Flea Market Sausage

Author's Note:  This chapter is dedicated to a very nice reader whose interest in "the sausage story" got the characters talking to me again when I was thinking of shutting this story down.  Thank you, Trevor.

 

Once the rooming situation was settled, the three couples split up with the parentals staying in their respective rooms and Bastian and Atreyu heading for the indoor pool.  They waved to Kevin who was still at the front desk when they walked by.  To their delight, they found that there was a hot tub there as well.  They spent a little over an hour alternating between swimming and relaxing in the hot tub before they headed back up to their room to get ready for dinner.

When they got to the restaurant a few minutes early, they were led to a private dining room at the back of the building.  They walked in and Kevin stood up and greeted them.  Tobi turned around and his jaw dropped.  "Kevin, you didn't tell me these are the folks you were talking about."

"I told you it was someone who knew you, but I still have no idea how," the older man returned, obviously now curious.

Tobi put his arm around the teens with a big grin.  "Lesbians and gentlemen, may I introduce to some actual bona fide heroes.  Bastian here is the young man that told my little nephew Zane not to keep secrets from his parents which helped stop the physical abuse of twelve children at his daycare.  His dark-haired husband here rescued Bastian a few nights later from the serial rapists and murderers that have been all over the news."

"The news media said that two young men were involved in that, but couldn't give out any information because of their ages and the fact that the investigation was ongoing," Kevin mused.  "You really did that?" he asked the two teens who nodded bashfully.  "I am so honored to have met such brave young...  Wait a minute, did Tobi say husband?"

Jack answered for the boys.  "Yes sir, you see my tribe has certain customs and laws about relationships and what happens when those relationships are taken to a physical level.  The US government won't recognize it, but by the laws and in the eyes of my tribe, my son and Bastian are married, and before anyone asks, yes they knew what would happen if they did what they did where they did.  I'm sure Bastian's parents will agree that we all believe them to be fully capable of making their own decision and we totally support the decision they have made."

"We certainly do," Edward agreed.

"My parents were married when my mom was 16," Kevin announced.  "If they have your support and your blessing, which I have already seen they do, then I am very happy for them both.  Now let's get back to business, shall we?"

If Bastian and Atreyu had thought they were going to just listen in on the conversation and planning, they were mistaken.  Kevin, Tobi, and Chris all made sure to engage them in the discussions that took place.  At the end of the very good meal, Edward signaled the waitress who had served them to ask for their bill.

"Your money is no good tonight," Kevin told him.  "Sarah, just put it on my account."

"Sarah, if you want a bigger tip, you will give me that bill," Edward told the young woman.

"Sorry, sir, but while you might tip better, he writes the paychecks," Sarah replied with a shrug.

"You own this place too?" Atreyu asked.  When everyone around the table answered affirmatively, the teen grinned and told Kevin, "You're sneaky."

"Little Zane is practically family to me," Kevin told them sincerely.  "Think of tonight as a thank you for helping him to step forward with what had been happening to him and his little friends."

"Well played, Kevin," Edward told him.  "But no more freebies."

The boys told their parents that they were tired and headed back to the hotel room.  Kevin talked the parents into staying for a few drinks, but only after he caved to their demands that they pay for the drinks themselves.  The teens weren't actually tired.  It was just that it had suddenly dawned on them that they had a private hotel room with a king-sized bed waiting for them.

The next morning the boys met their parents in the lobby of the hotel for breakfast.  They were still yawning when they arrived though.  When their parents teased them about staying up all night, both boys denied it quickly.

"We had a little fun, yes," Bastian confessed.  "But the big thing was that we've been in the tent sleeping on the ground in sleeping bags for so long that we had forgotten what sleeping in a bed felt like."

"I never really thought of that, boys," Jack started.  "If you want, we can make up the other bed for you in the trailer."

"Oh, no you won't," Atreyu said quickly.  "I am not sleeping in the same room with you two with Bastian."

"Yeah, and besides, I didn't mean I missed the bed," Bastian corrected.  "The bed was so soft that I had trouble getting to sleep.  I'm used to the firm ground now."

"Well, the bed in the Jacuzzi room was just as firm as I like, so when you boys get that room tomorrow night, you should like it better," Jack told them.

"That reminds me, Jack," Edward spoke up.  "Lesley and I talked it over and we don't want to switch rooms tonight."

"But Dad, we wanted everyone to get a chance at it," Bastian protested.

"I understand that, son," Lesley told him.  "It's just that your father and I would rather give Lindsay and Jack another night to enjoy that room as our thanks for taking such good care of you this summer."

"Not to mention, I promised to take your mom on a weekend trip just the two of us for our anniversary in December," Edward added.  "So we absolutely refuse to switch rooms.  I've already told the front desk, too."

"That is so sweet of you," Lindsay said as she leaned over and hugged Lesley.  She turned then and looked at the boys.  "So how soon would you like to head to the park for the festival?"

"What do you mean? You guys aren't needed in the booths until this afternoon, so we thought that was when we were going," Bastian answered.

"Bastian, honey, we came here this weekend so you and Atreyu could attend the festival, which starts at 10 am," Lesley smiled.  "That means if you boys want to be there at 10, we will be there."

"Well, we did kind of want to go to the Billy Gilman performance at 11 am," Atreyu admitted.

"Then I suggest we get a move on, so we can spend the day," Jack said.  "I for one need plenty of time to scope out next year's competition."

"Competition?" Bastian asked.

"Yes, I already filed for a spot as a food vendor for next year's Pride Festival," Jack explained.  "I need to check out the vendors this year to see what we are up against."

"We have to see everything we can this year, Bastian," Atreyu told his husband.  "This means we will be working next year and won't get to see anything."

"I promise you will get time off to see some of the events every year we come here," Jack vowed.  "Your mother would kill me otherwise."

"The boys need to have some time to express who they are and have some fun with their new friends," Lindsay said firmly.  "I want them to have some fun while they are young enough to enjoy it."

"As long as that fun is appropriate to both your age and your location," Lesley added.  "Nothing that should only happen in private should happen in public, right boys?"

"Yes, ma'am," the two teens agreed.

The family parked the van and both mothers asked at least three times if the boys had their cell phones so that they could get in touch with the parents if they needed them.  Both dads teased the boys and their moms about that meaning the moms would be the ones getting in touch.  As they approached the entrance of the festival they started seeing the wide variety of people that make up a pride event.  There were two women with one or more children all holding hands, and there were two women both wearing leather outfits that had Dykes on Bikes printed on the back of their vests, but the most interesting for Bastian were the number of male couples that were bringing their children along.  He must have stared a little too long at one family, though because the little boy spoke up.

"Daddy, why is that big kid over there looking at us like that?  He's got that same face Poppa had when I brought home the puppy yesterday."

"Well, son, I think that he might have just seen a little bit of the future," the father replied with a smile.  The little boy suddenly ran over to Bastian and looked up at him hopefully.

"Daddy said you can see the future," he announced quickly.  "Can you tell me if I will get to keep my puppy or not?  Poppa and I really like our puppy, but Daddy says it is too much hassle to keep a dog.  So will Daddy give in and let us keep the puppy?"

Bastian knelt down so he could look the boy eye to eye.  "Well, here's what I see happening," he began while watching the two men out of the corner of his eye.  "I see you working really hard at helping your puppy learn what he can and can't do around your house, and helping to feed him and make sure he gets plenty of exercise so he's a healthy puppy, and I see that really helping your daddy to understand that you are getting to be a big boy that can help make things easier for him."

"I can do that!" the boy squealed.  "I can even teach him tricks and stuff.  He'll be the bestest puppy ever and Daddy won't ever have to clean up after him or nothing.  Thank you," he added happily.  The boy then ran back to his parents proudly telling them the future as he had just heard it.

"You know, every minute we're together, I love you a little more," Atreyu whispered as he took Bastian by the hand and walked into the festival together.   They missed the proud looks of their parents completely.  The teens didn't miss the booths lining the sidewalk, though.  There was the booth giving out flavored condoms, which made the two teens blush intensely, but they weren't so embarrassed that they didn't take a few to sample that night.  They also stopped at the booth that was selling framed photos.  It had a tarp up dividing the booth into two sections and the boys had assumed that the private room was for the booth owner to rest or something, but they saw a man come out and got a glimpse of more frames being displayed inside.

"Wait just a second, sweeties," a voice called to them.  "You little darlings will have to wait a couple of years before getting to view those in person."  Bastian and Atreyu looked around and saw a guy who looked to be in his thirties smiling at them.  "Of course if you ever want to model for my hubby dear, I hope I get to watch."

"We weren't going to go in, we just didn’t realize that it was more displays," Bastian explained.

"Yeah, well because we have folks your age and younger at the festival, I get guard duty keeping eyes that are supposed to be innocent out of places they shouldn't be," the man replied.  "Of course, if you take the business card on the table over there, you will find the web address and we can't stop you from fooling the Internet into thinking you are over eighteen," he winked.

Bastian and Atreyu eased their way out of that booth when the man started talking to someone else, and they both deliberately avoided the little pile of business cards.  The next booth they saw was just two tables, but those were literally covered with the most interesting jewelry they had ever seen.

