Chance Encounter

A Chance Encounter, Chapter 9

A Chance Encounter
By Jason Finigan

This story is completely fictional. Any similarities to any persons or events, past or present are purely coincidental. This story may contain scenes which involve sexual situations. If this type of material is offensive to you, or it is not legal for you to be reading this type of material, please do not read any further. This story is copyright © 2007 by Jason. Please do not copy this story for distribution or post on any online server without the author's permission. Please send all your comments to: jasonfinigan@yahoo.com You can also visit my site at: www.jasonfinigan.net. Thanks and enjoy the story.

From the last chapter:

"Alright, I think I have everything now. Is there anything anyone can add that might help us in this investigation?" she asked. When no one had anything else to say, she stood up, and closed her notebook, putting her pen away.

"Since I have all the information I'm going to get here, I'm going to try and run a check on this man, and his car and see if we come up with a match. I want you to understand that so far, he hasn't broken any laws, except for what he did at the park, which I will also be checking on. I want all of you to be careful, and report to me any suspicious behavior," she said, handing my mother her card.

My mother walked her to the front door, and after she had closed it, came back into the living room.

"What now?" I asked my father.

"Now, we continue as if nothing ever happened. I'm not going to give some sicko the satisfaction of seeing this family living in fear. We're going to have an excellent dinner, and tomorrow we're going to have the best going away party anyone has ever seen," my father said, which made everyone in the room smile.

Chapter 9

A going away party was just what we needed. We all were sitting in the living room, chatting up a storm, discussing various ideas about what we wanted to do for the party. Everyone was so excited about the party and discussing things like what we were going to do, what we were going to eat. Some of the ideas they came up with were pretty good too. Though, honestly, I wasn't thinking of any of that. What I was thinking about most was Sam next door.

In all the excitement with Powder and the strange man who was watching our house, everyone had forgotten about the little girl. I still wanted to get Emily and her together, and if she was able, I wanted her to be a part of the party. My parents and Terry's parents were busy discussing the party amongst themselves, while Terry and Emily were playing a game of "tickle" beside me. Terry, of course, was winning.

"Excuse me, Mom?" I interrupted, trying to catch everyone's attention.

"Yes dear, what is it?" She asked me.

"Well, we're busy talking about having a good time and having a party, and I couldn't help but think we were being a little selfish."

"I thought you like the idea though babe?" Terry asked me.

"I do babe, but I was thinking of something from yesterday."

"What is that, Simon?" my father asked.

"You remember what I suggested yesterday about Emily going over next door to see Sam? Well, if we're going to be having this big party out in the back yard, it's right below Sam's window and she's stuck up in her room. I just thought it wouldn't be fair for her to see us having a good time outside while all she gets to do is watch us from her window."

"My God you're right, Simon, I had almost completely forgot about her," my mother said.

"Do you think we could ask her and her parents to join us for the party? At least then she could have some fun and won't be left out, but still be taking it easy."

"Son, I honestly don't know how you grew to have such a large heart, but I'm proud of you for it. Why don't you go next door and ask Sam's parents to come over for a few minutes," my father said.

"Okay Dad," I said. "And maybe they would let Sam come over too."

"Well, you just see what they say son," my father said.

"I'll be right back Dad," I said, and rushed out of the living room to put on my shoes which were by the front door.

"Hey babe, do you want me to come with you?" Terry asked after me.

"Of course babe! I can introduce you too," I told him.

"Be careful though Simon. They don't know you and Terry are a couple and I don't know how they will react," my mother suggested.

"We will Mom," I called back to her. "Ready babe?" I asked Terry.

"Yep. Let's go," he replied.

I opened the door, and together, Terry and I made our way to my neighbor's house. All the houses on my block looked very similar, aside for the differences in colours. I think I had heard my father call this neighborhood a new development. Of course, I didn't know what he meant at the time. Later on he told me that all the homes in this area were built by the same developer, and that they were built at the same time. He told me that in order to save money, the developer used the same blueprints for all the homes, and that it was a very common practice.

