When Opportunity Knocks - 12. Chapter 12

Kyle damn near rolled out the door and into his truck when he left his parent’s house after Thanksgiving dinner. His mom had gone all out this year, fixing every one of his and Megan’s favorites. She had always been a great cook, but when she set her mind to it she was phenomenal. He and Megan were also sent off with enough containers of leftovers to make Tupperware declare a supply shortage. He was putting them right into the freezer when he got home. There was no way he could eat another bite of food for at least a couple of days. Well, maybe he could manage some stuffing. With turkey and gravy. On a couple of slices of homemade 12-grain bread. Ugghhh. His belly yelled to his brain ‘nooooo’! Then his taste buds started watering at the memory of the food that was filling his truck with a heavenly aroma. Dammit.

He compromised when he got home and put most of the containers in his freezer, keeping out enough turkey and fixings for two meals. Rosie had gotten her own vat of gravy and Kyle mixed a few spoonfuls in with her food. As a vet he knew the repercussions of feeding pets table scraps all the time, but Mom’s gravy a couple of times a year was a treat for Rosie. He wished more pet owners would realize how bad it was for their dog or cat to eat people food. Once in a while was okay, every day, no.

Once Rosie was fed he settled down on his couch and checked his phone. Jett had sent a text and said he’d be home by nine and would call him then. It was eight-thirty now so Kyle cleaned out his emails, automatically deleting all the spam, which accounted for ninety percent of his unread stuff. The rest was just the usual payment reminders and a few Happy Thanksgiving wishes from acquaintances. He didn’t have time to keep up with social media and had deleted all of his old accounts. There just wasn’t enough time in his day to follow anything, let alone post shit.

His phone chirped shortly after nine and he smiled when he saw Jett’s face light up his screen.

“Hey babe,” Kyle purred as he answered. They had made some major progression since the weekend he and Jett had spent exploring each other and banging like bunnies. It felt natural to let slip out the occasional ‘babe’ or ‘hun’. Those terms of endearment were just that, something sweet to help solidify their feelings for each other. Although Jett had told him outright that he drew the line at ‘snuggle-bunny’ or ‘pookie-muffin’.

“Hey yourself. Did you have a good dinner?”

“I can’t fucking move. Mom felt the need to make up for everything and my stomach came within one bite of exploding,” Kyle admitted.

Jett chuckled. “You could’ve stopped eating y’know. I doubt your mom force fed you.”

“Uhhngg, but everything was soooo good. She made everything I love and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings,” Kyle whined.

“I get it. Mom, Piper and Skye made enough to feed the entire state. I went past the tipping point when Mom pulled out the pineapple squares. I can’t resist those.”

Jett had to work and his family had waited until he was off to have their feast. He had been lucky to have his shift end on time and it had been relatively quiet. The domestic calls usually didn’t pick up until the evening, after people had been drinking all day. Family-centric holidays tended to bring out the worst in some people.

“What else can’t you resist?” Kyle teased.

“I’ll show you on Saturday. Are we still on for the weekend?

“Yep,” Kyle confirmed.

The past few weekends, Jett had been true to his word and had taken Kyle to the local gun range. The first time, Kyle tried out several handguns and settled on the Glock19 with a five inch handle. He had really liked the Smith and Wesson that he had tried, but the Glock just felt better. Jett had given him a thorough lesson in all of the parts of the gun, caliber sizes, disassembling and assembling, cleaning and most important, proper handling and storage. Each subsequent trip to the range he made Kyle go over the basics again before allowing him to even step foot near the gallery. Kyle had signed up for the state-approved WCHP (Wear/Carry Handgun Permit) course which would begin the first week in December. It was a requirement along with a background check. The course was sixteen hours which was covered in four sessions of four hours once a week. Live-fire training was a big part and Jett was helping him get a head start.

Once Kyle had the necessary training and permit he was planning on getting his own weapon. Kim had met them at the range twice. Her permit was up for renewal and she had a mandatory eight hour training that was coming up and she wanted to hone her skills, which were pretty impressive. Jett’s skills were even better, but he had the most training and practice. Kyle had to admit that seeing Jett in his shooting stance with his custom Gran Torino SS 1911 that he had picked up at an auction for a song, turned him on something fierce. Last weekend Kyle had practically salivated watching him pull his trigger. The sex they had that night was fierce.

“So, I was thinking that next weekend might be a good time to meet my folks. Mom has been dropping hints and things are going really well between us now. I know she's dying to cook for someone besides me and Megan,” Kyle said casually.

