CH 86: Pops Uncovers Something Really Big

Hi guys, it’s Marcus and it’s my turn again.

Before I get into writing what my title states for you, there’s a few things that I’d like to address first. Life around here has gone through a few changes, but they are rather benign and minimal at best considering the alternative. I hardly think there’s a problem at all. The three of us are all in this together now and are respectful of each other. So, if you are looking for big ass fights, struggles to be ourselves, this is not the chapter.

Since I only have a vague sketch in my mind as to the direction this chapter is headed, it’s going to be let’s see what happens as it goes and deal with it as I begin writing. And that’s one area that will need some help, writing for either one of us is clandestine at this time. I hope by the time I finish this chapter it will be addressed and dealt with properly. Right now the only writing either one of us do in front of Pops are emails to you guys. We do hide journal writing from him to avoid any questions about the time it takes writing. That said, when it comes to the blog, we both spend a considerable amount of time writing for days, and then there’s the editing and photo search. There are some however points to ponder as well, such as don’t think about bugging Larry when he’s actively writing, or try interrupting me writing, it’s at your own peril. No, not really, it’s not that bad, but difficult is in our minds right now. For example, the what if’s: What if Pops catches us writing for days on end; what if Pops wonders what we are writing about and ask if he could read it. I hope that’s never an issue for us. This is ‘live time’ guys! Can’t get any more ‘live’ than what we are facing now with Pops here and writing for the blog.

There is at least an upside to this situation, Pops has had no effect on our sex life; actually, he’s made it better by suggesting that we retire to our room earlier than normal for us, to have some alone time. Sweet man! As to privacy, our place is more than accommodating for that. Moreover, Pops’ room is far on the other side of the house, and just as private as ours with his own outside access as well. I do know he’s enjoying a nightly soak in the deep bathtub in the bathroom closest to his bedroom. He’s made that known, since this is the first place he’s had with a soaking tub and probably to keep us away from that side of the house, haha.

Another area of concern I have currently has to do with the names Pops uses for us, and what we prefer. We have been Al and Mark to him for years, and he’s heard Larry and Marcus being used, it’s time to put that to bed and let him know why the changes are important to us. I’ve also been thinking about when he’s going to ask how we got from very good friends to fiancé’s with a wedding in the possible near future. I really do think it’s possible to tell him the story without all the sex rolled-in for good measure. As much as Larry has embraced his new freedom to be himself around here, talking about getting it on with me at the lake cabin might just be a tad over the top! (You think!) I’m sure I’d just stumble over the fucking place if I didn’t have a well thought out plan first. Well, I’ve been telling you guys everything about us for over three years now. But that’s easy, you are there, and we are here, not in your face. With Pops it will be a face-to-face telling of the story and a parental figure to boot!

CHECK-IN TIME ABOUT THE TWO OF US RIGHT NOW
Before I get into the current ‘Pops’ situation here, I’d like to talk about the reason I get up every morning with a light heart and smile on my face. Yes, that could be applied to seeing my Pops other than as mentor and boss, but I’ll spend enough time on that soon enough. I want to talk about my sweetheart before this journal entry is all about everyone but us. Of course I’ll get to the introduction of the adult male, father figure, and great supporter into our lives. However, nothing has changed drastically between us, and you can bank on that. I know there will be a time very soon when it will be important to bring Pops into the reason we exist the way we are now. He knows we’ve been best buds for years, but lovers, that’s relatively recent.

There are moments, some of which have never changed, such as I love every moment I get to spend with my best friend, and I mean that. I don’t care if it’s just looking at his sapphire blue eyes, or gorgeous face smiling back at me. I couldn’t be more guilty of being enthralled with his physical appearance, always have, always will. One look at his biceps years ago and all I thought about was why didn’t I train harder than I did myself. Yet, I know physical beauty is fleeting. That’s only a small part of my attraction to him. I’m happy he thinks I am what he finds attractive, how could I not. I know in my heart that when the bald spot at the back of my head decides it needs to take on more territory, that it won’t make a difference to my love. He already has made it perfectly clear that when I was in my huskier weight or my current lower weight, makes no difference. For him husky meant more of me to hug, just don’t get too bony! Haha, I’d like just for once in my life to know what bony really feels like, even for a day. Now that I read what I just wrote, nope, if I had only one day to see what anything I desired was like, bony doesn’t begin to rise to the top of the list. To look like naked Joe, now that could win by a mile! Okay, I hope you know that is not a serious wish. I’d just need to stay naked all day and parade around swinging my ‘thingy’ like Joe did for Larry one day. Yes, I was there, and I saw it, Larry wasn’t making it up for you. It certainly left an impression on me, even if it was hilarious, that probably will never fade from memory, I hope not! Haha.

There’s so much more about Larry I could write about that it might be hard to order my likes from top to bottom, so I won’t even try. However, being with someone who wants to be hanging around you because it’s fun, ranks super high. We still try to make each other laugh and I love that, Larry is such a joker and I know he loves it when he gets a belly laugh out of me. We used to ball bust each other for years, and now we really don’t unless the set up for it just demands he lets loose with one. No question remains in my mind that we did that as a replacement for the sex between us that never happened. It was a type of release that built up; he might not agree with that, but I have a feeling that’s what was going on in my own head.

Larry Lights a Candle

I love that we have tender moments together, that sometimes for dinner he lights a candle for the table or brings fresh flowers into the house to brighten things up for us. I love that when he cooks, he thinks about what I should be eating first and try’s eating stuff he’d never go for when he lived with Ellen. Moreover, it’s not that everything is geared just to please me, he lets me know what pleases him and sometimes it means just letting me do stuff for him. I love that. 

I learned a long time ago what hugging your best friend felt like and it melted me. I wasn’t a hugger at all, not because I didn’t approve or dislike it though. It just wasn’t important I guess. Mark was a hugger and made sure I knew that, almost from day one. Maybe it really was day one, that was a very long time ago. Obviously I love to hug people now, as to hugging each other naked, well what do I really need to tell you that you can’t figure out yourself. Kissing, that something that was always a peck on the lips, no more! I love kissing my babe! I hear there are multiple words for ‘snow’ in the indigenous Eskimo language. Kissing is now my ‘snow’ with him. 