Sam's house was to the left of ours. They had a small brick wall that surrounded the walkway to their front door. At the front of the wall, which was no higher than my waist, they had an assortment of bushes and flowers. It was a really beautiful and inviting entrance, and I could see Terry's eyes giving it a good going over.

"Looks really nice doesn't it babe?" I asked him.

"Yes it does. Why don't your parents have something like this?" He asked me.

"Well, Sam's father is a professional landscaper. He actually did this as an anniversary gift for his wife."

"Really? He must make a lot of money then!" Terry said.

"Well, I think he does. My Dad told me that he owned a rather large landscaping company up in Waterdown, and that they did a lot of the landscaping work for people living along the lake. You should see those homes. Some of them are like mansions."

"Wow, I'd love to see them."

"I'll have my Dad drive us there one day. You'll like them. They're neat."

"I bet they are babe," Terry said.

We made our way up the path, and I pushed the door bell button. We waited a couple minutes before the door opened up and I saw Sam's mother standing in the doorway.

"Well hello Simon. It's been a while since you've come over. What brings you here today? And who is this with you?" she asked me.

"Hi Mrs. Mckendrick. This is Terry, my new friend. I met him at Algonquin Park this weekend."

"Hello Terry," she said, shaking Terry's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too Mrs. Mckendrick," Terry said.

"Is Mr. Mckendrick home?" I asked her.

"Yes he is, would you like me to get him for you?"

"Please," I said.

"Okay, you boys come in for a minute, and I'll go get him for you," she said, stepping out of the way so we could go inside. Once we were inside, she closed the door, then walked to the living room. A few seconds later she came back with Mr. Mckendrick.

"Hello Simon," he said. "How have you been doing?"

"I'm fine, Mr. Mckendrick. This is Terry, my new friend," I said

"Hello Terry. It's nice to see Simon making new friends,"

"Thank you sir."

"Okay Simon, now what is it the two of you wanted?" he asked.

"Well, my parent's sent us over here to see if you can come over to our house for a few minutes."

"Oh? Is something wrong?" he asked me.

"No. Nothing is wrong. Actually tomorrow we're going to be having a party at our place and they wanted to talk to you a bit about it."

"Well, that sounds interesting," Mrs. Mckendrick said.

"And we wanted to know if Sam would like to come over too. Terry has a sister who is about Sam's age," I said.

"Well I don't know. She has been feeling rather tired, today," Mrs. Mckendrick said.

"Oh let her go dear. You'd be tired too if all you did was sit around the house all day," Mr. Mckendrick said.

"I'll ask her if she wants to come then," she said.

"Actually, do you mind if I go up to ask her? It's been a while since we've been able to talk.

"Of course not Simon. Go on upstairs. I just came from her room and she was doing some reading."

"Reading?" I asked her. "Sam never used to like reading."

"Well, honey, that new Harry Potter book came out just recently, and since then she's been reading all the books from start to finish before she reads the new one."

"I forgot that she was a huge Harry Potter fan," I said, laughing slightly.

"Yes she is. You and Terry go on up and ask her to come down."

"Okay Mrs. Mckendrick," I said. Terry and I then took off our shoes and headed for the stairs. The Mckendricks did a lot of renovating inside the house. Where the stairs in my home was carpeted, theirs was bare wood, polished in a dark cherry stain. The walls were an off-white creamy colour, and several pictures adorned the wall along the stairwell. Most of the floors in the home consisted of either hard wood flooring, which was also a cherry colour, and ceramic tile. The overall effect was a very warm home. I had secretly wished my parents would have done something like the Mckendricks did, although I think we were the only ones to have renovated the attic to create two bedrooms and another bathroom.

Sam's room was the one closest to the bathroom at the end of the hallway. Since both our homes were constructed the same, her room was actually the same room that I had been given in my home. It was right across the hall from her parents. Her door was closed, and I knocked on it, then opened the door.

I saw Sam laying on her bed. In her hands was a book, which I saw was indeed a Harry Potter novel. It was actually Sam that got me interested in the series, although I had yet to pick up my copy of the seventh book, something I wanted to do very much.

