A Christmas Wish

by Jason Redfeather

Mom and I were nosing around a Christmas store that had opened in our town and, even though December had barely begun, we were getting in the holiday mood. I was fascinated by all the bright lights and glittering ornaments that crowded the walls and shelves, and the rows of heavily decorated Christmas trees that marched up the center of the small shop.

Suddenly, I turned around and discovered a young man standing right behind me. He was very handsome and appeared to be in his mid twenties, or maybe thirty; his blond hair was combed neatly back from his fresh face; his nose, cheeks and lips were perfect. "Hello, Robbie," he said, smiling.

I had never seen this man before in my life! "Hello," I replied. "How do you know my name?"

"Oh, I've been watching you for a long time," he replied.

I looked into his sparkling blue eyes for any hint of a joke; there was none. "Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is not important," he said. "I have a gift for you - something very special." He pulled a glittering Christmas ornament from his pocket and held it up before my face.

"For me?" I asked. It was mostly silver and blue, but also seemed to shimmer with all the colors of the rainbow.

"Yes, and only for you, no one else," he said. "This is very special. You must hang it on your tree and every morning, whisper your most secret wish to it. Then, on Christmas morning, when you whisper your wish, break it, and your wish will come true. But you must tell no one else of this - that's very important - even after the wish comes true."

"Oh, I won't," I said. "They'd think I was crazy, anyway!"

"Remember," he repeated, "hang it on your tree and whisper your most secret wish every morning, then break it on Christmas morning."

"I will," I said as he placed the delicate ball in my hand. The tinkling crash of something glass drew my attention to the other side of the shop for a moment, and when I turned back, the handsome, young stranger was gone! I looked at the ball in my hand, not sure if I was crazy for taking it, or not! But I knew one thing: my most secret wish had already been burning in my heart for weeks!

I laid the ornament in the basket I was carrying, along with a couple other items I had already picked out. When I caught up with my Mom at the checkout stand, I added my things to her's and she ran her plastic through the reader. I watched the cashier as she scanned the items and her hands passed right over my strange ornament, as if it wasn't even there!

A cute boy came into the shop with his mother and my attention was drawn to him for a moment; he was younger than me, blond, suntanned and adorable. When I looked back at our things, my strange ornament was sitting together with our other items, though I'm sure the cashier never scanned it. She gathered our things into a bag, Mom finished paying with her ATM card and we walked out. Of course, I had to give the cute boy one more glance as the door closed behind us.

Once home, I saw that Dad had just erected the Christmas tree - a glorious, six-foot masterpiece of plastic and wire - and was just beginning to arrange the strings of multi-colored lights around its bristley branches. I immediately stepped in to help him and in just a few minutes, we had over five hundred tiny, sparkling lights shining brightly.

I went right to the bag of new ornaments and, as Dad began unfurling garlands and untagling strings of shiney beads around the tree, I strategically placed my glittering prize casually among the others.

"Gee, that's a nice looking one!" Dad remarked.

"Yeah, I thought so," I said.

When all the ornaments were hung and all the other decorations were finished, including the electric train that ran around the bottom, we stood back and admired our glorious accomplishment. Then Mom moved off into the kitchen to fix dinner and Dad went down to the basement to put all the boxes away.

I know the stranger in the store said to tell it my wish every morning, but I couldn't wait. I figured there was no harm in telling it now, as well, and he didn't say I couldn't tell it any other time of day. I moved close to the tree and looked straight at the shimmering ornament. I leaned in and whispered to it, "I wish Jeremy would love me."

Jeremy Schwartz was a new kid at my school who had moved in just a couple blocks from us; with his gleaming, blond hair, sparkling blue eyes, golden suntan and sleek body, he was the cutest, sexiest, most adorable boy in my class! I had a massive crush on him, to say the least!

The next morning, I woke up dreaming about Jeremy and my morning wood ached for him. Before I even thought about it, I hopped out of bed with only my boxers on, rushed into the living room, straight to the ornament, and whispered, "I wish Jeremy would love me."

