Keep Me As An Apple of Your Eye - 30. December 30

December 30

6^th Day of Christmas

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, six geese a-laying.

From “The Twelve Days of Christmas, the six geese a-laying

represent the six days of creation.

Erick could smell food. He knew that there was hot food in the apartment. And coffee. The smell of hot coffee was like a magnet in pulling him out of bed and into the kitchen where he found Todd with bags of food and a large container of hot black coffee.

“Would you wake the children and tell them to come to breakfast?” Todd had a grin on his face.

Erick walked down the hallway and quietly opened the bedroom door. He smiled and then went back to the kitchen to get Todd. Todd looked in the room and tears came to his eyes. He saw Eron holding Tayloe in his arms, their legs were intertwined, and a look of contentment on their faces. They looked so in love and so peaceful.

They exited the room, closed the door and then Erick knocked and told them that breakfast was ready. They heard mumbling from inside the room and then Tayloe told them that they would be there in a couple of minutes. Todd had the food arranged on plates in the dining room when Eron and Tayloe came walking in. Eron followed behind Tayloe with his hand on Tayloe’s shoulder for guidance. They both looked well rested.

“Okay guys. Here’s the deal. An ice storm is coming and we need to get out of town or we will be stuck here for a few days. After breakfast, let’s pack the car and drive to Richmond. All of the ice will turn to rain once we get south of Occoquan. It was already misting when I went out to get breakfast food.”

Tayloe looked at his patient. “Eron, can you tolerate the rest of the drive or do we stay here in your apartment for a couple of days? It is up to you.”

“Who is driving?”

Erick spoke up and said he was.

“Good, these southern boys don’t know how to drive in ice. I feel safe with you driving.” Eron was smiling as he looked at Tayloe. “Of course, you are my knight in shining armor and I will follow you anywhere.”

Tayloe became flustered and told them to get everything ready for departure.

The men quickly showered and readied the apartment to be vacant for a couple of months. Eron was having a hard time making decisions about what to take. Tayloe was trying to help Eron pick out clothes and reminded him that they could drive up on weekends to get more if needed. That seemed to calm Eron. Erick went to get the car and the rest got everything downstairs. They were waiting when the car pulled in front of the apartment building. It was already starting to sleet.

Erick pulled away from the building and knew that crossing south of the Potomac would help with the weather. He drove through the streets and noticed an absence of traffic. Apparently, the weather forecasters had scared folks enough to stay home. Everyone was tense because of the icy roads and silence pervaded the car. They did not want to distract Erick.

As predicted, once they crossed the bridge at Occoquan, the sleet and ice turned to rain. It was a miserable slow drive the rest of the way to Richmond. Todd started talking about the six days of creation. He received very little in the way of response. The guys weren’t interested. All of a sudden, a smile crossed his face and he started singing:

“The toe bone connected to the foot bone,

The foot bone connected to the heel bone…..”

Everyone laughed and started singing. There were fights about which bone was connected to which. Eron had them roaring when he was singing about the penis boner being connected.

“Only my crazy brother would be singing about his boner in the car.”

“Well, I sing what I know and lying here in Tayloe’s lap I have a boner and so does Tayloe.”

That stopped all conversation and singing. Eron realized he had seriously misspoken. He closed his eyes and internally cried in his heart that Tayloe could not love him the way he needed to be loved. Eron fell asleep with his head in Tayloe’s lap. There was no longer a boner next to his head. Eron was wrapped in his mother’s afghan; Tayloe had his head back on the headrest and was lightly snoring when they drove through Fredericksburg. Todd was insistent that he should stay awake and quietly talked to Erick the entire time. They were both exhausted and neither wanted to wreck the car so close to home. They were also embarrassed on Eron’s behalf.

Once they got Eron settled into Tayloe’s apartment, they noticed that the refrigerator was full of food and there was a bowl of fruit on the kitchen table. His parents had come over to restock everything. Tayloe took Erick and Todd to the train station to catch the afternoon train to Lee Hall station where their car awaited them. They walked into the apartment and couldn’t believe they were back home. Everything was just as it was when they left five days prior. It was all frozen in time. They stripped and took a shower before lying down for a late afternoon nap.

When they awoke neither wanted to cook nor did they want to leave their safe haven so they ordered in pizza. They checked voice mail and found several inconsequential messages but there was one from Yonatan saying that they would not be back for New Year’s Day as they were staying until the very last minute before returning to school.

The Chanukiah was still in the front window. The Advent wreath was still on the dining room table. Todd insisted they light all of the candles for their dinner. They ate a quiet dinner, cleaned the table and then went to bed to explore their bone connections. They sang about Ezekiel and the dry bones from head to toe including the new bone that Eron had mentioned. When they finished all of their bones were knitted together though none were dry. They were glad to be home and still in love with each other. They had survived the scare from Eron’s health problem and they were stronger for it. Todd knew that he would always be the strong one during crises and Erick knew that he had a man he could depend on when the world turned upside down.

Suggested Music:

“Dry Bones”

Delta Rhythm Boys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVoPG9HtYF8