Bill W

Castaway Hotel IV

September 2000 - August 2001

Chapter 1
New horizons

It was going to be a very interesting year, but the changes to our family were just beginning. The first important change occurred after Steve Shay and Sally Swarthout were able to pull a few strings for me and get Frankie placed with us again. However, neither was initially enthusiastic about the idea and discussed the situation with me thoroughly before agreeing to help. Each of them had their doubts as to whether this was a wise move on my part, considering the problems I'd had with Frankie the first time he moved in with us, but I assured them Frankie was truly a changed person since then. That's why I wanted to give him another chance.

They immediately wanted to know why I felt that way, so I had to explain about Frankie's visit. I emphasized it wasn't just what he said that made me believe in his dramatic transformation, but also the way he'd acted and all he'd been through while in detention. I told them how he'd had trouble looking Trey and I in the face as he apologized, showing how guilty he felt about his actions, and then paraphrased Frankie's admission about how he had endured a similar fate at the hands of others while he was incarcerated. I reiterated that I was truly convinced he had learned his lesson and done a complete one hundred-eighty degree turnabout, and therefore deserved a second chance. Since they saw I was convinced of his rehabilitation, they agreed to do everything they could to make it happen for me.

I knew it wasn't going to be an easy task to pull this off, but Steve and Sally gave it their best effort. After calling in a few favors from some of their colleagues, they got Frankie reassigned and he officially returned to the family on Labor Day weekend. I had the boys make a banner welcoming him back, which we strung across the front porch, and I believe it was the first thing Frankie spotted when Steve dropped him off. I suspect he was a little embarrassed by the recognition, but also pleased that we went to the trouble, and all the boys raced out to greet him with open arms. In fact, Trey was the first one to go up to him and welcome him back and I think that put Frankie at ease and allowed him to believe his past was truly behing him now.

However, Frankie's return to the fold was not the only change that occurred. It seemed there was also a budding relationship in progress, this time between Nick and Kevin. Although Nick had sort of been pursuing Kevin, Kevin seemed only mildly interested in Nick's attention. That changed, however, shortly after the remainder of Nick's belongings arrived here. I'm sure you're wondering what that might have to do with anything, so let me explain.

Although Nick's parents had sent most of his clothing and personal effects to him after they returned home from their visit here, it took them a while longer to get the rest of the items he wanted sent here. These things finally arrived the very same weekend Frankie was moving in. Happily, Nick grabbed some of these items and headed up to his room. As he entered, Kevin quickly noticed one of the things he was carrying.

"Is that a guitar case," Kevin gasped, looking at the shape of the container Nick was setting down on the floor of their room.

"Yeah, I had my folks send it here," Nick replied. "I really am looking forward to having it with me again. There's been a bunch of times I wished I'd had it."

"You mean you play?" Kevin asked, somewhat rhetorically.

"No, I just keep my assault rifle in there," Nick teased, while making a face at Kevin. "Of course I play, or I wouldn't have one, would I?"

"Wow, I asked Dad to buy me a guitar for my last birthday and I've learned to play a few chords on it, but I'm still not very good," Kevin explained. "Do you think you could teach me more?"

"Sure," Nick beamed. "That was one good thing my parents did for me when I was younger. They paid for me to take lessons, starting when I was ten, and I continued taking them until just before I left home. I'm not great, but I'm not bad at it either, although I haven't been able to play much since I ran away. That's why I was hoping to be able to practice while I was here."

"Awesome," Kevin agreed. "If you can teach me to play better, maybe we can find a drummer and a bass and form our own group!"

"That's a wicked idea," Nick agreed. "I was thinking about doing that back home, before my Dad announced he was going to send me away to military school. I'd love to be in a band. Come on, let's get your guitar and we'll start practicing."

The two boys spent most of the Labor Day weekend playing their guitars, with Nick teaching Kevin some new licks in the process. Both boys were very excited by this opportunity and now had something else to draw them even closer together. This new relationship also seemed to be helping Kevin to forget about his disappointment concerning Dustin.

The school year had also begun very well for all of us. For the most part, the boys were happy with their classes and teachers, and those playing on the soccer teams were off to a good start. On the other end of the spectrum, I was pleased with how my school had been operating and the first few weeks had gone off without a hitch. The faculty and staff were doing a tremendous job and there were only a few isolated problems with any of the students. All and all, things were progressing quite smoothly, but it didn't stop there.

The boys dating the cheerleaders were beginning to get very involved with those girls, except for Danny and Brandon. However, they were still maintaining enough of a smokescreen to deflect the types of criticism and suspicions that had been brought to their attention earlier. However, that wasn't always the case. At first, the girls that Danny and Brandon asked out were more than a little leery of their intentions, so they set out to see how serious both boys were. Almost immediately, they forced the boys into participating in some pretty steamy make-out sessions and Danny and Brandon each managed to pass the kissing test without a problem. In fact, they even participated in a little fondling and light petting, so the girls were beginning to believe they might have been wrong about them. Neither boy had been pushed toward performing any sexual activities yet, so they were grateful about that and content with how things were working out. They admitted they even feel accepted by the others, although they aren't thrilled about having to deceive the girls this way.

Not only are all of the boys doing well, but I also can't begin to express how proud I am of Frankie. Right from the very first day he moved back in with us, Frankie has kept his promise about staying out of trouble and doing well in his classes. In just the first week he was with us, I heard from two of his teachers - but everything they had to say was good. Even though they knew of his previous reputation, both as a problem student and one who was unwilling to put forth any effort, they both told me they were totally aghast over his remarkable start. He was completing his assignments and doing them well, but not only that - he was also participating in class and setting a positive example for others, something he had not been noted for previously. That news immediately brightened my day, so I went home and told Frankie how proud I was of him. I think Frankie was pleased that I had been told of this so soon and seemed to glow from my praise.

"I told you I was going to do better," he responded, after I complimented him, "and I'm not going to let you down this time."

"I know you won't," I agreed, "but I wanted you to realize your teachers and I are all well aware of your extra-effort and increased level of maturity. I am extremely proud of you and pleased that you are taking full advantage of this new opportunity," I added, before I gave him a hug. I was wondering how he was going to react to that, but I guess I shouldn't have been, since he eagerly hugged me back.

"Thanks, that felt nice," he told me, after I released him. "I spent most of my life with people pushing me away or with me doing it to them first, before they could do it to me. But that really made me feel good. I actually feel like I belong here now."

"You do, Frankie," I agreed. "From the moment you came back to live with us, you've been considered a valued member of the Currie clan. I'll even adopt you, like I did with the others, if that's what you want. It's your decision and I'm not going to pressure you one way or the other, but I want you to know that option is there, if you want to take advantage of it."

"You're still willing to do that?" Frankie challenged, not willing to believe his ears. "You'd do that after all I put you through and all the rotten things I did?"

"Hey, that was the old Frankie," I joked. "I'm asking the new Frankie to join us."

"I'd like that, if it means I get to call you Dad from now on," he replied, almost sounding as if his throat was beginning to tighten as he said it.

"Hey, you can call me Dad right now, if you want," I assured him. "You don't have to wait until you're adopted."

"I'd like that… Dad," he said, trying it out before wrapping his arms around me in a tremendous embrace. "I never thought I'd ever be able to call anyone that," he confessed, "at least not someone I thought deserved that name, but it sure feels good. Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome, son," I replied, while squeezing him tightly in my arms. This was truly a much different young man than on our first go around.

Besides Frankie's remarkable transformation, there were others, whom I also monitored, to make sure they were still doing well. Among that group was Carlos. He managed to keep in touch and remained close with my family. In fact, he made certain to let us know he was doing fine and looking forward to the next time he could be with us again. Due to the fact that it took a few hours to make the round-trip drive to pick him up and then return trip home, we decided it would be easier on all of us if we just did it during the holidays and summer vacation. Therefore, we invited Carlos and his mother to come for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, as well as joining us on our next vacation.

We also heard from the family in Arizona, the one Nick had brought to our attention and we had helped out, while we were there. The parents told us they had been doing well at their jobs, passed their probationary periods and received excellent job reviews. There was even a possibility that they may both be promoted soon, since the mother had been interviewed for the supervisory position in the elementary cafeteria, while her husband was taking a few crash courses to improve certain skills, so he could move up from the custodial job and become the school's electrician. The kids were also doing very well in their classes, loved their apartment and seemed very happy with the way things were working out. All the family had needed was a little break, which we provided for them, so they could turn their lives around. My boys all felt great about having played a part in their success, especially Nick, so now he was actively looking for someone new to help.

The first weekend after Labor Day we threw a birthday party for Frankie, even though his birthday had been on July 30th. Seeing he joined us late, I didn't want him to miss out on celebrating such an important event in his life. Even though he had turned seventeen, I think this was the first real party or recognition he'd received in quite some time, possibly ever, and he seemed thrilled that we were willing to do this for him. I told him in advance what I had planned and suggested he could invite some others, if he wished. After thinking about this for a few minutes, he admitted that he didn't really know anyone else yet, except for the guys he got in trouble with before, but he quickly assured me he was steering clear of them now. He finally concluded that having his 'family' there for him would be enough, but added that maybe next year he would have more people to invite. After telling me that, he flashed me a huge grin, which was his signal that he planned on sticking around this time.

It was an enjoyable party, although nothing elaborate, which was what Frankie wanted. He told me he felt it would be best to keep it simple, but that didn't mean it wasn't nice. We had a cookout and invited much of our extended family to join us, but the boys wanted to do more - something special. They wanted to make sure Frankie not only enjoyed his party, but found it worth remembering in years to come. With this in mind, they set out to select some special gifts for him, things they felt he would really appreciate.

First, they bought him his own boom box, similar to the one he had tried to heist the first time he had been with us. They didn't do it to remind him about what he'd done, but to give him something they thought he'd value. Of course the double meaning didn't go unnoticed.

"You guys didn't have to do this," Frankie told them. "I wasn't going to try to steal any of yours this time," he joked, before letting out a nervous laugh.

"That's not what we thought," Kevin told him, since it was his and Dustin's boom box that had disappeared the last time. "We just figured you'd get a lot of use out of it and really enjoy it."

"Don't worry, I will," Frankie replied, "as soon as I get something to play on it." That problem was quickly solved, though, since the boys had also bought him some CDs to go with it, besides giving him a couple of gift certificates, so he could purchase more on his own. Frankie seemed very pleased by their thoughtfulness.