Fortunately, Mom and Dad weren't up yet, so I strolled back to my room with my swaying boner leading the way. I glanced out the big window and saw that it was barely light outside; a thin blanket of frost covered the lawn. Back in my room, I took wood in hand and quickly made a gooey mess on my bare belly.

This became a ritual that I repeated faithfully every morning, rising before daylight, whispering my wish to the ornament, then going back to choke my chicken.

Finally, Christmas morning came. Boxes had been piled beneath the tree, so in recent mornings, I couldn't get as close as before, but I leaned in as far as I could. I whispered my wish one last time, then, to make it look like an accident, I yanked the ornament from its hook and let it drop onto one of the boxes. With a crack, it split into four of five large chunks and several smaller shards. A tiny puff of mist rose from it and vanished quickly. I left the pieces where they fell, as if it had happened during the night, and went back to my room for more monkey-spank; I had recently discovered I could roll myself up, with my bare ass in the air, and spurt my boyload straight into my mouth. Not only did it taste good, but it saved on clean-up! I dreamed it was Jeremy's delicious kidcum and swallowed eagerly, which made me hungrier for him!

I must have dozed off with my boxers dangling from one ankle and barely covered by my comforter, when I was awakened by a knock on my door.

"Robbie, wake up!" Dad called. "It's Christmas!"

I hopped out of bed and pulled my boxers up. I slipped my robe around me, tied the belt and started out the door. Fortunately, the tall, narrow mirror beside the door showed me I had jizz on my face, so I paused to wipe it off, then continued into the hall.

My parents were already in the living room; Mom was sweeping up the broken glass from my ornament as Dad watched.

"I'm sorry, Robbie," Mom said. "Your beautiful ornament fell down and broke."

"Big Mama must have gotten to it, somehow," Dad said, eyeing our fat, fluffy cat that was sprawled on the sofa.

"Oh, Bill, she's too fat!" Mom said. "She couldn't have gotten up there."

Dad shrugged his shoulders. Mom took the broken pieces of glass in to the kitchen trash basket.

"Well, let's see what we have here!" Dad said, settling in front of the pile of presents. He pulled out a large box wrapped in bright red paper and pushed it toward me. "I think this belongs to you!" he said.

We spent the next twenty or thirty minutes raveging boxes, ooh'ing and ah'ing, and thanking each other for our gifts. As usual, being the only child, I made out like a bandit: new game console, two new games, a new skateboard, and piles of clothing.

Dad was just gathering up the trash and Mom had gone into the kitchen to make pancakes, when there was a knock at the door. I hopped up to answer and when I opened the door, my heart nearly leapt out of my chest. There was Jeremy, bundled in a thick, down jacket, standing on our doorstep.

"Uh - Hi!" I said, awkwardly. His sparkling blue eyes nearly trapped my soul and I could barely speak. "What's up?"

"My parents are fighting again," he mumbled. "Can I stay with you, today?"

"Uh - yeah! Sure!" I stammered. "Come in!" The cold air was flooding in around my bare legs and I could feel whisps of it swirling up under my robe and into my boxers. I moved aside and let him in, closing the door quickly behind him, before this sleek, illusive creature could get away!

"Who's here?" Mom called from the kitchen.

"It's my friend, Jeremy, from school," I said. I saw his eyes brighten as I called him 'friend.' "He wants to spend the day with me. Make some extra pancakes!"

"Hi, Jeremy!" Mom said, poking her head out from the kitchen door. "It's good to meet you! Come in! Robbie, you'd better put some clothes on!"

I looked down at myself. "Oh, yeah..." I muttered. I started for my room and Jeremy fell in behind me, as if on autopilot. As I went down the hall, it occured to me that he might not want to spend the day with me, if he knew what kind of boy I was and how I felt about him. Something in the back of my mind said, 'Show him now and let him decide; better to get it over with now than to always wonder.'

