Brian: Taking Courage - 20. The Weekend

Next morning, having slept on the matter, Brian decided that he needed to bite the bullet and have a conversation with Toby. Mainly because he needed to be certain that the boy wasn't going to get hurt. Having grabbed his morning coffee, and whilst Gordon set about preparing breakfast, Brian went out onto the balcony where Toby, still in his pyjamas, was tending the plants.

"I've been thinking, sport, about what you asked last night, about Noah staying."

"Dad?", Toby was suddenly uncertain.

"Do you like Noah, I mean in the way that I like Gordon."

"Dad!"

"Sorry, sport. But I need to be certain, I don't want you getting hurt because Noah's upset if he realises."

"Oh. Yes, I like Noah", this latter was said in a very quiet voice.

"And does Noah know you like him?"

"He knows I like boys, and he’s told me that he likes boys."

"I see."

"But Dad, his Mum and Dad don't know."

"Is there a problem. I thought his elder brother was gay?"

"I don't know. Noah just said that his parents don't know. But his Grandmother is rather religious, and I think he’s a bit nervous."

"Ah. Might be the problem. We need to respect his wishes, then don’t we?"

“Yes.”, rather hesitantly.

"So, if I mention to Noah on Monday that he'd be sleeping in your bed, he's not going to get any nasty shocks?"

"Dad! No. He won't."

"Good", Brian started to move way, somewhat reassured.

"And Dad?"

"Yes."

Toby was looking rather pink and embarrassed, "We did stuff in his bedroom yesterday. Naked stuff."

Brian hid a smile, "And was it fun?" Toby gave a small nod. "Good", Brian went over and hugged him. "That's all fine and thank you. You're very brave to tell me, but I didn't want to risk having to explain to his Mum, why Noah was upset. Do you see?"

"Yes, Dad. And thanks."

---

"You OK?"

"What with?"

Gordon rolled his eyes, "Ever since you found out that Toby's been having sex, you've been a bit quiet and well, worried."

"Sorry, it's just…"

"A bit freaky, your little boy is growing up."

"Something like that. I didn't start till I was 16."

"Whereas, at Toby's age, I'd already started having fun. It takes all sorts."

"I know it's good that we can be open and that, but it still scares me. What if he gets hurt."

"I'm no expert, for God's sake, but I think that ‘what if he gets hurt’ is going to be something of a refrain for the next few years. You can't put him in cotton wool, and at least he's chosen a nice boy to explore with."

"Yes, it's just", Brian sighed, "sorry. I just don't know. But if I try and forbid it…"

"Then sex immediately becomes more tempting because it’s against the rules.”

“Right”, Brian sighed.

“Well, I decided to be constructive." Gordon gave a naughty grin.

They were in town, doing their shopping, groceries, practical stuff, even some clothes. Toby had taken himself off, feeling very grown-up, and was on the bus to Evie and Drew's. They'd dropped him by the school and watched him get on the bus, and he had texted to say he had arrived safely.

Gordon reached into the shopping bag he was carrying and brought out a smaller, Boots' bag and handed it to Brian.

"What's this?"

"Some helpful hints for Toby."

Brian looked in the bag, "Bloody hell."

"It's just lube, condoms and a big thing of wet-wipes. I figured it was better to be pro-active and not stick our heads in the sand."

"So, you think I should give them to him?"

"Wait until you've spoken to Noah on Monday, see what the boy's response is. If it's tepid, then some damage limitation might be required."

"And if he's enthusiastic?"

"Then I will give the bag to Toby, along with a bit of advice. I figured that it might be easier if I talked about the mechanics of things."

"Mechanics, as in…", Brian stared at Gordon.

"We're talking two horny teenagers here. And I bet they are experimenting, orifice by orifice. It might take time before they trust each other to do anal, but you never know."

"Better to be safe than sorry."

"Yep."

Brian pulled a face, "I was wondering…"

"Come on, out with it."

"About us wandering around naked and well, hard. Do you think that's wise, still?"

"What, because Toby is starting to have sex? Where's the sense in that. He's seen us naked plenty of times, and hard a few times in passing. It's a natural thing, and that's what we want him to understand. Sex is natural, as long as you are responsible, and you are kind in your relationships. OK?"

Brian nodded, "We want him to understand?"

Gordon gave an embarrassed smile, "Well, I'm your boyfriend and he lives with us.OK?”

"More than OK", Brian leaned over and kissed him, "I just didn't want you to think…"

"That you were imposing. Well, you're not. And don't worry, I've not been cudgelling my brain, this is stuff that just popped into my head this morning. The sort of thing that I wish someone had explained to me when I was Toby’s age. OK? And we're in this together. Now", he stood up, "I need a pee and I figured it was best done at home, in private." Gordon gave a self-satisfied smirk and Brian leaped up.

