Freddy woke up unusually early that morning. Granted, though he was still in the middle of his campaign, it was a Saturday morning and he usually got up later. He had some stuff to take care of that day, including a meeting with a group of voters to be telecasted online. It wouldn’t kick off until the afternoon, so he could have slept in. Being up so early this day in particular was not ideal for him when it wasn’t necessary. It probably wouldn’t have happened had the situation in his bed not changed so dramatically the previous night.
Stirring awake, Freddy could feel his morning wood aching in his pajama bottoms. It poked out aggressively into his husband’s ass, covered up with Michael’s own pajama bottoms. Moaning, Freddy started to briefly hump Michael, before he decided not to needlessly wake his husband from his slumber.
Rolling onto his back, Freddy looked over to his other side of the bed. In that moment, he gulped at what he saw laying right next to him. Chris, who had started the night sleeping the side that faced away from Freddy, had rolled over onto his back by the time the early morning started. Not only was he back to sleeping on his back again, but Chris had moved from the left edge of the bed right up next to Freddy. This gave Freddy a perfect view of Chris’ manly body.
Freddy eyed Chris’ thick pelt of black hair that covered his entire torso. His hairy arm tickled Freddy’s smoother arm and the musk from his armpits wafted into Freddy’s nose. Freddy began to whimper, as a fight within him raged on.
“Man” he thought to himself. “This is not good. Michael really should have turned down the heat last night. Now, I’m really having to fight not to move my hands over to rub that sexy chest hair on Chris’ beefy body. Oh man. What do I do now?”
Freddy struggled to keep his hands at his sides. His throbbing erection ached, pulsing up against the fabric that covered his dick. Freddy continued to moan, as pre cum leaked and stained his pants. Wanting to take care of this problem, Freddy pulled down his pajama bottoms and spit into his hand. He grabbed at his dick and began to rub it gently.
As hard as Freddy tried, he couldn’t help but look over at Chris’ furry body. It really turned him on and he was extremely tempted to touch it. He kept pounding his meat, hoping to orgasm soon. Before he lost control and reached over to Chris, he decided he needed more than just his hand to take care of his morning wood.
Grabbing Michael’s shoulder, Freddy gently shook him awake.
“Michael” Freddy whispered.
“Huh?” Michael moaned in reply, with a sleepy tone in his voice.
“Michael, you gotta help me out here.”
“What is it Freddy? Can’t it wait?”
“I need your help right now. Please help me out here.”
“What is it, Freddy?”
Michael rolled over and stirred awake. He could see Freddy’s penis at its fullest state of hardness.
“I need your mouth on this thing right now” Freddy insisted, as he gently grabbed the back of Michael’s head.
“Now?” Michael asked nervously, as Freddy guided him down to his throbbing dick. “Shouldn’t we send Chris out of here first?”
“I don’t want him to see my erection, Michael. Let’s just try to do this quietly. Now suck my dick.”
Reluctantly, Michael opened his mouth and placed it over Freddy’s pulsing erection.
“Oh my God” Freddy hissed out quietly, as he started to bob his husband’s head up and down. “It’s not going to take me long to blow.”
While Freddy was working Michael’s head on his penis, Chris had been woken up by the bumping he felt on his side. He tried to be subtle, as he heard Freddy’s moaning, by lightly opening the slits of his eyes to see what was going on. When he peaked over to his right, he froze at the sight before him.
Though Chris knew he should have closed his eyes again or made the fact that he was awake known to them, he didn’t do any of these things. Instead, he tried his best to stay still, while watching Michael’s head bobbing up and down on his boss’ dick. Seeing this caused a reaction in his own pajama bottoms.
“What the hell?” Chris thought to himself, as he felt his own dick stir awake. “That’s never happened before.”
Chris continued to watch, as Freddy’s bobbing got faster and faster. Saliva fell out of Michael’s mouth and onto the dick he was sucking. Before long, Freddy bucked into his husband’s mouth and let out a quiet moan.
“I’m gonna cum, Michael” he hissed. “Please swallow this for me.”
Michael lightly gagged, as Freddy filled his husband's mouth with his cum. Michael did his best to swallow it all, but found that some of it had dripped out of his mouth. Freddy stifled his moans, as he finished depositing his seed into his lover’s oral chute. Sighing in relief, he laid down in the bed with a smile on his face.
