Box of Crackers - 16. Chapter 16

With Alex driving, we reached Orlando in four days. We had stopped at two of their historical selections. When we approached Orlando, the kids were excited, and truth be told, so were Jimmy and I. Checking into the Disney Swan Hotel, the kids were anxious to go to the parks.

I looked at Jimmy, “Pete, let’s drop off our luggage and head for the parks.”

“Ok, boys which park do you want to visit first?”

As if rehearsed, ‘Magic Kingdom’. I looked at Jimmy, he was smiling, nodding his head yes. I think that would’ve been his pick as well.

We spent the rest of the day in Magic Kingdom. That evening the boys set out a schedule of parks to visit, they wanted to make sure they would see all of the parks and perhaps go back and visit those that had special attractions that they would enjoy.

We visited them all and even gone back to a few. Breakfast, lunch and dinner where at the parks or special Disney events. On the last day, the boys were sad to leave until I said we were going to Universal Studios. Jimmy just looked at me and smiled. We spent three days at Universal and one day at Sea World. The boys were hyper the entire time we were away. Then, as all good things must come to an end, it was time to go home.

The drive home was faster since we didn’t stop at any historical sights. We arrived late Sunday night, actually it was Monday by the time we reached our apartment. The boys went right to bed while Jimmy and I brought the luggage and bags of souvenirs to the apartment.

“Jimmy, you should get some sleep. You need to work tomorrow, I can go into the office late.”

He just looked at me with those eyes, I knew he wouldn’t go to bed alone. I’ll take care of the luggage tomorrow before I go to work. “Come on, I’ll rock you to sleep.” He smiled because he knew what my rocking would be. I actually was surprised at how fast we fell asleep. I guess there is something to the fact that your bed is always the best.

Monday morning seemed to come a little too early. Jimmy woke up at nine-thirty I slept until ten. When I got to the kitchen, the coffee pot was hot and Jimmy left a note saying breakfast was in the oven. I sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee trying to decide if I was going to go to the office or not. I decided not to go, I called Mrs. Marlow and told her I wouldn’t be in. She said that she really didn’t expect me and if it was all right, she would only work a half day. I said that would be fine and I’ll see her in the morning.

The boys, one by one, eventually woke up and came to the kitchen. Bobby was the first and when he saw me sitting there with my coffee, he came and sat on my lap. “Did you have fun?”

“Dad, we had the best vacation ever. I was very lucky when I met you.”

“No, Bobby, I was the lucky one.”

“Hey, why didn’t you wake me?” Bobby moved off my lap only to have Butch take his place.

“You were sleeping so I thought I’d let you sleep.”

I gave Butch a hug, “Bobby said that he had the best vacation ever, how about you?”

“Dad, that was the only vacation I ever had. It was beyond what I’d have ever imagine.” I got a hug and a kiss on my cheek for that. “Dad, could you call me Elly?”

“Sure, from now on we’ll call you Elly.” He just smiled and I did get a hug. Butch, er Elly was growing up.

We were home three weeks when Jimmy dropped a load of brochures on the table, The boys saw them and started to leaf through them. “Are these for us?”

“We thought you might to like go to a camp for a week. Take a look through them and see if anything might be of interest.”

I watched as the boys picked up one, looked through it, put it in a separate pile. “Dad, this pile is for discard.”

I watched as they went through the ones left. “Dad, I’d like to go this camp but it’s for two weeks.”

I looked and it was a sport camp, they brochure said they would spend 4 days on baseball, 4 days on football and 4 days on soccer. The rest of the time the boys would take nature walks, there was swimming and, the old favorite, arts and crafts.

I looked at Jimmy, he smiled and nodded. “Okay, Alex, let’s complete the application, You have one week before you leave.”

This led the other two, to rethink their choices. As it turned out, they all went for a two week camping program. The day they were to leave, it looked like a mad house. If you listened you heard, ‘where’s my glove’ that was Alex, ‘Dad, where is my bathing suit,’ ‘Dad, I need a bigger suitcase.’

Jimmy and I just smiled. “I’ll help them.” I think Jimmy was getting excited for the boys as well.

I drove them to their pick-up spots, three different camps, threes different pick-up spots. The last one out was Bobby. “Bobby, have a good time. Remember we are only a phone call away. If you need us, call us.”

When the two weeks were over, we picked up the boys where we originally dropped them off. The noise level in the car seemed to grow as each boy got in. I just smile at Jimmy.

“It’ll take them a week to tell us everything.”

“Did you all have a good time?” The resulting yes, put a smile on our faces.

It took a week before everything returned to normal.

Summer vacation was over and the kids started school. The old routine was quickly re-established. Jimmy walked them to school and I picked them up after school. I took a lot of my work home as I began to prepare for tax season. Several of my corporate clients required quarterly reports for tax purpose and annual reports. My season seemed to correspond to the start or school, as tax filings dwindled, I had a lot more time to spend at home.

After the first year, we settled into a routine, Evie and family visited us for Easter and we visited them for Christmas. Sometimes Michael would come with Evie and Don, he decided he wanted a college education and wasn’t always available to travel. I think he was dating and getting serious, at least that’s what Evie was saying. Donnie had started grad school. Time seems to go fast.

Our family settled into a routine, Elly began to work part time for Luigi in the kitchen. He was their star dish washer according to Jimmy. He only worked the week-ends when Luigi’s were very busy. Jimmy began to teach Bobby how to cook and I began to teach Alex accounting. He would be a freshman this year.

Our times with my family and Jimmy’s family were times we, as a family, looked forward to and enjoyed. Our family vacations were the highlight of the summers. As I look back over my life, I have come to realize that man, straight or gay, is not meant to live alone. The joy of a family is to be had by all men and being gay, it was for me, a special privilege to have a partner and children. I was happy, I was content, I had a partner and I had a family. What more could a guy ask for.