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The Sweet Life	By : jai Category: Individual Celebrities > Athlete/Sports Misc Views: 8241 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not know the people written about in this fanfiction. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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August 21, 2012 Philadelphia, PA

Michael spotted Ian sitting out on the back deck with his laptop so he poured two large glasses of iced tea and went out to join him.

“Tea?”

Ian looked up over the rim of his glasses. “Why yes thank you. Are the boys asleep?”

“Out like lights so I think they’re finally back on their schedule. Margaret said she’d keep an ear on the monitor for us. What are you doing?”

“Oh, making notes for Chloe’s uniform pieces and since the Springside calendar came in the mail today; I’m integrating it with the family calendar. Good thing you have a few months off because we’re going to be busy.”

“We are?”

“The parents’ association meeting is the fourteenth, we’re hosting the new parents dinner on the eighteenth and then there’s visiting day on the twenty fifth. And we’re both volunteering at the consignment shop the first two weeks of October not to mention taking Chloe to practice every other week.”

“When did we agree to host the dinner?”

“Last spring. You didn’t want to volunteer for the book fair again.”

“No I sure didn’t. Okay, so are we hosting it here or at a restaurant?”

“I would love to host it at a restaurant but we’d look like we were throwing money around, the other volunteers will have a fit and let’s not go there. I think we’ll have to do it here and try to figure out how to seat forty or so people.”

“Since Margaret and Ken are moving to the basement we could put tables in the living room, study and out to that end of the sunroom. That way everyone is sort of together but there’s room to circulate. We put the buffet set up in the dining room which has two doors so people won’t get bunched up in there.”

“Hm. I think that would work and if we have decent weather, people can spill out onto the deck. I like it. You know what this means though, don’t you? We’ll need to do something about the furniture in the family room.”

“But Ian! I love that couch. That’s our couch.”

“I know love but let’s face it; there is no way the grape jelly stains are ever coming out. It’s been a good couch but I think we need to find furniture with washable slipcovers until certain people learn to not eat on the furniture.” Ian said with a look since they both knew who was responsible for the stains.

Michael flushed a little. “Okay, you’re right. I guess it’s time but we are going to find something comfortable that we both fit on.”

“Good. By the way, the boys have their check up next Tuesday and we all have dental appointments the following Thursday. Are we planning anything for our anniversary? It’s on Wednesday.”

“Do you want to go out to dinner that night?”

“I suppose but nothing fancy.”

“Here’s an idea; why don’t we take Chloe and the boys out to lunch on Wednesday at McCormick and Schmick’s and we’ll go sofa shopping this weekend.”

“That’s an anniversary celebration I can get behind although I am surprised that you’re giving up on the couch so easily.”

“I’m tired of trying to get the grape jelly out.”

“Ah. We’re also taking Chloe shopping for her uniforms the day after tomorrow. Are you up for that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Just checking. She was sort of half enthusiastic and half ‘but I don’t want to shop with my dads’ when I asked her about it.”

“We’re not going to give her a credit card and set her loose so she’ll just have to deal with us.”

“That’s what I told her.” Ian snapped the laptop closed and set it over on the table. “It’s a really great day out here, isn’t it?”

“Yep. Where were you planning on putting in the garden?”

“It will have to be a spot with southern exposure for the best results. Want to see where I think it will work?”

“Sure.”

&&

Thursday, August 23, 2012 Philadelphia, PA

Michael signed a credit card slip with his regular scrawl and took the bag the sales clerk handed him. Chloe and Ian had already moved on to the next store and he trudged over there, well aware of his role of pack mule and money provider. Ian was perfectly capable of whipping out the credit cards but being the tote and carry member of the shopping expedition gave him all the fun of watching Chloe and Ian get into the shopping rhythm with none of the burden of making fashion decisions for his daughter. A total win-win situation.

He was just about to turn into the shop Chloe said they’d be at when he spotted a crafty type store across the way. Hm. He wasn’t sure if his whole sewing thing was just a sign of how bored and desperate he’d been away from his family or if he was really serious about it but it wouldn’t hurt to check out some fabrics, would it?

