DJ - 53. Chapter 53

In Chapter 53 Jeremy meets his first new friend, Ray, at the playground and both boys get to meet the other’s parents. On Tuesday Candy gets Jeremy registered and he starts his new year at his new school. The new furniture is delivered and Rena, Candy and Jeremy spend their first night in the new apartment.

* * * * *

DJ Chapter 53 – A gay love story by Doug Spencer

Arriving at the playground, and not knowing anyone, Jeremy sat on a swing and started to swing. Another boy about his age approached him, reaching out his hand and slowing Jeremy’s swing down to motionless.

“Hi,” the boy said, “I haven’t seen you here before, are you new?”

“I just moved here yesterday,” Jeremy replied, “to live with my mommy’s.”

“I’m Raymond, Raymond Vance, what’s your name?”

“Jeremy Santiago,” Jeremy answered, extending his hand, which Raymond quickly accepted, shaking Jeremy’s hand and smiling.

“It’s good to meet you, Jeremy,” Raymond replied, “Most everybody just calls me ‘Ray’, I expect we’ll be in the same school, what grade are you in?”

“I’ll be in the fourth grade,” Jeremy replied.

“Cooooool! Me too!” Ray exclaimed. “There are like three fourth grade classes in our school, if we’re lucky, we’ll be in the same classroom. Would you like us to be friends?”

“You seem like a nice boy, I think I’d like that, a lot,” Jeremy replied, “I just moved here, and I don’t know anybody, or have any friends, yet.” Jeremy was starting to feel pressure, down there.

“Jeremy,” Ray stated, giving Jeremy a warm and friendly hug, “you already have one friend, and you’ll soon make more. Most of these kids are pretty cool.” Jeremy smiled, hugging Ray back.

“Ray,” Jeremy stated, “It was good to meet a new friend, but I need to get home, I gotta tinkle.”

“Hold on, you don’t gotta go home for that, us boys have a place we hide, follow me.” Ray led Jeremy to a spot where two Dumpsters sat, back to back. “Plenty of room between these, where we’re out of site of the playground or any apartments.”

Jeremy quickly unzipped, pulled out his pecker, pulled his foreskin back and let go, Ray joining him. The two boys watched each other pee, grinning. Tucking their junk away, they returned to the playground, and bounced up and down on the teeter-tauter for a while. It was getting close to 5:00 PM and darkness would soon be surrounding them.

“My tummy tells me it’s close to dinnertime,” Ray stated, “I probably need to go home.”

“I probably need to go home too,” Jeremy replied, “I promised my Mommy’s I’d be home before dark.” The boys headed away from the playground together, walking toward Building 2, and stopping in front of Building 8.”

“This is where I live, Jeremy” Ray stated, pointing, “in number 813. Why don’t you come inside, and meet my Mommy and Daddy?”

“You’re allowed to bring other kids into your house?” Jeremy asked, surprised and remembering that Crystal never allowed him to bring other kids inside their home.

“Sure,” Ray replied, opening the unlocked front door and dragging Jeremy into the living room.

A tall man, rising from an easy chair and approaching the boys, “And who is this young man you’ve brought in?”

“Daddy, this is Jeremy Santiago,” Ray explained, “he just moved here yesterday, and we’ve decided to be friends.”

Charlie, smiling, and extending his hand, “I’m Charlie Vance, Raymond’s father, and I’m glad to meet you, PHYLLIS!” Ray’s Mom entered from the kitchen. “This is Ray’s new friend, Jeremy Santiago, and Jeremy just moved here. Jeremy, this is my wife and Ray’s mother, Phyllis Vance.” Phyllis smiled, taking Jeremy’s hand, and giving him a warm and friendly handshake.

“Ray,” Phyllis suggested, “why don’t you ask Jeremy if he’d like to have dinner with us tonight?” Ray smiled.

