Tom and Lue Get a Family

Dedicated to the memory of Dinah Maria Craik (20 April 1826-12 October 1887), author of the best nineteenth-century novel of man-man love (albeit without sex),

John Halifax, Gentleman

(1857).

*****

Chapter LVIII Giovanni starts at Santa Cecilia school

Giovanni had no problems in passing the audition, and as soon as school resumed after the summer vacation, he started at his new scuola primaria. Although the choir was boys only, Scuola Santa Cecila was co-educational, so it was not very different from his old school, which Bernardo of course continued to attend. It turned out that he knew much more about music than most of the other boys who had just started in the choir. The choir was quite small, about twenty-five boys, of all ages from seven to thirteen, with only three or four boys in each year. Discipline in both school and choir was quite rigorous, the school lacked the relaxed atmosphere of Giovanni's old school. He was a sweet-natured boy, who conformed easily to discipline, worked hard at both his music and schoolwork and so made himself liked by the teachers. But he was a lively boy and quickly made friends at his new school. Because he was at a different school from his brother, no-one asked awkward questions about why they had different patronymics.

The two main services in which the choir performed were on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings. They soon fell into a routine in which Tom took Giovanni to his service on Saturday, and Olivia took him on the Sunday while the men took the other children either to their local Catholic church or to the English church in Bologna. Because he could read music, Giovanni made rapid progress and was soon singing quite sophisticated music, both plainsong and polyphony. He also continued with lessons with Signora Rampelloni, but only once every two weeks.

By now Caterina was attending nursery school three mornings per week, and would start school in about a year's time. Bernardo was making good progress at school, and the men saw to it that he got plenty of reading matter in English, so that his English kept up with his Italian. The men were reluctant to expose the children to internet-connected devices, but bought the two boys a Kindle each, so that they could read and get familiar with electronic devices. Caterina was still at the stage of colouring books, but she had one English and one Italian story read to her each night.

Chapter LIX David is knighted

Soon after Giovanni had joined the cathedral choir, the men went to England for the celebration of David's knighthood. The ceremony was performed by the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace and David was accompanied to the Palace by Jon and Cathy, both wearing formal dress. Cathy however insisted on wearing what she called a "proper hat" rather than the 'fascinators' that were becoming popular.

The following evening a party was held in the function room at Saint Boniface's College back in Camford, attended by Cathy and her husband, Tommy and Eleanor, Dorothea and Massimo, Sandro and Dom, Mr and Mrs Scarborough, Caterina Fabioni, the President and Vice-President of Boni's and their wives and Emeritus Professor Edward Bairstow and his wife, as well of course as Sir David and Jon and Luke and Tom. The college kitchens had pulled out all the stops for a magnificent buffet, nothing like the usual college drinks party, and the celebrations continued until deep in the night. Jon had negotiated a deal with the President by which the cost of the celebration was split equally between Jon and the college.

Speeches were limited to one by the President and one by Luke. The President, a retired diplomat of some distinction, welcomed David as the first member of the college's governing body for seven years, except himself, to hold a knighthood. He presented him with a silver pint tankard engraved with his name and a commemorative inscription. Jon, as his partner, was presented with a bouquet. In reply, Luke thanked the college for the honour done to one of their alumni and paid tribute to his father for the huge pleasure that his singing had given to thousands of music lovers all over the world. He also commended his other father, Jon, for funding Sir David's musical training, and paid tribute to the late Dr Marcello Fabioni for teaching him. Then, at Jon's insistence, David sang

Wenn der Freude Tränen fließen,

accompanied on the piano by Tom. After all this backslapping, numerous bottles of Prosecco were consumed, and when the party ended at 1.00 am, a whole line of taxis was waiting in the square outside the college's main gate, which was kept open specially for the occasion.

