Gift of Sound

Once they were all in the house and settled in the living room, Andy’s mic and mic stand near the door leading to the basement, Jinxx stood up and cleared his throat. Andy sat on the edge of the couch, his elbows resting on his thighs while his hands hung limply between them. Considering that they had two deaf women in the room, Ash knew he was gearing up to sign everything he possibly could to them so he could keep them in the loop since he was almost as good at signing as his mother was. Course, then again, he’d had many more years of practice, in comparison to everybody else.

“All right, so we said that we found out why Sammi’s been so sick the past couple months, right?” he asked, making sure he’d told everybody so far.

A chorus of “Yeahs” followed in response.

“Well, after she finally broke down and went to the doctor a couple days ago, Sammi found out that…she’s pregnant!” he told them.

“Yay! There’s gonna be a baby Jinxx running around soon!” CC cheered.

“Wow, I don’t think I saw that one coming,” Jake said, sounding a bit surprised, but not quite as excited as their hyper friend.

“Neither did I,” Andy agreed, signing everything said to his mother and Sammi.

“I think I did, considering that they go at it like rabbits,” Ash chuckled, being his typical perverted self.

That’s great news, guys, although I’m sure you wish you were a bit older, Amy signed. And I’ll be more than glad to help you guys, if you ever need a babysitter.

“What’d your mom say, Andy?” Jinxx asked since he hadn’t quite caught it all.

The baby of the group quickly translated what she’d said while signing to her that he was just being a translator again.

“Thanks for the offer, Miss Amy,” he returned kindly, smiling as her son signed his response. “It’s nice knowing we can count on all of you. And it’ll definitely help Sammi out since you’ve raised a child while being a deaf-mute yourself.”

It’s no problem at all, Jinxx. I’m glad to be able to make such an offer.

Everybody sat there discussing how things would change a bit once Jinxx and Sammi’s baby was born, especially if they put together a band like they were talking about. Other than school, Sammi planned to be a stay-at-home mom while Jinxx worked to support them, although he wouldn’t have to work very much. He’d already saved up quite a bit of money over the past few years and, like Ash, had quite a bit of money after selling his deceased grandparents’ house, since it’d been left in his name after their deaths.

The guys all agreed that they’d take the next few years to put together their band, get it going good, and write their own material, especially since the majority of them were still in high school. Ash and CC were both nineteen-year-old seniors who would graduate the following summer, even though they still parked in the junior parking lot. Jake, Jinxx, and Sammi were all juniors, even though they were seventeen and eighteen, respectively. And Andy was the baby of the group as a sixteen-year-old sophomore, although he’d likely be classified as a junior by the end of the semester since his grades were so high and he was so advanced.

As the talk of their future plans died down, Andy and Ash disappeared into the kitchen to get drinks for everybody before making their own announcement. They were still pretty nervous, even though they knew the guys and Sammi would never judge them, since the only one they’d come out to was the baby’s mother. Both took a deep, calming breath as they walked back into the living room with the drinks.

“Okay, so who’s ready to head downstairs and start practicing a bit?” CC asked. The sugar in the Wild Cherry Pepsi he’d requested wouldn’t help his hyperactivity.

“Actually, we’ve got something we wanna say,” Ash began, swallowing nervously.

All eyes turned to them, and it made their anxiety level rise.

“What is it?” Jake asked curiously. He shot a look between the two of them.

“Well, we’ve all agreed that we don’t give a damn what we all dress like and what our preferences are, right?” he asked, holding his breath.

“Why should we? What our preferences are are no one’s business but our own,” Jinxx said, frowning slightly. “Well, unless they involve a significant other. But that’s a different story.”

“Exactly. Our preferences make us who we are, and if we didn’t like each other simply based on preferences, then we wouldn’t be friends,” Jake agreed.

The couple let out a sigh at the same time, then glanced at each other.

“Oh, shit! They’re getting a lovey-dovey look on their faces!” CC chortled, nearly choking on his drink.

“That’s because we’re in love,” Andy said smoothly. He was showing a confidence that he didn’t quite feel, and his sweetheart knew it.

“With who?” the drummer asked, leaning forward in his seat expectantly.

“Each other,” he answered, wrapping his arm around his sweetheart’s shoulder. “Ash and I are gay, and we’ve been dating for the last couple months.”

“Seriously? Wow,” Jake breathed in shock.

“I never saw that one coming, for sure,” Jinxx agreed, looking thunderstruck.

