HENRI
Chapter 4
Maurice and Hank drove to the airport to pick up Tom when his flight landed. They got him situated into the front seat of Maurice's SUV and the three drove home to the Chateau Dairy Farms.
Tom had a white cane and two weeks of instruction on how to use. His therapy would start again next week and he would have to make a three hour trip to the city for counseling, therapy and medical treatment.
At the front gate, Maggie was waiting for them. She kissed Tom on the side of the face and told him that he would be staying in Hanks old room...and Hank would take the attic.
"Maggie, if it is OK with you and Maurice...until I adjust...could Hank stay in his own room...and I would just stay there with him..? Until I get used to the white cane and the layout of the house again...I am going to need some help getting to the bathroom."
"Well of course dear...what ever you want. Hank won't mind a bit, will you?"
"Not at all. It's good to have you home with us again," Hank responded.
"Maurice, I should have listened to you. There is no use kicking ourselves for past mistakes now...but you were right and I was wrong...and I want you to know that I am man enough to admit it."
Maurice went over to his younger brother and gave him a light Dutch rub on his scalp...before thinking that it might be painful yet...but Tom never flinched nor made a peep. He extended his hand and Maurice shook it firmly.
"Tom...I wish you could have come home under different circumstances...but I am glad to have you here with us again."
"Thanks," he said...and smiled...setting everyone more at ease.
At dinner, Tom asked Hank to describe the table setting layout...so he would know where the eating utensils were. His beverage was at the 2 O' Clock position by his plate. It seemed strange to describe it as such, but knowing before hand kept Tom from knocking over his glass. During the meal...he would ask Hank many times how far to reach and in which direction.
It was nearly 9:00 PM when the table was cleared, dirty dishes were placed in the dishwasher...and after sitting to visit for quite a time...Tom announced that he was really tired and needed to get some sleep. Maurice walked him to Hank's room and told him good night.
"I'll turn your care over to Hank now, Tom. If you need anything in the night and Hank can't take care of it...send him to fetch me...and I will come help."
"Thanks, Maurice. I think Hank and I can take it from here. Good night."
"Hank, if you can take my clothing as I remove it and lay it across the chair near by...and then guide me to the bath room...I think when I get back... I will be ready to sack out."
"Sure thing," Hank responded.
Tom stepped out of his uniform and socks...and pulled his tee shirt over his head and passed them to Hank. He sat there for a minute trying to decide whether or not to take off his boxers. He had to wear them while in the military...and had gotten used to it...but now, he stood up...and pushed them down...kicking them in the direction of Hank's voice.
On the return from the bath room...Hank led him to his old side of the bed and then helped him get between the sheets and settle back. Hank went around to his own side...peeled off all of his clothes and also slid in between the sheets. He turned the knob on the lamp and plunged the room into total darkness.
"Slide over here kid...and put your head on my shoulder," said Tom...and Hank did not waste any trouble doing just that.
"I have missed you Hank. It sure is good to be home and to feel your body close to mine again."
Tom ran his right hand through Hank's hair and over his face.
"Still as handsome as when I left,' he said as he maneuvered around Hanks nose and chin and ears. "It is so good to touch you and feel you next to me."
He ran his hands over Hank's chest, pinched him lightly on the nipples, moved down to put his finger in his belly button and then down to run his fingers through the abundant brown pubic hair. Hank started getting an erection. Tom massaged his cock with his fingers, then rolled his balls around in his hand. He moved down a ways onto the hair on his upper thighs.
"You've grown," He said.
"I have," Hank affirmed. "You said I would, you know."
Tom moved his hand back to Hank's cock and put his fingers around it and just held them there. Hank was hard as a rock.
"I sure would like to spend more time with that monster all over me Hank, but I am just too damn tired this evening. Will you forgive me if I put this reconnoiter on hold till morning?"
"That's OK, Tom. As good as it feels...I can wait. You sleep. We will amuse each other in the morning." Hank turned and kissed his uncle on the side of his cheek...and Tom pulled him close and kissed his forehead and then kissed him on the lips. Hank returned his head to Tom's out stretched arm, turned on his left side, and scooted back against him...and went to sleep.
. . . . . . .
Maggie had fixed a large country breakfast for them. Hank came down the stairs with Tom holding onto the banister railing on one side and holding onto Hank on the other. He had learned to count the steps so that he was not so likely to miss a step and take a fall. It was about 8:00 AM. Hank and Tom had woken up early and had had a shower. Hank had gotten into the shower with him to keep him from slipping and taking a fall. He had helped him dress. And now the two were ready to chow down on some breakfast.