I heard him unzip his jacket behind me and I wondered what he was wearing under it. The last time I saw him, he was wearing a dingy, striped shirt that was about two sizes too small for him. It hugged his slender frame, showing every curve and contour, and had many little holes in it that gave tantalizing dime and quarter-sized glimpses of his smooth, tawny skin. I thought it was amazingly sexy! I watched him the whole day, languishing over the movement of every muscle and bone, the angles of his shoulders, the perfect V-cut of his ribs, his sharp shoulder blades and the rippling of his abs. And where the shirt left an inch or two of his belly bare, I reveled in the perfect V-cut of his muscles that plunged into his pants, forcing my eyes to the hidden treasure, that perfectly delightful boy flesh I craved.

We entered my room and I closed the door behind him. I turned and placed my hand in the middle of his chest; he was wearing the same too-small, holey shirt. His eyes widened as I pushed him back against the door and my hand slipped up to his throat. I looked him right in the eyes with an intensely serious gaze; my hands cupped his jaw on both sides. I leaned in and planted a firm kiss squarely on his rosey lips. And this was no ordinary kiss; this was a kiss like I'd never given before, not that I had given many at the tender age of fourteen! I pressed in, moving my lips in ways I had only practiced on the back of my hand. I found myself nipping softly at him, squeezing and rubbing, and even sucking a little; moves I had only done on my own cock when I was rolled up with my ass in the air!

I was delighted to discover that he wasn't fighting it, he wasn't struggling to get away! In moments, his lips began moving as mine were, nipping, squeezing, rubbing; he learned fast! I felt his hands come to rest on my flanks, then slide up my back to pull me more firmly to him.

Our lips parted and his hot breath washed around my face. I breathed into his breath and kissed him again, this time, sliding my arms around his shoulders inside his jacket. I felt his hands grip the collar of my robe and pull it away from the back of my neck; I dropped my arms for a moment, to let it slide off my body, without loosing contact with his tender, nipping lips. The robe crumple around my feet.

I peeled his jacket back from his shoulders and he moved forward from the door, to let it fall behind him. My boxers were well tented and I felt my hardness rubbing against his jeans-clad crotch; I thought I detected another hardness there, which I ground my wanton flesh into. His hands slid smoothly up and down my back, across my shoulders and around my butt. In another moment, his hands found their way into the back of my boxers and his fingers squeezed my bare cheeks. I clenched my butt and pressed further into him, rubbing our boners together hard. He moaned softly and broke our lip contact.

"Wait," he said breathlessly. "You're gonna make me shoot!"

"Me too!" I said, backing off. Even though I'd popped off a load a couple hours ago, my dick was eager for it again! I took his hands and just held them as I looked him up and down. He was wearing the same dingy, striped shirt that was too small for him and left about two inches of his belly showing, including the sweetest little "innie" belly button you'd ever want to lick! He also had on a pair of tattered old jeans that also seemed too small for him and which he wore with the top button left open. His tight jeans hugged his shapely legs; I admired the fullness and angularity of his muscles. Both knees of his jeans were ripped out and hung in threads, as did another gash half way up his left thigh; inside, his skin was smooth and tawny, with many little, glittering blond hairs.

Just then, there was a knock at my door. "Boys, pancakes!" I heard Dad say.

"Be right there!" I called back. If only he knew his loving son was kissing another boy just inches away, on the other side of the door, perhaps his mood wouldn't have been so pleasant!

I quickly moved to my dresser, pulled out some fresh clothes and slid my boxers off. I let Jeremy have a good look at me, stark naked, even taking a moment to wave my upward-curving boner at him! He smiled and moved close again, unzipping his jeans and showing me a broad V of bare skin and close-cropped blond pubes, at the bottom of which flopped out his long, stiff teencock.

'Oh God!' I thought. 'There it is!' The object of my dreams! But the reality was much more detailed and exquisite than my dreams: it was about six inches long and more than an inch thick, with a light brown shaft, a tender, pink helmet and a neat, brown circumcision scar around the middle.