Ducking in the clothing store, he spotted Ian and Chloe back by wall of socks and went over. “Hey guys, I’m going to take these bags out the car and then check out the store across the way.”

“What store?” Ian and Chloe asked simultaneously.

“A fabric store.”

Chloe gave him a look of puzzlement but Ian merely nodded. “Okay. We’ll meet you in a while near the escalator.”

Michael hurried out and returned from the car a few minutes later, loitering for a minute outside the store before going in. It wasn’t a big store and seemed more angled for crafters and quilting types but there were lots of fabrics and he wandered up and down the aisles for a few minutes, just checking things out. He stopped in front of the corduroy section and looked over the seventeen or so choices.

Cords would probably be a good choice for his first attempt at sewing something useful but he wasn’t sure – oh. Patterns. Duh, he needed patterns. The books were just an aisle or two over and he quickly found a couple of different possibilities although the preponderance of patterns for girls was really disturbing. It was like people who had boys didn’t sew or something. Ha! And there was a pattern that might work for the Halloween costumes. Now to find some fabrics.

There was some fake fur but it felt kind of rough and itchy on the inside so he moved on to fleece. Ah, nice and soft on both sides and in a light gray. Okay then, now he needed Velcro and some thread if he remembered his reading correctly. He’d been in the store for over a half hour and although there weren’t a lot of customers, the three sales clerks had spent the whole time huddled over near the cash register.

He picked up three bolts of fabric along with his patterns, thread and a few interesting looking notions and headed over there. “Uh hi. I’d like to get some fabric and these things.”

The women exchanged looks and the youngest one finally broke the silence. “Hi. Aren’t you Michael Phelps?”

“Yes I am.”

“Oh. We were just trying to figure out if it really was you.”

“Yep. It’s me as far as I know.”

They all laughed and started asking him about the fabric and his plans, giving him some really great tips about working with the fleece and how to lay out the patterns. They were soon having a nice conversation and Michael signed a couple of autographs before he left.

Ian was sitting across from the escalator and rose as Michael walked over. “So I see you survived.”

“Yep. I have stuff for the costumes and I’m also going to try making corduroy pants and maybe some overalls.”

“You want to know what Chloe said when I told her you were planning to take up sewing.” Ian asked with a grin.

“Sure, lay it on me.”

“She asked if you were going to be making her clothes too.”

Michael chortled. “Did she sound appropriately horrified?”

“Oh yeah. She’s waiting for us at the restaurant.” Ian said sliding his arm through Michael’s as they started walking in that direction.

“What did you tell her?”

“Well I started out telling her that you were looking forward to sewing her prom dress but since she almost fainted, I didn’t follow up with the wedding dress idea.”

“You are so mean!”

“Hey, that’s another Thorpe family tradition – ritual embarrassment of one’s offspring. It’s really the only reason we ever spawn.”

“So what did Margaret and Ken do to you?”

“You mean aside from displaying my naked baby pictures to dates, telling me that money was tight so I’d have to wear my sister’s hand me down underwear to school and insisting on going with me to shop for condoms?”

“Ouch. And they were surprised that you ended up gay?”

“Huh. I never thought about it like that. Wait until I use that one on Mum!”

&&

Saturday August 25, 2012

“Hey Ian?”

“Yes Michael?”

“I just remembered something.”

Ian paused before putting the toothbrush in his mouth. “What?”

“I’m supposed to go to Baltimore on Monday for an interview.”

“What time?”

“I need to be there by eleven. Hey, I could call Mom and ask her to baby sit for us then we could take the kids to the zoo. Gail’s not expected back until Wednesday, right?”

“Right. Well if Debs will go for it, I think it’s a good idea. I like the Baltimore Zoo.”

It was Michael’s turn to stop pause as he reached for the soap. “When did we go to the zoo there?”

“We didn’t. I went with Fred one afternoon a couple of years ago.”

“You and my dad went to the zoo?”

“Yes. You were off with your mom somewhere and your dad stopped by. It must have been before Deb and Ryan’s wedding. It was a nice day so we went to the zoo.”

“I had no idea you and Dad did that.”

Ian stepped into the shower. “Are you upset?”

“No! I think it’s cool that you guys get along.”

“But?”