Chapter LX A few days in Camford

Next day, as it was out of term, Tom left Luke with his parents in Octavia Avenue and went to the Chemical Laboratory, where he met his collaborative research project leader Dr Richard Kirmington, who had just been appointed University Reader in the Chemistry of Bioactive Molecules. Richard welcomed him and they went for coffee in the Chemistry canteen. Tom congratulated Richard on his new appointment. Richard said that he had been a reviewer for Tom's latest published paper. "I know that you can't leave Italy for family reasons," he said, "but you've got enough publications for a higher doctorate. That would raise your profile in Camford. The University is always rather reluctant to acknowledge degrees from universities other than Oxbridge, so a D.Sc. would look nice beside your M.A. Besides, it would entitle you to come to the Celebratio every year. I envisage that when your children get older, you will want to come back here." The Celebratio was Camford University's annual commemoration of its benefactors, and took the form of an honorary degree ceremony and a lavish garden party in the garden of one of the colleges. All higher doctorate-holders were entitled to attend, though not many did.

Tom thanked him for the advice and asked how Carlo was getting on. Carlo had been in Camford about three months since he had got his Dottorato di Ricerca. "Why don't you go and ask him yourself?" asked Richard. "I'm very happy with his performance so far. He's a hard worker and gets a lot done in a day. And he's had a good effect on Rachel, who obviously enjoys his company, but is working much harder than when she was pining for him in Italy. Carlo speaks very highly of your supervision. It might be nice if we could find a Camford graduate who wanted to do what you did and do an Italian doctorate in your department."

"I did amazingly well from the EU's Young Leonardo studentship. Without it," Tom said, "I would have had to use up all my savings."

Tom went into the lab and greeted Carlo, who was delighted to see him. He and Rachel took Tom out to lunch at the Whale and Wheelbarrow, the nearest pub to the science labs. After lunch, Tom returned to Octavia Avenue, and he, Luke and Luke's two fathers all went for a swim at the Camford Men's Fitness Centre, avoiding the female pickets who were sitting on the steps with banners reading "LET WOMEN IN!"

David told Luke that the occasion of his knighthood was probably the last family event that Luke's grandfather would attend. "He's well over eighty now, and though reasonably fit for his age, is increasingly disinclined to leave home. I've asked both my parents to sell up in Loxton and move into Rockwell's Barn, but they are not very keen to leave all their friends. So if you want to see them on your next visit, you'll have to go to Loxton."

Jon told Luke that he had recently met Sandro's old boyfriend Jack Meredith. "He's now a lecturer at Buxton University, where he is doing very well. It's a shame that he let Sandro down, because he's a good scientist. Still, Sandro ended up with a much better partner!"

"I can't imagine Jack Meredith finding a lot of gay partners in Buxton. It's not like Brighton!" Tom said drily. Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, Brighton is the gay capital of England.

That night, all the household went to bed early. As usual when they were away from the children, Tom and Luke were anxious to make love. They both undressed and said their prayers. Tom then lay on his back propped up on two pillows, his legs wide apart. He took Luke in his arms, with Luke facing away from him and sat him between his legs. In this way he could comfortably play with Luke's cock, as Luke lay with his head cradled on Tom's shoulder. Tom rubbed his face in Luke's hair, which smelt of Storing pour Homme and kissed his head. He softly fingered Luke's hard and veiny male organ before gently getting hold of his balls. Luke groaned with delight at this attention. Tom began to stroke Luke's cock, and every so often tickling his ball-bag. Luke shivered in delight and turned his head to meet Tom's lips. Fifteen years or so of loving and living with one another had led to both men knowing every detail of each other's bodies. They knew where the skin was softest, where the hair was smoothest, what parts of their bodies were most sensitive to touch and caressing. But familiarity did not breed contempt. Every fresh contact was a pleasure, every caress a gesture of love, every kiss a token of deep affection.

Tom started to run his right hand over Luke's chest and nipples, while continuing to stroke Luke's prick with his left hand. Tom could feel that Luke was now copiously oozing precome. "Carissimo Luca mio, ti amo!" he whispered in Italian. Luke was a bit startled to hear Tom muttering words of love in Italian. He had not done that for years. Could Tom be thinking that he was in bed with Olivia? Luke wondered. Then he dismissed the thought as nonsense. Tom was now so at home in speaking Italian that he was beginning to think in Italian all the time. Certainly someone in love with a woman would not be fingering his cock in such an enjoyable way!

