The Sound of Reindeer Bells

Mmm, I think I should introduce myself.  Hi, I'm Jason and I'm twelve years old.  I was born on the 21^st of April 1992.  I'm fairly tall for my age, have brown hair and blue-grey-green eyes.  Everyone calls me cute, for some reason, and my dad says I'll be a right lady killer when I grow up.  Yuck... girls!  Bleargh!  Also, I live in Wales, in the United Kingdom.

This is the story of what happened to me last Christmas.  Oh, it's the summer holidays 2004 now, so this all happened on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2003, and it was the most amazing and shocking thing to happen to my family; and to me.  However, before I tell you the tale, I have to explain a few things... about when I met my best friend, Nathan.

First, a little something about Nath'.  He's a few inches shorter than me, and only a week younger.  He's very slim, blonde hair, bright blue eyes that seem miles deep when you look into them, and has the most beautiful smile ever.  Every time I see Nath, I feel butterflies in my belly, and just want to spend all my time with him.

Well, on with how we met:

It was the beginning of the summer holidays and we were on a family trip with the church youth group.  I'm not sure why Nathan was there, or who had invited him, but his little, lost look captured my heart right away.  We ended up chatting and spending the day together.  I found out he'd only just moved into our area and lived three streets away from me!  That was cool!

Once back home, he spent every day, and I mean every day, with me.  He didn't want to be at home, you see, and I soon found out why.  His Mum had died when he was four, and his dad had raised him alone.  His dad, though, was a bastard... sorry for the word, but that sums him up perfectly!  He was a drunk and loved taking out his frustrations on little Nath'.  Not a day would go by when there wasn't a new bruise on Nathan's back or arms.  I tried telling him to talk to my dad, but he was too frightened.  So I covered for him, and made as many excuses as I could to Mum so he'd get to stay with me all day.

Now that is hard to do at the best of times.  Mum is very good at telling when I'm lying 'bout something.  However, she never seemed to twig, so on it went.

We had a caravan trip planned for the last two weeks of the holidays, and we have a nice big caravan too.  So, it was only natural that I made my request for Nath' to come with us.  Mum and Dad didn't seem to mind, so long as Nath's dad said it was okay.  My dad phoned and got the permission, so it was a very happy Nathan who came with us to Devon for two weeks.

Our sleeping arrangements, so Mum said, might be a problem, but Nath' insisted it was okay for him to share the bunk bed with me.  Well, what do you think?  Complain?  Not bloody likely!  And that set the tone for every time he stayed for a sleepover.  He and I curled up together like puppies.

(What?  Why didn't he take the other bunk?  Well, I failed to mention I have a sister too.  Victoria.  A pain at times, but a good sister, mainly.  She's my birthday present, born on my fourth birthday, so she was seven at the time this all took place (Eight now, of course!).  I was eleven at the time as was Nath'... I'm sure you clever people have worked that out, yes?  Hehe...

She'd also found out about Nath' "getting hurt by his daddy" too.  She's like Mum, but way better at it. 

Okay, okay!  Before you all start questioning more, I'll say!

Viccy can read emotions like a book... I can read minds the same way.  She can too, but only rarely, just like I can sense emotions rarely if they are strong enough.  Mum can only read emotions when they are strong, and Dad... well, I get my mind reading from him; but just like Mum, he's only able to do it when someone is shouting loudly in their heads.)

And so, it went... most weekends Nathan would be with us, and always he'd cry himself out in my arms when he had to go 'home'.  I didn't blame him.  Over the following four months, things seemed to get worse for him, and both Viccy and I were so close to breaking our word and telling Mum and Dad... but we just couldn't.  He had made us swear to not say anything.  So, we kept faith.

Now... onto the main event!

Ah, Christmas Eve.  About time.  I looked at the clock and saw it was about eleven in the morning.  Good, at least I'd had some sleep, as I'd not get any tonight.  I shuffled out of bed and pulled on my dressing gown to ward off the chill.  As I was putting my slippers on, I heard my mother, Angela, yelling for me from the kitchen.  She sounded very upset about something, and no, I'd not done anything for it to be my fault!