“He’s never taken me to the zoo.”

“Yes he has. You were four and Fred said you got really upset because you weren’t allowed to take home one of the elephants.” Ian said, taking the soap from Michael and lathering up his hands.

“Oh.”

“Are you still upset?”

“No and I wasn’t upset in the first place. I guess I was just too young to remember that.”

“You were four so that’s not surprising. Want me to do your back?”

“Okay.”

&&

Ian snuffled along Michael’s neck and breathed in the unique scent of Michael and soap. “I really like the stuff we picked out today.”

“I’m just glad we finally found a couch we both liked. We really should paint the family room though before the new stuff gets here. That’s the room we use the most and it shows.”

Levering himself up on his elbow, Ian looked down at Michael. “Michael, you know decorating is a vicious cycle. With new paint and furniture, we’ll need new carpeting.”

“True although we did luck out because it’s only in that room. What kind of flooring do you have planned for the kitchen?”

“I’ve got it narrowed down to either cork or commercial grade sheet linoleum. I want something that’s easy to clean, doesn’t show crumbs, and fairly hygienic.”

“Hm. We could use either one and run it in the kitchen, family and sun rooms. It’s got to be easier to clean than the ceramic tiles not to mention easier on the boys’ feet.”

“You don’t think it would look weird in a family room?”

“Not with an area rug. Part of the problem with that wall to wall stuff is that the stains are down in the padding and they keep coming back. One good juice spill and we’re screwed.”

“Speaking of that . . .” Ian said with a wiggle of his brow before he leaned down and ran his lips up Michael’s neck, heading for his earlobe to whisper, “Will you make love to me tonight?”

“Oh. Um. Okay. How do you-?”

“Surprise me.”

Michael grinned and suddenly rose up, flipping Ian over and taking a nip from Ian’s shoulder. “Put your hands under your head. You’re not allowed to touch me until I tell you that you can and I’m going to do things to you that you may not like but I’m going to do them anyway.”

“Do I get a safe word?”

“Pick one.”

“Sassafras.”

“Okay.”

First Michael draped him with the sheet and used mouth, hands and body to caress and stroke him. When Ian was thoroughly a puddle of want and need, Michael slowly slid the sheet down, exploring each inch as it was exposed as if he’d never seen Ian’s body before.

Ian had a hard time not grabbing Michael between the licks, kisses and nibbles and finally ended up gripping the headboard and trying not to demand more. At one point, Michael threatened to gag him and although that idea was surprisingly intriguing, Ian would miss the occasional kiss Michael popped up to give him.

After the first orgasm, brought on by a long teasing session of Michael’s mouth and hands applied to his cock; Ian was feeling a little dreamy and didn’t immediately register that Michael had turned him over. The long slick fingers certainly woke him up and he tried to move down to get more of them until Michael gave his ass a fast swat.

“Hey!”

“Hm. I’m not hearing your safe word.”

Michael’s swatted him a few more times, more like love taps than actual spankings but it was enough to keep him in line until Michael did a really interesting twisty finger thing that shot sparks all through his body.

“Oh my god, Michael! Stop fooling around!”

“Still not hearing your safe word.”

Ian wasn’t sure but he thought he might have broken the headboard when another orgasm ripped through him, his back arching and dipping to try and deal with the intense pleasure Michael’s fingers were giving him. He flopped onto the mattress, his chest heaving and was faintly aware that Michael had gotten up and gone into the bathroom but really couldn’t make himself care.

The warm towel wiping him down a minute later was very welcome and Michael gently turned him over, somehow managing to change the sheets around Ian.

“Oh, that’s a handy skill.” Ian said languidly, his arm over his eyes.

“You are married to a doctor although I had to ask the nurses to show me how to do it. I even know how to make hospital corners.”

“I’m impressed.”

Ian felt the mattress dip and then a crinkling sound. It took him a minute to realize that it was the distinctive sound of a condom packet. In the meantime he was being turned onto his side and Michael was slowly sliding into him.

“Michael, oh. You. My.”

“Too much?”

“No.” Ian said with difficulty as Michael’s arms came around him. “You haven’t had-.”

“Don’t worry about me. Is it too much? Do you want to use your safe word?”

