-=Chapter 1=-
David just sat in his recliner staring at the letter in his hand. He had read and re-read the letter at least a dozen times in the hour or so since the mail had arrived. He was still so shocked and overwhelmed that he had received an invitation to be one of the first teachers at the new magick school that was opening in a couple of months. He did not think, at the time he had sent in his application that he would actually get a job, but there it was in black and white:
Dear Mr. David Drake
After careful review of your application and your history, we are pleased to offer you the position of Instructor at the new RavenWolf School of Magick. Because of your extensive
knowledge and history in the field, we are asking that you will teach the Herbology classes. Please reply to this notice before the 15th of this month with your list of books that you will
wish to use for your course that we may get the book lists out to the first batch of students before classes begin.
We thank you for your interest in working with us and getting this new school off the ground and look forward to working with you. We ask that all faculty members report to the school
one week prior to the start of classes so as to get their classrooms prepared and to get to know the rest of the new faculty.
Greg Redfern
President, RavenWolf School of Magick
What was Glenn going to say when he got home; but then, a second letter had also arrived for Glenn bearing the crest of the new school. If it was not a rejection letter, then we would be able to stay together and both be teaching at the new school.
That was one of the things I had always enjoyed about the magickal community over the mundane community. The magickal community is very open, carrying and accepting of everyone. You see, I’m gay, and have been handfasted to Glenn for about 16 years now. The magickal community accepted the fact that we were a gay couple without even so much as batting an eyelash. To them, it is no big deal. All that matters is that two people love each other. I really wish that the mundane world would wake up soon and realize the same thing. Oh, they were making advances, but it has been excruciatingly slow going. In fact, it seems like for every step forward they make they have been taking a half-step back. Oh well, they’ll eventually wake up.
I looked up at the clock sitting above the fire place and noticed that Glenn would be getting home in a couple of hours, I also noted that I had been sitting in this chair for about 2 hours now just staring at the letter. I realized that I had better get up and get some dinner started.
I had just started preparing the evening meal when Dann, our 13 year old son, came in through the kitchen door, dropping his school bag on the table. “Dann, you know that doesn’t go there, now take it to your room.” I told him before he could take two steps.
Dann gave me a dirty look before finally grabbing his bag and taking it to his room.
“What’s for dinner?” he asked upon returning to the kitchen.
“We’re having spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread. How about you wash your hands and start getting the salad prepped while I finish working on the sauce.”
“Ok.” He quickly did as he was asked.
Dann was such a good kid. Glenn and I count ourselves so lucky every day that we were able to find, and afford, to hire a surrogate mother so that we could have our own child. The day he was born had to have been one of the happiest days in our lives next to the day that we were joined. He was such a joy to us, and such a blending of our love that we decided that his name would be a blending of our names. Now, 13 years later he is still just as much of a joy to us as the day he was presented to us. He maintained excellent grades in school, and has even shown a real propensity towards potions. Though I have no idea where he is getting that from as my specialty is herbs, and Glenn’s is divination. Oh well, I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he gets his letter from the school in a few weeks.
I felt relatively certain that the letter from the school for Glenn was to tell him that he would also be teaching there. The president of the school knew that we were a couple, so I’m relatively certain that he would not accept me and then turn Glenn down. After all, Glenn was one of the best I had ever seen when it came to the various forms of divination. We were so certain of our acceptance that we had even already been preparing our lesson plans for the coming term.
It was so refreshing that after all these years we would finally have a private school for students of magickal families. For far to long the only choices our parents had were either public schools, private Christian schools, or home schooling. Now, after many years of planning, we have finally gotten the funding to build and open the first private Wiccan school in the U.S. Thanks to the generous contributions of some of the more affluent in our community, a large tract of land had been purchased high up in the Appalachians where a large building had been built complete with classrooms, dorms, dinning and recreation facilities. It kind of looked like a medieval castle or keep.
The school had been named after one of the most prolific authors of Wiccan literature: Silver RavenWolf. It was designed to not only give the students all the needed training in usual mundane courses taught at all other schools, but would also give the students the training in more magickal and esoteric courses like my own Herbology, and Glenn’s divination classes. The students would be able to be themselves without having to worry about being ridiculed for believing in something other than Christianity.
I glanced up at the clock over the kitchen sink and noticed that Glenn should be getting home in about another 15-20 minutes. “Dann, how about getting the table set, pop should be getting home shortly and I’m about to start the pasta.”
“Ok dad.” He responded and was off to complete his assigned task. That was another thing that was different about Dann. Glenn and I were both terrible procrastinators. Dann, on the other hand, would jump to and get his tasks finished as fast as he possibly could.
While Dann set the table, I quickly got the pasta going and the bread in the oven, knowing that it would only take about 10 minutes for each of them to get done. This would have everything finished and going on the table about the same time that Glenn got home.
10 minutes later I heard the garage door opening and Glenn’s car pulling into the garage. “Hey Dann, can you pull the bread out of the oven when the timer goes off? I need to have a quick word with pop before he comes in.”
“Sure.”
