Bill W

Castaway Hotel III

Chapters 21-30

Chapter 21
Look Out London, Here We Come

The flight went quite smoothly, although the boys were gradually beginning to suffer from cabin fever. I think we were all quite relieved when we heard the pilot announce we would be landing shortly. We touched down safely, disembarked and made our way through customs. After I showed the assortment of passports and answered a variety of questions, we made our way to our ride. It was now approaching 7:00 a.m. local time and I was glad I thought to have our travel agent arrange for suitable transportation during our stay, which would begin with our trip from the airport to the hotel.

Realizing we had such a large group, I knew it would be difficult for us to get to most places together by the usual means. That's why the travel agent and I had detailed the entire trip, so she could arrange for similar transportation whenever we needed it. A gentleman in a uniform spotted us as we came from customs and asked us if we were the Curries, which must have been quite obvious from the size of our group and assortment of ages and races. I was sure the travel agent had forwarded that information to everyone we would be dealing with in the UK, but the driver was very polite and asked us to follow him.

After we retrieved our luggage, he quickly arranged for it to be taken from the baggage claim area and loaded into the storage compartment of a small bus. Then we found ourselves getting onto a private tour bus to make the trip to our hotel. We'd be staying here in London for the first part of our vacation, using the hotel as our base of operations. From there we could travel around the city and also take a few day trips to other locations when necessary. We were all led to our rooms and then everyone moved their things in, according to the room assignments we had agreed upon earlier.

We would begin our stay here by going out for breakfast and then spend the remainder of the day waiting for the rest of the family to arrive. During that time we would merely relax and get acclimated to the time difference. Once the last of my older children arrived and we were finally all together, Jordan and Nicky left to spend some time with their folks, since they hadn't seen them in about a month. This also meant they would be staying with their parents during most of this trip, except when my boys could wheedle them an invitation into one of their rooms.

This time we'd have the typical four rooms for us, but the couples would have their own rooms and Robert would be sharing a room with me most of the time. The arrangement of the rooms would be that I'd have the buffer room, with my older children having their rooms on one side of mine, or occasionally even on the other side of the hallway, while the boys rooms were on the other side of mine. The 'sex room' would be the middle room of the remaining three, to isolate the noise and keep the others from hearing what was going on, including Robert.

We all turned in fairly early that evening, since all of us were very tired and not yet adjusted to the new time zone, but I made certain everyone knew our sight-seeing would officially begin tomorrow, beginning with an early breakfast. Although there were some scattered complaints, including a few from my older children, who wanted to know why we couldn't just sleep in. I then explained the arrangements had been made in advance, so we had to stick to a schedule, which provoked one of them to mutter something about knowing better than to let me plan the trip.

Danny, Brandon, Pat and Carlos were in the 'sex room' tonight, but I doubted anyone would have the energy or inclination to take advantage of it. No one should be sexually frustrated or in desperate need of relief yet, after spending time together at home. Therefore, I went to bed with a clear conscience and slept like a log.

Sunday morning I got everyone up early, as I walked up and down the hallway banging on the various doors until each one was opened, although not everyone who greeted me was thrilled to do so. We ate a continental breakfast at the hotel restaurant, before loading into the minibus again and making our way to our first stop, one of the oldest structures in England.

The first site we visited was the Tower of London and I gave the boys their very first lesson in English history. This was because all of them had expected to see a single tower standing isolated from everything else, not the stone fortress that awaited us, so I was eager to explain their misconception.

"The Tower of London got its name, not because of the fact there was a single, prominent tower, but due to the fact it was a 'tower of strength.' Many believe there will be an England, as long as this Tower exists."

I then went on to inform them there had been a Roman fort at this location, just after the start of the Common Era. William the Conqueror later chose this same site, because of its strategic value, and built a wooden structure to begin with. In 1078, William commissioned a stone fortress to be built on the site, replacing the wooden one. It took twenty years to construct that first portion, with successive kings adding on to the structure. Richard I was the one who had the moat included.

"Did the kings live here?" Kevin asked, as he looked about.

"At various times," I informed him, "the tower has been used as a fortress, a palace, a prison and an armory, as well as for other purposes. The Crown Jewels are currently housed here for visitors to come and see."

"What are those?" Sammy wanted to know.

"The Crown Jewels includes some of the crowns worn by various Kings and Queens, since they all seem to prefer something unique for themselves," I replied, "but it is also made up of other precious insignia of the monarchy and priceless treasures."

The boys seemed intrigued and wanted to go see those items, so we made our way to that area. After a considerable wait, we finally filed through and gawked at all the fabulous items on display there. "Has anyone ever tried to steal all this stuff?" Jay asked, while staring at a bejeweled crown.

"I'm sure they have, but I know of no such attempts being successful," I explained. "Possibly in the past it might have been easier to get away with such an attempt, but as you look around and notice all the various types of protection used to keep these items safe, I think a thief would have a difficult time even getting away with a single item." I believe they all agreed with that observation.

Later, as we were walking around the grounds, Danny happened to spot something of interest. "Hey, it says on this plaque in the ground that people were beheaded here," he shouted to the others.

"Yes, not all of the history of this place is very pleasant," I remarked. "Many executions have taken place here, including the beheading of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII. It has also been speculated that Richard III even had his nephews killed here, in what is now known as the Bloody Tower, so he could become King instead of one of them."

At first the boys had a very disgusted reaction to this information, wondering how an uncle could want his own nephews killed, as they looked at Jordan and Nicky, whom they were so found of. But seeing those two beginning to get upset about this as well, my clowns decided to lighten the moment and went into one of their routines. Ricky quickly knelt down of the grass, above the plaque indicating where the executions were held, bent forward and extending his head. At that moment, Cole gratefully pretended to chop it off and then put Graham in a similar position, so he could do the same thing to him. Cole then switched places with that pair and gleefully allowed his mock execution to take place, which set off a massive chain-reaction.

Seeing this taking place, Dion decided to pretend he was Richard III and started stabbing his nephews, Jordan and Nicky. Soon I had a collection of bodies sprawled upon the lawn, which drew polite chuckles from some of the other visitors, but also caught the attention of one of the Old Beefeaters. Beefeaters make up the security force that patrols this facility, and they are dressed in period costume, from the time of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. They got their name due to the fact that they were among the few that ever got meat to eat during that time period. Seeing what my boys were doing, he made his way over to me and spoke.

"Pardon me, sir, but if those chaps belong to your party, would you please have them remove themselves from the pitch and stick to the walk ways." I apologized and quickly made the boys get back on the path.

Even though they had complied with this request, they had drawn considerable attention to themselves by this time. Although many of the people looking in our direction were laughing at the boys antics, there were a few, like the Beefeater, who didn't find them amusing and considered them incorrigible.

"That guys sure talks funny," Trey observed, since he had been one of the few who didn't get involved in this fracas. "What the heck is a pitch?"

"To the British, it's an outdoor grassy area, such as this lawn," I told him, "or it can be a playing field for various sports, such a cricket or football pitch."

"Crickets have their own fields," Trey countered, confused.

"No, there is a sport that is played here that is called cricket," I told him, "and it's played on a circular field called a pitch, and their football pitch is what we'd refer to as a soccer field." He looked a little less confused, but I think it was actually more than he needed, or even wanted, to know.

After I stopped their hi-jinks, the boys remained unfazed by their detractors and we continued to make our way around the place. The next point of interest was Traitors Gate, which was the low, arched gate leading from the moat along the Thames River, through which traitors were brought into the Tower. This sparked a discussion about who had been escorted through there, so I told them many, many people, including a great number sent there by Henry VIII.

As we finished up there, I felt we'd had a very interesting visit and I think the boys learned a great deal. In fact, I was thrilled to see they seemed quite impressed with all they had discovered about this place and I knew they would always have a whole new set of mental images the next time someone mentioned the Tower of London.

From there we went out to see Tower Bridge, a drawbridge built in 1894 with an imposing tower controlling each side of it. Everyone believes this was the bridge that the Americans who bought the London Bridge, thought they were actually buying. The London Bridge was merely an ordinary stone bridge that now sits in the Arizona desert.

Everyone was getting hungry by now, so I decided it was time to introduce them to real British Fish and Chips, doused in malt vinegar. For those of you that don't already know it, chips in England are what Americans refer to as French Fries, although thicker and less greasy. The fish is batter coated and malt vinegar is poured over the entire purchase. It is really quite good that way and no one argued about how it was served or asked for tartar sauce (heaven forbid). If there is one food that the English do well, it is definitely their Fish and Chips.

From there we went to St. Paul's Cathedral. This is really just the current cathedral to St. Paul to sit upon this site. The previous cathedral was a large Gothic structure that burned down in The Great Fire of London in 1666. Later, the noted architect Christopher Wren was asked to design a new cathedral. He submitted three designs, the first two being rejected before his final design was approved. This design was based on a Latin cross plan, with a large dome over the area between the nave and the choir. Construction began in 1675, but the building wasn't completed until 1708. The exterior is done in the Renaissance style, with massive columns on two levels.

As with most English churches, many notable people are buried in this church. Some rest in various sarcophagi around the structure, while others are interred beneath the floor. In St. Paul's you will find the final resting place of Lord Horatio Nelson (the British Admiral who was killed at the battle of Trafalgar, during the Napoleonic War), the Duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley, the Field Marshall who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo) and Christopher Wren (the architect who designed St. Paul's), among others. The boys wanted to know why they didn't bury these people in cemeteries, so I explained that it was their way of honoring famous people. They seemed to accept that response and nothing more was said about the matter.

After this, we decided to do a foot stroll around the neighborhood, so we could get a feel for the area. It's easy to drive through the area, but it takes on a whole new look when you're on foot. It was not only a pleasant walk, but it gave us some fresh air and a little more exercise. By the time we finished our little stroll, we were all quite hungry, so we selected a nice looking establishment and asked if they could handle our number. After some discussion and rearranging, they told us they would be happy to serve us.

The boys had many questions about the items on the menu, some of which I could answer, but there were others we needed to ask for assistance from the staff. The boys decided to try a variety of things, so they split into groups of four to six boys, and shared the different dishes they ordered amongst their group. That way, they could try a variety of different items, without having to worry they'd go hungry if they didn't like what they ordered – not that I would have let them starve.

There was some squabbling over who got what, as some items were coveted by all the members of the group, but I tried to stay out of these petty quarrels – which wasn't always possible. At one point, I did have to summon the 'wisdom of Solomon' concerning one particular entree. What I ended up doing was to place another order for the disputed dish, divide it myself into equal portions, and then serve them to the group. There was still some minor grumbling about other disagreements, but we survived the outing. All in all, it was quite a unique dining experience and the boys eventually ate their fill. Once we were done, we made our way back to the hotel and went to our rooms to recuperate.

Tonight it was Cole, Graham, Dion and Trey's turn in the 'sex room' and I figured there might be a little fooling around, but not a lot. It was kind of a relaxed evening and Sammy and Andrew decided to spend the night in my room. Sammy shared the bed with his Uncle Robert and Andrew snuggled with me. It wasn't that he needed any reassurance or there were any problems, but he did seem to need some extra loving and cuddling tonight. Possibly this was a throwback to what had happened in Houston, but regardless of the reason, I was happy to oblige him. He felt loved and secure with his body pressed tightly against mine and spent the entire evening with his head on my chest and one arm draped over my stomach.

Monday began with a quick breakfast and the boys grilled me about where we were heading while we ate.

"Today, we're going to see the Houses of Parliament," I informed him. "You'll probably recognize the building immediately, at least the clock tower, which is referred to as 'Big Ben.' We will go inside and you will be able to see where the two houses of the British government meet." The boys didn't look overly enthused, but I hoped that would change once we got there.

The land upon which this historic building rests was originally the site of the Palace of Westminster. The edifice was first constructed in 1050, but destroyed by fire in 1834. Seeing Parliament had frequently met at this location, the current structure was built between 1840 and 1860, incorporating the remnants of the destroyed Palace.

Years later, the House of Commons was also destroyed, during the German bombing of England in 1941. It was rebuilt in a similar style after the war and is what we see today. We went through the various places open to the public and discovered it was an intriguing mix of the past and the present. The boys were impressed with the richness and splendor of the building, and those who weren't with us when we visited Washington D.C. were amazed by how large the paintings were that adorned the building, unlike the ones we'd have in our homes.

When we went to view the various chambers, we discovered both the House of Lords and House of Commons were in session. We made our way to the Strangers' Gallery, a balcony running around each chamber, and began to watch the proceedings. The boys soon bored of this activity, since the members were currently making lengthy speeches, so I decided it would be best if we left before one of them decided to liven up the proceedings. I had already heard a few of the older boys making jokes about the various speakers and saw them imitating them, so I was concerned their imitations might get loud and recognized from the floor below. Some of the other tourists were chuckling over the boys' antics, with a few of them even encouraging the boys to do more animated portrayals of the various speakers. Therefore, making a conscious attempt to maintain the dignity of the chamber, I hurriedly ushered the boys out of the gallery and we made a hasty exit from the building.

They were still considerable buzzing about the various things we'd seen and some of my showmen were even giving us a replay of their imitations of the MP's (Members of Parliament), as we looked for a place to have lunch. My older children thought the boys were not only hysterical, but also very accurate in their portrayal of some of the rather formal gentlemen who had spoken while we were there, but I begged them not to encourage our comedians further. My adult children all laughed at that as well, but realized where I was coming from and gave me a break.

For lunch, we decided to try some curry (why not, it had a good name) at a Pakistani restaurant. Of course, I suggested they all order the mild curry, except for Michael, since he loved spicy food. For the rest of us, however, including those who lived at home, I felt the mild would be more appropriate, since I did not use a great deal of spices at home either. I was afraid of what the regular curry would do, not only to their mouths, but also what effect it might have on their digestive systems.

Possibly, I should have let them order without my words of precaution, as it might have quieted some of my jokesters for a while, but I took pity on them and made sure they would have no adverse reactions to the meal. We ordered the curry and chips as take-out, or take-away as the locals refer to it, and found a quiet place to sit and eat. It wasn't long before nearly everything had been devoured, so I diligently guarded my helping, since I ate slower than the rest of them. It was quite an enjoyable meal and then we walked from there to our next site.

Westminster Abbey was just a short stroll from the restaurant and the Parliament Building. The Abbey is a huge Gothic Cathedral and its location and original construction is largely attributed to Edward the Confessor. The former church, which had previously stood upon this site, according to legend was to have been consecrated by him on December 28, 1065. That same structure was also said to have been the site of the coronation of William the Conqueror, Christmas Day 1066. Parts of the Confessor's church still remain intact, below ground, but the current structure was begun under Henry III in the mid-thirteenth century. The abbey was finished in the late fifteenth century, with enhancements made in the early sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

"Hey, isn't this the place they held Princess Diana's funeral?" Brandon asked, quite excitedly.

"It most certainly is," I agreed, noting that his simple comment also sparked a greater interest from the other boys. "Although she isn't buried here, many of England's Kings and Queens are."

"Like who?" Pat wanted to know.

"Well, most of them, but most notably, Edward the Confessor, who ordered one of the earliest churches to be built on this site, Henry III, who commissioned the structure you see now to be started, and Elizabeth I, who was queen when the English began exploring and colonizing the New World."

"Is that guy who overthrew the King and had him beheaded buried here too?" Danny asked, unable to come up with the name he was searching for.

"I think you mean Oliver Cromwell," I told him, "but he's no longer buried here. He was at one time, but when Charles II was restored to the throne, he had Cromwell and his followers bodies exhumed, hanged and decapitated."

"I guess he was more than a little pissed off at that guy," Dustin commented, but not meaning for me to overhear him.

"Yes, well it was his father who was beheaded by Cromwell, so I guess he thought it was only fair," I shot back.

"So only kings and queens are buried here?" Jay followed.

"No, there are many others entombed here to," I responded, "such as Sir Isaac Newton, the scientist, authors Charles Dickens and Rudyard Kipling, composer George Frederick Handel and the British 'unknown soldier' from World War I."

"I guess you had to be famous to get buried here," Dion stated, after hearing the names.

"Mostly, but not quite," I stated. "Also buried here is a gentleman named Thomas Parr, who lived to the ripe old age of 152 years and 9 months. He lived through the reigns of ten monarchs, from 1483 until November 15, 1635, and was buried here by order of Charles I, the king at the time."

"So they have to be really important or lived to be older than you," Ricky teased, which caused all of the others, including my older children, to giggle at his insinuation that I was ancient.

In the end, the visit was quite inspiring. Not only was this structure different from the types of churches the boys were accustomed to, its splendor was absolutely breathtaking. After answering all of their questions, I was glad I'd done my research before we left home and spent some of the previous evening going over my notes.

After that, we went out to eat dinner and then I took everyone to see a play in one of the marvelous theaters that London is noted for. This was a modern production and somewhat comical. The boys did have some trouble following it, mostly because of their unfamiliarity with the British accent and some of their terminology, but I tried to help explain what they had missed or didn't understand. For most of them, it wasn't their favorite activity of the trip, but it wasn't a total disaster either. For Trey, however, it was a breath of fresh air and gave him a whole new interest.

After that, we went back to our hotel and turned in for the evening. Ricky, Jay, Danny and Brandon had the 'sex room' for the night and I overheard them discussing another try at intercourse, without the penetration for Ricky and Jay, the same as they had done before. It seemed to me that Danny and Brandon were the ones to suggest it, knowing the other two were still timid about what might be expected of them in return, but they quickly reached an agreement and went happily to their room.

Cole and Graham asked to stay in my room and their big brother quickly agreed to the arrangement. Graham slept with his older brother, while Cole cuddled up next to me. Sammy and Andrew had gone to spend the night with Dustin, Kevin, Trey and Dion, who were sharing a room, and the older boys were very good at keeping them occupied, while still giving them plenty of affection. When they turned in, one of the little ones slept sandwiched between one of the older pairs, which was a position they seem to enjoy, immensely. I almost wish I could have sneaked in and checked on them during the night, to see their expressions and how their bodies intertwined, but felt it best to leave them their privacy.

Chapter 22
Palaces Galore

On Tuesday, we continued hitting the typical tourist attractions by going to what would turn out to be one of my favorite places, Hampton Court Palace. This was also one of the places Steve had mentioned to me as being one of his favorites and I couldn't help but agree with him. Although it doesn't seem to draw the same amount of attention as some of the other sites, it piqued my imagination as I made the tour.