“God no but you really need to move or something.”

“Okey dokey.”

Ian’s third orgasm of the evening built up slowly as Michael gently but thoroughly fucked him within an inch of his life. Ian wasn’t even sure he would come again and had settled in to enjoy the ride but then Michael slid a hand down to cup his balls and Michael’s mouth was tenderly biting his neck and Michael’s other hand curved around his penis and it was like fireworks off the Sydney Harbor Bridge, winning his first gold medal and first moment of his first kiss with Michael all rolled up into one cell burning package.

The next thing he knew there were birds chirping outside, sunlight was spilling through the gap in the curtains and he seemed to have a permanent smile on his lips.

“Good morning Baby. Do you want some coffee?”

It took some effort but Ian managed to move his head to the left and saw Michael perched on the edge of the mattress with a steaming cup of nirvana in his hand.

“Is that Panama Esmeralda?”

“Uh huh.” Michael put the cup on the nightstand and helped Ian sit up before handing it over. “How are you this morning?”

“I feel really good.” Ian said after taking the first sip. “That was some anniversary present, Michael.”

Michael stretched out over the foot of the bed and grinned up at him. “But that was only the decoy present.”

Ian aped dropping his cup. “You’re trying to kill me.”

“Nah, I’m just testing your reflexes and stamina. Your chart is looking really good Mr. Thorpe but that could change at any time.”

“And why is that?”

“We’re been drafted for the lawn bowling tournament down at the Cricket Club this afternoon. Grant and Pieter want to enter the tournament Ken’s been talking about and they need four players.”

“You already agreed to it?”

“Yeah. Pieter caught me in a weak moment and they’ve already gotten Chloe, Karen and Jen to keep an eye on the boys.”

“We’re leaving the boys home with Chloe?”

“Of course not. The kids are coming with and the boys will be right within eyesight so the girls can handle that.”

“And what did our lovely neighbors offer our wonderful daughter and her friends for this?”

“I have no idea but it must have been pretty good because Grant was wincing and Chloe was cackling.”

“That’s my girl!”

&&

Team Aussie (so named because Grant and Ian outvoted Pieter and Michael) had made it into the semi-finals. That surprised all of them since Michael and Pieter had never tried the sport and it had been a couple of years for Ian and Grant. Margaret and Ken were teamed up with another couple from the club, Rosemary and George and were considered the favorites to win but Team Aussie was prepared to give them a run for their money.

Thirty minutes later Grant, as their skip and final player had just released his last bowl when a small red clad figure toddled out onto the green after it. Robbie made it half way down the rink before Michael shook himself and ran after him.

Robbie was not happy that he was stopped before he could get one of those fun looking toys and let out loud shriek. “Da! Mine!”

“No that is not yours. Robbie, you could have been hurt.” Michael said as he carried him back. It didn’t even dawn on him that Robbie had walked no run all by himself until he saw Ian’s face. “Oh my god.”

“Michael, did you see that?”

“Yeah I did. Boy he was really moving wasn’t he?”

“He sure was.”

Because Robbie hadn’t interfered with the bowl, Grant’s play was not disqualified although it wasn’t enough to get them into the quarterfinals. That was just fine with Michael and Ian since they now had a little walker who really wanted a bowl of his own.

“Sorry Grant.” Ian said apologetically.

“Ah, it’s okay.” Grant replied easily as he lounged on the grass and munched on a cucumber sandwich. “I fluffed the last bowl on the release and we were too far back anyway. It was fun though and Ken and Margaret still have a shot to defend Australia’s honor.”

“I can’t believe Robbie did it first.” Pieter said as he came back with their drinks and handed them around before sitting down. “Does anyone else find it peculiar one must wear white for a sport played on grass?”

“All I know is it’s going to be really nice sitting in a warm cozy house while you guys are raking leaves.” Michael said smugly as he followed behind Robbie who totally in a walking groove and kept circling around their blanket with one of Grant’s bowls in his hands. His brothers seemed to be very interested in this latest development and followed behind, Liam holding onto Michael’s hand while Jamey and Harry held Ian’s.

“Are you aware that you look like some kind of weird circus parade?” Pieter asked, stealing a sandwich from Grant’s plate.

