My German Lover : Part 26, chapter 4

“I know Sir… But let’s not dwell on the past… Let’s built the future instead huh? I’m not saying we must forget all the bad things that happened in the past… like slavery…no. We must never forget those things, so they don’t happen again. All I’m saying is that we are living in the present… and we must built on the common values we share… and love is one of them. And I sure don’t give a damn about the color of your skin Sir. And I sure love Lisa’s skin color…She is so beautiful!”

“She is, isn’t she?” Lisa’s dad proudly answered, with a big smile on his face… “Have you talk to your brother Will about marrying Lisa?”

“Not yet Sir! I wanted to have your blessing first…”

The man looked at Ludwig with a bigger smile on his face. The fact Ludwig had asked for his blessing was very important to him… and a sign of respect!

“We’ll go along just fine, you and me… I like you Ludwig! Now, talk to your brother…”, the man finally said.

“I will Sir!”, Ludwig answered, with a big smile on his face.

That very same night, Ludwig talked to Will…

“…Look Will… I’m twenty-one… I know what I’m doing… and I really love Lisa. Deep in my heart, I know she’s the one for me…”

“But you’re so young…”

“How old were you when Paul and you began living together huh?”

Will looked at his brother with a grin on his face…

“Are you sure bro that’s what you want?”, Will asked his brother with tears in his eyes…

“Look at me Will: I have no doubt… I love her and I want to spend the rest of my life with her…”

“…Give me a big hug bro…”, Will answered…

The two brothers hugged for a while… and both of them were crying… After a while, Will said:

“…Let’s tell Paul huh?”

“Yeah”, Ludwig answered, wiping a few tears from his face using his shirt sleeve…

The two brothers went to find Paul… and when they found him, they told him everything…

“I’m so happy for you Ludwig. She’s a find young woman! You two will make a great couple! And do you know what? The wedding could be celebrated here, on the plantation… you two could get married in the Chapel… what do you think?”, Paul said to Ludwig…

“…I’ll have to talk to Lisa about that… but I think it’s a great idea…”, Ludwig answered, beaming…

“…So I guess a new house will have to be built on the plantation huh?”, Paul said, grinning…

“Do you really think that could be done?”, Ludwig asked, full of hope…

“Sure bro!”, Will answered… “Look, one day you’ll have babies… and as much as I love children, I don’t intend to be awaken at night by a baby… crying to be fed…”, Will said, laughing…

“…Me neither!”, Paul added, laughing too… “When do you intend to get married?”

“We haven’t decided yet. How long do you think it will take to have a new house built?”

“I don’t know… Let me give a call to a contractor I know in Fort-de-France… We’ll see…”

After Paul had talked to the contractor, he looked at Ludwig and Will and said:

“Two months! He says it can be done in two months… and at the same time, he’ll do some much needed repairs to the Chapel… the roof is leaking, and the paint on the columns is peeling…”

“Not just on the columns…”, Will answered, laughing… “Since we moved here, we haven’t spent too much time there, have we?”

“Yeah well… I’m not a grenouille de bénitier… (a frog, swimming in a Holy-water basin…)”, Paul answered, laughing his heart out… “But now, we have a good reason to have that building repaired, before it crumbles…”

“Yup!”, Ludwig answered, grinning…

And a few days later, work began on the plantation and before long, a new Creole house took form at a certain distance from the big mansion… close to the beach. The Chapel was also repaired!

“It’s beautiful…”, Lisa and Ludwig exclaimed when their new house was completed and as they were visiting it with Lisa’s parents and all their friends in tow…

A few days later, they were married in the newly renovated Chapel by the local priest… with flowers everywhere.

All their friends were there… as well as Lisa’s large family members…

After the wedding ceremony, they all went back to the mansion where a superb banquet was waiting for them.

That’s the moment Will and Paul chose to give Ludwig and Lisa their wedding gift…

“Here…”, Will and Paul said to the newlywed… “Open it…”

The newlywed took the envelope and opened it…

It was the title-deed of their new house. Will and Paul had subdivided a part of the plantation, and now Lisa and Ludwig were the official owners of the large piece of land upon which their house was now standing…

And there was also a check attached to the title-deed…

Ludwig looked at the check… then raised his eyes to look at Will and Paul…

For a while he remained silent with his eyes full of tears…

“…It’s way too much…”, he finally said…

Will and Paul smiled at the newlywed, and Will said:

“It’s our pleasure bro… Now I hope you’ll follow Paul’s advice and invest that money…”

