When We Were Young Ch. 21

"What is it?" I asked.

"Shhhh," she replied, waving at us to hurry up and looking over her shoulder. Then, realizing we were naked, hustled over and grabbed a couple of towels off the hammock and handed them to us as we reached the beach.

"KJ had a nightmare. We were both asleep and then he started screaming. He was scared you and Linda left him. She was in the shower, heard him, and came running into the bedroom. That helped, but he insists on seeing you, won't stop crying and worrying. I thought you might be...and I was obviously correct, so I ran ahead, but they'll be here any second now," Mar told us, out of breath.

I nodded and wrapped the towel around me, headed for my shorts, when he came around the corner.

"Tony! Tony!" he yelled, running toward me.

I dropped to my knees, and he barreled into me, hugging me tight, crying and shaking. I rubbed his back and made soothing noises as Linda rounded the corner, wiping her eyes. She knelt beside me, and we loved on him, not really knowing what else to do.

Lin and I cuddled with him on the lounger and tried to explain to a four-year-old that he was safe, and we wouldn't leave like his parents and Nana did. He was okay after a few minutes, Lin and I much more shaken up than he was.

Mama and Mar had gone up to the house, and I ducked into the cottage for a badly needed shower, then we headed that way, too.

"Carmen said this might happen, but he was so scared, poor guy," Linda said, KJ skipping along ahead of us.

"I'll be glad to talk to the child therapist she recommended and find out what we should do when it happens; I'm afraid to make things worse," I added.

"Mama said all she knows is to be there for him and to let him know we love him. I'll stay with him in the cottage tonight and read some stories to him. You can have some fun up at the house."

"You sure?" I asked.

"I'm sure. Don't forget that Carol and Nat will be here tomorrow afternoon with fresh supplies, and then we're having a cookout tomorrow night."

"Right," I said, waving at Smoke, Thea, and Jazz, back from their day at the other island.

KJ ran to Smoke, who picked him up and tossed him in the air, KJ giggling.

"Well, he's okay now, I guess. Better than us," Linda chuckled.

**

We heated up leftovers for dinner, everyone a little lethargic after a day in the sun, and settled on the deck and in the pool, rum punch, daiquiris, and margaritas within easy reach. KJ played in the pool and showed no ill effects from his earlier nightmare.

Linda and Mama took him down to the cottage for the night, but not before he went around and gave everyone a hug and a kiss.

Thea asked me to go for a walk with her, so we grabbed a drink and a couple of flashlights, the stars so bright we hardly needed them.

"You know Jazz wants a baby, right?" she asked, when we were well away from the house.

"Mmmm, she told me last year. And that you worry how they'll be treated because they have two moms."

"I remember what our parents did to us. How can I subject a child to that kind of hate? Jazz is blinded by her desire to have a baby, and I want one too, but not if their lives are going to be hell because of us. How could I live with myself?"

I shoved my flashlight in my pocket and took her hand as we walked.

"I wish I had answers, honey. All I can do is promise to be there whenever you need us. Your children would have so many advantages in life, it seems a shame to let the haters out there dictate whether or not you have kids. And I do think people are more tolerant. Sure, they might not approve, but they're more likely to keep their mouths shut than they used to be."

"Maybe, but it only takes one to hurt them."

"True, but they'll have loving parents to come home to, something you guys didn't. I think you had it worse because the pain was caused by your families, people that you thought would love you unconditionally."

"Yeah, that's a good point. Fuck, I don't know, Tony. But I do know Jazz isn't gonna let it go, not with KJ in the castle every day. The daily reminder is going to be hard for her, and for me, too, if I'm honest. He's so sweet, and as much as I think I have good reasons for not having a child, I find myself watching him and thinking what ours would be like."

"Have you talked about who would have the baby?"

"Oh, Jazz, definitely. I worry because she's so tiny, but her mother is no bigger than she is, so I guess it would be okay."

"What about the father?"

"That's a whole other minefield to navigate. We have talked about it, hypothetically, of course, and there are only two choices, really, you or Cal," she said, glancing at me.

"Uh, I don't know what to say, Thea. I'm flattered, obviously, but we'd have to sit down with Lin and have a serious discussion about it. Have you said anything to Miss Ruth or Cal?"

"I haven't, but I don't know about Jazz. We have known Cal longer and had more of a relationship with him, and I think that might be easier, but it's not something I've thought a lot about, since I'm not sure if I want them or not."

