Secrets: The Truth is Slowly Revealed - 14. Chapter 14 S1

Chapter 14 – A Merry Little Christmas

Now that we were back in Fort Collins after the Thanksgiving break, there was a great deal for us to do. The first semester was quickly coming to an end and Devin and I both had projects or papers we needed to complete. Not only that, but final exams were less than a month away and we also had to prepare for our anticipated visit to the hospital. This included using the donated money to purchase more presents, so it was going to be a very hectic time.

The editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper had agreed to collect the monetary donations for us as well, for which we were grateful. He would then lock the cash in the small safe located in his office, which he used to keep a slush fund for emergency expenses. When we accepted his offer, Devin and I agreed to stop by at the end of every week to collect the money, and then we would go out and purchase as many toys as we could afford. We would keep those items in our room until Monday, and then we’d drop them off at the newspaper office between classes so they could store them with the other things.

With everything that was going on, it seemed as if Devin and I didn’t have any spare moments when we could spend some quality time with each other. After we finished completing our other obligations each day, we were just too tired to do anything else. And when we woke up in the morning, we had to hurry to the dining hall and eat before heading to our first class of the day. We promised each other that we’d make up for this oversight later, once our hectic schedules slowed down.

Our final exams began eleven days before Christmas and would end a week prior to Christmas Day. Finals week was not only stressful, but it was also very demanding. Our professors weren’t only making certain that we understood the material that we’d gone over since our last exam, but they were also checking to make certain that we had mastered everything covered during the entire semester. Each final proved to be very challenging, but we did our best, and hopefully our best would prove to be good enough.

After taking our last exam on Friday, we rushed over to the house to get the SUV and a couple of other items that we’d need. We then drove to the campus newspaper office to collect all of the gifts that were stored there. After we sorted them into the two red velvet bags we’d brought with us, the same bags that Santa and his elf would be carrying, we quickly discovered there were more toys than would fit into the bags. That was a good thing, though, even if it meant we had to carry some of the toys out to the SUV in the large boxes the staff had been storing them in.

As soon as everything was loaded into the SUV, we drove back to the house, because we would be staying there tonight. We felt all of the other students would have left for home by tomorrow, so none of them would be around to notice that my grandfather hadn’t arrived to play Santa. If they had been aware of that fact, they might have been able to figure out that it was Devin who seemed to have undergone a very dramatic change in order to play the Jolly Old Elf.

Once we arrived at the house, we carried all of the toys inside. We did this because we planned on sorting through them again before making the trip to the hospital. We wanted to be certain that we had the appropriate items placed in the correct bags so we’d be ready for when we handed the presents out to the children.

As soon as that was taken care of, we went to eat. When we returned to the house afterward, we laid out our outfits next, so we wouldn’t have to search for any of the accessories the next day. This is when I got to see what I’d be wearing for the first time.

“It’s just as I suspected. You obviously picked out the dorkiest elf outfit you could find for me to wear.”

“Actually, I didn’t. Believe it or not, this was the least dorky choice available.”

“Really? Then the other outfits must have come out of the mind of Wes Craven or Stephen King.”

“Maybe, but I haven’t got time to show those things to you now. I’ll do it later, if you want.”

“Ok, but I find it hard to believe they’d be worse than this.”

Now that we had everything ready for our visit to the hospital, we went through our nightly ritual before cuddling in bed. Once again we were too tired to make love, but we’d soon be able to make up for the long delay since we’d last done it.

That night I dreamed about our visit to the hospital and imagined that I was going to look like an ass as I accompanied Devin to visit the children. This was due to the fact that I envisioned myself wearing oversize clown shoes, although they were in the shape of elf boots, and I was also wearing a huge red nose. I looked like a cross between one of Santa’s elves and Rudolph, and it was awful.

When we woke up on Saturday morning, we went out for breakfast first, and while we were eating I told Devin about my dream.

“Don’t worry. It’s not going to be as bad as that.”

“I certainly hope not.”

As soon as we finished our meal, we returned to the house to get ready. As Devin was putting on his Santa suit, I was getting dressed in the elf outfit that I’d seen the night before. It consisted of a forest green elf cap with a faux white fur trim at the bottom, and a forest green jacket with the same type of trim around the collar and both wrists. There was also a short pair of red pants that came down to just below my knees and knee socks with horizontal red and white stripes.

The finishing touches included a pair of green elf boots that went over my shoes, covered my ankles, and were curled up at the toes. There was also a black belt that went around my waist and over the jacket, as well as a pair of pointy elf ears that I had to put on over my own ears. They made me look like Mr. Spock from Star Trek.