I love kissing my babe!

My mind went wandering off thinking about stuff to write in my chapter. Considering how fast time has been flying by for us, it generally leads to thinking about our upcoming marriage. I know I need to work on my very important vows, however, that thought is always in my mind lately. You guys might just dismiss my new thought as hardly a concern at all, and it probably is just that. So, here’s a tidbit you don’t know about us yet. Larry and I have never attempted to dance with each other, considering how romantic we tend to be together; it has never ended in a dance. Just know there’s always music playing from our Alexa Dots placed around the house, the opportunity is always there. Please don’t take my thought that we haven’t danced together that it means we haven’t found other things to do instead. Back to the dance thought, I’m not sure I even know whom holds who, or who leads and who follows. This is an area; I could use a little help from you guys that follow us and have husbands or partners that dance with each other. I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t a clue on how to not look really awkward or stupid if for some reason during our marriage ceremony, that we might be asked to have the first dance of our new union.

It just seemed appropriate to me to remind you of who we really are and why we want to spend the rest of our lives together, before moving on to living with Pops in the house. It’s always fun to write about new things in our lives, just know that what put us together is still there and growing stronger every day.

So, that’s what’s been in my mind before I tackled writing this chapter. So… let’s get started!

POPS AND I NEED A LONG CONVERSATION

I found out who gave me the name ‘Marcus’ and it was Pops; I truly did not know that until I read it in Larry’s chapter. Of course Larry and I had a long conversation about that after I read it. I guess Larry thought he’d spring it on me in his chapter as a “look at what I know, and you don’t” thing. However, I think I should bring it up to Pops and tell him why I like using that name rather than Al. I’m betting on Larry wishes Pops would stop calling him Mark since we have both settled on using our blog names now. I’ll let Larry know what I’m thinking on this, and we can figure out how and when to tell Pops.

Along these lines of thinking, perhaps a sanitized version of our first trip together as best friends ‘gone fishing’ for the weekend can be told without all the ‘non-fishing tales.’ By now with all the writing experience I’ve had with the blog, I’m sure it can be somewhat alluded to, just not elaborated in full sexy detail. If I know only one thing about my Pops, he’s not stupid enough to think knowing us now, that we were virgins awaiting on our marriage to get it on with each other. That makes me giggle to myself just writing that here.

The day I talked about this to Larry I was completely motivated to get something resolved on the names around here. Larry knew we were going to need to bring up the lake trip to Pops, as you know, it was that trip that started the blog and lot more. He asked me. “Sweetbabes, are you really sure you want to go there with him?” And I replied with, “Yes I do, it’s time now. Listen, he’s been so open and understanding with us, why should we withhold anything from him?” Larry said, “Anything? Like having the best sex I ever had, anything?” All I added was, “Well me too you know!” We did laugh a bit at the image of us skirting the great sex, but agreed, sex was off the table. That was just for us.

I reminded Larry once again about his resolve to not hide anything any longer, but I assured him that indeed, sex was ours only. And then added you guys as well. That really took the pressure off us for a moment. However, he had one more comment to make, “Kinda figured you’d throw that back at me!” No that wasn’t the idea at all, just let him into our lives bit-by-bit. I got Larry to understand my position and we collaborated on what we would tell and what we would avoid. That was easy, don’t talk about sex, just let him use his imagination if he wants.

It wasn’t more than a day or two, after our names conversation, that one morning after breakfast and still sitting around the kitchen table finishing our coffee, I asked Pops if he would like to know how and when our relationship changed. What do you think he was going to say, “No thank you, don’t need to know that.” Of course he wanted to know and was all ears ready to hear about it. Larry was there for support and hopefully some of the discussion too. But I was the lead on this one and I’m sure Larry was fine with the ‘shotgun seat’ ready to jump in when needed.

Perhaps fearing this was the day our conversation about us was about to happen, Larry excused himself to go put on another pot of coffee saying this could take some time. Have no concern, Larry was in complete earshot of anything said. We were not far from the coffee bar at the time. Over his shoulder, old joker Larry decided to tell Pops that after I finished he’d tell him the real truth about us and laughed his ass off. That told me he’s not going to take a backseat in this telling if I screw up.

Actually, Pops did us a favor and asked the first question and gave me a starting point. (Be assured I will not write everything you already have read enough times in the blog.) Pops question went right to the pandemic and the fact he knew we were both working from my office and asked if that’s when we became who we are now. I’m not sure if I’d go directly there, but after thinking about that day, why wouldn’t he. He’s never heard about the trip from us that I can remember. Larry jumped in and said, “No, but it was an important part of why we fell in love with each other.” Pops said that he guessed working together for so many months might have gone either direction. We both said, “That’s true!”

I had the opportunity to start out with the secret attraction we both had for each other but chose to go directly to the trip to the lake cabin. If it becomes necessary to cover the actual start of our friendship, we could. However, Pops knows that we have been great friends for years, it doesn’t take much imagination to connect that friendship with becoming ‘friends with benefits.’

I brushed upon the way our friendship was in peril for a couple of years and it was our wives that saw how miserable we both were and suggested that we take a weekend off with each other to rekindle our friendship. Best advice we ever got period! That’s when Larry jumped in and said how excited he was to get away and go fishing with his buddy and just rough it for a while. Pops wanted to know if that was a backpacking tent trip. I said, “Hell no, we had a rustic cabin with a real lumpy bed and a potbelly stove, and indoor plumbing. That’s more than enough roughing for me!” Then Larry started laughing as he tried to tell Pops his vision of me in a tent roughing it. And said, “I’d even pay money to see that!” “Thanks buddy of mine! I owe you one!” So, I didn’t wait, I told Pops, ‘Mr. Fisherman’ here couldn’t snag a single f’ing fish the whole time there.” All I got was, “He’s right about that, oh well.” I think I still owe him one though.

Since Pops knows we have no problem of being naked around each other, I figured I could let loose with that part on the trip. I told him that the first time we were ever naked together was at the lake on a hike. It was more fun since Larry was enjoying it too. Again Larry told him how he knew I had a bucket list item of hiking in the woods naked. Pops looked over at me with the look in his eyes that said more than words. But the biggest word would have been, ‘Really!’ Then Larry said, since he figured that I’d strip for the first hike we took, that he would too, and that was a really big thing for him. He never figured that he’d be doing that with me or even by himself.