Aunt Sally, Aunt Mary and Uncle Steve gave him some new clothes and a nice diamond stud earring, to replace the older earring he always wore, since they noticed it was kind of cheap and not in very good condition. I also gave him some clothes, as well as a gold-chain, since he admired some of the chains the other guys wore. Not only that, but I also made him a promise. Since he was now 17, I told him I'd include him with Kevin in the next driving class, which would probably begin in the spring, so he could start working toward getting his license. He was quite excited by that announcement, and a bit surprised by the prospect, but he eagerly accepted my offer.

The following weekend we celebrated Andrew's tenth birthday and he enthusiastically included several young boys he was close to from school. They had a sleepover party, which had almost become the standard for the younger boys' birthdays, but Andrew made sure that most of his plans would include the whole family.

I thought the party would be good for him too and give him something else to make him forget his ordeal in Houston. I had been watching him closely since it had happened and had seen no signs of any lingering negative effects. Andrew appears to be a very resilient young man and had managed to shake off the effects of that unwelcome encounter, which I think was mainly due to the fact that we'd arrived before any penetration had occurred. If we had gotten there after the fact, things might be much different for him now.

The party went well and Andrew got many nice presents too, including some nice clothes and an assortment of computer games he had mentioned wanting. Not only that, but I also bought him a bunch of art supplies, since he had shown an interest in that subject at school. His art teacher had informed me that she thought Andrew had a great deal of talent and it might develop fully with the right encouragement. That's why I bought him a paint kit, a vast assortment of colored pencils, sketchpads, an easel and some large heavy-duty sheets for him to paint on. I was mildly surprised that out of all of his gifts, he seemed to appreciate that present the most.

For the weeks following the two parties, we didn't have much planned on the weekends, other than the boys' sporting events, the boys' dates with their girlfriends or spur of the moment family outings to the movies or a restaurant. It was a relaxing time, which would come to an abrupt end when the next big event on our calendar took place. However, that wouldn't happen until late October, when Cole turned 15. It would also be the next to last birthday we would celebrate for the year, with Dion's being the only one still remaining before we started the cycle over again, and his birthday wasn't until late November.

My three new drivers also kept me busy during those weeks, since they were constantly begging me to take them out for a little more practice, which I made sure we did at least twice a week. We had even progressed from driving in the school parking lots to driving on some of the less busy streets. Dustin and Danny were doing extremely well, while Brandon still had an occasional problem along the way. Sometimes he would try to take a corner too sharply and drive over the curb in the process or he would forget about being gentle with the gas or brake pedal and send the rest of us jerking forward or backward, whenever that happened. Other times he might have trouble judging the width or length of the Grand Am and park a little too close to the vehicle next to us, which made it difficult for those on that side to get out of the car, or sporadically even gently nudge the vehicle he was pulling in behind, although it was never hard enough to do any damage to either vehicle.

Although he was still having these problems, he was also determined to get better and worked hard trying to perfect these skills, while Danny did his best to encourage him. Taking the driver's education course in school also seemed to help him improve, as it gave him another perspective and reinforced the things I was trying to get them all to learn also.

The boys even surprised me and changed the oil and filters on each of the vehicles. They did this totally on their own, without any prodding from me, and explained they did it because they felt it best to know as much about how to take care of the car on their own, so they didn't have to depend on me. They even washed and waxed the Grand Am every other weekend, while taking turns doing the same to either the van or Suburban on the off week. I guess that provided enough of a hint to let me know which vehicle they preferred out of the three.

The sports teams had also kept many of the boys busy, as well as those of us who went to watch their games, while much of the rest of their time was occupied doing homework or helping me make changes around the house. Since we had returned from vacation, we had moved the three computers to the family room and set them up off to one side, so we could turn the upstairs office into a spare bedroom. We even built a closet for the bedroom, by extending one portion of the outer wall and utilizing the large open space in the hallway. We also added another bathroom upstairs, although it was just a shower stall, toilet and sink, to help alleviate some of the congestion in the morning. Now, there were three bathrooms upstairs, the public one downstairs and the one in my new master bedroom. We also added another hot-water heater and better circulating pumps, so the water pressure wouldn't drop dramatically when toilets were flushed, etc., and help eliminate the chance of someone getting scalded.

During this time, some of the boys were also developing new interests. A handful of them were more than eager to improve their cooking skills, since they didn't want to give me any reason not to leave them on their own whenever I had to go away. They really liked the idea of being in charge while I was traveling, so they took turns preparing the meals every night, even when I was there, which removed that responsibility from my shoulders. They had even set up a rotating schedule for the various duties, which included the cooking, cleaning and driving (which for the time being they could only do when I was with them, but that would change once they had their licenses). I eagerly allowed them to do this, and even encouraged their taking increased responsibility for things, as some of them would soon be heading off to college or possibly just living on their own, so it would be good practice for them.

It's not that everything was perfect, as squabbles still popped up from time to time. Sometimes it was over who was going to get to drive or the 'need' for someone to switch his chores, whenever he had a date or other activity that conflicted with his assignment. Most of the time, however, the boys would work this out amongst themselves, so I didn't have to intervene, because they understood none of them would be happy if I had to get involved.

There was even one major conflict between two of the new roommates, which culminated with Dustin and Pat coming to blows. It seemed they had both become interested in the same young lady and each of them thought the other was being unfair in resolving this situation. Even though there was nearly a two-year difference in their ages, the girl's age fell in between theirs. She was approximately a year older than Pat and a year younger than Dustin.

After a few weeks of trying to gain the upper hand, they each began accusing the other of interfering with their ability to change chores when there was a scheduling conflict for them. They both felt the other one was utilizing his influence with the other boys and talking them out of being accommodating, whenever it was requested. They even began to complain about who got to eat lunch with her or who she would spend time with after school. Dustin felt he should have all of the lunch periods to spend with her, since he played sports and was tied up after school, which meant Pat got to spend all of that time with her. Even though this was true, Pat felt they should still alternate the lunch times, because it wasn't his fault that Dustin had chosen to play a sport and he hadn't.

After their little donnybrook, I had to lay down my own set of ground rules. First, I told Pat that if he wanted to alternate the lunch periods, then he would also have to alternate the after school time too, which meant he could only spend every other afternoon with her, even if Dustin had practice or a game. He didn't like that idea at all and quickly agreed to give Dustin the lunch periods, so he could keep the after school time to himself. However, whenever Dustin was in between sport seasons, they would once again start alternating both the lunch period and the after school time, so that neither would be able to see her twice in the same day.

Second, I notified all of the boys that if there were any more problems with switching chores, then I would make a rule that there would be absolutely no switching allowed. This would include everyone, so from that point on every boy would have to stick to the schedule - unless I made the change personally, which I would not be inclined to do.

Third, if there were any more punches thrown, neither one would be allowed to date anyone for a month, and finally, I moved Dustin to the twin bed in the new bedroom, which had been the old computer room, to give them both a chance to cool off. I moved Dustin instead of Pat, because that room had been Pat's before all the switching took place, so I thought it was only right he should get to stay there.

Things did calm down after that, especially after Pat lost interest in the girl and found someone closer to his own age. The funny thing was that Dustin dumped the girl too, a couple of weeks later, as he fell for a girl who was a few months older than the first girl. And to think they were ready to bash each other's brains out over her just a short time before.

Eventually Pat and Dustin did make up, but they each stayed in the room they were currently in, as neither of them was convinced future conflicts could be avoided. I think Kevin got a kick out of watching this and found it amusing they were fighting over a girl, but I think he was most pleased that Dustin's life wasn't working out as Dustin had hoped, especially after he broke Kevin's heart. It's not that Kevin hated Dustin now, because he still had strong feelings for him, but it made him feel better to know that things were not all that easy for his former lover either.

Besides the conflict it brought into our home, the boys' interest in the young ladies also had a negative effect on their soccer team. Although they still had a winning record, they didn't do as well as either their coach or I had anticipated. I think the distraction of dating and the conflict between Dustin and Pat took its toll on the team as well.

I believe this was most noticeable at their homecoming game, which they nearly lost to the team with the worst record in their league. Not only were their girlfriends at this game, but it appeared most of my studs were thinking ahead to the homecoming festivities after the game and not focusing on their playing. This was painfully obvious, as we observed their lackluster play and noted the silly and uncharacteristic mistakes they made during the contest. Fortunately, they did manage to pull their heads out of the clouds long enough to score a one goal victory and end their season at 12 -3.

Of course, in late October we had a party for Cole as well, but he felt he was now getting too old to have a sleepover, so I didn't push it and honored his wishes. He did invite some of his friends from school to attend, as well as most of our extended family. Even though he had been socially immature for his age when he first arrived, and even for a while afterward, he did eventually make some friends outside of the family and Cole and those boys had remained fairly tight. They'd all been to our house at various times and Cole has also been to their homes, but they mostly hung out at school or at school functions.

I was a little surprised that Cole invited them to come to the house for the day without telling them it was his birthday, but I suspect I knew why. A couple of his friends' families aren't too well off and I suspect Cole didn't want them to feel obligated to buy something for him, just because it happened to be his birthday. By inviting them to come over without out announcing this additional fact relieved them of that burden. I think the boys were a bit shocked when they discovered this was a birthday celebration, but after Cole explained he planned the day just for fun and didn't expect such a big fuss over it, it seemed to make everyone feel better. I think his friends understood his intentions and admired the way he handled it, since they all enjoyed themselves without being embarrassed that they hadn't brought him a gift. Although he still has difficulty in some of his classes, he is remarkably bright about some things.

Cole, his friends and his brothers kept active for most of the day, playing games and generally having a good time. They all joined us to eat, and then again later when we had the cake and ice cream and I had Cole open his presents. After his friends saw how much he got from the rest of us, I think they began to understand why Cole didn't feel he needed anything from them.

Halloween also proved to be an interesting time, but not because of the Trick-or-Treating. Instead, it was because of the big high school Halloween dance. All the guys with girlfriends planned on attending, and even Danny and Brandon had dates for this big event. The boys also went out of their way to help Frankie find a date for the dance too. They spent hours on end preening for the big event and getting their costumes ready, as they each wanted to impress their dates. As I watched them going through their preparations, I was reminded of a muster of peacocks trying to impress the peahens, but these boys had to provide their own plumage.

Since most of the other boys wouldn't be around that evening, Kevin, Trey and Dion volunteered to help me take the little ones out collecting candy door-to-door. I think this was done primarily to give them something to do and keep them from feeling completely left out, so I graciously accepted their assistance. Unfortunately, the offer didn't come without some drawbacks.