I went out the door from the laundry room into the garage before Glenn had a chance to finish getting out of his car. “Hey babe, missed ya. Need to talk to you about something real quick before you go inside.”
Glenn closed his door, gave me a kiss and just looked at me kind of apprehensively. “Ok, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, I just think we need to come to some kind of consensus about something before either of us say anything in front of Dann.”
“Ok, about what?”
“Well, we got our letters from RavenWolf School today. I did not open yours, but I’ve been accepted as the Herbology teacher. Now, assuming that your letter is also an acceptance letter, do we tell Dann about the move now, or wait until he gets his letter in a few weeks before saying anything. OR, and this just came to me, do we just not say anything to him at all about us going to be teaching there and just let it be a surprise for him when he walks into his classes the first day and sees us there as his teachers.”
“While that might be funny, it would also be rather cruel. If my letter is an acceptance letter, then we will need to say something to him about us moving, besides the fact that your final idea wouldn’t work since we would have to move up there to the school a couple of weeks before the term starts anyway.”
“True, I hadn’t thought about that aspect. Plus, he will need time to say goodbye to all his friends and get ready for the move.”
“Well, let’s go in and see what my letter from the school says.” Glenn said as he grabbed my arm, gave me another quick kiss and pulled me towards the door.
No sooner were we back through the door than Dann was jumping into Glenn’s arms, “Welcome home pop!” I swear sometimes I think he likes Glenn better than me.
“Well,” I said, “I see where I stand around here; I didn’t get a response like that when he came home.”
“You know I love you too dad, so don’t even try to go there.”
I grinned at him and ruffled his hair. “You two go get cleaned up, dinner will be on the table in a minute.”
While my two favorite guys went to wash up I finished getting the spaghetti drained and combined with the sauce, put it on the table with the garlic bread and got the drinks poured.
They came back into the kitchen and we all sat down at our places. “Dann, will you offer the blessing tonight?”
Dann looked at me with a smile and started the blessing. “Great mother, we ask that you bless this food that has been provided for us from your bounty. We also ask that you guide us and fill us with your light and that you always watch over and protect us and those that we love. Blessed Be.”
Glenn and I both echoed him with our own “Blessed Be.”
We all started filling our plates, “So, Dann, how was school today? I’m sure you’re looking forward to the end of the term in another week.” I asked.
“You have no idea, I can’t wait to get finished and have my summer free to hang with my friends, 3 months of nothing to do but have fun.”
I gave Glenn a sympathetic look and he understood. He excused himself and went to our office and got his letter off his desk and opened it. He returned a moment later and handed me his letter to read for myself.
Dear Mr. Glenn Drake
After careful review of your application and your history, we are pleased to offer you the position of Instructor at the new RavenWolf School of Magick. Because of your extensive knowledge and history in the field, we are asking that you will teach the Divination classes. Please reply to this notice before the 15th of this month with your list of books that you will wish to use for your course that we may get the book lists out to the first batch of students before classes begin.
We thank you for your interest in working with us and getting this new school off the ground and look forward to working with you. We ask that all faculty members report to the school one week prior to the start of classes so as to get their classrooms prepared and to get to know the rest of the new faculty.
Greg Redfern
President, RavenWolf School of Magick
I smiled at Glenn.
Dann noticed our faces and asked us what was up.
Glenn looked at him, “I’m afraid your summer is not exactly going to be as you just said. It looks like we’ll be moving.”
“WHAT!?!” The look of disappointment on Dann’s face was almost heart breaking.
I looked at him, “Afraid so bud, pop and I both have been offered jobs as teachers at a new boarding school. You’ll have about 2 months to have fun and say goodbye to your friends, then we’ll be moving to the new school.”
“What’s a ‘boarding school’?” he asked.
“It’s a school where the students live on campus.” Glenn told him.
“You mean the kids never leave the campus?” The look of abject horror on his face was almost comical.
“Well, they get to leave and go home for holidays and for the summer, but otherwise they all will live right there at the school.” I told him.
He still did not look like he cared for that idea very much. “But since you two will be teaching there, then that means that we will never be leaving. We’ll be there all the time.”
“Maybe not, we may see about buying a hose in the town that is near the school. That way we can get away from there to relax when school is not in session.” I reassured him.
“Ok, that may not be as bad then. The thought of never leaving a school is not very appealing to me.”
Glenn and I both had to laugh at him.
“So what are you two going to be teaching?” Dann asked.
“I’ll be teaching Herbology, and pop will be teaching Divination.”
“What kind of school is this? I didn’t know they taught those kinds of things in school.”
“It’s a new private school for children of the Wiccan community.”
“You mean like Hogwarts from the Harry Potter books?”
Glenn smiled, “Kinda, but not exactly. This school will teach not only the basics that are taught in all schools, but also the subjects that are specific to our community and magickal working.”
“Ok, sounds like it might be fun.”
“Well, like I said,” I looked at him, “you have about 2 months to have fun and to say goodbye to your friends. We should be getting your letter in a few weeks telling us what books and supplies you’ll need for your classes.”
“Ok, I guess I don’t really have much say in this, so I’ll have to accept it.”
