Tommy's First Year at College Pt. 02

"Tommy, Dad and I need to see you both together to discuss this. We don't want either of you to mess up your performance in next year's exams. You will find all sorts of distracting chores to be faced, like the garbage and the laundry and the bills for services, that you ought not to be spending your time on."

"I know that Dad spent his second undergraduate year in a flat with you, so I don't see how you can object!"

"I'm not objecting. I'm just pointing out the difficulties! Bring your new friend to lunch on Sunday. It will only be a sandwich affair, because we only have a light lunch when we're dining in college in the evening. But keep at least a couple of hours free. Dad and I need to see this man that you're going to sleep with every night. What are his name and college?"

"Martin Robinson and he's at Sanguis."

"OK, then we'll see you on Sunday!" And he dismissed his son with a kiss.

Both Jon and David dined on high table that night. As they walked home about 9 pm, Jon told David about their son. "Tommy came to see me today. He told me he was gay!"

"WHAT? He can't be. He's never shown any interest in boys or men!"

"He's taken up with a boy from Sanguis who's reading classics in the same year as he is. They want to move out of college next year and live together in an apartment. He came to ask our help about finding one. I've invited them both to lunch on Sunday so that we can give this guy the once over. I know that we tend to be overprotective about Tommy, but this sudden proclamation of gayness seems out of character."

"I guess that he's probably bi." said David. "Although he's not told us, it's pretty clear that that girl who came here when we were in the Netherlands was sleeping in his bed, and I'm pretty sure that they were having it off!"

"Let's just hope that the boy is intelligent, handsome and loving. We don't want Tommy to do what Sandro did and fall for a promiscuous sod who only wants to notch up arseholes!"

The following Sunday, Tommy and Martin turned up at Octavia Avenue at noon. Tommy led the way into the sitting room where his two fathers were sitting waiting. The two boys stood by the door and the two men gazed at the pair of them. They were a handsome, if contrasting, couple. Martin was smartly dressed and his hair carefully brushed. He smiled in embarrassment at the two men. "Dad and Pop," said Tommy, "this is my friend Martin Robinson."

"Pleased to meet you, sirs," said Martin.

David started the conversation by saying, "Martin, do you think that Tommy is gay?"

Martin replied, "I think he's probably bi. But he certainly enjoys it when we make love. You can't fake the way he behaves when I kiss him!"

"I understand that the two of you are an item. What I want to know is, what do you consider are the long-term prospects for your relationship?"

"I can only speak for myself. I want a long-term relationship, possibly even life-long. I was in love with Tommy long before we did anything sexual together."

Jon took over the questioning. "Tommy, are you sure of your sexuality?"

"Yes. I'm bi. I'm in love with Martin. Making love with him was so enjoyable, compared with Carol. With her, I felt that all the time she was egging me on. There was no spontaneity in what we did together. She led and I followed. But I WANT to make love with Martin."

"Maybe you haven't met the right woman yet. Suppose you fell head-over-heels in love with a woman. How would Martin stand then?"

"I would never abandon Martin for a woman. But I might want her as well!"

"Martin, what would your reaction be if you were asked to share Tommy with a woman?"

"That's a question that is so theoretical that I don't know how to answer it, except to say that it would depend on what the woman thought of me and how she felt about coming into an existing relationship rather than breaking it up," Tommy replied.

"This question is addressed to both of you," said Jon, "how do you envisage your lives after you've graduated and got jobs?"

"We're going to have a difficult time finding jobs in the same place. I want to stay on and do research. Tommy is thinking about becoming a teacher."

"Do you want children?"

"YES!" replied both boys together.

David said, "You know that, in spite of all the changes of recent years, life is still difficult for gay couples, especially those who want to bring up children. Jon and I with hindsight did not choose the easiest routes to bring up Tommy and his brother and sister. In fact, if we hadn't been wealthy, I don't think that we could have done it. Let me pour you chaps a beer each, while Jon and I retire for ten minutes to consider our verdict. This is not just about you, Martin: Tommy is also going to undergo judgement!"

The two fathers retired into their shared study and discussed Martin.

