“The love that dare not speak its name” is a term often associated with Oscar Wilde. However, he didn’t originate it. It actually came from the poem cited above.

About a century after Lord Douglas penned his poem, Beau Stephens and Cy Stepanek were nearing the end of their last year of high school and it looked like their long-time relationship was bound to change drastically when they graduated and moved on to college. Both anticipated the possibility with dread and anguish.

Prologue

Starting back in the elementary grades, the boys had become as close as brothers – actually closer, because they’d never had a fight or felt jealous of each other as siblings often do. They’d met on the bus on the way to their first day of school as third graders.

Beau’s parents had recently inherited a large tract of farmland which was rented out to some local farmer and it had an acreage where the original owner had lived. It was a few miles from a small town and they decided to relocate there, so their son could have the kind of free-range experience of growing up that country life provides. Having spent their childhoods in Cedar Rapids, about 20 miles away, they felt this would be a more laid-back experience for their boy.

Larry Stephens was in the process of establishing a small construction company and the spacious acreage was an ideal place to build a workshop and a pole building to house his work vehicles and their cars once he tore down the rickety old barn. He’d originally thought it might house his vehicles but found that the repairs would cost more than a new building. To help defray expenses, he’d found a market for barn-boards and made a fair amount of money from salvaging them.

In addition, Larry was building a new two-story house to replace the century-old dwelling which had fallen into disrepair after years of being abandoned.

The acreage had several features which were attractive to a young boy. Behind the remnants of the original farmstead was a stand of timber which included several mature walnut trees and a rather large pond which the farmer had often stocked with fish. Beau thought it would be a great place to swim and to play in with his kayak. He also fell in love with a shiny 1968 Airstream camping trailer which had been set on cement blocks at the edge of the timber. It was skirted and had utility hookups, indicating that it had probably been used to house a hired man or two sometime in the past. Other than for a serious layer of dust, it was in great condition.

Beau could picture himself sleeping out there on a warm summer night, pretending he was on a camping trip. Endless possibilities filled his young imagination.

Seeing her son’s excitement over the camper, Jen Stephens suggested they refurbish all the cushions as well as buy a new mattress for the main bed. She didn’t want him sleeping out there on something that had been used by God-knows-who; and having them would provide more sleeping space for extra guests if the occasion arose.

Since he was eight years of age, Beau was considered mature enough to take the school bus on his own. Most country kids did. His mother had already driven him to see his new classroom and have a short tour of the rest of the facility. He was both excited, and a little apprehensive, at the prospect of attending a new school.

When he boarded the big, yellow, Blue Bird vehicle, he chose a spot by himself in a row of seats near the middle. There was a group of chattering girls near the front and some older boys horsing around in the very back. Though he was outgoing, Beau didn’t feel comfortable being with either group. He hoped the others would leave him alone until he could get his bearings. He’d always felt safe in his old school where he knew everyone and had to make only a short walk from home. Until he figured out the lay of the land, he was keeping a low profile.

The bus drove only a short distance before stopping at the lane where Cy hopped on. He sat across the aisle from Beau and looked him over.

The boys were alike in several ways. Their dishwater blond hair was similar in color; however, Cy’s was cropped short, almost like a crewcut while Beau’s was longer and formed soft curls around his face.

Both of their bodies were trim but not scrawny. Beau had green eyes and Cy’s were brown.

Being friendly, like Beau, he struck up a conversation.

“Hi, I’m Cy. I haven’t seen you before. Are you new?”

“We moved here in July. I think it’s where the Bonner family once lived.”

“Oh, where the new house is. No one’s lived there since I’ve been born. We live on a century farm.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a place my great-grandfather settled over a hundred years ago.

“So, what’s your name?”

“I’m Beau. It’s nice to know you!”

As the two chattered away, they found that they had a lot in common. They were the same age and would be in class together with Mrs. Prohaska as their teacher. Cy allayed one of Beau’s concerns by telling him that she was one of the nicest persons in the school. Cy’s older sister, Molly, had been in her class four years earlier, so he knew for sure the kind of person she was.

Since the first four letters of the boys’ surnames were the same – S-t-e-p, they would be sitting near each other. This proved to be true for the rest of their school experience in classes where the teachers arranged their students alphabetically.

For this reason, they were bound to form a friendship. And because they bonded so closely, their friends often referred to them as the “Step” brothers after Mrs. Prohaska jokingly coined the term.

