Lucky Mr. Peters
Chapter 59
Allejandro and I showed Johan and Karim where we’d put the groceries that Pietro and Mauricio had provided and they were quite happy with it. They had a lot to do, so after we’d had our wine, we suggested to let them get on with it. Allejandro and I got hugs from both Johan and Karim and they assured us they’d be at our place around noon the next day for Hugo’s birthday surprise. As we walked out to the car, the familiar neighbor came up to us and asked about who the ‘strangers’ were.
“They’re Hugo’s cousin and his boyfriend. They are going to be living here,” I explained.
“But they’re both men!” the neighbor responded and I could see he was rather shocked.
“Yes, and I’m sure that at some point they’ll tie the knot, just like we will,” I replied, putting my arm around Allejandro’s shoulders.
The man’s face flushed red and without giving a response, he turned around and stomped back towards his own property.
“Are you sure you should have said that?” Allejandro asked, as we were getting into the car.
“Hell yes, I think the sanctimonious bastard deserved an answer like that,” I said, still feeling a bit angry. "Now let's watch the curtains flutter as his gossip wife gets the news out to the neighborhood about the new 'gay' neighbors," I smirked.
The anger disappeared the moment Allejandro bent over and kissed me on the cheek before we buckled ourselves in. We were both smiling as we drove off watching the neighbors curtains close, Hugo was right, word really does travel fast here.
Luckily the boys didn’t ask too many questions once we got home, mostly staying cooped up in the game room. I did make out with Damarion, which, as always, definitely wasn’t a punishment as the boy was more than endearing. He wasn’t the pure masochist that John and Carlos seemed to be, even though he could enjoy a good spanking. There was a side to him that I couldn’t put my finger on, but absolutely differentiated him from Carlos and John. I was still contemplating that, when Allejandro joined me on the patio after his intermezzo with Carlos.
“What’s bothering you?” Allejandro asked after having taken his seat.
I found it a bit eerie to note how he managed to sometimes read my mood so well. Still, I told him about my thoughts concerning Damarion and he said I had a point there. He agreed that there was something different about Damarion, but that he also didn’t quite know what it was. Our little talk then got interrupted as Aidan and Jordan joined us. I guess it was the signal to get out the glasses, a bottle of wine and to enjoy the afternoon sun. I was a bit surprised that the boys didn’t come out for a swim, but I guess they were too busy down in their game room for that.
When I asked Aidan and Jordan when they’d have their next lunch date, I could see Jordan’s face turn extremely dark.
“Not bloody ever again, right Aidan?” Jordan almost hissed.
“Well, it seems like Jordan couldn’t get along with some of my colleagues,” Aidan started.
“More like the whole lot them. Those jerks are stuck up, homophobic assholes,” Jordan interjected quite venomously.
I couldn’t help but smile at Jordan’s sharp words as Aidan’s face turned an almost purple color. Jordan explained that he’d overheard some of Aidan’s colleagues in the toilets talking about both him and Aidan in quite a denigrating way. He’d gotten rather upset and had confronted the men about their remarks, which hadn’t gone down well. It had led to an abrupt end to the luncheon, with Jordan punching one of the men in the face. Aidan kept quiet as Jordan recounted the events to us and it was quite clear it had seriously affected both of them. The very moment Jordan fell silent, Allejandro took it upon himself to tell them about meeting Johan and Karim and our confrontation with the neighbor earlier that afternoon.
“So, Johan and Karim’s neighbors might pose a problem at some point?” Jordan asked, after Allejandro finished his anecdote.
“I really hope not. There’s not much they can do but accept the fact they’re there to stay. Spain is a free country, after all,” I smiled.
“What do they look like?” Jordan immediately followed up.
“Oh, there can be no doubt about Johan being Hugo’s cousin,” Allejandro commented with a slight smile.
We were still talking and laughing when Pietro came out to announce that dinner was ready. I took the opportunity to follow him into the kitchen and tell both him and Mauricio about the extra guests that would be attending Hugo’s birthday party. Telling them about what time they would arrive, they assured me they’d make sure Johan and Karim could get into the house to spring the surprise on Hugo.
I hadn’t counted on Bernardo and Abelardo joining us for dinner, but Pietro and Mauricio obviously had, as extra seats had been provided for. There was definitely more going on underneath my own roof than I was aware of, but with smiles all around, I didn’t really care.
Saturday evening passed as normal, with the regular bunch watching a movie down in the media room before going to bed. It left John, Allejandro and me to enjoy our nightcap, before the three of us also retired.
Sunday morning, at breakfast, with Aidan and Jordan joining us, saw the now accepted routine of all the boys singing ‘Happy Birthday’, with Hugo getting a bit flushed this time. It was nice to see Rafael’s protective nature as he kept an arm around his boyfriend almost constantly. Abelardo and Bernardo arrived at around 9:30 and the ‘party’ moved down to the game room where Hugo was presented with his gifts. Of course, the cake was up next and once again Pietro had outdone himself.