"Well, if you get to that point, we'll talk about it, okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks for listening, Tony. I just needed somebody to talk to."

"Of course, honey. I'm always here if you need something."

We were back at the house a few minutes later, the lights on the deck off, one lamp in the great room on low. There was no sign of Sharon and Smoke, but Mar was between Jazz's legs on the couch. Jazz saw us and reached her hand out to Thea. They may be struggling with whether or not to have a baby, but the look they shared told me it hadn't affected the love they had for each other.

We joined them and played for an hour or so, then Mar and I found a bedroom to sleep in. It had been a few weeks since my girlfriend and I had been together, and it felt nice to hold each other as we drifted off.

**

Carol and Nat arrived the next afternoon with fresh laundry and a mountain of food. Lin, KJ, and I helped them unload and then Mama and Sharon showed up to help Carol cook.

"You should be on the water or the beach," Carol objected, but they were soon laughing and cutting up while they prepared for the cookout.

I helped Nat get the fire pit ready and unloaded a couple of coolers filled with meat and seafood.

"Is that everything?" I asked.

"One more load," Nat replied, and we headed back to the Bahama Beauty, while I filled him in on our trip to see Lena and KJ, and everything that had happened since.

We climbed aboard and Nat led me down into the salon, as he called it. There were a couple of couches/tables, a little galley, a tiny bedroom, and a storage area up front.

"What have we got?" I asked, looking around the tidy space while Nat folded a table away, and then turned to face me.

"Sit, Tony," Nat said, and I sat, confused.

"My turn to take care of you," he smiled, peeling his t-shirt off and leaning in to kiss me, catching me completely by surprise.

His kiss was as aggressive as the evening we spent with our wives, his hands pulling up my shirt and tugging on my shorts. He broke the kiss and pulled my shirt off, then leaned back in.

"Easy, honey," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder to slow him down.

"Take your time," I added, and raised my hips so he could slide my shorts off.

He stepped over and closed the door to the steps, flipped on a fan, and dropped his shorts, hard cock protruding from his crotch. He dropped to his knees between my legs and stared at my cock, then looked up at me.

"I've never done this before."

I smiled. "Do what you like Carol to do to you."

He nodded, leaned in, and took my soft cock into his mouth...

It took a little while, but he got the hang of it, and we got there in the end. I scooped up the cum on his chin and he sucked it from my finger, his eyes closed.

"Wonderful," he said, leaning back in to clean my cock.

I pulled him up and we kissed for a moment, my hand finding his cock, still hard, slick with pre-cum. He whimpered and I smiled.

"Okay, trade places, honey; I want to taste you again."

I sat back a few minutes later and smiled. "Mmmm, tasty; you've been eating better."

He grinned, breathing heavily. "If I'd known that's all I needed to do to get Carol to enjoy blowjobs, I'd have been munching on pineapple for the last twenty years."

**

The cookout was fun, and I saw Carol and Lin sneak down to the cottage for a little while, but there was a lot of that going on.

KJ had a blast, Nat showing him how to make s'mores, and was passed out by nine, though he tried valiantly to stay awake. Thea carried him up to the house, Jazz, Mar, and I joining them. I told them to wake me if he had a nightmare, and then Mar and I got reacquainted.

The next few days were much the same, with a few highlights. Della flew Sharon and Smoke to Nassau, where they stayed the night and came home engaged. They weren't planning on getting married for a couple of years, but wanted to make things 'official', if you will.

That was cause for a celebration. We went down to the cabana with the fire pit and cooked a mountain of food, then took everything out to the glass-bottomed cabana, flipped on the underwater lights, and ate and drank ourselves silly. Then we sent them down to the cottage for the night and walked back to the house.

KJ had a couple of nightmares while taking his afternoon nap, and Lin and I stayed with him while he slept, which helped lessen his freak-out time, and gave us time alone to just be around each other.

**

Carol had told us about a village she did a lot of her shopping in that she thought we might enjoy. It was an hour away on their boat and most everyone wanted to go. Sharon and Smoke begged off and took the jet skis to the uninhabited island for the day, and I had some phone calls I needed to make. KJ was upset I wasn't going with them, but Lin promised he could call me every hour to make sure I was okay--which he did the first three hours, but only once more, when they were on their way back.