They were soon to have another connection. It was in third grade that they joined Cub Scouts. Their den mother, Lois Carver, lived across the street from school, so on the days they had meetings, they went there instead of to the bus, and one of their moms or dads would pick them up when it was over.

There were lots of fun activities and Mrs. Carver made the best peanut butter cookies in town.

Beau’s group of friends and acquaintances grew rapidly despite living out in the country.

When the kids reached the magic age of 10½, they became WEBELOS, one step closer to Boy Scouts. That part of the program required a male leader because of outings like camping and swimming where boys would sometimes be naked or peeing outside, and a female wasn’t deemed appropriate for the role.

If they could get enough boys interested in enlisting, they would be able to join a troop in another town when they were older. Things were looking up for the program.

Mr. Thompson became their new, male, leader. He was a divorced father of two who had a son in the program. Since he was in a shared-custody situation, he viewed the position as a way of spending more time with his boy. Other dads, with kids in the group, were pleased he was willing to take on the responsibility because they didn’t have the time.

Their first campout as WEBELOS was on a weekend in early spring. The boys were all excited about going. They packed their gear and food supplies in a small trailer behind a ten-passenger van which was adequate to hold everyone who had decided to participate.

The weather would be too chilly for skinny-dipping but would be fine for hiking and exploring the rough terrain where they were headed. It was also a chance to roast hotdogs over a wood fire and make smores for dessert. While not a particularly healthy meal, it was a lot of fun.

The tents were borrowed from a scout troop in another town but each boy was responsible for his own sleeping bag. Beau used one belonging to his dad, so it was rather large. Cy had one he’d nearly outgrown which his grandparents had given him for sleepovers, so it wasn’t really meant for cold weather camping.

Most of the boys stripped down to their underwear for sleeping. In some cases, they likely checked out each other’s developing bodies. But it wasn’t warm enough to get totally naked and the boys quickly got inside their bags to keep warm.

Nearly all of them stayed awake talking after they were supposed to be asleep. Arnie Thompson let them do what they wanted. He remembered being their age and didn’t want to put a damper on their fun. He also figured if he were too hard on them, his son might catch flak from his peers.

After the kids settled down, Arnie took out his flask to ease the stress of the day. He also lit a joint to mellow-out. By the time he fell asleep, he was feeling no pain.

Around 4:00 AM, an unexpected cold front moved in bringing winter-like temperatures and mixed precipitation. Because of his thin sleeping gear, Cy woke up shaking from the cold. Beau came to quickly, as well.

“You’re freezing! Put your bag on top of mine and crawl in here with me. We can keep each other warm. I read about some guys who did that in a blizzard and it kept them alive,” Beau said.

“O-o-k-kay!” Cy’s teeth were chattering as he responded.

Beau wrapped his body around Cy to warm him up. Cuddling as they were, felt good to both of them. It was the first time they’d been this close physically, other than wrestling around on the floor occasionally. This felt really nice! It wasn’t long before they were comfortable enough to fall back to sleep.

That wasn’t the case for most of the other boys. Some put their outer clothes on and crawled back into their bags but still shivered. A couple of older boys, Jimmy Nance and Todd Taylor, went to their scoutmaster’s tent to wake him so they could go home, or at least start the van and sit inside to warm up.

At first, they couldn’t figure out how he could sleep so soundly. Then Todd sniffed the air inside Thompson’s tent. He wasn’t so naïve that he couldn’t identify the aroma of pot smoke.

When they eventually roused Arnie, he seemed too disorganized to know what needed to be done. If it hadn’t been in the days before cell phones, one of them would have called home for help. However, in those more primitive times, the kids had to use their own problem-solving skills to get them out of their predicament.

Jimmy and Todd enlisted the help of Beau and Cy to organize striking the tents and packing the equipment into the trailer. Rifling through the food supplies, they opened a box of Cheerio’s and gave some to each kid to keep up their energy level. They also split the rest of the hot dogs among them. Eating them cold wasn’t great, but it beat being hungry. It was enough food to make them feel better.

Naturally, none was old enough to drive legally, so they had to hope their leader was alert enough to get them home safely. Jimmy insisted that everyone get properly buckled up with seatbelts. At the time, passengers in back seats weren’t required to do so.

Once they’d ridden a few miles, the van began to warm up inside. With their tummies full and being out of the cold, the kids began to nod off. It was still at least an hour until dawn.

