Refugees - 12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

The Christmas season was ushered in by the first snowfall of the season. It was still ten days until the actual holiday, but Mother Nature didn’t seem to notice.

Robert arrived home first after a rough day at work. It was the last day before the Congress went on vacation and the aides were usually the last to go. He was the very last, being a senior aide now. Robert had been working ten-hour days for the past two weeks to get everything settled before the long holiday break.

He stepped cautiously onto the snowy driveway. His dress shoes weren’t exactly meant for such icy conditions. He grabbed hold of the side of the car to keep his balance. He bent his knees and practically crawled to the mailbox on his hands and knees. Finally, he made it inside.

Robert tossed the mail on the hall table. He removed his dress shoes on the runner. No reason to get the carpet all wet. He ran over to the fireplace and quickly lit up a large starter log. He brushed off the snow from his clothing, peeled off his gloves, and left them by his shoes.

Finally, he began to warm up and proceeded to see what the mail had brought that day.

He flipped through the sizeable stack of correspondence. It was mostly junk mail, some bills, and a curious looking envelope near the back. Robert flipped to it. His eyes became moons when he saw who sent it.

“From Andrew and Phillip Marnier? What the hell?” Robert considered tossing it aside, but something compelled him to open it. He finally gave in to temptation.

“Phillip and Andrew are ecstatic to announce their upcoming commitment ceremony on January 10^th….” Robert kept reading. “You are cordially invited? What? Why?” Robert felt his face grow hotter with each word he read. Why would they invite us to see their ceremony? Talk about rubbing it in! He read down to the final line, the RSVP line and phone number. He recognized it as Phillip’s. Robert tucked the invite into his coat pocket and ran back to his and David’s bedroom. Unsure of how to react, Robert simply fell silent.

An hour later, David returned home. He announced his arrival by kicking the snow off his shoes.

“Rob? Hon, you here?”

Robert slowly opened his eyes. He had fallen asleep, but only for a few minutes.

“David? I’m back in the bedroom.”

David smiled to himself. “Oh, well. That’s always a good sign.” He walked back and saw Robert lying on his side, curled up, still in his suit. “Robby? Honey, what’s wrong?”

“This came today.” He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out the invitation, and handed it to David. The therapist read it quickly and re-read it.

“What the… why? Why would they send this to us?”

“I’ve been lying here, trying to figure that out. Maybe they just wanna rub in their happiness. ”

David sneered and crumpled up the invite in his strong hand. “Well, that’s what they think.” Robert gasped when he saw David toss it into the garbage can. “Don’t tell me you want to go to that.”

Robert shook his head. “I don’t know what I feel. It was such a shock, it shouldn’t have been. I knew they were getting re-hitched. I just, didn’t know what my reaction would be.”

David took his lover’s hands. “Look, we don’t need them. They’re out of our lives. We have each other and your family, Cal, my brother!”

Robert felt his face heat up again and his eyes welled with tears. He pulled David in to hold him. “I wish I knew why that fucker still meant something to me….”

David smoothed Robert’s back. “Shhh, I know. I know. Andrew meant something to me too, but it’s like they wanna rub our noses in it. Do you think that’s what they want?”

Robert shook his head. “I don’t know what they were thinking. I sometimes hope we could be friends. We did visit them and apologize.”

“I know, but I think it’s gonna take more time. We’re still recovering from what they did to us.”

Robert furrowed his brow. “I don’t know if it’s that my problem, or what. One minute I’m over it, all’s well. The next minute I get a reminder of him and I’m a wreck! When does it end, David?”

“I wish I knew, hon. Hey, come here.” They held each other for a long time.

Robert cleared his face and sat up. “I need to call my sister. She’d know what to tell me.”

David looked like he’d started to say something, but instead only smiled. “I’m glad your sister’s there for you. I’ll leave you two to talk.” David got up off the bed and left the room.

Robert spoke with his sister for almost an hour. David wanted to listen at the door, but he decided not to. He busied himself with laundry and cleaning the kitchen. Finally, Robert surfaced from the bedroom. He’d changed clothes at last and looked quite drained.

David held him close. “Are you alright?”

Robert nodded slowly. “I will be. There’s only one person who can help me the way I wanna be helped.” He winked at David and they smiled at each other.

“Are you sure?”

Robert kissed his lover sweetly. “Very. Maybe not a lot of action, but just hold me.”

David nodded. “Absolutely. Hey, are you hungry at all? You haven’t eaten, have you?”

“No, as a matter of fact. Maybe we can eat in bed again, the way we did our first time.” He kissed David deeply.

“Mmm, now that whets my appetite. I’ll go heat something up and you get ready.”

