James

Happy New Year!!! Hope everyone enjoyed the festivities, and isn't popping too much Tylenol today. True to my word, I have finished part 10. I hope you all enjoy this part; it was sure fun to write.

Thanks to Chris, Derek, and Wes... you guys rock.

Alex, my number one fan... happy new year. Thanks for the support.

Part X

I followed Dave through the house, and I was able to catch a brief glimpse of how nicely decorated it was. Charlotte Collins was worth her salt as a decorator, I decided. Functional yet beautiful furniture and decorations filled the rooms I passed by on the way to Dave's room. Finally we arrived at a closed door. "Okay, here we are. You ready?" Dave asked.

I smiled. I hadn't ever seen Dave this giddy before. "Sure thing, babe."

"Ooookay! Here we go." Dave threw open the door with an exaggerated flourish of his arm. I walked in to a room with sort of a grayish color to the walls with dark blue and silver accents. All the furniture in the room was dark cherry, and it was gorgeous. There were several prints on the wall, mostly of nature scenes such as beaches and mountains. On one of the walls was a huge built-in bookcase, full of books. I walked closer to see the titles. Wow, this kid must have been a major reader. Moby Dick, A Tale of Two Cities, the Iliad, and a full set of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

I turned back to the room. Several framed maps were up on the walls as well. "What are those?" I asked Dave.

Dave followed my gaze. "Oh, those are reproductions of several historical world maps. One of them represents the world as known to the Romans, another a map of the New World from around 1600."

I whistled. Damn. Hidden depths coming to light all the time. Then there was another bookshelf, but this one was used to display mementoes and trophies. I looked at the inscriptions. First team all-district football, first team all-state football. There were plenty of those. The shelf was also loaded down with pictures. Team pictures, some friends, but mostly families. My eyes caught on one picture of a younger Dave with two big guys and his parents, probably back when Dave was in high school. All the men were shirtless and Dave's mom was in short sleeves. Probably from a vacation. I took a moment to check out Dave's dad in the pic. Wow. The man looked really good, as did his sons. "Hey Dave? How old is your dad?" I asked.

"He's 54, why?"

I shook my head. "Well, if he's an indication of what I have to look forward to with you when you get that age, then I should be very happy." I shot a devilish grin to Dave.

Dave grabbed me and rubbed my head. "Hey, you aren't supposed to be looking at my dad that way! You're supposed to be looking at me that way."

I stepped back and leered at Dave. "Oh, I'm always thinking of you that way."

Dave grinned. "Oh, you are so gonna get it." He grabbed me and started tickling me. I shrieked in laughter and tried to get out of his grip, but he just tightened up his arms. "You aren't getting away that easily." He kept it up. Soon, tears were rolling down my face and I was could barely breathe, I was laughing so hard. I tried to pull out of his arms, and ended up pulling us both down onto the bed, him on top of me.

We laid that way for a few minutes as we both caught our breath. Then our eyes met, and he pulled me to him again and leaned down to softly kiss me.

"Ahem."

We both looked up to see Dave's mom standing in his doorway, a disapproving frown on her face. I pulled out of Dave's arms and started stammering. "Oh, Mrs.... umm... ma'am... umm, Mrs. Collins, I am so sorry... ummm..."

She held up her hand. "No, don't say anything." She walked into the room and focused her glare on her son. Then her face cracked and she broke into laughter. "Oh, if you could have seen your faces," she said as she held her sides. I grinned. I was definitely going to like this woman.

Dave just glared back. Then he looked at me. "Great. Now I'm going to get it from two sides this weekend." He got up and walked over to where his mother had dropped his bag.

Charlotte looked at me. "Oh, do you tease him too?"

I smiled and nodded. "Every chance I get. It's hard to get him to loosen up and not take himself so seriously."

Charlotte sighed and smiled over at her youngest son, who had come up next to her. "Well, he's always done that. My ultra-serious baby. He was forty before he was twelve." She pulled him down and kissed him on the cheek. Then she started toward the door. "David, your father is bringing up the other two bags." She stopped. "I assume you two are both sleeping in here?"