Chris couldn’t believe what had taken place just now. He thought that Michael would have woken him up first to send him on his way. He figured that they must have thought he was still asleep and he had no intention of giving them a different impression. Closing his eyes again, he planned to fully get up when they either woke him up or they were out of the room.
Relieved from his release into his husband’s mouth, Freddy whispered into Michael’s ear.
“Now it’s your turn” he tried to insist.
“Not while Chris is here” Michael responded, as he wiped Freddy's cum from his mouth. “It’s bad enough you did that with him right next to us on the bed. You should have woken him up first and sent him out of here before we did that.”
“I’m sure he didn’t see anything and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if he did.”
“Maybe we should wake him first, before we do anything else.”
Freddy shrugged his shoulders, before looking over at Chris. He wasn’t sure where to touch him without upsetting his husband.
“What are you waiting for?” Michael asked impatiently.
“Uh….” Freddy let out as a response.
“Just shake his arm or something. Don’t touch his chest.”
Freddy nodded, as he gently shook Chris’ hairy arm.
“Chris?” Freddy quietly called out.
Chris hesitated for a moment, before he let out a murmur in response.
“Chris? Are you up?”
“What?”
Chris sat up and yawned. Freddy, noticing his pajama bottoms were still down, quickly pulled them back up to his waist, before his bodyguard could spot it.
“Did you see anything that happened just now?” Michael asked nervously.
“See what, Mr. Scavolini?” Chris replied, as he wiped his eyes, pretending he didn’t notice what had just taken place on the bed.
“Never mind. I’m going to make you guys some breakfast. What are you in the mood for?”
“I thought we were gonna—“ Freddy tried to say.
“I’m totally flexible” Chris interjected. “Of course, if you guys would like some alone time now, I’m more than happy to make breakfast this morning.”
“I’m ok” Michael replied, as he got out of the bed. “I’ll surprise you. Freddy, you smell awful. You should really take a shower before you come downstairs.”
Freddy frowned, as Michael left the bedroom to head down into the kitchen. Sighing, Freddy turned to look at Chris, who was still displaying his extremely hairy chest.
“You didn’t see anything that happened just now, did you?” Freddy asked.
“No” Chris lied in response. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m going to take a shower now. Make sure you’re not in here by the time I’m done. I’d like to get dressed alone, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Of course.”
Freddy nodded, as he slid over to the other side of the bed and quickly ran into his bathroom to take a shower. Lying on the bed, Chris thought for a moment, before he decided to take care of his own growing wood. Getting up from the bed, Chris quietly closed the door and then plopped himself in the middle of the bed. He pulled down his pajama bottoms and began to grab at his dick.
Chris kept the covers nearby, in case he had to quickly cover himself up. He kept his eyes open in case someone barged in on him. Slowly stroking his meat, Chris began to think about his ex girlfriend and the various other women he had hooked up with throughout the years. He fantasized about their boobs rubbing into his man fur. He thought about their warm pussies enveloping his throbbing dick. He lost himself in the feelings of lust, as his rubbing got faster and faster.
Soon enough, Chris began to feel his orgasm building in his loins. Before he reached the point of no return, an uncomfortable thought came into his head. He visualized Michael, bobbing on Freddy’s dick in the bed next to him. He didn’t know why it was causing such a reaction, but the visual of Michael started to turn Chris on.
Freaking out at this thought, Chris felt himself reaching the point of no return. Quietly moaning, he shot several thick loads of cum all over his chest and stomach. The white cream mushed into his black fur, leaving it sticky, before it became hard. Panting, Chris looked around the room to make sure no one was nearby. Quickly, he got up from the bed, threw his pajamas in a corner on the floor and grabbed the outfit he’d be wearing that day. Opening the door, he ran out into the hall naked with his clothes in hand and towards the guest bathroom.
A split second after Chris left the room, the master bathroom door opened up. Freddy stepped out with a towel wrapped around his waist. He wasn’t sure if Chris hadn’t really seen Michael giving him head that morning, but it was good that the conversation wasn’t awkward. Still, he worried that it was a close call situation, one that needed to be sorted out before they all went to bed together again that night.