“I’d like that,” Jeremy said, “but I promised Mommy I’d be home before dark, maybe another time.” The boys shared a hug and Jeremy left for home. While walking home, he realized how much he’d quickly learned to like Ray’s Mom and Dad. He’d also never been invited to share dinner with a friend before.

Returning home shortly after 5:15, Rena was nearly finished with cooking dinner and Bryan had returned from the laundry, and had already put away the clean laundry. Knowing that Phil wouldn’t be home until late, Rena asked Jeremy to go over and invite Bryan to eat dinner with them, and Bryan was pleased to accept the offer. Entering apartment 202 Jeremy was eager to proudly show his new wardrobe to Bryan.

“You’re going to start school as a ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ Bryan said, smiling and Jeremy grinned. During dinner, Jeremy excitedly told them about meeting Ray, and Ray’s Mommy and Daddy, and that he and Ray had already decided to be friends.

“When you get a chance, Jeremy,” Candy stated, “you need to bring Ray around so we can meet him.”

“Would he be allowed to come inside our home?” Jeremy asked, “Crystal never allowed me to bring another boy into our house.”

“JEREMY! Candy exclaimed, “Do either of us even look like Crystal? Sweetheart, this is just as much your home as it is ours. If you want to bring a friend into our home, we’ll do our best to make them feel welcome here.” Jeremy grinned and Bryan smiled.

“Bryan, what is yours and Phil’s schedule tomorrow?” Candy asked.

“We don’t have classes on Tuesdays,” Bryan replied, “I think Phil has to be to work at 3:00 and I’m due in at 4:00. What do you need?”

“We’ve got a dilemma,” Candy explained, “We’re both supposed to work. I’m going in late, as I need to take Jeremy and get him registered in his new school, and our furniture is getting delivered tomorrow as well. Somebody needs to be around to let the delivery guys in with the furniture. I hate to ask Rena to also take a day off from work, I was hoping—maybe—if you guys were around—

“Say no more,” Bryan said, “I’m sure one of us can let the guys in with your furniture, but how will we know when they’re here?”

“We took the liberty to give Rick your phone numbers, as contacts, in case we weren’t home,” Candy replied, “and you do have a key to our new apartment. I would hope that they make the delivery before you guys have to leave for work.”

“If push comes to shove,” Bryan stated, “my manager is pretty understanding and will let me come in late. Don’t worry, we got you covered.” Candy breathed a sigh of relief. “I don’t know what we’d do, without you guys!”

“Isn’t that what friends are for?” Bryan said, smiling.

“I feel like you do more for us than we do for you,” Rena said.

“You feed us quite often,” Bryan replied, “and that’s worth a lot. I think Phil and I would starve if it wasn’t for you girls.” Rena smiled, feeling appreciated. “Jeremy, since your bed won’t be delivered until tomorrow, would you want to sleep over with us again tonight?”

“Sure,” Jeremy replied, grinning, “you don’t need to ask me twice!”

“Bryan,” Candy stated, “That would really be depriving you and Phil from, you know.”

“Oh,” Bryan replied, grinning, “we took care of our needs while you were out shopping. We’re good for another night with Jeremy.”

“Can you make sure he gets a shower tonight,” Candy asked, “so he’ll be clean when I take him to school in the morning?”

“Not a problem,” Bryan replied, “does he shower by himself, or do I need to bathe him?”

“He may need some assistance to shampoo his hair, and dry it, but he handles the rest by himself. He’ll need to go to sleep early, and be up fairly early, because we need to try and leave here by about 8:00 AM,” Candy said. After Jeremy got his goodnight kisses from both Mommies, Bryan and Jeremy headed over to Bryan’s apartment for the night.

Bryan, about 7:00 PM, “Okay Jeremy, shower time.” Jeremy walked over by the sofa and stripped naked, as he’d done the previous night, then followed Bryan into the bathroom. As you may recall, their bathroom only has a stand alone shower stall rather than a tub-shower combo. Bryan adjusted the shower, and Jeremy stepped in.