When she saw me come into her room, she smiled and put her book down. Getting off the bed, she came up to me and gave me a big hug. I returned the hug and held her close to me, just as I had always done when I came over to see her. She didn't have very many friends, and I think I was the only one she was comfortable with hugging her.

She then stepped back, and started moving her hands about, occasionally touching other parts of her body. Terry stood beside me and looked very confused about what Sam was doing. I held up my hands to stop her, then looked over at Terry.

"Um, what's she doing Simon?" Terry asked me.

"Terry, Sam is deaf. She's using sign language," I told him.

"You know sign language?" Terry asked me.

"Yes. Ever since I've been coming over here. I learned along with her family on how to communicate with her. She can read lips, so you don't have to learn it, but I wanted to."

"Damn, is there anything else you haven't told me yet?" he asked, his smile telling me that he wasn't offended.

"One or two things, but I'll let you know," I said, teasingly.

"I'll get it out of you eventually," he said.

"Probably," I laughed before returning my focus back on Sam.

"Sam," I signed. "Would you like to come downstairs with Terry and me?" She smiled back at me and nodded her head. She then turned to Terry and began to sign to him.

"Oh boy," I laughed.

"What?" He asked. "What did she say?"

"She just asked you if you were my boyfriend," I told him.

"She knows you're gay?" he asked me.

"Well, she does now!" I said.

"But how does she know that?" Terry asked me, bewildered.

"Terry, why don't you ask her?" I suggested.

"Um, okay," Terry said, then looked down at Sam. "Sam, how do you know that Simon is gay?" Sam made some more gestures and then looked back at me.

"She said she's always known, and that it's about time I figured it out for myself," I said, laughing. "Sam, you were always the sharp one," I signed to her.

"And don't you forget it mister," Sam signed back to me.

"Okay, so yeah, Terry is my boyfriend, Sam," I signed.

"Well I think you're very lucky to have found him, Simon."

"Thanks Sam," I signed back, giving her another hug, which she returned.

"Let's go back downstairs now, okay?" I said aloud, making sure she could see my lips. She nodded her head and grabbed a hold of my hand. Together the three of us walked out of her room, and back down the stairs.

"Well, what took you so long?" Mrs. Mckendrick asked when we had returned to the main hallway downstairs.

"Terry didn't know that Sam was deaf, so I had to explain a few things," I told her.

"Okay then," she said, then looked over at her daughter.

"Sam, the Campbells have invited us over for a short while. Do you feel up to walking over today?" she signed to her daughter.

"Yes Mom, I'd love to go," Sam signed back.

"Okay then, lets go. Get your shoes on Sam," Mr. Mckendrick said.

Terry and I got our shoes on as well, noticing for the first time that both Mr. and Mrs. Mckendrick had their shoes on already. In short order, we were all ready to go, and I Mr. Mckendrick opened the door, letting us all go outside. Once there, he locked up the house, and together we all made the walk back to my house. Terry walked beside me, and Sam walked closely on the other side. I could tell she wanted to skip; she was so happy to get out of the house, but because she was still very weak, she couldn't. It didn't stop her from grinning from ear to ear though, as she walked beside me with her hand in mine.

"You know Simon," Mr. Mckendrick said as we walked up the path leading to my front door. "Your father really should let me do some work on his yard for him."

"I've been trying to tell him that Mr. Mckendrick," I said. "But he's been so busy lately that I think he completely forgot about it."

"Well, maybe I can convince him otherwise," he said.

"I hope so. The front especially could use some work," I told him. "I think he might go for it now though. He wants to spend more time with me now and plans to cut down on his work. So does my mother."

"Well that's good. I've always thought they worked too hard. I didn't like it much that you were left alone all the time," Mrs. Mckendrick said.

"Well, they have been home since we got back from Algonquin Park. Though there were special circumstances that made going to work a little difficult."

"Oh? And what were those?" Mr. Mckendrick asked.

"I'll let my Mom and Dad tell you when we get inside," I said. Getting up to the front door, I opened it and walked inside. Terry and Sam were right behind me, followed by Mrs. Mckendrick and then Mr. Mckendrick, who closed the door behind him. My father then came out of the living room to greet us.