You see, Trey was not happy about how everything was working out and complained it wasn't fair that Dion and he couldn't go to the dance as a couple. He even hinted that it might be considered a form of discrimination. When I explained to him that they could go to the dance together if they wanted to, I also reminded him they might also set themselves up for some possible abuse in the process, so he decided to let the matter drop. In the long run, Trey decided he was more of a lover than a fighter, and felt helping with the younger ones would keep him from thinking about missing the dance. Besides, it would also allow Dion and him to do something together. I agreed and was happy to have the company and the help.

Chapter 2
A Time to Give Thanks

It was now November, which was marked by two important events: Thanksgiving, when we would be having several visitors joining us for our special dinner, and Dion's thirteenth birthday. Seeing the two events were so close together, it was decided that we would celebrate Dion's birthday the Saturday after Thanksgiving and he could invite some of his friends from school to sleep over too.

The house was abuzz during the week before the holiday, as we spent a great deal of time cleaning and preparing for our guests. All of the boys were going to sleep on the carpet in the living room during that time, giving their beds up to our visitors. In addition to their oldest brothers and sisters, there would be Nick's parents, Brandon's parents, Jay and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Spence (the grandparents the boys had sort of picked up during our vacation), Carlos and his mother (although I was sure Carlos would sleep with the boys), and Nicky and Jordan. Aunt Sally, Aunt Mary and Uncle Steve would be joining us for dinner, but they would not be spending the night. It was going to be quite a massive get-together.

In order to avoid wearing ourselves out fixing the meal and becoming so tired that we wouldn't enjoy the feast, we prepared some of the items the day before. It was mostly the cold dishes, which included various salads and some desserts, but it would take away much of the work the day of the big event. During that time, we would be busy preparing two huge turkeys and a full ham for the main course, in addition some other side dishes. The women, which included my daughters and daughter-in-law and the other females in attendance, all tried to volunteer to help prepare the meal for us, but we shooed them away, letting them know (politely) that we could fend for ourselves.

The boys were very pleased and quite proud when they served the meal. Everyone was seated at one of two large tables, which were not segregated by age. To determine the seating, we had everyone pull a number out of a hat and then they took the seat with the corresponding number. That way, we got to sit beside someone we might not have otherwise dined next to. Everyone seemed happy with this procedure and I thought we would all enjoy our time being near different individuals and might even form some stronger bonds with them.

For this large gathering, we were utilizing both our normal dining room table, with both leaves inserted into it, and a very large banquet table. I had borrowed the banquet table from school and set up in the room adjoining the dining room, so we would all be able to see and hear each other during the meal. Each of the various items was then dished into four identical containers and placed at either end of each table, as well as utilizing four platters containing the two turkeys and two more filled with ham. I recruited Steve Shay, Mike Lawrence, Patrick O'Hara, Howard Curtis and John Spence to carve the meat and each was more than eager to help out and assume that responsibility.

Before we began to eat, however, I suggested we take a few seconds to recount all of the things we had to be thankful for. I started and mentioned I was thankful for each of my children, grandchildren and my many good friends, and then I turned it over to anyone else to do the same. Mr. Spence quickly indicated he wanted to say something, so I sat down and he stood up to speak.

"My wife and I have been very fortunate over the years, except when it came to having a family. Being included here today and being accepted as a part of this fantastic group has made us the happiest and most thankful we have been in many years. My wife and I have spent a great deal of time preparing to come here, and we also have a little surprise for you, something to leave you so you'll always remember our love for you. Seeing we have no family of our own, we were thrilled you, shall we say, adopted us," he paused here, as many of the boys were giggling, because of the similarity with their own situation. "Therefore, we have decided to donate half of our estate to you now, and the other half will be left to you in our will when we are gone. We love you all and this is just one way we want to use to show you how much."

As Mr. Spence sat back down, you could have heard a pin drop in those two rooms. We were totally shocked and left speechless by his announcement. Although we didn't know exactly how much they were worth, they had hinted previously that they had more money than most people could ever think of using in a lifetime. We even suspected they might even be multi-millionaires. After many awkward and silent moments, I thanked them and explained that I didn't know what to say about this display of generosity. After I thought about it for a minute or two longer, I informed them that, if they didn't mind, I wanted to use some or most of that money to establish a charitable fund to help other children and families, especially families that wanted to adopt needy or hard-to-place children.

After much discussion, the Spences agreed to my suggestion and it was decided it would be called the "Castaway Foundation", which had been Aunt Mary's suggestion. I immediately asked Sally to chair our new foundation and requested that she also establish the criteria for what types of assistance would be provided and at what levels. After giving it some consideration and trying to determine how much time this would require, she finally agreed and the boys all went over to give her a hug of thanks.

At that point, Steve volunteered his services as legal advisor to the group, and the boys suggested that I should contact Matt (our former waiter and future financial advisor) to assist us with investing the money wisely, in the meantime. I offered to hire Sally and pay her more than she was making now, if she was willing to run this for us, but she said she'd do it for free and still work her regular job. She explained that way she would keep her contacts and be able to find families on her own and while working for the county. If she only ran the charity, she would soon become isolated from many of the people in need. I told her she would be paid for her services even if she kept her other job, and she finally gave in, saying that would be fine, as long as she could donate it back to the Castaway Fund and take the tax write-off. We all laughed at her suggestion.

After we all thanked the Spences again, we began to eat. Unfortunately the food was now a little cold, because that little surprise and ensuing discussion took longer than I figured we'd be giving thanks. Some of us decided to take our plates out and nuke the food in the microwave for a minute or two, to get it warm again, but the boys didn't let it bother them and just wolfed it down. Regardless of that minor inconvenience, everyone appeared to enjoy the meal and complimented the boys on their hard work and delicious dishes.

Once the meal had concluded, the women wouldn't take no for an answer and shared the clean-up duties. They quickly put away the leftovers and did the dishes, so it wasn't long before everything was taken care of. We decided to hold off for an hour or so before we tried to tackle the desserts, as everyone was quite stuffed from the main event.

While we waited in the living room, we talked about a variety of other subjects, before the boys started coming in and asking the various adults to join them for some fun. Soon they were leading the grown-ups off in different directions, to join them for a board game, a computer game (mostly solitaire or black-jack), or a game of cards (hearts, rummy or double-solitaire). It was quite an enjoyable time, especially for the Spences, and everyone had fun interacting with each other. After that we had our desserts, before we collaborated on renting a couple of movies to enjoy on the large-screen TV together. By the time things started to break up, everyone was tired, yet fulfilled.

Friday started off with the boys fixing breakfast for everyone. They conducted it more like a diner, taking orders from each individual as they came down to eat, rather than fixing one large family breakfast. The boys started off by making a large batch of pancake mix, figuring that a lot of us would want pancakes because they always seem to hit the spot during the cooler weather, but they also made eggs to order, regular and Canadian bacon, toast, cereal, bagels, English muffins, and bagel or muffin sandwiches, all upon request. Everyone got what they wanted, ate their fill and my older children and houseguests were all pleasantly surprised, not only by the boys' initiative, but also with the quality of the items they had prepared. All in all, it went over well.

Later that afternoon, Steve called me to discuss some things we would need to decide before establishing the Foundation. I felt some of the items he brought up should be discussed in depth, so I talked the Spences into staying for the entire following week, so they could be a part of setting everything up, especially since it was their money that was funding it. They were excited about being included in this process and I told them they could stay in my room, (which they were already using) and I'd remain in one of the other rooms. After some give and take on that point, they finally agreed.

Friday evening the adults spent time together, while the boys entertained themselves. Nick's parents had spent a great deal of time talking to everyone and were almost speechless by the time they got to me.

"This is quite a family you have here, Josh," Mrs. Lawrence told me. "And the Spences' announcement really was a blessing, wasn't it?"

"A blessing and a surprise," I responded. "Even though we don't really need all of that money, I'm glad we'll be able to put it to good use and help others. Isn't it strange how a chance meeting with them, on our way to Arizona, has led to all of this?"

"No stranger than another chance meeting benefited our family," Mr. Lawrence mused. "I think your finding Nick was the best thing that happened for our family too and I can't believe how much he's matured since that time."

"He has come a long way," I agreed, "but I think it's ironic that he's been looking for another family to help, like the one in Arizona, and now we have all this money to do it with. He felt so good about helping the other family that he wanted to do it again. He is a very caring and giving young man."

"I'm not sure we would have ever seen that side of him," his mother commented, "if it weren't for you and your boys."

"I'm sure it would have emerged eventually, but that side of him was nothing we can be credited for. It's just that once he'd seen how much good he could do, it was like a catalyst to make him want to do more. I'm sure we'll find a way for him to be a part of the foundation, so he can enjoy the good feelings that come as a result of helping others. I believe he'll enjoy it more than any of the others."

"Josh, my hat's off to you," Nick's father said, "and I'm glad you talked us into allowing him to come here to continue his education. I don't think I've ever seen him get better grades, at least not since first or second grade."

"Well, he did that on his own too," I confessed. "He came here a very determined young man, intent on proving to you exactly what he could accomplish."

"I'm not sure if that's good or bad," Mike Lawrence wondered aloud. "I guess it's good that he's determined, but it saddens me to think that my attitude toward him made him feel that he needed to prove himself to me. I have always loved him, but I guess I just wasn't very good at showing it."

"He knows that now, but don't put all the blame on yourself," I suggested. "From what he has told me, he was a bit hardheaded too, not wanting to see your side either. Like I've said, I think it would have resolved itself in time."

"Luckily," his mother added, "your intervention speeded up the process. We owe you a great deal, so we're also going to contribute to your charity. We're even going to encourage our friends and Mike's business associates to do the same. It's the least we can do to repay you."

"That's very generous, but unnecessary," I offered. "I didn't do it to be repaid."

"Think of it as though we're repaying other parents and children in need," she said, "hoping they'll be as lucky as we are."

"In that case, I gratefully accept your offer." After some more talking and interaction with the kids, we all called it a night and went to our rooms. I think it was the quietest I'd heard the house in ages.

Dion's birthday on Saturday turned out to be the largest of these types of get-togethers we've held thus far. Not only was everyone from Thanksgiving still here, but Jay joined us too, along with some of Dion's school friends, who were also going to spend the night. Dion got a ton of gifts and had a blast at his party. The boys played around outdoors for a large part of the day, but did not play any team sports, since Dion wasn't overly fond of them. Instead, they played tag, had some races and even had an egg toss contest, which consisted of lobbing a raw egg between the various partners until only one egg remained unbroken. The idea was to toss the uncooked egg back and forth, with the distance increasing by one step following each successful attempt, until all but one set of partners were eliminated. It didn't matter whether it broke in one of the partners' hands or on the ground, but once it happened that pair was finished. It did get a bit messy before we crowned the winning pair, but the kids all had a good time doing it.