David heated up some leftovers and brought them back to the bedroom. He climbed up on the bed and sat up straight, with his long legs open wide. Robert sat with his back to him, but leaned against him as closely as possible. They turned a bit to face each to make feeding one another their shared dinner of twice-baked potatoes easier. Once finished they let their dinner digest while they sat and cuddled for a while. Not a word was spoken, only silence filled the room. Quiet contentment. After twenty minutes, Robert got up and retrieved a vial of body oil from the bathroom and handed it to David.

“I thought, maybe a massage?” Robert suggested. “I need to completely relax.”

David smiled and stood up. “No problem at all. Lay back, my love.”

Robert laid down face-first on the bed and grasped the pillow and tucked it under his chin. He could still smell David’s cologne in the fabric and he inhaled it deeply.

“Mmm, love that cologne you wear, what is it?”

David kissed his shoulders. “Warm Water.”

Robert writhed a bit as he dove his nose into the pillowcase. “I love it. Reminds me of you.”

“I’m right here, baby. This is gonna be a little chilly.”

Robert shrugged.

A large dollop of oil poured onto his tan skin and formed a small puddle. The coolness of the fluid was quickly replaced by David’s large, warm hands spreading the oil out onto his skin.

Robert moaned a bit. “Damn that feels good.”

David kissed his cheek. “Bring your legs together, baby. I’m gonna straddle you.”

“That sounds wonderful.”

The blond gently climbed atop the bed and leaned over his lover’s nude backside. Robert had covered his butt and legs, but secretly hoped the massage would travel that far south. David put both of his hands on his lover’s shoulders and kneaded the knots from his muscles.

“Ooh. Very tense shoulders.”

“Bad day.”

“I understand that one.”

He continued working the muscles and when they were loose, he moved down the sides and finally to the spine. He ran his practiced fingers along the smooth skin of his lover and made sure the oil was absorbed completely. He leaned over and kissed his back gently.

“I love you, Rob.”

“I love you too, David.”

“Do you want me to head south?”

Robert shook his head. He’d changed his mind. “Not tonight, too tired. I just want you to come to bed and hold me.”

David swung his legs off of Robert and lifted the sheet. He stripped off his clothing and slid in beside his lover. “Come.”

Robert squeezed himself beside the man and kissed him deeply. “Thank you for the massage.”

David smoothed his lover’s beard. “Anytime. Good night, my love. Sweetest dreams.”

“To you too.”

They shared a pillow and cuddled against one another. They were asleep within moments.

The next morning, Robert awoke first. He lay there and considered what to do. He had to face the fact that he still had feelings for Phillip. David woke up not long after and faced his lover.

“You’re up early. Couldn’t sleep?”

“A few hours at most. David, I though it over all night. I wanna go to that wedding.”

David almost choked. “Why?”

“To prove that I’m over him. To myself.”

David frowned. “I’ve been over Andrew since I met you, isn’t it the same for you?”

Robert heard the hurt in his lover’s voice. “Yes, but….”

“Are you still hung up on him?” David demanded.

“No!” Robert replied meekly.

“Come on.”

Robert took a deep breath and took David’s hand. “Look, I had to deal with him and this situation for years. You had what, a scant few months?”

“Well, in those few months I fell hard for him and asked him to marry me! Cal says that’s my big problem, I fall in love too easily.”

Robert cocked a brow. “I see. Do you think that you did that with me?”

“Maybe. We did move awfully fast.”

“Well, it was mutual. I was ready to move on.”

David picked apart the sentence in his mind. The word “was” stood out.

“Wait a minute. Was ready? Now you’re not?”

Robert scowled and climbed out of bed. “Don’t put words in my mouth. I fell for you too!”

“Fine, I admit it. I fell for you pretty quick, yes. How could I not? I just wanna know if you’re over Phillip!”

“I thought I was! Are you totally over Andrew?”

“Yes! He left. It was his call. I cared, but he was never mine to begin with.”

“I left Phillip on my own, because he and Andrew never really broke up, not completely.”

“That’s why you wanna go to the wedding?”

Robert nodded. “Just to prove that I can handle seeing them together. I need you by my side, my strength. You called me your rock. Am I?”

“Yes! You got me through that tough time. We healed each other. I don’t wanna argue with you, Robby.”

Robert smirked and hugged David for a moment. “Arguing sucks. Listen to me. I do love you, David Griffin. I’ve been in love with you almost all this time since I moved in. You actually returned the favor.”

David kissed Robert’s hair. “I’m deeply in love with you, Rob. I couldn’t imagine another man in my life again.”

Robert held David close and kissed him softly. “I’m sorry we argued.”

“I am too. I’ll go with you to the wedding. They need to see that we’re much stronger together.

“That we are.” Robert retrieved the invitation from the trash and filled it out “2” as attending. David sealed the envelope and dropped in on the hall table. They kissed again and headed back to the bedroom.