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Consumed Pt. 02

By: myoregon



WARNING AND NOTICES: This is a work of fiction. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Do not read if you are underage according to the laws in the country, state/province, county, city/town/village or township where you live.

Copyright © 2008 Debra Diane; Permission is granted to Literotica to post one copy. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized copying will constitute an infringement of copyright.

Chapter 3

Liam opened his eyes to an unexpected sight. Cassie was staring at him while poking a finger at a strawberry birthmark he had on his left shoulder. She was watching the birthmark go from white to strawberry colored again every time she pressed her finger against it.

"Hey kiddo, how ya doing, did you sleep well?" Liam asked.

"Uh huh," she responded.

"Are you hungry? Let's go check on your brother and then we can head down and get some breakfast. How does that sound?" Liam said as he picked up Cassie and headed down the hall towards Chris's room. 

"Okay," said Cassie, then followed up with, "can I have pancakes?"

"We'll see, I'm not sure I have everything we need to make pancakes."

When he arrived at Chris's room, he poked his head in and saw that Chris was still asleep.

"Shhh, Crissie asleep." Cassie whispered, while at the same time putting her little hand over Liam's mouth. Liam only nodded in response, then turned and headed down stairs to see what he could fix for breakfast.

Leaving Cassie in front of the TV, he started going through his cupboards and refrigerator. There wasn't much. Both he and Jack didn't eat breakfast much, usually just coffee. 'I'm definitely going to have to go to the store today,' he thought to himself as he decided on eggs and toast. But, first, he needed coffee.

Once Liam had finished his first cup of coffee and had breakfast ready and on the table, he went into the living room to find both Cassie and Christopher watching TV.

"Hey guys, breakfast is ready. Sorry Cassie, no pancakes today, but we've got eggs and toast. After breakfast, we'll head out to the store to pick up some food that you guys might like better. How does that sound?"

"Okay," Cassie said as she got up, grabbed Chris's hand and dragged him to the kitchen for breakfast.

Liam chuckled, thinking, 'Well, that was easy."

While the kids were eating breakfast, Liam headed upstairs to shower and get dressed.

When he came downstairs, Chris and Cassie were quietly watching TV, again. "Okay guys, why don't you head upstairs and get dressed while I clean up the breakfast dishes, then we'll head out."

Liam was just about finished with the dishes when his doorbell rang.

He opened the door to a tall woman with flaming red hair.

"Hi, I'm Stacey. Rick sent me over to take you out and help you finish getting everything for the kids. He said you seemed a little unsure of what you needed." She stated, while walking into the room and plopping down on the couch.

As soon as she sat down, she stopped talking and stared at Liam. Liam, still confused about who this woman was, where she had come from, and what she was doing here, just stared back, dumbfounded.

"Ok, so Rick didn't send me, but he would have if he'd have thought about it. I just saved him the trouble. So, here I am, ready to help." She continued.

Liam again, just stared, while trying to process everything she had just said.


"Okay, okay, he probably wouldn't have sent me, probably would have told me to keep my nose out of things. Mitch would have told me the same thing, but I know what's best and I know you'll need help. Men just don't have a clue about these things, especially those two men." She said as she finally stopped to take a breath.

Just as Liam was finally going to respond, the kids came down from upstairs.

"Oh. My. God! You must be Chris and Cassie. Aren't you two just adorable? Cassie, how old are you?" She asked.

"I'm two," Cassie replied, and then added, "Crissie is seven."

"Wow, seven, Chris, I would have thought you were older than that. What grade are you in?" She asked, turning to Chris.

Chris stood a little taller, smiled a little. 'Wow, first smile I've seen since he arrived yesterday,' Liam thought to himself, while Chris replied that he was in second grade.

"Well, you'll just have to tell me all about your school and your teacher while we are on the way to the grocery store." She said, causing both Cassie and Chris to look at each other and grin.

Liam, still confused about who she was and why she was here, finally spoke up.

"I'm sorry, but I'm confused. Who, exactly, are you?" He asked.

Oh, I'm sorry. Sometimes I ramble on so much that people can't keep up with me. I'm Stacey Peters. I'm the administrative assistant at the fire department. I work for Rick. I'm also Mitch's girlfriend." She responded.

"Okay, but who's Mitch?" He asked. It was obvious that she thought that he should know who Mitch was, but he just couldn't place the name.

"Jeesh, I'm sorry," she said as she slapped the palm of her hand against her forehead. "I do this all the time. Mitch Seavers is my boyfriend and he's also the detective who's working on your sister's arson case." She said, and then continued. "Anyway, I was talking to Rick this morning and he mentioned that you seemed a little lost, that you still needed to get things together to get the kids settled. Well, that's where I come in. I have two little one's at home myself, so I'm a 'field expert', so to speak." She said before again taking another deep breath and then finishing with, "Plus, I figured since Rick invited you and the kids down to the fire station, that we could swing by there. Bet I could talk one of the guys into giving the kids a ride on one of the fire trucks." She finally finished.

Liam, now that he finally knew what was going on, readily accepted her offer.

First she sat down with Liam and the kids and they made a grocery list. It was a pretty thorough list and included things like shampoo and soap and toothbrushes, basically, all of the things that Liam probably wouldn't have even thought about. Plus, she said that it would probably be best to get the 'no more tears' shampoo, so he wouldn't have to worry about getting soap in her eyes when he gave her a bath.

"Bath? I have to give her a bath?" Liam asked, obviously shocked by the idea.

"Yes, of course. She can't do it by herself, she's too young. She'll end up not getting all the shampoo out of her hair and that could cause her to get an irritated scalp." She said.

Liam just nodded, while trying to decide if he could really do this or not.

Stacy, not seeing his apprehension, just continued preparing the list.

Chris, seeing his unease, said "I'm old enough to take my own shower Uncle Liam, you won't have to worry about me."

"Thanks Chris, but don't worry, we'll get this worked out. I just might need a little help from you and Cassie." Liam said, hoping to reassure both himself and Chris.

"Cassie, honey, are you still wearing diapies?" Stacey suddenly asked.

"Diapies? You mean Diapers? Wait, I can't change diapers." Liam said, realizing now that he couldn't do this, that he would have to find someone else. Looking at Cassie, he said, "Cassie's not in diapers. No, you're not. Are you?" He asked, afraid of what the answer would be.

It was Chris who spoke up. "No, Uncle Liam, she's not in diapers anymore, although, she does wet the bed sometimes, but if you make sure she goes to the bathroom right before bedtime, she usually won't wet the bed."

'Okay, I can deal with that. Just wetting the bed occasionally. That I can deal with.' Liam thought, while breathing a huge sigh of relief.

"Well, I think I've got a pretty good list together. First we'll need to go to Target to pick up a booster seat, rubber sheets... 'rubber sheets, what the hell are rubber sheets?' Liam thought, but didn't dare ask, as Stacey continued with her list. "After Target, we'll head over to the station, then to lunch. After lunch, we'll head over to the drug store. You'll need children's cold medicine, children's Tylenol, you'll also need a good first aid kit with lots of band aids, that is, if you don't already have one." Receiving a 'no' from Liam, she continued. "Lastly, we'll head over to the grocery store and pick up everything you need to feed two growing young kids. Now, does that sound like a plan, or what?" She asked, as she looked up from her list with a very satisfied grin on her face.

Liam wanted to say, 'or what,' but decided to keep the sarcasm to himself. He really was grateful to have Stacey's help.

Three hours and a car load of 'crap' later, they arrived at the fire station. Both the kids couldn't contain their enthusiasm. Even Chris, who had been very quiet during the whole outing, had perked up when they pulled into the station parking lot.

One of the fire trucks was out front and a couple of the men were washing it. They stopped what they were doing when they saw Stacey get out of the car.

"Hey Stacey, where you been?" One of the men asked. "Rick's been trying to call you. He's not a happy camper right now." He finished.

"Well, that's exactly why I turned off my phone. Besides, I left him a note, so he knew where I was." She replied. "Also, I brought the kids with me. That way they can keep him preoccupied and by the time he's done with them, he'll forget to yell at me. See Chipper, I got it all figured out." She finished with another very satisfied grin.

Before Chip could respond, Rick stepped out of the station.

"Woman, you're really trying my patience. You work for the fire department, which means you need to be here, actually working. Not gallivanting all over town." He bellowed.

"Rick, look who I brought with me, you remember Chris, Cassie and Liam?" She asked, completely ignoring his tirade.

"Liam, hi, I'm glad you came. Hey, Cassie, Chris, you kids interested in helping the guys wash the truck?" He asked as he gestured over to Chip and Darren.

"Wow, can we Uncle Liam?" Chris asked excitedly.

"Sure, go ahead, have fun, but keep an eye on Cassie." He replied, glad that Chris was showing some excitement.

Before Liam could even finish the sentence, Chip was sweeping Cassie into his arms and carrying her over to the truck. Chris, following right beside him, was asking a million questions at once. Chip, to his credit, was happily answering each one.

Both Liam and Rick turned to each other, grinning from ear to ear and chuckling slightly, happy to see that the kids were having a good moment. As they locked eyes on one another, they grew silent, their grins slowly fading.

It was Stacey clearing her throat, which brought them out of their daze. 

"Well, I'm just going to head inside." Stacey said, as both Liam and Rick turned their attention to her.

Rick, clearing the lump in his throat before replying, said, "Damn straight, woman. I'm sure you've got a ton of work to do."

"Actually, little brother of mine, I was going to head inside to call Mitch and have him meet us for lunch. So, be ready to head to lunch in about thirty minutes." She said, as she turned and disappeared inside the station.

Liam was still trying to process the 'little brother' statement, when Rick turned his attention back to him.

"I'll tell you, I sometimes wonder who's in charge around here." He said to Liam.

"I'm just wondering how you keep up with her. Mentally, I'm still back at my apartment, wondering what the hell happened." Liam replied.

"Yep, she'll do that to you." Rick agreed, chuckling.

"So, how are you doing? Besides the fact that Stacey can be pretty overwhelming, you've had a lot going on. Are you doing okay?" Rick asked.

"I don't know. I feel so lost. I don't know what I'm doing. So far, I feel like I'm stuck on a rollercoaster with no way off and no way to stop it. I feel so out of control." Liam said, and then added, "I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm laying this all on you."

"Hey, I asked, didn't I? I can only imagine what you are going through right now. Between losing your sister and brother and having to deal with the fact that it is quite possibly murder, you also have to deal with the fact that you're now raising two young kids. If you ask me, this is probably more than the average person could handle." Rick replied, sympathetically.

"Yeah, I know. I'm not sure what to do about Chris. He seems so despondent. Cassie still doesn't realize that her mom and dad are gone, that they won't be coming back. But, Chris, he's so withdrawn, which I'm sure is to be expected, but how am I supposed to know what's normal in this situation. I don't know what to do for him." Liam said, while watching the kids laughing hysterically, while running around the truck, avoiding the water hose that Chip was chasing them with. 'It sure is nice to see them smile.' Liam thought to himself.

"Well, I would suggest having him see a school counselor once he starts back at school. By the time he goes back, he'll have had enough time to deal with his grief a little bit and then the school counselor can help him work through all the other feelings that are going to be overwhelming him." Rick offered.

"That sounds like pretty smart advice. You must see a lot of this kind of stuff because of your job." Liam commented.

"Yeah, the department offers courses to the station captains on how to help families deal in these types of situations. Often, we are the first and last people on the scene and so we tend to be the first line of support for these families. It's nice to be able to know how to offer help." Rick replied.

By this time, the men had given up on washing the truck and were showing the kids the inside of the truck. Chip was showing Chris how the sirens worked and Darren was helping Cassie strap a fire helmet to her head. It made Liam laugh to see the little girl wearing a helmet that almost completely consumed her head.

Rick was thoroughly enjoying the smile showing on Liam's face, when he noticed that Stacey had once again joined them.

"Mitch is on his way over, should be here in just a couple of minutes. I figure we can go to Bullwinkle's. The kids should love that."

Both Liam and Rick groaned at that statement. Liam had been to Bullwinkle's for one of Chris's birthday parties and he was hoping he would never have to go again.

Once Mitch got there, all 6 of them headed out, with Liam, Rick, and the kids in one car and Stacey and Mitch in the other.

After lunch, Rick and Stacey took the kids over to the bumper boats and the video games. Stacey had said flat out 'no' to the bumper boats, but Rick's face lit up at the idea. Rick grabbed both Chris and Cassie and dragged them to the boats. Cassie and Rick shared a boat, and Chris got his own. Stacey followed them, figuring she could use the squirters to make sure the kids, and of course Rick too, got good and soaked.

While the kids were gone, Liam took the opportunity to ask about the investigation.

"So, Mitch, how is the investigation going? Have you found any leads yet?"

"Right now, we're combing through all of his current cases. Depending on how those turn out, we may have to start going through past cases. It's going to take time. Since he was a criminal lawyer, we have a lot of potential suspects. Since you and your family couldn't give us any leads, right now, we can only work through his case files." Mitch replied.

"The fire inspectors are working to determine what accelerant was used to fuel the fire. That may give us a lead, but I doubt it. If it's a commonly used accelerant, we won't really have much use for the knowledge until we actually have a suspect. We are also waiting for the autopsy reports, just in case the cause of death wasn't smoke inhalation. However, all the initial evidence leads to smoke inhalation, so I wouldn't expect any possible leads from the autopsy." He added.

"I wish there was something I could do to help. Adam never really discussed his cases with us. We knew of some of the major cases he was working on, but that was only because they were usually in the news. When he came home, he was home. With the exception of working evenings in his office, he really didn't bring his work home, at least, not that I'm aware of. He might have discussed things with Julie, but never with us. I'm sorry that I'm just not much help." Liam said.

"That's okay Liam, we'll find out who did this, it's just going to take some time."

Liam only nodded in response, the lump in his throat making it impossible to voice his gratitude.

Just then, Stacey and Rick came back with the kids. Rick had Chris on his shoulders and was carrying Cassie in his arms. All were laughing with excitement and completely soaking wet from head to toe. Even Stacey was wet. Actually, it looked like Stacey and Rick got the worst of it.

"Stacey, how'd you get wet? I thought you weren't going on the boats?" Liam asked, laughing at the scene.

"Can't avoid it much, when you're manning the squirters. The boat's water guns could still reach me." She said, then added, "we should probably head out. We've still got to stop at the drug store and the grocery store."

With that, they headed out, Stacey and the kids heading out in Liam's car and Mitch and Rick heading back to the fire station.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. After picking up the rest of the necessities, they headed back to Liam's and unloaded the car. After the car was unloaded and everything in its place, Liam actually learning what the rubber sheets were for, Stacey helped Liam get dinner ready for the kids.

After pork chops, macaroni and cheese and corn, Stacey helped Liam give Cassie a bath. 

While Chris was taking his shower, Cassie curled up in Liam's lap to watch a movie, while Stacey sat next to Liam.

"Stacey, I don't think I could thank you enough for your help today. It was really great to see the kids smiling. It was nice to know that they could forget everything going on, even for just a short time. Thank you so much for that." Liam said.

"It was my pleasure Liam. You shouldn't have too many problems. They are a couple of great kids. You definitely have some adjustments to make in your life, but trust me when I say that kids can really bring a lot of enjoyment to your life."

"Yeah, I kinda see what you mean." He said, looking down at Cassie all curled up in his lap, now asleep.

"Well, I should head out. I need to get home to my kids. Rick probably has them bouncing off the walls by now and, they have school tomorrow. But, listen, if you need anything, anything at all, you call me, okay?" She said as she went into the kitchen and wrote her number down on one of the folded paper bags from the grocery store.

Liam picked up Cassie and followed Stacey to the door. "Yeah, thanks Stacey, I'll be sure to do that."

After showing Stacey to the door, Liam went upstairs to put Cassie to bed and see how Chris was doing with his shower.

After putting Cassie down, he knocked on the bathroom door. "Chris, how ya doin in there?" He asked.

"I'm almost done Uncle Liam, I'm just brushing my teeth." Chris replied.

"Oh, okay. That's good. Hurry up though, it's time for bed. We've had a busy day today and we have a lot of stuff to take care of tomorrow."

"I'm done." Chris said, coming out of the bathroom.

"Well then, let's get you to bed."

"Uncle Liam?"

"Hmmm?"

"When are Mommy and Daddy coming back? Grandma said that they died in a fire at the house, but I don't think they would have died without saying goodbye. They didn't even tell me goodnight before they left. I just want them to come back."

"Oh, Chris, honey, let's go sit down in your room and talk a little bit, okay?" Liam replied, surprised by the question and hoping to buy himself a little time, in order to think about how to respond to Chris.


Consumed Pt. 02



Once in the bedroom, Liam sat up against the headboard of the bed and beckoned Chris to come lay down with him. Once Chris was lying against him, Liam began.

"Chris, I know that Grandma already talked to you about this, but I'll tell you again. Your mom and dad died in a fire at your house. You and Cassie are going to stay with me from now on. I'll take care of both of you. You don't have anything to worry about. I'm really sorry that you and Cassie have to go through this, but I'll be here for you and so will Grandma and Grandpa. Okay? We're a family and we love you both." By this time Chris was curled up against Liam, crying his little broken heart out. Liam couldn't hold back either and started crying too.

"Uncle Liam, Cassie and me should have been in the house too. If we were, would we be with Mommy and Daddy still?" Chris asked.

"Oh, Chris, please don't say that," Liam said between sobs. "I couldn't stand it if I lost you guys too. Neither could Grandma and Grandpa. We need you here with us. That's why God made sure you weren't in the house, so you guys could stay here with us. Do you understand?" He added, while rolling Chris against him and hugging him tightly, both of them having huge tears rolling down their faces.

Pulling back slightly, Chris asked, "So, I'm never going to see them again?"

"Someday, you will, but right now, you guys are here and you have me and your Grandma and Grandpa who love you very much." Then added, "Hey, why don't you come and sleep with me tonight. Figuring at this point, they both needed the comfort of each other right now.

"Okay." Chris replied, as they both got up and headed to bed.

It was three o'clock in the morning, this time, when Liam heard Cassie again, calling for Mommy. Untangling himself from Chris, he headed to her room.

"Hey sweetie, Mommy's not here right now, remember? What's wrong? What do you need?" Liam said, trying to sooth her.

"I went pee pee, Uncle Leem." She replied.

"Oh, okay. Come on then, let's get you out of these wet pajamas and cleaned up." He said.

After he had Cassie cleaned up and in dry pajamas, he left her in his bed curled up with Chris while he changed her sheets and put all the wet bedding in the washer.

By the time he got back to bed, it was almost four thirty in the morning. It was when he was laying there, trying to go back to sleep, that he thought about the fact that Jack never called him tonight. Getting back up, he headed to his cell phone to see if he had missed any calls. Sure enough, he had missed Jack's call last night. Crawling back into the rather cramped bed, he thought, 'Well, nothing I can do about it tonight', while still feeling a little tinge of disappointment from having missed the call, 'I'll just talk to him in a few hours.' However, he still silently cried himself to sleep. Even with all the support he's had so far, he still couldn't help feeling all alone.



Consumed Pt. 03



WARNING AND NOTICES: This is a work of fiction. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Do not read if you are underage according to the laws in the country, state/province, county, city/town/village or township where you live.

Copyright © 2008 Debra Diane; Permission is granted to Literotica to post one copy. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized copying will constitute an infringement of copyright.

Author's Note: I just wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed, sent me wonderful comments, and voted for my story. It really is what keeps me motivated to write more. Thank you!

Chapter 4

This time, when Liam woke up, he was alone in the bed. Glancing over at the clock, he saw that it was already ten o'clock in the morning. He could hear the TV downstairs and figured that's where he'd find the kids.

Once down stairs, he found the kids, as expected, glued to the TV.

"Good morning, you guys sleep okay?" He asked.

"Yep." They replied in unison, not even taking their eyes off the TV.

Liam, noticing that Chris held his cell phone, asked, "Chris, why do you have my cell phone, did someone call?"

"Yeah, Grandma called and wants you to call her." He said.

"Oh, okay, thanks." Liam said, silently glad that he didn't miss Jack's call again. Grabbing his cell phone from Chris and heading to the kitchen, he decided he would get his coffee made, fix breakfast for the kids and then give his mom a call.

When he got to the kitchen, he found milk, cereal and bowls already out on the table. 

'Apparently, the kids decided they couldn't wait for breakfast, oh well, at least that's taken care of.' He thought.

After he had his cup of coffee, he sat down at the kitchen table and called his mom.

"Hey mom, Chris said you called?"

"Yeah, I wanted to touch base with you. I think I've got all the arrangements in place for the funeral. It's set for Wednesday at ten thirty in the morning. Adam's law firm has been a huge help. I put you and Jack down as pallbearers and I was hoping you wouldn't mind also giving the eulogy. Adam's secretary has already contacted the newspapers and announcement of the funeral should be in today's paper. Also, your dad met with Adam's lawyer about their will. They would like us to come by the office today at one o'clock to go over everything. I'm sure there will be paperwork that will have to be signed." She said.

"Okay, mom, that sounds fine. Jack comes back tonight, so I'll talk to him about being a pallbearer and I'll meet you at the law firm at eleven. I'll have to see if I can find someone to watch the kids." He responded.

"Speaking of the kids, how are they doing?" She asked.

And Liam spent the next ten minutes filling her in on everything. He told her about Cassie waking up at night, Chris being so quiet and him asking about his parents.

"Well, those seem like pretty normal reactions, considering. Hopefully attending the funeral will help Chris put things in perspective." She said.

"Yeah, I also plan on swinging by Chris's school this afternoon and talking with the principal. I'm not sure if he should go right back to school or if we should keep him out for a while. I'm sure they've dealt with this kind of stuff before and can offer some suggestions. I'm also hoping we can get Chris in to meet with the school counselor."

"That's probably an excellent idea. I'm sure it would be a good idea for Chris to have someone to talk to, someone who has experience helping children deal with their grief. Listen, I'll let you go, so you can get everything in order. I'll see you at the lawyer's office and we can talk more." She said, and then ended with "I Love you, honey."

"Love you too, mom." Liam said, just before disconnecting the call.

After refilling his coffee cup, he picked up the phone again and called Stacey.

"Hi, Stacey, it's Liam."

"Hey Liam, wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon. Everything okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, everything is fine, but I need a babysitter and I don't know where to go to find one. I was hoping you could help. I'll probably need someone from about noon until early this evening."

"Sure, I can help with that. Let me make some phone calls and I'll have someone over there shortly." She offered.

"Thanks Stacey, I really appreciate it."

"Hey, it's no problem." She said, before hanging up the phone.

Once that call was out of the way, Liam picked up the phone again and called information for the number to Chris's school.

When he got the school secretary on the line, he explained who he was and why he was calling. He then scheduled an appointment to meet with the principal, the school counselor and with Chris's teacher.

With all of the phone calls out of the way, Liam herded the kids upstairs to get ready.

Just as Liam was sitting the kids down with grilled cheese sandwiches and carrots for lunch, his doorbell rang.

Opening the door, he was surprised to see Rick standing on the other side.

"Rick, what are you doing here?" He asked.

"That bossy woman down at the fire station told me I had to come down and keep an eye on a couple of hoodlums." He said, with a big grin on his face.

Before Liam could even respond, both the kids were hollering Rick's name excitedly, while running full force at him.

"Ciao piccolo grande giovanotto!" He said, as he deftly picked up Chris and threw him up on his shoulders, then picked up Cassie in his arms. "La mia bellissima piccola Cassie." He continued and then planted a kiss on Cassie's cheek.

Liam had no clue what Rick just said, but he did know it sounded damn sexy in that strong Italian baritone voice of his.

"Wait, you're here to stay with the kids? I didn't mean for you to have to come down here to baby-sit. Don't you have to work?" He asked.

"Yep, I'm here to baby-sit and nope, I don't have to work. I work a 48/96 schedule, meaning, forty-eight hours on and ninety-six hours off. I just finished my forty-eight hours on and now I'm off for the next four days." He said in response to Liam's questions.

"Rick, you don't want to baby-sit someone else's kids on your day off. I can go ahead and reschedule my meeting and then work to find someone else." Liam said, feeling guilty about having inconvenienced Rick.

"Hey, you don't want me to stay with the kids?" Rick asked, his smile fading from his face.

Okay, now Liam felt really guilty.

"No, no, it's not that, it's just I figured you'd have other things to do besides spending the day with the kids."

"Nope, got nothing better to do." He said, walking into the house and tossing the kids on the couch. "In fact, you better head out if you're going to make it to the lawyer's on time. Don't you have to be there at one o'clock?" He added.

"Shit... or, um, I mean, darn." He said, quickly trying to recover from his faux pas. "Darn, I really do have to get out of here. Are you sure you're okay with watching the kids?" He asked again.

"Sure, I'm sure. Now, just get out of here. We'll be fine."

"Okay, I'm just going to say goodbye to the kids real quick. Hopefully, I should be back by five o'clock." Liam said.

Heading to the living room, Liam gave both the kids a big bear hug and a kiss and told them he'd be back later this afternoon and to be good for Rick.

With that taken care of, he slipped out the door.

The visit with the lawyer seemed long and tedious. In the end, it basically boiled down to the fact that Rebecca and Frank had been named as primary guardians, with Liam being secondary guardian. Rebecca and Frank had to decline guardianship, so that guardianship would then fall to Liam.

The entire estate, with the exception of trust funds that had been set up for the kids, including all of their property, savings, life insurance policies, retirement savings, and a few other miscellaneous holdings, which were all directed to go to the guardian of the kids. Since Adam and Julie had appointed the law firm as the executor of their will, the law firm would handle all of the details.

The lawyer gave Liam an envelope that contained all of the information he would need to read over and sign and then scheduled another appointment with him on Thursday, so they could finalize the guardianship. Transfer of all of the estate holdings would take a little longer, since the will still had to go through probate.

When Liam finished with the law firm, he said goodbye to his parents, and then headed over to the school, just barely making it in time for the appointment.

The counselor did most of the talking. He recommended that Liam get the kids back in school as quickly as possible. That they needed to get back into their routines, that they needed to know that even though their mom and dad were gone, that their lives wouldn't change drastically in other areas. He also said that he would like to meet with Chris twice a week to start. That they would meet at lunch time and have lunch together.

Liam provided the principal with all of the documentation showing that he had temporary custody of Chris until the guardianship paperwork was completed. He also completed all of the required school forms, such as contact information, alternate emergency pick-up contacts, and also a list of people who are authorized to pick Chris up.

Chris's teacher gave him a paper bag full of hand made cards to give to Chris. It seems the entire school had made sympathy cards for Chris. She also said that they all missed Chris very much and would be glad when he returned.

When Liam left the school, it was almost 5 o'clock. He swung by a Chinese food restaurant on his way home and picked up dinner for everyone.

Once home, he found Cassie and Rick on the couch asleep. It was a really sweet sight. Rick was sprawled on his back, snoring lightly, and Cassie was draped across his chest. Chris was laying on the floor, playing some sort of game system.

"Where did that come from?" Liam asked.

"Rick bought it for us. Isn't it cool? He took us to the toy store and we had so much fun. We even got to go for ice cream afterwards." He said, obviously still on a high from his afternoon.

At least now Liam knew why Rick and Cassie were so tuckered out.

"Well, I brought Chinese food home for dinner. Why don't you see if you can wake them up and I'll get everything ready, okay?

"Mmkay." Chris said, as he saved his game and turned off the TV.

Just as Liam was setting the table, Rick walked in carrying Cassie in his arms, with Chris following close behind.

"Hey, when did you get back? Sorry, I guess we fell asleep." He said, looking at Liam rather sheepishly.

"That's okay, it sounds like you guys have a busy day. You really didn't have to buy them a game system." Liam said.

"I know, but I couldn't resist. We were at the toy store and Chris and I started comparing notes on the games and I just kinda realized that he wouldn't have his games anymore and I just wanted to get them the system. I hope that's okay." He said, still looking rather sheepish.

"Yeah, it's okay. The counselor actually suggested I try to keep their lives as normal as possible. I really appreciate all your help today. I brought dinner back. Will you join us?" Liam asked.

"Sure, I'm famished. Other than breakfast this morning and the ice cream this afternoon, I haven't really eaten anything today." He said, as they all sat down at the table.

After dinner, Liam showed Rick to the door and again thanked him for all his help.

Liam then hauled Cassie and Chris upstairs for a bath. This time Chris wanted to take a bath too, so Liam just had them take one together.

After they were clean and had pajamas on, they all sat in front of the TV watching a Disney movie.

About half way through the movie, Liam heard someone coming in the door. Knowing it would be Jack, he immediately launched himself off the couch, ran to the door and threw himself into Jack's arms.

"Jack, god, I'm so glad your home." He said, punctuating each word with a kiss. "I missed you so much."

Jack wrapped his arms around Liam, while Liam wrapped his legs around Jack and locked their lips together. Jack, picked Liam up, turned around and slammed Liam's back against the door, all the while, never breaking the lip locking, tongue tying kiss they were exchanging.

