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Date: Sun, 18 Aug 2024 21:20:12 +0200
From: Ryan White <liciousryan@gmail.com>
Subject: Holy Shit My Brother Is Hot, Chapter 9

AHOY PEEPS!!

Okay, just a heads up, I dunno HOW I'm gonna say goodbye to this story.

Starting it, just like I would have any other on Nifty, I honestly hoped
for TEN emails of feedback on Chapter One, because that total is what I
rate myself as a chapter being a "success".

I'm weird like that!

But if I have to total ALL the emails of feedback that I have gotten it is
literally over 500 all together...I can only say THANK YOU and THANK YOU
all over again.

After this...only ONE chapter to go! EEK!!

Enjoy the ninth chapter!
Ryan xx



HOLY SHIT, MY BROTHER IS HOT!
CHAPTER NINE



"You're a sick son of a bitch, Craig Turner...and I'm NOT gonna apologise
for falling in love with Lucas, not to YOU of ALL people," I whispered,
with all of the anger in me, because a blind man in New Jersey knew what
was coming next.

Craig smirked and patted his trouser pocket where the memory stick safely
laid.

"You're fucking your kid brother, and you call ME sick? In that being
said...I REALLY don't care where you end up going tomorrow...but you are
going to book a flight far, far away from here. And if you EVER...and I
mean EVER even THINK of seeing Lucas ever again, I'll email every SECOND of
this content that I have of the two of you in bed...to the papers...to the
cops...I'll even make a special copy for your mother..."

"I FUCKING HATE YOU!" I screamed as loud as I could, but that did nothing
to Craig's demeanour.

"I couldn't care less. You leave here tomorrow and you never see Lucas
again, or I go the papers and the cops, and I take the story of the decade
with me. We good?" was his final, scathing words, as he turned around, and
walked right out of my life.

**

I don't think I remember, looking back, how I actually had gotten from the
outside back into the house.

Not even to mention how I actually got into my room without bursting into a
massive fountain of tears.

When I came back to reality, I had my suitcase already halfway packed, and
I was frantically just looking for any and everything that I could think of
to try my best to erase my entire existence here, it felt. As if I wanted
to make sure that after Craig's despicable taunts and threats, that my
family would be protected and would be much better of without me.

How the fuck did I even think ANY of this was EVER going to work out, in
the long term? I must have been out of my fucking mind!

Getting into a hot steamy affair with my younger kid brother was one thing,
but wanting...yearning...CRAVING desperately to have it turn into something
more...WAY MORE than just THAT, was something which I think I dreamed of in
THEORY, but I never actually worked out how to actually DO it.

Tears were now fucking streaming down my face if they weren't before...I
could hardly see anything through the watery substances cascading down my
cheeks and dripping all over the duvet on my bed. Lucas was EVERYWHERE that
I even dared to look.

The bed where we had made love for the first time...I choked back a raw cry
from the deep caverns of my throat whilst I just continued randomly
throwing clothes and stuff into my suitcases, wanting to GET AWAY from here
as quickly as possible, terrified to hell that Craig would actually do good
on his threat to expose myself and Lucas to the rest of the world.

At this moment, I honestly didn't care about my well-being, but I was
extremely worried about how Lucas's life would be destroyed if this ever
came out.

Craig WOULD do it...he fucking would, I totally saw it in his eyes...he was
hurt, beyond belief, and now he wanted to give me a feeling about what THAT
felt like in return. Fuck...he wouldn't bat an eyelid right how in sending
that damning CCTV video of me and Lucas having sex to every newspaper and
social media app in this country!

I frantically grabbed my phone, wanting to book the first flight back to
Cape Town that I could get, but in my haste to just get away from this
wretched farm, it totally slipped out of my hands, landing on the soft
carpet with a hard THUD.

Something inside me broke, as I saw my phone laying on the floor, that I
sunk down to my knees, very slowly, almost as if I had been put on slow
rewind in an ancient film of noir, before I buried my face inside the warm
palms of my hands as I finally let out my emotions. The fact that I was
forced now to leave Lucas behind...probably for as long as Craig would
live, I would never be able to make contact with him or my family
again...that was the deal...

...because even though Van knew, and had no problem with it, even though
Natasha knew, and still wanted to burn me alive at the stake for it...THAT
I could still handle.

But the fact that my poor mother, having just lost her husband, finally
having all of her kids under her roof once again for the first time in
nearly a decade, the fact that she too, would finally KNOW how Lucas and I
felt about each other...

...that was something that I wasn't ready for. And I doubted very much if
Lucas was either.

I obviously didn't realise just how loud I had been with all the packing
and now with my incessant crying, because the door of my room flew open,
followed very quickly by both my brothers, as Van and then Lucas stood
beside me, seeing the REAL me for probably the first time in my entire
life...a sobbing, pathetic MESS of a person who had totally destroyed the
lives of his entire fucking family.

Lucas was at my level of sight first, as he took both my hands away from my
wet, tear-drenched features, and looked up worrying at Van.

"Jacky, what the hell happened? What did Craig fucking do to you?" Lucas
demanded, his voice as cold as ice, his handsome face full of sudden anger
and resentment.

Van knelt next to me, and he softly placed his hand on my shoulder, and
softly squeezed it.

"Tell me Jack...I'll fuck the bastard up good and proper this time..." he
started to say but I urgently shook my head and forced myself to actually
get up.

Seeing the worried looks on my brother's faces, made me wanna BAWL even
more, but I tried to compose myself...but that was before Lucas hugged
himself to me, to my person, burying his face in the crook of my neck,
before Van finally realised just WHAT I had been busy doing, before they
had come in here.

"Jesus Jack...you're leaving us? Fucking hell, what HAPPENED with you and
Craig out there? Wait a second...you ain't taking the fucker back, are
you?" Van shouted underneath his breath, as Lucas immediately came up from
underneath my chin, before he stepped away from me, his eyes as white as
snow as he realised there was suitcases and junk everywhere, clear evidence
that I had been busy packing up to get out of here.

Lucas shook his head slowly, as if in denial what his brain was telling him
that he was seeing, before he looked in my eyes, complete and utter
devastation and misery written all over his handsome, boyish face.

"Why...why are you doing this?" he whispered, before I attempted to reach
out to him, but he backed away, out of my reach, breaking what was left of
my heart into a million more little pieces.

"Guys, I'm trying to SLEEP here!" Natasha alerted us to her presence as she
entered my room, yawning as she spoke, before she was suddenly WIDE awake,
only then seeing in what a state all three of her brothers were. Not even
to mention, my room.

"I saw Craig was here earlier...what the hell is going on? What did he say?
Jack?" she hissed towards me, her voice gaining just a little tad of
altitude as she did so, before she crossed her arms around her belly, as if
she was in complete and utter pain.

Van sneered towards her.

"What the hell do you care? You've written Jack and Lukey off ages ago! Why
don't you go back to your room and allow us to sort this out, okay?" he
said, his scathing words obviously hurting her way more than he realised.

Natasha scoffed at Van, before she came over towards me, and nervously,
slowly, placed her soft hand on my arm.

"Jack, what did Craig say?" she asked gently.

More tears flowed down my eyes, hearing my sister treat me with actual
respect for the first time in months, to the point where my body just GAVE
in. I sat down on my bed, with my siblings, as one, all surrounding me,
with Lucas at my side, with Van at my other and with Natasha kneeling down
and taking both my hands inside of her very own.

Jesus Christ Almighty. This was my family. This was my BLOOD...my God damn
DNA. This was where I had belonged, after all this time away. Even Dad,
when he chased me away from this ranch all those years ago, could never and
would NEVER break the bond that we four had between us.

"Jack...tell us," Natasha repeated herself again, her face as pale as I had
ever seen it.

I took a deep breath, because I knew that I would only be able to say this
once. I honestly didn't know if I would be able to look any of them in the
eye when I did.

"Craig...well, there is no fucking easy way to say this, I'm just going
to...Van...Tash...you all know that me and Lucas are kinda dating and last
week when I took him to Cape Town with me...there's literally no reason to
even hide it now...we...we had..."

Lucas rolled his eyes and stared back at his siblings.

"WE HAD SEX! Okay? Pick up a fucking rock and stone us to death now, will
you?"

For a moment, everything was silent.

Tash gave out a huge sigh, and she didn't look happy for shit, but at the
same time, she didn't let go of my hand either.