“I don’t care what we look like; I’m still shocked that he’s walking so well all on his own.”

&&

By Monday morning, the novelty of having one of their sons walking was slightly dimmed by the fact that the other three had picked up the trick and were displaying their skills by running around the second floor buck naked after staging a canny escape from their room.

“Maybe we need to rethink the zoo trip.” Michael said as he finally got a diaper on Liam.

“Or invest in leashes. Here’s a question: are we going to tell your mom they’re walking?”

Michael paused and dipped to avoid Harry’s flailing legs. “That is a good question. I know we should but after all that talking she did regarding payback, this small very evil part of me says let’s not.”

“Oh, I like that part of you.” Ian said then coughed when he got a face of talc courtesy of Jamey.

&&

In the end, Ken and Margaret made the trip down to Baltimore with them and Debbie was alerted to the fact that she was getting toddlers along with helpers before they left. Michael’s mother didn’t sound too worried over that fact but once they arrived and the boys hit the ground running, she seemed to reconsider.

“My they’re fast little boogers aren’t they?”

“Yes they are. Just try to keep them in one room or you might not be able to catch them.” Ian advised as he set down the diaper bag.

Debbie watched as her grandsons went in four opposite directions and made a swift decision. “Okay, I can see that we’ll need to take them down the playroom.”

“Good move, Debs.” Michael said as he stopped Harry from trying to climb the bookcase.

&&

“Michael, do you think I should stay behind?” Ian asked as they both buckled up.

“You can if you want to.”

“I trust the parents but the boys are suddenly such a handful.”

“Suddenly?”

“Don’t be smart.”

“Ian, if you want to stay it’s fine with me. Yes, I’d like you to go with me but the kids come first.”

Ian looked back at the house then over at Michael and sat back. “The thing is I don’t want to stay. Does that make me a bad person?”

“Of course not.” Michael said as he started Deb’s car. “Mom, Margaret and Ken will be fine with the boys and Chloe’s there to pick up the slack. If it makes you feel any better, Dad and Jackie are going to be here shortly.”

“They are?”

“Yep. They’re also going to the zoo with us.”

“Oh that’ll be fun. When did you do that?”

“Yesterday morning. He even offered to baby sit but Jackie has a doctor’s appointment. They’re coming over afterwards.”

“So you were a little upset about your dad and me going to the zoo.”

“Okay so I was. Then it dawned on me that I don’t have to be a kid to enjoy going to the zoo with my dad.”

“Why Michael, that was surprisingly mature of you.”

“Now who’s being smart?”

&&

The boys started off walking but quickly tired and settled into their individual strollers much to everyone’s relief. The toddlers especially loved riding the train and the trams but weren’t too sure about the petting zoo so Michael and Ian didn’t push the issue. Chloe got more out of seeing the animals then her brothers did and had a fine time reading off the informational panels and asking all sorts of questions, much to her grandmothers’ delight. There were a few looks from other people at the park who clearly recognized either Michael or Ian but no one really bothered them much to their relief. They capped off their day with a stop at Bill Bateman’s for an early dinner and finally pulled into their driveway at eight forty three. Despite their tiredness, the boys eschewed being carried into the house and walked in all on their own although the stairs were an obstacle they could not surmount.

The next day, Dr. Callabresi watched as the boys ran and tumbled in the toy room and remarked on how well they were moving.

“Have they crawled at all since they started this?”

“Not really,” Ian admitted. “They did a bit of crawling this morning but they were playing with their blocks.”

“How about talking? Are they using sentences?”

“They string sounds together and we do know what they mean but I’m not sure if we’re teaching them our language or we’re learning theirs.”

“What do you mean, Michael?”

“Well, at breakfast this morning Jamey said, ‘eah ur tats’ or something that sounded like that. We know that means he wants eggs and potatoes. Pezz means peas, rots are carrots, paca is pancakes and bens are green beans.”

“Do you use the correct words with them?”

“Always.” Ian said.

“They’re way ahead on verbal. Most kids their age only have a couple of words. Keep an eye on how their skills develop and we’ll take another look at their eighteen month checkup. I’m going to assume that because most of their words are food related, they aren’t having any eating problems?”