Jack finally pulled back from Liam long enough to move down to his neck. While Jack was nibbling on his neck and ear, Liam just happened to glance over Jack's shoulder.

"Um, Jack, hold up a minute." He said, as he dropped his legs back to the floor and then stepped back from Jack a little. "We've got an audience." He added, slightly embarrassed at being caught.

"Oh, right... I forgot. Hey kids." Rick said, as he turned to face the kids.

"Um, well, it's past the kid's bedtime anyway, so I'll just get them settled in bed." Liam said, taking both the kids in hand and heading up stairs.

Once the kids were tucked in, he met Jack in their bedroom. Jack was unpacking his suitcase.

Liam walked up to Jack, wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him in for a long, sensuous kiss. After breaking from the kiss, he said, "Now, where were we?"

"Mmmm, let's see if I can help you remember." Jack replied as he started to work on Liam's neck again.

"But, before we get too far into this, I need a shower. Care to join me? I sure could use someone to wash those hard to reach spots, or maybe just the 'hard' spot." Jack whispered into Liam's ear.

"I think that can be arranged" Liam said, as he pulled out of Jack's embrace and headed into the bathroom, pulling his lover with him.

Once in the bathroom, Liam turned to Jack and started removing his clothing, starting with his shirt. As he removed the shirt, he leaned in and kissed, first his right nipple and then the left. Jack moaned from the almost feather light touch of Liam's lips, then reach up and pulled Liam's lips back to his nipple.

Liam grinned, and then brought his tongue out and circled the nipple, then sucked it to attention. Pulling back, he moved over to the other nipple and gave it the same treatment, before grasping the hard nub between his teeth and giving it a quick sharp bite. Jack couldn't help the hiss that escaped him and then followed that with a disappointed groan as Liam pulled away.

"Let's get rid of the rest of your clothing. It's getting in the way." He said, as he worked to remove the rest of Jack's clothing.

After he had Jack divested of his clothing, Liam turned on the shower, removed his own clothing, and then pulled Jack into the shower with him.

Pulling Jack under the water, Liam grabbed the soap and began lathering up Jack's body. Once he was finished with his body, he filled his hand with shampoo and then worked his hands through Jack's hair. Jack's body was literally thrumming from the scalp massage that Liam was giving him.

After Jack had rinsed his hair, Jack turned to face Liam and returned the favor.

Once both of them were thoroughly clean, Jack dropped to his knees, grasped both of Liam's firm globes in his hands and pulled Liam to him, swallowing Liam's full length down his throat. Liam was so caught of guard by Jack's sudden attack, that his legs almost gave out from underneath him.

"Oh god, Jack. That feels so damn good." Liam said.

Jack responded by working his mouth up and down Liam's length.

"Jack, god, Jack, you have to stop. I'm going to cum. Shit, shit, wait, don't stop." Liam said, almost incoherently.

Jack had no intention of stopping, in fact, his hand had made it's way over to Liam's sphincter and he was now, slowly rubbing a finger back and forth over the sensitive area. This added sensation was causing Liam's legs to tremble slightly. Jack didn't hold back. He consumed Liam's length until he bottomed out at his pubes, and at the same instant, pressed his finger into Liam, searching for that little hot spot of pleasure. Liam's legs shook visibly as Jack finally found the spot. "Shit, Jack, I'm cumming, shit, yeah." Liam said as he spurted his juices down Jack's throat. Jack pulled back slightly, so he could taste the fruits of his labor.

"Damn Jack, I need you to fuck me and I need it NOW." Liam said, as he reached over and turned off the water, then grabbed Jack, pulled him up and devoured his mouth.

Not even breaking the kiss, Liam walked backwards, while pulling Jack with him out of the shower. On the way to the bed, Liam grabbed a towel off the rack and quickly dried himself and Jack as best he could without breaking their kiss.

As soon as they reached the bed, they both tumbled down with Jack landing on top. Jack leaned over and worked the bedside drawer open and pulled out the lube.

"Damn, I've been waiting for this ass all week." Then he started to work his lubed finger into Liam.

Liam was squirming and moaning, thoroughly enjoying the treatment Jack was giving him, when Jack suddenly froze, then said, "Did you hear something?"

Liam paused as well, listening intently. Sure enough, they both heard it this time.

"Mooommmmy." The word was stretched out, as if Cassie had been calling for mommy for some time and figured if she stretched it out or called louder, that it would actually bring mom.

As soon as Jack and Liam heard the call, Jack collapsed over onto the bed with an irritated growl. Liam patted Jack on the shoulder, kissed his cheek in apology and then leapt out of bed. After putting on his pants, he headed over to Cassie's room.

"Hey sweetie, what's wrong?" Liam asked when he entered her room.

"I'm wet and I want my mommy." Cassie said with tears streaming down her face.

"Oh Cassie, honey, I'm sorry. I should have had you go to the bathroom before bed. I forgot. I'm sorry." Liam said, feeling guilty.

"Let's get you cleaned up and into some dry pajamas."

The entire time Liam was cleaning Cassie, she was crying and just kept asking for her mommy.

Liam was almost in tears as well and just kept telling her that mommy couldn't be here right now.

After she was dry and in clean pajamas, Cassie was still heaving from and sniffling from her breakdown.

Liam, not wanting to leave her alone tonight, said, "Hey, sweetie, you want to sleep with Uncle Liam again tonight?"

"Um, hmm." She said, and Liam picked her up and carried her to his bedroom. Before he entered the room, he told Jack that Cassie would be sleeping with them tonight and to go ahead and get some pajama bottoms on.

Once Jack gave the 'all clear,' Liam came in and laid Cassie down on the bed, then crawled in between her and Jack.

Liam rolled over with his back to Jack, so he could pull Cassie to him. Jack, in turn, pulled Liam against his front.

Liam couldn't stop feeling guilty. He felt guilty for not remembering to take Cassie to the bathroom before bed and he felt guilty for getting off and for Jack not being able to. He felt guilty because Jack's life was also changing and it was because of him.

Jack let out a huge sigh against Liam's ear, then said, "Liam, I'm going to go sleep downstairs on the couch."

Liam turned his head slightly to look at Jack. "You don't have to do that Jack. There's plenty of room in the bed for all of us. I want you here with me tonight Jack, even if we only sleep. I've missed you."

"Liam, I've got a raging case of blue balls right now that I really need to take care of. Besides, I don't feel comfortable having her in our bed. We'll talk about this tomorrow" He said, getting up and heading out of the bedroom.

After Jack left, Liam pulled Cassie a little closer to him. He couldn't help worrying over how he and Jack were going to get through this. He couldn't ignore Cassie, especially since she needed him more than Jack did, but he didn't want to lose Jack either. Would it come to that, he wondered. He hoped not.




Consumed Pt. 03



Liam continued to lie there, not sleeping, only thinking, for hours, before sleep finally did take him.



Consumed Pt. 04



WARNING AND NOTICES: This is a work of fiction. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Do not read if you are underage according to the laws in the country, state/province, county, city/town/village or township where you live.

Copyright © 2008 Debra Diane; Permission is granted to Literotica to post one copy. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized copying will constitute an infringement of copyright.

Author's Quick Note: Sorry about the double posting on the last chapter. Since I'm posting this out in the middle of the ocean on a boat and the cost of internet service is outrageous, I'm trying to keep it to a minimum, so I goofed. Sorry to do that to all of you. It's very embarrassing.

Chapter 5

Liam was brought out of his slumber bright and early by a little foot nudging his nose. Opening his eyes and lifting his head, he could see that Cassie had somehow managed to turn completely around, hence, the foot in his face.

He rolled out of bed, trying not to wake Cassie and then headed downstairs, the smell of fresh brewed coffee permeating his senses as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

Jack was sitting at the dining room table, reading the newspaper and working on his coffee. He glanced up as Liam walked in.

"Good morning. Why don't you grab a cup of coffee and then we can talk." He said.

Liam, not really ready to start the conversation that he knew was coming, continued on into the kitchen.

When he came back, coffee cup in hand, and sat down across from Jack, Jack folded up his paper and placed it on the table in front of him.

"So, is this something I should come to expect? Are we not going to be able to even be alone in our own bed anymore?" He asked.

"No, Jack, it won't always be like this. The kids are scared right now. They are in a new place, their mommy and daddy are gone. They're confused and feel alone. We are the only ones right now that can provide them with some stability, some security, even at night if they need it." He said, before taking a deep breath and continuing.

"They do pretty well during the day. I think mostly because they are distracted, but night-time becomes more difficult, because they don't have any distractions. I think it will get better once they feel safer. Once they feel at home."

"Liam, I just got back. I was really looking forward to spending some time with you. I've missed you. Can't you send them to your mom and dad's for a night or two?" Jack asked.

"Jack, I can't do that to them right now. I don't think it would be good for them. Like I said, they need stability. Sending them to my parent's house could cause more problems. I can't do that to them. Things will settle down, you just need to be patient. I need you to be patient." Liam responded.

Jack sat there for some time, thinking intently before he responded.

"Okay, I guess I understand, or at least I'm trying to. I want to, anyway. This has just caught me by surprise." He said, and then added as an afterthought. "How did the kids get out of the house, when Julie and Adam didn't?"

"They weren't home with Julie and Adam. It was Julie and Adam's anniversary, so they were spending the night at my parents. I'm just so glad I didn't lose them too." Liam said, and then remembered the funeral tomorrow. "Oh yeah, the funeral is tomorrow and my mom asked me to talk to you about being a pallbearer. Would that be okay?" Liam added.

"Sure, I can do that. I'll let the office know that I won't be in tomorrow. Speaking of the office." He said, looking at his watch. "I've got to head out." Standing up, Jack left the dining room and took his cup to the kitchen.

When he came back from the kitchen, Liam stood up, walked over to him and wrapped his arms around his neck. Jack responded automatically, by wrapping his arms around Liam's waist and pulling him in for a kiss.

"Mmmm, I love you, and we're okay, right?" Liam asked, still feeling a little unsure about the outcome of their conversation.

"Yeah, we're good. It's just you'll have to be patient with me too. I'm very set in my ways, a creature of habit. It's going to take me some time to adjust to everything. But, I love you too." He said, as he leaned in for one more kiss.

Pulling back, Liam asked. "What time are you going to be home tonight?"

"Well, I've been gone all week and Michelle was on vacation last week, so with both of us being out, I'm sure we'll have a lot of catching up to do. I'll call you at lunchtime and let you know. What's on your agenda today?"

Actually, I think the kids and I will take it easy today. I have some work I need to get done. My reports for this client are due on Friday, so I'll be working on that. I think it will be good for the kids to have some downtime." Liam said.

Okay, well, I'll call you at lunch." Jack said, before giving Liam a quick kiss on the lips and heading out the door.

The morning was actually pretty laid back. Liam was able to get a lot of work done while Chris and Cassie played with a couple of the board games that came in the stuff that Rick had brought over.

At lunch time, they were all seated around the table eating lunch and going through all the sympathy cards that Chris's schoolmates had made. Liam was a little hesitant to give them to Chris, but in the end, both Chris and Cassie enjoyed reading the cards. Chris told Liam who each card was from. It was obvious that he was very proud of how many good friends he had. Liam was glad that the cards had actually made Chris happy.

Just about the time that they had finished eating lunch, the phone rang. Liam, glancing at the caller ID, cheerfully answered. "Hey handsome, how's your day going?"

The response he got back was definitely not what he was expecting.

"Liam, god, I don't know how to tell you this, but Michelle and her husband were in an accident on their way up to the resort. I just got a call from Michelle's mom. She got worried when they didn't come home Sunday night. They found the car this morning. It went off the road and into a ravine. None of them survived. Abby was with them too." Jack said.

Liam's mind was spinning. How could this happen. He had grown up with Michelle. Well, actually Julie had grown up with Michelle. They had been best friends forever. In fact, they had been trying to get pregnant at the same time. Julie was trying for her second child and Michelle her first. Unfortunately, Michelle had a little more trouble, so Abigail came along about a year after Cassie. It was Michelle that recommended Liam to Jack when he was looking for an analyst.

Liam was shaken out of his thoughts by Jack. "Liam, are you still there? Please answer me. Liam?"

"Yeah, I'm still here. I just don't know what to say." And he really didn't. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he was going to have to deal with another loss.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I think I'm just a little numb right now. I need to call my mom. She'll want to know. She'll want to call Michelle's mom. God, I bet Laura isn't handling this well at all. Not only did she just lose her husband a few months back, but now she just lost her daughter, granddaughter and son all in one fell swoop."

"I'm sorry Liam. I had a hard time actually making the call to tell you. I probably won't be home until late tonight. I've been trying to get things settled over here. One of my associates secretaries is here and working with me to get Michelle's work in order. I'm buried in work over here. I don't know how I'll survive without her. She pretty much ran this place." Jack said.

"Well, I understand. Don't worry about me, just take care of what you need to on your end. I'm going to call mom. I'm sorry Jack, I know this is tough on you too. I know you and Michelle were good friends too. I love you and I'll be here for you when you get home tonight.

"I love you too, Liam. I'll talk to you later tonight." Jack said, before hanging up.

Once Liam hung up the phone, he picked it up again and called his mom.

"Hello?" His dad answered.

"Hi dad, is mom there?"

"Oh, hey Liam, no she's not here. She went over to Laura's." He said, somewhat hesitant.

"It's okay dad, I already know. Jack called me from work today and filled me in. How's mom doing?" Liam asked.

"As well as can be expected, considering. You know that Michelle was like one of our own kids. Your mom's going to bring Laura over here to spend the night, so she won't be alone. I think they both need each other right now." Frank said.

"Yeah, I know. I'm glad that Laura will be with you guys. I was worried about her, since she really doesn't have anyone else now, at least not locally. I know that she was considering moving back to the east coast to live with her sister, but didn't want to leave Michelle and Abby. Now, she'll probably go ahead and move. Mom will really miss her if she does." Liam said. 

"You know Dad, we haven't really had a chance to talk. How are you doing? Are you holding up okay?" Liam asked, a tight lump forming in his throat and tears shining in his eyes.

"I'm doing okay Liam. I still can't believe that my baby girl is gone. I haven't had enough time to miss her yet and it just doesn't seem real. I keep expecting to get a call from her asking me to come over and fix a leaky faucet or unclog the garbage disposal." He laughed, but it was a pained and tired laugh, infused with sadness. "She was always clogging up that damn disposal." He said.

"I know. Adam would get so mad at her. That's why she finally started calling you to fix it. That way Adam wouldn't know." Liam replied, the memory causing the tears to finally start falling.

"Liam, it sounds like your mom and Laura just got back. Do you want to talk to your mom?" Frank asked.

"No, that's okay dad, just tell her that I called, that I'll call her tomorrow morning and that I love her. I love you too, dad."

"I know, we both know, Liam, but I'll tell her. We love you too and give Chris and Cassie a big hug and kiss for us."

"Will do, dad. Talk to you later." Liam said and then hung up the phone.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, Liam headed to the dining room only to find it empty. Following the sound of the television, he found Chris playing a video game and Cassie giving verbal support.

Liam sat down on the couch and just stared at the television. He didn't know what to do with himself. He didn't feel like he could work right now, but he didn't know what else to do. He had to do something, needed to do something, but didn't know what that something should be, so he just sat there staring at the television.

Liam wasn't sure how long he sat there, but it was Cassie that brought him out of his stupor. She had reached her little hand up, cupped his cheek and said, "Unca is sad, why are you sad Unca Leem?"

I'm okay, sweetheart, I'm okay." Liam said, grabbing Cassie and pulling her into a bone crushing hug.

Liam finally decided it would be best to get some more work done. With everything going on, he didn't know when he'd actually get another chance. Cassie came in and sat on the other side of his desk while he worked. She was busy helping him finish up some graphs that he had printed by mistake and then filed in the recycling bin.

They worked like that for a couple of hours, with Liam getting up once because Cassie was hungry and wanted a snack and another time when Chris came in and decided he wanted to help with the graphs as well. It wasn't long before Chris was trying to force Cassie to play office. He wanted to be the manager and Cassie was his secretary. Chris was at Jack's desk, pretending to be working on the computer, while giving Cassie orders. It was quite funny actually, and Liam couldn't help but stop and watch. The problem that Chris was having was that Cassie didn't understand what Chris wanted and wouldn't play the game right.

Liam couldn't help but chuckle at the sight and found that the little scene had actually helped bring him out of his funk a little bit.

"Well guys, we should probably make some dinner. You guys interested in helping? How does spaghetti, garlic bread and asparagus sound?" Liam asked.

"Ooooh, I like sgetti, Unca Leem. Can I help with that?" Cassie asked.

"Sure you can. Chris, think you could handle the garlic bread?" He asked Chris.

"Yeah, I can do that. But, Uncle Liam, I don't like sparagus. Do I have to eat it?" Chris asked, looking a little worried.

"Well, I'll tell you what you have at least one bite and if you don't like it, you don't have to eat it. You can have some carrots instead. How does that sound?" Liam said.

Chris just shrugged in response.

Dinner was good. It did take a little longer than usual to prepare, and the mess was a little larger than usual, but still, everyone had fun, so it was worth it.

After they had cleaned up the dinner mess, Liam took the kids upstairs for their baths, and then they settled in for their evening movie, which seemed to have become a ritual.

During the movie, Liam had Cassie curled up against one side, his arm wrapped around her and Chris, in the same position on his other side.

When the movie finished, Cassie was already asleep and Chris was almost there, struggling to stay awake.

"Come on Chris." Liam said, nudging Chris fully awake. "Let's get to bed. I'm beat." Liam said, and then added. "Hey, you guys want to sleep with me tonight?" Liam asked. He had decided that he needed the kids close tonight. If Jack didn't like it, then Jack could sleep on the couch again.

"Okay." Chris said, yawning and stretching.

Liam picked up Cassie and carried her upstairs. Before putting her in bed, he woke her up, as much as he could, and had her go to the bathroom. There was no way he was going to chance waking up soaked with urine.

Once everyone had taken care of business, they all crawled in bed. Liam in the middle of the bed, with Chris curled up against him and Cassie curled up against Chris. 'This is nice.' Liam thought, as he reached over and pulled both Cassie and Chris as tight as he could against him.

As he lay there, he started thinking, which wasn't good, because that brought on the tears. He started thinking about his sister and what was going through her and Adam's minds as they tried to escape the fire. He wondered if they had seen their killer. God, he missed his sister, but he was so glad he still had Chris and Cassie here.

At that thought, he instinctively pulled Chris and Cassie to him even tighter. Their little bodies not even waking up from what was probably a rather tight hug.

Then Liam's mind went to Michelle, her husband and daughter, and then to Laura. He still couldn't believe it was true. How could something so horrific happen twice in such a short time span. He did take some solace in the thought that Julie and Adam would have been there, where ever they were, to greet Michelle and her family. In fact, Michelle, he was pretty sure, hadn't even heard about Julie and Adam.

Slowly Liam's thoughts drifted again. This time to Jack. Would Jack be able to accept the kids? He didn't want to lose Jack. He just hoped that Jack would come around. They were really good kids. Who could not help falling love with them? Yes, Jack would eventually come around. He just needed time.

As all of these thoughts were rolling around in his head, Jack quietly slipped into the room.

"Hey." Liam said. "How are you doing? The kids are in our bed again. I'm sorry, I just needed them here tonight. I'm sorry, Jack." Liam said quietly, as Jack changed into a pair of pajama bottoms and climbed into bed behind Liam.

"It's okay. I pretty much expected it." Jack said, pulling Liam up against him and nuzzling his neck. Jack placed a small, open mouthed kiss at the base of Liam's shoulder and neck.

"Mmmm, that's nice. Jack are you staying in our bed tonight? Cause, I really need you here." Liam said, his tears suddenly and uncontrollably falling in a torrent. He couldn't help it. He tried to stop them, but everything was falling apart.

"Hey… Hey, hey, hey." Jack said, rolling Liam over to face him.

"Baby, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I'll stay in bed tonight, don't worry." Jack said, feeling bad that he was only adding to Liam's distress.

Liam nodded his head, snuggled closer to Jack and breathed in his scent. His breath shuddered slightly from all the crying, and then settled back down. Now Liam could sleep. Now that Jack was here, everything would be alright and he could sleep.  

When morning dawned, Liam woke up again with two little feet in his face. Somehow, Chris and Cassie had switched places and Cassie had again managed to turn completely around.

Rolling over, Liam found Jack lying next to him. He smiled, moved closer and gave him a small kiss on the lips.

"Mmmm, good morning." Jack said, and then added. "How come your breath smells like stinky feet?" He tried hard, but just couldn't hold back the grin that graced his face.

"Oh, I see how it is, Mr. Smartass." Liam said, grabbing Jack's pillow, pulling it out from under his head and giving him a good smack across the face with it.

"Sorry, just couldn't resist that one." Jack said, trying to hold back his laughter.

"Well, you can just get that smart ass of yours right out of bed and get in the shower." Liam said, as he used his feet to push Jack out of the bed.

"Okay, okay, I'm going. The kids are still asleep. You going to join me?" Jack asked, giving Liam a leering grin.

Liam glanced over at the kids. Yep, they were, surprisingly, still asleep.

"Okay, come on." He said, as he grabbed Jack's hand and raced for the shower.

Luckily, they weren't wearing much and it didn't take long to get naked. As soon as they were naked and Liam had the water warmed, he pulled Jack into the shower with him.

Jack slammed Liam up against the shower, capturing his mouth in a kiss that almost knocked their teeth together with the force of it, their tongues working together, tasting each other like they were starving. Jack reached up to the shower caddy and grabbed the lube.

"This time, I'm getting what I want." Jack growled, as he generously lubed his straining cock. Jacking off the other night didn't really relieve much of the pent up need, but this definitely would.

Once Jack was nicely lubed, he leaned in, kissing Liam again, this time a little more gently. Liam lifted his legs and wrapped them around Jack's waist. Jack reached down from behind Liam and worked to guide himself into Liam.

"Oh, god, Jack. That feels so good." Liam said, as Jack slowly, almost agonizingly slid inside him.

As soon as Jack was fully seated, he leaned in again for another kiss, and then pulled out and slammed back home again.

All Liam could do was moan into the kiss, as Jack slammed into him over and over again. He used his legs and feet to grasp Jack and make sure he didn't stop. Between the beating his prostate was taking and the friction his cock was getting between their bodies, it wasn't long before Liam was screaming out his orgasm into Jack's mouth.

Jack wasn't long to follow. He gave one more hard slam into Liam and then gave way to his own release.

"Oh, yeah, shit, Liam. You don't know how much I needed that." Jack said as he shuddered one last time and then leaned in for one last kiss, he just couldn't get enough of Liam's mouth. He tasted so good. 

"I think I have a pretty good idea." Liam said, as he settled his legs back down on the floor. "Or, at least my ass does." He added, laughing. "But, we better hurry and finish our shower before the kids wake up." Liam said.

"Okay." Jack said, as both he and Liam watched some of the tension, frustration, grief, and worry wash away down the drain with their semen.




Consumed Pt. 04



After they emerged from the shower, they found that the kids had already woken up and were downstairs.

"Do you suppose they heard us?" Liam asked.

"Don't know, but there's not much we can do about it now." Jack replied.

"Yeah, I suppose not. I need to get downstairs and call my mom to find out what time we need to be at the funeral home." Liam said, as he got dressed, gave Jack one last kiss, and then headed downstairs.

After Liam got off the phone, he went into the kitchen and found Jack and the kids sitting quietly at the table. The kids were eating cereal for breakfast and Jack was having his usual cup of coffee while reading the paper.

"Well, mom says that we'll be leaving the funeral home for the church at ten thirty, so we'll need to be there about ten. We'll follow the procession to the church, where we'll have the services. After the services, the procession will head to the cemetery for the burial services. After that, we'll head back over to the church for the luncheon. It's going to be a busy day." Liam said.

The day did, indeed turn out to be busy. Liam gave a heartfelt eulogy. He tried not to cry, but couldn't hold back. Not that it mattered, because there really wasn't a dry eye in the church. There were other people who also stepped forward to say a few words. There was a large turnout, which included a lot of city and county officials.

Rick, Stacey and Mitch were there too, as was Laura. During the luncheon, Liam took the chance to introduce Jack to Rick, Stacey and Mitch.

"Hey guys, I want you to meet Jack. Jack, this is Stacey, Mitch and Rick. Stacey and Rick were real lifesavers while you were gone. They are the ones that worked to pool together all the stuff for Cassie and Chris. Stacey even took me shopping. I don't know what I would have done if they weren't here to help." Liam said, and then turning to Mitch, he said. "And Mitch is the detective who's working on the arson case."

"Well, it's nice to meet you all and thank you for coming forward and helping Liam out. I wish I could have been here for him. It was really hard being so far away and not being able to be with him when he needed me." Jack said, shaking everyone's hand.

"Hey, it was our pleasure. They are really great kids." Rick said.

When they got home that night, everyone was exhausted. All the tears they had shed had left them all feeling numb. Liam's heart was literally aching and again, he didn't try to put the kids in their own rooms. Tonight was another night that he just wanted them close by.

The rest of the week went by pretty quickly. On Thursday Liam met with the lawyers and finalized the guardianship paperwork. It would probably be another sixty to ninety days before they finalized the rest of the will, but the lawyers made sure that there was a small amount of funds available if Liam needed anything until then.

On Friday, he, Chris and Cassie, met Stacey, her kids, and Rick for lunch. It was a good visit and the kids had a lot of fun. After lunch, Liam dropped the kids off at his parents while he went to meet with a client.

Then, on Saturday Liam dropped the kids off for a play date with Stacey's kids while he, Jack and his parent's went to Michelle's memorial service. Actually, it was a joint memorial service for Michelle, Jason, and Abigail. It was pretty tough seeing the coffins lined up like that, especially the little one for Abby. Laura wasn't doing so well and Liam's mom spent a lot of time tending to her.

After the service, they took Laura home and Rebecca gave her some medication to help her sleep, and then put her to bed, promising to be back later that night.

They picked up the kids and headed back to Liam's parents for dinner. After dinner, as they were getting ready to head out, Liam's mom gave him a box.

"Laura asked me to give these to you. I think they are mostly pictures that Michelle had of Julie, Adam and the kids. She figured since the kids lost so much in the fire, that these pictures would be nice to have. There's even a package of pictures that were still in Michelle's mailbox. Anyway, she wanted you to have them." She said.

"Thanks mom, I'll go through the pictures and maybe we'll put some up in the kid's bedrooms. "I'm sure they would like that." Liam said, taking the box from her.

Liam put the box in the trunk of the car and they all headed home after another exhausting day.

Sunday was also pretty busy. Since the kids were starting back at school on Monday, Liam took them shopping. Cassie didn't need much, since she was in preschool, but Chris needed all of his school supplies and they both needed more clothes.

Two other problems seemed to crop up during the week.

First, much to Jack's continued frustration and complaints, Liam and Jack had yet to have the bed to themselves. They usually started out alone, but ended up with at least one, and sometimes both of the kids in bed with them. Liam just didn't have the heart to turn them away. At least, not yet.

Secondly, Liam was really struggling with how Jack treated the kids. Although he was never out right mean to them, he would just pretend that they didn't exist. He rarely said two words to them and had yet to help Liam with anything directly related to the kids. It was like Liam existed in two different worlds at the same time and he didn't know how to bring those two worlds together. He was hoping that with time Jack would become more comfortable with the kids and things would get better.



Consumed Pt. 05



WARNING AND NOTICES: This is a work of fiction. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Do not read if you are underage according to the laws in the country, state/province, county, city/town/village or township where you live.

Copyright (c) 2008 Debra Diane; Permission is granted to Literotica to post one copy. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized copying will constitute an infringement of copyright.

Chapter 6

Morning dawned, not so bright and very early on Monday morning. The kids, anxious to get back to school had awoke before the sun was even up.

Liam, groaning, and telling the kids to 'go watch TV and let Uncle Liam sleep a little longer', just rolled over, curled into Jack, and went back to sleep.

The kids, much to their disappointment, did as they were told and plopped down in front of the TV.

An hour and a half later, Liam came downstairs with Jack following close behind.

Jack headed straight to the kitchen to start the coffee and Liam stopped to check on the kids.

"Hey guys, how about I make pancakes for breakfast, would you like that? He asked.

Not even waiting for the unanimous approval, Liam headed into the kitchen to start the pancakes.

When Liam had finished with the pancakes, he asked Jack to get the kids for breakfast, and then started setting the table with syrup, jams, butter and all the other pancake necessities.

When Cassie came into the kitchen by herself, Liam got curious.

"Hey Cassie. Where's Jack and Chris, are they coming?" Liam asked.

Receiving a shrug in reply, Liam headed to the living room. When he got there, he was somewhat stunned to find Jack talking to Chris in what appeared to be angry and hushed tones. He couldn't hear what Jack was saying, but he definitely looked like he was scolding Chris. However, that wasn't the only disconcerting sight. While he was talking to him, he had grabbed Chris by the arm and pulled him up so that he was almost up on his tip-toes. The grasp had to have been hurting Chris.

