CHAPTER II: THE FUN BEGINS...

Sammy and Ryan started life pretty much normally, albeit closely watched and closely raised and for the most part in the same crib/playpen/bedrooms.

The parents had from their earliest days as next-door neighbors become very close to say the least and decided the boys (#1 and only for the Harpers, #2 of 3 for the Kiriakis's) would be best friends for life and were determined to make that happen. Sammy and Ryan never had a chance, or so it would seem. Lol.

Pre-school was spent by day in the playpens, and in nicer weather in the back yards of the two houses which were open to each other (but closed off from other neighbors) and they seemed to thrive both not only on their lives but each other too. They would sleep all curled up in one big (small) ball, and that continued. They never slept apart from day one through high school and never slept apart physically. It was always this big ball of the two boys cuddled into one homogeneous mass. Cute (but for some maybe a bit odd by high school...but neither family or them seemed to think so).

What did Ryan's brothers think, at least the older one? No idea. Never knew either one and still don't, really.

It never seemed to dawn on either set of parents that maybe by the time puberty had firmly set in that the boys being so interwined in bed (and elsewhere) might lead to shall we say some intramural nocturnal activities nor did it seem to dawn on them that the boys' bondedness at all other times was a signal that maybe they were at least becoming a bit more than 'best buds'. Nope, never came up. (Did they hope for that to be happening? Was all this by some grande design? Maybe? Maybe not? Just merely happened?) Just...

No clue. It just never came up that anybody noticed. My parents each told me that they had wondered but didn't know any of the parents well enough to ask. Jake told me his had said much the same thing. Neither set of parents were particularly social in town, and always seemed to be a bit distant to other parents at school and civic functions. Even at chuch so I am told they seemed a bit apart from the rest of the congregations. ( Harpers and the Siriakis were both Episcopalian).

At home Sammy and Ryan were virtually one unit (always together and usually draped over or upon each other, even holding hands at times) and accepted them as the close pair they obviously were from very early on and that has never changed. To this day, they are absolutely glued to each other.

School? Now school was an entirely different matter and while there were several other 'pairs' of boys (and one girls) that were obviously gay and commonly accepted, Sammy and Ryan seemed a bit 'different' for no apparent reason. Just was the case. These two were BEYOND close, and one would think one might wonder the nature of their relationship beyond the obvious but nobody ever seemed to.

My partner/best friend/mate in life were about 4 years older than Sammy and Ryan so never really knew them in school but we certainly heard about them. Jake lived in the country about four miles out and we lived just down the highway and our properties adjoined so we grew up together just as Sammy and Ryan had. Similar in some ways. Not in others. Our parents were close but not inseparable. We were born a bit further apart (ok, 3 days is a bit right?) and we spent a lot of time together from the git go just as they had. We just didn't realize the direction we were heading in as early as they did I think.

Jake and I were popular to say the least and accepted as best 'buds' and I am pretty sure most everyone knew we were at least headed to being a whole lot more although nobody ever said that that I know of. We were both in music and theatre and lots of school activities which gave us a wide range of things to do together and friends to do them with beyond ourselves. It all just worked.

We were a very open couple, even about our relationship after it developed into what it has become. Best friends turning to beyond friends into partners into now legally married and incredibly happy.

Sammy and Ryan? Not so much. They were the opposite. Much more closed off and far less open to say the least. They were not into school activities, although they both did well academically. We were all honor roll students, but that is where the comparison stopped. Jake and I co-chaired the school newspaper, and were on the yearbook committees, and the student council. Sammy and Ryan? None of that. They hung together and never seemed close to any of their peer students much. Jake and I eventually got comfortable with being affectionate publicly, but tastefully so hehehe. Sammy and Ryan were so affectionate it was almost obscene and Ryan seemed to always take the lead in that department but in truth Sammy was always right there with him. Their tongue actions were legendary (ok, I have to admit Jake and I were not exactly slouches in the kissing department. LOL).

CONTINUE TO CHAPTER TWO: