#tom foxman

[coriel-muroz]

Huntsville Revived #471

With all the chaos surrounding the divorce, Mary Anne completely forgot that Rick’s birthday was coming.

Luckily, Charles had his back and threw a party with all the teenagers he knew.

Turning 13, Rick was ready to look like the teenager he already felt he was.

“This is a sweet party,” Apollo commented, “Tons of friends. Good food. Happy birthday!”

“Thanks. And thanks Charles for organizing it.” Rick felt pretty special that not only were there kids his age, like Rae, but the older crowd was out to celebrate too.

“Hey Charles! Where’s the birthday boy? There you are, Rick. Is it time yet?” Hunter and a few others arrived.

“You’re just in time,” Rick informed him.

“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Rick. Happy birthday to you!”

Everyone sang and cheered to with Rick a happy birthday.

He was well and truly a teenager now.

Once the official part of the party was over, the teens started dancing and hanging out.

At one point, however, Nathan decided to get into it with Hunter.

“Hey, you better not cheat on Delilah the way your dad cheated on your mom.”

“What the hell, man. I’m not happy about that either.” Hunter was thoroughly confused. He and Nathan had always been cool.

“I heard about what happened in the Islands. My Dad is so furious at your Dad. You better not take after him.” Nathan didn’t let up.

“Back off, Nathan. Don’t talk about my Mom. You don’t know anything about it.” Hunter was prepared to let his younger cousin have it.

Luckily, Charles and Rick realized the situation was heating up. They managed to separate the two teens. 

“Nathan, you have to explain to me your latest chess technique!” Charles announced, pulling him away from Hunter.

“You’re lucky your parents are staying divorced,” Rick told Hunter, “Mine getting back together is too much drama.”

Rick ended up having a terrific birthday party.

[coriel-muroz]

Huntsville Revived #461

“Are you sure no one will walk in this time?” Felix teased his wife.

“Rick is at with his father, and Charles is out with friends. We have the whole house to ourselves,” Mary Anne replied.

“In that case,” Felix didn’t hesitate as he pulled Mary Anne in close.

________________________________________________________________

Charles had friends over for another party. It was a week night, but it was the summer, so no one was particularly worried. Besides, if a cop did try to break up the party, dropping Felix’s name seemed to make that problem go away.

“Missed again,” Charles laughed as he and Hunter engaged in an intense Red Hands battle.

“Get him,” Surreal cheered them on, though neither was sure who she was cheering for.

“Do you think you can take me?” Charles asked her once he had trounced Hunter.

“Probably.” Surreal had a loud but infectious laugh. “You think I don’t have to be good at Red Hands in Foster Care?”

“Right, a lot more people to practice with,” Charles acknowledged, “Still, let’s find out!”

“Sure,” Surreal agreed, before showing him that he really hadn’t anticipated what he was up against. 

“Tom, promise me one thing, okay,” Charles asked.

“Okay...” Tom wasn’t sure what he was agreeing to.

“Don’t ever play Red Hands with Surreal. Just don’t! You promise?”

“Yeah, I promise.”

The party was going late, but certainly wasn’t all that wild. Yet a cop did come to break it up. And this time, that cop did NOT care that Felix was Charles’ step-father. So all the teen trudged sadly home.

[coriel-muroz]

Huntsville Revived #357

For Tom, the months since moving in with Abigail and Jeremy were truly the best in his life. He was happy and carefree.

He had the time to do his homework, and, thanks to the tutor, he was well on track to going off to university.

He had real friends now. Good ones. And he wasn’t embarrassed to invite them over. Also, they were all welcome.

Tom and Mars had a lot in common. They had similar styles and interests. Despite that, Tom never could have brought him around since his Grandpa hated Aliens. 

Mars showed up with his twin brother, Apollo. 

“This landscaping is awesome,” Mars said looking around, “Sweet place.”

“Right?” Tom hadn’t grown up with a lot of outdoor space. Granny and Grandpa Jeremy’s lawn was a bit more manicured than Tom would have preferred, but it was better than the oil-stained grass patches of his youth.

“I hear you have that new skiing video game?” Apollo asked.

“You up for the challenge?” Tom sallied. And they went inside to play.

“I’m going to whoop you, Tom,” Apollo challenged as they picked their characters.

“Not if I whoop you first,” Tom countered.

“I’ll whoop whoever wins this race next,” Mars announced.

The boys took turns racing each other. They were surprisingly evenly matched, often winning by only a hairsbreadth, unless they tried too hard and crashed into a snowdrift.

“I wonder what real skiing is like?” Apollo mused.

“Grandpa Jeremy says he’ll take me sometime,” Tom boasted.

