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‘Could I get you to taste this?’ … ‘How’s it tasting to you?’

‘Mmm, absolutely perfect.’

‘Haha! You say that about everything I make, Henry.’

‘Well, it’s true. I adore your cooking. Having never been much of a chef myself, I’m in awe of your talent.’

‘Ah, it’s just a moussaka, nothing fancy. But thank you, you big handsome chap. You still make a great taste-tester, hehe.’

Henry positioned himself behind Judd as the younger man stirred away at his big pot of meats and spices and such. He let his massive belly press right into Judd’s back and lay his thick hands across those wonderfully beefed up arms. Henry then rested his more-than-generous double chin on the crown of Judd’s head.

‘Now that is a service I happily provide, anytime I’m needed.’

Judd leaned back into Henry, using the latter’s large, podgy man-boobs as a pillow. Henry planted his lips into Judd’s hair and kissed softly.

‘You’re always needed,’ Judd told him, and felt the hug tighten around him, warm and all-encompassing.

The pair had been courting for a while now, and Henry was becoming a regular guest here at Judd’s student apartment (his housemate Milo was away for the present weekend). This accommodation reminded Henry of his own scholarly days, way back when: The shared bathroom, the chore rota pinned to the refrigerator.

Judd held up the spoon again. ‘Careful, it’s quite hot still.’

Henry blew on the sauce, and ate. It really did taste wondrous. Judd was quite the cook. ‘Mmmh! Delicious!’

‘Those fresh herbs from your garden make all the difference, I think.’

‘Mmmm, I could very easily gobble this all up, just like this,’ Henry said, ‘but then there’d be none left for the meal, hoho.’

Judd turned and craned his head upwards a couple of degrees to kiss Henry on the lips. ‘I made brownies for after, too,’ he said with that killer smile.

‘I can’t wait,’ Henry replied honestly.

Judd ran his palm across Henry’s stretched shirt, so much fabric needed to keep all of Henry buttoned in these days. He rubbed in smooth circles and said, ‘We’ll get this belly much bigger, get you nice and fat, you’ll see.’

Henry felt his groin stiffen and his heart charge up. He kissed Judd back with all of his passion.

‘I’m so very lucky to have found you,’ he whispered.


While the moussaka cooked, gently bubbling away in the oven, Henry recounted his days in television to Judd, who listened in genuine interest. The young man never brought up Henry’s fame otherwise - so refreshing, after having lived with Hudson who’d patently viewed it as Henry’s sole defining feature.

No, Judd cared about Henry the person, not Henry Haggerty of former Channel 7 renown. This, he knew, was a true testament to the young man’s character. One of so many wonderful facets Henry couldn’t help but become enamoured with. And then, as he was dishing up supper, quite unexpectedly Judd said,

‘I hope you don’t mind me bringing this up, but you mentioned that the anniversary of your former husband’s passing was coming up this weekend.’ He ladled the delicious-smelling lamb, cheese and vegetable dish into voluminous pasta bowls - a far greater portion for Henry, of course. ‘I didn’t know if you maybe wanted some company, if you were going to visit his resting place or… maybe something like that? You know, moral support, kind of thing.’

Henry received his bowl and kissed the chef. They seated themselves at Judd’s modest dining table by the window looking out over Maupinton’s campus quarter. For a few passing moments, Henry let his gaze wander to the view outside, to the setting sun illuminating student revelers, no doubt on their way to Saturday night frivolities. He thought on.

‘That’s incredibly kind of you to offer, but actually I was thinking…’ He searched for the words. ‘Charles and I were together for a long time, I know I’ve talked about that before. He helped to raise my children, even. There are a great many memories of him stored up here.’ Henry tapped his forehead. ‘But for the longest time after his death, I was… lost… He, well… I let him, or the notion of him, dictate my actions… my decisions… But… Hmm, I’m sorry, I’m waffling on like an old goat. What I’m trying to say is - I don’t feel that I need to visit Charles’ grave. Maybe at some point, but not now. No… I’d much rather spend my time with you, Judd. If you’ll have me.’

Judd took Henry’s hand, as he had on their first date. It was as though he always knew exactly how to soothe Henry’s consternations. Then he took the spoon from Henry’s bowl and scooped up a great hunk of moussaka, passing it between Henry’s receptive lips with delicacy.

‘I understand what you’re saying,’ he replied in softness. ‘And there’s no right or wrong answer. But… I’m glad that you’re living for You, Henry. That’s important.’