"He seems a nice enough boy." said David. "There's certainly no doubt about HIS sexuality. He's as gay as a nine-pound note! But are they doing the right thing in moving out of college? They may well miss out on lots of social activities."

"Such as? I can't see them dancing together at a June Ball!" June Balls are triennial social events organized by Camford colleges to commemorate their founders and benefactors and to raise funds for the college. They are very expensive social occasions often highly charged with sex and drunkenness. But they are not the kind of occasion at which men can dance together. "But the last time that I made a decision like this on my own," Jon continued, "when Sandro got involved with Jack Meredith, I got it wrong. So, David, this time I'm going to let you decide if you think this is the right man for our Tommy!"

"I think so. And if I'm wrong, it will be a learning experience for Tommy. The young are emotionally robust, and I can't see him breaking his heart if Martin dumps him. Look how Sandro recovered when the right man came along."

They returned to the sitting room and Jon said, "Martin, you're approved. Let's have another drink!" He left the room and returned with a cold bottle of Prosecco and four glasses.

David said, "Martin, we really have no rights at all to interfere in your and Tommy's lives. We are overprotective towards our son, because of what happened to him in his early childhood. Get him to tell you about it sometime. In the meantime, our very best wishes for you both in your new relationship!" He wondered about kissing Martin, but decided that it would be better to shake his hand. He then poured the wine.

Jon asked, "Where do you want this apartment to be? There's a new small block of rental apartments going up in a redevelopment area near the Camwell, ten minutes walk from Boni's, and Sanguis is not much further. Is that close enough for you to get to all your lecture sites as well as college?"

"That would be ideal," replied Tommy.

"In that case, I'll instruct Tim Ingledown, as soon as you have inspected them and made a choice. You don't have the time to buy off plan, you need something ready furnished that you can move into at the end of term. And what about cooking? It would be easy but expensive to eat out all the time. But if you plan to set up home together, you can't eat out or subsist on takeaways all the time!"

"We've discussed this," said Tommy. We would eat out or use takeaways during term, but in the vacs, Martin will cook for us. His father insisted when he was a teenager that he had cookery lessons with his housekeeper. However, I've not yet tasted his cooking! In any case, we will eat in our separate colleges on Sundays during term."

Chapter 25 Exchange of E-mails

From m.a.robinson@sanguis.camf.ac.uk to t.j.robinson@ivanisp.net

Dear Dad

It will not come as much of a surprise to you when I tell you that Tommy and I are now an item. He has finally finished with his girlfriend and said yes to me. We are going to rent a furnished flat together next session so that we can have a year living together before we return to our respective colleges for our final two years. We hope to inspect some premises next week, and hope to move in in July, although I will come home for a week or two in August.

I hope that this news does not make you lonely. You have been so good to me over the years that I feel rather guilty about leaving you to live for 48 weeks a year on your own. But Tommy is such a sweet person that I cannot turn my back on him or have a sexual relationship without commitment. He is very religious and it was a struggle for him to recognize his sexuality. He has been brought up thinking himself straight, although his family is full of gays! But that does mean that he knows that homosexuality is normal for a minority of human beings, and that the bible recognizes this. The biblical King David had a highly honourable homosexual relationship with Jonathan and a highly dishonourable straight relationship with Bathsheba, another man's wife.

Please let me know how long you want me to stay this summer, because I may try and get a part-time job in Camford.

Dad, I love you

Martin.

From t.j.robinson@ivanisp.net to m.a.robinson@sanguis.camf.ac.uk

Dear Martin

You are right that your relationship with Tommy came as no surprise to me. He is a nice lad, and I hope that you will both be happy together.

Now that you have a regular partner, I must admit to something that I perhaps should have told you some time ago, but feared that it might make you unhappy and you might find it disloyal to the memory of your mother. I have been dating a lady of my own age for the last six months, and we will shortly be getting engaged, with a view to getting married early next year, so you need have no fears of me being lonely! Equally, we are too old for there to be a chance of us producing a brother or sister to rival you in our affections! Moreover, Mary is a childless widow, so you will not acquire any unexpected step-brothers or -sisters to share me with!