"Jason!  Get down here!  Quickly!"  I bolted out of the room, took the stairs three at a time, and charged into the kitchen.  I stopped dead.  It was Nathan, and he was standing by the stove shivering and soaking wet.  It was raining outside and bitterly cold.  He'd not been wearing a coat or anything, other than his jumper and some scraggly sweat shorts.  What was worse, of course, were the bruises which were clearly visible on his face.  The tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes broke my heart.  'That fucking bastard!  What has he done to him now?' I thought.

I ran quickly to him and pulled him into a warm hug.  He'd been fighting back the full sobs in front of Mum, but as soon as I'd got him into a hug, he burst out, crying hard.  Mum gently herded us to the kitchen chairs and sat us down.  After waiting for Nath to calm down, she asked, "Do either of you want to explain this?  Jace, you don't seem surprised.  What's going on?"

I looked Nath in the eyes, seeking permission.  He just nodded.  "Mum.  Nath's dad, err... he beats him, Mum." I whispered out.  My mother just went rigid, and suddenly took us both in her arms.

"Why didn't you tell someone, Nathan?"  She asked softly.

He just shook and clung to us both.  I answered for him, "He's been too scared to.  He made me promise to never say.  His dad threatened to beat him real bad if he ever said..."

Nath' broke in with, "He... he was going to do something really bad to me just now... he... he was...." I could tell this was something awful.  I pulled him closer and kissed him lightly on his cheek.  He seemed to gain courage from that, and blurted out, "He was touching me... down there... he was... he was going to... he tried... I kicked him and ran... I... I'm gonna be in soo much trouble..."

My mother started crying and put her hand over Nathan's mouth to stop him talking.  She turned her head and called for Dad.  He came into the room and, also stopped dead when he saw the three of us; Nath and I hugging on the chair and both in tears, Mum holding us both to her, while kneeling in front of us.  His face started to go beat red as he saw the bruises on my friend's face. 

(I was so glad he was home, to tell the truth.  He used to be in the Royal Navy, Captain of a Destroyer, but had just gotten a transfer... into Starfleet!  His ship was still in dry-dock, a brand-new Constitution Class ship, just like the Enterprise!  Captain Dafydd Evans of the U.S.S. Hood, NCC-1703-A... and I loved it!  He had been training up in Starfleet stuff for the past six months, so the delay with his new command was not a problem.)

Mum got up and started talking to Dad quietly, leaving me to comfort my friend.  Nath had buried his face into my shoulders and all I could do was whisper silly things to sooth him.  This was too much, and of all possible days to have it happen on Christmas Eve too!  I couldn't stop my own tears.

"I'm calling Bill.  He'll help." Dad grated out once he'd been told.  Uncle Bill was not really my uncle, but an old friend of Dad's.  He worked for the Social Services and was one of the few people, I came to learn, that really and deeply cared for the kids in his care.  While Dad was on the phone, Mum had made us both a hot drink.  Once we'd finished, she herded us both through to the bathroom at the back of the kitchen and said, "Nath, you are soaked through.  You will have a hot bath right now.  Jace, you look after him, okay?"

"Yes Mum." "Yes, Mrs Evans."  we both chorused.

Leaving us to it, she returned to the kitchen.  It was Christmas Eve after all, and many things needed to get done.  I started running the hot water, then stripped off quickly, once the bath was at the right temperature.  Nath was already nude, and we both climbed in.  He really was cold!  We spent a good thirty minutes in there, washing each other, playing about, and basically getting him warmed up.  I had to refill the hot water three times until he finally gave a subdued giggle and said that he'd shrivelled up quite enough for one bath.

After we both were dried, and I dressed, I told him to wrap the towel he had, around himself, before we went to my room. He'd spent so much time with us that he had a lot of his stuff here already.  We found some pyjama bottoms and a nice tee-shirt that my Mum had washed and put away in the draw reserved for him.  I lent him my spare dressing gown and another pair of slippers.

