Cards on the Table - 31. Chapter 31 Playing For The House

Cards on the Table

Chapter 31

Kendall kept a surreptitious eye on Michael as they both worked out. He understood the buzz the man was getting from pushing himself harder than he’d been able to, even a week ago, and he was happy for him. He was walking around the gym without his cane, and Kendall did his best not to worry, trusting Michael knew what he was doing. The flexibility had improved dramatically, and thoughts of last night’s talk about full-on lovemaking encouraged Kendall’s dick to swell in his shorts. It was just as well he was wearing a jock underneath as the memories of Michael’s cock sliding against him flooded his mind. It wouldn’t be long now, and Kendall was both nervous and excited. He needed to stop thinking about it… the constriction was going from uncomfortable to painful. Turning his attention away from Michael, he directed it towards Arron and Chet.

To an outsider they would just look like buddies working out together, but he had been witnessing the little looks and touches marking them as two men in love. Seeing the contented look on Chet’s face put a smile on Kendall’s. Arron appeared to be the ideal match for his friend from what he could tell. This was their first get-together since Wednesday night’s prank and the 'Lanny' parking lot drama. So much had gone down between then and now, he hadn’t really given a lot of thought to their pairing, but there was no doubting how happy and in sync they were. From the time they’d picked him and Michael up on this sunny Saturday morning, there hadn’t been a moment where they weren’t connected by touch during the drive to the gym.

Arron’s phone call to Michael had set up this impromptu workout, and it was a great way to start the day, and the weekend. It had followed on the heels of a call Michael had made to Janine to bring her up to date on the negotiation with Candy. It turned out she was in the middle of the breakfast Lanny had brought for them, so Michael had cut the call short with a promise to contact her later. Kendall had smiled at the news she was having breakfast with the big man, and Michael poked gentle fun at his obvious satisfaction.

The guys were eager to find out what happened after they left on Wednesday night, so they'd discussed the new developments with their friends on the way to the Spectrum. Arron and Chet seemed genuinely happy about the outcome, and congratulated them on impending fatherhood. Their wistful looks made him decide to talk to Michael later about maybe considering them for godparents.

“So what time are we checking out this house, Chet? Do we have a time frame?” Kendall’s question got Michael’s attention, and he stopped what he was doing to listen.

“I still have a set of keys, as the owner’s architect, so no worries. I called them Thursday morning after we saw you guys, and they said we could check it out anytime this weekend. The house is vacant and they’re anxious to have it sold. In fact, they called me last night to see if we were still going to see it and I could tell they’re nervous about no one living there. We can talk about it at breakfast if you guys are almost finished? Are we done, Wolf?”

“Yeah, I just want to do some stretches, work some of these damn kinks out, and then I’m done.” Arron wiggled his eyebrows at his partner.

Kendall, watching the exchange, assumed the stretching and kinks were alluding to something personal, judging by the blushing smile on Chet's face. He laughed at the pair, and Chet blushed a deeper shade. The Spectrum was quiet for a Saturday morning, but he kept his voice down to a whisper. “When you guys are done flirting with each other, we’ll meet you in the change-room.” He smirked as his friends exchanged red-faced grins, before turning to Michael. “What about you? You had enough yet?”

“Absolutely. I’ve had a great workout, but if I keep going, I’m gonna blow a tire. Let’s go shower this sweat off. We’ll see you guys in there.”

Ten minutes later, they were all in the shower room, having a friendly argument about where to go for breakfast. At Arron and Michael’s insistence, the Denny’s on Kingston Road won out. It was only ten or so minutes away. Kendall had never seen Arron naked before, and silently congratulated Chet on his choice of partner. The guy was every bit the work of art Chet was, although in Kendall’s mind, neither compared to his partner. Nobody ever could.

