Mike woke up in the morning to find Matthew cuddled up against him, one arm across his chest, breathing gently and with a little smile. As Mike started moving, Matthew opened his eyes, and the little smile became much bigger.

Matthew grunted and hugged Mike harder. "Let's not get up just yet, Mike, I want this moment to last seeing it's our last morning together for days."

Mike relented and soon they were in a more loving embrace, and they both got hard, and then Mike very gently and slowly pushed Matthew on to his back and gently and slowly pushed himself inside his lover, and they made love together. At the end of it, Matthew had tears in his eyes.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Mike. Life's going to be miserable without you."

"Hey, don't get weepy on me, it'll work out, you'll see, we'll get together in a couple of days and then Friday we'll have the whole weekend together."

"And I want you to stay. But you've got your Theatre Camp and you don't want to mess that up."

Reluctantly they got out of bed and took a shower together, and got some coffee and berries and yoghourt and had breakfast.

"OK, Mike, I'm going to cook. I don't want you in the kitchen so you'll have to find something else to do!"

"Good, I'm glad we've got the pecking order established. I think you need to do some tidying up around the house, and maybe some dusting and vacuuming, and you could cut some flowers so the table will look nice for our guests."

So they spent the morning doing their chores, Matthew in the kitchen and Mike everywhere else but the kitchen. By eleven thirty the house was clean and tidy, Matthew had the last of the items he was cooking in the oven, the table was set on the patio where the awning provided enough shade. Matthew went to wash and change into nice clothes, and came back wearing a mauve polo shirt and white shorts and his crocs. Maike had changed into clean khakis and a white polo shirt.

"We're going clothes shopping one of these days, Mike, so you can have some fancier clothes for when we entertain."

"Yes, but they're not sexy. I want you to look sexy so other people get jealous when they see us together!"

Matthew took the last of his creations out of the oven, and before long the doorbell rang, and Matthew went to let Amy and Hannah in. They all hugged and then Matthew led them out to the patio.

Amy looked around. "Wow, Mike, this place is great! You must be very happy here!"

"I've lived here most of my life, since I was seven when my grandparents took me in after my parents died, so it really is my home. And Matthew fits in perfectly, it's like he was made to live here."

"OK, lunch is ready! Everybody sit down. Now, first, drinks. Amy, Hannah, we've got white wine, beer and soft drinks."

"I think I'd like white wine, please, Matthew." Amy smiled at him, thinking what a handsome young man Matthew was, and clearly had excellent manners.

"I'll have the same, please!" said Hannah. So Matthew poured them all a glass of wine, and went into the kitchen to get food.

Within a couple of minutes they were tucking in to a spinach quiche, new potatoes and baby carrots and a green salad, accompanied by some focaccia bread.

"Everything except the eggs, cheese and bread." responded Matthew. "Mike has a treasure of vegetables there, it's a shame he doesn't know how to cook!"

"And where did you get the focaccia, I've not seen any like this in the stores in town." asked Amy.

"You made the bread? Mike, you've got a treasure here. If you ever break up, Matthew will come and live with us."

Matthew smiled. "Thanks for the compliment, Amy, but I hope that Mike's going to keep me for a while."

Mike laughed. "I think it's Matthew who's calling the shots around here. He's kicked me out of the kitchen already, and designated me as the maid to do all the cleaning and laundry."

Dessert was an apple tart that Matthew had put together. Everyone had seconds, then Matthew was told to sit down while the rest of them cleared the table, did the washing up, made coffee, and then they all reassembled on the patio.

Amy took charge. "OK, lunch is over, now we're going to get down to business. You two are going to meet Matthew's parents in a little while, and Matthew told me on Friday that you're both really nervous about that, Matthew because it's the first boyfriend he's taken home to meet his parents formally, Mike because he's worried that Matthew's mother will disapprove of him sleeping with her much younger son. And then there's the issue of Matthew going home this evening and you two being apart for several days. Is that right?"

Surprisingly it was Hannah who spoke up next. "I think you two are being silly about Matthew's Theatre Camp. Matthew, you made arrangements with your family to take you and pick you up from the Camp, right?" Matthew nodded. "And you made these arrangements at least a week ago, right?" Matthew nodded again. "And has anything changed in your life since you made those arrangements that might influence your thinking right now?"

"Precisely. So the decision-making space has changed, and changed enormously. So why don't you just tell your parents you're going to stay with Mike, and he can take you to the Theatre Camp, can't you Mike?"

"Um, yes, of course I can. But isn't it up to Matthew's mother to make that decision?"

This time it was Amy who spoke up. "No, not really. Matthew is sixteen, so by law he can sleep wherever he wants and his parents can't stop him. Further, they're still obliged to be responsible for his health needs and his education. But that's really meant for cases where there are really serious issues, and kids have to leave home because they're scared for their safety, or their parents have kicked them out. You two aren't in that category. Further, I think that if your mother really disapproved of your situation she would be banging on the front door right now, and she's not. So I think she's OK with your relationship. She may not be thrilled, but she's willing to accept it. Do you think that's the case, Matthew?"