Van, being Van, was smiling so happily that it literally looked as if he
slept with a hanger in his mouth.

"You fucking dogs, you..." he stated gleefully, proud more than anything
else.

"I think we all knew that to begin with...but what does that have to do
with..." Natasha started to say, but that's when I recovered my voice.

I had to be the one to say it. I owed them THAT much.

"But the thing is, we were stupid enough and we did it in me and Craig's
old bedroom...and what I didn't know was that the bastard that CCTV
installed whilst I was away! And now he's..."

"...he's fucking blackmailing your ass! I KNEW IT! I knew there was a
reason you were suddenly packing up and getting the hell out of here! Where
is he? Is he still out there?" Van asked angrily, his fists pumped and
ready to fight at any moment.

"VAN, STOP IT! Fuck, I KNEW something like this would happen at some point,
I just KNEW IT!" Natasha hissed towards herself, more than anything else.

Lucas was quiet as anything, before he swallowed, his eyes as wide as I had
ever seen it.

"So that means...?" he questioned me, already knowing the horrible
answer. He must have done.

I stood up and took him quickly into my arms, smelling his blond hair as I
buried my face inside of the clean strands, holding the love of my life in
my arms, never wanting to even ATTEMPT to let go. He could feel my heart
pounding against his chest, because I for sure, could feel his own. A raw
cry escaped from the depts of my sore throat, and I gently kissed his
temple, before I kissed his lips, only once, looking him deep in his
beautiful blue eyes.

"I can't ever see you again, or he will send that video and photos to
kingdom come, Lukey..." I whispered; tears once more streaming down my
face.

"THE BASTARD! I can't believe I was ever in love with that ASSHOLE!" Van
shouted out, kicking out at my bed in anger as if that would solve
anything.

Natasha stood up and held her hand over her mouth for a while, before she
shook her head.

"Jack, you can't leave us. It doesn't matter how I feel about what you and
Lucas are doing, you're my brother and I love you. Me and you, we have
ALWAYS had each other's backs here. It would kill Mom, to start with...God,
she's so happy that her entire family are under her roof again! You and Van
are better brothers than you ever were! And...well, if I have to be honest,
Lucas has never looked more happier than he does now."

She walked over to me and I gasped as I felt my sister embrace me, holding
me tight towards her body.

"You can't leave. You just can't! I'm gonna need you so much for...never
mind," she whispered before she so abruptly ended her sentence.

Van stood closer and took both me and Tash in his huge arms. Tash rolled
her eyes at his sudden affection, but I could also see a wry smile
stretching the corners of her mouth.

"Tash is right, brother. You ain't going anywhere. We'll find a way to deal
with this. Besides, I wanna hear everything first about you and Slugger
over there and the weekend you had...I mean, who fucked who first and who's
dick is bigger..."

"SHUT UP, VAN!" came the voices of myself, Tash and Lucas all together,
before I looked over at our kid brother, who was standing alone all by
himself, not sure what to do, or what to say since he had heard about
Craig's blackmail.

"Lukey...you get in here...come on, brother..." I said, as I held out my
arm towards him.

He smiled sadly, as he slowly walked over as we completed our massive
family group hug. Holding each other tight, succumbing to our mutual love
and affection we had for each other, never before needing to unite in a
manner such as this. I could FEEL the love emanating from my siblings over
to me, and I knew they felt mine, spreading to them as well.

But all of that still didn't answer the one question we all had in the back
of our minds...

...how were we doing to deal with Craig and his threats to destroy what we
had?

**

I swear, looking back years from that point, if you ever told me the answer
to the above-mentioned question, I would have insisted you book yourself in
for psychiatric evaluation.

The following morning, I quietly opened the door to Lucas's room, where he
peacefully slept.

God knows how he managed it, because I couldn't get even five minutes sleep
the night before. Worrying myself silly about how nasty Craig has
become...but as he said...it was ME that made him that way. In a way, he
was right, though! I couldn't even argue with that! We had a happy marriage
before I had come back to the ranch, and reconnected with Lucas in a way
that I would have imagined.

I broke us. I broke HIM!

A little voice at the back of my mind kept pestering me over and
over...what would stop Craig from leaking that footage to the papers and
social media, even if I did what he was demanding? I could get on a plane
to fucking Dubai and there would literally be nothing stopping him from
destroying me anyway!

I had to hope that Craig had just...that little bit of humanity left inside
him that I KNEW was there. That the man that I had loved with all my heart
for three years, wouldn't do that to me, if I did as I was told. Of course,
there would be no guarantees. I would be gone, but Lucas would still be
there to face the music. There was a side of Craig that I didn't even
recognise at this point, and that frightened the shit out of me, to be
honest. There was no telling what he might do.

Cheating on your husband was one thing.

Cheating on him with your fifteen-year-old brother?

Yikes.

I leaned down as I got as close to Lucas without waking him, and gently
placed a kiss on his forehead. God, I loved him. I would conquer the world
for him. I was prepared to leave here last night, never to lay eyes on him
again, only so that he would be loved and protected. I couldn't stop myself
and I reached out and gently ran my fingers through his blond hair...the
same way I would do it when he was only a few months old, sleeping softly
in my arms.

"I can't live without you. I just can't...I love you more than anything
else, Lukey..." I whispered softly, before I heard a noise from the door.

I slowly turned around and there was Natasha, looking at me in sheer
thought, along with two cups of coffee in her hand.

"Peace offering?" she silently mouthed to me.

"Porch!" I mouthed back, before I turned back towards Lucas, and gently
placed another blanket on top of the sleeping teenager, as I suddenly
realised but must at least be what...three degrees outside? When I was sure
he was warm enough, I left the room, taking the cup of coffee from my
sister, and following her diligently towards the outside, where she slowly
sat down.

It was then, that I saw she was drinking tea, rather than coffee.

There were a few moments of somewhat comfortable silence between us, as she
both drank out hot fluids, before Tash sighed and turned towards me.

"You know, I never really GOT it until last night."

"What?"

She took another sip of her tea.

"You...you and Lucas. I mean...of course I had been in love before but
never on a level that you guys clearly are. I know it's wrong...and I guess
I just didn't wanna accept that he felt the exact same way. Or the fact
that you cheated on Craig. But besides that, you're brothers. Your shared
DNA alone should have been enough to stop this from ever happening."

My heart sank... I honestly thought me and Tash had turned a corner.

"Natasha, I really don't have the energy to defend myself any further right
now..."

Her hand landed on mine, as I made haste to get up, and away from her.

"I didn't mean it like that. What I'm trying to say is...looking at you and
Lucas last night, and seeing how you...you so lovingly took care of him
this morning...plus I heard what you said to him. You should really learn
how to whisper more softly, brother."

Blushing profusely, I relaxed as I saw the warmth and the love that she had
for me in her eyes and I playfully nudged her with my shoulder.

"There is something else I wanted to tell you. I've wanted to tell you for
a long ass time, but I didn't know how to even say it. Perhaps you will
then also understand why I have been...a little touchy with you these past
few weeks."

"A `little' touchy?" I smirked.

Natasha showed me the finger.

"Look, in all seriousness, I think I might have a way to stop Craig with
what he's trying to do. In telling you, that you can't ever see us
again...firstly, HOW DARE HE? What does he know about our little family? We
fucking survived Butch Holt, brother! Surely we can survive a little
chameleon like your ex-husband!"

I sighed.

"Tash, you gotta understand that Craig is hurting. I cheated on him and..."

"FOR GOD'S SAKE, JACK! Can I just FINISH? You weren't the only one who
CHEATED!"

I spat out what coffee I had in my mouth. It was dripping all over Mom's
precious begonias, but I really couldn't give any less of a shit, right
then.

I heard her correctly...I wasn't deaf. But my brain was refusing to
register her damning words.

"What...what did you just say?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Tash stood up, placing her tea down next to me, before she pursed her lips
and held her arms around her stomach, before she sighed and opened up her
gown, revealing to me what she must have been hiding for close to two or
three months.

I stared at her swollen belly for what seemed like fucking eternity, before
my eyes flickered upwards at her own, with sheer and desperate disbelief.

"You're...you're..."

"Pregnant. Yes," she finished my sentence for me.

But I wasn't ready for the bombshell that followed.

"When I said that I knew of a way that we could get Craig to back the hell
off...I meant it. Because you see Jack..." she whispered, before she took
my hands inside her own yet again, hers as cold as ice.

