The Locksmith Chronicles

by
Brimmingbelly04

Part One: The Way Things Changed

As was the case with just about everyone, the Covid-19 pandemic had drastically
changed much about Jerry Winters' life. Working at a hospital meant he'd learned
sooner than most as to how difficult and scary things were going to get which initially
excited him. By no means was he happy about it, but he was ready and eager to help.
While Jerry's medical training didn't bring him anywhere close to being a doctor, it left
him just shy of being an accredited nurse so he assumed he'd come in extra handy if
and when things started getting bad and he was glad he'd be able to help.

Back before everything changed, Jerry would report to the Labor and Delivery Unit on
his scheduled days, clock in, and then go check the board to see how many
appointments he had. Most of the time, his services as an ACT8N carrier, aka a
"Locksmith," were scheduled, but he and Paul, the other hospital employee with
unusual sperm, also dealt with their fair share of "waddle-ins." Being located in a
densely populated area used to mean that on average, the Locksmiths and their
uniquely potent proteins would each unlock the cervixes of three to four men a day,
but as with most jobs, some days were slower and some busier than others.

Though his primary job duty was to have sex, which to a lot of people sounded either
ridiculous or amazing, the occasional slow day was always appreciated. Because of
the oath they'd taken to not have sex outside of work unless it was with someone
who'd consented to bi-monthly STD tests, performed at and by the hospital (which
needless to say, didn't interest most people), Jerry and Paul were both almost always
single. Due to how often they had sex (whether they were in the mood to or not),
both had come to think of the act quite clinically, yet still loved what they did. That
being said, as much as someone can enjoy what they do (if they're lucky), a job is still
a job and sometimes, they can't help but wonder why the hell they're doing it?

This used to be the case every mid-December though by now, two had been skipped.
The last time it happened had been in 2019 and for as long as he lived, Jerry, the
burly ginger, would never forget what would go on to become a record-breaking day…
When he got to work and checked the board, he saw he had seven appointments,
which was just about double his daily average. Paul had eight, which meant neither of
them would have time to help out in the Unit between their quite specific duties like
they usually did…

When the Locksmiths weren't using their proteins to unlock cervixes, they were often
assigned orderly duties. They were most frequently tasked with wheeling expectant,
often already laboring patients to their rooms, and then helping them get ready to be
seen by their doctor. If they weren't doing that, they were taking men who'd recently
given birth (along with their baby(ies) from their room, out of the Unit, and out to
their ride home. But on this day, the Locksmiths were kept too busy with what only
they could do to act as "chauffeurs" between gigs… This (again, used to) happen every
year, always around two weeks before Christmas, some forty weeks post St. Patrick's
Day: a holiday centered around excessive drinking and bad decision making. Since this
wasn't just a local occurrence, they couldn't call in additional Locksmiths for back up,
so by the end of the day, Jerry was utterly exhausted after having done his part (again
and again and again) in helping bring seventeen babies into the world.

He felt like he'd run back to back marathons after having fucked not only his
appointed seven men into labor, but an eventual grand total of thirteen after having
also been assigned six waddle-ins. Paul had been assigned five, evening out their
score cards for the shift and leaving the pair to grope and groan about their day as
they ambled through the parking lot towards their cars following an almost
twelve-hour shift.

"I never wanna have sex again…" Paul groaned.

"Too bad we're gonna have to again in…" Jake paused to check the time. "Eight hours.
Hopefully the next couple days won't be as busy as today…"

"They better not! My dick hurts!"

"You're preachin' to the choir, dude…"

Paul grunted. "As much as I never wanna have sex again. At least not for a couple
days, but yeah right, I hate to say it, but pretty sure we won't be as busy this time
next year," he predicted.

Back then, quiet but gradually increasing rumblings had started around the hospital
about a virus recently discovered in China, and what might happen if and when it
reached the States unabated. At the time, no one really knew her just how pervasive
and life-changing it would come to be, so Jerry just shrugged and yawned loudly,
more immediately concerned as to whether he'd make it home without falling asleep
behind the wheel.