When I looked in the mirror, I thought I looked even sillier than Will Ferrell had in the movie Elf, while at the same time Devin looked awesome. His suit was made out of a red velvet material, similar to the fabric used for the bags that we’d put the toys in. His jacket had a faux white fur trim at the end of each sleeve, as well as a white strip that ran completely around the bottom of the jacket. There was also fur trim running down the center of the jacket, as well as at the bottom of his trousers, just above the jet black boots, which came halfway up his shins.

He also wore a black belt around his waist that had a simulated gold buckle, along with white gloves that he would wear on his hands. He definitely looked the part, especially after he transitioned into a six foot (1.8 m) tall, rather plump older gentleman with snow white hair and a bushy white moustache and beard. He obviously didn’t need to use the cheap looking artificial moustache and beard that came with the suit.

“I hope you’re not planning on being the Easter Bunny in the spring,” I teased.

“No, I think a six-foot-tall live rabbit might scare the kids.”

“Yes, you’re probably right about that.”

We each grabbed one of the red velvet sacks and loaded it into the SUV, and then we teamed up to carry out the two large boxes with the excess toys, so we’d have them for later. Once all of that was taken care of, we left for the hospital.

On our way there, we became somewhat of a spectacle, since Devin’s SUV had clear windows and people along the street were able to see us. They would shout out and wave as soon as they spotted us, and in addition to that, the other drivers would honk their horns and wave in acknowledgment when they pulled up next to us at a traffic light.

We caused an even bigger stir when we arrived at the hospital, as the visitors, staff, and other patients that were in the halls all greeted us warmly. When we reached the children’s ward, we walked directly to the far end of the unit so we could start in those rooms first. As we passed by the other rooms on our way there, we were greeted with exuberant cheers and shouts of joy from the children that were well enough to do so and happened to see us. They would shout out things such as: “It’s Santa” or “Santa Claus is here”, which alerted everyone else in the unit about our presence.

Once we got to the end of the ward, we entered the room on the right first.

“Ho, Ho, Ho! Have each of you children been on your best behavior this year?” Devin would say in a husky baritone voice as we entered the room. “Of course you have, because I checked my list before I came here,”

We would then slowly move around the room and greet each of the patients individually, and we would spend a few minutes chatting with them before we selected their gift.

Devin and I would look in the appropriate bag and pull out an item that we thought the particular child would appreciate, and then we would watch his or her reaction after Santa handed it to them. If the child didn’t look pleased, then Santa or the elf would ask if they were expecting something else. If they answered in the affirmative, we would ask them what type of present they wanted, and then we would look in the bag again to see if we had something that fit the bill. If we did, then we’d exchange it for the gift we’d originally given to them, or we’d offer them an alternative instead.

“You’d better get well real soon,” Devin would say before we moved on, “because I want to visit you at your home next Christmas. Will you promise to do everything the doctor and nurses tell you?”

As soon as they promised they would, we would move on to the next child. We continued this process until we’d visited with every child in the room, and then we’d move on to the next room.

To our surprise, the nurses and doctors seemed just as excited about our visit as the children, and they made sure to let us know why.

“You make an incredible Santa,” one of the nurses told Devin, “and you’re a cute elf as well. It’s nice to see the children so happy and excited.”

After we thanked her, one of the doctors spoke.

“I hope you realize how crucial your visit is to their recovery and how much it benefits each child. This will probably do nearly as much for them as what we’ve been able to accomplish.”

“We’re just glad we can help and the entire CSU student body chipped in to make this possible,” Devin replied.

“Then please let them know it was greatly appreciated and a huge success.”

“We will definitely do that.”

While we’d been making our rounds, plenty of people were using their smart phones and tablets to take photos and videos of us. When we realized what they were doing, I gave them my email address so they could forward those items to us, and they happily agreed they would. If one or both parents were there, Devin and I would agree to pose with their child so they could snap a photo or take a video of us together before we left. I believe we were feeling as good about this as the children.

When we finished up at the hospital and had visited every room in the children’s ward, we still had presents left over. After we got back to the SUV, we filled the bags with the items in the boxes. Devin then drove to a donation site for ‘Toys for Tots’, and when we arrived, we each grabbed a bag so we could drop off the toys that remained.

Needless to say, we received as much attention while doing this, as we had at the hospital. In fact, when one of the children asked what we were doing, Devin told him we were dropping the toys off at ‘Toys for Tots’.

“Santa, why don’t you just take those presents to the kids’ houses, instead of leaving them there?”

“It’s because sometimes Santa needs other helpers to make sure he doesn’t miss anyone. There are so many children that are homeless or have moved and didn’t tell Santa where they were going. Since I’m not sure where they are now, I have the Marines help to deliver those presents for me.”