As we went along, I informed the others that, "Thomas Wolsey, who was soon to become Cardinal Wolsey, commissioned this structure to be started in 1514. It is massive and contains 280 richly furnished rooms. As his stature and power rose, this Catholic Cardinal came into conflict with the King of England, when he opposed Henry VIII's divorce from his first wife and remarriage to Ann Boleyn. This became a major battle between King Henry VIII and the Roman Catholic Church, which caused Henry to break all religious ties with Rome and form his own Church of England or Anglican Church."

"Wasn't she beheaded at the Tower of London?" Kevin asked, showing he had definitely learned and remembered something from one of our other stops.

"That's correct," I confirmed. "But Henry was a gentleman about it and brought in a French swordsman to do the job, at Ann's request. She decided she'd rather have that, than have the executioner using the typical English axe, which wasn't as sharp or reliable. You see, sometimes it would take several blows to do the job." The boys reached up and grabbed their necks at this point, thinking about how that might feel, but they still seemed fascinated by it.

"Is that what happened to 'Nearly Headless Nick,' in the 'Harry Potter' books," Dion asked, drawing the connection between what I was telling him and his literary pursuits.

"It might very well be," I informed. "Although it doesn't say precisely in the story about why Nick's head didn't come completely off, it might just be for that reason." The boys all looked at each other, making faces and tilting their heads off to one side, imitating what 'Nearly Headless Nick' must have looked like, after that botched attempt.

"Anyway, lets get back to the story about this place. This all occurred during the time of the Protestant Reformation, so it wasn't totally unheard of to break from control of the Pope in Rome, but that wasn't what was so unusual. The most striking difference in this case was that Henry also proclaimed the reigning monarch to be the head of the church, instead of one of the clergy. This is still the case today, as Queen Elizabeth II is not only the Queen of England, but also the head of the Church of England. So, after Henry broke with the church in Rome, he confiscated all of its property, which included this structure, and then he proceeded to make it into one of his palaces. He enlarged it almost immediately and throughout his lifetime spent a great deal of his time here, preferring it to his other residences.

"As you will see when we get to see some of the rooms, Hampton Court Palace has secret doorways in various places, where doors have been built into and blend in with the walls around them. Henry liked to use these, at his own whim, to escape from having to see unwanted advisors or other unwelcome guests. When they would show up, he would pop through one of those doors and then turn up in another part of the palace, which saved him from having to experience a confrontation."

"Do you think they'll let us go through one of those secret passages?" Ricky asked, with a twinkle of mischief in his eye.

"I'm afraid not, champ, so you won't be able to play any of your tricks on us by using one of them," I joked, before getting back to the subject. "When Henry died, Hampton Court was used by his successors and remained a valuable property of the Royal Family. Over time, demolitions, alterations, and additions were made, including the 1540 addition of the huge astronomical clock you saw in the courtyard, but I guess that's more than enough information about this place," I concluded, getting numerous nods of agreement in return. Seeing their response made me feign a hurt expression and I immediately pulled an overly dramatic Sarah Burnheart, to let them know I was only trying to enlighten them, so they could appreciate their visit more.

From that point on, the boys were happy to walk about and investigate the palace. They were also greatly amazed by the size and magnificence of all of the furnishings that were evident throughout the massive structure. However, that seemed like nothing to them, once they saw the King's staircase and the huge painting that covered the upper wall and ceiling. Viewing this, they were totally overwhelmed. It was certainly splendid and we could only imagine how much time and energy it had taken to create such a large and glorious work of art.

After leaving that area, we continued through the building, examining the various rooms and listening to various tour guides telling stories of its past. I think the boys were quite fascinated when they overheard one of the guides telling about one of the long corridors that led to the private chapel. The guide told those who were with him that Catherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife, came screaming down this hallway, running toward the chapel, where Henry was said to be praying, after she learned she was to be executed for adultery. Hearing this, the boys suddenly realized she was another of those who had been beheaded at the Tower of London.

We were leaving the building when we found something equally as remarkable, the gardens and lawns. The grounds were beautifully manicured, with walkways leading down to the Thames River, and the sights and colors were inspiring. It didn't take long before the boys also discovered the Hampton Court maze, which is made from large, full and well-trimmed hedges, and I allowed them quite a bit of time to run about this interesting feature. In fact, all of us tried our hand at navigating through it, from my youngest grandson to my oldest son.

The boys asked me if they should each take a little one with them and I told them there were enough of us around, it was a fairly confined space and there were enough others going through the maze that it shouldn't be a problem. Therefore, each boy would be able to try this on his own. Hearing this, the boys waited and went off at intervals, so they wouldn't be following too closely behind each other. That didn't mean they didn't run across one another while they were in there, because it is a very limited space, but they tried not to follow any one else and do this on their own – even the younger ones, to their parents' slight discomfort.

We were like lab rats scurrying through the psychologist's maze, running into dead ends and having to start over to find our way out. The boys thought it was a blast to go from one end to the other, and slowly we began to emerge from this unusual adventure. Eventually, however, I was required to go back in to rescue some of our little ones, mainly Nicky and Andrew, because they had become hopelessly lost in the collection of dead-ends and false pathways which proliferated within the design. I felt bad when I realized their predicament, because I heard them both crying and calling for me.

As I led my 'lost boys' from the grasp of the all-consuming shrubs, I emerged looking like the Pied Piper with the children of Hamelin. Not only did I have my own flock, but I also managed to pick up a few other strays along the way, making us quite a formidable group as we regained our freedom. After being thanked by the parents of the other children I had helped to liberate along the way, we took note of our current situation and looked at our watches.

None of us had realized how long we'd been there and how late it was getting, but we had already gone well past our normal lunchtime. Therefore, we decided our next stop should be to grab a quick bite, which would only be to tide us over until dinner.

After finishing our small and hasty meal, we agreed to take a walking tour of this area, to kill what time remained, before going back to the hotel and then out to dinner. We actually walked around that neighborhood for a couple of hours, and it was quite a relaxing and scenic stroll, before we went back to the bus and rode back to our hotel. At that time, we quickly washed up and a few even changed, before we selected what type of place we wanted to dine.

It was nothing elaborate but it did take care of our needs. After we finished dining, we went to Piccadilly Circus, which isn't a circus with animals and such, but merely another famous section of London. We saw it first it the fading daylight and then got a totally different view of it, once it was lit up for the evening. The area was awash in the glow of numerous electric signs, streetlights and the illumination escaping from the numerous windows of the buildings that surround it. In the center of the Circus stands a great aluminum statue of Eros, erected in 1893 above a bronze fountain, and a barrage of cars and buses flowed around it almost constantly.

After we were satisfied we had seen all that we wanted to there, we went back to our hotel, exhausted from our day's activities. All of us quietly headed to our rooms, ready for a little down time. Cole, Graham, Trey and Dion had the 'sex room,' but I was fairly convinced that little, if anything, would be happening in there again tonight. Just looking at them I could see they were dragging. We had done a great deal of walking throughout the day, taking in a wide variety of sights, and I could tell that their eyelids were already beginning to droop, even before they made it to their beds.

I learned later that Jordan and Nicky had talked their parents into letting them spend the night with Pat and Carlos, while Sammy and Andrew were in with Danny and Brandon. Ricky and Jay made sure they got to stay in my room and Ricky shared a bed with his big brother, while Jay slept with me.

Jay had matured a lot since our first vacation together and was also beginning to fill out a little too. He was no longer that gawky, spastic boy who we used to make fun of, but as I discovered that evening, he still seemed to enjoy any added attention from me. Since that first time when he announced he wanted me to sleep next to him, instead of constantly being with Ricky, whenever I shared a bed with that pair, he has continued to let me know he wanted us to remain close.

Now that he was in bed with me, Jay kept inching his way closer and closer to my body, until he was pressed tightly against me. Once our skin touched, he grabbed my arm, pulled it over his body and then wrapped both of his arms around mine, squeezing it tightly. I could almost see the grin spread across his lips as he did this, even though he was facing away from me at the time, and now his body almost melted into my own. That's the way we eventually fell asleep.

The next day we had a quick breakfast, before leaving for Buckingham Palace. The Palace hasn't been open to public tours for very long and its exterior isn't all that impressive, just a large imposing, rectangular building. It's when you get inside that your heart begins to race with excitement. The structure was originally the Buckingham House, built by the Duke of Buckingham in 1705. George III, who was King during the American Revolution, bought the house in 1762 and began adding on to it almost immediately.

Over the years, various other wings were added, but Queen Victoria was actually the first monarch to take up residence there. There are several statues of her inside the palace and a large monument to her out in front. Everything in the palace seems huge, elaborate and spectacular. It's just hard to describe the enormous portraits of previous members of the Royal Family, all of the other beautiful works of art done by famous artists, and the humongous and elegantly decorated rooms. Everyone was quite impressed by the tour and we left the Palace grudgingly.

"Dang, I was hoping to see the Queen," Jay announced, somewhat disappointed, after we walked out of the building.

"Hang on and I'll run inside and get you an audience," I announced, pulling his leg. Jay looked up at me and stuck his tongue out.

"Very funny, Pop," he deadpanned, after drawing his tongue back where it belonged.

Even though we had finished our tour of the public portion of the building, we did not leave the grounds. Before we did, I made sure the boys were also able to witness the legendary changing of the guard. It was filled with pomp, rigidity and total concentration on the part of the soldiers, reflecting the centuries of tradition incorporated in this event.

"They look like robots," Graham acknowledged, noting their stiff, mechanical movements.

"You might have something there," I told him. "I wonder if the Queen has someone build them in her basement." Suddenly, Graham shot me a look that might have frozen me to the marrow, if he'd had that power, as he thought I was making fun of him. Suddenly, I felt the need to clarify myself, so he didn't keep that impression.

"Okay, sorry," I confessed. "I just couldn't resist the opportunity to make a joke about it. You've got to admit, the idea of them being robots was kind of funny," I added.

"Not really," Cole responded, in his brother's defense, "and it wasn't a very good joke, Dad." Now, I felt duly chastised.

After a quick lunch, we took a look at St. James Palace, which had been built by Henry VIII. That might also explain the similarity of the feel of the place and its outward appearance, especially when you compare Hampton Court's clock tower to St. James' main entrance. Possibly, it was just the brick Tudor style they used, though I suspect there was more.

The boys, however, were more fascinated by the Grenadier Guards who are posted there, than the architecture. You know the ones, with the tall 'Bearskin' hats and bright red dress jackets, who stand so rigidly and unmoving when posted at Royal locations. I guess their particular style of remaining straight-faced and unmoved turned out to be an irresistible challenge to some of my troops.

"Bet I can make him smile, maybe even laugh," Ricky announced to his brothers.

"No way!" Dustin countered. "Those guys are trained not to smile or laugh, even though many, many tourists try to get them to do so. They can get in big trouble if they do."

"Well, I bet I can do it anyway," my unflappable clown repeated.

"Go ahead and try," Danny challenged. "I'll bet he won't even pay you any attention," he added, giving a smug grin in anticipation of Ricky's failure.

For the next few minutes, first Ricky, and then Ricky, Cole and Graham, did everything short of tickling the guard, trying to make him break from his rigid, stern gaze. They made faces, told jokes, shouted things like 'watch out' and 'off to your right,' before trying a more slapstick approach. They must have been at least a little amusing in their attempt, because plenty of passersby where grinning or chuckling at their antics, but the guard remained unfazed.

Finally, thinking they had more than enough time to play the role of 'court jester' and wishing to move on to something else, I announced we were leaving.

"Told you that you couldn't do it," Dustin sneered, feeling vindicated.

"I could have done it eventually, if Dad didn't make us leave," Ricky responded.

"Could not," Sammy offered, unable to keep out of this bickering.

"Could too," Ricky snapped back, making this sound like a childish squabble between younger children, before I told them all to hush up and get moving. Although they weren't happy and their disagreement wasn't settled, at least as far as Ricky was concerned, we moved on to our next stop, which was a boat tour on the Thames River.

Over the course of the boat ride, the boys learned the Thames was a major thoroughfare for London, throughout its history. Not only has it been the main source for commercial traffic, transporting goods in and out of the area, but it was used for private transportation as well, as people used it to move from one place to another.

This tour allowed us to see another side of many of the buildings we had already toured and viewing them from the river was impressive. Along the way, the boys discovered the Thames flows past the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, as well as Hampton Court Palace. That's one of the reasons Kings and Queens even took boats when traveling between these places, since it was a direct route and far less uncomfortable than the bumpy ride they might have to endure, riding carriages over the rough dirt roads of that era.

Not only did we see many places we'd been to, but the ship's tour guide also pointed out many notable spots we hadn't visit yet. Although some of those places weren't on our itinerary, I think the boys worried that I was going to lead them on tours of each and every one of those locations.

Although the ride was lovely, Ricky's constant attempts to convince his brothers he could have been successful at making the guard crack up, if given more time, finally proved to be very annoying. After seeing the reactions of my older children to this constant give and take and listening to it for as long as I could, I finally spoke up.

"Let's just drop it," I advised him. "You are not going to be able to prove you could do that, although I'd be willing to bet you'd be unsuccessful, even if I left you there until next year. The pride and determination of those guards about adhering to duty is far greater than your ability to be the class clown." Ricky looked hurt that I doubted his ability, but it did stop the annoying prattle about what might or might not have happened.

When the tour ended, we made our way to get a closer look at Cleopatra's Needle, which was something else we'd passed along the way. This is a large obelisk, whose shape is similar to that of the Washington Monument, but not nearly as enormous, and was brought from Egypt during the height of the British Empire. The time of its creation has been attributed to the reign of Queen Cleopatra, hence its name. By the time we left there, it was time to eat dinner and then head back to the hotel.

Chapter 23
Reminders of the British Empire

We spent our next two days at the British Museum, examining the multitude of cultural wonders the British had collected over the centuries. You see, they took full advantage of their dominance of the seas and their control over these various locations, while they were part of the British Empire. During that time, the realm collected all sorts of valuable pieces of art, relics and artifacts from all around the world, from the multitude of ancient cultures that had once flourished and then disappeared. Now, many of the accomplishments of these peoples were on display in the British Museum.

The building itself is a huge structure, consisting of lower level, ground level and upper floor, so it would take more than just a single day to appreciate what we wanted to see there. Besides, I like to take my time and discuss the various displays and pieces with the boys, hoping to pique their curiosity and build an insatiable quest for knowledge. Even though they feign boredom during many of my discussions about what we're seeing, hearing them talk later about some of the same things we'd discussed, more than lets me know they don't mind it as much as they sometimes portray.

This morning, we had an unusually large breakfast before we left to come here, since I figured we might get so wrapped up in the displays that we might just forget about eating. As remote as this possibility may seem given the boys' appetites, we'd nearly already done that on other occasions, so I wanted to be prepared in case it happened again.

As we walked up to enter the Museum, it felt like we were approaching and entering some massive Greek or Roman temple. This current edifice was constructed in 1847, in the Greek Revival Style, complete with enormous columns and an elaborate portico. We passed through and under these colossal features and then proceeded through the main entrance, moving on to the exhibit areas. This was truly an awesome experience and it was like traveling back through time, as we toured the various displays.

As we made our way along the ground floor, we began by exploring some of the treasures of the ancient Greek and Egyptian civilizations. The boys were instinctively drawn to the splendor of the artifacts of Ancient Egypt and we were soon absorbed with the vast collections of statuary, sarcophagi, mummified remains and the other treasures of the pharaohs who ruled the lands along the Nile. The amount of gold they used to create some of the statues and funeral masks was like a magnet and sucked the boys toward those items until they were hooked. They were also drawn to the finely detailed and elaborately painted pieces, as well as the jewelry, tomb paintings – and then they discovered the mummies. After finding those items, the questions began in earnest.

"Whose mummy is that?" Trey asked, while Graham shouted out, "Did they make everyone who died into a mummy?" Luckily, some of my older children or their spouses began fielding some of these questions, as they were coming so fast and furious that I couldn't possibly respond to them all.

"Man, those mummies are very small, Dad," Sammy observed, while studying them carefully. "Are you sure they don't belong to children?"

"Some of the mummies might have been children of a pharaoh or might even be the mummy of a pharaoh who passed away young, like King Tut, or Tutankhamen. He was only in his late teens when he died," I replied, "but even at eighteen or nineteen, he most likely would have been full-grown. Looking at the inscriptions of the mummies shown here, though, these are all adults."

Dion and Trey were talked into lying on the floor next to the cases containing the various mummified remains, so the boys soon discovered most the mummies were at most five foot six inches [1.70 m] tall, while others were barely five feet [1.50 m] tall or shorter. We discussed how the average height of mankind has gotten taller over the centuries, which gave them a lot to think about.

From that topic, we went on to discuss the tombs of the pharaohs, their ideas concerning the afterlife and the underworld and their reasons for putting so many items into the tombs of these deceased rulers. Someone then brought up the assortment of 'Mummy' movies, while also mentioning the supposed 'curse' of the mummies, and that led to even more discussion. Even my older children were getting very involved in discussing these things and there was some good interaction between them and their younger brothers.

After spending even more time in this area, while studying the many representations of the Egyptian gods and some of their rulers, we moved on to look at the Rosetta Stone, which was actually the key that helped to unlock the secrets of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Until Napoleonic soldiers discovered this stone in 1799, no one could decipher what the Egyptian symbols meant. The Rosetta Stone, which was created during the time of Pharaoh Ptolemy V and contained the same decree written in three different languages, two Egyptian (hieroglyphics and demotic) and Greek, with the Greek helping to unlock the meaning of the strange writing system used by the Egyptians. After talking about that for a brief time, we finally moved on to the displays from ancient Greece.

The wonders of the Golden Age of Greece were equally as impressive and they even had elements from the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World on display, including a portion of the Mausoleum at Halecarnassus, in Turkey and a section from the Temple of Artemis, at Ephesus. We saw all kinds of statues, many missing their heads or limbs, but some were still nearly completely intact. There were collections of pottery, columns from various buildings (some even carved in the shape of women), and a small temple.

"Those marble statues over there and the friezes came from the Parthenon in Greece," I told the boys.

"How can they freeze there?" Cole asked. "I thought it was warm there."

"Not freeze, as in water turning to ice, but a frieze, as in an artwork carved into the flat surfaces on a building," I informed him. "In this case, it was in the triangular face above the columns, formed by the sloping of the roof." I began to hear some snickering from a few of the others, thinking Cole's mistake was funny, but after receiving an icy glare from me, the snickering stopped suddenly. I didn't want Cole to feel bad about his mistake and refrain from asking other questions.