“Actually,” Glenn said getting his attention, “You do have a say in how early we head up there. We have to be up there at least one week before classes start, but what would you say about going up a couple of weeks earlier than that to see about finding us a cabin or something up there to move all our stuff into?”
“Let me think about that one for a bit.”
“Sure thing champ, take some time to think about, and in the mean time we’ll do some internet searches and see if we can narrow our search down some before we even leave.” I smiled at him.
“And I’ll scry the area to narrow it down even more.” Glenn said with a smile.
I looked at my two guys and smiled, “Sounds like we have a plan then. Glenn, you scry the area to narrow down my search criteria. Dann, you might want to go ahead and start going through your stuff. I want to start packing things up so we’re not stuck doing it at the last minute. I’ll go out and start getting boxes tomorrow.”
We finished our dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, and settled in for the evening. Thoughts of our impending move were heavy on our minds.
==End Chapter 1==
-=Chapter 2=-
***David’s Perspective***
The summer break seemed to just fly past. Thanks to Glenn’s scrying of the area and the internet, we were able to narrow our search down to just two houses in Cherry Springs near the site of the new school. We were lucky that our old house managed to sell rather quickly so we were able to go up and look at the houses in plenty of time to be able to close on our selection well before school started.
Dann had gotten his letter about a week after he finished school, and the purchase of his books and supplies were easily acquired.
Even though he was slightly depressed about leaving his friends behind, he was also excited about the move and the prospects of the new school.
We managed to get all of our stuff loaded into the big moving van we had rented in little time since we had started the packing a couple of months before hand.
Dann really liked the new house. It was a beautiful two story log cabin with nice big rooms, a pool, Jacuzzi, and even a basketball court. Both the living room and the den had big stone fireplaces, a huge kitchen with industrial grade appliances (which I absolutely loved), an office, a big dinning room, breakfast area, and sun room. That was just the downstairs. Upstairs were 4 big bedrooms each with its own bathroom. The master bedroom even had a nice double sided fireplace with one side in the bedroom and the other in the master bath.
We managed to get all of our stuff moved into the house in one day and still had it done in time to get the moving van turned in before the place closed. After taking the rental van in to town to turn it in we managed to not only get everything we needed to stock the pantry and refrigerator, but also arrange to have a load of firewood delivered the next day.
The next day, after the firewood was delivered and stacked, we all headed up to the new school to have a look around and to check in with the principal.
We were not only met by the school principal, but also the school president. Mr. Redfern was nice enough to show us around the campus and show us which classrooms we would be using and even which rooms we would be living in during the week. While Glenn and I would both be sharing a suite, Dann would be living in one of the dorms with the other boys in his year.
The grounds and facility were very impressive. The school was laid out like a medieval castle, with a central court yard. The front part of the building was mostly administration offices and the library. The right wing consisted of the various classrooms. The left wing housed the dorms. The back wing housed the massive dinning room, kitchens, and one of two gymnasiums. The other gym was in an adjoining building and acted as a field house containing an indoor track as well as basketball and volleyball facilities. The gym that was in the castle proper housed several handball/racquetball courts as well as an Olympic sized pool.
The dorms were divided amongst three floors, one for the faculty, one for the girls, and one for the guys. With the exception of the faculty floor, each of the other floors was divided into five big suites; one suite for each of the five years that the students would be in residence. The suites each contained a large common room, large bathroom, laundry facilities, and 4 sleeping rooms with 4 double deck bunk beds each allowing the school to accommodate 80 students of each year.
By the time we were done with our tour it was about time for lunch. Mr. Dowlin, the schools principal, invited us to join him in the dinning hall for lunch. We accepted and sat down to an enjoyable lunch prepared by the kitchen staff who were still working to get things setup for the school season that would be starting in a couple of weeks.
Mr. Dowlin informed us that since this would be the first semester for the school the classes would be rather small, but that hopefully by the next semester the school would be operating close to capacity. There would only be a few students in each year, so we would be able to spend more one on one time with each student.
We thanked Mr. Dowlin for lunch, and Mr. Redfern for the tour. We gave them both our phone number and new address and told them to call on us if they needed anything before classes started and that we would see them next week when the rest of the faculty came in.
We loaded up and headed for home.
We had not been back at the house more than an hour before there was a knock on our door. Standing on the porch was a pleasant looking woman with a young boy about the same age as Dann. She was holding what appeared to be a casserole of unknown content.
“Hello, my name is Lisa Starr and this is my son Robin. We live next door and just wanted to bring this over to say welcome to the area.”
“Won’t you please come in?” I asked the two of them.
“Thank you.” Lisa responded stepping into the foyer.
“Let me take that from you.” I said, reaching for the casserole. “This smells great, what is it?” I asked leading them both to the kitchen.
“It’s a shepherd’s pie. Just a little something I threw together. We just moved to the area about a year ago, so I know how hard it is to try and get unpacked and try to feed a family at the same time.”
“Well, I really appreciate it. You’re right though. We just got home a little bit ago from touring the new school out on Alabama Trail and I had not even thought about dinner yet.”