Dion and his friends spent much of the evening in the family room, while the other boys hung out in the living room. His brothers were all willing to give Dion his privacy with his friends, although Dion had invited Trey, Graham and Cole to join them.

On Sunday, my older children and grandchildren left first. Once they were gone, Nick's parents said their good-byes and then drove back to the airport in their rental car. Once they had also departed, I announced I would be making the round-trip to take Carlos and his mom back to their place. John and Margaret Spence volunteered to stay with the boys, relishing their new role as grandparents, but they seemed quite bushed by the time I got back. I guess they'd either forgotten or never knew how energetic a group of boys could be.

Margaret also had dinner prepared while I was away, although she had agreed to let a couple of the boys assist her, mostly to show her where I kept things. It was a great meal and my sons all made sure they told her so. She beamed like a new bride who had just received praise from her husband after preparing her first full meal for him. Needless to say, the Spences went to bed early that evening, while I sent the boys upstairs to shower and get ready for bed.

Later that evening, Trey got Dion alone, so he could give him his belated birthday gift. After they showered and went back to their room, he set his plan into motion. "I'm sure glad we've got our room back," Trey announced.

"Sleeping with the others was okay, but I'm sure glad to be back in my own bed," Dion agreed.

"And you'll be even happier after I give you your birthday present," Trey announced, while shooting a wicked little grin toward Dion. It took Dion a second to catch on to Trey's meaning, but then he started grinning ear-to-ear.

"Tonight, you get to make love to me as a teenager," Trey told him, with the cat-that-ate-the-canary smirk on his face. After allowing a second or two for Dion to savor the thought, Trey walked over and kissed Dion passionately, while ripping away the towel from around Dion's hips. He eased Dion back to the bed, gently guided him on to it and then proceeded to work on his body. Trey kissed Dion's neck, nibbled on his ears, and worked his way down to Dion's nipples. He bathed those two delightful circular patches of flesh with his tongue, nipped at the rigid little nubs and then sucked on them like a starving kitten. Once he felt he had paid sufficient attention to those sensitive areas, Trey worked his way lower, running his tongue the length and breadth of Dion's firm abdomen, before allowing his tongue to delve in and out of his navel. Now that he had Dion squirming, Trey moved lower, but bypassed Dion penis, before aiming for Dion's scrotum and inner thighs.

Dion was bouncing around on the mattress like a hyperactive super-ball, as Trey played with his testes, lathed his sensitive inner thigh and the area between the scrotum and the anus. Finally, Trey reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a couple of items. He quickly ripped open a condom packet and prepared to place it over Dion's bone.

"Do we really need to use that?" Dion wondered.

"Yes, we promised Dad that we would from now on, especially since you're also fooling around a little with girls too," Trey advised him. "You know he's right about that."

"But it's just the two of us and I haven't done that much with any of the girls…" Dion's voice trailed off, showing how disappointed he was.

"But you have done some things and we also still mess around the others from time to time, including some of the other guys with girlfriends," Trey countered. "That's why we have to do this."

"What if we never do those things any more?" Dion asked, hopefully.

"We will, and you know it," Trey announced. "But if you are really willing to give up on the idea of trying it with a girl and would promise to only be with me, I'd say okay, but I don't think either of us believes that will really happen. It's mainly because you like to do some of the other things once in a while too, things I don't especially care for."

Dion knew what Trey meant by this. He had accepted that Trey liked receiving better than giving and wasn't very fond of rimming Dion either. That's why Dion gave in and Trey slid the rubber over his lengthy organ, slicking it up with KY afterward. Once he had been prepared, Trey straddled Dion's waist, reached back and grabbed Dion's teen shaft and guided the head against his pucker. Slowly he sat back, feeling the ring pop open and the helmet slide in, and then he waited momentarily before adding more pressure and sliding down its entire length. Even though Dion had just turned thirteen, he's had a bigger penis than most of the boys in the house, and that had been the case almost since the day he moved in.

Now that he was fully engulfed by Trey's silky interior, Dion was in absolute bliss. He not only loved the feeling of being in Trey's warm, tight hole, but Trey had also developed very good muscle control and could actually massage Dion's shaft even before he began his humping. Dion was very appreciative of that skill and quite vocal about it. Needing no further encouragement, Trey slowly lifted up and then slid back down Dion's ample shaft, as he began to establish a nice, steady rhythm.

Dion was really moaning now. His eyes were only partially open and his eyeballs rolled back into his head. He was totally oblivious to everything in the room, but the tremendous pleasure emanating from his groin. Even though his sausage was encased in the thin prophylactic membrane, it still felt as if a thousand tiny fingers were stimulating his love muscle. It was so overpowering that he could hardly bear the pleasure and soon felt the rising tide of his orgasm.

As the tingling sensation continued to build in his testicles, he felt his scrotum start to withdraw against his body and could sense the additional blood flowing to his penis, causing it to swell even more. At that moment, he felt the pressure building, as his seed began to be forced up his shaft. He tried to hold it back and prolong the sensation, but that proved impossible. Giving in to the inevitable, his semen exploded into the rubber, threatening to blow the tip of the condom off.

Trey kept riding him, milking him for all he was worth, and only stopped once Dion became so soft that it was impossible to continue. When that happened he bent forward, kissed Dion lovingly and then leaned over even further and off to the side, so he could whisper into his ear.

"Happy Birthday, lover," he gushed, but Dion didn't have enough strength left to respond.

Chapter 3
Doing Christmas Our Way

Monday the boys and I went back to school, but I broke away from my normal duties to attend a luncheon meeting with Steve, Sally and the Spences, so we could begin to address some of the issues concerning the establishment of the Foundation. It was at this meeting that I was first informed we were talking in terms of having several million dollars in seed money. Once I got over the initial shock of the size of the Spence's gift, we set out the rough goals, objectives and procedures to dole out assistance through our charity.

One of the first things decided was that our little group would comprise the core of the Board of Directors and then later we would add additional members to it, as we saw fit. Sally agreed to assume the title of Director, before we named John Spence the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and then we agreed to begin a search for a Chief Financial Officer (CFO), hopefully assigning Mark as his assistant until Mark was capable of handling the reigns alone. This would be the perfect opportunity for our friend from Arizona to gain valuable experience in the field, while also providing him with some additional income. Not only that, but he could continue his education while doing the job, since he didn't need to move locally to perform his duties. He could contact the CFO via phone, the Internet or even fax, and he could do the investing electronically from nearly any secure location.

One of the other things the Board decided during that meeting was that we should be an international charity, open to anyone with biological children or those who had adopted or were planning on adopting needy children, even from overseas. I suggested this while thinking about Nigel Barstow and his family, hoping we could encourage others from that part of the world to follow his example. We would take most of the recommendations for assistance from social service groups, churches, educational groups and adoption agencies dealing with hard to place children. We would launch a media campaign to get recognition, asking some of the national news magazines for coverage, and we would direct all potential contributions to a special account, which would still have to be established.

As the meeting progressed, I decided it would be best to ask Mark to join us after Christmas and stay for the remainder of his winter break, so he could work with whomever we came up with as our CFO and help set up all of the necessary accounts. I hoped by then we'd also be able to define Mark's role in the process and possibly send him back with a firm grasp of what was going to be expected of him.

The Spences were happy with the parameters we'd established, as well as being thrilled about their role in overseeing what happened and being included as working members of the group. Steve was going to draw up a draft of the by-laws and set the Foundation up as a corporation, to be officially known as the 'Castaway Foundation and Charitable Fund'. This was surely one Thanksgiving none of us would ever forget.

The remainder of the week included other meetings, during which we ironed out some of the remaining details, but by the end of the following weekend the majority of the process had been completed and we were on our way to becoming an officially recognized charity. I asked a friend of mine, the President of our local bank, to serve as our CFO and help train Mark to eventually take over the job. He happily agreed and Mark accepted the opportunity as well, when I phoned him to tell him the news.

We also got a good response from the magazines that had covered the family after the first round of adoptions had taken place, and they agreed it would be a good follow-up story to their original articles. Sally spent her time contacting many of the people she knew whom she thought might make a contribution to our cause, in either a financial or professional capacity. Much more quickly than I ever suspected was possible, we had professional contacts established across the country that would help in making referrals and evaluating those in their areas who were being considered.

Some of the more trivial minutia was also taken care of next, such as streamlining the application process, establishing criteria for selection and outlining guidelines for the range of financial assistance that would be given out for the various situations we were planning on dealing with. It was a great team effort to get so much accomplished in such a sort time and all of us were pleased with the end results.

In fact, I was so busy working on the Foundation that week that I almost forgot about Dustin and Cole's first wrestling match. I felt badly when I realized my oversight and apologized to the boys profusely. They both told me it was no problem and not to worry about it, but I still felt terrible that I'd forgotten. As the boys got their things together, I also got ready to go, along with the boys who also wanted to attend. Not everyone was interested, but I did notice one definite surprise. Pat wanted to go watch his brothers compete. I thought it almost ironic, after Dustin and Pat almost had a knockdown drag-out battle over that girl. Possibly it was Pat's way of making amends.

It turned out that it wasn't much of a contest, as the other team wasn't very good, and both Dustin and Cole won their matches quite easily. I was once again impressed by their conditioning, compared to that of their opponents, as well as being mildly embarrassed over how their singlet emphasized their packages. It left no doubt in anyone's mind that these boys weren't European, if you get my drift. No wonder Dustin was so popular with the young ladies, after displaying his attributes so boldly.

That weekend the Spences left us and went back home, although their departure wasn't easy for them. They were sad to leave, but looking forward to rejoining us for Christmas. The boys were depressed about their departure as well, so a lot of kissing and hugging took place before they said their final good-byes. Watching Margaret, John and the boys interact with each other, you'd think the Spences had always been their grandparents. Both John and Margaret had tears in their eyes as their driver shut the limo's door, once they were seated inside, and then we sorrowfully watched the hired car drive away. The boys continued to wave and throw kisses to both of them, until they were finally out of sight.

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was even more hectic than the Thanksgiving holiday. Not only did we have the normal routine and Christmas shopping to do, there were also all the typical school and church related concerts, pageants, and other special services. Plus, there was the big holiday cotillion, for which the boys would have to rent tuxes and their dates dress in formal gowns, and the boys would be shelling out for dinner and corsages too. All of the straight and bi boys were taking their dates, so Danny and Brandon hesitantly agreed to take a couple of girls as well, who weren't the same girls they had first dated. Those relationships had ended after several weeks, when both boys began to feel they were about to be pressured into having sex with them. They felt it would be best to break up with them before it actually happened; rather than have the rest of the school believing that was why the split had occurred.