Dave and I looked at each other. I said "no" at the same time he said "yes." We both laughed. I turned to Charlotte. "Well, I don't want to do anything to make you uncomfortable. If you would prefer I slept in another room..."

"Oh no," Charlotte said. "It's no problem at all. Tanner brought Dana home when they were dating and they slept in his room together. It's no big deal with us. You do whatever you feel like, sweetie." She smiled warmly at me before walking out of the room.

I turned to Dave. "Dude, your mom is awesome."

Dave smiled fondly. "Oh yeah. She's always been that way. Except those few times when she was paddling us for some reason or another."

Just then Dave's dad walked in the room, carrying the rest of the bags. He dropped them next to the bed, then looked at the two of us. "You two both sleeping in here?"

I looked at Dave, then back at Larry. "Umm, yeah, I guess so."

He looked at me, then at Dave, then gave a curt nod. He turned and walked out.

I stared at the empty doorway then turned to Dave. "Dude, I think your Dad isn't happy about us sleeping together."

Dave laughed. "Nah, I know my dad. He's just bullshitting you. Trust me, he won't care. I wish I had a buck for every time Dana slept in the same room with Tanner."

I frowned. "Yeah, well, maybe this is a bad idea. I don't want to mess up..."

Dave grabbed my arm. "James, come on. You won't mess anything up. There's no way. Let me tell you about the time Tanner brought Dana here for Mom and Dad's anniversary."

I sat down on Dave's bed. "Okay."

"It was in September. Tanner was still in school, and he and Dana had gotten engaged not too long before. She came home for the party."

"Right."

"Well, one night we're all peacefully sleeping, then we hear a loud BAM from Tanner's room. You see, all our bedrooms are over here. Mom and Dad's room is on the other side of the house. Tanner's room still has hardwood floors."

I was beginning to see where this was going. "Go on," I said as I started to smile.

"Well, Joe and I are out in the hallway trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. As soon as our doors open, Tanner sticks his head out his door; he was trying to see if anyone noticed. He said, Oh shit, you heard that.' Joe said, Fuck yeah we heard it! What the hell was that?' Just then, here comes Mom and Dad from their room, running. Mom runs up and says, `What the hell was that?' By this time, I was starting to laugh, because I could see something they couldn't."

I grinned. "What?"

"I could see Tanner's bare ass from my vantage point. I didn't see Dana, but I did see Tanner's bed. It was all messed up, and the mattress and box springs were on the floor. They had broken the damn slats!"

I burst out in hysterics. "Oh no! Noooo! God, that's awful!"

Dave started laughing even harder than me. "Yeah! Now picture this. Mom is in her robe, Dad in pajama bottoms, and Joe and me in our underwear. Tanner is bare-ass naked, trying to keep the door in front of him to hide it. I hear Dana in the bedroom saying, Oh my God, oh my God!' over and over again. Everyone is talking at once until they notice me laughing my ass off. Dad pushes his way over to where I am and looks in. I just point. Tanner gives up trying to hide it and opens the door. Dad just stands in the doorway staring. Tanner gets his underwear on just as Mom comes to the door. All she does it put her hand to her mouth and say, Oh my!' Joe follows Dad into the room and he just grins. Then he walks over to Tanner, claps him on the back, and says `Dude! Sweet!'"

I was rolling on the bed. "Oh no..."

"Gets better. Dad is standing there, just staring at the broken-down bed. Then Joe noticed what was on the nightstand. An open economy-sized box of condoms. Mom hadn't come in yet, so he just grabbed them and tossed them to me, and I tossed them to Tanner, who hid them behind his back. Then Mom comes in. She looks at the bed, then looks at Tanner, then to Dana who is cowering over in the corner, to Dad, then to me. She just shakes her head and then looks back at Tanner, whose face now looks like a boiled lobster.

