by Claire Dobbin
ou're sure everything's fine?" Walter asked, for the tenth time.
Dr. Brubaker sighed patiently. "You're obscenely healthy, Walter," the doctor assured him. "Now, you've cluttered up my consulting room long enough, go forth and multiply. You have my blessing."
His frown and the grumpy attitude were at odds with the doctor's pronouncement.
"So, that's it?" he asked.
"Other than to give you this advice leaflet on how to... um, maximize production, that's it."
The doctor picked up a file marked 'Skinner, W.S.' and walked over to where his patient sat uneasily on the examination couch. Handing over the discreetly designed information sheet, he placed a hand on Walter's shoulder. "Though I can tell you, Walter, according to these test results, I don't think you're going have any problems in that department."
Walter blushed crimson, and not for the first time during the consultation.
With a chuckle the doctor left the room and Walter gathered together what there was of the skimpy blue examination gown and held it tightly closed around his nether regions for a quick retreat to the changing room.
In bad humour, he picked up a pair of the boxers Alex was making him wear for the duration and leaned over to put them on. The door opened suddenly and he straightened up so quickly he nearly popped a disc.
"Well?" his lover asked, keenness personified.
"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded.
"I kind of have an interest in what's going on here, Walter. Remember?" Alex told him shortly.
"Okay, but you and your interest will have to wait outside while I dress."
"What? But I've sucked on—"
"Don't," Walter ordered, holding up a warning finger. "This is different."
He pointed the finger downward and spun it around.
"Oh, for crying out loud," Alex whined, but he turned his back nonetheless before continuing. "So, what did he say?"
"It seems I'm going to live. And procreate," he stated, settling the boxers as comfortably as he could.
Alex began to turn back, but Walter halted him with a sharp, 'Uh-uh!"
Reluctantly, frustrated at his lover's newfound modesty, Alex complied.
"Great!" he said, hopping from foot to foot in anticipation. "I'll set up an appointment at the clinic."
At the mention of the word 'clinic' Walter's recovering spirits again plummeted, and he hurried into the rest of his clothes, the quicker to escape the smell of antiseptic and the gleam of white tile.
It wasn't until they were half way home and he had run twice through the checklist of all they needed to organise that Alex picked up on Walter's brooding silence. He waited until they stopped at a set of lights and he could place his hand reassuringly on Walter's thigh, before he asked, "What's wrong, babe?"
Walter looked over at him for a second, then his gaze flitted away to stare at the grey and rainy Virginia sky.
"Everything's fine, Alex," he said, trying for enthusiasm and not quite succeeding.
"Are you having second thoughts?" Alex asked, as direct as always.
Walter looked back at him. "Absolutely not. I want this as much as you do. It's just... the process is... well... humiliating."
The lights changed and Alex squeezed his thigh in sympathy before putting the car in forward motion. He could see why Walter had a problem with what he was about to go through. The whole thing was so much more public and contrived than if he was in a heterosexual relationship, trying to conceive. Alex remembered how the man had nearly died of embarrassment the day he'd given the sperm sample at the clinic when they were trying for Alexander, and how he had confessed afterward that it was the first time in his life he'd ever had a problem performing.
Yet, here he was, over five years older, with the full knowledge of what was in store, ready and willing to accept the commitment of another child and to go through whatever humiliating process was necessary to make it happen. It was in such moments that Alex truly appreciated the depth and scope of Walter Skinner's capacity to love.
After steering into the drive and turning off the engine, he halted Walter's move to exit the car.
"I understand, babe, and I'm right here with you."
Walter laid a hand on his and smiled his 'it's gonna be okay' smile at his lover.
The moment was interrupted when Alexander, hotly pursued by his sitter, came flying round the corner of the house, yelling, "It's my daddies!"
Walter, looking over at the little boy, laughed aloud and remarked, "So, what's a little humiliation?"
Two weeks later, Walter was returning to his office from the monthly briefing with the Director when Marie, his assistant, met him at the door. She took his notecase from him and handed him his coat.
He looked at her enquiringly and asked, "Which one of us is confused here?"
"Neither, sir. You booked some personal time for this afternoon over a week and a half ago. I wrote it into the diary myself."
That raised a sceptical eyebrow, that didn't at all intimidate Marie.
"You have an empty schedule and your desk is clear," she told him." Enjoy your weekend, sir."
Just then his cell phone rang. He juggled his coat to the other arm and removed it from his pocket.