I called Nat's cousin, Roger, to get a number for Father David, who I told I wanted to rebuild the recreation center that had been destroyed by the hurricane to honor KJ and Lena, if possible, but didn't know who to talk to, or where to begin. He promised to make some calls and a couple of hours later a Mr. Higgins phoned me. He was a sort of alderman, I gathered, and represented the area. He was skeptical, which was understandable, I suppose, but we had a good conversation, and by the time we hung up, I had a decent idea of what I was facing.

I called Miss Ruth and told her about our visit to see the elder KJ's mom and all that had transpired since then.

"I have another grandson."

"Yes, ma'am, you do. KJ just turned four."

"Tell me about him, Anthony."

And I did. Cal had told Miss Ruth what I'd told him about KJ and the hazing, and I had never seen her so upset. At me, for not telling her myself when it happened, so she could have "burned that god-damned, mother fucking university to the ground," as she put it. That she meant it was not in dispute.

The point being, she understood how emotional this was for me, how important KJ, Lena, and little KJ were. So, when I told her about 'Over the Hill' and the recreation center I wanted to rebuild, she didn't need to ask why.

"The government official I talked to said there have been a couple of efforts to rebuild it, but the funding got cut both times. The last number they had budgeted was just over two million dollars. I asked him if private donations could revive it and he said he didn't know, that the land is owned by the government, and that he knew it wasn't for sale. Miss Ruth, I don't have a clue how to fight the bureaucracy."

"Anthony, give me Mr. Higgins's number and let me look into it. Robert (her oldest son) has a guy in the company who does nothing but fight red tape in all the municipalities where we build strip centers. We've never done anything outside the country, but I imagine he'll have some ideas for us."

"That would be great, Miss Ruth, but I want to be very involved, okay? Don't just call me one day and tell me it's all taken care of. Not only is it important to me, but I want KJ to know where he comes from. I'd like to help the community with other things, if I can."

"Don't worry, honey, we'll just guide you along the way. Now, how is the honeymoon going?"

**

On our last night on the island, our friends were down at the cabanas, enjoying a bonfire, the stars, and each other. Meanwhile, Linda and I settled KJ into bed between us in the room with the big king bed, talked to him about his dad and Nana, and then read him a story until he fell asleep. He had had another nightmare that afternoon and stayed very close to us the rest of the day, keeping one or the other of us in sight at all times, and we were glad to be going home, where we had an appointment with a child therapist in a couple of days.

It was just after eight when he fell asleep, and we went out onto the veranda and settled on a loveseat to watch the stars.

"Well, not quite the honeymoon I had planned," I said, talking quietly.

"No," Linda smiled, "but so good. No regrets?"

"No. Well, just one, I suppose. I was really looking forward to an evening, or two, with our purple friend. It's been a couple of months and I need you inside me."

We had been so busy with wedding stuff, I hadn't been a very good sub lately. I thought our honeymoon would be a perfect opportunity to bring the purple dildo back into our bedroom, which always got us back into our dom-sub rhythm, but then KJ happened. I wasn't complaining at all, but the need to be dominated by my wife was festering inside me.

She sighed. "Mmmm, I was hoping for this, too. A few days before the wedding, I went all bridezilla on some poor guy at the florist's and was snapping at everyone. I was going to take out my aggression on your ass," she grinned, "but you were with Smoke at your bachelor party. Sharon and I got together, but it's just not the same.

"Let's see what the therapist says, then maybe we can let Jazz and Thea watch him one night next week, okay? They'll love it, and KJ adores them. Plus, I want him to be very comfortable with them and Mama and Mar. Then we can get back to where we were.

"For now, you can get on your knees and pleasure me."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am."

I slid to my knees, looked up at her, and felt a deep sigh wash over me. Just the change of position settled me, and I slid her bikini bottoms down her deeply bronzed legs. She caressed my head and maintained eye contact while I feasted on her, a calm settling in my chest. It wasn't half as good as having her drill my ass with the dildo, but it was better than nothing.

Lin's breathing began to quicken several minutes later, and I slipped a finger inside her, then another, and clamped my lips down on her clit. She nodded rapidly and covered her mouth with her hand, a muffled moan reaching my ears, as her hips bucked up against me and nectar spread around my fingers. I licked her clean, then lay on the loveseat and rested my head on her lap, content, as her fingers played with my hair.

We watched the stars and talked quietly about what awaited us at home, then she went in and took a shower while I watched KJ sleep, and then we traded places and went to sleep.