“Oh not in the least. If we put it in front of them, they’ll eat it but they really love food they can interact with. They love chasing fresh peas around on their trays and if macaroni shows up, that’s like the best thing in the world.” Michael said.

“Macaroni with sauce?”

“Not after the first time.” Ian said with a rueful grin. “Now they just get boiled pasta with a tiny bit of olive oil and maybe a sprinkle of parmesan. We tried a couple of different sizes but the small elbow macaroni seems to work best. They alternate between playing with it and vacuuming it down depending on the boy and the day.”

“Are they still hungry at the end of a meal or are they refusing food?”

Ian shrugged. “Again, they vary. We’ve tried to make sure the amounts the boys eat equal out at the end of the day and they usually do. We do weigh them every couple of weeks and there hasn’t been any enormous shifts.”

“Good. Any other concerns?”

“The boys seemed to do really well with other kids earlier this month and we’re going to be starting them with a play group in October. Is there anything we should be watching out for?” Michael asked.

“Just that they are interacting with other children and not always playing as a foursome. You might also watch to see if it bothers them when one of their brothers goes outside the group. That can be a problem with multiples especially identical ones. They could see outside play as a threat and react accordingly by either bringing the errant member back into the fold or striking out towards the playmate. Robbie, Harry, Jamey and Liam are a little young for that behavior but you need to be aware that it can happen. If it does, I can give you some reading material on how to handle it but don’t worry about it until then.”

Michael and Ian said their goodbye and after setting up their next appointment, gathered up their sons. Michael had already been warned that he’d better not step into the hospital without bringing the boys by the P/T floor so that was going to be their next stop.

The boys liked the mirrored elevator but got a little shy and hid behind their father’s legs for most of the short ride as the elevator got a little crowded. Ian and Michael had never seen shy from their sons and were quite amused. The doors opened and they led the boys out while people moved aside for them.

“Michael, Ian! Hi guys.” The nurse behind the desk said, coming around quickly. “And look at these sweet little boys.”

“Hi Doreen. How’s it going?” Michael asked.

“It’s good. We really miss you on the floor.”

“That’s good to hear. Is Dr. Tyree in?”

“She’s in her office. Why don’t you guys go down to the break room and I’ll tell her you’re here.”

“Thanks. We need to stop in the men’s room first but we’ll be there in a sec.”

Ian waited until the door closed behind them to start checking bottoms. “Michael, they’re all good.”

“I figured but they aren’t the only ones with biological functions.” Michael said as he stepped up the urinal and unzipped. The sound of liquid hitting water must have been fascinating because the boys all gathered around Michael. “Oh geeze. They’re going to give me a complex.”

Chuckling, Ian leaned against the sink. “I don’t think they’ve ever seen a urinal before. Maybe it’s just that and you have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Says the man with a – oh hi Dr. Aswan.” Michael said nodding to the man who entered the bathroom and stopped.

“Hello Dr. Phelps. Are those your famous boys?”

“I’m not sure about the fame part but they’re definitely ours.” Michael said, zipping up. Ian moved aside so Michael could wash his hands. “Have you met my husband, Ian?”

“No I haven’t. A real pleasure Mr. Thorpe.” Dr. Aswan said as they shook hands. The boys had retreated behind Ian, not sure about this stranger.

“The pleasure is mine, Dr. Aswan. The ankle biters are Robbie, Harry, Liam and Jamey – Michael can you stop Jamey from exploring the urinal?”

“On it.” Michael said as he picked up Jamey. “So Dr. Aswan, what brings you over to Sports Medicine?”

“ACL injury in an eight year old soccer player. It took half an hour to convince the poor kid the x-ray wasn’t going to hurt her.”

“Aw. Is she going to be okay?”

“Dr. Allen said the prognosis was good.” Dr. Aswan said before making a motion at the urinal.

“Oh. Sorry I guess you don’t need the audience feature. Have a good day.” Michael said as he ushered Ian and the kids out.

“You too.”

The door closed behind them and Michael led the way to the break room.

“There you are.” Dr. Tyree announced. “Oh, and they’re walking. How exciting! Come on in, I brought in snacks and juice this morning.”