I don’t think anyone noticed that Pietro and Mauricio left the game room to go back upstairs while the rest of us stayed there. It was close to 12 o’clock when all heads suddenly turned towards the door to the game room. I immediately recognized Johan and Karim’s voices singing a traditional German birthday song, that even took me by surprise.
„Heute
kann es regnen, |
„It can rain today, |
That’s all they managed to sing before Hugo almost toppled Johan over, jumping into his cousin’s arms. It took a little while for the other boys to truly realize what was going on, but once they did, things went completely mad. Some were screaming, almost at the top of their voice, while others seemed almost too stupefied to even utter a single word. Even Karim got pounced on and smothered by my crazy boys.
“You knew, didn’t you, you knew,” I could hear Hugo mutter as he walked over and fell into my arms, tears running down his cheeks.
There was no need to reply as I just held him, rubbing his back. I watched the whole circus in some type of slow-motion, observing how all the boys got acquainted with our newly arrived guests. I loved these happy times as Hugo was snatched from my arms by Rafael, who was pretty close to crying his eyes out. I could see him looking me right in the eyes, blinking away his tears as he was happy for the love of his life.
“It worked, it really worked,” I could hear Allejandro murmur as he put his arms around me.
Looking around me, I could see boys hugging each other, professing their love for one another without shame. The cacophony of sounds kept on as I could hear questions being asked in both English and German and replies being thrown back. I think most of the boys had already had their turn when I finally managed to welcome Johan and Karim to our home.
“Are they always this crazy?” Johan softly asked me in German.
“This is new for me also. I guess they all know how hard things have been for Hugo, and with this being his first birthday without his parents …” I whispered back, leaving the sentence unfinished.
The noise level was still rather high when it was penetrated by a loud whistle coming from the door to the room. As all heads turned and Mauricio finally had everyone’s attention, he announced that lunch was ready. It was the signal for us to all troop up the stairs and make for the dining room to have our meal.
With food on the table, the volume of the voices became far more tolerable and regular conversation became possible. I could hear how Johan explained to Hugo how he and Karim had used their leftover vacation days in order to be here on time for his birthday. Some others whispered amongst each other and in general, everyone seemed quite happy and content.
When lunch was over, the majority of the boys went back down to the game room while Hugo and Rafael took it upon themselves to show Johan and Karim around the house. It left me, Allejandro, Aidan and Jordan to enjoy a cup of tea out on the patio. After a short while, the foursome that had toured the house joined us outside.
“This really is a pretty big villa, Rudee,” Johan said with a huge grin.
“Yes, that’s why I need my two housekeepers. I don’t think I could keep it all up and running on my own,” I replied.
Hugo pointed out the guesthouse where Pietro and Mauricio lived and Aidan did the same with the one that he and Jordan occupied. We enjoyed talking with each other until around a quarter past two my cell phone started ringing. The caller-ID told me it was Julia, so I picked up.
“Hi Rudee. I just called to let you know that we’re on our way and will be at your place in about ten minutes,” she announced.
“But I thought you and Ronaldo were going to come over this evening?” I asked, surprised by Julia’s early arrival.
“We were, until we learned about the two surprise visitors that you never told me anything about,” Julia explicated.
“How on earth do you know about that?” I questioned.
“Unlike you, my little brother thought it prudent enough to inform me. And of course I want to meet the closest thing to family my future brother-in-law has,” Julia continued.
“Well, I’ll send that tattle-tale brother of yours out to open the car gate for you and see you two in a bit,” I said, before we ended the call.
Rafael gave me a weak smile and he looked only slightly guilty as I told him to make sure his sister and her husband could get into the front yard. I guess the others had gotten the message as they had started laughing.
“I’m not sure the other boys will be happy about this. It’ll ruin any plans they had to go swimming,” Allejandro commented.
“I guess he hadn’t really expected she’d be coming over already,” Aidan smiled.
Ten minutes later on the dot, Julia led the little group coming out of the house and immediately made for Hugo. As I’d expected, he got his hugs and kisses from her before she took charge and asked him to introduce her to his surprise guests. The woman really was a force of nature as she hugged and kissed both Johan and Karim after the introductions were made. Then the rest of us each got the same treatment and as she hugged me very tightly, she made it abundantly clear I should have told her. Ronaldo simply followed his wife’s lead and after all the felicitations were done, we managed to relax once more. I wasn’t surprised to see that right at that time, Mauricio came out with a small cart carrying an assortment of refreshments and tapas.
