Priorities - Book Two

*** ~~~ Trevor ~~~ *

The sun shined through the glass of my window directly onto my face causing me to wake up, not that I wouldn't have woken on my own soon after. My brain slowly began to realize it's Saturday morning, the day that I will finally have the chance to show Roger exactly how I felt about him without worry over who else might hear.

As I laid there in thought, I tried to plan things to do, but being honest with myself I had no idea what we could do. I know I wanted to hold him, to kiss him, to show him how deep my love was for him, but just jerking each other off didn't seem like enough. That's the one thing about living in an orphanage. The education we receive is of the highest caliber, except when it comes to sex.

No matter how hard I thought, I couldn't think of other things we could do. I came to the conclusion I needed to ask Dad or Daddy. I got out of bed and put on a pair of undies, then walked out of my room heading downstairs to the kitchen.

Daddy was there making breakfast so I sat at the table. He noticed I was there and turned to me. "Good morning, Trevor. Too excited to sleep?" I think at that point he noticed the expression on my face and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

I was scared, embarrassed, anxious, and confused all in one… I looked at him and a tear ran down my cheek. "I want to show Roger how much I love him, but I have no idea about what we can do together."

He looked at me, saw my tears, and came over. He hugged me, holding me against his chest as I cried. "Trevor, you'll be fine, just do as much as feels right to both of you."

"That's just it Daddy, I have no idea of what we can do. They don't teach that kind of thing in the orphanage, and if they did, they sure wouldn't teach what two boys can do together."

"Now I understand…" He said in a way that I knew then that he did understand my problem. He sat across from me at the table and we talked. He told me about some things Roger and I could do and how to tell if Roger wanted to do them or just wanted to do them because I wanted to do them. He explained to me that any relationship had to be based on mutual trust and that neither person could be more important than the other. A true test of whether what we had was love or lust could be summed up in this… he said, "When you love someone their needs, desires, and pleasures are of more importance to you than your own, and your needs, desires, and pleasures are more important to them than their own."

After our talk, I felt way better. I looked at him and said, "Thanks Daddy, I love you so much!"

"I love you too, Trevor, now, head back upstairs and get your smelly butt into the shower. Breakfast will be ready in about thirty minutes."

I giggled at his calling me smelly because I knew I wasn't. Nevertheless, I wanted to be extra clean before Roger arrived so I went upstairs to my room and, after stripping off my undies headed into my bathroom and that wonderful shower.

After completing that task, and so clean I think I sparkled when I went through a beam of sunlight in my room, I set about the task of picking out the nicest outfit I could. Choosing my tan cargo shorts, and a white polo shirt, I slipped on a pair of my bikini briefs, the shorts, then the shirt, then put a pair of sandals on my feet without socks. I combed my hair and headed downstairs for breakfast.

When I got to the table, Dad was sitting there and Daddy was just serving up breakfast. I sat down and Daddy brought me my one cup of coffee for the day, along with a plate of waffles and a small bowl of fresh fruit. He also placed a glass of milk and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice at my place.

"Morning, Dad."

"Good morning, my sweet son." I really loved it when he called me that. "Excited about Roger's arrival?"

"No duh, Dad." I giggled, something I've been doing more and more lately.

"Have you decided what you and Roger are going to do today?"

I guess I blushed because he said, "I'm talking about what you're going to do besides making lovey dovey."

"I don't really know, Dad. I kinda wanted to take him out shopping, but I know he won't have any money, and I don't have any of my own either."

"Well, I guess we'll need to fix that!" He replied before reaching down to the seat beside him and pulling out two boxes.

I opened the first one and found a brand new phone inside. I was totally floored. I'd never even thought about that. But before I could get any of the questions I had out, Dad told me to open the other box. When I did, inside it was a wallet. I looked at him and saw a huge smile on his face before he said, "Open the wallet and look inside."

I did and in the billfold portion was $200, in the part where you put cards were a debit card from my bank account and an American Express card. I pulled out the card and embossed on it was the name 'Trevor King'. I was so surprised I couldn't speak.

"I have no doubt that you will be responsible when you use that card, Trevor. The debit card is connected only to one of your accounts. In it is $500.00. That account is for your personal expenses for the month. I will replenish it each month. The cash is your responsibility. For today, take Roger shopping and charge your purchases to the American Express, that will be our present to Roger. There is also an identification card I had made for you, so you can prove the card is yours, if you have any problems, just tell the clerk at the store to call the manager and have him call me.