"What's going on?" Liam asked. 

Jack immediately released Chris's arm and both he and Chris looked over at Liam.

"I was just having to remind Chris about the rules in my house. I don't appreciate backtalk when I ask someone to do something. He didn't turn off the TV when he went to leave the room." Jack said.

"Your house?" Liam said, looking at Jack. Then, turning to Chris he said, "Chris why don't you head into the kitchen and get yourself some pancakes. Make sure Cassie eats too, and get some milk for both of you too. I'll be there in a minute."

Once Chris was gone, Liam turned back to Jack.

"Your house, Jack? This is our place Jack, not just yours. We live here together, and now Chris and Cassie are a part of this family too. You need to take it easy on them right now. They've been through so much. Besides, they are only kids, you can't expect perfection." Liam said.

"Yeah, well, it was disrespectful of him to just walk out of the room like that and leave the television on. He needs to know what's expected of him. We can't start letting them walk all over us. I know how kids these days are. You give them an inch and they'll take a mile. Well, I won't have that in 'our' house. Jack said, spitefully.

"Okay Jack, I understand that, but please try not to be so harsh. They need time to adjust. Their whole lives have been turned upside down and things are hard enough for them." Liam said.

"Oh and my life hasn't been turned upside down?" Jack asked.

"Oh come on Jack, that's not fair. I know your life has been affected to, but you're an adult." Liam said.

"Well, we're going to have to continue this 'lovely' conversation another time." Jack said, looking at his watch. "I have to get to work. I've got several interviews scheduled. I don't know how I'll ever find a replacement for Michelle. She could practically read my mind. We worked so well together." He finished, as he gave Liam a chaste kiss, obviously still upset about their argument, and then headed out the door.

Liam watched Jack head out the door and then headed into the kitchen to check on the kids, who were quietly working on breakfast.

Liam got a fresh cup of coffee and joined them at the table.

It wasn't long before Chris spoke up.

"Uncle Liam, why does Jack yell so much? I don't like it when he yells." He said.

Liam was taken by surprise from Chris's question. They hadn't been yelling just then. Yes, they were arguing, but their voices hadn't been raised. Had Jack been yelling at Chris when Liam wasn't around?

Just as Liam was going to ask Chris what he meant by that question, the phone rang. Looking quickly at the clock, Liam decided he and Chris would discuss this another time.

"Why don't you guys head upstairs and get ready for school. We need to leave in about twenty minutes." He said quickly before getting up to answer the phone.

"Hello, this is Liam."

"Liam, it's Rick. Listen, sorry to bother you so early." Rick said.

"Oh, it's not problem Rick. I was just getting ready to take the kids to school. What can I do for you?" Liam asked.

"Well, as you know, two of our men were injured in the fire at your sisters, and Stacey and I were hoping that you would maybe bring Chris and Cassie to the hospital to visit the men. She thinks it would help lift their spirits. So, I was calling to see if you and the kids would be available to swing by the hospital with me sometime next week." Rick said.

"Sure Rick, we can do that. How are they doing? How badly were they injured, will the hospital let the kids in?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, that won't be a problem. My sister is a nurse there, so we'll just plan to be there when she's on duty, there won't be any problems. One of the men, Sam, was injured during a flashover. That's when the fire rolls over a gap because of intense heat. The heat was so intense, it actually melted his face shield. Mike, the other man, was injured when a large part of the ceiling fell on top of him. We wouldn't have even been in the structure at the time, but we got the report that the kids were probably in the house. Anyway, it would be good for the guys to see for themselves, that the kids are safe." Rick said.

"Well, I think it's the least we can do. Just let me know what day next week. In fact, how about we meet at Frankie's, by the hospital, for dinner beforehand and then we can head over to the hospital from there."

"Okay, that sounds good. Oh, and are we still on for lunch tomorrow? Stacey said that Mitch is going to meet us too." Rick said.

"Yep, we're still on for lunch. I'll see you, Stacey and Mitch tomorrow." Liam said, before hanging up the phone.

Turning to look at the time, he realized they only had about ten minutes before they had to head out to school. Heading upstairs, he quickly got dressed and then headed over to the kid's rooms to see how they were doing.

"Hey, guys, come on we've got to get going." Liam hollered down the hallway.

Glancing in Cassie's room, he noticed she had her shoes on and was trying to figure out how to tie them.

"Hey, kiddo, want some help with that?" Liam asked, as he bent down and pulled off her shoes.

"You've got the shoes on the wrong feet. Here, see this little curve in the shoe right here? This goes on the inside of your foot. It matches up with the curve on your foot." Liam said.

"I can do it myself, Uncle Liam. I'm a big girl. See, I dressed myself too." She said proudly, then promptly grabbed the shoes from Liam's hand and proceeded to put the shoes on herself, working to match the curve of her foot with the curve in the shoe.

Liam couldn't help but smile at her determination. 'She sure is a smart girl.' He thought.

"I'm ready to go Uncle Liam." Chris said, suddenly showing up in Cassie's doorway. He was dressed and ready to go. In fact, he had his backpack already slung over his shoulders.

"Okay, let me just tie your sister's shoes and then we can head out." Liam said, as he proceeded to tie each shoe as Cassie finished putting them on.

When they arrived at Chris's school, Liam turned to Chris.

"Okay, give me a hug before you go. And don't forget that you're meeting with the counselor at lunch. You got your lunch money?" Liam said.

"I won't forget and yes, I've got my lunch money." Chris replied as he leaned over and gave Liam a hug.

Just as Chris was getting out of the car, the principal walked up.

"Hey Chris, we are so glad to have you back. Everyone in your class is very anxious to see you. They've all missed you. You better hurry though, before the bell rings." He said.

"Okay, Mr. Howard. Bye Uncle Liam." Chris said, as he ran towards the front doors.

Both Mr. Howard and Liam watched Chris until the doors closed behind him. Mr. Howard then turned his attention to Liam.

"Well, how's he doing?" He asked.

"He's doing okay. I do worry though. He still seems pretty quiet. It's like he's just holding it all in, and letting it build up. I keep expecting him to explode any minute." Liam said.

"Yes, I can understand your concern. We'll keep an eye on him today and will call you if there are any problems. I'm sure that the counselor will be able to help him start working through everything." Mr. Howard said.

"That's what I'm hoping. I really appreciate everything the school is doing to help Chris get through this." Liam said.

Just then, the bell rang and Mr. Howard excused himself to head inside and Liam and Cassie headed off to Cassie's school.

At Cassie's school, Liam met with the Director of the school. He provided her with the paperwork showing that he was now Cassie's guardian and she had him complete the necessary paperwork to update Cassie's file. Cassie enthusiastically introduced Liam to her teacher. It was obvious that Cassie really like the teacher. She was a really sweet young woman who seemed to really enjoy the kids. 

After leaving the school, Liam headed back home to get some of his own work done. After taking a shower and cleaning up the breakfast dishes, Liam sat down at his desk to work.

A couple of hours into it, he heard someone coming in the front door.

"Liam, you here?" Jack called out.

"Yeah, I'm in the office." Liam called back.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had interviews lined up all day today?" Liam asked, hearing Jack walk into the office. 

"I did, I do. It's been a busy morning, but I've got a quick break for lunch. Listen, I've been thinking about this morning and wanted to say I'm sorry. I guess I'm just having a hard time adjusting. I'm so accustomed to it being just you and me. Anyway, I'm sorry." Jack said, as he walked up behind Liam and started massaging his shoulders. "I was hoping we could go out to dinner tonight, maybe to celebrate the kids going back to school?" Jack asked.

"Mmmm, that feels soooo good." Liam said, as he relaxed into Jack's massage. "Yeah, we can do that. That would be nice." He said, as he dropped his head back and looked up at Jack. "So, what time do you have to be back at work?" Liam asked.

"I've got a little time before I have to head out." Jack said, as he leaned forward and started nuzzling Liam's neck and nibbling his ear. His hands slowly moved down Liam's chest to the hem of his shirt. He grasped the shirt and pulled it off, then returned his hands to Liam's chest. Liam leaned his head back again so their lips could meet. Jack thrust his tongue in as soon as Liam opened up, their tongues mingling together.

While Jack's lips were occupied with Liam's lips, Jack's hands started working on Liam's nipples. First he grasped each hard nub between his fingers and tweaked them, working them so they were nice and hard, then he ran his finger nails over them lightly, causing Liam to whimper and his hips to lift up out of the chair.

Suddenly, Jack pulled back and spun Liam's chair around so he was facing him. He took Liam's hands and pulled him up out of the chair and into his arms for better access to another kiss. Liam started working Jack's shirt off, then they both, simultaneously started removing each other's pants. During this whole exchange, Jack was slowly backing Liam up until the back of his legs hit his desk.

Jack picked Liam up slightly and set him back down on the desk.

"You bring the lube?" Liam asked.

"Yep, I brought the lube." Jack said, with an utterly devilish grin on his face.

"You dog, you came home just so you could get some. What if I didn't forgive you for this morning?" Liam asked.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist my charms." Jack said, as he leaned down and gave Liam a quick kiss on the lips and then started moving over to Liam's neck, kissing and nipping along his collar bone, then up to his ear.

"Well I should just toss you out on your bum, just to teach your arrogant ass... Oh, oh, yeah, right there, yeah." Liam said, easily side tracked as Jack's tongue slipped into Liam's ear.

"Too late to throw me out now, otherwise we're both left high and dry. Couldn't have that, could we? Now, lay back, lift those legs and hold on, cause I'm gonna give you a nice ride." Jack whispered in Liam's ear, causing Liam to shiver and goosebumps to form on his arms.

Before Liam could even respond, Jack leaned down and consumed Liam's lips once more and slowly pushed Liam back against the desk, sweeping everything in his way off the desk and onto the floor.

Liam could feel Jack's hard cock rubbing up against his balls and he instinctively lifted his legs to give Jack access to what they both wanted.

"That's it baby, let me see that pink little rosebud." Jack said, as he leaned down and ran his tongue over it a couple of times and then slowly started working his tongue in, working to open Liam up for him. Once he had Liam good and wet, his little rosebud almost swallowing his tongue, Jack started working one of his fingers in, then two fingers.

Liam was working hard to ride the fingers, but wanted more. "Fuck... Jack... Get that cock inside me, now!" Liam said.

"Mmmm, bossy, aren't we?" Jack said, as he lined up his cock and started to slowly work it in.

Liam didn't want slow, he wanted fast and hard, so he locked his legs behind Jack's backside and pulled Jack in.

"Oh, fuck, shit Liam, keep this up and I won't last very long." Jack groaned.

"Just fuck me." Liam said, using his legs to force Jack to start moving.

Jack, deciding it would be a losing battle, started working Liam's ass hard, slamming home.

"Ah, ah, ahhhh, yes Jack, that's what I need. Fuck yesss!" Liam hissed, as he grabbed his own cock and started jacking it.

"Damn... Uh.... Liam... Uh, uh, uh, I can't hold out much longer." Jack grunted between thrusts.

It didn't take either of them much longer. Liam, surprisingly was the first to shoot his load, his ass spasming in sync with his cock. This caused Jack to lose it too, letting loose a nice warm load inside Liam.

Liam sighed. "Fuck Jack, that was good." He said, dropping back and relaxing into a puddle of goo on the desk.

Jack leaned down and ran his tongue along Liam's stomach, slurping up his jism along the way, then leaned up further until he found Liam's lips, kissing him, sharing Liam's juice with him.

"Yes, that was good. Makes for a really nice lunch break." Jack said, as he stood back up. "But, sadly, I have to get back to work. I've got an interview scheduled in twenty minutes, so I'm probably going to be late, but it was so worth it." He said with a grin, as he started to get dressed.

"Definitely worth it. In fact, we should do this more often." Liam agreed as he grabbed his clothes and headed to the bathroom to clean up before getting dressed.

When he came out, Jack was in the kitchen, just closing the fridge, apple in hand.

"So, let's go to The Cliff House for dinner tonight. I want to go someplace nice." Jack said, as he grabbed his wallet and keys.

"Steak, that sounds really good. What time?" Liam asked.

"How about seven? Should we go ahead and just meet there?"

"Yeah, we can do that." Liam said, as he walked up to Jack and wrapped his arms around him.

"Thanks for the quicky." Jack said, as he leaned in and gave Liam a nice long kiss.

"Mmmmm, anytime." Liam replied.

After Jack left, Liam couldn't help but grin from ear to ear while he cleaned up the mess they had made in the office. 'That was definitely a good lunch. That should be on the menu everyday.' He thought to himself. 

Shortly after two o'clock, he headed out to pick up the kids.

Cassie was first and it was obvious she'd had a good day. At first, Liam couldn't get her to leave. She was working on coloring a picture and didn't want to leave it unfinished. Liam finally convinced her to just bring the picture home to finish it.

It sounded like Chris had had a good day as well. He was definitely a little more talkative as he told Liam about his day.

"So, Chris, how did your lunch with the counselor go?" Liam asked.

"Okay, we mostly talked about what I did at school before lunch. We just talked mostly. You know, Uncle Liam, I wish I could have lunch with my friends. I mean, I like the counselor, he's nice and everything, but can't I just eat with my friends?" Chris asked.

"Right now, I don't think that's an option. I think it would be better for you to keep meeting with the counselor. Let's stick with it for a couple of weeks and then maybe we can change your schedule, okay?" Liam offered.

"Okay." Chris said, his shoulders dropping in defeat. He was obviously not happy with Liam's suggestion.

"Oh, hey Chris, we're all going out to dinner tonight, so as soon as we get home, I want you to get your homework finished and then I want both you and Cassie to take your bath before we go." Liam said.

"Okay, where are we going?" Chris asked.

"Jack wants to take us out someplace nice, so you guys need to be really good, okay?" He said, smiling at the kids as he looked back at them from the rearview mirror.

Later that evening, after homework and baths, they headed out to the restaurant.

When they got there, Jack was already waiting. He stood from the table grinning and waving to Liam as Liam entered the lobby.

As Liam approached the table, Jack's grin slowly melted from his face and was replaced with a scowl.

"What are they doing here?" Jack said in a hushed tone, nodding his head towards the kids. "I thought it was just going to be us?" Jack asked.

"I thought you were inviting all of us, Jack. Besides, what do you expect me to do with them? Set them in front of the TV and hope the house is still standing when we get home?" Liam said, his voice rising slightly.

"You could have found a babysitter." Jack said.

"No, I couldn't, Jack. My mom watched the kids on Thursday and Stacey watched the kids on Saturday. I can't just drop the kids on them when ever I want. That wouldn't be fair to them or to the kids." Liam said, trying to calm down.

"Yeah? Well, you know what, I'm not going to do this. I don't have to do this. This isn't my life Liam. I'm out of here." With that said, Jack dropped a twenty dollar bill on the table and walked out, leaving Liam totally stunned and utterly speechless.

Liam plopped down in the chair, still shocked and not completely sure what had just happened. 'Was that it? Five years down the drain just like that?' He wondered to himself.

Cassie came up to Liam and put her hand on his arm, pulling him out of his thoughts. He picked her up and set her in his lap, hugging her close, and then pulled Chris to him as well.

Taking a deep breath, he said. "Well guys, let's say we ditch this joint. Maybe we can see if Stacey and the kids want to have dinner with us. How does that sound?" He asked.

He was a little worried about showing up at Stacey's unannounced but didn't have her number with him. He was hoping she wouldn't be too put out. He just really needed someone to talk to.




Consumed Pt. 05



As soon as Stacey answered the door, she knew something was wrong. Liam though, didn't give her a chance to even ask what was wrong. As soon as he saw her, he broke down, tears streaming down his face.

"Oh, honey, what happened?" Stacey asked, as she enveloped him in her arms. "Chris, Cassie, why don't you two go see what Bren and Jacob are up to. I'm sure they will be excited to see you guys." She said, hoping to get the kids out of the room so they could talk.

Once the kids were out of the room, Stacey directed Liam into the kitchen and sat him down at the table.

"Okay honey, what happened?" Stacey asked.

"I have to feed the kids." He said.

"What?" Stacey asked, thouroughly confused.

"They haven't had dinner yet. I need to feed them. We came by to see if you wanted to have dinner with us." Liam answered.

"Well, first off, I really don't think that's why you came by, but your right, the kids need to eat. We've already had dinner, but I'll order a couple of pizzas. Knowing my kids, they'll still manage to eat a couple of slices." Stacey said, as she got up and ordered the pizzas.

Once the pizzas were ordered, she sat back down at the table with Liam.

"Okay, now spill. What's got you all upset?" Stacey asked.

"I think Jack and I just broke up." Liam said, the sobbing starting again. "I just don't know what to do. He doesn't like the kids. He doesn't want them there. He keeps saying he wants to try, but he doesn't, really. I think it's more that he doesn't want to lose me. It's just not fair to the kids to have to live with someone that doesn't want them there. I'm sure they feel the tension, the hostility. Lord knows I feel it. But, I love him, Stacey. I can't imagine my life without him. Well, I can't exactly imagine my life continuing the way it's been either, but we were so good together before the kids. I just don't know what to do." Liam said, taking a deep, shuddering breath.

"Sweetie, you can't make him love the kids, as impossible as it would seem for someone to not love those kids, not everyone is cut out for parenting. And, you're right, it's not fair to the kids. After everything they've been through, they don't need this added to it. I know it's hard, but right now you need to think about the kids first. Jack will either grow up and become a man or he won't, it's his choice, but you can't let the kids continue to be affected by it. You, on the other hand don't have a choice, it's time for you to grow up and become a man. You have the kids to think about. They need to come first." Stacey said.

"Yeah, I know, you're right." Liam said, heaving another huge shuddering breath. "I guess I'll talk to Jack and the kids and then start looking for a place of our own. God, Stacey, will my life ever stop spiraling out of control? I keep waiting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and every time I get a glimpse of the light, it gets turned off." He said, snorting out a disgruntled laugh at the stupid analogy.

"I know it seems impossible, but things will get better. It's not even been two weeks yet since the fire and the kids coming to live with you. You're all still grieving, still adjusting. These are pretty drastic changes for all of you, Jack included. The only difference is that Jack has a choice. That makes things much easier for him. But, you'll survive. The kids will survive. You and the kids have plenty of family and friends to support you. You'll all get through it. Just give it time." She said.

Just then, the pizza arrived and everyone gathered at the table to eat. Stacey was right. Her kids sat down and ate a second dinner and if she hadn't told him beforehand that they had already eaten, he would never had known. They had hearty appetites.

When they left Stacey's, Liam left feeling much better about what he knew he had to do. It didn't make it any easier, but he, at least now he had a plan.

When they got home Jack wasn't there. Liam put the kids to bed, in their own bed, and then went to bed himself, knowing full well he wouldn't sleep, that he would only toss and turn, processing everything going on in his life, trying to figure out how to get control of his life back.

Later he woke with a sudden jerk, sitting up in bed. Something was wrong. He could feel it vibrate through his body and then he heard it. One of the kids was screaming. Screaming like someone was hurting them. Jumping out of bed and running down the hall, he could tell the screams were coming from Chris's room. When he got there, Chris was sitting up in bed, screaming and thrashing around. His eyes were open, but he didn't seem to be focusing on anything.

Liam sat down on the bed and put a hand on Chris's shoulder, and then reached out and wrapped Chris in his arms. This caused Chris to go crazy, his arms started flailing about, and his screaming reached an all time high, forcing Liam to let him go.

Liam tried talking to him, but it didn't appear that Chris was hearing him. 'Was he still asleep?' Liam wondered. His eyes were open, but it seemed that he was still asleep. Not sure what to do, Liam ran back to his bedroom and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" The groggy voice answered.

"Stacey, I don't know what to do. Chris is screaming bloody murder and I can't get him to calm down. His eyes are open, but he won't stop screaming or thrashing around. I think he's still asleep, even though it doesn't look like it. He's not responding to me, he won't let me touch him. I don't know what to do." Liam said, frantically as he ran, phone in hand, back to Chris's room.

"Oh Jesus, Liam. It sounds like he's having a night terror." She said, hearing Chris screaming and crying on the other end of the phone. "I've heard about these. One of Jacob's friends used to have them. His mom told me about them. There's not much you can do. He's still asleep, it just doesn't seem like it. He'll calm down soon. Just stay with him and make sure he doesn't hurt himself." Stacey said.

Just then, Liam heard someone in the hallway and turned towards the voice.

"Unca Leem, is Chrissie okay?" Cassie asked.

"Just a second Stacey, Cassie just woke up." He said to Stacey, and then turned his attention to Cassie. "He's okay kiddo, just having a bad dream. Why don't you go ahead to my room and get into bed. You can sleep with me tonight. As soon as Chris calms down, I'll bring him too, okay? Liam asked, hoping to keep Cassie calm.

After he reassured Cassie and she was off to bed again, Liam turned his attention back to Chris and Stacey.

"He seems to be calming down a little. Shit, I think my heart is ready to burst through my chest, it's beating so hard. Scared the shit out of me." He said.

"I'm sure it did, but he'll be okay. He probably won't even remember it in the morning. Although you'll want to bring this up with the school counselor that he's seeing." She said.

"Yeah, I'll definitely be having a conversation with the counselor tomorrow. I'm sorry I bothered you, I just didn't know what to do." Liam said, feeling guilty about panicking and calling her.

"It's okay, you can call me anytime, Liam." Stacey said.

"Thanks Stacey, I truly don't know if I could have survived this last week or so without you." Liam said.

After he hung up with Stacey, Liam sat on the bed and ran his fingers through Chris's hair. Chris had finally calmed down. He had laid back down and finally closed his eyes. He was still breathing hard, his body covered with a light sheen of sweat and his hair was matted to his head, but it appeared he was back asleep.

Once Liam was sure he was fully asleep again, he picked Chris up and carried him back to his bed where Cassie was sprawled out, asleep again.

After getting Chris settled in bed, Liam crawled in with them and couldn't help thinking that the light had again been turned off.

To be continued??

Author's Note: Is everyone enjoying this story? If you are, drop me a note and let me know. Feedback, good or bad (as long as you're nice about it) is welcome. Also, don't forget to vote for my story. I've been enjoying watching my score inch it's way up, thanks to all of you that have voted so far.



Consumed Pt. 06



Author's Note: Okay, I'm skipping my normal disclaimers this time because I wanted make a couple of points before the story.

First, all of you are so awesome. I received 11 public reviews and several feedback e-mails from you. That's way more than I received from my earlier chapters. Also, 80 of you voted on my last chapter. That's over double the number that voted on previous chapters. Thank you so much for your support. Whenever I receive any feedback or comments, if there is an e-mail listed, I always reply.

Lastly, on the Literotica forum under the Story Feedback folder, I noticed that someone posted a thread called "Literotica's All-time 'most Votes Received' List". This list includes stories from 15 categories. My problem is that there are no stories listed from the Gay Male section of Literotica and I can tell you that there are a number of stories that deserve to be on that list. However, because they haven't received 1000+ votes, they don't make the list. So, I'm asking you now, please, take some time and vote for your favorite stories under the Gay Male section. Give these authors the credit they deserve.

Anyway, thanks for your time and sorry to be so long winded. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's one of my favorites so far.

Chapter 7

The alarm woke Liam at six in the morning. Quickly turning off the alarm so it wouldn't wake the kids, Liam got up and headed into the shower. He didn't bother looking for Jack. He knew he hadn't come home last night.

Liam stood under the warm water, letting it cascade over his head and down his body. Leaning back against the wall, he slowly sank to the ground, pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them, letting his tears fall. He cried hard and long, his body shaking with the force of the emotional breakdown. He would allow himself this time, this one breakdown and then he would get up, wash it off and move on. He needed to move on. He needed to be strong for the kids. They needed him. He finally stood up when the water started turning cold, quickly washed himself and stepped out of the shower.

Once he was dressed and ready, he started debating whether he should send the kids to school. They had had a tough night, they would probably be tired. However, remembering that Chris's counselor had said that the kids needed to get back into their routine, he decided to go ahead and wake them.

"Chris, Cassie, come on guys, time to get up. You've got just over an hour until we need to leave for school. You guys need to get up and get ready." He said, while shaking their shoulders, trying to rouse them.

Both of the kids seemed to wake easily and didn't seem any worse for wear. At breakfast, Liam started questioning Chris, wondering if he remembered anything about last night.

"Chris, how did you sleep last night?" He asked, not sure if he should bring up the night terror.

"Okay." He said, shrugging.

"Do you remember how you got to my room?" Liam pressed further.

"No, why?" He replied.

"Just wondering, I think you had a bad dream last night. Sure you don't remember anything?" Liam asked again.

"That's funny, I don't remember it." Chris laughed.

'Okay, well that answers that question.' Liam thought to himself, making a mental note to talk to Chris's counselor. He wasn't looking forward to a repeat of last night.

Today, Liam dropped Cassie off at school first, so he could take the time to talk to Chris's counselor.

Mr. Davidson, Chris's counselor basically confirmed what Stacey had told him, that the night terrors would probably continue, but would lessen as Chris adjusted to his new life, that Chris just needed to stick to routine and to continue to come and see him for the counseling sessions. Liam didn't want to bring up what was going on between him and Jack, but he was really worried that it might be contributing to the terrors, so he told the counselor everything.

Mr. Davidson confirmed his fears, that the added stress was probably one of the contributing factors. That Chris may actually feel guilty, that he was somehow responsible for what was happening between Liam and Jack. He also said that Chris may also be worried that Liam would abandon them for Jack. He suggested that Liam talk to Chris and Cassie and reassure them that they would be staying with Liam no matter what happened, and to let them know that what's going on with him and Jack was not their fault.

When Liam left, he actually felt relieved. The counselor just reconfirmed what he knew had to be done. He would start looking for a place for him and the kids right away. He and Jack could still, hopefully, work things out, but it would be better for everyone if he and the kids moved out. He would start looking tomorrow. He knew he wanted to buy a house, not an apartment like the loft Liam and Jack currently had. He wanted the kids to have a backyard, and to have other kids in the neighborhood. Where he and Jack currently lived, wasn't really a family oriented area. There were only singles and couples in the upscale, downtown lofts. He would start his search in their current school district so they could stay at the same school.

When he got home, he called his mom and made arrangements for her to pick the kids up from school tomorrow and watch them, so he could start looking for a house. Liam's mom had a key to their place, in case of emergencies, so she said she would just bring them back there after she picked them up. That way the kids could be at home.

After he got off the phone with his mom, he spent the morning cleaning up the breakfast dishes, doing laundry and picking up after the kids. Before he knew it, it was time to head out and meet Stacey and Rick for lunch.

When he got to the restaurant, Stacey and Rick were already there.

"Hey Liam, how are you doing? It looks like you survived last night." Stacey said.

"Yeah, I did. Chris didn't even remember it. I talked to his counselor this morning though and I at least know what to expect if it happens again." Liam said.

"So have you talked to Jack?" Stacey asked.

"No, he didn't come home last night, but I've made a decision. The kids and I are going to find our own place. We're going to move out. Maybe if Jack doesn't feel like the kids are being forced on him and he actually has time to get to know them a little better, we'll be able to work through this." He said.

Both Stacey and Rick glanced at each other, and then Stacey spoke. "Well, it sounds like you've got things figured out. That's good. It'll also be good for the kids." She said.

"Oh, by the way, you guys wouldn't possibly have a real estate agent in the family, would you?" Liam asked, some what jokingly.

"Nope, no real estate agent, just a nurse, a doctor, a dentist, a fireman, a couple of stay at home moms, a yoga instructor, and a couple of other careers that wouldn't be much help to you. Sorry." Rick said.

"Well, I figured since I seemed to be running into your family at every turn, I might just luck out and get a real estate agent." Liam said.

"A real estate agent? You looking to buy or sell?" Mitch asked, suddenly appearing at the table.

They all looked up at Mitch, and Liam replied. "Hey Mitch, I'm looking to buy, I want to find a house for the kids and I."

"Well, I can give you the name of the lady I used when I bought my place." Mitch offered.

Before Liam had a chance to respond, the waiter showed up and took their orders.

After they placed their orders, talk turned to the investigation into the fire, with Liam asking Mitch if they had any leads yet. 

"So far, we haven't had anything develop from the investigation. We've worked through most of Adam's case files and we're now turning to Julie's cases. Since Julie worked in poverty law, we really don't anticipate finding any leads there, but we're going to check them out anyway. We're also going to go through Adam's cases a second time, in case we missed something crucial. We've questioned a large number of people involved in Adam's cases, but nothing substantial came out of the questioning."

"We also don't have much to go on from the forensic evidence. There wasn't much left that might provide some trace evidence. They did determine that the accelerant used was diesel fuel, which is pretty common and wouldn't be beneficial unless we had a suspect. The autopsy report confirmed they died from smoke inhalation. Based on the fire inspector's report, this fire has been labeled as an 'Organized Arson'. Basically there are two types of arson, 'Organized' and 'Unorganized'. There are three factors that designate organized arson. One, the use of elaborate incendiary devices such as electronic timing mechanisms, or initiators; two, less physical evidence, usually, if it's forced entry, it's skillful; and three, methodical approach, such as excessive accelerant use or other obvious evidence that it was planned."

