Mom and Dad

The two moms talked over the phone for a few minutes. If Jennifer had any misgivings, she didn't voice them. Ethan was glad. The first time putting other adults in the mix would be the hardest. Things should get easier from here.

At least, that's what Ethan hoped.

*****

"Dylan, me and Mom wanted to talk to you about something."

Dylan looked up at Walt. They'd finished eating their pizza and were sitting at the table in the restaurant.

"What?"

Ethan leaned forward. "We needed to clear some things up, just talk about who we are, and people like us."

Dylan blinked a few times.

"What are you talking about?"

"We told you that we got married, that some men want to marry men," Walt started.

Dylan nodded.

"Well, there's a name for men like me and Mom: Homosexual. Other people might say gay or queer, but they mean the same thing."

"Ho-mo-sex-u-al" Dylan sounded that word out.

"It's not common for men to be homosexual or gay." Ethan said. "There are a lot of people out there who think we're strange because of that."

"Is there something wrong with you two?"

Ethan shook his head. "We just work differently. Both of us love each other the way men and women do. Does Tommy have a mother and father?"

Dylan nodded.

"Dad and I love each other the way Tommy's parents love each other."

Dylan furrowed his brow.

"I think I get it."

Walt smiled. "You're a smart kid. We knew you would. The two of us being gay doesn't change anything about us. I'm still your dad and Ethan is still your mom. You're still our son."

"And if you have any questions about this, please ask us," Ethan added.

"Well, I like Tommy. I like playing with him and being friends with him. Does that make me gay?"

Walt shook his head.

"No, that just makes you friends. The type of love Mom and I share is one you need to grow up a little to have. It's something you don't have to worry about right now."

"This is all so confusing," Dylan said.

Ethan laughed. "It's complicated, sure, but learning how it works is part of growing up. You don't have to do that yet. Right now just focus on being a kid, and remember that we love you, just like how Tommy's parents love him." Walt nodded in agreement.

That's the first time they told Dylan they loved him.

"Thanks."

*****

That Friday night, Walt and Ethan dropped Dylan off to spend the evening with Alexis, or Ms. Alexis, as Dylan was told to call her. Ms. Alexis was a blonde lady about as tall as Ethan. She talked and acted more like Walt, though, like she was in charge.

She beamed at Dylan. "There's the new kid! I've heard so much about you!"

Dylan smiled. He wasn't sure why Walt and Ethan wanted him to go to the house of one of their friends, but she seemed nice enough.

Ethan went off with Dylan to the den and Walt pulled Alexis aside.

"Thanks for doing this, Alexis. We needed an evening alone."

"Oh, I bet. Don't worry about it. I took care of my little cousins all the time."

"Okay, call us if you need anything, but can I ask you a favor?"

"What?"

Walt leaned in closer.

"For the love of God, please don't need anything."

Alexis smirked. She went off to interact with Dylan as Walt and Ethan left her house.

*****

The two of them were all over each other by the time they got back to their place. Now that they were alone together, they could lose control and mate without holding back.

At first, they didn't say a single word. They couldn't, with their tongues and lips and mouths battling ferociously the entire time. Clothes flew off their bodies and the couple got on their bed. Walt made love to Ethan and they both achieved release before they even slowed down.

Now that the edge was taken off they could slow down and enjoy themselves.

Their next joining was slower, more sensual. They were on their sides and Ethan lifted a leg up so that Walt could get inside just right. Walt's arms were wrapped around Ethan's chest, rubbing his skin and teasing his nipples. They kissed and nuzzled as they made love. Once they were both done, Walt remained inside Ethan as the two cuddled.

"We need to learn how to have sex while Dylan's in the house," Walt said.

"You're right. I need you more than once a week."

Walt nuzzled Ethan's ear.

"We'll just be quiet, and tell Dylan to knock if he ever needs to go in our room at night."

"What, then we just let him in and see us both naked?" Ethan asked.

"We'll have clothes ready, just in case."

"What if he wants to sleep in our bed with us?"

"Then we'll just figure something out." Walt chuckled. "This sounds like what teenagers do to have sex without their parents finding out."

Ethan laughed. "It's for the best. If I never even have to imagine what my parents getting it on looks like, I'll be happy."

They embraced for a few minutes, not saying a word.