Once we'd come back downstairs, we found Uncle Bill in the front living room with Dad and Mum.  Viccy was busy watching the Christmas kids' movie of the day and just waved at us absently.  Mum and Uncle Bill came over to us, and Mum said "Nath, this is Mr. Richards.  He's with Social Services and wants to have a talk with you.  Would it be okay for him to talk to you in the back lounge?"

"Can Jace be with me?  Pleeease?"  he begged.

Uncle Bill looked unsure, but then said "Only if you promise to just hold your friend, Jason.  He must say all this to me, himself, do you understand?  Both of you?"

We nodded, both thankful that Uncle Bill didn't care too much for the rules.  We went into the back room and he started his tape recorder.  The first few questions he asked were simple things like Nath's name, age and all that.  As he started to ask about what had been happening, though, Nathan started pulling in close to my side.  He was petrified of his dad!  He did answer everything, though, and some of it, I didn't even know.  His dad had been touching him in his privates for the last four months!  Only when he'd tried to make Nath suck him had Nathan runoff, after jumping up and kicking his dad in the nuts first.  I smiled at that!  Bastard deserved worse!

Once the questioning of Nathan was over, Uncle Bill stopped the recorder.  "You've been a very brave young man, Nathan. I am very proud of you.  I'm going to have a quick word with Jason's Mum and Dad first, then we'll work out what to do with you now.  I promise, you will not be going back to your 'dad'."

We just sat there, cuddling.  Nath' was upset again and kept turning his face from me.  "Nath, what's wrong? You can tell me."  I never read minds unless I had too.  Especially not my little friend.  It made me feel bad to invade people like that, and I'd never do it to Nath'.

"You think I'm dirty, don't you?" he mumbled.

"No!  What makes you think that?" I replied, very shocked.

"'Cos I let him touch me for so long..."

I got angry, not at Nath', but at that bastard that had the nerve to call himself Nath's father, for messing with my little friend's head, "No way!  That was all your dad's fault!  I will never stop being your friend!!"

He looked at me, and tears started running down his face again.  He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek just as I had done to him earlier, and then he fell into me for another cuddle, sobbing quietly.  'Damn that man.  Damn him to hell!'

Fifteen minutes later, Mum and Dad came in with Uncle Bill in tow.  Mum sat down next to us and pulled us both onto her lap.  We were both a little big for laps, but she still liked cuddling me, so Nath got the same. Dad said, "Nathan, Uncle Bill needs to take a few photos' of these bruises you have, and he needs us here to witness that he's doing so for the right reasons.  Is it okay for him to take them now, or do you want Jace and Angela to leave?"

"No!  I need Jace here!" he blurted out quickly, almost panicking, "I don't mind, but I need Jace!"

Luckily for his modesty, he only had bruises on his chest, back and face, so there was no need for him to strip off totally.  Once the pictures were taken, Uncle Bill went to the phone and called his office and the police department.

I looked at my dad, "What's gonna happen to Nath' now, Dad?"  I had a deep fear over a number of things.  What family would take Nathan now?  Would I lose my best friend?  There was one other thing: A few months back, he'd been with me at my family reunion.  Everyone had fallen for those baby-blues of his.  He now had as many presents hidden in the attic for tomorrow as I did!  My Mum and Dad knew that he'd get nothing at home, so the whole family clubbed in together.  I just didn't want my friend to lose out on his Christmas, especially as it was going to be a total surprise for him!

Dad smiled at me, then at Nath'.  "Well, tonight, Nathan stays with us.  We'll just have to see what happens after."

'At least he gets his presents,' I thought, and cuddled Nath' in closer to me as he smiled up at my Dad.

A good few hours later, we were in the front room, munching on cinnamon cookies, slurping hot chocolate and watching 'Scrooge' on the TV.  Viccy was sat on one side of me hugged in close, Nath' on the other.  I know my sister is a pain sometimes, but she's very cool, really.  She's a great little sister, really, but I'm a 'big brother'... we're not meant to get on with them!  Now come on, we're not!  Be honest!

The doorbell rang and Dad answered it.  Uncle Bill had come back, and two police officers were with him.  After a whispered conversation just outside in the hall, Uncle Bill came into the front room.  "Jace, Nath', can you come here for a Moment please?"