"We used an arson dog to determine if an accelerant was used. Based on what they found and later confirmed by samples tested from the scene, the fire was set in several locations throughout the house, including upstairs where Adam and Julie were probably sleeping."

"Also, based on the accounts of the firefighters interviewed on the scene, we determined that the smoke detectors were not working. The upstairs smoke detector was buried under some debris from the roof collapse, but was, surprisingly, in good condition. We checked it for fingerprints, but it was clean. However, further inspection of the fire detector revealed that whoever started the fire probably disabled the smoke detectors. So, basically, Adam and Julie probably didn't even know the house was on fire until it was too late." Mitch finished.

"Wow." Was all Liam could say. He was trying really hard to hold back the tears that were threatening to escape. Rick had moved in close to Liam and was rubbing his back, trying to give him some support, trying to let him know that it was okay.

"So, it doesn't look like you'll catch the person who did this?" Liam asked.

"No, I wouldn't assume that. It may seem that we've covered a lot of ground, but there's still a lot to cover. You just need to be patient." Mitch said.

"I know, but it's just so hard." Liam said.

Their conversation was interrupted by lunch arriving, so they moved on to more pleasant conversation while they ate. As they were waiting for the check, Rick spoke up. "Liam, I wanted to invite you and the kids out to my place on Friday night for dinner. I'm having a big barbeque. Our whole family will be there and a few of our friends too. I think the kids would enjoy it. There will be a lot of other kids there that are about the same age." Rick said, and then continued, as an afterthought. "Oh, and bring your bathing suits if you guys want to go swimming. The pool will probably be full of kids, so you may not want to go swimming, but I'm sure the kids would love it." Rick added.

"Okay, that sounds like fun. We'll definitely be there." He said, thinking that he'd have to take the kids out and get them bathing suits.

When Liam and the kids got home from school, Liam got Chris started on his homework and sat Cassie down to watch television, while he called the real estate agent that Mitch had recommended. He made an appointment for tomorrow morning after he dropped the kids off at school.

After dinner, the kids took baths, and then they all settled down to watch a movie. However, before Liam started the movie, he decided to talk to the kids about some of the things Chris's counselor had suggested, and to also let them know that they would be moving.

"Chris, Cassie, before I start the movie, I wanted to talk to you." He said, as they sat down together on the couch, Cassie sitting in his lap. "Firstly, I wanted to let you know that we will be moving. I'm going to start looking for a house tomorrow. It will just be the three of us. Jack is going to stay here." Liam said, pausing to take a breath.

Liam didn't think Chris realized it, but silent tears had started running down his face.

"Also, I wanted to talk to you about me and Jack. I want you to know that what's been going on between Jack and me isn't your fault. I love you guys and there isn't anything I want more than to have you guys in my life. We are a family now, you, me, and Cassie." Liam said, as he placed his hand on Chris's shoulder and squeezed.

By now, Chris was full on sobbing. "I just want my mommy and daddy back." He said.

Pulling Chris to him in a huge hug, he said. "I know, I want them back too, I wish I could bring them back. I would do anything to bring them back, but I can't." Liam said, tears now streaming down his face as well. He looked down at Cassie and she was crying too. He wasn't sure if she really understood what was going on or if she was just crying because everyone else was, but it didn't matter, he pulled them both tightly to him and they all sobbed in each other's arms.

Once they had calmed down a little, Liam pulled back slightly and looked both Chris and Cassie in the eyes, making sure he had their attention. "I just want you guys to know that you, Chris and Cassie, are the single most important people in my life. Do you understand that?" Liam asked.

Both Chris and Cassie nodded.

"Good, now, how about we watch that movie?" Liam said, as he got up and selected a movie to watch.

The movie was almost over when Jack finally came home. Cassie was already curled up in Liam's lap asleep, but Chris was still awake and leaning against Liam.

When Jack walked into the living room, Liam looked back at him.

"Hi." Was all he said, but Liam could feel Chris's body tense with the knowledge that Jack was home.

"Hey, we're just finishing up the movie. Want to join us?" Liam asked. Since he had made his decision to move out, he decided he wouldn't stay mad a Jack. He needed to keep the atmosphere in the house as pleasant as possible, then maybe the tension would subside somewhat.

"No, that's okay, I'm just going to jump in the shower." He said, before he headed out of the room.

When the movie finished, Liam carried Cassie upstairs to bed, with Chris following close behind. Although he's not quite sure she actually woke up, Liam again took Cassie to the bathroom before he put her to bed.

After he had Cassie settled and had tucked Chris in and told him good night, he went to the bedroom to find it and the bathroom empty. Jack had already finished his shower. Heading downstairs, he found Jack in the living room, getting the couch ready to sleep on.

"Jack, we need to talk." Liam said. "I'm sorry that I thrust the kids on you like this, but you do understand that I had no choice, don't you?" He asked.

"Yeah, I do and I'm sorry I haven't been very accepting of them, but this isn't how I pictured my life, Liam. I just don't know if I can do this. I don't want to lose you, but I really don't want to live my life around two kids. I want to live my life around you and me."

"I know, but my priorities have changed now. Do you know that Chris actually had a night terror the other night, the night you left us at the restaurant? I think the stress of losing his parents and now the stress of us fighting over the kids is getting too much for him. He woke up screaming at the top of his lungs and thrashing around in the bed. He was screaming for over ten minutes. I couldn't get him to stop. If I tried to touch him, he freaked out more. The weird thing was, was that he was still asleep." Liam said.

Then, taking a deep breath and steeling himself, he continued. "Jack, I can't continue to add stress to his life, to their lives. We can't continue to live like this. The kids and I are moving out."

That got Jack's attention and his head snapped up to look at Liam. "What? You can't mean that. I don't want you to move out." Jack said, before Liam could continue.

"I know Jack, I don't want to move out either, but until you can accept the kids and welcome them in your life, we need to move out. It's what would be best for Chris and Cassie's well being." Liam said.

"Jesus, what am I supposed to say to that? Does that mean we're over? Don't I have any say in this?" Jack asked.

"No, Jack, god no, we can still be together, we just won't be living together." He said, hoping that Jack would understand and that he would still be willing to try.

"Shit, Liam, I feel so helpless." He said, throwing his arms up in the air in frustration and collapsing down on the couch. "If there's no way I can stop you, then I'm not even going to waste my breath. But, I don't like this one bit." Jack said, feeling his anger and resentment towards the kids rising.

"I know, and I'm sorry." Liam said, feeling guilty.

"Yeah, well so am I. If you don't mind, I better get to sleep, I haven't gotten much sleep the last couple of nights and sleeping on the couch tonight isn't going to help." Jack replied.

"Jack, you don't have to sleep in here tonight, you can come to bed." Liam said.

"No, I'll sleep here tonight. Good night, Liam." He said curtly, effectively closing the door on their conversation.

"Fine." Liam said, and then turned on his heel and headed upstairs.

It was about two o'clock in the morning when Liam was again awakened by Chris's screaming. Rolling over to climb out of bed, he found Cassie lying next to him, asleep.

When he got to Chris's room, he was sitting up in bed, screaming, his arms flailing about as if trying to fend off an attacker. He was covered in sweat and his eyes were open, but they had a glazed look about them, obviously not focusing on anything.

Liam hated this. He couldn't do anything, could only stand there and wait, watching to make sure Chris didn't hurt himself.

Standing in Chris's door way, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, turning, he found Jack standing behind him in the hallway.

"Shit, what a way to be woken up. Is he okay?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I'm just watching him to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. He'll calm down in a few minutes and he won't even remember it in the morning. It's still pretty freaky though." Liam said.

"You can say that again." Jack said. "Well, it looks like you don't need me here. I'm heading back to bed." With that said, Jack went back downstairs.

It was almost fifteen minutes later before Chris calmed down enough for Liam to carry him back to bed with him. Once they were all in bed, Liam couldn't help but wonder if the situation between him and Jack is what was causing the night terrors, he hated the fact that he might be the cause of so much emotional trauma for Chris, and hoped that the night terrors would stop once they moved out.

'I guess I'll find out for sure just as soon as we move out.' Liam said silently to himself, determined to try and find a place as quickly as possible.

Going back to sleep proved almost impossible. His mind wouldn't stop it's turmoil long enough to allow sleep to take over his mind. Although eventually, he must have fallen asleep, because the alarm going off startled him out of a deep sleep.

Later that morning, as they were all eating breakfast, Liam again quizzed Chris about last night and just like the night before, Chris didn't remember anything after being put to bed. He seemed just fine. 

Not surprisingly, Jack had left for work before any of them had even woken up.

After Liam dropped the kids off at school, he met with the real estate agent. They spent a couple of hours going over what Liam was looking for in a home and then they headed out to tour a couple of the houses that the agent thought he would like.

Just as they arrived at the second home, Liam's cell phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, he didn't recognize the number, but decided to answer anyway.

"Hello, this is Liam."

"Hello, Mr. Strickland, this is Elmwood Elementary School calling, I've got a gentleman by the name of Jason Fielding that is here to pick up Chris early for a doctor's appointment. Since he's not on the pickup list, we needed to call you to get authorization." Came the voice on the other end of the phone.




Consumed Pt. 06



"Who? I don't know a Jason Fielding. Is he still there? I'm on my way over right now, keep him there. Don't let him leave and don't let him anywhere near Chris, got that?" He said, not even waiting for an answer before he hung up the phone and then called the police station.

"Hello, this is Liam Strickland, I need to talk to Detective Mitch Seavers right away, it's urgent." He said, as soon as someone answered the phone.

"Liam, this is Mitch, what's up?" Mitch asked when he picked up the line.

"Mitch, there's someone at Chris's school that's trying to get him out of class. I don't recognize the name. The school said it was Jason Fielding, but I don't know who the hell that is. He said he was picking him up for a doctor's appointment. I'm going to head over there now. I asked the school to keep him there." Liam said.

"Okay, hold on a second. I'm going to put you on hold while I dispatch a couple of officers over to the school. Then I'm going to call the school and see if I can find out more information, so hold on for a few minutes." Mitch said, before putting Liam on hold.

While Liam was on hold, he explained what was going on to the agent and asked her to give him a ride to the school. Just as they were on their way, Mitch came back on the line.

"Liam, I just got off the phone with the school. The guy is gone and they don't know where he is. When the secretary came back from calling you, the lobby was empty. The school is now in lockdown and Chris is safe in his classroom with the door locked. Nobody will be able to get in or out of the school or any of the classrooms, so if he's still there, we'll get him." Mitch said.

"Thanks Mitch." Liam said, breathing a huge sigh of relief. Then a thought came to him. "Should I call Cassie's school as well?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'll also send over a couple of officers to her school, just to be on the safe side. What school is it?" Mitch asked.

Once Liam had given the information to Mitch and made arrangements to meet him at Chris's school, Liam hung up and called Cassie's school. So far, everything seemed normal at her school. He told them to expect the officers and to not let anyone unknown into the school until the officer's arrived.

When Liam arrived at the school, there were two officers stationed at the front doors of the school. Liam thanked the agent and told her he'd call her and reschedule the appointment as soon as he could.

He told the officers at the door who he was, and showed them his identification. Once they got authorization over their radios to allow him into the school, Liam headed straight for the school office. When he got there, he found two more officers, the school secretary and the school principal.

"Mr. Strickland, I'm glad you are here. Don't worry, Chris is fine. I've been in touch with his teacher and he's just fine. They've got half a dozen officers doing a thorough search of the building right now, so if he's still in the building, he'll be found." The principal, Mr. Howard, said.

The two police officers were currently talking to the secretary and taking notes while she gave them the details of what happened. While Liam was listening, Mitch walked in the door.

"Liam, we've got several officers searching the building and we've also quardened off several blocks around the school and will be thoroughly searching that area as well. The officers that are currently talking with the secretary will hopefully get a good description of the suspect." Mitch said.

It took a little over an hour to search the entire school twice and to everyone's disappointment, they didn't find anyone. It took just over two hours to search the neighborhood, and again, they didn't come up with anything.

Parents had already heard about the lockdown and quite a number of them had showed up at the school to pick up their kids. Once the school and neighborhood was secured, the school started releasing the kids. It was at this point that Liam remembered that his mom was supposed to pick up the kids today. Making a quick call, he told his mom what was going on and that she wouldn't have to pick up the kids today.

Before Mitch would give Liam and Chris the okay to leave, he made arrangements to stop by tonight to speak to both of them.

Luckily, there weren't any problems at Cassie's school. There we're still a couple of officers stationed at the door and Liam had to show his identification again, but other than that, everything was fine.

During dinner that night, Liam had briefed Jack on everything that had happened. Mitch, as planned, showed up just after dinner. Liam, Jack and Mitch all sat at the dining room table, while Cassie and Chris were watching television.

"First, I'll update you on where things stand. We ran a search on the name that was given to the secretary and will be following up some leads there, but most likely, it was a false name, so I don't expect anything to develop from that. We've got a sketch of the suspect and it's already being shown on the evening news. Hopefully we'll get some leads. We're a little concerned that the same person that set the fire at your sister's, may now be targeting Chris, and maybe even Cassie. It makes me wonder if maybe Chris has seen the killer. Maybe the killer is worried that Chris could point him out. What I'd like to do is talk to Chris, to see if maybe he remembers someone coming by the house a day or two before the fire. Would that be okay with you, Liam?" Mitch asked.

"Yeah, sure, that would be fine. Anything to hopefully catch this guy." Liam said.

Once they had Chris seated at the table, Mitch started questioning Chris.

"Chris, I was wondering if you can remember seeing anyone at your house before the fire, before you went to your Grandma and Grandpa's for the night. It may have been a few days before the fire. Maybe someone visiting your dad? Do you remember anyone visiting? It may have been someone you didn't know, someone visiting your dad for work maybe?" Mitch asked.

Chris looked a little apprehensive, a little scared. He looked from Mitch, to Liam, then to Jack, and then back to Mitch again before answering. "No, I don't remember." He said.

Not even aware that he'd been holding it, Liam let out a huge breath and his shoulders dropped in disappointment. He noticed too, that Jack also let out a huge breath at the same time. 'It's nice to know that he's at least concerned for the kids.' Liam thought to himself.

"Okay, that's okay, Chris. You can go ahead and go back to watching TV. If you do remember anything, you just let your Uncle Liam know and he'll give me a call, okay?" Mitch said.

"Okay." Chris said, as he got up and headed back out to the living room.

Mitch turned his attention back to Liam and Jack. "Don't worry too much. I didn't necessarily expect him to remember anything. What I'd like to do is bring by some photos of some of Adam's clients that we haven't cleared yet and see if he recognizes any of them. Now, just keep in mind that if he does recognize anyone, that doesn't necessarily mean anything, but we'll start with this and then see where it takes us." Mitch said.

"Okay, like I said, anything to get this over and done with." Liam said.

"It will take me a couple of days to get everything ready. Probably won't be until early next week. I'll be in touch as soon as we're ready. Do you have any questions?" Mitch asked.

"Yes, do I have to worry about this guy showing up again? What should I do to protect the kids?" Liam asked.

"We'll be posting a couple of officers at the school during school hours and stepping up patrols locally here in your neighborhood. I would recommend keeping things low key for now, take the kids to school, but try to keep them out of public places as much as possible, and if you do take them out somewhere, don't let them out of your sight. If you notice anything out of the ordinary, anything at all, give me a call. Okay?" Mitch finished.

"Okay, thanks Mitch." Liam said, as he walked him to the door.

After Mitch left, Liam got the kids ready for bed. Tonight, again, he would just put them into bed with him. Jack was already making up the couch, so it didn't matter anyway. Hopefully, Chris would sleep through the night. It would be nice to get at least one full night's sleep. 

As it turned out, Chris sleeping through the night didn't matter, because Liam just lay awake for hours, contemplating everything that had happened.

They hadn't told Chris what had happened at the school. They figured he wouldn't need the added stress. Liam hoped that word wouldn't get back to him. The school didn't give a lot of details about the incident, only telling parents that there had been a suspicious person in the school and that the lockdown had been a precaution, so he hoped that Chris wouldn't find out.

He also started thinking about the house hunting. He would call the real estate agent tomorrow morning and see if he could meet with her again. He really wanted to find some place for them. Things with Jack weren't getting any better.

All these thoughts and more were going around and around in his head and it was a long time before he finally drifted off to sleep.

To be continued...



Consumed Pt. 07



Author's Note: Okay, I'm going to ramble for a minute. So, those of you who can't stand my rambling, go ahead and skip to the story. I promise I won't be offended.

Anyway, I was thinking, as I was shamelessly waiting for the feedback and the votes on my last chapter, that I felt like the Mervyns lady. A lot of you won't know who that is, unless you are from the U.S., but, Mervyns is a clothing store here in the U.S. and back in the 80's, they ran whole line of commercials revolving around this mom who would be waiting at the crack of dawn, outside, in front of the store, waiting for it to open. Her face and palms would be plastered to the glass and she would be repeating "Open, Open, Open" over and over again. 

That's how I feel about the feedback I get. You should see my face and hands plastered to my computer screen while I repeat "Feedback, Feedback, Feedback" over and over again. Sad, I know, but you guys are so awesome about sending feedback. It keeps me smiling from ear to ear while I'm working on the next chapter. Thank you. I just wish I didn't get so much anonymous feedback. I really enjoy the opportunity to respond back to everyone. So, consider this a personal thank you for all the anonymous people that have sent me feedback.

And thanks for listening to my rambling. Now, on with the story… 

Chapter 8

On Thursday morning, Liam woke with the customary foot in his face. Smiling, he reached out, pulled the foot closer and gave it a little kiss. 'Well, at least there weren't any wet beds or night terrors. I actually got to sleep through the night. That must be progress'. He thought to himself as he extricated himself out of bed and started getting ready.

After Liam dropped the kids off at school, he went home and called the real estate agent. Luckily, she agreed to meet with him again this afternoon.

After he hung up with the agent, he called his mom again to make arrangements for her to pick up the kids from school and watch them until he got home.

He spent the morning doing laundry and cleaning up after the kids. This was definitely becoming a tedious routine. When it had been just Liam and Jack, they only had to worry about cleaning up after themselves. Liam only did, maybe, two to three loads of laundry a week. That amount had almost tripled now that the kids were here. The kids were also prone to leaving little messes throughout the house and he found himself always picking things up and putting them away as he walked through the house. He knew Jack didn't like clutter, so he always made sure he kept the kid's stuff picked up. Liam figured it would be better to try to keep the tension in the house to a minimum until they could move out, and this was one way to do just that.

He was meeting the real estate agent at one o'clock, just after lunch, so once he was finished cleaning, he sat down to eat a quick lunch and then headed out to meet the agent.

She showed Liam several homes, about five in all, including the one they didn't get a chance to look at yesterday. Liam liked a couple of the homes, but nothing really stood out in his mind. He was having a hard time trying to decide if he should just settle on something, just to get the kids out of the loft, or take his time and find something that he really liked. He decided he would at least wait until after the weekend, so he'd have time to really give it some thought. He made another appointment with the agent for early Monday morning, just after he dropped the kids off at school.

When Liam got home, his mom was there with the kids. She had already started dinner, which was a huge help for Liam.

"Jeesh mom, that smells really good. You're amazing, can I keep you, please?" Liam joked, as he came up and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Sorry, but you'll have to negotiate that one with your father." Rebecca said.

"Yeah, that's what I figured." Liam said.

"So, how did the house hunting go?" His mom asked.

"It went fine. I found a couple of places that I liked, but nothing that really stood out. I just don't know if I should settle for the first house I find that I like, or if I should wait until I find exactly what I'm looking for. I've scheduled another appointment with the agent on Monday morning, so I'll decide by then." He said.

"You're buying a house, Liam, that's a big step. That's something you don't want to settle with. If you feel you can't stay here, you and the kids can always stay with us." She offered.

"Thanks mom, but your house isn't really big enough for all five of us. It would be a little crowded." Liam replied.

"We'd manage, besides being cramped in our little house might be better than the tension going on in this house." She said.

'She had a pretty valid point. I'll definitely have to consider the offer.' Liam thought to himself, after contemplating her comment, before switching topics.

"So, how were the kids today?" Liam asked.

"They were good. We did have one little incident though." Rebecca said.

"Oh, what happened?" Liam asked.

"Well, the kids were in the living room watching television while I was getting dinner started. After I got everything going, I went to check on them. Chris was still watching TV, but Cassie wasn't in the room. I found her in your office." She paused to take a breath, and then continued. "She colored on a bunch of paperwork that was on Jack's desk. The paperwork is pretty much ruined. I'm hoping it wasn't anything too important." She finished.

"It's okay, it's really my fault. I was working in there a few days ago and I let the kids color on some of the recycling that I had. Cassie really didn't know that she shouldn't be in there when I'm not in there with her. I'll talk to them about it tonight." Liam said, trying to reassure his mom, but silently hoping that Jack wouldn't be too upset.

"Well, I should get back home and get dinner ready for your dad. If I don't fix it for him, he'd be eating a bunch of junk, which isn't good for his heart." She said, as she grabbed her sweater, kissed Liam and the kids goodbye then headed out.

After he walked his mom out, Liam went into their office to check out the damage. It looked like it was some cover art for one of Jack's software packages. Liam just hoped it wouldn't be a big deal, but he wasn't going to bet on it.

Leaving the office, Liam headed over to where the kids were watching television.

"Hey guys, how was your day?" Liam asked.

Chris answered first. "It was good. I took a spelling test today and I got them all right. I was the only one in my class. Bobby missed one but he's usually the one who always get them all, so I beat him." Chris said proudly.

That's great Chris. Do you have the test? Can I see it?" Liam asked.

While Chris was rummaging around in his backpack, Liam turned to Cassie.

"How about you Cassie, did you have a good day?" Liam asked.

"Mmm hmm, I made something for you Unca Leem." Cassie said, before she leapt from the couch and ran up the stairs.

"Walk, sweetie, I don't want you falling down the stairs." Liam yelled in vain to Cassie.

"Here, Uncle Liam." Chris said, handing is test to Liam.

Liam looked at the list and was pretty impressed. Not only had Chris received a perfect score, but he also had really nice writing for a seven year old.

"Chris, this is really good. I'm very impressed. You did really well and your writing is very neat and very legible." Liam responded.

"I have to write good or my teacher will make me write it all over again." Chris said.

Well, you did an excellent job. We should tape this up on the fridge along with the picture Cassie made the other day." Liam suggested.

"Okay, and Uncle Liam, can you help me with my math homework tonight? I missed everything last week and I can't get it right. We have a test tomorrow and I want to do good." Chris asked, a little hesitantly.

"Yeah, sure, I can help with it." Liam said, as Cassie came back with her drawing. 

Liam, looking at the drawing, couldn't really make out much. "So, tell me about your picture, Cassie." He asked, trying to avoid admitting that he didn't know what it was.

"It's our house. See, my bedroom." She said, pointing to a cluster of scribbles that looked nothing like a bedroom. "Chrissie's bedroom." She said, pointing to another cluster. Both clusters seemed to be on the second floor, but he wasn't positive. Liam did notice that there were several blobs on the page that seemed somewhat familiar. It appeared that there were four people standing outside the house. It was obvious that there were two adults, that Liam assumed was him and Jack and then there were two smaller forms that he assumed would be Chris and Cassie.

"Is this us?" Liam asked, pointing to the figures.

"Uh huh." She answered, nodding her head.

Next to the smaller forms, there was another spot on the page. This one also seemed to take on a familiar form that he guessed was some kind of animal. However, before Liam could ask, Chris, who had also been listening and watching Cassie point out the features of her house, spoke up.

"Who's this Cassie?" Chris asked, pointing to the animal.

"That's Bullet, he's our dog and he runs really fast." She said.

Both Chris and Liam looked at each other, then at Cassie.

"Bullet? Where'd you come up with that name?" Liam asked, thinking that it was a somewhat unusual name for a child to pick out for a dog.

Cassie didn't answer, just shrugged.

"Well, this is a great picture, sweetie. I was just going to put Chris's spelling test on the fridge. How about we add this picture too?" He asked, before he got up and headed to the kitchen. The kids following close behind.

A little later, Liam had Cassie settled in front of the television, and Chris, with Liam's help, was sitting at the kitchen table working through the math problems. Liam, in between helping Chris, started working on getting dinner finished. Liam's mom had started a beef stew that smelled wonderful and was pretty much ready. Liam had also found some biscuits in the fridge. They had already been cut and placed on a covered cookie sheet. All Liam had to do was put them in the oven.

While he was waiting for the biscuits to finish, Liam drew his attention away from Chris and started inspecting the front of the fridge. He gave a little chuckle when he looked at the two pictures and the spelling test that were taped to the fridge. He definitely got that from his mom. He and Julie grew up with their stuff being posted on the fridge. It had become a sort of contest between them to see who could get more stuff posted. He'd have to get some refrigerator magnets. Magnets would work much better than the tape and they wouldn't ruin the papers when you tried to remove them. A voice at the entrance to the kitchen startled Liam out of his thoughts.

"Mmmm, what smells so good?" Jack asked.

"Shit, Jack, you scared me half to death. I didn't even hear you come in the door." Liam said, trying to catch his breath and glancing down at Chris to see if he had heard his choice of words, but if Chris did hear him, he wasn't letting on, he was focused on his worksheet.

"Sorry." Jack said.

"That's okay. I was just lost in thought." He said, turning back to the stew to give it a stir. "My mom picked up the kids from school today and watched them here while I was house hunting. When I got home, she already had dinner on the stove. You're home early." Liam said.

"Yeah, I'm beat and couldn't focus. I've got a big meeting tomorrow and figured I had better try to get some rest. When will dinner be ready?" Jack asked.

"In about ten minutes. Listen, Rick invited us out to his house for a barbeque tomorrow night. Stacey and Mitch will be there too. I plan to head over there about six. I was hoping you could come too.

"At this point, I won't know until tomorrow afternoon. I've got a huge client meeting tomorrow morning and based on the out come of the meeting, I may be working all weekend. Can I call you tomorrow after lunch and let you know?" Jack asked.

Sure, that's fine. Oh, that reminds me, there was an accident with some of the paperwork you had on your desk and…" Liam started, but didn't get a chance to finish before Jack hissed out a "fuck", and then turned and sprinted for their office. Liam looked again at Chris, who had finally had his attention brought out of his homework.

"I'll go make sure everything's okay. You keep working on your homework." Liam said, before he headed out of the kitchen.

Liam found Jack in their office, leafing through the stuff on his desk and mumbling, "shit, shit, shit".

"Jack, I'm sorry…" Again, Liam didn't get a chance to finish before Jack was screaming at him.

"Shit, Liam, do you even realize what this is?" He yelled, shaking the documents aggressively in front of Liam's face.

"No, Jack, I don't, but…" He was cut off again.

"Liam, these are the final artwork proofs for the client I'm meeting with tomorrow. How the hell am I supposed to tell them that a seven year old colored all over them? Do you realize how unprofessional that is?" He asked, still yelling.

Before he could even answer, Jack looked over Liam's shoulder, causing Liam to turn to see what Jack was looking at.

"You, you little shit, this is all your fault." Jack screamed while flinging the paperwork toward Chris. Chris was frozen in place, his mouth hanging open and eyes wide with fear.

"Jack, stop it." Liam yelled, trying to force Jack's attention to him. "It wasn't Chris, it was Cassie and it wasn't their fault, it was mine. I let them play in the office the other day, while I was in there working. They were both coloring on some of my recycling. Cassie didn't know our office was off limits when we weren't in there with them. It was my fault."

"That's bullshit. That little shit has had it in for me since he got here." Jack said, his finger pointing menacingly at Chris.

"What the hell are you talking about Jack? He's seven years old, what could he possibly do to you?" Liam asked, but didn't wait for an answer. He just turned his attention to Chris.

"Chris, go upstairs and get some pajamas and a couple of changes of clothes for you and Cassie, put them in your school backpack. We're going to grandma and grandpa's for a couple of nights." Liam said.

Chris, shaking and with tears running down his face, turned and practically ran down the hallway.

Once Chris was gone, Liam turned his attention back to Jack.

"Jack, I'm not sure what's going on, but we're leaving. We'll just stay with my parents until we get our own place. I'm not going to stay here and continue to let you do this to the kids. What the hell's the matter with you? This is so unlike you. I just don't understand where all this is coming from." Liam said.

"Liam, I can't believe you don't see it. He's doing all this stuff to get me mad. He's trying to turn you against me. It's so fucking obvious." Jack said.

"Jack, I'm not even going to have this conversation. It's so out there, that it's not even worth the effort." With that said Liam left the office, went downstairs, removed dinner from the stove and then headed back upstairs to get his things together. Liam didn't want to waste any time, he just wanted to get out of there and away from Jack.