They would have the flat to themselves for an hour. Bliss.

They had intended to spend their hour of freedom doing all sort of useful things, but that didn’t happen. Brian smirked when they got finally dressed again; getting Gordon's dick up his bum without fear of being interrupted was useful too. They'd showered, intending to clean off, but Gordon had kissed Brian and they'd both enjoyed the taste, and things had spiralled from there. They did shower. Eventually.

"We don't smell, do we?"

"Of course not, all I can smell is soap. And shampoo, that new stuff you put on your hair is pretty pongy."

"Thanks, but it was cheap."

Gordon rolled his eyes, "Did I ought to have shaved, or you for that matter?"

"Think it can wait until Sunday, don't you."

Gordon smirked, "A nice, quiet Sunday job."

They were in the bedroom, getting dressed before meeting Toby at Drew and Evie's. Gordon, still shirtless, was just pulling his jeans on and paused in the act of buttoning his fly, leaving Brian a nice sight of his nicely shaved pubis, "What if Toby wants to start doing this?"

"What? Getting dressed?"

"Nah. Going commando. Shaving."

"Do you think?"

"Well, he knows you do and that I keep things well tidy."

"But he knows that lots of other folk don't. Besides, perhaps you should just let him."

"What about school?"

"Do they have rules about that?"

Brian rolled his eyes, "Surely, they'd have something to say."

Gordon shrugged, "Then let him deal with it. I'm sure that his peers at school would have something to say, too."

"Kids can be really cruel."

"Precisely. If he wants to do it and has the guts to turn up at school looking alarmingly different, then let him. But getting hairy is a big thing when you’re that age; kids notice the age when you actually start growing hair down there, how much there is, whether any grows on the rest of your body. I doubt he’ll want to change things."

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I sort of remember it was a big deal. There was even a guy in the year above me nicknamed Wolfie because he got so hairy so quick.”

“There you are then. Bet Toby’s more worried about not growing enough hair round his dick rather than trimming it. And as for commando, deal with that if it comes.”

Brian sighed but admitted that there wasn't any sense in worrying about something that might not happen.

When they got to Evie and Drew's, Toby was full of the delights of travelling to their house by bus. It had all worked fine, and as long as Gordon's parents could cope, they could see Toby popping over there. Toby enjoyed his visits to his Gran, but a couple of hours of her fussing and over-feeding him were all that he really wanted. Simply to pop into his Gran's for an hour a few times a week was ideal. That was harder, now they lived in a different direction, but they made it work.

The draw at Evie and Drew's place was that they had the orchard with its teeming life, bug hotel and soon to be resident bees. Drew had evidently found a bee-keeper who was delighted to put a couple of hives in the orchard. Toby wouldn't be able to go near them, but he hoped that would change.

When Brian and Gordon arrived, there was cake. It was a bit late for cake, but Toby had evidently helped Evie make her rough-and-ready banana bread and it was still warm, so they ate it with unhealthy amounts of butter oozing.

They were just relaxing, chatting about the wetlands trip and about Russ Kahn, when there was a sound of a car. Evie had invited Marcus' son Edward to drop in and chat to Gordon and Brian about the photos. This was news to both of them, but Gordon simply looked at Brian and shrugged. Best go with the flow.

Edward proved to be a tall, slim man of around 40, already very grey, he was striking looking in a thin, ascetic sort of way. He had the type of lithe frame that meant he wore loose clothing elegantly well, and today he looked good even though he was wearing just a khaki button-down shirt and cream chinos.

They all shook hands, and Evie brought out drinks. But pretty soon, she hustled Toby off to help her in the kitchen whilst Drew went to his studio, leaving Edward to chat to Brian and Gordon. "I understand from Evie that you were interested in photos?"

"Mum and Dad fancied having a picture of us like the one your Father painted of Drew. We talked to them about it, and they have rather run with the idea, I'm afraid."

"But we found we liked having a picture done properly, whether painted or photographed.", Brian wondered how much detail to give him. The lot, he supposed, "We wanted something similar, you know, nude, full on."

"Good. I usually do nudes, though I occasionally get my arm twisted to do weddings as well, for friends", he gave a rueful grin. "Have you any idea of style?"

"None at all. We are both ex-soldiers that spent the last five years working in the desert. We're not very cultured."

Gordon grinned, "We just decided that we both like showing off."

"Will the nudity aspect worry you, at all?"

Brian shrugged, "Not a bit. My son sees us both naked at home, and we've been skinny dipping with him and Gordon's parents", Edward 's eyebrows raised at this, but he didn't say anything. "So, we're happy to strip off. Within limits."

"Good. So, if I suggested going into the orchard and doing some test images, would you be up for it?"

