The next morning, Michael got up from a restful night’s sleep. Freddy got to bed at a decent time that evening, which pleased Michael immensely. He was in a good mood, as he yawned and got himself out of bed. His good mood was short lived, however, when he made his way downstairs.
Michael entered the kitchen to see Chris standing by the stove. The most notable feature was that he was shirtless, though he wore pajama bottoms. That previous night, Chris was told to sleep on the sofa bed that came out from couch in the living room. He was to make it up before he went to bed and put it back in place when he woke up in the morning. Though the couch was put back together, as instructed, Chris’ shirtless appearance was a still big problem for Michael.
“Morning Michael” Chris said, as the sizzling of bacon could be heard from a pan. “I was making some breakfast. Do you want some?”
“Chris” Michael replied, with an irritated tone in his voice “we need to talk.”
Chris turned around and exposed the front of his body. His chest was covered in a dense, black fur. Not a single bit of skin could be seen from the top of his shoulders down to the naval area which was covered by his bottoms. If any man could be described as furry, Chris was the one. The thick hair was as dense as it could get, covering up the skin below it, making it practically invisible. Though this sight would turn some men on, it repulsed Michael in this moment immensely.
Covering his eyes with his arm, Michael blanched at the site.
“Is something wrong?” Chris asked, with a confused look on his face.
“Yes, something is wrong” Michael replied, with a disgusted tone in his voice. “For starters, put your shirt on. I don’t want to see that thing ever again.”
“Oh, you mean this thing?”
Chris briefly flicked his chest and stomach hair, before letting out a chuckle.
“Yeah, a lot of girls have said it’s a bit too much. My long term ex girlfriend liked it, but most other women don’t.”
“What women like or don’t like is irrelevant to me. When living in this house, I don’t want you walking around here without your clothes on.”
In that moment, Freddy walked into the kitchen and let out an audible gasp. He looked at Chris’ furry chest and began to get all googly eyed.
“Morning Freddy” Chris said “or do you prefer Mr. Benson?”
“I prefer Mr. Scavolini” Michael interjected.
“Freddy is fine for me” he replied with a wide grin on his face. “I’m not all formal with my employees like that.”
“Fair enough” Chris confirmed. “Freddy, Mr. Scavolini. Mr Scavolini, as you were saying?”
“Oh yes” Michael replied, as he removed his arm from his eyes and composed himself “about your lack of shirt.”
Michael caught Freddy looking at Chris’ furry chest with lust in his eyes. This irritated him immensely. He smacked his husband’s shoulder, who yelped and then tenderly rubbed it.
“From now on” Michael continued “I want you wearing clothes around the house at all times. No lack of shirt, no lack of pants and most certainly no lack of underwear. Do you understand me?”
Freddy whimpered, before Michael shot him a nasty look.
“Absolutely, Mr. Scavolini” Chris replied. “Mind putting a hold on the ground rules, though? The bacon and eggs are done.”
“Sure” Michael replied hesitantly, as he sat down at the table.
He noticed that Freddy continued to stand, staring while Chris placed the food from the pan onto some plates.
“Food for the three of you?” Chris asked.
“Make that four!” Evan yelled, as he walked into the kitchen. “Morning Chris.”
“Hey Buddy” Chris said, as he got out a fourth plate and put some of the bacon and eggs on it. “Ready for school today?”
“I hope so. I’m just nervous about it, that’s all.”
“I’m sure it’ll go great. Here’s some food, guys.”
“You don’t have keep cooking for us” Michael said, as Chris placed the plates on the table.
“I don’t mind at all, Mr. Scavolini. Consider it as my way of saying thanks. Unless, that is, you prefer to do the cooking yourself.”
“Why look a gift horse in the mouth, Michael?” Freddy asked, as he sat down and began to dig into his food.
“I don’t want him charging you extra for this” Michael replied, as he tentatively began to eat.
“If you’re concerned about me charging extra for cooking some meals for you guys” Chris replied, as he sat down at the table “don’t be. It’s totally on me. I’m happy to help you guys out. Freddy is a great guy, you have an amazing son and you’re not so bad yourself, Mich—“
“Mr—“
“Right, Mr. Scavolini. Sorry.”
Chris shrugged his shoulders, as he ate his meal.
“Wow, you’re really hairy” Evan commented, as he stared at Chris’ hairy chest.
“Heh” Chris replied, as he scratched at the center of his chest hair. “You think so, huh?”
“I do. I’ve never seen a guy with so much hair like that before.”
“Well, take it in while you can” Michael added “because he won’t be showing it off ever again.”
The four of them sat in silence only for a moment, while they dug into their meal. To ease the tension that fell over the room, Evan spoke up again.
“This is really good, Chris. You sure know your way around the kitchen.”
“Thanks Buddy” Chris replied modestly, as he scratched at his beard.