“You mean RavenWolf?” Robin asked finally showing some life.
“Yes,” I said smiling at him “I’m going to be one of the new teachers up there. Are you going to be attending?”
Lisa smiled down at her son. “Yes, he’ll be starting there in a couple of weeks.”
“Excuse me if I seem a bit surprised, I just wasn’t expecting to meet any other wiccans this soon.” I said.
“Oh, don’t be, this is Pennsylvania remember. There are more of us than you might realize around these parts because of the heavy Pennsylvania Dutch heritage.” Lisa smiled.
“Oh yes, I hadn’t thought about that. Well then I’ll tell you that I’ll be teaching herbology. My partner will also be teaching there, he’ll be teaching the divination classes.” I suddenly realized something. “Oh, where are my manners? I’m David Drake. Let me get the other two in here and we can get all the introductions out of the way. Can I get either of you something to drink while I round up the rest of my family?”
“I’ll take a soda if you have any.” Robin said rather timidly.
“Of course I do. We have a teenage son too, so of course there is always coke around. How about you Lisa?”
“Just some water would be fine.”
I got Robin his coke and a glass of water for Lisa, “I’ll be right back.” And left the two of them in the kitchen while I went off to find my two guys.
I found each of the guys in their rooms doing some unpacking; I poked my head into each of the bedrooms and told them to come down to the kitchen, that we had company.
I re-entered the kitchen with my two guys in tow. “Lisa, Robin, this is my husband Glenn, and our son Dann. Guys, this is Lisa and Robin Starr. They live next door, and Robin will be attending RavenWolf’s with you Dann.”
“COOL! I’ve never had another friend that was Wiccan too.” Dann bubbled. “Come on, let me show you around the house.”
Dann and Robin took off with three happy parents smiling after them. “It will be so good for Robin to have a friend nearby that has similar beliefs. As you know there are not that many people living out this way.”
“Yes, we were grateful to find this place. I think now we know why the Lord and Lady led us to this spot.” Glenn said, smiling after the two young men who could be heard outside now.
“Yes,” Lisa agreed, “so how old is Dann?”
“He’s 13, will be 14 in about a month.” I said. “What about Robin?”
“He just turned 14 a few weeks ago, and is really looking forward to the new school. At least now he’ll be able to go in knowing someone there. So how long have you two been together?”
Glenn and I looked into each others eyes with a dopy, dreamy look on our faces, “16 years now.” I replied.
“So, if I’m not being to nosey, is Dann one of you two’s natural child or was he adopted?”
“We were lucky enough to find a surrogate mother.” Glenn said. “Not only that but we were able to find a geneticist that was able to combine Dave and I’s DNA before inseminating the mother. So he is a true blending of the two of us in more than just his name.”
“His name?” Lisa looked at us questioningly.
“Yes,” I replied, “The first two letters of my name and the last two of Glenn’s name.”
“Ahh, ok, I get it. That is so neat. I had never heard of anything like what you just described.”
“Yeah, it was an experiment. We are so grateful that it was a success. Dann has been a constant joy in our lives.” Glenn said.
“I am so glad to hear that.” Lisa replied. “Since he is a combination of your DNA, do you know yet whether or not he’s gay? I only ask because Robin came out to me a few months ago.”
“He has not said anything to us one way or the other yet.” I replied looking to Glenn who shook his head to confirm that he had not said anything to him. “Not that it will matter to us either way. And even if it turns out that he’s straight, I know that he won’t have any problem with Robin being gay. We have brought him up with the understanding that love is the only thing that matters, not who you love.”
“Oh I am so glad to hear that. I would hate to see Robin get hurt. Though I know that in our community he should not have any problems, it’s just dealing with the mundane world that I worry about.”
“True enough. Well, hey, that’s a pretty good sized casserole you brought, why don’t you two stay and help us eat it?” I asked.
“We’d be delighted.”
“Ok, Glenn, why don’t you go round up the boys and have them get cleaned up for dinner while Lisa and I get the table ready.”
“Ok babe, be back in a few.” Glenn gave me a quick peck and headed off to find the boys while Lisa and I set the table for dinner.
We all had a wonderful evening getting to know one another over the wonderful casserole that Lisa had brought over.
Lisa, Glenn and I talked late into the night while the boys played video games up in Danns room. Lisa finally called Robin down about 10:00 to head for home.
“I like her.” Glenn said as we were getting into bed.
“Should I be worried about that statement?” I said looking at him in mock jealousy.
Glenn just snuggled up to me and started nibbling on my neck. “Not even babe. You are the only one I ever want to share a bed with.”
I melted into his embrace and settled in for a wonderful night of love making.
