Dave and Leroy Ch. 17

"I said that to him." Jason was still laughing. Lee just shook his head, got up and walked out of the house.

Lee saw Leroy sitting against the car and walked over to him. "Leroy, you okay?"

"No, don't leave." Leroy responded.

"Do we need to lay you down?" Lee asked as he popped the trunk for the blanket that they store there. Leroy didn't reply. Lee hurried and got the blanket under his head to keep him from beating it on the pavement.

One of Allison's neighbors came over and asked if he could do anything. Lee asked if he would walk into Allison's house not bother knocking and get Dave. The neighbor didn't feel comfortable, but walked up to the door, knocked and opened it.

"Hello, excuse me."

"Yes, hi Mike, what can we do for you?" Allison asked.

"There are some people in your driveway, he wants his son Dave to come out, there is a man on the ground."

Dave jumped up and ran outside, followed by all of Leroy's family. "Thank you, Mike." Allison said as they all filed out onto the porch.

Dave went over to Leroy as Lee was getting him to come around. "Hey Honey." Dave was looking down in Leroy's eyes as Leroy weekly smiled up at him. "Enough excitement for today?"

Leroy blew out a breath as Jason sat down next to him too, "Back to square one." Dave knew what Leroy meant.

"Square one?" Jason asked.

"Nothing, why don't you help me up, Jason." Leroy said.

"Sure Dad, I'm sorry."

"For what, Jason?" Leroy asked.

"Stressing you?"

"You didn't." Leroy sat up against the car. "Dad, Dave, let me talk with Jason."

Once Lee and Dave walked away and Jason sat down again next to him. "It's time you knew about my mom. As your father said today, there's a reason why she's not in our lives." Leroy cracked his neck again, Jason noticed this and was going to ask but thought he would wait.

"Your Grandma Standish couldn't handle that I was gay at all. She thought it was more of a disease or a choice then that I was born this way. It didn't help how she caught your father and I. I should have gone to her and told, long before. But I was afraid of losing her and my family. I lost her anyway, but I didn't lose my family. I don't know if I would if we came out when we wanted to."

"Dad, how bad was Grandma?"

"The last time we were in her presence was after we were fostering you to adopt. We were here at a pool party, all the family, Papa and Grandma Standish were still married. Grandma Standish started bad mouthing, once she started, she seemed to not be able to stop."

"What did she say?" Jason was inpatient.

Leroy shook his head. "Some of what you said inside, but worse. She called us horrible people for wanting to adopt you, she actually called your father and me something you wouldn't understand. She never knew how to draw the line, that day she alienated the family. After that day Papa moved out of their house and in with us."

"I think I have met her, but Aunt Ally keeps me out of the room when she comes over." Jason said.

"Yeah, you've been here when she's come over. I've expressed to Allison that she has to keep you far from her, or I won't allow you to come over here. After that time Allison promised."

"How many years has it been?"

"Seven." Leroy could see Dave standing on the porch, he knew Dave was worried about him. "Jason let's get going. Really, help me up." Leroy chuckled.

Jason got up and when he did, Dave started walking over towards them. Leroy stood and hugged Jason. "I love you Dad and I am sorry for what I said inside."

"Jason, you need to figure out what you need to figure out. And Jason, we're glad you like girls." Leroy chuckled. "We would like grandkids."

"Dad, I'm only eleven."

"I know, and I don't want them tomorrow, but maybe when you're thirty." Leroy messed up his hair and Dave had heard the end of the conversation.

"Yes, when you are married and can afford your own kids and not living with us." Dave added.

"Oh yeah, forgot that." Leroy chuckled. "No living with us once you get married."

"Papa lives with you." Jason stated.

"Papas not married." Leroy responded. "Run in and get your Papa and let's go home."

"Okay but Dads, can I stay here for a while, if Aunt Ally can bring me home?" Jason asked.

"Leroy get in the car, I'll check with Allison and get Lee." Leroy nodded as Dave and Jason went back in.

Dave and Lee left, after he confirmed with Allison that she would bring Jason home. Jason turned to everyone in the room, getting their attention. "Someone tell me about Grandma Standish?"

"Jason, why do you want to know?" Sarah, Dave's mother asked.

"Dad told me that she called him horrible things. What did she do and say to him?" Jason asked.

Aaron spoke up, "Jason, I think you've realized that we're a close-knit family. Leroy is our big brother. The one everyone turned to. Grandma Standish wasn't expecting her first born or any of her children to come out as gay or bi to her. To her, Leroy was supposed to carry on the family name. My father's name. I think you realize that he's a Jr."

"No, I didn't." Jason stated and everyone smiled. "What is Dad's full name?"

Aaron chuckled, "Both your Papa and Dad's is Leroy Oliver Standish, but Papa all his life has gone by Lee and I know Leroy has been called Lee by some but mainly to distinguish between them we call him Leroy."

"And Grandma?"

"Our mother, once she found out Leroy's secret, was just plain evil to him. Said he wasn't her son, cut him out of the family completely. Everything that was Leroy was gone."