Pops was wondering about the names eventually and couldn’t make a good connection with the name changes and the trip. Obviously, it’s the blog which he knows nothing about, and how do we skirt that without more questions. I had an instant plan, which is not uncommon for me, I could reverse how the short story and blog gets into the picture. Actually it was the dream I had that helped get the whole trip off to a good start. The dream led to a short story that I wrote after the trip, and then the journal took over after the story had us back home again. Man, that’s the least amount of words I’ve ever used about that. Well, he doesn’t need to know about the sexy dream, or the blog per se, I did write the short story which was filled with ‘green as they come,’ sex between best friends. I can’t go there, but I could say I wrote this short story about our trip a few years ago and changed the names in the story. So far in my mind on the fly, this will work, however, what if he’d like to read the short story. The MS Word version I used to write the story has no pictures, but there is a lot of erotic content. Well, my ‘Mr. Shotgun’ jumped in and rescued me. He said, “I asked Marcus if he would give me the story to read and it kinda got lost over the years since then. But if you want to know more we can still talk about it.” (Perhaps I don’t owe Larry a paybac)k any longer!

Pops did have a clue now about how the names came into being. And just in Pops fashion, came out and asked, “Should I just stop with the names I’ve known for years and use Larry and Marcus?” Bingo, that was too easy, and he hasn’t gone for more details into the story yet. He did ask one question about the ‘Larry name’ why I picked Larry for Mark’s story name. Easy, Larry was my first best friend I had as a little boy and I never forgot about him. I know my Pops too well; we will be back to the name changes again with well-crafted queries. Why would he buy that we would change our names just because of a lost short story. Maybe by the time he gets to asking that one, it will be easier to answer.

I could see that Pops might want a little more from me on the Al verses Marcus name. I didn’t tell him exactly why but gave him I picked two names I knew very well for my story, and it would be easy to remember. I figure there will be a time when I can tell Pops how I planned on using Marcus for signing any paintings I made, I actually have. However, as Al I haven’t come out to very many people, perhaps you could count them on one hand. But as Marcus in our journal I left all that baggage behind me and am very ‘out and proud.’ With a marriage coming up, I won’t be using Al it will be Marcus, I guess you guys know that by now.

POPS TAKES OFF TO MEET UP WITH OLD FRIENDS OFTEN NOW

Something we didn’t expect but are okay with, Pops usually takes off after breakfast or a few times even  before breakfast to meet up with old friends and former associates of his. I don’t know why this didn’t come to mind when we invited him to stay here with us. Frankly, it’s getting very useful for our writing in the journal and it’s giving us some time to adjust to having another guy in the house. Don’t think for a moment that he is not the best guest ever! He’s always trying to help us and insists that there should be some things he could do to take the burden off our backs. He said he’s good with laundry now, and he can cook pretty damn good too. He also said he could take over cleaning the pool, he’d like that. I had to tell him I’ve had a great pool man for years and I won’t take that away from him. Pops said it was only a thought, not to concern myself over. However, I figure Joe is chosen family to us, especially to you know who, too. Either I or Larry will need to tell him about Joe.

I bet Pops had this in mind before he packed a bag to fly up here from Mexico. He probably worried that he’d be in the way here; that’s just my thoughts, nothing discussed. I’m happy for him, finally retired and free now for months. The man worked up to his 82nd birthday, work was his life and his love. However, don’t think he didn’t know how to relax and have a good time with his friends. It’s not hard to believe he’d be back doing what he loved best, but now he has a family to come home to each day. He makes it known how much he appreciates that we share our time with him. He also knows, you can trust me on this, how much he means to the both of us as well. So far, it’s wonderful having him here and there hasn’t been anything that suggests it’s an act put on by any of us. Now hopefully, you are readers, will accept him being a part of the journal stories at times.

(Note: I was in editing mode when I remembered one more thing we did for Pops.) 

I’m considering his age as a factor and not that he has given us a reason, plus how far apart our bedrooms are in the house, I figured we should relocate one of the many Amazon Echo Dot’s around to his bedroom. That way if for any emergency that should arise, he could get our attention. Pops is getting to be a very quick study on current technology lately, and it wasn’t hard teaching him how to use the Echo ‘Drop-in’ feature to ask for help or whatever he needs. I also taught him how he could get the unit to play music in his room and turn his lights on and off with his voice. I feel much better knowing he’s not all alone in there if he falls or gets sick; of course I’m not about to let him know my fears. Sometimes I forget I’m dealing with my Pops, nothing gets snuck past him, however, you don’t need to be elderly to have a situation needing help. Alexa helped me get Larry’s attention when I was recovering from my knee surgery. I guess I worry too much about him, we need to keep him healthy and happy he’s here with us.

WHEN POPS IS OUT OF THE HOUSE

I’d expect you’d think the first thing we’d be doing when Pops is gone is getting it on someplace in the house or pool. I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that; I have myself. Probably Larry, too. Well after a couple of years living as we do, a lot of that has migrated into our master suite. It’s private, lockable, and has more than enough areas to get the job done. If I told you that we haven’t connected in the kitchen a few times, that would be a lie. Will it happen with Pops here, you must know the answer to that one. Will it happen in the pool if he is around, oh we know how to do that very well now. Not a problem, we are experts, haha. Will we do it if he’s just floating around the pool with us, you bet one of us will try something, not sure penetration would be on the top of the list though. Just know as I begin to write this chapter, it has not happened.

I know, I know, did we get all decent on him and drop the naked swimming, NO WE DID NOT! Notice the yelling here? That was to let you know that both Larry and myself will not return to ways of old. In my earliest conversations with Pops, I told him that Larry and I prefer to be ‘naked as Jaybirds’ out in the yard because it’s so private and we both love swimming that way, too. And then I told him if that was something he couldn’t deal with, we will let him know in advance what to expect if he comes outside, and he can make up his mind what to do. I felt I needed to stand firm on this because it was important to Larry as well as myself. Pops looked at us for a minute or so, perhaps to digest what he heard, and then said, “I’m not here to make anyone uncomfortable or suggest you change anything for my benefit. I’m sorry if I gave you the idea that I find naked people unsettling; have you’ve forgotten about the old photo album I gave you?” No we haven’t forgotten, and if he only knew how much time we spent trying to find him in there. That can be our little secret, haha. Pops went on to say, that maybe he’d be a little embarrassed to compare his older and out of shape body to ours, but don’t count him out yet. 