As with many of us, the warm water falling on our body causes us to have an urge to pee, and Jeremy is no different, and tinkled in the shower.

Getting his hair wet, Jeremy stuck his head out of the shower and Bryan shampooed Jeremy’s hair. Hair shampooed, Jeremy pulled his head back in and rinsed it, then soaped and cleaned the rest of his body, while Bryan lowered the lid on the toilet bowl and sat down to wait. Now showered and rinsed, Jeremy turned off the water, pulled the shower curtain to one side and stepped out onto the bathmat, still dripping wet. Bryan used a clean towel to towel dry Jeremy’s hair, turning Jeremy’s back toward him and dried Jeremy’s backside. Handing the towel to Jeremy, Jeremy dried the rest of his own body.

Bryan and Phil often use the blow dryer to not only dry the hair on their head but also the hair under their armpits and their pubic hair. Bryan turned on the dryer and proceeded to blow dry Jeremy’s still somewhat wet hair.

When Jeremy’s hair was nearly dry, Bryan lowered the warm air stream down and playfully directed it onto Jeremy’s rather small boyhood and pubic area, causing a grin on Jeremy’s face. Was Jeremy getting his very first blowjob? At not quite eleven, Jeremy had not yet entered into puberty and had no body hair or pubic hair. It was hard for Bryan to imagine that his own boyhood was ever quite as small as Jeremy’s, but maybe it was, before he had gone through puberty.

Now dry, Jeremy went into the bedroom and pulled on his PJ’s and then returned to the kitchen.

“How about some Ice Cream before we go to bed?” Bryan asked.

“That’d be great,” Jeremy replied, grinning. Bryan pulled the container of Chocolate Ice Cream from the freezer compartment and scooped out two bowls of it, and they sat at the table to eat it.

****Authors note—power of suggestion—taking a break to finish off the Butter Pecan Ice Cream and my dog gets to lick out the container****

Finishing their Ice Cream, Bryan rinsed out the bowls and the two boys headed to the bedroom. As on the previous night, Bryan stripped to his boxers and both boys slid into bed about 8:00 PM, Bryan setting the alarm on his phone for 7:00 AM. Phil would be joining them about 11:30 when he gets home from work. Bryan gave Jeremy his goodnight kiss on his cheek and the two boys cuddled together and soon fell asleep.

Phil, arriving home at the usual time, realized that Bryan had already gone to bed. He entered the bedroom and stripped naked, ready to join his boy. Just before sliding into bed, the dim light from the bathroom shone in enough that he realized Jeremy was also in their bed—again—and pulled his boxers back on, then crawled in on the right side. Even though Jeremy was sleeping soundly, Phil gave Jeremy a loving kiss on his forehead anyway. Once Jeremy falls asleep, he is dead to the world, and even Phil entering into the bed didn’t cause him to stir. Cuddled close to Jeremy, Phil fell asleep before very long.

* * * * *

At 7:00 AM on Tuesday morning, Bryan woke to the sound of his alarm and he silenced it quickly, not wishing to disturb Phil. Bryan leaned over and whispered into Jeremy’s ear.

“Good morning Sunshine!” Bryan whispered loudly, “Time to rise and shine, we need to get moving. Try not to talk, and let Phil sleep, he needs his rest.”

“I need to tinkle,” Jeremy whispered back. Bryan literally pulled Jeremy off the bed, and onto his feet, and Jeremy headed into the bathroom, Bryan right behind him.

“Don’t flush the toilet,” Bryan said, “I’ll flush it after I go.”

Bryan, while ‘tinkling’ “Jeremy, go and dress in your new school clothes, and we’ll go to your Mommies and get breakfast. Your Mommy Candy will be taking you to school shortly, for your first day of school.” Jeremy did as Bryan had told him, while Bryan returned to the bedroom and finished dressing.