“I think that would be fine, I don’t have anything planned. I’m looking forward to meeting them. Speaking of parents, mine have issued orders for you to be included in our Christmas Eve chaos if you feel up to the challenge. Before you decide, I will warn you, it’s an evening of pretty much “anything goes as long as clothes stay on and 911 doesn’t get involved,” Jett snickered.

“Do I even want to know the story behind that?

“Let’s just say Bo and I aren’t allowed near Dad’s workshop anymore.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting him. Any word on when he starts his leave?” Kyle asked.

“If all goes according to plan, and keeping in mind this is the U.S. government we’re talking about, he should be home around the 22nd or 23rd. They left Japan a couple of weeks ago and were doing maneuvers or something in the Pacific before they headed stateside. The ship is scheduled to arrive in San Diego on the 20th and he’s got a flight booked on a red-eye the 22nd. He’s going to try to go stand-by for an earlier flight. Knowing him he’ll charm the pants or skirt off a gate attendant and get bumped to first class,” Jett laughed.

“Pants or skirt? Is he bi? Oh, sorry, really none of my business!” Kyle blushed when he realized his brain filter failed.

“Bo? Let’s just say that he’s unusual. Kind of an oxymoron. When it comes to the Navy he’s focused and dedicated. He’s a technology strategic planner and has his career path all planned out. He works IT on the ship. He’s in charge of maintaining the entire intranet they have. You’d be amazed at how much of the ship’s operations are controlled by computers. He’s got one more required six month deployment and then he can either get out or re-up. He’s leaning toward re-upping as long as he can get a stateside assignment, preferably on the East coast. If he stays in the Navy he’ll stick with it until he gets his twenty years in to get full military retirement benefits. As far as his personal life goes, he doesn't label himself. He’s been with both guys and girls, usually girls. He dated a trans-female for a little bit, so I guess if anything he’s pan? He doesn't really put a label on himself. He’s always been more of a player. I don’t think he’s ever really had a serious relationship. He said it’s too hard trying to maintain something when he’s gone for such long stretches and he won’t do anything more than hook up with anyone on the crew of his ship.” Jett explained.

“Sounds a little like my friend Noah. He’s dabbled in both worlds, but not very much. He’s too damn geeky. He loves computers more than people,” Kyle remarked.

“You two ever get together?”

“Ewww, no! One, he’s like my brother and two, he’s so not my type,” Kyle shuddered.

“Wow, tell me how ya really feel.” he teased, laughing heartily.

Kyle rolled his eyes. “Shush. What I meant was, that even if I didn’t think of him as a brother, I still wouldn’t be interested. I already told you, big brutes like yourself are what pushes my buttons. Noah is the very definition of the total opposite of a big brute. Little twerp, maybe? Anyway, he’s all of 5’6” and probably weighs a buck and a quarter tops, and that’s after eating Mom’s Thanksgiving meal. He’s got a heart of gold though and he’s the best friend I could ever ask for. And smart, he’s really, really smart.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting him too. Do you know when he’ll be here? How long is he staying?”

Kyle looked at the calendar app on his phone. “Yeah, his flight gets into Dulles the morning of the 15th. I told him I’d go get him. He’s got a month or so off while they transition from one training session to another. Maybe we should hook him up with your brother?”

Jett snickered. “That’d be funny. Bo’s almost as tall as I am. It would be like Gigantor and Tiny Tim!”

Kyle started laughing too. “Oh we are so getting them together! Serves Noah right for bailing out on me the last time he was scheduled to come home and didn’t make it. Some sort of ‘server issue’ that only he could resolve.”

“Well at least he and Bo speak the same computer nerd language. I swear my brother starts spouting coding terms just to piss me off. But he is really good at what he does. It should be a fun Christmas.”

Kyle tried to stifle a yawn and failed.

“Hey sleepy, I’ll talk to you tomorrow okay? I may end up working a double. Black Friday usually means mayhem somewhere. Bruce usually gets a workout at the mall. He’s a good shoplifting deterrent.” Jett explained.

“OK, be safe and call me when you get home, even if it’s late. Megan and Kim have their meeting tomorrow at the shrink’s office. I’m sure Megan will be calling me as soon as it’s done,” Kyle mentioned.

“I didn’t forget. I’m hoping it goes well. If I get home early enough I’ll check in on Kim. Meanwhile, go get some sleep. I’m looking forward to Saturday with you.”

“Me too,” Kyle stifled another yawn and ended the call.

