Chapter Twenty Nine - Coming Out to my Grandparents
The next couple of days went smoothly for us. Keith kept apologizing to me until I finally lost it, “Enough already! I’ve told you I’ve forgiven you for the way you treated me as many times as you have apologized. Stop apologizing, okay! You're my family and you've made amends by accepting me and Rick as a gay couple. I don’t hold grudges so let’s move on and start fresh. Okay, Keith?”
Keith hung his head and looked so dejected Rick pushed me toward him signaling I needed to give Keith some reassurance I really had forgiven him. Rick watched as I pulled Keith into a tight embrace and then put my hands up to Keith’s face to wipe away the tears, running down his cheeks.
I said softly, “What’s going to take, Keith, to make you understand I love you and want you to continue to be our best friend?”
“I don’t know Glenn. I still feel really badly about being so mean to you, especially after you confided in me about being gay and all. I need to tell you something before you decide you've really forgiven me. I told Kerry and Ruth Ann you're gay.”
“I know, Keith. Ruth Ann told me the first night she slept with me," I said. Keith's look of surprise was too much for me so I laughed. "Yes, I've known you didn't keep my so called "secret" but it didn't matter to Ruth Ann. She told me she was going to save me from being gay." Keith dropped his gaze to the floor, again.
"Obviously, it didn't work! So stop feeling bad for yourself and look me in the eye,” I demanded as I lifted Keith’s chin up so I could look him in the face. “We all make mistakes. I misjudged you, too. I thought you hated me because I was gay. So we both have had to do some soul searching. I’m sorry I reacted the way I did. What’s important is we've recognized what went wrong and have tried to make things right between us.”
Keith finally smiled and hugged me back. “Yes, I agree I need to let it go now. I love you, cousin. Thank you for sharing Rick with me. I thought I had lost him to you but instead I’ve gained him as a cousin-in-law so he’s not just a good friend but part of the family now!”
At that point, Rick took possession of me and pulled me into a tight embrace. “Since I’m part of the family now, when are we going to tell your family?” I knew this question was a litmus test to see just how much I loved Rick. Rick nervously waited for his answer as I looked intently into his eyes.
“I’m going to tell them the truth. I love you too much to try and live a lie by pretending we aren’t a couple. You are everything to me and I want them to know it. Do I want to flaunt it in their faces that we’re a couple? Probably not, but I won’t try to hide it either. Keith, you know our grandparents better than I do. How do you think they will react?”
“I don’t know cousin. I just know that they have been very support of everyone in the family, no matter what has happened,” Keith said solemnly. “But I’m not sure how Grandpa will react. I know Grandma is pretty open to new ideas and new technology but Grandpa is bit more old fashioned and doesn’t like change.”
Watching the two cousins interact with each other warmed Rick’s heart.
Rick said, “I had felt so badly about causing the hurt feelings between you two I promised myself I would do what was needed to get you guys to reconcile your differences. I’m glad we’ve been able to achieve that. Now, we just have to get past the hurdle of coming out to our families!”
We nodded our agreement. Rick continued, “I’m not sure I’m ready. Keith’s family has always been very accepting of me and my problems, especially Keith’s mom and dad. Just the thought of coming out to my parents nearly makes me want to run and hide in some dark hole somewhere and never come out. The rest of my family are pretty much red-necks and I can already predict what their reactions will be….and the thoughts of what they might do to me and Glenn if they ever found out about us have me plenty scared.”
Rick paused for a few minutes.
“Babe, what are you thinking about?” I asked. “You went off planet for a while. You're getting to be such a space cadet!”
Rick finally replied, “You seem so comfortable with who you are. I wish I could feel the same way. Having sex with a guy has been totally awesome and the love you've shown me is even better but publicly announcing we’re a couple is another thing entirely. And there’s the military question, as well, since I’m still in the Marines. I don’t think I’m quite ready to announce to the world we're life partners.”
I didn’t know what to say. I had the same concerns. At least, Rick was voicing them so we could talk about them. We haven’t really talked about how we were going to handle things about making our relationship public.
It seems that my “space cadet” comment finally registered with Rick because he exclaimed, “I’m not a space cadet! Holding you in my arms just makes me a love-struck guy who can’t wait to get your clothes off!” Rick said, laughing as he prevented me from breaking away from his embrace by putting his hands down the back of my shorts.
“See what I have to put with Keith? Rick’s only thoughts in life are how he’s going to get in my pants!” I laughed and tried to get away. “You know if you keep that up we won’t be leaving anytime soon.”