“Better not ski like you are in this game or you’ll kill yourself,” Mars pointed out.

After a while, Mars and Apollo decided to teach Tom how to play kickybag. He was good at it from the start.

“Grandpa Jeremy and I have been playing sports together a bunch, so I’m more coordinated than I used to be,” he confessed.

[coriel-muroz]

Huntsville Revived #358

Mars, Apollo and Tom were have a terrific time hanging out at Tom’s grandparents place. It was strange; he still didn’t quite think of it has his place.

After playing kicky bag for a while, Mars turned on some dance music and then said he’d be back shortly.

Tom and Apollo started dancing together. It was a great song, but neither of them were great dancers. Still, they gave it their best.

Suddenly, Apollo closed the gap between them, and lay his hand along Tom’s jaw.

“I’m going to kiss you,” he said.

Tom leaned in and Apollo kissed him. Gently at first.

Then more deeply.

Tom felt completely light, like they were floating on air.

Apollo put his arms around Tom, pulling him in tight.

“I...what...I...” Tom was a bit flabbergasted.

“I’ve had a crush on you for a while, Tom. Can I take you out on a date?”

“A date? Yes. Definitely.”

Tom really wanted Apollo to kiss him again.

[coriel-muroz]

Huntsville Revived #361

Jeremy and Abigail’s lives hadn’t changed too much since Tom had moved in, but both were happy to see him become more himself every day - not afraid to be dating an Alien boy, although no one had any intention of letting Tommy Foxman know about it.

“Dude, did you know?” Tom asked Mars.

“What, that Apollo was going to make a move? Well, yeah. Why do you think I took off? Had to give you space.” Mars’ smirk was all knowing.

“I really appreciate it,” Tom said as he hugged his friend.

“Just, look, you two have to be cool okay. Like we can still hang out like normal, and you can date each other, got it?” Mars insisted.

“For sure,” Tom assured him.

Abigail ran into her brother, Felix, while out grocery shopping.

“What do you need at this hour,” Felix asked, surprised to see her at the shop so late.

“I ran out of rosewater. I was sure I had another bottle, but I don’t. Can’t bake Jeremy’s favourite cookies without it.”

“No. So how’s the job search going?” 

“Not well. You’d think someone would give an old woman a chance, but no.”

Felix knew that Abigail wasn’t one to take handouts, so he had no intention of telling her he was going to help. “Email me your resume. I’ll drop it off at a few places in Nickelton that might be interested, okay?”

“Thanks, Felix.” Felix had always looked out for his baby sister, even if he was only an hour older than her.

The next day, while Abigail was making breakfast, she received a phone call. She had no idea that Felix had used his connections to get her immediately hired - she wouldn’t have been happy, but Felix would have pointed out that the would be lucky to have her, so it didn’t matter why they gave her a shot.

Abigail was excited to go out to her first day of work. She hadn’t actually had a proper job since before she got married the first time, right out of high school. It made her feel young.

Felix was absolutely right. The restaurant that hired Abigail, as a favour to Felix, were so impressed with her that she immediately earned a promotion.

Tom, on the other hand, continued to enjoy the fact that he didn’t have a job, which gave him the freedom to go out whenever he wanted.

“I hear you’re dating Apollo Goldsun,” Surreal teased Tom.

“I am,” he replied proudly, “When are you going to ask out Venus?”

Surreal blushed rather deeply in response.

“Are you heading to university once you graduate?” Gabriella asked, trying to change the conversation from dating since she and Nathan had once gone on a pretty awkward date.

“Not right away. I want to get my grades up, maybe work a bit so I’m not fully relying on my grandparents, even if they do want to pay my way. I want to make sure I’m ready.” Tom hadn’t fully decided yet, but this seemed the most likely course of action.

Soon, he did get a job - arranging flowers. He loved it. It was SO different from fixing a car engine. A couple more years, a degree in business management and a little flower shop started to fill in a picture of a future Tom wanted to share with a certain blue-haired boy.

And so, the rotation comes to an end for Household 6.

[coriel-muroz]

Huntsville Revived #353

Tom was adapting very well to his new life that was free from so many crushing responsibilities. He wished that his mother and siblings had come too, but he wasn’t in a position to make their choices for them.

Instead, he got his grades up so university was actually an option, and went out to meet friends at Red’s Famous 50s Diner.

“Hey Tom,” Venus greeted him, “It’s nice to see you here so often.”

“Yeah. Does it make it less fun now that I don’t have to sneak out to see you?”

“Maybe?”

They both laughed.

“It must be very peaceful to be with your Granny now.”