Both boys headed over to 202 and entered, perhaps for the last time. Candy and Rena both gave Jeremy a good morning kiss, and Rena poured Bryan a cup of coffee. Rena placed a towel around Jeremy’s neck to act as a bib, in case Jeremy got sloppy with the food. Rena then dished up plates of scrambled eggs, sausage and toast, serving the first two plates to Candy and Jeremy, then two more for Bryan and herself.

The four enjoyed breakfast together, perhaps the last meal they would share in apartment 202. After eating, Rena and Candy quickly went into the bedroom to finish dressing for work. Candy, returning, told Jeremy to get his backpack, and picked up the folder with Jeremy’s school records. They all left the apartment together, Bryan returning to his apartment, Rena to work and Candy and Jeremy to his new school.

* * * * *

Arriving at Eastwood Elementary School, Candy parked in a Visitor’s space, and she and Jeremy entered the school quickly finding the School Office. Getting Jeremy registered became somewhat complicated. Candy filled out the registration form, listing herself and Rena Lopez as Jeremy’s guardians. Miss Clark, the school office clerk was confused, looking at Jeremy’s Birth Certificate and the registration form.

“Are you ladies like, foster mothers?” Miss Clark asked.

“No,” Candy replied, “I am Jeremy’s birth Mom, and we’ve been awarded legal custody of our son.

“I’m still confused,” Miss Clark stated, “Jeremy’s last name is Santiago, but your last names are Lopez and Stanley.

“I was married to Jeremy’s father, Juan Santiago, when Jeremy was conceived. We were separated when Jeremy was born, but Juan accepted the responsibility of fatherhood, and we gave Jeremy the last name of Santiago. When Juan and I separated, Rena and I were into a relationship, and we raised Jeremy until he was three years old. Juan remarried, and he and his new wife decided to sue for custody of Jeremy and won.”

“For seven years, Jeremy lived with his father and stepmother, and was miserable, as his stepmom was quite mean to Jeremy. We only had Jeremy for two Sunday’s a month, and Jeremy hated when we had to take him back to his father’s home, and it was breaking our hearts.”

“Finally,” Candy continued, “Rena and I tied the knot, reverting to our maiden names, and we sued to regain custody of Jeremy. Judge Canton felt that it was in Jeremy’s best interest to award custody of Jeremy to his mothers, so now Rena, Jeremy and I are once again a happy family. Jeremy is very happy to live with his two Mommy’s.” Jeremy smiled.

“I think I get the picture now,” Miss Clark stated, “So you and Ms. Lopez are a same sex married couple, and both share motherhood of Jeremy?”

“You’ve got it, Miss Clark,” Candy replied, “Jeremy has the unconditional love of his two Mom’s and gets to spend one weekend a month with his loving Daddy.” Miss Clark pulled out the Fourth Grade rosters, looking at the lists of students.

“We have three Fourth Grade classes, and since Mrs. Whites class has three less students than the other two, I’m assigning Jeremy to her room. Classes start at 9:00 AM and end at 3:00 PM. For where you live, Jeremy would be riding on Bus 42. The bus will pick him up around 8:20 AM, and he should be getting dropped off around 3:15 to 3:30 in the afternoons. I’d recommend he be at the bus stop about 8:15 AM to be sure he doesn’t miss the bus.”

“Will you be packing lunches for Jeremy, or would he be buying his lunches in the cafeteria, like most of the other students?” Miss Clark asked. “Either way, all the students eat in the cafeteria.”

“How much are the lunches in the cafeteria?” Candy asked.

“Seventy-five cents a day, or he can buy a five meal ticket for three dollars, and they’ll punch out each meal on the ticket when the student gets his or her lunch.”

“The tickets would save a little money,” Candy stated, “and it’s probably easier to come up with $3.00 once a week than to dig up seventy-five cents every day for lunch money.” Miss Clark nodded in agreement. “Let me go ahead and buy a ticket.”

“We don’t have the tickets here,” Miss Clark stated, “he would need to buy it when he goes through the cafeteria line. Let me try and catch one of the Sixth Graders to show Jeremy to Mrs. Whites room so he won’t be tardy.” Miss Clark exited the office.

