Chapter 4
October 31, 2003
Through the course of the evening, Mark guided his little charges along one street, then another, cheerfully leading his boys, Alex and Richard, on their first Halloween night out. They were dressed warmly and quite happy to be out with the other children, especially since they'd pilfered quite a bit from other kids' plastic pumpkin buckets when they weren't looking. It was only natural; Mark had specifically encouraged them to when Julie wasn't around before they left the house.
Julie, that terrific piece of ass that Mark could never seem to get enough of, was with them too, not that she actually mattered. Mark made sure she felt included, but in reality was merely a witness to events. She had her role, her place. Mark was looking forward to enjoying himself later. Yes, he was. Conceiving a child on Halloween had worked so well last time, after all, so he'd decided on the same date this time.
Finally, with their buckets full, Alex and Richard were escorted back to Mark's metallic red Ford Excursion, his replacement for the Grand Cherokee since bigger was indeed better in his mind. Plus, Henry never stopped talking about the sheer size and power of The Beast, his beloved Hummer H1, so Mark had decided to step up his game in response. Now they owned two enormous, growling diesel trucks, monuments to masculine size and brawn.
"Thanks, Dad," Alex said as Mark buckled him in. "Had a fun time."
"Yes, lotsa fun," Richard added agreeably.
"That's great, guys," Mark said with a grin. "Now, your mother and I are gonna let you have some more candy when we get back, but not too much, okay?"
"Kay."
"Okay."
"Aw, man," Mark said, hugging each of them. "I love you so much. It's been a great Halloween, you know that?"
"Yeah!" Alex said eagerly.
"Yes!" Richard agreed.
Closing the right rear passenger door, Mark embraced his favorite toy, Julie, and 'by accident' grabbed a handful of her ass in doing so. She responded in kind, and Mark looked at her, surprised and amused.
"Did you think I wouldn't do that?" Julie asked, squeezing again. "I like yours, too, you know."
"How much?"
"Too much," Julie laughed. "You're amazing."
"No, you are," Mark told her, kissing her on the lips. "C'mon. Let's go get our kids home. Great first Halloween for the family, right?"
"I didn't expect anything else, Mark."
"Of course," Mark told her with another kiss. "I'm just that good."
ΩΩΩΩΩ
After the boys were safely back to their rooms, teeth brushed and beds tucked, Mark and Julie went to the kitchen. Mark looked at her with those cool blue eyes of his and Julie knew he had something important to say, something that mattered to him. He had such a kind and loving soul, and wore his heart on his sleeve. As if to prove that, he drew close and gently kissed her on the lips, a soft, lingering kiss that lasted almost a minute.
"Julie, I can't wait."
"What do you mean?"
"The wedding's in April. I can't wait that long, Julie. I can't. I love you too much." Mark swept her into his arms, leaned her back and kissed her. It seemed to last forever, and when it ended, Mark was there, still holding her close.
"I love you," Julie told him.
"Julie," Mark said, "Being a dad is the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I found my soul-mate. Everything's been fate so far, and tonight… I know what fate has for us. I know." He paused. "I want another boy."
"Me, too," Julie answered right away.
"Upstairs," Mark said tersely. "We should get upstairs."
Julie nodded, and the young couple quietly headed through the kitchen, upstairs and past the boys' bedroom. Alex and Richard were sleeping soundly, Julie knew. She hoped that what was about to happen wouldn't disturb them. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she felt butterflies soaring in her stomach.
A baby would soon be growing inside her again. Mark wanted another child. Then there would be another, and another. Julie knew it. This was the sign. They'd had sex so many times for love and for fun, making love like a horny, lustful teenage couple, but Julie knew that she'd be having more children with Mark once they got married, and now, it was time, even if they hadn't said their vows just yet.
Mark gently helped Julie shed her bathrobe, and Julie put her hands where she liked while he undressed, giving him knowing smiles all the while. Then she lay down on the bed, the very one where they'd made Alex. It was time for him to get a little brother.
"I've waited so long for this," Mark murmured, entering her slowly. He was a truly magnificent sight, Hercules in his early twenties. And he was Julie's soul-mate. It was perfect.
"Me, too," Julie managed to say.
"Shh," Mark said, leaning down to kiss her. "Just enjoy this."
Julie did. She savored every second as she and Mark made love for over an hour. When she and Mark were finally done screwing like a couple of high school kids, they were both soaked in sweat and completely exhausted- just like the last time they'd conceived a child. This time, though, they were attempting it on purpose, and Julie lay on her back afterwards, her heartrate gradually slowing as Mark gently rubbed her belly with one hand.
"I love you," Mark told her.
"I love you, too," Julie sighed, smiling back at him.
"This was better than last time," Mark confided softly. "Way better. This time I'm becoming a dad on purpose. I chose it." He sighed. "I hope it's a boy."
Julie, who hoped for a daughter at some point but had no problem with another son, smiled again. "If it is, we better have a good name for him."
"We'll think of one."
"That was amazing," Julie sighed. "Where'd you learn all that stuff, Mark?"
"Experience," Mark shrugged.
"You've sure had plenty of that," Julie laughed.
"Lots with you," Mark went on. "I was still a high school kid when we met. It was so tough… being here, in this bed with you… and having to act like I was just your student. But I managed. You did, too."
"You're the best I ever had, Mark. Nobody else even compares."
"You think he's growing yet?" Mark murmured, patting Julie's belly softly.
