WARNING AND NOTICES: This is a work of fiction. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Do not read if you are underage according to the laws in the country, state/province, county, city/town/village or township where you live. Copyright © 2008 Debra Diane; Permission is granted to Nifty Archive to post one copy. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized copying will constitute an infringement of copyright. Chapter 4 This time, when Liam woke up, he was alone in the bed. Glancing over at the clock, he saw that it was already ten o’clock in the morning. He could hear the TV downstairs and figured that’s where he’d find the kids.
Once down stairs, he found the kids, as expected, glued to the TV.
“Good morning, you guys sleep okay?” He asked.
“Yep.” They replied in unison, not even taking their eyes off the TV.
Liam, noticing that Chris held his cell phone, asked, “Chris, why do you have my cell phone, did someone call?”
“Yeah, Grandma called and wants you to call her.” He said.
“Oh, okay, thanks.” Liam said, silently glad that he didn’t miss Jack’s call again. Grabbing his cell phone from Chris and heading to the kitchen, he decided he would get his coffee made, fix breakfast for the kids and then give his mom a call.
When he got to the kitchen, he found milk, cereal and bowls already out on the table. ‘Apparently, the kids decided they couldn’t wait for breakfast, oh well, at least that’s taken care of.’ He thought.
After he had his cup of coffee, he sat down at the kitchen table and called his mom.
“Hey mom, Chris said you called?”
“Yeah, I wanted to touch base with you. I think I’ve got all the arrangements in place for the funeral. It’s set for Wednesday at ten thirty in the morning. Adam’s law firm has been a huge help. I put you and Jack down as pallbearers and I was hoping you wouldn’t mind also giving the eulogy. Adam’s secretary has already contacted the newspapers and announcement of the funeral should be in today’s paper. Also, your dad met with Adam’s lawyer about their will. They would like us to come by the office today at one
o’clock to go over everything. I’m sure there will be paperwork that will have to be signed.” She said.
“Okay, mom, that sounds fine. Jack comes back tonight, so I’ll talk to him about being a pallbearer and I’ll meet you at the law firm at eleven. I’ll have to see if I can find someone to watch the kids.” He responded.
“Speaking of the kids, how are they doing?” She asked.
And Liam spent the next ten minutes filling her in on everything. He told her about Cassie waking up at night, Chris being so quiet and him asking about his parents.
“Well, those seem like pretty normal reactions, considering. Hopefully attending the funeral will help Chris put things in perspective.” She said.
“Yeah, I also plan on swinging by Chris’s school this afternoon and talking with the principal. I’m not sure if he should go right back to school or if we should keep him out for a while. I’m sure they’ve dealt with this kind of stuff before and can offer some suggestions. I’m also hoping we can get Chris in to meet with the school counselor.”
“That’s probably an excellent idea. I’m sure it would be a good idea for Chris to have someone to talk to, someone who has experience helping children deal with their grief. Listen, I’ll let you go, so you can get everything in order. I’ll see you at the lawyer’s office and we can talk more.” She said, and then ended with “I Love you, honey.”
“Love you too, mom.” Liam said, just before disconnecting the call.
After refilling his coffee cup, he picked up the phone again and called Stacey.
“Hi, Stacey, it’s Liam.”
“Hey Liam, wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon. Everything okay?” She asked.
“Yeah, everything is fine, but I need a babysitter and I don’t know where to go to find one. I was hoping you could help. I’ll probably need someone from about noon until early this evening.”
“Sure, I can help with that. Let me make some phone calls and I’ll have someone over there shortly.” She offered.
“Thanks Stacey, I really appreciate it.”
“Hey, it’s no problem.” She said, before hanging up the phone.
Once that call was out of the way, Liam picked up the phone again and called information for the number to Chris’s school.
When he got the school secretary on the line, he explained who he was and why he was calling. He then scheduled an appointment to meet with the principal, the school counselor and with Chris’s teacher.
With all of the phone calls out of the way, Liam herded the kids upstairs to get ready.
Just as Liam was sitting the kids down with grilled cheese sandwiches and carrots for lunch, his doorbell rang.
Opening the door, he was surprised to see Rick standing on the other side.
“Rick, what are you doing here?” He asked.
“That bossy woman down at the fire station told me I had to come down and keep an eye on a couple of hoodlums.” He said, with a big grin on his face.
Before Liam could even respond, both the kids were hollering Rick’s name excitedly, while running full force at him.
“Ciao piccolo grande giovanotto!” He said, as he deftly picked up Chris and threw him up on his shoulders, then picked up Cassie in his arms. “La mia bellissima piccola Cassie.” He continued and then planted a kiss on Cassie’s cheek.
