When You Became Mine Read online

  “When You Became Mine”

  An M/M Gay Romance

  Max Hudson

  © 2020

  Max Hudson

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is intended for Adults (ages 18+) only. The contents may be offensive to some readers. It may contain graphic language, explicit sexual content, and adult situations. May contain scenes of unprotected sex. Please do not read this book if you are offended by content as mentioned above or if you are under the age of 18.

  Please educate yourself on safe sex practices before making potentially life-changing decisions about sex in real life. If you’re not sure where to start, see here: http://www.jerrycoleauthor.com/safe-sex-resources/ (courtesy of Jerry Cole).

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner & are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Products or brand names mentioned are trademarks of their respective holders or companies. The cover uses licensed images & are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any person(s) that may be depicted on the cover are simply models.

  Edition v1.00 (2020.05.20)

  http://www.maxhudsonauthor.com

  Special thanks to the following volunteer readers who helped with proofreading: E.W. Gregg, Bob, RB, JayBee, Naomi W., and those who assisted but wished to be anonymous. Thank you so much for your support.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  Back in the day, folks used to joke about my sleeping tendencies, mostly that it was incredibly similar to that of a bear. I’d eat a ton before bed, stay passed out way into the afternoon, and be generally grumpy if someone tried forcing me awake. It was half the reason I worked at home, picking up whatever writing jobs I could grab in order to make rent. The only person I had to report to was myself, meaning there was no risk of getting fired.

  Okay, technically, I had clients to report to. But, hey, they always got the goods on time, even if it meant late nights and a lot of empty Leviathan energy drink cans. I worked best under pressure, by myself. Not that I’d call myself a loner by any stretch, but I wasn’t forced to live in a studio apartment back in the day.

  “Wake up, wake up, Uncle Chaz!”

  “Up, up, bear.”

  Emphasis on, “back in the day.”

  I forced one eye open, the other still trying to unstick itself from the night’s eye gunk. Sleep shnooters, as my nieces liked to call them. Said nieces sat on either side of my bed, tawny hands and bright, hazel eyes staring down at me through the dimly lit morning. I cringed inwardly at the state of their bed head; no one prepared me for the horrors of corkscrew curls.

  “All right, all right, I’m up.” I slowly sat up, feigning the two into a false sense of security. They already knew what was coming, though, giggling at each other with impish smiles on their faces. “And now that I’m up,” I growled, arms snaking out to grab the two around their waists. “I think I’ll start the day with breakfast!”

  “Aaah, noo!” My first niece laughed hysterically, beating her tiny fists against my forearm. “Get ‘em, Nadia!”

  My second niece, Nadia, was far more reserved than her twin. She managed to free one of her hands and poke my nose as gently as she could. “Pancakes.”

  “Yeah, bears don’t eat girls!” Irene giggled. “You’re a silly bear, Uncle Chaz.”

  I was indeed the silliest of bears. And, God, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. “Okay, you got me.” I released hold of the twins, chuckling as they scrambled off my bed and ran out the room. “Make sure we still have honey, okay, girls?”

  “Okay!” They both called back.

  I let out a tired sigh, shaking off whatever fatigue I had left before pushing my covers off and making my way to the bathroom. Slippers, bathrobe, a gargle of water so I didn’t have gross, morning breath, and a quick check in the mirror to make sure no one had, “beautified” me with their markers last night. At least I was smart enough to buy the washable ones. Learned that lesson the hard way.

  “Seems like I’m still in one piece.” I rubbed my hand across my chin, catching a few stubbles that would need to be cleaned up eventually. Dark circles hung underneath even darker skin as a pair of brown eyes pleaded with me to go back to bed.

  All in all, a pretty handsome dude, if I did say so myself.

  Once my morning inspection was complete, it was off to the kitchen to start the day. Closing the door to my room, I shuffled through the hallway and hung a right, smiling as the girls stood in the kitchen attentively, each holding a plastic, bear-shaped container of the bee’s good stuff. “It’s here, Uncle Chaz!” Irene said.

  “Lots.” Nadia added softly.

  “Good, good.” I started toward the fridge, grabbing milk with one hand and a carton of eggs with the other. “You two got the muscles to grab the pancake mix?”

  “The biggest muscles!” Irene sang as Nadia flexed her little, bony arms. They scurried off to the lower pantry, maneuvering the box out as I dropped off the fridge components. Then we just needed a few bowls, whisks, my pancake skillet; so on and so forth.

  “Hey, girls, have you seen my flipping pan?” I turned, snorting out laughter as the pair struggled to drag the box across the floor. “Do you two want some…?”

  Nadia’s hand shot in the air, as if telling me to, ‘hush it’. She continued working with Irene, grunting and huffing, until finally managing to lift the box over their heads and sliding it onto the countertop. “Did it.” she said.

  “Yeah, we’re super in-ner-pen-dent.” Irene added smartly.

  I couldn’t help but snicker. “So very, very independent. You two did a great job.”

  “Okay, come get us when it’s flippin’ time!” Irene grabbed her twin’s hand as she pulled her toward the living room. In seconds, they had the TV turned on and were cozied up in their beanbags and fuzzy blankets, futzing with the remote until they pulled up their special list of channels. “What you wanna watch, Nadia?” Irene asked.

