Welcome back. The Beckers are now settling in for a few days of R&R with Brian, Bjorn and the boys. A little time to catch up on the events of each other's lives, and the boys to get to know each other a little better.
This story deals with adult themes, primarily same-gender sexual relations. Such relations have their basis in love and commitment, rather than sex for the sake of sex alone. In some cases they will use protection; at other times they will not. You and I should always use protection because we do not live in the world of fiction.
If you are offended the idea of homosexuality or if you are under the age of consent or if you reside in an area where such things are considered illegal or immoral, then you should seek entertainment elsewhere.
Comments may be directed to the author at thornado5@netscape.net
This story is copyright 2004 by Mike Williams. All rights reserved. Thou shalt not steal.
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A Thousand Rainbows by Mike Williams
- 18 -
That evening's dinner would be a simple chicken stir-fry with curried rice on the side, a favorite in the Connor-Larkin household. Brian and Bjorn looked up from slicing vegetables as Will and Sarah emerged from the guest bedroom off the kitchen.
"Have a nice nap?" Brian asked.
Sarah smiled and looked wistfully out the backdoor into the gathering dusk. "After living in San Diego for so long, I had completely forgotten how peaceful it is here." She turned back to the men. "Even when we had that crazy house in town and with all the hassles of school, Bridgewater always felt like ... I don't know ... home."
"This," Will butted in, "from an army brat. I'm the one who was born and raised here." Sarah Sterling-Becker was the daughter of a career army officer and had seen more of the world before graduating high school than most people would see in a lifetime.
"So, anything we can do to help?" Sarah asked. "We're ready and able to lend our talents."
Brian and Bjorn smiled and looked up from their work. "Well, since you are family, " Brian winked at his partner, "there's flowerbeds to be weeded, laundry to be washed and ironed and folded ..."
Bjorn took up the joke. "... Pots and pans to be scrubbed, torn jeans to be mended ..."
Brian continued with a serious look on his face. "... Cows to be milked, chickens to be fed ..."
Will turned to his wife. "I told you this would happen. Just as soon as we get settled, and these two would have us working our fingers to the bone. You might as well get started on the pots and pans; I'll be out in the henhouse." He made a move toward the backdoor, then paused and looked at Brian and Bjorn with a look of skepticism. "Wait a minute. You don't have a henhouse."
Brian and Bjorn began quietly making clucking sounds and were soon engaged in what sounded like a full-fledged barnyard brawl, much to the amusement of their guests.
With tears of laughter in her eyes, Sarah said, "Well, at least we can set the table for dinner. Now, will we be seated in the formal dining room? Or does this family do the `guy' thing and have dinner in front of the TV?"
The two gay men looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"We'll be in the formal dining room, of course," Bjorn said. "Formal attire is usually required, but I'll have a word with the maitre'd."
Sarah switched to her "take charge" mode. "OK, plates?"
Brian pointed to the cupboards. "Second cupboard from the left, bottom shelf, green and white pattern. Simple, but elegant for the occasion."
Will followed his wife through the kitchen. "Silverware?"
Bjorn pointed to the area of the kitchen sink. "Top drawer next to the sink. Chopsticks are in there too."
Will's face fell as Sarah got a case of the giggles. Brian and Bjorn gave each other questioning looks before turning their attention back to the kitchen.
"I think," Sarah mused, "there are a some people among us who would do better with a good old knife and fork. What do you think, Will?"
"Rub it in, Sarah," Will said, gathering up the silverware. He turned to his hosts, each of whom wore a grin. "OK, here goes: Last week we met with some prospective clients; they own a chain of Asian restaurants in Southern California. And they invited us to dinner at one of their places. Well, I have never mastered the art of eating my food with twigs."
Brian and Bjorn snickered at the thought of Will trying to eat with chopsticks.
"Long story short," Will continued, "most of General Tso's chicken ended up in my lap ... or on the floor ... on my tie ... on my new shoes." He closed he eyes as he related the experience.
Brian and Bjorn each let out a guffaw, but Sarah butted in. "Oh, but it gets worse."
"You mean there's more?" Bjorn asked, still trying to control his laughter.
Will hung his head, then looked up. "Two days later in the middle of a meeting with another prospective client ... an insurance company ... I discovered that one of those little chicken things had landed in my jacket pocket. I was horrified. The client had a look of shock on his face. His secretary laughed so hard she had to leave the room."
By this time everyone in the kitchen was laughing.
"So did they sign with you?" Brian asked.
"They both signed long-term contracts with us," Sarah tried her best to reply.
Bjorn was the first to recover. "So you still came out smelling like a rose."
"Not exactly," Will replied. "The Asian restaurant made me promise that I would never even attempt to use chopsticks again as long as I live."
"Believe it or not," Sarah started laughing again. "They even had that written into the contract."
A new round of laughter filled the kitchen.