“Jeremy,” Candy said, “I don’t have three dollar bills to buy your lunch ticket, so I’m giving you a Five, and I’ll expect you to give me $2.00 change tonight.”

“Okay Mommy,” Jeremy replied, “Thank you.”

“Carlos!” Miss Clark exclaimed. “Can you come into the office?”

“Sure, Miss Clark,” Carlos replied, “How may I help you?” Carlos followed Miss Clark into where Candy and Jeremy were waiting.

“Carlos,” Miss Clark stated, “We have a new student. This is Jeremy Santiago, would you be kind enough to show Jeremy to Mrs. White’s Fourth Grade classroom?”

“Certainly, Miss Clark,” Carlos replied.

“Jeremy, please give this paper to Mrs. White, your teacher, so she can get you on her attendance roster.”

“Let’s go Jeremy,” Carlos stated, and Jeremy followed Carlos out the office door and down the hallway, walking with Carlos.

“Se hablo Espanol?” Carlos asked.

“Say what?” Jeremy replied.

Carlos, grinning, “I was asking if you speak Spanish. I thought with a name like Santiago, you just might speak Spanish.”

“Nope,” Jeremy replied, “just English.”

“I’m bilingual,” Carlos stated, “Mama and Papa are Mexican, and mainly speak Spanish, but growing up with kids that mostly speak English, and going to school here, I gradually learned English.” Then, chuckling, “I often have to translate for Mama and Papa.” A couple of minutes later, they arrived at room 114.

“Here we are, Jeremy,” Carlos said, “Room 114, labeled on the door, and here, (pointing to a small placard on the wall) it says ‘Fourth Grade’ and ‘Mrs. White’. I’ll introduce you.” The boys walked in and approached the teacher. Having had Carlos as a student two years prior, Mrs. White knew Carlos.

“Good Morning, Carlos,” Mrs. White stated, “What do we have here?”

“Good Morning, Mrs. White,” Carlos replied. “I brung you a new student to our school, this is Jeremy Santiago.”

“Carlos! You know better!” Mrs. White said, “I’ve brought.” Carlos nodded, just a tad embarrassed. “Thank you, you’re free to go.” Carlos waved to Jeremy and left the room. “Welcome, Jeremy, do you have paperwork?” Jeremy handed her the paper from Miss Clark, and Mrs. White viewed it. “Jeremy, you may take a seat at any one of the vacant desks.” (There were only three)

Jeremy glanced around the room, and Ray Vance stood, smiling, and pointed to the empty desk next to him. Of course Jeremy sat at that desk, next to Ray.

“Hi,” Ray said, “I was so hoping that we’d be in the same class, and I saved this desk for you, so we could sit together.” Jeremy grinned, happy to sit next to his friend.

“MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!” Mrs. White announced. “Welcome back to the new school year at Eastwood Elementary. I know that some of you know each other, but you’re all brand new faces to me. Until I get to know you all, I’m asking you all to sit at the same desk every day.”

“For the first couple of weeks,” Mrs. White continued, “as I call your name, stand up beside your desk, and remain standing until I’m finished, and tell you to sit back down. That will help us all to connect names with faces.” Mrs. White proceeded to take roll call.

At lunchtime, classes were led to the cafeteria in order, starting with Kindergarten and ending with Sixth Grade. Ray and Jeremy both purchased the five-meal tickets, and naturally sat together to eat.

Come 3:00 PM the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, and, like at lunchtime, the Kindergarten kids were the first to board the busses, working up through Sixth-graders. Ray and Jeremy found bus 42, and shared a seat together for the ride home. The first day of school was over!

* * * * *

Earlier Tuesday morning, after Candy and Jeremy had left for the school and Rena to work, Bryan returned home to wait for the men to call with the furniture delivery, and Phil to wake up. At 9:00 AM it was way to early to get dressed for work, as he didn’t need to leave until sometime after 3:30 PM.

Phil should be getting up soon, so Bryan brewed a fresh pot of coffee, for Phil and him to share. Having already had breakfast with Jeremy and Company, he was prepared to cook breakfast for his man, whatever his man felt like eating. Bryan was practicing to be a good husband! (Although he and Phil are still only in boyfriend mode)

Finally Phil became vertical, wandering into the kitchen still in his boxers, and Bryan poured them both cups of coffee.

“Any word yet from the delivery guys?” Phil asked.

“Not yet,” Bryan replied, “Rena has gone to work, and Candy took Jeremy to get him registered at his new school, and will then be going to work from there. I can’t believe how attached I’ve become to Jeremy, I’m really happy that his mothers now have custody of Jeremy.”

“Jeremy is one sweet and lovable young man,” Phil stated, “He’s like the little brother that I never had. I fail to understand how his stepmother, or anybody, could treat him so poorly. I know his life will be better from now on, and I’m happy to have him in our lives too.” Phil’s phone sounded, and he quickly answered it, not recognizing the number.

“We have a truckload of furniture to deliver to apartment 213,” the voice stated, “but there’s no answer at the door. We were given this number as a contact.”

“We’re down below,” Phil replied, “in number 203. Give us about five minutes to get dressed, and we’ll be right up.” Phil hung up. “Their furniture’s here!” Phil said, heading to the bedroom to dress. Bryan, already dressed, grabbed the key for 213 and headed out the door and up the stairway, unlocking the entrance to 213. Phil was about three minutes behind Bryan.

The boys instructed the delivery guys as to where they believed that Candy and Rena would want things placed. The men placed the Sofa against the wall opposite from the TV, and the kitchen table and chairs in the kitchen. Then assembled the twin bed in the smaller bedroom, and the full size bed in the larger bedroom, both beds ready to be made up. The smaller chest of drawers was taken to the smaller bedroom, as was the student desk.

Feeling they’d done well, Bryan checked the delivery ticket, making sure that everything on the ticket had been delivered, signed the ticket, and the delivery guys left.

Now that Jeremy had a chest of drawers in his room, and Bryan and Phil had a little time to kill, the boys tackled the chore of unpacking Jeremy’s clothing. Putting Jeremy’s socks and briefs in the top drawer, tee shirts and pajamas in the second drawer, and shorts and jeans in the bottom drawer. Lacking hangers, they lay his jackets, sweaters, suit and shirts on the bed. Leaving his two boxes of toys intact, they gathered the empty boxes and took them to the Dumpster then returned to their apartment.

* * * * *

About 3:20 PM the school bus driver pulled bus #42 into the complex, parking by the gazebo in the center of the apartment complex. Opening the doors, Ray and Jeremy exited the bus, along with about a dozen other children, scattering in all different directions.

“Jeremy,” Ray explained, “This is where all the kids wait for our buses in the mornings. It’s got a roof, so if it’s raining, we can stay dry. Make sure you don’t get on the wrong bus, or you could end up at the High School! The first bus is usually for the Middle and High School kids, and the second bus is ours, #42.”

“I don’t think either of my Mommy’s are home from work yet,” Jeremy stated, “I guess I’ll just wait around by our apartment and wait.”

“Wanna hang out with me at my place for a while?” Ray asked. Without a verbal reply, Jeremy followed Ray through the unlocked door into his apartment, both boys met by Phyllis, who immediately gave Ray a welcome hug and kiss.

“Welcome home guys,” Phyllis said, “How was your first day back at school?”

“Guess what, Mom,” Ray excitedly replied, “Jeremy and I are both in Mrs. Whites room, and we’ve got desks next to each other!”

Phyllis, smiling, “That’s nice, it’ll be over two hours before dinner, and I made some Oatmeal-Raisin cookies today if you boys would like an after-school snack.” Hunger suddenly hit both boys. Dropping their backpacks on the floor Ray led Jeremy to the kitchen table, and Phyllis placed a plate of six cookies on the table and poured two glasses of milk. The two boys quickly attacked the cookies and milk. Jeremy is really starting to like Ray’s Mom!

“Neither of Jeremy’s Mommy’s are home from work yet,” Ray stated, “and he’s gonna hang around here with me for a while, ‘till one of them get home.”

“Son,” Phyllis asked, “don’t you mean his Mommy or Daddy?”

“Mom, don’t you remember?” Ray said, “I told you we learned in school that not all families have a Mommy and Daddy, and some have two Mommy’s or two Daddy’s. Jeremy has two Mommy’s.”

“I see,” Phyllis replied, somewhat surprised. “I know that if you two boys are going to be close friends, your father and I will want to meet Jeremy’s parents—or—Mommy’s.”

“I do have a Daddy,” Jeremy stated, “he married another woman, Crystal, and she was mean to me. They live up in the city. I’m really happy to be living with my Mommy’s again. I love my Daddy, but I hate Crystal!” Phyllis is not sure how she feels about this revelation!

About 5:00 PM Jeremy figured his Mommy’s would be home and prepared to leave Ray’s home to head to his own home.

“Mom,” Ray said, “If it’s OK I want to walk Jeremy home, and maybe get to meet his Mommy’s.”

“OK Son,” Phyllis replied, “but come back soon, your Dad will be coming home and our dinner will soon be ready.” Jeremy pulled on his backpack and the boys took off for building 2.

Jeremy, while approaching building 2, “I’m not sure where my Mommy’s are. We’re moving from apartment 202 upstairs to apartment 213. Let’s try the new one first.” Jeremy tried the unlocked door to 213 pushing it open. “ANYONE HERE?”

“YEP!” Candy replied, coming down the stairs from the bedrooms, and seeing Ray with Jeremy. “Might this be your friend Ray?”

“Yeah, Mommy,” Jeremy replied, “this is Ray, Ray Vance, Ray this is my Mommy, Candy Stanley.”

“RENA!” Candy yelled, “Come down and meet Jeremy’s friend, Ray. Ray, we’ve heard so much about you, welcome to our new home.” Rena quickly descended the stairs. “Ray, this is Jeremy’s other Mommy, Rena Lopez”

Rena, giving Ray a warm hug, “We happy to know you, Ray. Jeremy’s amigo’s are welcome in our casa.” Jeremy smiled, knowing just enough Espanol to know that Rena said that his friends are welcome in our home. Ray got the point, smiling.

“I can’t stay,” Ray said, “Daddy will be home soon and dinner is almost ready to eat.”

“Hold up just a minute,” Candy said, “I want to send a note to your parents.” Candy grabbed a note paper and wrote:

To Ray’s parents from Jeremy’s Moms:

Candy Stanley – Cell phone XXX-XXXX
Rena Lopez – Cell phone XXX-XXXX
If our boys are going to be friends, I think we parents should meet, and get to know each other. We just met Ray and think highly of him, and he is always welcome in our home.

Candace Stanley
Apartment 213

Candy folded the note, stuck it in an envelope and sealed it. Ray had a look of concern on his face, wondering if he’d done something to upset Jeremy’s Mom’s.

“Please give this note to your Mommy and Daddy,” Candy stated, smiling, “and don’t worry Ray, you haven’t done anything wrong. We expect to see plenty of you in the days ahead!” Ray smiled.

Taking the note from Candy, Jeremy and Ray shared a quick hug, and Ray headed out toward his home.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Charlie Vance arrived home from work, entering apartment 813, and went into the kitchen where he shared a kiss and hug with his wife, Phyllis, who was finishing dinner for her husband and son.

“Charlie,” Phyllis stated, nervously, “we need to talk!”

“What’s wrong, Dear,” Charlie replied, “you seem upset.”