“I think they make a cute couple!” CC said. “I wish they would’ve told us sooner!”

“Well, we didn’t tell you guys sooner because we were kinda scared,” Ash admitted, wrapping his arm around his lover’s waist and resting his head on his chest. “And we definitely weren’t saying anything at school so people we didn’t want overhearing wouldn’t find out.”

“That explains why Andy would always kiss his fingers and blow the kiss in Ash’s direction when first bell rang,” Jinxx said thoughtfully. “And why Ash would blush crimson as he walked away.”

“You’re right, Jinxx. It really does,” Jake agreed, confirming that both of them had noticed those actions. “Course, I already knew they were in love with each other.”

“How?” their hyper friend asked curiously.

“Because they admitted it in front of me the day Ash woke up when I had to take him to the hospital.”

“Really, now? That I never would’ve seen coming.”

“I guess we kinda forgot he was sitting there,” Andy admitted sheepishly, blushing.

“Yeah, we were pretty caught up in the moment,” Ash agreed, also blushing slightly.

“Well, you’ve got our full support,” they agreed in unison. Even Sammi agreed, now that Andy’d taken a moment to sign what’d been said to her.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” CC yelled, a huge grin splitting his face.

Having wanted to do so for a while now, the couple moved themselves so they could connect their lips in a sweet, chaste kiss. Ash wrapped his arms around his lover’s neck while Andy wrapped his around his waist, the action drawing their bodies close together. The shorter of the pair tilted his head back slightly and to the right, the taller tilting his head down and to the right. They held each other as close as possible without making love and he lifted up on his toes, using his lover’s body for balance.

The moment their lips met, it once again felt like sparks flew to them. They were so caught up in the moment that they forgot everyone was sitting in Ash’s living room watching them as their eyes fluttered shut and they enjoyed their kiss. It was hard for them not to go any further and start having a game of tonsil hockey, so to speak, but they somehow managed.

As they broke apart a few moments later, Ash whimpered since he always wanted to go further when they weren’t in a public setting. Andy moved one hand up to gently cup and caress his cheek, saying with his eyes that he hadn’t wanted to break the kiss, either. In fact, his eyes spoke volumes about how he’d wanted to go further like they normally did, and was just barely holding himself back because of their friends being in the vicinity. That brought a smile to his sweetheart’s face, knowing that he’d wanted to show his love once again, but knew better with unwelcome eyes and ears around.

“Awww!” CC squealed, still grinning like an idiot. “That was so cute!”

The couple turned their heads to look at their friends, small smiles curving their lips as they blushed slightly.

“Hey, there’s no reason to be embarrassed in front of us,” Jake told them.

“Yeah. Love is love,” Jinxx agreed. “Doesn’t matter to us if you’re in love with the opposite gender, or the same.”

I’m happy for them, Amy signed. I just wish my son could give me grandchildren, but his happiness is and always has been more important to me than that.

Once Andy translated what she’d signed for everybody, Ash felt his face go pale. He still hadn’t told his lover his most important secret, and he wasn’t about to in front of all their friends. He noticed how pale he got, which resembled the night he’d saved his life, and so did Jake, but for two different reasons. Jake knew about his secret because he’d already told him since they were like brothers, and he was concerned about him.

His lover sat him down as he tried to get himself under control, having never thought that an off-handed comment like that would nearly have him hyperventilating. Course, he’d never thought to find a man he fell in love with, either, so he hadn’t put much thought into it. Andy knelt down on the floor in front of him, gently pushing his hair out of his face as he asked what was wrong, but he never even heard him. It was like he was momentarily deaf and had tunnel vision, which he knew wasn’t going to lead to anything but trouble. It was the beginnings of a panic attack, and he knew it.

Jake immediately headed for the kitchen and grabbed Excedrin and an ice-cold bottle of water, knowing what was coming if they couldn’t get him to calm down. He merely sat them down on the coffee table and sat down on the couch next to him, gently grabbing the hand that his lover wasn’t holding. He told everybody to just be quiet for a little bit, especially CC, and Jinxx knew what was happening because he, too, had seen Ash have a panic attack before. It wasn’t pretty in the least, but he’d be well taken care of.

Moments later, he began seeing the stars that he always saw just before he blacked out when he had one, and his grip on Jake’s and Andy’s hands loosened. He felt himself falling, but had no sense of direction and couldn’t tell if he’d fallen backward, forward, or to the side. He just knew that either his couch, friend, or lover had caught him, thus keeping him from slamming his head into anything and hurting himself. Some part of him was beginning to register the voices around him, and believe it or not, two of the most concerned were Jake’s and CC’s. Both of them knew it wouldn’t be long before he regained consciousness, although he was bound to have one helluva a headache now.