Neither Danny nor Brandon was exactly thrilled about attending, but they were still happier than Trey, who was once again distressed because he felt that Dion and he were being left out. It didn't seem to affect Kevin and Nick in quite the same way. I must admit that I was mildly shocked, yet pleased, that the two of them had stayed mainly with each other since they had gotten together. Not only that, but they hardly ever did anything of a sexual nature with any of their other brothers either, at least for the past month or so. I think Nick remaining monogamous was my biggest surprise of all.

As Christmas drew nearer, we prepared for everyone who had been there for Thanksgiving to return, as well as having Sammy and Andrew's grandparents from Japan join us. Everyone was anticipating the big day, when everyone would finally be here, but I hardly had time to think about any of it. My days were filled with not only all of the activities at school, but also with more meetings concerning the 'Castaway Foundation.' On top of all that, we were scheduled to do two magazine interviews, about the family and the charity, the very week before Christmas.

Of course, I invited the Spences to stay with us for the week before Christmas and then stay through until the week after New Year's. They eagerly accepted and I was happy they'd agreed, as I knew the boys would appreciate them being there. I also wanted them to be here for the interviews for the magazine articles, because I wanted their generosity highlighted, in hopes to encourage others to do similar things. Although the stories wouldn't appear until late January or early February, this would get the ball rolling.

Margaret and John Spence appeared ten to twenty years younger when they arrived for this visit, and quickly informed me it was mainly due to the fact that they finally had some meaning back in their lives. The creation of the charity with their money had been part of it, but they felt most of their resurgence had come because they felt needed and a part of our family. Of course, my sons were to get the credit for that, since they were just as fond of the Spences.

While John and Margaret were with us, the boys went out of their way to give them special attention and the Spences eagerly filled the role of the grandparents many of them had longed for, but had never known. All of them loved John and Margaret, and it didn't have anything to do with their money either. Each of them had taken to the Spences on the plane and had enjoyed their company each time we had been together or talked on the phone, and I knew the Spences felt the same. It was truly a melding of souls.

John and Margaret enthusiastically read stories to the younger ones, told all of the boys stories about their lives, with particular emphasis on letting them know what it was like for them when they were the same age the boys were now. In their own inimitable way, they let the boys know how much the world had changed during the course of their lifetime, before emphasizing how lucky my sons were to have the opportunities they had now.

In return, the boys told the Spences stories about their own past, which the older couple only had an inkling about prior to this, and both of them were shocked at some of the conditions the boys had been forced to endure. They were especially moved by Cole and Graham's story, not understanding how a mother could starve and neglect her children. It was quite an emotional time, as each of my young men told his tale.

Sammy and Andrew's grandparents arrived next and I was somewhat surprised they didn't have an interpreter with them. As I wondered how we were going to communicate with them, I received my answer, when Mr. Yamada spoke to me in broken English.

"We study your English since we last see you," he announced, quite proudly, "so we no need help to speak with Tsukimo and Furuhata," he added, using Sammy and Andrew's Japanese names. "We spend much time in class using only English, so we can come here without assist."

"I am pleased and you are doing very well," I replied, knowing he'd meant assistance or having a translator in his last sentence, but I got his point. "The boys will be thrilled they can speak with you directly."

I then went on to tell them who would be joining us and I think they were quite amazed upon discovering how many houseguests we'd be having. I then went on to give them a little background as to how some of the others were connected to the family, but it seemed a bit more than they could handle at the time. However, I do think they began to realize how fortunate their grandsons actually were, having so many people who cared about them and spent time with them.

Over the next hour or so, Sammy and Andrew took their grandparents around and introduced them to all of their brothers, sisters and nephews, before they introduced them to their 'other' grandparents. John and Margaret swelled with pride, hearing the boys introduced them in this manner, but I think this momentarily confused the Yamadas. Eventually, the boys explained the situation to them, and then the Yamadas bowed toward the Spences, as a sign of respect. Instinctively, John and Margaret did the same.

By the time Aunt Sally, Aunt Mary and Uncle Steve showed up, the Yamadas had met most of the others. Now, they were introduced to these newcomers too, just before the O'Hara's arrived from Texas. The O'Haras came in and asked several of the boys to help them unload their rental car, and the boys returned lugging a couple of suitcases and a ton of packages. I later discovered that Patrick and Brenda had flown into Pittsburgh, rented their car at the airport and then drove around the area doing their Christmas shopping there, since they didn't want to drag the numerous presents through the airport and onto the plane. It was a very wise choice.

The Lawrences landed in Philadelphia and agreed to pick up Carlos and his mother while they were there, so I wouldn't have to make that round trip. I had given them directions and notified Carlos and his mother of this change. Carlos' mother was a little unsettled about riding with someone they'd never met before, but Carlos' and my constant reassurance eventually convinced her this would be fine. They were the last group to arrive at the house and the boys eagerly introduced them to anyone they didn't know, while making sure they also understood how each of us was 'related.' With everyone accounted for, we began mingling with our guests and the house was filled with love and laughter.

We had set up the Christmas tree in the living room right after Thanksgiving, and it took up a large corner of that room. It looked great, but once all the presents were displayed under and around it, at least half the room would be unusable for anything else. Therefore, the boys decided to sleep together in the recreation room this time around and laid out their sleeping bags and pillows accordingly. Jordan and Nicky immediately turned the ping-pong table into a tent, by draping blankets over it and weighting them down on the top. They planned to sleep underneath it, with Sammy, Andrew and Graham, marking it as their own private retreat.

The rest of the boys broke up into different groups and staked out a section of the room for themselves, so we could spread the guests around in the various bedrooms. The Spences were given my room again, and everyone else was assigned a bedroom upstairs. Each of our guests was satisfied with his or her room assignments and then I also told them which bathroom they would be using and whom they'd be sharing it with. The boys were also split up between the bathrooms, but they were told to shower during the early evening hours, so they would be out of everyone else's way during the later evening and early morning time periods.

On Christmas Eve, we enjoyed a large meal at home, prepared by the boys and myself, before all of our guests agreed to join us when we went to our church, so we could participate in the Christmas Eve service together. We took the Suburban, the van and two other cars and managed to fit everyone inside comfortably. It looked like an invasion when we arrived there, as everyone got out of the vehicles and entered the church en masse.

It was really fantastic having the extended family together on this special day, but I also noticed a few other memorable moments as I looked about, which made it even more special. Nick was happily sitting between his parents, along with Kevin, and Nick was grinning like the Cheshire cat. It appeared this might have been the best Christmas present he had ever received. The Lawrences seemed very pleased by this as well, and even graciously accepted Kevin's relationship with their son. At various times during the service, one or the other had an arm wrapped over Nick or Kevin's shoulder or around their waist, and after standing during one particular song, the boys traded places, so they would be sitting next to the other parent as well. I couldn't begin to describe how happy I was for all of them.

Brandon and Danny sat with the O'Haras and Patrick and Brenda seemed quite pleased that both boys had decided to be with them. Danny and Brandon sat between them, as Kevin and Nick had done with Nick's parents, and both boys were sharing stories about what they'd been up to since we'd last seen them, while they waited for the service to begin. This alone probably made the whole trip worthwhile for Brandon's parents.

Since this was the first Christian service Sammy and Andrew's grandparents had attended, they were a little overwhelmed and confused about the meaning of this holiday, but they tried to absorb it all. Their grandsons sat between them as well and did their best to explain everything that was going on. However, not being Christians themselves, the Yamadas were having a little trouble grasping the significance of this event.

Graham and Cole had asked the Spences if they could sit with them, as those two had grown very close to this couple over the past few visits, and John and Margaret were honored that the boys wanted to do this. Gleefully, Cole sat alongside John, while Graham sidled up beside Margaret, and all four of them glowed from this closeness.

The rest of the boys spaced themselves out among the older brothers and sisters and their aunts and uncles, so no one would feel left out. Ricky sat between my oldest son and me and leaned against my shoulder during much of the service. I'm sure some of the onlookers might have wondered why a boy his age would sit this way, since you would think it would be something a younger child might be prone to do, but I felt it was because Ricky still felt a special connection to me, since he had been the first member of my new family. I certainly wasn't about to discourage his actions, because I enjoyed it as well and also felt a very special connection to him, for the very same reasons.

It was a very nice service and many of us enjoyed singing along with some of the more traditional Christmas songs, like Come All Ye Faithful, Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, We Three Kings and the First Noel. The minister kept his sermon short and on point, while reminding us how important it was for all of us to put Christ back in Christmas. Everyone felt exceptionally good after the service ended, as we had just been reminded about the true meaning of this special holiday. After going back outside, we loaded into the vehicles and went back to our place.

The boys were sent to bed shortly after we arrived, so Santa Claus could come and visit. Although the mention of Santa might detract from the religious significance of the day, I didn't want to disappoint any of the younger boys by omitting him. Almost immediately, the older boys started to protest about having to go to bed too, so I quickly reminded them about how early the little ones would be getting us all up. After thinking about it for a while longer and remembering how early that would be, it seemed to be enough to convince them to make the best of this situation. I think they also took a few minutes to remember how special Christmas Eve had been when they were younger, after coming to live here, especially those who had still been young when they first arrived. Happily, they played along with the little ones and were soon reminding Nicky and Jordan about Santa's visit.

Unbeknownst to the boys, almost as soon as we had returned home from church, my second son had dressed up in a Santa suit and slipped outside. He was now peeking through the family room windows, which I excitedly pointed out to everyone. I quickly let them know Santa was checking up to see if they were asleep, so he could drop off their presents. This immediately sent Nicky and Jordan into a complete panic, as they thought Santa wouldn't leave them anything, because they had still been up when he came. After I explained that Santa would check twice and would leave their gifts off the next time through, if they were all sleeping by then, they began to settle down, before racing off to their space beneath the ping-pong table. Even as excited as they were, they slipped into their sleeping bags and soon fell asleep, making it one of those priceless moments you often hear mentioned.

After the boys were all asleep, we adults got busy getting the presents from their hiding places and displaying them under and around the tree. Steve took the van and loaded up with the things I had stored at his place, as well as his own gifts for my family. I had decided to keep many of my presents at his house, where the boys couldn't snoop and find them. My oldest two sons went with him, to help him retrieve everything, and I was extremely grateful they had offered their assistance. The rest of the night was spent wrapping the remaining presents and assembling those items that claimed… 'some assembly required.' Yeah, right - some assembly indeed. My two older sons and I were up until after 3:00 a.m. putting together various gifts for the boys, most of which were for the youngest members of the group.