We got up and followed him out.  One of the police officers was a very tall man who was built like a brick shit-house!  The other was a really nice-faced young lady who looked very friendly.  She crouched down to our level and said to Nathan, "Hello Nathan.  I'm Officer Mary Jacobs, but I'd like you to call me Mary.  That okay with you?" 

She winked at him, and he giggled.  "Yeah!  Hi Mary." and he gave her one of those smiles.  Jesus, my knees went weak, and he wasn't even sending it at me!

"We need to talk to you about what's happened.  We just need you to listen to the recording Mr. Richards made earlier and tell us if that's the truth or not.  You won't have to answer any more questions now, and you will have your friend with you all the time." she gently explained.  She was dead serious yet friendly, and I knew we could trust her.  I squeezed Nath's hand tight and nodded when he looked at me.  He gave a slightly smaller smile back to Mary and nodded.

We returned to the back lounge and listened to the recording.  It seemed just as hard to listen to it a second time, and Nathan reacted much the same, face going red in shame... a shame he should never be feeling.  When Mary asked him if this was him speaking, and if that was all true, he responded with a tearful "Yes."  Then it was over.  Mary gave him a big hug, and both she and the other Officer left.  Uncle Bill had a grim smile on his face.

He looked at us both and simply said, "They are going to your house now, Nath'."  I knew then, that the Bastard was going to be arrested... that rugby player size cop was really there for a good reason!  'Yes!  I bloody well hope he tries to run and gets beaten good!!' I shouted in my mind.

Mum and Dad moved us through to the front room again, and we carried on watching the film, this time with Nathan being hugged between me and my sis.  She had no idea about the 'touching' stuff, but she wanted to hug him 'cos he'd been hurt.  Our border collie, Shelly, was also in the room, and sat right in front of the armchair.  She was making sure that no-one disturbed her 'puppies'.

Once the film was over, we were sent up to our bedrooms, even at 7 pm!  I mean, come on, we'd not be able to sleep on this, of all nights, so why'd they make us go so early?  Only God knows... and I had my doubts there too!  At least Nath and I would be allowed to quietly play some board games, or the game console until about 10ish.  So, up we trekked.  Getting ready for bed was all the easier, as none of us were out of our pyjamas.  That's what Nath' had gotten when he dressed earlier, so all that was left was for us to keep quiet and play, until we got told to get into bed.  Mum had never said anything about us sleeping together, apparently just assuming Nath' needed cuddles, as he missed them at home.  Well, it was true.  Nothing else had ever happened, mainly due to us both being fairly innocent.  Or at least, so I'd thought.  Obviously, Nath had, had some experience; in the worst possible way, though.

We spent a few hours blowing up things on the game console, giggling and shoving each other to make the other one loses concentration.  Once we'd exhausted the possibilities of the games, we just talked, held each other close and cuddled.  We did cry a bit when Nath' let loose his feelings over the day's events, but we ended up with both of us feeling better for it.  We finally just sat there quietly, with our backs to the foot of the bunk bed and the quilt wrapped around us both, snuggled together with our cheeks touching. It really felt good.

For the first time that I can remember, I fell asleep before 10 pm on a Christmas Eve.  I knew Nath had already dozed off, his soft breathing was tickling my bare chest as we lay there, but I had never slept on this night before!  I do remember that my Dad came in and lifted us both, Nath followed by myself, onto the lower bunk, and then he covered us with the quilt, kissing us each goodnight.  Automatically, we sought each other and snuggled in tight together, chest to chest.  Nath' had not even woken up, but automatically assumed his normal position with his head tucked under my chin.  I fell quickly back to sleep.

"Nat', Jace!!! Wake up, it's Christmas!!!"  I groaned.  Vengeance is sweet, and my sister was getting her own back for what happened last year, it seemed.  She'd tugged the quilt off, of us and it seemed like she was trying to beat us to death with the pillow from the top bunk.  "Wake... UP!!!"  she giggled, then, as I cracked open my eyes, she hooted with laughter and raced back to her own room. 