  “Meow-wow,” Nadia responded.

  “Ooh, yeah. Kitty Klub’s probably on now!” Irene squealed.

  Soon, the “Kitty Klub” jingle sang out from the TV, meaning I had at least eleven or so minutes to cook up breakfast. My skillet had been hiding in the dishwasher, meaning after a nice, thick layer of butter, it would be time for cooking. “Kitty Klub is here to say, doo-doo-doo, savin’ the day…” No morning would be complete without getting that fucking earworm in my head.

  As the batter sizzled against the pan, I fished my phone out from my bathrobe pocket. One hand made sure the pancakes didn’t burn while the other checked in with the world—emails, late-night messages, calendar alerts about a birthday party I might’ve completely forgotten about—and then Sparks. An app I always made fun of and swore I’d never be desperate enough to use.

  “No new matches, huh?” I sighed, setting my phone on the table while flipping the first round of pancakes over. “Who
knew twins could be such a turn-off?” Not that I would trade them for even true love itself. Irene and Nadia had given me the best three years of my life, and anyone I was with had to be okay with that. If it was a choice between romance and them, my little nieces would always win; hands-down.

  “Nadia! Irene!” I called out, shifting the last pancake in the pan so it would unstick. “It’s time for flipping!”

  They both let out an excited shriek, scrambling to their feet as they rushed back into the kitchen. “Okay, okay, it’s commercials right now,” Irene began. “So, we gotta go fast!”

  “Go fast.” Nadia mimicked.

  I handed them both the special, pancake flipping plate, one they’d decorated during daycare and was thankfully made of plastic. “Ready?” I asked, tilting the skillet.

  “Ready!” They both said, squatting down as they bounced in place.

  “Here we go!” I let it loose, sliding the pancake off in such a way that they couldn’t possibly miss. We’d gotten pretty good at it over the years, though, so even if I flipped a little too forcefully, the two managed to pull it off. My arch was a little wide, forcing Nadia and Irene to shuffle back, plate held high above their head. It always cracked me up that the closed their eyes at the last minute, like if they didn’t, the pancake would blind them with its delicious, golden-brown radiance.

  Thunk!

  They lowered their plate, letting out another fit of delighted squeals. “We got it, Nadia!” Irene said.

  “Bear.” Nadia added, pointing at the pancake. I had indeed tried my hand at making it ursine in shape, so I couldn’t help but beam with pride.

  “What? No way,” Irene laughed. “That’s just blobbies.”

  “No, it’s a bear,” I insisted. “Nadia was right.”

  “Blobby-blob bear!” Irene laughed as she and Nadia pushed the plate onto the table. I added my own stack to the mix before turning the burner off. That girl could be so savage when she wanted to.

  “Go wash your hands, you blobby bears.” I said.

  “You’re the blobby bear.” Irene teased, taking Nadia’s hand once more as they started to their bathroom.

  “Bye-bye for now, girls,” I called out.

  “Bye-bye for now, Uncle Chaz!” Irene giggled.

  “Bye-bye, bear.” Nadia waved as they vanished down the hallway.

  ***

  One honey-fingered breakfast and an impromptu bath later, the three of us were finally ready to head out the door. I checked the clock, impressed that we’d managed to have a few minutes to spare. Usually, we were rushing out the door at this point. Those three years of practice were really paying off.

  “All right, girls, let’s get going!” I called down the hall.

  “Wait!” Irene shouted back. “Nadia’s button is being dumb!”

  “Well, come here and I can help!” I yelled back. “You two still have to get your boots on. It’s gonna rain today.”

  Finally, the twins came skipping down the hallway, having finally picked their outfit of the day. I didn’t have a fashionable bone in my body, so it was somewhat of a relief that these two, independent monkeys of mine, wanted to choose their own look.

  Today seemed to be an overalls day, with Irene wearing the faded pair and Nadia wearing the darker-jean one. They both had a striped long-sleeve underneath, with their hair left to its own devices, save a few, colorful bows placed here and there for “fashion’s sake.”

  While Irene had her snaps in place, Nadia looked to be struggling with one of hers.

  “Here; you get the boots, Irene.” I knelt to help Nadia with her snap. Nothing worse than running around in goofy overalls.

  “Nadia, got your Kitty Klub boots!” Irene pulled out from the coat closet with an armful of boots, one bright blue and covered in the TV show’s characters and logo. “Uncle Chaz, I wanna wear my Kitty Klub one’s, too.”

  “I thought those were too small?” I asked, flipping Nadia’s boots so she didn’t put them on the wrong foot.

  “Noooo, those were the pink daisy ones,” Irene insisted.

  “Are you sure?” I did my best parental gaze on Irene, knowing full well that if the preschool called about her shoes, I wouldn’t be able to drive a new pair over.

  Irene didn’t even flinch. “Yup!” She nodded furiously, jamming her own boots on as she pulled down her poncho. “Let’s go, let’s go! I wanna get the blocks before Tyler gets there.”