"Do you know what the Parthenon was?" I asked, to no one in particular.

"Yes, it was a large temple that sat up on a hill, overlooking Athens," Trey announced, quite accurately. I guess his extensive reading had paid off.

"Exactly, it was a Doric temple, built in the fifth century BCE, to honor the Greek goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom," I added. "In fact, at one time the Parthenon contained an enormous statue of Athena. It was made of ivory and gold and stood between thirty and forty feet [9-12 m] tall. However, that disappeared long ago."

"Man, who got all that gold?" Dion marveled, think of the wealth that indicated.

"Invaders who plundered and destroyed it," I regretfully admitted.

As we moved along after leaving that area, we discovered pieces from ancient Rome. Since the Romans had been very impressed with the Ancient Greeks, they also sought to duplicate the splendor of their architecture and artwork, as well as duplicate and surpass the accomplishments of their civilization.

Some of the first things we saw was an amazing assortment of statues, vases, cameos, money, jewelry, a frieze from the Temple of Apollo, various artifacts from Roman soldiers and gladiators, Roman mosaics, and busts and other items representing certain notable Roman emperors.

"So the Romans just copied the Greeks?" Brandon asked, after noting the similarities between the collections."

"Not exactly," I answered. "The Romans did incorporate much from the Golden Age of Greece, but they often took those ideas and expanded upon them. Do any of you know what the Roman Aqueduct is?"

"That's how they got water into the cities," Danny responded. "Some of them look like bridges, but are really narrow."

"Yes, that's very true," I agreed, "and if you look at those structures, you'll see they utilize many arches in their construction. Well, it was the Romans who first used the arch and discovered how it would accept a great deal of stress, while eliminating much of the weight and materials that would be needed if it were a solid structure."

"And they were the ones who had the gladiators who killed each other and fought animals too," Graham added. "Isn't that right, Daddy."

"Yes it is, and I'm pleased that you knew that," I told him, which caused Graham to stand a tad taller for the next few minutes.

Now that we had seen some of the splendor of those three magnificent cultures, it was staggering to think of how much they accomplished and how much they left for future generations to see, considering the limited technology of their day. To merely call it impressive and inspiring would definitely be understatements.

After that, we examined pieces from the Ancient Near East, which included antiquities of the Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian (Iraq), and Persian (Iran) empires. It also included items from the Canaanites, Phoenicians, Syrians, and Israelites, who dwelled throughout the lands of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel. There were also pieces of the Carthaginians (Tunisia), the Hittites and Urartians (Turkey), and the South Arabians (Yemen, South Yemen, and Saudi Arabia). These items covered the time period from about 7000 BCE until the seventh century AD.

"But where are all these places?" Sammy asked, unable to recognize the name or comprehend where they were located.

"The names of these places are generally different now, but if you can think of looking at a map, it would cover the area from Greece, extending through the Middle East and going as far as India," I tried to explain, as simply as I could. "It would also include parts of North Africa, as well." He seemed satisfied with that answer, although I wasn't sure he could actually picture it in his mind. I would try to find a visual aid to explain it better later.

One of the most impressive of these items was an Assyrian sculpture of a colossal human-headed winged lion, so I took advantage of it. I had the whole family gather in front of it for a group picture. I even found another tourist who was willing to snap a few pictures of us. After posing for those serious group pictures, the boys started hamming it up for the camera, so I took the camera and played along with their silly mood. They moved under the head of that massive sculpture or sat between the excessive number of legs, while others pretended to cower in front of its fearsome form. I snapped pictures of their antics, letting them have their fun, while saving these moments for posterity, before we moved on.

From there we viewed other statues and items done in bronze, gold and stone, as well as a selection of paintings, mosaics and relief sculptures that were far too numerous to count. It has been a long and active day, but I think it was well worth our time.

When I looked at my watch, I realized we had spent the entire day there, and we were all exhausted and hungry. We left the museum and quickly located a place to eat. The youngest members of our group, Nicky, Jordan, Andrew and Sammy, were so tired from standing and walking that they almost fell asleep as we waited for the food to be delivered. However, the smell of their dinner brought them back to life and they stayed awake long enough to finish most of it, before they began to give into their weariness again.

By the time we finished our meal, my son and son-in-law had to carry their sons out to the bus, while Danny and Dustin hoisted the other two up, letting their brothers sleep on their shoulders, even after they were seated on the bus. Needless to say, that night most of us turned in early.

The next morning we had another large breakfast, this time with everyone knowing in advance what we'd be facing, and the women filled their purses with snacks for the boys, in case they needed something to tide them over while we were there. Today we started out with the Asian displays, with items from Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. These were quite different from any of the works we had seen thus far, both in dress and style, and the boys were both surprised and impressed that Andrew and Sammy knew so much about much of this work.

Although some of this knowledge had come from our trip to visit their grandparents, it was also obvious their parents had not only made sure they understood their own heritage, but also taught them about other oriental cultures as well. They answered many of the other boys' questions for me, about whom or what the items represented and what the various other items we viewed were. My two little 'experts' were soon held in high esteem by the rest of the family, including the adults, and basked in their fifteen-minutes of fame, even if it was a limited recognition.

After that, we toured the artifacts of Early Britain, including the period before the Roman conquest, during the Roman conquest, and throughout the medieval and later day periods. The items included ancient chess pieces, royal seals, coats of armor, weapons, chalices and other serving pieces, jewelry, textiles and mosaics. Some of the pieces were from the nobility, while other items were from the early Christian church, especially the artifacts made from silver and ivory.

Next, we saw items from various locations in the Pacific, including such places as Australia, New Zealand, the Easter Islands, the Hawaiian Islands, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Many of these items were brought back to England during the voyages of Captain James Cook, since he was among the first of the European explorers to visit these peoples. The items in these displays were also much different from what we had previously seen, with some, like an Easter Island moai monolith, which is one of those huge, oddly shaped stone heads we often see pictures of. It almost seemed surreal or even extraterrestrial. Of course, the boys wanted their picture taken beside it, so I obliged them.

"Do you think the people who lived on that island really looked like that?" Pat asked, while looking at its grotesque features.

"They may be exaggerated likenesses, with elongated heads and bodies, but they are thought to be depictions of some of their chieftains or gods."

"Sometimes you see things on their heads," Pat added, "are those hats?"

"That's one of two possibilities," I told him. "The other would be a hair style, possibly similar to what the Japanese Sumo wrestler is noted for, because they also call the hair they tie off on top their topknot."

Pat had no more questions and most of the boys were now ready to move on, so we started moving again.

We finished up our time at the British Museum by making a quick tour through the additional display areas, the first containing a wide variety of manuscripts, books and drawings. Entering this location seemed to bring Dion and Trey back to life, as they were drawn toward the various reading materials.

"You won't have time to sit down and read any of these," I teased, bringing a grin to each of their faces.

"We know, but we want to see what things they've got in here," Trey announced, with Dion's confirmation.

The items in this area included many wonderful things, such as the Magna Carta (which limited the power of the king and put an end to arbitrary and unjust rule), Papal Bulls (church decrees that got their name from the bulla they were sealed with), religious texts (including various bibles), non-English items (including the Diamond Sutra, an important Buddhist scripture), early copies of Shakespearean works (including the First Folio from 1623), hand-printed and illustrated pieces (like a late 15th century copy of Aesop's Fables), and an illustration done by Michelangelo (for one of his figures for 'The Bathers', which he did during the winter of 1504-1505).

The second of these special rooms contained an assortment of coins and medals from many different places and periods throughout history. We saw Egyptian coins (including the coin of Ptolemy, 305-282 BCE), Greek and Roman coins (including a silver coin with the head of Juno Moneta, from whose name the word for money was derived), and Renaissance medals. There were coins from Sicily, Japan, Iran, Sri Lanka, India, Burma, Great Britain, America, Hong Kong, Denmark, Venice, France, and Spain. There was also paper money, cowrie shells (which were used as money in Africa, ancient China, & India), and even money made by imposters, pretenders and usurpers.

While viewing these various displays of money, we also learned why Spanish silver crowns were once referred to as pieces of eight. These, and doubloons, were the coins that the pirates stole from the Spanish and buried until they could be fetched safely later.

"Why did they call their money pieces they ate?" Jordan asked me, seriously.

"Not pieces they ate, but pieces OF EIGHT, like in the number eight," I explained. "They were called that because they could be broken up into eight pie-slice shapes, or bits, to make change. That's why a quarter is sometimes referred to as two-bits, or two-eighths or one-quarter of a dollar."

"You mean like in the football cheer, two-bits, four-bits, six-bits, a dollars, all for stand up and holler?" Kevin asked, picking up on that timeworn chant.

"Exactly, I told him, and it's also why the American stock markets were originally based on eights, sixteenths and thirty-seconds and stayed that way for much of their history, and that's only starting to change now.

By this point, someone suggested they were hungry, so we decided it was time to finish up our tour and go out to eat. We made one final survey of the family, to see if there was anything else that anyone wanted to see again or if there was something that we might have missed, but everyone was satisfied with the two days we spent there. This brought to a weary end our first week in the UK.

Chapter 24
A Change of Pace

It was now the weekend and we decided to take a break from our sightseeing routine and take these two days to relax and unwind. We all got together to decide what we wanted to do and we soon came to the conclusion that there were some definite differences in opinion between the sexes. The three women wanted to do some shopping, so we let them make their own plans, while we continued the discussion amongst the guys.

My oldest son and son-in-law were going through a severe case of sports withdrawal and needed a fix. They'd heard about a cricket match that was going to be played in the area later in the day, so they suggested we should go to see it. They thought it would be neat to learn about another sport and hoped it would alleviate their boredom. Many of the older boys also thought that was a good idea and decided to join them. Since not everyone was thrilled about that prospect, I decided to take the remainder of the boys to a movie and then maybe a walk around another section of town. We gave our driver our list of intended destinations and then he made up our route and dropped us off accordingly.

My group watched a movie at a theater located near where the cricket match was being held. The movie we selected was one that would appeal to a wide variety of ages, but this one had an added bonus, it was quite comical. It was about a group of pre-teen and teenage boys, neighborhood friends, who happened upon a crime and showed the wacky things they did to try to stop it. The younger ones liked it for its slapstick routines and humorous dialogue. The older boys identified with some of the characters and I could see them mentally placing themselves in that role, enjoying their favorite actor's success, as he foiled the criminals' attempts at pulling off the perfect crime. For me, I enjoyed the belly laughs I got from the antics of the boy thespians, but gained a sense of relief when my boys admitted they'd be smart enough not to place themselves in such potentially dangerous situations.

After the movie, I took the boys for a walk and we came across several interesting places. We were in one of the smaller 'village-like' areas, away from the center of London, and it contained a series of small shops that we just had to check out. There was a butcher's shop, where the owner was busy cutting up a wide variety of meats to fill requests by his customers, but there was nothing else in the shop besides the meat. The boys thought this was very strange, as they had never seen any meat sold except in a grocery store, yet this one didn't sell any other items. I explained this was how things had been done for hundreds of years, before the advent of the modern grocery store, and the boys began to wonder aloud how people shopped when they had to go to so many different stores to get everything they needed. They concluded it would be a waste of time and liked the current situation better.

Next, we found a small store that might have been the setting for Charles Dickens' 'Olde Curiosity Shoppe'. It was an historic Tudor building, one where the upper floor hung over the lower one, and the doorway was short, made to accommodate the smaller size of the people of that time. Some of us had to duck to enter the building and it was almost like crossing a time portal as we wandered around the interior. I purchased a few things for our home, a couple of trinkets for the boys, and a few things for those who weren't with us. We did strike up a conversation with the shop's owner before we left, learning about a couple of interesting events we could attend the next day. We thanked him for his assistance and then left his fascinating establishment. I knew the boys would tell the others about this place in great detail.

We also walked through some residential areas, noting that most of the houses were what we would have called two-family or duplex houses, but each family owned its own side. Nearly every home was well taken care of, fenced in and had a garden of some sort in either the front or rear of the property. The English seem to love their gardens, especially flower gardens, and took great pride in making sure theirs met their own rigorous standards. We saw several different period designs among the homes, from Tudor to Victorian, Gothic revival to Jacobean, and Georgian to Queen Anne. This made for some interesting viewing and some even more interesting discussions about their various features.

By the time we got back to the bus, our shoppers were already there and the sports fans arrived shortly thereafter. That group was more than ready to tell us about the unique, if not somewhat confusing, match they had just attended. "It was really strange," Adrian began. "It was played on a circular field and the batter could hit the ball in any direction. There were no foul areas, like in baseball."

"Not only that," Michael added, "but the batter could stay at bat and keep scoring, by running between the two set of wickets, until he made an out. But if he stopped running before he was put out, then he could bat again. In baseball, we think one hundred runs batted in during a season is great, but in cricket, the batter can score one hundred runs in a match."

"And their bats were funny looking," Ricky added, making a face. "The handle look like a bat handle, but it was flat, like a paddle."

"And the guy pitching was called a 'bowler' and he had to keep his arm straight when throwing the ball. He couldn't bend it at the elbow, like we do when throwing a baseball," Brandon added.

"But I know what is meant by a sticky wicket now," Michael explained. "At each end of the pitch, which is the long rectangular strip in the middle of the playing field, there is a wicket. The wicket consists of three posts, called stumps, with two crosspieces on top, going between the outer and inner stumps. Those pieces are called bails. Well, one way to get an out is to knock the bails off the stumps, before a batter is safely touching the spot behind it. So if you hit the stumps and the bails don't fall off, it's called a sticky wicket."

"One of the other spectators told us this was just a regular match," Danny added, "but during the test matches, which are like our playoffs, a single test match could last for several days before it was over. Man, and people think baseball is slow and boring to watch!"

We found Danny's comment comical, but the entire explanation was interesting, at least to those of us were somewhat athletically inclined. It sounded like it could be quite a complicated game, if we were to learn everything about it.

After they finished telling us about the cricket match, my group told them about the movie and about the shops we had stopped at. We then proceeded to show them the things we had purchased in that final shop, giving each their own small remembrance that had been selected for him or her, trying to match their tastes with the items the shop had for sale. Among the items purchased were pewter mugs and various other pewter pieces, such as small castles, dragons and knights in armor, as well as some elegant necklaces and earrings for the ladies. Everyone thanked us for his or her particular present, before the ladies showed us some of the items they had purchased.

"At least we bought something for everyone," Kevin teased, after seeing what they had, "but they mostly bought things for themselves."

"Well, you could have gone with us and bought things for yourself too," Marie snapped back, not giving an inch. "But you can have the jewelry you bought me, if you think it would look better on you." The others laughed at his last comment, much to Kevin's dismay.

That evening we had a rather large meal, in what might have been considered an American type steak house, and passed the time talking about a variety of topics, in between courses. Everyone wanted to know what was on the agenda for tomorrow, but I told them it was to be a surprise. I knew that a couple of the boys had heard me talking about this with the shopkeeper, but I also knew they would get as much pleasure from watching the others wrestle with not knowing what we would be doing, as I would in revealing the surprise to them later. But for now, I would keep it a secret.

We spent the evening riding all over the city on the top deck of a double-decker bus, enjoying the beauty of London. It was quite lovely with the wind blowing in our faces and enjoying the wonderful evening we happened to be lucky enough to have. When we finally arrived back at our hotel, we made our way off to bed because, as the British would say, most of us were quite knackered.

You might have noticed I said most and not all, as the boys in the 'sex room' had a little energy left to spare. It happened to be Danny, Brandon, Ricky and Jay again. It hadn't been scheduled that way, but the boys did some switching and swapping of times so they could be together, since the younger pair had been offered a chance at a repeat performance at anal intercourse. Danny and Brandon had agreed to let the boys do them, as long as Ricky and Jay would let them do something similar between their thighs or in the crack between their butt cheeks. Neither boy had any objections to this, since it hadn't been a problem for them the previous time they'd done it. However, this time they chose to switch partners from their previous encounter, before having another go.

Once again, it was quite satisfying for all involved, but every time they did it, Ricky and Jay couldn't help but think about what it would be like when they finally got to do something like this with a girl. Doing their brothers was awesome, which led them to believe that doing it with a female would be even better. Therefore, they looked at this as practice for the real thing, once they met a young lady they were interested in and who was also interested in them and agreed to get intimate.

Sunday morning we had a quick breakfast, before we attended services at St. Peter's Church, located a short distance behind Buckingham Palace. We hadn't been sure what to expect, but the service wasn't all that different from what we were used to. The church was small and wasn't as elaborate as either Westminster Cathedral or St. Paul's, but it was a very nice church and had nearly a full congregation in attendance.

After church, we went back to the hotel, changed quickly into more comfortable clothes and then headed to our next stop. Soon we were pulling into a football stadium (that's soccer for those in the US), as we were going to attend a celebrity-charity game. Now, the celebrities weren't playing, they were just sponsoring the event, but they were roaming throughout the crowd, as they helped raise money for a small group of needy organizations.

My entire family began the day by trying to see whom they could identify and gleefully pointed out each celebrity they recognized to everyone else. They spotted singers, actors, politicians and other sports stars, not only British, but international celebrities as well. I immediately spotted Pele, and then had to explain to most of the boys who he was – THE greatest Brazilian football player ever.

Just a moment later, my daughter Elizabeth spotted Prince Andrew, accompanied by his two daughters, just before the boys pointed out Elton John and Phil Collins, two well-known musicians. Shortly after that, my daughter-in-law, Andrea, noticed Liam Nieson, the actor. Since we had seen so many already, everyone was busy trying to see who else might be in attendance. They constantly scanned the faces in the crowds, but most of them got into the game once it started. It was fairly exciting, by English football standards, ending in a 4-3 score, the final goal coming only a minute or so before the game ended. After the game was over, we actually could see many of the celebrities waving to the crowd, thanking them for attending and supporting these special causes.

After the game, I took everyone to a sandwich shop for a late lunch, but we didn't actually eat it until we reached Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. The gardens were quite lovely, filled with trees, flowers and a body of water known as the Serpentine. There were boats on the water and other people were swimming or sunning themselves on the shore. We could also see Kensington Palace, one of the Royal abodes and one that had housed the likes of Princess Diana.

We also saw the monument to Peter Pan, the ageless boy created by James Barrie. This created a very excited discussion, especially for Nicky and Jordan, since the Disney version of Peter Pan was one of their favorite videos to watch.

"I like Captain Hook," Jordan said, with a devilish grin. "He's funny, running away from the crocodile all the time."