'Alex', it read. He looked up at Marie who was trying to hide her smile. The whiff of conspiracy in the air was unmistakable.
"What's going on?" he demanded.
"Something good," Alex told him, silkily.
"Define 'good'."
"Don't be such a hardass, Walter. I'm parked outside the front entrance so you better move it."
With a rueful glance at Marie, he exited the building.
Alex was tapping impatiently on the steering wheel when Walter opened the door and climbed into the Lexus. He couldn't but notice their mid-sized suitcase and two suit bags that rested on the rear passenger seat.
With a characteristic and unnecessary jolt of acceleration Alex immediately pulled away from the kerb and merged the car with the busy Friday lunchtime traffic.
"Anytime you're ready, Alex," Walter prompted, releasing his hold on the dashboard.
"We're going away for the weekend."
"We are?"
"Yes."
"We're leaving Alexander for a whole weekend?"
"Yes."
"And we're leaving him with whom?"
"I got a good sitter. You don't have to worry, Walter."
Walter had no doubt about that, if Alex was content to leave their son with this person, she must be a cross between Mary Poppins and the Terminator.
"Is it Karen?" he asked, mentally short-listing the sitters they used for the most likely candidate.
"Um... no... " Alex answered as he slowed the car and indicated a right turn.
"Why are we stopping?" Walter asked.
"Because we've arrived," Alex explained.
Walter looked out as they came to a halt under the white stone portico of The Hay-Adams on Lafayette Square.
"We're going away for the weekend to The Hay-Adams?" Walter asked, incredulously.
"It is one of the world's finest hotels," Alex told him, sounding like a travel agent.
Walter laughed aloud. "And it has the added bonus of being less than thirty minutes drive from home."
"Exactly," Alex told him, handing the car over to the valet. "What more could we want?"
The bellhop lifted out their luggage and followed them into the lobby. "We're already checked in." Alex said as he handed him the key card.
"Very good, sir. If you would follow me."
They travelled in the elevator to the third floor and walked along the corridor to the set of double doors at the end. The nameplate on the wall beside them read 'Lafayette Suite'. Walter looked over at Alex, a wry expression on his face. While the younger man's tastes inclined mostly to the simple, his flair for the extravagant could sometimes take Walter by surprise.
It was an impressive room, decorated in cream and white, with a subtle gold trim. A group of sofas and chairs surrounded an open fire and in the corner was a dining table, set for two. On the left, a wide archway led through to the bedroom, where the edge of a canopied double bed was just visible. But it was the view from the four tall windows opposite that held Walter's attention. He left Alex to take care of the tip and went to gaze out through one of them. When the door closed his lover came to stand behind him. Alex had removed his coat and jacket, and he slid his arm around Walter's waist and he pulled him close. They stood together looking out over the square to the White House and the National Monument beyond.
"What's this about, Alex?" Walter asked, gently.
Alex took his time, turning towards the older man's face and grazing his lips lightly along his cheek and jaw. "This is about you, Walter," he explained, taking a deep, scenting breath through his nose and blowing a teasing stream of air across the sensitive skin behind his lover's ear.
Walter shivered slightly in reaction and tilted his head to the side, enabling Alex to bring their lips together in a feathery kiss.
Ending it, he continued. "This is about no phone calls, no distractions, just me having the chance to show you how important you are to me. How much I respect and honour you. How much I love you."
Walter drew in a shaky breath and held it. The last time Alex had been so open about his feelings was the day Walter had flown back to Florida and their life together had begun. Since then, they'd communicated what needed to be said through the language of touch, in which they were both pretty articulate, or in the kind of 'heat of the moment' comments that were gone before anyone could get uptight about them.
Maybe that was why these words sounded so damned good to Walter. Maybe once a decade or so, you just had to break down and actually say them, out loud, in the cold, clear light of day, or at least let them make their own way to the surface.
He turned towards his lover and caught his face between his hands.
"I love you, Alex," he said. "You're my life."
They kissed then, careful not to let the emotional closeness turn to heat, and when their lips parted they found themselves laughing from the euphoric high they'd generated.
"Give me your coat and jacket," Alex said. "Get comfortable."
He took the coats to hang up in the closet and dialled room service.
"Hi, it's Alex Svetlov in the Lafayette Suite, can you serve lunch in half an hour?"
A pause.
"That will be fine, thank you."