"Why are you scratching at yourself so much?" Michael asked.
"I'm just itchy this morning, that's all."
“And would you mind not calling my son Buddy anymore?”
“Uh, sure, no problem. Evan, how would you liked to be called?”
“I don’t—“ Evan began to say, before Michael shot a serious look in his direction. “I mean, I’m ok with Evan or kid. I think my dad gets sensitive about Buddy because that’s our neighbor’s dog, or was our neighbor’s dog. He’s probably dead, but our neighbor Tom, who is crazy, keeps trying to accuse my dad of stealing him. He’s a little salty about the name, Buddy, because of that.”
“Totally understandable” Chris replied, as he continued to scratch at his beard. “I’d be upset too if my neighbor drove me nuts like that.”
Michael was relieved that Evan didn’t reveal anything too personal about their experience with Buddy the dog. Although he knew in the back of his mind that Chris would need to be let in on this secret at some point in his duties, he figured he could wait to see if Chris’ time as a body guard would last.
“So Evan” Chris said “whatcha learning about in school?”
“Science, math, reading, writing. Things like that. The usual.”
“Are you doing well with your grades?”
“Not really.”
Chris put down his fork and looked at Evan with a concerned expression in his face.
“Why’s that? What’s the matter?”
“It’s none of your business, Chris” Michael said coldly.
“Dad” Evan interjected, putting his hand up. “It’s fine. I wanted to ask Chris for a favor anyway.”
“Oh God” Michael groaned.
“Oh?” Chris asked. “What’s that?”
“You see” Evan replied “as I was saying last night, I have these bullies at school who pick on me and treat me kind of bad. I was hoping maybe you could come to my school sometime and talk some sense into them. You were a bully once, so you can relate. They wouldn’t mess with a big, tough guy like you.”
“I don’t think it’s my place to do that. However, I can teach you some stuff for how to defend yourself from bullies if you want.”
“I’d like to learn that, but are you sure you can’t come by?”
“I think you should try my suggestions first. My job really is to help your dad stay protected.”
“Well, maybe if I come to visit Evan at school” Freddy spoke up “you’ll be there, Chris, and you can talk some sense into his bullies then.”
“Maybe, if you pick up your kid from school sometime.”
“How about this afternoon?” Evan asked, as he got up from the table to clean his plate.
“That’s my job” Michael replied sternly. “Speaking of which, before you leave with Freddy today, Chris, we have to talk.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Scavolini” Chris replied, as he got up and placed his dishes in the sink.
Michael got up to clean his own dishes, while Freddy joined him at the sink. When they were all done, Freddy and Evan left to get ready to go out for the day. As Chris was about to leave the kitchen, Michael grabbed his hairy arm.
“We need to talk” Michael said.
“Sure thing” Chris replied, as he turned around to look at Michael in the face “though I figured you would want me to put a shirt on first.”
“It can wait. This is urgent. As for my ground rules, besides having to wear clothes from now on, you need to learn to respect your place in this house. You are my husband’s protection, not the cook or the kid picker up.”
“I don’t want to overstep my boundaries, Mr. Scavolini. I’ll keep to my assigned duties from now on.”
“Thank you, Chris. As for the other things, I don’t mind you spending time with my son, but please remember that you are not his father or his babysitter. You are not allowed to discipline him or give him any advice about things that I don’t approve of.”
“Even the bullying thing? He seems like he could use some help on that. I know how to deal with bullies, seeing as I was—“
“That’s fine, Chris, but nothing else unless I give you explicit permission to do so. Understand me?”
“Gotcha, Mr. Scavolini.”
“Also, do you have my contact information?”
“I do. Freddy gave it to me last night.”
“If something were to happen to him, please get in touch with me right away. I’m accessible most of the time, so if there’s an emergency, I can be reached at any time during the day.”
“Yes, Mr. Scavolini. Anything else?”
“For the moment, we’re good.”
Michael tried to go for a hug, before he stopped himself from doing so. Chris noticed this and spoke up.
“You were about to go for a hug just now, weren’t you?”
“I was, but I restrained myself.”
“You don’t have to do that, you know. I’ve known you since you were a teenager. I'd be happy to give you a hug if that's what you want.”
“I think it’s best that we don’t. And speaking of which, I don’t want you getting too intimate with my husband either. No hugs, no kisses. Just hand shakes and that’s it.”
“No shoulder pats?”
“No.”
Chris shrugged his shoulders.
“Fair enough. I don’t see what the big deal about shoulder pats are, though. It helps to comfort a dude when he’s feeling down. It came in handy a lot when I was in the army.”
“Just respect my wishes on this, Chris.”
“Of course, Mr. Scavolini. I’m going to take good care of your husband and make sure he sees this thing through to the end. I promise you I will do everything in my power to protect him, even if I have to give my life to do so.”