"She goes, `Messed up sheets, a broken down bed, and this.' She bent down and picked up an open condom wrapper. Joe guffawed and grinned back at Tanner. Tanner just looked at the floor, mumbling. Dana was absolutely mortified. Mom just shook her head and walked out. I looked at Tanner, who was still staring at the floor, then at Dana, who by now was almost in tears. I was trying to think of something to say when we all heard it: Mom, out in the hallway, laughing her ass off!"

I wiped the tears from my eyes. "I probably would have been, too!"

"Dude, you'll understand when you meet Tanner. He's so proper, so solid, so upright. You'd never expect something like that to happen to him! It was so much funnier because it was him. If it were Joe, no one would have batted an eyelash because he pulls crazy stunts all the time. And it was so out of character for me that if it had been me, they would have had me undergoing psychological testing."

I grinned. "If they only knew."

Dave laughed. "Yeah, well. So, we all just pick the mattress and box springs off the floor. Turns out the slats weren't broken, they had just been pushed upward and fell because of the... the..." Dave broke down for a minute. "The forward rocking of the bed as they..." Then he broke down totally. I followed him, and for about a minute straight we laughed. "So, dude," he said as he caught his breath, "you don't even have to worry about them being upset over us sleeping together. After that, nothing fazes them."

I sighed, chuckled a little more, then smiled. "Okay, cool."

Just then, Dave's mom called up to us. "Boys, come on down for a snack."

Dave pulled me up and kissed me lightly on the lips, then we walked down to the kitchen.

Dave's mom had some sandwich meat laid out. "Help yourselves. James, you'd better go before our human disposal does if you want some food," she said with a nudge for her youngest son. Dave shot his mom a dirty look.

I smiled at both of them. "I learned that a long time ago, ma'am. Never get between Dave and food unless you want to lose a limb."

"Hey!" Dave protested. "Who said it was Gang Up on Dave Day?"

"It's always that around here, or have you forgotten your entire childhood?" Larry droned from behind a newspaper. Charlotte walked over and grabbed it out of his hands. "Hey!"

"Your youngest son and his boyfriend are here for a visit, Larry. Politeness?" she reminded him. He frowned.

I looked over at Dave, who was constructing a big sandwich. He just smiled and looked fondly at his parents. "Oh, they're like this all the time. Just let them bicker."

Charlotte practically sailed around her kitchen. "Oh yes, let us bicker. It's a sign of affection in our family." She walked out into the living room.

Larry shook her head. "She's been sailing around like that all morning." He looked up at us. "She's glad to have her boys coming home, I guess."

I smiled. "I can understand that. Where are all of them, anyway?"

Larry leaned back. "Well, Tanner is about 30 miles away with his family. Joe is stationed in Virginia. You know where Dave is."

Dave grinned. "And as far as the bickering goes, you haven't seen anything yet. Wait until Joe gets here and starts needling everyone." He and Larry both rolled their eyes at the same time. I laughed around my sandwich.

We sat there, eating and drinking coffee for about ten minutes. Dave and I filled in his dad on our studies and chatted about current events. Then politics came up. I was surprised to learn Larry was a die-hard Democrat. "I would have figured that you would be a Republican, coming from the Army," I said.

Larry made a face. "Yeah, well, common misconception. I figure a man has the right to believe how he wants, and I don't follow all that right-wing shit."

I looked at Dave. I like this man, I thought. I don't really let politics have a big place in my life, but I have my political opinions like everyone else.

Larry went on. "You know, I figure those assholes in the GOP were thinking that all us Army guys would fall in line for ol' Bush before the election just because he wants a stronger military. That's bullshit. I like the stronger military idea, but not out of the mouth of Howdy Doody. You can practically see Cheney and his daddy behind him pulling the strings. Now, don't get me wrong. I respect Bush, and I respect Cheney. They were both fine leaders on some points, but I don't like the way they want this country to go. I dont know how this thing in Florida is going to turn out, but Im still holding out some hope for Gore."

I grinned. Definitely a die-hard Democrat. "How do you feel about all the stuff that's been said about Gore's military record in Vietnam, being a Vietnam vet and all?"