Liam had no clue what Rick just said, but he did know it sounded damn sexy in that strong Italian baritone voice of his.
“Wait, you’re here to stay with the kids? I didn’t mean for you to have to come down here to baby-sit. Don’t you have to work?” He asked.
“Yep, I’m here to baby-sit and nope, I don’t have to work. I work a 48/96 schedule, meaning, forty-eight hours on and ninety-six hours off. I just finished my forty-eight hours on and now I’m off for the next four days.” He said in response to Liam’s questions.
“Rick, you don’t want to baby-sit someone else’s kids on your day off. I can go ahead and reschedule my meeting and then work to find someone else.” Liam said, feeling guilty about having inconvenienced Rick.
“Hey, you don’t want me to stay with the kids?” Rick asked, his smile fading from his face.
Okay, now Liam felt really guilty.
“No, no, it’s not that, it’s just I figured you’d have other things to do besides spending the day with the kids.”
“Nope, got nothing better to do.” He said, walking into the house and tossing the kids on the couch. “In fact, you better head out if you’re going to make it to the lawyer’s on time. Don’t you have to be there at one o’clock?” He added.
“Shit... or, um, I mean, darn.” He said, quickly trying to recover from his faux pas. “Darn, I really do have to get out of here. Are you sure you’re okay with watching the kids?” He asked again.
“Sure, I’m sure. Now, just get out of here. We’ll be fine.”
“Okay, I’m just going to say goodbye to the kids real quick. Hopefully, I should be back by five o’clock.” Liam said.
Heading to the living room, Liam gave both the kids a big bear hug and a kiss and told them he’d be back later this afternoon and to be good for Rick.
With that taken care of, he slipped out the door.
The visit with the lawyer seemed long and tedious. In the end, it basically boiled down to the fact that Rebecca and Frank had been named as primary guardians, with Liam being secondary guardian. Rebecca and Frank had to decline guardianship, so that guardianship would then fall to Liam.
The entire estate, with the exception of trust funds that had been set up for the kids, including all of their property, savings, life insurance policies, retirement savings, and a few other miscellaneous holdings, which were all directed to go to the guardian of the kids. Since Adam and Julie had appointed the law firm as the executor of their will, the law firm would handle all of the details.
The lawyer gave Liam an envelope that contained all of the information he would need to read over and sign and then scheduled another appointment with him on Thursday, so they could finalize the guardianship. Transfer of all of the estate holdings would take a little longer, since the will still had to go through probate.
When Liam finished with the law firm, he said goodbye to his parents, and then headed over to the school, just barely making it in time for the appointment.
The counselor did most of the talking. He recommended that Liam get the kids back in school as quickly as possible. That they needed to get back into their routines, that they needed to know that even though their mom and dad were gone, that their lives wouldn’t change drastically in other areas. He also said that he would like to meet with Chris twice a week to start. That they would meet at lunch time and have lunch together.
Liam provided the principal with all of the documentation showing that he had temporary custody of Chris until the guardianship paperwork was completed. He also completed all
of the required school forms, such as contact information, alternate emergency pick-up contacts, and also a list of people who are authorized to pick Chris up.
Chris’s teacher gave him a paper bag full of hand made cards to give to Chris. It seems the entire school had made sympathy cards for Chris. She also said that they all missed Chris very much and would be glad when he returned.
When Liam left the school, it was almost 5 o’clock. He swung by a Chinese food restaurant on his way home and picked up dinner for everyone.
Once home, he found Cassie and Rick on the couch asleep. It was a really sweet sight. Rick was sprawled on his back, snoring lightly, and Cassie was draped across his chest. Chris was laying on the floor, playing some sort of game system.
“Where did that come from?” Liam asked.
“Rick bought it for us. Isn’t it cool? He took us to the toy store and we had so much fun. We even got to go for ice cream afterwards.” He said, obviously still on a high from his afternoon.
At least now Liam knew why Rick and Cassie were so tuckered out.
“Well, I brought Chinese food home for dinner. Why don’t you see if you can wake them up and I’ll get everything ready, okay?
“Mmkay.” Chris said, as he saved his game and turned off the TV.
Just as Liam was setting the table, Rick walked in carrying Cassie in his arms, with Chris following close behind.
“Hey, when did you get back? Sorry, I guess we fell asleep.” He said, looking at Liam rather sheepishly.
“That’s okay, it sounds like you guys have a busy day. You really didn’t have to buy them a game system.” Liam said.