Jeremy wagged his gorgeous cock at me and I couldn't help but drop to one knee and suck it eagerly into my mouth. I licked and slathered around it, bobbing my head up and down his shaft, loving every millimeter of it.

"Boys, come on!" Dad called again from the hallway.

"I'm cumming!" Jeremy said, and his thick, salty jizz flooded my mouth. Spurt after spurt hit the back of my throat and washed over my tongue. I swirled my tongue in the thick fluid; it tingled! I swallowed eagerly and more spurts refilled my mouth. I loved the taste of him!

Before I knew it, his flow ebbed to a dribble, then stopped all together. I sucked his pink 'shroom for more and was rewarded with a few more drops. Reluctantly, I let his cock slip out of my mouth; I didn't really want to let go of him, but I didn't want my Dad coming in to see what was keeping us.

I stood up, swallowing the last of him, and gave Jeremy another quick kiss. I pulled back, again reluctantly, and my hand went to his cock. I rubbed our bare boners again and ran my fingers over his clipped pubes.

"I love your pubes," I said, feeling their prickliness.

"I could clip yours like mine," Jeremy offered eagerly, "or shave them clean off!"

"Cool!" I said. "We should do that later!" I grabbed a pair of jeans from my dresser drawer and pulled them on, this time without undies, just as Jeremy was. I'd never worn pants without underwear before, but was eager to share his experience.

Jeremy slowly tucked his cock back into his tight jeans and zipped up. Then he turned around and wiggled his perfect, round butt at me, pointing out a small hole just below his pocket, where I could see a quarter-sized patch of creamy, bare skin.

I pulled on an oversized t-shirt and, still barefoot, lead the way back to the kitchen. We entered and Mom and Dad were already seated at the table, eating.

"Well," Mom said. "You look like the cat that swallowed the canary! What took you so long?"

I felt my face flushing, remembering what I had swallowed. It certainly wasn't any canary, but something much more delicious! "I was just showing Jeremy my room," I said, trying to keep my voice casual.

We sat down and piled our plates with pancakes; I was surprised at how Jeremy went at them, like he'd been starved! We both stuffed our faces and washed them down with large quantities of milk. I almost didn't want to eat for loosing the taste of Jeremy's cum, but my stomach over-ruled me. I consoled myself with the hope of getting more of him later.

"Your grandparents are coming by this afternoon," Mom said.

"Which ones?" I asked.

"All of them!" Dad said.

"Really?" I was surprised. Usually one pair or the other was out of town on Christmas, traveling or taking a cruise, or something; I couldn't remember the last time all of them were together in one place at one time!

"We'll be having Christmas dinner around one o'clock," Mom said. "So, whatever you and Jeremy are going to do today, be sure to be back by then."

"Can Jeremy stay for dinner?" I asked. I hadn't even asked Jeremy if he wanted to stay, but I wanted him to!

"Of course he can!" Mom said. "But doesn't he want to be with his family today?"

"Not really," Jeremy muttered. "They'll be passed out by then."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mom said. "Today of all days!"

"I'm used to it," Jeremy said. "That's the way it always goes. My Dad gets mad at my Mom because she spent too much money on Christmas; my Mom gets mad at my Dad because she wasn't able to have a daughter; they fight, they scream, Dad throws the Christmas tree out on the lawn, Mom locks herself in their room, and they both drink themselves stupid, until they pass out."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Jeremy," Mom said.

"Well, you're certainly welcome to come over here any time you want!" Dad said. "Whether your parents are fighting or not; you can stay as long as you want!"

"Hey, you wanna sleep over tonight?" I asked Jeremy.

"Oh, could I?" he was astonished. "That would be awesome!"

"Of course you can," Dad said. "As long as it's OK with your parents."

"Oh, yeah, it'll be OK with them," Jeremy said. "They won't even know I'm gone! They're always glad to get rid of me for as long as they can. It's one less mouth to feed!"

After breakfast, Jeremy and I went for a walk outside. As soon as we were out of earshot of the house, I told him, beginning a little hesitantly, "You know..., I've had the biggest crush on you since the first time I saw you."