"...this baby...is Craig's."

**

I heard her correctly, alright.

There was no way that Natasha would EVER say this to me, in THIS particular
time and place, if it wasn't the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth.

I opened my mouth to actually respond...if only my tongue wasn't totally
frozen to the rest of my mouth. I shook my head, trying to make sense of
what she was saying...it seemed to...UNBELIEVABLE for obvious reasons such
as Craig was GAY to begin with...

...but there was something in her eyes which forced me to at least give her
a chance to explain.

"Sit down, okay?" she gently said, her hands still in mine, as we did just
that, brother and sister, united as one.

She squeezed my hands and placed one hand on her stomach.

"I haven't told anyone yet, not Van, certainly not Lucas, and definitely
not Mom. God knows, she'll kill both me and Craig and ask questions
later..."

I finally regained life back in my body.

"Tash...I just don't get it. I wanna believe you, you're my sister and I
know you wouldn't say this just to hurt me...but I can't for the life of
me, imagine you and Craig...ever...doing that!" I choked out of my
horse-dry throat.

Natasha smiled sadly, before she sat back and drank the last of her tea.

"Remember just before you left us to go back to Cape Town, when you and
Craig had to sign some papers? He was here, just the week before. You and
Lucas were out, and by then I didn't know about you two yet either. When he
realised you weren't here, he begged me to at least have dinner with him in
town, because he wanted to prove his case to me...probably enlist my help
in getting you back."

Natasha took another deep breath before she continued.

"Long story short, he talked about you all night, and because I didn't know
about you and Lucas, I urged him to fight for you. But he kept ordering
drinks and kept wasting his sorrows away and I didn't wanna be rude and you
know I don't actually drink so when he ordered Jagermeister of all things,
I had NO idea what I was getting myself into..."

"Jagermeister! On an empty stomach? Jesus, Tash!"

"I know that NOW, okay? Not that it changes anything...he was way too drunk
to drive me home and I didn't want Mom to see me like THAT, so he booked us
two rooms at a motel in town. And I literally cannot remember ANYTHING
after that...but when I woke up the next morning, I was in bed with
Craig. He was holding me, even going as far as to call your name in his
sleep. It was then that I realised we were both naked...I could actually
FEEL his...THING against my backside."

I leaned forward, and placed both my hands over my mouth in a total serene
bout of shock and sadness. What the hell did I DO to Craig! The most that
he ever actually drank when we were married, was ONE BEER when we hosted a
BBQ or when we would go out dancing or whatever...he never, ever got DRUNK
like Tash was describing!

NOT ONCE!

"We look alike a lot, me and you, you know that, right? I guess with all
the alcohol in his system he couldn't tell the difference. And...the way
that I knew this baby is his and only his, was because...well, I was a
virgin before that night. It literally cannot be anyone else's," Tash
finished her story, and as I looked back at her, I saw that she was softly
crying.

"It's not your fault, okay? I had a choice that night, too. I knew that I
shouldn't allow myself to drink that much, and yet I did. I always thought
Craig was handsome as hell...and you always told me how well he treated
you, and I kinda felt safe with him. Please...don't let this ruin what you
and Lucas have built. I look at that boy and I can't remember ever seeing
him as happy as he is now. YOU did that, brother. YOU showed him what love
really is."

I threw myself at my sister, careful as to not hurt her, in the state that
she was in. I loved all my siblings dearly, but I think we all had a
special affection for Natasha, being the only rose amongst us thorns. I
kissed her cheek and held her tight to me.

"You really think this could work, though? Is Craig even going to believe
you?" I whispered against her temple.

Natasha withdrew from the hug, and my eyes widened as I saw the sheer,
volatile, determined look on her face.

"Let him try destroy our family, brother. I'll make sure he never sees his
kid ever, if he does!" she hissed.

**

Craig looked up from where he was sitting inside the Mugg and Bean coffee
shop, when Natasha and I walked in.

The glee on his face was something that I wanted to remove
myself...personally...but I knew I had to stay strong for myself and for my
sister. There was no telling how THIS was all going to go.

"Oh, looky here...it's my ex-husband and my ex-sister-in-law! I was
surprised when you called, Tash, is there anything at all that I can help
you guys with? Anything at all?" he asked so fucking innocently, sickening
me at how butter wouldn't have melted in his mouth right about then.

"Easy..." I whispered to Tash, before we both sat down and shook our heads
when the waiter wanted our order.

Craig smirked at both of us, obviously realising that I told Tash what he
was threatening to do. He picked up his teaspoon and stirred his coffee in
silence, before he turned to us.

"So, Jack, have you booked your flight yet?" he asked, his eyes gleaming
with pride and immense satisfaction.

Was this really the man I spent five years of my life with? Dated for two,
married for three?

Jesus, I know I had hurt him beyond belief, but this was insane. INSANE!

"No, I haven't and I'm not planning to either," I answered, determined as
anything not to give him more pleasure than what I already had to.

Craig frowned and for a moment he seemed vulnerable, before he managed to
pull himself together.

"Well, you know what I'm planning to do with that footage if you don't, so
I'm asking you again...when the hell is your flight?" he replied, his voice
as well as his attitude raised, just a tad.

It was then that Natasha was seemingly tired of staying out of this.

"Take a good look at this, Craig, then we can talk again about Jack's
supposed flight..." she whispered, pushing over an envelope to him.

Amused as anything, Craig reached over and opened said envelope...I knew
him. He wouldn't dare say anything nasty to Tash, besides his beef was with
me, not with her. Seeing us together here, he had to have realised that she
told me about their night of drunken passion.

His entire features seemed to SINK the moment that he pulled out the
picture of the sonar that Tash had printed out weeks ago, combined with how
far along she was and all that baby jazz. He looked upwards at Tash,
fleetingly over at me, before he placed the photo back inside the envelope
and near damn throwing it over towards me.

"Is this supposed to be some kind of a joke?" he hissed through his teeth,
but AGAIN, I knew him way too well and he KNEW it. He was rattled. Rattled
a lot.

I cleared my throat and handed the envelope back to Tash, who placed both
of her hands in front of her on the table, joined in a united fist,
businesslike more than anything else. She stared at Craig as if he had just
had shit the biggest fucking chocolate log in the entire universe...she was
Butch Holt's daughter after all.

"Before you start with saying...oh this could be anyone's baby...you're a
lawyer, you might wanna call my gynaecologist and make sure of your
facts. That night we spent together was my FIRST TIME...and they can prove
that. I have also, only been with you, ever in my life. And if you don't
wanna believe THAT...you're more than welcome to organise DNA tests when
the time is right...because I know what the result will be."

Craig swallowed. Hard and slow.

No sign now, whatsoever, of the cocky imbecile who had welcomed us with so
much grand sarcastic wit and valuer.

"Now, let's get one thing straight, Craig. You fuck with my family, and
I'll fuck with yours. Jack here told me how your father was always on your
case, given the fact that you would never give him an heir, because you
married a man. If you don't hand over EVERY SINGLE footage of him and Lucas
together, then I will make the hell sure that you, or your family, will
NEVER see this child, ever in your lives! I've had enough of your fucking
reign of terror around here!"

Craig shook his head, staring at Tash as if he was now really seeing her as
a person for the first time, before he sneered at me.

"This is how you wanna play it? You send your sister to fight your fucking
battles for you? And you, Natasha? You actually APPROVE of what he's been
doing? Lucas is your kid brother too!? How...you cannot DO this to me! I am
the victim here!"

Natasha stood up and she opened up her winter coat, the same way as she
exposed her belly to me that morning, to the dad to be. Craig turned
several shades of red as he realised that Tash was telling the truth,
somewhat resembling what an overcooked tomato must look like. His eyes
dropped as he looked upwards to her.

"That's...you're really...that's really my kid in there?" he whispered, as
in sheer amazement, revealing to me at once that some part of the "old
Craig" was still left in there. We often had talked about starting a family
before...that was one of the main issues he had with his family when he
came out, and when we had subsequently got married.

Natasha pulled my up by my arm and signalled that we were done here.

"Every...single...piece...of evidence. I mean it, Craig. And as far as I'm
concerned you STOPPED being any sort of VICTIM, the moment that you started
blackmailing my brother. If not, I'll call your folks MYSELF and tell them
what you have threatened to do to Jack and Lucas, and that I refuse to have
them EVER have contact with their only grandson if you go through with
this. You think about that. EVERY...SINGLE...FOOTAGE..." she hissed towards
him, before she pulled me out of the coffee shop effective immediately.