"So, it's kind of based on chain link armor," a girl that looked their age said quietly.  "I saw this video in school about how that was made and I thought I could do that, only smaller, and add some color, and well.... this is what I wound up with."

"You made all of this yourself?" Bastian asked in surprise.  "When did you start, when you were three?"

"Yeah, it would take me years to do something like this, I'm sure," Atreyu agreed.

"Well, I guess I'm just really good with my hands," she laughed shyly.  "So this one took me about two hours," she added holding out her hand and what the boys saw was a ring on each of her four fingers that were connected by chains made up of tiny rainbow-colored loops of metal leading up to a bracelet made of the same little loops that was about three inches wide.

"Two hours?" Bastian squeaked.  "You must have the fastest hands on the planet."

"BASTY! BASTY! BASTY!" Atreyu squealed.  "Look at this, you gotta see this, this is killer."  Bastian saw him at the other end of the two tables practically jumping up and down with excitement.

"Ummm, I just brought that one to show people, it's not for sale," the girl said softly.  "I can do one like it for you if you are really interested."  She and Bastian walked over to Atreyu.  She picked up the piece that Atreyu had been looking at.  It was a full chest piece with the rainbow flag as the main emphasis, but within that was a heart split into two halves, one side darker than the other, and the brighter one had black lines of the little metal loops through it giving the impression that it was a broken half.  "My twin brother is going to be buried next week in our family cemetery, now that his... remains... have been identified.  He will have that on his chest when he is buried."  She wiped tears from her face.  "I'm sorry; I get a bit emotional over it.  He was killed by two sleazeballs that just got caught trying to do it to someone else.  They told the cops where they had dumped their bodies.  We're lucky that the cops have managed to identify my brother.  Some of the other families they did this to are still waiting for their boys."  She wiped more tears and laughed softly, "If I wasn't a lesbian, I swear I would kiss the face off the boys that stopped those two and brought them to justice."

Bastian blushed intensely and Atreyu shifted nervously.  "You didn't get told who the boys were, did you?" Atreyu asked quietly.

"No, the police said because they aren't eighteen, they can't release that information," the girl replied.  "I just really wish I could tell them what they did for my family."

"Hello Synthya," a voice spoke behind Bastian and Atreyu.  The boys turned and immediately hugged Tobi.  "I was walking by and couldn't help seeing three of my favorite young people in one place."

"Hi Detective Tobi," the girl, now identified as Synthya, said brightly.  "Thank you so much for suggesting that I do this.  I've already made $200 to help pay for my brother's funeral.  I still wish you would tell me who those two boys were so that I could at least write to them and thank them."

"Well, how about this, if you tell me what you want to say right now, I will make sure the boys get your message," Tobi suggested.  "I can also let the boys know that if they want to let you know who they are, I will support that decision as their friend because I know that you would never let anyone but your mother know what you learned."

"You're sure that's ok?" Atreyu asked nervously.

"I promise you that Synthya can be trusted to keep a confidence," the man assured him.  "Well, after she has a moment of fangirl craziness, where she covers her heroes' faces with her aforementioned lesbian kisses."

"OHMYGOD!" Synthya squealed.  "This is them, isn't it? You're really them!  OHMYGOD I can't believe I am getting to talk to you.  OHMYGOD my mom is going to be so pissed that she went for coffee now."

"Mom is going to be more upset at your language, young lady," a woman responded as she walked into the booth.

"But mom, I have a good reason, really, I swear.  Mom this is them. THE them.  They just walked in a couple of minutes ago to look at my stuff and it turns out they are the guys.  This is the most awesome moment of my life since Sam disappeared."  Her mother looked at the boys, then at Tobi, and then dropped her coffee on the ground.

"I haven't said a word," Tobi said, holding his hands up in surrender.  "As a sworn representative of the police force of this state, I cannot reveal the identities of minors involved in any criminal proceedings.  What those minors reveal to people who they can trust is their own decision."

"So was it you?" the woman whispered as she stepped closer to the two teen boys.  When they nodded bashfully, they suddenly found themselves smothered against a quite ample bosom, their hair getting wet from her tears.  "I never thought I would get the chance to say goodbye to my baby boy.  You don't know what that does to a mother.  Thank you can't tell you nearly enough. I can't ever repay you what you have given me and my daughter."

"Maybe you could let them breathe, Mom," Synthya suggested with a giggle.  Of course, as soon as Mom released them, Synthya grabbed them and started kissing all over both of their faces.  "There... lesbian kisses as promised.  You both now have girl cooties," she laughed at their very red faces.  "What do you want?" she asked them sweeping her hand over the tables of merchandise.  "Anything you want is free.  If you try to pay me, I will kick you in the...."