Unfortunately, Paul's prediction would go on to prove itself true, which would in turn
go on to change a lot of things for he and Jerry… As soon as the higher-ups at the
hospital more fully understood the gravity of the emerging Covid situation, both
Locksmiths were placed on paid, active leave. They were given hospital-issued pagers
that previously only surgeons and highly specialized surgeons had been assigned. To
keep the important pair as safe and as isolated as possible, the hospital rented a
townhouse for them, located just a couple blocks away, where they were to stay at all
times unless they were paged to come in. In-person contact with anyone else
(including friends and family) was strictly forbidden, and their groceries were paid for
and delivered to them as it became more important than ever that the Locksmiths
remain healthy, ready and able to work.

But things at work quickly changed… Needless to say, things not only got weird, they
got a bit scary. Back at the height of the pandemic, pre-vaccine and booster(s), the
hospital put countless protocols in place to try and keep everyone safe as the
situation and its severity continually fluctuated. One of the biggest changes was that
Paul and Jerry were no longer allowed to have "intimate" interactions with their
patients (should that be how their encounter had been agreed upon). Previously, if
requested and/or the mood was mutually right, they'd been allowed to perform such
acts as belly rubs and licks, handjobs, and sometimes even providing some oral
"relief." But then all of a sudden, every patient interaction became wham, bam,
you're unlocked, good luck giving birth…

Before either Locksmith had even fully processed the change, they were expected to
be in and out of the room as quickly as possible: specifically, in less than three
minutes. Whenever duty called, Jerry and Paul were now required to suit up in full
containment gear, complete with its own oxygen supply. Due to the task they needed
to perform, their suits had to be specially altered: their crotches enlarged and zippers
they could operate wearing thick, cumbersome gloves installed.

After donning their protective garb in what had come to be their "ready room," a
former labor and delivery suite now solely reserved for them, Paul or Jerry would
have to "prep" themselves in the room too, meaning they'd have to lube up and work
themselves to their full potential, and then stuff their erection and balls back into
their suits and zip it closed. Next came the now most awkward part of their job,
which previously had been when their patient's water broke, typically right after
they'd "administered" their special proteins… Now, the most awkward part of what
they did was to walk to whatever room they were needed in, with the enlarged crotch
of their hazmat suits tented and bulging out in front of them for all to see.

If there was anything "good" about all the new safety protocols, it was that there
weren't as many people at the hospital now (at least not in the Labor and Delivery
Unit). Expectant parents were now only allowed to have one person with them, and
we're relegated to their room for their entire stay, which in short meant no more
patients and their partners (if they had one) walking or waddling the halls.

Before heading off to the room they'd been paged to, the erect Locksmith would have
grabbed one of the two huge sheets of plexiglass vertically set and secured to a
furniture dolly from the ready room. They'd wheel the awkward contraption with a big
circle cut out in the sheet of plexiglass right at crotch level, beside them, which
usually took most of the heat off them as they made their way to the room where
their patient had already been tasked with prepping themselves for their arrival. In
the past, it was considered part of the Locksmiths' duties to help their patients into
whichever position they preferred, after which they'd apply the hospital grade
lubrication to their oftentimes already laboring but not yet fully "triggered" holes.
Since this wasn't allowed anymore, patients would have to get into the now assigned
position and slick themselves up to the best of their often heavily encumbered
abilities.

When the Locksmith entered the room with his "shield," if anyone else was there aside
from the patient, they had to leave, no exceptions unless the patient's doctor had
deemed it medically necessary. After a very brief and usually awkward greeting
offered from bulky gear not really designed to be communicated through without at
least a radio headset, Jerry or Paul would explain to their patient what they were
about to do so everyone was on the same page.