"Soon," Julie said. "Anytime now."
"Good."
ΩΩΩΩΩ
When Mark woke up the next morning, the first thing he noticed as that his balls still hurt. That was good. He'd exhausted himself last night, almost desperate to conceive a second boy, his second heir. It wasn't that he doubted his ability to conceive, or Julie's ability as a vessel. It was- a primal thing, somehow. Mark couldn't resist the urge when it got to him. If the urge was Make Heirs, that was what he had to do. The night he'd raped his girlfriend at the time, then come over here to Julie's for more, had been the best night of his life. Mark had wanted to relive it, and he'd done an excellent job.
Slipping the covers off, Mark got up and headed for the bathroom, grinning at his magnificent physique, the body that Julie absolutely worshipped. After relieving himself, he took a long shower and shaved, then headed downstairs, enjoying the chance to walk around naked like this. He'd started it during his affair with Julie in 12th grade. The superstar who attended one of Julie's classes had walked around her house naked after school nearly every day of that year. She'd been fucking one of her students in secret and even had a kid as a result, and still, no one had ever found out.
Alex rounded the corner then, coming out of the kitchen with a glass of orange juice in one hand. Mark suddenly hesitated, regarding his son, the handsome boy with the cold eyes, with a mixture of love and awkwardness. He hadn't exactly planned this part. Alex looked surprised for only a moment; his handsome features quickly settled into a neutral expression, and he regarded his father without any outward reaction to the sight.
"Uh, good morning, Alex."
"Hey, Dad."
"So, about this…"
"I saw you fucking Mom last night," Alex replied calmly. "And I know you like sleeping naked anyway."
"Yeah, so-" Mark laughed. "You saw that, huh?"
"Yeah. I saw. You really fucked her brains out."
"You're getting a little brother, dude. Your mom's gonna be pregnant anytime now."
"Why?" Alex asked.
"Well, your Uncle Henry and I decided we should have two heirs. More of you to pass on our genes."
"Because they're superior."
"Yes."
"Okay." Alex shrugged one little shoulder. "I don't want a little brother."
"A kid brother will be great for you and Rich. Don't you love your brother Richard?" Mark asked, sitting down on the carpeted steps beside his son. The little guy was so handsome, so self-possessed, so brilliant. He looked exactly like Mark, too. It made Mark want to cry. Alex was the greatest thing he'd ever done in the world. Creating Alexander the Great was his triumph, his proudest achievement.
Alex shook his head. "No."
"Why not?" Mark asked, trying to hide his surprise.
"I just don't."
Mark hesitated. The boy with the cold blue eyes and auburn hair just sat there, completely at ease, not put off in the slightest by anything. He just gazed at Mark and waited for him to speak again. Mark put an arm around Alex's shoulders and hugged him, but Alex was unmoved by the gesture. He simply sat there, still staring at Mark.
"Alex…"
"Yes, Dad?"
"I wanna tell you a story, okay?"
"Sure, Dad."
"You're a brilliant kid. And if you already know what fucking is, then I guess I can tell you something else."
"What?"
"You- well, I made you by accident."
"What do you mean?"
"Okay, well… see, back in senior year, I was dating this girl, uh- Amy, yeah. That was her name. Anyway, she wouldn't put out, and even though I started fucking your mom around that time, I had to make her pay. So I raped Amy on Halloween. Rape is-"
"I already know what rape is, Dad. If she won't give it up, you take it."
Mark felt a chill go down his spine and resisted the urge to shiver- but just barely. Alex sounded like he was discussing tax law. The flat, matter-of-fact tone in his voice- Mark wasn't sure he'd even heard himself or Henry sound quite that cold.
"Well, yeah. So I raped Amy while we were at this party. I took her back to her house and I wanted more. So I drove over here and fucked your mom until I just fell asleep. I was wiped out. And, I forgot to get her to take her pill like I usually had her to. She got pregnant and a while later, she found out and she told me. I talked to your Uncle Henry, and he said I should keep you as an heir, so I made sure Julie had the baby. So she had you."
"So I was an accident," Alex said. "You guys made a mistake, and that's why I exist."
"Listen," Mark quickly went on, hugging Alex to him again, "I love you. I love you and the fact that I didn't have you on purpose, at first- that doesn't change a thing. I'll always love you and nothing will change that. Okay?"
"You're not gonna cry, are you, Dad?" Alex asked, a hint of annoyance coming into his voice.
"I might," Mark joked. "And you can go ahead if you want to. I mean that. Do you want to?"
"No." Alex stared back at him with those flinty, probing eyes, impatiently waiting for Mark to continue.
"Well," Mark went on, "Uncle Henry, he and I decided he should have an heir, too, so he got his girlfriend pregnant and she had Richard nine months later."
"Okay." Alex resumed drinking his orange juice. "Are you gonna fuck Julie some more tonight?"
"Yes," Mark said, "but that's not what I'm talking about. What I mean is, Uncle Henry and I, we love you and Richard. And when you each get a baby brother, we'll love them, too. We'd do anything for you guys and as long as we're alive, we'll be there for you."
"Okay."
Mark sat there expectantly, waiting for more, for some kind of reaction to him pouring his heart out like that, telling his boy, for the first time, how he really felt. Not just in words, but in embracing him, in the emotion that came into his voice, the way he almost cried as he spoke of a subject as near and dear to him as anything. Alex just sat there patiently, drinking his goddamn orange juice, offering no reaction at all.