"Uhnt uh," Nicky challenged. "He's mean. He tries to hurt Peter Pan and the lost boys."

"But Peter tries to hurt Captain Hook too," Jordan objected, trying to counter Nicky's argument.

This got more of the older boys involved, as they tried to entertain and amuse the younger members of the group. Soon, we had Peter Pan, the lost boys, Captain Hook and Mr. Smee, along with a couple of Indians running through the vegetation chasing after one another. Nicky suggested that papa (that's me) could be the Indian chief. I thanked him for being so thoughtful of his grandfather, by making sure I had the role of an authority figure, and he and Jordan laughed as I made faces to get into character.

"Ugga, wugga wigwam," I told them, spouting whatever gibberish came to mind that I thought might sound like an Indian chief talking. In fact, I might have even stolen that line from the Disney or theatrical version of Peter Pan, since it sounded vaguely familiar.

However, I participated for only a brief time, just long enough to give my braves and some of the others a few instructions, and then we left them to their own devices. As the boys continued their little game of make-believe, which they continued for nearly an hour, we grown-ups amused each other. After watching the boys' portrayals of the various characters and their attempts at what they thought were appropriate accents for each, some of which were quite comical, we decided to just sit and chat.

"Dad, how do you keep up with them?" Marie asked. "They even tire us out."

"Hey, this old guy can take care of himself," I muttered, in my best feeble, old man voice. "You young whippersnappers just ain't got any stamina any more. Well, back in my day…" I stopped there, as they got the idea.

"Pop, I just admire how you get the boys to learn so much on these trips and still have fun," my daughter-in-law, Andrea, the teacher, told me. "You must have been one fantastic teacher, before you became a principal."

"I just remembered what it took to interest me," I told her, "and I try to use that same technique to grab their attention. It doesn't always work, but they usually humor me, so I don't throw them to the wolves."

"Oh, they know you'd never do that, Dad," Elizabeth offered. "They know you're an old softie when it comes to them. I've heard them say so, but they also told me how scared they got when you got mad at them for having the party at the house and when you thought one of them was a thief."

"Or when he chewed me out last vacation," Robert interjected, with a touch of sarcasm.

"They know my expectations of them and do try not to cross certain lines," I agreed, "although I've never threatened to throw any of them out."

"I think you're sending Frankie away scared them," Adrian told me, "because I've heard a couple of them say they don't want to end up like Frankie. They do know you did it as a last resort, but the fact that you DID do it makes them think twice before they'd try anything they know would upset you."

"I guess I never looked at it that way," I admitted. "I didn't do that as a scare tactic, it was just that Frankie left me no choice. He was a threat to some of the others and a thief, but I would have worked with him, if he'd only shown an inkling of remorse. The thing is, I can understand how the boys might also interpret my actions with him as meaning I'd send any of them back, if I got fed up with their antics." It gave me something to think about.

As our discussion started to wind down, I called to the other boys and told them it was time to move along to our next stop. When they all rejoined us, we made our way to the bridge that crossed over the Serpentine, walking across it to get into Hyde Park. It was then that the boys noticed the huge stack of speakers and other equipment that had been set up and asked me what was up.

I explained there would be an open-air concert here this evening, once again done for charity, with some local club bands performing, as well as a couple of the better known celebrities we saw earlier in the day. I made another donation to the charities, in exchange for our being admitted, and we were soon seated or sprawled out on the grass, waiting for the concert to begin.

A couple of the club bands began the evening, followed by the teenager, Charlotte Church, who can sing with the angels. Another club band followed her, before Phil Collins stepped up and performed a couple of numbers. He really got the place rocking.

After him, another couple of club bands followed and then Elton John took his turn at the mike, doing some of his all-time hits, including 'Candle in the Wind'. By the time the evening ended, everyone was thoroughly happy with the entertainment we had just enjoyed and the change of pace by doing something relaxing. As the crowd thinned out, we headed back to our hotel and turned in early, because tomorrow we would make our first day trip, this one to Windsor Castle.

Chapter 25
Windsor Castle

The next morning we boarded our bus for the trip to Windsor. The boys all had their headphones on, enjoying their own individual music, as we rode out of London and toward the castle that sat along the Thames River. The ride wasn't very long and we were soon pulling up in front of a most impressive sight.

"This looks like the type of castle you see in the movies or read about in books," Dion gawked. "It's really incredible." I think all of us agreed wholeheartedly with him on that point.

The lower and middle wards of the castle were just the type of images you'd picture in your mind when you thought of a medieval fortress and I could tell everyone was thinking similar thoughts. As we disembarked from the bus and got ready to move toward the entrance to the castle, the boys began talking about King Arthur, Robin Hood and others they associated with castles and this time frame. Before I knew it, mock swordfights were breaking out all around me and the boys now saw themselves as knights in shining armor, battling to defend the codes of chivalry. As we made the long walk from the entrance to St. George's Gate, just below the upper ward, the boys also slew a couple of imaginary dragons, fought off usurpers to their thrones and defended the honor of young maidens (and young masters).

As we went along, I informed the boys about the history of the castle. I began by telling them that William the Conqueror founded this particular castle around 1080, as part of a series of fortifications protecting London. It was constructed according to typical Norman specifications, with an artificial mound (motte) with a keep, surrounded by a wooden fortification. However, over the years, many of the Kings of England were attracted to the location because of the excellent hunting in the woods beyond.

In the late 12th century, Henry II largely rebuilt the castle in stone, including the Round Tower on top of the motte. This work was continued and expanded under Henry III. During the 14th century, Edward III converted it into a Gothic palace and the seat of his new Order of the Garter. In the 15th century, Edward IV had St. George's Chapel and the new Cloisters built. Henry VIII had a new gate built into the Lower Ward in the early 16th century and his daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I, made other changes to it.

Then in the 17th century, Charles II remodeled it as a Baroque palace and it stayed that way until the late 18th century when George III commissioned a Gothic reconstruction of the State Apartments, which was completed by George IV in the early 19th century. Queen Victoria made Windsor her principal palace and ruled the British Empire from within these walls for over 60 years. In 1992 a fire ravaged parts of the castle, which were rebuilt by 1997, so the castle is once again a place of pride for the British people.

Not only is Windsor the name of the Castle, but during WW I King George V also changed his German surname to the same as that of his castle, because of the strong anti-German sentiments of the time. Hence, King George V, of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, became George V, of the House of Windsor. It is now also their last name, so Prince Charles sons are William Windsor and Henry (Harry) Windsor.

As I was going over this information, our tour took us past the lower side of the artificial hill, on which sat the Round Tower, and over to the State Apartments. Once there, we saw many impressive sights. There was the Grand Staircase, flanked by a massive sculpture of George IV and armored knights on horseback. We saw Queen Mary's Dolls' House, a massive piece built in accurate detail, so much so that the little wine bottles even have vintage wine in them.

"Man, even her dolls could get a buzz," Ricky joked, upon learning that fact.

After that, we saw the China Museum and the display cases filled with impressive pieces of china that had been used by the Royal Family over the years. In other rooms, we saw magnificent paintings done by some of the finest masters ever, such as Rubens, Van Dyck, Gainsborough and Rembrandt. Besides those, we also inspected many sculptures of royalty, studied a history of weapons on display and viewed various pieces of furniture that had been used there throughout the castle's history. The rooms were large, the ceilings high (and many covered by impressive paintings), the decorating elaborate and the impression breathtaking.

While touring the State Apartments, we met a man who lived across the river in Eton. He had heard us commenting about some of the crests and coats of arms and then heard the boys asking if there was a coat of arms for the Curries. The gentleman politely interrupted our discussion and explained he owned a shop in Eton, before suggesting we should stop by there later and he'd help us research that topic. I thanked him, copied down the name and address of his shop. After he walked away, I had to chuckle as the boys danced with excitement about the possibility of finding something 'regal' having to do with the Currie name.

From there, we went back outdoors, walking from the upper ward to the lower ward, with the boys talking excitedly about the things they had seen during our earlier tour. From there, we made our way to St. George's Chapel, to savor a whole new experience. This is a marvelous Gothic Cathedral, begun by Edward IV in 1475 and finished by Henry VIII in 1528. The exterior is defined by massive stone walls dotted by a series of flying buttresses (like the ribs of some giant beast), lined by row upon row of windows and defined by numerous stone sculptures.

The interior is filled with elaborate woodwork, splendid stained glass windows and magnificent vaulted ceilings. The chapel houses many monuments to the wealthy and famous throughout the centuries, and is the final resting places for several monarchs, including Henry VIII, Charles I (who was executed) and George VI (Elizabeth II's father).

By the time we had seen the chapel and explored its treasures, it was getting to be late afternoon, so we made our way across the lower ward and exited through King Henry VIII's gate, in search of a place to eat.

To our surprise, we found several fast food restaurants nearby and chose to eat at the Pizza Hut, filling up on pizza, salad and soda.

Now that our stomachs were no longer grumbling, we checked out a few of the other nearby attractions. First we took a stroll down Church Street, a cobblestone street lined with buildings that are several hundred years old, but Church Street also leads up to one of the castle's gates. After walking up and down that thoroughfare, we went to see Windsor's Guildhall, which was also designed by Sir Christopher Wren, who we learned earlier had built St. Peter's Cathedral. It is said that when Wren showed his design for the Guild Hall to the town elders, they refused to believe that the ground floor ceiling wouldn't collapse without pillars. They insisted that Wren include the pillars in his final design, refusing to let him continue otherwise. Reluctantly, Wren put the pillars in, though he left a gap between the top of the pillars and the ceiling without their knowledge, thus proving they weren't needed in the first place.

After that, we went on a walking tour of Eton, the small village on the other side of the Thames, and reached it by walking over the pedestrian-only bridge. Eton was filled with many fine shops and other establishments, most of them catering to the wealthy students enrolled at Eton College. Eton College has been THE place to go for many of Britain's aristocrats, politicians and 'captains of industry'. We soon found the shop we were looking for and entered. The gentleman greeted me shortly after I came through the door, but looked suspiciously at my family, as they gathered around me.

"I didn't think you were bringing your whole tour group with you, sir!" he exclaimed.

"I didn't," I told him. "I merely brought my family along."

The gentleman eyed the group rather closely, looking from face to face and then back to me. "You do have quite an assortment of backgrounds in your relatives, sir. Just how would all of you be related then?" I went on to give him the short version of our story and then he smiled.

"Jolly good, sir," he offered, while letting down his guard. "You must be a truly exceptional person to take on all of this responsibility. I hope these young gentlemen appreciate your goodness and your natural children are bloody proud of what you have done." There were various nods, agreements, and other subtle acknowledgements before he moved on to business. "Now, I believe you were interested in discovering about heraldry associated with your surname."

"Yes, we are, sir," I told him. "The boys were interested in learning if there was possibly a coat of arms involved, which could be associated to our ancestral line."

"I'm not sure if you realize this, but coats of arms and crests are assigned to individuals, not to family groups. But I would be happy to help you investigate this and then I could offer you some merchandise utilizing the designs we've discovered, that is if you are interested in such things."

"I believe that's what my sons had in mind."

"Brilliant!" he replied, seeing a profit in his future. "Let us begin with the search." He went to a computer behind the counter and brought up a website. He then asked me our last name, had me spell it for him and then entered what I told him. Before long, he was showing me information involving our surname. It seems that the Currie clan lived along the Scottish-English border. Being a clan meant that they could put a minimum of 250 men ahorse within one hour, as well as provide fighting men for their liege lord and king. This also meant they must have been quite a large and fairly well organized group. The name originated in Midlothian, the Edinburgh area of Scotland, before 1100. The name can trace its roots back to Strathclyde, Briton.

Next, he showed us a coat of arms associated with someone from our line, Currie of Newby, Scotland. Before he gave us the explanation about the coat of arms, he mentioned that the terms of heraldry he was going to use might sound strange to us, as most of it came from the Old Norman French terminology. The blazon (shield shaped format of the coat of arms) was what they called a chief, meaning there was a band of a different color across the top. The shield was in gules (red), with an argent (silver) St. Andrew's cross (a cross that looked like an X) upon it. The band at the top was in sable (black), with an argent (silver) rose in the center, barbed and seeded in vert (green).

Now, the shop owner went on to explain what all of this meant. The use of the chief shield meant dominion, authority, wisdom, and achievement in battle. The gules (red) signified a warrior, martyr or military strength. The argent (silver) signified sincerity and peace, while the St. Andrew's cross signified resolution and resolve. The sable (black) band at the top signified constancy and grief and the argent rose was the symbol of the second son. From all of this information, the shopkeeper told us a possible scenario of how this coat of arms was granted.

"From my knowledge of what the colors, designs and symbols mean, I would venture this is how this coat of arms was awarded. The Currie clan must have been a powerful clan of warriors, always coming to the defense of their liege lord. I would venture to guess that the second son of the leader of that clan lost his life in one such battle, making the ultimate sacrifice for their cause. I'm sure the noble whom they were defending made a petition on their behalf, having someone from his court design this particular coat of arms to honor the sacrifice the Curries had made. It would either have been granted to the second son posthumously or awarded to his father, in recognition of his son's sacrifice. It seems to be a noble reward, which was given to honor the deceased and make his ancestors proud of his deeds."

We were all smiling broadly as he finished this explanation. Even though the majority of those present were not literally of the Currie bloodline, they were all proud of such an honored and storied past. Now, the shop owner went on to explain that the shields the warriors carried into battle would have had a slightly different design. The shields would be gules (red) with a large argent (silver) St. Andrew's cross upon it. This was because the coat of arms would only belong to and could be used by the one so honored, so the shield design would have been carried by his troops.

Then he told us that there would have been one more item of heraldry involved, the crest. The crest would have been the symbol worn on the helmet, representing its owner. In this case the crest was a gules (red) cock. As soon as he made that comment, I looked around at the boys, seeing the older ones fighting back laughter and comments they wished to make, but dared not with my older children present. Ricky's face was bright red, as he fought to control himself, while Danny's face was all scrunched up, making him look like he had just swallowed a peck of lemons. Kevin buried his head into Dustin's back, trying to keep from laughing, while Dion had the biggest grin spreading across his face. The other boys were going through other contortions, fighting desperately to resist the urges that were whipping through their minds.

"What would the cock or rooster signify in this case," I asked the shop owner quickly, trying to distract the boys.

"That would have stood for a fighter, and being in gules, it would have meant a mighty fighter or warrior." The boys were slowly regaining control of themselves. "And this one would have had its foot resting upon a rose argent (silver), barbed and seeded vert (green). This would have meant that the second son was the mighty warrior."

I thanked our newly met friend for all his help and then asked him what I needed to do to order a coat of arms or other such things. He showed me a wide variety of products he could get for us, so I ordered a large coat of arms, a shield of the same size, a plaque with the crest and a framed family history of the Currie name, all to be hung in our foyer at home. I also ordered some things for the older children's homes, items that they selected for themselves, but I paid for everything. I then asked if he could deliver all of the items to the company providing our transportation, so we could collect them at their offices, when I settled my bill before leaving. Everyone was excited with all we had discovered and we were pleased with our selections for our homes. We left the shop and continued our foot tour of Eton.

When we had finished our walk, we made our way back to the bus, excited yet tired from our grueling day. Many of the boys fell asleep on the ride back to the hotel and we just ordered from room service later, not wishing to go out again.

After everyone had finished eating, most of the boys ended up in my room. I thought I knew what they had on their minds. "Hey, Dad," Ricky began, "isn't it fitting that the Currie crest is a cock!" He barely got the words out before he started cracking up.

"Yes, as the situation stands now," I agreed, "although I don't think my daughters or daughter-in-law would like hearing you say that."

"Yeah, watch out for Elizabeth," Pat warned, thinking of her comment the previous summer, about the Lady of the Lake, "or she just might rip your cock off." Everyone broke up and I was just getting them to settle down again, when my usually quiet Trey spoke up.

"I wonder if it was a large cock represented on the crest?"

"And I wonder if it was a cut or uncut cock?" Brandon teased.

"It doesn't make any difference, although back then nearly everyone was uncut" Kevin added, "but it was a fighting cock, ready to duel at any time." This brought a howl of laughter and I was surprised they all didn't suddenly whip out their own cocks and begin to duel amongst themselves, but they were able to manage a minimal degree of control.

"Hey, Dad," Dion added, "do you think some of our ancestors were gay and that's why they gave them the cock for a crest?"

"Well, I know they weren't all gay, or the Currie clan wouldn't have survived," I shot back.

"Sure, it would have," Dustin responded. "They could have adopted great sons, like you did." This brought a wave of agreement and left me without a witty comeback.

"I am glad you boys managed to control yourself in the shop, though," I offered, thankfully. "I know that was hard for you to do and I'm not sure how the shop owner and the others might have reacted if you had carried on like this there."

"We know," Ricky told me, "but it almost killed us to keep all that in. We did do some of it on the bus, on the way back, but we did it so nobody else could hear. It was just so funny when he said it, like it was nothing and there was no other meaning for it."

"Pop, you should have seen these guys while we were walking around," Jay chimed in. "They were bursting at the seams, but knew they couldn't let loose. It was almost as funny watching them trying to hold back, as it would have been if they could have done this then."

"I'm sure it must have been quite humorous," I agreed, "but I am glad you showed some restraint back there."

"But we can still have fun with it later," Cole stated dryly, "as the reminder and proof of it will be hanging on our wall at home. I can't wait to tell all the visitors what they're for."

"Yeah," Jay joined in. "I think it will be great when you've got a big red cock hanging on the wall where everyone will see it when they enter your house."

"Would this make you like a sports team?" Carlos asked innocently. "Will you now become the Currie Cocks?"

This brought another roar and everyone seemed to think it would be a very appropriate title for us, 'the Currie Cocks'. After everyone settled down and got this worked out of their systems, they returned to their own rooms and turned in for the evening.

Chapter 26
A Few More Day Trips

On Tuesday, we made our way to Stratford Upon Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. We took the train for this journey, seeing it was quite a lengthy trip and I wanted to give our driver the day to himself. For most of the boys this would be there first experience on a train and they all seemed quite enthralled by the idea, especially my two grandsons. I guess Thomas the Tank Engine had left them with a lasting impression and a love for this mode of transportation.

We boarded the train at the station that was just a short walk from our hotel, found a place where we could all sit as a group and were soon on our way. The boys watched the scenery fly by the windows and were lulled into a very relaxed state by the rhythmic clickity-clack sounds the wheels made as they rolled over the spots where the various segments of track were joined. I just sat back and watched the boys, enjoying their reactions to everything that was going on around them. I did this because I realized the expressions on their faces would be far more interesting than whatever scenery I would see by looking out at the countryside.