-=End Chapter 2=-
-=Chapter 3=-
***Robin’s Perspective***
I couldn’t believe that mom was dragging me over to the new neighbors’ house to welcome them to the area. She said that it was an old tradition that when someone moved into the area you take them something to eat since it is expected that they will not have time to be cooking while trying to unpack and get settled in. I just was not sure about meeting the neighbors’. She said that she had seen a young man about my age over there and thought it would be a good idea for me to meet him. I, however, was not too sure about that. I had just come out to my mother a few months ago and was afraid that the new kid wouldn’t like me. I had had a hard time in my last school. At first it was just the teasing because of my mother being a witch. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it got even worse when I got caught kissing another boy in the bathroom at school. Luckily that happened at the end of the school year and we moved very shortly after that. I still missed Kenny, even after being separated for a little over a year now. I just hope that things were going better for him then they had been going for me.
Mom had heard about a new school being built up here in Northern Pennsylvania that was for children of the Wiccan community and assured me that things would be different since the Wiccan community is a lot more accepting of homosexuals than the mundane community is. So we moved and she home-schooled me for a year waiting for the school to be finished.
Mom said that it was time that I got out and met some new people so she was dragging me next door with her.
I stood quietly on the porch next to her as she rang the door bell. This really great looking guy answered the door and invited us in after mom had introduced us. We followed him into the kitchen where after a few minutes he introduced himself as David. I was surprised to find out that he was one of the teachers at the new school. My next surprise was after he excused himself to go get the rest of his family to introduce us.
WOW! He came back with two other guys. One was an older man (also very good looking) who he introduced as his husband Glenn, he was also a teacher at the new school. Next he introduced their son, Dann. I could not take my eyes off of him. He had to be the hottest boy I had ever seen. He was even better looking than Kenny was. But it would be just my luck that he would turn out to be straight.
Dann had the brightest, deepest, bluest eyes I had ever seen. And with his deep tan and dark hair, they really stood out. I swear, I could stand and stare into those eyes all day and never get tired of it.
Dann took me and showed me around the house. I know I had just met him, but I had this overpowering feeling that we were just supposed to be together. Almost as if we had always been together. Maybe we had been together in a past life or something. I don’t know, but I was certainly enjoying every moment that I was with him.
Mom and I stayed for dinner, and then Dann and I went up to his room to play some video games while the adults talked downstairs.
I never said anything to Dann about my being gay since I did not want to have a repeat of what happened at my old school. Though I was pretty sure that since he had two dads he would be ok with it, but I was just to scared to say anything.
Mom and I left to go home around 10:00. Once we were home she asked me what I thought of Dann.
“He is so cool, and you should see all the games he has, and his room is huge.”
“You really like him, don’t you?” mom asked me.
“I don’t know how to explain it mom. It almost seems like we were meant to be together. Like we have always been together.”
“That’s possible honey. You two may have been together in a past life and are meant to always be together. It’s like that for a lot of people; unfortunately they never seem to find their soul mates. Glenn said that before they moved he had scryd the area and were led to that house. It may have been the Lord and Lady helping in bringing the two of you back together. Did you say anything to him about this?”
“No, I was to afraid of a repeat of what happened at my last school. I just met him and don’t want to scare him off already.”
Mom looked at me with sympathy. “It will be ok honey, I talked to his dads this evening, they know about you and what happened. Dann has not said anything to them yet about his sexuality, but they assured me that even if he is straight he will not have a problem with your being gay.”
“Thanks mom, maybe I’ll talk to him about it tomorrow.”
“Ok sweetie. It’s late though, why don’t you go ahead and go to bed.”
“Ok, g’night mom.” I said giving her a hug and kiss. I got undressed and crawled into bed, falling asleep with thoughts of Dann dominating my dreams.
***Dann’s Perspective***
I was busy in my room working on unpacking and setting things up when dad popped his head in and asked me to join him downstairs to meet our new neighbors.
What I saw when I walked into the kitchen made my heart stop. There before me was what could only have been one of the gods descended. The young man in front of me was absolutely gorgeous. His blond hair and green eyes were totally captivating.
I was not able to take my eyes from him until pop noticed me fixating on the other boy and popped me in the arm as dad started making the introductions. His name was Robin. Dad then informed me that he was going to be going to the same school as me.
“COOL! I’ve never had another friend that was Wiccan too.” I said with probably a bit to much enthusiasm. “Come on; let me show you around the house.”
What was wrong with me? I had never acted like this around a boy before, ever. Could I be like pop and dad? Was I gay too? I was beginning to recognize feelings for Robin that I had never experienced before. It was almost like we were meant to be together, like we had always been together. I just could not explain it. Of course, I didn’t dare say anything to the blond hunk that was patently following me around the house and property as I showed him around.
Pop came and found us and told us to get washed up for dinner that Robin and his mom would be joining us. Great, just what I needed, I really needed to talk to dad and pop about these feelings, but could not do it so long as Robin and his mom were around.
After dinner Robin and I were shooed off to my room to play video games while the parents talked in the living room. I really hate it when people talk behind my back, and I knew they were talking about me, I could sense it. I don’t know how, but I just KNEW that I was a topic in their conversations.
Robin and I spent several hours in my room playing various video games; neither one of us saying much to the other. It was almost as if we were afraid to say anything to the other, but at the same time were very comfortable in each others presence.