"Pam, Mike, it's so good to see you," he said, shaking both their hands. "And Sam, how are you doing, sweetheart?" he asked, looking down at Sam, who was still smiling.

"I'm good thanks," she signed, which Mrs. Mckendrick translated for my father.

"Well, why don't we all go into the living room. There's someone here who would like to see you, Sam," my father said.

"Who?" Sam signed.

"You'll see," he said, and led us back into the living room where everyone was sitting. With the addition of the Mckendricks, the living room was now full. We had no more chairs for them to sit in, so Tim, Darryl, and my mother got up off the couches they were sitting in. Emily was alone on the love seat, and she saw Sam come in. Her face beamed in the biggest grin I saw on her face since Powder left, and she lept off the couch, running over to Sam.

"Hi I'm Emily!" she said excitedly.

"Be careful honey," my mother said. "Sam's not feeling too well."

"Okay," she said, looking back at my mother.

"Hi Emily, I'm Sam. And I'm really happy to meet you," Sam signed. Emily got confused and looked over at me.

"Emily, Sam is deaf. She can't hear you, or speak. She can read your lips, but she can't hear you. So if you talk to her, you have to make sure she can see your lips when you talk," I told her.

"But how will I be able to know what she's saying?" she asked me.

"Well, either her mother or father will tell you, or I will. We all learned how to use sign language, which is what she was doing after you told her your name."

"What did she say?" she asked.

"She said that her name is Sam, and that she's happy to meet you," I told her.

"Hi Sam," Emily said, making sure Sam could see her lips. "I'm sorry you can't hear me talk, but I'd like to be your friend."

Sam made some more gestures with her hands, and smiled at Emily.

"She said that she would love to be your friend, Emily," I told her. "She would also like to help you learn sign language so you can understand her when the two of you are alone."

"Don't worry Emily, we'll help you too if you want," Mrs. Mckendrick said.

"Yeah, but I don't know for how long we're staying here," Emily said.

"We'll be here long enough honey," Kathy said.

"What do you mean, Mom?" she asked.

"Well, there's a house down the street that is for sale. We're going to go over there in a few days to look at it," Kathy replied.

"Oh yes, the one where the Franklins moved out," my mother said.

"Yes. David saw it as we were coming back," my father said.

"Well that would be good. Our families would be so close then," my mother said.

"So Craig, Anna. What did you want us to come over for?" Mr. Mckendrick asked.

"First of all, some introductions are in order I think. David, Kathy, this is Pam and Mike Mckendrick, and their daughter Sam," my father said to Terry's mother and father. He then turned back to Mr. and Mrs. Mckendrick. "You've already met Simon's uncles before, Tim and Darryl."

"Yes we have, and it's nice to see the two of you again," Mr. Mckendrick said.

"Thanks. We don't get here often enough, but this was a special occasion," Darryl said.

"And this is David and Kathy Long. You've of course met Emily and Terry already, their children."

"How are you David, Kathy," Mr. Mckendrick said, shaking their hands, followed by Mrs. Mckendrick.

"Why don't you three have a seat and I'll tell you everything. It's a pretty long story," my father said.

"Okay," Mrs. Mckendrick said, sitting on the couch with her husband. Sam elected to sit beside Emily on the love seat.

"As you know, Tim is Simon's uncle, my brother. Darryl however isn't related to us by blood. He is in fact, Tim's husband."

"You mean you and Darryl are gay, Tim?" Mrs. Mckendrick asked.

"Yes we are. I'm sorry if that upsets you," Tim said.

"No, not at all. I was just surprised is all. Both Mike and I have friends who are gay, and we are completely okay with that. In fact, they are some of our best friends. Besides you of course."

"I'm glad to hear you say that," my mother said. "You see, only recently did Simon realize that he too is gay. Terry is his boyfriend."

"Well congratulations then Simon! You do know how to pick them," Mrs. Mckendrick said.

"Thanks," I replied, feeling my face begin to get hot.

"He looks so cute when he blushes," Terry laughed.

"I agree with you Terry," Mrs. Mckendrick said.

"I knew all along," Sam signed.

"You knew all along, Sam?" Mr. Mckendrick asked. "If you knew, why didn't you say something?"