Tom ate a healthy helping of everything. He said that it was funny how getting home improved one's appetite. In the military, he said everyone was always hungry after an early morning work out...and then he blushed.
He hoped that his comment did not suggest that he had had any kind of work out before breakfast this morning. He and Hank had had a very good work out. He had not had any sexual encounters since he joined the military and he was not used to spending a half hour on his hands and knees while someone else penetrated him. The sensation was so good...that he did not want his orgasm and ejaculation to come as quickly as it did. Hank had not hosted anyone of Tom's size other than Pete, since he left...and in Tom's zeal to get in and get going...he now was a bit sore from the hurried entry...even though the end results were spectacular.
It was time for Hank to go to school. He didn't want to ...but Tom insisted that he get going. He would see him when he got home this evening after working at the store. Tom talked with Maggie most of the day as she went about her chores and preparations for the evenings supper. She related to Tom about Hank's faint at the Loggins' and how it was brought on by him being over wrought with fear when they had not heard from him during the three week silence. She told him Pete Loggins had taken care of Hank and even worked for him at the store...sending his money to Pete so he would think that his salary was not altered because of the accident. She told him of Pete inviting Hank to the university for a week end...and how he returned better contented for all their talking about him.
"All the time you were gone...it was you that Hank thought about. He talked of little else but your safe routine. You know...it might be time for you to tell him the truth," she said.
"I don't think that is a good idea Maggie. I can't risk hurting him...and it would kill me if he turned against me," he answered her back. "No... I can't do it...at least not for some time."
"OK dear...but at some point...he deserves to know."
"I know...but promise me that you and Dad will let me tell him."
She did not respond back...just smiled and resumed her work.
Tom stood up and with his white cane...tapped his way to the front door and went out to sit in the porch swing and enjoy the morning air. He could not see the lay of the land...but the air smelled of cows and the juniper evergreens that surrounded the large porch.
. . . . . . . .
Thanksgiving was getting closer. Pete would be coming home on Wednesday for a four day break from college. Hank could hardly wait to see him. There was much to talk about. Marietta was also looking forward to her brother's return and was hoping that Tim Kotter would be coming with him...but the Kotter's were having their own family celebrations and Tim was expected to be there. So Pete caught the train for home and arrive on Wednesday afternoon. He asked Hank to meet him at the train station.
"Pete...it is so damn good to see you again. I have been excited to tell you all that has happened at the farm since I saw you back in September."
"That goes double for me Hank. I wanted you to meet the train so that I could talk to you about an idea I have," he responded back. "What is the chances of you getting Friday after `bird-day' free and the two of us go over to the lake house for the day. My family is going to be hosting my grandparents and several aunts and uncles...and Marietta has been invited to go shopping with Peg Paisley for the day. I would like for us to just go hang out at the lake house...what do you think?"
"Sure sounds great. Will your folks care." Hank asked?
"No...the place needs to be cleaned up...the patio furniture put away for the winter and the house winterized. I thought we could tend that...and still have some time to spend together," Pete suggested.
"I'd like that. Let's plan on it. My uncle Tom will be busy with the family who will be at our house for a few days...so there should not be any problem with me getting away for a few hours."
"That's great," Pete replied.
"Let's go get some burgers at the diner...and then I'll drive you home."
"Fantastic...both of them," he said, "Let's get going."
. . . . . . . .
The Thanksgiving Day Celebration in the Chateau family was a big affair with a lot of the extended family present. The weather had turned remarkably cooler...much like an early preview of winter. A fire was burning in the fireplace in the living room and another one in the fire place in the dinning room. The atmosphere was cheery.
During the dinner that Maggie had prepared, the conversation turned to things that we are most thankful for. In turn, each told of the blessings they had had during the last year. When it came around to Hank...he said that he was most thankful for the safe return of his Uncle Tom Chateau from Desert Storm. When it was time for Tom to share his thoughts he said, " I am thankful for my family...all of you and for the good care you have given me."
Desserts were passed around...and the favorite seemed to be Maggie's Pecan Pie. Lunch took a couple of hours from start to finish. By the time it was done...the men adjourned to the living room to watch a football game...and the older ones to drift off into a nap...the kind that comes upon one from having too much to eat.
"Hank," said Tom...will you help me get upstairs. "As much as I would like to listen to the football game...I think a nap would suit me better right now."
"Sure thing," Hank responded. He took his uncle to the stairs and helped him get his foot on the first step...and up they want...counting the steps.
"What you going to do with your afternoon Hank," Tom asked.
"Dunno, may be stretch out here with you," he said and patted Tom on the butt.
Hank kicked off his shoes and started to pull his shirt over his head but Tom stopped him.