For a moment, I could have sworn Craig muttered the word "FUCK" out loud as
I was being pulled away.

Once outside, I stared in awe at Natasha, with a new profound sense of
pride and brotherly love...because she was JUST did was so way out of
character for her, it was funny to believe she actually just down right
THREATENED my ex-husband.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with my sister?" I asked, in
sheer disbelief.

Tash's eyes flashed dangerously.

"You mess with my family, and you mess with me," she simply answered.

I don't think I have EVER loved her more.

**

Two weeks or so had passed, and I was still living on the ranch.

Not as much as a peep from Craig since then, nor was there any news in the
papers or online about two brothers having been caught fucking inside the
bed of the one brother's former home that he shared with his ex-husband...

...so, I could only hope that Craig had gotten the message.

I knew how much it meant to him to have a child of his own, and although
himself and Natasha would have a lot to work through, my sister was strong
enough to handle him. I had literally seen it with my own two eyes.

Lucas was listening to music on his phone in the kitchen one early morning
in beginning of September, before I entered as well, yearning some
much-needed coffee. I softly creeped up behind him and he jumped with
fright the very moment that I took him in my arms.

"Hey you..." he whispered softly, as I breathed him in. All fucking boy. My
beautiful blond, little soldier.

Well, not so fucking little, he already dwarfed my entire size and stature,
despite our eight-year age difference.

And don't think the little shit didn't fucking know that.

I kissed the back of his neck, as I held him in silence for a few moments.

"I love you, Lukey..." I said quietly, before I felt him reach up and take
my hand in his own.

"I feel your pain, brother..." he giggled, before he turned around and
kissed the tip of my nose, clearly boyishly happy as anything.

"GET A ROOM, LOVE BIRDS!" Van whispered as loud as he possibly could, when
he too entered, so much so, that I reached for a nearby dishcloth and THREW
him with the damn thing.

"Van, seriously...Mom might come in here any moment!" I scowled him, like
he even cared.

"I hate to break this to you, but are gonna have to tell her sometime,
brother. You two can't ever really make this work if you don't. I really
don't wanna piss all over your corn flakes, but you know what I mean," Van
replied, his face suddenly serious.

Lucas took hold of my hand and softly squeezed it, before I kissed his in
return.

Sigh...did Van think that I didn't KNOW all that? It was literally ALL THAT
I thought about!

At breakfast, Mom received a phone call, which she answered, and I was half
way through my eggs and bacon, when she returned, with a worried expression
slashed all over her face.

"Mom?" I asked, clearly seeing that something was bothering her.

Oh, sweet Jesus, please tell me Craig didn't go through with his SICK
threats after all...

"Mom, is everything okay? You feeling sick?" Natasha asked, no doubt
thinking the same, as she hastily stood up...once more wearing a ridiculous
amount of clothing so that neither Mom, Van or Lucas could see her swollen
stomach.

All that we told Van and Lucas, was that the Craig problem was "sorted
out", not all the details. Natasha, bless her, wasn't quite ready for that
yet.

Mom sat down with us at the table, before looking round at each of us four
kids, before she sighed, and held up the phone still in her hand.

"That was your father's lawyer...the will is ready to be read. Miranda
Fitzgerald is coming over here this evening," she replied softly.

Van immediately stood up and placed both his hand on our mother's shoulders
in total support and love.

"Don't you worry about a thing, Mother. We will all be here, okay?"

I shook my head, earning daggers from my younger brother.

"Van, I dunno about if I should come too, there is more chance of me dating
KJ Apa, then Dad leaving me anything..."

Van cleared his throat, and for the first time in months, he stared at me
with DEATH in his eyes.

"WE...WILL...ALL...BE...HERE, right Jacky Boy?" he raised his voice, before
signalling at me with his eyes what he would do, if I wasn't there to
support our mother.

I sighed.

Fucking hell. I so didn't wanna hear or even as much as witness whatever
was in that will.

God knows, that I fucking wasn't.

**

"Are we all here?" Miranda Fitzgerald, our dad's trust and long-time lawyer
asked as she had us all gathered at the kitchen table, for the reading of
the will.

I rolled my eyes...what was I even DOING here?

Miranda, satisfied that all persons named inside of my father's will was
attended, and that I had every right to be there as per my mother's
request, she opened up a huge brown envelope, and cleared her throat,
before she started reading.

"I, Butch Meyer Holt, being of sound mind and body, declare that this is my
only last will and testament, and I declare all others made by me before
this date, completely invalid."

"Here we go..." Van whispered, breaking the tension as he always did,
before my mother shut his face up with ONE nasty look of her stern
exterior.

"One, to my beloved wife, Elizabeth Mary Holt, I bequeath the amount of
R150 000, as well as life time fruit usage of Sabre Peak Ranch, for as long
as the ranch remains in the Holt family, until the day that she passes
away."

Van nearly choked on his own saliva.

"WHAT? Where the hell did he get THAT sort of money?" he hissed towards no
one in particular, but I think he just said what all were thinking.

Before his death, Dad desperately wanted to SELL the ranch...quite simply
because it was not doing well in recovering from the damage that Covid had
brought to selling our horses to outsiders.

Miranda remained undisturbed.

"Two, to my son, Evan Michael Holt..."

I felt Van tense up next to me, and not caring what anyone would have to
say or think, I took his hand in mine, and held it tightly. Van worshipped
Dad...he was own mini me. This, whatever happened next, would be something
that Van would always, always remember. Dad's final words to him.

"...I leave the amount of R75 000, as well as fifty percent of the shares
as well as fifty percent ownership of Sabre Peak Ranch. He has a life long
right to work and earn his living on the land, if he so pleases. However,
should he choose to sell said ranch, he has to receive written permission
from the remaining shareholder to do so."

Van shuddered as he heard Miranda's words, taking him a while to figure out
what she had just said.

"Wait...only fifty percent? Who the hell is this other shareholder?
Natasha? Lucas? Is it Mom? Dad always said he wanted ME to run the ranch
after his death," he asked, poor man was as confused as anything.

"Van, let the woman do her job! For God's sake!" Natasha hissed towards
him, before I patted him on the shoulder, my way of telling him to calm
down. He smiled weakly at back at me.

"Three, to my daughter, Natasha Elizabeth Holt, I leave the sum of R40 000,
to be given to her on the day that she graduates from her tertiary
education. However, should she see fit to quit her studies before it's
completion, her sum total would be donated to the Agricultural Freedom
Society."

"Shocker..." Natasha giggled, as did I.

The last thing that Tash would ever do is give up her studies, she was way
too career orientated for that.

"Four, to my youngest son, Lucas Nathan Holt, I leave the amount of R25
000, to be placed effective immediately, into a high-interest business
account, where it would be able to grow and increase, with half to be
released to him on the day that he turns eighteen. The remaining funds can
be used for his further study, or to be paid out to him in full, on the day
that he turns twenty-one."

"You're a rich little shit now, Lukey..." Van playfully taunted his kid
brother, and I winked at Lucas in return.

Out of all the people gathered around this table, me and Van were the only
ones who knew that Lucas had accidently killed our father, and we would go
with that information to our graves.

I stood up and took my coffee cup and drained the rest of my coffee all in
one go.

"Glad that this is over now, and we can move on with our lives...if you
will all excuse me, I have a hot bath to get to..." I said, before Miranda
Fitzgerald frowned over at me, her glasses raised just a tad.

"Excuse me, Jack, but I am not done," she said, her voice perfectly on
point.

I looked helplessly over at Van, for any sort of help in this regard,
before he simply shook his head and pointed his eyes towards our
mother. The message was clear. We need to be there for her, until all of
this is done.

I sat down, and scowled at my siblings like a naughty fucking child.

"Seriously, what is there left to even say? You all were already named,
what's is there possibly more to discuss?" I choked out the illicit words
with FEELING to boot.

"Jack! You will stay quiet and LISTEN to what your father had to say! That
is an order!" came the dashing words from my mother.

"Why? I don't get why I even should be here in the first place! You heard
the man, he went straight from Mom to Van in his spreading of the family
estate...if I was even IN there, then surely I should have come BEFORE Van,
because I am the oldest!" I hissed out of pure and morbid frustration.