I’ll leave that possible storyline to develop on it’s own; but knowing Larry as we all do now, don’t count him out! If you remember, we had Larry’s son Ryan representing the younger generation out in the pool with us that way, now we just need a representative of the older generation. It might be fun to find out one day.

POPS IS ADJUSTING TO OUR LIFE STYLE RAPIDLY

Larry brought this up himself about the casual dress in the morning for coffee and or breakfast. Of course we have nixed any naked romping in the kitchen, and certainly will while Pops is in the house. Moreover, Larry put the brakes on getting totally dressed before he’s ready. He’s given us several versions of early morning attire, a variety of boxers, his and mine, and a well-placed bath towel. No, not in the sexy low-slung style he taught me how to do myself. (I can really pull that off now too.) Of course, I’m supporting him by wearing my silky boxers to the kitchen for coffee but not the bath towel. I finally got the hang of making it look sexy and I don’t need to forget how, haha.

It didn’t take many mornings that Pops would finally succumb to the present ‘family pressure’ and arrived for morning coffee in some rather questionable looking boxers and ‘tighty-whities’ that were more ‘baggie-whities’ himself. I’m not sure where he’s doing his shopping, but I think there will be an upgrade very soon. There must be a delicate way to tell him about that and not make him feel bad. I’ll do some thinking on that first. Hell, even Larry got a giggle himself seeing what Pops was wearing. Either it was a thrift shop or the kids section of the store, so, let’s change the subject for a while. Otherwise, I think it was great that he felt like joining us that way. However, he did choose to wear a matching T-shirt to cover himself. I’m sure it’s about his aging body that he’s covering. I have years of first-hand knowledge with my babe wanting to cover himself as much as possible even around me. I think I know how to help Pops get over that, that is if Larry doesn’t get to him first. Haha.

Pops told us it was cool just being himself in the morning with us, and thanks for letting him do that. He said that when he had his own condo here in town, after he retired he did the same thing. I’m just waiting for the right time to say, “You mean you have coffee naked in the kitchen too!” Haha, maybe I should, that could speed things up really fast! Or…. Not! Pops added that in Mexico with Sarah, she’s made it known to him that she likes to see a well-dressed man in the morning. Pops said he liked our style better; you can bet your ass he does. Be interesting to know if he takes a stand against the well-dressed shit he has to put up with down there when he returns.

POPS AND JOE THE POOL GUY

Going back just a bit in time when Pops first arrived here, there was this one morning before either of us were ready to get out of bed, that we both hit the panic-button. It was about Joe, his day to be here was coming, and we haven’t discussed any of the ramifications with Pops around. It’s known that Larry has created a wonderful relationship for us with Joe, and that needs to change somewhat. Ha, somewhat huh? How about drastic changes needed and soon! This relationship we have with Joe now is the coolest ever! Come on, I never got Joe to do what he does with us, it was Larry that got it done. Naked pool guy, that’s right out of some porn thing, except there’s no sex involved! Sorry guys that could be a hot topic!

Joe is the only outside of family guy we are comfortable about letting him know about our relationship. Okay, it’s only me I’m talking about, Larry is already on page two. Joe’s super cool about that and doesn’t care one bit, and he really loves coming here to work and swim with us. However, all we need for Pops to see is a naked guy sweeping the pool as he sits in the kitchen sipping his coffee. It might be fucking funny to think about, for you guys, not so much for me, not yet. One day, who knows, maybe Pops will know about Joe and us and be okay with it, but we don’t know that. I told Larry I’ll call Joe and let him know we have a guest that will be staying with us and that our ‘naked fun time’ in and around the pool might be tabled for a while. Although neither one of us said it out loud, we sure meant to say, “Awww, that’s the shits!” I promised Larry I’d be super cool with Joe unless he wanted to make the call himself. And that’s exactly what he wanted to do. Fine, I didn’t want to do it anyway.

You guys know I let Larry do the Joe stuff in his chapters because he should, he did the groundwork to make it happen between all of us. So, I won’t belabor this. Joe will always be welcome for coffee inside with us or out on the office deck, and Pops will get to spend some time with all of us as well. It’s the only way I see how we can return to normal around here. That is, unless Pops gets on board with us sooner than later. You might know with Larry, “It’s gonna be way sooner than later!” I’ll let Larry pick up on the Joe side of living here with Pops.

POPS BRINGS OLD FRIENDS HOME TO VISIT WITH US

I received a phone call from Pops around lunchtime this week asking if we’d mind if he brought a couple of old buddies of his home for a visit with us. I didn’t have a problem with it, and I told him to wait a second until I run it by Larry as well. Fortunately we were together having lunch ourselves at the time. Larry didn’t have a problem and asked if they would like to have dinner here with us. Pops said that was a kind offer and he was sure they would love that. And he added, “You know these guys are around my age, okay?” I had the speaker of my phone on once I got Larry into the conversation. Larry told him, “all the better Pops, I’d love to meet them.” And then almost out of the blue Larry added, “Will we have to act like we are just roommates, or can we be like we really are?” That should have been me saying that, and I’m embarrassed to even write how I wasn’t the one. I was surprised what Pops had to say as well, “Son, I would be upset if you two needed to be anything but who you are; I’m sincere about this. I wouldn’t bring anyone to your home who wouldn’t support you as you are.” Larry and I thanked him and then he told us that we will love these guys and left it there for us to wonder why. Pops then asked us would it be better if we just had dinner out, and again Larry said, “No I think we should make dinner for everyone, right Marc?” Of course I agreed, and then Pops chimed in and said, “Don’t make anything too chewy okay, I can’t guarantee how good their teeth are!” And then we all laughed at the image he just gave us to deal with. Larry signed off from the call with, “Love you Pops, can’t wait to see you guys later. What time will you be here?” We all agreed on 5:30pm for dinner, and suggested they come for a drink with us first. Now we had to scramble for the rest of the afternoon, which was better than we planned on just staying out of the heat of the afternoon, doing whatever came to mind. Now we had some shopping to do or get some take out. Larry said, “No way on take out, not for Pops friends.” Who is this guy I’m living with and loving more every day!