The car ride over was very quiet. The kids were very subdued. Liam however, didn't notice this. He was too distracted from all the noise in his head. He couldn't figure out what was going on with Jack. He'd never seen Jack react like that. It was so unlike him, it's like he's a totally different person with the kids around. 'Well, it doesn't matter now. We are out of there and there is no way we'll ever be going back.' Liam thought, deciding that he needed to stop fretting about it.

They stopped on their way to his mom's to grab a bite to eat. While they were waiting for their food, Liam took the chance to call his mom and give her a heads up. She was also extremely surprised by Jack's reaction.

"I mean, I knew he'd be mad, but I never expected he'd react like that." She said.

"I know. It was so weird. He wasn't making any sense. It's like he's jealous of the kids or something." Liam said, still trying to find some rational explanation for the way Jack was behaving.

"Well, it's probably best that you and the kids left. We'll make room for you here."

"Thanks mom, we'll be there as soon as we've finished eating." Liam said, hanging up the phone.

Liam then turned his attention to the kids. "Well guys, Grandma and Grandpa are really excited that we're going to be staying with them for a few days." He said, trying to offer some sort of reassurance.

Chris looked up at Liam and Liam could see the hurt and fear still lingering in his eyes.

"Chris, how are you doing? I'm really sorry that Jack talked to you like that. None of this was your fault, okay? It wasn't even Cassie's fault. I don't want you to worry, okay? I promise, we won't be going back there." Liam said.

Chris nodded his head, as the waitress brought their food to the table. It was obvious that he was working hard to hold back the tears that were threatening to break loose.

When they finally arrived at Liam's parents' house, it was almost bedtime for the kids and they still needed their baths. While Liam got the kids in the bath tub, his mom got their beds ready. Chris would have his old room and Cassie would have her mom's old room, just as they usually did when they spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's. Liam was relegated to the pull-out couch in the living room.

Shortly after the kids were in bed, Liam's mom and dad also retired to their room for the night. Liam, figuring that sleep wouldn't come easily, was trying to relax in bed with a borrowed book, hoping that reading might keep his mind empty and make it easier to fall asleep.

After about an hour of staring at the same page, reading and re-reading the page, Liam gave up, tossed the book on the floor and rolled over. Lying there in the dark, quiet house, Liam thought he heard something. He paused, listening more intently, straining to hear it again. Sure enough, it was quiet sobbing coming from the hallway.

Getting up, Liam headed towards the sound. As he got closer, he realized it was Cassie.

"Cassie, baby, what's the matter?" Liam asked, as he sat next to her on the bed.

She immediately sat up and crawled into Liam's lap, sobbing harder.

"I want my mommy. I want my mommy." She said, over and over again. She was crying so hard now that her breathing was broken up by huge gasps of air.

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry." Liam said, wrapping his arms around her. Liam was feeling terrible now. It never dawned on him that putting her in her mom's old room might cause her to start missing her mom. 'I should have known better. I should have put the kids on the roll-out and I should have taken my old room.' Liam thought, as he mentally berated himself for being such an idiot.

He was now rocking back and forth with Cassie sitting in his lap. Every so often he would make a shushing sound, hoping to sooth her sobs.

After about twenty minutes, she had finally settled down and was back asleep. She was still taking little gasps of breath from all the crying, but she was, at last, asleep again.

Liam stood and carried her out to the roll-out in the living room. Once he had her settled in the bed, he started to crawl in with her. However, before he even sat down on the bed, he heard Christopher screaming from his room again.

"Crap, will I ever get a break?" Liam asked of no one in particular, as he headed back down the hallway to Chris's room.

When he got there, his mom and dad were already in the room. His mom was just getting ready to sit down next to Chris.

"Mom, wait, don't touch him." Liam hollered over Chris's screaming. Both his parents, startled, looked over at Liam.




Consumed Pt. 07



"He's having one of the night terrors I told you about. If you try to touch him, he only gets more aggressive. It's better to just wait it out and keep an eye on him." Liam said, trying to be heard over Chris.

"Wow, Liam, you told us about the terrors, but I never could have imagined this was what you were talking about. How can you just watch this and do nothing?" His mom asked. She was obviously having a hard time not being able to console Chris.

"I know mom, it's not easy, but it's what Chris's counselor told me to do. Let's go out in the hallway and talk." Liam said, motioning for his parents join him in the hallway.

Once they were in the hallway, Liam pulled the door almost closed, leaving just enough of an opening so he could peer in and see Chris.

"The counselor said that it can be even worse for him if we try to wake him. He usually settles down within fifteen or twenty minutes." Liam said.

"He has these every night?" His mother asked, still shocked by the situation.

"Every night except last night. He doesn't remember them in the morning and they don't seem to affect his sleep, only mine." Liam said, turning his attention away from Chris to smile slightly at his parents, and then turn his attention back to Chris. "The counselor said they will probably decrease and then hopefully stop all together once his life settles down."

"Look, see, he's settling down already." Liam said, opening the door further so his parents could look in on Chris.

"The poor kid, he's got to be going through some major internal turmoil to have this happening to him subconsciously every night." Frank said.

Liam walked over to Chris and sat down next to him on the bed. He was still a little restless and was still mumbling in his sleep, but at least he wasn't screaming any more.

"You guys can go ahead and go back to bed. I'll take him to the roll-out with me. He should be fine the rest of the night. Cassie's already there anyway. She woke up a little upset by being in her mom's old room, so I put her in bed with me." Liam said.

"Are you sure you don't want to put one of them in bed with us? It will be a tight squeeze for all of you in that little pull-out." His mom offered.

"Nah, we'll manage. We're kind of used to this by now. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine." Liam said, as he stood up and then scooped Chris up in his arms.

"Alright, but if you need anything, you come get us." Frank said, as he led a reluctant Rebecca back to bed.

Liam carried Chris out to the living room and placed him next to Cassie, then crawled in himself. It didn't seem to matter where they were, this seemed to be becoming routine.

Friday morning, Liam awoke to the smell of coffee and bacon. His mom was obviously already awake. He sat up and looked at the clock on the VCR; it was just before six am. Lying back down, he rolled over only to be greeted by two feet. "God, how do you do that, Cassie?" He said, laughing quietly.

Not expecting an answer, Liam was a bit surprised when Chris responded. "At our house, Cassie always came to my room to sleep with me at night, but my bed was too small, so she would always sleep turned around. I think she just got used to sleeping like that."

"Well, at least that explains it." Liam said, while peering over Cassie's legs at Chris. "How are you doing? You sleep okay? You're up a little early."

"Grandma and Grandpa's talking in the kitchen woke me up." He said.

"I guess their not used to people sleeping out here in the living room. Well, I smell bacon, what do you say we go see what else Grandma's got cooking for breakfast." Liam said, smiling at Chris.

In the kitchen, Liam's mom was busy fixing a huge breakfast of french toast, hash browns, bacon and sausage. 

"Good morning. Mmmm, Mom, that smells really good. Where's dad?" Liam asked as they entered the kitchen.

"Good morning. Your dad's in the bedroom on the phone. Did you guys sleep well?" She said.

"Yep." They replied in unison.

"Well, breakfast should only be another ten minutes or so. Liam, there's coffee if you want some." His mom said, pointing to the coffee maker.

"Thanks." Liam said, helping himself to the coffee, just as his dad walked into the kitchen with Cassie in his arms.

"Hey, dad, want a cup of coffee?" Liam asked.

"Oh, he can't have the leaded coffee, Liam, you know that." His mom answered, before his dad even had a chance.

"There are decaf coffee singles in the cupboard above the coffee cups. You can fix him one of those." She said.

"Okay." Liam said, glancing at his dad and giving him an apologetic look.

Once they were all seated at the table and working on breakfast, Frank spoke up about the phone call from this morning.

"Liam, I just got off the phone with Robert and he was hoping you could meet him this afternoon. He wants to go over some things with you."

"Oh, what things? Did he say?" Liam asked.

"Well, I think he needs you to sign some paperwork regarding the settlement of the estate, but I'm not entirely sure. He did mention that the will finally made it through probate. He was hoping you could come by his house tonight for dinner, but I told him you already had plans tonight, so he invited you over for lunch instead. Here, he gave me the address and directions." Frank said, handing Liam the piece of paper with the information on it. "He said anytime after eleven thirty this morning would be fine. His cell number is on there too, just in case you can't make it." Frank finally finished.

"His home? Isn't that kind of strange?" Liam asked.

"Don't know, but I wouldn't worry about it. Robert and Adam have known each other since law school. Last time, we spent half the day cooped up in his office. He probably just wants a more comfortable setting this time. I'm sure it's been hard for him too, having lost his best friend." Frank said.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Liam said.

After they had finished breakfast, Rebecca hauled the kids off to get them ready for school, while Frank and Liam washed the dishes.

"So, what's your plan for today, other than meeting with Robert?" Frank asked.

"Well, after I drop the kids off at school, I'm going to head over to the mall to get bathing suits for Chris and Cassie. Rick has a pool and I'm sure the kids will want to go swimming tonight. After that, I'll head over to Robert's."

"Do you have a swim suit, or are you going back over to the loft and pick yours up? You'll probably have to go in the pool with Cassie, since she doesn't know how to swim." Frank said.

"Crap, I hadn't thought about that. No, there's no way I'm going to the loft today. I really don't want to chance running into Jack. Even though he'll probably be at work, I just don't want to take that chance right now. I'll go back to the loft on Monday while Jack is at work and pick up some more of our things then. I just don't want to deal with any of that right now." Liam said

"Can't blame you on that one." Frank responded.

"After I pick up the kids from school, we'll come back and get ready for the barbeque at Rick's tonight. It's going to be a very busy day." Liam said.

"That's probably a good thing." Frank said, putting a hand on Liam's shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

"Yeah, probably. Well, I guess I should get the kids off to school." Liam said, effectively finishing his conversation with his dad.

To be continued...



Consumed Pt. 08



Everyone keeps asking for "more" and "faster" (pun intended). Anyway, just to give everyone an idea of what and when I try to post. When you get 1.5 to 2 pages on Literotica, it equates to 10 to 12 pages of typed text in Word. That's about all I can manage each week. I do stay a couple of chapters ahead, but I only do that to give myself a cushion, in case something comes up and I don't get to work on a chapter. 

 I try to post once a week. Because of the way I submit each chapter, Literotica can sometimes take up to three days to upload the story. I try to submit a new chapter every weekend. The last chapter was rejected because I made a mistake. I had to correct the mistake and repost it, which meant an even longer delay. Sorry. However, in most cases, if you check back the first part of each week, that's when you'll likely find a new chapter.

Hope this helps. And, please post feedback and tell me how you liked the chapter. Also, don't forget to vote.

WARNING: This one's a cliff hanger. A Grand Canyon sized cliff hanger. 

Chapter 9

After Liam dropped off the kids at school, he headed over to the mall. With morning traffic, it was almost a forty minute drive from their little suburb to the mall, which opened at ten. He ended up getting there about twenty minutes early and had to wait in the parking lot until they opened.

The swim trunks for himself and Chris were an easy purchase. However, the bathing suits for the little girls were a real shocker. He couldn't believe they actually made bikinis for toddlers. 'Who, in their right mind, would put a bikini on a two year old?' He grumbled to himself, as he held up one to inspect. It had little fish right in the spots that would cover the front top portion. 'Yeah, she doesn't even have anything to help hold the fish in place. No way in hell is my little girl wearing that.' He mumbled, again to himself. In the end, he chose a nice one piece that had several of the Disney princesses on the front.

After he made his purchases, he started the forty minute drive back to their little burb. Robert lived up in the hills, not too far from where Julie and Adam had lived. His house was in a slightly more affluent neighborhood. The houses were more secluded and had more land surrounding them. It was a beautiful home with a long drive that circled around the front of the house. There was a huge recessed double entry door with a large arched transom.

Robert was at the door to greet Liam before he even got out of the car.

"Liam, I'm so glad you could make it. Hopefully you found the place easily enough." Robert said, stepping outside and extending his hand in friendly greeting.

"Hello, Robert, thanks for inviting me and yes, I found the place just fine. This is a very beautiful home." Liam replied, shaking Robert's offered hand.

"Yes, it is, why don't I give you a tour. Lunch should be ready by the time we're done." He said as he showed Liam into the house.

The house was amazing. The first floor had a formal living and dining room appointed with columns, flank by a two-story foyer. The living room was warmed by a hearth and the family room, also hearth-warmed, opened to a nook and the kitchen. The dining room adjoined the island kitchen via a butler's pantry. A covered porch opens just beyond the nook. Down a short hall was a home office, one half-bath, one full bath, the laundry room and access to a multi-car garage. On the opposite end of the main level was a magnificent master suite with sitting room, fireplace, and pampering bath.

The upper level had two family bedrooms, a guest suite, a library, an exercise room and an entertainment room.

Liam was in awe. He had driven up through the hills in the past, but had never actually had a chance to see the inside of one of the homes. Julie and Adam's home was extremely large, almost the same size, only without the library and exercise room, but it definitely wasn't as grand as this house.

Lunch was waiting for them outside on the back porch. The back yard was complete with children's playground, swimming pool, and tennis/basketball court.

While they ate lunch, Liam filled Robert in on how the kids were doing, the state of the investigation, and the situation with their living arrangements.

"Yeah, I talked to your dad yesterday and he mentioned you were looking for a place. He also mentioned this morning that you were probably going to be staying with them until you found someplace. That's one of the reason's I wanted to meet with you." He said, pausing to take a drink of his tea, and then continuing.

"As you know, there is a substantial settlement coming from the insurance company that you can put towards your purchase. I know that you were fairly comfortable to begin with, but now that you've added to that with Adam and Julie's estate, you have more funds at your disposal than you probably realize." He finished.

"I hadn't really given much thought to the amount of money coming from their estate. I just don't feel right using that money. I don't know why, but using that money just feels wrong." Liam responded.

"Yes, I can understand that, but you know that Julie and Adam would only want the best for Chris and Cassie. They would want you to use the money to make sure they had everything they need. The sole purpose of the money is to take care of Chris and Cassie. You shouldn't feel guilty for using it for that purpose. Now, with that said, I have a proposition for you." He said, before pausing to take another drink of his tea and, Liam supposed, waiting for a response from him.

"A proposition? Okay, I'm listening." Liam said.

"Yes, well, my wife and I bought this house just after Adam and I made partners at the law firm. It was sort of a gift to us. However, it has always been a dream of ours to have our own house built. We purchased the land over a year ago and construction has already started. It's expected to be finished in about sixty to ninety days. We would like to sell this house to you." He said, pausing again for another drink.

"What?" Liam asked, thinking that he couldn't have possibly heard Robert right.

"You heard me, we would like to sell you this house. We're willing to offer you a price well below market value. Besides, since we won't have to put the house on the market, we can expect to save a substantial amount just from that alone. Please understand Liam, that I loved Adam and Julie very much. Adam was like a brother to me and I miss him tremendously. We, my wife and I, would very much like the opportunity to do something for the kids and for you." He finished.

"Wow, I'm… I'm…Speechless. Can we really afford something like this once the estate's been settled?" Liam asked.

"Yes, most definitely, like I said, there will be a substantial settlement coming from the company that insured Julie and Adam's house. That will cover a large portion of the purchase price. Their estate can easily cover the balance. Plus, we'll be offering you a very good price. And, please don't think that you have to accept right now. You can think about it over the weekend, maybe talk with your mom and dad. We can discuss it more next week. Right now, I just wanted to put the offer out there." Robert said.

"Thank you Robert, I don't know what else to say, except thank you." Liam said.

"No thanks are necessary. My wife and I really want to do this for the kids." He said.

After that, discussion moved on to the subject of Julie and Adam's estate. Robert had several documents that needed Liam's signature. The will had gone through probate and the law firm was now working to transfer all holdings over to Liam. Robert explained that this would still take some time, probably a couple of months before everything would be transferred, but now that the will had gone through probate, they could actually proceed.

Later, while Liam was driving over to pick up the kids from school, he started thinking about Robert's offer. The house was amazing. He could easily see the kids growing up in that house. He wasn't sure if the kids would still be in the same school district though and that could be a problem. He felt that it would be more important to keep Chris in the same school, than to have that house. In the end, he decided that he would talk to his mom and dad and get their opinion. If it still sounded like a good idea after talking with them, he would talk to the school principal to see if something could be worked out.

Once Chris was in the car, he talked non-stop about his day at school, especially about his math test.

"I got all the math problems right on my math test. I missed school all last week and I still got all the problems right. Mrs. Piper said she was proud of all my hard work." He said, the self gratification obvious in his voice. "Oh, and I also got invited to Peter's birthday party next week. Can I go?" He asked.

"Yeah, you can go. And, I want to see your test. We'll have to put it on the fridge at Grandma and Grandpa's." Liam responded.

"Okay. You have to call Peter's mom and tell her I can come. It says that in the invitation, so don't forget to call." He said.

"I promise, I won't." Liam said, chuckling slightly at Chris's excitement.

Once home, Liam gave the kids their swim suits and told them to go get ready for the barbeque. Later, after they were ready, Liam let them watch TV and eat a snack that Grandma had waiting for them, while he sat down with his mom and dad and told them about Robert's offer.

"That's a very generous offer, Liam. Are you going to accept?" His dad asked.

"I think I'm going to, yes, I really want to, but I've got a couple of other things to consider. I've got to make sure that Chris can stay at the same school. No matter what, he's staying at that school. I'm going to talk to the principal on Monday and see if that can be arranged. The other problem is that we won't be able to move into the house for another sixty to ninety days, so I don't know where we'll stay until then." He finished.

"Of course, you'll just stay here." His mom interjected. "I know it will be a tight squeeze." She added, putting up her hand to stop Liam's obvious argument. "But, it's only for a couple of months. This is really an opportunity that you can't pass up, Liam. Besides, it'll be nice to have the kids here for a while." She finished.

"We can put a queen size bed in your room and you can sleep there. The kids can sleep on the pull-out sofa or with you, which ever is easiest, but we can easily make accommodations." His dad added.

"Well, I guess I don't have much of an argument. So, I'll call Robert on Monday, after I talk to the school." Liam said, grinning from ear to ear. This house was really more than he could ever have dreamed.

They arrived at Rick's at about half past five. The front door was wide open and they could hear music playing and people talking. Liam knocked on the open door and was soon greeted by a big dog. He looked to be a german shepherd mix and his tail started wagging ninety miles an hour when he saw the kids.

"Hey, Uncle Leem, look, it's a dog. Isn't he cute?" Cassie exclaimed as she reached out to pet him. The dog thought this was a great idea and immediately started forward, knocking Cassie down on her bum. Cassie was laughing heartily and the dog was giving her face a bath with his tongue.

Chris walked up and grabbed the dog by the nape of his neck and started pulling him off of Cassie.

"Hey, you guy's made it." Rick said, suddenly appearing in the doorway.

"Rick!!!" Both the kids screamed excitedly, their attention turning away from the dog long enough to run up and give Rick a hug.

Rick bent down, wrapped his arms around both of the kids and picked them up into a big bear hug.

"Ecco i miei piccoli campioni! Come state bellissimi? Che bello rivedervi."1 He said, as he started spinning around with them in his arms, causing the kids to break out into giggles, while the dog started barking and jumping up, obviously wanting to join in the fun.

"Rick, is that your dog? What's his name?" Chris asked, as Rick finally set them down on the floor again.

"Sorry about the dog. He's overly excited right now. I don't know his name. He's been wandering around the fire station for a couple of days now. At first I figured he probably belonged to someone and had just gotten loose, but when he was still coming round after a couple of days, I figured I better get him off the streets before he got hit by a car. I'm going to take him to the humane society on Monday." He said. 

"Oh, well, he seems to be a really good dog. Good with the kids. How come you're not keeping him?" Liam asked, as they watched the kids. The dog had rolled over onto his back and was having his tummy rubbed by both Chris and Cassie.

"I would love to keep him. I've always wanted a dog, but with my work schedule, since I'm gone for several days at a time, I can't really have any animals. I can manage fish, but that's about it." Rick replied. "Anyway, come on in. Just about everyone is here already." He added, as he escorted them into the house.

Before Rick had a chance to introduce Liam to anyone, Chris and Cassie saw Bren and Jacob, Stacey's kids, and were off to play with them. Of course, the dog was glued to their side, hoping for some more attention. Liam noticed that there were kids everywhere. Maybe even more kids than adults.

"Liam, I want you to meet my mom and dad." Rick said, as he escorted Liam outside.

Rick's dad was sitting at a table with several other men, Mitch included.

"Liam, this is my dad Niccolo, or Nico for short. Dad, this is Liam." Rick said, as Nic stood up and shook hands with Liam.

"Good to meet you Liam." Nico replied.

"You too, sir." 

"Please, just call me Nico."

"Okay, Nico." Liam said, as Rick turned his attention to a couple of the other men at the table.

"You know Mitch already, of course." Rick said, as Mitch and Liam nodded to each other.

"This is Michael. He's married to my sister Angelica. She's the one who works at the hospital and will be getting us in to see Sam and Mike next week." Rick said, as they shook hands. "They have a couple of rugrats running around here somewhere and they also have one more on the way." He finished, looking around to see if he could locate the rugrats.

"I think they are in playing the game box." Rick's dad said.

"Oh, okay. Where's Gino and Savio? They were here a minute ago." Rick asked.

"They decided to get the barbeque set up." Nico said.

"Oh, okay, we'll catch them later." Rick said to his dad, and then turned to Liam. "Come on, I want you to meet my mom. She should be in the kitchen."

Liam followed Rick back into the house and to what he assumed would be the kitchen.

The kitchen wasn't very large, but there were three women squeezed in there busily working and chatting away.

"Ma, come here, I want you to meet someone." Rick said, once they graced the entrance to the kitchen.

"Riccardo, what are you doing in here. There's not enough room. I've been trying to get your sisters out too, but they will not go. You, you go on and get out of here." Rick's mom said, shooing him away and not really even listening to what he had said.

"Ma, I just want you to meet someone. Come here Mami." He said, this time getting her attention.

"Oh? Who do you want me to meet? Is this your Liam?" She asked, nodding her head towards Liam while she dried her hands on a dish towel.

Surprised by her choice of words, Liam looked up at Rick.

"Oh, Liam, look at you. You are quite the handsome man. I'm so glad to meet you. My Riccardo and Stacey have talked about you and your Christopher and Cassandra so much." She said, coming up and enveloping Liam in her arms. Over his shoulder, she addressed Rick. "Questo è un gran bel ragazzo, Riccardo, non fartelo scappare."2

"Mamma, per favore! non di fronte a tutti! è già fidanzato"3 Rick said, reaching over and trying to pull Liam from his mother's clutches.

"Tua sorella Stacey mi ha detto che ha lasciato il suo fidanzato."4 She said, as she finally released Liam from the hug.

"Mamma, tu e Stacy non dovreste spettegolare cosi' tanto."5 Rick said, but his mom just harrumphed and turned her attention back to Liam.

"Umm… I… Well, thank you. It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Romano." Liam said, not quite sure what to say, since they were obviously talking about him.

"Oh, no, you call me Isabella." She said.

"Okay, Isabella, thank you." Liam said.

"Now, you boys head on outside and visit." She said, shooing them off again.

A little later, while the kids were playing catch with the dog, Liam was sitting at the picnic table with Rick's dad, Michael, Savio, and Mitch. They were all consumed in conversation. Liam, however, wasn't listening. His eyes were focused on Rick.

Rick was working at the barbeque while talking to one of his brothers. They were talking and laughing while they worked and Liam couldn't help but take the time to study Rick's features. He truly was a beautiful man. He had dark brown hair, almost black actually. It was cut short in the back and over the ears, but a little longer in the front, where it almost reached his eyes. His eyes were a very vibrant blue color. His lips were actually a little narrow, but looked extremely soft and definitely kissable. When he smiled or laughed, his whole face lit up and his eyes sparkled. He had broad shoulders and a large chest. His pecs were well defined through the tight shirt he was wearing and his nipples were pressing against the material. 'Those are definitely kissable.' Liam thought to himself, as the smile on his face grew from the thought.

"Hello, earth to Liam, come in Liam." Mitch said, while waving his hand in front of Liam's face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess my mind was wandering." Liam said.

"Yeah, your mind, and your eyes." Mitch said, grinning at Liam.

Liam looked at Mitch, surprised and embarrassed that he'd been caught drooling over Rick. Liam's eyes then scanned the table and all of them were looking at him.

"My son, he's not so bad to look at, is he?" Nico asked, grinning like the cat that caught the canary.

"Umm, no, I was just… I mean I…" Liam stuttered.

"It's okay, we didn't mean to embarrass you." Mitch said.

"No, really, I was just lost in my thoughts." Liam said.

Just then, Liam was saved, none too soon, by Isabella bringing out several dishes of food. Rick's sisters, Angelica and Stacey were following with condiments and paper goods. He briefly glanced back over at Rick, only to find Rick watching him this time. Rick smiled and gave a slight nod as Liam turned his attention back to Isabella.

"Nico, go let Riccardo know that everything is ready and help him get the chicken on the table. Mitch and Michael, you go get the ice chest and drinks." Then she turned her attention to Liam. "Liam, you go into the kitchen and get the salad and dressings that are in the refrigerator. The dressings are in the door and the salad is on the top shelf." She finished.

"Yes ma'am." He said.

"No, no ma'am, I told you Isabella." She said firmly.

"Sorry, I'd be happy to help, Isabella. Be right back." He said.

Heading into the kitchen, Liam opened the door to the refrigerator. The salad was on the top shelf, but there were no dressings in the door. Liam leaned in to start moving things around to see if he could locate the dressings.

Just as he found what he was looking for and stood back up, he felt someone come up behind him and press in really close.

"Whatcha looking for?" Rick asked, pressing in closer and looking over Liam's shoulder.




Consumed Pt. 08



Liam could feel Rick's breath ghost over his neck as he spoke. The sensation caused goose bumps to break out on his arms and he involuntarily closed his eyes.

Rick reached under Liam's arm, like he was going to pull him in and hug him to his chest, but instead, only reached for a container of parmesan cheese. "Can I help you find something?" Rick asked.

This time, Liam thought he could feel Rick's lips almost brush against the sensitive spot between neck and shoulder. It practically took every bit of self control he had not to lean forward so that his ass would press against Rick's groin. Still, he couldn't help the slight moan that escaped his lips as he tried to get his mind and body to focus. His heart was beating fast and hard as he tried to catch his breath and respond to Rick's question. God, he could even smell him, and fuck, did he ever smell good.

"I… I… Your…" 'Shit, come on Liam, spit it out.' He mentally berated himself. "Your… Uhh… Your mom… She sent me in here for the salad and dressings. I was trying to find the dressings." He finally managed.

"Oh, well, let me help you with that." Rick said, and he took the salad dressing from Liam, their fingers brushing momentarily. Rick's hand was warm and the slight touch caused the goose bumps to rise again.

"Uhh… Thanks." Liam said, as he reached back into the fridge for another bottle of dressing. Leaning down into the fridge inadvertently caused Liam's ass to actually press into Rick's groin, and he could swear he heard a hiss escape Rick.

"I think that's it. Why don't you grab the salad and I'll follow you with the dressing and parmesan cheese." Rick said, as he finally stepped back from Liam. "Mom sent me in for the cheese. I don't know how she can like this canned crap. Everything she makes has to be from scratch, but when it comes to the parmesan cheese, she has to have this processed canned stuff. Go figure." Rick said, rolling his eyes and effectively breaking all sexual tension in the room.

Dinner was delicious. Rick had barbequed the chicken and Isabella had put together a couple of Italian dishes. Rick said it was 'Risotto alla milanese' or rice with saffron. There was also a pasta dish that Rick called 'tagliatelle alla bolognese'. Liam liked the rice, but wasn't too keen on the pasta dish. The kids also ate healthy helpings of the chicken and the rice.

After dinner, several of the kids and a few of the adults decided to go swimming. They ended up forming a group to play Marco Polo. It was a competition of the adults against the kids. Even the smaller kids, like Cassie were included in the game. They went piggy back on the adults. The kids got to call Marco Polo and the adults would be their vehicles. Liam almost couldn't stop laughing long enough to play the game. It was basically eight or nine kids, who ganged up on Rick, Gino and Mitch. The adults didn't have a snowball's chance in hell. Savio finally joined in too, hoping, unsuccessfully, to give the adult team a fighting chance. They had a lot of fun and Liam couldn't remember the last time he had laughed so much and he hadn't seen the kids so carefree since the fire. It was truly a wonderful sight.

After the game ended, several of the kids, Chris included, headed inside to play games on Rick's game system. Liam and Rick were relaxing in the lounge chairs on the patio by the door and Cassie was lying with Liam, trying desperately to stay awake.

"So, Liam, tell me about yourself. Have you always lived in Manitou Springs?" Rick asked.

"Yep, both my sister and I were born here. In fact, my parents still live in the same house. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. What about you?" Liam countered.

"No, we moved here from Colorado Springs when I was twelve. By the time we moved, there were only three of us kids left at home. Most of my brothers and sisters still live in Colorado Springs." He said.