Secondly, early on in our relationship, I told her that I had a son whom I love very much, who is gay. We have talked about you several times, and she is quite happy to love you as a son and accept your gayness. I think that when you meet her you will learn to love her quite quickly, and I hope that Tommy will too. Can both of you come and see us for a week or so in August? We're off on a cruise together in September.

Let me know when you get fixed up with somewhere to live next year. I might be able to pay for something that you need.

With all my love

Dad

Chapter 26 An idyllic Pentecost term

The rest of the term passed without much in the way of events. The boys regularly spent Saturday mornings in a punt on the river instead of at the Fitness Centre, and had lunch at a riverside pub where they could moor the punt and sit in the garden next to the river. After returning the punt to the boathouse, they would then wander slowly, hand-in-hand, back to either Martin's or Tommy's room for sex. Saturday evenings, if it was fine, they would watch a play in a college garden, and in that way began to learn more about obscure Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. Perhaps as a consequence of this, Martin developed an interest in seventeenth-century poetry.

It turned out that Martin's twentieth birthday was early in June, round about the time of the College Feast in Saint Boniface's on June 5. Tommy booked a table at the Venezia for the birthday itself and signed out of hall. He insisted on treating Martin to an elaborate meal, from antipasto with Prosecco, through pasta and main course with a bottle of Amarone, to dessert with a sweet wine. He had told the staff about the birthday and the boys got free glasses of limoncello with their espresso. While they were drinking their coffee, Tommy handed Martin a gift-wrapped box, which on opening proved to contain a small bottle of Storing pour Homme perfume, a large stick of SpH deodorant and a large bottle of shower gel with the same perfume. Martin opened the perfume and sniffed it. "It's Storing pour Homme!" he exclaimed in delight. "I've always wanted some, but didn't like to buy it myself because it would be advertising myself as gay."

"My fathers buy it regularly on the internet," said Tommy, so I got Pop to order some for me to give you. I'm not planning to use it myself, even when we share a bathroom in a few weeks time. I'm looking forward to using the shower gel though, to wash you under the shower!"

Tommy paid the bill and they walked back to Sanguis, furtively holding hands. They were both sleepy, and sat down on Martin's sofa with their arms round one another. "Thank you, my darling Tommy" whispered Martin as he kissed his friend. Disinclined for more coffee or alcohol, they sat sleepily side by side, but eventually crept into Martin's bed, with Tommy muttering a few hasty prayers as they fell asleep. Early next morning, they woke up to find that Tommy was hanging out of the small bed, held in only by the bedclothes. Tommy got up, washed hastily in Martin's bathroom and walked back through the quiet streets and sneaked back into college via the night gate. He busily rumpled up his bed before shaving, cleaning his teeth and going into breakfast.

At the end of term, both boys satisfied their tutors in their respective progress tests. Tommy told Dr Featherstone that he had now sorted out his love life. The tutor replied, "Yes, I can see from your work this term that you have now settled down. I'm giving you another alpha, but be warned that if your performance slips next year, there'll be no third-year scholarship after the exams. But I have high hopes for you as long as you continue to have regular sex!" As usual, Tommy came away from his tutor amazed at the man's perceptiveness. Martin however told him that Dr Featherstone was not unduly perceptive, but that he, Tommy, had poor social interactive skills. "If you want to be a teacher, you're going to have to get much more extrovert. Otherwise, you'll be useless!"

The property development in Saint Saviour's Street had two newly furnished properties available to rent. The boys chose the one on the first floor. It had two bedrooms, a large sitting room, a small study, a kitchen with space to eat and of course two bathrooms, one en-suite. Unlike most first-years, their exams were not due to take place until the end of their fifth term at Easter in their second year. They took the standard lease from the beginning of July with a built-in option to renew. The rent was commercial: clearly none but the most affluent students could afford to live there. Because it was a new development, the furnishings were all new. They were not of the highest quality, but were more than adequate for a year's residence.

Just after the end of term, Tommy and Martin turned up at the Examination Halls with a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate the end of Carol's exams. Carol was surprised to see them, but glad, because her new boyfriend had gone home at the end of term. As they sat on the steps drinking the wine out of cardboard cups, Tommy kissed her with what was a farewell kiss. Tommy intended this gesture to assure her that there were no hard feelings between them.