"How long 'til we have to leave?" Walt asked.

"Let's see..." Ethan craned his neck to see the digital clock on the night stand. "We have time for one more before we have to shower and go to pick up Dylan if we make it quick."

Walt grinned. "Quick is my specialty."

*****

The days turned into weeks, which turned into months, as Dylan, Walt, and Ethan got used to their new family dynamic.

Ethan became accustomed to being Dylan's mom. He'd cook dinner, help him with his homework, and tuck him in every night. He rewarded him when he was good, disciplined him when he was bad, and loved him with every fiber of his being. Dylan thought that Ethan was weird at first, but as he spent more time with him, realized that he just cared a lot. He wasn't used to adults caring about him as much as Ethan did.

Walt wasn't home as often, but Dylan could tell that he cared, too. Walt would take Dylan to the front yard and they'd throw a football on the weekends. He'd come to the YMCA to pick up Dylan when he had the option. He'd lift Dylan up and carry the boy on his shoulders. Dylan would be so high up his head would spin, but he was never afraid that he would fall. Walt was big and strong and wouldn't let him fall.

Dylan knew that the two men loved him, and before long grew to love them back. When they said "I love you," Dylan started switching from "Thanks," to "I love you, too."

It was after about two months that Dylan realized something. He stopped calling them "Ethan and Walt" in his head. He would think of them as "Mom and Dad." When talking to Tommy or his older cousin Noah, he'd always called them Mom and Dad. When talking to Dylan, Ethan would call Walt "Dad" and Walt would call Ethan "Mom." But when he was talking to them, he called them "Ethan and Walt." When that occurred to him, it made him feel bad. According to them, homosexuals can't have children the way man and woman couples could. That meant that they had to adopt and wait longer. Dylan felt happier living with them than when he lived in the shelter. He knew what he needed to do.

Walt was the one who picked him up at the Y that day. He grinned when he saw Dylan.

"Hey, champ."

"Hi, Dad."

Walt felt his heart skip when he heard Dylan say that word. He grinned even wider.

"It's great to see you, son."

Ethan didn't take it so gracefully. He got home later that day, and when he came up to say hello to Dylan, his brain stopped completely when he could have sworn he heard Dylan, his son, say "Hey, Mom. How was your day?"

Dylan saw Mom put his hand over his mouth. His eyes started getting shiny with tears. He hoped that his mom was crying because he was happy again.

"M-my day w-was great, Dylan."

Mom gave Dylan a big hug and cried even harder.

"Let me go, Mom."

"N-no! I'm your mother and I'll h-hug you as I see fit!"

Dylan heard Dad laugh from the other side of the room.

Once Mom was finished doing whatever it was he was doing he gave Dylan a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you so much, Dylan."

"I love you too, Mom."

*****

As it turned out, Walt and Ethan didn't have much to worry about when it came to Dylan wandering the house at night. Once they got him a proper night-light the kid slept like a log. This meant they could have sex more, although they remained cautious.

From the beginning, Walt and Ethan had no reservations about holding hands and kissing in front of Dylan. They didn't want Dylan to think that homosexual couples acted any different than the straight couples he saw in TV and movies.

Dylan complained about it one day to Tommy.

"My parents are so gross!"

"What do you mean?"

"They keep kissing each other's mouths. I think I even saw a tongue once!"

"Ew," Tommy agreed. "My parents do that, too. It's nasty."

Ethan and Walt also made it a point to still go on dates. They had plenty of friends who were willing to babysit Dylan: Alexis, Ethan's sister Mary, even Jennifer, Tommy's mom. She and Ethan ended up becoming the type of friends only two mothers could be. Ethan also met Tom's Dad, Otis, who was a nice man, although much more soft-spoken and passive than his wife.

Dylan and Tommy became closer as friends and hung out more, visiting each other's houses after school and sleeping over more as the months ran by.

Ethan and Jennifer were having lunch one day when Ethan asked a question that had been on the back of his mind since that one phone call.

"What do you think about Walt and me?"

Jennifer put down the tea she was drinking.

"As people, as parents, as a couple? Or are you just asking me what I think about queers in general?"

"The, uh...the last one, I guess."