"No way!" he exclaimed. "I've been crushing on you, too!" We talked for an hour as we walked into a nearby park and putzed around the playground.

Being a chilly Christmas morning, there were few other people in the park; only a couple little kids playing with new plastic cars in the sandbox. It was easy for me to sneak a few kisses in on Jeremy, but I think the kids finally caught us, because they ran away laughing.

Jeremy wanted very much to give me a blow job, since I had already given him a quick one in my room. We looked around the park, but with all the trees bare and the sun shining brightly, there was no place secluded enough for such intimacy. We decided to walk back to my house. As we crossed the park again, I put my hand on his butt and slipped two fingers into the hole below his pocket. I felt the hole rip a little bigger as I caressed his smooth, bare skin; both our dicks were rock hard and straining to get out!

As soon as we got into my room, I closed the door and we both stripped naked. I stretched out on my bed and Jeremy settled between my thighs, pushing them far apart. His lips surrounded my cock eagerly, taking my whole shaft deep into his throat. As he drew back, I could feel his tongue slathering the underside, rubbing lovingly, and then circling my swollen helmet. The feeling was exquisite; I'd never had anyone do that to me before! Jeremy said he had never done this either, but had dreamed about it many times; I was amazed at how much he'd figured out just from his fantasies! He didn't even gag!

Of course, I was so horny that, even as much as I tried to hold back, it only took a minute before my orgasm had me twitching and writhing on the bed. It gripped my muscles and I jerked hard, then it screamed up my cock and I gushed spurt after spurt of jizz right into his mouth. I felt his tongue working to keep up, yet some dribbled over his lip and down his chin.

We rested a bit, kissing, talking and feeling each other up, then each of us sucked another load of boyjuice from the other.

We went into my bathroom. "Where's your razor?" Jeremy asked.

I opened the medicine cabinet and took out the little, blue plastic razor Dad had given me; I think I had only used it twice in the last year! I also handed him a can of shaving cream; he squirted a big gob into his hand and slathered it all around my dick and balls, even far back into my crotch. Then he took the razor and I leaned back on the sink while Jeremy shaved my pubes. His fingers were so gentle as he lifted my balls and shaved around them. I lifted one leg onto the toilet seat and allowed him deeper into my crotch. Then he turned me around and bent me over the counter as his delicate hands guided the razor into the cleft of my butt. He said there really wasn't much hair there, but made a few swipes around my hole anyway. By the time he was finished, I was as bare as a ten-year-old boy! He wiped me down with a damp cloth, which was soothing and served to make my naked dick even harder.

Then I took the razor and began shaving the stubble from around his dick and in the crack of his creamy butt, which had only enough to be barely visible. I wanted to shower with him, but I didn't think we had time before my grandparents began arriving.

Sure enough, no sooner had we come out of the bathroom, than I heard the door bell ring and Mom and Dad's cheerful voices greeting them.

"Ah-oh!" I said. "My grandparents are here - get dressed quick!"

Jeremy grabbed the jeans I had been wearing earlier and pulled them on, leaving his own crumpled on the floor. I pulled another pair from a drawer and tucked my stiffy into them, still feeling strange after being shaved. I gave him one of my shirts and bid his smooth, tanned skin a temporary good-bye as he pulled it down over his bare body. I admired the look of it on him as I grabbed one of my new shirts and slipped it on, then we both went out, barefoot, to greet Mom's parents.

More gifts were exchanged, including a massively baggie sweater that my grandma knitted for me from heavy yarn that looked almost like rope! She said I would grow into it.

Dad's parents arrived a short time later, more greetings, more gifts, the TV came on, showing a football game getting ready to start, and the women disappeared into the kitchen. Wonderful smells began wafting into the living room as us men talked and watched the game. Chips, dips, pickles, olives and an assortment of other tastey treats appeared before us and we began stuffing our faces.