But the truth was, the dialogue between the Locksmith and his patient wouldn't even
fill a page anymore… Now, barring any questions, the Locksmiths kept what they had
to say to a clinical paragraph they'd recently been trained to rapidly spit out, all
while willing themselves to stay hard, seeing as they really were expected to keep
their encounters as close to the three minute count as possible.

While he couldn't necessarily speak for all the men who shared their trade, Jerry and
Paul felt bad they could now only direct the men they were there to unlock. They
both felt especially bad if the guy was already well into his labor and/or he was
expecting more than one baby… Both conditions made it even harder for the patient
to not only lean over the foot of the bed, leaving their most of the time, packed and
now also heaving bellies, warping and dangling heavily beneath them, but then to also
reach back and spread their cheeks apart as much as they could (often with only one
hand) so the Locksmith (who couldn't help) could wheel the plexiglass smiled into
position, press it firmly against their rear and lock its wheels; bringing their physical
contact down to the bare minimum.

By the time either of the guys undid their zipper and retrieved their member, they
usually needed to give it a few firm tugs to get it back to its full, potent potential.
Once they had, they quickly set to work, guiding their "magical" cocks into their
patient's exposed holes, entering with little fanfare or warning since between their
helmet, the patient's N95 mask, and the giant sheet of plastic between them,
communication wasn't exactly easy, nor was their any time to waste on it.

The shields and a majority of the other safety protocols stayed in place for a year,
during which the Locksmiths were some of the first hospital employees to get fully
vaccinated even though the more time that passed, the less their "services" were
required. At least once they'd been fully vaccinated, on the more and more rare
occasion they were called into duty, they didn't have to wear their hazmat gear
anymore, bring some "normalcy" back to their job, but till more of the general public
got their shots (and most pregnant people chose to wait till after they'd given birth to
get theirs), there was still a long way to go, during which less and less guys needed to
be unlocked.

Even with that being the case, as many pundits and commentators had predicted on
TV, some ten months into the pandemic, there was a baby boom. During previous
booms, any Locksmith would've been kept busy but during this one, it was the exact
opposite… Given the record number of births, people had obviously been having a lot
of sex while initially stuck at home, but they were having them together: with their
boyfriends, husbands, or guys they'd simply shacked up (isolated) with.

Since most bars, restaurants, and clubs remained closed, almost no one was going out
and having one night stands resulting in unintended pregnancies, or ending
relationships, meaning they were with the guy who could/needed to unlock them.
There were of course exceptions but now they were especially few and far between.
Surrogates, guys the Locksmiths could always count on needing to unlock, practically
became a thing of the past as people who needed or wanted to use "help" having
children, more often than not didn't with everything being so uncertain.

So again, Paul's prediction had pretty much unfortunately proved to be spot on,
resulting in some serious "lag time" for he and Jerry. But once they'd both been fully
 vaccinated, with a record number of babies being born and the ongoing shortage of
doctors and nurses in the Unit as they were reassigned to help care for Covid patients,
Jerry and Paul were finally put to work in other ways around the Unit.

It was at this time that Jerry witnessed his first birth. He'd long since lost count of
how many births he'd initiated, so he thought for sure he'd never forget actually being
part of one but soon, he'd seen so many that they all started blending together. Still,
this new aspect of his job was interesting and exciting, so much so that almost two
weeks went by before the ginger belatedly realized he hadn't been utilized as a
Locksmith in as long, which meant because of the oath he'd taken, he simply hadn't
had sex…

For most guys, going without any action for two weeks wouldn't be long enough for
them to complain about. Most guys are also jack off frequently, but Jerry didn't since
he never "needed" to and therefore, didn't think to. But once he realized how much
time had passed since he'd last blown a load in someone (or a load in general), doing
so became just about all he could think of… Even though lockdown had been lifted, he
and Paul were still living at the townhouse provided by the hospital, so Jerry
lamented to him, knowing that if anyone would understand his predicament, it would
be the Locksmith four years his senior.