“Oh, ok. I didn’t know that.”

Once we finished up there, Devin drove back to the house and we changed out of our outfits. He then suggested we should leave everything at the house so we could do this every year while we were in college, and I agreed it was a terrific idea.

As soon as Devin had transitioned back to being himself, we had a chance to be intimate for the first time in the month of December. It helped that we had a burst of adrenaline from our visit to the hospital, so we weren’t too tired to do this, and it was wonderful. It had been a long dry spell.

We weren’t going to leave for home until the following day, so after cleaning up and unwinding for a short time, we talked about how the day went.

“It worked out even better than I imagined,” Devin stated.

“Yeah, and I think the adults we passed, both on the way there and once we were at the hospital, were just as excited when they saw us as the children, or possibly even more so.”

“Yes, I noticed that as well.”

When we finished unwinding, we headed over to Dominick’s for supper, and once again the meal was excellent and we enjoyed it immensely.

After we returned to the house, we packed up everything we were planning on taking with us, and then we turned in. We went to bed early because we wanted to make sure we were well rested before we started out in the morning.

When we woke up, we loaded the final items in the SUV first, and then we went out for breakfast. After we finished eating, we started the long trip home. Along the way, I decided to ask Devin a question.

“When are you planning to pick me up to head back to campus after the holidays?”

“Classes start on a Monday in mid-January, so why don’t I come to your place on the Monday before that. It will allow me a chance to spend a few days with your parents before we leave, and we’ll plan on heading back to campus on Thursday. How does that sound to you?”

“That works for me, but will you please do me a favor?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“I want you to let your parents, grandfathers, and their wives know that I send them my best and wish each of them a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

“Sure, I’ll be happy to do that for you. Have you thought about when you’re going to tell your parents about us?”

“Yes, I have. I think I’ll tell them after Christmas when you’re there and before we head back to campus. I’m a little nervous about doing it, because I haven’t even told my parents that I’m gay yet, so this will probably come as a huge shock to them. I just hope it goes well.”

“Yeah, me too.”

We stopped for lunch along the way, and then I had Devin come in with me for a few minutes when we reached my house. My parents greeted him warmly, but we all knew he couldn’t stay very long, and when he left I walked him out and gave him a big hug before he drove away. I also waved at him until his SUV was out of sight.

It was really nice to be able to spend some time with my parents and we had a wonderful Christmas together. When Devin and I had been out shopping for toys, we also took the opportunity to buy gifts for our parents as well, and I’m glad I did. As it turned out, I was very happy with the presents they gave me, and they seemed to be pleased with the gifts I gave them, and we were all delighted with the presents we received from my grandparents.

Both sets of grandparents called on Christmas Day and we chatted with them for quite a while. During our conversations, we thanked them for the gifts they’d sent us, and they seemed very happy while thanking us for the presents my parents had sent them from our family.

When my dad’s parents called, we also got to chat with his sister, her husband, and their two children. We told them that we hoped to see them soon, and then we wished everyone a Happy New Year. All-in-all, it was a fantastic day with an excellent meal to boot.

Although I was home alone most days while my parents were at work during the following week, at night we would sit down and play games together. My dad had pulled out a bunch of board games that he and my mom used to play with my brother, sister, and me when we were younger. They did this because they couldn’t compete with me on video games and this was the next best option for us to do something together.

We had a good time playing those games again, and it brought back quite a few memories for each of us. It had its downside, though, because we suffered through some very painful memories as well, since it reminded us that my siblings were no longer with us.

My parents took me out to eat on New Year’s Eve, and then we returned to the house in time to watch the ball drop in Times Square on TV. Since we’d celebrated the New Year with the east coast, we went to bed early so we could get up in the morning to watch the parades together as well. It was something we’d done as a family since I was really young and it brought back even more memories for us.

On New Year’s Day, after we’d watched the parades, I watched the college football games with my dad. My mom fixed another special meal for us and it was wonderful, and my dad and I got to bed late that night because the last football game went into overtime.

When I woke up in the morning, I realized there was still a few days to go before Devin would be showing up to spend some time with us. In the meantime, I spent each day wondering how my parents were going to react about me being gay and that I’m in a relationship with Devin. I guess I’ll just have to wait and find out.

When Devin arrived, exactly one week before classes were to resume, my mom and dad welcomed him warmly. I hoped it would remain that way after we told them about us. Before that happened, however, I had something else to discuss with him.

“Did you get your grades?”