Robin and his mom finally left around 10:00 that evening. It was late, and I was tired from all the activity that day. As much as I wanted to talk to dad and pop, I was just to tired to do it that night. I decided to sleep on it and try to figure things out for myself. Maybe my spirit guide would pay me a visit in my dreams tonight and help me to figure things out.
That night I dreamed about Robin. But it was not just Robin, it was the two of us, together, and we were older. I also dreamed of a time a long time in the past. I was there, and so was Robin. We looked different, but I could tell that it was us. We were fighting beside each other. What we were fighting I could not tell, but we were together.
Were my dreams just confirming what I suspected earlier? I would have to talk to pop about this. Dreams and such were his area of expertise.
I awoke early the next morning. I lay in bed listening to the house and the world around me. I could tell by the silence that dad and pop were still in bed. I got up, got a quick shower, dressed and headed down stairs.
I went into the kitchen to get the morning coffee started and fix myself a bowl of cereal. I was about half way done with my breakfast when dad came into the kitchen.
“That coffee smells great kiddo. You’re up early today. Trouble sleeping?”
“Not really, though I did have a couple of dreams that I want to talk to you and pop about. Probably pop a bit more than you since he is more versed in dreams and divination than you are.”
“Ah, you’re right he is. So you have a couple dreams you need interpreting?”
“Who needs dreams interpreted?” Pop said as he made a bee line for the coffee pot that had just given its last gurgle announcing it was finished.
“I don’t think they really need much interpreting pop, I thought they were pretty straight forward, but I still need to talk to you two about them as well as some other things that are on my mind.”
“Sounds serious.” Dad said pouring his own cup of coffee.
“I don’t know dad, I guess it just depends on your point of view as to how serious they are.”
They looked at each other questioningly. “Ok,” pop said, “Let us finish waking up and get some food into us and we’ll talk about whatever you want to.”
“Thanks pop.” I said giving him a hug. “I’m going to go watch TV while you two do that.”
***Glenn’s Perspective***
I watched Dann run off to the family room after he gave me a hug. I sat down heavily looking at David. “What do you think this is all going to be about? Did he give you any clues before I came in?”
“Nope, not a word. Though I do have a suspicion or two.”
I saw the twinkle in Dave’s eyes, “Ok, spill it. It would be nice if we were both on the same page when we went in there to talk to him.”
Dave sat down pouring himself a bowl of cereal. “Well, I have a suspicion that it might have something to do with young Robin.”
“You think Robin told him about himself last night?”
“I don’t know. But he has never come to us before about his dreams.”
“You don’t actually think he has a problem with Robin being gay do you?”
“Again, I don’t know. But I have a strong feeling that Robin figures into this somehow.”
I sat there mulling this all over while I drank my coffee. “I guess we’ll not know for sure until after we talk to him. Though it could just be some anxiety about starting the new school.”
“True enough. Let me finish my cereal and we can go find out.”
Dave finished his breakfast a few minutes later. Both refilling our coffee mugs and heading into the family room to find out exactly what was on our young sons mind.
***Dann’s Perspective***
I was hardly paying attention to the morning cartoons, still trying to figure out how I was going to talk to my dad’s about my feelings. I knew they would not have any problems when I told them that I might be gay. Hell, how could a gay couple have a problem with their son being gay? I actually think it would be a bigger surprise if I told them that I wasn’t gay.
I was still trying to figure things out when they came in and sat down on the sofa.
I turned off the TV and turned to face them.
“Ok,” pop said, “What’s on your mind this morning?”
“I don’t know of any other way to say it than to just say it. Dad, Pop, I think I may be gay.”
They looked at each other and dad gave pop a ‘I told you so’ smile. “Does this have anything to do with Robin?” dad asked me.
I looked at the floor and mumbles, “I guess you could say that.”
“Ok, so I take it you dreamed about Robin last night?” Pop asked.
“Actually pop, it was two dreams. In the first one, we were both older and living together. In the second one, it was like we were in the past. Way in the past. We looked different, but I could tell that it was us. We were standing next to each other fighting some enemy.”
Pop just nodded his head a few times giving careful consideration to what I had just told him. “You’re right, that does seem pretty straight forward, no hidden meanings. It sounds to me like you two are soul mates and are destined to be with each other.”
I looked at pop, then dad. “What do you think Robin will say if I tell him about this?”
They looked at each other, again sharing a knowing grin that I was quickly beginning to find a bit un-nerving.
“I take it by your question, that Robin didn’t say anything to you last night about why they moved here?” Dad asked.
“No, it never came up. Why?”
Pop put his hand on dad’s leg, “I think we may want to call Lisa and Robin and have them come over before we go any further.”
“You may be right about that,” Dad said, “I just wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about this any further without them here.”
Now I was worried. What the hell was going on?
Dad reached over for the phone sitting on the end table calling over to Lisa’s house. “Good morning Lisa, this is David next door. Would it be possible for you and Robin to come over here? Something has come up and we would like the two of you to be here before we discuss things any further.” Pause. “Got it in one,” Dad said chuckling, “But don’t say anything to Robin yet.” Pause. “Ok, see you in a few.”
Dad hung up the phone. “They’ll be here in a few minutes.”
