Berto's Roses
By Ben
Part XXVII
I stood straight up, sucking in my breath. I thought he was asleep and now I've been caught kissing Berto! I walked quickly and quietly out of the room and took the stairs two at a time. I closed the door to my room, stripped and crawled into bed.
My mind was racing. "I blew it. He knows I'm attracted to him now. This is going to change things between us. On the other hand, he had simply said good night. He didn't seem to mind at all. Was he just on the edge of sleep and it didn't really register? Did he realize what was happening, and it was okay with him? Did he take it as a simple act of fondness for him? I know it was more than that for me, but does he?"
Sleep did not come easily that night. I kept going over in my mind how stupid I had been to kiss him, all the while knowing that there is nothing I wanted more that to climb those stairs, take him in my arms, and kiss him over and over again. I tried to deny it and tried to ignore it, but I knew I was falling in love with Berto.
Then a thought struck me. He was going away the day after tomorrow. Some distance and time apart would help me come to my senses. I didn't even know if Berto was gay. Chances were he wasn't. I already knew that he was repulsed by Mack's advances. And, even is he WAS gay, it didn't mean he would be attracted to me.
A plan formulated and I was able to relax. I decided to just play it cool for the next couple of days. If Berto brought it up, I would just tell him he reminded me of one of my sons, or something. I also resolved not to put myself in a position for that to happen again.
The next morning I woke up feeling like hell. The tossing and turning left me exhausted and sore all over. I spent an extra long time in the hot spray of the shower, before I dressed for the day. The clouds of yesterday had blown over and the sun rose into the brilliant blue sky. It looked like a postcard, as I stood in the near finished sunroom and gazed out at the garden.
I sipped my coffee and searched the garden with my eyes. Berto was nowhere to be seen this morning. It saddened me to think that there would be many mornings that he would not be here. I was so used to seeing his bent form hovering over his beloved roses, touching them, willing them to vibrant life. It would seem so empty without him.
"Senor Ben?" Berto's voice startled me so much, I jumped and my coffee spilled. I turned and saw concern on his face. "Are you alright? Did you get burned?"
"No, I'm just fine, Berto. You just caught me unaware." I watched his expression change to amusement, and he began laughing. "What? What's the matter?"
Berto pointed and I looked down. The coffee had hit me right in the front of my jeans and it looked like I had peed myself. I shook my head and began laughing too. "Yep, it's officially Monday." I said. "Mama sent me to tell you that breakfast is ready." We walked into the kitchen and sat at the table. As usual, Manuella had prepared way too much food, but it was delicious. The phone rang and she waddled over to answer it
"Hola? Si, si, uno momento. Senor Ben, it is for you. It is Senor Chavez."
"Thank you, Manuella." I said as she handed me the cordless handset. "Good morning Ricky, how are you?"
"Buenos Dias, Ben. I am well. I called to offer you and Berto my hospitality tomorrow, and to extend Carla's invitation to take Berto to the university. We would like for you to join us for lunch before you continue on to San Diego."
"Um, well thank you, Ricky. Hold on and let me check with Berto real quick." I summarized Ricky's invitation to Berto, adding that Carla was a wonderful girl and he would like her very much. He looked to his mother and she nodded her consent. Berto smiled and said, "Si, I would like to meet your friends, Senor Ben."
"Ricky, we graciously accept your generous offer. We should be there before noon tomorrow."
"Bueno, bueno. I am looking forward to seeing you, and I have arranged a surprise for Berto as well. Until manana, mi amigo." We rang off and I turned to Berto.
"These are some of the nicest people I've ever met. You've met Ricky already, and Carla is his younger sister. She's beautiful and bright and friendly. I don't know if you will be meeting Don Chavez tomorrow or not. He is a very impressive man, but he has a heart of gold. Ricky says they have a surprise for you, too."
"Que?" said Berto.
"I don't know, Ricky didn't say. You'll have to wait until we get there. One thing I do know is that the Chavez family gets joy in showing generosity. Whatever it is, I'm sure you will love it."
"Si, Senor Ben. I am excited to be going there. Um. Senor Ben?"
"Yes?"
"What clothes should I where to meet Senor Chavez and Senorita Chavez?"
"Oh, just whatever you would wear to school I guess. They dress formally for dinner, but casually the rest of the time."
"Would you help me to pick out something appropriate?"
"Sure, Berto, I would be happy to."