Friday he was swamped at the clinic, as usual when the office closed for a holiday. This year Kyle had lucked out. The vets all rotated being on call for the holidays and Carter had covered Thanksgiving and Rick would be covering Christmas. Kyle had New Year’s day which was normally pretty uneventful. Thanksgiving and Christmas are when pets tend to get into trouble. Food they shouldn’t eat, decoration mishaps and the occasional animal-hating aunt or uncle who ‘accidently’ stepped on a tail during a family gathering. Carter reported that he had fielded about a dozen calls from their answering service and was able to take care of everything over the phone. There were no surgeries scheduled because of the long weekend and there were only a few animals who had needed to stay through the weekend due to their treatment plan. Kyle had a great staff and knew that things would run smoothly.

He was packing up his stuff getting ready to leave when Megan called.

Kyle didn’t waste time with pleasantries. “Hey Sis. How’d it go?”

“It was okay. You wanna meet up for dinner? My treat,” Megan offered.

“Sure, where do you want to go?”

“Somewhere quiet.” she answered.

“Megs, it’s Black Friday, everywhere is going to be busy. Why don’t you come over and I’ll order pizza instead?” Kyle offered. “You can owe me dinner out another time.”

“Yeah, I forgot about the shopping mayhem. When are you leaving work?”

“Now. Come on over whenever you’re ready.” Kyle grabbed his keys and gave a short whistle down the hall where Rosie was keeping Carter company while he did his charting on his laptop. She came trotting down the hall, tail sweeping back and forth, and followed him out to the truck. He quickly placed an order for delivery from his favorite place before heading out. It was a short ride and he had plenty of time before the pizza would arrive.

Megan pulled in about five minutes after he got home, carrying a six pack of beer which she put in the fridge, pulling one out for each of them.

Kyle pulled his sister in for a hug which she readily returned.

“Pizza will be here in about 15 minutes. So sit and give me the scoop.”

Megan shot him a sarcastic look as she sat on the couch and folded her legs up under her. She took a long pull from her beer before opening up. “It went okay, I guess. Mostly it was kind of awkward. Neither of us really knew where to start. Her shrink, Kari, was a big help. She was great at getting us to break the ice. Jett was right, Kim is really nice. After the initial weirdness she opened up a little and told me that back then she wasn’t mature enough, nor mentally capable of caring for anyone other than herself. Did you know that she has been seeing a therapist consistently since getting back her freedom? That’s like, twenty-five years, Kyle. Kari explained that the trauma that Kim went through has affected her so much that it’s not something that she can ever just move on from and forget. Kim even said that there are periods when she still has a lot of trouble functioning day to day. I can’t imagine having to deal with something like that.”

“Mmm, Kim’s strong though. From what I know and what Jett has told me, she’s done well for herself. She recognizes that she needs help and that right there is a sign of her strength.” Kyle got up to feed Rosie and Megan answered the door when the pizza arrived a few minutes later.

Once they had food in front of them Kyle asked, “So where did you leave things with Kim?”

Megan swallowed and replied, “Well, it went back to being kinda weird when the session ended. It was like ‘do we hug, do we not, shake hands maybe?’ I get the impression that Kim isn’t really big on physical affection so I ended up shaking her hand. By that point Kim had told me that she’s not sure what, if any, kind of relationship we could have. She still needs time to process everything. Kari told us both that we should just let things happen naturally. We both know that there might be times when we’re at the same occasion because of you and Jett. I told her that I don’t expect anything other than maybe a sort of friendship thing. She said she just wanted things to not be uncomfortable for both of us. We exchanged phone numbers, but with no expectations of weekly lunches or monthly dinners or anything. She told me to call her if I had any questions and she’d do her best to answer them.”

“Well it may not be a happily ever after moment, but at least you know she’s open to something. I think maybe with time you two will be able to develop a sort of friendship. I doubt if you’ll ever be BFF’s, but I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to invite both of you to a barbeque next summer,” Kyle laughed.

Megan tossed a half-eaten crust at Kyle, which he easily caught and took a bite of and then licked the rest before tossing it back.

“Ewww, gross!

They decided to watch an old movie and Megan found The Lost Boys on one of the streaming channels. It was the perfect mix of comedy and horror. The evening flew by and by the time Megan left it was after eleven so Kyle shot a text off to Jett and let him know he’d talk to him later. Jett had already let him know he was working late.

The following morning Kyle woke to a text from Jett. He had worked until eleven the night before and had crashed as soon as he got home. His captain was letting him out a little early today and Jett wanted to know if Kyle wanted to come over for a late lunch. He sent Jett a text to let him know he’d be there by one.