“Yes, I did. I got three A’s and two A minuses, but I thought I was going to get a B plus in the composition course I took to fulfill one of my core requirements. I’m not sure if the professor felt sorry for me after she learned what I was majoring in or if she was influenced by our visit to the children’s ward at the hospital, but she gave me a break. I ended up with a 3.88 GPA and made the Dean’s List. How did you do?”

“I made the Dean’s list too. I almost got straight A’s, but I got an A minus in the composition course I took as well, so I ended up with a 3.94 GPA.”

“That’s awesome, but now I’ll have to try to do as well as you next semester.”

“Yeah, that would be great.”

“Actually, I think I could have done better, but that two week spell when we had to deal with our noisy neighbors kinda hurt me in the long run. I think I missed picking up some important details during that time, because it was so difficult trying to study with that racket next door.”

“Yeah, you might be right about that, but hopefully we won’t have to deal with another situation like that in the future.”

“By the way, what was your other A minus in?”

“Another core course, General Psych.”

“The core courses got both of us this semester.”

“Yeah, I just don’t find them as interesting as my engineering courses.”

“Yeah, but we’ll have to try to do better in them from now on.”

We followed this discussion by chatting about a few other items until we were called to join my parents for supper. It took a few minutes for me to work up the courage to speak, but I finally cleared my throat and spoke.

“Mom and Dad, I have something to tell you. I’m gay and Devin and I are boyfriends.”

I was expecting to see shocked expressions on their faces, or the news might even elicit an angry response, but they merely looked at each other before giving me a weak smile.

“We kind of figured that out, since you’d never had a girlfriend or brought any girls around,” my dad finally responded. “You seemed happier to spend as much time as possible with Devin, and at first we thought it was because you were just such good friends, but we eventually began to suspect it was more than just that.”

“So, you’re ok with it?”

“Of course we are. We just want you to be happy,” my mom added, “even though I would have preferred having grandchildren.”

“You still might. Devin and I have talked about it and have discussed using a surrogate for in vitro fertilization.”

“Would they be your biological children then?”

“Yes, because we’re planning on having them use our sperm.”

“Ok, then it will give me the grandchildren I want and you two will be a couple, so it works out for all of us.”

“I’m glad you took this so well, because I was worried about it.”

“Like your mom said, we just want you to be happy,” my dad summarized.

That was the best Christmas present they could have given us, even if it was a couple of weeks after Christmas. It also means that Devin and I can go back to college without any worries.

The next few days with my parents were very enjoyable. As a way of thanking them and showing how much we appreciated their support, Devin and I picked up carry out meals for supper during that time. We even had it all at the house when my parents arrived home from work. The first night we went with Chinese and the next night Italian, and my parents thought it was wonderful that we’d done this. Devin and I did the dishes afterward as well, and once that was done, we sat down with my parents to play games.

As planned, we were ready to leave for Fort Collins on Thursday. We got up early enough so we could fix scrambled eggs and make toast for everyone first, as well as frying up some bacon. Then, we all sat down together to eat. After we finished, Devin and I said goodbye to my parents before they left for work, and then he and I did the dishes before we left to return to campus.

During the trip, Devin made an announcement.

“I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but when I went home for Thanksgiving I informed Grandpa Isaac and Grandpa Jacob that I’d told you that they were paying for me to go to college. I also told them that I’d explained how Grandpa Isaac had found the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine and all the other gold and that’s where most of our wealth came from. When they asked me how you’d reacted to this information, I told them you were intrigued and said you wished we could find a treasure like that.”

“Yeah, I would, but I know it’s probably not possible to do that any longer.”

“You shouldn’t jump to such a conclusion, because while we were all celebrating Christmas together, they pulled me aside and said they’d come up with an idea that might serve as an additional Christmas present for us. They said they’d done some research and come up with a few ideas that would allow them to take us treasure hunting one summer, if we were interested. They told me they had a couple different ideas that might work best, if we wanted to do it.”

“It would probably be fun, but would I be able to do much if I’m not a skinwalker like the rest of you?”

“Probably not, but Grandpa Isaac said he’s figured out a way you could take part, even if you aren’t a skinwalker yet.”

“Ok, then what is the treasure we’d be hunting?”

“They told me about one of the ideas they were considering and it has to do with a suitcase that John Dillinger had with him before he was captured, but the cop’s never found it. They believe it contained $200,000 in small bills and it’s believed that he buried it somewhere in the woods behind the inn he was staying at when he was captured. They figured that if we transitioned into dogs then we might be able to sniff it out, because the bills would give off a unique scent, even after all this time.”

“Then what would I do while the rest of you are dogs?”