I got out of my seat and gave him a huge hug before asking, "But how will Roger and I get to and from the mall?"

"In your phone, I have programmed Daddy's, Grandpa's, and my cell phone numbers into it. I will drop you two off when you're ready to go, then just call one of us when you're ready to come home and we'll come get you."

"Gee, Dad, you're the best!" I gave him another tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.

For the first time I had money of my own. For the first time, I wasn't just an orphan boy, but I was the son of two very loving people. The metaphorical glass that was my life went from barely half full to overflowing.

Over the next half hour, Dad taught me how to use my new phone. That helped because it diverted my attention from being so nervous about Roger and I finally having a chance to be alone.

I was so engrossed in what Dad was showing me and telling me that I must not have heard the doorbell because when I looked up from my phone, Roger was standing there. His look was, well at least to me, that of an angel. He was wearing a powder blue polo shirt that I guess Henri or Marine had bought for him, a pair of Levi's jeans I'd given him, and a pair of sneakers. He looked like the 'boy next door' that you couldn't help but want to be friends with.

I looked into his eyes and my heart, which was already a pool of goo in my chest, melted even further. I was literally frozen in place when he came to me, pulled me out of my chair and wrapped his arms around me. I followed suit and, as if I couldn't stop myself, moved my head forward and our lips met.

Fireworks from a hundred 4th of July's couldn't match the intensity of how that kiss made me feel. It was electric on a nuclear reactor scale. The kiss lingered on, but as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. He broke the kiss and said, "Good Morning, Trevor. I've missed you so much!"

"Even though it was only yesterday that we were together, I've missed you too. Are you hungry? Do you want something to drink?"

His gaze never faltered as he looked at me. The look in his eyes was so intense. I could feel the love radiating in my direction. Needless to say, I was hard as a rock, but that wasn't my focus."Roger, I've wanted to tell you for a long time… I lo…."

"Not yet," he interrupted, "I just want to look at you for a bit."

I fell silent and allowed him to burn this moment into his memory.

Dad broke our reverie. "What time did you want to go, Trevor?"

I turned to Roger and said, "I thought we'd go to the mall, walk around a little, and get some lunch. Just the two of us."

"That would be cool, Dad… I mean Henri, gave me a little money, just in case." I could see the anticipation and pride in his face as he'd called Henri, Dad.

"You won't need it, today is all my treat. Will you let me do this for us?" It felt good… really, really good referring to Roger and I as simply… 'Us'.

His smile was wonderful, if not a bit bashful. If he hadn't already owned my heart already, that look would have done it. Having finished my breakfast, I took Roger by the hand and said, "Wanna see my room?"

He smiled and nodded his head in the affirmative. We left the kitchen heading toward the stairs.

*** ~~~ Nick ~~~ ***

Seeing the boys together gave me such a warm feeling, but I was also filled with uncertainty. Were they old enough to go to the mall by themselves? They've lived such sheltered lives, I'm afraid something might happen that they're not ready for.

I turned to Bobby and asked, "Are you sure it's a good idea for them to go to the mall alone? In many ways they're unprepared for life in the real world. They've been protected from that their entire lives.'

"They will think they're alone, but I've already handled that. Dad is going to be there, but he won't let them know. You're right, but they need to develop some independence."

"You're right, Babe, but I'm still worried and will be until they're back at home safe. But I have to admit I am happy you are so forward thinking."

"I know, Babe. But, if we're going to have the house to ourselves…" He trailed off there with a seductive look on his face. I could do nothing but smile.

*** ~~~ Trevor ~~~ ***

I opened the door to my room and watched Roger's expression as he looked at it for the first time. The look of wonder and awe was very apparent. He looked around, walked over to the bed and stared at it. I didn't know what was going through his mind, but I knew this was not the time for us to do anything.

"You gotta check out this shower, Rog. It's amazing!" I took his hand again and walked him into my bathroom. He still hadn't said a word since we entered my room.

Finally, Roger looked at me and said, "The room I have at home is nice, but it's nothing like this! This is amazing!"