“How did you know- oh Lorna gave you a heads up.” Michael said with a grin as he and Ian sat down.

“It pays to have a friend in Dr. Callabresi’s office. Besides, I haven’t seen you for months aside from catching you on the tube. Congratulations by the way.”

“Oh. Uh. Thanks.” Michael said as he picked up Liam.

“Ian, I have to tell you how much I enjoyed your Olympic log; all of us here did. It was very interesting to sort of ‘live the life’ for a couple of weeks.”

“Thank you Dr. Tyree, it was fun to write and I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“So who won the bet?”

“The bet?” Michael asked confused.

“Yes, the bet about which boy would walk first? We have our own pool here and I told everyone I’d get the inside scoop.”

“Oh. Robbie did it during a lawn bowling tournament two days ago.”

“Woo! Way to go Robbie!” Dr. Tyree said and uncharacteristically pumped her arm. She then looked at the four boys who were sitting on their fathers’ laps.

Michael couldn’t help laughing. “Robbie’s the one on Ian’s lap in the blue shirt. How much did you just win?”

“Five dollars. The bets were a quarter a piece and I had Robbie on a weekend.” She reached out and patted Robbie’s hand before getting out a Ziplock bag of carrots and another of orange wedge. “Do the boys like carrots or oranges?”

Ian, who was trying to keep Jamey from lunging across the table, said wryly, “If it’s food, they’ll eat it.”

Dr. Tyree handed over the bags and smiled as the boys went to town, leaning back as Ian and Michael tried to distribute the pieces fairly.

“It may look like we never feed them but they had a big breakfast, really they did.” Ian said as his sons made little pigs of themselves.

“If you think they ate a lot before, you’re really going to be laying out the food now that they’re on their feet. Did you have any problems bringing them into the building?”

“Not really. So far they’ve been sticking pretty close to us but we expect them to break out with the exploring soon.” Michael commented as he took one of Harry’s carrots from Robbie and put it back in Harry’s pile.

“Are you looking forward coming to work? I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to tell you about the budget thing in person and I tried to squeeze you in but the idiots in HR just wouldn’t give an inch.”

“That’s okay. To be honest, I’m looking forward to being home for a nice long stretch although I might drive Ian crazy looking for a hobby.”

Ian leaned down and took a bit of the orange Harry wanted to share with him. “Oh thank you Harry. And you’re not going to drive me crazy, Michael. The whole retirement thing is mind warping; remember how crazy I went on eBay?”

“Uh no. Is that where all the extra Duplo blocks in the playroom came from?”

“Um. I suppose.” Ian said sheepishly.

“You two are such a cute couple.” Dr. Tyree said with a laugh as she stood up. “I’ve got to get back to work but don’t be strangers.” She patted Michael fondly on the shoulder, nodded at Ian and ruffled Liam’s hair and then strode from the room.

“Pa ga do we?”

“Yes Jamey, we’re going. Michael, can you hand me a baby wipe?”

“Yes dear.”

&&

“So do you want to stop at the Acme for our grocery shopping?” Michael asked as they strapped the boys in the back of the SUV.

“We could. Wait, we’re going grocery shopping?”

“We sort of have to. There’s no milk, we’re low on formula and even worse, I don’t know what we’re going to make for dinner.”

“Are we really that low on things?”

“Yeah we are. We haven’t been shopping since we got back.”

“All right but you get to push the boys and deflect any cutesy remarks from strangers.”

“Deal. I thank you for not letting me starve.” Michael said solemnly and then swiftly moved aside to avoid Ian’s swat.

Once they were belted in themselves and Michael had driven out of the parking garage, Ian leaned forward from the middle seat so Michael could hear him.

“Michael, what’s going on with Grant and Pieter? They’ve both been suspiciously absent since we got back.”

“I’m not sure. Pieter’s probably trying to catch up down at the hospital but I think something’s going on with Grant at CHC. He’d normally be getting ready for the new semester but I saw him leaving their house a couple of times last week in a suit.”

“Michael, have you been spying on our friends?”

“No, I was taking the trash out and he waved as he left.”