“Spoil sport! Just when I was having some fun, too! I know your Grandpa doesn’t like to be kept waiting. So are we ready to go?”
“What do you mean “my” Grandpa? He’s your Grandpa too you know. You heard Keith, you're part of the family now,” I said, leaning in close to Rick for a quick kiss.
“Okay, our Grandpa wanted us to be there before noon. If we are going to make it, we need to be leaving soon,” Rick said, pointedly moving towards the door of the apartment since I had spoiled his fun by reminding him we had an appointment to keep at my grandparents’ home. Rick knows Keith and I consider him part of the family; but we had yet to see how the rest of our family was going to react. I could tell Rick was still anxious about it.
Rick was deep in thought as he grabbed their gear and opened the door not waiting to see if Glenn was following him and climbed into his Jeep Wrangler and sat there thinking about Glenn and Keith.
“Despite my misgivings about coming out to my family, I was floating on air. I had accomplished my goal of getting Glenn and Keith to reconcile their differences and Keith finally admitted he wanted to have sex with Rick.
I had known Keith had feelings for me for years but I was too scared to act on that knowledge for fear of losing Keith’s friendship. I’m glad I waited. Even though I love Keith, I’m absolutely certain Glenn and I were meant to be soul mates.
My other head jumped to attention as I remembered fulfilling Keith’s dream of having sex with me. Who knew that having a threesome would be so hot! It made me love Glenn even more that he was willing to share me with Keith. Glenn has made it pretty clear that he wants a monogamous relationship. That’s why I was a little surprised Glenn let me have sex with Keith, but of course, Glenn did, too!
I’m glad Keith and I can both move into the next stage of our lives knowing that we love each other very much as friends but that we both have someone we love and with whom we want to spend the rest of our lives. I was very content how things had worked out the last couple of weeks. I got the most wonderful guy in the world as my life partner and managed to keep my best friend at the same time. I had hated the thought of losing my friendship with Keith but I had been willing to sacrifice that friendship for the love of my life. I was very relieved that I did not have to make that sacrifice.
My man had reaffirmed my confidence in his goodness and gentleness despite his hurt feelings. Admittedly, I gave him a lot of encouragement but I think he would have done it on his own even without my urging him to reconcile with his cousin.
It was only few minutes or so later that Glenn climbed into the passenger’s seat and snapped his seatbelt on. I leaned over and gave him a quick hug and a kiss before starting the engine. I thought about the events of the past couple of weeks and I knew I would never forget them. Just thinking about what had happened between us made me feel warm and extremely content.
I know Glenn won’t forget anything since he wrote every night in his journal….or at least attempted to write when I left him alone….hehehe (evil grin)….which wasn’t often! I have never seen anyone so dedicated to journal writing. He doesn’t know that I read some of his journal entries when I get a chance. He wrote some of the most wonderful things me that I have ever read about a person. Just knowing that he thinks so highly of me, motivates me to be a better person. Glenn has placed me on a very high pedestal. I hope I never ever disappoint him!
I glanced briefly at Glenn as I drove down the freeway towards his Grandparent’s home. He looked very happy and relaxed with the wind blowing his hair into his face as he looked out the window. It’s a sight I will not soon forget.
When I climbed in the Jeep, Rick seemed to be in a thoughtful mood so I didn’t keep a running conversation but let him have his thinking time.
After we had been on the road about an hour, I asked, “Rick what are thinking about since have been silent for so long?”
Rick didn’t answer my question directly but asked me one instead, “Are you sure you want to come out to your grandparents?”
I responded to Rick rather pensively, “I do and I don’t, Rick. I don’t want to have to hide my love for you but at the same time I don’t want to make them upset or have any bad scenes with them. I have just started to get to know them and I don’t want to lose them if they decide they can’t deal with me being with a guy. I don’t know how much my mom has told them about me and Ian. I’m very close to my Mom and she has always been there for me. Until a few months ago, my Dad didn’t want anything to do with my mother’s family. My parents had a really bad argument about letting me come to stay with my grandparents just before I left home. ”
“How long has there been a rift between your parents and you grandparents?”
“Since before I was born. I don’t know what happened but I know whatever it was caused my Dad to cut off all contact with my Mom’s family. Mom has always called her parents while Dad was out working on the farm and she never talked about them in front of him. Sometimes she would get really sad and I would ask her about it but Mom would just say, “It will be okay,” and change the subject.”