"What do you mean?" Jason asked.

Sarah picked up for Aaron, "The day she found out, she came home and pulled every picture off the wall that had your father in it. Went through the photo albums after she had your aunt's and uncle's pack up his room and take it to your old house."

"So she doesn't have any picture of him?" Jason asked.

"No, I have them." Allison responded. "She told me to take them to Leroy, but I knew it would kill him." Allison had tears in her eyes. No one knew she kept them. "I didn't want him to know she erased him completely from our family."

"How many pictures are there?" Jason asked.

Allison got up and went into her bedroom, she kept them in her closet in the far back. She brought them out and everyone was just amazed, it was two photo boxes. "I put them in these after I got them home. You know of course mom just threw them in a big box. Any photo that had Leroy in it, went in the box."

"So no wonder why when I was looking for a certain photo in the albums I couldn't find it. Leroy was probably somewhere in the picture." Jeff said as Jason took one of the boxes and opened it up and started looking through it.

"I remember a long time ago being here and a woman came. She looked at me oddly and you took me out of the room and told me I had to stay and play in the other room until she was gone." Allison was nodding. "Was that her?"

"Yes and I got yelled at by both your father's for allowing her to be here when you were."

"Both, not just Dad?"

"Honey, the last time you or your fathers were in her presence, Dave spoke up, he didn't even allow Leroy to. Once they left, not that Leroy didn't agree but Dave said he nor you were to ever step foot in front of our mother again. Dave only allowed it in the beginning because Leroy was trying to forgive and forget what our mother was saying but that last time was that last straw."

Sarah spoke up again, "Jason when you're older and can understand. We'll tell you what was said to your father. It was horrible."

"Dad said it's been seven years since the last time he's talked to his mother. Has she changed any?" Jason asked.

Jewels spoke up, "Yes and no. There are good and bad days with her. Some days she seems like our old mom, the one before she found out about Leroy. She even talks about him, wishing she didn't push him away. Then other days, the spitefulness will come out and we'll see what drove him away."

"Spitefulness as in evil?" Jason was trying to understand.

"Yes, her evil thoughts." Allison replied. "All her backwards views about gay men and her interpretations of the bible or what the church thinks."

"Does the church think homosexuality is wrong?" Jason asked.

"Depends on which church you go to. One Baptist church may preach that it is sin, but another not. Same as in a Catholic church or another Protestant church. Now that the government has legalized gay marriages, it has become more acceptable than before."

"Can I ask more questions later?" Jason asked.

"It might be more appropriate to ask your fathers." Allison responded. "I'm sure they would rather like to give you this information."

"I don't think Dad likes talking about his mom. It seems to stress him. Each time he went to talk about her, he cracked his neck." Jason stated.

"Yes, yes it does. I'll talk to him, Jason." Allison responded.

"Can I take these and look through them?" Jason was talking about the boxes of pictures and Allison nodded her head.

"Well, why don't we take Jason home. It'll give me some time to talk to my son some more and ask how their anniversary went." Sarah said.

"Oh that's right we didn't even ask about how their camping went." Jeff laughed.

"I bet Dave didn't come out of the tent, and Leroy was in his element." Aaron chuckled. "We'll have to go over tomorrow and ask."

Sarah, Dan and Jason left to go over to Dave and Leroy's. Lee was in his suite and Dave and Leroy were just lounging on the couch in the living room. Dave was sitting up and Leroy had his head in Dave's lap. Jason was hoping he could sneak the boxes by them but not when he saw they were in the living room.

"Hey Mom, Dad, if they were going to send him with you. We would have come and got him." Dave apologized.

"We wanted to come over because we didn't get to ask how your camping trip went." Sarah stated as Jason tried to walk passed but Leroy had sat up and put his arm out to stop him.

"What's in the boxes?"

"Just things." Jason said.

"Things?" Leroy questioned. "What kind of things?"

"Leave the boy alone, Leroy Oliver Standish." Sarah said and Leroy turned slowly to Sarah as Jason ran upstairs to his room. "Let him have this one secret, it's not a bad one. I promise you that." Dan even nodded his head.

"Camping was fun, Mom for Leroy." Dave chuckled. "I, on the other hand, got to see the inside of the tent a lot."

"You would come snuggle by the fire." Leroy smiled.

"Yes, I would do that. But I will say the next time I ask Leroy to camp, it won't be in October."

"Ooooh, December camping is fun." Leroy chuckled and so did Sarah and Dan.

"June to September." Dave said as Jason came and sat beside them. They all talked for a while, even Lee came out. When Sarah and Dan left it was nearing bedtime, Dave could tell that Leroy had his limit for the day and pulled him off to bed.

While Leroy was in the bathroom, Dave took that time to go upstairs to see what Jason was hiding from Leroy. He knocked on Jason's door. "Who is it?" Jason asked.

"It's me Jason."

"Dad, are you alone?"

"Yes."

"Then you can come in." Jason responded, he had pictures out on his bed.