I didn't miss the fact that he'd called Henri & Marine's house, home. It warmed my heart to see him thinking along those lines. Over the past couple of years, we'd both resigned the fact that we'd probably wind up staying at the orphanage until we turned 18.

After we'd checked out my room, we went back downstairs, so I could give him a tour of the rest of the house. As we stepped outside and he saw the pool his eyes lit up. I directed his attention to the hot tub and said, "This evening we can go into the hot tub and relax a bit, if you want."

He was being unusually silent. He simply smiled and nodded his head. I wish I could read his mind, so I'd know what he was thinking. I started to worry that I was moving too fast or overwhelming him, so I took his hand and we went back inside.

Once there, Dad asked me if we were ready to head to the mall. I looked at Roger and seeing his smile turned to Dad and told him we were.

As we were heading toward the door, Daddy came over. "Are you sure you have everything, Trevor? Your phone? Your wallet?" His questions were coming at us rapid fire, he was so cute the way he was gushing over us.

Finally, we both gave him a hug, and I added a kiss on his cheek and a "I love you Daddy, we'll be okay." Then we finally were able to get out to the car where Dad was waiting.

Oddly, we didn't talk on the way to the mall. Roger was holding my hand and looking out the window. He looked to me like he was deep in thought and I didn't feel right intruding on them, so I just sat there and watched him. I can say now, that I really do love him. I wasn't totally sure until now, but now I know. What he was thinking and feeling was all I could think about. It was all that mattered to me.

We got to the mall and got out of the car. Dad turned to us and said, "You two have a good time. Remember to call us when you're about ready to be picked up. Have fun!"

I gave Dad a hug and a kiss, took Roger by the hand and we walked toward the mall entrance. It didn't seem odd to me at all, holding Roger's hand.

We entered the mall, walked to the center of a courtyard and stood there. I did this so Roger could look around and see the inside of a mall for the first time in his life. I remember what it was like for me just a couple weeks ago. I was amazed then, and the look on Roger's face as he tightened his grip on my hand told me he was just as overwhelmed as I had been.

After a few minutes, I started leading Roger around the mall showing him the different shops. His eyes and head never stopped moving as he took in all that was going on around him. Finally, after a very long time, Roger turned to me and spoke.

"This is amazing, Trevor. I had no idea that it would be like this." His face reddened and he leaned toward me. I was fully expecting him to kiss me. He didn't. Not quite. He leaned over and whispered in my ear, "I really want to kiss you right now, but I'm scared."

I pulled my head back and smiled at him. Looking over his shoulder, I saw a sign for the restrooms and I led him in that direction. We went into the restroom and there was nobody there so I pulled Roger to me, wrapped my arms around him and we kissed. It was the most amazing feeling I have ever had. It felt like we'd been kissing forever, but it was probably less than a minute when we separated. I was looking over Roger's shoulder at my own reflection and saw my face was red. Looking at Roger his was as well. The smile on his face is something I'll never forget. "I love you Roger, more than anything."

He looked me in the eye with such a look of longing before saying, "I love you more, Trevor."

We left the restroom and continued our walk around the mall when I started getting a weird feeling. I felt as if I was being watched. We continued on and after another ten minutes, I realized that there was an older boy following us. I got a little nervous.

I kept watch for him as we walked some more and finally decided to let him get past us, just to see if he was following us or if it was just a coincidence. We came to a bench and I said to Roger, "Why don't we sit for a few, my feet are getting tired." I didn't want to say anything to him about what I was worried about.

We sat and I noticed the store we were sitting in front of was a music shop. Before I could say anything to Roger about wanting to check it out the boy who'd been following us stopped in front of us.

"Well! Don't you two make the cutest couple!" he said as he smiled disarmingly. It was weird.

The smile didn't do anything for me except make me feel even more uncomfortable about this guy.

The boy's smile collapsed into a smirk, seeing that it was getting him nowhere. "I saw you guys as I was walking over here and didn't recognize you at all. You must be new!" he flashed a more gentle smile this time. A friendlier one.

"My name's AJ! Who are you guys?" AJ walked a little closer to Roger almost like he was about to touch him. "What are your names?"

Something about him didn't feel right to me but before I could say anything three people from the shop came out. A boy about AJ's age and two who were a little older. The younger one got right in this AJ's face. Roger was holding on to me for dear life.