A sudden strong jolt and the sound of crunching metal brought everyone out of their sleep instantly. There was broken glass and the front of the vehicle was wrapped around a tree. Luckily, the kids weren’t injured and they had the presence of mind to get out as quickly as possible. A couple started to cry when they saw smoke billow from under the hood.

A semi driver, who had stopped to help, contacted the highway patrol with his CB radio. Using his fire extinguisher, he managed to put out the flames which had begun to lick around the engine compartment.

He checked on Arnie who wasn’t conscious but had a strong pulse. Since the fire was out, the trucker thought it prudent not to move the injured man lest he cause more damage by doing so.

The boys huddled together by the roadside trying to stay warm.

It wasn’t long before a patrol car arrived. The officers checked on everyone and conferred with the trucker. Pretty soon an ambulance came and a few other motorists stopped to see what they could do. Among them was Beau’s dad who had been on his way to check on the campers. He’d driven his work van and became the hero of the day to the boys who were able to crowd in and keep warm.

Larry used his CB to call Jen so she could phone the other families to inform them that their boys were safe.

The fallout from the ill-fated camping trip was huge and had a ripple effect throughout the small community. First, a lot of kids missed school on Monday with chills and coughs.

Second, Arnie Thompson was indicted for driving under the influence of alcohol and a controlled substance. Added to that was a charge of child endangerment. As a result, he lost his job and was allowed only supervised visits with his children.

The third effect was a loss for the boys. No one took over as WEBLOS leader and the local group folded.

But something good came out of it as well. Beau and Cy didn’t get sick from exposure to the elements. They knew it was from snuggling together but they weren’t going to tell anyone else. Even at that tender age, they understood they might be labeled as “queers” if the other kids got wind of it. Sadly, some boys would probably have faced hypothermia before doing what they had done.

Beau, Cy, and several other former WEBELOS found a new outlet in 4-H Club. Residing in the country provided them opportunities to raise livestock for showing at the county fair, and sometimes the state fair.

Living on a large, operating farm, Cy could raise championship steers to show and sell. Being on an acreage, Beau stuck to rabbits, chickens, and lambs. He was pleased to find a big market for the animals which weren’t show-quality but were good to eat. Several people from Cedar Rapids loved getting locally raised lamb to stock their freezers. Free-range chickens were in demand, and at least a few people actually liked hassenpfeffer. Both boys put away quite a bit of money hoping to use it for a car or pickup someday.

In their middle-school years, Beau and Cy remained inseparable. At the same time, their circle of friends grew wider and included girls. However, that didn’t mean many of them were paring off yet. Usually, it was a herd of them all attending a dance or going to the movies together.

Of course, they were in various stages of puberty, so some had crushes, no doubt. The boys’ mothers were pleased that their sons had good buddies to do things with; things which might keep them from becoming too girl-crazy at a young age.

Their fathers were realists and had the obligatory “talk” with them. They remembered the questions they had from their early teen years. They wanted to make sure their sons knew about night-emissions and understood that masturbation wasn’t a sin.

Larry had attended a school which provided some sex education at that age, but Len hadn’t. However, growing up on a farm, he had witnessed animals breeding. The two of them made a good team in discussing the basics of reproduction to their sons. The boys seemed more comfortable learning about it together.

Before it was finished, Larry had used a cucumber to demonstrate how to correctly wear a condom. Beau and Cy squirmed as their dicks hardened while watching. Fortunately, they were seated around the kitchen table which hid their “excitement.”

It was during those same years, that boys began to experiment with their bodies. As one might expect, Beau and Cy had discovered the joys of self-pleasuring together, about the time some of their erstwhile WEBELOS buds did.

Eighth grade saw the formation of another club, a secret one. The boys named it their rod and gun club. Granted, country boys liked to fish and hunt. However, the implements were euphemisms for their dicks. The old Airstream camper at Beau’s house became their clubhouse. It was an easy ride for the kids who owned little ATV’s, and it was certainly doable by bicycle.

A major advantage of their clubhouse was its location away from the house. In addition, Jen had a long-term subbing job in Cedar Rapids which was likely to turn into a permanent placement. That meant there’d be no parents around to catch them with their pants down.

For the most part, their play was pretty innocent. It had begun as a kind of “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” That evolved into games of seeing who could cum first, shoot the farthest, or produce the most jizz.