"SYNTHYA!" her mother snapped.

"I was going to say butt," the girl said unconvincingly.  To Bastian and Atreyu she said, "I insist that you pick out something to wear right now.  Too bad you don't have ear piercings," she said to Atreyu.  "The ear chain would look super-hot on you."

"Ear chain?" Bastian asked curiously.  Synthya pulled her own hair back showing a multiple piercing piece of chain work that started at a stud in her upper ear, then connected to another stud on the side of her ear, leading on to the larger loop in her earlobe that had several short rainbow chains dangling from it.   "Well maybe without the big hoop and dangles at the bottom," Bastian mused thoughtfully.

"That is so hot," Atreyu agreed.  Within a moment he was on the cell phone texting his parents to meet them at the booth.  They were close by it turned out, so moments later Jack showed up.

"Your mother is in line to get coffee, but she will be here in a few if you still need her," Jack said as he walked up.

"Dad, I want to get my ear pierced," Atreyu blurted.  He pointed at Synthya's ear with a big grin.  "Isn't that awesome?"

"You know, son, back in the old days, men of our tribe would get body jewelry to celebrate victories and achievements in their life," Jack said thoughtfully.  "I've heard that cartilage piercing is more painful than the lobe though.  Are you sure about that?"

"Definitely," Atreyu confirmed.  "What about you, Bastian?"

"I don't know if something like that would really suit me," Bastian replied.

"May I make another suggestion?" Synthya inquired.  When both boys nodded she led Bastian over to what looked to him to be the longest necklace he had ever seen, made of two rows of gold loops with a sun pendant hanging from it.  "It's a belly chain," Synthya explained.

"Oh Bastian, please get that, please?" Atreyu whispered in his ear.  "I can't wait to sketch you wearing that.... and nothing else."

"And who do you plan to give that picture to?" Bastian asked as he blushed furiously.

"Nobody.  That will only be seen by me and you, I swear."

Synthya pushed the chain and pendant into Bastian's hands with a grin and a naughty wink.  She then went back over to the chest piece that she had displayed.  "What were you so interested in this for?  Like I said, I can't let you have this one, but I could do another one if you really like it."

"Dad, could Bastian and I wear something like that during our ceremony at the pow wow?" Atreyu asked.

"Well, it's a little out of the ordinary, but if the young lady will let me take a picture of it, I can check with your grandfather to see if it would be allowed," Jack told his son.

"Well, normally I wouldn't agree to a picture, because someone could use it to steal my idea or design, but I think you can be trusted," Synthya told them all.  "Now what is this about a ceremony?"

Bastian and Atreyu quickly explained the upcoming tribal ceremony to recognize their marriage, and how it was all connected to the night that they had put an end to the activities of two very nasty men.  Synthya and her mother both hugged and kissed both teens and Jack thanking them all over again.

"Jack, my son, I love you but you're a lousy photographer."  Everyone turned and three male mouths dropped open in shock at seeing Grandpa walk into the booth.  "What?  You think I wouldn't want to be a part of my favorite grandsons seeing their first gay pride festival?"  The two teen boys rushed to hug the old man.  "I won't stay the whole day, but I wanted to see my boys today, and let them both know how proud I am of them."

"We love you so much, Grandfather," Bastian told him with another hug.

"Grandfather, this is what Dad tried to take a picture of," Atreyu said pointing out the chest piece.

"This is remarkable workmanship, it looks like each loop is hand joined," Grandfather observed.

"Well it should because they are," Synthya spoke up.  She then spent a few minutes showing the old man exactly how she went about making her jewelry pieces.  He praised her artistry and her skills, but then had to disappoint the boys.

"Boys, I'm afraid you would not be able to wear those into the council fire, as they are not cloth or skins," he told them sadly.  "They could not be a part of the ceremonial clothing you wear to be presented to the council.  However, they are very well made and would no doubt look very good on you both.  Therefore I will commission this lovely young lady to make two of them that I may present to you as a gift at the end of the ceremony."

"Grandfather, you are the best!" Atreyu yelled and hugged the old man again.

"My husband's grandfather is most generous," Bastian said formally with a bow.

"Cut the crap and hug me, you goofball," Grandfather told him with a smile.  "We aren't always formal, you know."  Bastian grinned and gave the required hug and even a kiss on the cheek.   "Now I hear there is going to be a Billy Gilman performance in a few minutes, and I do not want to miss that.  I admire that young man very much.  He sings very well and has the courage to be himself, even when it could have negative effects on his career.  This is a man to be honored."