"This is what you were hiding."

"Yes, Aunt Ally let me take them home, I didn't know if Dad would want to know about them. She said that she hid them from Dad."

Dave picked up a pile of pictures and went through them, all of them had Leroy in them. Leroy and his brothers or sisters. Leroy alone. Leroy at graduation. Leroy during football. Leroy first communion. Even pictures of them together. "Sue, deleted him."

Leroy knew that Dave was upstairs, he walked to his father's door and knocked. "Leroy, what is it?"

"Will you take me to confession tomorrow?"

"Them speaking about it today got you thinking?" Lee asked.

"Yes and no, but I would like to go. It's been a while."

"Yes, I'll take you." Lee responded as Leroy nodded and turned away.

The next morning Leroy was sitting in the living room dressed when Lee emerged from his room. "Are you ready to go?" Lee asked and Leroy nodded his head.

Lee drove down to the church and as always, he sat in the back as mass was being held. Leroy was in the line in the main hall waiting for his turn for the confessional. Of all the times though, they had never run into Sue, but Lee sees her further up in the service. He hopes when she leaves, she doesn't see him.

At home Dave stretches and reaches out for Leroy to an empty bed. He gets up and looks around the house and notices that Lee is also gone. Dave wanders up and wakes Jason for the day. Asks if he wants to go to breakfast and Jason of course says yes. Dave texts both Leroy and Lee to see if they have already eaten or if they wanted to meet them. Lee is the one that responds. 'At mass, Leroy's in confession, don't know how long we'll be.'

Dave responds back that they can wait for them. Lee texted back good, and he will text when Leroy gets out of confession. Fifteen minutes later Lee noticed Leroy kneeling on the last row of the pews. Sue does notice Leroy because after she takes communion as custom, she rounds the back of the last set of pews, and she passes by Leroy still kneeling. She looked around for Lee, but he had left the sanctuary and was waiting outside in the foyer of the church for him.

"Expect Father MacDuggan to come by the house next week." Leroy stated as he walked up to Lee.

"Got into the wrong confessional, huh." Lee chuckled as they walked out the church doors. "Did you read Dave's text?"

"No, I was working on my 'Hail Mary's and Our Father's.' What did he need?"

"Wanted to know if we wanted to meet them for breakfast. I told him yes. Why don't you give him a call and ask where?" Lee asked.

Leroy called Dave and they all met at a diner not far from the old house. Jason wanted to ask him so many questions, but he left them unsaid. "Lee, will you take Jason back to the house with you so I can talk with my husband?" Dave asked.

"Yup, see you two when you come home." Lee motioned for Jason to get up and leave with him.

*

Lee brought Leroy up to Jason's school to meet Dave for their meeting with the principal and the other parents. Dave was standing at the front door waiting for him, he was still in his uniform. When they walked into the office, the secretary pointed them to a conference room.

Before they walked in, they could hear Principal Craig Martin talking with someone. "Good afternoon Mr. and Mr. Standish-Ayers." He nodded his head at them. But as soon as the father of the boy saw Leroy he stood up.

"Gunny Sir."

Leroy chuckled, "Post."

"The men have been wondering when you'll come back to base?"

"Until I can get my seizures back under control, I can't drive. So, until Junior here can." Leroy and John both chuckled. "So, no wonder my boy here couldn't win the fight. But he wouldn't say what he was doing to get into it either. Nor would my wife." He looked over to them both and Leroy could see both their eyes widen. "So, Principal Martin, now that we're all here, please enlighten me."

Both Dave and Leroy sat down. "Well, I didn't think that you all would know one another but it seems not close. Johnny, do you want me to tell your dad what you were bullying Jason about, or do you want me to?" As soon as Craig said bullying John looked at his son and he looked down.

"John, he's just a kid and you know kids say things they don't mean." Nancy started and John put his hand up.

"Well to move this on," Craig started again. "Since Johnny is staying silent, he has been teasing Jason about having two dads. Jason isn't the only one that he's been teasing about things, but you know how kids are, but last week, Jason apparently had enough."

"Gunny, I'll take care of my kid and his attitude. Maybe he needs to spend some time with Spivey." Both Leroy and John smiled at that one.

"If Johnny spends time with Spivey, then my kid needs to, too." Leroy chuckled.

Dave and Nancy both looked at them saying, "Who's Spivey?"

*

Dave and Leroy laid in bed that night and Dave had his head on Leroy's chest. "Why were you so calm after seeing who the father was?"

"Because I know the kid's ass is grass. I actually feel bad for the kid."

"You pulled the kids' father aside after we all walked out. What did you say to him?" Dave asked.

"I told him, now I know who the parents are, I don't feel it's learned behavior. He stopped me and said yeah it is and he's going to stop it, that it's from his wife's father. He also said he would like to pick me up on the weekend."

"That will be nice for you to get out for a bit."

"Yeah, I think so too. I don't get out much, especially by myself anymore." Leroy snuggled closer to Dave.