"Alex," Mark said finally.
"What, Dad?"
"Don't you… what do you think about that?"
"Nothing." Alex shrugged. "What? Am I supposed to say something?"
"Well, I love you. You mean everything to me, just like Uncle Henry does."
"Him?" Alex asked, frowning. "Why's he matter to you?"
"I'd rather be dead without him," Mark said earnestly. "I can't imagine life without Henry."
"You could easily live without him. If he died, and you were still alive, that'd be it."
"No, see- I couldn't. I love Henry too much. I can't live without him just like I can't live without you."
"If something happened to me you could just get Julie pregnant again," Alex said indifferently. "Then she'd have someone else and you could start over."
"You look just like me. You're so much like me. You're my boy."
"You fucked Mom. She got pregnant, and I came out a while later. That's all it is. A biological process."
Mark finally couldn't help himself.
"Alex, don't you love me?"
"No."
Mark sat there, staring at his son in shock. It was almost a minute before he could speak. Alex waited calmly, patiently, apathetically.
"Why not?"
"It's not real. It doesn't exist. You're imagining it. And it's a fucking waste of time, even as an idea."
"What do you mean? It's not, it's- it's important!"
"It's dumb."
"You're serious?"
Alex regarded him for a moment. "You look like you want me to cry or something. Or like you're gonna cry."
"You can if you need to, Alex."
"I don't need to."
Mark tried to coax something different out of Alex for several minutes, but he was unmoved every time, and insisted that he didn't love Mark or even Richard. He didn't love Henry, either, which stung; Henry had made all of this possible. Everything Mark had grown up to become was due to him, and Mark, in turn, had helped Henry rise to greater things than he could have done without Mark at his side.
"Do you love Mom?" Alex asked finally.
"No," Mark said. "Listen, girls and women aren't the same as boys and men. They're around because when you get old enough, you need to have sex pretty often to stay healthy. Julie does that for me. Women also exist to breed, so to pass on my genes I need her to have my heirs for me."
"What's it feel like?"
"It feels great. You'll know it the second you try it, Alex."
"Sounds like I'll want to do that a lot."
"Oh, yeah," Mark grinned. "And I don't have to do anything different for nine months while she's gotta change her whole life as it goes along. I can even keep fucking her."
"Okay, Dad," Alex said. "So you've never loved any girls or women, right?"
"They're just toys and tools for me. They meet my needs and give me things I want."
Alex, the brilliant little boy whom Mark was so proud of, who looked identical to Mark when he'd been this age, looked up at his father and said, "That's what everyone else is to me."
"Everyone?"
"You, Uncle Henry, Julie, everyone. That's what you are. Toys and tools, Dad."
"You said you don't love me, but-"
"No, I mean I don't, because it doesn't exist," Alex interrupted. "I can't love anyone, because it's not a real thing. People talk about that stuff so much but I figured out I was smarter a while ago. Love is just a stupid chemical reaction to get people to take care of kids and old people."
"Don't you- doesn't it matter that I love you?"
"Toys and tools. And you'll keep on doing stuff for me no matter what. So it doesn't matter."
"Uh… okay. All right, Alex. Well, I still love you. I always will. And if you ever want or need to talk to me, I'll be there."
"Sure, Dad." Alex paused, finishing off his orange juice. "I still don't love you." He said it matter-of-factly, as if Mark had asked him instead what the color of the sky was, or what taxes were. It was just a simple fact to Alex and he didn't much care what Mark thought about it.
Alex got up. "If you've gotta fuck Mom again, try not to be so loud. You didn't close the door all the way last night. Richard and I saw and heard everything."
"Yeah, man," Mark replied, a little put off. "Um… I'll make sure the door's closed."
"Okay. I'm gonna go do some pushups with Richard in our room." With that, Alex left.
Mark sighed. He was confused, dismayed, and more than a little spooked. He hadn't seen this conversation coming. Explaining sex to Alex, yes, but not at four, and the fact that he so bluntly, so easily said he didn't love anyone, not even his father, was… disturbing. Mark had used so many people in his life, disposed of so many, and to this day cheerfully manipulated others to serve his wants and needs. Yet he loved Henry dearly and was overcome with emotion when he thought of Alex, his boy, his heir. Alex didn't feel the same way, apparently. Not at all.
Needing something to distract him, Mark gently closed the door to Julie's bedroom, climbed into bed, and entered Julie and started before she was even awake. She was a little surprised, but quite delighted, and the two of them were busy for nearly an hour. Free to forget about the pills for a long time to come, Mark enjoyed himself immensely. After finishing a fourth session, he showered again, watched as Julie went to go shower and came back glistening and beautiful, then enjoyed some 'personal attention' that he thankfully finished just before someone knocked on the door.
Julie, who had swallowed seconds ago and was still wiping her mouth, blushed furiously and Mark gently waved her into the bathroom. He threw on a pair of boxers and opened the door as the impatient knocking continued.
Out in the hallway, Alex and Richard stood there, identical looks of annoyance on their faces.
"We want food," Richard announced.
"I'm tired of waiting," Alex added.
Mark grinned and scooped the boys up, placing them on his massive shoulders. He effortlessly kept them there as he walked downstairs, then gently set them each at the kitchen table.
"Anything you'd like, guys?" Mark called to the boys as he started getting the pans and utensils out.
"Meat," Richard said. "I want protein."
"Lots of it," Alex said.
"Your wish is my command," Mark acknowledged with a smile.