Miranda sighed, after I was done with my little rant and rave, and cleared
her throat.

"Where was I...oh...of course. Finally, to my oldest son, Jack Patrick
Holt..."

I froze.

I literally couldn't breathe.

I immediately felt Van as well as Natasha quickly getting up from their
chairs and join me at where I was sitting, both their arms around me like a
fucking sword and shield, as if they wanted to protect me against whatever
was now surely coming.

I swallowed...everything before me nothing but a blur.

"Go on, Miss Fitzgerald...we got this," Van said, his voice trembling.

Miranda nodded.

"...I leave the amount of R75 000, as well as the remaining fifty percent
of the shares as well as ownership in Sabre Peak Ranch. As with his brother
Evan, if he decides to sell, he would need written permission from his
co-owner to do so."

That was it.

Jesus Christ.

It was quiet for a few moments around the kitchen table, before I felt my
mother's gaze lovingly shining over me.

"I told you, Jacky...I told you; he never forgot you..." she said, tears
streaming down her eyes.

I had to get out of here.

I couldn't...I just couldn't be here right now.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?

My dad...giving ME...FIFTY PERCENT ownership of the same ranch which he had
so violently BANNED me from eight years ago?

I pushed both Van and Natasha's limbs from my person, before my eyes landed
on Lucas...the love of my life. Not even his worried eyes and exterior, was
enough to make me wanna stay.

I grabbed my jacket and ran out of the kitchen as fast as my legs could
carry me.

**

I struggled to breathe as I reached the barn, where I rushed inside to
just...GET away from it all.

I threw myself against the stable door where Lucas's beloved horse Silver
was peacefully sleeping inside of, before I took HUGE breaths to get my
breathing under control.

Inside my mind, I heard my father...screaming at me, over and over, bits
and pieces of his saliva spattering all over my face as he did so, that
TERRIBLE afternoon, when he had caught me in bed with the ranch hand.

"GET OUT OF HERE AND NEVER COME BACK! YOU'RE A DAMN DISGRACE TO OUR FAMILY!
I NEVER WANNA SEE YOUR FAGGOT ASS EVER AGAIN! YOU DON'T COME NEAR THIS
FAMILY AS LONG AS YOU LIVE, YOU HEAR ME?? FAGGOT!"

I sunk down to my knees.

I was now...supposedly...a total of R75 000 richer, as well as Van and I
were now co-owners of this ranch.

Why would Dad even do this?

Did he feel guilt over how he treated his eldest son?

Or did he perhaps do it, believing what it would create even more tension
and hate between myself and Van?

Things between me and my brother were better than they had ever been...I
wouldn't be surprised if this was EXACTLY what Butch Holt wanted to avoid
happening. Van had been under the impression that he would be sole owner of
Sabre Peak Ranch.

To now have to share that title...NO! I could NEVER do that to Van! He's
devoted his LIFE to this place!

I heard footsteps coming from the outside and realised someone had to have
followed me. The way I just stormed out of here, I totally wasn't surprised
either. It had to be Lucas, I couldn't think of anyone else that would have
braved this cold to come and look for me.

"Brother? You in here?"

VAN!

I sighed, but I didn't want my family to worry about me on top of
everything that has just happened, so I got up slowly, and walked towards
the entrance of the barn.

"In here, brother!" I cried out, before I saw Van's worried, icy cold
facial features running towards me as fast as I could.

"Jack! What, are you crazy? It's fucking SNOWING! And you just take off?"
he shouted at me, pushing me violently with both his hands as he finally
reached me.

I shoved him right back, before he grinned that shit-eating smile at me,
the one that I used to LOATHE as a kid.

"We can do this all night, brother...TAG, YOU'RE IT!" he screamed on top of
his voice, as he hastily poked me in the ribs, before he ran further into
the barn to get away from me.

"Van...just...just stop...okay? We have to talk about all this..." I said
half-heartedly, because it was quite literally the LAST thing that I wanted
to do right now, but Van just cackled, before he became quiet as time
passed, as he looked over each and every element that was situated in the
barn, before him.

"You know...never mind what we thought of Dad, I trusted his judgement and
his way of doing business. Miranda just told me where all that money came
from...Jack, before me or you ever got out of his ball sack and spat out
into this world..."

"...you're gross, you know that?"

"...as I was saying, before we were even a twinkling in his eyes, he worked
his ASS off for this ranch. Mom and Dad never treated themselves to
holidays or even just weekends away. They saved every fucking penny that
they could, because they were always planning on having a large
family. Covid fucking destroyed him, Jack. It was the first time in his
life, where he was scared of actually LOSING the ranch that he had put his
heart and soul in to. That's why he wanted to SELL it so badly. He saw what
could happen if everything went belly-up with this God damn virus!"

Suddenly Van was at my side, and he hugged me to his body.

At once, I remembered what had happened the last time Van and I were in
this barn...of course he didn't know that I had witnessed himself and our
ranch hand Christian having sex right here...I could still SMELL the sexual
tension between them...the way Van's naked, muscled, sun-burned body was
exposed to me...and I had felt guilty as hell for even getting a hardon
looking at him.

I reached over and hugged Van back...feeling his rock-hard stomach muscles
press even further into my own. I had a six pack too, but mine looked
nothing compared to his. All the years of suffering on this ranch had given
Van a fantastic physique, he was ruggedly handsome as such...and I couldn't
blame Christian...or even Craig back then, for absolutely falling for him.

It was hard not to think about these things, especially when Van had
previously admitted that he had feelings for me when we were teenagers. It
wasn't something that I wanted to pursue now, however...I loved Lucas way
too much to do that...but ever since I saw Van and Christian here that day,
I had wondered what sex with Van would be like.

My eyes opened.

No...I wasn't imagining it.

Van wasn't either.

I could feel his erection...MY GOD...his ERECTION...pushing up literal
daisies against my very own...I didn't even notice without all the crap
going through my head that was as hard as a fucking rock, being in such
close proximity to my brother.

"Van, I..." I started to say, but he held me closer to him.

I gasped as I felt him softly kissing the side of my neck, his tongue
searching and finding it's way upwards towards my ear, and I shuddered as
he took the bottom loose part of my ear into his mouth.

"Van, we cannot...we CANNOT do this..." I moaned out loud, before he
finally sighed against his skin, his hot breath giving me goosebumps across
the entirety of my body, before he looked at me with those beautiful
caramel-coloured eyes.

"I've wanted this since I was twelve years old, brother..." he whispered,
before he leaned down and kissed me.

I melted underneath his touch. My heart was screaming at how wrong this
was, but I knew that I loved Lucas. Only Lucas. And I knew that Van had
totally fallen for Christian...whatever we decided to do from here, it
would be to get closure.

Nothing more.

I reached out and caressed the back of Van's neck, feeling his brown hair
mix in between with my fingers. Van let out a little yelp of pleasure as he
realised that was starting to give as good as I was getting, before he
deepened the kiss, his tongue darting in and out of my mouth as it finally
found mine...as two similar organs finally performed the one dance they
didn't get to do when they were kids.

Van finally allowed my lips to be released from his own, both our breaths
were coming out thick and fast, the air full of brisk, sexual tension,
before Van kissed my eye lids...he kissed my forehead...he leaned down to
kiss my nose and finally down for a final make our session with my raw,
thirsty lips. I placed both arms around his neck to pull him closer, and we
made out for a while...just him and me.

Jack Patrick and Evan Michael...the first-born sons of Butch and Elizabeth
Holt.

Van held my head in both of his hands, and I could have sworn his eyes
sparkled as he looked down at me with so much...so much tender, love and
care. In that moment, I loved him so much, it nearly hurt. We grew up
together, we played together as kids...we got hidings together...

...all culminating in this, what you now saw before you.

"I...LOVE...YOU..." he whispered in short, staccato breaths, before he
kissed me once more, only briefly, looking at me with bullets in his boots.

"If we do this...this has to stay between us and it can't go anywhere,
brother..." I whispered against his skin, leaning upwards and scraping his
chin and stubble with my bare teeth. I swear his dick pulsed against mine
at me doing that.

"I know, Jacky...I know, trust me, I know...it could have been so much
different if we just realised all of this years ago...because I loved you
so much, you were my absolute everything...my older bro...I fucking
worshipped you, man..." he said softly as he kissed me once more, before he
stunned me by taking off my jacket, and ripping off my t-shirt that I was
wearing underneath, all in one, smooth go.