"Listen kid, I have something to talk to you about. Sit down."
"That sounds ominous...is something wrong?"
"Good job Hank...your vocabulary is really improving. I am impressed."
"That's well and good, but what do you want to talk about," Hank queried?
TOM TELLS THE TRUTH
"I wish I could ask you not to over react, but that would be kind of silly. I don't want to hurt you or have you think that I have perpetuated a lie and withheld facts...which I have.., but most of all, I don't want you to turn away from me," Tom told him.
"Shit...what did you do...rob a bank when you were overseas," Hank asked, chuckling.
"Hank...I am not your uncle. And Maurice is not my brother."
"Yeah, sure," Hank answered back, "what's the punch line Tom?"
"No...I'm not bull-shitting you kid. I have kept this from you too long...and you are old enough to know the truth. Maggie and Maurice agree with me...and they think I am the one who should tell you this."
Hank's face went instantly sober. "Go on."
"Maurice is my dad. The same as he is yours. You and I are half brothers. He got my mom pregnant when they were seniors in high school. She wouldn't marry him. She took me and left the area. Dad..., Maurice...married Maggie several years later and you were born a year and a half after that. When you were five...we moved back into the state...and my mother started letting me come to visit. We thought it best if you thought I was your uncle...and so the family went along with the lie...because we thought we were protecting you from embarrassment. Mom died just before I graduated from college. We told you that I went to school on scholarships...but Maurice paid for all my college expenses and that is why he and Maggie have had a struggle with the farm. That's why he wanted me to come live on the farm and work for him. He paid me a lot more than a common field hand...because I was his son too. The more time I spent with you...the more I wanted to spend with you. You became my little brother. You
were my little brother. I learned that I loved you...oh not in a sexual sense...that came much later...but I loved being around you and trying to help you. Then when the sexual element became part of the equation...I told myself that this shouldn't be...but I couldn't help it. That is the real reason I tried to stop it the night you tried to tie me up."
Hank sat quietly and listened. His expression did not change. His countenance went just blank.
"Hank, can you forgive me for the wrongs I have perpetrated against you," he asked?
"Tom, is all of this suppose to change how I feel about you," Hank asked?
"I would hope not, but I am not omniscient," he answered back, " you are going to have to tell me."
Hank got up and walked to the other side of the bed, sat down on the edge and placed his hand over Tom's heart. "We always jokingly called each other brother. Thank you for telling me the whole story. I need to go down stairs for a bit. Will you be OK up here by yourself, for a little while?"
"Sure kid...I feel sleepy...and a little snooze will be welcome."
Hank leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, patted his shoulder and left the room.
Maurice saw him come down the stairs. Their eyes met but Hank continued to the door and went out and sat in the porch swing. The air was cold...but it felt good to escape the heat from the house.
Maggie looked at Maurice and with her head, nodded towards the door. He got up and went outside and sat down in the swing next to Hank.
"Tom told you, did he," Maurice asked?
"Yes."
"Son, I hope you don't feel betrayed...but we just couldn't find a way to tell you. Tom has always been a good boy. I wish I could have been more a part of his life...but until a few years ago...I had given up all hope of that happening. We used the uncle story to try to spare you embarrassment."
"I know Dad...and I am OK with that."
"Are you sure," Maurice asked?
"Yeah Dad. Hey, thanks for doing the right thing by Tom. He thinks the world of you," Hank answered back.
"I love him too, Son...just the way I love you...and Mom. She took him in as if he were her own."
"I know it, Dad."
Maurice stood up, "You are a bit young yet...but you will learn that there are a lot of people in this old world that have secrets, son. We are imperfect people in an imperfect world...trying to do the best we can, with what we have to work with. Does that make sense?"
"Thanks Dad...I understand."
With that thought, Maurice returned to the house.
Hank walked down the lane to the lake and sat on the beach where he and Tom had gone skinny dipping. He remembered Tom spitting into his hand and jacking him off. It had been the first time he had been stimulated to an ejaculation by someone else's hand other than his own.
Sex with your brother would be called `incest'. He was going to have to think about this.
When he got back to the house...the football game was still underway. His mom and some of the other ladies were sewing on a quilt in the den. Hank mounted the stairs to his room and found Tom asleep. He locked the door and lay down on the bed. Tom rolled over on his left side and extended his left arm. Hank re-positioned himself on his left side so he could have Tom's arm under the crook of his neck. Tom placed his right arm over Hank's shoulder and pulled him close. Hank scooted back towards him. He lay quietly next to his brother, listening to him breath.
" I love you Tom," he whispered.
Tom leaned forward and kissed the back of his neck. They slept.