Linda, KJ, and I were up at six and packed by seven. I was helping KJ shower and get dressed, while Lin went down to cook one last batch of conch fritters.

"Tony, are you my daddy now?"

"Uh, well, I guess I am. Maybe your second daddy."

"And Linda is my second mommy?"

"Yes, I guess she is. Is that okay with you?"

"Mmm-hmm. Can I call you second daddy?"

"Well, how about Daddy Tony?"

"And Mommy Linda?"

"Sure, is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, I like it," he nodded.

"Good."

"Daddy Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I draw at your house?"

"Of course. The castle has a lot of walls you can draw on."

"Daddy Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"Is the castle big?"

"Really big; much bigger than this house."

"Big enough for one more?"

"One more what, buddy?" I asked, confused.

"One more person?" he asked, looking down at the floor.

I sat him on the bed and knelt in front of him.

"Do you mean Alice?"

KJ nodded, shyly.

"Would you like for her to live with us?"

He nodded his head up and down. "She doesn't have a mommy or daddy, and she's my best friend, and we were going to be friends at the orphanage, but now she's all alone, and I don't want her to be alone," he rushed out, a sob breaking free at the end and he started to cry, throwing himself into my arms.

I held him and rubbed his back, his heart hammering away in his chest. When he'd calmed down, I sat him back on the bed.

"Inviting someone to come live with you is a big decision. I'll talk with Mommy Linda and see what she thinks, and Father David, too, okay? We can't do it today, but maybe if you still want her as a sister in a few months, we'll come back for a visit and meet her, get to know her, and talk about it then. How does that sound?"

"Okay," he said, sad.

I stood and picked him up, holding him close to me, his arms around my neck.

"I love you, buddy," I whispered, and he squeezed my neck tightly.

I carried him out onto the veranda, and we looked out over the island, to the sea beyond.

"It's all gonna be okay, buddy."

"Okay, Daddy."

We headed down to breakfast a little while later and KJ gave Linda a big hug.

"Thank you, honey, that's very sweet. Hungry?"

KJ grinned and nodded.

**

Our friends staggered into the kitchen in ones and twos, everyone hung over and bleary-eyed.

"Hi, Smoke," KJ said, cheerfully.

Smoke's eyes shut tight at the volume of the greeting. "Good morning, KJ," he whispered.

"Does your head hurt?"

"Mmmm, a little bit."

"Why?"

Linda was at the stove, and I could tell she was laughing.

"Yeah, Smoke. Why?" I grinned.

Smoke glared at me and tried to smile at KJ, but it looked like even that hurt.

"Uh, I'm not sure, KJ. Are there any aspirin?" he asked Lin, who pointed at a drawer.

"Morning," Sharon muttered, holding her head.

"Hi, Sharon. Does your head hurt, too?"

Sharon grimaced and Linda barked a laugh.

"Shhh, honey. Yes, it hurts a lot."

"Just like Smoke," KJ said, in a loud whisper.

"Mmmm. Aspirin?" she asked, and Smoke handed her the bottle.

Mama and Mar were in slightly better shape, but there was no sign of Thea or Jazz.

"I'll go check on them," I said.

"Take KJ," Sharon said, pleading with her eyes.

"Okay, motormouth, you're with me. Let's go get them up."

"What's a motormouth?" he asked, following me into the hall.

"Somebody who talks a lot," I replied, picking him up and climbing the stairs.

"Oh. Like Jazz?"

"Exactly," I laughed.

Their door was open slightly and I peeked inside, where Jazz was closing her suitcase.

"Good morning, honey. Need any help?" I asked.

"Hi Thoney. Good morning, little one," she said, hugging KJ.

"We are all packed and ready. T say she need go for walk before leave. Go maybe two hours now," she added, looking sad.

"Problems?" I asked.

She sighed and rubbed KJ's head.

"No...yes...I don't know," she shrugged.

"T want baby, but T no want baby, also, both at same time. She is scary, and I no can help. She need decide, because is making me crazy," she added, smiling at KJ.

"I'm sorry, Jazz. KJ, can you help Jazz with her suitcase? I'll go find her; the taxis will be here in an hour."

"Thanks, Thoney. Can you carry this, KJ? Is very heavy. Look how strong you are; more strong than me..."

I left them and headed outside, guessing she would be watching the fish in the cabana. She was sitting cross-legged, staring down into the ocean, looking up when she heard me approaching.