The Awakening
His father was never really a figure in his life, gone by three with little contact thereafter, as a only child it was just Christian and his mom, a good mother who struggled and fought to provide as good a life as a single mother could. She worked hard, long hours, sometimes at multiple jobs to make ends meet. As such Christian grew up fast as the man of the house, he taught himself how to work around and repair general household things, discipline, fitness, how to repair the car...since they never had a lot of spare resources, often out of necessity to get the job done but those are the things that build character and experience. Christian was never envious of the other boys whose dads took care of things or taught life lessons. A pragmatic young man, Christian appreciated what he had and always revered his mother for working so hard to make a good life for the two of them.
He'd only been gone to college for a few months of his freshman year when he'd returned for Christmas break. It was nice to be back and as he arrived early to the delicate veneer of snow lightly blanketing the neighborhood, he notice two men shoveling their driveway. He parked, grabbed his bags, and started for the house. "Hello", they said almost in unison as one continued, "...you must be Christian". A bit puzzled at the unexpected, Christian said, "Yes, but may I ask who.." as the more outspoken on cut him off but in a friendly and polite manner, "oh yes, excuse us, I am Frank and this is John. We're your...somewhat...new neighbors".. he trailed off a bit as he removed his glove and extended his warm, strong hand. Christian took it feeling a firm but smooth handshake and sensing a calmness and ease about Frank.
"Oh, right", Christian replied, "Mom mentioned someone moving in, but pardon me, I've been so busy adjusting to school and then finals that I...." "No worries at all, we've fallen in love with the area and even after just a couple of months, this feels like home", Frank added. "I hope you don't mind us shoveling, your Mom is at work until late and we finished our place so we figured we'd help out". Christian didn't mind at all and without much thought, he blurted out, "Are you roommates?" to which Frank and John both looked at each other and chuckled, "of sorts...We're married...John is my husband". "Oooh" Christian said, suddenly feeling flush and embarrassed for assuming. "Look Frank, you've made him blush" John said. Christian was but at the same time, these two men were so friendly and accommodating, he even surprised himself how at ease they made him feel.