Rick heard the distress in my voice as I related to him the memories of my mom’s suffering. Rick quickly glanced over at me and noted the deep sadness reflected on my face. Rick so wanted to erase that sadness. Rick redirected the conversation by repeating his question, “So what are we going to do when we get to your grandparents?”
“I don’t know, Rick. Let’s just play things by ear and see how it goes, okay,” I responded.
Rick changed the subject at that point to try and lighten the mood in the Jeep. He started telling red-neck jokes which had me laughing so hard I had tears running down my cheeks. He avoided any serious subjects the rest of the trip.
We pulled into my grandparents’ driveway a few hours later. Rick stopped the engine and hopped out to grab our things. “Glenn, I’ve got our stuff. I’ll catch up to you in a second.” I nodded my acknowledgement and headed towards the house.
My grandma opened the door just as I reached it. She pulled me into a fond embrace and then held me at arms’ length as she looked Rick up and down as he came up the steps with our bags. “Well, well, well. You seem very happy today! In fact, you seem to be beaming. You will have to tell me what’s made you so happy. When you left here a few weeks ago, you seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders!”
“I am very happy, Grandma. I’ve found a new best friend. Have you met Rick?” I asked Grandma.
“Yes, I have Glenn. Your cousin, Keith, has brought Rick here on a number of occasions. It’s good to see you, again, Rick.”
Rick sat our bags down and reached out his hand to shake hers. Much to my surprise, she pulled Rick into a warm embrace. “Thank you for making Glenn happy. He deserves to be happy don’t you agree?” she said, looking up at Rick.
“I do and believe me when I say it’s been my pleasure,” Rick said, grinning from ear to ear. I glared at Rick trying to get him to shut up. I didn’t need Rick sharing anything embarrassing with my Grandma! Grandma released Rick and turned to go back to go inside the house.
“Take your things up to your room, Rick. It’s the room next to Keith’s room. Glenn’s room is the one directly across from Keith’s,” Grandma directed.
Rick’s face showed his internal struggle, not knowing just how much to reveal about his relationship with Glenn. Since Keith had brought him here several times over the last year to visit, he’d always had his own room, but this time he wanted to keep his lover near him, so before Glenn’s grandma had crossed the threshold, Rick decided to take a big chance and asked, “Can I stay with Glenn in his room instead of my usual room,” hoping he wasn’t going to upset me for asking to share my room.
Rick looked over at me. I wasn’t upset with Rick, but I wasn’t sure how Grandma was going to react. I returned his gaze hoping that she’d say, “Yes,” so we wouldn’t have to sneak around trying to hide that we were a couple. Rick looked terrified. I hoped she would agree without making an ugly scene.
My grandma gave Rick and me a very penetrating look but didn’t say anything for a moment. I thought for sure we’d really made a huge mistake. Everything I knew about my grandma told me she’s very much aware of what’s going on around her. From her look, I’m sure she had already picked up on the fact Rick and I are more than just friends. I looked over at Rick to see he was getting really nervous and I hoped he hadn’t overstepped any boundaries with Grandma.
I breathed a sigh of relief when she finally said, “It’s okay with me if it’s okay with Glenn.” She turned and looked at me for confirmation. I quickly nodded my head as a look of relief spread across Rick’s face. He looked over at me with a smile. Well, that was one hurdle we’d gotten past!
“Okay, show Rick to your room and both of you wash up and come back down for lunch. Your Grandpa is eager to put you both to work.”
Rick grabbed our bags and we sprinted up the stairs to my room. As we entered my room, I grabbed Rick around the waist. “You are one crazy dude! You have got some pretty big balls to be asking my Grandma to stay in my room!”
“Are you mad at me for asking,” Rick said, as he dropped our bags on the floor and pulled me closer to him.
“No, but there for a moment I wasn’t’ sure what Grandma was going to say. I think she knows we're more than just friends. Maybe my Mom has talked to her about Ian. Grandma met Ian when they came up for my graduation from high school a couple of months ago. Ian and I weren’t exactly discreet when it came to showing our affection for each other in front of family,” I said, smiling up at Rick.
“So you’re okay with me holding your hand or kissing you front of your family?” Rick asked, already knowing the answer.
“I would be upset if you tried to hide the fact we love each other. I’m not into hiding who I am just to please other people. Its time people started to accept us for who we are: normal human beings who are in love with each other,” I said heatedly.
Pulling away from me, I opened my closet door and showed Rick where to hang up our clothes and pointed to the dresser, “The drawers on the left side are all empty so pick the ones you want.”