  I sighed, helping Nadia slip her last boot on while reaching for her poncho. Between my parental stare and blocks, it seemed like blocks always won. And TV products.

  We finally got out the door and hopped into the SUV, the first trickles of rain starting to fall. I was grateful Irene knew how to buckle herself in, because Nadia’s car seat tended to be a bit…finicky…at times. Nadia herself didn’t like being strapped down, so it was always a race against the clock to try and avoid a total meltdown. God must’ve been smiling down today, because for once, the buckle clicked in on the first try. Now it was just a matter of getting the Kitty Klub soundtrack on in time, with Nadia already starting to fuss.

  “Hey, hey Nadia,” Irene started as I swung into the driver’s side. “That was so cool today, right? When Calico Catie was all swoosh! And, and she got that baby bird back to Mama in the nest with her Grabble Claws?”

  Even with tears in her eyes, Nadia nodded quickly. “G-Grabble Claws cool.”

  “Yeah, super cool,” Irene said. “And, and then Shadow Cat was all, raaawr, and Calico Catie was all, nu-uh, and then, and then…”

  I finally managed to stick the key in the ignition and start the engine, the Kitty Klub CD kicking into gear. Soon, the theme song was flowing all throughout the car while the girls continued chatting about the TV show, Nadia looking far more at ease then she did moments ago. With a sigh of relief, I pulled out of the driveway and spun the wheel, waving to our one-story as we started the drive to Learning Ladders daycare. “Say bye-bye, girls,” I said.

  “Bye-bye for now, house!” Irene grinned as she waved with both hands.

  “Bye-bye.” Nadia waved.

  Having a daycare so close to home was an absolute blessing. I’d heard plenty of horror stories of bad babysitters from my support group and decided long ago that I’d never trust a teenager with my darling little girls. No; this was a certified establishment with plenty of adults who had kids themselves in the program. They knew what they were doing, and even if they didn’t, there were just too many people there for anything truly awful to happen. It was just a nice little bonus that the courts helped pay for half the tuition.

  Learning Ladders was an oasis amongst the smog and traffic of the city. Located within one of the nicer cul-de-sac neighborhoods, it was where all the snobs and upper-class folks sent their kids to socialize and learn the ways of the world. It really was a sweet little place; a two-story building with a myriad of murals painted by the kids along their walls. The pillars holding up the roof were made of stone ladders—hence the name, I guess—with three separate playgrounds fully visible from the front. A little worrisome at first, but I had to admit, it was really cute seeing the kids playing outside when I came to pick them up.

  It was usually against protocol to just drop your kids off at the front, but thanks to a little haggling and court interference, I managed to land myself a personal chaperone of sorts. As I pulled into the pick-up/drop-off, Ariel was waiting with a large, black umbrella by the door. They couldn’t have picked a better guy, honestly, He was almost as tall I was, meaning any stranger that came his way would think twice about messing with him. Ariel had black, curly hair with a well-groomed beard accenting that incredible jawline of his. Those coal-black eyes of his always lit up as the girls tumbled out of the car, always ready to pull them in for a hug. “And how’s my favorite twin terrors?” He’d always ask in that thick, exotic accent of his.

  “Good!” Irene and Nadia would always sing back.

  Usually, I’d just give Ariel a wave, let the girls go thr
ough their “good-bye” ritual, and be on my way. But today, he motioned to me to hang out for a second. He gestured to the girls to head on in, where I caught Miss Maddie take Nadia and Irene’s hand to lead them further into the daycare. Ariel then started over to me in a half-jog, smiling apologetically. “Sorry, Chaz; I know you’ve got a long drive to work, but I wanted to make sure I touched base with how the girls are doing.”

  Right, of course. Ariel only worked the morning shift, meaning by the time I came for pick-up, I only got a vague idea of how the girls’ day went. “Yeah, of course. Is, uh…is this about Nadia, by chance?” I asked. Usually, if someone wanted to ‘touch base’, it was to talk about how difficult Nadia was in class.

  “Actually,” Ariel began, grinning. “Nadia’s been doing really well lately. We only had one, major outburst last week, and to be fair, another kid was the reason.”

  “Really?” I asked, surprised. It didn’t take much for Nadia to have a meltdown; this was nice to hear.

  Ariel nodded. “Someone took a toy she wasn’t done with, but we managed to talk it out in the Safe Space. She did really, really well, Chaz.”

  This was exactly the sort of high I needed today. “Holy crap, that’s—seriously, thank you all for being so patient with her. I know she’s a bit rough,”

  “Hey, it’s part of the job. “Ariel’s smile faltered slightly. “Though, we may have run into a new problem. As thrilled as I am with Nadia’s progress, her sister…”

  My good mood immediately fell away. “Should I be worried about parents ambushing me?”

  Ariel quickly shook his head. “No, nothing like that. But, lately, she’s gotten very defensive over her sister. Maybe a touch possessive? Just the day before, she pushed a child over in the block area because Nadia wasn’t playing with her. She thought they were trying to take her away.”

  “Christ, Irene,” I sighed, rubbing my temples tiredly. “I’m sorry, Ariel; I’ll have a talk with her when we get home.”