“Uh huh. I hope that if something’s wrong, they’d come to us for help.”

“Maybe it’s something we can’t help with.”

“What could that be?”

“I’m not sure but don’t think Grant is exactly happy at CHC. It’s a nice college but there are some folks who aren’t thrilled about an openly gay man on the faculty at a Catholic college.”

“Really. He never said anything about it to me and I’m his best friend!”

“Baby, it’s just a feeling I got. He hasn’t been confiding in me either.”

“Then how did you know that people are less than thrilled about him teaching there?”

“One of the guys I went to Arcadia with was dating a girl at Chestnut Hill. He knew I was friends with Grant so he mentioned that some of the parents were complaining.”

“Hm. And he only had a short term contract there. I wonder if he’s been out interviewing at other schools.”

“It’s a little late for that. I think if it’s really bothering you, you should go talk to him.”

“But I don’t want to be pushy.”

“Ahem. Pardon me while I swallow my words.”

&&

“Do you have a list?” Ian asked as they put the boys the four seat stroller.

“Actually I do.” Michael answered as he pulled a list out of his back pocket and handed it over.

Ian waited until he’d procured a cart to unfold the paper which turned out to be a list Michael obviously made off the store’s website. “This is awesome. Michael, why didn’t you tell me their website had this function?”

“I didn’t know until I was checking it out last night.”

“Well I hope Whole Foods comes up with something like this.”

The boys found the store fascinating as they always did but more or less behaved and although they weren’t happy about being in the stroller, the other people milling about spooked them a little especially those who came up and exclaimed over them. Michael managed to be friendly but didn’t encourage the familiarity and kept them moving.

Ian made quick work of filling their cart to the brim and they were heading to the check out quicker than either one of them expected. While Ian took care of getting their stuff on the belt, Michael headed out to the car to load the boys. He had just gotten to the SUV when his cell phone rang and he tried to jungle it, the stroller and his keys before he finally answered it.

“Hello?”

“Michael, its Mom.”

“Hey, Mom. What’s up?” Michael asked distractedly as he got the car door open.

“You’re an uncle!”

“Really? Is Whitney okay?”

“She’s fine, wonderful in fact. The boys are fine too. Aidan and Heath, they weighed in about seven pounds each.”

“Wow. Those are great names. How’s Trent doing?”

“He’s a bit overwhelmed but the nurses were really impressed at how well he changes diapers.”

“We’ll have to come down and visit in a couple of weeks. How are you doing?”

“Oh. I’m okay. Relieved, feeling sort of misty and all that. She had a quick labor but then she’d been having contractions most of the night and didn’t realize it wasn’t Braxton-Hicks again.”

“Da!” Robbie yelled impatiently and tugged on Michael’s shirt.

“Oops. Mom, I’m in the middle to trying to get the boys in the car. Can I call you back when we get home?”

“Of course. In fact, why don’t you call tonight? I think I’m going to go home and take a nap.”

“Okay. Talk to you around eight.”

They rang off and Michael finally got the boys in the car, soothing their hurt feelings over being ignored and telling them all about their new cousins.

“Michael, who are Aidan and Heath?” Ian asked as he came up with the cart of bags.

“Our new nephews. Whitney’s a mom!”

“That’s wonderful news!”

“Yep. Wow, my big sister is a mom.” Michael repeated as he got out of the car and closed the side door after engaging the lock before going around to the back to help Ian with the groceries.

“I think she and Trent will be great parents.”

“Trent already has the diapering thing down. Hey, what we should get them as a baby gift?”

“I think we should find out what they still need before we buy anything.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of arranging to have meals delivered. I remember how hard it was to think about cooking when we first got home.”

“Michael, that’s a very sweet idea.”

“Good. I’ll make a couple of phone calls later.” Michael put the last bag into the back and stepped back. “I’ll take the cart back if you want to get the car started.”

“Okay.” Ian said as he reached up to grab the door. He had just gotten into the car and turned to check on the boys when he heard the squealing of car tires, the horrible sound of metal hitting something and whipped around to see a shopping cart fly by the windshield. He was out of the car in a heartbeat and stopped when he spotted a familiar form sprawled across the macadam.
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The Sweet Life