "What are you boys eating?"
"Corn Pops," Justin replied, lifting his hand to his mouth in order to shove a stray corn pop back inside.
"In there," Jeremy said, pointing to the pantry. "It's self-serve now." Then he looked at me. "Daddy, what's ‘self-serve'?"
"It means he has to make it himself."
Jeremy thought about that for a moment, looked at Justin, and shook his head. "I don't think we're self-serve," he said.
His brother agreed with a shake of his head. "We're
Daddy-serve."
I glanced over at Brook who was grabbing the box of cereal from the pantry. He caught my gaze and said simply, "Gotta love it, eh?"
Brad finally dragged himself out of bed as Nathan was making breakfast for himself and Barry. The twins were in the livingroom, playing. I never would have thought that Brad could look bad, but he certainly wasn't a vision of loveliness that morning. His hair was mussed and it was clear he still had a headache despite the Aspirins. His eyelids dropped and his forehead was wrinkled with the pain. He was rubbing the side of his head and looking absolutely miserable. His face was pale and he looked half his normal size, sagging down inside his bathrobe. His robe wasn't even closed properly and he flashed himself every time he moved his arm.
Nathan was closer to him than I was and managed to reach him before I could. To his credit, Nathan looked into Brad's eyes as he untied the belt, wrapped the robe about Brad's body, and secured the belt again. "Too much party?"
Brad managed a meager smile. "Yeah."
Nathan's arm slid around Brad's wide shoulders as he guided him to the table. "Come along, my young friend," he said. "Uncle Nathan will take good care of you." He led Brad to the seat beside me and sat him down. With a gentle pat on Brad's shoulders, he returned to his duties and began making breakfast for Brad as well.
I put my hand on Brad's and he turned his sad eyes to find mine. "Are you okay?" I asked.
"I'm dying," he exaggerated. "Other than that, I'm dying."
I was leaning in to give Brad a comforting kiss when Brook said, "Can I have your truck?"
Brad got his kiss after I stopped laughing.
* * * * *
"I'll get it!" Justin shouted from the livingroom when the phone began to ring. A moment later, his voice came to us again as I stood up from the table. "Hello. . . . Hi, Oupa. . . . Okay. Daddy! It's Oupa!"
As I headed for the doorway to the livingroom, Justin said, "I called him, Oupa." Dad probably heard him all the way in Maple Grove. I stepped into the room and moved around the sofa. "He's coming, Oupa," my son said, and, when I reached for the phone, he finished with, "Here he is, Oupa."
With the proudest grin on his face following his play-by-play account, he held the phone out to me. "It's Oupa, Daddy."
"Thank you, Justin."
I took the phone and Justin headed back to play with Jeremy.
"Hi, Dad," I said. "What's up?"
"We wish to bring our granddaughter back home after lunch," he told me. "I also wish to know if you have yet assembled the set of swings."
"Not yet," I said. "We've been lazing about around here and teaching the twins how to swim."
"Did you succeed?"
"Little dolphins, Dad."
"Better than you, then," he added.
"Of course."
"At least you can keep yourself afloat. You must teach them as well, Theodore. It is very important that they learn."
"Brad's the teacher, but I'll get him on it," I said. "If he's up to it today. He had a bit too much beer last night."
"We shall bring him some ginseng tea," Dad said. "Now, about the set of swings. Please allow John and me to assemble it. It is a job which requires the hands of grandfathers."
"You'll probably have two little boys hanging all over you wanting to help."
"That will not be an inconvenience, my Sonskyn," he said. I could see him smiling. "It is a job which requires the hands of two grandsons as well.
"I didn't think it would, Dad."
"I shall ring up John momentarily," he concluded. "We shall see you after lunch."
We said our goodbyes and hung up.
"Boys?" The twins looked up at me. "Oupa and Grandpa are going to put your swings together this afternoon."
They looked at each other with that wide open-mouthed smile of excitement and sparkling eyes, and then they began their very familiar applause.
* * * * *
"I'll go buy something for a barbeque tonight," Nathan said.
"You don't have to do that," I told him. "You've done enough cooking around here already this weekend."
"It's what I do, Ted," he replied. "The twins play and keep us amused. Brook here sings, and beautifully, I might add. Brad and Barry sit around looking pretty and sexy all day long. You run your ass off trying to do everything. And I cook. It's what I do best. It's what I
want to do."
Barry quickly interrupted him. "There's a few other things he does better, though."
That comment earned Barry a playful smack across his biceps from Nathan. "Watch your mouth or you'll be dating Harry Palm tonight!"
"I know him," Brook said. "Had a date with him last night." He held up his left hand, splayed his fingers, and looked at it. "You know he has a twin brother? Sometimes they're into threesomes."
When we all stopped laughing, I looked across the table at Nathan. "I'll order out or something."