I stood before Van, shirtless. My body muscled and defined from gymming,
but not nearly as ripped as his own.

He reached out, slowly, as if he was afraid to fucking hurt me, before he
glided the palm of his hand over my abdominals...hissing out in slow
breaths as he continued his exploration across my torso.

"Jesus Christ, you are beautiful...you've always been beautiful...Lucas is
one lucky little shit..." he whispered, before he too, took of his hoodie
that he had been wearing, followed quickly by his own t-shirt, leaving us
as equals in front of the other, both free to stare and appreciate the
other's appearance.

I didn't fucking wait.

I launched myself at Van, kissing his neck, growling as I tasted his raw,
clean farm boy flesh, my one hand holding the back of his head so that I
was as close to him as I could be, and the other was busying feeling up his
rock-hard abs and stomach muscles. He leaned back so that I could get even
more of his skin inside the warm pulsing shivers of my lips, before he once
more leaned down and kissed me so hard and so intense that for a mere
moment, it felt as if I was seeing stars.

I fell backwards onto the hay...nearly the very same spot where Lucas and I
had fucked for the first time on his sixteenth birthday, before he once
more cradled my head inside his hand, as if it was some prized possession
that he was afraid would break in his rough, callused grip. The moment when
I felt those same hands leave my face and suddenly nip and tuck at my
skinny jeans, I grabbed them to grind to a halt.

"Van, what about Lucas? I can't do this to him! I can't do this to anyone
ever again!" I hissed at him, and at once I saw his eyes soften to the
point where I almost thought he was crying.

"Listen to me. Are you actually listening?" he asked, his voice steady and
serious. I could only nod. He leaned down and kissed my cheek.

"I promise, if you still want to...that this would go no further than right
here. I have strong feelings for Christian too, don't you forget
that. But..."

He gently removed my hands from his own, and once more he unclasped my
belt, and swiftly removed it, along with tugging down my jeans so that they
were parallel with my socks, leaving me in only my boxers, semi naked
before him. He leaned closer, and I could feel his warm breath on my skin
once more...

"...I need this, brother. I've been wanting this for years. And from the
look in your eyes, I think that you want this, too. If only, just for the
night..." he completed his sentence.

Van...my brother.

Always there, always willing to help...always protecting his family,
especially his siblings. Always prepared to go to WAR for them if needed.

"Take off all your God damn clothes, before I lose my fucking nerve..." I
whispered as he grinned and with a loud, happy cackle, he did just that.

**

Van's dick was huge.

Not as big as Lucas, but you get the general idea.

A part of my pride was still some what hurt that out of us three boys, I
ended up with the smallest dick.

And I was a solid eight inches.

I shuddered and I swore I nearly fucking CAME the very moment that Van
cradled his fist around my hard Holt piece of flesh. I hissed and closed my
eyes as I WILLED myself not to blow right then and there, but for the love
of GOD...

...my brother Van was holding my penis in his hands.

He smiled as he tenderly jacked my meat up and down a couple of times,
watching as if in awe, the foreskin dwarfing and hiding my flaring piss
slit, before he pulled the skin backwards once more and allowed it to be
covered good and proper.

"I can't even begin to...I wish we could travel back in time and have
twelve-year-old Van see this...because this was all he could think about
back then," I heard Van say, almost wistfully, before I smiled and took
hold of his equally hard dick.

Now Lucas, was I sure, was a solid nine inches, if not bigger. I wish I was
joking.

I measured Van to be somewhere in between, because he was definitely bigger
than me, but definitely smaller than Lucas. I leaned in and took Van into
my mouth.

"HOLY SHIT!" Van hissed through his throat muscles, nearly throwing his
back out as we were supposed to take things slow, but to hell with that
right now.

It had a sort of salty, yet earthly flavour, just like Van in general, and
I bobbed my mouth up and down his big phallus like I would die if I didn't
get enough of his pre cummy juices.

"Anything you can do; I can do better!" Van cried out as he took my
cockhead and jammed it right up there in his open gullet.

I closed my eyes, too tired, too hyped to make any sort of noise, the
immense sexual pleasure that was coming from my cock was almost too much to
bear, and even more when you KNEW just WHO was giving it to you. Van was
like a man possessed, and for the first time since his shocking revelation,
I realised just what had to be going through his mind...

...it was one thing him telling me, he was in love with me, years ago.

It was a whole other thing actually sucking my penis.

This was a fucking dream come true for him.

I love you, Evan Michael Holt...I thought in blissful happiness as I
finally returned my mouth to his hard phallus once more.

Together we fucking made sheer love to both our organs at the same time,
the icy cold weather helping warm us up against what ever life would throw
at us.

I leaned down and mouthed Van's left nut inside my mouth, his legs shaking
like they had just been shot by a cannonball, as he felt what I was doing.

"Oh, you sick fucker..." he moaned as he turned and gobbled up the head of
my dick himself, sucking at the exposed crown head like he wanted to draw
out my living soul right from within my penis.

Once I had given Mario a special kind of tongue bath, I quickly followed up
by a visit to Luigi, and once more Van went absolutely ballistic having
both of his twin boys in such a warm, wet orifice. I gave both his balls
one final suck and a lick for good luck, before I hungrily reached up and
with my neck and engulfed his cockhead one more time.

There was no hiding it now.

I wanted his cum and I wanted it BAD.

I continued to suck at his head, all the while for forgetting the rest of
his immense length, using my skilful fingers to jack him off, swerving
around the craters and veins that simply seemed to POP out of his hard
meat.

"Jacky, I'm gonna blow...like right now!" was all that I managed to hear as
his groin pumped into my face like a tomahawk cruise missile out on deploy.

I sucked harder. I sucked faster.

My tongue had to have become a virtual fidget spinner, scraping across his
exposed piss slit over and over, before he bucked his hips and with a
massive sigh and my name on his lips...

...he nearly fucking drowned me in his sperm.

The stuff was absolutely everywhere, for God's sake...as I tried my best to
lap up what I could, my taste buds SCREAMING with pleasure at finally
tasting Van's brotherly ball juice, that I was way too lost to worry about
everything else. This was only gonna happen once in a lifetime, so I could
have just as well enjoy every minute out of it.

I returned to his cock and tried my best to suck whatever remains of sperm
there was to collect, a deep roar from his chest allowed me to know that
what I was doing, was working...he was in such inhumane pleasure, that it
was nearly killing him.

Getting my tongue inside his wasted piss slit as far as it would go, for
any kind of splatter that I might have missed, to holding his still hard
phallus against my cheek, feeling its texture...its warmth...it being ALIVE
against my bare skin.

Van weakly grinned before he tried to grab my dick again, only for his arm
to slap back towards his stomach, dead to the world.

"I'm done...I've died and gone to fucking heaven...spray my face,
brother...cover my face with your jizz...please!" he whispered, his voice
raw and raspy at the same time.

I grinned as well getting up and jacking my hard dick at an alarming pace,
wanting to grant him his wish in more ways than just one.

With my eyes flickering over his naked posture...his ripped abs and
stomach...his still hard cock that was now so openly exposed as I
remembered that was inside my mouth...and that I had swallowed what he had
left in his balls...that was now also a part of me.

HE was part of me.

I groaned as my balls tightened, and at last, with a heaving roar, my own
sperm spat out of my dick like Krakatoa in July.

Van smiled, his eyes close and full of utter delight and sexual innuendo,
as he giggled, feeling my warm, thick substances cover the upper side of
his torso and continued to mundane of parts of his face.

As if he couldn't believe what he was seeing or for that matter DOING...he
reached down and gathered a rather thick clump of my sperm that had fallen
on his stomach, and smiled...before putting it in his mouth and smacking
his lips in the process.

"I'm doing it...Jesus Christ, I'm FINALLY doing it!" he cried out in sheer
exhaustion and happiness, and I had a feeling that he was talking to his
twelve-year-old self, of many years ago, the one who had been desperate to
do this with his older brother.

Both of us were shattered beyond imagination.

I leaned down and quietly laid my head on his chest, and he immediately
reached out and held me to his body, and tight at that.

I heard his heart beat decreasing at every second as time passed, as we
just laid there...brother and brother, together at long last, as nature had
always intended.

"Any regrets, brother?" he asked, kissing my head, playfully ruffling my
hair as he did so.