Denny’s was an indulgence he wouldn’t want to make a habit of, but Kendall enjoyed his ‘Big Slam’ breakfast. It was agreed by all that the line-up to get in was worth it. Houses were the topic of conversation as the guys picked at the food still left on their plates. Arron’s house sounded perfect, but, because of the neighborhood it was in, it was unattainable on their budget. With the money designated as the baby fund, they were left with about $130,000 as a down payment, but because they had another six months to save the money that was going Candy’s way, they could still swing $150,000, if need be. Even though their combined salaries topped $240,000 annually, they had set their maximum at $600,000, with Michael preferring to stay in the $500,000 range, if possible. If they saved for another year, they could substantially increase their down payment, but with a baby on the way, they needed to find a place soon. Arron’s house would likely top a million easily from the sounds of it. Chet literally glowed when he described the home to his friends, while Arron sat back looking pleased at his partner’s obvious infatuation with their house. Even though Chet still had his loft-style apartment, it was clear he no longer slept there. Kendall couldn’t imagine these two spending nights apart, and when he caught Michael’s eye while Chet was talking, the little knowing smile on his face told Kendall he was thinking much the same thing. What their friends had looked very solid.

“Okay, so are you gonna tell us about this mysterious house you want us to check out?” Michael asked.

“Well, there’s nothing mysterious about it, but I have to tell you it does have some restrictions.”

Kendall and Michael exchanged confused looks. “What do you mean by restrictions? What kind of restrictions would a house have?” Kendall was curious… they both were, and Chet had had their complete attention.

He took a deep breath. “Okay, first of all, before I get to that, it’s a great house. It’s in a great area, just a little northeast of Markham... kind of straight south of Stouffville. It would be about a half-hour commute for both of you, maybe longer in winter, and it’s on a little over three-quarters of an acre.”

“And we can afford it?” Kendall asked. “That’s a pricey area and you know our price range, right?” It occurred to Kendall that area would be about ten or so minutes from his pop’s business, which was on the eastern edge of Markham.

Chet stared from one to the other before answering. “The owners are asking $650,000, which is more than you’re looking to spend, I know, but I think this house is pretty special, and a real bargain. I also think they might be a little flexible on the price since they’ve already moved into a new house. I know they did have an offer of $620,000 which they turned down, but that was over a month ago.”

“Okay, what makes it so special? That’s a lot of money to us. I know the interest rates are down right now, but it’s still a scary price.”

“Let’s take a look at it, and you can see for yourself. The most special thing about it is that it’s built out of Black River limestone, which is quite rare for the area. The limestone was quarried in Kingston, Ontario, and that limestone is a thing of the past. The quarry has been shut down for a long time. The house was built in 1904, which makes her over a hundred years old.” Chet’s green eyes were sparkling with the passion he’d shown when he talked about Arron’s house, and Kendall could feel his admiration for this one as he talked. “It’s built to last forever… not like a lot of today’s construction. It’s a diamond of a house, although it does need some work on the back section. I know it would make a great home for you guys. I have no doubt, come spring, it’ll be snapped up by someone.”

Chet’s enthusiasm was contagious and Kendall could tell his partner was getting more interested in the house. He could feel his excitement through their clasped hands.“You’re sounding like a real estate agent,” Michael joked. “So what are these restrictions you mentioned?”

“They’re pretty straightforward. You can’t change the roof-lines of the existing house. You can change the interior, but the exterior pretty much has to be left alone. A new owner would be allowed to replace the front veranda that was torn off decades ago, and the back addition can be played with a bit, but the township won’t allow any changes to the main structure. The windows are newer, and in great shape, but if you ever had to replace them, they would have to match the existing ones. It’s registered as a heritage building because of the rare limestone, and its age. That’s why my clients gave up on it, and why it hasn’t sold as fast as it should. As soon as they see the restrictions on the listing, prospective buyers lose interest. It’s in an area of monster homes… some of them are ten thousand square feet or more. Everyone wants bigger and flashier,” he sighed. “My clients wanted to triple the house in size, but when we presented the plans, they were turned down, and to tell you the truth, I was happy about it. I designed this contemporary home for them, but I wasn’t pleased with what they wanted to do.”

“How big is the place? We don’t want something too small.” Kendall was envisioning something quite modest if the owners had wanted to triple it in size.

Chet laughed. “Guys, this house is plenty big enough. The main part is 2400 square feet, and the back part, the original summer kitchen, is 800 square feet, with a full walkout basement. Now, that back section has been gutted and needs to be finished. It’s a clean slate though, and you wouldn’t need it with the amount of room there is in the main house. You wouldn’t be allowed to tear it down, not that you’d want too. The owners had the place for a number of years, and did a lot of the basics. When the husband got promoted to CEO of his company, they decided they wanted to keep up with the neighbors, and went ahead with plans to expand. They were really upset when they found out they wouldn’t be allowed to do the expansion they wanted, so they up and bought a 1.6 million dollar monster home on five acres, just down the road a couple of miles. I’m drawing up some plans to update that one for them. Trust me, guys, it’s worth a look.”