"Gay people have just as much right to exist freely and be happy as straight people do. I think it's odd, sure, but it's none of my business. I'm more concerned about how you raise your children than I am about you liking sex with men."

"Okay, just wondering."

They continued their meal as if nothing happened.

*****

Dylan's first grade year was almost over. He was so excited for summer. He could do things with Mom and Dad and Tommy and his grandparents all day!

It was the Friday before Mother's Day, and the Mrs. Morrison was asking all the students to say something they liked about their mom, or a mother figure in their life. When it was Dylan's turn, she expected him to say something about Tommy's mom. Those two were joined at the hip. Instead, he said "I love how much my mom cares about me. He makes dinner and helps me with homework and he loves me!"

Most of the kids looked confused. Some of them whispered to each other.

Damn it...the teacher thought. She knew that Dylan had been adopted by two gay men, but never thought he actually considered one of them to be his mother.

She figured that she had two options on what to do. She could try to make this a teachable moment, and if these kids were in high school, or middle school, or even fifth grade, she probably would have, but homosexuality wasn't something kids their age needed to think about. Her other option was to ignore it, move on, and hope that this didn't get her or Dylan in trouble. She picked the path of least resistance.

As the kids started leaving the classroom, she heard another student, Phil Carter, talking to Dylan.

"Dylan, how can your mom be a man? Moms are women."

"Mine isn't. He's a great Mom."

"Talk about him on Father's Day, then."

"No, I already have a Dad. I'll talk about him on Father's Day."

"Wait, your parents are both men?"

"Yep."

The teacher cringed. She was planning on having a relaxing afternoon, and now she was certain that she was going to get at least one phone call from an upset parent.

She was right. Not an hour later her phone rang, and it was Phil's father. She remembered interacting with him on parent's night. He wasn't very pleasant.

"What are you teaching these kids, Mrs. Morrison?"

"I didn't teach him anything about homosexuality. Dylan was just talking about his parents."

"Tell him to cut that shit out. I don't want all that around my son."

"It's not, Mr. Carter. If you think you can protect Phil from ever hearing about homosexuals, you're mistaken."

There was a pause.

"Fine," he spat. He hung up.

Mrs. Morrison sighed. That was a close call. Crisis averted, she went back to the tests she was grading.

*****

Years passed, and Dylan grew up. As he got older, he got smarter, and he never stopped asking questions. Ethan loved that about him, but sometimes he wished Dylan wasn't so damn observant.

"Hey Mom," Dylan asked one Sunday. "At Sunday school I heard that he Bible says marriage is between a man and a woman. Didn't you and Dad get married?"

"Well, not married, technically. In this state, two men can't get married the same way men and women can. That kind of marriage is what the Bible is talking about. We got something called a civil union. It's like marriage, but it's something gay people can do, too."

He realized that he just moved the goalposts. He patted the spot on the couch next to him and Dylan sat down.

"There's a bit more to that, though. Many Christians believe that just being gay is a sin. It's not just Christians, either, there are other big religions that think so, too. People are allowed to think what they want. Most of the time it doesn't make them think gay people are evil. Dad and I believe that God made us this way for a reason. I like to think He made me this way so I could be your Mom."

Dylan thought that over.

"I guess that makes sense."

Ethan hugged his son.

*****

Walt was the one who had to answer the next uncomfortable question. He was driving Dylan home from his third-grade class when Dylan asked why gay couples can't have babies the way straight couples can.

Walt groaned on the inside. How could he explain this to a nine-year-old? He had to do this right, or Dylan would just go look for the answer somewhere else. Shit, and Ethan had to stay late at work today, too. He was on his own.

They'd discussed how they would breach the subject of sex to Dylan and had the basics of what they would say down, but the name of the game was execution.

"That's a long answer, champ. I'll try my best to answer that when we get home."

Once they did, they both sat at the kitchen table.

"Dylan, have you heard of puberty?"

"I've heard people talk about it, but I don't really know what it means."

"Puberty is the transition period, where a kid's body changes into an adult's body. It usually starts in middle school and ends in high school."

"What does this have to do with gay people?"

"Hold your horses. During puberty, kids start getting more adult urges. It's an urge that's linked to making children. Only women can get pregnant, and it takes a man to make her pregnant. That's just how God made men and women. You'll learn about the specifics in middle school. It's not polite for kids your age to talk about that kind of stuff."