The following year, the group began to fall apart. First, Jimmy started going steady with Lisa. After dating her for a month or so, he stopped playing with the other boys.

The final blow came when Todd brought a bag of weed and a clay pipe. Beau knew he would probably make some enemies, but he put his foot down and said there would be no smoking in his clubhouse. He was certain that if his father smelled pot, when he occasionally checked the trailer, this place of solace would be sold for scrap-metal.

Todd got all pissy and called Beau a wimp, but Beau remained resolute. A couple of other boys left with Todd, hoping to share a new experience – getting high. That left Beau and Cy alone.

“Did I blow it?” Beau wondered aloud.

“Nah, you did the right thing. Haven’t you noticed how Todd’s always in a bad mood lately? He doesn’t get along with his teachers like he used to. I’ll bet his grades are going down. Some people can probably smoke that stuff without messing up their attitude, but he must not be able to. I hope someone tells his parents.”

“I don’t think we should rat on him,” Beau shook his head. “If anyone does, he’ll probably blame me.

“Um, no use wasting our club meeting time; wanna make some cum?”

Beau did want to play. This time was different from the past. The rod and gun guys had jacked off quite a bit but hadn’t touched each other in the process. Today, the boys latched the door and checked the blinds and then stripped completely. They lay side by side with their hips touching. Cy reached over and wrapped his hand around Beau’s rising member. Beau did the same in return.

“Oh God this is good!” Beau gasped.

“Yeah it is,” Cy agreed. “Instead of seeing who can cum first, let’s try to make the feeling last.”

Despite their best intentions, it didn’t take long to produce a couple of gushers. They spread the residue on each other’s taut abs before wiping it off with an old towel. Then, they cuddled together like they had when they were 10-year-olds and fell asleep for half an hour.

During the next couple of years, their relationship grew. They didn’t put a label on it; they just enjoyed each other’s company. Like many of their peers, they would ask a girl to a dance sometimes. They usually didn’t date the same girl twice, and they often went with girls who were enough younger that there wasn’t a fear of being expected to go steady.

Ironically, their mothers, who had been delighted with their closeness when they were younger, began to wonder if the boys were seeing too much of each other when they should be developing more interest in the opposite sex. This was truer of Cy’s mother, Janice than of Jen. In studying to become a teacher, Jen had taken a certain amount of psychology classes. She knew that most boys go through a “homosexual” phase and some were simply late bloomers. She also realized that it was possible for same-sex relationships to last a lifetime. She was enlightened enough not to be frightened by the thought.

Janice abhorred the idea that her son might be gay. As a result, she pressured him into dating more. There was a girl from her church by the name of Sarah Bowersox who Cy’s mother felt would make a good addition to the family.

Sarah’s mother, Trudi thought they made a cute couple and so, even though Cy’s heart wasn’t in it, the two kids began to go steady.

Janice secretly hoped Sarah might get pregnant. It would be far more acceptable to have her son marry right out of high school than to have him turn out to be queer.

It was an early spring night – unusually warm and pleasant for the time of year. Beau had chosen to sleep in the camper. He was kind of bummed out that Cy was on a date with Sarah. However, he knew his buddy was likely to stop by for some shared relief. Cy’s girlfriend had a way of getting him all horned up and then putting the brakes on when he desperately needed to bust a nut.

About 10:30, there was a tap on the door and, sure enough, Cy was on the other side. Beau let him in quickly.

“Well, I did it,” Cy smiled.

“Um, you got laid?” Beau asked. “How was it?

“No, I broke up with Sarah.”

“You don’t seem too broken up, if you’ll pardon my saying so.”

“I’m not! You know how she jerks me around.”

“If she jerked you off, you’d probably have stayed,” Beau continued to joke.

Instead of answering, Cy pulled his long-time friend into a tight embrace and kissed him. Beau’s body responded completely as he pressed his bulging jeans against Cy’s.

Through their years of fooling around, they’d always avoided kissing, so this had an effect like dropping a lighted match into a can of gasoline.

“Wow!” Cy exclaimed when he stood back. “Now I know what I’ve been missing.”

He immediately went for a replay, parting his lips to allow Beau’s tongue to enter. Beau didn’t need a formal invitation.