Henry chewed on the beautifully-flavored food, letting the taste of it fill him, warm him.

‘I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose a partner that way, because I’ve never been through that experience,’ Judd went on, spooning more into Henry. ‘But I just want you to know that I’m always here to listen, if you want to talk about anything at all.’

‘Mmmm,’ Henry let the rapturous feeling of being fed this sumptuous meal by a man so kind, so handsome and so understanding just wrap itself around him. How had he managed to find someone this perfect?

‘And I don’t see it as my being a replacement for him, or anything like that,’ Judd added, feeding yet more. ‘It’s more like - This is a new part of your life now, Henry. The next part.’

Henry swallowed, dabbed at his mouth with his handkerchief and replied, ‘You are a much wiser man than I, you truly gorgeous fellow.’

‘C’mere, you,’ Judd smiled and tugged on Henry’s tie, pulling him into another kiss.

‘Please don’t let your food get cold on my account,’ Henry worried.

‘I won’t,’ Judd answered. ‘I’m gonna enjoy some of this while you… unbutton your shirt.’

‘Oh goodness…’

‘That okay?’

‘You don’t have to tell me twice!’


The rest of the moussaka was spooned into Henry’s mouth, bite by bite, bowl by bowl, all while Judd rubbed the enormous tank Henry’s belly had ballooned into, his shirt wide open and grey body hair woven through with Judd’s fingertips. This was ecstasy for Henry.

The brownies had been left in the top part of the oven so that by the time Judd began feeding them to Henry for dessert, they’d turned soft and warm and gooey on the inside.

‘How do they taste?’ Judd asked him, tracing his index digit around Henry’s nipples while he made sure to deposit every last crumb into Henry’s mouth.

‘Ohhhh… simply divine…,’ Henry replied quietly, feeling his member turn to granite.

‘What’s say we take the rest into the bedroom?’ Judd whispered.

So rapt with serotonin was Henry, he merely nodded and followed the young man, who easily disrobed and motioned for Henry to get comfortable on his bed.

‘That’s it, just sit back and relax,’ Judd instructed, his now nude body of beef and extra timber on full display.

Henry took more sweet brownie and undid his belt, removing his pants and then his underwear.

‘Yoursobeautiful,’ he told Judd with his mouthful.

Judd got onto the bed before Henry, balanced on his knees, still feeding, but now letting his free hand cascade down through Henry’s white hair, down his pudgy, bloated cheek, the huge double chin, down his protruding moob with stretched nipple from so much weight gain, down the neverending aperture of Henry’s giant belly, right down to his solid penis in its lair of plentiful fatpad.

‘You’re beautiful, Henry,’ Judd replied. ‘Huge and beautiful…’

He continued to ply the melty chocolate dessert between Henry’s hungry lips, never spilling a morsel while Henry moaned in pleasure.

‘Would it be okay to… make love to you while I feed you…?’ Judd asked him.

Henry thought he might die of stimulus overload just from the sheer idea of it, but nodded emphatically Yes, while he chewed and swallowed. He wanted nothing more than Judd inside him right now.

In moments Judd was sheathed and lubricated, sliding between Henry’s open legs, all with the dexterity to keep pushing more brownie into Henry’s cheeks.

‘Uuuuhhhh,’ Henry exclaimed, feeling like he might truly be in heaven.

‘You’re so big,’ Judd whispered, thrusting slowly, feeding more. ‘Big and fat and round and heavy…’

‘Ohhhyess… aniiwant morrh….,’ Henry managed to breath out, eyes practically rolling in his head.

‘How much more?’ Judd asked, perspiring somewhat.

‘Allot morre…,’ Henry uttered, cheeks stuffed.

‘How much do you weigh now?’

‘Sixhundredd… antwenty… pounns… butiineedmorrh…’

‘Say it, Henry… tell me…’ Judd’s pace crept up. The brownies were coming thick and fast, and his groin was speeding up, causing Henry’s mighty belly to wobble up and down, up and down, rippling the rest of his hugely fattened body with it.

‘Iwwanh… ssixffifty…’ Henry‘s cheeks had become bowling balls and he was coated in sweat.

‘Keep going…,’ Judd told him, not stopping the cakes.

‘Sssix… sseffenffive…’

Faster, harder, more cake, bigger cheeks.

‘Keep going…,’ Judd insisted, his muscles bulging. ‘Tell me what you really want…’

‘Ssseffenhundredd… pounns…’

All that dinner and dessert crammed into Henry, fattening him, filling him up like a solid balloon, with more coming. Always more.