“Ohhh, my head,” he groaned softly, keeping his eyes closed.

“Andy, help me sit him up,” he heard Jake say. “Here. It’s just cold water and Excedrin.”

He allowed his friend to gently pop the pills into his mouth, then help him knock them back with the cold water he’d grabbed.

“What happened to him, Jake?” Andy asked, fear evident in his voice.

“He had a panic attack,” his friend told him. “Probably triggered by what your mom said, although I don’t see how.” Thankfully, he was covering up his secret until and unless he was ready to reveal it.

“Do they happen often?”

“No, not really. Only when he’s particularly stressed over something, from what I’ve noticed.” There was a pause in his speech. “Ash, can you open your eyes and look at me?”

He moved his hand in front of his face to block any light and opened his eyes into tiny slits.

“Good. Now, what caused this panic attack?” Jake asked softly.

Ash used his eyes to tell him that it was the secret he’d kept hidden, that the thought of possibly finding himself in a bad situation had caused him to panic.

“Well, mio deviante?” his lover asked curiously.

“I-I’ll tell y-you l-later,” he stuttered, keeping his voice soft.

“I bet I know what it is,” he heard CC say softly beside him.

He gently turned his head to face his hyper friend, a questioning look on his face.

“You can have kids in more ways than one, can’t you?” he whispered in his ear.

Shocked that he’d figured it out so easily, he stared at him, his eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights.

CC leaned back to give him some space and smirked.

“What’d you say to him, CC?” Jake asked curiously.

The drummer leaned over and whispered the same thing in his ear, causing him to look shocked as well.

“How’d you know?” he asked.

“Because it’s the same for me.” He shrugged.

“What are you guys talking about?” Andy asked, confused.

“Do you want me to explain it, Ash, since you seem to be at a loss for words?” their hyper friend asked, not acting quite so hyper right now. “Or would you rather me keep my mouth shut?”

“Now that I know I’m not the only one, go ahead,” he answered, nodding gently.

“Okay, to put it in simple terms, Ash and I aren’t normal guys,” CC began. “We can have kids in more ways than one.”

“What do you mean?” Andy and Jinxx asked in unison, completely and utterly confused. They noticed how Jake didn’t say a word.

“Hmm… I’m gonna try to dumb this down as much as I can.” He paused in thought for a moment. “Somehow, we were born with the reproductive systems of both a male and a female. We don’t know if it was a genetic mutation, or if we had a twin that effectively got eaten by our own bodies in utero. Each reproductive system fuctions independently from the other, almost as if they’re in two separate bodies.”

“What? Wow, this sounds like some kind of sci-fi movie with aliens and shit,” Andy breathed in shock.

“I know. Now imagine how it felt for us to find out we were born like this,” their friend said dryly. “Anyway, normally we wouldn’t have to worry about the female reproductive system getting put to use unless we wanted it to. But there are some situations that can cause it to be used, and we have to watch out big time since a male body isn’t exactly meant to be carrying children.”

The guys stayed silent, and neither Amy nor Sammi made a move to sign anything after the baby of the group translated what was said.

“If we have any kind of anal sex, be it consensual or rape, we could easily get pregnant. Therefore, we have to take extra care to avoid that unless we really want it, and have to go to specialized OB/GYNs if we do get pregnant since the pregnancy would be considered extremely high-risk,” CC finished.

“So what you’re saying is that, should we ever go that far and we’re not careful, Ash could easily end up pregnant with my baby?” he asked in shock. He’d chosen to word his question like that so the guys wouldn’t know they’d already become far more intimate than a few kisses and making out.

“Exactly. Hell, he could even end up pregnant with someone else’s kid if they raped him,” he answered.

“And how did you find out you had the same…affliction?” Jinxx asked curiously.

“Well, you guys know how nasty my dad was right around the time of Casey’s birth,” he said. “That was just a diversion from what he did to me for years before that.”

Everybody but Andy and his mother nodded sympathetically, already knowing what he was talking about. The last two in the room merely looked confused.

“You remember when we first met and I told you about Casey?” CC asked, looking at the baby of the group. “And how Jinxx said I didn’t tell anyone I didn’t trust? As well as how it wasn’t the full story, but I’d likely tell you eventually?”