“I know, but I couldn’t resist. We were at the toy store and Chris and I started comparing notes on the games and I just kinda realized that he wouldn’t have his games anymore and I just wanted to get them the system. I hope that’s okay.” He said, still looking rather sheepish.
“Yeah, it’s okay. The counselor actually suggested I try to keep their lives as normal as possible. I really appreciate all your help today. I brought dinner back. Will you join us?” Liam asked.
“Sure, I’m famished. Other than breakfast this morning and the ice cream this afternoon, I haven’t really eaten anything today.” He said, as they all sat down at the table.
After dinner, Liam showed Rick to the door and again thanked him for all his help.
Liam then hauled Cassie and Chris upstairs for a bath. This time Chris wanted to take a bath too, so Liam just had them take one together.
After they were clean and had pajamas on, they all sat in front of the TV watching a Disney movie.
About half way through the movie, Liam heard someone coming in the door. Knowing it would be Jack, he immediately launched himself off the couch, ran to the door and threw himself into Jack’s arms.
“Jack, god, I’m so glad your home.” He said, punctuating each word with a kiss. “I missed you so much.”
Jack wrapped his arms around Liam, while Liam wrapped his legs around Jack and locked their lips together. Jack, picked Liam up, turned around and slammed Liam’s back against the door, all the while, never breaking the lip locking, tongue tying kiss they were exchanging.
Jack finally pulled back from Liam long enough to move down to his neck. While Jack was nibbling on his neck and ear, Liam just happened to glance over Jack’s shoulder.
“Um, Jack, hold up a minute.” He said, as he dropped his legs back to the floor and then stepped back from Jack a little. “We’ve got an audience.” He added, slightly embarrassed at being caught.
“Oh, right... I forgot. Hey kids.” Rick said, as he turned to face the kids.
“Um, well, it’s past the kid’s bedtime anyway, so I’ll just get them settled in bed.” Liam said, taking both the kids in hand and heading up stairs.
Once the kids were tucked in, he met Jack in their bedroom. Jack was unpacking his suitcase.
Liam walked up to Jack, wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him in for a long, sensuous kiss. After breaking from the kiss, he said, “Now, where were we?”
“Mmmm, let’s see if I can help you remember.” Jack replied as he started to work on Liam’s neck again.
“But, before we get too far into this, I need a shower. Care to join me? I sure could use someone to wash those hard to reach spots, or maybe just the ‘hard’ spot.” Jack whispered into Liam’s ear.
“I think that can be arranged” Liam said, as he pulled out of Jack’s embrace and headed into the bathroom, pulling his lover with him.
Once in the bathroom, Liam turned to Jack and started removing his clothing, starting with his shirt. As he removed the shirt, he leaned in and kissed, first his right nipple and then the left. Jack moaned from the almost feather light touch of Liam’s lips, then reach up and pulled Liam’s lips back to his nipple.
Liam grinned, and then brought his tongue out and circled the nipple, then sucked it to attention. Pulling back, he moved over to the other nipple and gave it the same treatment, before grasping the hard nub between his teeth and giving it a quick sharp bite. Jack couldn’t help the hiss that escaped him and then followed that with a disappointed groan as Liam pulled away.
“Let’s get rid of the rest of your clothing. It’s getting in the way.” He said, as he worked to remove the rest of Jack’s clothing.
After he had Jack divested of his clothing, Liam turned on the shower, removed his own clothing, and then pulled Jack into the shower with him.
Pulling Jack under the water, Liam grabbed the soap and began lathering up Jack’s body. Once he was finished with his body, he filled his hand with shampoo and then worked his hands through Jack’s hair. Jack’s body was literally thrumming from the scalp massage that Liam was giving him.
After Jack had rinsed his hair, Jack turned to face Liam and returned the favor. Once both of them were thoroughly clean, Jack dropped to his knees, grasped both of Liam’s firm globes in his hands and pulled Liam to him, swallowing Liam’s full length down his throat. Liam was so caught of guard by Jack’s sudden attack, that his legs almost gave out from underneath him.
“Oh god, Jack. That feels so damn good.” Liam said.
Jack responded by working his mouth up and down Liam’s length.
“Jack, god, Jack, you have to stop. I’m going to cum. Shit, shit, wait, don’t stop.” Liam said, almost incoherently.