After we put away our clothes and took a few minutes in the bathroom to freshen up, Rick pulled me onto the bed and started kissing me. His manly scent really turns me on. The feel of his skin is wonderful.
“Why is your skin so smooth lover boy?” Rick asked, caressing my bare chest under my shirt with one hand and running his other hand up and down my nearly hairless leg below my shorts.
“I don’t know. I’ve never had much body hair and my skin has always been nice and smooth. My Mom says I have her olive complexion and good skin. I’ve never had problems with acne or anything like that. My Dad teases me sometimes I have a baby face since I’ve never had to shave my face, yet. It used really bother me because my brothers started shaving when they were about 16 years old and by age 18 had hair on their chests. They take after my Dad in that respect. I feel I’m just not manly enough for them sometimes,” I said, with a hint of sadness in my voice. “They have always teased me about the fact I’d remain my mom’s baby boy forever since I’ve never grown much hair on my body.”
“You’re just fine for me, Mr. Nielsen. I like you just the way you are,” Rick said, running his hands gently down my back and inside my shorts. He pushed a finger inside me which caused my dick to jump in response. If he kept that up I was going to shoot.
“Rick stop or we won’t make to down to lunch!” I exclaimed, giving him another kiss.
Rick gave an evil laugh and gave me his most lecherous grin and said, “And what is wrong with that?”
“Nothing except you will invoke our Grandma’s wrath if we don’t hurry up and go downstairs,” I said, laughing as I managed to escape from his embrace and roll out of bed. I looked back at Rick still laying on the bed and stuck my tongue out at him. “Race you down the stairs!”
With that challenge, I started for the door. Before I had a chance to open it, Rick was up off the bed and crossed the distance between us and pinned me against the door as his mouth covered mine. I tried to resist him at first, but soon surrendered to Rick as he knew I would. He knows me so well now. His body molded to mine as we continued making out. Rick knew we were supposed to go downstairs soon, but he couldn’t resist teasing me, especially since he knows I want him as much as he wants me.
“Rick, I love you. Let’s go downstairs, please….we can make out later, okay? I promise,” I begged him. As it was, his steady stroking of my dick through the fabric of my shorts had me leaking pre-cum.
Rick relented. “Okay, but I will hold you to that promise lover boy,” he said, with a grin and released me.
“You know I can’t resist you,” I said, as I took his hand in mine as we entered the kitchen where we could hear Grandma talking with Grandpa.
As soon as Grandpa saw us he said, “Rick it’s good to see you, again,” as he reached out to shake Rick’s hand. Glancing down to where Rick held my hand, he said, “I see my grandson has discovered what a fine young man you are. I hope you will take very good care of him.” Grandpa looked Rick in the eyes, expecting a positive response, as he continued to grip his right hand.
“You have my word on it, Grandpa. I love Glenn very much and will do my best to make him happy,” Rick responded. Rick looked over to see a stunned look on my face. I didn’t expect my Grandpa to be so understanding or accepting of us as a couple. I just stared at Grandpa.
Grandpa let go of Rick’s hand and turned to pull me into an embrace. “Glenn I couldn’t be happier you chose Rick as your partner. You mother has told us about Ian and what happened right after graduation. I wish you had come to us so we could have helped you. No one should be treated so shabbily! I understand why you didn’t confide in us about what had happened, but I want you to know that you can come to us anytime you need to talk.”
I wouldn’t look up at Grandpa. I didn’t know that Mom had told my grandparents about Ian. Grandpa put his hand under my chin, lifting it until I met his gaze. He continued, “Your Mom asked us to watch over you. She was worried about you. But from the looks of things, she doesn’t have to worry anymore. “ Grandpa smiled down at me and released me.
I had tears in my eyes upon hearing Grandpa’s acceptance of our relationship. Rick put his arm around me to reassure me, as a tear escaped and ran down my cheek. “It’s okay Glenn.”
I smiled up at Rick. “I’m crying because I’m so happy. I was afraid Grandma and Grandpa wouldn’t accept me for who I am. It’s such a relief to know I don’t have to worry about them judging me for loving you.”
Grandma came over and pulled me into her arms. “Listen to me Glenn. We aren’t here to judge or condemn you. We love you and want you to be happy. It doesn’t matter what our personal feelings might be, what’s important is that you are being true to yourself and to your partner. I’ve seen a lot of changes in our society during the course of my many years so nothing surprises me anymore. But one thing has remained constant and that is the love we have for each other. I expect you and Rick to treat each other with respect and love. I have particularly high standards regarding fidelity in a relationship so don’t ever disappoint me by being unfaithful to him. I don’t have any patience for any kind of mental, emotional or physical abuse either. Just so we are clear about things. As proxy for your Mom and Dad, I just want to make sure you both understand what your Grandpa and I expect from you both.”