“I’m game if you are, Ace? If Chet likes it, I say we go look at it and worry about the money later.”

“It sounds like a no-brainer to me. I’m excited about what we've been told, so let’s go check this rockin' house out,” Michael said with a grin, and everyone groaned at his lame attempt at a pun.

The house was captivating. Kendall was in love before they even pulled into the recently plowed driveway, and for a second he felt real disappointment because the price was out of their league. It was set back nicely, with mature trees scattered along what would be the front lawn. Leafed out, they would be beautiful in summer, and would provide some privacy on the quiet country road. What surprised Kendall, though, was the color of the stone. He’d expected a brown or dark grey, not the unusual silvery-white of this house. He thought it was stunning.

Michael had Chet stop the Jeep so he could hop out, and Kendall was quick to join him. They held hands as they walked slowly up the driveway, oblivious to the two men behind them. “What do you think of the color, Babe?”

“It’s amazing. I didn’t expect this.”

“Neither did I. There’s a bank in Toronto this color. It must be the same stone. What do you think about the way the house looks?”

“It looks so solid. Why would anyone want to change this house? That’s just crazy.”

“I’m with you. I love how balanced everything looks, with the door in the center, and the five windows all the same size. Those three big windows across the top must let a lot of light in. It would look good with a veranda though. It’s like there’s something missing, and you can see the marks where it used to be. The roof looks new, too.”

Kendall could hear in his voice, the same thing he felt when he looked at the house. The feeling of disappointment surged again, and this time it was almost searing in intensity. He was beginning to think this may not have been such a good idea.

The balanced look continued as they got to the side facing the driveway. There were four windows, the same generous size as the front ones, on each of the two levels. Farther down was a side entrance door, set back into an entry built of the same stone as the main structure. It appeared to span maybe a third of the back of the house, and separated the main building from the back addition. The design was very pleasing, although the yellow color of the addition's board and batten siding was quite jarring. Kendall took an instant dislike to it.

“The windows back here look new, Deuce, and they match the front part with the six-over-six panes. I like the way this section looks with the door in the middle, and the two windows on each side. It all looks so symmetrical, don’t you think?”

Kendall turned to see their friends standing back watching them, gripping each others hands in the cold air. “I agree… everything looks exactly right, well, except for that yellow color.” He made a face that had Michael laughing. “We shouldn’t get too carried away, though.”

Michael ignored his caution. “Yeah, that would have to go. It would look better if it was white, or a light gray."

"Or dark gray," Kendall mused.

"Yeah, that would work. Let’s check out the inside. Hey, Chet, which door do we go in?”

“Let’s go in this one,” he answered from behind them, pointing to the door between the two sections.

The entry had a big window on the back wall that looked out onto the far side of the property. The line of spruce trees blocked any neighbors from sight, which appealed greatly to Kendall. It was spacious and bright with a slightly rough but polished slate floor. As they entered, two doors flanked them. One led to the back ‘summer kitchen’, and the other led into the main house. Kendall ran his hand over the exposed stone wall and felt the roughness of it. Chet referred to it as rock-faced, even-coursed ashlar, but all that meant to Kendall was that it was beautiful. They all removed their footwear before proceeding further.

Upon entering the main house, they found themselves in a large central hallway running straight through to the front door. A large opening to the right led them into a huge kitchen that was a strange and wonderful mix of old and new. The cupboards, painted a subdued white, were original, and obviously built to last. They had a mission style look to them, and a number of the doors had leaded diamond-shaped glass panels. Overall, they were quite unique, and climbed almost the entire wall to just below the ten-foot ceilings. The black iron, vintage hardware set the multitude of cabinet doors and drawers off perfectly.