The first boys awoke around 5:00 a.m., but Danny and Brandon were able to restrain them and keep them quiet until nearly 6:00. They did this by walking them down to the living room and letting them peek in at all the presents, but I was surprised this didn't backfire on them. Although the smaller boys were very excited and anxious to see which presents were for them, they were able to contain their curiosity and excitement for another hour, until they couldn't stand the suspense any longer. At that point, Danny sent them to wake me up first, so I could decide what to do next.

Once I gave them permission to wake everyone else up, they did so by running up and down the halls and going in and out of rooms yelling, "Santa's been here! Santa's been here! Come downstairs and see what he left us. Come on. Hurry Up!"

Slowly and groggily, the adults dragged themselves downstairs, trying to come to their senses as they went. The boys were all sitting in the living room waiting for the rest of us to join them and for someone to start passing out the gifts. It was a strict rule in our house that no one was to grab their own gifts and that one of us, generally myself or one of their older siblings, would pass the gifts out. Once everyone had a package, we'd open it, before the next set of packages would be distributed.

As soon as the boys were given permission, wrapping paper began flying everywhere, as each hurriedly sought to discover what he'd been given. This was followed by shouts of joy, once they saw what was contained within, and a quick thank you, directed to the person or persons who had given the present. It took nearly two hours before all the gifts were open, but everyone was able to see what everyone else had received, as well as enjoying their own treasures.

There had been a multitude of special presents from the boys, which had been distributed to the adults. Most of these had been gift certificates or a collection of nicely framed portraits of them, each accompanied by an elaborate card the boys had made especially for the recipient on our computer, with a personal note about why the boys loved them. I believe those cards were probably appreciated the most, because the greeting came straight from the heart.

When the last of the presents had been passed out and there was nothing more to open, John Spence stood and walked around, handing each individual a card. Inside was a check, made out to that particular person in the sum of $10,000. He told my grandchildren and boys, including Carlos, Nick and Brandon that this money was to be deposited into their accounts and used to pay for college or for starting them out in a business later. He even had an additional envelope for Jay, who would be joining us later in the day. Once he had finished passing these out, each boy made sure to not only thank both Margaret and him, but all of them gave each of them a kiss and hug as well.

John then did the same for my older children, even though they quickly assured him he didn't have to include them on this gift. After explaining that his wife and he wanted to do this, he informed them they could spend this money any way they wished: on themselves, their houses or to continue their education. Each of them was grateful for his generosity and thanked and hugged or kissed them both.

When he handed me an envelope, I was dumbfounded, and didn't respond immediately. After waiting for a few seconds, he encouraged me to open it. Inside I found a check made out for $20,000. He told me this was not for the foundation, but for me to use to take the boys on mini-trips or to put toward our next summer vacation. I told him I would do that and thanked both of them for everything, especially their generosity to my family, and for helping us to establish the Foundation. If there truly were a Santa Claus this Christmas, it would have to have been John and Margaret Spence.

Once all of the presents were opened and all the wrapping paper had been picked up and put in trash bags, Nick and Kevin ran upstairs to get their guitars. When they returned, we all sang along with the Christmas carols the boys played for us, which made the day even more special. I was mildly surprised by how well each boy did, while also noticing Nick was playing the actual notes for the various songs, while Kevin was strumming out the chords. They must have practiced very hard together, to be ready to do this for us.

Around 10:00 I received a phone call, which was very surprising since I thought everyone was here with us, but it was from Mark. He and his mother were calling to wish us all a Merry Christmas and to thank us for our Christmas present to them and tell me how much they had enjoyed spending the time together. You see, I had purchased Mark a plane ticket and arranged for him to fly home and spend the holiday with his mother, telling him it was our Christmas present to the two of them. I told them they were very welcome and then chatted with them for a while, before some of the older boys pestered me about being able to talk to Mark and his mother too. Once they were finished, I took the phone back from them and talked to Mark a little while longer, before I said my final good-bye to them. It was definitely a nice surprise.

Christmas dinner was equally as wonderful and enjoyable. I took care of the turkeys and ham again, while everyone else prepared their best/favorite dish to go along with it. It was a huge success and featured the very best everyone had to offer. The Japanese grandparents got a good helping of American home cooking and an indication of how the holidays were celebrated here.

I might have forgotten to mention this earlier, but they were also given numerous Christmas gifts from the others, ranging from special portraits of their two grandsons, tickets for them and their grandsons to go to both a symphony concert and a musical while they were here, in addition to some special chocolate candies and petit fours and a collection of American Express gift checks, so they could buy their own souvenirs to remind them of their American Christmas vacation. They were quite thrilled with the variety of gifts, but a bit embarrassed they had not purchased anything for everyone else. After an explanation from the rest of us that it wasn't expected and we certainly didn't lack for gifts, they finally relented and said they would make it up to us when we visited them, and they'd be happy to host the others too, if they ever made it to Japan. That was the best present from them that any of us could have asked for.

Due to the fact that Christmas had been on Monday this year, my older children had to leave the next day, to return to their jobs, but my grandsons stayed behind. Their parents would be rejoining us the following weekend to welcome in the New Year and the boys would go back home with them then.

The Lawrences and the O'Hara's had both spoken to me, between Thanksgiving and their arrival for Christmas, and told me they'd like to take a week of vacation and spend it with us over the holidays, if we didn't mind. After assuring all of them I'd be happy to have them spend the entire holiday with us, both couples announced to everyone else that they would be staying through New Year's. Both sets of grandparents were also planning to spend that entire period with us as well, so I quickly began making plans for one very special New Year's Eve celebration.

Chapter 4
A Baltimore surprise

The week between Christmas and New Year's was quite hectic and passed by quickly. Not only were the boys busy enjoying their new presents, as well as getting to enjoy some of their brothers' new presents too, but the Spences, Yamadas, O'Haras and Lawrences were also spending time getting to know all of them even better. At the same time, the adults, especially the Spences and myself, were busy overseeing the work of setting up our charity. By the end of the week, all of the necessary tasks to establish the Foundation had been almost totally completed, so Mr. Spence began making arrangements for the money to be transferred, just as soon as we were ready for it.

Also during this time, a big holiday wrestling tournament was taking place and Dustin and Cole were each competing in it. I had to take them down early that morning to get weighed in, so I dropped them off with their coach and teammates and then a group of us drove down to watch them compete later. I think those who had never seen them in action were quite impressed, especially with Dustin's performance. Not only did he defeat each of his opponents, he pinned most of them, on his way to becoming the tournament winner in his weight class.

Cole did well too, winning each of his contests, up until the finals. During that match, he injured his shoulder while trying to make a move and that hampered his performance throughout the remaining two periods. He ended up losing on points, but it was still very close, and all of the boys told him he would have won, if he hadn't sustained that freak injury. Even Dustin congratulated him and told him how well he'd done, which seemed to mean more to Cole than everything else combined.

Now that the wrestling tournament was behind us, the reporters and photographers began to show up and started taking notes and snapping pictures. They took quite a few shots of my family, including some of the Spences with my boys, in order to show the benefactors with the group that had inspired them. Both reporters took very detailed notes on the Spences' life histories and what motivated them to make such a large gift. John and Margaret were very honest and open and concluded by saying they 'hoped to allow other children to enjoy the love and support that my boys had received since coming to live with me.' During his interview, Nick even told them how we had helped him and about how we also helped the family from Arizona.

After learning about this new bunch, the reporters asked if they could contact them, to see if they could add their experience to this story. I told them I'd have to call them first, to see how they felt about it, but I would let them know just as soon as I did. Nick was thrilled when the family agreed to participate, since he was the reason we'd run across them in the first place, so his involvement would get mentioned accordingly.

We also got to give our input as to how we would like to see the article slanted (more toward the charity than about our family) and both reporters said they would send us a copy of their story via email, so we could peruse it and give them our comments, before they submitted it to their editors. We thanked them for their time, effort and cooperation, before they were on their way.

There was still one additional surprise the boys didn't know about. When I had talked to Mark about spending Christmas with his mother, I'd also mentioned the Foundation and the possible position for him and he seemed very interested in it. After making a suggestion and having him talk it over with his mother, he agreed to fly out after Christmas, so the other members of the Board could meet him. He would spend the remainder of his winter break with us, so he could meet the CFO and spend some time with him learning his new job. It also meant he'd be there to participate in our New Year's celebration as well. This way, not only would the trip offer him a chance to gain some professional experience, but it would also give him time to party with us and spend some quality time with the boys. I was picking him up at the end of the week, but I only told the boys the day before. Danny and Brandon were very excited to hear about this little surprise, although the rest of the boys seemed eager to see Mark too.

Mark flew into Baltimore on the Friday before New Year's, so I'd be home on the weekend and have some time to relax before the big celebration. Danny and Brandon had asked to go with me, so they joined me in the Grand AM to go pick Mark up. I don't know why I happened to have him fly in and out of Baltimore, because we'd never used that particular airport before, but I think it had something to do with the timing of the flights. It wasn't a problem, since it was about the same distance away as either Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, and it did give us another option for any future trips.

The rest of the family stayed at home, with the older boys in charge, as I had promised. It was a somewhat boring trip, but Mark was excited to see us, so that made it all worthwhile. Mark eagerly hugged all three of us and thanked us for thinking of him like this. I gave much of the credit for this to the boys, telling him it was their idea to utilize his talents, but he said he also knew that it wouldn't have happened without my backing. He also thanked me again for flying him home for Christmas and then supplying him with the airline ticket to fly here and then back to college. I told him it was our pleasure, before we went off to collect his luggage.

While we were waiting, an announcement was made stating there would be a slight delay in getting the baggage from his flight to the carousel. Undaunted by the news, we left that area and went to get a drink at the snack bar, until the airlines got things squared away. By the time we got back, Mark's suitcase was the only one coming around the carousel, which seemed to indicate everyone else had picked up their luggage and Mark's bag had been aimlessly riding the carousel for who knows how long. Almost as soon as Mark verified the suitcase was his, Danny grabbed it for him and carried it out to the car. He stored it in the trunk and then we set off on the long ride back. The boys let Mark ride up front, with me.

There were no major highways between Baltimore and our home, unless we wanted to go the long way around, so we traveled some of the older state and county roads. We were tooling along, laughing and having a great time, when Brandon yelled for me to stop. I slammed on the brake and then asked him what was wrong. He then informed me that he wanted me to stop so we could pick up the young boy who was hitchhiking - the one we had just passed. I told him I hadn't considered doing that, since we had a full car and there really wasn't any room for him, but Brandon quickly responded the boy could sit in the back, with Danny and him. He suggested they would squeeze together and give the kid enough space to be comfortable. Once Danny agreed, I gave in to his request and started backing up. When the boy saw what I was doing, he began running in our direction. We met him part way.

