Unexpected Love (BOYXBOY)

Chapter 25

August was hot. Too damn hot.

And that's why we had been in the pool in Cody's backyard almost every afternoon. The pool was a recent addition, but it hadn't been installed for the specific purpose of giving Cody and his friends a place to cool off during the summer. Tatyana was pregnant, and she didn't believe in giving birth in the traditional manner. Instead, she insisted on delivering the baby in water. If she wanted to do that, I didn't see why she couldn't have just done it in the bathtub. I also wasn't sure what effect the chlorine in the pool might have on a newborn baby, but I wasn't about to go questioning Tatyana's eccentricities.

What was even odder, though, was that Cody didn't know who the father was, nor did he seem to care. In fact, I didn't know anything about Cody's own father. Had he also just been some nameless sperm donor like this one seemed to be? And even though she was only one month pregnant, Tatyana was convinced that the baby was going to be a boy, and she'd already picked out a name -- Alexei. She said it was a good Russian name. I asked Cody why he didn't have a Russian name as well. He told me that he did (although he didn't tell me what it was), but that he'd taken it upon himself to change it to Cody when he was nine.

Strange family! I thought to myself.

The swimming pool was really nice, though, and didn't detract at all from the beautiful Japanese-style gardens that Tatyana and Cody had created in their huge backyard. It was complete with wooden walkways, a small wooden bridge that extended over a miniature pond -- filled with large, orange carp, frogs, and water lilies -- and a rock garden. And it being summertime, the flowers and plants were in full bloom. It was truly breathtaking and very tranquil.

At any rate, Toby, Cody, the twins, Delcondris, Tuwanda, Natalie, and I were all swimming in the pool one afternoon, as had been our habit ever since the temperature had become so intolerable. It was the first time the whole group had been together since Mikey's funeral. Even Dominic and Ryan had come along, too. On the one hand, I was glad that Ryan was rejoining the rest of the world, but on the other, it was a bit awkward, mostly because Ryan knew about me and Ben. I didn't know how I was supposed to act with Ben while Ryan was around. Would it be inappropriate to hug and kiss him? What about holding hands? We weren't really into the public displays of affection, but occasionally we forgot that other people were around, and I didn't want to upset Ryan or anything if he happened to see Ben and me playing a little suck-face.

Ever since our little talk right after Ryan got back from baseball camp, he'd made what I thought was a serious effort to be nice to me. I wouldn't say that we were exactly the best of friends again, but there was progress. I didn't want anything to screw that up, and I hoped he could handle my being with Ben now. He'd said he was happy for me, although with Ryan, it was sometimes hard to tell what he was really feeling. Ryan and Ben didn't say much to each other, but I didn't notice any dirty looks passed between the two of them, and no fist fights or anything broke out while we were messing around in Cody's pool, so I figured that was a good sign.

As for Dominic, I was really glad that he'd decided to hang out with us. None of us had seen him since the memorial service for Mikey, and I had been worried about him. I could have called him, I suppose, but the period of time right after Mikey passed away wasn't exactly easy. Despite the heat, being the good Goth boy that he was, Dominic came dressed in all black -- black jeans, black t-shirt, black spiked dog collar, and even black eye-liner. I was disappointed, because I wanted him to join us in the pool, and it didn't appear as though he was dressed for the occasion.

I was about to see if Cody had an extra swim suit that Dominic could borrow, even though Cody was quite a bit smaller, but then I got quite a surprise when Dominic peeled off his clothes to reveal a swim suit underneath -- black, of course. I was also surprised at how hot he looked without his clothes on. I'd figured Goth boys tended to be on the pale side, but he had a really nice tan. He said he got it from working outside with his dad doing construction work during the summer. I also noticed that he had both of his nipples and his belly button pierced, and a tattoo of what appeared to be a cross between a sun and a ninja throwing star around his navel. Other than my one earring, I'd never considered getting anything else pierced, but I had to admit, Dominic looked totally hot!