"I don't know. She's hard to read sometimes. But I think you're probably on the right track, I've kept in touch with her by text and we've talked on the phone a couple of times, and she hasn't said anything negative. She just says 'fine'."

"She's facing a difficult situation, Matthew. You're about to leave the nest, at least for some time, and she has to adjust to that. She had to do that with your sister, and now she's facing the same loss with you, and Hugo probably won't be too far behind, and then she'll be an empty nester. So that's tough on her, although you'll be in walking distance and able to see her frequently. And I'm sure she's like all other mothers, if she felt you were in some form of danger or that Mike was likely to harm you, she'd have let you know by now, and she hasn't issued any ultimatum or anything like that. So I think you're in good standing with her.

"Mike, your situation is a little different because you're older, you have a job, you have a house, and you're fully responsible for all your decisions. So the main accusation anyone can make about you is that you're cradle snatching. And there may be questions about when and how you got to know Matthew because people are really strict about teachers having relations with their students, whether they're under age or not. You're going to have to work quite hard convincing people that you only met Matthew for the first time after you left Bourne Hall, the timing is absolutely critical. But again, I don't think Matthew's mother is concerned because she would have taken action if she felt you had seduced Matthew while you were still a teacher.

"So I think you should both relax. When you go to Matthew's house let Matthew's mother take the lead and judge the extent to which she's comfortable with things, and if it looks promising then you can propose that Matthew stay with you rather than return home. But try not to make it an ultimatum or a confrontation. Try as hard as you can to come to consensus and compromise as much as you need to, or feel you can, so you don't mess up your relationship with each other. Does all that make sense?"

Matthew and Mike looked at each other, and there was a silent conversation between them. It was Matthew who spoke first.

"Amy, thanks for all your good advice. I think you're right that we should tell Mummy that I'm planning to stay with Mike rather than just go along with what we all decided before I met Mike. And I think you're right that she's going to be very sympathetic because she hasn't said one negative thing in the past couple of days. And I'm sure she'll like Mike, she likes smart people, and she likes people who are mature and able to make good decisions, so once they get to know each other, I think it'll be fine. But maybe that's all wishful thinking on my part."

"I don't think it's wishful thinking, Matthew. Let me ask you this. She knows about your previous boyfriends and that you've had sex with several of them, right?"

"She told me to be quieter once after I'd had a somewhat noisy session with one boy."

"But she didn't verbally criticise you for having sex and for your choice of boyfriends?"

"So she has been letting you find your own way, right?" Matthew nodded. "And now you're bringing home someone who's a lot more mature, and more likely to be interested in a relationship rather than just sex, and someone who's much more like a prospective son-in-law than anyone else she's met, right?"

"So I bet she's very happy that you're looking more towards a relationship than just having sex with random boys from school, right?"

"Well, that's what you're going to find out in a couple of hours. Relax, go with the flow, don't be confrontational, and I bet everything will work out fine and you'll be sharing Mike's bed again tonight."

Matthew thought about all of this, then he looked at Amy. "Thanks, Amy, I really appreciate your advice. I feel a lot more comfortable now than I did earlier today. I owe you."

"No you don't. You made a fabulous lunch for us. That more than paid any debt you might feel. And you may find us regular visitors if you feed us that well every time! Everything was delicious!"

"Mike, you've heard what I've said to Matthew, and pretty much the same goes for you. Relax, go with the flow, don't be confrontational, but make sure you bring Matthew home with you this evening. You both need that to happen."

"I don't think so. I think she'll be OK with the prospect of you and Matthew being in a longer term relationship. She'll see it as part of Matthew's development and his transition from being a schoolboy who wants to be an adult to being an adult who still has to go to school. What you need to make sure is that you are offering a relationship to Matthew, not just having him in your house so you can fuck like rabbits and them send him home when you get bored with him. If she thinks you're just using him for short term gratification, then you're a dead duck and she'll fight you for him, and she'll win."

"I agree completely." Mike smiled. "You know what's really surprised me over the last few days is a sense that Matthew belongs here, it's like he's always been here, he just fits in perfectly, not just in bed but in everything. I can hardly remember what it's like to not have him around, and it's only been four days since I met him. We seem to understand each other intuitively, we seem to be able to communicate without speaking, we seem to know what each other likes and dislikes, and wants and doesn't want, just like that. I can't imagine being here tonight without him around. I've never felt those feelings before, and they're wonderful and special."

"Two of us, actually, Amy, I feel exactly the same way about Mike, it just feels right. I can't explain it, it just is."

"Then it's even more sensible for you to go on living together rather than sleeping in different houses just because of decisions mad before you two met."

"Yes, I agree," said Mike, "but I'm still worried about what Matthew's mother is going to say."

"I'm not," said Amy, "I'm very confident it will work out. I'm so confident that I'll make you a bet. If she objects to Matthew coming home with you tonight, then I'll buy you a slap up meal in the best restaurant in Shelburne!"

"Then this very handsome young man can cook us all another fabulous meal! Deal?"

Shortly after that Amy and Hannah went home, and Mike and Matthew cleaned up and got ready to face Matthew's parents.

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An Ordinary Boy

by Hamster

Chapter 11: Doubts and Uncertainties