Love Of My Life

Another One Bites The Dust - July 10, 2019

Recommended song - Another One Bites The Dust by Queen.

July 10, 2019

Benjamin's POV

"Happy birthday Tyler!" Shane called excitedly from the other side of the door before barging in with Pancake at his heels. Tyler opened one eye and smiled at his brother who was carrying a wrapped box".

"What's this buddy?" Tyler asked pulling him in for a squeeze.

"Your present. You can't open it yet though, I just wanted you to see it!" Shane said bouncing on his bum on the bed.

"Well thank you for showing me the box." Tyler chuckled. "When can I open it?"

"Mom said if you want to open it then to hurry and have breakfast. Benjamin is already here and he and Jeff were eying up the pancakes" Shane laughed.

"Ok, I will be there in a minute. Thanks for waking me up." Tyler grabbed him for a hug before he escaped with Pancake.

Tyler quickly brushed his teeth and put on his most comfortable jeans. He put on his favorite "Lions Gate" t-shirt and a hoodie and grabbed his backpack on his way to the kitchen. The first person he saw was Benjamin. They both lit up when their eyes met.

"Happy birthday" he whispered and kissed him briefly. Tyler smiled and wrapped his arms around him.

"Happy birthday Tyler" the others greeted him cheerfully.

"Thanks everyone. This is really nice" he said looking at the full table of all of his favorites.

"Are you excited about your trip?" Simon asked passing him the bacon.

"I am! We have been training for months so I'm glad it's finally here. We are more than ready". Benjamin wrapped his arms around him for a quick squeeze.

"When are you two leaving Benjamin?" Debbie asked.

"We will hopefully hit the road by 10. No later than 10:30. We were initially going to go all the way to the trail head today but we decided to spend the night in Victoria. Tyler has never been and it's one of my favorite cities. We will head out bright and early tomorrow morning to catch the shuttle in Port Renfrew then hike til we get to the first basecamp.  We're going to camp along the shore, it's going to be amazing".

"It sounds wonderful. You two will have a great time". Peter smiled at the couple but they were too busy starting at each other to notice. Peter chuckled and shook his head.

"Once you're done breakfast, come open your presents"  Debbie motioned to them.

"You didn't have to get me anything, you helped me stuff for college, and with this trip." He grinned at them "but I will take it" he laughed digging into his breakfast.

20 minutes later, Simon, Shane, Jeff and Kevin sat on the couches, each holding a small gift. "Thanks you guys. You're the best". Tyler knew that the gifts would be inexpensive but since it came from their piggy banks it meant a lot.

"Come here Kevin" he waved him over and put him on his lap.

"It's a flashlight!!!" Kevin squealed excitedly before Tyler had even begun opening it.

"Thanks Kev. We really needed this for our trip. This is perfect." Kevin was thrilled.

"Jeff?" He looked at his younger brother who looked reluctant to give him his present. He looked like he was going to cry.

"What's wrong?" He got up to gather his little brother in his arms. Jeff just shook his head and passed him his gift.

"Hey buddy, this is awesome." Tyler said looking at the keychain he got him. "I'm going to miss you so much" Jeff sobbed in his shoulder.

"I'm going to miss you too. I will be back before you know it. Let's mark it on the calendar and you can put an X through each day in the morning. Ok?"

Jeff sniffled and nodded as they got and walked to the kitchen. Tyler hoisted him up and he put a star on the day he will get home. "This is today's date" he said and marked a star on it." They counted the days and Jeff stopped crying. "I'm really going to miss you too buddy" he said and gave him a big hug.

"I got you something too!" Shane called from the living room.

"Hey this is awesome Shane!" He said opening the travel sized Chess game.

"For your trip" he said nodding.

He looked over at Simon who was still holding his gift.

"Here you go Ty" he said passing him his present.

Tyler unwrapped it and was stunned. "Did you paint this?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah. I've been working on it awhile."

"You are so talented. I knew you were good, but this is really fantastic. I love it". Tyler showed everyone the gift and Debbie and Peter both gasped in amazement.

It was a painting of a lighthouse with a vibrant sky and two young men walking to the libhthouse. It was beautiful.

"Open the card" Debbie said passing it to him.

Happy birthday Tyler. I'm so glad that you are my brother. You are the best big brother I could have ever asked for. The lighthouse reminds me of you. A bright light guiding ships to safety. That is what you have done for me. You are my guiding light and I'm so grateful for that.

Have a great hike!

Love, you lil bro
Simon

Tyler was in tears. "Thanks Simon. I love you too". He reached over for a hug.

Debbie past him the last gift. He smiled after he opened it and begin to slowly flip through the pages. It was a photo album full of memories from his life with his mom, dad and brothers. The boys sat beside him and remembered each photo and commented happily at the memories. "Remember this Tyler? When we dressed as ninja turtles for Halloween" Simon said laughing. Christmases, camping, birthdays, special occasions, their life together. It was all there. His happy childhood, after the nightmare of his early years.

It would have made others sad to have a large void, seven years, not in the album but it didn't affect Tyler like that. He cherished these memories and was grateful for his loving family. He looked up at Debbie and Peter and tearfully thanked them.

"Thank you for this. It means everything. All of these pictures are such happy memories. Thank you for the best childhood I could ever have ever asked for. I love you guys" he rushed over to give them a hug. Even Peter was chocked up.

"Ah my boy. You made it so easy to love you. I am so proud of you and so proud to call you my son". Debbie smiled happily at her family.

"Well 19 years old Tyler!" Another birthday!"

Benjamin piped up as only he could, with a Queen reference "ya, another year bites the dust". Tyler rolled his eyes good naturedly and laughed with his adorable albiet dorky boyfriend.