"Damn, AJ, you are pathetic! You can't find any boys our age to mess around with anymore so you're going younger? I mean, how old do these kids look? Twelve? Thirteen, maybe?" He turned to us and said, "Guys, this creep is bad news, I'd stay far away from him." About that time the boy said to AJ, "You might want to find another mall to troll around at because if I see you in here again, I'm going to tell security."

"Oh you think so Robin, sweetie? Just because you got boring doesn't mean I have to. Call security all you want! I have every much of a right to fucking be here as you do! What's more...I'm a customer" AJ snarled.

"Oh, and I have no idea what you are talking about. These guys look new and I wanted to meet them and make friends! Remember when you were new and wanted to be...friends?" AJ said as he leered in this Robin guy's direction. Disgusted, AJ walked off in the direction of the arcade.

The younger kid turned to us and said, "Sorry about that. I'm Robin. My friends here are Terrell and Ollie. I actually dated that loser for a while. My friend Billy was trying to tell me he was bad news and I guess I had to learn for myself."

"Hi, I'm Trevor, and this is Roger. Thanks for your help."

"Any time." We all shook hands and they went back into the shop. Roger looked at me, the fear plain on his face. "Why don't we go into the shop and look at some music. There were a few things I wanted to check out."

Roger took my hand and we went into the store. I was actually kinda surprised that the three guys who'd come out to 'rescue' us worked there. Robin came over to us and asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I wanted to check out some music. Thanks again for helping us." Robin showed me around the shop and introduced us to a couple others that worked there. There was a person who I honestly couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. Robin introduced him… or her… to us as Dizzy. Dizzy was cool, honestly. I just didn't know what to say.

We looked at the various types of music and I bought a few that Robin had recommended to me. I promised I'd come back and tell him what I thought.

"You two do make a cute couple. You remind me of another kid who works here and his boyfriend, but maybe two or three years younger. Maybe we'll all get together next time you come in. Billy and Brandon would love to get to know you."

I paid for my purchase then Roger took my hand and we walked out of the shop, waving at our new friends.

"Robin was cool, dont you think?" I said to Roger.

"Yeah, I do. I hope we get to see him again sometime." Roger replied, but that gave me an idea. I literally pulled Roger back into the store and walked up to Robin. "Can I get your phone number? I think I'd like to ask my parents if I could invite you to the house to thank you for saving us."

"Sure, ask your Mom and Dad if it's okay and give me a call." He said after writing down his phone number.

"Oh, I don't have a Mom." I replied.

Robin got an odd look on his face before saying, "Oh, I thought you said you had to ask your parents, like plural."

"I did, but I have two fathers. I'm adopted and my Daddy and Dad got married at the same time they adopted me. My friend Roger here was at the same orphanage as I was and he's in the process of being adopted by some family friends."

Robin got totally excited, "That's got to be the coolest thing I've ever heard!" He then told the others in the shop about us. For the next fifteen minutes we got peppered with questions from the others who worked there. They were a fun group.

We said our goodbyes and left the shop for the second time.

Once outside, Roger and I went to a clothing shop. He was thrilled at all the choices. Together we found at least ten full outfits for him and he looked dreamy in all of them. I think he was disappointed when I told him I didn't want to go to the changing room with him. I knew if I did, we'd get in some major trouble because I didn't know if I could keep my hands off him and we'd surely have gotten caught. Besides, it was like a fashion show with the cutest model, just for me.

We took our selections of shirts, pants, socks, shoes, tennis shoes, a couple of speedos,and of course undies. When we arrived the clerk behind the register looked at us and I could tell she was thinking we were pulling a prank.

"Ok, where's your parents, or are you guys messing around with me?"

I was insulted. We were customers! "We're not here with our parents. Would you please ring up our purchases or call the manager." I said to her in as nice a tone as I was capable of.

"If I call anyone, I'm going to call security! I'm tired of you kids and your pranks. I'm trying to do my job here and you are wasting my time. You have at least $1,000 worth of stuff here and there is no way you can pay for it!" She said, her voice dripping with hate.

"Well, I suggest you make that call. If you want to call security, fine, but I suggest you call your manager as well." I replied.

Roger was looking at me with the strangest expression.

The woman picked up her phone and called security. She did not call her manager. She looked at me and said, "Security will be here in a few minutes to detain you until your parents arrive, so you might just want to run away now."