Larry snorted. "That's another load of shit, the way I see it. I don't care if they told the leaders not to put Gore near action, and I don't care if he didn't serve as long as everyone else. Far as I'm concerned, at least he went over there, unlike some people. I remember when George Bush picked Dan Quayle as a running mate, there was all this hoopla about him getting a National Guard deferment. Now where are those same people when it comes out that W got the same thing? Stupid people. At least he went over there and knows what it was like to be there."

Dave and I both nodded. Larry Collins was a man of strong opinions, and I could see him in his son. Dave wasn't outspoken about his feelings a lot, but I knew he sure had them. I figured this was a formidable man, and I hoped to never be on the other side of a debate with him.

Just then we heard a honk from outside. Charlotte came running in. "Tanner's here!"

Larry jumped up and followed his wife outside. Dave held out his hand to me, and I grabbed on. We walked out the back door together.

In the driveway sat a gray Grand Cherokee. Standing next to the back door was a pretty blond woman who was removing a sweet, and equally blond little girl from her seat belt. When she removed her, the woman picked her up and turned her around. The little girl waved and yelled out, "Grandma!"

The woman set her down and she ran to Charlotte, who picked her up and hugged her. "Aww, hello precious. How are you?"

"Fine," the little girl giggled. She was a cutie. She had the eyes that I was beginning to think of as a Collins family trait, a deep, expressive blue.

The young woman walked up to us. She looked tired, but she smiled. "Hello, Larry," she said as Larry gave her a big hug.

"How are you Dana?" he asked as he let her loose.

"Tired," she said as she yawned.

"Long trip?" he asked, grinning.

Dana rubbed her eyes. "No, but any trip is long when you've got two kids in the car."

"I heard that!" The voice belonged to a big guy who was walking around from the back of the Jeep with several bags in his big hands. My eyes widened. This must be the famous Tanner, I thought. Wow. Muscular hunks must run in the family. Tanner Collins had thick brown hair which was done in a brush cut, and bright blue eyes. He looked like a construction worker in his tight blue jeans, flannel shirt, and goatee.

Charlotte put Dana down and gave her eldest son a hug. "Welcome home, sweetheart," she said.

Tanner sighed. "Good to be here, Mom." He turned to his Dad, who pulled him into a huge bear hug. "Oof! Watch the ribs, Dad!" I laughed, remembering what it felt like to be in the vise of Larry Collins' arms. Tanner then noticed me. "Hello," he said. Here goes, I thought.

Charlotte turned around. "David? Your guest?"

Dave grinned sheepishly. "Right. Dana, Tanner, this is James, my boyfriend. James, this is Tanner, my oldest brother, his wife Dana, and their beautiful little girl Kristen."

I smiled as I reached out to shake hands. "Pleased to meet you," I said to Tanner. He smiled and took my hand in a bone crushing grip. I pulled my hand back and shook it out a little, then I offered it to Dana. She shook my hand firmly as well, but without putting me in danger of losing some bones.

Then I bent down to Kristen. We shook. "Pleased to meet you, too," she said with an air of importance. I offered her a short bow.

Everyone laughed. This kid was going to be quite the charmer. I stood off to the side as Dave hugged his brother, sister-in-law, and niece. Then Larry picked up his granddaughter and took her into the house for a snack. Charlotte took Dana inside for a cup of coffee, leaving Tanner, Dave, and me outside.

Tanner looked from Dave to me and back again. "Hmm," he said.

Dave frowned. "What?"

Tanner cocked his head. "Well, I was just wondering something."

"What?" Dave asked again, impatiently.

Tanner paused. "Well, who's the woman?"

We stood there for about ten seconds while the words hung in the air. Dave started to get this pissed look on his face, but I was trying my hardest to keep from breaking up. Finally, I couldn't stand it. I burst out laughing. I weaved on my feet, I was laughing so hard. When I finally regained my senses, Tanner was looking at me with a huge grin on his face, and Dave was looking at me like I had sprouted horns. "What's so fucking funny?" Dave spat.