Julie came downstairs, fully dressed in a new pair of jeans and an emerald green sweater; Mark paused to appreciate the way it all hugged her many lovely curves. She went to Alex and Richard, giving each of them a hug.
"Good morning, Alex. Good morning, Richard."
"Morning, Mom," they chorused, just as Mark and Henry had taught them to do. Mark watched closer than he had ever done before, and sure enough, he noticed a definite indifference to Julie's show of affection. Most people, especially someone as inclined to be optimistic as Julie, would probably never notice. Mark noticed. The boys were cold. And chances were their younger brothers would be, too.
"Mark, you know you own more than underwear," Julie said with a laugh, planting a kiss on his cheek.
"I look my best like this," Mark replied, still working at the stove.
"I meant about setting a good example for our boys," Julie mock-whispered.
"When they're my age, I hope they've both got a beautiful fiancée like I do," Mark answered. "I hope they have handsome sons they can get up and cook breakfast for in their underwear."
Julie sighed and kissed Mark again. "Alex, Richard, do you think your Dad's setting a good example for you?"
"Yes, Mom," Richard answered.
"I'm gonna have big muscles like he does when I'm twenty-two," Alex announced. "I like seeing Dad like this so I can know what I'll look like."
"Gotta be getting ready for the babes," Richard commented.
Julie laughed. "You two are just like your fathers. Exactly the same."
"They learned it from the best," Mark said, offering her a roguish smile.
ΩΩΩΩΩ
While Mark and Henry took the boys out for another one of their 'guys-only trips,' their codeword for some special father-son bonding time that Julie was fully supportive of, Julie spent Saturday morning using the pregnancy tests she'd gotten. She sat on the toilet for what seemed like forever, reading result after result, and finally two fists shot up and she cried out in joy.
We did it! We did it! I'm pregnant!
Julie was so happy she sprinted into the living room, spun around like a ballerina, then ran back to the bathroom to look at the tests again, whooping in delight as she looked at the positive results. This was better than anything. This was heaven. She knew the boys would be tired when they got back, and that was perfect. Julie was in the mood to do some celebrating and she knew Mark would be, too.
Of course we conceived on the first try. We succeeded without even knowing it the first time! My second baby!
Julie called her parents and excitedly told them of her and Mark's decision, and that she was pregnant again. She knew they didn't entirely approve of even one pregnancy before marriage, but they also knew how Julie and Mark felt about each other and understood their decision not to wait. After a final congratulations from Mom and Dad, Julie hung up to hear Mark coming inside, leading the boys upstairs.
"Okay, I'm gonna go see your mother, we'll be here when you guys wake up, okay?"
"Kay."
"Okay, Dad," Alex said, sounding very tired indeed. Julie put on her bathrobe and came out into the hallway to see a sleepy-looking Alex following Mark into the bedroom he shared with Richard. Mark was in there for a minute or two tucking the boys in, and his handsome face lit up in a dazzling smile when he saw Julie waiting for him.
"Mark," Julie said breathlessly, rushing to hug him, kiss him on the lips, throw her arms around his neck. "Mark."
"That's me," Mark laughed softly. "I love you so much."
"Mark," Julie breathed, kissing him again. "Mark-"
"Hey, hey, what's got into you?" Mark said, still laughing but visibly taken aback. "What's- wait, did we do it?"
"We did it. I'm pregnant," Julie told him. "We're gonna have a baby, Mark!"
"That's wonderful!" Mark exclaimed, hugging her. "I knew I could do it. C'mon, let's go talk in the kitchen."
Julie started to tell Mark about the anxious testing, the excited call to her parents, but Mark smoothly pulled her bathrobe up and turned her toward a counter, his hands caressing her ass, her waist, her legs. He put a couple fingers between her legs and Julie gasped. Her body instantly heated up and she moaned a little. Mark was insatiable, and he'd made her almost as hungry as he was.
Mark's belt clinked, and he dropped his pants to his ankles. The auburn-haired 22-year old sighed as he entered her, and Julie gripped the counter edges as he began rocking his hips, picking up speed. The friction was delicious, amazing. She'd never enjoyed anything so much. When Mark came after fifteen heavenly minutes, Julie made a half-grunt, half-groan almost like his. She was hitting her own climax, way up in heaven somewhere, when Mark pulled out and snatched a little plastic cup off the counter. When she could think again, Julie turned around and looked at her fiancée curiously.
"I knew you'd want another look," Mark grinned, waggling his penis at her.
"Another donation?" Julie asked.
"I'm stepping up," Mark explained, taking a cap off the counter and screwing it onto the cup. "Henry and I decided to donate at more places. So I have a whole bag of these little cups and I gotta fill 'em up. All these women out there, Julie. I just hope the donations Henry and I are doing will help."
"They will," Julie promised. "I know they will."
He held out a hand, gently brushed it against Julie's left cheek. She instinctively closed her eyes, leaning into his touch, taking refuge in his comfort, his strength.
"I'll always remember that day at school," Mark murmured.
"I remember," Julie said. "You didn't give up."
"I couldn't. Not on us. You deserved better."
"C'mon," Mark said gently, taking her hand. He stepped out of his pants, leaving them on the floor. "I wanna talk in the living room."
"The boys-"
"-Are asleep," Mark told her. He snickered. "They get pretty tired after these trips; they'll be out for a couple hours. C'mon. Let's go talk. And fill more cups."