Great, now I had to wait some more to find out what was going on.
-=End Chapter 3=-
-=Chapter 4=-
***Robin’s Perspective***
“Robin! Get out of that bed and get dressed, we have to go next door.” Mom yelled up the stairs to me. I looked at the alarm clock next to my bed and groaned when I saw that it was only 7:30. This was WAY too early to be getting up when there was no school.
Wait, did she say we had to go next door?
I was instantly awake and out of bed, pulling on clothes as quickly as I could. I couldn’t believe I was going to get to see Dann even sooner than I had expected.
I ran down the stairs like a flash and nearly knocked mom over at the bottom of the stairs.
“Whoa, slow down there sport. Someone might think you actually WANTED to go next door.” Mom said with a chuckle and a twinkle in her eye.
I quickly ducked out of her reach as she went to try and fix my hair. I stepped over to the mirror hanging in the hall to fix my own hair.
“I wanted to go talk to Dann this afternoon, but was not expecting it to be this early.” I said, still trying to get my hair to lie down. “Speaking of early, what’s he doing up this early, I sure hope he’s not one of those annoying people that are up and all happy early in the morning.”
“I don’t know sweetie, David just called me a few minutes ago, said that something had come up and that they wanted us to come over there as soon as we could.”
I tried to think of what could have come up that they would want us over there this early in the morning. I suddenly felt weak as the thought hit me that maybe he found out that I was gay.
Mom must have noticed something, “Are you alright honey? You just went very pale.”
“You don’t think he found out that I’m gay do you?” I asked her with a bit of a shaky voice loaded with worry.
“I don’t know how in the few hours that you two have been apart. I’m sure that David and Glenn would not have said anything.”
“Then how could he have found out?” I actually whined.
“Robin, you do not know that that is the reason for the call. So just calm down, we’ll go over there, find out what’s going on and deal with it.”
Of course I knew she was right. “Ok, let’s get this over with.”
I nervously walked next door with mom trying to prepare myself for the worst.
We stepped up onto the porch and the door opened before we even had a chance to knock or ring the bell.
“Won’t you two come on into the family room and have a seat so we can get this over with? Would you like some coffee Lisa?” Glenn asked.
“That sounds great. Black please.”
“Coming right up, Robin, would you like some OJ?”
“Yes please.”
Glenn walked off to the kitchen to get our drinks while mom and I went into the family room were David and Dann were waiting for us. I was so nervous that I could not even look at Dann, I just kept my eyes focused on the ground waiting for the inevitable condemnation that I just knew was about to come from the boy that I was falling in love with.
Glenn came back in with mom’s coffee and my orange juice.
“Lisa, Robin, won’t you please sit down?” David asked gesturing for us to take a seat on the unoccupied sofa. We sat down, but I still could not look at Dann. Because I was not looking at him, I did not realize that he also was looking at the floor rather than me.
“Dann,” David started off, “in the interest of expediency here, would you mind if I summarize what you told us this morning?”
“Nah, go ahead dad.” Dann replied, still not looking up.
“Ok,” David continued, “Lisa, Robin; this morning Dann informed us about a couple of dreams he had last night. Both dreams were of him and Robin. One showed them together in the future, and the other showed them together in the past. Glenn and I are of the impression that this means that the boys are soul mates. Now, before anything else is said, I think Robin needs to tell Dann the reason why you two moved here last year.” I was instantly petrified. “It’s ok Robin, everything will be as it should be.”
I paused a moment trying to gather my courage, I took a quick swallow of my OJ and quickly said: “I got caught kissing another boy.” I quickly took another swig of my juice. My mom put her arm around my shoulder to try and comfort me.
Dann finally looked up in surprise. “Why didn’t you just tell me yesterday? You had to know that I would have been alright with it. Heck, I have two dads that are gay, and I’ve finally come to the realization and acceptance that I am too.”
I snapped my head up looking at Dann.
“In fact,” he continued, “I believe that I am actually falling in love with you, and since the dreams seem to indicate that we are soul mates, it seems that it is predestined that we are to be together.”
I could not believe what I was hearing. I knew deep down inside me that what he was saying was true, but it was still a little hard to believe right off. I could feel the connection between us, like it had always been there and always would be there.
Dann looked at me with pleading eyes, “Say something Robin, please.” When I looked into those deep blue eyes of his I could not bring myself to deny him anything that he might request of me, ever.
“I think I love you too.” I timidly said. “I can feel a connection to you, almost like I can actually feel what you are feeling.”
We just looked deeply into each others eyes, not knowing what else to say, and feeling like there was nothing more that needed to be said.
We were so caught up with each other that neither of us even noticed our parents get up and leave the room.
The next thing I knew Dann and I were in each others arms, hugging each other like we were afraid to ever let the other go for fear of something terrible happening to the other.
***Dann’s Perspective***
When Robin said that he thought he loved me too I felt such a sense of peace and happiness like I had never felt before.
I quickly grabbed him up into a hug and held on to him for dear life. When I embraced Robin I got a feeling of completeness, like a part of me that I had not realized was missing had suddenly come back to me.