With Julia’s pregnancy now definitely starting to show, it quickly developed into the first topic of conversation. When Aidan asked if the baby’s sex had been determined yet, I saw Julia looking at Ronaldo, who just nodded.
“Well, I had my ultrasound last week and we asked not to be told about the baby’s sex. Though we now know, however, that there’s two of them,” Julia announced.
It brought about another round of felicitations and I could tell it had been quite a surprise to both Julia and Ronaldo. It also caused some comments about Felipe and Juanito and how they could be real pains. Some other merry remarks were made and we were all still laughing about it when I heard voices coming from the living room. As I looked over, I saw the bunch from the game room, most of them carrying towels, had stopped dead in their tracks. Some of them were definitely frowning while others smiled at seeing Julia sitting outside with us.
After getting over the initial shock, towels mysteriously disappeared and the boys came outside to say hello to Julia and Ronaldo. It was obvious to her that her presence had interrupted something and she knew exactly what it was.
“It’s OK with me if you boys want to go skinny-dipping. It’s not like you’ve got something I haven’t seen before,” she smiled.
I immediately noticed Juanito’s and her baby brother's faces and knew Julia shouldn’t have made that final remark.
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that, Julia,” Juanito commented, wiggling his eyebrows at Jordan, who instantly turned a bright red.
“Now I understand your comments about having twins,” Julia addressed the original group, a grin on her face.
Instantaneously questions and answers started to be thrown back and forth until all the boys had heard the news that Julia had told us. Then a little discussion ensued between the boys and I can’t say I was surprised when most of the younger boys saw no harm in ‘showing off’. They went back inside, stripped and, with a towel around their waist, made their way to the pool, dropping the towels only at the last minute. It was fun to see how Julia’s simple presence influenced the boys’ behavior. Allejandro, Jordan and even John decided to not go in, but seeing the other boys in the pool, Hugo and Rafael had no such inhibitions.
“It’s nice to see them having so much fun, boys should stay boys,” Julia commented, giving Ronaldo a knowing look.
“I love swimming naked, dear, but only in the privacy of our own home,” Ronaldo replied rather pointedly, almost causing a few of us to spill our drinks.
While a majority of the boys frolicked around in the pool, the rest of us continued to talk about a variety of subjects. Inevitably the possible adoption of Damarion and Carlos came up again, resulting in a minor discussion between Aidan and Julia on the value of the ‘Spanish language test’. It was fun to hear them squabbling, but in the end, Julia had to admit that in practice, it didn’t really amount to much. When Johan and Karim mentioned their intentions to at some point get married and adopt, Aidan stepped in and began explaining to them the rules and regulations that were in place. It looked like Aidan was truly in his element discussing legal matters, with Jordan just shaking his head.
“See, and that’s just one part of what I had to put up with last week,” he told me and Allejandro.
We both couldn’t help but smile and I could see the rather puzzled look on Julia’s face. Jordan was quick to rattle off the reason for his comment in rapid Spanish and I was surprised to find I understood most of what he said. At around that time, Pietro came out of the house and asked who was staying for dinner. Johan and Karim were easily convinced to do so, but Julia said that since they had come over early, she had persuaded Ronaldo to take her out for a meal and she was going to have him stick to that. Poor Ronaldo didn’t even get a word in, making it abundantly clear who was boss in the Peralez household. There were a few chuckles, but we refrained from outright laughter so as not to add insult to injury.
Some half an hour later, the first boys were coming out of the pool and they all managed to rather quickly cover themselves. The only noticeable exceptions were Damarion and Carlos, who didn’t seem to care about who was watching. While the other boys had their towels around their waist as soon as they could, the two youngest had put them around their shoulders before moving towards and then into the house.
About fifteen minutes later we were re-joined by Hugo and Rafael, the other boys seemingly having gone back to the game room after drying off properly and getting redressed. From his fidgeting, I got the impression that Rafael would have liked to join the other boys, but somehow felt obliged to stay with Hugo. I don’t think Hugo even noticed as he was too preoccupied with talking to Johan in German. They were mostly talking about family members that Hugo somehow vaguely remembered from the few visits that he and his parents had made over the years.
In all, it was quite a happy gathering and it was a pity when, around 5:30, Julia announced that she and Ronaldo had to go. They took their leave from all of us and Rafael went with them to open and close the car gate for them. When he came back, I heard him mumbling about his father being happy to get two grandkids at once. It wasn’t until then that I realized that, even though I was his papi, he was somehow still missing his real father. I couldn’t help but wonder if that maybe wasn’t also true for some of the other boys, no matter what their dads had put them through. It could even be true for Allejandro and I decided to have a talk with him about that when we were alone.