Barry was still rubbing his arm. "Give it up, Ted. Nathan is in his element when he has a cooking utensil in his hand. He loves to cook, and the more people he's feeding, the better he likes it."
"But. . ."
Barry cut me off, a warning tone entering his voice. "Give it up, Ted."
"As least. . ."
"And don't even
think about offering to help pay for it."
Barry is an extremely handsome man, but he can be extremely intimidating when he needs to be. His face turned hard and menacing and I thought for a moment how I would react were I a criminal and facing the man.
I acquiesced and sat back in my chair. Barry's face softened then and his pleasant smile returned. He leaned forward and put his hand on mine where it rested on the table. "Look, Babe. You're a great guy, but Nathan was right. You feel like you have to do everything for everyone. You have to be the perfect father and a more perfect host. Look at us. We come to your sons' birthday party for a few and then we park our asses in your house and your guestroom bed for the rest of the weekend without even asking your permission, and you don't complain a single bit or say a single word to us about it."
"I like having you here."
"And we love
being here." He glanced at Brook. "I expect our new friend is discovering just how welcoming you make this place. And that's my point. We stayed here without asking because we knew we could. But we're not moochers. We want to do our share. Believe me. A couple of barbeques can't come close to paying for the hospitality and friendship we receive every time we come over here."
Brook folded his hands together, intertwining his fingers, and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the tabletop. "Barry is right, Ted. I came here to plan wedding songs and to meet your family. That took all of fifteen minutes. I was expecting to be taken to the GO station yesterday morning and sent on my way. I never imagined still being here today let alone being allowed to tag along with you everywhere. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I'd become part of this family overnight. I don't have any siblings, but suddenly I'm an uncle to two of the sweetest little boys I've ever met and I feel like I've gained four brothers as well. I'm going to hate having to go back to the city tonight."
He paused a moment as he glanced quickly around the table before his gaze fixed itself once more on me. "Nathan wants to cook supper for those two little boys in there, and for the rest of us as well, and I want to get them their favourite dessert. It's the least we can do to show you how much we appreciate what you and Brad do for us."
He rose up on his feet, bending over the table to kiss me on the cheek. When he sat back down in his chair, he added, "I've never fallen in love with so many people so fast in my entire life. Do you realize that, since I arrived here Saturday morning, not one single person has even mentioned that I'm Black?"
"No-one cares, Brook." That was from Brad.
"That's my point," Brook continued. "I'm Black and I'm gay, and no-one around here gives a tinker's damn about it. Not you. Not the boys. Not Lindsay. Not your parents. You have no idea what that means to me. I don't want to go home today. That's how comfortable I feel here. You and your family have been a gift to a lot of people, Ted. It's time you started allowing people to return that gift."
He sat back in his chair with finality and said, "Now, what do the boys like for dessert?"
"They love Trifle," Brad said.
Brook looked at Nathan, a confused and questioning look on his face.
"Don't look at me," Nathan said, holding up is hands and sitting back in his chair. "I've eaten it, but I wouldn't know where to begin."
"We have a recipe here from Mom de Villiers," Brad said. "Genuine English Trifle." Then, with a shudder, he firmly added, "Without the liquor."
"Then, Trifle it is," Brook concluded triumphantly. "If my nephews like Trifle, then I do, too."
* * * * *
As Nathan and Brook went shopping, we changed our clothes for another session in the swimming pool. Brad was still struggling with his hangover and went back to the bedroom to lie down again for awhile. Barry was downstairs and I changed in the boys bedroom with them. I was going to apply another bandage to the twins' feet, but they didn't want them anymore. I decided to simply keep an eye on them instead.
Barry was waiting for us in the livingroom, dressed in the white shorts he'd worn on Saturday whilst attending the fire truck slide. "Aren't you going swimming?" I asked.
"Yes," he replied as he glanced down at his shorts. "I just thought these would be more appropriate for when your family gets here."
"But I like the trunks," I told him.
"Don't they show too much?"
"No more than any of us," I said. "Except, maybe, for some skin on the side. Come on. Go change." When Barry hesitated, I added, "Please? For me?"
His face softened. "You really like them that much?"
"Yes, I do," I said, nodding.
He smiled at me then, a small, pleasant smile. "Okay," he said softly. "For you." He sighed deeply and added, "I wouldn't wear them if anyone else asked me to, Ted. Not even Nathan."
I watched Barry's backside as he turned and headed for the stairs. Even in the loose shorts, it was a backside worthy of a second glance. Or even a third.
I set the twins down on the sofa and told them to wait for me while I went to retrieve the pool gate key from the bedroom. Brad was sleeping again, lying belly-down on top of the sheets and still dressed in his housecoat. I grabbed the key from its hiding place, knelt gently on the bed, and kissed Brad's cheek. He didn't stir. I gently stroked his hair a few time, kissed him again, whispered to him that I loved him, and left the room.