I looked at the clock, "Oh, just great... three o'clock?  Mum and Dad will be mad as hell!" I mumbled.  Nathan was giggling into my chest, then he opened his eyes in the dark room, the light from the landing was shining through the half-open door, making his hair glow.  He kissed my cheek, then snuggled back in.  "Hey, hey! That's not fair. If I'm awake, so are you!"  and I started to tickle his ribs.  This, of course, caused him to curl up, nearly crying with laughter.

"'Kay, surrender... uncle.... UNCLE!!!" he giggled.  Once I'd pulled him in for a morning hug, he looked at me seriously for a moment.  "I never get up this early on Christmas.  What's going on?  Can't I just sleep while you open your stuff?"  He looked both puzzled and sad while asking that.

I kissed his nose, then simply pointed to the foot of the bed.  There were two huge Christmas Stockings hanging there.  Both of them were nearly bursting.  My name was on one, and the other, one which looked very new, had "For Nathan, with love, Father Christmas." written on it.  Nath just stared at it, bewildered, then he looked back to me.  "All for you, Nath," I said with a big smile, inwardly giggling.  Of course, I knew this wasn't even a tenth of what was still downstairs!

We flew at the stockings, and within Moments we had chocolates, sweets, fruit, some toys, quite a few games for the console, and various other stuff that gets shoved into stockings.  It was way more than my Nath had ever received, it seems.  He was so angelic, sitting there, hair all messed up and a happy grin on his face.  I knew that Mum and Dad would not be pleased if we woke them up now.  It was pretty likely that my sister had already, but I knew better than to even think of going in their room this early.  So we just sat there, stuffed ourselves on the fruit and some sweets, and then started playing quietly with the toys.  However, due to it being very early, we'd soon fallen back to sleep, again seeking comfort by snuggling together.

At a much more reasonable time of 6 am, my Mum came in and gently shook us awake, "Come on, boys.  Upsidaisies.  Your sister is already jumping all over our bedroom!"  She leaned in and kissed us both, before turning on the light.  We blearily opened our eyes and got up and followed Mum downstairs, with Dad carrying Viccy behind us.  We got to the front room, and the door was opened.  We just looked, open-mouthed, at the sheer number of parcels and presents spread out before us.  Nath looked happy, even though he thought it was all for us and not for him.  He thought, as he told me later, that the stocking was just a token thing because he was staying the night.  When he was pointed to one of the three huge piles of gifts and told, "All for you", he broke down in tears.  It took him a good ten minutes to gather himself together, and I'm sure that all of us hugging him helped, hehe.

Within moments of the three of us starting on the gifts, the room became like a battle zone... paper flying every which way and happy squeals from Viccy mixed in with the exuberant joy of Nath and me. There were mountain bikes for each, more games, board games, films, some nice clothes, loads of fun stuff and even a few toys for each of us (Both Nath and I still loved toys, even at eleven, hehe).  Mum and Dad just sat there quietly, sipping their coffee, and peacefully watching the mayhem. 

The morning flew by, with the three of us playing happily.  Then came the turkey dinner.  Nath's eyes were almost bugging out of his head at the amount of food set there before him, yet he wasn't shy about eating it.  It was the best Christmas I ever had; I thought... but it was about to get even better.

The phone rang just as we finished the Christmas Pudding.  Dad grumbled about calls on Christmas, but he went to answer it.  His shout of happiness made us all dart from the kitchen table to the hallway.  Once he'd finished the call, he turned to us and spoke directly to Nath and me.

"Boys, that was Uncle Bill.  He said that the police have arrested your dad, Nath, and he was drunk enough to actually admit, in their presence, what he'd been doing to you all that time.  You won't ever have to see him again!"  Nath started hugging me tight, with a happy smile on his face.  It was really great, but there was more to come... Dad continued with a happy grin, "Also, there's this little-known law that the Federation has put into effect recently.  The Safe Haven Act.  As a Starfleet officer, I am authorized to invoke it, to place Nathan into a good home.  So, of course, I did, and Bill is getting things ready.  The European Director of Federation Youth Services will be here tomorrow to finalise it... "

He looked down at Nathan, "It's your choice, Nath'.  Do you want to stay with us?  Always?"