I giggled again. "Come on, Dave! He's putting you on. Can't you tell?"

Dave looked at his brother, then back at me. "You mean..."

Tanner choked. "Of course I'm putting you on, dumbass! I'm not stupid!"

Tanner and I laughed while Dave got this look of utter bewilderment on his handsome face. Finally Tanner walked over and slapped his brother on the shoulder. "Lighten up, runt!" He turned to me. "He takes himself so seriously, doesn't he?"

I grinned. "Yeah, we're working on it."

Tanner turned to his brother. "I like him, runt. Keep him."

Dave turned to his brother. "Don't call me runt, shitbreath, or we'll have a repeat of Christmas 94." Tanner dropped his hand.

"What happened in Christmas 94?" I wondered aloud.

Dave grinned as his brother blushed. "The first Christmas Tanner brought Dana home, he was especially obnoxious to Joe and me. He ragged on us all night that first night, showing off for his girlfriend and all that. We decided to get him back the next day by telling every single embarrassing story we could think of, and also brought out pictures. Remember, Tanner? The first picture was Tanner wearing this dress that our cousins put on him that belonged to our Grandma..."

"Okay, enough! I surrender! Dana still teases me about that! I don't need another new addition to the family knowing all the dirt!" Tanner threw up his hands and walked into the house. I couldn't help but notice he had the same tight ass that I so loved on Dave.

Dave walked up next to me and followed my gaze. "You wouldn't be checking out my brother's ass, would you?"

I just turned and looked into Dave's deep blue eyes. "And if I was?"

Dave smiled. "I'd just have to remind you who your boyfriend is."

"And how would you do that?"

Dave leaned in and kissed me, long and deep. I sighed and wrapped my arms around him and pulled him to me.

"David!" Charlotte's loud voice interrupted our romantic moment.

"Shit," Dave muttered. "Impeccable timing." He let me go and walked toward the door. "What?" he yelled back.

"Would you and James bring in the bags from outside? Oh, and we need to discuss who's going to go get Joe!"

Dave looked and me and gestured in surrender. I laughed and we gathered up the bags to take inside.

"So, James, how long have you and Dave been dating?" Dana asked as she held up a manicotti shell. I had volunteered to stay behind and help Charlotte and Dana fix dinner for the family while Tanner and Dave went to get their brother at the airport. Larry was in the living room playing with Kristen.

I stuffed the offered shell as we talked. "Since July," I said. "We met at a club and started going out, and it's been fairly smooth sailing ever since."

"Fairly?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

I grinned. "Well, we have our moments, like every couple. But it's been pretty smooth. The hardest part is finding time together because of school, but we manage."

Dana nodded. "I understand that. I had the same problems, except for me it was school, with Tanner it was getting him away from his frat brothers. You remember some of them, Charlotte?" Charlotte answered with a snort. Dana looked up at me as she held up another shell. "Most obnoxious group of guys ever."

I laughed. "What did they do? The usual drunken fratboy behavior?"

She rolled her eyes. "You name it, they did it. Farting contests, drinking out of funnels, belching, and of course hitting on every girl that came within a hundred-mile radius."

Charlotte stopped stirring the sauce for a minute. "It got to the point where I stopped going in there when Tanner lived there. Larry and I would go for a visit, and I would stay outside until Larry could get Tanner to come out. No way would I step in there. I think I could have gotten a disease just by walking on the carpet."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Dana said with a shake of her head. She looked up at me. "Dave wouldn't go in there either. He said something once about Tanner living with a group of obnoxious bratty assholes and that he would never go back when he stormed out after a visit. Joe would just go in and stir up trouble, like saying stuff about their biggest rivals on campus and stuff. That part was fun, at least."