"Because Simon didn't know until I saw him today," she signed. I translated that last part to everyone else.

"You are one amazing young woman," my mother said.

"Thank you," she signed back.

"So, at any rate," my father continued. "We went up to Algonquin Park this weekend and that is where we met Terry and his family. Shortly after they met, I think is when they realized that they were falling in love with each other. You should have seen them in the tent that night. We had suddenly realized that there were no sounds coming from their tent so we went to see why. Simon, I know, always stays up late, even when I tell him not to. We saw the two of them sound asleep in Simon's sleeping bag, and they were holding each other. It was the most beautiful thing we had ever seen."

"We even have the picture to remember it," my mother said.

"You took a picture, Mom?" I asked her.

"You bet we did," she said.

"Can we see it?" I asked.

"Of course honey, just let me go get it. You can go on Craig, I'll be right back." With that, my mother left the living room, and headed up the stairs.

"Well, the next day, we confronted them about it, and they admitted that they were both gay and that they were in love with each other. Unfortunately, someone had also seen them, and caused us some problems at the park. In fact, we had to call the police over today because we think that same person followed us to our house on the way back from the park.

"Oh how awful. So that's why we saw a police cruiser in your driveway earlier," Mrs. Mckendrick said.

"Yes. We caught him spying on our house and Tim and Darryl tried to confront him, but he took off. The police are looking into it now."

"So this person was offended by Simon and Terry being in love with each other?" Mr. Mckendrick asked. "How did he find that out?"

"That was our fault. We got up in the morning and had to go to the bathroom. We were kissing each other, when this man came out of one of the stalls and called us names then stormed out. He filed a complaint against Terry and me, saying that we were having sex in the bathroom, which we weren't," I said.

"I'm so sorry you had to experience that Simon, Terry. I want you two to know, and you too Tim, Darryl, that you will never hear us, or see us saying anything bad about people who are gay or lesbian. We don't agree with judging others because of who they are," Mrs. Mckendrick said.

"I'm glad you both feel that way Pam," Tim said. "This world would be a much better place if more people felt the same as you."

"I couldn't agree with you more, Tim."

"Well any ways. The complaint was dismissed and the man ended up having to leave the park, although Simon and Terry were cautioned about showing their affection for one another in a public place, even if they think they're alone. The rest of the day went on without incident, at least at the park. We went swimming before heading on home.

"The Longs had decided to join us at our home as they were planning to move to Burlington anyways and this provided them with an opportunity to check things out. Along the way however, I almost ran into an animal. Thinking back on it, I can't believe I missed seeing it in the first place until it was almost too late."

"What was it?" Mrs. Mckendrick asked.

"An albino white-tailed deer. She was only a couple days old, and had suddenly got separated from her mother."

"Oh how awful! Poor thing," Mrs. Mckendrick said.

"Not entirely. You see we decided to take the fawn with us, and she became attached to Simon and Emily. Actually, I think we all got very attached to her as well. She was the cutest thing I had ever seen. So we ended up taking her here, where Simon looked after her. It was funny watching Powder, that was the name we gave her, following Simon and Emily around. It proved to both Anna and me that Simon would make a wonderful father one day.

"Today we called Tim over since he is used to dealing with wildlife in his practice, and he checked Powder out. Later on, he and Craig along with Simon and Emily took Powder up to a preserve up in Flamborough where one of Tim's friends lives. Since we aren't allowed by law to keep Powder here, it was decided to take her to the Preserve. Well as luck would have it, several other deer were also brought over to the preserve, one of whom happened to be Powder's natural mother. So all in all, things have been busy these last few days."

"Oh wow," Mr. Mckendrick said. "You have been busy."

"So why ask us over then?" Mrs. Mckendrick asked.

"We decided we wanted to have a going away party for Powder, even though she's at her new home, and we wanted to invite you to join us. The reason we are was because of something that Simon said," my mother said, coming back downstairs with the picture, and handing it to me. She was right, I thought that Terry looked so beautiful laying there in my arms.

"Oh? And what was that Simon?" Mr. Mckendrick asked, bringing my attention back to the conversation.