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In the guest bedroom at the top of the spiral staircase Todd had set up his laptop computer to keep up with his own studies. He was having trouble concentrating on the math lesson on the screen in front of him.
In the next room Jason and Josh were just completing the words to "A Thousand Rainbows", as their music professor had instructed them. With headphones in place they listened to their composition and mouthed the words, stopping to make small changes as needed. They looked up to see Todd standing in the door. They removed the headphones and invited him into the room.
"C'mon in, bro," Jason said.
"Yeah," Josh added. "You're just in time for the debut of our masterpiece."
"What are you guys doing?" Todd asked as he entered the room.
"Writing a song," Jason replied.
Todd was curious. "What kinda song?"
"Well, it started out as just a thing for an orchestra," Josh explained. "But our music professor is making us write some words to go with it."
"We think he's in cahoots with our English teacher," Jason explained. "Anyway, we just finished the words."
"Can I hear it?" Todd asked, hoping for a country song.
"Sure," Josh replied, as he unplugged the headphones from the speakers. "It's just the music because we haven't recorded the words yet."
"It's called `A Thousand Rainbows.' And you can read the words and just try to imagine how it all comes together," Jason said, and he handed the paper to Todd.
Todd took a seat on the bench between the twins. Turning the volume down low, Josh started the playback. The small speakers on either side of the computer came to life with the sound of a grand piano and a string section. After about twenty seconds, Jason pointed to where the words would come in. Pretty soon they were mouthing the words to the tune and then softly singing. When Todd unconsciously began singing harmony, Jason and Josh looked at him then at each other with surprise, but Todd's eyes were firmly fixed on the words. As the last verse neared its end, Jason held up his hand where the singers would hold the note before the finale.
When the song ended, there was a brief moment of silence.
"Wow," Todd quietly exclaimed. "That's pretty good. How long have you guys been working on this?"
"We started writing the music in August before school started," Josh answered.
"It's a project for our music class," Jason explained. "By April we'll have another eight or nine songs ready for a CD."
Todd was impressed. "And you're doing all the writing on a computer? That's incredible. I wish I knew more about music. I'd like to write a country song."
Jason glanced at his brother, then back to Todd. "Maybe you already know more than you think you do."
Todd turned to face Jason. "How do you mean?"
Josh was ready with the answer. "How did you know?"
Todd was forced to turn around to face his other half-brother. "How did I know what?"
Jason had the other end of the question, forcing Todd to turn back again. "The harmony."
"What about it?" Todd asked, then laughed. "Can we stop all this back-and-forth turning- around bullshit? I'm gonna have a stiff neck by suppertime."
In one swift motion the twins rose and lifted their half-brother off the bench by his shoulders and deposited him on the bed, then resumed their own seats on the bench in front of the computer desk, facing Todd. Todd fell backward, but quickly rose, laughing. "Where did you guys learn that trick?"
"All part of the friendly service here at the Connor-Larkin Hotel and Flophouse," Josh explained with a big grin.
Todd resigned himself to his fate. "They say two heads are better than one, so I guess I don't stand a chance against you guys. Okay, so what was ... damn, I forgot what I was talking about."
"The music," Jason reminded him.
"The harmony," Josh added.
"You've never heard that song before ..." Jason said.
"... Never seen the words ..." Josh said.
"... But you knew right where the harmony was supposed to come in and where we wanted it to go," Jason explained.
By this time Todd was only slightly dizzy trying to follow the conversation. "I ... I don't know. I just did what seemed ... uh ... natural ... like that's how it had been written. Did I do something wrong?"
Jason and Josh turned to each other and smiled, sharing a silent communication. Nodding in agreement, they turned back to their adopted half-brother.
Todd was becoming frustrated. "Well, are you guys gonna say something or what?"
"It was perfect, Todd," Josh assured him. "Absolutely perfect."
"All we gotta do now is get the whole thing recorded," Jason said.
"Are you talking about making a record?" Todd asked anxiously.
"That's what we're talking about," Josh answered. "And we want you to be part of it."
"Me?" Todd asked in surprise. "Country music is all I know."
"That's OK," Jason said. "It'll sound a bit more laid back. Now, I don't listen to much country music, but I'll bet there are a lot of country singers who have orchestras back them up. It's not all fiddles and steel guitars anymore, is it?"
Todd thought about it for a moment, then smiled. "Yeah, that sounds like fun. When do you want to do this?"
Just then there was a yell from the downstairs. "Yo, dinner's on!"
"Let's shoot for this weekend," Jason suggested. "We'll have time to practice one or two more times, and maybe we can lay down two or three tracks."
"Sounds like a plan," Todd said as he rose from the bed. "Let's go see what they're serving for dinner in this flophouse tonight. Race ya downstairs."
And he was gone with the twins right on his heels.
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to be continued in Chapter 19