After a few more kisses, they began to undress one another. Soon, they lay naked on Beau’s bed. They rolled back and forth while licking and petting. Beau ended up on top, their steely erections trapped side by side between their bodies. Cy ground up against him while putting his hands on Beau’s firm glutes. With a little prompting, he got a sensuous rhythm going. Beau squirmed, grinding his crotch in a circular motion, increasing the pleasurable sensations. Their tongue-wrestling heightened the effect and took them beyond the point of no return.

Moans turned to whimpers as their orgasms hit almost simultaneously. They continued to kiss in the afterglow until their jizz began to trickle down Cy’s sides, making him giggle.

Beau grabbed his discarded T-shirt to wipe them off. Then, he pulled up the sheet and a light blanket to ward off the chill. Later, as the temperature went down a few more degrees, Beau got up and covered the bed with a big downy comforter. He slipped back into bed and they spooned together, Beau holding Cy from behind.

“You know what this reminds me of?” Cy asked.

“Yeah, I think I do.”

“Okay, what?”

“That night we went camping about this time of year in WEBELOS.”

“How did you know what I was thinking?”

“Because we’re so much alike and it reminds me of the same thing.”

“So, do you remember me reaching back and feeling up your little dick?” Cy snickered, gently petting Beau’s deflated organ.

“Nope. We had our underwear on.”

“I felt it through the cloth. It got bigger in my hand and you made little contented noises that told me you liked it.”

“I must have enjoyed it in my sleep. Are you confessing to being a pervert?”

“Is that what you think I am?”

“No, not at all. Besides, I wouldn’t insult you while you have me by the balls.”

“Good plan!

“Um, I don’t know exactly how to describe the feelings I have right now…” Cy hesitated.

“You don’t have to; I’m sure I’m having similar ones.”

“We both have to go to Iowa State and room together. We just have to!”

“Good luck with that. I’ll be there, but your dad is gonna make you go to MU – second generation and all.”

“He can’t force me to.”

“He can cut off your funds. I could try to go to MU with you, but their engineering program isn’t very strong and I’m not sure my folks would spring for the out of state tuition.”

“Let’s just forget about it for a while and enjoy this moment.”

Beau woke up with a start as the sunrise sent golden rays through the east window where he’d left the blinds up.

“Shit! Cy, you should have been home like eight hours ago!”

“Not to worry, Boyfriend. I told my parents I might check in on Tom’s party after I took Sarah home. Dad asked if there’d be a keg and I said there might be. He suggested I take my sleeping bag and crash on their couch or in the barn if I had so much as a taste of beer. The highway patrol has been really cracking down. So, I’m covered. I know Tom will back whatever story I tell.

“Let’s see, I felt so down after breaking up with Sarah that I had a couple of beers. I did the smart thing and several of us slept in the hay loft.”

“That’s good. They’ll likely believe you. I wish we didn’t have to lie to be together.”

The guys had cleaned up a bit and brushed their teeth when they were startled by a knock on the door.

“Hey, when you boys are ready, come up to the house for breakfast,” Larry called.

“Just a minute, Dad and I’ll unlock the door.”

“How did he know you were here?” he whispered to Cy.

“Maybe my pickup tipped him off,” Cy grinned.

“Oh good, you’re dressed. Mom has waffles staying warm in the oven. I’ve already let your parents know you’re safe, Cy, but I’m sure they’ll want to see for themselves.”

“Um, why would they be worried? I told them I might stay at Tom’s.”

“Oh, of course, you haven’t heard the news. There was a fire at the Booth place sometime after midnight. The whole barn went up like tinder – all that hay and stuff. There aren’t any details available yet, but an ambulance was seen speeding toward the city.”

“Whew! I wonder who was hurt and how bad,” Cy exclaimed.

The teens ate breakfast but they weren’t as ravenous as usual. Jen suspected it had to do with concern for their friends. Larry wondered if there was something more on their minds. The little camper was sound and tight. With no windows open to air it out, there was a funky odor of decaying sperm. Being male, he could readily identify it.

He breathed a sigh of acquiescence. What would be, would be.

When Cy arrived home, “the fit hit the shan,” as some wag has phrased it euphemistically. Instead of celebrating the fact that he was safe, his mother demanded to know why he slept over with Beau instead of staying at the Booth’s. She tore into him while his father remained silent.

“That boy is turning you queer! I demand that you stay away from him. If you don’t, we’ll send you off to take summer school in Missouri so you can get a head start on your degree. Or maybe you can stay home if you get married.”