Freddy worked really hard to restrain his impulse to rub Chris’ chest hair. It was so tempting and so close to him. He could have easily touched it, thinking his bodyguard would be none the wiser. Instead, he used his husband’s mouth for release, despite it not being in the most private of circumstances. He needed to avoid the temptation again. It would likely require lowering the bedroom temperature so Chris could comfortably put his shirt back on. Sighing, Freddy got changed to go down for breakfast.
Before Chris made his way into the guest bathroom, another door opened up. Evan, stirring awake in his bed, made his way to his bedroom door. He had trouble sleeping because he was so upset about having to leave his home. Although he loved his grandma, he didn’t want to stay with her for more than two weeks. He wanted to be in his own home with the people he loved the most. More urgently, he didn’t want to have to say goodbye to Chris.
When he opened the door, he got quite a visual of the man he befriended over the last few days. Seeing Chris’ naked backside, Evan saw his papa’s bodyguard quickly make his way into the guest bathroom, closing the door behind him as he did so.
“Chris!” Evan called out.
“Just a second!” Chris called back from the bathroom.
Opening the bathroom door just a smidge, Chris popped his head out to look at Evan.
“What is it, kid?”
“Chris, why were you naked? Dad has a rule that you have to wear clothes around the house.”
“I know, Evan, but I obviously have to be naked to take a shower. I was just naked for a quick second to run into the bathroom. Your dad doesn’t have to know that I did that. Can we keep it our little secret, please?”
Evan nodded, before Chris quietly closed the door. As soon as he did, the bedroom door opened and Freddy came out in a slightly more casual outfit.
“Morning Evan” Freddy said, as he made his way downstairs. “Coming down for your last breakfast together with the four of us?”
“In a second” Evan replied, as Freddy went into the kitchen.
Evan was feeling really sad in that moment. He didn’t want to leave his home. He thought Chris could protect them all. Why would he need to go to grandma’s house? He would have put up more of a fight, but Chris’ assuring words had put him at ease.
“If he says we’ll see each other again soon” Evan thought to himself, as he closed his bedroom door and made his way down for breakfast “then I’ll trust him.”
When Evan got to the kitchen, he saw Freddy sitting at the table, looking at his communication device and drinking some coffee. Michael was cooking over the stove.
“Morning Evan” Michael said. “I’m making one of your favorite breakfasts today. Chocolate chip pancakes.”
“Ooh!” Evan replied, as he clapped his hands together. “You know I like those, dad. You only make them for a special occasion or as a treat.”
“Mmhmm. Well, today is a special occasion. An occasion that a treat could come in handy for.”
Evan quietly nodded, as he sat at the table. Seeing Evan frown, Freddy rubbed his hair.
“Cheer up, Evan” Freddy said to be encouraging. “This will all be over soon. You only have to be at your grandma’s for a little while. Besides, she’s always complaining that you don’t see her enough. This will more than make up for it, so maybe my parents can see you for a change.”
“Your parents are so strict though, papa” Evan said. “They aren’t like dad’s mom, my other grandma. She’s a nice old lady who reads me bedtime stories and makes me soup when I’m sick.”
“Freddy’s parents aren’t too bad” Michael responded, as he poured the pancake mix into a pan.
“Aren’t too bad? Freddy asked with an irritated tone in his voice.
“Sure, especially my mother in law. When she’s not in one of her moods, she’s actually quite fun to talk to.”
“She’s in one of her moods a lot” Evan remarked.
Freddy gave Evan an angry look.
“Sorry papa” Evan apologized, as he slunk into his chair.
“Eh, I’m sure your papa will get over it” Michael replied, as he watched the pancakes bubble in the pan.
“He shouldn’t be rude, though” Freddy said. “He has to learn that if you have nothing nice to say, you say nothing at all.”
“Well dad was the one who said it first” Evan whined. “I was just agreeing with him.”
“Still, you don’t do rude things because other people do them. If your friends all jumped off a bridge, would you follow them.”
“No, because that’s stupid.”
“So it’s the same thing. Just because your dad said something rude about your other grandparents, doesn’t mean you have to join in with him. It makes your papa very upset when you do that.”
“Any more upset than when your mother makes her sarcastic remarks to you?” Michael asked, as he flipped over a pancake. “Or when she flat out refused to take in Josh months ago. Speaking of which, whatever happened to that boneheaded brother of yours? You pay for his rent and then he just totally ghosts you.”
“Uncle Josh sure was scary” Evan remarked.