Hell Week coming up!

We changed our clothes, or should I be real and say, just put some clothes on to not get arrested for indecent exposure. Haha! That was the fastest we ever dressed, no fooling around and I’m glad we got our showers before lunch. It’s been so fucking HOT out here lately, it’s going to be one of those triple digit weeks again, so, shorts and pullover shirts and sockless shoes were all we needed, but naked ruled until then. We were out of the house the fastest yet. Without a real plan for dinner, I can speak for both of us; it was in the car where we had the discussion of what to serve, there was no time to waste at home doing that. 

Larry reminded me about the chewy food crack from Pops and said that maybe steak could be out unless we get some filets. I told him, let’s not push that and said I knew he wouldn’t eat any fish, not even a lobster, so what else. We agreed upon a lasagna or baked pasta. Great, we never made a lasagna but have baked pasta before. Nix the lasagna and try it with Pops before we do with company. So, Larry suggested that we make a rigatoni and Italian sausage bake, Caesar salad, and garlic bread. We figured that was going to be suitable guy food, and nothing to mess with their teeth, too. We took a pass on making a dessert and just went to the bakery section to buy something. Larry thought a cheesecake would be cool, and I’m skinny enough now to have a slice, ha, that was nice to hear even if it’s not true. Larry asked me if the bar was stocked okay, since he doesn’t drink and I hardly ever do, I told him, stocked good enough to make just about anything. Moreover, Pops is well known for his time behind the bar, he’ll take care of that for us. So, I guess you know what we were doing for the next few hours now. I was pleasantly surprised at how good we worked under pressure, we each had our chores and just went for them with gusto. Bottom-line, we had more than enough time to let’s say, relax our style and get dressed for dinner in plenty of time. We really are a great team now; I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way with anyone else. Just in case I mis-led you with the ‘relax our style’ if it made you think about us getting all sweaty and up into each other’s business before dinner, I’m sorry. That came much later and man, was it worth the wait.

MEETING POPS OLD FRIENDS FOR DINNER

Around 4:00pm or close to that, Pops arrived with two of his friends, only this time it was through the front door and through the “Lisa decorated” part of the house. It is rather grand as entrances go, design to impress the shit out of anyone visiting. Ask me why the two of us never use that door; don’t bother it makes more sense to use the garage door anyway, it’s closer. Sounds lazy, nope, just practical. I do love what Lisa did with the place, it has her touches all over. I could never match her skills. I do love that nothing is overdone as I’ve seen in other homes around here. 

After we were introduced to his friends in the kitchen, he whisked them off to the grand room bar for drinks and asked us if we could join them. Sure could, dinner was in the oven and everything else was holding in the refrigerator. Once Pops threw open the double doors to the grand room, I heard exactly what I expected from his friends; let’s call it a gasp and then, “Holy shit! Is this a room or another f’ing house!” Pops laughed and said he’d tell them all about the place. We just stifled ourselves to be polite, I’ve heard enough comments on its size by now, and Larry has, too.

Pops got behind the bar as expected and was pleased with the compliment of liquors that were available to him. He wasn’t aware of how much dusting we had to do to get the place as nice as it looked. It’s been a while since Lisa’s party and it’s amazing how out of control things can get even in closed-off rooms.

Pops making Rye Manhattans

I had a ‘Rye Manhattan’ along with the rest of them, a cocktail Pops excels at making, and we made sure that Larry’s chilled club soda had fresh limes available. We all finished off the first drink standing around the bar, but the second drink was finished off sitting around the large fireplace in leather wingback chairs. I was wondering if Larry had thoughts about what I was thinking and one look at him said he was. We used this room when he first came to stay with me for a while. It was so romantic; the fireplace was giving us warmth and soft light. We were using his blowup mattress and felt so lucky to have the time together once again. Oh, you can bet we will bring that up later tonight in bed. I can hardly wait, however, it’s not suitable for the current company for damn sure! 

(I wonder if any of you guys remember those chapters I wrote; I’ll go look for the chapter numbers and put them here for you. I found three chapters, 61, 62, and 63 that covered spending time together in the house without the wives.)

TIME FOR DINNER IN THE DINING ROOM

This was a first for us, actually eating in the correct room for company. I didn’t think having dinner in the kitchen was suitable. However, if for any reason there are return visits, I won’t have a problem eating in the kitchen per normal. We can handle six comfortably around the kitchen dining area. I’ve always thought of that area was ‘family’ or ‘close friends’ like Joe, not company. 

Larry was being all domestic that day, a side of him I only suspected was inside waiting to emerge. I had no problem with that and in no way was I planning on micro-managing him. As if I could anyway! Haha. He made sure the good plates and silverware were cleaned and placed on the table; he asked if he placed the forks in the right spot, but I think he knew. We’ve been to enough good restaurants to know. He did an outstanding job of setting the table all by himself, with wine and water glasses too. He even found the drawer where Lisa put the good cloth napkins and used them as well. It looked really nice, and I snuck up behind him and put my arms around him tightly and told him it looked awesome! And then I spun him around, yes I can do that when he let’s me! We kissed for almost too long because that usually leads to something else we don’t have time for right now.

After leaving the great room we all headed to the dining room for dinner. We made sure that Pops and his friends sat properly so they could talk easily. And then we excused ourselves to the kitchen to bring out the first course. I made a Caesar salad with homemade croutons and shaved Parmesan, I was tempted to create my own from scratch dressing, but I opted for one from Briana we bought at the grocery store. It was a good choice. Larry and I both took out three salads each, as any waitperson would do. And Pops poured the wine which we opened to properly air for them. I got my favorite Merlot out, mostly because that’s all I buy now. No one complained and we went through a few bottles before the end of the dinner. In case you wondered, my salad was met with praise, and they thought my dressing was perfect. I thanked them and kept my secret from them. Okay, so I’m needy once in a while!