"Bueno, gracias", said Berto and grabbed my hand to pull me up. He half-dragged me up the stairs and into his room. He began opening drawers and pulling out clothing. It was neatly folded and he sorted it into stacks of shirts, pants etc. He grabbed a handful of ties and lay them beside the stacks.
As I watched, Berto peeled off his tan polo shirt, folded it and placed it on the bed. He then picked up a white button-up shirt and put it on. Berto dropped his white cotton shorts and I saw immediately that he wasn't wearing any underwear. God, that's all I needed, today.
"Uh, Berto, do you have any underwear?" I said, averting my eyes.
Berto looked down at himself and blushed. "Oh, si. I have new underwear for school. Mama got them for me. Should I put it on now?"
"Please do." I croaked
Berto walked past me, bare-assed to his dresser, bent over and opened the bottom drawer. I nearly died. His butt was perfect. Smooth, muscular globes-the ideal bubble butt. His balls hung between his sinewy legs and it was a lovely picture.
Finally he stood and his butt was again covered by his shirttail. He spun around and proudly displayed a pair of snowy white Fruit of the Loom briefs. "Whitie tighties", in a size I hadn't worn since I was twelve.
"Here they are, Senor Ben. Are they not beautiful? Although not as fine as yours. I hope to have some like yours when I am a wealthy man." I was taken aback. How the hell did he know what kind of underwear I wore? Then I thought about it and remembered that my luggage had been unpacked for me and that my laundry had always been taken care of. Somewhere, Berto had to have had a hand in it.
"Well thanks, Berto, but I am not really a wealthy man, and my underwear doesn't cost so much. Shall we continue?"
Berto bent and stepped into the briefs, then pulled them up his tanned legs. He reached his hand down and tucked his genitals into the pouch comfortably. Letting the waistband go with a snap, he was satisfied. All this I watched as discreetly as possible.
He chose a pair of navy blue pants, with pleats in front and put them on. They fit like a glove and hugged his ass to perfection. He tied a red and navy tie around his neck and asked me if I liked his outfit while slowly spinning.
He looked great, but would have done so in a potato sack. I nodded and told him he looked very nice. Berto tried on several different combinations and settled on a pair of khaki pants, with a pastel yellow shirt and brown and gold striped tie. He was so good looking and so excited that he nearly took my breath away.
"You look very handsome, Berto. And how about some shoes?"
Berto looked down at his bare feet and wiggled his toes. He looked up as if he had just had an epiphany. His brown-black eyes shone as he dove to the floor beside his bed and hauled out a large box. He opened it slowly, as if it contained buried treasure.
He reached into the box and removed a beautiful, hand-tooled boot. It was shiny and brown with a blunt rather than a pointed toe, and had a thick block heel. Its design was of roses, and could not have been better hand-picked for Berto.
He held the boot for a long time and admired it, taking in its intricate beauty. He took a pair of carefully rolled socks and put them on his feet while seated on the floor. He put on first the left, then the right boot, and stood.
Berto was visibly taller in the boots and his eyes were nearly level to mine. He walked across the floor, the boot heels softly clicking on the wooden floor. He turned to face me, with an expectant smile.
"Perfect, Berto. You'll make quite an impression. Especially on Carla. She might want to run off and marry you." I teased.
Berto colored and laughed it off. I asked where he had gotten such a fine pair of boots and his expression darkened momentarily. "Senor Roberto took me to Mexico City with Mama after... after Senor Mack...um...touched me. He knew I was upset, but did not know why. He bought these boots for me to cheer me up. They cost many pesos."
"I'll bet they did. They're just beautiful. You must be proud." He could not hide it. It was all over his face as he nodded. "Okay, you've picked out what you will where to the Chavez's. You'll love them as much as I do, I'm sure."
"I must change now and go to get Carlos. As I have to get my clothes ready to take with me tomorrow. I will leave them here until I have a box to put them in. "
"If you like, Berto, you may use my luggage to take your clothes to school."
Wide eyed, Berto said, "Really? Thank you, Senor Ben. I will seem muy importante when I get to university." I told him he was more than welcome. I ruffled his hair and told him to remember that he WAS very important, and not to ever forget it. I left Berto to change his clothes again. I don't think I could have watched any more and not been tempted to touch him. I walked up the stairs to check on Bob.
I found him in his office, clicking away at his computer keyboard. It always amazes me when I see somebody who can type quickly and accurately. My older son types so fast you can barley see his fingers move. I tend to have dyslexia of the fingers and transverse letters a lot. It takes me a long time to proof something that I have written. Thank God for spell check.