We stuffed more shells, tossed salad, made garlic bread, and basically had a great time for the next thirty minutes. I was laughing and talking and sharing stories with the two Collins women in the kitchen, and I was amazed at how quickly I was accepted into their family. Without a word or even a strange glance, they just pulled me right in. I felt a glow and warmth I hadn't felt in a long time, at least since I had left my family. I had a brief flash back to the last Thanksgiving I had spent with them, before they even knew about anything that was going on. I had still been in high school. We had all sat around the table filled with food, all my brothers and sisters, and it had been wonderful. I didn't have any idea of the heartbreak and pain that would come just a few months later. A pang of intense sadness came to me again and tears filled my eyes.

Dana noticed my face and came over. She put her hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asked with concern.

I nodded. "Yeah, I will be." I turned to the two women. "Thank you."

Charlotte smiled. "For what?"

"For being so accepting."

Charlotte made a gesture as if to wave it off. "Think nothing of it, young man. Dave loves you, and that's all I need to know." With that she turned back to the bread she was putting in the oven to warm.

Dana smiled and hugged me. "Same for me, James."

I grinned. "Thanks." I looked around. "Anything else that I can do to help out?"

Charlotte didn't even look up from the salad she was preparing. "Not a thing. Dana and I can take care of the table."

I didn't make any protests. I figured any protest I made would get nowhere with this woman. She had been the lone female in a house full of big strong men for years, and she left no doubt who was in charge. I really liked this woman. I impulsively walked up and gave her a kiss on the cheek before I walked out. She giggled. "You're sweet. Now scoot."

I walked into the living room just as Kristen was walking back toward the bedrooms. I sat down on the couch next to Larry's chair. "She's cute, isn't she?" he asked, looking toward the door his granddaughter had disappeared through.

I nodded my agreement. "Yes she is," I said as I settled back into the couch.

Larry leaned back. "They work you hard in there?" he asked, gesturing toward the kitchen.

I chuckled. "Nah, nothing too bad."

He snorted. "Well, don't let them if you can help it. That woman is worse than any CO I ever had on giving orders." He shook his head, but I could see the fondness in his eyes. I was quickly beginning to love this family.

"Do you love my son?"

I coughed. The remark took me totally by surprise. I looked over at Larry, who was staring at me intently. "Well, do you?"

I met his intense gaze evenly. "With all my heart, sir," I answered.

Larry held his stare. "You know how much he has been hurt."

"Yes."

Larry settled back again and took a deep breath. "James, I may appear kind of gruff and crusty sometimes, but I love my children very much. Each one of them is special to me. I've never lost a moment's sleep over Tanner. He`s always been really steady. He's a lot like me; sometimes he's a little too much like me." Larry chuckled. I waited for him to continue.

"Now, Tanner has a wonderful family and a good job, and I know he'll be okay. Then there's Joe. He's done really well for himself, going to West Point and having a good career in the Army. But, he still hasn't settled down yet. He also can have a smart mouth, and it gets him into trouble a lot. But I don't worry about him nearly as much as I worry about Dave."

I leaned in closer.

"You see, Dave isn't like the other two. Dave is more like his mom than he'll ever admit. Growing up around me and his brothers probably didn't help him, but he ran into some trouble elsewhere when he was young. He can be hurt really easily.

"You see, Dave was a really smart kid, I mean really smart. He was playing the piano by the time he was seven. Has he played for you yet?"

I shook my head. "No, but I've seen his keyboard in his apartment."

Larry smiled. "That was Charlotte's and my gift to him when he graduated from college. Like I said, smart as can be. He was always really quiet, sensitive. That's kind of a bad combination around here, where sports can mean a lot and smart boys can be looked down on."

I nodded. "I know exactly what you mean, sir. I grew up in a similar area."

Larry nodded, then turned his head to stare off into space. "Well, something happened to Dave when he was young. To this day I don't know exactly what, but something in him died, or at least got hidden really well. Knowing his mother the way I do, I suspect the latter." I knew the story, but I kept quiet. "I was proud of what he was able to accomplish, but some part of me was upset about the change in him. I knew it wasn't the real him.

