Austin Inverness loves dogs and his wife, Erika. Erika was the only girlfriend Austin ever had who didn’t judge him for being bisexual, and dogs never judge, period. Unfortunately, Erika isn’t much of a dog person. Airman Neil Stafford has been deployed to Turkey for a six-month tour and he enrolls his schipper-poo, Bunny, in the Fosters for Fighters program that arranges fostering for soldiers' pets. There he meets Austin, who will foster Bunny while Neil is overseas. The two men keep in touch via Skype and Austin is delighted by how well they get along. Erika, on the other hand, is delighted by how little she has to do to take care of Bunny. That is, until Bunny needs an emergency trip to the vet. By the time Neil returns home, Austin has noticed key differences between his wife and the new friend he can’t stop thinking about. As for Neil, he knows for sure he wants Austin in his life, but not at the cost of his friend's marriage. When Austin realizes Erika questions his bisexuality, the cracks in their relationship quickly spread and Austin questions everything, including if he can make the right choice. Will Austin and Neil be able to overcome the bumps on the road to happiness?

Fostered Affections

After the usual “How’ve you been?” and “Guys, listen to this,” conversation starters, Austin casually said, “You guys ever hear of Pastafarianism?”


Sergei shrugged. “I think I have. Isn’t that the made-up religion that worships a spaghetti monster to prove how weird beliefs in other religions are?”


“Hey, all religions were made up at some point, if you think about it, even if that religion’s God is the one who made it up,” Austin said. “Plus, the Pastafarian afterlife has a Beer Volcano and a Stripper Factory.”


“A Stripper Factory?” CJ asked with wide eyes.


“Do they make male and female strippers?” Micha inquired.


Austin shrugged. “It’s a Stripper Factory, so I’m guessing they can make strippers of any configuration.”


“Even strippers with, like…four boobs and tiger stripes?”


“I’m kinda worried about what your fetishes are, but I guess you could custom order one like that, yeah.”


Chapter 11