Author's Note: Part 11 is told from Dad's perspective.
All characters are over 18.
I felt much better leaving to help out my brother Joe, with Jack's casts off now. It was also great having Kyle living with us now to help out and ease some of the pressure. Taking care of Jack while his arms were immobilized was more than I had anticipated.
That was true in more ways than one. I'm not sure that we would have opened ourselves up sexually without the events following the accident. Now we were enjoying the pleasure of each other and Kyle had joined in as well.
I arrived at Joey's place and rang the buzzer for his apartment. He buzzed me in and met me at the door. As was our usual custom, we hugged warmly. We went into his apartment and he asked me if I wanted anything.
"I'll have whatever's cold." I answered. It wasn't too early to start drinking and I wouldn't mind a beer.
Joe handed me a cold beer from the fridge and, grabbing one for himself, sat down at the kitchen table. I joined him and we chatted about how things were going with work, a little about the weather, and other general small talk.
Joe got a far off look and said "I know that I said that I needed help with something, but it's not exactly right." He said hesitantly.
"Joey, what's going on? You can ask me for anything, you know this." I reassured him. Joe was born when I was eighteen. My mother's pregnancy was something of a shock. Not only was it a little late for her and my dad to have another kid, but the fact that they were still having sex might have been more of a surprise. Since I was an adult, some child rearing duties fell to me.
I didn't mind taking care of my baby (literally) brother. In the end, it turned out to be good practice for Jack, who would be born four years later. The age gap between Joe and Jack was enough that they didn't really grow up together. Though, later on Joe was able to help out as a pretty reliable sitter when the need arose.
He loved Jack and I know that Jack looked up to him. They didn't really have a brotherly relationship but they enjoyed a close uncle/nephew vibe. Once Joe got his license, he would take Jack to the mall, or wherever he wanted to go if I was too busy with work or other projects.
Joe remained somewhat pensive. He took a couple more sips of his beer and started again.
"So, I've been seeing this girl off and on. We're not really serious, it's more of a friends with benefits type of arrangement. We've been exploring different scenarios. We're both pretty open sexually. I guess that we're both fluid." He paused and took another sip.