* * * * *
Barry and Brook carried the swing set up from the basement when Mom and Dad arrived. Dad had come through the house carrying his toolbox and Mom had come bearing a thermos of ginseng tea for Brad which she immediately poured out into a mug and then stood there until he'd finished it, then she poured him another mug and left him alone to sip it. Lindsay had gone to her room to change into her swimsuit.
Barry had been hesitant to get out of the pool at first, but, after a smile and nod of encouragement from me, he swallowed his pride and climbed the ladder. No-one paid him any attention - except, perhaps, for me and Nathan. His backside looks even better in those trunks.
The twins were eager to greet their grandparents, especially since they knew there would be a set of swings for them to play on soon, so we dried them off, slathered them with more sun screen, and handed them over. John and Bernice arrived soon afterward, each carrying two lawn chairs. Nathan and Brad brought ours from the patio and set them up on the lawn as well.
Brook and Barry appeared as Brad and I were applying sun screen to each other's back. Lindsay followed them out, closing the patio door behind them. I nabbed her before she hit the pool and applied the cream to her as well.
At Nathan's request, Mom went inside to supervise his preparing the Trifle. If he was going to make it, he was going to be certain to do it right. Mom, of course, was only too happy to oblige, and Bernice followed along to keep Mom company and to pick up a few tips on British cuisine.
The twins were all eyes and ears and helpful hands as the box was opened on one end and the various poles and other pieces were extracted and arranged on the ground. Barry and Brad remained there, helping when they could and trying to keep the twins from getting underfoot. Before long, Barry was completely relaxed in his swim trunks. Brad has an impressive ass, and it looks incredible in his Speedo. Barry's is equally impressive, and now I had two of them to look at. Double the pleasure. Double the fun.
Brook joined Lindsay and me in the pool, claiming that he had twenty-seven thumbs when it came to using home handyman tools. Lindsay loved the pool noodles. She'd played with them before and was immensely grateful that I'd bought them. Brad had made a few extra rings large enough for an adult and Lindsay managed to sit in one as kids do with inner tubes and lazily paddled herself around the pool.
We talked and watched as everyone worked. Barry and Brad set about making measurements on the ground near the corner of the stone wall and back hedge and digging holes to bury and secure the leg poles of the swings in the ground. Brad worked slowly, still nursing his hangover, but Barry was a digging machine. The sight of those two bodies digging and bending over and lifting and such was almost too much for me and I had to forcibly turn my eyes away from the vision.
"Daddy," Lindsay said, "I'm thirsty. Can I have a pop?"
"Sure, Sweetheart," I told her as I began to stand up. "What kind would you like?"
"I can get it," she said, sliding easily off the noodle ring. "Do you want one?"
"No, thank you. Brook?"
"I'm fine," he said.
"Cold you ask your brothers if they want one?" I asked her.
"Sure." She was out of the pool in moments, running around the yard asking if anyone wanted something to drink.
"That is a sight to see," Brook whispered quietly after Lindsay had left the pool.
I glanced at him and discovered that he was watching the same thing I had been watching - Brad and Barry working side-by-side. "Sure is," I whispered back. Then I put my hand on his arm and drew closer to him. "Listen," I said softly. "Can I ask you a personal question?"
"Sure."
"You're into White guys, aren't you?"
Brook nodded and smiled. "You figured it out yesterday, didn't you?"
"I thought I had," I replied. "Just wanted to be certain."
He nodded again as he looked back to the young men toiling near the stone wall. "Yeah, I like White guys. Always have. Max was White." He looked at me. "Bet you didn't know
that."
"I had my suspicions," I told him.
"Do you have a problem with it, Ted?"
"No. Why should I?"
"Competition."
I laughed. "Look at me. Every human being on the planet is competition to me."
Brook laughed as well. "Give yourself some credit, Ted. I told you before, you're not bad for a skinny White guy." He turned his eyes back to the digging duo. "But, yeah. I thought it would be fun to spend some time here with you guys, especially when I found out we were going to go swimming and I'd get to see Brad without his shirt. It was a pleasant surprise to see him wearing that suit. And Barry." He paused a moment, then added a muffled, "Woof!"
I couldn't be angry at Brook, looking at Brad and admiring him, possibly even fantasizing about him. Hell, I'd been doing that with Barry as well. But, I trusted Brook. I felt he wouldn't act on those fantasies any more than I would.
I have a confession to make, Ted," he said, almost off-handedly. He turned his head to meet my curious gaze. "I didn't just happen to be in that bathroom with Brad in Toronto. I followed him in there to try to get him to go home with
me instead of with
you."
To Be Continued
(Let Ted have Brad, though, heh?) 