"What made you decide to become a firefighter?" Liam asked.

"I did a stint in the Army as a field medic right after high school. When I got out, I knew I wanted a career where I could use my medical training. I did a little research, and it was firefighting that really caught my interest. It was a good choice. I really love what I do and I have a great group of men and volunteers that support me. How about you? You work in finance or something like that, don't you?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, sort of. I'm a business analyst. Basically, I do financial feasibility studies. I assess existing and new business opportunities and products and then provide my customers with business models that they can base their decisions on." Liam said, and then added. "I never know how to explain what I do to people who aren't familiar with the business. It's a hard job to define." 

"That's okay, I think I have a pretty good idea." Rick said. "Well, it looks like someone finally lost the battle." Rick said, nodding towards Cassie, who was lying across Liam's chest, completely conked out.

"Yeah, it's been a busy day for her. We should probably head out." Liam said, as he stood up while cradling Cassie in his arms.

"I'll run in and get Chris." Rick said.

A few minutes later, Rick was walking Liam and the kids to the car.

"Listen, I was thinking that maybe we could go to the hospital on Tuesday. My sister will be on duty and wouldn't have any problems getting the kids in. Would that work for you?" Rick said.

"Sure, we can do that. Did you still want to meet for dinner at Frankie's beforehand?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, that would be good. How about we meet there at six, have dinner and then head over to the hospital?" Rick offered.

"Okay, that works for me. Oh, and Rick, thanks for such a great evening. I don't remember the last time that I enjoyed myself so much and I know the kids had a really good time tonight too. Maybe they'll even sleep through the night." He said.

"No problem. My family had wanted to meet you and the kids. I just hope my family wasn't too overwhelming and that you'll want to come back." Rick teased.

"We'd love to come back and your family is great. You're a very lucky man to have such a loving family." Liam said, as they reached the car and he started to get Cassie buckled into her seat. She was sleeping like a baby, didn't even wake up while he was buckling her in.

Rick helped Chris get buckled in and then came around to the driver's side as Liam was getting into the car.

"You take care of yourself, Liam, and call me if you need anything."

"I will, and thanks Rick… For everything." Liam said.

"No problem. I'll see you on Tuesday."

On the way home, Liam started thinking about the evening while both Cassie and Chris slept silently in the back. He really did have a good time. Rick really was an amazing man, in fact, his whole family was pretty amazing. Goose bumps started to rise again, when he thought about the slight contact in the kitchen. He could almost smell Rick again. 'Shit, Liam, get a grip, you don't need to start anything right now.' Liam silently reprimanded himself.

When he arrived back at his parents, he was torn against waking Chris up or leaving him in the car while he hauled Cassie into the house. He really didn't want to wake Chris up, but he didn't ponder on it too long. With everything going on, there was no way in hell he was going to leave Chris in the car. So, he got Cassie out of the car first and then carried her around to the other side of the car and woke Chris up.

"Come on Chris, let's get you upstairs and into bed. You and Cassie want to just sleep with me tonight?" Liam asked.

"Uh Huh." Chris said, as he nodded drowsily.

When Liam got to the door, he found it wide open and it appeared that all the lights were off in the house. 'That's strange.' He thought to himself, while the hairs on the back of his neck stood out in warning.

It was dark and he couldn't really make anything out inside the house, so he reached inside and turned on the entryway light. Light instantly flooded the living room and what Liam saw, made his heart skip a beat. The living room was ransacked. Everything was turned upside down, the whole place was a mess.

His first instinct was to run inside, calling for his mom and dad, but then he remembered the kids. They couldn't see this.

Instead, he grabbed Chris's hand, wheeled around and headed back to the car.

"Where are we going? What happened to Grandma and Grandpa's house?" Chris was asking.

"I don't know Chris, but I need to make a phone call really quick. You guys can wait in the car." Liam said.

Liam locked Chris and Cassie back in the car and then pulled out his cell phone to call Mitch.

Liam was pacing back and forth along the side of the car, impatiently waiting for Mitch to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" Mitch finally answered.

"Mitch? It's Liam. Something's wrong at my parent's house. I need the police here right now. I'm afraid they might be dead or hurt, or… Shit… I don't know where they are and I can't go in the house. I can't leave the kids and…" Liam rambled.

"Whoa, Whoa, Liam, slow down a minute. Where are you?" He asked.

"I'm at my parents and when I got here, their front door was wide open. When I turned on the entry light, the whole living room was a mess. God, Mitch, what do I do, what if someone is still inside. I have to keep the kids safe, but what if my parents are in there hurt?" Liam said.

"Okay, where are you and the kids right now? You're not in the house, are you?" Mitch asked.

"No, were out front. I've got the kids locked in the car." Liam responded.

Okay, that's good. Now, give me your parents address and I'll get the police dispatched out there right now." Rick said. After he got the address, he told Liam to stay on the phone and that he'd be back with him in a second.

That second dragged on for what seemed like forever before Mitch came back on the phone. In the meantime, his mind couldn't help thinking up horrible scenarios. Liam was so scared. He didn't think he or the kids could handle it if something happened to his parents too. He couldn't hold still while he waited for Mitch. He didn't know what to do with himself. He felt like he should be running into the house to make sure his parents were okay, but at the same time, afraid of what he would find if he did. Besides, he knew he had to stay with the kids. He was really starting to get agitated, when Mitch finally came back on the line.

"Okay, Liam, I've got all available units on the way now. You just sit tight and they'll be there in a few minutes. I'm still at Ricks, but I'm leaving now and I'll be there shortly as well. Why don't you get in the car and pull down the street a couple of houses down and wait for us there. I want you to stay on the line with me until I get there, okay? You don't have to say anything, I just want to keep you on the line."

"Okay, okay." Liam said while nodding his head as he got in the car and headed down the street for another interminable wait.

To be continued…

1 "Ecco i miei piccoli campioni! Come state bellissimi? Che bello rivedervi." Translates to; "Here are my little champs! How are you, cute ones? It's so good to see you again."

2 "Questo è un gran bel ragazzo, Riccardo, non fartelo scappare." Translates to; "This is a very handsome guy, Riccardo, keep it."

3 "Mamma, per favore! non di fronte a tutti! è già fidanzato; Translates to; "Mom, please, don't embarrass me! He's engaged."

4 "Tua sorella Stacey mi ha detto che ha lasciato il suo fidanzato." Translates to; "Your sister, Stacey, told me he left his boyfriend."

5 "Mamma, tu e Stacy non dovreste spettegolare cosi' tanto." Translates to; "Mom, you and Stacey need to mind your own business."



Consumed Pt. 09



With another long sigh, Liam stood up and started putting away the few clothes they had. They basically had two sets of clothing each, plus the one they were currently wearing, which also happened to be the same clothes they wore yesterday. The kids didn't even have pajamas.

About the time he finished putting their things away, Liam caught a whiff of something good. Following his nose to the kitchen, he found Rick working at the stove.

"Mmmm, that smells good. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I smelled the food. Can I help with anything?" Liam asked.

Nope, got it covered. It's pretty simple, just grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. The soup's very good though. My mom makes tons of it from scratch and freezes it. My freezer is full of it." Rick said, as he started spooning the soup into bowls.

The soup was in fact, very good. Nothing like the canned soup Liam was used to. At first, the kids turned their noses up at it, but Rick promised them that if they at least tried it, he would give them both a scoop of ice cream after they were done with their sandwiches. In the end, they both ate a half a sandwich, two bowls of soup and a bowl of ice cream each.

After lunch, the kids headed back up to their room to play and Liam helped Rick clean up the dishes, Liam washing and Rick drying.

Looking out the kitchen window, Liam could see the police cruiser parked out front. "Are they going to be out there all the time?" Liam asked, as he handed Rick one of the dishes to dry.

"Yeah, they will be. But, listen, Mitch mentioned that you didn't get any sleep last night. I can finish up here. Why don't you go lie down and take a nap. If you're not up by dinner time, I'll wake you up." Rick said.

"Oh, god, sleep would be wonderful right about now. Would it be alright if I took a shower first?" Liam asked.

"Hey, this is your home too, while you're here. You don't have to ask. Go ahead. If you need anything, just let me know."

The shower had felt really good. The hot water beating down on his neck and back helped to relieve a lot of the tension and worked to relax him for his nap. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out like a light. In fact, he didn't remember anything else until Chris was nudging him awake.

"Uncle Liam, Rick says it's time to wake up. Dinner is ready and I'm hungry. Come on, Uncle Liam, you have to get up." Chris said, working hard to get Liam up.

"Okay, okay, I'm up." Liam said, as he stretched his arms over his head and yawned. Glancing at the clock on the bedside table, he saw that it was just after six-thirty.

"Come on Uncle Liam, we're having chicken for dinner and I helped barbeque it and we're eating outside." Chris said, dragging Liam along.

Dinner was really good. They did, indeed, eat outside on the patio by the pool. They talked while they ate, with Chris and Cassie filling him in on how they had passed their time while he was asleep. 

Rick and Chris were taking turns tossing a tennis ball to the dog while they ate their dinner. They found out, quite by accident, that the dog loved water. Chris had accidentally tossed the ball into the pool and the dog dove for it. The kids thought that was great, and after that the dog spent most of his time retrieving the ball from the pool. That was, until the dog decided to shake himself dry at the table, next to Chris.

After dinner, Liam gave the kids a bath, and then got them into some pajamas that he found in one of the dressers in the kid's room. Once they were ready for bed, they all settled down to watch a movie. Liam sat on the couch with Cassie in his lap and Rick sat on the floor with his back against the couch, Chris curled up on one side of him and the dog curled up on the other.

Liam found himself distracted from the movie and watching Rick, in profile, intently. He couldn't help but think how nice this little scene was. He knew he would never have been able to get Jack to hunker down with them like this and watch a movie, especially a kid's movie. Jack was just not a family man. He was an only child with parents that were very successfully motivated and didn't have time for family. It was obvious that Jack just didn't know how to relate to children, didn't know how to be a family, didn't want to be a family. It was really kind of sad when you thought about it.

Liam focused on Rick's profile again. It was nice to have someone around who played an active role with the children. Heck, Rick had basically spent the afternoon watching the kids so he could sleep, and now, here he was, laughing with Chris and Cassie while they watched Shrek.

As soon as the movie ended, Liam herded the kids off to the bathroom and then to bed. He gave them the option of sleeping with him or in their bedroom and he was happy to hear them choose their bedroom. It showed that they were comfortable here and that they felt safe. Although, he assumed that sometime during the night, they would end up in his bed.

Once the kids were tucked away in bed, Liam helped Rick clean up the dinner dishes. Again, Liam washed while Rick dried. At one point, Rick leaned over Liam's shoulder to put away a stack of plates and Liam could feel Rick's chest against his backside. After the plates were neatly stacked back in the cupboard however, Rick didn't retreat. Instead, Liam felt Rick's arm wrap around his waist, pulling him fully against his front.

"God, Liam, do you have any idea what you do to me?" Rick whispered in his ear.

"If it's anything like what you do to me, then I have a pretty good idea." Liam said, as his eyes closed automatically and his heart beat sped up.

Rick had started brushing his lips back and forth along the base of Liam's neck.

"Mmmm…I want to kiss you so bad." Rick practically growled out, as he started kissing the same spot.

"Yessss…" He hissed in agreement, tipping his head to the side to allow Rick better access, and when Rick's tongue came out to meet his skin, Liam couldn't stop the moan that erupted from his lips as he pressed his backside more firmly against Rick.

"I know I shouldn't." Rick said, lightly sucking on the area now.

"No." Liam agreed again, as he started grinding his ass into Rick's groin. "We shouldn't." Liam added.

"I'm going to back away now." Rick whispered in Liam's ear, but made no attempt to actually back off, but instead, his mouth started working on Liam's earlobe.

"Oh, shit!" Liam exclaimed. He couldn't take any more. He wheeled around, grabbed Rick by the back of the neck and pulled his lips to him, their lips meeting in a frantic kiss, mouth's immediately opening up to each other, their hands working to grasp the other and pull them closer, tighter.

Suddenly, and at the same time, they both pushed away from each other, gasping for breath.

"Rick, we can't do this." Liam said, as he tried to catch his breath and slow down his pounding heart.

"I know. Shit, Liam, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should know better. I'm sorry." Rick said.

"Its okay, Rick, it's not your fault, at least, not all your fault. I wasn't exactly holding back either." Liam said, with a slight chuckle.

"You've got to know Liam, that I'm crazy about you… About you and the kids. I know this isn't a good time, but I just want you to know that." Rick said.

"I can easily tell you that the feeling is mutual, for all of us." Liam said.

"Why do I sense a 'but' about to come out of your mouth?" Rick asked.

"But… I need to resolve things with Jack before we can go any further." Liam said.

"I can respect that." Rick said.

"Thank you, Rick, and I'm sorry about all this. I really appreciate your understanding. If it's okay with you, I think I'm just going to head to bed. I'm still pretty tired from last night." Liam said.

"Hey, you need to just take care of yourself and the kids right now. Yes, I can imagine you are probably still pretty wiped out. Go get some sleep and I'll see you in the morning. Oh, wait, just a heads up. I think Stacey, Mitch, Bren, and Jacob are coming over tomorrow." Rick said.

"Okay, that ought to make the kids happy. Good night, Rick, and thanks for everything." Liam said as he leaned forward and gave Rick a slight kiss on the lips and then headed to bed.

It was about three in the morning when Liam woke with a start. He wasn't sure what woke him, but he was surprised that the kids weren't in bed with him. He sat there for a couple of minutes, just listening, listening for anything that might have woken him, but the house was silent.

Deciding to check on the kids anyway, Liam got out of bed and headed to the room next door. When he peeked in, he found both beds empty. 'Shit, where could they be?' Liam thought, as he started back towards his room to check the bathroom. It was empty. He then checked the kitchen and the living room and couldn't find any sign of the kids. The front door was still locked, so they had to be in the house. "Rick." He thought, as he headed for Rick's bedroom. Rick's door was slightly ajar and when he pushed it further open and peered inside, he found Rick, Cassie, and Chris all curled up together in the bed. The dog was also sleeping in the bed, at the foot of the bed, just below Chris and Cassie.

He heaved a huge sigh of relief and then started backing out of the room, when Rick's voice suddenly startled him.

"I have two little feet in my face." He said facetiously, and Liam couldn't stop the huge burst of laughter that escaped his lungs.

"Shhhh… Don't wake them." Rick admonished.

"Sorry, but you don't know how many times I've woken up with those same two feet in my face." Liam said, still chuckling slightly.

"That's okay, they're cute little feet. In fact, I think they're probably, just about the cutest little feet I've ever seen." Rick said, as he lifted his head and looked at Liam. "Why don't you join us?" He said, nodding his head to the other side of the bed, next to Chris.

"Okay." Liam said, a little too quickly, as he crawled into bed next to Chris. He settled in on his side facing the middle of the bed. He could just see Rick over the top of Chris's head and Cassie's feet. He snuggled closer to Chris and rested his left arm across the top of Chris and Cassie.

"Good night." Rick said.

"Good night." Liam replied, as he felt Rick's hand grasp his, their finger's entwining over the top of the kids, as they both drifted off to sleep.

To be continued...



Consumed Pt. 10



Author's note: Oh! My! God! You guys are just so amazing. I know I keep saying that, but it's true. Thanks to all of you, the last chapter of "Consumed" hit #17 on the top stories list under the Gay Male section of Literotica. I'm just so stoked. I got over double the number of votes and comments. Thank you so much! I've enjoyed all the comments, so I hope you'll keep sending them.

When Liam opened his eyes on Sunday morning, he found the kids gone and Rick lying next to him in bed, watching him.

"Good morning." Rick said, a smile spreading across his face.

"Morning, where are Chris and Cassie?" Liam asked.

"They're watching cartoons." Rick said, as he reached his hand out and gently brushed up along Liam's face. "I want to kiss you again."

Liam leaned into the touch, closing his eyes and relishing the warmth of Rick's hand. "I want you to kiss me again too." He whispered.

Rick leaned in until their lips met. This kiss was gentle and sweet. Not urgent and aggressive like last night. Liam felt Rick's tongue brush along his lips, silently asking for entry.

"No." He said, shaking his head slightly. "Morning breath."

"I don't care." Rick mumbled against Liam's lips. "I just want to taste you, just a little taste."

Liam opened up and they shared a long, slow, sensuous kiss.

"Mmmm, you've got the sexiest pair of lips I think I've ever seen... Or tasted, for that matter." Rick said, pulling back from the kiss.

"Yeah, well you sure know how to kiss, but didn't we agree that we weren't going to do this?" Liam said, as he leaned in again for another kiss.

"Yes, we did." Rick replied between kisses. "But, you're very hard to resist. Especially when you keep making passes at me."

"Oh, ho, no, no, no, me? Making passes... At you? If you would stop teasing me so much, maybe we wouldn't have this problem." He said, shaking his finger at Rick and laughing slightly at their banter. 

Suddenly, Rick got a serious look on his face. "Liam, what do you still need to resolve with Jack? Do you think you'll be able to work through this and get back together?" Rick asked. He was afraid to ask, afraid of the answer he would get, but he needed to know.

"Rick, I honestly don't know. At this point, I'd say there isn't anything to resolve. Jack's treatment of Chris is unforgivable. But, we've been together for so long. It's just hard to fathom that it could be over so quickly and so easily. I..." Liam said, but was interrupted by Chris entering the room, Liam's ringing cell phone in his hand.

"Your phone's ringing, Uncle Liam." He said, but just as he handed it to Liam, it stopped ringing.

"Thanks, Chris." Liam said, looking at the caller ID. "It was Jack." He said, looking up at Rick. "I guess I should call him back."

Liam could see hurt in Rick's eyes, but there wasn't much he could do about it now. "You go ahead. Chris and I will go see if we can rustle up some breakfast." Rick said, and then turned to Chris. "Come on Chris, let's go see what damage we can cause in the kitchen."

After Chris and Rick had left, Liam called Jack.

"Shit, Liam, where have you been? I've been trying to call you all night. Why haven't you been answering your cell phone? I was worried. I tried calling your parents this morning too, but no one's answering there either. Where are you?" Jack said, before even saying hello.

"Sorry Jack, I had left my phone in the bedroom and didn't hear it ringing." Liam started to explain, then stopped, wondering why he was apologizing. He didn't really owe Jack any kind of explanation.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Can you come home so we can talk? I'm really sorry Liam. I overreacted. I was stressed. Things have been very stressful at work lately and when Chris ruined my proofs, I just freaked. I'm sorry." Jack pleaded.

"That's just it Jack, I told you that Chris wasn't the one who ruined your proofs. It was Cassie and it was an accident, but you keep blaming Chris. I don't understand what you've got against him. He's only seven years old, for christ's sake."

"I don't have anything against him. I was just stressed and I overreacted." He said again. "Just... Come home... So we can talk."

"Shit...Fine..." He said, as he pressed his thumb and index finger to the bridge of his nose, trying to stave off the headache that was developing. "I need to pick up some more of our stuff anyway. But, you know, you're not going to change my mind. The kids and I are moving out. I'll be over there in a couple of hours." Liam added, before quickly hanging up the phone.

Liam took a couple of minutes to compose himself before he joined everyone in the kitchen. Rick, Chris and Cassie, were all busily getting breakfast ready. Both Chris and Cassie were standing on chairs in front of the stove with Rick right behind them. Chris was pouring pancake batter into the pan and Cassie was waiting, rather impatiently, with the spatula to flip the pancakes.

Rick looked over at Liam. "So, how did it go?" He asked.

"Fine, I'm going to head over there and get a few more of our things." Liam said.

"Oh, okay." Rick said, obviously uncomfortable about the idea.

"Uncle Liam, we're making pancakes for breakfast. See?" Chris said, thrusting the pitcher of pancake batter towards Liam so he could see, and almost spilling the batter in the process.

"I'm fipping." Cassie said, showing Liam her spatula.

"Yep, I see. Be careful, you don't want to spill the batter. It looks like you both are doing a really good job. I hope you're making a lot, because I'm really hungry." Liam said, as he planted a kiss on both Chris and Cassie's cheek.

"The coffee just finished. Cups and the sugar are in the cupboard above the coffee maker and milk is in the fridge. Help yourself." Rick said.

"Thanks. You want a cup?"

"Nah, I'll wait until breakfast." Rick said, as he turned his attention back to the kids.

"So, other than getting your things, do you guys have any plans today?" Rick asked.

"No, no other plans. I wasn't even really planning this. I've got to call my parents to see if they can watch Chris and Cassie. I definitely don't want to take the kids with me."

"Hello... I'm here, you know." Rick said, somewhat annoyed. "Is something wrong with me, that I can't watch them?"

"I'm sorry Rick, I figured you would have plans already. It's not like you expected to have us here this weekend. I'm sure we've already disrupted your plans as it is." Liam said.

Liam, I wish you'd stop talking like you and the kids are a bother. I don't have any plans today. It was just going to be me and the dog, so I would be happy to have the kids stay and keep me company, as would the dog too, I'm sure. Oh wait, I almost forgot, Stacey, Mitch, Bren and Jacob are coming over this afternoon. They would be thoroughly disappointed if Chris and Cassie weren't here. So, you see, you have to leave the kids with me." He said, grinning now.

"Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have met you?" Liam asked.

"No, but it doesn't hurt to hear it. Besides, I figured the quickest way to Chris and Cassie's heart would be through their Uncle." He said, his grin getting wider.

"Well, it's definitely working." Liam said.

"What do you say, Chris, Cassie, do you want to stay with Rick today?" Liam asked.

He got a resounding "YES" from both of them.

"Oh, and don't forget to let the officers stationed out front know that you are leaving." Rick said.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot they were even there. I can't believe they are out there twenty-four-seven. I think I would go mad spending my whole work day sitting out there." Liam said.

"Yeah, I imagine it would get pretty boring, but they don't spend their whole shift out there. They switch patrols every four hours." Rick said.

After breakfast, Liam helped Rick clean up and then got ready to head over to see Jack. Just as he finished getting ready, a worried Chris came up to him.

"Uncle Liam, do you have to go back to that house? Me and Cassie don't need anything from there. You can just stay here with us." Chris said, as his eyes dropped from Liam's face to look down at his feet.

"Hey, Chris..." Liam said, placing his hand under Chris's chin and bringing his head up to look at him. "Where's this coming from? I'm just going to get a few of our things. You don't have to worry. I won't be gone long. Okay?" He said, trying to reassure Chris.

Chris just nodded his head, so Liam picked him up, gave him a kiss and hug and walked him back to Rick and Cassie.

"I promise, I won't be gone very long." He said, one last time before he headed out.

When Liam stepped outside, he found the police cruiser still sitting out front. He told the officers that he was leaving. They wanted to know where he was going, how long he expected to be gone, and then also confirmed that the kids would be staying here with Rick.

Arriving at the loft, Liam didn't know whether he should just use his key and go in, or if he should knock. For some reason, the place didn't feel like home anymore. In the end, he shrugged off the feeling and walked in the door.

"Jack?" He called out.

"I'm in the living room." Jack responded.

When Liam entered the living room, he found Jack just getting up from the couch.

"I'm just trying to get some work done." Jack said, gesturing over to all the paperwork spread out on the coffee table. "Thanks for coming over." 

"No problem." Liam said, for lack of anything better to say.

"I don't want you to move out, Liam. I want you to stay here, with me." Jack said.

"Jack, that's not possible. I just came to pick up some more of our things. The kids and I are a packaged deal now. I'm sorry that this had to come between us, but I don't have a choice. I have to do what's best for them. What's best for me. And staying with you isn't what's best for us." Liam said, as he started heading upstairs to gather their things, Jack following close behind.

"I can't believe you're just going to give up on five years. What we have, Liam, is good. You and me, we're good together." Jack said.

"Yes, Jack, you and me are good together, but you, me and the kids aren't. I can't change that Jack, only you can change that and you're not willing to." Liam said, as he grabbed a suit case and started packing his clothes.

"Come on, Liam, you're not even trying. You're not even giving me a chance." Jack said. 

"What?" Liam said, as he wheeled around to face Jack. Anger seething in his eyes. "I'm not trying? I'm not giving you a chance? Fuck, Jack, I can't believe you just said that. This is exactly why I'm leaving. You're putting this all on me, when you're the one that's not trying. You haven't even given the kids a chance." Liam said, as he zipped up his suitcase, carried it into Chris's room, and started adding some of Chris's clothes, Jack still following close behind.

"Fine, okay, if you think you need to move out, that's fine, but what about us. Are we over?" Jack asked.

"Shit, Jack, what am I supposed to say to that? I really don't see how we are going to work this out. We want different things now." Liam said, as he moved on to Cassie's room and started packing her things, Jack in tow.

"So, where will you go? I tried calling your parents house last night after I couldn't reach you on your cell phone, but no one answered the phone. I tried again this morning and still didn't get an answer. So, I'm assuming you're not staying there? If you want me to, I can leave and you guys can come back here and stay until you find someplace else." Jack offered.

Liam turned to look at Jack, his anger somewhat allayed by Jack's considerate offer.

"Thanks Jack, that's really nice, but we're fine. We're staying with Rick. You remember..." Liam started, but didn't get a chance to finish, as Jack back handed him in the face. The force of the blow causing Liam to lose his balance and fall backwards. He landed hard against the bedside table, his head flying back and cracking against the corner, stunning him momentarily.

"Fuck, I knew it. That's why you're leaving me. You're fucking that firefighter. I should have known. You're nothing but a fucking slut." Jack said, his anger increasing as the hateful words spewed from his mouth.

Liam scrambled to get up, his head spinning from the fall, his hand automatically going to the back of his head and coming back with blood on it. "Fuck, Jack, what the hell's the matter with you?" Liam screamed back at Jack.

The sight of the blood brought Jack quickly back to reality. "Oh fuck, Liam, I'm sorry. Shit, I didn't mean it. It... I just... It's just the thought of you and Rick. Liam, please." Jack pleaded.

"Fuck you, Jack. Just get the hell out of my sight. Get out of here before I call the police and file assault charges. Get out of the house and let me get my stuff out of here. I'm done with you. I'm done with us." Liam said, as he advanced on Jack this time. "Get out." He said one final time as he pushed Jack out the door and then slammed it in his face.

Liam grabbed one of his t-shirts from his suit case and held it to the back of his head. "Fuck that hurts." He said, as he sat down on the bed.

It wasn't long before Liam heard the front door downstairs slam shut and he breathed a sigh of relief. He stood up and went to the bathroom so he could assess the damage. The t-shirt had a fair amount of blood on it, but the wound seemed to have stopped bleeding. The side of his face and part of his eye was black and blue and his eye was bloodshot. He was going to look really good in a couple of hours.

Trying not to dwell on how he was going to explain his face to the kids, he decided to get their stuff loaded into the car. He wanted to get out of there before Jack came back. He did, however, decide to grab his computer and work files, hoping that he could set it up somewhere at Rick's. He hadn't focused on his work much in the last week and he was starting to get behind.

Once the car was loaded up, he decided to stop off and see how his mom and dad were doing. Honestly though, he just wanted to postpone Rick and the kids seeing his black eye and bruised face. Turned out he should have avoided his parents too. His mom freaked out when she saw his face and after he told her what happened, he thought he was going to have to tie her to her chair to keep her from going after Jack.

"Mom, I'm fine. It looks worse than it is. It doesn't hurt much, really." He said, trying to reassure her.

"Well, you don't look fine to me. I'm surprised you don't have a concussion. You make sure that Rick keeps and eye on you tonight. You could have one and not know it. God, that bastard should be in jail right now. I can't believe you didn't call the police on him. Here, let me get you some ice packs to put on your eye and head. It will help keep the swelling down." She said, as her and Laura left for the kitchen.

"Are you sure you're okay?" His dad asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay dad." Liam replied.

"I'm not talking about physically, I'm talking about here." He said, as he put his hand to his heart.

"I don't know dad. Part of me is okay with all this and part of me isn't. Part of me feels like I gave up too easily and another part of me feels kind of relieved. I feel like I should be crying and heartbroken, but I'm not and that only makes me feel guilty. I just want to move on and start building a new life for me and the kids. I'm so tired of the nightmare we've been living." Liam said.

"I know Liam. This is a good step. I think you made the right decision for both you and the kids." Frank said.

"Here, I brought you some Advil too. Why don't you lay down on the couch and we can put one pack under your head and the other on your eye. I want you to leave them on for at least twenty minutes." Rebecca said, as Liam took the Advil and lay down on the couch.

"Thanks mom. Can you grab my cell phone for me? I need to call Rick and let him know I stopped by here. I don't want him and the kids to worry." Liam said.

After Liam called Rick, he settled down on the couch and closed his eyes. The coolness of the icepacks felt really good on his head and eye.

Two hours later, Liam awoke to his dad shaking him lightly. "Come on Liam, time to get up. I'm sure the kids and Rick are wondering when you're coming home."