I pulled my head back enough to be able to look into those soulful green eyes of his and smiled at him. “We are together now, just as it has been in the past and as it shall be in the future. For all time you are a part of me, and I am a part of you, together we complete each other.” I then leaned down and kissed him gently but passionately on the lips.
As soon as our lips touched there was a sensation like electricity that went through both of our bodies. Suddenly, it was as if I was looking at myself in a mirror.
We pulled apart quickly. I could tell by the look on Robins face that he had felt it too. “What just happened?” I asked frantically.
“I don’t know, nothing like that had happened when I kissed that other boy last year.” Robin said with a touch of fear starting to creep into his voice.
“DAD, POP!” I yelled out, “GET IN HERE!”
“What’s wrong?” They both asked in a near panic as all three of them ran back into the family room.
“That’s what we’re hoping you’ll be able to tell us.” I said. “We just kissed, felt something like electricity flow through us, and then it was like I was looking into my own eyes, almost like looking in a mirror, but not looking in a mirror. Does that make ANY sense?”
“Did you say anything just before you kissed?” Pop asked.
I told him what I told Robin just before I kissed him. Pop looked at dad with a smile on his face, and dad could barely keep himself from laughing. Robin’s mother just stood there with a worried and confused look on her face. “Will one of you two please tell us what happened?” she asked.
Dad was practically in hysterics now, so pop had to tell us, “It looks like our son here just cast his first spell. They truly are joined now. A joining that is closer than any marriage or handfasting could ever make them. They truly are now a part of each other.”
Dad finally regained control of himself, “Wait a minute. Robin did you say it back to Dann?”
“No.” Robin stated, still a bit confused.
Dad looked at pop, “Then the connection is probably only one way.”
“You’re probably right Dave. Robin, did you get the same sensation that Dann just explained?”
Robin looked at me, “I felt the electricity, but that was it.”
“Ok,” dad continued, “you need to say the same words that Dann did and then kiss him. That way the connection will be complete.”
I looked at Robin, then at dad. “What will happen once this connection is completed? What will it mean?”
“Well,” pop started, “If my suspicions are correct, based on what you already told us, I suspect that you will be linked together in such a way that you will be able to see through each others eyes. You might also be able to feel what the other one is feeling, know what the other one knows, and possibly even communicate with each other when you’re apart.”
“And I’ll tell you right now,” dad continued, “if we find out that you two are using these abilities to cheat in your classes you will be in very big trouble. I would hate to have to find a way to bind these abilities as I feel they can be of great help to you if needed.”
Robin and I looked at each other, then back to my dad, “Ok, we promise.” We said in unison.
Dad smiled at us and just shook his head. “Ok, then if you’re ready Robin, go ahead.”
Robin and I looked at each other and then embraced like we had been before. Robin took a deep breath, looked deep into my eyes and then repeated my words back to me. “We are together now, just as it has been in the past and as it shall be in the future. For all time you are a part of me, and I am a part of you, together we complete each other.” Then he kissed me. We felt the electricity again, but this time it was more like we switched bodies. I could see and hear what he was thinking and he could do the same with me. This time the electricity was not just in our lips, but we could feel it flowing throughout our bodies. The sensation was kind of like the way your foot feels when it falls asleep, but this was running through our entire bodies.
“Great Goddess, would you look at that.” We heard Lisa exclaim.
We quickly broke the kiss, but the electric feeling did not immediately go away. “What? Ain’t you never seen two guys kiss before?” I asked Lisa with a barely suppressed chuckle.
Lisa looked at me with slight indignation, “Of course I have. I was referring to the glow. You two were giving off a good bit of light.”
“Woah, that is so,” I started saying looking back at Robin, “COOL.” We finished together.
Everyone chuckled at us for finishing my statement together.
“Well?” asked pop. “Can you two communicate telepathically?”
“I don’t know can we?” I tried sending to Robin.
Robin looked at me in surprise, “Did you just ask ‘Can we?’”
“Sure did.” I said with a huge grin on my face.
“Can you hear me?” I heard in my head.
“Yes I can, this is going to be SO cool. I wonder what the range is?” I thought back to him.
“I don’t know, but this is going to be so much fun.” I heard Robin reply, and not only did I hear his words, but I could actually feel the love he had for me coming over our connection.
I looked at my parents, “Any idea what kind of range we might have on our telepathy?”
Dad and pop looked at each other for a moment before dad said, “No idea kiddo, but I would imagine that the more time that passes and the more you use it, the farther the range will get. The mind is like your muscles, the more you use it and exercise it the stronger it will become.”
Pop looked at dad, “I think we may need to talk to Mr. Dowlin. I think since they have already managed to cast their first spell, we may need to make a change to their class schedules. They wouldn’t normally be taking Spell Casting until their 4th year, but I think it would be a good idea if they went ahead and took it this year.”
“You may be right.” Dad said. “It’s still early, why don’t we head over to the school and see what can be done. I agree that we may have a unique situation here.”
Everyone agreed that it was a good idea, so all five of us loaded into pops SUV and headed up to the school.
-=End Chapter 4=-
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