The rest of the woodwork was left in its original state. It was an interesting combination that worked. Another revelation, the ceilings were a classically-patterned tin, painted a creamy white that matched the cupboards. The appliances were stainless steel which greatly added to eclectic vibe of the kitchen. The fridge was huge and the stove was a gas range that used propane. The expansive counter-tops were a light colored granite that Chet described as white Kashmir. It was actually a gneiss granite which required yearly sealing, he explained. The mix of colors in it was astonishing. While basically a grayish white, it contained lots of speckles of brown and black, and shadings of pale greys and blues, with the occasional streak of black here and there. Kendall had never seen its like before. A white porcelain farm sink, centered under a large window, was the perfect complement to those counter-tops. On closer inspection, the substantial island proved to be movable, with cleverly-concealed locking wheels, and a stainless steel top that overhung one side, with matching stools under it. It was a close enough reproduction that it looked like it belonged to the bygone era the kitchen had been constructed in. Kendall turned his attention to Michael with a beaming smile on his face, and the man looked up from the lustrous hardwood floors to return it.

“I wouldn’t change a thing, Babe. This is an amazing kitchen. I can picture you cooking in here every night,” he said while grinning teasingly.

“Very funny. We’ll share the cooking, or you won’t be getting much to eat.” Kendall’s retort instigated a pout that made them all laugh. Realizing Chet and Arron were standing back and quietly watching them, he told Chet that so far, he’d done very well. Their friend, with his arm around his partner, looked pleased at their initial response to the house.

The tour continued with Chet now taking the lead. He informed them about the new wiring and electrical panel, and the new propane furnace, sized to heat both the main and back sections. The central air was only a couple of years old, and again, sized for the entire structure. The insulation had been updated by the previous owners and the walls had been re-plastered. The house was decidedly warm on such a cold day. Michael had been right. The shingled roof was only three years old. He also told them the drilled well was newer, and that the water pressure was phenomenal.

Upon leaving the kitchen, they discovered the rest of the woodwork all had its original varnish, now darkened with age to a lovely color, and a patina that comes from years of dedicated polishing. Kendall couldn’t find a blemish in it anywhere, so whoever'd touched it up had been masterful. The beams on all the ceilings were done in the same finish. All the floors were flat and level, indicating the superb craftsmanship and quality of materials that existed in the house. There were no rolling floors here.

The opening from the kitchen to the dining room was square and wide, with smooth-sliding pocket doors that resided within the wall when opened. It was bright and spacious with a second matching opening into the center hall. The front door to the right let in a lot of light, illuminating an incredible staircase that rose straight up before gently curving to the left. They could see abundant light streaming down the stairs, obviously coming from a window that wasn’t visible from the hallway.

Straight across from the dining room was another double width opening into what would have been the original front parlor. Its dimensions were ideal for a living room, with a fireplace perfectly centered between the two windows facing the driveway. Kendall was blown away by what they’d seen so far, and he could tell his partner was in a similar state of awe. They inspected the beautiful room, and its corner built-ins, hand-in-hand.

Down the hallway, they noticed the door to the basement was beneath the staircase, but left it for later inspection. Past the stairs was a full bathroom, with a claw-foot tub/shower combination that Kendall had only ever seen in magazines. As Michael crowded in behind him, they agreed the only element needing to be changed was the wallpaper above the gleaming white wainscoting. Kendall mentally winced at the garish flower pattern.

Further down, the hallway ended back where they’d started, with a regular sized door across from the kitchen entrance. This door led into a bedroom, as indicated by a decent sized closet with a built-in dresser inside it. Kendall however, immediately saw it as an office for him and Michael.

Michael sidled up beside him. “This would make a great office for you,” he said, his face glowing with excitement at what they’d seen so far.

Kendall looked around for their friends, and realized they had gone back to being inconspicuous. “For us. It would make a great office for us, and it’s big enough to double as a guest room if we needed it to… maybe a fold down Murphy bed would work well in here.” He realized he was doing what he warned Michael about earlier, but he couldn’t help it.

“Chet says there are four bedrooms upstairs, so maybe we wouldn’t need it for a guest room. You love it so far, don’t you?”

“Do you?”

Michael laughed. “Yes, I love it just as much as you do. I still don’t get why someone would want to fuck around with a house like this.”

“Me, neither. Let’s check the upstairs out.”