Nathan went wild.  He leapt into Dad's arms and was crying and laughing all at once.  Viccy and I were just hugging and jumping up and down excitedly.  'I HAVE A BROTHER!!!' I couldn't believe it!  And it was my Nath!  I was about to explode with joy for my friend as well as for myself!

Nath started saying brokenly to Dad, "Really?  You're my new dad?  I can stay?"  Dad simply nodded, tears of joy were also leaking from his own eyes.  Nath leapt down and hugged my mother, asking her the same thing, "You're my new Mum?"  He got the same answer.  Viccy and I were both laughing and crying too, then all three of us slammed into each other, and formed a giggling pile in the middle of the hallway.

It took about 30 minutes to calm us all down.  The day progressed with joy and laughter, and I could have sworn that it couldn't get better!  Boy, was I wrong!

At about 7:00 that evening, we'd managed to shift all of our gifts and toys to our rooms, and Viccy was happily playing with her new Barbie collection.  Nath and I were winding down, after a brief wrestling match on the floor, and simply relaxed: I was lying on my back on the bed with Nath sprawled over me as a pillow.  Chatting about nothing in particular at first, then things got gradually more and quieter.  With hesitance, Nath looked me in the eyes and said, "Jace, can I tell you something?  It's something kinda personal."

"You know you can ask me anything, Nath," I replied with a chuckle.  I looked down into that beautiful pair of deep blue eyes, staring back at me, "What's up?" I giggled.

He started to blush, then seemed to clench his courage together and blurted, "I love you!  Not just like a brother; I really love you!"  He tensed up and closed his eyes.  I just gawked at him!  'Oh my God!  Did I hear that?... Did he just...?'

I placed my arms under his and lifted him closer towards me.  He opened his eyes and looked nervously down into mine.  With a smile, I answered him in the easiest way I could.  I kissed him on the lips.  After a second, he returned the kiss, just gently, lips to lips.  He then pulled back, and we stared at each other some more, foolish grins on our faces.  I whispered, "I love you too, Nath."

He looked so angelic it couldn't really be allowed.  His smile was making my belly do backflips, and then we both felt it.  We both started reacting.  Now, we'd bathed together and showered together so many times that getting a stiffy was nothing new to see, but we both got a bit nervous this time. 

He giggled a bit, then looked serious again.  "There's somethin' else," he started, "I hated what my old dad used to do to me, but... but some of it also did feel kinda good."

I nodded slowly at that.  I'd never thought about playing with myself until that point, but even though I was kind of innocent, I was not ignorant.  I'd just had no real reason to think on it until yesterday, as anything serious, and what had happened to my little angel was not at all the way I'd have wished to a kind of innocent, I was not ignorant.  I'd just had no real reason to think on it until yesterday, as anything serious, and what had happened to my little angel was not at all the way I'd have wished to jump start those thoughts.

He continued, "I... I kinda... ummmm... I don't want to only have bad memories of those feelings...  Jace, would you... errr... you know...."  He trailed off again looking like he'd asked something so terrible that he thought I'd hate him for it.

I was nervous as hell now, a funny gut churning nervousness.  I was trembling slightly as I answered, "Yeah... I... I can do that... but... mmmm... would you do the same with me after?" I rushed out.

The nod and smile he gave me was filled with such relief and joy, and it echoed itself in me as well.  We both started giggling as we took each other's pyjamas off (Yes, being as it was Christmas, we'd not bothered dressing... I mean, what's the point?  It's a time for just having fun, not changing clothes!  hehe) and then we just started looking at each other.  Nervously, I gently pushed Nath back against the pillow I'd been using, leaned over and gave him a small gentle kiss.  He made it a big kiss by grabbing my neck in both hands and holding me tight, though.  As we separated, I said softly, "If you start getting scared or if I do something you don't like, just say so, okay?  I don't ever wanna hurt you." 

He returned my serious look and nodded, "Sure, Jace.  I trust you," then he smiled and nodded again. 