Rigatoni & Sausage with stringy cheese

When it came to the pasta bake, we chose family-style and just brought out the glass baking dish covered with lot’s of golden mozzarella and provolone cheeses. We have made this before for ourselves, so we knew how hard it was going to be to dish out without a mess. Now I’m thinking maybe this wasn’t the best thing to make, but I kept it to myself. We figured a large serving spoon will do; it works for us. Moreover, after the cocktails and some wine, no pretense needed, we are all a bunch of guys at that point. I know if we were trying to impress them, maybe long stringy cheese clinging from the pan to the plate wasn’t the coolest choice. But if you like hot stringy Italian cheese, you’d be in heaven. From the ooh’s, and aah’s we heard, and one of them even clapped for us, the stringy cheese was more than appropriate. Once they got a taste of Larry’s meat sauce with Italian sausage bites, my babe had a smile from ear to ear. I gave Larry the kudos he deserved on his dish, and everyone second it. He worked hard all afternoon at the sauce and pasta and deserved every accolade given to him. Well my salad was liked, and I didn’t even tell you about the garlic bread, but who doesn’t like sourdough garlic bread anyway! Maybe stringy cheese is a guy thing, it is for me!

I fully expected that there would be left overs for a lunch one day. Well with five hungry guys all having seconds, we were able to save a small portion for one. I was guilty of a second helping myself and that’s so not being on a diet, but it was so damn good! Besides, I didn’t want to act like I was on a diet in front of them. I tried to get someone to go for a third but got panned immediately from everyone. And then Larry said there was coffee and dessert coming. That got us a “You’ve got to be kidding! More food?” Larry just said, “Yup! And it’s a killer dessert too.” More groans were heard, and I saw Pops go for his belt. I bet the others did too once we headed to the kitchen with the plates. I heard them all talking about dinner as we left the room; it was all good talk, and I was happy for Larry.

AFTER THE DINNER TALK

Mr. ponytail (almost)

When we returned to the table with them, we asked if they would like just to sit and talk here or retire to another room. They all decided that here was good enough and the chairs were comfortable. I was going to offer coffee, but after stuffing them as we did, maybe we could wait until dessert time. Besides there was still wine left to pour, I’m not going to put a half-used bottle of wine in the refrigerator, not while they are still here. That bottle is only going to the recycle bin.

Pops started the after dinner talk by formally reintroducing his friends to us as who they really were. I had no expectations other than they might be some guys he’s known for a long time, who might be a little bit younger, but I wasn’t sure. One man was sporting a ponytail from a very tiny pony! Somehow he was able to gather enough strands of hair to almost pull it off. I guess, ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way!’

Mr. tattoos with long beard

The second man had the longest beard in the room and many tattoos, in fact all three had beards, to be more accurate, all five of us are rocking  beards. And mine is starting to catch up to their gray beards pretty damn fast now. Larry is getting a break like Pops did with his gradually turning white. If you look close enough at Larry’s beard you can see how the white is sneaking into the blonde. I think it’s cool, but I can tell you he thinks my two-toned beard is sexy now and I like knowing that.

I’m not going to use their names here in the journal, and I’ll decide if I ever do. At least there will be less names being used here. Pops asked me if the album he gave me was easy to find, and if so, please bring it out to the room for him. Of course it was easy to find, that album means so much to me that it has a special spot in my office to reach anytime I wish. So, I excused myself to head off to my office to retrieve the album leaving Larry to talk with them. If you want to know what they talked about, ask him because I don’t know. I wasn’t gone that long though. When I returned to the table I just handed the album over to Pops. He opened the album and turned a few pages and then offered the album over to his friends to check out the pictures.

Well it didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out they were in there as young men themselves. They started pointing fingers at each other and let out squeals to rival teenaged girls often. At times their laughter was infectious, and I still had no idea which pictures were doing that to them. At least not yet. Mr. ponytail looked at me and said, “Al, you were such a cute little tyke and so far I haven’t seen you in any clothes yet!” And then Mr. ponytail looked at his tattooed friend and said, “Yeah, it looks like you were a lot like the kid yourself, old man!” But it didn’t take but a minute or two longer before Mr. ponytail got his comeuppance with, “Like you weren’t any different in there yourself old pal!” I was wondering why they weren’t pointing at pictures of Pops, perhaps we were wrong when we thought we found him ourselves. They were saving the best for last because we weren’t wrong at all. Poor Pops, they had a field day with him and even got Pops laughing his ass off too. They nailed him as the biggest camera hog in the album! Pops changed the subject and added, that once I was out of diapers I was a ‘free-bird’ and that I loved to dance to the music and entertain whoever was watching me.

I was getting some serious goosebumps at an alarming rate, these men, our guests have a real connection with me, and I want to know how so badly. Pops reintroduced them as members of my dad’s original band that he’s been looking to find for a long time. Years in fact. Mr. ponytail played any brass needed, and Mr. tattoos an acoustic guitar and piano. And then they mentioned the drummer and how sorry they were to hear that he passed away. They did mention his name and I’m going to use it here, and I bet you know what it was. It was Harvey, he was my dad’s drummer, I didn’t remember that or maybe I never knew, I can’t say for sure. And then there was a silent moment remembering those that perished including my parents, but they didn’t prolong that part of the discussion, probably for my benefit. (I should let you know after a few years on the road, Dad’s band stopped traveling together, especially when flying. I guess you can figure out why now.)

I did not say one word and I’m proud to say nor did Larry about Pops and Harvey, but the guys knew the two of them were close friends. And that’s all that was said. I doubt seriously if anyone other than Larry and myself know more. Eventually, Pops excused himself to the restroom; not too hard to know why, and I’m not sure I shouldn’t do the same. I had no idea how having these men here reminiscing about the past would affect me, but I’m not going to blow the opportunity to hear them out in full.