After his friend and co-worker finished griping, Paul shared that he'd last been
"assigned" to perform more than a week ago, making him less than happy with the
current situation as well. He went on to say that now that he'd also thought about
how long it'd been since he'd last had sex, and without knowing how long this awful
dryspell would last, all he could think about was the act and the big, bloated bellies
and milk-engorged breasts he'd come to associate with it after years of that all but
exclusively being the bodytype he got to "work" with. While Jerry felt much the same,
but there'd been a somewhat recent but brief exception for him…

The exception's name was Reece and he'd been a former patient. Though they'd met
pre-Covid, back before the shields and hazmat gear, Jerry's first attempt at unlocking
him remained one of the most awkward patient encounters he'd ever had, thanks to
Reece not being entirely clear as to how the who "unlocking" procedure went…
Eventually, the two got on the same page and successfully "did the deed," after which,
Jerry thought that was that, but then he'd been assigned to wheel Reece and his new
son out of the hospital.

When the ginger found out he was going to see the new dad again, he ran to the gift
shop where he bought Reece's son a little teddy bear. Before he handed it to Reece,
 Jerry wrote his name and number on a Post-It and tucked it into the bear's sewn
together arms, hoping but not holding his breath, that Reece would call or text.

He ended up texting, his first message coming in at two-thirty in the morning, three
days after he'd been discharged. Immediately, the new dad apologized for the time,
explaining he was up feeding the baby and bored. More importantly, he went on to say
how much he wanted to see Jerry again and how much he'd enjoyed their time
together despite its rough start and general awkwardness. Even though he'd been the
one to initiate further contact, the Locksmith had been down this road a few times
before and therefore knew that if anything more was to happen between he and
Reece without any issues coming up, he had to lay it all out there up front…

This required Jerry being more than a bit forward. He explained to the hot new dad
what all would be involved if he wanted to have sex with him again, mainly the
frequent STD testing. He also rather needlessly pointed out that he basically had sex
for a living, mostly with strangers, though he did have some repeats (surrogates and
guys who'd used sperm donors to conceive), so if Reece was the jealous type, things
weren't going to work out.

Fortunately, all that was fine with the new dad. After unintentionally getting
pregnant and not realizing he was till it was too late (not that he hadn't come to be in
absolute love with his son), his days of sleeping around were over. While he wasn't
exactly looking or ready to start a relationship, he was more than fine with only being
with Jerry, even if it meant they wouldn't be entirely exclusive.

Their arrangement worked out great. The Locksmith would come over whenever he
could and he and Reece enjoyed their time together, in and out of bed. But then
Covid and the subsequent lockdown hit and suddenly they literally couldn't see each
other anymore so whatever they were or had, fizzled out. While it'd been nice while it
lasted, things got so crazy, weird and scary so quickly for Jerry that he didn't have
time to miss it after it ended. Bad as it sounds, he only realized he missed Reece once
he realized how long it'd been since he'd had sex with anyone.

Even though they hadn't been dating per say, Reece was the first person Jerry had
"been with" in a long time, leaving him feeling extra alone once he realized he was.
That being the case, the Locksmith still wasn't looking for a relationship and now that
so much time had gone by without he and Reece seeing each other or even keeping in
touch as he'd intended to, Jerry didn't see anything starting back up again, so what to
do? He wasn't looking to change jobs 'cause he had it made, but the keyword now
being had…
 "Don't worry, things will eventually get better," Paul said.

"Yeah..? When?" Jerry groaned.

"It's gonna take a while…" his fellow Locksmith replied with a grunt. "Life just started
getting kinda back to normal a couple months ago, which means we're still a good
seven or so months away from guys who weren't able to keep their legs together any
longer needing us to fuck their whoopsie babies outta them," he chuckled at his use of
the silly term he'd come up with for unintended children.

Jerry groaned again. "And till then..?"

"And till then, we adapt."

"And how do we do that?"

Paul sighed. "If I tell you how, you have to promise you won't tell anyone else, OK?"