With hands shaking slightly, I reached out and started to touch him, at first with a feather lightness.  As things progressed, he started to make some really weird noises, which caused me to giggle a bit.  Now, like I'd said, I was innocent but not totally ignorant.  I'd found my Dad's "Love Maker's Guild" a while back and had read it with fascination; I wanted this experience to be really special for my Nath, so I ducked my head down towards his stiffy.  He gasped, causing me to look up at him.  His smile was totally unfocused, but it was a smile, so I continued. 

"J... Jace!  You better stop!  I need ta pee!"  I had read that he could feel that way, but had never experienced it myself... so I just ignored him... Moments later, he came, and bucked about like he was having a fit. 

And he was noisy as hell!!  Jesus, I'd not thought about that.  'Too late now,' I thought, 'I'm sure that Mum and Dad are watching TV, so they'll not hear him.'

I had, however, totally forgotten that my sister was in the next room!

As he came down from his high, he pulled me up for another kiss.  "Jace... I've never felt anything like that!  I really thought... I love ya, Jace!" never felt anything like that!  I really thought... I love ya, Jace!"

"I just wanted to give you some good feelings to think about, Nath'." just wanted to give you some good feelings to think about, Nath'."

"Well, you sure did!"  Then he pushed me onto my back, and started to return the favour.  Blissed out... oh my god!  I didn't know what to do with myself as he touched me.  I just looked into his eyes and lost myself totally. 

Turned out I was even noisier than he had been!  Did I care though?  Like hell I did!  I pulled him to me, and we had a real kiss... well, it started like all the rest... lips to lips, but I, on a whim, licked his lips, and it just went from there.

However, during all this, we'd failed to hear my sister running downstairs.  We also failed to hear my mother come running back upstairs.  The door, that we'd left slightly ajar, opened slowly without our noticing.  We were just lost in our kiss and cuddle, stark naked and without a care in the world.  It was when the bed moved as my Mum sat down on it, that we knew she was there.

Red in the face didn't even come close.  He was scarlet; I went beyond it.  Nath tried everything he could to hide his still rather stiff 'member', while I just closed my eyes and waited for my doom to fall.  A soft chuckle from my Mum caused me to open my eyes and look at her.  "Boys, don't worry.  Didn't you think your Dad, and I knew something might happen between you two?"

Dad was jammed into the doorway, grinning at us, and obviously keeping Viccy, who was bleating "Are they okay?", in a rather panicked manner, outside in the hall, so she couldn't see what we were doing. 

'God, please don't let her come in now, of all times!' I thought. Dad left the doorway and gently led her back to her room, all the while talking to her... something about me and Nath' being boyfriends now!  'Wow!  Never thought of that!'

Nath was still valiantly trying to cover himself, and that caused me to giggle madly, "Nath!  She's my Mum.  She's seen it all before.  Relax!"  I realized that she wasn't mad at us, and that made me silly.  Nathan looked sheepishly at me, then stopped trying to hide and finally just relaxed.  I then asked,  "Mum, aren't you... well, at least a little bit angry?"

"Whatever for?  Jace, let me ask you something.  Do you love Nathan?"

Without hesitation, I blurted, "Yes!"

"Nath, do you love Jason?"

He nodded emphatically, and said quietly, "Yes, mammy."  Oh God, that was sweet.  He can't remember his own Mum, so he called mine that!  I hugged him.

"Then I don't mind at all.  Just next time, you need to keep your door closed.  Your little sister got scared, thinking you were being hurt, when you yelled out, Nath.  And it was a good thing she didn't run in here, Jace... She'd have seen what I saw a few Moments back!"  This caused us to blush all the more.  She chuckled again, "I'll leave now, but I will say this.  You need to be careful who you tell; not everyone will understand like your Dad and I do.  We'll talk more about it tomorrow.  Night, boys." and she kissed us each and left.

Dad came back in and came close to hug us both, then turned and left, closing the door tightly, but not before putting something down on the bedside cabinet.  I turned to Nathan and asked, "We boyfriends now, Nath'?"

He just nodded, then looked at the items my dad had left.  I turned to look too, and we both crawled across the bed together.  Nath' picked up the two boxes.