“He’s not scary” Freddy corrected. “He’s just had a difficult life…and it happens to show.”
“Your parents had a lot to do with why Josh has a difficult life” Michael added.
“They did the best they could.”
“That was the best they could do?” Evan asked curiously.
Freddy angrily stared at Evan again.
“I think they weren’t exactly sure what to do with him” Michael said, as he got out a plate to serve the first batch of pancakes. “I’m not sure Freddy knows what to do with him, either. Josh was always a bratty kid when we were growing up. The writing was on the wall for a long time.”
“I don’t need any comments from the peanut gallery, thank you very much” Freddy said sternly. “You didn’t want to let him stay here and left it up to me to take care of him. Let me do things my way without you adding your unnecessary commentary.”
Michael shrugged, as he brought the plate with the pancakes over to the table.
“Something smells good down here” Chris said, as he walked into the kitchen.
“You’re going to like these” Evan said with a smile. “These are the best things my dad makes.”
“I’m looking forward to it. What are you making, Mr. Scavolini?”
“Chocolate chip pancakes” Michael replied. “Just something I know Evan likes to give him a good send off to his grandma’s house today.”
“It helps a little” Evan admitted “but I’m going to miss you so much, Chris.”
“I’m going to miss you too, kid” Chris replied, as he grabbed the maple syrup and butter from the fridge “but as I’ve said before, we will see each other again soon. I promise.”
“Even if my papa loses?”
“Even if your papa loses.”
Chris rubbed Evan’s hair, as Michael served them all pancakes. He went back to the stove to put on more, while his husband, his son and Chris smothered theirs with syrup and dug into them happily.
“These are really good, Mr. Scavolini” Chris said as he ate.
“The best” Freddy added.
Evan gave a thumbs up, as he chowed down the pancake.
“Easy there, tiger” Chris said. “You want to savor the food, not devour it down like a bear.”
“Well, you’re a bear” Evan replied. “You certainly are furry like one.”
Freddy blushed, as Chris chuckled heartily. He rubbed Evan’s hair and let out a fake roar. Evan giggled, as Michael watched the pancakes closely.
“Just because I’m a bit too hairy, doesn’t mean I’m a bear.”
“That’s what they call guys like you in the gay community” Freddy said. “You’d be considered a bear.”
“Well, if I was gay, which I’m not, then I’d be flattered by that. I’m not a ravenous eater, though. I chew my food and savor every bite. That way, you can appreciate the work that the cook put in to making your meal special.”
Michael smiled, as he flipped over the second batch of pancakes. He didn’t want to admit it, but he secretly liked the influence Chris had on Evan. He was better behaved, more respectful of his parents and more willing to do what he was told. He had hoped it would rub off on his homework and studies, which would be part of his mother’s duties while she hosted her grandson. It was a big ask of her, but he had to do it.
While Michael appreciated Chris’ influence on Evan, he did not appreciate his effect on Freddy. With Evan soon to be out of the picture, they could fully discuss Freddy’s arousal towards Chris. It was driving him crazy, even if his husband did restrain himself. He was nervous that Chris might have caught them having sex this morning.
“He may have actually seen us and just didn’t say anything” Michael thought, as he took the second batch of pancakes from the pan and placed them on a plate. “He got up quite quickly after Freddy nudged him awake. Plus, I swore I could see him eyeing me. Maybe it’s my imagination, but…did he seem to like it?”
Michael pushed this thought away, hoping it wouldn't happen again to find out, as he put the second batch of pancakes on the table. Evan quickly snatched his, while Chris and Freddy took servings of their own.
“Aren’t you going to eat some?” Freddy asked.
“I’m making my own batch” Michael replied, as he poured out another batch onto the pan. “I want to eat mine last, as I want them to be hot and fresh off the stove. I prefer it this way, even if I have to eat by myself.”
“You don’t have to do that. I’ll sit with you while you’re eating.”
“Well someone has to get Evan ready to go to his grandma’s.”
“I’ll do it” Chris volunteered. “I don’t mind helping him get ready.”
“I appreciate that, Chris. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Scavolini. I’d like to spend as much time with Evan as I can before he leaves today.”
“You’re a good guy, Chris” Evan said appreciatively. “I really appreciate all you’ve done to help me over the last few days.”
“Of course, kid. You’re an absolute pleasure to hang around with.”