We didn't move.

A few minutes later, two security guards arrived. One watched us so we couldn't leave as the other talked to the clerk. A few minutes later, he came over to us.

"So, I guess your fun backfired on you. I'm going to have to call your parents." He said to me, failing to ask for my side of the situation.

"I suggest you call your manager, because I'm not saying a word to you until he's here." I said.

"Well, I'm within my powers to just call the police if you're uncooperative." He replied coldly.

"I believe you do, but that would be a mistake that would likely cause some serious problems. Please call your manager so we can be on our way."

He looked me in the eye, studying my expressions. I guess he failed to see fear in my eyes. He turned to the clerk, "Call the Manager. It'll take him less time to get here than the police and other customers are starting to stare."

The clerk picked up her phone and after a moment spoke. "We have two kids here causing trouble. Security is here and has requested that I ask you to come here to help deal with them."

She hung up the phone and about three minutes later a man in a suit arrived. He spoke to the clerk, then the guard before coming over to us.

"I understand you are causing a bit of mischief here. Why don't you just go and we'll forget this ever happened."

"Sir, my friend and I here have been shopping for the past 90 minutes and all we wanted was to pay for our stuff. She never asked me if I could pay for them. She just assumed we were here to cause trouble. My name is Trevor King and here is my identification and my American Express card. So, if you would be so kind as to have our purchases rung up I would appreciate it. I would also like you to talk to your employees. My Dad and I talked last night about possibilities such as this happening and he taught me how to deal with them, so, if you do as I have asked I will not take this any further."

Hearing my name and after examining my identification the man noticeably tensed. Our family, mainly because of my Grandpa are very well known in our town. He turned to the clerk and told her to take a break. At that point he told the security guards that they were no longer required to stay. He then walked behind the register and personally rang up our purchases.

The total on the register came to $1,139.48. At that point he hit a button and the total reduced to $854.61. He looked at me and said, "Mr. King. I wish to apologize to you and your friend for this. I will immediately institute a plan to re-train our employees regarding younger customers. I thank you for your business and I thank you for your understanding. I have reduced your total by 25% in an effort to compensate you for your troubles."

"Thank you, Sir. This has been educational for us all." I replied.

I paid for our purchases and we left the store. I turned to Roger and said, "I'm hungry, let's get something to eat."

Roger smiled at me, took my hand, and allowed me to lead him out of the store. "Man, I don't believe how you did that. I was really scared, Trevor."

"I was too, but I couldn't show it. Dad talked to me last night for a long time. He told me that from now on I needed to think like a businessman. People can see fear and they will act on it if they do. But, people will back down when they see nothing but confidence. I figured it would happen some day that I'd need to use what he taught me, but I never thought it would happen so soon. But, what I did today, I did for you. I love you Roger and I want you to have nothing but the best in life. I want us to have nothing but the best in life."

Then, right in the middle of the mall, Roger turned me toward him, wrapped his arms around my back and kissed me. He then looked me in the eye and said, "Let's have lunch at your house."

I smiled back at him, took my phone out of my pocket and dialed. "Hi Grandpa. You can come over now. I know you're inside the shop just down from where we're standing." I hit 'end' on my phone and placed it back in my pocket.

Grandpa approached with a look of wonder on his face. "How did you know I was there?"

"Well, I wasn't sure until I spotted you after our run-in at the music shop. Thanks, by the way, for allowing me to handle that on my own. True, I got rescued by those kids from the store, but, I think I'd have been able to handle it. Secondly, I know for a fact that my Daddy wouldn't have allowed me to go to the mall so soon after being adopted by myself. The fact that he did meant that someone was going to be watching out for us. I just assumed it would be you, so I was looking for you all day."

"Trevor, I know my son talked to you last night about how things might happen in the future, but you handled the store clerk better than I ever imagined you could… not at least until you were older and had more experiences. One day, when I retire, you'll take over King Enterprises and I pity anyone who stands in your way."

I gave Grandpa a hug and the three of us walked to his car. I was proud of myself. I know I have a lot to learn, but I can't help but think I've got the best teachers there are. Roger leaned against me in the back seat of the car, our hands clasped together, as Grandpa drove me home. In my mind, I knew that the rest of this day was going to be amazing. Roger and I, together, alone, at last.

 [To Be Continued]