"Wait… You seriously have an idea?"

It's not just an idea anymore," he shook his head. "It's a reality. Now promise me you
won't tell."

"I promise," Jerry readily agreed.

"I'm serious, Jer…"

"Me too!" He nodded.

Paul sighed again before replying. "So I lied when I said it's been a week since I last
had sex."

"OK…" Jerry nodded again. "Did you forget an appointment or something?"

"How could I forget about one when we barely have any?!"

"Hey…" he held up his hands. "I'm just trying to understand here. Wait… Did you break
the oath?!"
 The other Locksmith sighed a third time. "I suppose that's up for debate…"

"What does that mean?!" Jerry huffed. "You either did or you didn't?!"

"Well I assume the hospital would consider I broke the oath but really, I was just
working off the clock," Paul shrugged.

"What does THAT mean?!" Jerry repeated, slightly stressing his question this time.

"What it sounds like," his friend shrugged again. "I took an appointment outside of
work."

"Why would you do that?!" He pressed. "You could get in big trouble if someone from
the hospital found out! Not only could you lose your job, you could lose your
accreditation and not be able to work anywhere anymore!"

"I realize that!" Paul huffed. "Which is why I've kept my little side gig private till now!
I seriously hope I didn't make a mistake telling you…"

"You didn't," Jerry shook his head. "I told you I wouldn't tell anyone, I'm just confused
as to why you're doing it and why you decided to tell me?"

"I'm doing it 'cause I'm tired of all the rules and regulations… Do you really think that
stupid shield keeps us safe?!"

"Well no, probably not, but…"

"I wanted to have some fun again!" Paul continued. "Remember when we could be
intimate with guys?" He asked with a sigh. "Don't you miss that?!"

"Of course I do!" Jerry huffed back. "But not enough to lose my job or my
accreditation!"

"And how would you lose those..?"

"By breaking the oath!"

"Nope," Paul shook his head. "Wrong answer. You could lose them if someone found
out you broke the oath, and that would only happen if you weren't careful or you told
 someone you couldn't trust. I trust you, so I told you 'cause I don't like seeing you
suffer."

"Thanks, I think?" Jerry chuckled and shrugged. "But what are you telling me, that
you have access to some secret stash of guys who need to be unlocked?"

"Don't I wish!" Paul grunted. "But no… I don't have access to some secret stash of
patients, I just got contacted by one wanting to know if I'd be willing to bend the
rules for him."

"Meaning he wanted to be unlocked but not at the hospital under their Covid
protocols," Jerry realized.

"Correct. He'd heard how things were now from some of his friends and he didn't want
that. He wanted some intimacy."

"No offense, but why you?" He asked. "And how'd he find you? I assume he didn't go
through the hospital…"

"Me 'cause I unlocked him twice before and he was happy with my services," Paul
replied with a wink. "He's a surrogate, he remembered my name so no, he didn't go
through the hospital," he shook his head. "He looked me up on Facebook and sent me
a message."

The burly ginger snorted. "You would still use Facebook, old man!"

"I'm only four years older than you, and I don't use it, thank you!" Paul countered.
"But I kept my account active and now I'm glad I did!"

"I bet you are!" Jerry grunted. "Shit… Maybe I should reactivate mine? See if any of
my former patients wanna have some fun before I pop 'em?"

"So you would break the oath..?"

"If I could get away with it? Hell yeah!" He nodded. "I mean I've always taken it
seriously, even when Reece and I had our thing going on, and I always thought I would,
but now..?" He shook his head. "Shit sucks! And to think it's gonna be more than half a
year before things MAYBE get back to the way they used to be for us?!"

"Exactly," Paul nodded. "Rules and oaths were made to be broken, anyway."
 "But are we really breaking it..?" Jerry countered. "I say we, 'cause I want in on this,
for sure! But if we see guys off the clock who would've been coming to us anyway…"
he raised his brows.