"So puberty makes boys wanna get girls pregnant?"

"No, but it does make them want to date and kiss and love girls. With me and Mom, though, it made us want to do those things to boys. That's how we found out we were gay. The thing is, since you're still a kid you don't need to know about these things. You should wait until puberty to learn more."

That seemed to satisfy Dylan, at least for the time being.

*****

Dylan was the seventh grade when it happened. Ethan was waiting at home for him, and when Dylan came inside, he was crying.

Dylan wasn't much of a crier. He'd cry when he got hurt, but he didn't get emotional very often.

"Dylan what's wrong?"

He sniffled and buried himself in his mom's arms.

"This b-boy on the bus was m-mean to me!"

"What did he say?"

"We were talking about p-parents, and I said you and Dad were both men. He s-said that you were f-freaks!"

Ethan didn't say anything and just hugged his son. Dylan's tears slowed.

"He called you and Dad worthless faggots. He said I was one, too."

Mom and Dad had already told Dylan about that word. They said it meant gay, but it was a mean word, a bad word. It's a word you'd only use to hurt or bully.

"Dylan, do you know this boy's name?"

"Justin Corman."

"Okay, just ignore him and people like him. They just want to make other people sad because they're sad. They're bullies, and you should pay them no mind. If he keeps bothering you, tell an adult."

"Okay, Mom."

Apparently, Justin kept bothering Dylan. He kept calling Dylan a faggot during the bus rides and during school. He said that when he told Justin to stop or he'd tell the teacher, Justin just said that that's what a worthless, sissy faggot would do. Dylan didn't want to prove him right.

Ethan had had enough. He called the school, telling him that Justin Corman was bullying his son and cowing him into silence. They told him that they would keep an eye on him, but there was no proof. Dylan would have to tell a teacher himself.

Ethan knew he would tell Dylan to do so, but wasn't satisfied. He asked if he could have the number of Justin's parents. As it turned out, Justin's parents died three years before, and he was living with his two brothers, the oldest being 23 at the time.

The phone rang a few times before a rough voice picked up. "Hey, who's this?"

"Is this Trevor Corman?"

"Yeah, what do you want?"

"My name is Ethan Matthews. Your younger brother Justin has been bullying my son, Dylan."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. He keeps calling Dylan a faggot. He's been harassing him on the bus."

"Well, it's not like he'd do that for no reason. What's Dylan been doing? Blowing him kisses, maybe touching Justin's ass?"

Ethan felt his temper rise.

"My son would do no such thing."

"You can't prove that. Fags will be fags. My little bro is just defending himself."

Ethan remembered reading a poem about how hatred isn't innate, it's learned. Children don't have prejudice, they have to be carefully taught it. Ethan just found out who taught Justin his prejudice. There was no purpose continuing this conversation.

"I won't let your brother bully my son."

"Like I give a shit."

Ethan hung up.

*****

Dylan told his teachers about Justin, and both kids were called to the principal's office. Walt got a call from the school and rushed over. Justin's brothers were unavailable, one at school and the other at work.

Part of Walt wanted to laugh when he saw Justin's reaction to him. When Dylan said "Dad!" Justin turned white as snow.

Walt had retired being a firefighter, but was still tall and kept in shape, working construction and maintenance jobs. Justin was a skinny, runty kid, short for his age. Between him and Dylan, it was Justin who seemed like the easier target for bullies. He squirmed in his chair the entire time Walt and the superintendent talked. Once they got to the topic of punishment, Justin looked ready to cry.

Walt remembered the conversation he'd had with Ethan. Ethan said that he was probably only being a homophobic bully because his older brother was one. Walt was surprised when Ethan said that he actually felt kind of sorry for the kid.

Walt turned to the little shrimp of a boy.

"Justin, the things you've done and said to my boy are unacceptable. He's done nothing to you and you've bullied him until he comes home in tears."

Justin looked legitimately ashamed. He hung his head, shaking.

"Look at me. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Justin raised his head and Walt could see tears.

"I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

He buried his face in his hands and cried in earnest. Walt didn't see a bully when he looked at Justin anymore. Now he saw a scared, misguided little kid. Still, he felt the need to make the boy squirm a little bit more.