Dinner was served and, as we gathered around the extended table, there was just a moment when Jeremy's face twisted and I thought he might burst into tears. He quickly controlled himself, but I could see his eyes watering and his lips trembling; I realized his family must have never had anything like this. We feasted on turkey and old stories, yams and gossip, cranberry sauce, green beans, politics and religion, and all the while, Jeremy was treated every bit like family, like the brother I never had - until today!

At one point, as we were getting up from the table, one of my Grandpas noticed the firm lump in Jeremy's pants.

Jeremy saw the angle of his gaze and looked down. "Oh - uh - yeah, it - uh..." he stammered.

"You really liked that turkey, didn't you?" Grandpa remarked innocently, grinning and instantly defusing his embarrassment. Jeremy chuckled, much relieved. "I know," Grandpa went on, "at your age, it has a mind of its own!"

The "old lions" slinked back into the living room and were soon snoozing in front of another football game. Jeremy and I slipped away to my room.

"Try this on!" Jeremy said, holding up the oversized sweater my grandma had knitted. Then he locked the door and added, "Take your shirt off."

Smiling and wondering what he had in mind, I pulled my shirt up over my head and dropped it onto the bed. I took the sweater, feeling the coarse, gray yarn - it was heavy! I pulled it over my head and let it hang below my butt. It had a wide, rolled-over collar, held closed in the middle of my chest with a big, wooden button, and two more buttons down to the top of my pants, where the front opening ended. Below that, it was solid gray.

With a big grin on his face, Jeremy yanked my pants down to my ankles, then unfastened the three wooden buttons, letting the sweater fall open, off one shoulder and down to my dick. He turned me to the mirror and I was surprised at how sexy I looked! It was amazing! I wondered if Grandma had that in mind!

In another moment, my new sweater was bobbing and weaving around the motions of Jeremy's head. I could feel his warm, wet mouth gliding up and down my shaft, his tongue circling and flicking the cap. In less than three minutes, my muscles tensed up, an electric wave serged through my belly and thighs, and cum gushed from my cock. I filled Jeremy's mouth and felt him swallowing.

We spent another hour or more, kissing, fondling and sexing each other, until Mom called us for desert. Later, we walked around the neighborhood, talking and sharing our most intimate thoughts and dreams; I held nothing back from him and I felt more free than at any other time in my life. I told him about all the boys I thought were cute and sexy, all the dreams I had about what I would like to do with them - and him! I even told him about fooling around with my eleven-year-old cousin, Derek, when he had come to visit last summer!

We passed his house and, sure enough, the scrawny, poorly decorated Christmas tree was laying on the brown lawn; the house was dark and silent. It seemed to brood, with cold shadows and peeling gray paint.

A couple blocks away, he took me into a wooded area that I knew was there, but had never really explored. Down in a little dip, beside a small creek, where bright sunshine shown through bare trees and sparkled off the water, he let his pants slip down and I feasted on his rich, salty boynectar.

That evening, after my grandparents had all left and the house was quiet, Mom was cleaning up in the kitchen - she liked to do it all herself - and Dad was hypnotized by the TV. Jeremy and I slipped away to my room, eventually snuggling in my bed, both of us stark naked, and drifted off to sleep in each others' arms.

Over the next few months, Jeremy spent more and more of his time at my house. We slept together, showered together and shared our bodies with each other. Our love grew until I couldn't conceive of life without him. We were inseparable. We would even finish each others' sentances!

We also got to know Jeremy's parents, but found Allen and Tonya Schwartz to be completely self-absorbed and very negative, always having a sob story ready to try to solicite money, food, clothing, anything they could get for themselves, and never once seeming to give a second thought to Jeremy's needs. Dad even gave them five hundred dollars once, because they were crying about not being able to make their rent. Jeremy told us later that they had gone right out and bought four cases of whiskey; Jeremy stayed with us that entire week, until the whiskey was all gone. Then Allen and Tonya were back with a curiously similar tale about their impending eviction. Poor Jeremy was so embarrassed; I could see his face flush the moment they started in on their sorrowful story.