‘You don’t wanna stop there, do you?’ Judd huffed, gyrating, glistening. ‘You need to get even fatter and heavier…’

‘Ssseffentooffive…!’ Henry’s head was tilted all the way back, cheeks about to burst from so much food.

‘More…,’ Judd rasped, working overtime. ‘More… More…!’

‘Sssseffenffiftee…!’

‘Even more… Even… heavier… Even fatter…!!’

‘OhhhhhGoddd….!’

And both Henry and Judd exploded in unison, the former all the way up his own unbelievably swollen belly, hot seed melting into the sweat-matted chest hair, while he felt the latter’s inside of him, heating his passage from within. Henry let out a great roar of pure, unadulterated transcendence.

Judd collapsed against him, letting the fluids mingle where they may, both men thoroughly covered in sweat, heaving out great breaths. Henry wrapped his lengthy, fat arms around the young man, his fingers running roughly through Judd’s hair, and kissed the side of his temple. Judd relaxed into Henry, laying his own big arms around those fat-encased sides.

‘That was…,’ Henry panted, ‘incredible…’

He’d never experienced anything like it in all his 60 years.


The two laid in position for a long time, not bothering to clean the mess, not concerned with anything outside their bubble of contentment. The sun had long disappeared. Even the sounds of Maupinton outside had faded into the cool night breeze.

‘Henry…,’ Judd whispered into what was now a dark, moonlit room.

‘Yes, dear, sweet man?’ Henry replied, stroking Judd’s hair and kissing his forehead.

‘I don’t know if I should say this yet. I hope it’s not too soon, but… I… I’m falling in love with you…’

Henry thought he might cry. He felt the obligatory lump in his throat. His heart, overworked as it was from the night’s activities, threatened to melt right there.

‘Ohhh, gorgeous, perfect, perfect Judd…,’ he responded in husky tones, kissing again. ‘I’m already there.’


Dear Boon Jin Seung, thank you for sending the manuscript for your novel ‘Beyond The Belt’ to Spiral Publishing. We take great pride in-

Boony skim-read the meat of the email, scanning for the only part he was interested in.

“… receive a high volume of unpublished works, and we are only capable of publishing a small number…”

Such and such and such and such…

He kept reading, and then there, right at the end. The last line…

‘YES!’ Boony jumped (as far as gravity would allow his great, fat body, anyway) and pumped both arms into the air, knocking over a plastic equation with a face. It broke in two against the hard flooring of the empty classroom but Boony didn’t care.

They were going to publish his science fiction novel! Spiral Publishing liked his book - his book! - and wanted to print it!

He bent down to scoop up the pieces of the weird little plastic figure, finding his own flab a considerable obstacle, when a knock from the open door resounded and a figure in the doorway said,

‘Am I interrupting anything? A celebration?’

Boony looked up to see a man who may very well have fit the definition of ‘rugged’ to perfection. He looked like he wrestled bears and made his own furniture from logs he’d chopped himself, probably in a woodland cabin.

‘Huh? Ohhh, no,’ Boony began, unsuccessful in fitting the anthropomorphized equation back together. ‘Well, yes, actually, in a way. I just found out my book’s gonna get published.’ He stood, huffing and puffing, and placed the broken thing onto his desk before leaning back onto his excessively-generous rear.

‘What? No way!’ the guy said, approaching. ‘Dang, congratulations, man.’

‘Haha, thanks,’ Boony replied, feeling his breaths slow back to normal.

The man seemed to remember himself and brushed down a hand before sticking it out. ‘Uh, I’m Trent Roland, by the way… Uh, Kevin’s dad? Kevin Roland?’

‘Right, right, okay.’ Boony met the firm grasp and shook. ‘I’m Mr Seung - Boony. You know parent-teacher night isn’t til next Wednesday, right…?’

‘Ohhh, yeah, right, yes, so,’ Trent went on, ‘I… uh, I wanted to…,’ he started fumbling with the backpack he’d brought with him, ‘say… uh, Thank You. For getting Kevin through Economics.’ He finally produced a slightly crumpled box with a transparent porthole in its lid - an uneven, sloping frosted cake lay within, the letters Th—k Y-o its sole surviving decoration.

‘That’s uh… You didn’t have to do that,’ Boony took the cake and transferred it to go live with the busted equation on his desk.

‘I made that… myself,’ Trent pointed to it, not looking particularly proud. ‘But, uh, no - Kevin, he… wasn’t doing so hot at the start of the year, as you know, and… well, you’ve worked wonders, turning his grades around. I wanted to say Thank You for that.’