“I don’t know who I’d marry. I broke up with that bitch last night!”

“Mind your mouth, Boy! Sarah’s a sweet Christian girl.”

“She’s a tease. She’s on me like flies on garbage but she quits when it gets serious.”

“She wears a promise ring, so she’s not going to give you what you want until you’re married.”

“She doesn’t HAVE what I want!”

“And I suppose Beau does! You’re as bad as he is. No son of mine is going to be a FAGGOT!”

With that last statement, Janice slapped her son across the face.

At the sound of physical violence, Molly, who was home on spring break, rushed into the kitchen. She’d been eavesdropping from the dining room and might have stayed out of the fray had her mother not hit her brother.

“Mother! Get ahold of yourself! Striking Cy isn’t going to help!”

“Who do you think you are, some TV shrink? What gives you the right to interfere?”

“I have nearly all of the psychology classes under my belt for my BS, so I’m highly qualified to make some judgment calls. If Cy IS gay, it’s something he has no control over.”

“If it’s not a choice, it’s a sickness and we’ll have him cured,” Janice retorted.

“No reputable psychologist considers homosexuality to be a mental aberration these days. They don’t believe it can be cured or needs to be cured. It’s a variation. And before you say it’s not natural, I can give you a list of animals that have same-sex relationships from dolphins to penguins.

“There are a lot of grim statistics out there about people who are forced to lead a straight life when it isn’t in their nature. Suicide rates among gay people are much higher than in the rest of the population. It’s because people shame them instead of trying to understand. Would you rather have your son gay or dead?”

“Hmm… I’d have to think that one over,” Janice glared.

“Son,” Len spoke for the first time since Cy had come home, “you’ve been accepted at Iowa State and the University of Missouri both, right? And Beau is going to Iowa State.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Okay, having listened to the two females in my life make their arguments, I’ve come to a decision about your university experience. And this is it; you’re the one who will make the choice. I’ll pay your tuition to whichever school you attend. Bear in mind that staying in the state of Iowa will be far less expensive and could have some perks.”

“Lenard Stepanek, how can you do such a thing? That will put them together.”

“Because my dear, I, for one, would rather have a happy gay son than one who went to his grave in desperation. At 18, he’s capable of making his own decisions.

“He’s already made a good one in breaking up with Sarah. I was trying to figure out how I could tell him without hurting him. I saw her in a back booth with Donny Kerr late Thursday night when I went to get pizza. They didn’t look like they were discussing the weather report. They were so ‘engaged’ that they didn’t see me.

“When Cy called her a ‘tease,’ he was too polite and left one word out of the phrase, so, I’ll say it. She’s what we used to call a ‘cock-tease’ in the locker room.”

Len’s two children tried to suppress grins as their eyes met. Their mother looked askance.

“Son,” he continued, “why don’t you pack enough clothes for the next week and see if you can stay with Beau’s family until your mother makes some adjustments in her thinking? I’m not pushing you out; I just think it might be more comfortable for both of you. I’ll send along money to help pay for your meals, or you can take him out every night if you prefer.”

“Thanks, Dad,” a tearful young man hugged his father. “I love you.

Then, he turned to his sister.

“Thanks, Molly, for standing up for me.

“I still love you, Mom, but right now, I don’t like you very much.”

With that, Cy went to the living room to use the phone and then to his room so he could pack.

As they’d arranged, Beau and Cy met at the camper about half an hour later. The minute Cy came inside, Beau hugged him tightly. Both cried, but this time, it was tears of relief and joy.

“While you were gone, I told my parents how we feel about each other. To my surprise, they’re completely okay with it. They had discussed their suspicions and were waiting for me to bring up the subject. In fact, Mom said if I hadn’t talked to them today, they were going to set me down tomorrow and let me know how they felt. Isn’t that cool?

“How would you like to spend the rest of our day?”

“This will sound crazy when we could do anything we want, but I’d like to just lie in bed and hold you in my arms. It’s gonna take a while for all of this to sink in. I mean, we’re actually together and at least three of our parents are okay with us.”

“Your mom may come around eventually,” Beau said hopefully.

“I don’t know if she will or not, but I guess they say, ‘while there’s life, there’s hope.’”

“So, are we allowed to say the word we’ve held back on?” Beau asked.

“Yup! Do you want to go first, or should I?”

“How about together on the count of three?”

In chorus they repeated, “One, two, three, I LOVE you!”