Julie smiled. "All right."
ΩΩΩΩΩ
Alex and Richard were never actually asleep. They had gotten their rest under the floor of the Glass Library. After pretending to go to sleep to fool Julie, Alex and Richard got up and crept into the kitchen downstairs, then peered out into the living room to watch.
To Alex's amusement, Mark was sitting naked on the couch, all his massive, powerful, suntanned muscle on display, while Julie sat atop his waist, hands on his shoulders, humping him at a steady pace. Alex could see why Mark liked using Julie so much. She was a stunningly beautiful woman, in exceptional shape thanks to Mark's contagious obsession with fitness. Alex studied his father's obvious stamina, endurance, prowess and perfect physical build, eyed his technique and filed it all away.
When he was old enough, Alex would try out the positions he saw Mark use, make his own experiments with different techniques. He would also become more and more of a gym goer, a perfect ladies' man in all appearances. The one thing Alex didn't want to do was date anyone. He despised the idea of wasting time and money to 'earn' his way to something he could just take.
Beside him, Richard was making the same observations, taking his own mental notes. The two boys found it easy to share thoughts, moods, even pain or pleasure seemed to affect one when experienced by the other. Watching Julie ride Mark for ten minutes was enjoyable, but nowhere near as fun, they knew, as it would be to do something like that themselves.
One shouted word and I could humiliate her, Alex thought smugly. She'd never get over it. Dad would just get mad at me and then let it go later, but Julie's too shy. She loves fucking him but she couldn't handle getting 'caught'.
But interrupting Dad while he was having fun using Julie wouldn't be worth annoying him. Alex stayed silent and hidden, then observed as Julie got off and Mark finished into a little plastic cup. Dad was making sperm donations now, evidently, looking to pass on his genes even more.
Alex started to get bored as Julie lay on top of Mark's bulky form on the couch, obviously enjoying the cuddling, while Mark offered her those phony smiles and words, keeping his arms possessively around her smooth, pale belly.
Eventually, as Alex went to leave, Julie climbed off Mark, knelt in front of him, and started giving him head. Mark didn't seem to be acting now; he really got into it, smiling broadly, hands behind his head. Alex made a note to experience all this for himself just as soon as he could. Whenever his body grew old enough, he and Richard would start finding girls to have fun with. There was no point in dating, but Mark and Henry deceived girls and women and used them in other ways. It was those other methods that Alex and Richard would make sure to learn more about.
ΩΩΩΩΩ
Going out for dinner for the evening meant seeing Mark at his best; he was always in great spirits and made sure whoever he was with had a wonderful time. The boys enjoyed his good humor immensely, but, the little angels that they were, also listened attentively whenever one of their parents told them something. They seemed to obey Mark instantly, whereas they took a little more time with Julie, but she was probably imagining that.
Having talked about it in the living room- after a few rounds of fun, of course- Mark and Julie had decided to tell the boys about Julie's pregnancy. Mark left it up to Julie as to exactly when in the evening to tell them. The butterflies dancing in Julie's stomach were very happy indeed as Julie looked at her two boys, both of whom had been fathered by their high school superstar dads by accident, and both of whom were being cared for by their fathers as well as anyone could ask. Mark, in a true gesture of love, had made sure Richard found a loving home. And thanks to him being the most masculine guy Julie had ever met, a new addition was on the way.
"Alex, Richard," Julie began, "your father and I have something to tell you."
"Okay," Alex said.
"What is it?" Richard asked.
"We talked about it," Mark said, "and we're going to have another baby. We're pretty sure you're getting a baby brother."
"Hey, that's awesome!" Alex cried, jumping up and running over to hug Mark. "Mom! I'm so happy! When do I get to meet him? This is great!"
"Settle down, sport, it's not for another nine months," Mark told him with a laugh.
"Nine months!" Alex protested, rounding on his mother. "Mom?"
"Yes, Alex?"
"Make my brother come faster. I wanna meet him right now."
"He's still on the way, Alex," Julie told him gently. "It takes a while."
"But Mom," Alex sighed. He hugged her gently, laying his head against her belly. Unbeknownst to him, his little sibling was in there, just beginning to grow. Another product of a love destined to be.
"It'll be okay. He'll be with us soon," Mark assured him.
"I love you guys," Alex said.
"Me, too," Richard added, getting up and hugging his parents.
Mark seemed to have a difficult time with that; Julie was surprised to see him looking at the boys oddly, and asked him about it.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah," Mark told her. "I just- uh- I never thought- I didn't imagine I'd be here, with all this, four years after high school. It almost doesn't seem real sometimes."
Julie gently took her fiancée's left hand and placed it against her belly. A baby was just coming to life inside, another boy, hopefully, though Julie knew Mark would love a daughter just as much. She smiled at Mark.
"Does he seem real?"
Mark smiled at her. "Yes."
ΩΩΩΩΩ
On Sunday morning, Henry stopped by to see Richard, happy to see his son as always. There was no limit to Henry's love for Richard, just as there wasn't any in his love for Mark. Seeing the way Richard just played at responding to his father's affections made Mark think again about what Alex had said. Finally, after shooing Julie out of the house with a generous donation of money to go grocery shopping, Mark gathered Henry and the boys and sat them all down in the living room.
"What?" Alex demanded, his handsome face sullen.
"Don't talk to your father like that," Henry warned, visibly surprised.
"Dad, Uncle Mark wants to complain 'cause we don't love you guys," Richard explained.