"Well, Sam's window is facing our back yard, and if we were going to have a party, I knew that it would make Sam really sad to see us all having fun while she was stuck up in her room and wasn't able to have any. I wanted you and her to come join us. It isn't fair that she can't have fun like all the other kids do."

"Simon, you are the most thoughtful and considerate friend Sam could ever have. I just don't know if a party is something that Sam should be in," Mrs. Mckendrick said.

"Now honey, we can't keep Sam couped up in the house all the time. The doctors said she shouldn't have any excitement, not that we should keep her prisoner in her room," Mr Mckendrick said.

"I know that dear, but you know how I worry about her."

"Mom, I want to be here for the party," Sam signed, after getting her mother's attention.

"Are you sure, honey?" she asked Sam.

"Yes. I promise I won't do anything to get excited or anything, but I really want to be here. I'd like to spend some more time with Emily too," Sam signed, which I translated for everyone else.

"Okay honey, but just remember what the doctor said, and take it easy," Mrs. Mckendrick said.

"I will."

"Okay, now that that is settled, why don't the three of you join us for dinner. We have more than enough for everyone," my father said.

"You know what, I think we'll take you up on that offer. We were going to go out for dinner, and this is much closer," Mr. Mckendrick said.

"Oh please dear, you just want to be here because you like Anna's cooking better than mine," Mrs. Mckendrick said, rolling her eyes.

"That's not true honey," Mr. Mckendrick said. "No one's cooking can compare to yours."

"And don't you forget it," she admonished.

"Well, I for one would love to see the master chef at work. Care to join me in the kitchen Pam?" my mother asked.

"I would be delighted," Mrs. Mckendrick said.

"Alright, now as for you two," my father said, looking at Terry and me. "Your mother said that you want to move your stuff up to one of the bedrooms upstairs."

"Yes, I would Dad. I've always liked it up there. I told Mom that when you and she were away that I'd often spend a lot of time up there. It was quiet."

"Well, I'm sorry we weren't here as often as we would have liked, though that is going to change. Are you sure this is what you want to do Simon?" he asked me.

"Yes Dad. If it's okay with you," I told him.

"Actually, I was building those rooms with you in mind, Son," he said.

"You were?"

"Yep. Why do you think I had you help me pick things out as much as I did? You were practically designing your own room, though you never knew it."

"I love you so much Dad," I said, going over to him to give him the biggest hug I could.

"I love you too Son, though I do need to breathe."

"Oops, sorry Dad," I said, relaxing my grip.

"That's okay Son. It just makes me proud to see you happy."

"I am Dad."

"Alright. Why don't you start getting things out of your room, and I'll join you a little later to help you with some of your furniture."

"Thanks. Come on Terry, let's get started," I said, already making my way up the stairs.

"I think I've been summoned," Terry said, laughing.

"Yep, you better get a move on," my father said laughing after him as Terry sprinted up the stairs after me. He got to my room just as I had started to take some of my clothes from out of my closet.

"Hey babe," he said.

"Hey Terry. Can you do me a favor and start unplugging my computer?" I asked him.

"Sure thing babe, but first I want to do something."

"Oh and what's that?" I asked. His answer didn't come with words however. Instead he walked up to me, and put his arms around me, holding me close up against his body.

"This," he said, pressing his lips against mine, kissing me softly. I wasn't expecting it, but soon I found myself returning his kiss, letting go for the first time in a long while, finally giving him all the love I held deep inside. The world didn't exist for us at that moment, only each other. So enraptured we were with each other that we both failed to notice my parents and his standing in the doorway, looking at us with smiles on all their faces.

Editor's Notes:
Now that was a very nice chapter. Sam is a very nice little girl. I think she and Emily are going to get along really well. I bet it won't take Emily very long to learn sign language either. It was nice to see that Sam's parents are okay with gay people. I think the party will be really nice. I want to point out that I am very thrilled that Jason has allowed me to edit his stories. It is truly a pleasure to be his editor. I love the way his characters are so true to life. They are like part of the family. I certainly recommend any of his stories. I know you will enjoy all of his work. I can hardly wait for each new chapter of any of his stories.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher