To the readers: I only got one email about Older and Younger 11. Got that today. That was such a phenomenal comment that it inspired me to do this chapter. Have to say that reader comments are only reason for writing. Best to all...
From Older and Younger 11:
"'Jon', I said, is it always going to be like this? Are we always going to have to love, work, fight, fuck and love again? Are you always going to be difficult' in some ways? Am I? I'm sorry. I'm confused and overwhelmed.' I tried to grin.
He took my head in his big hands. He kissed me soulfully. Yes', he said. I'm who I am and you are who you are. Our life together will always be jumping into a torrent and sliding down a waterfall. It will be overwhelming but incredibly exciting. This is us. This is both of us. OK with that, my lover, my man, and my husband?'
I nodded yes. I fell asleep on his chest. I still can't believe that this big lug loves me so much. Tomorrow will take care of itselfÉ"
We were awakened at a reasonable time by a call to breakfast. Since there were no guests yet, we were able to enjoy a cooked to order breakfast from a menu presented to us. Normally guests would be treated to a breakfast buffet instead. I went the whole Western route with a "Western" omelet, smoked breakfast sausages from the Texas Hill Country, home fries, and two kinds of salsa. Beautifully prepared. Jon went with a beautiful fruit plate, Greek yoghurt, and slices of prosciutto. I started to tease him about his healthy breakfast, but one look of his raised eyebrows convinced me to give it a rest.
After breakfast all four of the local guys insisted on giving us a tour. I almost laughed out loud again and seeing them jostle each other to try to sit next to us. Jon and I were sitting together and squeezed enough together that we were practically conjoined.
Led me to think. Hmm. A sixsome? Is that a word? Looking at the other four guys I realized that that would never, ever, work. I guess that a `sixsome' is really an orgy. I can't imagine the other four guys in an orgy. I could almost see the jealousy and fights that that might cause. And that made me suddenly wonder how callous I had become about the thought of having sex with other people besides my Jon. I mean he and I had been exclusive since we first made love. We were deeply in love. Why are we thinking about making love/having sex with other guys? We certainly don't need to. We have enough with each other to last us the rest of our lives. I mean we would be with guys I had been with before Jon (except Claudio), but did that matter?
I could see Jon noticed my sudden frown and concern. He grabbed me, hugged me close, and mouthed, "later". I keep forgetting how empathic he is and how much he cares about me. He notices everything about me. He always is in touch with me and my feelings. While Marc loved me just as much, he wasn't empathic like this. I suddenly realized I wasn't empathic the way Jon was either. Hadn't been with Marc and wasn't now with Jon. I suddenly felt rather stupid and dumb. If he could "feel" me and almost read my mind, why couldn't I do that for him? I mean why does he still want me and care for me so fucking much when I'm defective compared to him? He is so fucking perfect in every way and I'm just normal!
He slapped me hard enough to hurt. "Stop it", he said.
I could tell the other four guys were shocked by his action. He glared at them. I looked at them and nodded, "Thanks, I needed that." Everyone broke up laughing at the old commercial reference.
The tour went by in a whirlwind. I was still absorbing my new understanding of Jon and his reaction to my belittling myself. I could almost believe that he had read my mind. Was he really superhuman? After I thought that I could see his hand getting ready to slap me again. "No, you're not. I know that", I said out loud. He smiled and lowered his hand. "But you will have to explain." He nodded. The other four guys looked even more confused.
I know everyone wants to hear about the Ranch. But I can't give all the details now. Look, it was just as perfect as something new, carefully designed, while incorporating what was already there could be. I could tell all of that, despite my daze. The hill was great. The pond was great. I could see the space and trails set up for horseback riding. As far as I could tell every detail was taken care of.
Back at the main house, we had another high quality lunch. Since we could still order from a lovely, hand designed, menu, I again went for protein and major carbs. Jon, I noticed, again went light and even Mediterranean. I frowned big time. We hadn't eaten in restaurants together in a while. I suddenly realized that, at home, we had started to eat a Mediterranean diet a few weeks ago. I hadn't realized it then. Hadn't thought about it at all. Once again, I should have.
The performances by the professionals the Ranch had hired were uniformly wonderful. I enjoyed every one of them and admired the diversity and richness of the performances I saw, despite starting to worry about Jon.
The afternoon stretched on. Finally by dinner time, I had seen enough of the quality of the installation and its activities that I knew this place would be a wild success. The Foundation's investment would be returned multifold.
After yet another light supper by Jon--and me now glaring daggers at him, we had red wine in the "drawing room" this time. Once again the other guys could sense that Jon and I had new, unresolved, issues to work out. As soon as was decent, they withdrew from the drawing room, leaving us alone to work out what was wrong.
I started to yell at him.
He put his hand over my mouth. "Hush", my man. "Let me explain. I wanted to wait to explain a lot of things until we could be together, completely, just us."
I nodded, mutely, my heart suddenly in my mouth.
He smiled when he saw my expression. "I'm not going to die, Mark, at least not immediately."
I suddenly felt like fainting. No!!!
"I'm sorry Mark. I shouldn't tease and make light. When I went to my doctor last month, she told me that she had discovered that I had a birth defect in my heart. Since my heart is the same size as yours but has to deal with a much bigger body, this minor defect is much more important to my body than it would be for yours. So, she recommended surgery. I scheduled that for next month during my slow time and after our trip here. The surgery is very safe and will ensure us living together happily for a long time."
I finally relaxed a bit.
"So, that's what I haven't been telling you. That's why I'm eating heart healthy now and the Mediterranean diet. And I think that diet isn't the worst thing for both of us now that we are the age that we are either. And, frankly, I like that food, too. I traveled a lot when I was younger. I fell in love with Northern Italy and would love to live in a rustic house just across the first range of coastal mountains in Liguria if I can ever retire. I fell in love with the food there then and still love it. So, no hardship at all!"
I swore then to myself that he would have that house in Italy.
"And as for other guys in our bed? Here's how I look at it. We have each other for the rest of our lives, and (seeing my expression) that will be a long time! We have a huge depth of love, passion, and emotion. I think we can share that with other couples and maybe, even, a single guy. I think we can share what we have with other couples and let them absorb this and, perhaps, they can send us what they have to let us absorb that?"
I was dubious as he could see.
"Ok", he said, "Tell me that you don't get hard thinking about Jorge and Chuck or Chaz and Claudio?" He grinned at my expression. "Wouldn't you like to have naked fun with them again? Don't you want to fuck the young guys, fuck Claudio and have Chaz fuck you? Don't you want to see me fuck Chaz's virgin butt? Admit it!"
He grinned at my embarrassed response.
"Mark, my man. There's nothing wrong with that. Men lust after other men all the time. However, if you and I have sex with these other guys in the right way, we can enjoy them while being true to each other."
I nodded dubiously. He took my face in his hand and proceeded to kiss me. He felt my crotch and felt that I was totally hard.
He pulled me upstairs and we undressed each other. We settled into a 69 and exploded quickly. He pulled me into his arms. "Trust Unca Jon," he said. He stopped me from slugging him. We both laughed and fell asleep.