Jack had no intention of stopping, in fact, his hand had made it’s way over to Liam’s sphincter and he was now, slowly rubbing a finger back and forth over the sensitive area. This added sensation was causing Liam’s legs to tremble slightly. Jack didn’t hold back. He consumed Liam’s length until he bottomed out at his pubes, and at the same instant,
pressed his finger into Liam, searching for that little hot spot of pleasure. Liam’s legs shook visibly as Jack finally found the spot. “Shit, Jack, I’m cumming, shit, yeah.” Liam said as he spurted his juices down Jack’s throat. Jack pulled back slightly, so he could taste the fruits of his labor.
“Damn Jack, I need you to fuck me and I need it NOW.” Liam said, as he reached over and turned off the water, then grabbed Jack, pulled him up and devoured his mouth.
Not even breaking the kiss, Liam walked backwards, while pulling Jack with him out of the shower. On the way to the bed, Liam grabbed a towel off the rack and quickly dried himself and Jack as best he could without breaking their kiss.
As soon as they reached the bed, they both tumbled down with Jack landing on top. Jack leaned over and worked the bedside drawer open and pulled out the lube.
“Damn, I’ve been waiting for this ass all week.” Then he started to work his lubed finger into Liam.
Liam was squirming and moaning, thoroughly enjoying the treatment Jack was giving him, when Jack suddenly froze, then said, “Did you hear something?”
Liam paused as well, listening intently. Sure enough, they both heard it this time.
“Mooommmmy.” The word was stretched out, as if Cassie had been calling for mommy for some time and figured if she stretched it out or called louder, that it would actually bring mom.
As soon as Jack and Liam heard the call, Jack collapsed over onto the bed with an irritated growl. Liam patted Jack on the shoulder, kissed his cheek in apology and then leapt out of bed. After putting on his pants, he headed over to Cassie’s room.
“Hey sweetie, what’s wrong?” Liam asked when he entered her room.
“I’m wet and I want my mommy.” Cassie said with tears streaming down her face.
“Oh Cassie, honey, I’m sorry. I should have had you go to the bathroom before bed. I forgot. I’m sorry.” Liam said, feeling guilty.
“Let’s get you cleaned up and into some dry pajamas.”
The entire time Liam was cleaning Cassie, she was crying and just kept asking for her mommy.
Liam was almost in tears as well and just kept telling her that mommy couldn’t be here right now.
After she was dry and in clean pajamas, Cassie was still heaving from and sniffling from her breakdown.
Liam, not wanting to leave her alone tonight, said, “Hey, sweetie, you want to sleep with Uncle Liam again tonight?”
“Um, hmm.” She said, and Liam picked her up and carried her to his bedroom. Before he entered the room, he told Jack that Cassie would be sleeping with them tonight and to go ahead and get some pajama bottoms on.
Once Jack gave the ‘all clear,’ Liam came in and laid Cassie down on the bed, then crawled in between her and Jack.
Liam rolled over with his back to Jack, so he could pull Cassie to him. Jack, in turn, pulled Liam against his front.
Liam couldn’t stop feeling guilty. He felt guilty for not remembering to take Cassie to the bathroom before bed and he felt guilty for getting off and for Jack not being able to. He felt guilty because Jack’s life was also changing and it was because of him.
Jack let out a huge sigh against Liam’s ear, then said, “Liam, I’m going to go sleep downstairs on the couch.”
Liam turned his head slightly to look at Jack. “You don’t have to do that Jack. There’s plenty of room in the bed for all of us. I want you here with me tonight Jack, even if we only sleep. I’ve missed you.”
“Liam, I’ve got a raging case of blue balls right now that I really need to take care of. Besides, I don’t feel comfortable having her in our bed. We’ll talk about this tomorrow” He said, getting up and heading out of the bedroom.
After Jack left, Liam pulled Cassie a little closer to him. He couldn’t help worrying over how he and Jack were going to get through this. He couldn’t ignore Cassie, especially since she needed him more than Jack did, but he didn’t want to lose Jack either. Would it come to that, he wondered. He hoped not.
Liam continued to lie there, not sleeping, only thinking, for hours, before sleep finally did take him.
Author’s Note: I’ve received so much great feedback. Thank you all so much. I sincerely hope that the readers that took the time to review enjoyed the little treat I sent all of you. If you are interested in commenting, good or bad, you can e-mail me at myoregon12@yahoo.com
Also, I would like to thank a couple of people that have worked to help me bring this chapter to a finish. First, as always, I would like to thank Miguel Sanchez, author of
“You Can Run But You Can’t Hide” for reviewing and editing this chapter. His stories can be found on the Nifty Archive under Prolific Authors. He truly is a gifted author.
Secondly, I would like to thank Andrea for helping me with all of the information related to Rick’s Italian heritage. I’m so lucky that you happened to read my story and contact me. Thank you!