Walter left him to put away their things and set off to investigate the rest of the suite. The roomy bedroom led into a marbled bathroom with a twin sinks and a big tub. He was looking at it when Alex carried in their shaving kits.
"That's a good idea," he said and leaned down to turn on the water.
He chose a lemon scented oil from the tiled shelf and poured it into the surging water. Turning back to Walter he ran his hand up the moulded smoothness of the white dress shirt and tugged gently on the knot of the tie to release it. Coaxing it down, he let Walter take over and soon it was undone and tossed onto the sink top, freeing Alex to begin unbuttoning the shirt with firm, unhurried movements of his hand. When it lay open, he stroked across the muscled chest several times, before beginning to ease the shirt off the broad shoulders. Walter helped again, shrugging his way out of the shirt, his eyes never leaving Alex's face.
"Better watch the tub," he warned gently.
Reluctantly, Alex turned away, regulating the flow from each tap until he was satisfied with the temperature. By the time it was ready, Walter had removed his shoes and socks, and his belt and pants were hanging neatly folded over the towel rail. He began removing his boxers, but Alex caught hold of his hand.
"Let me," he said.
Walter nodded and watched as his lover knelt before him and began to ease the boxers down. He was fascinated by the intense concentration on Alex's face as he carried out the simple action, and wasn't surprised to find that the man's, almost reverential, scrutiny of him was enough to cause his cock to spring half-hard from the confining cotton. He stepped out of the boxers when prompted and hissed when Alex, unexpectedly, leaned forward to lay a swathe of kisses across his abdomen and down into the tangles of his pubic hair.
"Easy, Alex, we have to be careful" he ground out, gently pushing the sable head away. "You've got me all fired up, and I have an appointment at the clinic on Tuesday, remember?"
"Uh-uh," Alex looked up at him. "I cancelled it."
"You did what?"
Alex put his arm around Walter's hips and laid his head against his lover's belly.
"I talked to the doctor at the clinic and he told me it isn't necessary to... um, do the deed over there. Many men don't, in fact. He gave me the coded packaging, so we can do this in private, in our own time. And The Hay-Adams is only—"
"Six blocks over from the clinic," Walter interrupted, grinning.
"Yeah," Alex sighed, rubbing his cheek in erratic circles around Walter's belly button, his chin ghosting across a much more sensitive area with each down stroke.
"Jesus, Alex," Walter warned, "will you take it easy. It's been a while since we fucked, and I'm ready to go off like a—" he came to a screeching halt and reached down to haul his lover to his feet.
"You conniving, scheming, manipulative bastard."
"Good to know I haven't lost my touch," Alex smirked at him. "And hey, I've been deprived too, remember. And that wasn't easy. You are one horny guy, Walter Skinner. It's been no picnic keeping you from jumping my bones the last few days."
"Once this is over, I'll show you horny," Walter threatened in a low, sexy growl.
"I can take whatever you got and then—"
The doorbell chimed.
Walter pushed him away reluctantly. "Not bad timing."
Alex disappeared out the door and Walter took off his glasses and stepped into the bath, for the first time grateful for its coolness and Alex's methodical approach to reproduction. He unwrapped a bar of soap and picked up a washcloth, suddenly feeling the urge to be very clean.
The younger man returned carrying a plate, which he set down on the broad tiles surrounding the tub. Walter looked at its contents and chuckled, as Alex pulled the chair over and took a seat. With delicate grace he picked up an asparagus tip and dipped it into the creamy hollandaise sauce. He held it to Walter's lips and fed it to him carefully, enjoying how the older man licked his fingers clean for him, before he took his own share.
"So," Walter asked, trying to keep the temperature down a little, "who is sitting Alexander this weekend?"
Alex squirmed a little in the chair.
"It kinda worked out well," he prevaricated. "Have you ever noticed how that can happen?"
"Frequently," Walter informed him, fixing him with the old AD stare. "Who?"
"My Mom was free this weekend and she was glad to help out."
It came out in a rush and he quickly prepared the next piece of asparagus and held it to Walter's lips. Walter dodged it.
"You flew Vera up from Florida?"
Alex nodded.
"Does she know why?"
"No! I told you this is private," Alex said indignantly. "I told her we were going to a seminar. In fact, I really don't think she listened to the reason. Before I could finish she said she needed to hang up so she could call the airline."
Walter chuckled. "I'll bet, and I'm glad it's Vera. A weekend can be very long when you're four and three quarters."
"I promised him, you'd call at dinner time."
"Mmm," Walter agreed, accepting the asparagus.
When the bath water became uncomfortably cool, Walter climbed out of the tub and accepted the bath towel Alex held out to him. The younger man then took another towel and dried his lover's shoulders and back, before going out to the living room. Putting on one of the thick, towelling robes Walter took his place at the dining table and watched as Alex drew the shades and lighted the lamps, then sat opposite him to serve them both from the range of dishes the waiter had left on heated trays.
"I discern a trend," Walter stated, looking over the fare on offer; poached eggs with truffles, shrimp and oysters, even l'escargot.
"See, that's why you made Deputy Director, Walter."
"And we need all this because—?"
"Actually it's for me," Alex said, straight-faced. "I gotta keep up somehow."
"Smart mouth," Walter bitched.
"Time will tell," Alex quipped back, but the words silenced Walter, who dropped his gaze to watch the mouth in question.
They nibbled half heartedly at the food for a few minutes, but is was plain that their appetites had deserted them both, so Alex stood up and took hold of Walter's hand, leading him to the bed. Standing beside it they kissed and held each other tightly for a long time, then Alex went to his knees in front of Walter, unbelted and parted the robe and took his hardening cock into his mouth. The sensation almost overwhelmed the older man and he moved to brace his feet, reaching out one hand to steady himself against the bedpost, while the other cupped the sable head before him.
"Mmm... that's so good, Alex..."
Alex increased his attentions, licking and sucking on the head while his hand caressed the heavy, laden balls.
Walter groaned loudly and Alex began to gradually back off, knowing it wasn't going to take much more. When he allowed the engorged, stiff cock to slip from his lips, he stood to kiss Walter deeply, then as the older man watched he banked up the pillows and cushions against the headboard and folded the comforter back. Kicking off his shoes he climbed onto the bed and spread his legs, reaching out invitingly to Walter once he was settled. Unable to prevent his nervous swallow, Walter dropped the robe and took his place in the V of Alex's legs, leaning back against the solid strength of his lover.
Alex's hand began to move unceasingly across the older man's body with the knowing touch of a long time lover.
"You are so sexy, babe," he murmured. "It's been hell the last few days, not being able to touch you."
He reached over to the nightstand and took a bottle of lube from the drawer.
"But we're going to take care of that now," he promised. "Hold out your hand, Walter."
He squeezed the liquid onto Walter's palm and let the bottle fall to the side. Guiding Walter's hand downward, he kept it covered with his own, encouraging his lover to stroke and pull in the way he favoured. Walter's other hand moved lower and he spread his legs wider, lifting them over Alex's before he began working his balls.
"Close your eyes, Walter," Alex instructed.
He watched Walter obey and settle more deeply into his enveloping embrace, before he reached into the drawer again to take out the plastic cup. He held it on the sheet, trusting to his intimate knowledge of his lover's body.
"Still good, babe?" he asked.
"Unnnh... "
He loved it when Walter was incoherent and to keep him that way he licked deeply into his ear, then blew into it softly. The resulting groan was toe curling.
"I've never seen you so big," he purred.
Walter's hands moved faster and his hips began to move, and Alex knew it was time to put the cup in place.
"Come on, sweetheart, that's it... do it... do it now..."
Walter grunted and came, continuing to stroke and knead until it felt as if he was completely drained. Reaching his limit he went limp and Alex put the cup into the drawer and capped it firmly. He closed the drawer and turned his attention back to Walter. Rolling him onto his side he leaned over to cover his face with kisses.
"You're wonderful, babe," he murmured, before going to fetch a washcloth from the bathroom.
With his lover cleaned up and covered by the comforter, Alex hunkered down by the side of the bed.
"I won't be long, Walter. Just six blocks, remember?"
"You promise?"
Alex straightened up and took Walter's hand to hold it against his crotch.
"What do you think, babe?"
Walter laughed and listened to Alex moving about the room. When the suite door slammed shut he turned over onto his stomach and burrowed into the pillow, gathering his strength for the return of his lover. What had just happened was incredibly good, and not only in the physical sense. He felt loved and treasured and warm and safe. He felt the tug of sleep too, but he resisted. He knew Alex wouldn't wake him if he found him asleep and he didn't want to waste one single second of their time alone and together. Life was great and waiting for them, and maybe soon it would be even richer, but all that could wait.
He had the feeling this really was 'as good as it gets'... and, if it was, he had no complaints.
Finis