Kyle spent the morning cleaning and doing laundry. Rosie was content to lay outside on the grass in the sun. The air was brisk, in the mid-40’s, but bright and sunny. Kyle groaned when he saw the dog rolling around on the lawn. When she stood up she was covered in dead grass and leaves. Sighing as he grabbed a jacket, Kyle got Rosie’s brush from a drawer and went outside. He swore the dog was smiling at him as she trotted over. She absolutely loved being brushed and Kyle was pretty sure she got herself all dirty just so he would have to brush her. He had to admit though, grooming the dog was therapeutic.

When he was done, he brought Rosie in so she wouldn’t be tempted to roll around again and packed some clothes to bring over to Jett’s. They had been splitting their time pretty evenly between both homes and each kept basic toiletries like toothbrushes and razors at each place. It was another indication of how comfortable they were becoming with each other and the direction their relationship was going in.

Jett’s patrol vehicle was in the driveway when Kyle and Rosie got there so he pulled in behind it. Rosie bounded up to the door as soon as she was unhooked and sat on the step and let out a loud ‘woof’. Kyle grabbed his bag and saw Jett open the door as he climbed the front steps. Damn that man was beautiful.

Jett’s smile was bright as he pulled Kyle in close and wrapped his arms around him. Kyle inhaled deeply, loving the masculine scent that enveloped him. He tilted his head up and Jett took the invitation to kiss Kyle deeply. It had been several days since they had actually seen each other and both needed the physical connection like they needed air to breathe. Kyle’s gym bag hit the floor with a thump as he reached up to bury his fingers in Jett’s soft hair.

“I missed you,” Jett murmured against Kyle’s lips, softening the kiss.

Kyle pulled back and looked into those gorgeous eyes. “I missed you too.”

Jett sighed and let Kyle go. They had the rest of the weekend to catch up. Making their way into the kitchen Kyle became aware of a heavenly scent.

“Mmm, what’s cooking? It smells awesome!

Jett pulled on oven mitts and pulled out three loaf pans, “Meatloaf. I figured we could have hot, open-face sandwiches.

“How many people are you planning on feeding?” Kyle asked as he looked at the three large pans.

“Once they cool, I’ll slice them and then freeze the slices. I like to have stuff I can just pull out of the freezer and heat up. I love meatloaf,” Jett admitted.

Kyle smiled and grabbed some plates. Jett had already warmed up some leftover mashed potatoes. Slices of his mom’s homemade bread were popped into the toaster while Jett heated up gravy in the microwave. Kyle watched in amazement as Jett assembled a huge open face monstrosity. Two pieces of toasted bread were covered by thick slices of meatloaf upon which a big dollop of mashed potatoes was added. Topping it off was a river of savory gravy.

“What?” Jett mumbled after shoving a huge bite into his mouth with a fork.

“Meatloaf, huh?” Kyle chuckled and wagged his eyebrows as he made his own sandwich, but not quite as big. He had to admit, it was really good. The beef was seasoned, but it wasn’t overwhelming. It went perfectly with the rest of the creation. Jett certainly had a way with beef.

“So did you hear from Kim at all?” Kyle asked as they enjoyed lunch.

“I called her yesterday when I took a break. That’s why I wasn’t able to talk to you. I figured you’d understand. Did you talk to Megan?”

Kyle nodded. He gave Jett a rundown of what Megan had told him about her meeting with Kim.

“That’s pretty much what Kim said too. She did say that she was pleasantly surprised. She liked Megan a lot more than she thought she would. Your sister is apparently quite charming, just like her brother,” Jett said as he smiled. "Kim said she was really nervous and almost cancelled, but is glad that she didn’t. Despite the awkwardness, which she admitted was mostly her, she actually was happy that they met. She’s not sure what, if anything will come of the meeting, but she’s not apprehensive anymore, at least when it comes to Megan.”

“Megan can be pretty charming when she wants to be. I’m glad things went well. I think once they get to know each other the awkwardness will disappear. I really think that if they both want it, they can be friends,” Kyle stated.

“I think so too. So, what do you want to do today?”

Kyle leered at Jett. “Later on I want to bury myself in you and make you scream, but right now I think we should take the dogs and go for a hike before it gets dark.” Kyle grabbed his plate and headed for the sink, leaving Jett with a glazed look in his eyes. Kyle chuckled. It didn’t take much to get Jett riled up and Kyle was in a teasing kind of mood. It was going to be fun stringing the big guy along for the next few hours.

After they cleaned up, with Kyle making sure he touched or brushed up against Jett every chance he got, pulling away laughing when Jett tried to grab him, they took the dogs for a long walk through the preserve behind Jett’s house. No one else was around so they let the dogs off leash so they could sniff around to their heart's content. Neither dog strayed very far from the path and everyone enjoyed the crisp late fall air. December was around the corner and much colder temps and possibly snow would make its way down from the north. Outdoor time would be limited and they wanted to enjoy it while they could.

Later that evening Kyle kept his promise and when Jett moaned out his name as he shot all over Kyle’s stomach, with Kyle buried deep inside, there was no place that he’d rather be. Yep, he had fallen for Jett hard, hard enough to shake the earth.

They spent the rest of the weekend enjoying each other’s company. Kyle helped Jett decorate his house for Christmas and Jett promised to help him the following weekend. Jett had accepted Kyle’s parent's invitation to have dinner at their house the following Saturday and promised to help Kyle decorate his house on Sunday. December was shaping up to be a busy month and each man wanted to make the most of his time with the other.

The following weekend Kyle assured Jett that he had nothing to be nervous about before meeting his parents. They had been dating for two months and Kyle had nothing but great things to say about Jett. The two dogs came with them, as usual, they tagged along whenever they could.

Kyle held Jett’s hand as they went into the house. Lynn’s eyes lit up at the sight of her son and she welcomed Jett with open arms. Ever since their heart to heart, Kyle’s relationship with his mom and dad had improved greatly. Jim Benton now smiled often and it was apparent that he was happy his son had found someone special. Lynn couldn’t help herself and she doted over both the guys and the dogs. She always kept some treats for Rosie and Kyle was happy when she asked Jett first if it was okay for Bruce to have one. She won over both Jett and Bruce pretty quickly. She had Bruce from the start as soon as she scratched him behind the ears in his favorite place.

Dinner was excellent and by the time they left Kyle could tell that Jett felt at home. He, himself, was amazed at the transformation his parents had gone through in such a short time. He had never seen his dad smile and laugh so much.

Kyle had managed to decorate most of the interior of his house during the week after work, so on Sunday he and Jett worked on the outside. They worked as quickly as they could as a cold front had moved in and it was in the mid-20’s. They had been barely finished when Jett’s phone rang. Kyle was putting boxes back in his attic and could figure out that Jett was talking to his mom, but couldn’t hear any details.

Jett came up the ladder with the last box and said “Feel like taking a ride over to my folks? Mom said that a large package was just delivered to their house with my name on it and ‘perishable’ written all over it. It’s apparently too big to fit in their fridge.”

“What the hell did you order?”

Jett laughed. “Nothing. I have a feeling Bo is behind this. He loves practical jokes and knowing him it’s probably a massive box of pickled pig testicles or something. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s pulled something like this.”

“Why do I get the feeling that you’ve probably come up with a few good pranks of your own?”

“Because you’ve gotten to know me.” Jett replied and backed down the ladder. He grabbed Kyle's ass as he came down and kissed him soundly as soon as his feet were planted solidly on the floor.

“Okay, let’s go see what your brother cooked up.” Kyle said with a smile.

When they got to the Anderson's house they both stopped short at the sight of the huge box taking up most of the space in the living room. Titan and Rory were sniffing it excitedly.

“That better not be a fucking coffin.” Jett exclaimed.

“Jett!”

“Sorry Mom.”

The box was huge and actually looked like it could hold something the size of a coffin. Piper and Skye were walking around it tossing out ideas.

“Cheese. It’s two-hundred pounds of cheese. That’s why the dogs are going nuts.” Piper suggested.

“Christ, I hope not. You’ll be constipated for a year if it is.” his dad quipped.

“Tuna eyeballs,” guessed Skye, drawing looks of disgust from the others. “What? His ship stopped in Japan for a while. It’s a delicacy there.”

“Ewww!” several of them cried at the same time.

“Well Jett, quit making us wait like an item in your mother’s Amazon shopping cart. Open the damn thing!” Chris ordered.

Jett went and grabbed a utility knife from the kitchen and sliced through the tape sealing the box. Inside was another box, this one made of quarter inch plywood. Jet set about cutting away the outside cardboard box. “What the hell? Dad, can you please get me a pry bar?”

Chris came back with the tool and Jett started to pry the lid off, hoping to hell that nothing had started to rot. He had barely gotten the edge lifted up when all of a sudden there was a huge ‘BOOM’ and the lid came flying off as something inside forced its way out.

Kyle gasped as within a matter of seconds a huge man stood up and yelled “SURPRISE!”

Every member of the Anderson family shouted “BO!!!”

It looked like the prodigal son had returned.