Silver Spoon - 5. Chapter 5

One afternoon, while Ed was at work, Lars talked Johnny into a chess game. They hadn’t played very long when Lars asked, “Do you think Edwin will ever forgive me for all the terrible things I did to him?”

“He already has, Lars. I can assure you of that.”

“I love him, Johnny, but I don’t know how to tell him.”

“Don’t worry yourself. He knows.”

“Johnny?”

“Yes?”

“I love you too.”

Soon after Johnny brought Lars and Ed home from the hospital, Clay and Billy came over for a visit. They wanted to meet Ed’s father and sister badly. Since Clay’s father had died, the only family either of them had was Johnny and Ed. For them this was an opportunity to broaden family ties.

Ellen and Lars nearly passed out when they saw Billy They recognized him immediately. The first thing Billy did was lay one of his hands on Ed’s head and the other on Lars. He recited some healing prayers, and asked Jesus for his help in healing Ed and his father.

“Can I ask you something privately?” Lars asked him.

“Whisper in my ear.”

“Are Johnny and Eddie going to go to hell for being gay?”

“Never,” Billy stated. “God loves them just as much as he loves all his other children. He created them, and he blesses their love. Don’t worry about them. Pray instead for the bigots who curse them.”

Lars said nothing further. Inside he was grateful for what Billy told him. He had heard the man preach on TV often enough, and he believed him.

Billy was away a good deal of the time, and Ed returned to work as soon as he was able. Johnny locked himself in his study all day to write, so Clay became a regular visitor to Johnny’s house. He and Lars became really good friends. They challenged each other to extensive scrabble games, quicker gin rummy games, and fun cribbage games. Very few people played cribbage any more, so the two men were delighted to have a player.

When Lars was up and about, Clay took him to lunch at his club. Lars wasn’t quite dressed appropriately for the dress code requirements of the place, but nobody dared say anything to Clay. Clay felt the stares, however, and the next Saturday he took Ellen and Lars on an all day shopping spree.

They visited the best shops and boutiques on Fifth and Madison Avenues. When Ellen modeled some of the dresses and business suits she was considering, both men oohed and aahed. Even Lars had not realized what a beauty his daughter was. Clay could only think that she was as beautiful as Ed was handsome. But the big surprise was Lars. Dressed appropriately, and with a stylish haircut, he was an older version of his son. If it wasn’t for his gray hair, he could almost have been mistaken as Ed’s brother. He was six feet, four inches of ideal manhood.

Clay began to spend many evenings at Johnny’s house when Billy was out of town. He and Lars would sit and chat for hours. Mostly Lars would lament his past. He admitted that he had a drinking problem and that when he was drunk, he would abuse his children. Then he would begin to cry. Clay would do his best to console him, and assure him that he had long since been forgiven, and it was time for him to forget the past and look forward to the future.

The summer was coming. Ellen was living with her new husband. Johnny and Ed were busy with their careers. Clay didn’t want Lars to be alone and he asked him to spend the summer with him in East Hampton. To everyone’s surprise, Lars agreed immediately.

The big day came, and Lars could not get enough of eyeing the scenery as the chauffeured car drove him and Clay to East Hampton. He was as excited as a young kid. After they got settled, Clay told Lars that Reverend Billy would be joining them in about two weeks and staying for five or six weeks. Lars thought that was exciting news.

It had been years since Clay entertained young men for the weekend, so he would not have to explain to Lars that aspect of his own former life. When Billy was in residence, he and Clay spent their time quietly and alone.

In the evenings Lars and Clay sat on the veranda playing scrabble, cribbage or gin rummy. Clay would sip a gin and tonic and Lars would sip iced tea. The days were peaceful and idyllic. Then Billy arrived. Lars was as happy about it as Clay….at first.

Billy had no intention of interrupting the evenings on the veranda. While Clay played card games with Lars, Billy worked on future sermons, and spent long hours on the phone attending to the business of his enterprise. Lars still tired easily, and he usually went to bed before Clay and Billy.

One evening, Lars was halfway to his room when he realized that he had left his sweater on the veranda. He started to return there when he stopped dead in his tracks. Clay and Billy were locked in a passionate embrace. It was easy to see that they were kissing with open mouths, and active tongue action. Lars was appalled. He turned to go to his room and bumped into a chair. Clay and Billy heard the noise, and saw Lars rushing away.

“We’re busted,” Billy said.

“We need to talk to him,” Clay moaned.

They knocked on Lars’s door.

“Go away….please.”

“We aren’t going anywhere. We need to talk to you.”

“We have nothing to talk about. I’d like to go home in the morning.”

“I thought we were friends,” Clay said.

“I think we still are, but I still don’t want to talk about it.”

“It’s a beautiful night, Lars. A night like this is one of God’s most spectacular miracles,” Billy said. “Please come out and we’ll talk out on the veranda.”

There was silence for a moment, and then the door opened. Lars could not look at them. His head was down.

“I’m cold,” he said.

“Your sweater is on the veranda. Come.” Clay took his hand and led him outside. Lars sat on a chair which faced a small settee. Billy and Clay sat on the settee.