Evan ate his second pancake slower this time, mindful of what Chris had suggested to him. The three of them dug in, as Michael prepared the final batch for himself. When Chris and Evan were done, they placed their plates in the sink.
“Want to give your dad and papa some alone time, while I help you get ready to go?” Chris asked, as he held Evan’s hand.
“Sure, Chris” Evan replied.
“Go take your shower and then I’ll help you get packed.”
Evan nodded, as he and Chris walked upstairs to his bedroom.
A minute of silence passed, before someone spoke up.
“Chris would make a fantastic dad” Freddy commented, as Michael finished making his pancakes.
“I agree” Michael replied. “It’s surprising he never had any kids of his own.”
“Maybe that girlfriend of his didn’t want them.”
“I can’t believe she strung him along like that for eight years. What a heartless thing to do.”
“Do you think he tried proposing to her and she turned him down?”
“Maybe, but I’m certainly not going to ask him.”
“Neither would I. I was just curious what you thought.”
Michael got the pancakes from the pan and placed them on the table. He took some maple syrup and poured it on the stack, along with a slit of butter.
“Heavy on the calories today, huh Michael?”
“Shut up, Freddy” he replied playfully.
Freddy chuckled, as Michael dug in. Feeling a pit in his stomach, Freddy coughed lightly, before he spoke up.
“When do you want to talk about...”
Michael looked up from his plate and stared at Freddy inquisitively.
“When do you want to talk about Chris being shirtless?”
Michael swallowed his food, before he answered the question.
“Preferably when Evan isn’t here, but I know you’re going to be busy until late today, so I might as well just let you know my thoughts now.”
“Shoot.”
“I’ll turn the temperature down in the room and hope Chris keeps his shirt on. I know it had to drive you crazy with him next to you like that morning. It was even worse how he just scooted right next to you by the time we woke up. It must have been really hard to resist the temptation to just reach over and touch him.”
“It was really tough.”
“Presuming you did actually resist touching him.”
“Michael, I didn’t touch him.”
“Positive?”
“10,000%.”
“So I guess you were so tempted by him, that you had to wake me up to care of your morning wood, huh Freddy?”
Freddy blushed, as he nodded his head.
“I didn’t mind swallowing it" Michael confessed "except I thought we should have kicked Chris out first. By the way, we have a code word to kick him out of our bed when we want alone time together.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“Blonde twink twins.”
Freddy spat out his coffee and stared at Michael with a shocked expression on his face.
“Seriously?”
Michael nodded his head.
“Wow. Ok. A real way to bring up what happened with—“
“Enough, Freddy. It’s the first thing I thought about when I discussed it with Chris last night.”
“You discussed sex with Chris last night?”
“No…I mean yes, but like…not sex with him…I meant, what we would do to get him out when we wanted to have sex…I mean you and me, not me and him or you and him or…whatever. Anyways, we came up with a code word and the code word we agreed on was blonde twink twins.”
“Did he ask why you chose that?”
“He did and I didn’t tell him.”
“That’s good. He didn’t need to be privy to that.”
Michael finished his pancakes and put his plate and Freddy’s in the sink. When he was done, he went to the staircase and called out to his son.
“Evan!” Michael called out. “Are you ready to go?”
Evan opened his door and looked down the stairs at his dad.
“I’m almost ready!” he replied. “Chris is just helping me pack!”
“Bring your bag down and let’s see what you packed so far!”
“Ok! Just a second!”
Evan went back into his room and grabbed his bag. He had trouble lifting it, so Chris helped him bring it down the stairs.
“Let’s see what you packed” Michael said, as Evan and Chris set it down on the floor.
Opening up the bag, Michael went through his mental check list aloud.
“Shirts. Pants. Socks, Underwear. Pjs. Toothbrush. Comb. Blanket.”
Michael continued to go through the list, as Chris put his hands on Evan’s shoulders.
“You don’t need to pack so many clothes” Michael noted. “Your grandma can always wash them for you.”
“Or you could come by at some point and bring me some more” Evan suggested.
“Evan.”
Michael sighed, as he looked down at his son sympathetically.
“Evan, I don’t know who might be following me or your papa, so I want to limit my visits as much as I possibly can. I don’t want the wrong people to find out where you’re staying, so they can come in and kidnap you. Ideally, I’d like for Chris to take you by yourself, but I have to talk to my mother first. Besides, Chris and your papa have to go soon, so they don’t have time to drop you off anyway.”