“Grandpa Isaac says he has a camping backpack that is much larger than the ones we use, so after the rest of us go out in the woods and transition, then you can put our clothes in that backpack. He also has one of those folding shovels that he’ll put in the backpack, so after we locate the money you can use it to dig up the treasure.”

“So, I’d be a dog sitter and a ditch digger.”

“It’s better than what I’d be doing, because I’ll just be running around and sniffing the ground for the money.”

“Ok, I guess you’re right. Treasure hunting isn’t as glamorous as we thought, but we can still end up with the money. Grandpa Isaac and Grandpa Jacob said they’d let us keep it and spend it however we want.”

“Ok, that sounds good, as long as we get to keep the money we find, but if we’re going to hunt for treasure I’d rather hunt for gold, silver, or precious jewels instead of paper money.”

“Yeah, I know, so we can always do that another summer. This is just to get us started. I’ll call Grandpa Isaac and let him know you want to do this, although you’d rather search for gold, silver, or jewels instead, and then I’ll see what he has to say.”

“Ok, because that would probably be more fun, especially for me.”

The rest of the trip back was uneventful. After we stopped at the diner where we usually had lunch, we resumed our journey and drove directly to the house. We’d agreed to spend the night there, because the residence halls wouldn’t be open until the following day, seeing the students weren’t expected to return until Friday or over the weekend.

We didn’t unload the SUV, though, since we were going to take those items to the residence hall. Instead, we just locked the SUV in the garage and spent our time talking about other things.

“It had been nice to be home for a while, and I’m glad both of our families accepted us being together,” I began, “but I’m kind of glad to be back at Fort Collins again.”

“Do you mean because we can be intimate?” Devin followed. “If you do, then I want to remind you that we can be intimate at your house or at the cabin any time we want and not just when our parents aren’t there. They all know about us now and don’t have a problem with it, so what’s to stop us?”

“I know our parents are ok with us being a couple, but I’m not so sure they’ll be ok with us having sex while we’re staying with them.”

“Come on. We’re adults now and in college. We’re not in high school and we don’t have to honor our parents’ wishes about stuff like that.”

“You might be right, but I’m not sure I want our parents to know we’re doing those things while we’re staying with them.”

“I’ll bet they’ve already figured it out, just like your mom and dad figured out you were gay.”

“Yeah, they might assume we’re having sex, but they can’t be sure about it unless they catch us or hear us doing it. If they do, then they’ll know for certain, but I’m not so sure they’ll like the idea of us having sex under their roof.”

“You’ve got to get over your hang-up about this, because you’re making a bigger deal about this than it actually is. To tell you the truth, I was hoping you’d come join us at the cabin for a couple of weeks this summer and then I was going spend time with you for a while before we return to college, but I’m not so sure about it now. I’m not sure I can go all that time being around you and not having sex.”

“Ok, we can do it at the cabin if you want, and then we’ll just have to do it while my parents are at work or we can have oral sex at night.”

“Yeah, we could do that, but we wouldn’t have to if you just got over your hang-up about this.”

“I’ll try, because I like having sex with you too.”

Now that this was settled, we talked about the courses we were going to be taking this semester and commiserated about how difficult they were going to be. We did this until our stomachs began to grumble, and then we headed over to Dominick’s for supper.

After enjoying another delicious meal, we went back to the house to spend the night. We locked the SUV in the garage, since all of our things were still packed inside, and then we went up to the bedroom we used whenever we stayed there. We had sex before we took our shower and then we cuddled together in bed as we fell asleep.

When we woke up the next morning, we headed out to get some breakfast first, and then we drove to our residence hall to unload everything. The building was unlocked, but I didn’t see Adam or Barry around when we entered, but we both had a key to our room so we took the elevator up to the third floor and carried our belongings to our room.

After everything was put away, we drove over to the campus bookstore next, so we could pick up the textbooks and other items we’d need. As soon as we had taken those items up to our room, we drove the SUV back to the house and locked it in the garage, and then we walked back to campus.

We spent the rest of the weekend chatting with the other students we got along with as they returned to the residence hall. We asked them how their holiday had been and if they got a lot of nice presents, and we also asked if they were ready to buckle down again.

Nearly everyone had returned by Saturday night, but a few others didn’t get back until Sunday, seeing there wasn’t any specific time we had to check in. We just had to be back before classes started on Monday.

Even though it was cold out, Devin and I also spent time walking around campus so we could speak with some of the others we knew. This included the students that had been in our classes the first semester, as well as the students we’d met at the various football games throughout the fall. Everyone was very friendly and totally relaxed, but we realized this was about to change. The tension level was about to increase as we started to focus on our classes again.