"Why has he left this funny toothpaste?" he asked me.  I took one curious look and blushed to the roots of my hair.  Okay, he had some minor experience, but it looked like I had way more knowledge than him! 

"Err... that's lube, bro... two tubes of it!"

"What's that for?"  His total bafflement endeared him to me all the more.

I just couldn't say out loud, even when we're alone... so I whispered it all to him.  'Good, he's blushing too!' I thought, as his face also flushed.

He looked back at the two tubes, his lips pressed together tightly.  He was thinking hard about something, I could tell.  Then he looked back up, and I could see mischief in his eyes.  He put one tube down, then handed me the other, "You wanna try first?"

With my heart racing again, I nodded, and accepted the tube...

It was nearly midnight.  I awoke with Nathan sleeping on top of me, both of us covered by the quilt and feeling very snug and warm.  I looked at the clock and saw the minute hand creeping around towards the end of one unbelievable Christmas Day.  I thought to myself, 'Maybe there is a Father Christmas after all!'

'Someone Special' had to have given these three extra special gifts to us this year: I had the brother I'd always wanted, Nath had the family he'd always needed... and we both got what was the greatest gift of all... each other... boyfriends.  I hugged Nath into my arms tighter, our warm skin touching as much as possible. I started to fall asleep again, with a peaceful, happy smile on my face. 

However, as I was drifting into dreamland, I seemed to hear, on that final minute of Christmas Day, a deep-toned chuckle echoing, "Ho-ho-ho" from what seemed to be our roof top. 

'Someone Special' had stayed to make sure that all was well...

I also heard one more thing as 'he' flew away...

The sound of Reindeer Bells.

The End...?

 

---

 Author's Note:

The events in this Christmas Story are, of course, Fiction.  Any references to anything known about in CSU are Fiction.  However:

Viccy, Mum and Dad and even the dog, Shelly... they are all real – Names were changed, of course.  In some cases, they are not quite as true to life, but these people do exist.

Jason and Nathan, however, act and talk very true to life and are quite real.  What happened between the two boys at the end is mostly true, and part wishful reminiscence.  'Jason's' parents finding out, about his being gay, that is also fiction.

The real 'Nathan' had very good parents, who really loved him a lot. They just never showed him much in the way of hugs, etc. Of course, 'Jason' took care of that for 'Nath'.

These boys did care for each other deeply, and were the best of friends for years in Comprehensive School (Ages 12-16) but when 'Nathan' and his family moved away when 'Nath' was 15, 'Jason' completely lost track of him.  'Jason' did find out years later that 'Nathan' is now a happily married man, with kids of his own.  'Jason' still has a very special place in his heart for his 'Little Nath', however.

This story is a condensed version of what happened between these two boys, set, rather conveniently, in a CSU Christmas Tale, and with some things 'Jason' had always dreamed about coming true.

'How do you know this?' You may be asking.

Well... that's easy...

I'm 'Jason'.

Hugs and God Bless,

And a Merry Christmas to all, and a Happy New Year!

Ilúvantír

Editor's Notes:

I find that I have already fallen in love with both Jason and Nathan. It didn't take me long at all for that to happen. The fact that the real-life counterparts to the people in the story didn't quite have the same outcome to their lives as was depicted in the story didn't detract from the wonder and thrill of the story itself.  It was well told and gave life to the possibility of such things happening in real life.

Oh, if only there were a Safe Haven Act in our universe, wouldn't things be so much better. The more I read news items of atrocities committed on children, the more I somehow wish we were in a universe with such forward looking authorities as Federation Youth Services and Clan Short. Let's just hope that someday such things will come to pass.

I can't help but think that there will be more to come involving these two amazing boys. I certainly will make an effort to convince the powers that be to bring us more about them.

A great story and one I think everyone should read.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Clan Short Archivist Review Notes:

Well, since Darryl stole my notes and used them; all I have to say is this is a very warm and heartwarming story. This story has the true meaning of Christmas and it looks like it may be the beginning of a wonderful adventure.

The Story Lover.