I took a moment, because I knew that I had in fact, cheated on yet another
guy that I loved, but somehow, this wasn't how it felt with Craig and
Lucas. Somehow, this was an event that NEEDED to happen, for both of us to
move forward with our own lives, and get closure.

I kissed his chest.

"No, not at all. Because I know where our hearts lie, brother. You with
Christian, hopefully, and myself with Lucas...if that is still at all
possible. Van, look...I will sign over my half of the ranch over to you, if
that is what you want, I know how much you wanted it all these years and
quite frankly, you so deserve it..."

Van signalled at me to keep quiet, before he leaned down again, and gave me
the softest, of soft kisses that he was even capable of giving.

"No. No, brother. Dad wanted us to have it, me and you, and to manage it
together, and that's just what we're gonna do!"

"Van, for real, I know less than shit about farming..."

"Then I'll teach you! You are a fucking veterinarian after all, Doofus! And
in case you forgot, we breed HORSES around here! I know what you're
probably thinking...and I thought the same for a while...that Dad was
afraid we would sort out shit out and get close again, only for THIS to
happen...but I honestly think he was feeling guilty over what he did, in
some way or form. And Mom's right, Jacky Boy...he never really forgot
you. None of us did...Lucas the least of all!" he joked as I poke him in
his stomach.

I was truly home, it felt.

Coming back here after eight years, only because of Dad's untimely passing
was daunting enough...

...but the one thing that I didn't count on, was that my family LOVED me.

That I had people who had my BACK.

I was going to have a talk with my mother at some point.

About Lucas...about ME and Lucas and how we felt about each other.

And God knows how THAT was going to go.

**

At dinner the following evening, I could sense that Lucas was a little
down.

Alone in his bedroom a couple of hours after we had eaten, he admitted to
me that he had broken up with Lee-Anne, because of my commitment to
him. The fact that I had the balls to tell Craig that it was over, to be
with Lucas...so he felt compelled to do that same, in his own teenage way
of showing me how much he too, wanted what we were starting to build
between us.

"But why do you look as if you fucking swallowed your own face?" I pressed
him and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Lee-Anne wouldn't just LET IT GO, she couldn't understand why I didn't
wanna date her anymore, so I had to admit that there was someone else and
she took it like...yeah, I was totally cheating on her. Dude, the things
she said...she was gonna make sure I PAID for messing with her and for
totally dumping her and crap like that. Plus, a guy on the rugby team told
me that Lee-Anne had two twin brothers who are in college and they were
like...VERY protective of their sister. I'm just...a little worried."

Lucas leaned into me and allowed me to hold him against my chest, complete
with his head resting on my shoulder.

"She's like one of those girls who always gets her way and she never gets
dumped, SHE always DOES the dumping and now I go and totally ruin her
street cred at school...I have a feeling that I haven't heard the last of
that...you remember how her dad reacted that day at school..." he murmured.

I kissed his head and ran my fingers through the back of his hair.

"Don't worry...she's gonna have to get through me first!" I whispered,
playfully kissing his neck, loving the small giggle that came out of his
throat.

In the days that followed, me and Van had loads to talk about. We now
co-owned the ranch and everything on it and we were going to make sure that
Dad left it in very capable pairs of hands, even if it was the last thing
we ever did.

Natasha and I sometimes were still distant to each other, especially times
when she would spot me and Lucas together, but she never said anything
nasty to us for the time being, and I could appreciate that. Her tummy was
getting bigger by the minute it seemed, and sometimes I was still stuck in
sheer amazement in thinking that she and Craig was going to become parents,
even it was due to a drunken one-night stand.

Craig had visited the ranch once or twice to check on Natasha, in which she
had always begged me to get rid of Van for the afternoon, because she
wasn't sure what our brother would actually DO to Craig, if he ever laid
eyes on him ever again.

There were times where I could walk into the barn and Christian and Van
would be in there working with the other folk, and I would immediately
realise that Van's eyes softened every time he looked at the handsome ranch
hand. Things were obviously getting more and more serious between them,
because Van had told me Christian had offered to go and work on one of the
neighbouring farms, just so that they could continue seeing each other, but
Van refused.

I had literally never seen my brother behaving this way, ever before, to be
honest. He was in love, clearly, and very much so, but didn't have the
homosexual experience to know how to handle it.

I serviced the horses on the farm as best as I could, using my talents and
my skills as a veterinarian to make sure our stallions and mares were all
in tip top shape.

All in all, it was a few months of quiet contemplation for all the Holt
family members.

It was almost the beginning of December, meaning that Christmas was nearly
upon us. I would cry with laughter as Lucas rolled his eyes the moment we
would ever a shopping centre in town...knowing that he HATED those
Christmas songs that would play over the speakers, seemingly non-stop. I
thought I would get in early this year, my first Christmas spent on the
farm in eight long years.

I got my mother a brand-new air fryer, one that could instantly create a
fantastic dinner for the entire family. I bought Van a new Samsung
smartphone, as his had fallen out of his jacket when he attended to work on
the ranch and shattered into pieces.

For Natasha, it was only natural to but her everything BABY that I could
find underneath the sun, as she was getting pretty close to popping, being
now a little further along than seven months. How fucking time flew. She
made sure to keep Craig in constant know-how about what was happening and
he had even attended some classes with her, to my sheer and utter
amusement.

And although things would never, ever be the same with myself and Craig, we
had evolved to the point over these past few months were we could be civil
towards each other...

...but for no more than about ten minutes at best.

Lucas had finished his final exams for his grade ten year, and he was fast
becoming a man right now, finally shedding off the teenager swag that he
had left, and I was so...immensely proud about the young man that he was
now becoming. He looked more attractive than ever right now! His beautiful
blond hair now cut short and styled in a modern look, with himself and his
friends spending all of their time in the swimming pool on the ranch.

But I should have known...looking back now...

...that all of this was way too good to be true.

It was on bright sunny day in the beginning of December that Lucas wanted
to hold an end of year school party, and had invited nearly all the kids in
his grade to the ranch, it seemed. Just like that first time I had come
home, and Lucas had a party...where he had drunkenly kissed me for the
first time, I once more felt OUT...and alone from the rest of those on the
outside, looking in.

Normally the age difference between me and Lucas didn't bother me, or the
fact that were biological siblings, but on days like these, it really
did. Seeing how much he enjoyed being with people of his own age, how
popular he was between them, how he was the literal life and soul of the
party each and every time he had friends over.

I sighed, and walked back into the kitchen, before I saw that Lee-Anne's
father was busy chatting away with Van at his side, my mother placing two
cups of coffee down before them, as Van lit up when he saw me.

"Oh, Mr Lavery,...I don't know if you met my brother Jack yet, he was away
for quite a long time and..."

"Oh, don't bother explaining, I know exactly WHO and WHAT he is, my boy..."
the man said quietly, staring at me as if I had picked up some kind of
infectious disease from somewhere.

Van's eyes flickered between myself and Lee Anne's dad, before he looked
over at our mother.

"Something I should know?" he asked, and I just smiled and held out my hand
towards Mr Lavery.

"I remember you said that you and my father did business, Mr Lavery, what
brings you here to our ranch today?" I tried to make conversation, but the
man stood up and looked over at my mother, sheer distain written all over
his face.

"Elizabeth...in God's name, what the hell is HE still doing here on the
ranch? You of all people should remember WHY Butch ordered him to leave!"
he directed the question at my mother, who immediately realised just WHAT
the man's problem really was.

"I'm sorry to say this to you, Brian, because of course you remember the
stories going around from back when, yes, Butch ordered my son to leave
this ranch, BUT...I'll have you know...that he changed his mind and even
WROTE Jack here, BACK into his will at the end!" she hissed towards him.

Brian Lavery scratched his head, looking at me in utter confusion, and then
back at my mother.

"In what capacity?" he demanded.

Van stood up and crossed his arms.

"As co-owner of this ranch, Mr Lavery. That's right. You heard me. Me and
Jack now are co-owners of Sabre Peak Ranch. And if you have some kind of
problem with him, then I'm afraid you are going to have a problem with me
too, Sir," he spat out, looking the man directly in the eye.

"This...I'm supposed to do business with...the likes of him!?" Brian Lavery
cried out, clearly incensed as anything, before Van shook his head.

"I take it that you so cunningly refer to the fact that my brother is gay,
right?"