I was watching my grandsons when Jordan looked in my direction and then got up and walked toward me. I wasn't sure what he wanted, but I knew I was about to find out.

"Why don't people ride trains where we live?" he asked me, in a serious little boy voice. "I think they're fun."

"Well, people in and around the large cities often do, but they're called subways there," I informed him, which brought a look of shock and disbelief to his face.

"Why do they call them that, instead of trains?" he wanted to know.

"It's because they don't always travel above ground, on the land," I informed him. "Sometimes they travel in tunnels underground and that's how it got the name. Sub means under or beneath and that's how submarines got their name, because they go under or beneath the water. Subway means the train runs under or beneath something, like a city and city streets."

"Oh, I get it, Papa!" Jordan exclaimed, as it all began to make sense. "It's a train whose tracks go under the ground. That's neat."

"Yes, it is," I agreed. "Years ago trains were the easiest way to travel long distances, but when roads began to improve, especially with the interstate highway system, and as more and more people owned their own cars, it seemed that everyone wanted the freedom to travel when they chose and not just when the trains were running. That's why trains have been disappearing from use over the past fifty or sixty years."

"But Harry Potter still takes the train to Hogwarts," he added.

"Yes, because as you've seen, the British still rely heavily on their trains," I agreed. My response seemed to satisfy his curiosity, so he went back to looking at the areas we were passing by.

When we arrived at our destination, it was as if we had been transported back in time, to the late 16th or early 17th century. We were surrounded by all kinds of historic Tudor buildings and some of them still had thatched roofs, which were made of straw, hay or long grasses, reminiscent of the time when they were first built. As we walked about, we discovered an old Tudor schoolhouse and went inside. It was filled with rows of large wooden desks, which looked quite uncomfortable, but still had a similar feel to the one room schoolhouse Danny, Brandon, Ricky, Jay and I had stopped at in Lancaster, PA, on our first vacation together.

After leaving there, we crossed over the medieval stone bridge, while we also checked out the stone Gild Chapel and the Holy Trinity church. William Shakespeare, the great writer and poet, once owned Holy Trinity Church, which he purchased after King Henry VIII confiscated all the property of the Catholic church. It now features a monument to him, with a remarkable tanned likeness. The monument is fitting, since Shakespeare was also baptized and is now buried there.

From there, we moved on to Shakespeare's birthplace, which was completely furnished with the same types of belongings that would have been there while he was alive. A massive, 4-poster canopy bed nearly filled up his bedroom, but there was also a scattering of other furniture appropriate for the period. The walls were covered in brightly painted pieces of cloth, much like we might find wallpaper used in a room now, and this really gave us a feel for what life must have been like during that period in history. It also reminded us how hard and dreary life must have been for the majority of those living at the time.

Our only disappointment with Stratford was with the Royal Shakespeare Theater. It was nice enough, but I guess we were all expecting to see something similar to the old Globe Theater, where Shakespeare's plays were first performed. Instead we found a modern brick building that didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the community. We did see a performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' there and it was quite well done, but I think we lost some of the feel for what it would have been like to watch it during Shakespeare's times. In addition to that, most of the boys had difficulty understanding what the play was about, due to the archaic speech used and the unfamiliar British accent, but they did seem to enjoy the various characters, especially Puck. Later, once we were alone, I explained the story to them, which gave them a better impression about what they had seen, before they agreed they had enjoyed it.

After we were back on the train, Danny approached me with an observation of his own. "Dad, I think Puck was gay," he told me, but I wasn't sure if this was being said tongue-in-cheek.

"He was a fairy," I teased back, in reply.

"Maybe, but it was what he said that made me think that," Danny continued. "I tried to remember that line, so let me see if I can get it right. 'My Oberon! What visions I have seen! Methought I was enamour'd of an ass.'" Danny giggled after saying that. "I'm enamored with an ass too," he added. "It's Brandon's." Brandon grinned and playfully punched Danny in the arm.

"And you'd better not be fooling with any others," Brandon shot back, while also flashing me a smug and satisfied look, which I think meant 'he's my main squeeze and we're going to be together for a long time.'

On the ride back, the boys spent time exploring the English countryside and commented on how it wasn't all that different from where we lived, except the houses seemed to be far older here than in Pennsylvania. I agreed. The rolling landscape wasn't that dissimilar; although some areas did appear much more open than where we lived.

When we arrived back at the hotel, things were a little different than on our other stays there. This was going to be our last night in London. We'd be making one more day trip, but spending the next night far away from this wonderful city, and then my older children would be departing for their homes, taking my grandsons with them. Due to the fact we'd soon be going our own way, the boys decided we should go out to a nice restaurant tonight. They wanted this to serve as a farewell feast to both the city and to the others who would be leaving us shortly.

I decided to add to the festivities by ordering wine and letting everyone have up to a glass of it, including those who were underage. The adults would be allowed to drink all they (or their spouse) thought they could handle. However, before indulging the younger ones to a glass, I decided to give them a taste first, to see their reaction to it.

"Yuck, that's awful!" Nicky exclaimed, before spitting his small mouthful back into his glass.

"Papa, can I just have soda instead," Jordan asked, also not enjoying his sample.

"You can and you may," I replied, without him catching on to my grammar lesson.

"Me too," Nicky added, before Sammy, Andrew and Graham all indicated they'd prefer a soda to the wine as well.

During the evening, the boys made sure to let their oldest brothers and sisters know how much they enjoyed this vacation together, but they really showered their nephews with attention, letting Jordan and Nicky know how special they thought they were. Both boys were aglow from all of this special recognition and you could tell how much they loved and appreciated all of their young uncles. It was a very special dinner and it turned out to be a sort of private Thanksgiving meal.

My grandsons slept with their uncles that night and the older boys managed to squeeze everyone into a single room. They let the younger boys share the beds, with one grandson in each one and two of their younger uncles, while the older boys slept on the floor of that room, so they would all be together for one final night. It touched me deeply when I went in to wake them up the next morning, seeing them all so happy and peaceful, and Jordan and Nicky couldn't wait to tell their parents about the fun they all had together. I guess the boys attempted to make it memorable and told their nephews some stories before they went to sleep. Not only did they tell them these stories, but acted them out too, putting on quite a show in the process. They must have done a wonderful job, because that was all the youngest pair could talk about for hours.

After breakfast, we loaded onto the bus and headed west, across the countryside. It was really beautiful scenery, driving across gently rolling grasslands, but as desolate as it appeared, it felt as if we were driving to the middle of nowhere, which maybe we were. I was one of the few who knew where we were heading – to the Salisbury plain and Stonehenge.

You all know the image the name Stonehenge conjures up when spoken – gigantic boulders sticking up out of the earth with capstones extending between adjoining columns. I think most of us also picture ancient Druid priests performing pagan rituals within this circle, but do we really know what Stonehenge was and what it meant to those ancient peoples? It is now believed that Stonehenge was built in stages, between 2800 and 1800 BCE, to help in the observation of astronomical phenomena, such as the summer and winter solstices, eclipses and more. This was not only for religious purposes, but it helped them decide when to do other things, like when to plant their crops and then when to harvest them. Thus, it was a multi-purpose structure.

"I feel out of place in these clothes here," Kevin told me, as we looked around.

"Well, just keep them on, because I'm not sure how all of these other people would react to you being naked," I joked.

"No, not naked!" he shot back. "I meant I feel as if I should be in a hooded robe and we should be carrying torches or have them ready to use, once it gets dark."

"Yeah, this place really feels old," Dustin chimed in, "not just looks it. It's almost like we should be carrying out some sort of ancient ceremony to the land or something."

"I almost expect to see a line of priests from some long forgotten religion popping up and starting to chant or offer up a sacrifice," Pat added.

"Yes, it does have that sort of a feel about it, doesn't it?" I responded, understanding what each of them was saying.

I took many pictures of the boys while we were there, some while standing under one of the huge stone arches, showing how small they were in comparison, or with them sitting on one of the fallen stones, or a long range shot with the whole family, minus me, standing with Stonehenge looming behind them. After that, we learned about some of the theories concerning how the stones were brought here and arranged, as they are not natural to the area. It is assumed these boulders were transported over long distances, possibly from Wales, before they were erected at the site. That must have been an enormous undertaking with the primitive technology of the day, but somehow they managed to pull it off, a truly impressive feat.

After we saw all that we wanted to there, we boarded the bus and made our way to our next stop, the Roman-founded city of Bath, then known as Aquae Sulis. It was getting late when we arrived there, so we decided to eat, get our rooms, and rest for the night. We would start early tomorrow and go to the various sites, before we dropped off my older children and their families at the airport.

Thursday morning we awoke early, had a good breakfast and then headed for our first stop, the Roman baths. It was what you might expect to see in a film about ancient Rome, like the scene in Spartacus. The city was founded and became popular because of the natural hot springs that fed the baths, something the ancient Romans adored.

The building was adorned with stone columns supporting the roof of a covered walkway, which surrounded a large, open pool where the dignitaries would have bathed. There were stone benches and other conveniences against the walls. These benches would have been used by those frequenting here, as a place to relax or as a location where they could converse with a friend. There were Roman statues to various gods and goddesses about the area and we got a look at the substructure and learned how the bath would have operated once it was built.

"Too bad we couldn't have come here and enjoyed the spa like the Romans did," Michael offered. "I would have enjoyed sitting in some nicely heated water right now."

"Michael, you're beginning to sound like an old man," I teased.

"Well, I kind of feel it, after carrying Nicky so much," he answered. "My back in killing me."

"Then be smart and let the other, MUCH YOUNGER boys do that for you," I emphasized. "You know how they love your son."

"I know, but Nicky was indicating he wanted me to carry him for a while," Michael replied. "I know he loves his uncles, but I think he felt either I was neglecting him or he was neglecting me at the time." I just nodded my understanding, thinking back upon a time when Nicky's father might have acted in the same manner with me.

After we left the spa, we went on to see the Bath Abbey, a large stone Gothic sanctuary with elaborate stone carvings on the outer surface. It was also adorned with flying buttresses, fan-vaulted ceilings, and the typical plaques and tombs to the wealthy and famous. It was not as large or elaborate as some of the other churches we had seen, but it was still a very impressive edifice.

When we left the abbey, we took a tour of the rest of the city that had grown up around the spa. Over the years, especially during Victorian times, this was a very popular place to visit and Georgian architecture covers much of the area. They were constructed to meet the demands for elegant living quarters, being made by those favoring this place as a refuge. As the city grew up around it, it turned into a very impressive area and has many impressive structures, including the Georgian-style Landsdown and Royal Crescents, as well as other magnificently built row houses. The outlying area also contains several massive manor houses, where the aristocrats lived. As quaint and as lovely as the city was, we decided to finish our tour and eat, before it was time to take my older children to catch their flights and say our final good-byes at the airport.

The ride from Bath to Heathrow airport was long and somewhat sad. We had all had a good time together, but we were unhappy that our time together was nearing an end. The boys made their rounds to say their farewells to those that were soon to leave us, especially Jordan and Nicky. Those two had been with us for so long that it was like they were part of our immediate family, not just our extended family. It was quite an emotional ride, and not just the time we spent on the bus. Before we reached the airport, I found Nicky and Jordan coming up to sit with me for the remainder of the trip, one cuddled against either side of me, thanking me for the great vacations.

"Papa, thank you for taking me with you to all these great places," Nicky told me. "I had a lot of fun with you and all my uncles."

"Me too," Jordan added. "That mule ride was great and all the neat things we've seen and places we've visited. I hope you'll take us with you again, next year," he added, to plant a seed for the future.

Both of my grandsons then hugged me, followed by an energetic kiss on each cheek. Man, I was really going to miss these little rascals. Needless to say, I had a few tears in my eyes and a major lump in my throat before we got off of the bus.

The older boys volunteered to carry the luggage in for those leaving us, so they didn't have to be bothered with it as they said their good-byes. After we got all of those leaving checked in for their flights, another round of hugs and kisses ensued. It was evident none of us wanted this to end. However, it wasn't much longer before they were forced to make their way to the boarding gate, so they wouldn't miss their flight. We all waved at each other, until they had disappeared from sight, and then I herded the boys back to the bus.

From here, the bus headed south and we would now spend our final week in England. This time it was just the boys and I, but I hoped they wouldn't find this a letdown, after parting from the rest of our family.

Chapter 27
A Trip to Brighton

We arrived at Brighton Friday morning. Although it wasn't entirely restful, the boys and I had slept on the bus as we made our way to the resort city on England's southern shore. The driver also let us sleep in the parking lot a while longer, before dropping us off at a restaurant. The boys ate quite heartily and then we made our way to the hotel to check in. Fortunately, two of our four rooms were available even at this early hour, so we made our way up to them and split into two groups, so we could clean up and change into some beachwear. From there, we made our way down to the ocean, where we would relax and play in the surf.

I think we were all quite amazed to discover this beach contained no sand. Although it was somewhat unusual, it didn't stop the boys from making their way to the water. Immediately, they began splashing or dunking each other (except for our non-swimmers), before happily swimming in the gentle surf. After 30 or 40 minutes of that type of exercise, I saw Sammy, Andrew and Graham making their way away from the beach. I wasn't certain as to what they were up to, but as they got closer to our hotel, they moved over to what turned out to be a play area, with a rather large sandbox. Since they went directly to it, I figured they must have spotted it on the way down, and now they eagerly began constructing sand sculptures.

Once some of the others noticed what they were doing, Cole, Dion, Andrew, Sammy and Carlos walked up to join them. Now, all of the boys joined forces and began working on a huge castle. This structure soon began to resemble Windsor Castle and they seemed intent on including all of the details they'd observed during our visit. They were really doing quite a nice job on it, working very slowly and being very precise with every facet of their work.

Their castle was now beginning to draw the attention of some of the others who were also frequenting the beach and the boys elicited some very favorable comments from these observers about their efforts. My artists were somewhat embarrassed by this unexpected attention, but I could see them glowing because of the praise being heaped upon them. The more they were complimented, the harder they worked, and their castle began to grow and develop. Andrew crawled inside the walls and began to build a simple cathedral, while Dion leaned in and worked on the main building, which would contain the apartments and the Great Hall. They continued to work on it all afternoon and it was really quite an impressive sight, by the time I had to drag them away, so we could go back to our rooms and prepare for dinner.

While those boys had been busy with their architectural endeavors, the others had been having a grand time in the water. They even involved other teens, both boys and girls, in their play and seemed to have made several new friends in the process. I really hated to pull them away from all of this, but they hadn't eaten since our late breakfast, so I knew they must have been starving by now. I told them to tell the others they'd be back again tomorrow and would join them again at that time, if they all wished to do so. They passed the message along and we soon were heading for the hotel.

When we arrived back at the front desk, we got the keys for our other two rooms and then I let the boys select their roommates. After that, everyone got their things and took them to their own room, before showering and changing, so we could eat. Before they left, however, I told the older boys the only restriction during this part of the trip would be that there was to be no sex in the room, if Sammy or Andrew were with them. They all agreed to this, so nothing more would be said about their other pursuits.

It took nearly an hour and a half before everyone was ready, but we made our way to a restaurant that had been suggested to us by the hotel staff and enjoyed a fine meal. When we returned to the hotel, about an hour later, the boys went to their rooms, with Sammy and Andrew staying with me for the night. I told each of them to settle in for the night and we'd go back to the beach tomorrow.

Sammy, Andrew and I surfed the television and found little of interest on, so the boys and I talked for a while instead. I asked them how they were enjoying themselves, the things they liked the best and the least, and then I tried to find out from Andrew how he was doing and if there were any lingering effects from his incident at the Space Center. This was important, because the next part of my plan might involve a nude beach and I wanted to make sure he would be fine with this. If not, I would change our plans and we would stay here and frequent the beach we were on this morning. He seemed to be barely fazed by that occurrence and I was almost finished questioning him when there was a knock on our door. I got up to open it and Kevin was standing there, with tears streaming down his cheeks.

"What's up, Kev?" I asked him.

"Can I sleep with you tonight? I don't want to be in with Dusty," he sobbed out.

"Sure," I agreed, before pausing for a few seconds. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

Kevin hesitated a little before he spoke again. "Yeah, I guess so. Dusty met this girl today and all he's been doing is talking to Ricky and Jay about her, telling them that he hopes she's there again tomorrow. I tried to ignore him, but he just kept talking about her and I just can't listen to it any more. It was as if I wasn't even there or he didn't care if I was."

"Don't you think you might be making too much of his little infatuation?" I asked him. "Dustin told you before that he likes both boys and girls and we both knew he might just want to see if the grass is greener on the other side of the fence."

"Well, he can fill up on the old hay bag then," Kevin spat back, defiantly, "but I don't have to stay there and listen and watch him do it. It just hurts to know he doesn't care about me as much as I care about him."

"It doesn't mean that he doesn't have the same feelings for you or that he'll forget about you and not want to be with you any more," I tried to explain, but obviously with very little success.

"But it's hard to watch him flirt with someone else and then hear him talk about her all night long," Kevin countered, and I knew he had a point. "I really love Dustin and I have for a long time."

"I understand and think he knows that," I assured him, before switching gears. "You can sleep in here with me tonight, if you still want to, and maybe things will look less bleak in the morning. I think you might be overreacting just a little about this, though."

"Maybe, but I don't think so," he informed me. "Thanks, Dad. I knew I could count on you."

As soon as we stopped talking, Sammy and Andrew came over to cheer Kevin up. It didn't take long before the bag containing the hand-held games was open and they selected various games to challenge each other on, as they began conducting spur-of-the-moment competitions. I knew the younger pair did this to keep Kevin occupied for the rest of the evening, but it took care of the problem of how to entertain them too. I just watched the boys and occasionally glanced at the telly, as the British call it, until we all decided it was time to go to bed.

Although I thought he might end up sleeping with the younger boys, Kevin jumped into bed with me and snuggled up against my body. He put his head on my chest, draped his arm across my stomach and inched as close to me as he could possibly get, without crawling into my undershorts. I didn't mind, because I knew he needed some reassurance at this point, but he stayed like that for virtually the entire evening. Even when I awoke to use the toilet, he got up too and waited for me to return. When I got back into bed, he would move back into position and then drift off into another restless slumber. When I awoke the next morning, Kevin was still clinging to me, like a lamprey to its host. Cautiously, I slid out of bed, trying not to wake him, but he awoke shortly thereafter and came to join me on the sofa, while the other two slept on.