“…Sure will…”, Ludwig answered, beaming…

Lisa and Ludwig went to Paris on their honeymoon, where Lisa was introduced not only to Paul’s father… but to François and Philippe as well…

A month later, when they came back to Martinique, Ludwig told Will and Paul the latest news from Paris…

“…Your dad was very happy to see us…”, Ludwig said to Paul… “He’s not getting any younger, but he’s doing fine. Still working at the Head office… As for François and Philippe… I guess they work hard, studying to become doctors… But they’re doing great! And they are planning to come to Martinique next summer… to visit us…”

Of course Paul already knew about that, since in his last letter to Paul, François had written about the trip he and his lover were planning…

So Ludwig and Lisa moved into their new house, and life went on…

A year later, in the summer of 1947, Lutz’s brother Hans also got married… in the same Chapel… And another house was built on the plantation for him and his new wife!

At the wedding, not only were François and Philippe there… but so was Ludwig, holding his first born child into his arms. His son!

What a proud father he was! And beaming with that… and so was Lisa.

Three other children would follow that first born child… and Will and Paul couldn’t stop laughing, watching them running through the mansion…

Although Ludwig, Lisa and their children were living in their own house near the beach… the children were always running to Will and Paul… whom didn’t miss a chance to spoil them… even though from time to time, Ludwig was protesting…

Eventually, Ludwig’s children were joined by Hans’, who had four of his own…

And of course, Lutz and Franz were worst than Will and Paul, spoiling them…

Now that Pierre was attending college at Fort-de-France… Will, Paul, Lutz and Franz felt the mansion was a little empty… and so the children were always welcome…

Three years later… in August of 1950… Paul received a cable from his dad, telling him his mother had died.

Paul called his brother Pierre at Fort-de-France to tell him the news…

“… What do you want me to say…”, Pierre answered… “And I’m not going to Paris, to attend her funeral… if that's what you wanted to ask me. Do you intend to go?”

“…No.”, Paul answered. “I’m not going either. I just feel sorry for dad, that’s all…”

“Look Paul… The new airport at Le Lamentin will be inaugurated in a few weeks… so maybe you and I could then fly to Paris… to see dad… what do you think?”

“Good idea… I’ll tell dad okay?”, Paul answered…

As they had said, in November of 1950, Paul and Pierre flew to Paris from the new international airport of Fort-de-France, and they went to see their dad…

“You’re looking great dad…”, Paul said to his father…

It felt very strange to Paul to be back on Avenue Foch… Six years had passed since the last time he had set foot there…

“I’m sorry for mum…”, Paul said… “But as you know, we couldn’t make it on time for her funeral…”

“Yes, I understand… (…) You know Paul, it wasn’t easy living with her the last few years…”

“I can imagine…”, Paul started to say… “Has she ever inquired after Pierre and me?”

From the moment she had learned that Paul… and later Pierre were gay… their mum had refused to talk to them… since in her mind, they were sinners. She had never accepted the idea that her two sons were gay… and so she had cut all the bridges with them… like if they had never existed…

Paul’s dad was not surprised that Paul was asking him that question though. He had always hope his wife would change her mind… and accept the truth. So it is with very sad eyes that he looked at his two sons and said:

“…No. She never inquired about you two. I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t. It’s not your fault dad…”, Pierre answered.

After a moment of silence, Paul looked at his dad and said:

“Hey dad… I was thinking… Why don’t you come back to Martinique with us… you could spend some time there with us… see where we live and everything… you could fly there with us huh? Say yes dad… please…”

“…Are you serious? Me? Going to Martinique?”

“Why not? Just for a visit… Why not dad?”, Pierre added…

“Well…”

“That’s it dad! You’re coming…”, Paul said, with a big smile on his face…

The man finally agreed to go and two weeks later the three of them flew to Fort-de-France… where Will, Lutz and Franz were waiting for them at the new Lamentin Airport…

“Welcome to Martinique!”, Will said to the man, as he was getting off the plane…

“Thank you Will… It’s so nice to see you again… and you too, Lutz and Franz…”

“Welcome Sir”, Lutz and Franz answered, shaking hands with Paul’s father…

Paul’s dad was very pleased to see how well his two sons were doing in Martinique, and was very impressed by the plantation…

“I’m so proud of you, sons… So proud!”, he said… “And I’m glad I came… But now, I’ve spend five weeks here… and it’s time for me to go back to Paris…”

“Sure dad… But you know you’re welcome to stay longer if you want… But I understand you want to go back… although I wish we could keep you here with us…”, Paul answered, with a smile on his face…

“Well… Thanks. But my life is in Paris…”

“We understand dad…” Paul and Pierre answered.