The kid was a little on the dirty side, but it didn't hide the fact that he was cute. I imagine that's why Brandon had screamed for me to stop. I was wondering what Danny was thinking about the situation, but I could also see him eyeing the boy out of the rear and side windows, just like his boyfriend. The kid appeared to be about 5' 7", had blond hair, blue eyes and an athletic build, which meant he was muscular, but not overly so. The boy ran up to the car and quickly looked inside.

"I can give you a ride, if you don't mind squeezing into the back seat with my boys," I told him. He eyed Danny and Brandon and then grinned.

"That would be fine," he announced.

"Let me put your things in the trunk first," I suggested, while getting out. "It will make your ride less cramped." He agreed, threw his things in the trunk and then moved around to the side again and started to enter.

"I'll sit in the middle, 'cuz I'm smaller," he suggested, as a way of justifying his move, but I don't think either Danny or Brandon were about to complain.

"Where are you headed?" I asked, trying to figure out what he was doing hitchhiking on a mostly deserted stretch of highway.

"Oh, as far as you're going," he responded casually, not giving me any more information than he needed to. However, I wasn't about to let that answer go.

"But where exactly are you going?" I asked, pressing the issue. "It's possible that we're going farther than you'd wish to travel."

"I doubt that," he replied, still being cryptic and mysterious about his destination.

"Where are you coming from?" Brandon asked him, since he saw I was becoming a little annoyed with the boy's evasiveness.

"Baltimore," the kid stated, succinctly.

"Really, us too," Brandon informed him. "We just picked our friend up at the airport there." Even though Brandon was excited about the coincidence, the information didn't seem to faze the boy and he didn't respond.

"What's your name?" Mark asked him, figuring possibly the young man might respond to him.

"Brent," was all the kid said.

"How old are you, Brent?" Mark continued, as he tried to learn more about him. The boy hesitated before he answered.

"Fourteen. Why?" he shot back, acting worried. I think he thought we were getting a little too personal.

"Just wondering. I didn't mean anything by it," Mark told him, trying to assuage his concerns.

Analyzing everything that had gone on up to this point, Danny summed up the situation and decided it might help to tell the kid about us. First he introduced us all, and then he gave him the short version of how we became a family. The boy instantly became interested in what he heard and started asking questions of his own.

"You adopted all of those boys?" he asked me, surprised, after hearing the tale about our family. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Because they needed someplace to go where it was safe and stable, and I was able provide that for them," I explained. "Besides, I knew I would enjoy their company too." Brent looked at me and took a few minutes to think about my response before he said anything more.

"Are you still adopting boys?" he asked, quite bluntly.

"I guess that would depend on the situation," I replied, "but I would never turn down a boy who needed my help. In fact, we have just started a Foundation to help children in need to find good homes or help their parents to be able to provide for them adequately."

He thought about what I had just told him and I felt he was considering something more. "What if it were me?" he asked, after a few minutes of thought.

"I can't answer that without knowing more about you and your family situation," I responded, hoping that might help to loosen his tongue. "I can't make a wise decision without having all the necessary facts to base it upon. I get a great deal of satisfaction from assisting boys who truly need my help, but I also try not to be used by those who have merely had a minor squabble with their parents or are just rebellious."

He hung his head and thought about it some more. "I'm not like that and I'll tell you all about me, if you're really gonna help me. But I don't want to tell you all of that if you're just gonna say no."

"I'd never say no without a good reason," I explained, "and even if I decided I wouldn't be able to do anything for you myself, I would try to find other ways to help you instead."

"But I'm not sure I'd want those other choices," he almost whined, "but I do think I'd like to see what it's like at your place."

"Well, why don't you tell us about yourself, while I continue driving toward home," I suggested, "and then I'll be able to give you some choices."

A strange expression came over Brent's face, which expressed the fear and uncertainty he was feeling. He quickly studied the reflection of my face in the rear-view mirror, before deciding on his next course of action. Having finally made up his mind, he spoke. "I don't think I'm ready to tell everyone in the car, but I'll tell you, if we can find a way to talk alone."

I gave him a reassuring smile and nodded. "I'll tell you what. We could all probably use something to eat, so what if I stopped somewhere, then you and I could sit alone and discuss this further?"

Brent looked suddenly relieved, like he had finally found someone who understood him. Feeling better about his current situation, he flashed a small grin and answered. "Yeah, that would work."

We drove a little farther before I found some place that looked acceptable. It was a small diner that from the outside appeared to be clean and not too busy, so I eased into the parking lot. Once we were inside, I had the other boys sit in one booth, while Brent and I went to another booth farther down. We made ourselves comfortable, looked over the menu, decided what we wanted to eat and gave the waitress our order. Once that had been taken care of, I finally spoke. "Are you ready to tell me now?"

"Are you sure you aren't going to turn on me because of what I have to say?" he asked, and I could almost read the fear in his eyes.

"Believe me, I've heard almost everything imaginable from my sons," I assured him. "You wouldn't believe some of the stories they told me about the way they were treated before they came to live with me, so don't worry. I won't hate you because of what others have done to you."

Brent thought for a minute before he replied. "But what if it's something about me… something you don't like?"

"Maybe I can offer you some reassurance," I announced, in as soft a tone as I could manage. "I don't dislike people for who or what they are. My boys are from different races, different religions, different backgrounds and even have different sexual preferences, but I love them all equally."

Brent seemed to pick up on something I had said and a shocked look came over his face. "Do you mean some of your sons are gay?" he asked, incredulously.

"Yes, some of them like boys, while others like girls and some don't seem to care which sex they date," I informed him, having guessed this might be the issue he had been referring to.

"And that doesn't… well… um… bother you?" he stammered.

"No! Should it?" I asked, while giving him a wink.

"I don't think it should, but it does bother a lot of people," he explained. "They don't think boys should like other boys that way."

"I know some people feel that way," I agreed, "but I also know many people feel they didn't have a choice in how they feel or which sex they're attracted to. Is that why you ran away?"

"I didn't tell you that I ran away," he shot back, looking scared again.

"I think that fact was pretty obvious," I informed him. "Why else would you be out hitchhiking on such a desolate strip of highway? Now, do you want to tell me WHY you ran away?"

Brent looked a little embarrassed that I had figured out his situation and let his head droop toward the table. After a few seconds, he finally answered. "My mom and dad found out I was gay and tried to change me. When that didn't work and I continued to want to be with other boys, they told me I had to leave. They said they weren't about to have any fairies living under their roof." He hung his head again and I could see the tears streaking down his cheeks, so I wanted to make sure he knew I understood his situation and didn't feel the same way.

"I'm really sorry to hear that," I began. "I don't understand how parents can treat their children that way. If you don't mind me asking, how did they find out you were gay? Did they catch you with another boy?"

"No, nothing like that," he quickly countered, with a look of surprise. "It was just my stupidity that got me busted. I was going to join the Gay-Straight Alliance at my school, so one of my counselors asked me if I was gay. Foolishly, I told her I was. Then she asked me if anyone knew about that and I told her only a couple of my best friends. She asked directly if my parents knew I was gay and I told her no, so that's when she began insisting I tell them. I explained that I wasn't ready to do it just yet and she questioned me about why I didn't want them to find out. After explaining my reasons to her, she told me she strongly disagreed with my arguments, but I told her I wasn't going to change my mind. Later that night, she called my house and told them herself."

"That's unbelievable!" I exclaimed. "She had no right to breech your confidence that way."

"I didn't think so either," Brent nearly sobbed, "but now my father knew about it and I wasn't sure what was going to happen next. At first he wasn't too bad or very upset, but he did tell me he was going to send me away to one of those camps where they'd fix me. That actually happened the week before our Thanksgiving break. Since I didn't see anything wrong with the way I was, I didn't cooperate with the people running the camp, so things got very bad. They treated me awful, made all kinds of threats and made my stay there a living hell. Eventually, they gave up and sent me back home, telling my parents I was a hopeless case. That's when my father really got angry.

"He started swearing and screaming at me, saying I was a sick and disgusting pervert. After he did that for a few minutes, he yanked off his belt and started whipping me with it. I think he might have killed me if I hadn't managed to slip away from him and run out of the house. He followed me out the front door and kept screaming at me, telling me that I was never to come back, because I wasn't welcome there any longer."

"That sounds absolutely awful," I commiserated, "but maybe he's calmed down since then and changed his mind."

"No way!" Brent almost screamed, drawing some attention to us, before he calmed down again. Once Brent felt the other customers and employees were no longer staring at us, he continued. "I called him the next night to see if I could come back home, and he told me he no longer had a son and that he never wanted to hear from me again. I cried all night after I hung up. I always loved my dad, so I couldn't understand why he no longer loved me?"

"I think he still does," I suggested, "but he's confused and unable to cope with such things. What about your mother? Does she feel the same way?"

"Uh huh," he answered, sounding like a frightened little kid. "The next day, I called her where she worked and she told me never to call her again. She said she was ashamed to have a fag for a son and would help my dad beat me to a pulp, if they ever saw me again."

I thought this might just be their misguided attempt at 'tough love,' as they tried to let their son know he wasn't welcome back until he was willing to change, but it evidently backfired.

Brent was really sobbing now, so I led him back to the men's room to allow him to wash his face and calm down. I said everything I could think of to reassure him, but it took some time before he was ready to go back out. By the time we returned to the booth, our food was already waiting for us, so I told him we'd eat first, before we continued. This would give him some time to regain his composure and enjoy the food. Besides, I didn't want his meal to get cold or him to choke on it, due to his agitated state. However, he only took a few bites of his meal before he continued telling me his story. I didn't stop him, because it seemed very important for him to clear the air.

"I waited around the neighborhood for about a week, hoping my parents might change their mind," he whispered. "I slept wherever I could and ate whatever food my friends could sneak out to me, and then I tried to call home again, but the same thing happened. The next day, I slipped into my house and packed up as many of my things as I could. By this point, I had already decided to run away, but knew I would need some of my clothes and other stuff, or I wouldn't get very far. I was almost done loading up my backpack and duffel bag, when my mom passed by my room and saw me. I thought she'd be working later than that and hadn't heard her come home early. I guess she was heading for her own room to rest, after coming home sick. She started screaming at me and then slapped me, before she ran to her room to phone the police. I heard her tell them she wanted me arrested for breaking and entering and for stealing from them. I grabbed everything I had packed and got the hell out of there. I hid out for two more days, until I felt the cops were no longer watching for me, and then I started walking and hitchhiking. That was yesterday, but you can see I haven't gotten very far.'

"Did you have any particular destination in mind?" I asked him.