REMINISCING ABOUT THE HAPPY DAYS

The guys wanted to know all about me from the time I was a pre-teen, they hardly saw much of me after that. I was a pretty normal kid that avoided contact with his parents after turning 14. Let’s say I found other things to occupy most of my time. Perhaps I witnessed one too many rehearsals at our Santa Cruz mountain home, but I’m not about to tell them that. I told him I probably was doing my homework. I think they believed that as much as I did. It didn’t help much that I giggled saying it. 

My father was a prodigy when it came to music, he did it all. He was the front man for his band, sang, arranged the music, and played reed instruments, mostly tenor sax. Obviously, there were questions as to if music was a part of my life as well. Sadly I had to say, no but I wish it was. I probably couldn’t carry a tune in a paper bag. We all laughed at that, even if it was painful for me to admit. I wished for it to happen, but it wasn’t meant to be. I thought my sister had the best chance, but we have been apart for so many years that I couldn’t tell you for sure. I did tell them that my mother was a big supporter of my artistic bent, and encouraged me to become an art teacher, which I did become. I answered questions about teaching until Pops came back to join the conversation once more.

Pops asked what we were talking about, and I brushed it off quickly so I could hear more about them and the days when they were all together. Mr. ponytail said that my father was so proud of me and my sister after she was born, and that I was the only kid around for a long time. I said I knew my father was proud of us, but he was always gone for so many years. I told them why I always called him “daddy” and nothing else, even after all these years. Every time he had to hit the road with the band, he’d tell me that he had to go away for a while, and then would add, “Remember that your daddy loves you so much and he will miss you every day he’s gone.” It was always in the third person, and sometimes I wonder if it wasn’t just some lyric he was using. Other times in the first person he would say that he will always be our daddy forever and ever and never forget that. As a kid, it was just words at first. However, when I was 16, and I remember it clear as day, it was the last time he told us that and he and our mother left for a play date they never came back from; that’s the last memory I have of them now. I know he will always be my daddy, even now at 60. I know in my heart my mother felt the same about her role, but daddy was the one who said it every time. Sorry to say, I don’t think there was a dry eye left in the room after that little bomb of mine, but someone did brake the mood with, “Wow, you’re that old now?!” The conversation completely switched over to that time and I asked them if we could change the subject, I didn’t think I could sit through it right then. Of course they did, and the subject got a lot nicer and more fun for all of us.

The album got passed around and they were asking Larry and me to see if we could find them in the photos. They said there were many in there too. I wish I could say, I could spot them, but Larry nailed Mr. ponytail and that’s it. We came close to Mr. tattoos thinking all we needed to find were his tattoos; it’s that the photos are fading now and there were a lot of tattoos in the pictures. That was so long ago, up to sixty years at least or close to that. They did point themselves out to us after many false tries. They pointed out many of the band pictures where they could be found, but I was surprised that they didn’t ignore the naked pictures at all. I might have been embarrassed if it was me. I bet they were proud of how great they used to look back then; I’m going with that as the reason. Actually, the naked pictures weren’t sexy or porn, just a bunch of hippies having fun and probably very high at the time. Haha.

We spent such a lovely evening with them, and I know Larry loved his time with them, too. It wasn’t hard to notice how much they were enthralled by Larry and you guys know why. I could have been jealous, but I did get a lot of attention from them. These men have known me since I was a baby, probably while my mother was pregnant with me too. After watching them picking me out of all the pictures, I was so hoping they’d never get to the question if my little wiener ever grew up with me. I was spared, I was only two or three, so give me a break!

It was time for coffee and cheesecake from Costco. Hey that was all the time we had to shop, besides it’s a damn good cheesecake too. We almost got turned down until Larry said, “Cheesecake time.” I guess there’s always room for cheesecake. Tomorrow I’m hitting the weight room until I wear off everything I put into my belly that evening. 

Of course we only made the Jamaican Coffee which got rave reviews from them, and the cheesecake was great. I told Larry when we were in the kitchen together, “Make the slices big, I don’t need all that cheesecake left in the house.” He responded with, “Yes you do, I’ll just make you work it off later.” Yeah right, just what I’m looking forward to. I hope you understand he wasn’t talking about the bedroom, just the weight room.

IT WAS TIME FOR THE MEN TO LEAVE FOR HOME

It was rather late, probably around 11:00pm I guess when they said it’s time to leave for home. Pops certainly had a great day with them, as did we. I asked them if we could offer them a ride home since it was rather late, and it can be very dark out here. I was being accommodating I thought since I heard some older friends say they weren’t comfortable driving after dark from the blinding headlights. They quickly assured us they were fine, please don’t worry about them. However, the parting wasn’t quick, I bet it took well over a half hour. Of course we made sure that they left through the front entrance, not the quicker garage door. That’s just for us, not company. It seemed like every room we passed through garnered a small conversation before moving on. At the front door another group talk and then the hugs came. With five of us hugging, you may add another few minutes. However, it didn’t end there, we walked with them to their car under the covered portico and made sure we tucked them inside nicely. I’m just being silly here; we didn’t need to tuck them in at all. Haha.

I’m so happy for Pops that he was able to find his old friends now living in Auburn, which is not that far from us. Perhaps it will keep him anchored here with us for a longer time. I’m sure he’ll head back to Mexico when the weather is nicer for him, or Sarah is finally back herself.

YOU MUST KNOW THE NIGHT DIDN’T END WHEN THEY LEFT

Pops just came out and said, “Okay guys, out with the questions. I know you have them.” Well I was ready to table any discussion until the morning, but my babe had other ideas. I gave him the ‘cool it dude’ look, it’s bedtime for us and after tonight, I’m horny! So, he gave me the look back that I’ve used often myself over the years, ‘like we have kids to put to bed or it’s a work night, cool it yourself.’ I guess he didn’t log into my horny factor, or I’m getting too subtle with that. I could have yawned a lot but that was Larry’s gimmick recently; maybe Pops really has some juicy stuff if we hear him out. Of course we did just that.

It was interesting how the two of us went in different directions on queries. Larry was all into how he found them, especially if he had been looking for a long time. That was a good question Larry, that’s one for him. I was interested in the relationship between the two men, they seemed let’s say, very in tune with each other. Larry got his answer first, Pops had professional help finding them, and it was worth every penny spent. And it was left at that at least for now. Knowing Pops as I do, that’s not too hard to figure out, he has his ways of getting things done when push comes to shove.