"Aren't you coming back to bed?" he wanted to know.

"No, I've slept enough, but you should slide back in for another hour or so, if you want," I suggested.

"I don't want to be alone," he admitted, "so I'll just sit here with you."

"What if I just lie in bed for a while, until you wake up for good," knowing he probably still needed more rest. "Would that make you feel better?"

"Yeah, or I could just sleep with my head on your lap," he suggested, thinking I might not want to get back into the bed.

"No, you might as well be comfortable, so I'll go back to bed with you," I offered.

He and I got back into the bed and he immediately cuddled up against me again. I placed my arm under his head and wrapped it around his back, squeezing him against my side. I knew Kevin needed to know someone loved him, even if it wasn't the person he desired it from the most. I was surprised when he fell asleep within a couple of minutes of my doing that.

While he slept, I thought about what I might do to help him get through this situation. I concluded long ago that Kevin's feelings for Dustin went deeper than Dustin's feeling for him, and Dustin had made it clear, at least to me, that he really wanted to explore the opposite sex, since he'd already had plenty of experience with his brothers. Now, I had to help Kevin deal with this until Dustin made up his mind what he really wanted. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I also knew the next week or so would be even more difficult, considering what I had planned. The only hope of the situation improving was if Dustin forgot about the girls and made up with Kevin, but I was pretty sure that wasn't going to happen. Therefore, I would have to think up something new to do or say to Kevin, if he was going to get through this.

Kevin slept for about another hour, only waking after he heard Sammy and Andrew moving around the room too. At that point, he looked up at me and leaned in my direction, so he could kiss me on the cheek and thank me for staying with him all of that time. Soon, I had the boys getting dressed for breakfast, while I called around to the other rooms, to make certain everyone else was up and getting ready too.

At breakfast that morning, things were a bit strained for all of us, since word had gotten around about Kevin's reaction to Dustin's interest in this particular girl. Kevin stayed close to me and tried to ignore Dustin, even when Dustin came over to speak to him. Kevin merely looked away and wouldn't respond to his comments, so Dustin slunk back to the opposite end of the table and sat down again. I knew they were both feeling bad, but for different reasons. Kevin was upset with Dustin's infatuation and Dustin was upset that Kevin was taking it so badly. Dustin tried to explain the situation to him and tell Kevin he still felt a lot for him, but Kevin had tuned him out completely. Kevin obviously didn't want to listen to any more words and was only interested in Dustin's actions. Therefore, we ate pretty much in silence this morning, as no one knew safe topics to talk about and didn't want to get drawn into the middle of this feud.

After we'd finished eating, we went back to our rooms, changed into our swimwear and then we made our way back to the beach. When we got there, I was surprised to see the boys' sandcastle was pretty much the way we had left it. I was amazed that no one had destroyed it overnight. Those who had been working on it went back to continue their efforts, while the others headed for the water. I watched Dustin and Kevin to see what was going on between them, but they basically steered clear of each other, or should I say that Kevin avoided Dustin, because I don't think Dustin was doing it consciously, on his part. It stayed that way for a couple of hours, before our little temptress showed up and headed straight for Dustin. As soon as Kevin saw her, he headed out of the water and began walking toward the hotel. I caught up with him and stopped him from going farther.

"Running away isn't going to solve anything for you and it's not going to make you feel any better," I told him.

"But what am I going to do?" he asked, looking up at me with a tear-streaked face. "I can't stand to see him around her. I love Dustin so much that it hurts to see how nice he is to her."

"I know and I understand. Just hang in there and wait it out," I suggested. "He may or may not want to get involved with girls, but you do have the advantage here." Kevin looked up at me through his puffy eyes, with a puzzled expression on his face. "We're only going to be here for a week and she's not going to be going home with us," I hinted, none to subtly.

Kevin now looked at me, appearing as if a light had just turned on in his head. "Just hang in there and be there for him after she's gone. It will take a big man to do that and forgive his wandering eye, but you are in the better position here. I don't know where that girl is from, but I don't think it's anywhere near our home in Pennsylvania." Kevin smiled, gave me a hug and we headed back toward the beach. He looked up at me as we walked along.

"Thanks, Dad," he told me, sincerely. "You really are pretty smart."

"Thanks, Kev," I told him, while placing my arm around his shoulders. "That means a lot to me, especially coming from you." Kevin went back to join the others, trying not to watch what Dustin and this girl were up to.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. The two boys didn't hang around each other, but they weren't really avoiding each other either. That night Dustin was careful not to talk about his new friend and Kevin managed to control his emotions. They even slept in the same bed, but I don't think they cuddled. It was a small accomplishment for both of them, but it was a major victory in the war on growing up.

Sunday was pretty much a replay of Saturday, with the girl showing up again, but I soon learned she'd told Dustin this would be her last day at the beach. She was leaving with her parents that evening, as her dad's holiday (vacation for the Americans) was over and he would have to return to work on Monday. This news perked Kevin up even more and the day passed quite quickly. That evening, after dinner, I called all the boys into my room to discuss the rest of the week.

"Boys, I need your input about what we should do next. You have two choices. We can spend the week here, on this beach, or we can try a different beach."

"Why, what's the difference?" Trey wanted to know.

"Well, there is actually quite a big difference," I responded. "I know many of you boys had expressed an interest to me before in going to a nude beach and there are two not very far from here. The first is at the far end of this beach, but it's not all that private. It's located in such a way that the people on this beach can observe those on the other beach without having to join in and get naked themselves. The other beach is farther down the coast and more secluded from the public. I need to know what you think about this. Do you want to try a nude beach or would you prefer to stay here?"

"Who will be there?" Jay asked. "Will there be girls there too?"

"Both naturist beaches are family beaches, so I suspect there will be men, women, boys and girls at both, although I can't be certain of that until we actually get there. However, I need everyone to be honest with me and let me know how you really feel. If there is anyone here who doesn't want to go to a nude beach, they'll have to let me know sometime tonight, because I don't want anyone going, unless they really want to."

"Dad," Ricky began, "we run around without clothes on all of the time, so why should this be any different from what we normally do?"

"Because they'll be strangers there, and females as well as males," I pointed out.

"But we'll seeing everybody else's weenies too, when they see ours, right?" Sammy asked.

"And nobody is going to have any clothes on, will they?" Graham added.

"Of course, everyone will be dressed only in their birthday suits," I told them, "even the girls and women. Everyone will be naked and everyone will see everything about each other. There will certainly be no secrets there. Does anyone have a problem with that?"

There was some murmuring at first, as the boys talked this over with each other, and then they all began to state their opinions on this matter. Each said something like it wouldn't bother them, as long as everyone else would be naked too, and they'd like to try it.

"What about you, Andrew?" I asked the youngest directly.

"It's all right with me. I don't care if everyone else wants to do it too," he answered. "I don't mind if people see my wiener, because I think I'll like looking at theirs too."

"Are you sure about that?" I pressed, in order to be positive.

"Yes! I think it will be fun," he assured me.

After some more discussion, it was agreed that we'd try a nude beach, but the boys opted for the more secluded one further down the coast. I decided that I'd have the bus drop us off each morning and pick us back up in late afternoon, leaving the driver free to do what he wanted in between. We'd dress in our swimwear until we arrived and then we'd go from there. I would watch Andrew closely, to make sure he was really okay with it, though, and we'd leave if I saw that he, or any of the others, really had any problems with being naked in a crowd of strangers.

The next morning we ate a large breakfast, boarded the bus and rode the few miles to the new beach. After the bus dropped us off, we crossed the road and walked down a rough lane, which was surrounded by trees on both sides. We followed the trail downhill, past a few houses to a woody area by a stream. We went through a gate, shutting it behind us and followed the signs that said 'to the beach.' We walked quite a ways farther, until we encountered a sign saying 'warning, naturists,' so I knew we were almost there. After navigating a few rough steps, we arrived on the beach.

"How the heck did you find this place?" Danny wanted to know.

"I found it on the Internet and, thankfully, they had very detailed directions about how to get here," I explained. "I was beginning to think we were lost."

"You sure were right when you said it was secluded," Pat added. "I'm not sure how anybody could find this place." We all chuckled a little and then I told the boys to remove their trunks and we would head down to the ocean.

As we moved more into view, I was surprised by how many people were already there, and as I suspected, there was a wide variety of ages and both sexes were present. To my surprise, the boys did not seem shy about joining the others, although I thought they might be initially, at least once they saw everyone else there. However, that didn't happen. They were too busy looking around, and I had been busy watching them, when I heard a little voice speak up.

"Daddy, look. The men and boys are all like me and Sammy," Andrew squealed out.

"Yes, Andrew. Very few of the males are circumcised in Europe, so most will be uncut like you. Do you like that idea?" He merely nodded, flashing me a big grin, and then we continued on.

Soon, the boys were in the water or playing on the beach, showing not a care in the world that all their glory was exposed for everyone else to see. It didn't take long before I noticed some of my boys talking with other boys and girls who were hanging out on the beach too. That's when our first incident happened. Ricky and Jay were talking to two boys and two girls when Ricky's observations of the female anatomy got the best of him and his little soldier snapped to attention.

Ricky turned beet red and tried to cover this obvious fact, but the other kids merely smiled and told him not to worry about it. They explained to him that it happened all of the time and he shouldn't be embarrassed because of it. I'm not sure if this was true or not, or if they were just trying to make him feel better, but Ricky relaxed a little and made his way into the ocean. As soon as he hit the cool water, his little soldier stood 'at ease' again, letting him interact normally with the others. I think his playmates figured out quickly that this was his first visit to a naturist beach and tried to help him ease into the experience from then on.

Eventually the same sort of thing happened to some of the other boys and that's when they began to tease each other about it and make a few off-color remarks. I knew they were a horny lot, but this was somewhat comical at times. I soon discouraged their rude comments and behavior, but let them continue to joke around and make less offensive comments, which they seemed to do with relish. It was a short while later that I spotted Dustin and Pat talking to a group of girls and Kevin noticed this happening at about the same time. He didn't react as violently as I expected and soon made his way over to me. I could see the disappointed look on his face.

"Are you all right?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I don't think they live near us either," he answered, with a slight grin, "but it still isn't easy to watch." I was proud of how he was handling it this time, with more maturity than he'd exhibited previously.

We spent the rest of the day frolicking in the sunshine and ocean waves, at least until it was time to make our way back to the bus. As we approached the gate to leave, we slipped our swimwear back on, made the return trip back up that long path and boarded the bus. That's when I took another quick survey, to see if the boys wanted to come back again tomorrow. They all said they enjoyed the day and wanted to return, so I informed them we could spend the remainder of the week there, if that's what they wished to do. Their resounding answer was 'yes,' so I informed the driver this would be our schedule for the remainder of the week.

After dinner we returned to our rooms, as everyone was fairly exhausted from another day in the sun and fresh air. Dustin went up to Kevin in their room and thanked him for not getting mad again. He gave Kevin a big hug and a kiss, before the two of them got into bed. They snuggled and kissed until Cole and Graham fell asleep and then they had a little fun. Dustin had just given Kevin a really special blowjob when he slid up beside him and spoke.

"You know, this doesn't mean that I'm not interested in girls, but it also doesn't mean I've stopped caring about you either. I really need to find out whom I'm attracted to more."

"I know and I'll try to be understanding about it," Kevin responded, "but I really do love you, Dusty, and I want you to love me the same way."

"I do love you, Kev, it's just that I'm not sure if I love girls more," he admitted, honestly. "Don't get mad at me, just give me some time to figure this out for myself. If I find out that I'm not that interested in them, then it will be just you and me. Okay?"

"Yeah, but first show me how much you still love me," Kevin suggested.

With that, Kevin pulled back his legs and exposing his rosebud, signaling Dustin what he wanted him to do. That night Dustin made slow, passionate love to Kevin, letting him know that he was still concerned about his feelings, while letting him know he still had to give the other sex a try. Reluctantly, Kevin conceded this point and let himself enjoy another night in his lover's arms. After their lovemaking session, Kevin slept wrapped in Dustin's embrace, secure with the situation for the moment.

Chapter 28
Two Worlds, One Philosophy

Tuesday started out like a repeat of Monday, until Brandon came running up to me, dragging another boy with him. "Pop, I want you to meet Joseph. I met him earlier today and we got talking. I told him about our family and how you took all of us boys in and how you adopted most of us, and Joseph says that he's part of a family just like ours."

As I was listening to Brandon, I was checking Joseph out. He was about fifteen, 5' 7" tall, brown hair (slightly bleached by the sun), brown eyes and he was circumcised, which did surprise me – at least until I found out more about him. It was later that I discovered Joseph was Jewish, explaining the obvious incongruity, and he had been adopted by a man from the United Kingdom. He was part of a mixed family, like ours, but their family had a far more interesting story behind it. Joseph invited me to meet his father, so he could tell me the story about how their family came together.

Nigel Barstow, the father of this other brood, was a small man, maybe 5' 6", bald, but really friendly and likeable. After the introductions were finished, he began to tell me how his family came together. His first sons were from Northern Ireland and he discovered them after reading an article about them in the newspaper. The boys' parents had been killed when the pub they were in was bombed and the boys had no other relatives.

After finishing the article, Nigel made arrangements to visit the orphanage where they were now living and started spending time with them. They would walk around the orphanage grounds and either do things together outdoors or in the recreation room there, although it didn't have very much in it to entertain them. After a couple of months of these types of visits, Nigel got the orphanage to allow him to have the boys visit his home in Reading, which is located west of London.

Even though the boys were Catholic and Nigel was Anglican, they soon hit it off and started to bond. After several such visits, Nigel petitioned to adopt the boys, which was frowned upon at first. After some lengthy delays and some bigoted questions about a Protestant adopting two Catholic youths and about his 'true intentions,' since he wasn't married, some of those making the decision began to soften their stance slightly. He was only approved after the boys testified they were happy with him and he had never made any unseemly moves or comments to them. They finished by admitting they felt safer when they were in England, than they did in their homeland. They have been together ever since.

His next boy was from Croatia, an orphan from the war with Bosnia. The boy's only relatives were an aunt, uncle and a cousin, but they were too poor to take him in and were fearful for his safety. Nigel found out about the boy through a friend, who had been keeping his eyes open for a lad in such a situation, and Nigel soon flew to meet the boy. After spending time with him, which included many lengthy chats and making strides to get to know each other better, he adopted him too. A few months later, the boy's aunt and uncle were killed by a group of Serbian soldiers and his cousin was wounded and left for dead. The cousin managed to survive and was soon asking if he could go live with his other cousin's new family. Nigel was contacted and immediately agreed to this boy's request, so he now had his fourth son.

Joseph was the next to be adopted. His parents were Russian Jews and planned on leaving Russia, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Even though religious practices had been frowned upon in the past, his parents had managed to have Joseph circumcised in secret and practiced their faith as best they could, while managing to hide these facts from their friends and neighbors. His family honored the Orthodox Jewish beliefs and sought to move to Israel. Finally, they were granted visas to relocate, but that's when Joseph's problems began.

Just before they were to depart, Joseph's father discovered his son was bisexual and had been having sexual relations with other boys, as well as girls. Seeing their faith forbid such things, the father forbade Joseph from continuing such relationships. The arguments that ensued were long and bitter, with the father finally announcing that no compromise would be acceptable on this issue. That was why Joseph made his decision to run away from home.

He found his way to an international group that was operating there at the time and told them he was an orphan. In his mind he considered that to be the case, since he knew his father would disown him, unless he agreed never to do anything with another male ever again. After dealing with a lot of red tape and several investigations, this group got him a visa and transported him to England. Once he arrived there, an acquaintance of Nigel's heard about his story, or what he thought was his story, and told Nigel about him. The two met and spent time together, eventually forming a deep emotional attachment. A short while later, Nigel initiated adoption proceedings and Joseph became another part of this new family.

Nigel's next boy was a Norwegian lad whose parents had moved to London and had been living there since before he was born. The boy's name was Kjetil (pronounced Schet Til) and he too had been orphaned. His parents had contracted a meat-borne illness, possibly related to mad-cow disease, while eating in a restaurant one evening when Kjetil was with a school group. They and three others had become seriously ill from the meal and four of the five eventually died, including both of Kjetil's parents. Since he knew nothing of having any other family members and government agencies could not find anything in their flat indicating any relatives, he was taken to an orphanage. A short time later he met Nigel and the rest of the story was apparent.

The next boy happened to be a Palestinian. His story was that he and his parents had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were driving in a Palestinian area when a riot broke out. Soon gunfire erupted from both sides and the parents were killed in the process. The only thing that saved the boy was that he was in the rear seat, lying on the floor. The bullets were either stopped by his parents' bodies or whistled harmlessly above him. Luckily he made it through the ordeal unharmed but shaken.

He was eventually discovered and rescued by an Israeli soldier, who then took the boy to an army location shortly thereafter. It was unilaterally decided the boy would be sent out of the country, as they were sure that if he stayed in the country, he would grow up to hate and fight against the Israelis, blaming them for his parents' deaths. Therefore, he was sent off with a Red-Cross-affiliated group and soon he arrived to begin a new life in England.

Nigel heard about the boy and went to visit him. They spent time together and during that process discovered they liked one another. Hoping this might work, Nigel began to question the boy as to what he thought about the Israeli soldier who saved him and his views about Jews in general, as he was concerned about how he might react after discovering Joseph was Jewish. After the boy indicated he harbored no ill feels toward them, Nigel decided to introduce him to his family.

The moment the boys came together, they all seemed to hit it off and began to grow close. In due time, Nigel managed to adopt him too, becoming the newest member of this hodge-podge of a family. The biggest irony in all of this was that the Palestinian boy and Joseph become really close, best friends in fact. This was due largely to the fact that Joseph was the one who assumed the role of protecting the new boy from any unpleasant situations, either at home or at school. So now we have a Jew and a Palestinian living in perfect harmony.

Nigel's final son was the son of a distant cousin of his, from Leeds. His cousin had been an only parent, and when she died from a fast spreading viral infection, Nigel offered to take the boy in. Seeing no other relatives rushing forward to make a similar offer, government officials reluctantly agreed to his request, so Nigel took his cousin home and the adoption was soon finalized.

After all this, Nigel now had eight adopted sons, quite similar to my own brood. After talking it over, Nigel and I decided it would be good for our boys to get together, both at this beach and then later in the evening, so they could get to know each other better and swap stories about their lives. While making these plans, we also discussed which of the boys might be best suited to hang with whom, from the other group.