"Then he went off to college, and some stuff happened there. Not with the football or grades, I'm talking about relationships. I don't know the details, and I don't need to know. I could see and hear right away how hurt he was. He's always been easily hurt.

"Now don't get me wrong, he's tough enough. He gets that honestly, but mainly from his mom. They both are good at putting up walls. I know my wife, and I know my son. Dave has been hurt a whole lot in his life, and it tears me up to see him hurt. I know it tears up his brothers and his mom as well." He looked at me intently. "I am not about to let him get hurt again."

I met his gaze with as much strength as I could. "Larry, I love your son, and I sure don't want to see him hurt," I said.

Larry smiled. "I see that son, otherwise I wouldn't be wasting my time talking to you. I can size people up pretty well, and I know your intentions are honorable. I know Dave loves you a lot. He's been happier than I've seen him in a long time over the last few months." Larry looked at his feet. "I've missed the happy little boy I had when he was little and played Jerry Lee Lewis for us. I feel like I have my happy little boy back, the way he was before he started putting up the Great Wall of China back when he was younger. Whatever it is you're doing, I'm grateful to you," he said, choking a little. I could see his eyes shimmering. Tears sprang to my eyes again. This family was so full of love and caring, it was like being under a warm blanket on a cold night.

"Thank you, sir," I said. We just sat there for a few minutes in silence. Then he sat back in his chair. He looked up at the clock. "Damn, nearly six-thirty. Wonder what the hell's keeping them? Airport isn't that far away." He looked up at me.

I knew that I had gotten a glimpse into the caring, soft heart of a man who didn't let it show to very many people. I felt blessed. I just shook my head. "Can't say, sir. Can't say."

After chatting with Larry a little more, I walked back to the bedrooms again. I stopped at the first one I found to the left, and the door was open. I flipped the light on. The room was done in browns and reds. There was a large bed in there with some bags on it. I surmised this was Tanner's room. Several flags with fraternity letters adorned the walls, along with a flag bearing the name of a regional university not far away. Several prints were on the walls like in Dave's room, except these were of deserts. The entire room had a western feel to it without all the stereotypical western stuff. Charlotte sure knew her stuff, I thought.

I flicked the light back off and walked down to the next room on the left. I opened the door and turned on the light in there. This room was done in shades of green and had a twin bed. This room was smaller than Tanner's or Dave's. I guessed this was Joe's room. It had framed pictures of cars, both old and new on the wall. One bookcase was full of model cars. Nice hobby to have, I thought.

The right side of the hall had the door to Dave's room, and another door with light coming out from under it. The bathroom, I figured. Just as I started for the door, it opened revealing Kristen. "Hi," she said brightly.

I smiled. "Hi."

She looked over her shoulder. "I'm finished if you need it."

I laughed. "No, not yet. Thank you."

She looked at me closely. "You go out with Uncle Dave?"

I nodded. "Yep."

"You aren't a girl."

I laughed. "No, I'm not."

She frowned. "Uncle Dave likes to go out with other boys?"

I nodded again.

She looked up at the ceiling in thought. It was so cute. "Sooooo... Uncle Dave is gay?"

I smiled. "Yes."

"Are you gay?"

I laughed. "Yes, I am."

She nodded. "Okay." Then she looked at me. "Are you and Uncle Dave getting married?"

I laughed again. "I don't know, sweetie."

"Do you want to?"

I whistled. "I don't know, we haven't talked about it."

She thought some more. "Do you like my daddy?"

I grinned. "Yep."

"Do you like my mommy?"

"Yep."

"Do you like Grandma and Grandpa?"

"Yes."

"Do you love my Uncle Dave?"

"Yes."

"Then what's stopping you?"

Wow, this kid asked the tough questions! I thought for a minute. Then I looked into her sweet face. "I don't know, sweetie. I guess we should get married, shouldn't we?"

She smiled. "Yep. I like you a lot. You'd be a good uncle." She jumped into my arms and hugged me.

I held onto her. Out of the mouths of babes, I thought to myself.

End of Part X

No big statements, just this... I love email! Comments welcome.