Suddenly Tom got hold of Luke with both arms and turned him over. He pressed his lips against Luke's and began to run his hands over the cheeks of Luke's arse. "Hai culo bello!" he murmured. By now his own dick was hard and oozing precome. He wrapped his arms tightly round his mate and began to rub his belly against Luke's so that both their boners were rubbing hard against each other. Luke opened his mouth and Tom's tongue shot inside. They continued in this position for several minutes before first Luke and then Tom shot his jism over their closely positioned bellies. After lying in their mutual puddle for a few minutes inhaling the chestnut-flower scent of spunk, Luke carefully got out of bed and brought two moist flannels and a towel from the bathroom. After cleaning themselves up, they both fell asleep in each other's arms.

Next day they left for two nights at Sandro and Dom's house in Womble on their way to Bristol Airport. Although it was only a few months since they had met at the family reunion, Luke was anxious to see his brother. The two girls were also at home, as it was the school holidays. They spent the first day walking in the beautiful Cotswold countryside and went out for a meal at the local pub in the evening, taking Elizabeth, the girls' aunt and their housekeeper, with them. By now, the girls were old enough to come with them as well. Dom's consultancy business was flourishing, and he could work from home most of the time. Sandro was now doing preliminary engineering planning for HS2, the new high speed railway line to the north of England from London.

Two days later both men were back at work after being welcomed back with enthusiasm by both Olivia and the children.

Chaoter LXI Dangerous Doramagni

The Teatro Musicale started its new season with a production of

Tosca

. The guest artists arrived a few days early to allow rehearsal time. The tenor singing the role of Cavaradossi was regarded by Cornelio as a real catch. He had been trying to hire him for several years and finally managed it. Matteo Doramagni was leading member of what Luke's father rather cynically called the Gay Tenors Club, one of a select, but steadily increasing, number of openly gay singers. By now Luke was well known in the Italian opera world, and everyone knew that he was gay. The first thing that the new artist did on arrival was to throw his arms round Luke and kiss him, not in a routine 'continental' fashion as it is known in England, of a light peck on the cheek, but a full lipped open-mouthed assault on Luke's lips.

Doramagni was extremely attractive. By vigorous exercising he had managed to avoid that hypertrophy of the muscles of the diaphragm and abdomen that usually characterizes male singers. It was also evident from the bulge in his Armani jeans that he was well endowed in the cock department. It was equally obvious that he fancied Luke. He insisted on the first day that Luke should ring home and ask Olivia to collect Bernardo from school because an artist was taking him out to lunch. The meal revealed the secret of Doramagni's figure. He ate a salad with a small amount of cheese, without any bread, potato-salad or pasta. Luke ended the meal with a gelato: all Doramagni consumed was a glass of acqua minerale.

The rehearsal finished early. Normally, as there was no performance that night, Luke would have spent the rest of the afternoon in his office catching up on paperwork, but Doramagni called a cab and insisted on taking him to his hotel. Luke was in a difficult situation. Cornelio had emphasized to him that he needed to treat Doramagni with kid gloves, because he was a valuable and essential artist. But Luke had a pretty good idea what Doramagni wanted, and the guy was indeed attractive. Luke had reached the age when anyone under thirty was worthy of scrutiny. He felt that he might need to invoke his agreement with Tom that a single sex session with another man was permissible as long as he told Tom afterwards. He made an excuse to visit the hotel toilet and used the last euros in his pocket to buy a packet of condoms from the vending machine. He was not taking any chances with what this guy might do! But he was worried. Doramagni was to be in Trabizona for two weeks, and he had to work with this guy. A one-off was perhaps permissible, but if the sex was a success, Doramagni would keep pestering him for more.