There was silence for quite a long time. It was Lars who actually talked first. “If we are such good friends, Clay, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Your right, I should have told you. Obviously Billy must stay very much closeted, and we have to be very secretive. I guess I felt that the less people who know the better. In fact, only Johnny and Ed know….and now you. I must beg you to keep our secret”

“Of course I will. I just don’t understand the whole thing.”

“There’s nothing to understand, dear Lars,” Billy said. “It’s a case of I love you and you love me. We can’t help that we are both men. All we know is that we love each other, we are soul mates, and that' that.”

“What about your servants? Surely they must know.”

“We count on their loyalty,” Clay said. “They have all been with me for a long time. Some of them were in service to my parents. We retire them with more annuities than any employer in the world. We can only hope that they will keep our secret. Billy and I have been together for half our life times, and none of the servants has said anything yet. I think they love us; they especially love Billy.”

Silence again! “What are you thinking?” Billy asked. “Isn’t it enough for you that we love each other?”

Lars began to cry. “I haven’t loved anyone since my wife died. I feel empty, like life is passing me by, like God is punishing me for my past sins.”

“Stop talking that way. God loves you. You’ll see. His love will shine on you. You are healing nicely and getting well. He will guide you to love. I know it.” Billy stood up and put his arms around Lars.

“Are you still upset with us?” Clay asked.

“Hardly! I love you Clay, and I know I will love Billy also. The truth is Ellen has her guy, and I envy her. Ed has Johnny, and I envy him, and now I am just a mite jealous of you too.”

Clay then joined Lars and Billy in a group hug.

“I have an idea for my birthday next month,” Billy whispered in Clay’s ear.

Later that night, in their room, Billy said, “My secretary grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, and I think that Lars is just the kind of guy she would want to meet. Her first husband was a city slicker who skipped out on her years ago.”

“Add matchmaking to your church duties,” Clay whispered back.

Clay proceeded to plan a birthday party for Billy in East Hampton. He invited Ellen and Joe Connelly, her husband, Ed and Johnny, and finally, Betty Johannsen, Billy’s long time secretary. They all came in one car, and Clay made sure that Betty and Lars were seated next to each other at the dinner table.

When Betty laid eyes on Lars Rose for the first time, her heart flipped. She hadn’t seen anyone so handsome, and so true to her image of a real man, since she had left Wisconsin.

Lars was not so impressed. Betty was a comely woman, but no beauty. Lars did admire her figure. He thought that with more stylish clothes, a visit to a salon, and a new hair style, she would be quite attractive. During the evening as the two mid-westerners began to discuss what life was like growing up on a farm, Betty got more and more attractive to Lars, and Lars lost none of his charms to Betty.

“Did you know that although Billy travels all over the world, I spend most of my time at his office in New York?” Betty asked Lars.

“I wasn’t aware, but that’s good to know.”

Betty was just a couple of years younger than Lars, and that means that she was no spring chicken. She had no time for coyness. “Why don’t we have dinner at my place sometime soon? I’m a good old down home kind of cook.”

“Now that there’s an offer I would never refuse.”

“How about the first Saturday you come back to New York then? I’ll give you my address and telephone number before I leave.”

Clay and Billy were beaming. There little plot was working.

Billy set aside his nine AM hour every day, and he prayed for the complete recovery of Lars and Ed. He prayed especially hard that the kidney should not be rejected. Lars grew stronger every day. His ashen complexion grew rosier and rosier.

“You look like your name now,” Clay remarked one day as they were starting a card game.

When he returned from East Hampton, Lars began to date Betty regularly. He had fallen in love with New York, and he took her to his first Broadway musical, to the opera and to the ballet. All of these art forms were new to him, and he loved them all. One time they went to an opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Billy had provided the tickets. That was their night to remember.

When he dropped her off at home, Betty asked him in for coffee and cake. As they were sipping coffee, Betty said, “It’s time, you know.”

Lars knew, but he pretended innocence. “Time for what?” he asked.

“You big oaf of a farmhand, you know what,” she fired back.

Lars smiled. He took Betty in his arms, and that was the night they made love for the first time. It was the first of hundreds of nights to come.

A few weeks later, while Clay was visiting Lars at Johnny’s, Lars told Clay that he was going to marry Betty, and would be moving in with her as soon as he broke the news to Johnny and Ed.

Clay screamed out in joy. That’s wonderful,” he cried. “Just absolutely fucking wonderful. You better let Betty continue to work, or Billy will have your balls.”

“Not to worry. She’ll never leave Billy, and I wouldn’t want her to.”

“Good, so you and I can continue to play cards when all our loved ones are at work.”

The night that Lars broke the news to his family, Ed and Johnny were lying cuddled up in bed together. They were both naked.

“Are you happy sweetie?” Johnny asked.

“I have never been happier in my life. Not that you haven’t always made me happy, but I have my family back now. My sister and my father. I thought I had lost them forever.”

Ed felt Johnny’s hand start to caress his cock. He laid back, closed his eyes, and sighed. Then he felt Johnny’s tongue stroking up and down his newly hardened manhood. Moaning loudly, he had the most delicious orgasm he had experienced in a very long time.