‘He did that all by himself,’ Boony replied. ‘Just needed a nudge, that’s all. You got a smart kid there, you should be proud.‘

‘Well… you know, or I don’t know if you know… Single dad here,’ Trent gazed pointedly to Boony for this tidbit. ‘I do my best… on my own… being single…’

‘Well, Trent, your son, he just needs to-‘

‘Rolly,’ said Trent. ‘Everyone calls me Rolly. Y’know, Trent Roland… so…’

‘That’s funny, everyone calls me Roly Poly,’ Boony told him with a smile.

‘Hahaha! Oh…’ Trent removed his baseball cap to scruff his wayward hair up some. ‘That’s... sorry, I shouldn’t laugh.’

‘No, it’s funny, I don’t care.’

‘On account of you… being…’ Trent trailed off, but his eyes remained all over Boony’s girthy outline for a moment or two. He smiled and scratched his stubbly beard.

‘So, Tre-uhhh-Rolly, was there anything else I could help you with?’ Boony was aware he’d defaulted to his usual placid teacher-tone that he had.

‘Hmm? Oh, not that I can - I mean, unless you wanted…,’ Trent floundered, shoving his hands in his tight jean pockets. ‘You know,’ he swallowed, ‘maybe we… could… I mean, I could… see you… like, around… again…’

‘At parent-teacher night,’ said Boony.

‘Yes! Right, yeah! Yes…’

‘Next Wednesday.’

‘Wednesday, yes! I love Wednesdays,’ Trent exclaimed. ‘I don’t know why I said that.’

Boony half-smiled. ‘Okay…’

The man stayed on the spot for a moment, before saying, ‘So, I guess I’ll…’ He jerked a thumb behind him. ‘Cos you’ve probably… what with your - your book! Oh yeah, you got… all that going… Woo! Haha… Ha…’ He shifted awkwardly on his axis. ‘Well, I’ll - see ya…!’

‘Take care, Mr Roland.’

Trent stuck a thumb straight into the air as he left. ‘Yep!’

When he was gone, Boony found himself exhaling what must have been stored-up breath, and shook his head. He didn’t know what to make of that encounter.

Well, he did, but… He grimaced and sighed to himself, looking again to the sad, half-deflated little cake on his desk. Not knowing why, he let out a small laugh.

Penny was waiting for him at home - the sitter always picked her up on days Boony had to stay on at the school late. But he needed to get back, start dinner, spend time with her, get her to bed then grade papers once she was asleep. And that was all before he could even think about the publishers.

Being a single dad was indeed a lot of work. He could sympathize with Rolly on that one, most certainly. But it was the most important part of his life.


SIX MONTHS LATER


Gus took his grande almond-froth americano from the end of the counter and went to go find a seat. He located an empty booth near the back of the café, sat with a faint sigh and shook stevia into his coffee, stirred it. He rolled his eyes at the sound of chatter in the next booth over; he had wanted a little peace and quiet today.

‘… warms my heart that we’re doing these again…’

That voice was instantly familiar - the deep, storytelly tones of… Henry?

Gus twisted in his seat in order to peer through a gap in the wood-slatted partition that separated the booths. There was Henry - looking absolutely enormous - leaning back against the long padded seating built into the wall, his belly just… stretching all the way out in front of him, bulging between his legs. Holy cow, he’d gotten huge! Gone were his glasses and suit, in favor of an open-collared short-sleeved button down which did much to liberate him of his Colonel Sanders look. But more importantly, a cute - very cute - cubby guy was sat nestled into Henry’s side, resting against the humongous belly and moobs with Henry’s long, chunky arm draped casually around the young guy’s shoulders. Henry was planting absent kisses on the cub’s head as they chatted on.

(Huh…), thought Gus, exhaling a short nasal laugh. (Well, waddya know? Good for you, Henry. Really.)

And there was Carl, sat across from the couple, looking bigger than ever, still in a dad-like polo but this one at least had some kind of jazzy pattern across it. His gut was practically flowing forward and sidewards, filling his lap while he plied it with oversized cookies between slurps of coffee.

And the figure closest to the partition must have been Boony, though Gus could only see the back of his ex-husband’s head. Same neat, jet-black hairstyle, though. Neck rolls were looking far spongier than the last time Gus’d seen him.

It seemed none of the fat dads had spotted Gus; he sipped on his coffee and listened.

‘… believe a big Bravo is in order,’ Carl was saying, inclining his half-eaten cookie toward Henry.