Mr Lavery glared at Van.

"You know this, and you still allow...all of this?" he hissed, shock etched
on his face.

"Brian, look that is enough. If you cannot handle to work with BOTH my sons
and do business with them like you had always done with Butch and myself,
then I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. And I mean that!" my
mother barked towards her long-time friend and neighbour.

Brian Lavery simply shook his head...as if he couldn't for the LIFE of him
believe what was happening, before he slowly grabbed his hat and turned
around to walk out of the door.

"Butch will be turning in his grave..." he muttered, before he walked out
and SLAMMED the door shut behind him.

**

The party was long over and everything had been cleaned up and put back in
its place.

It was nearing eleven a clock at night, when we all heard it.

A window smashing...followed by a RUSH of warmth and a sudden fiery inferno
that seemed to SPREAD like absolute wild fire through our entire house at
the speed of lightening.

"IT'S A FUCKING PETROL BOMB! EVERYONE, GET OUTSIDE!" Van screamed as he
naturally took the lead in guiding us all out of the house, who fucking
knew what waited out there...because the petrol bomb had to be thrown from
SOMEWHERE, but it wasn't like we could actually STAY inside and burn to a
crisp.

The infernal flames were just about everywhere that you looked, before
Lucas pointed at a red 4x4 cruiser that was now hastily driving away from
here.

"That's their car! The twins! Lee Anne's brothers!" he shouted; his eyes as
white as snow.

"GET THE WATER HOSE, NOW! WE GOTTA TRY AND PUT OUT THE FIRE!" Van shouted,
his powerful chest heaving as himself and I ran towards the waterhole at
breakneck speed.

Trying as we might, it seemed there was no way that we could actually get
this fire under ANY sort of control, and for a moment, Lucas had been next
to me, trying to fan the flames, and suddenly he was just GONE.

The incessant neighing of the horses, just might have had something to do
with it.

"Jesus...they let all of the horses out too? WHAT THE FUCK?" Van screamed
at the top of his voice, and for the first time in my life, I saw my
brother as a scared individual, who right now, didn't know what the FUCK to
actually do.

It was suddenly very obvious where Lucas had disappeared to, he would give
his life for that of Silver, his beloved horse.

"You go and help Lucas; Mom and I will carry on here! We CAN NOT afford to
lose those horses!" Van thundered over towards me, and I swallowed hard as
I realised that the fire had basically already destroyed half of our family
home, as we had known it.

The mere fact that Van was willing to sacrifice me helping him, was
evidence enough that it was a hopeless case. It was way more important now
to get the horses back to their stables...they were our livelihood. Our
reason for making a living.

"BASTARDS!" I shouted out of sheer and fucking anger, before I raced down
towards the stables, to see what I could do to help.

"DON'T DO THIS! COME ON, GUYS!" I heard Lucas shout at the top of his
lungs, and as I arrived, I realised that Lee Anne's brothers had thrown
petrol all over the barn, and both were now standing in front of myself and
Lucas, taunting him with setting the place alight.

"What, you think you can fuck around with our sister and just get away with
it? This faggot over here thinks he can come and fuck with my dad's
business? FUCK THAT!" of the twins sneered at us, and I smirked as I
realised just WHO was really behind all of this.

"So, Daddy sent you, huh? Can't do or think for yourselves, so you just
fucking follow orders like lost sheep, do you?"  I shouted over towards
them, as sarcastic as I could.

"JACK, JESUS! Don't upset them any further!" came the horrid call from
Lucas.

"No, brother. If they wanna do this, if they wanna burn both our house as
well as our barn down, they gotta do it because THEY want to, not because
Daddy said so!" I continued to taunt the twins.

It was working, because suddenly the two boys weren't as sure about what
they were doing anymore.

That little bit of sheer hesitancy, allowed Lucas to storm forward and with
his entire weight, he shoved the twin holding the fire-lighter down onto
the grassy field, and managed to get said fire-lighter away from him,
before he urgently tossed it over towards me.

"JACK, CATCH!" he screamed, just in time, before the other twin decided
that he indeed had a pulse, and jumped in to defend his brother against
Lucas's attacks.

I stared in horror at the brothers beating up the boy that I loved more
than my own life, before I threw the lighter to the side, and rushed
towards the ongoing brawl. I was literally less than a quarter of their
total weight, but FUCK that if I was going to allow them to beat up Lucas
all alone.

The one twin swung at me with everything he had, and it managed to hit me
square between the eyes, before I fell backwards like a sheer broken
watermelon in summer. Lucas must have been seen what had happened, because
he ROARED like the champion that he was, before he pounded the one twin off
from him, chasing over to me, to check if I was okay.

Just in time, I looked behind him, and saw that the twin that had punched
me, had somehow managed to pluck out a POCKET KNIFE from somewhere and was
now slowly chasing towards Lucas with HATRED in his eyes.

"THIS IS FOR MY SISTER!" he shouted, his arm reached to the skies, his eyes
bloodshot and red, his thirst and need to ATTACK was clear as day.

A loud neigh from the opposite direction had all of us look over our
shoulder.

Before we knew what hit us, Silver, who must have instinctively known that
his owner was in danger, such was the loving bond between himself and
Lucas, started to viciously storming towards him.

The knife slipped right out of the twin's grasp and fell onto the grass, as
the speed of the horse knocked it straight out of his grip, and there was
immediately a tussle for control of the weapon.

Silver once more did a stunning U-turn and started galloping towards Lucas
again, and this time, the powerful Kaapse Boereperd managed to hit one of
the brothers so hard with his hoof that he immediately lost consciousness.

I watched in horror how the remaining twin had JUST managed to get the
knife from Lucas's frantic grasp, before he once more got ready to
attack...

...before Silver was at his rescue yet again.

He knocked the college boy clear off his feet, but not before...

...said college boy had managed to stick the knife deep, deep into Silver's
shiny mane.

At first, everything was quiet as hell, no one said anything or even made a
move, it seemed.

It was then, that the champion stallion BALKED a loud groan, clearly in
immense amount of pain, before he stumbled a few feet more, at last
tumbling to the ground, with one massive smack that could be heard for
miles.

The twin who still had the knife in his hands, dropped it immediately, as
if it burned him, before he took one look at the fallen horse, before he
ran back towards his 4x4, faster than his legs could carry him, leaving his
unconscious brother totally behind in the process, before he drove the hell
out of the ranch.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

Lucas's eyes seemed as if it struggled to focus. As slowly, very slowly, as
if he was seeing nothing but a mirage, walked over towards where Silver was
still laying on the ground, and in the upper side of the ranch I could
clearly heard Van celebrating that the fire was finally out.

I gingerly walked over to where Lucas had fallen beside his beloved
horse. Tears were streaming out of his eyes as he tried to talk to Silver,
over and over, trying to WILL him awake and WILL him to get better.

"Hey boy...hey...you're gonna be okay, right? You can't just...come on,
boy...you can't just leave me here...come on boy, you gotta fight now,
okay?" he whispered over and over, looking at me, his face distorted.

"JESUS, JACK! You're a God damn vet, now HELP HIM!" he spat towards me, his
voice breaking.

I reached over and I instinctively, placed two of my fingers at the inside
crevice of the horse's jaw. I waited a few seconds, before I moved quickly
towards his front leg, just above the knee, as I had been taught, and
repeated the notion.

Finally, out of fear of telling Lucas what he never wanted to hear, I
walked to the back of Silver's body, and repeated the process, by reaching
up underneath his tail, checking for ANY sign of a pulse.

I sighed as it all confirmed what my experience was telling me.

Silver was gone.

Lucas knew...the moment that he saw my face, he KNEW.

I had honest to God, never seen a more heartbreaking image before in my
life, as Lucas desperately threw himself at his horse's body, clinging to
Silver like his life depended on it, even in death, refusing to leave his
side.

As I stared up at the half-burned down house, I knew...that from tonight
onwards...

...nothing would EVER be the same, EVER again.

**


THANKS FOR READING!!

ONE CHAPTER TO GO!!

This was one the most difficult chapters of ANY story that I have ever
written. But I figured that it was symbolic with Lucas becoming a man, and
losing his childhood innocence.

Also, what THAT now means for himself and for Jack, and if they even have a
future, after everything that has happened.

I hope you stick with me ONE MORE time, for the series finale, in Chapter
ten.

Love to you all,
Ryan

liciousryan@gmail.com