He was tempted to use his cellphone to ask Cornelio how he should deal with the situation, but Doramagni did not give him the chance. No sooner were they in the hotel room than Doramagni grabbed him and started to unbuckle his belt. "Hai un bello cazzo grande!" (You've got a lovely big prick) Doramagni said as he felt Luke's stiffening dick. Luke waited to see what would happen next. The tenor pulled Luke's jeans down to ankles, and then did the same with his underpants. In a flash he was kneeling down with Luke's cock in his mouth. He was good at giving head, Luke thought, as Doramagni savoured the head of his cock. 'But he's going to have to be fuckin' hot to overcome my feelings of guilt,' he thought as Doramagni started to caress his balls. Just at that moment, Luke's cellphone, in the pocket of his jeans round his ankles, rang. Doramagni pulled away for a moment from Luke's cock and during those few seconds Luke managed to reach his pocket and pull the phone out.

The caller was Tom, who reminded him that as it was Wednesday, Ben and his family were coming round for a meal. "Thanks, Cornelio, I'll come back to the theatre at once," he said to Tom. "That was Cornelio," he lied to Doramagni, "he needs my signature on a contract that has to go into the post tonight, so I'm afraid that I'll have to leave now. He hastily pulled up his lower garments and left the hotel. He walked down the street in the direction of the theatre before hopping on a tram and hurrying home, feeling relieved that he had extricated himself from an awkward situation. You as a reader might be disappointed that we have not had a hot seduction scene, but Luke was now a family man. He had a choice of a partner and a concubine to have sex with, why should he risk trouble by getting involved with a randy gay tenor?

When he got home, he explained to Tom why he had called him Cornelio over the phone and Tom hugged him and said "You're right to steer clear of that guy. Who knows? He might be HIV-positive!"

The evening that followed with the Curtiss family was very enjoyable. It was in two parts. First the five children had their meal and were put to bed. Francesco Curtiss and his sister were in camp beds, one sharing a room with the boys, the other with Caterina. The three boys got a story in English, read by Tom, and the two girls a story in Italian, read by Leonora. About 8 pm, the adults had dinner, cooked by Costanza.

Leonora was pregnant again. Luke kissed her tenderly and whispered teasingly, "You're catching up with us!" Ben eyed Luke slightly uneasily. He was still puzzled how someone as out-and-out gay as Luke was could be so attentive to women. Maybe Leonora had never told him about Luke's kissing and hand-holding when they were students. Moreover, Luke had not told him about how regular sex with Olivia had changed his feelings about women.

Chapter LXII Giovanni is growing up

Giovanni Desperaldi was now well settled in his new school and enjoying his singing. He now understood why one of his four grandfathers had loved singing so much that he had turned his back on a scientific education in order to sing. To Giovanni, singing was the most important thing in his life outside his family. His mother, whose surname he bore, was the most important person in his life, but he loved both his fathers deeply, and felt, as their eldest child, that he had a responsibility to look after his brother and sister.

He was making good progress at school, where it was obvious that he was intelligent as well as gifted. In the English lessons, he had reached an understanding with the teacher that he would never volunteer to answer a question, because of course he always knew the answer, and it would have been unfair to all the other children in the class. However, because the school was relatively old-fashioned, he learnt a lot about grammar and sentence construction in both his English and his Italian lessons. He had lots of friends at school, but they were nearly all boys. He was allowed to invite not more than six friends to his birthday party each year, and they were usually, but not always, the same six.

He had travelled more than his siblings simply because he was the eldest. He had been to England with Dad, and was disappointed not to go to Antwerp with Pappa, but Luca was away for six weeks, and in any case he had started school by then. The demands of the cathedral choir affected the whole family, as they could not really go away from Trabizona at Christmas or Easter, although they were able spend time between Christmas and the New Year with their mother's parents or Luca's mother and Massimo.

He was an observant and perceptive child. He had always enjoyed having two fathers, and was fascinated by how different they were. Fortunately for family discipline, although he knew that the two men had different attitudes towards what they would let the children get away with, he never usually exploited this to get his own way. As he got older, Giovanni began to notice what an affectionate family they were. Each child was kissed good night by all three parents, and he noticed that his parents were very affectionate with one another. Dad always kissed Pappa and Mamma before leaving for work. He noticed that Dad and Pappa were always kissing one another, but that his mother also got kissed by both his fathers, though perhaps not so often. One thing that Giovanni practically never got was time in the company of both his fathers together, without his mother or siblings.