Evan frowned, as Chris rubbed his shoulders.
“Is all that really necessary?” Evan asked.
“It’s good planning, in my opinion” Chris replied. “He’s just trying to keep you safe. You already had some bad cops go after you. We don’t need to expose you to any more trouble.”
Evan nodded, as Chris patted him on the shoulders.
“Let’s finish getting you packed.”
Chris led Evan upstairs to his bedroom to fill up the rest of his bags with the things he needed to bring to his grandma's. When they were done in Evan’s room, Chris motioned him to the door.
“Let get your bags in the car” he said “so your dad can take you to your grandma’s house.”
Chris helped Evan gather the remaining bags to head down to the living room. Once they were there, they joined Michael in bringing the bags outside to put into Michael’s car. When they were done loading up the trunk, Freddy gave Evan a big hug.
“I’m going to miss you, Evan” Freddy said, as he embraced his son tightly.
“I’m going to miss you too, papa” Evan replied. “It won’t be too long, I hope.”
Freddy nodded, as he let go of his son. Chris bent down to look Evan in the eye.
“I’m gonna miss you, buddy” he said, looking visibly sad to see Evan leave.
“I’m going to miss you too, Chris” Evan replied softly, as he went in for a big hug.
Evan started to sob, as Chris patted him on the head. Ignoring the looks he was getting from Freddy and Michael, he planted a few kisses on their son; two on his cheeks and one on his forehead. When he was done embracing him, Chris got up, feeling emotional, as he patted Evan on the head.
“You’re a great kid, Evan, and you’re going to make an even better man someday.”
Evan wiped a tear from his eye, as Michael took him into his car. As Michael drove out of the driveway, Evan looked to see Chris standing in the doorway. He was waving at him with a sad expression on his face. Evan waved back, as Chris slowly left his vision in the rear view mirror.
Before long, Michael pulled up to the driveway of his mother’s place, the place he lived in as a teenager. He had a lot of memories in this house, both good and bad. He put those feelings aside, as he parked and got out of the car. Looking down both ends of the street, to see if the coast was clear, Michael opened his trunk and pulled out Evan’s bags.
“Jesus, these are heavy” Michael said. “It’s like you packed enough stuff to last you six months, Evan.”
Evan ignored this comment, as he slowly walked his way to the front door.
“Aren’t you going to help your dad with your bags?” Michael asked in what was more of a demand.
Evan sighed, as he grabbed his backpack and another bag and made his way back to the front door of his grandma’s house. After dragging his son’s bags up the porch, Michael rang the door bell and stood silently waiting for an answer.
“Just a second!” his mother called out from the other side of the door.
After a series of shuffling nosies could be heard in the house, the front door opened. Michael’s mother stood happily, as Evan ran into the house.
“Aren’t you going to say hello to your grandma first?” Michael’s mother asked Evan, as he plopped his bags down on the couch and ran over to give her a hug.
“Hi grandma” Evan said.
His grandma gave him a kiss on the forehead, before he ran inside to plop himself on the couch.
“Need help with that?” Michael’s mother asked, noticing that her son was lugging big bags filled with her grandson’s belongings.
“I’ve got it” Michael replied, as he kissed his mother on both cheeks and went inside of his old house. “Where do you want me to put these?”
“Up in your old room” his mother replied “if you don’t mind carrying them up the stairs.”
“Not a problem.”
Michael lugged his son’s bags up the stairs and walked into his old bedroom. It looked entirely different from the days he used to sleep in there. It had a cozy, little bed and some photos on the wall. Pictures of Michael, his father, his mother and Evan were scattered throughout. Beyond that, there was little in the way of furniture, appliances or decorations. No chairs, no dressers, no nothing.
Lugging Evan’s bags onto the floor, Michael took note of his old room for a moment, before he walked out into the hall. Before he went downstairs, he called down to his mother.
“Mind if I go in your bedroom for a second?”
“Sure, Michael” his mother called back.
Michael walked down the hall to his mother’s bedroom. When he opened the door, he could see that it hadn’t changed that much in the last twenty years. The bed sheets and comforter were new, but the rest of the room wasn’t. The paint was worn and the furniture had some nicks, but for the most part, it was unchanged. In most ways, it was exactly as it appeared right before Michael moved away to attend Harvard university twenty years ago.