Chapter 27 Holiday at Getheringthwaite and a visit to Loxton

That summer, during the school holidays, Dom and Sandro took two weeks' holiday and the Ovenden-Mascagnoli family moved to their new holiday home at Getheringthwaite. One of the purposes of the visit was for Sandro to join David and Jonathan in persuading Sandro's grandparents to sell up in Loxton and move permanently to Rockwell's Barn, where they would be within easier reach of David and Jonathan. Benedict and Helena Scarborough were now in their eighties, and reasonably fit, but were becoming increasingly lonely as their friends in Loxton were dying off. At Ixton, they would be only an hour's drive from Camford in the event of anything untoward happening. Anne volunteered to accompany her fathers in the drive to Loxton, where they were welcomed by Sandro's grandparents and David and Jon. Jane remained at Getheringthwaite with Elizabeth and Dom.

It would be the last time that the house at Loxton would be filled with visitors, because they found that Mr and Mrs Scarborough had finally made up their minds to move. "It will take us several months to sell the house and the furniture, but we would hope to be with you all and permanently resident at Rockwell's Barn by Christmas," said Mr Scarborough. David and Jonathan were delighted that there would be, for the first time for some years, someone permanently living at Rockwell's Barn.

One day, David and Jon took Anne for a walk round one of David's old routes. "It's probably the last time that I will do this walk," David sighed to them. "I remember walking this way with Dorothea when I revealed to her that I was in love with you!" he said, looking lovingly at Jon, who at once took his hand. This did not worry Anne in the slightest: her fathers were always holding hands.

"Will you miss Loxton, then, Uncle David?" she asked. The twins called David and Jonathan 'uncle,' even though they were great uncles. No-one seems to have invented the word 'gruncle.'

"Not really. With your great-grandparents living in Ixton, there will be nothing to hold my affections here. From now on, we will be permanently living in the south. The only relatives left in the north are your Uncle Tom's sister and her family in Newcastle."

"I really envy Uncle Tom and Uncle Luke and our cousins living in Italy. I would like to live in Italy when I grow up!" Anne said, "after all, I can speak the language! And they have nice clothes in Italy."

Next day, Jon asked Anne to go for a walk with him. He asked her what it was like to be brought up by two men. He told her that his daughter Cathy was a militant feminist as a result of her lack of a mother figure in her upbringing. He asked her what her views were. Although she was only just thirteen, she was old enough to be able to make a judgement. Anne replied that in Elizabeth Hambleton she had a mother figure, and she dearly loved her two fathers. "I'm a moderate feminist!" she said. "I don't want to be denied anything in life because of male resistance. The 'glass ceiling' must be shattered. But I do not feel any hostility to men, I'm just anxious not to be excluded from any opportunity in life by discrimination."

"I asked you, because I have a major problem," said Jon. "The Camford Men's Fitness Centre was built twenty-five years ago to provide a place where men could have facilities for leisure away from women. Just as women need places where they can relax in non-stressful surroundings and be themselves, free from the presence of men, and this is fairly generally recognized, men have exactly the same need. The Fitness Centre is a place where all men, gay as well as straight, can unwind and be themselves. But there is a campaign on hand in Camford to compel the Men's Fitness Centre to be open to women. No-one is agitating for unisex toilet facilities, indeed both men and women dislike the idea. Why can't women accept the same viewpoint for our fitness centre?"

"Uncle Jon, you can't argue with militants. It's quite fruitless. Why don't you try a more subtle approach? You have pots of money. Why don't you offer money to build a women's fitness centre, offering the same facilities?"

"It already exists: it's the Camford Olympic Pool and Leisure Centre, open to all. The Men's Centre is membership by subscription only. If women were admitted, it would massively increase our waiting list."

"That's a typical male simplistic attitude! What you should do is to offer a large sum of money to build a women's fitness centre, but make the donation conditional on an equal or greater sum being raised by public appeal. No doubt when you were money-raising for the Men's Fitness Centre you had to appeal for funding from donors. Let the proponents of women's fitness put their money where their mouth is! If they can't raise the money, the idea is dead, because clearly there's no demand. If they do raise the money, women will be fitter!"