‘That’s right,’ Henry beamed proudly. ‘I hit 700 pounds this morning.’

‘Woahhh,’ Boony said. ‘That’s amazing! Congrats, Henry. Seriously!’

Henry chuckled deeply, letting his wide girth bounce and wobble. ‘I couldn’t have done it without my love.’ He turned, chins and neck fat warping, smiled warmly and kissed the cubby guy who gave Henry’s belly a few rubs in return. ‘My Judd, to whom I owe so so much. You can’t possibly know the difference you’ve made to my life. Not just the weight but everything. Oh, I love you so very dearly.’

The young man named Judd kissed him again and said, ‘I love you too, my big Henry.’

‘Awww, you guys,’ Boony said.

‘How does it feel?’ Carl asked Henry. ‘Being that size?’

‘Simply… fantastic,’ Henry replied with a hearty nod. ‘I feel extraordinarily heavy, all bulk and lumber. This belly alone weighs a ton, haha.’

‘Not even kidding, guys - that thing is heavy!’ Judd added with a grin.

‘I take up so much space these days,’ Henry continued, patting down his gargantuan middle, ‘I find myself bumping into things inadvertently, hoho.’

‘He broke his first chair the other day,’ Judd informed the group proudly. ‘And we wanna try and get him to fill the doorway next. Don’t we, sweetheart?’

‘Oh yes, my love.’ Henry gazed into the young man’s eyes with nothing but pure, raw adoration and admiration. ‘Maybe that sounds a little nutty, but I want it desperately.’

‘No, I get it,’ Boony responded. ‘I absolutely get that. And if people were around to see it, watching you get stuck, that’s… That almost makes it better, in some way.’

‘Quite right,’ Henry smiled. ‘I’ve no doubt both of you fine gentlemen will be catching up to me soon!’

‘I’m not there just yet,’ Carl laughed. ‘But you’ve got height on your side - You’re, what, like 6’6”? If I got into the 700s, I’d be like a giant ball, haha!’

‘I don’t see the problem, haha,’ Boony joined in on the laughter, then sipped a drink Gus couldn’t see. ‘And I’m sure Laurent wouldn’t mind, either…’

Carl sat back in his round, comfy-looking seat, letting his belly rise like dough, and sighed. ‘I know, I know, yeah, yeah…’

‘Oh, Carl, you simply must invite Laurent here to stay,’ Henry told him. ‘We all want to make his acquaintance, after everything you’ve told us.’

Carl nodded slowly, half-smiling. ‘We’re… figuring it out, one day at a time…’

‘Well, figure it out fast,’ Boony jested. ‘We wanna see this hunky Frenchman in the flesh. He’s all you’ve talked about since you got back!’

‘Okay, well, how about I invite Laurent to the U.S when you give that hot dad a chance, Boon, huh?’ Carl riposted with a twinkle in his eye.

(Hot dad?) Sudden panic shot through Gus. (What hot dad?)

‘Ohhhh,’ went Judd.

‘He makes an excellent point, Boony,’ Henry inclined his head and bit sagely into a blueberry muffin held up to his mouth by his lover. ‘That man is clearly very sweet on you. How many cakes has he left on your desk at this point?’

‘Twelve,’ Boony answered. ‘I think he’s running out of “reasons” for gifting them now, too - the latest one had ‘Happy Thursday’ written on it.’

’Oh, come on, that’s cute, haha,’ Carl pressed on with that odd chuckle of his. ‘Give the man a shot.’

Gus didn’t like the sound of this. It brought on a nauseous feeling in his stomach.

‘I don’t know…,’ Boony said, and lowered his head. ‘I’m just… super busy with everything. There’s Penny, and the book just came out…’

The others groaned.

‘Oh, pish posh,’ Henry stuck out his jaw, then ate more proffered muffin. ‘Never look a gift cake in the mouth, I say. Let alone twelve!’

‘Can I see him?’ Judd asked. ‘Do you have a picture of him?’

To Gus, it looked as though Boony had brought up his iPhone and was swiping with pudgy fingers.

’There’s his Facebook profile - he keeps trying to add me,’ Boony said, then handed the phone to Judd who, upon seeing the screen, frowned and made an ‘O’ with his mouth.

‘Uhhh, how are you not pursuing this?’ he asked.

Boony let out a lengthy sigh and shook his head. ‘I… don’t know,’ he replied. ‘All the teachers at work say he’s a ‘Total Dilf’.’