"What?" Henry almost yelped.
"Alex and I had a talk Saturday morning," Mark explained, "and he told me all about it. So I wanted to ask both of you, with Henry here: Do you know what love is? Do you love us?"
"No," Alex replied, as if answering an especially stupid child. "I told you already. Love's made up. What's it gonna take?"
"It's all in your head, Uncle Mark," Richard added. "It's not real."
"Mark, what- why wouldn't they love us?" Henry asked, visibly startled. "What's going on?"
"Dad, love's just a chemical reaction so people take care of old people and babies and stuff," Richard explained. "It's stupid. Alex and I are better off than you guys are. We don't waste time on it."
"But- but you're my son," Henry insisted, as if that explained everything. "I love you because you're my son."
"And that makes you buy me stuff I want and need," Richard explained patiently. "I don't see what the problem is, Dad. Love isn't real anyway. People just make it up."
"Well, you love Richard, don't you?" Henry asked, turning to Alex.
"No, Uncle Henry."
"Why not? He's your brother! Life isn't worth living if I can't have Mark with me. His life matters more to me than mine does."
"See, that's not rational," Alex replied. "You could easily live without my Dad. You don't need him. You just have this weird emotional attachment."
"That's because we love each other," Mark said sternly.
"And it'll make you do something dumb one day, if it hasn't already," Alex told him, not backing down an inch. "You waste all kinds of time and effort on it when you could just do what you're looking to do."
"What's this love stuff feel like anyway?" Richard asked. "Describe it."
"It's warm," Henry said. "I never felt warm like… I mean, I didn't love anyone before I met Mark. I still don't love anyone else. I can't. But when I think of Mark, I- it makes me- I can't say…" Henry blinked furiously and cleared his throat several times. "He's everything to me. He made life worth living for me."
"It's like knowing you mean everything to someone else, and they mean everything to you," Mark said. "I love Henry because he's my brother. Our souls are bonded. He has a piece of mine and I have a piece of his."
"Did you love my mom?" Richard asked.
"No. She was just a whore. I never loved her."
"How about Mom?" Alex demanded, looking at Mark.
"No," Mark said. "I told you that, didn't I? She's not important. No woman is. They're just vessels to serve the needs and wants guys have as they grow up."
"Toys and tools, Dad," Alex said. "That's what this is. That's what you two are to me and Richard."
Henry scoffed, but the cold, relentless stares of the two boys wore him down. All of four and they were flatly rejecting any notion of love for their fathers. It was hard to believe even with it right in front of you. Mark tried one more thing.
"Alex, what would you do if someone- if someone hurt Richard? What if something happened to him?"
"I'd find whoever did it and make them pay," Alex said immediately. "I'd kill them."
"See!" Henry said excitedly. "I'd do the same thing if anyone-"
"Dad," Richard interrupted, visibly exasperated. "We don't mean it like that."
"How can't you love each other?" Mark asked. "How?"
"Easy. We don't."
"But then why would you-"
"Dad," Alex interjected. "Think. You don't love your dick, do you?"
"Well, I- no, not like I love you or Henry."
"But you'd be pretty fucking pissed if someone cut your dick off, right?"
"Yeah."
"So there. I need Richard around because you and Uncle Henry made it so we need to be together. Our souls are bonded, but that doesn't mean I love him. He's just like my right arm or my left leg or my dick. He's part of me and I'm part of him."
"There's nothing to get emotional about," Richard added. "We're not stupid. You guys just got stuck thinking love's real and now you'll probably never get out of it."
"I don't get it," Henry sighed. ""How? Why didn't we- Mark, the boys- what's the matter with-?"
"I'm not sure," Mark said slowly. "They're just… different than we are, I guess."
"Superior," Alex said, his eyes glowing with cold fire. "You guys are weak. We'll take everything from you someday."
"Wait," Mark said, holding up a hand. "What're you talking about, Alex?"
"Easy, Dad," Alex replied. "Someday you and Uncle Henry will stop being young. You'll stop getting stronger and start getting weaker. That's gonna happen no matter what you do."
"And between now and then we'll be getting stronger," Richard continued. "We'll know when it's time. We'll get rid of you and then we'll get everything you ever owned."
"I don't think you know what you're getting into, guys," Mark told them.
"We know," Alex said. "You'll die when we want you to."
"That's gonna be as soon as we're ready to put you down," Richard added, flashing a cold grin.
"You better not fuck it up," Henry warned fiercely. "If you try it and I'm still alive, I won't-"
"-die alone," Richard finished, smiling sweetly at his father. "It's okay, Dad. Don't worry. The day I kill you, Alex is gonna kill Uncle Mark. You both get to die together."
ΩΩΩΩΩ
After seeing the boys to bed, Mark and Henry got into the Excursion and made the drive back to the home they'd lived in for as long as their friendship had existed. As soon as he'd parked in the driveway, Mark pulled out his pack and lighter. He offered the pack to Henry and lit his brother's cigarette for him, then stood beside his sibling in comfortable silence as the wind blew through the trees overhead.
"I never thought I'd hear any of that," Mark said finally. "Not from the boys."
"Me neither," Henry admitted. "They're not kidding, though. They can't love us. It isn't in their nature. And we better be ready, because when they think they're strong enough, they really will try to kill us."
"I just got Julie pregnant again," Mark said fretfully. "My boy's inside her. That's my second son, man! What if he comes out and he just stares at me like Alex did when I- when we talked to him today? How'd they get like this?"