It was as impressive as the rest of the house, the big difference being the ceilings were only eight feet high. The four bedrooms copied the basic layout of the downstairs rooms, with the master over the living room. There was a fireplace in the same position in the room as the one downstairs. It had its own well-appointed bath with a spacious separate shower that suited the two men perfectly, obviously a later addition. Only the paint color of the master suite would require changing from the peachy-taupe color it was presently.

Another full bath across the hall divided the two bedrooms on that side. The hallway itself was well lit by the large windows situated at both ends. The back window was the source of the light that flooded down the beautiful oak stairway. It crossed Kendall’s mind this would be a very expensive house anywhere in the city. The price was looking more and more like a bargain as each minute went by… a bargain they couldn’t afford, he reminded himself.

The front basement was completely separate from the basement of the newer back section, with high ceilings, and decent-sized windows. It was quite impressive overall, the walls extremely thick, and in superb condition. It would be great for storage and working out, maybe even a pool table, Kendall thought. He watched his partner walk around inspecting everything, a pleased look on his face. Kendall had faith if there was something not right, Michael would find it, but only approval radiated from the man. All that was left to check out was the back section of the house.

Chet was right about it being gutted. It was more or less an empty shell. The walls and ceiling were newly insulated, and a bedroom at the far end had been framed in, along with a bathroom beside it. It was roughed in, and the toilet was in place, but there was no bathtub or vanity. The hardwood floors looked intact and level, but were badly in need of refinishing. Kendall could see that all the windows were indeed new, but that was small consolation when there wasn’t a bit of drywall anywhere. He felt a little deflated after seeing the main part of the house.

“What do you think?” Michael asked, not seeming at all fazed by the big empty space.

“This is a bit of a letdown. There’s a lot of money to be spent here. It needs floors, walls, ceilings. There isn’t even a railing on that staircase to the basement.” They took a quick run down to a big open basement with a cement block foundation. It had big windows, and a door that led straight out the far side of the house, but nothing had been done to it. It was an even blanker slate than the main level. They trudged back upstairs, and Kendall walked over to what was supposed to be the washroom. “All that’s here is a toilet. This will be expensive to finish, won’t it? There’s a lot of space in here.”

Michael walked over and wrapped his arms around him, staring him in the face. “Was there anything you didn’t like about the main house?” He was leading him somewhere, so Kendall let him.

“No, except for that wallpaper, and some of the paint, I love the entire place.”

“Then what’s the problem? We don’t need this space to be happy here, and we have our whole lives to finish it. At least we don’t have to tear anything out. All the rough stuff has been done. You know dad and I are good at this kind of work, right?”

“Yeah, I do know that. I’m just worried about the money. It’s already a lot more than we agreed to spend, and I don’t want to put us under that kind of pressure.”

“You mean me, don’t you? You’re worried about me here, and you don’t want to put me under any pressure. Am I right?”

Kendall was uncertain about what to say. Finally he dove in. “We have a new baby on the way, and you and I have gone through a lot. You’ve had a serious injury to deal with, and you said we should try to keep our budget at $500,000. This is already a lot more than that, and with what this back part needs and the work that’s required… I think it may be too much. I don’t want our first house to be a burden, okay? I want you… us to be happy wherever we end up. I don’t want us to be stressed.”

“So, you don’t want this house?”

Kendall sighed. He couldn’t lie to Michael. “Yes, I want this house, but I don’t think it’s the right one for us. It’s just too much. It’s nice to dream, but we have to be sensible.” He noticed that again, Chet and Arron were nowhere to be seen.

Michael actually looked amused as he said, “Well, we have a problem then, because I really want this house.”

“You do?” He tried to keep the hopeful note out of his voice, but something told him he wasn’t successful, because Michael’s amused look had gone to a smirk. “What about staying on budget?”

“Babe, when I talked about budget, I was just getting used to the idea of spending that amount of money, and sure, it was nice to hope we could get something in that price range, but I’ve been checking listings on-line, and that budget would only get us a decent-sized townhouse, or a very small bungalow where we live now. I knew we’d have to spend at least $600,000 to get something half-way decent. Seriously, this is a perfect house for us, the perfect home for us, and I know you feel the same way. Besides, there’s a four bay drive-shed out there.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down, and Kendall laughed.

“Yeah, I wondered if you’d noticed that.”

“First thing, Babe, and it beats a puny three car garage which we could never afford in the city, right?"

"True."

"So what are you thinking now?”