I was curious if there was something a little more special about the men’s personal relationship with each other. Let’s face it, Pops made it known to them that Larry and I are partners before they got here. He guaranteed Larry that we didn’t need to hide anything, be ourselves; and who knows, perhaps Pops told them about our pending marriage as well. Nothing was openly discussed about that and there wasn’t ever a moment of uncomfortableness between any of us. My thoughts or was it wishes, that went to that they were a couple, not just guys sharing the same house together as roommates. Lately all I think about are men in committed relationships, especially marriages; like you can’t figure out why!

Pops, said if it never leaves the three of us, he’d let us know what he was able to find out himself. Is this gossip? Sure sounds like it’s going there. My Dad’s former band mates are indeed trying to see where this is going for them, at least for now. (I knew it!) He reminded us that they have a long history together but were both (straight) married guys. (Sound a little familiar?) Mr. ponytail was divorced twice and never remarried, and Mr. tattoos has been a widower for years, just like Pops. As old friends they kept in touch but were living in different parts of the state. Pops thinks it was the loneliness that brought them together at Mr. tattoos place in Auburn, CA. Pops said that they did not intend to be anything other than roommates to share expenses and be company for each other. He added that they didn’t tell him when their relationship changed, other than it was changing and they were happier now. I immediately recalled Pops prior statements about aging, “Just because you get old on the outside, doesn’t mean you’re dead on the inside,” a fine example to think about. 

Pops said that they were excited to get reacquainted with me after so many years. I may have changed a bit from the young teen they remembered, haha. He also said how happy they were to find out that “little Al” and Pops were able to connect again and couldn’t wait to meet me. I guess one day he’ll tell them the role we actually had together for so many years. He did let them know about Larry and that we were life partners. It was getting late and I could see Pops was ready to call it a night, so I have little knowledge of how much more he told them about the two of us, but I bet it was quite a bit. The last thing he said before heading off to his bedroom was that he told them he will officiate at our wedding, and maybe they’d like to be invited to our ceremony. Larry and I looked at each other, not expecting that at all, never said a word out loud, and Pops just said, “Sleep on that boys, it might be a good thing for you and for them too.” And with that, we started our good night routine, and damn it, I want two kisses too. So, I started doing it to let him know. Not a problem, I got them.

I know I told you that there was a horny factor rearing it’s head for me, but by the time we hit the sack, we both fell asleep immediately. I’m pretty sure we got a kiss before dropping off to sleep though. Perhaps it could have been the amount of wine I drank, but club soda never did that to Larry before, and he was out like a light. It was a very full day for both of us, and a mind boggling one for me at times. At least I had the perfect partner to get me through everything. What we couldn’t stay awake for at bedtime, was well taken care of in the morning, and before coffee too!

THE MORNING AFTER 

I guess you can tell from my lack of writing about it, the dirty dinner dishes were still in the kitchen sink from the prior evening. I told Pops last night that we’d take care of the cleanup in the morning, we all need a good night’s rest. I did rescue what was left from the pasta bake because it was too good to not keep. We just sprayed the dishes with some detergent and left them in the sink to self-clean. Well the label says it will, they lied! Maybe I need to re-read the label again.

As Larry and I approached the kitchen in the late morning, both of us scratching our asses along the way. (Just a little real-time visual humor for you, ha ha.) We found Pops at the sink in his boxers getting the dishes ready for the dishwasher. That’s something else they lie to us about, don’t pre-clean the plates just put them into the dishwasher, ya right, never again! Teach me to believe in commercials!

I was tempted to say to Pops, you didn’t need to do that, we would have. And then I remembered how he said he’d like to pull his weight around here as well. So, instead I said, “Thanks Pops, I appreciate you doing that.” I don’t know if I would have thought about saying that, if I didn’t hear him say he wanted to help us around the house. And then I figured, he said he’s pretty good at laundry now, so let’s go for it. “Hey Pops, you want to help me with the laundry today? Do you have any dirty clothes to wash yourself?” Man did he just light up with, “You bet I do, I don’t even know where the laundry area is anyway, I was going to ask you.” Larry was just smiling from ear to ear, and never said peep! He had his own plans for after breakfast. No question, it was great seeing Pops blending in with us and being happy doing so as well.

After he was done putting the dishes in the washer, Pops said he’d make breakfast for us with sunny-side-up eggs, hashbrowns from the freezer, and bacon (which is easy to find in this house.) Larry joined in with the toast making and coffee brewing. I just sat and watched, and not because I have a lazy streak. I got to see the two men I love the most working together and chatting up a storm. It was perfect! Besides after breakfast I get my turn to spend time with Pops in the Laundry room, not a place he’d be that aware of during any of his business parties here. Everything was completely catered.

Really, I’m having such a hard time making ‘doing the laundry’ a subject I want to continuing to write about here, so I won’t. However, while we were sorting the clothes into groups to wash, we got to talk and not business talk, just father son talk. Pops said that he didn’t think he’d get so emotional last night and then he saw how it affected me and he was so apologetic. I told him to stop, it was perfect, and I so want to visit with them again and again. I want that connection they had with me as a kid to become a connection once again. There’s so much I buried for years; I told him that I think I can handle the knowledge now. Moreover, he finally had a connection with them again, and he shouldn’t ever lose it. They will always be welcome in our home. Of course I ended up making Pops tear up, but I’m not sorry. We need each other more than ever now, and I think he knows that, too. Besides, Larry will be in heaven around them, he needs older role model men in his life that care about him, he’s missed having that for his whole life and that’s changing for the better now. To lighten up the laundry room a bit, I asked Pops, “You know any more ‘old farts’ to bring home with you?” At that point the tears from emotion and those from laughing were intermixed perfectly.

Well I think I’ve covered just about everything I wanted here unless I find something else while editing. (I did.) I should close and tell you, wait for Larry’s next chapter because I’m taking time off and will be in the pool before ‘Hell week’ starts. 

Later guys!

Marcus

Here is a link to Larry’s chapter 24, posted in October 2022: 

https://brosgonerogue.blogspot.com/2022/10/larrys-24th-post-really-breaking-news.html#more