I think my musing took a bit longer than I had thought as by the end, Pietro had come out to announce that dinner was ready. When we walked into the dining room, I couldn’t keep myself from smiling at the sight of the food on the table. From my point of view at least, it all looked like a Spanish take on traditional German food, with sausages, baked potatoes and there was even something that looked like sauerkraut. They had mixed things up with other meats and vegetables and even dumplings, but obviously they had wanted to emulate German foodstuff.
It was clear that Hugo, Karim and Johan also got the picture as I could hear them chuckle and whisper to one another. I don’t think anyone else really noticed, to them it was just food and they were definitely hungry. During dinner I could see that at least Johan tried a bit of everything, commenting on it to Hugo and Karim. Then John, who was sitting next to me, poked me in the side.
“If this is supposed to be ‘bratwurst’, they still got to learn a thing or two,” he whispered to me.
“Well, it’s the thought that counts. And it’s really not that bad as that’s already your second, isn’t it?” I whispered back.
“I’m English, we’re used to bad food. Besides, I’m just happy they didn’t try their hand at ‘fish and chips’ on my birthday,” John snickered.
At that moment I almost spat out the food I was chewing on. His remark was funny as hell and I hadn’t expected this warped sense of humor from John at this particular time. A few of the other boys gave us strange looks, but refrained from commenting.
“You know, I’m just happy you’re not from Scotland or they just might have served us ‘haggis’ and I don’t think I could have stomached that,” I managed to say after swallowing and this time it was John’s turn to nearly choke on his food.
It was just some innocent fun that, judging from the many smiles, went on all around the table. Of course, it had to be one of the twins, in this case Juanito, who started sucking on a sausage, commenting that it felt just like the real thing, but tasted better. I was pretty sure that a few of us cringed when he then took a big bite out of it. In the end, there were only a few dumplings left, witnesses to the fact that it hadn’t been the most favorite food around the table.
With dinner over, Bernardo and Abelardo declared that they had to go home since they still had some homework to do. This brought about a groan from the other boys who realized that they, too, still had that task ahead of them. As Bernardo and Abelardo were escorted out by the twins, Johan and Karim announced their intentions to also go home.
“Please, can’t you stay a little while longer? I’ll be done with my homework in half an hour,” Hugo pleaded.
“Well, I guess so. Karim and I will have plenty of time during the coming week to get things in order,” Johan said, after exchanging glances with Karim.
As the boys all made for the stairs, Jordan and Aidan in turn excused themselves. Jordan had his homework and Aidan wanted to prepare for his day ahead, going through a few of his cases. I suggested to Johan and Karim that we settle in the living room as by now it was getting a bit chilly to be out on the patio. They both laughed, saying that, as a Dutchman, I should be as used to cold weather as they were. I concurred, but reminded them that we were now in southern Spain and should adapt to local customs.
After we got seated, I brought up the subject of them running the apartment complex on my behalf. This time they both agreed it was too good of a chance for them to pass up, but that they had come up with some ideas of their own. Listening to their suggestions, I knew I had made the right decision as they came up with things I would never have thought of. We were still discussing various options when we were joined by Allejandro and Hugo, Rafael clearly opting this time to join the other boys in the game room.
The evening turned out to be another pleasant experience and I enjoyed the candor from both Johan and Karim. At one point, Karim, being ever practical, even went out to talk to Pietro and Mauricio about where to get the best foodstuffs around town. During his absence, Johan admitted that, between the two of them, Karim was definitely the better cook.
“I can boil or fry an egg, but that’s about where my prowess at cooking ends,” he commented, causing us all to laugh.
As the expression goes, though, time flies when you’re having fun and this time was no exception. It was already a little past 10 when Johan and Karim said they really needed to go home and Hugo relented. We saw them out and after they had driven off Hugo got quite emotional.
“That was the best birthday present I could have wished for,” he whispered as he hugged both me and Allejandro at the same time.
“Why don’t you go down to the game room and tell the boys it’s getting close to bedtime,” I said, after he’d calmed down a bit.
Hugo did, while Allejandro and I went back into the living room. Shortly after, I saw the boys moving up the stairs as Allejandro and I had one more glass of wine.
“Did you hear what Rafael was saying after he came back from letting out Julia and Ronaldo?” I asked, not knowing if he had.
“No, I couldn’t make out what he was mumbling as I was listening to something Johan was saying,” Allejandro replied.
I told Allejandro what I had picked up and about what I thought it meant. He gave it some thought, but then resolutely shook his head in the negative.
“I’m sure that some of us miss our old fathers, the ones we knew when we were children, growing up without worries. The fathers we thought would never change and would always love us unconditionally. Those fathers are no longer there, they’ve turned into hateful men that for some reason think that it’s okay to despise and disown their own children,” Allejandro softly reiterated his thoughts.
The way he’d said it left me at a loss for words and great sadness for all my boys.
TBC