"Crap, I fell asleep? What time is it." Liam asked, as he started to rub the sleep from his eyes, forgetting that he had a black eye. "Oh... Ow... Crap that hurt." Liam said, as he quickly pulled his hand away and then brought it back, this time slowly feeling, and pressing around the tender area. "Man, it feels really swollen."

"Yeah, it doesn't look pretty, that's for sure. You're lucky that Jack didn't hit you straight on the eye, otherwise it would probably be swollen shut." Frank said. "Listen, your mother and I decided we'll drive you back to Rick's. It probably wouldn't be a good idea for you to drive. I'll take your car and your mom can follow us in our car." Frank said.

"Yeah... Yeah, you're probably right." Liam said, as he stood up. That turned out to be a big mistake. As soon as he stood, he was hit with a wave of dizziness. Luckily his dad was there. He grabbed Liam and helped steady him until the dizziness passed. 

"You okay?" His dad asked.

"Yeah, I think so. I think I just stood up too fast." Liam said.

"Well, let's get you back to Rick's so you can rest."

When they arrived at Rick's house, Liam groaned inwardly when he noticed that Stacey's car was also in the driveway.

As Liam walked up to the front door, he was again struck with the awkwardness of not knowing if he should knock or just walk in. After contemplating for a second, he decided to go ahead and knock. The front door seemed to open in slow motion.

Liam, why are you knocking. I told you..." Rick started, but stopped suddenly when his eyes met Liam's face. "Shit Liam, what happened?" He asked, as his hand came up and gently cupped his face and Liam tilted his head, slightly, into the caress. "Did Jack do this? I'm going to kill that motherfucker." He said, as he grabbed Liam's arm and started to pull him into the house. "I can't believe he hit you. I swear, I'm going to ring that scrawny little neck of his. Are you okay? Come inside and sit down. I'll get you some ice to put on it."

"Rick, wait. My parents are here." Liam said, gesturing towards the doorway, where his parents were standing. "They drove me back."

"Drove you back? Are you okay? Why would they need to drive you home?" Rick asked, not even realizing that he had said 'home'. Liam, however, did notice it, and couldn't help the small smile that spread across his face.

"When Jack hit me, I fell back and cracked my head against the corner of a table. But, I'm fine, so you really don't have to worry." He said.

"He's not fine." His mom interrupted. "He's probably got a light concussion."

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Strickland. Thanks for driving him home." He said, and Liam couldn't help but notice the word 'home' again. "Come on, sit down on the couch and I'll get some ice. I want to get a closer look at your eye and the back of your head." Rick said, his EMT training kicking in.

"I'm fine, really, Rick." Liam said.

"You let me be the judge of that. You just sit down and shut up." Rick said, a small smirk alighting his face.

"Fine." Liam said, as he sat down on the couch and proceeded to pout from the reprimand, but, in reality, secretly enjoying the fuss Rick was making.

"Wow, very impressive. I like your style Rick. I wish I could get him to shut up and listen to me that well. I'll have to take a page from your book sometime." Rebecca said, as Liam glared at her.

Just then, the kids came running in from the pool, Bren and Jacob at their side and Stacey following close behind.

"Uncle Liam, your back." Chris said excitedly as he ran to Liam. He stopped short though when he saw his face. "What happened to your face?"




Consumed Pt. 10



"I fell and hit my head. I'm okay though, so don't worry.

"Does it hurt?" Chris said, as he came up and lightly touched Liam's face.

"A little bit." Liam said, while he picked Chris up and put him in his lap. Cassie climbed up too and he hugged them both close.

"Stacey, can you go get my medical kit from the trunk of my car? I want to check him over and make sure he's okay." Rick asked, and then turned his attention to the kids, as Stacey left to get the medical kit. "Chris, Cassie, Bren, Jacob, why don't you guys go get cleaned up. Take a shower and get all the chlorine washed off and get dressed. We'll have dinner in a little bit." Rick said, as the kids left the room and Stacey came back with the kit.

"I'll just go and make sure the kids don't flood your bathroom." Stacey said, as she followed the kids upstairs.

"Okay, first, did you lose consciousness?" Rick asked.

"No, I didn't." Liam replied.

"Have you had any dizziness or nausea?"

"I had a dizzy spell when I first sat up from resting at Laura's house, but I think I had just sat up too quickly. I've been fine since. No nausea either." Liam replied.

"Okay, that's good." Rick said, as he pulled a penlight out of his EMS bag and proceeded to check Liam's pupils. "You really should have gone to the hospital. Head wounds aren't something you want to mess around with. Now, I'm going to check out your neck. Most likely you're fine, but I want to make sure there isn't an underlining neck injury. Tell me if I press anywhere that hurts, okay?" Rick said.

"Okay."

Rick asked a few times if certain areas hurt and Liam replied that it didn't. In actuality, it felt kind of good. Rick's large, warm hands massaging and pressing against his neck was pretty soothing.

"Well, I'd say you're probably going to be fine. I think you're mom's assessment that you have a slight concussion is right on. I would recommend you rest up and take it easy. Let me know if you have any more dizziness or if you have any nausea. Now, I want to take a look at the head wound." Rick said, as he parted Liam's hair to take a look.

"That's a nice little gash you have. It probably could have used a couple of stitches, but it's too late for that now. It doesn't matter anyway, your hair will cover the scar you're probably going to have." Rick said.

"Hey, what happened to everybody? You guys head out to take a bathroom break and nobody ever comes back. You guys all just ditched me." Mitch said, as he walked into the living room. Noticing everyone's solemn looks, he stopped in his tracks. "What's wrong? What's happened?" He asked, looking first at Frank and Rebecca, then at Rick, and then his eyes settled on Liam. "Oh, man, Liam, what happened?"

Liam groaned. He especially didn't want to explain what happened to Mitch. Thankfully, Rick beat him to the punch.

"His prick of a boyfriend hit him." Rick answered.

"Ex." Liam corrected and Rick's head snapped back to Liam.

"What?" He asked.

"Ex-boyfriend or ex-partner, however you look at it. Five years really does garner something more than boyfriend, doesn't it?" He asked.

"Ex, really?" Rick asked, completely ignoring Liam's babbling. He couldn't help the stupid grin that spread from ear to ear across his face.

"Yeah, ex." Liam replied, matching Rick's stupid grin.

"Ahem, okay girls, I don't mean to interrupt this tender moment, but I've got tri-tip on the barbeque and we might want to eat it before it turns into jerky." Mitch said.

"Right." Rick said, as he stood up from the couch. "Mr. and Mrs. Strickland, would you like to join us? There's plenty. We've got the tri-tip, a potato salad that Stacey brought over, and corn on the cob."

Both Frank and Rebecca wanted to stay, mostly so they could watch more of what was obviously transpiring between their son and Rick, but Laura was expecting them back for dinner, so they regretfully declined and headed home. But, before they left, Rebecca made Liam promise to call her tomorrow morning and let her know how he was doing, and then made Rick promise he would keep a close eye on him tonight.

Dinner was good, as usual, but Liam got frustrated when Mitch kept trying to push him to press charges against Jack. He didn't want to press charges. He could understand why Jack got so angry. Liam probably would have been just as angry if he thought that Jack was cheating on him. Although Liam didn't think he would have actually hit Jack, he did understand.

Once Stacey and her caravan had left, Liam gave the kids their baths and tucked them into bed, knowing full well that they would eventually end up in bed with either him or Rick.

After the kids were settled in, Liam found Rick in the kitchen putting food away and cleaning up the dishes.

"They are going to sleep good tonight. They really wore themselves out today." Liam said, as he entered the kitchen.

"Yeah, I think they spent all day in the pool. The dog was actually in there today too. He just couldn't stand the fact that they were in the pool playing with out him. The kids thought it was great." Rick said.

"Well, thanks for watching them today. I really appreciate it. Can I help you with all this?" He asked, gesturing towards the dishes in the sink.

"No, I'm pretty tuckered out too. I'm just going to put away the food and then finish the rest in the morning. I was hoping we could talk a little. Maybe you'd stay in my room tonight and we could just talk?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, we could do that." Liam said, as he took Rick's hand and pulled him toward the bedroom.

They both dressed down to their boxers and climbed into bed facing each other.

"So..." Rick starts, but doesn't continue. Liam can see his mind working and it's obvious, that when he finally does continue, that he doesn't say what he'd originally intended. "How's you're face and head feel?" He ends up saying instead, while his hand comes up to caress the bruise on Liam's face.

"It aches, a little and every once in a while the back of my head gets to throbbing, but otherwise, it's okay." Liam says, as he leans forward and gives Rick a small kiss on the lips, his eyes automatically closing. When he opens them, he sees that Rick also has his eyes closed. He watches as Rick slowly starts to open his too, his tongue coming out to snake across his lips. Liam watches this innocuous display and it makes him want to lean forward again for a deeper kiss, but he doesn't.

"So..." Rick says again. "I don't want to rush things, but now that you're single again, do you think that you might give me a chance? I mean... I... We can take it slow and get to know each other better. I don't want to worry about any relationship but the one I'm building with the kids." Liam said.

This time, Liam couldn't help it. Rick was really putting his heart out there and Liam just couldn't control himself. He reached out and took Rick's hand in his, their fingers entwining and then leaned forward for another kiss. This one was longer and more passionate, with Rick opening his mouth to let Liam in. Liam didn't hesitate, their tongues working together exploring the other's mouth and tasting each other. When they finally separated, Liam spoke.

"Rick, I'm crazy about you too. You are such an amazing man. The only thing I ask; is that we take it slow. I need time to make a life for myself and the kids, to find our place together, as a family. I'm willing to let any relationship we have take a natural course, but don't expect me to do anything more than that yet. I don't want to have to worry about any relationship but the one I'm building with the kids." Liam said.

"Okay, that's more than I could ask for." Rick said, grinning from ear to ear. "So, I figure, if it's okay with you, I'll work on helping you focus on you and the kids and maybe, in the process, charm my way into your lives? Would that be acceptable? Rick asked.

This time, it was Liam's turn to grin from ear to ear, as he leaned in for another kiss. 'Damn, but could this man kiss any better?' Liam thought, as he lost himself in the kiss.

To be continued...



Consumed Pt. 11



Author's note: Thank you all so much for your patience and your impatience. All your constant nagging was greatly appreciated and kept reminding me not to forget about this story. Life just got too busy for a while there and this story means too much to me to produce anything less that what I have been. Also, I didn't want to restart it until I knew I could get back into regular updates. I haven't been on my Literotica author page in a while. Imagine my surprise when I saw that my last chapter had received 130 votes and 27 public comments, which is an all time high for this story. Thank you all so much for all the support and you all deserve to see the story come to its conclusion and I promise you that I will not abandon the story. I hope you enjoy this chapter and that you will show your support by at least voting and maybe sending me a public comment. Also, I have an editor now, so hopefully some of the comments about my grammar will decrease.

*

"Rise and shine, up and at 'em." Liam heard Rick say from the doorway. Liam rolled over and groaned.

"What time is it?" He asked, his eyes refusing to open.

"It's time to get up. The kids have a surprise for you." Rick said.

"What?" Liam asked, finally opening his eyes to look over at Rick. What he saw brought a huge grin to his face.

Rick was standing just inside the doorway, the kids flanked on either side of him. Rick had a tray of food in his hands, while Chris was holding a glass of milk, and Cassie holding a little vase that contained two dandelion flowers.

"What's all this?" He asked, as he sat up in bed.

"We made breakfast for you." Chris said.

"I pick flowers." Cassie said, as she came forward and gave Liam the vase.

Both Chris and Rick came forward at the same time, Chris putting the glass of milk on the bedside table and Rick setting the tray in Liam's lap.

"Pancakes again?" Liam asked, looking over at Rick.

"What can I say? We're getting good at pancakes." Rick said, shrugging his shoulders. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Fine, I don't even remember falling asleep last night. How's my face look?" Liam asked, as he reached up and gently felt around the bruised area. It was tender, but it felt like the swelling had gone down.

"Yeah, once you fell asleep, you were out like a light. You didn't even stir when the kids came in this morning. We decided you probably needed the extra sleep. You've definitely got a wicked bruise on your face, but the swelling's gone down quite a bit. I want to take a look at your head again too. I would recommend you take a bath today instead of a shower, and don't wash your hair. Give the wound another day to heal." Rick instructed.

While Rick was talking, Chris and Cassie had both crawled up into bed with Liam, one kid on each side of him. He had to slide over a little to make room for Cassie. "Well, thanks for letting me sleep in. At the rate things have been going, I haven't slept through the night in a while," he said to Rick, and then turned to the kids. "And thanks for breakfast. I don't think I've ever had anyone bring me breakfast in bed. I feel spoiled." He said, leaning over and giving each of them a kiss.

"I make pancakes." Cassie said. "I pour and fipped."

"Wow, you did a good job, Cassie." Liam said.

Not to be outdone, Chris spoke up. "I made the scrambled eggs. I never made scrambled eggs before." He said, proudly.

"Well, they look delicious." Liam said, as he picked up his fork and started eating. "Aren't you guys going to eat too?" Liam asked.

"We ate while you were sleeping. We ate the mistakes, it took us a couple of tries to get it right." Rick said.

"Well, the end product came out pretty good. Hey, I just remembered. Don't you have to work today?" Liam asked Rick.

"Nope, I took a couple days of vacation. I've got plenty of vacation time accrued. Most of the time I don't use it and they have to pay it out, so they are perfectly happy to have me take the time. I am on call though, so if something comes up, I'll have to go in." Rick said, as he sat down on the bed in front of Liam, his hand automatically reaching out to rest on Liam's calf. 

"We are gonna go camping and Rick said we can make s'mores." Chris said, bringing Liam's attention away from the hand that was slowly caressing his calf.

"Camping? Is he serious?" Liam asked, his attention going back to Rick. 

"I was talking to the kids about some of the stuff we could do today, and when I mentioned camping out in the back yard, Chris got all excited and said that they'd never been camping. Can you believe they've never had s'mores?" Rick said, like it was a crime to have never had s'mores before. 

"We've got the whole day planned out. There's an area out back that I cleared in order to plant a vegetable garden, but never actually got around to doing any planting. The kids decided that they want to help. Cassie wants green beans and cucumbers and Chris wants carrots. So, after lunch, we'll head into town to get everything we need for the garden and the camp out. After that, we'll head over to Frankie's for dinner and then go visit Sam and Mike at the hospital." Rick said, his hand still caressing Liam's calf.

It was hard to concentrate on anything but the thought of wanting that hand to work its way up into the leg of his boxers. The feel of Rick's warm hand and the thought of where he wanted that hand to go was causing things low in his body to stir, and it wasn't just his cock stirring. He actually had butterflies in his stomach. 'God, you'd think I was twelve and unable to handle my hormones,' Liam thought to himself.

"So… Umm…" He stammered, trying to get his mind back to the subject at hand. "Wow, you guys do have the whole day planned out."

"Well, I figured since the kids weren't going to be in school, it would be good to plan things so they don't spend the whole day in front of the TV. I've got enough sleeping bags for everyone. We'll have a camp fire and roast marshmallows. It'll be fun," Rick said. "I hope that's okay with you," he added hesitantly.

"Oh, yeah, sure, that's okay, and that reminds me, I forgot about school. I've got to call their schools and let them know they won't be there this week and make arrangements to pick up Chris's homework. Plus, I've got to talk to Chris's counselor and see if we can make arrangements for Chris to keep seeing him," Liam said, as he set his finished breakfast aside. "Oh, and I had better call my mom too."

"Mitch already talked to Chris's school. The officers are going to swing by and pick up his work on their way out here for their shift change each afternoon. So, that's one less thing you have to worry about."

"Oh, wow, that was really nice of Mitch." Liam said, the surprise evident in his voice.

"Well, he's a good guy," Rick said, as he removed his hand from Liam's leg, stood up from the bed and picked up the breakfast tray. "The kids and I will clean up the breakfast dishes. Why don't you go ahead and get ready. You can use my bathroom. I've got a Jacuzzi tub in there and you'll be able to soak comfortably. Remember not to wash your hair or get it too wet. I don't want you to reopen the wound. Also, before we leave, I want to take another look at it, okay?" Rick said. "Oh, and take it slow when you stand up." Rick added, as he walked out carrying the tray. The kids following close behind.

Liam sat up in bed slowly. He paused, sitting at the edge of the bed for a few minutes, making sure he wasn't going to have another dizzy spell. Once he felt he would be okay, he slowly stood up, pausing again before deciding he was fine and heading to the bathroom.

As soon as Liam walked into the bathroom, he was assaulted by Rick's scent. With Rick freshly showered, the scent of him in the bathroom was still strong, and Liam couldn't help but stand in the middle of the bathroom and just breathe deep. It was a very rich and spicy scent that had Liam craving for a taste of the skin that went along with the scent.

Shaking his head and trying to refocus his thoughts, Liam headed over to the mirror to have a look at his face. He looked horrible. A dark purple bruise covered one side of his face and part of his eye. A large area around his eye looked slightly swollen, but it wasn't as bad as he'd expected. Liam tentatively reached up and pressed against the area. It was a little tender. He tried to look at the back of his head, but no matter which way he turned, he couldn't see the gash. Liam reached up again, this time gently feeling his way around the gash. He could feel that a large knot had developed, and just that little bit of pressure to the area sent pain shooting through his head, causing the area to throb for a few seconds afterwards.

Deciding he'd better get a move on, Liam started the bath water and then got undressed. Rick was right; the bathtub was oversized and could easily fit two. That line of thought led him to imagine Rick and him entwined chest to back in that tub. It was a nice thought and his cock gave a little twitch of agreement.

Once the tub was about half full, Liam stepped in. The warm water enveloped him, causing him to release a huge sigh of relief. Just as he was settling in, there was a knock at the door.

"Liam, I brought you some towels and my medical kit. If it's okay with you, I'd like to take a look at your head again." Rick said from the other side of the door.

"You sure you're not just trying to come up with an excuse to come in here and take advantage of me?" Liam said, only half joking.

He was met with silence on the other side of the door, causing him to worry that his presumptuousness had scared Rick off. When Rick finally responded, the response was one word that was spoken so quietly that Liam was surprised he'd heard it, but hear it he did, loud and clear.

"No," Rick said in a whisper.

"No, you're not sure, or no, you're not trying to take advantage of me?" Liam asked, the playfulness obvious in his voice.

"No, I'm not sure," Rick answered, his voice holding a little more confidence this time.

Again, silence loomed with only the door between them before Liam responded.

"Well, at least you're honest," Liam chuckled. "Go ahead and come in."

As soon as Rick opened the door, their eyes met and they shared a moment or two before Rick's eyes drifted down the length of the bathtub. Liam noticed that his ears were rather red. He was obviously embarrassed by the whole situation, although not embarrassed enough to avoid checking Liam out while he relaxed naked in the tub, and Liam couldn't help but grin at the thought of Rick so blatantly checking him out.

When Rick's eyes came back up to meet Liam's again and he saw Liam's grin, Rick's cheeks suddenly flamed to match his ears and he returned Liam's grin.

"Are you done?" Liam asked, his grin widening.

"I don't know, I think that water might be distorting things. Think you could stand up and give me an unobstructed view?" Rick asked, again matching Liam's grin.

"I thought you were here to look at my head up here," Liam said, pointing to the top of his head. "Not my head down here."

"You mean I have a choice?" Rick asked jokingly.

"Ha, ha, very funny Mr. Romano. Get over here and give me a kiss and then get to work. According to you, we have a busy day ahead of us." Liam said.

Rick didn't waste any time. At the mention of the kiss, Rick dropped the towel and his medical bag and was at the tub, kneeling down before Liam even finished his sentence. The kiss was soft and gentle, both of them immediately opening up to each other while Rick's hand reached up to grasp the back of Liam's neck.

"Mmm, you have to warmest hands. They are like mini heating pads," Liam said, as he pulled back slightly from the kiss, but not fully separating their lips. Liam could feel Rick's hot breath ghosting over his lips, and he took a moment to nibble on Rick's bottom lip, and suddenly he had the strangest urge to bite hard, to devour Rick, to claim him, mark him. The feeling just consumed his entire body and caused flutters in his stomach. It was a very overwhelming feeling, something he'd never experienced before, not even with Jack. Thankfully, before Liam could think too much about it, or actually act on the feeling, Rick pulled away. 

"Yeah, well, sometime soon, I'll have to show you how these warm hands can be put to good use. Right now, though, I want to look at your head," Rick said, as he left Liam's side, grabbed the towel and medical kit and then moved to the head of the tub, behind Liam.

"Okay, I'm going to clean the area a little bit. You've still got a little dried blood in your hair. I won't do too much, because I don't want to reopen the wound, but we'll at least get the blood cleaned up," Rick said, as he wet a wash cloth in the tub and then proceeded to clean the area. "You've got quite a knot back here. Let me know if I hurt you."

"You're fine. It's a little tender, but not too bad."

"Well, it looks good. The wound has closed up well enough. Like I said, stitches probably would have helped, but I think it won't matter much." Rick said, as he finished up. "How's the bath feel?" he asked, as he picked up a wash cloth and soap and proceeded to wash Liam's body.

"Mmmm… It's very relaxing. I don't remember the last time I got to relax in a bath."

"Have I told you what an amazing body you have? It's hard in all the right places," Rick said, as he worked Liam's cock lightly with the cloth to emphasize his point. "The color of your skin and hair is so golden blond, and you've got the sexiest neck I think I've ever seen," he said, placing a kiss right at the base of his neck.

"A sexy neck?" Liam asked, laughing a little at the odd statement.

"What can I say, I'm a neck man," Rick said, as he set the wash cloth aside and started to massage Liam's neck and shoulders.

"Oh god, that feels soooo good," Liam moaned out. Rick was pressing his thumbs into Liam's shoulder blades, working the tense muscles.

Just as Liam was about to melt down into the tub, he felt Rick's lips at the nape of his neck, kissing and sucking. Slowly, his lips began working their way up Liam's neck, while his hands started working their way down. He raked his nails across Liam's nipples, while at the same time he bit down slightly on Liam's earlobe.

"Oh, fuck, Rick," Liam said, the dual sensation causing his body to tense with uncontrolled lust, his hips automatically thrusting up towards the surface of the water.

"I think your body is asking for a little attention down there." Rick whispered in Liam's ear, as he leaned forward slightly and took hold of Liam's throbbing cock.

Liam's head dropped back against Rick's shoulder, while his hips again came up off the bottom of the tub, trying desperately to create some friction.

"I want to see you come, Liam, you are so fucking gorgeous, and I want to see your face when I make you come," Rick whispered in Liam's ear, his tongue following the words as he licked the rim of Liam's ear.

"Oh, shit, Rick! If you don't start moving that hand, I swear, I'll take care of it myself!" Liam said, his hips desperately trying, in vain, to get what he wanted.

"Aren't we a little impatient? Is this what you want?" Rick asked, as his hand finally started to work Liam's cock.

"Yessss," Liam hissed, his breath coming ragged and his voice gravelly.

Rick started working Liam's cock in time with Liam's thrusts, his thumb pressing firmly against the vein throbbing on the underside of his erection. Rick's lips had securely fastened themselves back at the nape of his neck, while his other hand started working Liam's nipples. The triple sensations were causing his body to vibrate with the mounting need for release.

"Oh, fuck… Rick, I'm… Almost there. Don't… Don't stop." Liam gasped out. The water in the bathtub was sloshing around with the motion of Liam's hips. "Oh… Oh… Oh … G-ahhhh." Liam cried out, his breath escaping his lungs as he erupted with a mind-blowing orgasm, his cock shooting its load into the warm water.

As Liam's body finally settled down from its orgasmic bliss and started to relax, Rick pulled his lips away from Liam's neck to whisper in his ear. "You're so fucking hot. I definitely want to see that look on your face again. I think I'm going to have fun discovering new ways to get that look," Rick said, as he gave Liam's deflating cock one last squeeze before he pulled away.

"Oh, shit, that was amazing. I feel like jelly now," Liam said, still slightly out of breath.

"Yeah, I know I enjoyed it too. You ready to get out?" he asked, holding a towel out for Liam.

"I suppose," Liam said, as he stepped out of the tub and into the towel. Rick worked methodically to dry Liam's body. He knelt down and started with Liam's legs first. As he finished his legs, he leaned forward and planted a kiss on Liam's flaccid cock, snaking his tongue out to taste the tip. The water had washed away any hint of Liam's orgasm, so all Rick tasted was the clean flavor of Liam's skin, but he still couldn't help himself, as took the head of Liam's cock fully into his mouth. The spongy feel of Liam's flaccid cock sent a little thrill thrumming through Rick's body.

"Oh, fuck, Rick, you need to stop. There's no way I can get hard again," Liam said, even though his hips were unconsciously moving back and forth.

"I know, but I just had to taste you," Rick said as he pulled off of Liam's cock.

"Come here," Liam said, and he pulled Rick up so they were face to face, the towel in Rick's hands between them. "I don't think this constitutes slow." Liam said.

"I know, I'm sorry, I just couldn't help myself. You make me forget myself," Rick said, as he wrapped the towel around Liam's hips and then leaned in for a kiss, which was promptly interrupted by Chris knocking on the bathroom door.

"Uncle Liam, Cassie has to go potty," he said. Rick and Liam pulled back to look at each other. "Really bad, Uncle Liam. She's holding her pee pee," Chris added as a second thought, and both Liam and Rick couldn't help the hearty chuckles that escaped.

"I got it. You go ahead and finish getting ready," Rick offered, as he stepped out of the bathroom.

When Liam had finished getting ready, he sat down at the kitchen counter, armed with the telephone and called both schools, and then his mother. Chris's school counselor was going to 

e-mail Liam the names of a couple of counselors that Chris and even Cassie could start seeing outside of school. 

When he talked with his mother, she reminded him that he was supposed to call Robert and let him know if he wanted the house.

"Crap, I forgot about that. What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, your dad and I talked about it last night and we figure that if it was Robert's intention to lure you into buying the house, so he could kill you, he probably wouldn't want to wait for a couple of months. Didn't he say that the house wouldn't be available for another couple of months, once the house they are having built is finished?" She said.

"Yeah, he did."

"Before he became a suspect, you were planning to accept his offer, weren't you?" His mom asked.

"Yeah, I was. I guess I should talk to Mitch first though. I don't want to cause any problems with their investigation," Liam said.

"That's probably a good idea. Call me in the next day or two and let me know how you guys are doing, okay?"

"Okay mom. I love you, and tell dad I love him too," Liam said.

"I will sweetie and we love you too. Give the kids a hug and kiss for us," she said before hanging up.

After disconnecting with his mom, Liam sat at the counter for a few minutes watching Rick and the kids. Rick was lying on his side on the floor in the living room, with Cassie curled up against him. Both of them were engrossed in some stupid cartoon that left Liam wondering what kind of person it would take to dream up something that stupid. Chris was sitting Seiza style behind Rick, leaning forward with his arms crossed and resting on top of Rick.




Consumed Pt. 11



As Liam watched them, his thoughts turned to Jack. Jack had been his first real lover. He'd had a boyfriend or two during high school and college, but nothing nearly as serious as Jack. Liam remembered the first time he laid eyes on Jack. He was tall and handsome and looked so sophisticated in his custom tailored suit. He was unlike any other man that Liam had ever met. Jack's entire life was organized and planned out. He was bold, self-assured and very ambitious. It was his strong nature that attracted Liam. Later, Liam realized that all of those traits actually spelled out 'obsessive-compulsive personality disorder'. Because of this, Liam now understood that Jack would never have been able to live with the kids. He never would have been able to let the mayhem that comes with kids into his life.

Rick however, was like a breath of fresh air. Liam felt like he had been holding his breath for the last five years and only now was he able to finally release it. Tension had built up inside him that he hadn't even realized was there, that is, until it was gone.

"Liam, are you okay?" Rick asked, bringing Liam out of his thoughts.

Liam brought his gaze back over to Rick, lying there on the floor with the kids. "Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking," he replied. "I actually need to make a couple more phone calls and then we can head out."

"Okay, no problem, take your time," Rick replied, before he turned his attention back to the TV.

Mitch was of the same mind as his parents. He actually felt that it would be a good idea to not let on that Robert may be a suspect. It was Mitch's plan to approach the investigation of Robert and the firm as if he were trying to rule out everyone. He figured this way it would be easier to get Robert's continued support in the investigation. That being said, Liam then called Robert's office and told him that he would take the house. Robert was very pleased with Liam's decision and told him that he would start the paperwork for the sale as soon as Adam and Julie's estate was completely settled.

Once done with his phone calls, Liam turned his attention back to Rick and the kids. "Well, I think I'm ready, how about you guys?"

After a receiving a resounding "yes" from everyone, they all headed out to Liam's car. Rick stopped to talk with the policemen stationed out front. He gave them their itinerary and confirmed that the police would be escorting them.

The rest of the morning and afternoon ended up being a lot of fun. They shopped for nonsense camping gear, to which Liam couldn't help but comment that they were only camping out in the back yard, and they wouldn't need most of the stuff Rick had picked out, but Rick decided that this was their first time camping out, so they had to do it right.