Chris left the kitchen to go to the upstairs guest bathroom to shower and get changed. When everyone was finished getting ready, the four of them headed outside the front door.
“Wait in the car for a second, Chris” Freddy said.
“You too, Evan” Michael said.
“Ok” Chris and Evan replied, as Chris got into Freddy’s car in the driver’s seat and Evan got into Michael’s car in the passenger seat.
“While I’m out for the day” Freddy whispered to Michael “check to see if Tom is still living in that house?”
“Freddy” Michael whispered in reply “I can’t do that, remember? The restraining order.”
“It’s only for a few more days and as long as he doesn’t see you, it shouldn’t be a problem. Besides, I’m concerned because he has that for sale sign on the front of his house. If he moves out and takes the ring with him, then we’re going to have a big problem on our hands.”
“Ok, I guess you’re right. But how do I do that without being spotted?”
“Drive by his house in the middle of the day. Park the car and see if you can tell if someone is still in there.”
Michael reluctantly nodded, as Freddy gave him a peck on the lips.
“Love you, Michael. Report back to me if you get wind of him in the house.”
“Will do.”
Freddy nodded, as he solemnly walked back to his car. Seeing his husband’s sad expression on his face, Michael called out to him.
“Love you too, Freddy.”
Freddy briefly turned to Michael and grinned at him widely.
“He remembered” Freddy thought to himself, as he got into the passenger side of his car.
As Chris drove Freddy out of the driveway to head over to the campaign headquarters, Michael got into his car.
“Ready Evan?” Michael asked, as he fastened his seatbelt and turned on his car.
“Yup” Evan replied happily.
As Michael got out of the driveway and headed to Evan’s school, he spoke up.
“You seem to be in a good mood today, Evan.”
“I am.”
“Why’s that? Anything in particular going on at school?”
“Not really. I’m just hopeful that Chris might help me out at some point. It could really do a lot to deal with the bullies.”
“Eh, maybe. Being a former bully himself, maybe Chris knows a thing or two about dealing with them. Couldn’t hurt to hear out what he has to say.”
“Yup.”
Michael smiled, as he pulled up to his son’s school.
“Have a good day at school today, Evan” Michael said, as Evan got out of the passenger side of the vehicle.
“Thanks dad” Evan replied, as he smiled, before he closed the door and walked into school.
“That Chris, man” Michael thought to himself, as he drove back home. “Maybe he’s not so bad after all. Maybe he has changed. He’s certainly done a lot to improve Evan’s mood. Perhaps he’s a good influence in our household.”
As Michael drove back to the house he shared with Freddy, he decided to go a different way home.
“I wonder” he thought to himself, as he changed the direction of his vehicle to take the long way home. “Maybe I can drive by Tom’s house and see if he’s home right now.”
Taking a short detour, Michael noticed that Tom’s car was not in the driveway.
“That’s not good” he thought to himself, before he drove off from the block. “I hope that doesn’t mean he’s sold the house already, though you’d think the for sale sign would turn into a sold one if he had done that. I might try to come back later on to see if his car is there then.”
Michael went home and did some chores around the house. He cleaned up the kitchen, started a load of laundry and got in touch with some friends from his past. Around 12 in the afternoon, Michael decided to try to drive by Tom’s house again. Getting in his car, he drove to the block and discovered that the car still wasn’t in the driveway.
“That’s really not good” Michael thought to himself, before he saw the silhouette of a man in the front window.
"Who is that?"
Parking the car across the street, Michael looked out his window to see Tom pacing around his living room.
“Phew” Michael thought to himself, as he put the car into drive and left before he could be spotted. “It's Tom. He’s still living there, thank God. What a relief.”
As Michael was driving back to his house, his communication device rang. When he looked down at the caller ID, he saw it was a number from Evan’s school.
“That’s not good” he thought to himself, as he pulled over the car.
When he was safely parked, he answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Scavolini” the woman on the other end of the line said “this is the principal of your son Evan’s school.”
“Yeah, I recognize the number. What’s wrong? What’s going on?”
“You might find this really hard to believe, but your son Evan was just arrested.”
“He what!?!?!”
“Yes, I thought it was crazy too. He’s not a very good student and all, but he’s certainly not a troublemaker like that. It happened under the weirdest of circumstances, too.”
“Where is he?!?!?! Where is my son?!?!?!”
“Take a deep breath and calm down, Mr. Scavolini. Yes, I know this is incredibly stressful news to hear, but—“
“Just tell me where he is!!!!”
“Alright, he’s at the police precinct, but I would advise you to calm down before going over there. Being agitated will not—“
Michael hung up the call, before he sped off down the street. This was not good news. He had a very bad feeling that this had something to do with Freddy. He was determined to find out what had happened to his son as soon as possible.
When Michael got to the police precinct….