Page 86 of Roll With The Punches
Chapter Twenty-Three
Stuart was glad he’d beat Jeff home on Monday. Grace and Emma had gone over to Tracey’s after school to spend time with her and eat dinner there. It allowed him some alone time with Brandon.
To talk.
He found him cleaning the pool filter in the backyard.
“Hey. Didn’t hear your truck.” Brandon sat up to get a kiss from him.
“Can we talk, Brandon?”
He frowned. “This sounds serious.”
“It…is.”
“Are you all right?”
“No.” He settled on the ground next to Brandon. “I want you to marry Jeff.”
Brandon’s blue gaze intently studied him for a long moment. “Why?”
“Because Jeff’s going to have to stop working. You and I both know that, even if he’s refusing to see it. He might get ‘better’ at some point in the future, but right now, he’s barely functioning. It’s been four weeks. The extra stress on him isn’t helping, it’s just making him worse, and he won’t get the IV line he needs for the meds because of working. You have good health insurance. Better than I do. You marry him and put him on your insurance. That way…” He took a deep breath. “That way you can order him to stop working.”
“I promised you guys I’d never interfere with your jobs. That was one of our ironclad rules when we first started dating.”
“I know, but he’s not facing reality. You heard what Emma said. Jeff’s in denial about his condition. He’s not getting better. He’s getting worse, and it’s not only hurting him physically, it’s killing him mentally and emotionally. Order him to marry you and stay home. Tell him he can be a stay-at-home house elf for us or something. I’d rather we lose his income so he can focus on taking care of his health. You know I’m right. If he does finally get better, he can go back to work. Or order him to ask for a different job or something, anything.”
Stuart didn’t interrupt Brandon while he pondered all of that. “You’dreallybe okay with me marrying him?”
“Absolutely. Especially in a case like this.” He reached for Brandon’s hand and held it in both of his. “It’skillingme seeing how much pain he’s in every day. We’re losing him. He comes home, sleeps. Forces himself out of bed every morning. Even on his days off he can barely function. He’s in alotof bad pain.Please? I love both of you, but I can’t stand seeing him do this to himself.”
Brandon pulled him in for a hug. “You’re a good boy, you know that?”
Stuart melted against him. “I didn’t do this to hear that, but thank you, Master.”
“I know.” Brandon stroked his hair, not releasing him from their embrace. “But I wanted you to hear that.” He finally sat back, cupping Stuart’s face with his hands and giving him a kiss. “We are the two luckiest guys in the world to have you as our husband.”
His heart skipped a beat. “Husband?” Sure, he knew Brandon had felt that way, but it was still nice to hear.
“So what if it can’t be on a piece of paper? That’s how I feel about you both. You’re my husbands. This is way more than Master and slave stuff to me. I’m here for life. I wouldn’t have moved you in that night the tree fell on Jeff’s place, Emma’s orders or not, had I not felt ready to spend the rest of my life with both of you. And I wouldn’t have collared you, either.”
“Thank you, Master.”
Brandon let out a sad sigh. “Let’s do this tonight before Emma gets home. I’d rather she not be here, because I know Jeff’s not going to react well to this.”
“Agreed.”
* * * *
Jeff gave serious thought to calling Brandon, Stuart, or even Emma, to come pick him up from work.
He hurtthatbad.
How am I going to keep doing this?
The doctor told him they couldn’t give him an estimate of if, or when, the pain would ease up. That it was possible he might be in some level of pain for the rest of his life.
That if he didn’t give in and let them try an IV port for the meds he might not improve at all.