"Maybe it's just how they are," Henry said. "Maybe they- you know where they've been going since they were born. We didn't start until basically middle school. And think about this, Mark: we're passing on our genes after a lifetime going to that house. Maybe it left some kind of genetic imprint on us."
"What, so, you're saying that place fucking messed up my balls?"
"They work fine, Mark, obviously," Henry said with exaggerated patience. "What I mean is that we never thought about the possible effects of long-term exposure to the Hall. We just didn't think of it. And even if we had, we couldn't have known how it might affect us having kids."
Mark took a long, deep drag on his cigarette, exhaled slowly, and tapped some ash of the end. "Henry, what do you think are the chances my second boy will be just like my first? Like Richard?"
"Almost one hundred percent," Henry replied.
"My sons won't ever love me?" Mark asked, and a terrible, frightening pain gripped his chest suddenly. His voice broke as he said it, and he knew his heart did, too. Fathering his handsome, magnificent, strong, smart, superior son had given Mark a feeling of pride he just couldn't describe. He'd never felt anything like it, and realizing his boys would never love him, could never love him, hurt him badly.
Henry's heavily-muscled arms wrapped around him, and Mark sighed, closing his eyes and laying his head against his brother's rock-hard shoulder. Henry understood. He felt the same pain. It was hard to take it, being so coldly and calmly rejected by your son like that. It had never fit into any of Henry or Mark's plans. They wanted remorseless, vicious, sadistic killers, sure, because the power to take life without hesitation, the power to enjoy doing it, was everything.
But they had simply never imagined that their boys would never love them back, nor had they ever hoped for or wanted such a thing.
"It sucks," Henry said quietly. "I don't like it any more than you do, Mark."
"Why don't they understand what they mean to us? What you and I mean to each other?"
"Love just doesn't exist for them," Henry explained. "Maybe it's genetic, maybe the house did something, maybe both. They just don't know what it is." Henry considered. "They know what we say it is, and how other people around them describe it. They see behaviors they associate with it and analyze them. But they don't feel it themselves, ever. They weren't lying to us, Mark."
"And Marcus is gonna be the same way."
"Yes. If he gets the trips to the Hall like Alex, it's guaranteed. I'm sure of it." Henry paused, hugged Mark again, then let go and re-lit his cigarette. He smiled suddenly, looking sideways at his sibling. "So his name's Marcus?"
"Sure is," Mark decided. "I might've shot him out of my balls the other night but he's my boy, so he's got a name."
"Wow, Mark, that's just fuckin' gross."
Mark laughed, swiping at Henry with a blow that would've knocked a lesser man over.
"Well, what's your second heir gonna be named, fuckface?" Mark demanded. "What're you gonna call the little twerp? C'mon, gimme some names here."
"Brandon, Cole, Dustin, and Zack all come to mind, dear brother," Henry said with exaggerated courtesy.
"Good names," Mark said approvingly. "You got any favorites, my beloved brother?"
"O Honored Sibling, I'd say I like Brandon the best," Henry replied. "He'll be strong and blond just like his dad. An athlete. That's a man's name."
"That's a name for seventeen-year-old preppy football players at schools that consist almost entirely of white kids," Mark replied.
"Well, that's the plan, pretty much," Henry answered.
"You're an asshole."
"Look who's talking, jerkoff."
"Are you gonna take your second son to the Hall when he's born?" Mark asked, turning back to his earlier thoughts. "What- what if our second sons could love us? What if we're making it so they don't even get the chance?"
"I'd like that, if they could love us," Henry admitted. "But, Mark, here's the thing. If we don't take 'em to the Hall- look at how much good it's done for us. For Alex and Richard. Our genes are superior to begin with, sure, but the house has helped a lot and we know that. If we don't take our second sons to Fleetwood Hall from the start, they'll miss out. They won't be as smart, or as strong, or maybe their immune systems won't be as good. Maybe they'll be born with tiny dicks due to some fucked up defect or be allergic to something."
"I don't want any of that for my boys," Mark blurted out, overwhelmed by the fierceness of his worry and his love. "I'm not risking it. I want the boys to be as awesome as they can be."
"And so do I," Henry replied. "We both want the best for our sons, Mark, and we know what's the best thing we can do for them, the one thing that matters most."
"So… if we really love them," Mark concluded slowly, "we'll take them there anyway. Even if it means none of our boys will ever love us."
"We've got to," Henry replied. "I can't think of a single way around it. We want our sons to be as strong and perfect as possible. There's one way to guarantee it and I guess we've found out what the price is. Don't you think it's worth it, though? Would you want anything less than the most you could give the boys?"
"You know how I feel about them," Mark answered. "You know what they mean to me, Henry."
"Then we have the answer."
Mark sighed. "What about- the other stuff? Them wanting to kill us one day?"
"I think that's fair," Henry said, shrugging his massive shoulders. "Sure, Richard's gonna be sorry if he and Alex try to kill either of us and fail. But I don't think they'll try it until they know they can pull it off."
"You said you wanted us to die before we start to get old and weak," Mark said, thinking back to senior year. "We're not gonna live really long lives anyway."
"Yeah. Exactly." Henry blew some more smoke into the cold night air. "So why not have the boys succeed us by finishing us off themselves? Nobody else could ever kill us, Mark. Only someone from our genes could ever be that strong."
"That's true." Mark shook his head. "It's a strange world sometimes, Henry."