“Yeah, I remember that. I haven’t asked because I figured you’d tell me when you were ready,” Andy answered, nodding.

“Well, from the time I was nine until Casey was born when I was fifteen, my dad abused me in every way under the sun, including sexually.” He took a moment to regain his composure. “That was up to and including rape. Well, when I was thirteen, I started feeling downright awful after one of the times he raped me. Granted, it was about a month afterward, so I just thought it was the flu.

“Anyway, I managed to sneak out to the health department after school, telling him that I had marching band practice so he wouldn’t ask questions, since I couldn’t go to my regular doctor. They started running all kinds of tests that I barely understood the meaning of, only to find out that I was pregnant. The doctor was pretty confused and decided to perform an ultrasound, only to find out that I was indeed pregnant because I had not only the body of a male, but the reproductive system of a female. Had my dad not raped me and gotten me pregnant when he did, I likely would’ve gone my entire life without knowing the secret my body withheld.”

“Okay, then,” everybody but Jake, Amy, and Sammi breathed.

“So what about you, mio deviante?” Andy asked, turning his attention to his sweetheart. “How’d you find out that you’re the same way?”

“I went to my doctor when I was twelve, back when I still lived in Missouri, for a yearly physical. During the physical exam, he was pressing on my lower abdomen and said something didn’t feel quite right,” Ash began. “I was scared and so was my grama, but he assured us it was likely nothing. He still wanted to do an ultrasound to be sure, and we agreed.

“Low and behold, we found out that I have the reproductive system of a female tucked away so that you wouldn’t even know it’s there if you didn’t know what you were looking for,” he continued. “It wasn’t long afterward, as my body began the physical changes that a man would normally go through during puberty, that I also started having periods. Lemme tell ya, that shit’s embarrassing as hell since men aren’t supposed to go through that, nor have to worry about how the hell they’re gonna use either tampons or pads. And I’ll bet CC agrees wholeheartedly, don’t ya, Animal?”

Their crazy friend blushed furiously and nodded his head.

Everybody sat there and continued talking for a while longer, Ash cuddled up to his lover’s chest once he felt well enough to sit up again. They decided that tonight just wasn’t the night to hold band practice together, given that their bassist’s head was pounding like a hooker on payday after his panic attack, so they just decided to watch a couple movies together. After dinner and the movies, everybody but Andy and Amy decided it was time they headed home, which was fine by them.

Sammi was starting to get tired, and Jinxx knew it was only a matter of time till she nearly fell asleep on the back of his bike while riding home. CC had to get home to Casey, whom he couldn’t bring over with him because of her health. And lastly, Jake knew he couldn’t spend the night out here, whether he wanted to or not. His parents were expecting him to come home sooner or later, and without cell service out here, he couldn’t call them and let them know if he’d be late or anything, and Ash didn’t have a landline out here. Otherwise, it was likely that one, if not all of them, would’ve just made themselves comfortable in the living room while Amy took the guest room and Andy and Ash shared the master bedroom across the hall.

Once everybody but his lover and would-be mother-in-law was gone, Ash headed for the master bathroom to take a shower. He’d already insisted that they stay out here at the cabin overnight, claiming it was too late for them to be trying to go home since they were more than welcome to stay. Thankfully, neither of them had tried to argue with him, and while he was taking his shower, he was sure his lover was getting his mother set up in the guest room across the hall. He let the hot water pour over his body, relaxing knots in his muscles he hadn’t even known he had, and wasn’t expecting his lover to join him.

He gasped softly as he felt his lover’s hands gently grab his waist since he hadn’t expected him to join him, but made no move to get away or rebuff his advances. Andy merely pulled him back so he could hug him, making sure his head rested on his chest, soon turning him around so he could massage his back while he held him. He smiled at the soft moans and purrs he released from the massage, glad to see he was comfortable.

“Ready to go to bed, mio deviante?” he asked a while later as the water began to turn lukewarm.

“Mmm hmm. I’m tired, mio profeta,” Ash answered sleepily, unable to restrain a yawn.

“All right. Let’s get dried off, then go snuggle up and keep each other warm,” Andy said softly, reaching around him to turn the water off. “Mama’s already in bed in the guest room.”

“Sounds like a plan, baby,” he agreed, trying not to yawn again.

“Ti amo molto, mio deviante. Forever and for always,” he murmured, kissing his temple as he led him out of the shower so they could dry off.

“Anch’io ti amo molto, mio profeta. Until the end of time,” he responded softly.

Notes