It was immediately agreed that Brandon, Joseph and Danny (after he came looking for Brandon) would also become part of the planning committee, since they knew the boys as well as we did. We were soon lining everything up and had most of it worked out, before we left the beach that afternoon. After calling both groups of boys together, we made introductions, and allowed them time to get to know each other a bit. After this seemed to work out without any problems, Nigel and I agreed to have our families meet back there the next morning, so we could spend the entire day together, as one large group.

That night I explained the situation to the boys, to make certain no one had a problem with this. Everyone thought it would be a good thing, meeting boys from other parts of the world, especially since they had vaguely similar backgrounds. Although most of Nigel's boys seemed to be orphans, and only a few of mine were, we were all members of blended families and had that in common. The boys seemed quite excited and looking forward to the next day.

The boys were already wound up at breakfast, but managed to contain their enthusiasm until we got to the beach. During the course of the day, I got to meet Nigel's boys, he got to meet mine, and the boys got to meet and learn more about each other. It was amazing at how remarkably well everyone got along and they all seemed to manage to have a great deal of fun, both in and out of the water. While the boys frolicked about, Nigel and I had a chance to talk alone and got to know each other better too. After spending some time on the small talk, I guess I was the first to ask one of the tough questions.

"Nigel, how do you manage it with the boys being from so many different faiths?" I wanted to know.

"At first, I did think that might be a problem for us," he answered, "but after a few weeks Padraic and Sean, my Irish sons, agreed to attend church with me. After the first service, they commented they couldn't see much difference between our two churches and then wondered why people would kill others, because of their religion. We do allow Joseph to go to Synagogue when he wants, but he too seems to prefer attending services with the rest of us. It just ended up that the boys all feel more comfortable staying together and attending services together. I did suggest we could attend the other churches on a rotating schedule, but the boys didn't think that would be necessary. How do you and your family deal with this?"

"Although we don't have such drastic differences, I have let the boys know I would allow them to go to whichever church they wished, but it seems most of the time we end up going as a family to a single church."

"Have you had any problems with their sexuality?" Nigel inquired. "My boys are not all of the normal persuasion."

I was somewhat surprised by his bluntness, but I was glad he opened the door to this topic. "Mine either," I told him. "Some of the boys are definitely gay, while others are bisexual and some might even be straight. No matter what their orientation, they don't seem to mind helping each other out with their sexual frustrations and do have a good time with each other."

"I'm glad to hear that," he stated, looking greatly relieved. "I thought possibly I was doing something wrong and that's why my boys were like that. Do you ever have any problems over this?"

"We've had some problems and misunderstandings over this, and we even had one boy who tried to force himself on one of the others, but for the most part, the boys understand their limitations and restrictions. It is a standing rule in our home that nothing happens unless both parties are willing and there are restrictions on what can happen where and when. We have also had some problems with jealousy lately, especially where the bi and straight boys are concerned. One of my gay sons is not happy that his boyfriend has been gawking and paying attention to girls. We'll eventually work our way through it though, as we have everything else."

"Brilliant," Nigel remarked, using a common British phrase of approval. "I'm not sure about all of my boys, but I do know about a few of them. Joseph told me right from the start about why he ran away and that he liked both sexes. I believe my Croatian cousins have been fooling around with each other, but I don't know whether to chalk that up to youthful experimentation or something more. I'm beginning to think that Kjetil might be queer as well, but I haven't made any judgments about the others."

"How did you happen to end up on a naturist beach with them, then?" I asked, thinking this somewhat remarkable, after hearing his story.

"My parents were naturists and I was raised this way," he admitted. "I hid the fact for a long time, especially after I started adopting the boys, and it remained a secret until one of them discovered some of my magazines, which I had tried to keep hidden. The boys questioned me about them, shortly after their discovery, asking what it was like being naked around other people. They also wanted to know what types of things happened at these places, as they assumed that much of the activity might be sexual in nature.

"After several discussions about such things, and after assuring them sexual activities there were discouraged, the boys decided they might like to try this too. First I had them try it out at home, just with our family present, and they discovered they liked the freedom they felt going as God first intended. We did have to answer some questions on anatomy, sexuality and circumcision, but they finally decided to try it in public. I agreed to do it on my next holiday, and we arrived here this past Sunday for our first outing. They all seem to be having a good time. How about your family?" Nigel asked.

"Basically the boys were curious about this, much the same as yours. Although I wasn't a naturist, they've been running around our house naked almost since the beginning and have expressed a desire to try it in mixed company. We talked it over and decided to do it on this vacation."

"How long will you be here?" Nigel wanted to know

"Friday will be our last day. We are scheduled to fly out on Saturday," I told him, now wishing we might have been able to stay longer

"That will give us three full days together," Nigel offered, giving me a hint that he generally saw a glass as being half-full. "That should be long enough for all of us to get to know each other better."

I agreed with him, so we went to spend time with the boys. There were various groups already interacting with each other and some had also included other children as well, both male and female. Over the course of the next few hours, we had a good time interacting with each other's family and got to know a little bit about everyone. Ricky, Jay, Pat and Dustin went with some of Nigel's boys and found a group of young ladies to hang out with. The boys were literally drooling over the soft, curvaceous forms of these teenage girls and I think the females liked the looks of the boys too. Seeing that a circumcised penis was a rarity where we were, I think some of the girls were fascinated with the boys who were cut. Whatever the reason, this group spent the rest of the their day together.

While Nigel and I were chatting, I invited him and his boys to ride back on our bus with us, join us for dinner and then stay overnight with us at our hotel. I told him his family could then return with us to the beach tomorrow, but it would give our families even more time to bond and get to know each other better. After we called all of our boys together for an impromptu meeting, we explained this idea with them and asked if they were interested in doing so. Almost without hesitation, everyone agreed that they liked this suggestion and the boys began planning who would stay with whom and in which rooms.

Nigel, I and the boys all understood that some of them would probably be sleeping on the floor, as there was limited bed space, but no one seemed to mind that idea. In fact, they were all too excited by the prospects to worry about such minor inconveniences. Therefore, as the hour grew late, we all donned our swimwear and made our way back to the bus. We detoured and took the Barstows back to their lodgings first, so they could retrieve clothing appropriate for our evening's plans and get anything else they thought they might need, before returning to our hotel.

While Nigel and his boys were retrieving their belongings, I held a brief meeting with my boys, in the back of the bus. I explained to them that some of Nigel's sons might be gay or bi, but there was to be no more than hand jobs or oral sex tonight, and then only if everyone agreed. They all said they understood, but Ricky wanted to know if it was okay if they showered with some of them too. I said that would be fine, but the same restrictions applied. Everyone agreed to my rules, so we left it at that. Pretty soon Nigel and his boys were getting back on the bus and we were on our way.

Once we were there, the boys went to the rooms with their chosen groups and Nigel bunked in with Sammy, Andrew, and me. We all showered and changed for dinner, but I called ahead for reservations as soon as I reached my room, knowing it might be difficult to make arrangements for such a large group. After locating a place that was willing to accommodate us, since they had explained they would close off an entire small dining room for our sole use, they added it would be over an hour before they'd be ready to seat us. While we waited, I checked on a few other things, possibly for entertainment after dinner.

During that same time, the boys did a variety of other things, including competing against each other on the hand-held games and some long showers together. I learned later that more than a few of them helped get their new friends off during that time and I noticed more than a few grins as they came back to join us. I think this was quite an education for both groups, as my boys learned about some other cultures in the process, while Nigel's boys got some lessons in sexual activities.

At dinner, we didn't bother to push tables together and let the boys sit in small groups, so they could chat with some limited privacy. It all worked out quite well. Nigel and I sat alone, so we could talk things over further and still be able to watch what the boys were up to. The boys spent a considerable amount of time hopping from table to table, including ours, until the meals were delivered. It was good to see everyone getting to know each other better and 'getting along so famously,' as Nigel commented. After they finished eating, the table-hopping began again, but this time they were all looking more like long-lost friends at a reunion. The boys made sure to take time to meet everyone else and learn a little about each of them, not just the one or two they were first attracted to or paired with.

After dinner, we gave the boys a couple of choices of what we could do next, and the majority voted to go to the cinema, as the British would say. It was a fast-paced action flick with little dialogue, so it was perfect for this group. The boys jumped a couple of times, when the action either got intense or when something totally unexpected and surprising happened, but Nigel and I jumped as well. By the time the movie ended, some of the boys were getting tired, so we went back to the hotel and divided up between the rooms.

The boys did do a little fooling around with each other, once they were alone, but they were smart enough to wait until the non-participants in their room fell asleep. After that, there were more than a few boys enjoying some mutual masturbation or oral sex, but I think the part they enjoyed the most was how the other boys reacted to various situations. Nigel's boys kept making comments that seemed odd to my boys, like saying something they did was 'sexy' or that they enjoyed 'wanking.' They also teased each other, by calling someone a 'dirty sod.' These were all terms my boys were unfamiliar with, yet found fascinating. I did have to give them an explanation about some these remarks later, either explaining what the boys meant when they made them or why they were used in that particular context.

In the end, everything that took place was mutually agreed upon and within the limits I had established for my group earlier, yet they still enjoyed their time together and found each other fascinating.

Chapter 29
The End of the Road

Thursday morning was a blur of activity, as we got everyone up and off to breakfast. The boys all ate well, and then we went back to the rooms to get ready to return to the beach. Nigel and I quickly talked about what we should do that evening, with him explaining that their accommodations were much more cramped and wouldn't comfortably house both groups. Under those circumstances, I offered to have everyone stay with us one more evening. He graciously accepted and we told the boys to leave their things in the room for tonight.

There was a cheer, as everyone seemed to like this idea, and then we went down to the bus. During the bus ride, my boys taught their new friends some old camp songs they knew, and in return, the other boys taught them a couple of new songs as well. The boys were still whooping it up when we arrived at the beach, and were almost oblivious to the fact we had reached our destination. The bus driver stopped Nigel and me as we were about to get off, telling me how he had enjoyed his time with us and got a kick out of seeing the boys having such a good time. He said he had seen a story about the Barstow family and realized that ours was similar in its make-up, and then he said he tipped his hat to the two of us for doing such a wonderful thing for those boys. Nigel and I thanked him and then explained we got nearly as much out of it as the boys did, but concluded we would have to finish this discussion later. It was obvious the boys were getting impatient waiting for us, which he had noticed as well. He told us to go on and have a good day, which we all planned on doing.

After we made our way down to the beach and shed what little clothes we had on, the bevy of girls that the boys had been hanging around with the previous day found them almost instantly, so they went off ahead of the rest of us. I saw Kevin's look of disappointment as Dustin and the others left, but he had latched onto Kjetil and they soon took off with another group.

The day was going quite peacefully and the boys were having a great deal of fun, until late in the afternoon, when we heard one of the boys scream out. It was one of Nigel's Croatian boys and he was screaming that his cousin had been sucked under the waves. It was obvious the boy had been caught in an undertow and pulled under the surface. Instinctively, I resorted to my old lifeguard days and raced to the scene, with Nigel right on my heels. The two of us swam out and did a couple of quick dives. We didn't find him on those first two tries, so I went under one more time, moving a little further away from our first dive location, and finally located the boy. I grabbed him and pulled him up and out of the water, before lifting him into my arms and racing to the beach as fast as I could. I placed his limp body on the sand and immediately began performing CPR on him. Nigel informed me that he was also certified in CPR, so I let him do the chest compressions, while I tried to breathe life back into the boy's body.

We worked frantically on the kid, while all of our other boys and some of the other naturists formed a ring around us. I puffed and puffed into the kid's mouth, watching his chest rise and fall, while I also listened for the air to escape again. While I was doing my job, Nigel had both of his arms held stiffly in front of him, fingers laced together and the heel of his hand pumping out a rhythm for the heart muscle to imitate. The longer we continued to work on the boy, the more I doubted we were going to be successful.

During that entire time, I could hear the boy's cousin pleading for us to save him and crying at the same time, while others tried to comfort and reassure him that we were doing all we could. As we kept working on the boy, I could hear some other people praying or others asking questions about what had happened, while still others were sobbing audibly. I thought we were just about out of time when the boy coughed, spit up some water and began to gasp for air. Nigel collapsed back on his calves, exhausted from his part of the rescue, while I rolled the boy onto his side, to allow him an opportunity to vacate any remaining water from his lungs. Once he seemed fully recovered, I hugged him against my chest, while reassuring him he was all right.

A cheer went up from the crowd as the boy came back to life, and then his cousin bolted to his side and tried to hug him. I had to stop him, telling him his cousin needed room to breathe and didn't need someone restricting his chest by squeezing it. He looked at me, nodded his understanding and then thanked me, profusely. Nigel, too, placed his hand on my shoulder and thanked me several times, telling me constantly that he didn't know if he could have dealt with losing one of his boys.

Once I had regained my composure and calmed down a bit, I told Nigel that I understood how he felt and had often wondered the same thing, while hoping I'd never come even this close to finding out. It was nearly time to leave anyway, so we had the boys get their things, while we slipped the lad's trunks on him, and then I carried him to the bus. We had the driver take us to the hospital, where we had him checked out thoroughly. The driver stayed with the boys on the bus and watched them for us, while they relayed the whole story of what happened on the beach. The doctors checked the boy out, giving him a complete physical examination, but they felt it best to keep him overnight, just for observation. I knew what must be going through Nigel's mind, so I told him to stay with the son that needed him now and I'd take care of the rest. He thanked me and I walked back to the bus alone.

As I boarded the bus, the driver spoke. "Magnificent, sir. The boys told me how brilliantly you handled yourself today."

After I got past him, then I had to answer everyone else's questions. By the time we reached the hotel, the boys were still muddled balls of shock, grief, relief and joy, yet totally unsure about how to separate all of these different feelings. I took time to talk to all of them together in my room, before letting them return to their own rooms to clean up. I also took the time to pull the other Croatian boy aside and assure him his cousin would be just fine and that this overnight stay was just precautionary. He seemed greatly relieved by that news, as he had begun to think it was more serious than he'd been told, once Nigel and his cousin were left behind.

After the boys got ready for dinner, we headed back to the same restaurant, since I'd asked the front desk to call and make reservations for us again tonight. I had made that request before we left that morning, so everything was ready when we reached the establishment. We were guided back to the same room we dined in the previous evening and took our seats. However, tonight had a much more solemn atmosphere about it, although the meal was just as wonderful. No one was overly talkative, as many of the older boys were dealing with another reminder of their own mortality, but no one was hysterical or over-reacting. It had been extremely quiet until Joseph broke the silence.

"You were aces today, sir," he said to me. "Where did you learn all of that?"

I gave him a quick rundown of the lifesaving course I took while I was in high school and explained to him about my various jobs as a lifeguard, during the summer after my senior year and then throughout college. I told him I kept my CPR certification up to date, just in case I needed to use it at school or now with my own family, and that obviously his father had done the same thing. I told Joseph it was always important to know such things, especially if it might save the life of a loved one. The whole group agreed with this comment and then we ate in silence once again.

After we got back to the hotel, Nigel's cousin's son came up to me. "Sir, would you ring up hospital and make sure our brother is all right?"

I assured him that I would and eventually spoke to Nigel. He confirmed the boy was doing fine and they would both rejoin us in the morning, for breakfast. I asked him if he might prefer us doing something else on our final day together, after what had happened, and he immediately responded with an emphatic, 'NO!' He went on to explain that he didn't want his son to become afraid of the water after that incident and insisted we still go back to the beach. He said he would go out with his son, anytime the boy wanted to go into the ocean, but he expected he would be spending most of his time on the beach. He also didn't want the others to develop a phobia to the water after that episode either, reiterating it was important that we all returned and carried on normally.

I agreed with his reasoning and rung off, as the Brits would say, then I told the boys that everything was fine. I explained that we'd see them both again tomorrow, when we spent our final day at the beach. A couple of my boys looked at me and raised their eyebrows, thinking I was daft for suggesting we go back there again so soon, but didn't mutter their thoughts in front of the others. Later, when I was alone with them, I explained Nigel's rationale for doing this to them. After a few minutes of discussing this further, they finally understood his reasoning.

As it approached bedtime, I sent the various boys off to their rooms, to get a good night's sleep, but I had the other Croatian boy sleep with me. I wanted him close by, in case he had trouble sleeping or suffered from bad dreams. Sammy and Andrew slept in the other bed, while I cuddled with the poor kid who nearly lost his only other living relative. His sleep was not easy, but I think it did help him feeling me hugging him throughout the night, and I did hear him crying softly in his sleep a couple of times that evening, but he never woke up. The next morning I had to help him get ready, as he was still not totally coherent.

Just before we were to leave for breakfast, Nigel and the other boy arrived by taxi. We gave them time to clean up, which they did quickly, and then we all set out. We had a very good breakfast, but much of our time was spent with the poor Croatian boy answering questions from the others about what he remembered. At first Nigel and I weren't so sure about this, as it seemed ghoulish, but then decided it might be just what was needed. Therefore, we let everyone clear the air and put this behind them.

Over the course of breakfast, the boys wanted to know if his life flashed before him or if he saw a bright light, but they were also interested in whatever else he remembered seeing or feeling. After we finished eating, we did put a stop to this discussion, explaining that would be enough for now and they could discuss this again tonight, but now it was time to set off and have some fun. The boys relented and we boarded the bus, ready for another day.

When we arrived at the beach, the chick clique attacked our boys and dragged them off immediately. The other naturists greeted the rest of us and asked the boy how he was feeling. Once he told them he was doing fine, they told Nigel and me how wonderfully we had reacted to the situation and how impressed they were at how we maintained our calmness. If only they knew. After that, things started to quiet down again and returned to normal.

After about an hour, Nigel coaxed the boy into going out into the water with him, which the lad did with some reluctance. After some tentative steps and a few moments of near panic, the boy again began to relax and realize what happened to him yesterday was just a freak accident. We knew he would be more careful in the future, but he finally proved he wasn't about to withdraw totally from one of his favorite pastimes.

The group of boys who were infatuated with the female body was now enjoying their last hours with their puppy loves, managing to say their good-byes as the day wore on. Kevin had a smug look on his face, showing he realized that he might have lost the battle, but was about to win the war. He knew he'd be going home with Dustin in another day and wouldn't have to worry about any of those girls again. A minor victory in his war of adolescence, but he still had a lot to learn about the warfare of love.