Grandma looked over at Rick to make sure he understood and agreed to what she had just said.
Rick responded, “Yes, Grandma I understand and promise I’ll never disappoint you. I love Glenn very much and I know he loves me the same way.”
I spoke up, “Rick’s right. I do love him very much and I promise you I will do my best to make him happy.”
I could hear the relief in my voice as well as the happiness I felt knowing my grandparents were very open to the idea of us being a couple. I know Rick feels the same way! In fact, it totally blows my mind! I hadn’t expected them to be so accepting of our choice to be together. It kind of scared me in a way because they had made it clear we were to behave like any other committed couple! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised they wanted us to be faithful to each other. It only makes sense that if they accepted us as a couple they would also expect us to honor that commitment.
I took Rick’s hand, again, as Grandma released me from her embrace. I felt all warm and tingly inside. I felt like a huge load had been lifted off my shoulders. I pulled Rick over the table and we sat down next to each other. We ate a quick lunch, while we listened to Grandpa’s plans for the rest of the day.
Grandpa said, “I want you boys to become familiar with the operation of the farm. Right now we are in the peak of the harvesting season. We hire a lot of seasonal help to get the fruit off of the trees and shipped out. We ship most of our fresh peaches up north. We pick the peaches just before they are fully ripe so they won’t spoil during shipping. As the remaining peaches fully ripen, we send them to the cannery for packing and labeling. Different fruit companies offer us bids on the peach crop and the company’s bid we accept provides us with their label for the canned peaches.
We grow different varieties of peaches for different markets. But there is one peach variety we don’t sell to anyone. It’s a special peach meant for eating fresh called the Queen Anne peach. It is about the size of a medium grapefruit and has pure white flesh. It’s has to be the best tasting peach in the world.”
Rick and I listened intently as Grandpa continue to narrate the history of the peach farm and told us of the particulars of each variety of peach, the pros and cons of growing that variety and his plans for introducing new varieties on the farm. I could tell that Grandpa loved farming and had a real passion of growing peaches. We finished eating lunch and Grandpa lead us outside to get us started working with the hired help to bring in the peach crop.
We worked hard all day. When we were finished for the day, we took a couple of quick laps in the pool to cool off before supper. After supper, Grandpa requested I play for him. Rick didn’t know I played the piano and the violin and was surprised when Grandpa led us into the sitting room where I pulled out the piano bench and started playing.
“Glenn, you didn’t tell me you played so well!” Rick exclaimed, after hearing me play one of Grandpa’s favorite pieces.
“Sorry, Babe, it kind of slipped my mind. I was kind of preoccupied with other things,” I said, as I suggestively rubbed my crotch so only Rick could see.
A big grin crossed his face. “Oh, I see. I guess I can forgive you for not remembering to share such an important detail with me.” Rick pushed me over so he could join me on the piano bench.
I grinned at Rick. “You have to promise to behave so I can continue playing for Grandpa.”
“I promise….for now!” Rick responded, grinning even more widely than before.
Rick enjoys teasing me, sometimes. He rubbed his hand up and down my thigh as I tried to play. It wasn’t long before I was in need of some serious attention elsewhere! I couldn’t concentrate on the notes as Rick continued to massage my inner thigh. I looked over at Grandpa and saw he was snoring in his armchair. I put my finger to my lips, “Shh…Grandpa has fallen asleep. Let’s go up to our bedroom.”
We tiptoed out of the room and quietly made our way up the stairs. As soon as our door was shut, Rick grabbed my shirt and pulled it over my head. It wasn’t long before he satisfied my desires for him and we lay exhausted on our bed.
“Rick, you are the best lover in the whole world. I can’t believe what I’ve been missing out on for so long!” I said, as he snuggled next to me.
“Ditto, Babe!” he murmured sleepily. I cuddled up closer to Rick’s warmth and that is the last thing I remembered.
Rick and I spent the next couple of weeks in similar fashion. We spent out days working hard on the farm and our evenings swimming in the pool to cool down from working in the hot sun all day, followed by supper and music played for my Grandpa. My Grandpa always fell asleep and we would make our way upstairs shortly thereafter.
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