I slipped an arm around his shoulders and steered him into my room. There, I pinned him against the door, jerked his pants down and sucked his cock until he forgot all about his parents.

A few days later, Jeremy's Mom came over and told us that Allen had been arrested the night before. Apparently, he had a fight with the landlord and was being charged with assault and battery. The lawyers told Tonya it would be months before they sorted through all the legalities and Allen would probably be spending at least the next year in prison. She told us she was going to go stay with her elderly mother and there probably wouldn't be room for Jeremy. She asked if he could stay with us until everything was settled.

I was overjoyed! At last, he would be really living with us, sharing my room, my bed and my love full time!

"Sure, Tonya," Dad said. "We'd be glad to help."

"I hate to impose," she lied, "but my Mom's place is very small and she's not well..."

"It's no trouble," Dad insisted. "Jeremy's a good kid; we like having him around."

"Thank you so much!" she gushed a little too much. "You know I wouldn't even ask if I had any other choice..." She wobbled on her feet a little, her eyes were bloodshot, her dirty-blond hair was a tangled mess and she smelled of whiskey; she wore purple lycra pants that hugged her chicken legs, and a plastic, leopard-print jacket that screamed 'white trash!'

"Now, don't you worry," Dad said. "We'll take good care of him, and when you get things straightened out and get on your feet again, just call us and we'll send him right to you."

"Oh, you're so nice!" she said. She turned to Jeremy and said, "Now you be good, honey, and if you need me, I'll be at Grandma's."

Jeremy nodded and we watched her walk back toward their house. She never asked our phone number.

"Grandma's in a rest-home in Florida," Jeremy said, after Tanya was out of ear-shot.

"I suspected as much," Dad said, smiling. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you want."

"Thank you," Jeremy said honestly.

We never heard from either of Jeremy's parents again. Jeremy and I went into my room and as I closed the door, I turned to him and said, "Ha! You're mine now!" He grinned and we celebrated with a long night of kissing, blow jobs and whispered "I-love-you's."

Jeremy and I lived together as brothers and lovers all through the rest of high school, then got into the same college in a town about forty miles away. We got an apartment a few blocks from the college and lived as if married. We didn't actually marry; I think that would have been a little too much for my family to accept, but we were every bit as close and devoted to each other as any other couple we knew.

Jeremy studied business and I went for math; he started a restaurant and I got my teaching degree. I found a job teaching high school math about a mile away, which opened up other very interesting options for us.

I discovered several gay teenagers in the school, who were struggling and being bullied. I invited a couple of them over to our place on a Saturday afternoon and we had a long talk about my high school experiences, growing up gay, and what they were going through. Word spread among the gay kids and more and more began showing up on Saturday afternoons for our little chats. I cautioned them not to say anything at school, that whatever was said at our apartment, stayed there!

Jeremy soon bought a small house closer to the school, and with the help of a few contractor friends and several gay kids from school, we spent many Saturday afternoons renovating it. We even managed to put in a swimming pool in the back!

Soon, our Saturday afternoon chats evolved into barbecues and pool parties, with upwards of forty gay boys from school. I had to lay down a few rules: no pictures, no posts, no talking outside our place, and no sex! I told them that if any of this got out, not only could I loose my job, but I could even go to jail.

Even so, I did catch them giving the occasional blow job in the bathroom, or hand job in the pool, and had to remind them to take it home. I would also find a few pearly puddles on the bathroom floor or the pool deck, and would have to tell them all again. Of course, I fully understood their urges and needs, I had them too, but I couldn't allow them to break the rules.

In spite of the troubles, I had no doubt all this, even the risk, was worth it; the kids were doing better in school, gaining in self-confidence and better able to repel the bullying. And I know for a fact, because of their confessions, that at least three teen suicides were prevented!

Jeremy's restaurant gained in popularity and became very successful; it took a lot of his time and I often joined him there for dinner. We loved each other dearly and completely, and those eleven years were like heaven. But then, everything came crashing down.