“Fuck, Ace, this house is the definition of a dream house to me. It’s the very first house we’ve looked at, though.”

“Not really. I told you I’ve been checking listings, and I know you have too, haven't you?”

Kendall nodded. “I've been checking every day."

“So did you find anything you wanted to look at?”

“There were a few maybes, but nothing even close to this place.”

Michael, looking smug, said, “I rest my case,” and chuckled at his partner. “I know you want this, so stop worrying about me. I’m fine with the money part, and I promise you it won’t stress me out. What do you say?” The look in his eyes made Kendall’s hope flare up and explode.

“Oh God. I say yes. I want this house. I really want this house. I really, fucking want this house,” he shouted, bringing their friends running from the entry.

“Did I hear right?” Chet asked.

“If you heard us say we want to buy this house, then you heard fucking right!” Michael was shouting too, and laughing at the same time. He pulled his partner back in close as he settled down. “We did it. We found our house,” he said softly into Kendall’s ear.

“Oh God, we really have, haven’t we? I’m so glad you want this house. It makes me so happy.”

“That’s my job, to always make you happy. Now let’s go look at the drive-shed.” He pulled on Kendall’s hand and tried to drag him towards the summer kitchen door.

“Hey, we need our boots.”

“Oh yeah,” Michael said sheepishly before he turned and hurried to the entry as fast as his cane would let him. He managed to get his boots on quickly, and called to his partner, “Let’s go out this way.”

Kendall, with another quick look around, joined him, pulled his own boots on, and followed the ‘little boy’ Michael outside, grinning all the way. Looking back, he saw Chet and Arron watching them from the doorway and gestured for them to join him and Michael… so they did. They were still holding hands and laughing as they watched Michael clomping around like a little kid, with Kendall doing his best to keep up. He was filled with such joy as it sunk in this was where they would raise their family.

Thirty minutes later, after taking pictures of the inside and outside for their parents and themselves, and checking out what they could of the snow covered grounds, they were ready to head home. They needed start the ball rolling on making this home theirs for real. Standing in the driveway while Chet and Arron checked over the house before locking it back up, Kendall stared up at the upper windows of what would be the master bedroom. Michael walked up behind him and engulfed him with his arms.

“What are you overthinking about now?” he asked while nuzzling his face into Kendall’s neck and breathing deeply.

“I was just thinking about where to put the bed and how to set up the nursery.”

“What do you mean, how to set up the nursery. Where is it going to go?”

“That’s an easy question to answer. It has to go in the room across the hall from us. It’s the closest room to ours, and the door openings line up so we can leave them open and be able to hear into his… or her room.”

“Okay, that makes sense, but why the concern for where our bed goes?”

Kendall squirmed around until they were facing one another. “Because we need to be able to see the crib from our bed. I’ll sleep easier if I can wake up and see it… otherwise I’ll be getting up a lot to check on him.” He hesitated at Michael’s expression, but carried on. “I think we can put our bed where it should go, against the wall facing the road, but we’ll need to sleep with our heads at the end of the bed so we can see into the nursery. We could even turn the bed around so the foot-board is against the wall, at least temporarily, if that would be alright with you?” Kendall paused. “I know it probably sounds silly, but we’re going to be responsible for this tiny little newborn baby, and it’s kind of scary.”

“Wow, you’re amazing. You truly are. It’s not silly at all, and I’m scared too, but not as much as I was. You just took a lot of it away… you’re already figuring out stuff like this, and that proves to me you’ll never let us screw up. I’ve been able to count on you from the first day we met, and so will our kid. You’re the best partner, the best friend, and you’re going to be the best dad. I love you so fucking much.” Michael’s eyes shone as he leaned in for a kiss.

Kendall obliged him. “I think the exact same thing about you, and I love you so fucking much too. Now let’s get going so we can make some phone calls.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Organized,” Michael teased. “Babe?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you realize you’re starting to refer to the baby as ‘he?' Do you think it’s a boy?”

“I don’t know why, but yeah, more and more, I feel like it’s a boy.”

“That’s funny, cause more and more, I feel like it’s a girl.”

“Well, you know I’m almost always right,” Kendall winked at Michael.

“Yes, you are. You picked me, didn’t you?” Michael winked back.

“I rest my case, Sunshine.”