"Yeah. But Mark, would you go back? Really. Would you wanna be the little bitch you were when we met?" The sly smile on Henry's pale face said he already knew his answer.
"Never," Mark said firmly. "There was nothing before. I was always your brother. We just got started a little late because fate or something tried fucking us over."
"Tried," Henry told him. He grinned at Mark, adding, "Didn't work, did it?"
"No," Mark replied. "Okay. It's fuckin' cold out here. Let's talk some more inside. We can hang out in my room."
"Sure thing, Mark," Henry replied pleasantly.
"Just please wait until you're actually going to bed to get naked," Mark said. "I still remember the first time you told me and I saw those clothes folded at the end of your bed."
"Yeah," Henry laughed, "I remember, too. I remember how you got scared and grossed out like some little girl."
Mark swung at his brother with a fist that could've broken bones on lesser humans, but Henry just ducked, using his superhuman reflexes to time it at the last possible second. Mark tried to look angry but soon gave it up and hugged Henry instead.
"Let's go inside, Henry."
"Okay, Mark," Henry replied. "Let's start planning your wedding, huh?" He laughed. "I can't believe how much Julie's bought into these romantic fantasies you've fed her."
"Well, I learned from the best," Mark commented. Just as Henry started to say something, looking pleased and touched, Mark added, "Learned from the best and surpassed him when I was twelve," Mark said, dodging a kick from Henry. He grinned. "It's all been downhill for that Henry guy ever since, man. It's really sad, not gonna lie."
Henry mock-lunged at him this time, but Mark dodged again and jogged on up the front walk to the house. He and Henry entered the darkened house and went upstairs to Mark's room, where they stayed up for hours planning details of the wedding and the addition of two new boys into their lives.
It was all great fun. Mark hated having to marry Julie, but as for the rest of it, even the boys' inability to ever love their fathers… Mark wouldn't have had it any other way. He'd never felt so happy in his life. Every day was better than the last, the future was bright, and someday, when his life ended, he'd go out beside Henry. There was nothing else Mark wanted in life; nothing at all.
A/N: 5-3-2020.
Thanks to the fact that I wrote the majority of Chapter 4 before even starting on Chapter 3, the fourth chapter of this story has been completed quickly! Years of writing these characters and developing this story have definitely helped, too. You get to know the characters almost as if you really know them- although Henry and Mark would be unpleasant or dangerous for most people to be around in real life.
AM83220, Egalatarian Helper, phorosz, and fear2breathe all deserve recognition here. They're all great reviewers and loyal fans of this obscure film from 1993, and I am grateful to have earned their high praise and been able to interact with each of them. It's a small fandom here but a pretty faithful one, as I've observed before.
Julie is has long since been sold on a lie and is lost in her own fantasy. Mark cannot love her and has been manipulating her from the beginning, but he's extremely good at it. The only signs he doesn't really love her/isn't as perfect as she thinks are his pushiness about certain things, like the way he'll just demand sexual favors whenever he wants them from her and expects obedience, his way of casually assuming he runs everything in what is still her house, and his refusal over the years to even pretend to give up casual sex in order to be loyal to her when he's away from Portland. Things like that. But Julie just never sees any of the indications for what they are, or else ascribes them to her romantic imagining of his domineering, over-masculine nature.
Lots of others have obviously been fooled, too. Chamberlain High School had a serious bullying problem before Henry and Mark showed up and they only exaggerated it and made it worse, brainwashing entire generations of impressionable young athletes that winning is everything and that the physically strong have a mission to oppress and torment the weak. Boys in particular can easily draw the conclusion that the lessons they're taught about being bold and aggressive on the field will mean more winning and success elsewhere in their lives, leading them to become bullies as they mock and look down on anyone who isn't athletically talented or as well-off as they are in the event their family has money.
The setup Henry and Mark left for the hockey and football teams has the makings of a cult for sure. The boys who join are cruelly and fiercely brutalized for an entire year, must endure anything the upperclassmen subject them to, and, increasingly, must alight with Nazi racial ideals and beliefs. Henry and Mark didn't explicitly forbid Jews from joining when they were on the teams, for instance, but their hand-picked successors and proteges perceived that imposing Neo-Nazi ideology would please Henry and Mark, and indeed it did. The boys on the teams thus get taught that the Nazis "weren't that bad" and that they were in fact actually pretty cool.
Henry and Mark are still a long way from their eventual fall from grace, but they're planning to live short lives anyway. The original change that made Mark what he is was in 1993, now 10 years in the past. The original, true Mark Evans would be distraught and horrified by what he has become alongside Henry, of course, but this altered Mark shares in Henry's sadism and cold disregard for others.
Notice how Alex and Richard don't actually think of Julie as "Mom" or refer to her as such when alone with their dads; they've been taught from the beginning to merely pretend with her, that the only real parental authority they need to pay attention to is Henry and Mark's. They have no actual interest in or respect for Julie and Alex is not at all moved by the fact that she's his mother and genuinely loves him. After all, he doesn't care that Mark loves him, so Julie's love means even less.
I plan on writing two chapters set in 2004, one depicting Mark's (reluctant) marriage to Julie, and the other depicting her giving birth to Mark's second son and the newly-married couple also adopting Henry's second son. There's no need for Henry to get married at this point, as Mark is handling the key need to keep their four boys under one roof.
My thanks to Egalatarian Helper and AM83220 for their reviews.