"You're looking a lot better this morning. How are you feeling?"
"Much better. I might even live. I talked to the doctor and he said it was fairly typical of patients using my particular chemo regimen. He said I'll have good days and bad days. I have to go back in three weeks for another round of fun.
"I'm sure you're looking forward to that. Hmmm... I think I'll be in Chicago for my son's graduation from boot camp then. The house will be empty with Berto gone too. Why don't you take Manuella with you, so she won't be lonely? "
"Good idea. The last time she went she had a great time. So did Berto. I'll take her shopping. She is always so grateful to me when I buy her something nice. What's on the agenda today?"
"Carlos should be finished up with the bathrooms today. I can line up the plumber as soon as the fixtures get here. The windows will be here day after tomorrow, then Pedro can do the adobe work and open the fireplace to the sunroom. Tomorrow should be a quiet day for you."
"Oh that's right, you are taking Berto to school and picking up Jake. I can't wait to meet him. The way you described him to me, he must be hot."
"Yeah he is, but keep your mitts to yourself, horndog. I didn't horn in on Mack did I? Consider Jake taken-by me. If we get more company then maybe I'll consider sharing, like the good old days."
Bob laughed out loud. It was a nice sound to hear. He looked so bad the day before. "I'm working up a spread sheet so we can keep up with our expenses and profits, if we ever have any."
"I'm sure we'll do just great. I plan to have some friends come down, maybe give them a discount. I'm sure you know a lot of people too. We can invite some guys who write for gay periodicals-take some pics and get the word out. When do you think we can realistically do a grand opening?"
"I'd say another month to six weeks. I should be done with my chemo by then. That will give us plenty of time to get the web site up and send out the ads, don't you think?"
"Oh yea, no problem. I'll knock those out after I get back from San Diego."
We heard the sound of Bob's pickup truck flying into the driveway, so we knew Berto was back. I excused myself and went down to find Berto and Carlos. Carlos was in a cheerful mood and anxious to get to work. Berto and I played "gopher" all day for him. We brought him the lumber he needed on the second floor. That was kind of tricky because the stairs were a little narrow. We found out that it took both of us to get the 2 x 4's up the stairs without banging up the walls. The drywall sheets were even worse, but we managed.
I was glad we didn't have to worry about bringing up a tub, as the big bathroom would have a large communal shower. We had decided to leave the existing tub in a small room of its own, mainly for Manuella, but also in case any of our guests wanted to take a private bath.
We stopped only for a short lunch, and around siesta time, Carlos was all but finished, so I had Berto take him home. The taping and mudding of the drywall could be done when I came back from San Diego. I was really tired after my restless night. Thankfully, Berto never mentioned last night's kiss. I sure as hell wasn't going to bring it up.
After my nap, I felt much better. I took my luggage up to Berto's room so he could pack for school. Bob offered me the use of his truck for the trip. He thought it might be more comfortable for us with all of Berto's stuff in the back. The weather, as usual, was supposed to be bright and dry, so we didn't have to worry about anything getting wet.
When he finished I helped him get everything into the bed of the truck and we tied it down securely. There was, surprisingly, little that he was taking with him. I remembered that it had taken two cars to get my older son back and forth to school every semester. Of course, Berto didn't have a microwave oven, TV, VCR, video game system, refrigerator...
I had Berto park the truck in the carport, just in case. Manuella had set the big table in the front room. I had suggested to Bob that she and Berto eat with us since he would be going away the next day. He was all for it.
We ate a rather subdued meal. Every time Manuella looked at her son, her eyes would become watery. She was going to miss him terribly. I knew just how she felt, but at least I would have Jake here to distract me for awhile. I decided to make it a point to spend a little extra time with her in the next few days.
Manuella cleared away the dishes. She would not allow us to help-not even Berto. She shooed him off to his room so he would be sure to get some rest before his trip. Bob and I retired early too, saying good night at the stairs.
I got into bed and looked at the roses on the table. I wondered if I would see fresh roses there again until Berto came home.
I have been getting some amazing fan mail. Much thanks to Alain who sent me a wonderful message. Even attached a picture of a rose to it. Thanks to Earl as well. And, as always, Rich, thanks a bunch, buddy. You are so faithful. I would like to encourage the readers to support the site. Please go to /nifty/support.html and do what you can. There are a lot of great stories in the archive and every one of us benefits from having a free site. Feel free to write to me at ben_sc@hotmail.com. If you haven't read any of my other stories, check them out under the "Authors" link. Look for "Lyle Benton".