A few days later, they all drove to the Lamentin Airport… and as he bid his sons farewell, the old man said to them:

“…Remember that I love you sons… and take good care of one another… I love you! So much!”

“We will dad… and you too, take good care…”, they both answered.

They were all waving at the old man as he was walking on the tarmac to his plane. They looked at him as he was slowly climbing the stairs leading to the plane. Then, as he reached the top of the stairs he turned to look back at them and waved to them, with a big smile on his face. They waved back to him with tears in their eyes.

Then the plane left.

That was the last time Paul and Pierre saw their dad, as a few months later he died of a heart-attack.

Paul and Pierre flew to Paris to attend his funeral… and after the funeral, Paul took some time to settle his father’s estate.

With their sister Catherine, Paul and Pierre were the sole heirs to their father’s large fortune.

While he was in Paris, Paul received a very good offer from a serious investor who wanted to buy their shares in the company…

As they were staying on Avenue Foch, Paul and Pierre had a meeting with their sister… and after good consideration, the three of them agreed to accept the offer and to sell all of their shares…

It was also agreed that Catherine would keep the mansion on Avenue Foch… and Paul also agreed that she could go to Bagatelle as often as she wanted to, as long as she would pay to keep the château in good condition…

As Paul had inherited Bagatelle from his grandmother, he was the sole owner of the estate, and he didn’t want to sell it… since the château had belong to his family for so many years… However, since they had moved to Martinique, nobody was living there, and the maintenance expenses were quite large. Of course that was not a problem for Paul, as he was a very rich man. No… that was not the point! But why keep the château if no one was going there. And since Paul had no intention of ever moving back to France… well... why keep that estate? That was the question!

And so Paul was very happy to see that his sister Catherine wanted to spend some time at the château… for his problem was solved. No need to sell the estate. At least… not for now!

The night before they were set to fly back to Martinique, and as the three of them were having supper at the mansion on Avenue Foch, Catherine looked at her two brothers and said:

“…I want you to know that I love you guys… and that I don’t give a damn about the fact you two are gay… I love you, that’s all! And I want you to know it has not been easy for me either to live here with mum… She was… well… I guess I don’t have to explain…”

“Yes…”, Paul answered with a sad smile on his face. “I can imagine it wasn’t easy for you…”

“We love you too Catherine”, Pierre said… “And I sure hope you will come to visit us in Martinique… I miss you Catherine… Please, come to see us there… “

“I will… I swear…” She answered, smiling at her two brothers. (…) “And before you two leave tomorrow… is there’s something in here you would like to keep and bring with you?”

“No”, Pierre answered… “My memories of the mansion here are not among my best…”

“I understand.”, she answered with a sad smile on her face… “And you Paul?”

“Well… There’s dad’s desk in the study… I’d like to keep it…”

“Sure. I’ll have it packed and ship to you, no problem… Anything else?”

“No…”, Paul answered… “That’s all…”.

A few weeks later, his dad’s desk was delivered to Paul at Fort-de-France and brought to the plantation…

And that’s where I saw it, the first time I went to the new “Bagatelle” plantation in Martinique. That was in 1997… almost ten years ago. 

My dad had just bought Hans’ house… so we would have a place of our own where to stay while vacationing in Martinique…

Hans’ wife had died a few years back and now that his children were all living at Fort-de-France, he had decided to sell the house and move back into the mansion with the others still living there…

Now my friends… Would you like to know who was still living there in 1997? Would you like to know how I met them? And how they help me to grow up and accept the fact that I’m gay?…
If so… just tell me and I will tell you.

For my part… I’ve kept my promise to Paul and Will… and I’ve told their story. Well… at least… part of it. It wasn’t an easy task… and it took me a lot of time to do so. But I’m glad I did… and from all the nice reviews I’ve received from you… I think you’ve enjoyed it!

Now as I said… If you want to read the rest of the story… just tell me… and I will write it for you. I swear I will. And I always keep my word! The rest of the story would be delivered to you in the form of an epilogue… concluding “My German Lover” story… And yes, Alejandro from Madrid… it would still be a “First time sex story…” Ohhh yes!

Thanks to you guys, for your support… Special thanks to Mike, wherever you are… To you Alejandro… Many thanks to you Bill… and to you all… for your nice reviews and for your votes! You kept me going… Many thanks.