Gus spat out his coffee. Noisily. Then dropped his cup back onto the table.

There was silence through the partition.

(Ohhhh fuck), he thought. (Goddamnit. No way out of this now.)

In resignation Gus stood, wiped himself down, and headed around the booth to meet the guys.

‘Uhh, hey, everyone…’

They each looked pretty confused, especially Boony, who Gus could now see had gotten significantly fatter, and looked… all the better for it, honestly. Like a glow.

‘Gus? Jesus, you scared the shit out of me,’ Boony sort of semi-laughed.

‘Sorry, I was just… in the vicinity,’ Gus said. (That sounded lame.) ‘I didn’t mean to make you jump. Apologies, everyone.’

‘Gus, how are you doing?’ Henry asked him. ‘We haven’t seen you in… Well, it’s been a long time.’

Gus inhaled, pursing his lips. ‘Uhhh, yeah, okay? I guess? Heh. You guys all look well.’ His eyes rested on Boony for this. ‘I, uh, I read your book, by the way. It’s good. It’s really, really good, in fact… I always knew it would be…’

He hadn’t interacted with his ex-husband like this for quite the stretch of time. Usually he picked up and dropped off Penny via car every other weekend, choosing to remain inside the vehicle. It felt… good to see Boon up close again. The extra weight really did suit him; he looked happier, contented, more sure of himself, Gus could see that now.

’Thanks,’ Boony tried for a lopsided smile.

‘Uh, say… Would you guys mind… if I joined you?’ Gus asked the gang. Truth was he’d actually been a little envious of them, sitting there, enjoying their dadly conversation.

‘Um, well,’ Carl started. ‘I’d say that’s up to Boony, really. What do you think, buddy?’

Boony took a moment, clearly turning the thought in his mind. His mouth did the funny little squirly thing it did whenever he wrestled with a tough decision. Then he shrugged one shoulder and said,

‘We’re all friends here.’

Gus heard it. The intonation. The silent but very present ‘just’ in the middle of that sentence. He couldn’t lie - it bruised a bit, but at the end of the day Gus had long dropped all pretenses that he deserved anything less.

‘Thanks…’ He pulled at an empty chair and made to sit.

‘Uhhh, not there,’ Carl told him suddenly. ‘Not that one.’

Gus frowned. ‘Why not?’

Carl looked up at him.

‘That’s Joe’s seat.’

It took a second, maybe more, with Gus just standing there not really sure how to proceed, but then it came.

He understood.

Gus nodded, and sat himself in the next chair, noting Carl’s lingering gaze on the original empty seat. All was quiet for a moment.

Then Gus lifted his half-empty coffee cup a fraction.

‘To friends,’ he said.

Carl’s vision remained on the chair while he nodded. He whispered, barely audible.

‘To friends.’

Files

Comments

Carl Quaif

"To Friends." I...wow. That was the perfect finale to what has, I now realise, become my absolute favourite Lokitu story to date. You've wound up the many disparate threads so elegantly: Henry escaping the prison of lost love with the help of his new love - his improved look (both size and clothing choice) and his decision to no longer be bound to the anniversary of Charles' passing epitomising his freedom beautifully; Carl still as careful and shy as ever, but clearly happy to have Laurent in his life; Boony finding literary success at last, no longer held back by having to take second place to Gus (and may I say that I absolutely ADORE Rolly!); and Gus finally showing a little humility...but Joe's chair? That both warmed AND broke my heart. I love the fact that the toast was "to friends", not "to ABSENT friends" - because Joe will always be with the Fat Dads, egging them on to larger and happier lives. In a similar vein, these wonderful men will always be with me from now on. I will never forget them, or you, for the pleasure this story has given me. And so I say not "goodbye" to the Fat Dads, but simply "au revoir". "To Friends." xxx

IceColdGay

Joe would be so happy for them all..

lokitu

Thank you for your wonderful comments, Carl. I always appreciate them very much. And I'm very happy that the characters have resonated with yourself and others as much as they have. That's what I had hoped for, and reading all of the lovely comments is very touching for me. Thank you :)

Anonymous

This was an intensely bittersweet ending. I do hope that Booney has the courage to open up, but it sounds like whatever he does, his heart is in the right place. I love that everyone is healing and moving forward, and hope the same can happen for Gus, and for Darcy.

randompeasant

oh huff, I was NOT expecting that picture when I opened this heheh. Great ending!!

lokitu

It heartens me to hear that you became invested in the characters and their stories. Thank you for coming along on the journey :)