"Naked in Dad's orchard", Gordon grinned, "You bet. I'll just tell Mum."

Five minutes or so later, they had repaired to the orchard with Toby in tow. When Gordon had gone in to tell his Mother, Toby had asked if he could watch, and no-one could think of a reason why not.

Edward explained that he would just be using natural light and once they were stripped off, he had them standing by one of the older trees. The first goes were not very good, both men felt rather stiff, self-conscious and idiotic, but luckily Toby started making silly remarks, or rather remarking how silly they looked. Soon enough the two were laughing and managed to forget about being naked and being in a picture.

Edward was soon finished, laughingly saying that he wouldn't make them get down and lie on the ground. But he would arrange for them to come to his studio, and they could discuss poses and look at other pictures. Even without Brian mentioning it, he added that it would be OK to bring Toby along as there was a room where he could wait and look at books.

Then Toby piped up and said that Brian had promised that they'd do a photo of the three of them. Not nude, Brian hastily added, and Edward had grinned. He said he would think of some ideas, but that if push came to shove, he was happy doing a more conventional family group. Edward wouldn't stay for dinner, but dashed off saying that he would email a couple of the photos to them, and they could discuss dates.

"Well, how did it go?" Evie was eager to know.

Gordon shrugged, "Not sure. We stripped off, stood around like lemons and he took photos."

"Not quite true, my darling son also made a series of remarks, and we ended up laughing our heads off. Goodness knows what he made of it." Brian shrugged.

They didn't stay late and were pleased to be able to end the evening relaxing on the sofa with Toby in bed.

---

“Toby not with you then?”

They’d met Deidre’s cousin David at the cabin on Sunday morning for another round of work. Since their last visit, David had managed to get both electrician and plumber along, rather miraculously it seemed to Gordon, as his experience of tradesmen was far less satisfying. But David had just smiled and said that he had a couple of mates that owed him. Which meant, however, that there was now plenty of work to be done making good, removing old, rotten wood, replacing, sanding, painting, the lot.

Brian shrugged, “He’s spending the day with his Mum.”

“With Dee?” David looked surprised, “she never said, mind we’ve not seen that much of her”, he gave a little smile which almost added a ‘thank God’ to the statement.

“Seems she got a bit of stick for missing the Science Fair and decided to play loving Mother”, Brian smiled, “at least that’s the way my Mum sees it, though Gordon’s all for giving Deirdre the benefit of the doubt.” He shrugged, “Jury’s still out.”

“So, what’s she going to do with him? I can’t see Dee tramping round the nature reserve or anything.”

Brian laughed, “Dead right. They’re having a 1940s day at the Heritage Railway. You know the thing, staff in period uniforms, lots of soldiers and women in 1940s gear, entertainment, the lot.”

“Is that Toby’s thing?”

“Not sure. But he likes the trains, and it comes with lunch. Seems that Deirdre’s boss got some tickets that include lunch on the train, and he’s let her have a couple. I think there’s going to be a few of them from Deirdre’s work including some other kids Toby’s age.”

Gordon shook his head, “Boy was all excited about eating a meal on a steam train. Hope reality doesn’t set in too quickly.” The three grinned and got started with their work.

“Toby’s thing at the Science Fair was spot on, wasn’t it? You must be fair proud of him?”

Brian paused in his rubbing down the woodwork and laughed, “Certainly, but we’ve no idea where he gets it from. And he’s always so full of ideas.”

Gordon looked up from where he was attacking some rotten wood, “At least he’s self-contained, self-propelling.”

“Well, the missus and I were impressed when we called in. Dee didn’t go and see it, then?”

“You’re more likely to know details than me, but Toby was disappointed not seeing her, though we pulled out all the stops, Mum went with a friend, and Gordon’s parents came along too.”

“Nice”, David pulled a face, “Dee never said anything, but you don’t like to say too much, smacks of folk checking up on her.”

“Judging by what Toby’s been saying, she’s been away a lot. At least, his meeting up with her has been all over the place. You’ve not seen much of her either?”

“Not really. It goes in phases. We got the impression she was out and about a lot. Some’s for work, but the missus wondered whether she and Jasper were prospecting for places to try moving to.”

“May be. She say anything?”

“About moving? No. Mind, she knows that I’m doing up this place with you two, so maybe she’s being a bit close.” He smiled, not at all worried at this lack of closeness with his cousin.

“It’s just we’ve not said too much to Toby, beyond the basic idea that it’s in the air.”

“About them leaving?” David gave an expressive shrug. “Not much to say till she actually makes a decision and lets you know. No sense in worrying the boy unduly. Knowing Dee, chances are that nothing will happen.”

Brian pulled a face, “That’s what we thought, but it does rather hang over things.”