I again joined Jeremy for dinner on a quiet, rainy Friday evening. The rain was keeping his customers away and Jeremy had given much of the staff the night off. In our quiet corner booth, I held his hand and kissed him several times, gazing into his loving, blue eyes. With his gleaming, blond hair cut short on the sides and longer on top, combed back from his forehead, he looked very professional and model-perfect.

After dinner, he gave me a kiss, then went to relieve the hostess at the register, so she could take her last break of the evening. I sat back, sipping my wine and admiring the tranquil, wood-toned decore and the many ferns and wide-leafed plants that flourished beneath the wide, stained-glass lamps.

No sooner had the hostess stepped into the back then the door opened and a man came in. He wore a dark, rain-slicked trench coat and a dark hat that over-shadowed his face. From across the room, I could see that he seemed to stagger a little as he came in.

Then I was astonished to see him pull a gun from his coat and point it in Jeremy's face; he demanded cash. Jeremy opened the register and handed him a wad of bills. The man seemed disappointed at the amount.

"It's been a slow night," I heard Jeremy explain.

The man shot him squarely in the chest. I was out of my seat and rushing toward Jeremy as the man turned and ran out the door. The hostess also heard the shot and returned from the kitchen. She screamed and pulled out her cell.

I knelt beside Jeremy and was terrified at the sight of blood on his white shirt. I wasn't sure what to do; I applied pressure to the wound, feeling his warm, slick blood spreading across my hands; he wasn't breathing. I pumped his chest and breathed into his mouth, the same mouth I loved kissing!

The young hostess was crying into her phone as she explained what had happened to the 911 operator. Minutes later, the paramedics arrived, but upon examination, could only shake their heads sadly. They covered my sweet Jeremy's body with a white table cloth.

With my last bit of strength, I told the young hostess to tell everybody else we were closed. Then I sat back against the wall and cried.

The next day, a drunk was arrested on the street a couple blocks away. Police found a gun on him which, when tested, was found to be the murder weapon. His face and name were splashed across the next day's front page; I stared at it in unbelief. He was old, disheveled and sickly, but there was no doubt it was him: Allen Schwartz, Jeremy's own father! The stupid bastard had no idea who it was he had killed.

Of course, I was devistated. I could barely think! I took a week off from school, they were very understanding, and was surprised to find all the gay boys rallying around me. We talked and cried together. Of course, they had heard many of Jeremy's and my stories of growing up gay, but I told them again. I told them of Jeremy's parents and of the events of that night, the last night of his life, and who the killer was. We cried more. I must say, my boys were wonderful! They supported me more than I could have wished for, and we all grew much closer in those days.

Several months after Jeremy's funeral, I was puttering around the back yard, cleaning up after one of our pool-party meetings. I turned around and there he was! Suddenly, I recognized him, not only as Jeremy, the love of my life, but also as the strange apparition I had met all those years before, the one who had given me the 'magical' Christmas ornament I had wished on!

Tears welled up in my eyes and I thought I was going to faint! "Jer..." I couldn't even finish his name! My lips twisted and my throat would only squeak.

"Don't be sad," he said. "I'm OK. I'm in heaven and it's more wonderful here than we ever imagined. I'm waiting for you."

I looked into his sparkling, youthful blue eyes; his smile was warmer and more loving than ever. "Why did you... have to die?" I managed to squeak out.

"God showed me all the possibilities for my life, if I'd stayed with my parents, if I'd gone my own way, if I'd done this or that," He looked me in the eye with complete honesty. "The life I had with you was the very best I could have had, not the longest, but the very best. You gave that to me!

"God expanded that last second of my life," Jeremy went on. "Before I even hit the floor, we talked for hours in that last second. I don't have much time now, but to tell you: learn about Jesus! Trust Him! Invite Him into your heart! And come to heaven when it's your time. I'll be waiting!"

"But we're fags!" I said. "We're sinners, how can we go to heaven?"

"It doesn't matter," Jeremy said. "God's forgiven all that; He still loves you. Trust in Jesus! I'll be waiting!" And with that, he was gone, his last words echoing in my mind.