Michael wasn’t a nosy person when it came to his mother. He wouldn’t have even thought to go into her bedroom, had he not had something in particular he was looking for. Going into his mother’s closet, he pulled out the old box of photos that was still in the same place it was all those years ago. The box was covered in dust, but it remained exactly the same.
Blowing the dust off the box, Michael sat on his mother’s bed and slowly opened the lid. The various photos of his parents, his early years and his father’s wrestling career were still in there. They hadn’t seen much light exposure, so the quality was still good for being thirty to forty years old.
“I’m surprised these photos lasted this long” Michael thought to himself, before he closed the box. “Those types of photo prints were supposed to disintegrate quickly. It’s amazing that it’s been kept up all these years.”
Standing up, Michael left his parents bedroom and headed back downstairs. Evan sat on the couch, while his mother was in the kitchen.
“I was making Evan some brunch” Michael’s mother called out. “Did you want some before you leave?”
Michael groaned, as he looked at Evan with an annoyed expression on his face.
“Are you serious?” Michael asked. “You just ate two hours ago.”
“I was hungry” Evan complained.
“It’s alright, Michael” his mother replied assuringly. “I don’t mind at all. Your growing boy should get all the food he can eat. He’s so skinny. It’s like you starve him or something.
“I most certainly do not” Michael objected. “I feed Evan plenty.”
“I’ll make extra if you want some” his mother said, ignoring his comments.
“I’m good. I should be getting back now, anyway. I don’t want to leave the house unattended.”
Michael bent down to give Evan a kiss and a hug.
“Be good, Evan. Don’t give your grandma any trouble, ok?”
Evan nodded, as Michael pulled from his embrace.
“Love you dad” Evan said.
“Love you too, Evan” Michael replied.
Michael walked into the kitchen and gave his mother a hug.
“I hope you don’t mind” he said “but I’m taking the box of old photos from your closet.”
“Of course” his mother replied. “If anyone should have them, it’s you.”
“Thank you for doing this for me, mom. You don’t know how much of an immense help this is for Freddy and I.”
“I offered it” his mother replied “so of course I intended to honor it. I couldn’t stand to see those police officers targeting my precious grandchild like that. I’ll keep him safe and won’t take him out of the house like you insisted.”
“Let me help you out with the bills for the time he’s here.”
“You don’t have to do that, Michael. I’ve totally got this.”
“Considering I’m keeping you a prisoner in your own home for more than two weeks and making you homeschool Evan on top of it, it’s the least I can do to repay you.”
“It’s totally fine, Michael. I like spending time with my grandson. My only complaint is I don’t get to do it often enough.”
“This is more than him spending time with you, though. This is basically being his babysitter, teacher and parent all wrapped up into one. Besides, you’re not in a good financial place at the moment. I have to make sure that at least Evan’s expenses are covered for while he’s here with you.”
“I’m totally fine, Michael. With your father’s investments and social security, I’m managing just fine.”
“You’re not totally fine. By the time…”
Michael paused, before he sighed and changed the subject.
“Never mind. I don’t want to talk about that now. Here, this should cover it.”
Michael typed in some numbers into his communication device and pressed send. His mother’s device pinged a second later and she went over to look at it.
“No, Michael. I can’t take that much from you.”
“It’s actually less than I should be giving you, but it at least covers Evan’s expenses for the time being. I’ll send you more if I have to keep him here longer.”
Michael gave his mother a kiss on the cheek.
“Love you, mom. I’ll see you in a couple weeks.”
“Stay safe, Michael. Tell Freddy I said hi and that I hope his parents are ok.”
Michael nodded, as he went over to Evan to give him one last hug.
“Be good” he whispered in his son’s ear.
Evan nodded, as Michael left his mother’s house and made his way back into his car. On the drive home, Michael had a mix of emotions swirling in his head. He wondered if he was making the right call leaving Evan alone with his mother. They would be unprotected. If someone were to barge in on them, they could be hurt or killed. Hopefully, he had dropped Evan off discreetly, so that no one knew where his current location was.
Driving back to the house, Michael could see that Freddy and Chris had already left for the day. Heading inside, Michael placed the box of old photos into his room before heading back downstairs.
He had thought to start some long overdue projects around the house with Evan not around, but decided instead to….