Each of the kids got their own little battery powered lantern. All of them got their own plate and utensil kit, complete with plate, cup, bowl, and double-sided spoon and fork. Rick also added an excess of freeze dried food that also included freeze dried ice cream. And, don't even get Liam started on the backpack for the dog or the camper's ice cream ball, which is supposed to make ice cream by rolling it around. 'How much ice cream do we need?' Liam thought to himself, as they finally headed to the check out.

While they were waiting in line, Liam leaned into Rick and whispered in his ear. "Man, these kids have you wrapped around their little fingers. You're such a sucker," He said, laughing slightly.

The only response Liam received was a 'guilty-as-charged' grin from Rick.

'Well, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem,' Liam thought, as they finally reached the check out counter.

After they loaded up the car with their purchases, they headed out for lunch. Rick said it was too nice a day to eat indoors. They ended up going through a drive thru and taking lunch out to a local park. At Rick's suggestion, they also picked up lunch for the two officers that were assigned to follow them. They sat under the trees in the grass and ate, or actually, Liam and Rick ate, Chris and Cassie scarfed, as they were anxious to go play in the playground. The officers were parked in their car, watching from a short distance.

Once Chris and Cassie were 'finally' released, as Chris put it, they were all over the playground.

"This is so much better than sitting in one of those fast food joints with the indoor playgrounds. At least here, you don't have a bunch of kids running around and screaming in a confined space. Plus, those places stink. Can't stand them," Rick said, as they sat and watched Chris pushing Cassie on the swings.

"Yeah, but you still have the kids running around and screaming," Liam replied, as he watched Chris say something to Cassie and then turn to walk over in their direction.

"I know, but at least now it's just my kids doing the screaming." Rick said, causing Liam's head to snap up to Rick to see if he realized what he'd just said. It was obvious he didn't, as his eyes were focused on the kids.

"Uncle Liam, can you push Cassie? I want to play on the monkey bars," Chris asked.

Nodding his assent, Liam got up from the grass and then turned to Rick, who was also in the process of standing up.

"Come on, we can take turns pushing her," Rick said, as he headed in Cassie's direction.

Instead of taking turns, Liam took up the front, pushing Cassie's feet, and Rick took up the rear, pushing her from the back. She didn't get a lot of height this way, but Cassie didn't seem to care.

Once the kids had worn themselves out and worked off lunch, they left for the grocery store, this time to get the required ingredients for the s'mores. In addition to the s'more fixings, Rick also decided they needed to get Jiffy Pop to cook over the open fire. Forget the fact that the stuff is probably the worst popcorn ever. "It's a camping tradition. Everyone does it. It's a staple of camping. Besides, everything tastes better cooked over an open fire," Rick said.

"Yeah, just like ice cream?" Liam asked, the sarcasm obvious in his voice.

"Okay, you got me there, but maybe we can start our own tradition with that one," Rick responded.

"We could do that, Liam said, the two smiling at each other like a couple of love struck buffoons.

As they were walking back to their car with the groceries, Liam happened to see the police cruiser parked in the loading/unloading zone of the store. It was a location that would provide good visibility of the parking lot and the front of the store.

"It's giving me the heebie-jeebies having those officers following us around. I keeping getting the 'being watched' feeling, Liam said.

"That's probably because you are being watched, Rick said, moving out of the way just in time to avoid Liam's backhand.

"Stop being a smart..." Liam said, but was interrupted by Rick.

"Hey, watch your language. There are kids present."

"What I was going to say, before you so rudely interrupted me, was stop being a smart butt and load the groceries in the trunk. I'll put the kids in the car," Liam said before he turned his attention to Cassie, sitting quietly in the cart. "Come on sweetie, let's get you in the car."

To be continued (that's a promise)…



Consumed Pt. 12



Author's Long-Winded Note:

Hello all! Well, I feel like I owe everyone an apology and an explanation. First, I'm sorry that I've dropped the story. Secondly, as for an explanation, my mom, some time ago, was diagnosed with Progressive Supria Nuclear Palsy, which is a degenerative neurological disorder. I had to move her closer to me and also had to take away her car. Anyway, she's really starting to rely on me a lot more and it's just sapped my energy. At this point, I've been able to juggle things so my time is a little more my own now and I plan to finish this story (as promised).

Additionally, I want to thank everyone for sending me emails and constantly reminding me that I've got dedicated readers. I just noticed that I have been, thanks to all of you, voted as one of 5 finalists in Literotica's 10th Annual Reader's Choice Awards. I'm so stoked. You guys are so awesome and I feel I've really let all of you down and I hope that you'll forgive me and I hope that all of you will take the time to vote for your favorite story (hopefully that will be mine). In the gay male section, so far, there have only been a total of 37 votes, and I think this genre deserves higher numbers than that. Let's show all of the writers out there that you appreciate the stories they post by voting. Also, if I see the number of gay male story votes go up (doesn't matter if you vote for my story of one of the others), I promise I will post another chapter within seven days. And, I have to tell you, we are getting close to finding out who-done-it, so you'll want the next chapters coming quickly.

Okay, sorry this is so winded, but I have a lot to communicate to you guys. In order to communicate with all of you about upcoming chapters, I will start posting communications in my profile, under the biography section. This will hopefully prevent you guys from having to constantly check for chapter updates. That way, if there is going to be a delay, you can go to my profile and find out what's going on and when you should check back.

Please vote and comment. I like to know what you think. Even if it's to tell me I'm a total loser for making you guys wait so long. Thank you!

*

After leaving the grocery store, they drove over to the local yard and garden store so Chris and Cassie, along with Rick's help, could select a variety of vegetables for the garden. Well, actually, it was only Chris helping. Cassie had fallen asleep in the car and, unable to be woken up, was still asleep in Liam's arms.

"So, have you ever planted a vegetable garden before? Do you even know what you are doing?" Liam asked.

"Yes, I've planted a garden every year since I moved into the house. My mom used to make all of us kids help in the garden when we were little. Most of her cooking involved fresh vegetables and she usually cooked in bulk, since we are such a large family. Most of what my garden produces goes to my mom. She still cooks bulk, only now she breaks it down into smaller portions and sends us all home with food whenever we visit. My parent's house is like a mini grocery store and my freezer is full of her food," he replied. "I'm also pretty good at canning too, believe it or not," he added as an afterthought.

"Wow, quite the Suzie homemaker, aren't we?" Liam asked, facetiously.

"Yes, I plan to make someone a very good wife someday. It's been my life's goal," Rick said, graciously assisting Liam in his razzing.

"You can't be a wife. If you were a wife, you would have to be a mommy too, and you can't be a mommy, only a daddy," Chris said, interrupting their banter.

Both Liam and Rick cracked up laughing at Chris's statement. "Yeah, you're right Chris. I guess no matter how you look at it, my masculinity is safe," Rick replied.

"You know what? Are you guys just about done? I feel like my arms are about to fall off. How much does this kid weigh? Must be a ton. Do they have diets for two year olds?" Liam said.

"Here, let me take her for a while. You can push the cart," Rick said, as they switched.

"Cassie's always weighed a ton. Mommy says..." Chris started, but suddenly stopped, dropping his eyes to the floor. "Mommy used to say she was like a fifty pound sack of potatoes when she was asleep," he finished, almost in a whisper.

"Oh, hey now, come here," Liam said, as he walked over to the cart and picked Chris up, their arms encircling each other in a tight embrace. "It's okay Chris. I know it's hard," Liam said, as Chris started weeping.

"Why don't you take Chris back to the car? I think we have everything we need. I'll take Cassie and check out and meet you out there," Rick said, as he shifted Cassie over to one arm, settled her on his hip and then took the cart.

"Okay," Liam said.

When Rick reached the car, Liam was sitting in the back seat with Chris curled up in his lap. He came around to the other side of the car and strapped Cassie in her car seat, and then loaded up the trunk with the plants, having to shift some of the groceries and camping gear to the back seat with the kids to make room for the plants.

"You want me to go ahead and drive?" Rick asked, as he came around to where Liam was seated.

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks," said Liam, as he shifted Chris into the seat next to him and buckled him in.

"So, we going to dinner now?" Liam asked, also buckling himself in next to Chris.

"Yep. Chris, you ever been to Frankie's Diner?" Rick asked, flipping the rear view mirror down and angling it to look at Chris from it.

"No," Chris replied, meekly.

"Well, you're gonna love it," he said, as he proceeded to pull out of the parking lot and head to the diner.

Frankie's was a 1950's style silver bullet railcar diner. Their menu included original American dishes like pot roast, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, and chicken potpies. They also had an old fashioned soda fountain bar. You could get flavored sodas, milk shakes, and malts. It was a great place for both adults and kids.

While they ate, they talked about camping and the garden. The talk helped bring Chris out of his funk and before long, he was animatedly participating in the conversation. As they finished dinner and were starting on the ice cream sundaes they'd ordered, Rick proceeded to tell Liam what to expect at the hospital.

"Sam has third degree burns on the right side of his body, including his face. He's gone through some pretty extensive treatment, but is making good progress. When they first brought him in, they had to worry about keeping the burns clean and infection free and keeping him hydrated. The body loses a lot of fluids through the burned areas, so hydration is important. He also spent time in a hyperbaric chamber. At this point in his treatment, his burns are well on their way to healing and are lightly bandaged," Rick said, before he paused and then continued with an update on Mike.

"Mike's back was fractured when a large piece of the ceiling collapsed on top of him. He's doing much better and it's likely he'll be released in a day or two. He initially had some complications that resulted in surgery to relieve some of the pressure that the fracture was causing against his spine. They've got him in a back brace, so he can actually get out of bed now," Rick said, finally.

"I'm glad that I know what to expect. I was starting to get pretty nervous. Heck, I'm still nervous, but at least I'm a little more prepared. I can't help but feel some sort of responsibility for them being in the hospital. I know it's stupid, but that's just how I feel," Liam said.

"You're right, that is stupid. It's not your fault. These kinds of risks are inherent in this job and we all know that. It could just as easily have happened at some other fire. No one blames you or anyone else in your family. In fact, I think the guys are more worried about these kids here, than they are about themselves," Rick said, nodding to Chris and Cassie, who were both more involved in eating their sundaes than anything else going on in the room.

"God, Cassie, look at you. I think you got more of that sundae on you, than in you," Liam said, as he picked up his napkin and started working to clean Cassie up. "Man, she's got it all over her, and this napkin isn't working very well. Your clothes are a mess," Liam said, indicating the napkin. "I think I need to take her to the bathroom to get her cleaned up."

"Well, you're in luck, because I brought a change of clothes for her. They're in the car. I'll just run out and get them," Rick said, as he stood and quickly headed to the car.

"Man, Cassie, you did a really good job," Liam said, as he wiped another blob of melted ice cream from her eyelid and then leaned down and gave her a kiss. "Was the ice cream good?" He asked.

"Ice keem good. Choc Ice Keem," she said, as Rick came back with the clothes.

"God, Rick, you're a lifesaver. I guess I'm still trying to learn the dad stuff," Liam said, sheepishly.

"That's okay. Believe me, I learned the hard way too. Although Stacey always carries a diaper bag when she brings her kids over, it only took one time of forgetting it. I learned that lesson real quick. Even though both Bren and Jacob aren't in diapers, Stacey still carries it around. She keeps a change of clothes, wet wipes, a little first aid kit and a few snacks and stuff in it. It's actually quite useful," Rick said.

"Well, I guess I need to start carrying one too. Anyway, I'll just take her into the restroom and get her changed," Liam said, as he picked Cassie up out of her highchair.

"Uh... Liam, you might have one small problem," Rick said.

"Yeah? What problem?" Liam asked.

"What restroom are you going to take her into? You can't go into the women's room and you can't really take her into the men's room," Rick said.

"Shi..." Liam started, but stopped, looking back and forth between the kids. "You're right. I hadn't thought about that," and, almost in unison, both the kids piped in.

"Pee pee," Cassie said, as her hand suddenly went between her legs and she started squirming in her seat.

"I got to go too, Uncle Liam," Chris added.

"Oh, God," Liam mumbled, pressing his index and forefinger against his temples, trying to stave off the oncoming headache. "Okay, okay, let me think just a second." After a few moments, he pulled out his wallet and dropped a couple of twenties on the table, and then picked up Cassie from her highchair. "Okay, let's go."

Liam, carrying Cassie in his arms and with Rick and Chris following close behind, walked in the direction of the restrooms. When they arrived, Liam handed Cassie over to Rick. "Wait here, I'm going to check the bathroom," Liam said to Rick and then turned to Chris. "Come on Chris."

When they stepped into the bathroom, Liam motioned Chris over to one of the stalls, completely avoiding the two urinals. He then proceeded to check the rest of the bathroom. Finding it empty, he went back out to Rick.

"The bathroom is empty. Can you keep watch while I take her into the restroom and get her cleaned up and changed?" Liam asked.

"Sure," Rick offered, as he handed over Cassie and her change of clothes.

Liam quickly took Cassie over to the handicap stall and closed and latched the door. "Okay sweetie, let's get you on the potty," he said, as he helped get her panties down and set her on the potty. "Chris, how you doing over there?" He asked, as he turned his back to give Cassie some privacy.

"Okay, I had to go number two, Uncle Liam." 

"Okay," Liam chuckled, almost laughing out loud, but thinking to himself, 'thanks for that extra little bit of information, Chris'. This whole situation just couldn't get much more awkward and the thought that he only had to survive another sixteen more years of this almost made him want to cry.

He turned back to Cassie as he heard her pulling on the toilet paper roll. "All done?" He asked.

"Mmm hmm." She said, nodding her head vigorously as Liam helped her down and then proceeded to get her changed. After Cassie was dressed, he took her over to the sink and helped her wash her hands and face. While he was trying to get the hot fudge out of the crevice of her neck, he made a mental note to avoid hot fudge sundaes in the future. In fact, he started to wonder if S'mores tonight would be such a good idea.

When they stepped out of the bathroom, they found Rick, gallantly guarding the bathroom door.

"All done?" He inquired.

"Yes, now let's just get out of here," Liam said, as he picked up Cassie, grabbed Chris's hand, and swiftly walked out of the restaurant.

When they arrived at the hospital, Liam's apprehension really kicked in, his guilt and worry hitting him full force. He hesitated slightly as they stepped into the hospital lobby. Rick was on the phone with his sister, letting her know they had arrived, but was watching Liam. He could see the apprehension in Liam's eyes and the tension in his body.

Disconnecting with his sister, Rick walked up to Liam. "Hey, don't worry. The guys are really looking forward to seeing the kids. You really don't have to stress," Rick said, reassuringly.

"That's easier said than done," Liam responded. "Can we go into the gift shop?" he asked, pointing to the shop just inside the lobby doors. "I think I'll let the kids pick out something to take up to the guys."

"That would be nice," Rick said, as he turned and headed for the shop, with Liam, Chris, and Cassie following.

Cassie ended up picking out two stuffed animals, while Chris decided on something more practical and picked out a couple of crossword puzzle books and two decks of cards. Finally, Liam grabbed a couple of junk food baskets that the shop had already put together. He figured it would be nice to have something outside of the hospital food.

Once they had paid for their items, Rick led them to the elevator. "We're going to see Sam first. Angelica says that Mike just got back from physical therapy and is eating dinner," Rick said, as he stepped out of the elevator onto the third floor.

Angelica met them at the nurse's station and escorted them into Sam's room.

It turned out to be a great visit. Liam realized that Rick was right; both of the men needed to see the kids in person to put closure on the whole incident. It was a way of reassuring themselves that their injuries weren't in vain. Sam was an older man, probably in his mid forties. He was married with three kids, all boys, and it was obvious he had a sweet spot for kids. Unfortunately, they couldn't visit with Sam too long, as he still tired easily and was on light pain medications that made him drowsy. 

Cassie seemed especially to like Sam and spent most of the hour curled up with him in bed while he told her how the stuffed elephant she brought him was good luck. Cassie was mesmerized by the bandages that Sam had covering him. She would lightly touch one and look up to Sam and ask, "owie?" and then lean over and kiss the spot, saying, "all better," and then move on to the next bandage. It was quite endearing. 

When they arrived at Mike's room, he was up and in a wheelchair. It was obvious that he was getting tired of being cooped up in the hospital room and was ready to go home. Mike was probably in his mid twenties. Not much was holding him down and both the kids really took a liking to him. They spent their time going for rides with him on his wheelchair. Actually, Chris was pushing, while Cassie was riding, but either way, they were all having fun. They were tearing up and down the hallway, earning dirty looks from the nurses, who, in the end, didn't really have the heart to tell them to stop.

When they left the hospital, Liam actually breathed a huge sigh of relief. That actually went much better than he'd thought.

Back at home, Liam took Cassie upstairs for a bath, while Rick and Chris headed out back to set up the tent and camping gear.

Turned out the camp out was a lot of fun. The kids enjoyed the popcorn, even if it was little on the well done side, and the s'mores, undoubtedly, were a big hit. They obviously didn't get to try everything they had purchased from the camping store, but Rick promised them they would camp out again and would eventually get to try everything. After the dog helped them burn off their sugar high, they all settled down in their sleeping bags, both Chris and Cassie snuggled up between Rick and Liam, with the dog working his way somewhere in the middle of the pile. It took the kids all of ten seconds before they were out to the world.

"Well, I guess we wore them out today," Rick chuckled, as he looked over the kid's heads to Liam.

"I think I wore myself out today," Liam replied, "but it was definitely a good day. You're very good at helping me forget my troubles."

"Well, mission accomplished then," Rick said.

"God, if I could find some way to duplicate, bottle, and sell you, I'd make a fortune. You truly are amazing."

"Well, unfortunately for you, it's impossible to duplicate me. But, fortunately for you, I'm all yours," Rick responded. "So, tell me, how old were you when you came out?" Rick asked, deciding he wanted to know everything he could about Liam.

"Oh, Jeesh, I don't even want to think about that. It was actually kind of embarrassing. Let's see, I was sixteen and a sophomore in high school. My sister figured it out first, but my mom says she always knew, that a mom just knows these things, but I'm not so sure about that. One of my friends, Jason, and I became more than just friends, and I guess my sister figured it out by watching the way we interacted with each other. It was young love and I guess we were a little more obvious about our feelings than I thought. We weren't touchy feely in public or anything, but we were always smiling at one another and watching each other. My sister said it was pretty obvious and that we looked like stupid idiots," Liam said, snorting a small laugh as the memories brought a smile to his face.

"My mom ended up walking in on us in my bedroom while we were making out. We were sprawled out on my bed, Jason on top of me and we were kissing pretty heavily, grinding into each other. Luckily we were dressed. We had just gotten home, tossed our stuff on the floor, ran upstairs and collapsed together on the bed. She walked in to yell at us for just leaving our stuff lying in front of the door. Now that I think about it, I don't know whose face looked more shocked, mine, my mom's, or Jason's. It's pretty funny, now, when I think back on it. She sent Jason home and then we sat down and talked. In a nutshell, she basically said that although she didn't understand how I could choose to be this way, she still loved me and nothing would change that. We didn't tell my dad for several months. My sister was my staunchest ally. She helped my mom come to terms with my sexuality. She helped her find online support groups. In the end, between my mom and my sister, my dad didn't have a chance in hell of being anything but supportive. My mom, to this day, swears she already knew, but it was pretty obvious by the shock on her face that she had no clue," Liam concluded.

"So what happened to Jason?" 

"We stayed together through high school but, in the end, we wanted different things. He wanted to get out of our small town. Couldn't wait to move to the big city and really start his life. He ended up going down south to California and going to school there. We kept in touch for a while, but I suppose life around us became more important than trying to keep in touch."

"How about you? It must have been tough being gay and in the Marines," Liam said.

"I honestly didn't know I was gay until I was fully entrenched in the Marine life," Rick said, his eyes fixed on Liam's as he continued talking. "I had always liked girls well enough, and I didn't ever give my attraction to other boys a second thought. I had a fairly active sex life in high school and I enjoyed it, so I never really questioned it. I always admired and thought about other boys at school. Especially in the locker room, but I always chalked it up to normal curiosity. It was in the Marines that I met someone that opened my eyes. I found out that sex with men was way better than sex with women," Rick said, a smirk settling on his face, and his eyes now settling longingly on Liam's lips.




Consumed Pt. 12



"After that, there was no way I was going back. When I came back from the Marines, I was straightforward with my family. I didn't want to hide. I had to hide it during my four years in the Marines and I wasn't about to continue. I found that what I felt was an amazing thing and I wanted to be free with it. My brothers and sisters were okay, but my parents all but disowned me." Not being able to resist anymore, he leaned over the kids and gave Liam a heart-thumping kiss.

"Mmmm," Liam practically growled out, as he pulled back from the kiss and licked his lips, savoring Rick's taste.

"I'm surprised. From what I've seen of your parents, it's hard to believe they wouldn't be supportive," Liam said, trying to keep his hormones in check.

"Yeah, well, it took a while. My Nana on my dad's side came down from Italy for three months. She's like the matriarch in the family, and when she realized that I wasn't coming to any of the family events, she started asking questions. When she found out that my parents had ostracized me, she reamed my dad a new one. Said that she came down here to visit with family and I was not to be excluded. My parents were forced to include me while she was here. That kind of opened the doors and eventually they came around," Rick finished.

"Wow," Liam said again. "I never would have guessed. They seem so comfortable with your sexuality. Your dad even made supportive comments when he caught me staring at you the other night," Liam said, blushing at the admission that he had been staring at Rick.

Rick couldn't help but laugh at Liam's embarrassment.

"Don't you dare laugh; it was embarrassing to have your dad catch me lusting after his son." 

"So, you're lusting after me?" he asked, his voice going low and slightly gravelly as he leaned over again and met Liam's lips for another kiss. This time however, he reached out with his hand and pulled Liam to him, so he couldn't separate from the kiss until Rick was finished. They both opened up to the kiss at the same time, tongues dancing together to form an electrifying kiss.

On Sunday, the kids pretty much woke up as soon as the sun was shining. The first thing Chris asked was if they could camp out again tonight.

"No, I don't think my body could handle it. Christ, whose idea was this anyway?" Liam grumbled, as he stretched his sore and aching muscles. "I swear I slept on a huge rock last night. I think I have a permanent dent in my back now."

"Oh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the ground this morning," Rick said, chuckling at Liam and receiving a glare in return as Liam tried to stretch out the kinks in his back. "How about I make some coffee and breakfast?"

"Coffee and food sounds great. The kids and I will pack up all this stuff in the meantime."

"Okay, that sounds like a plan. I'll holler when it's ready," Rick replied as he headed inside.

By the time Rick called them in for breakfast, Liam and the kids had packed up most of the camping gear. While they were eating breakfast, Liam inquired about their plans for the day.

"Well, I figured we could get started on the garden and then just take it easy today. Why, did you have something else in mind?" 

"Is there some place I can set up my computer? I actually need to get a little work done tonight. I have a short conference call tomorrow and I need to prepare for it." 

"Well, for now, why don't you go ahead and set everything up at the kitchen table. In the meantime, I'll have my mom and dad bring out my old desk from my room. We should be able to set it up somewhere for you."

"That'd be great. Thanks Rick," Liam said, just as his cell phone started ringing.

While Liam was on the phone, Rick turned his attention to the kids and getting the breakfast dishes cleaned up. From the one-sided conversation, Rick could make out that Liam was talking to Robert, his lawyer, and that they were discussing getting together.

Hearing Liam call his name, Rick turned from the sink to face him.

"Robert is wondering if he could come by tomorrow morning to go over the sale of the house. He's got some paperwork for me to sign. Would that be okay with you?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, that's fine. Why don't you invite him over for breakfast?" 

"Okay, I'll do that. Thanks!" Liam said, as he returned to his conversation with Robert. Rick wanted to meet Robert. Knowing that Robert was a potential suspect, Rick found that he was actually anxious to meet him. Robert was making quite an offer to Liam for the house and he couldn't help but wonder if there was an ulterior motive or if this guy was just genuinely a nice guy. 

"You know, they are going to be sorely disappointed when they don't get instant gratification from what they've planted," Liam said, sometime later, as they were diligently planting up the garden. Chris had got bored pretty quickly and was now playing catch with the dog instead. Cassie, on the other hand, was still helping. She would dig the holes while Rick readied the plants. "I know, but just think how much they'll enjoy it once the vegetables start appearing. It'll be fun to see their faces," Rick replied, as he turned to glance at Chris playing with the dog.

"Look!" Cassie said, nudging Rick. Both Rick and Liam glanced down at Cassie who was holding a very dirty hand that contained a very dirty worm. "I found," She said.

"That's a worm Cassie. They are good for the garden and will help the plants grow." Rick said, as he reached out and touched the worm. The worm rolled and squirmed on Cassie's hand.

"Worm," Cassie repeated. "Chrissy, look, worm," she hollered in Chris's direction. 

"Where? I want to see," Chris said, as his attention turned from the disappointed dog to them again. "That's so cool. Can I hold him Cassie?" Chris asked.

Cassie dropped the worm into Chris's hand and they both took turns gently prodding it and watching it wiggle and roll over Chris's hand. "It tickles," Chris said, giggling along with Cassie.

"This is what I love about kids, watching their fascination with something as simple as a worm. It's almost like experiencing it yourself all over again," Rick said to Liam, as they watched the kids.

"Yeah, it's pretty amazing," Liam said, but his voice didn't match his words and neither did his face.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking that I had better get inside and start getting my computer set up. I've got a lot of work to do." That said, Liam got up and headed into the house.

"Rick, can we keep the worm?" Chris asked, bringing Rick's attention back to the kids.

"No, we can't Chris. The worm is very important to the garden and he needs to stay here and do his job. He'll help the plants grow big and healthy." 

"Oh, okay. Sorry Cassie, we can't keep him," Chris said disappointedly as he put the worm back into Cassie's hand.

"Let's put him back now so we can finish up the planting. Then I've got a water pail for both of you. You guys can water all the plants really well. Okay?" Rick said, hoping to distract them from having to put the worm back.

"Okay," they replied in unison as Cassie put the worm back and they watched it slowly burrow into the dirt.

A couple of hours later, Rick and the kids came back into the house to clean up and get some lunch. Liam was working hard at his computer, his cell phone sitting next to his laptop and a printer hooked up behind it. Several small boxes of paperwork sat on the floor surrounding him.

Rick got the kids set up in the living room watching TV and eating grilled cheese sandwiches, goldfish crackers, and milk. While they were eating, he prepared a sandwich and tomato soup for Liam and him and then sat down at the table with the food.

"Here, you should eat something," Rick said, sliding a plate toward Liam.

"Mmmm, smells good. Thanks," said Liam, sliding his laptop out of the way and the putting the plate of food in its place.

They had got about halfway through their meal when Rick noticed a small pile of photographs at one end of the table. "What are those?" He asked, pointing to the photos.

"Those are pictures of Julie and Adam and the kids. I found them in the box that Michelle's mom gave me. I was thinking about getting a few of them framed for the kids and also putting together a photo album. My mom's got tons of pictures too. Do you think that would be a good idea? I don't know if it would be good for them to be reminded of their loss so soon, but I don't want them to forget either."

"I think it's a great idea. We can go tomorrow and get everything you need," Rick offered.

"Yeah, okay. When do you have to go back to work?" 

"I usually work two days on and four days off. I was due to go in on Monday morning, but I took yesterday and today off, so now I don't go back in until Sunday morning," Rick said, as he reached out over the table and ran the back of his hand along Liam's bruised face. "How does your face feel today?"

"It doesn't hurt much, as long as I don't touch it. In fact, I had totally forgotten about it until you mentioned it. My head probably hurts the most though. It starts throbbing every once in a while," Liam replied.

"Let's get all this cleaned up and then maybe..." Rick started, but was interrupted by his phone ringing.

"Correction, why don't you answer your phone and I'll work on getting the lunch mess cleaned up," Liam said, as he leaned forward, gave Rick a kiss and then headed out to the living room.

While Rick was on the phone, Liam checked on the kids. They had polished off most of their lunch and were now glued to the television, the dog curled up with them on the floor. Liam picked up their dishes and headed back to the kitchen.

As he entered the kitchen, Rick was just hanging up the phone. "Well, it looks like my vacation has been cut short. It figures. I finally have someone to spend time with and I get called into work. I swear we jinxed it by talking about it."

"Is everything okay?" Liam asked.

"I'm not sure, I haven't been fully briefed yet, but it looks like we've got a forest fire up along the old Incline Railway scar on the mountainside. I've got to head out. They've called all of the crew in. I'm sorry," Rick said.

"It's fine. It's your job. Just be careful," Liam said, as he walked over to Rick and kissed him chastely on the lips.

"Mmmm, I think that if I'm going to put myself in such mortal danger, I at least deserve a better kiss than that," Rick said, before reaching out and pulling Liam against him for another kiss, only this one definitely wasn't chaste and Liam found himself pressing up against Rick, slowly backing him up against the counter, his arms wrapping around Rick's neck and their tongues fighting for dominance.

"Shit! I wish I didn't have to go," Rick said, as he pulled away from Liam.