As evening approached, the boys began saying their farewells to each other, knowing we would be spending this evening apart. Tonight they'd be sleeping in their own rooms and my group would be leaving in the morning for the airport. Nigel's group would have one more day at the beach, but for my family, our long vacation was coming to an end.

This realization aroused mixed feelings for my boys. They were sad our vacation was ending, since we'd had a great time on our two trips, but they were also looking forward to getting back home and resuming their normal lives. There was still much for us to do before school started again, including reaching a resolution about how to handle Nick's current predicament. It was something I had been thinking a great deal about and now felt I might have an idea about what I was going to do.

When time came to leave, we dropped the Barstows off at their hotel, saying tearful farewells and exchanging addresses and telephone numbers. We promised to stay in touch and invited them over to join us some summer at our home, before we drove off, with all of the boys waving back and forth at each other as we departed. It is never easy to say good-bye, but this seemed to be an especially emotional parting. It had only been a few days, but those days had been filled with endless hours together and a great amount of sharing and caring. I knew none of us would forget the others quickly.

Dinner was very subdued that evening, without much happening. I offered to take the boys to see another movie, but they weren't interested tonight. Instead, we all crammed into my room and spent time together until it was time to go to sleep. After the other boys left for their rooms, Andrew approached me.

"You saved that boy's life and let him live, didn't you, Daddy?" he observed.

"Yes, I guess I did play a part in saving him," I told him, "but his father did too."

"You were very brave and you saved him like you saved me from that bad man. Right?" he asked, and I began to wonder where this was heading.

"I guess that is one way to look at it," I responded, trying not to say anything that would lead him in any particular direction or discourage him from saying more. Fortunately, it didn't do either.

"I feel safe when I'm with you," Andrew continued. "I know you wouldn't let anyone hurt me or any of my brothers."

"Well, I guess that's part of a daddy's job," I agreed. "We're here to protect our children and keep them safe. Maybe someday you'll do the same thing for your own children."

"I hope that I'm big and brave like you, Daddy," Andrew gushed, momentarily making me feel like Superman.

"I hope so too, Andrew, but now it's time for you to go to sleep," I urged him, before he happened to touch on something darker.

Although it had been a short conversation and the content of our discussion was nothing earthshaking, his few words and child-like innocence had said volumes from his soul. I don't think I could have been happier or prouder about what I had accomplished on the beach that day, even if I had been knighted by the Queen or given our country's highest honor from the President. It was a child's simple observation and comments that rewarded me more richly than if I'd been given all of the gold in the world.

Sammy and Andrew both slept with me that night, one on either side, and I think it was one of my best nights of the entire trip. When I awoke the following morning, both small bodies were pressed up against mine, and they each had the most contented expression on their angelic faces. I almost hated to wake them when it was time to get up, but eventually had to do just that.

After both boys were up and heading for the shower, I called the various rooms and got all of the other boys going too. Once everyone was dressed, packed and ready to leave, I double-checked the rooms to make sure nothing had been left behind. We took our things down to the lobby, loaded everything into the bus and then headed out for breakfast. We only had a quick simple meal this morning, as none of us were overly enthused about leaving.

Once we had finished, we boarded the bus and did a quick recount of noses and belongings, before the driver wheeled the bus onto the highway, in the direction of the airport. It was a bittersweet ride, recounting the many good times we had while here and the new friends we were leaving behind, but all good things must come to an end.

Before we went to the airport, we first swung by the transportation office, so I could pay our tab and pick up the souvenirs of this trip that we had ordered in Eton. By the time I got back on the bus, I was in possession of our coat of arms, shield, crest and family history. I unwrapped each item and showed it around to the others, listening to their pleased comments about it, before rewrapping each item and packing them away. I wanted to make sure nothing happened to them, so we could proudly display them on the wall of our home.

When we arrived at the airport, we unloaded our luggage and I gave the driver a generous tip. He had served us well throughout our stay and did everything I asked of him. When we finally took our leave of him, he wished us all the best and thanked me for my generosity, both to him and to the boys.

After entering the terminal, we checked in, had our luggage tagged and prepared to be placed on our flight, and then we had about an hour and a half to wait until our departure time. I took the boys and got them all drinks, which they sipped on as we sat and watched the other people at the terminal and observed some of the planes as they took off or landed. It seemed like an endless wait until our flight was called, but now we were making our way to board the plane that would carry us back to the States.

The boys were still pretty quiet as we took our seats and our vacation slowly ground to its ultimate end. It wouldn't be long before we'd all be home and sleeping in our own beds again. Before long, we were buckled in and ready for take-off, reflecting on everything we'd seen and done, while looking forward to resuming our normal lives.

Chapter 30
Taking Care of Loose Ends

As usual, Steve was there to meet us at the airport when we arrived and all of us were happy to see him again. After collecting our luggage, we quickly loaded everything into the van, eager to return home. It was already late, but we still had a couple hours of driving ahead of us, and this wasn't going to be easy to endure. The problem for us was that our bodies were still operating on the time zone in England, which was five hours later than our own, so even though we had slept some on the plane, our bodies were confused about what they should be doing.

Steve asked me questions about our trip and I answered him as best I could. The trouble was, I was finding it difficult to focus. Steve seemed to understand and left me alone after that, saying I could fill him in on the details later. I was extremely thankful for his understanding nature.

Due to the fact it was dark out and therefore very little to see, most of the boys slept the entire way back. For Steve's sake, I tried to stay awake and keep him company, knowing he must be a little tired too, but I wasn't always successful. I did doze off a couple of times and Steve just laughed when I tried to apologize to him for that. When we arrived home, I merely herded the boys to their various bedrooms, telling Jay and Carlos that I'd take them to their own homes after we all recovered. I didn't have the energy to drive. Besides, I didn't wish to wake Jay's parents at this ungodly hour and the trip to take Carlos back was almost as exhausting as the trip from the airport, but this time I'd have to drive roundtrip myself. Both boys understood and soon were asleep with the others. Carlos was in with Pat, while Jay slept with Ricky, Cole and Graham. I passed out shortly thereafter in my own room.

The next day everyone was a little slow getting moving, as the boys fought desperately to help their body clocks change back to the Eastern Time zone. After cleaning up, getting dressed and having some breakfast, I told Jay and Carlos to get ready and I'd take them back to their parents. The other boys didn't need any additional travel, so I put the older ones in charge and left all the boys at the house to unwind.

Of course I took Jay home first and was helping him get his things together to take into the house when his parents ran out to greet him. He was soon being smothered in hugs and kisses, since his parents were excited that he was finally back home. As soon as the embraces were broken, Jay began to tell his mother and father about all of the things we had done and how much fun he had. I enjoyed watching this emotional reunion and let them continue uninterrupted, until they decided it was time to stop.

Howard and Audrey thanked me for including Jay in on this wonderful opportunity and said they were pleased their son had such a wonderful second family as ours to be part of. I thanked them for their kind comments, before telling them Jay had been no problem and was always welcome in our home and would be included in our plans. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Carlos and I excused ourselves and set out for his apartment.

It took me a couple of hours to drive there, but I could tell Carlos was excited to see his mother again. The closer we got to his apartment, the harder it became for him to sit still in his seat. It turned out that his mother had exchanged days off with another employee so she'd be there to greet him, knowing he would be returning home today.

This was an even more emotional reunion than Jay and his family had shared, as Carlos' mother was crying and squeezing him like he had been gone for years, not just a few weeks. I sat back and let them carry on, knowing Carlos was enjoying this reunion as much as his mother was, and merely waited for them to finish celebrating his homecoming. When they finally broke their frantic and enthusiastic hugs, his mother asked him how the trip was, so Carlos started on a lengthy retelling of everything we had done and seen.

Carlos was so excited and animated in his telling of our adventures that it caused his mother to laugh at his antics. They were both having a great time with this exchange, with him recalling all the wonderful places he'd seen and her reveling in his excitement. When he finally finished telling his tale, his mother hugged him again and thanked me for including him in our plans. She said they would both always remember our kindness for taking him with us and was thrilled he had a chance to do things she couldn't afford to have him do on her own. I told her it was no big deal and her son would always be welcome to join in whatever we were doing. She thanked me again and we said our good-byes, with Carlos giving me a hug, a kiss on the cheek and several thank-yous before I departed.

The ride back seemed long and lonely, since this was the first time I'd been completely alone in quite some time. Although solitude is sometimes nice, and maybe even necessary, I think I prefer to be surrounded by my boys instead. They always seemed to do something to cheer me up or say something that brightens my day. Just having them around continues to make me feel young and alive.

I often think back to my lonely, mundane existence before they began to arrive in my home and wonder how I ever survived the loneliness, once my wife had died and my older children had gone off on their own. The best part was, I would no longer have to consider that, as my house was now full of love and alive with the energies of youth and an abundance of testosterone. I shall never regret heeding Sally's suggestion to become a foster parent, only wishing I had been moved into action even sooner.

When I arrived home, the boys were continuing to take it easy. Some were still putting the rest of their things away, watching a little television or chatting with friends on the phone or computer. I had barely passed through the doorway, when I was literally attacked by Dustin, Danny and Brandon.

"Hey, Dad, when can we take our driving tests?" Dustin began for the group. "You did promise us that we could do it after we got back."

I remembered the discussion I'd had with these three before we left, as they were all getting the itch to get behind the wheel and be able to go places on their own. It would also help me, as I made them promise they'd help take the others various places, including driving the high school group each morning and evening, thus saving me from making the additional trips.

"Well, we'll have to do a couple of things first," I responded, "because I think it would prove to be a huge disadvantage for you to have to take your test in our big van. Therefore, I'm going to buy a medium-sized used car for you to practice on and take your test with, but I'm also going to purchase a used mini-van or something similar, which you can use when you take everyone back and forth to school. I'll do both of those by the end of the week and then we can begin some practice in the school parking lots, whenever they are fairly empty. Does that meet with your approval?"

"Sure, Dad," Danny answered, "but can we help you pick the car and the mini-van out, since we'll be driving them?" I could tell he and his brothers were concerned about having something to drive that wouldn't besmirch their image. However, I took a minute or two to consider their request, before I answered him.

"You can help and give me your input, as long as you remember that the final choice about what we get will be up to me. I know you will want a sporty car, or at least something that doesn't look too parental, but I will need to make certain that whatever we get is not only nice looking, but also practical for the family. I'll see if we can blend those two concepts together, so I can make all of us happy, but I won't make any promises. And remember, you'll be allowed to use either vehicle that I purchase, with permission of course, as long as you maintain your grades and I don't get any reports about you being irresponsible or pulling foolish stunts as a driver."

The boys nodded in agreement and we set Wednesday as the day we'd go car shopping. In the meantime, I'd make appointments for their tests and we'd set up sort of a practice schedule, when I could take them out to learn the basics. I'd also make sure that all three were enrolled in the driver's training class at school, so they could get another viewpoint on how to be a competent driver. I had a great deal of confidence in the maturity level and responsibility of all three boys, but I wanted them to understand that this was a privilege and not just a right of passage. I also wanted them to know this privilege could be lost, just as easily as it was acquired, especially if they didn't remain mature, accountable and trustworthy.

As they headed off, I concluded it was time to address a more pressing issue I still had to deal with. I called Kevin into my room, so we could speak alone. "Kevin, I know your birthday was yesterday and we didn't do anything special for you because of our trip back home, so how would you feel about having your party next Saturday? You can help me select the menu, give me some ideas about what you would like to do and let me know who you want to invite, besides the family."

"I wasn't worried about it, Dad. I knew that you wouldn't forget, but you've done enough already," he told me. "I mean… going on the trips was more than enough for my birthday."

"But the trips were for all of us, a family thing, but everyone still has their own birthday party, and you will be no different," I explained. "We had Ricky's and Jay's parties before we left and you will have yours now that we've returned. Think it over and let me know what you want to do and then we'll start making plans."

"Okay, Dad. I'll let you know later," Kevin replied, before going off to think this out for himself.

After Kevin left, I thought of a few others things I also needed to do, and the first concerned a certain young boy we had left behind in Texas. Therefore, I went into my bedroom and closed the door behind me, so I could have a bit of privacy, before dialing Brandon's parents' home, to see how things were going. Brandon's father answered the phone.

"Hello, Patrick. This is Josh," I began. "We just got back from our trip and I wanted to call and let you know that Brandon was fine and I wanted to see how Nick was doing."

"Hello, Josh. How did the trip go? Did everyone have a good time and are they happy to be back?" he inquired.

"Yes, the trip went fine and we all had quite an enjoyable time," I replied. "I'll let you speak to Brandon after we're done, but I wanted to see how Nick was doing while we were gone. I'll also need to talk to him to try to work something out about his future."

"I think you're going to have your hands full with this one, Josh," Mr. O'Hara told me, and I began to worry I'd done his wife and him a disservice by leaving Nick there.

"Did he give you any trouble?" I asked, concerned.

"No, not like you're thinking," Patrick answered. "He has been well behaved and very helpful… it's just his other activities."

"What do you mean by that Patrick?" I pressed, unsure as to what he was implying.

"Well, I know Brandon is gay too and we will always love and support him, but this boy thinks all there is in life is sex," he explained. "I think he's tried to seduce every boy for twenty miles [30 km] around and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. He would apply as much pressure as was needed to get what he wanted."

"Do you mean he's forced boys into having sex with him?" I wanted to know, since I was suddenly worried about how this would play out if he came to live with us.

"Not in the physical sense," Patrick assured me. "It's just that he's so charming he seems to be able to sweet talk his way into getting almost anything he wants or knows how to apply enough pressure, verbally, to persuade others into allowing him to get what he wants. Josh, I really think that you'll need to talk to this boy about having safe sex and about the various diseases and other dangers associated with such liberal sexual practices."

"I will, Patrick, I promise, but how do you know all of this?" I felt I had to ask, since I was fairly certain Nick hadn't told him all these things.

"I found out from a couple of the neighbor boys, whom I have hired to do odd jobs for me in the past," he explained. "One day they came over to see Nick, but he was out, so I started talking to them and asking how they were hitting it off. Although they didn't come out and say they were speaking about having sex, they did explain that Nick was very persistent about getting his own way and they found it was generally easier to give in to him, so they could then do what they wanted to, afterward. I could tell from their uneasiness with giving details and their scarlet faces what it most likely concerned, especially overhearing Nick and another boy one evening, when they were out in our garage."

"Patrick, I'm sorry about dumping this problem in your lap," I explained, thinking I took advantage of his kindness and generosity, because he felt he should do me this favor to pay me back for taking care of Brandon for him. However, Brandon wasn't a problem, as Nick was turning out to be.

"Josh, don't worry about it," he insisted. "There's been no major issues, except I'm worried what types of problems Nick's proclivity might create for him."

"Patrick, thank you for all you've done and for keeping me informed," I assured him. "Do you think I could speak to him now?"

"He's not here at the moment," Patrick explained. "He went off with a group of other boys about an hour ago. They said they were headed to the park, but I think they had other plans in mind. I'll have him call you as soon as he returns."

"No, that's okay, Patrick. Tell him that I'll call again at 4:00, your time, and I'll speak with him then. In the meantime, let me get Brandon so you two can chat."

I went out and called Brandon and let him use my room to speak with his parents and catch up on what they had done since they had last seen each other. While they were chatting, I was mentally preparing for the things I would need to talk over with Nick, if I was going to allow him to come live with us. I had a plan about how to legally get him here and thought this plan also had a fairly good chance of succeeding. Now, I just had to talk to Nick, present my ideas to him and hope he agreed to go along with my suggestion. Only by chatting with him about these issues would I know if my hopes and intentions were realistic, or even wise.

About that time, Kevin came back with Dustin and told me when he wanted his birthday. He also told me whom he wanted to invite, what types of things he wanted to do and also gave me a couple of hints as to what I could get him. I agreed with his suggestions, so he and Dustin went to invite the others, while I took care of the remaining details.

Kevin had decided to have a fairly typical get together, similar to many of the other parties we've had for the boys, inviting a few of his old friends in for the festivities, but he also wanted to ask them to stay overnight. I informed him they would all probably have to sleep on the floor of the family room, as the bedrooms were already overcrowded, but Kevin just smiled and said that would be fine. He would make sure to have everyone bring a sleeping bag with him, so it wouldn't be a problem. He thanked me once again and the two of them took off.

The rest of the day seemed to fly by, as we did the unpacking, the laundry and some of the other little chores that had been neglected for far too long. Almost before I realized it, it was time to call Nick again. I went into my room, dialed the number and he picked up the phone on the second ring.

"Hello, Nick? This is Josh Currie."

"Hi, Mr. Currie. Mr. O'Hara told me you called earlier and that you would be calling back. How was the trip?"

"The trip was wonderful, Nick. I'm just sorry that you couldn't go with us," I told him.

"Oh, that's okay. I've had a good time here," he assured me, and I wondered how much of that had to do with the types of situations Patrick informed me about earlier. I thought this would give me a chance to possibly find out more.

"Really?" I replied. "So what exactly have you been doing that's been so much fun?" There was a slight hesitation on the other end, before he answered.

"Oh, just made some new friends and hung out with them," he told me, being careful about what he said in response.

"So you and your new friends have been having a good time?" I continued. "That's great. So what have you been doing with them?" Once again there was a slight hesitation before he answered.

"Oh, you know. The usual teen stuff," he explained, in an attempt to shrug the question off. "We go swimming, play ball, mess around… You know, stuff like that."

"Well, as long as the stuff like that doesn't mean you're pressuring anyone into something and you're taking appropriate precautions," I hinted, letting him know I had a fair idea about what he'd been up to, "then I guess it's okay."

"Hey, how do you know what I've been doing?" Nick countered, somewhat confused.

"It's because I got to know you a bit," I answered, "plus I have a houseful of teenage boys. I definitely understand how much teenage hormonal urges affect what types of things you do and how often."

"Dang, Mr. Currie," he mumbled back. "That's almost scary. My parents or the O'Hara's never figured that out, and they were in the same house as me, yet you know about what I've been doing while you're miles away."

"Oh, don't think the others are naïve," I warned him. "I think they might have also had a fair idea about what you were up to, but they were just too polite or inhibited to comment about it. The thing is, I have no such compunctions. I often say what's on my mind."

"Okay, I'll remember that," he informed me, although I could sense a hint of nervousness to his tone. I think he was intimidated by having an adult confront him about what he'd been up to.

"But that's not why I called," I continued, taking him off the hook. "Nick, it's now time to deal with your situation and decide where we're going to go from here."

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