"Exactly," his fellow Locksmith repeated. "Now just to be clear, like I said, I don't have
access to some secret stash of about to burst preggos," he chuckled as he shook his
head. "But Tyler, that's the guy, told me he'd give my info to other surrogates who
might be interested in an alternative to the new hospital experience. If you're
interested, I could tell him…"

"Tell him!"

"I figured you'd say that as soon as I decided to tell you," Paul laughed before
cautioning, "Now don't go thinking there's gonna be A LOT of side business headed
your way… You and I are in a unique situation so I feel your pain and therefore willing
to split 'opportunies' with you," he said with air quotes. "But as you and I both know,
surrogate pregnancies are way down thanks to this stupid virus, and that being said…"

"Not 'everyone' will be interested or even able to work with us off the clock," Jerry
replied with his own set of air quotes. "I know some surrogates have some really strict
contracts, probably especially now,l he acknowledged.

"Right," Paul nodded as he looked over at and then reached down for his phone as it
vibrated on the side table next to him.

"But still… Some fun would be very much appreciated nowadays… Shit!" The younger
Locksmith huffed and rolled his eyes. "I can't remember the last time I had sex for
longer than ninety seconds!"

"Hopefully you'll be able to last at least a little longer than that when the time
comes…" Paul said as he typed away, replying to the message he'd just received.

"It's been a long time," Jerry acknowledged. "But yeah, when the time comes,
whenever that ends up being, I'm pretty sure I'll still be up for the task if you were!"
He laughed.

"Careful, asshole… I'm busy doin' you a favor over here…"

"Oh..?"
 "Got any plans tonight?" Paul asked.

"Plans?" Jerry repeated. "Remind me of what those are again..?"

"Something you have now."

"Huh?"

"You better really be up for the task, and also willing to spring for a nice hotel room."

"What're you…"

"I just booked you a side gig," Paul smirked as he set his phone down in his lap.

"When?! Tonight?!"

"Uh huh."

Jerry blinked a couple times. "Seriously?!"

"Yup. He was expecting me but like I said, I'm willing to share when I can. I sent him a
pic of you and he said OK."

"And I have to get a hotel room..?"

"That's what he wants," Paul confirmed with a nod. "And no… you won't be getting
paid. If you're not cool with that, I'd be more than happy to…"

"No!!!" The ginger cut him off in a shout. "Did he say where he wants to stay? How
nice are we talking?!" He asked as he pulled his phone from his pocket and opened the
Marriott Bonvoy app he hadn't used in ages.

The older Locksmith chuckled. "He didn't specify how many stars he's expecting, but…"

"How many is he expecting?" Jerry asked excitedly.

"You don't wanna be surprised?" Paul raised his brows.

"Ugh…" the ginger groaned. "Shit, I dunno?!"

 "Be surprised," he shrugged.

"Yeah," Jerry nodded. "Alright. So what now?"

"Now you find a room and book it, I'll text you his number and then the two of you
figure out the rest," Paul said as he grabbed his phone again.

"Shit, man…" the younger Locksmith huffed as he shook his head. "I can't believe this?!
This is… wow… Needless to say, it's not how I saw my evening going!"

"You're welcome," Paul chuckled. "Just sent you his…"

"Andy, huh?"

"Yup."

"He didn't happen to send you a picture, did he?" Jerry asked as he saved Andy's name
and number.

"He did, but…"

"Be surprised, right?"

"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised," Paul smirked. "Not only would I have been
happy to help, I'm sure I would've thoroughly enjoyed it, so again, you're welcome…"

"Thank you, dude!" Jerry finally remembered to say as he started looking for a room.
"I owe you!"

"Yeah, you do!" Paul agreed with a laugh. "I'll think about what I want in thanks…"

"Whatever it is, you got it!"

"I wanted Andy, but I guess I'll settle for hearing all about it when you get back," he
winked.

"I don't usually kiss and tell," Jerry shook his head. "But this time, deal!"