Starlight in the Heavens - 12. Chapter 12

Part 12 - Joshua

Her words repeated themselves over and over in my mind as I did my best to calm Alex’s sudden trembling. His arms were cold and I found myself chasing the goose bumps from them. He shouldn’t be cold; it was a warm evening. But he was shivering and his teeth began to chatter.

“Alex? What is it, baby?”

He just shook his head, his eyes pleading with me. Some unformed question rested in his gaze. Question? Or demand?

“Adrenaline,” Jo said. “Take him inside. Love him. You are what he needs now.”

Jo stood to leave and I lifted Alex, cradling him in my arms. At the bedroom door, she turned to us and brushed the tips of her fingers through his hair as her lips pressed against his cheek.

In a gentle whisper, she said, “Let him be your strength.” And she was gone.

I listened as the front door closed, frozen at the open doorway, until a wracking shudder passed through Alex’s body. He needed me and I will always give him whatever he needs.

I laid him on the bed and gently removed the robe covering his beautiful body. His skin was like silk beneath my fingers. His hair was a fine mist of opium to my senses. I breathed him in and came alive.

The memory of being one with him and Mandy sprung to the forefront of my mind as I lost the robe enveloping my own body and stretched myself over him. But the only thing that remained of that memory was the feeling of being one. The three of us were one that night, and somehow, I know that it was me. It was because he took me with him. I was what brought them together. Without me, our son would not have been conceived. For the first time in six years, it didn’t hurt to think about the feelings I had being with them. For the first time, I felt fulfilled.

His lips were like velvet; his breath, a sweet incense. It rushed through my soul, flooding me with his essence. I felt my heart race as he sucked my tongue into his mouth. Oh, Alex, my sweet lover. All I am is yours. Always, forever, beyond time itself.

His skin brings a fire to my blood; his hands, raging passion that pulses through my body. His legs encircled my waist, his ankles crossed at my ass, and it took everything I had to keep from impaling him immediately.

“Wait, baby, I’ll hurt you if you pull me in now.”

His whimpers filled my ears. They pulled at my heart as I pushed away from him. “Only a second, love. That’s all I need to slick up. Then you’ll have me. Then we’ll be one again.”

I returned to his outstretched arms and let him draw me close. Back to the magic of his hands, his lips, and his legs once again pulled me in. He’s part of me; I’m part of him, forever one. I was lost in the depths of his midnight eyes. Slowly, I moved within him, letting the heat build. His breath came quicker, his moans, deeper. Sharp, little gasps escaped as I increased the pace.

“Ah... ah... ah...”

I bent to his mouth, licked the sweat that began to form at his upper lip. Faster, harder, deeper, longer. Time had no more meaning. We were not bound by this world. We were only bound by each other, to each other, for each other. Stars, the deep blue of his eyes, surrounded us.

“JOSHUUUAAA.”

My back arched as he clamped down in his throws. Every muscle strained with the release of my seed. Every nerve woke and pulsed in time with his.

Starlight.

“Daddy?”

Anthony.

***

All the necessary calls had been made. I’d told my bosses I had to leave on a family emergency. At first, they tried to argue, but hey, an emergency is an emergency. Didn’t much matter to me anyway. Alex had been trying to get me to leave the company for a while now. Maybe the time had come.

“How long should I pack for?”

How long? Good question. I had no idea. I didn’t know where we were going, let alone, how long it would take us to get there. I looked up at Alex as he stood in the bedroom doorway and shrugged.

"No clue, babe."

"Hmmm, well, I suppose just a few changes of clothing should get us by. If we need more, we can always buy it on the way." I watched my lover shake his head. "I'm not sure what to think about all this. Watching Jo change like she did... it makes you wonder what else is different. How many people out there are really people?"

Yeah, I understood exactly what he was saying.

When I was a kid, my brother and I spent a lot of time camping out in the back yard. We did it so often my parents bought a second tent and just left it up almost year-round. On most nights, we slept inside the tent and told each other made up stories about dragons, vampires, elves, and other mythical creatures. Jeremy's stories were always the best. They were different from most of the scary things people told, and he told them like they were a part of his history.

On really warm nights, we'd lie out under the stars and contemplate our lives. Heavy thoughts for little kids. Well, maybe we weren't so little when we did that. We were in our early teens when I told Jeremy I figured I was gay. He just shrugged.

"Different strokes for different folks. It don't matter none to me, Josh." He went on to point out a glittering star. "That's a new one," he said. "Someone died today."

I didn't get it then. I guess maybe I did now. And that makes me wonder; how many of the stories my brother told me were history for him?

I didn't realize I'd started crying until Alex pulled my head down to his shoulder.

"What is it, Joshy?" he murmured as held me close.

"The stars."

"Oh, baby. I'm so sorry."

He knew all about Jeremy. About how he'd been killed in my place. They had taken out the wrong twin. A new star appeared that night and the life of my twin ceased.

Jeremy used to tell of the keepers in heaven. They appeared as dances of starlight in the periphery of our vision. I don't know how he knew so much about them. But since I saw Jo in her true form, at least I think it was her true form, a lot of the stories he told me are much more real. And knowing that— I think I'll always look at the stars a bit differently.

I gave Alex a squeeze and stepped back.

"I'm okay, babe. I think I'll go wash my face real quick then load our bags in the car."

On the way to the bathroom, I asked, "Oh, did the twins say they'd watch the place for us?"

"Yep. No problem, there. I think they are actually looking forward to it, although, they were rather curious." Alex leaned into the bathroom as I was drying my face. "I didn't know what to tell them, so, I just said we were taking an overdue vacation."

"Well, it is kind of a vacation. We haven't been away from here for probably four years now." I sighed as I thought about what we were doing. "Taking a woman with us on vacation is going to be hard to explain, though."

"Maybe not."

I raised an eyebrow in response.

"What if we told them that Jo was hitching a ride to her sister's?" The thought had possibility. "We could say that her car broke down and that's why she's catching a ride with us. Of course, we may not have to say anything at all."

"Why's that?" After hanging the towel, I walked over to Alex and pulled him close, smelling his clean scent.

"Mmm, because..." Alex slipped his arms around my waist and rested his head against my shoulder, "this is nice... because they won't be here for a few hours."

"Ah, well then, there's nothing to worry about."

I heard the front door open, and held Alex tighter when a shudder ran through him. The sooner we were done with Jo the better. I knew it wasn't her (him?) that had manipulated Alex then blocked his memories, but I couldn't help but direct my frustrations at the one present.

I rubbed Alex's back before grasping his shoulders and pushing him to look into my eyes. "Let's get this over with so we can get on with our lives."

"Yeah." His tense smile relaxed a bit, and I caught a sparkle in his eyes as he said, "Us... and our son."

Our son. We had a son out there somewhere. Whatever had happened, for whatever reason, one good thing had come of it— a small boy with royal blue eyes that needed his daddies.