“It’s about Ray’s new friend, Jeremy,” Phyllis explained, “When they came in from school, I treated the boys to some cookies and milk. Just before Jeremy left to go home, the boys dropped a bombshell on me. I don’t think we should allow Ray to be very close friends with Jeremy.”

“This sounds serious,” Charlie stated, “what happened?”

“Ray explained that he’d been taught in school, that not all family’s are a Mommy and Daddy, and that some have two Daddy’s or two Mommy’s,” Phyllis explained, “and that Jeremy lives with his two Mommy’s. Evidently, Jeremy lives with a Lesbian couple, and he calls both of them his Mommy’s.”

“Wow,” Charlie responded, “I guess that is quite a shocker! We’ve met Jeremy, and he seems like a nice young man. I know we don’t approve of Jeremy’s parent’s lifestyle, but we shouldn’t hold that against Jeremy. I think Ray and Jeremy have developed a pretty normal friendship between two boys of their ages.”

“To forbid Ray to be friends with Jeremy just because of his mother’s lifestyle would probably do more harm than good,” Charlie stated. “A young man like Jeremy needs to have a male role model in his life, and maybe I can become that role model. Speaking of Ray, where is he?”

“He walked Jeremy back to his home,” Phyllis said, “and wanted to meet Jeremy’s parents—or—Mommy’s. He should be back any minute now.” About two minutes later, Ray walked in, envelop in hand. After getting a hug from Charlie, Ray handed the envelope to his Dad, stating that Jeremy’s Mommy Candy had sent it.

As Phyllis served dinner, Charlie opened the envelope and read the note, then handed it to Phyllis.

Phyllis, reading the note, “I’m not so sure I want to meet these women, especially knowing their lifestyle.”

“Is my wife just a bit homophobic?” Charlie replied, grinning, “They’ve opened the door, and I tend to agree with them. For the benefit of the boys, I think we should honor their request, and make arrangements to meet with them.”

“OK, Dear,” Phyllis replied, “you’re probably right, go ahead and arrange a meeting for us.” Charlie, grabbing his cell phone, placed a call to Candy, and Candy answered.

“Candy,” Charlie stated, “this is Ray’s father, Charlie Vance. Phyllis and I have discussed your note, and we agree that it would be in the boys’ best interest if we parents get to know each other. When and where would you like to meet up with us?”

“We are just moving in to the new apartment and we’re still trying to get stuff put away tonight. How about tomorrow night, say about 7:00 PM, after we’ve all had dinner?”

“Fine,” Charlie replied, “Your place or ours?”

“How about here,” Candy said, “and bring Ray with you. We’ll have Jeremy’s room in order by then, and we can send the boys up to play in his room while we chat.”

“Sounds good,” Charlie replied, “Phyllis and I are looking forward to meeting Jeremy’s parents tomorrow evening. See you then.” As Candy and Charlie hung up, Charlie smiled, and gave Phyllis a thumb up.

After the phone call with Charlie Vance, Candy and Rena returned upstairs and made up Jeremy’s bed, and their own. Thanks to Phil and Bryan, Jeremy’s clothes had been put into drawers, except for the items needing hangers, which Rena soon took care of.

About 7:30 Rena told Jeremy to go and put on his pajamas, as it was near his bedtime, and he had school tomorrow. He went upstairs, looked in the drawers and found his PJ’s, put them on and returned to snuggle between his Mommy’s for a few minutes on the sofa. At 8:00 PM Candy announced it was bedtime, and to his Mommy’s surprises, offered no resistance. Jeremy was actually anxious to try out his new bed, and led Candy and Rena to his bedroom. Tucking Jeremy in, and both Mommies giving him goodnight kisses, Jeremy settled in, kinda wishing he could be cuddling with Phil and Bryan.

After sharing a nightcap, Candy and Rena also retired, about 9:30 PM, setting the alarm for 6:45 AM, aware that Jeremy needed to be at the bus stop by 8:15 and they both needed to leave for work by shortly after 8:30 AM.

To be continued............