“She and Grandpa Jeremy let me be who I am. They think everything about me is fine. Speaking of fine, isn’t that your crush over there? Go talk to her!” Tom pushed Venus towards Surreal. The two were both shy, but obviously the crush was mutual.

Meanwhile, Tom bravely struck up conversation with a boy whom he found deeply attractive. Unfortunately, some quick questions established that Bryce liked women, so Tom simply enjoyed the pleasure of looking at him without expecting more.

When a dance party broke out, Tom joined in without worrying about him image.

Even if he struggled with the moves at first.

Eventually he was in sync with the rest of the crowd.

“Do you know how many weddings have been planned in my community now that the ban on Alien marriage has been lifted?” Castor couldn’t decide if he was happy about it, or exhausted from all of the events.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever gone to a wedding.” Tom hadn’t.

“Well, maybe if my parents finally decide to tie the knot, you should come.”

“An alien wedding, huh? That sounds awesome. I’ll definitely join you...who else would you invite?” Tom wanted to be sure he was understanding Castor correctly.

“Humans, you mean? My girlfriend, Marsha, obviously, and Surreal probably. Do you think she’ll kiss Venus first? Or will Venus have the courage to kiss her?” 

So it wasn’t a date, just a friendly invitation. Which Tom could get behind. Still, he had been so worried about anyone finding out he was gay, he had never before realized it might be hard to find someone else he was into who shared his preference for men.

[coriel-muroz]

Huntsville Revived #352

Tom had moved in with his Granny and Grandpa Jeremy. He had a home that was safe and accepted him for who he was.

That night, before he went to bed, Jeremy went into Chloe’s room. He looked at the painting on her wall - one of his sisters, Charlotte & Liz, playing happily in the snow; it was painted by their mother. The other was of Terren, Chloe’s Alien boyfriend.

He hoped he would always do right by his family. Support them in pursuing their goals. Love them for who they were. 

The next morning, and every morning after, started the same way.

“Tom, it’s time to get up.” Abigail gently woke her grandson. He found he slept quite soundly here, and preferred the soft beckons of his Granny to the harsh tones of an alarm clock that made him think he had to get up early to work in the shop before going to school.

“You’re getting very good at basketball,” Jeremy told him as they sat down for breakfast after getting a little exercise, “Have you considered joining the school team?”

“No,” Tom said. He had never had the luxury of time to consider joining a school team before.

“You should. They would be lucky to have you. You’re a natural at sports. I bet when we go on vacation to a ski resort, you’ll be just as good there.”

Vacation. Ski resort. School team. College. Grandpa Jeremy made promises easily, ones he would keep; it never occurred to him that these were enormous or precious offerings to Tom.

“I don’t know if my marks are good enough for to be on a school team,” Tom confessed, “Or to qualify for college.”

The look Jeremy gave him was one of utter confusion. Abigail stopped herself from giggling.

“Erin and Chloe’s grades weren’t the best either, but we got them in,” Abigail told her grandson, “Whatever help you need, you have it now.”

While Tom was at school, there were still many hours in the day for Abigail to work on her projects. She was sewing him a few items that he needed.

She would have less time for this when she got a position in the culinary field, but that hadn’t happened yet.

Tom didn’t end up joining the sports team. He was having too much fun with his found freedom. He could go wherever he wanted and do whatever he wanted, so long as he attended class, did his homework and worked with his tutor.

Not that he had a natural gift for everything he tried. Abigail tried to encourage him when he decided to start to learn to play piano, but he was bad at it.

“Do we have to sit here listening to this?” Jeremy whispered to his wife.

“Shhh. Be supportive.”

Both were supportive, but Tom was not likely to become a concert pianist.

[coriel-muroz]

Huntsville Revived #360

While Tom and Apollo were on their date, Jeremy and Abigail had a quiet night at home.

“Do you know where your grandson is?” Jeremy asked his wife as he tried to repair a dripping tap in the shower.

“No. Where is he?” Jeremy’s tone had been light, so she knew Tom wasn’t anywhere is shouldn’t be.

“He’s on a date. With Apollo Goldsun.”

“Is he? How lovely.”

Jeremy spent the evening reading and researching. Retirement didn’t mean there was nothing more to learn.

His reading was interrupted by a coughing fit from the other room. He put his book aside and took Abigail up to bed, where he rubbed her back until she fell asleep.

The next morning, Jeremy let Abigail sleep in. Which meant, he was the one who had to wake Tom.

“Good morning, Tom. So, how was the date?” If it hadn’t gone well, asking first thing while they were both in pajamas probably wasn’t the best plan, but Tom’s goofy smile suggested he was pretty happy.

“It was nice,” Tom told him, trying not to smile to wide.

“You’ll have to invite him over for dinner sometime.”