"Not really. I just took the first road I could hitch a ride on," he replied.

"Wasn't that person suspicious, when you didn't tell him where you were going?" I pressed.

"But I did tell him," he explained. "I told him I was heading to the next town to visit my grandparents. He dropped me off there, in front of a house that I pointed out to him, and then I pretended to go up to the front door as he drove off. As soon as he was out of sight, I went back to the road and started walking and hitching again."

"That's quite a story and I'm sorry you had to go through that," I told him, as I placed a hand over one of his. "You don't have to worry now, because I'm not about to leave you here alone. Would you like to go home with us and give me some time to see what I can do to help you?"

"Would you really do that?" he asked, excitedly.

"Of course I would, if that's what you want," I assured him. "I won't make any promises other than we'll make sure you're well taken care of and safe." I squeezed his hand gently, so he knew I meant it, and he began bouncing in his seat.

"That would be great!" he exclaimed. "I won't need much and I can sleep on the couch or even on the floor. I won't eat much either and I'll take care of myself. I'll help with the chores and I won't cause any problems for you…" I cut him off.

"Whoa, slow down there, champ. Why don't you just enjoy your meal and we'll talk about the rest of the details later."

"Will I have to tell the others about all of this?" he asked, looking concerned.

"Not if you don't want to, but they've all been in situations as bad or worse than your own," I explained. "I know they'd understand and not think badly of you because of what happened, but it's your decision."

"You really think they'd be okay if they knew everything?" he pressed, still looking worried.

"I do, but I'll let you get to know them first and then you can decide for yourself," I suggested.

"They're not going to be upset that I wouldn't tell them what I told you, will they?" he wanted to know.

"No, they understand that everyone needs privacy and there are some things people don't feel comfortable sharing with strangers. They won't even give it a second thought." He nodded his head in understanding and went back to his meal. Now that he felt a little more relaxed, he attacked his food like he hadn't eaten in a while. When we were finished, I paid the bills for both tables and we squeezed back into the car.

Chapter 5
Brent

Brent started talking to Danny and Brandon after we left the restaurant, and the boys were telling him more about our family. They also told him how we had met Mark and why he had come to visit. Mark also joined into this conversation and added his slant on what our family was like. He explained to Brent that shortly after we'd met him, we offered to take him with us while sightseeing around the Grand Canyon, so he joined us and had a great time. Then he added how we've continued to help him out since that time and how close he felt to all of us. I guess hearing Mark's comments gave Brent a little boost of confidence and was enough to convinced him he could confide in us, because the next thing I knew, he was telling them the whole story about what happened with his parents. Danny and Brandon both hugged him and tried to comfort him, and I could also see that Brent was enjoying the contact more than on just an emotional level.

Once the ice was broken, the boys talked and joked around during the rest of the ride home. The trip took a couple more hours after we resumed our journey, and it was late when we pulled into the old homestead. Brent looked at the house and concluded it didn't look very big, but I think he changed his mind about that, once he was inside. That's the thing about our place. The exterior appearance can be quite deceiving.

The younger boys were already in bed by the time we got there, but some of the older boys were still downstairs when we came in. They were happy to greet us, but weren't expecting any other company besides Mark. After introducing Brent to those present, the next thing I had to do was to figure out what to do with Brent for the night. The Spences were still here and using my room, while Sammy and Andrew's Japanese grandparents, the O'Haras and the Lawrences were occupying several of the other bedrooms. I was sleeping on the sofa, and Pat was going to let Mark have his bedroom after the others left and until he went back to college, so most of the rooms were filled with our guests. On top of that, some of my older children would be coming back tomorrow to celebrate the New Year, so the boys were already going to be utilizing the family and recreation rooms and sleeping on the floor for the time being.

In addition to the current situation, I was also thinking ahead to what we were going to do after our guests returned to their homes. Pat had already agreed to let Dustin bunk in with him again, until Mark left, and that meant all the rooms would still be full. Of course I could have Dustin remain in with Pat, if they were both agreeable, which would leave the old computer room bedroom for Brent. That might work, but I'd have a lot of convincing to do before that was settled.

I quietly pulled a few of the boys aside, so we could discuss how we were going to handle the current billeting dilemma. It was during that time when Brent came up behind us and overheard some our conversation. However, he didn't see the situation the same way we did.

"No. I'm not going to take someone else's bed and you don't have to move anyone around to fit me in," he stated, emphatically. "I can sleep on the couch or on the floor."

"Well, you might just have to do that, until our company leaves," I admitted, "but once they're gone, we'll do some rearranging and make room for you. I've been sleeping on the sofa-bed while our guests have been here, but I'd be happy to let you have it until the others leave."

"I don't want anyone to have to give up their room or you to give up the sofa-bed for me," he reiterated. After saying that, he hesitated before he spoke again. "What if I just slept on the sofa-bed with you?" he asked, casually. "That is, if it's big enough and you don't mind." He didn't look at any of us while he said this, and glanced off to the side and down at the floor.

"Whatever you'd be most comfortable with," I told him. "We do things like this all the time, giving up our rooms to our houseguests. We did it over Christmas and we'll be continuing the process through the New Year holiday."

"That's fine, but I'll either sleep on the sofa-bed with you or on the floor," he emphasized, restating his position. "Which should I do?"

"You're not sleeping on the floor on your first night here, so that option is out," I challenged. "You're a guest in our home and guests get priority treatment."

"It doesn't bother me. Really!" he added. "It's more than I've had the past few weeks. I'm just thankful the weather wasn't bad."

Suddenly it hit me. In a flash, I realized something I hadn't considered before. Brent had been kicked out of his house prior to Christmas and had spent the holiday on his own. He never got a chance to celebrate, received any presents or enjoyed a wonderful family meal. Now, I felt even worse about his situation.

During the interim, Danny had gone upstairs and brought down two pillows, two sheets and two blankets. Once he returned, Brandon and he inflated the air mattress that we used on the sofa-bed, since it wasn't comfortable to sleep on it without one. Slowly, they set everything up and got it ready for us to use. They are always so helpful and thoughtful like that.

While the boys were setting up our sleeping area, some of the other boys gave Brent a quick tour of the house, showing him the important things, like where the toilets were. Once they brought him back to the living room, I sent Brent to shower, before he went to sleep. When he finished his shower, I gave him a quick once over and noticed he hadn't done a very good job at washing up. He was still dirty around the back of his neck, ears and parts of the underside of his arms, so I sent him back to try again and told him if he needed any help to just let us know. He wasn't at all happy about this, since he thought I was treating him like a little kid, but he went back in and this time came out clean.

Brent was currently standing in the living room with a towel wrapped around his waist, digging through his belongings. Seeing him rummaging through his dirty things, I suggested it would be a good time to pull them out, so we could wash them in the morning. As he pulled out the filthy items, I left the room and allowed him his privacy, but he quickly came out looking for me.

"Aren't you going to sleep in there too?" he asked.

"Yes, but I didn't want you to think I was gawking at you while you were changing," I replied. Slowly, a grin crept over his face.

"Hey, I'll bet you've seen your boys like that and I've got the same equipment they have," he joked.

"True, but I wasn't sure you were ready to display it yet," I teased back. "You can have all the privacy you want here, even if we are a bit crowded. You certainly don't have to worry about that."

"I wasn't," he admitted, before letting the subject drop.

Once we returned to the living room, I asked him what he felt comfortable sleeping in, as I was sure the boys could dig up something for him to wear, if he needed something he didn't have with him. However, he quickly informed me that he usually slept in his underwear at home, so that's what he would do here. I told him that would be fine and tucked him in and said good night, after the rest of the boys had gone to bed themselves. While Brent was getting comfortable, I took his dirty clothes to the laundry room, so someone could throw them in with the other things that needed to be laundered tomorrow.

Once I'd finished that task, I went to the dining room and sat down at the table, so I could think about what I was going to do with this kid. I hadn't been there very long before he came walking in to join me, seemingly not caring that he was only in his underwear.

"Aren't you coming to bed?" he asked, looking a bit confused.

"Yes, I was just sitting here doing some thinking," I explained. "Are you having trouble sleeping?"

"Kind of. This place has its own set of noises, but it's not that," he responded. "It's just that I keep thinking about my parents. I guess talking about them tonight has kinda gotten to me."

I got up and walked over to him, put my arm over his shoulder, turned out the light and guided him back to the living room. I shut the door behind us, walked over to turned-down my side of the sofa-bed and sat down. While he watched what I was up to, I pulled the covers back on the side closest to him and indicated he should get in. He flashed me a grin and quickly slid in next to me.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked him, referring to his recent thoughts about his family.

"Maybe," he hinted, although he did not continue. However, I didn't pressure him and merely waited until he was ready to continue. Instead of speaking, he turned his head into my chest and began to cry. "Why can't my parents love me like you do your boys? Am I so awful that they don't even want me around any more?"

I tried to calm him down and reassure him. "It's not you," I said soothingly, "it's them. They can't deal with things that don't match up with their long held beliefs. You are different and don't fit into what they see as normal, so they resort to displaying the hatred that has been ingrained in them. It's not your fault and you shouldn't blame yourself for their stupidity and prejudices. Don't dwell on the past, but think about the present. You're here, where you're safe and loved. You don't have to worry any longer, because we won't turn you out into the cold."

His body shook as he continued to weep, so I wrapped both arms around him and squeezed tightly. We stayed like that until he calmed down. Once he regained his composure and was ready to go to sleep, I quickly shed my pants and shirt, staying just in my underwear too. Then I moved in beside him again and slid my arm around his shoulders and squeezed his body into mine. I wanted to let him know that he was safe and everything would be fine from here on out.

As he began to relax, we both lay back and got comfortable, but I still held on to him and let him know he wasn't alone. He moved his body tightly against mine, relaxed some more and soon drifted off. Even though he was asleep, I continued to hold him, but I also kissed his forehead, before I also gave into my exhaustion.

We must have spent the whole night that way, because he was still in my arms the next morning when I awoke. I came to first and didn't want to wake him, so I just lay there and watched him, until I saw his eyes flutter open. He was startled when he first looked around, not immediately remembering where he was, but then he looked at me, smiled and sighed.

"I was almost afraid this was all just a dream," he said, after a minute or so. "I think that's the best I've slept in a very long time."

"Me too," I told him, even though I hadn't really slept very long. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, but I rather stay like this for a while longer, if it's okay with you." He looked into my eyes, gave me the sweetest smile, and I melted into his angelic countenance.

"Of course it is," I assured him. As we lay there, I continued to study him, wondering what was going through his mind. "A penny for your thoughts," I finally whispered, when I thought the moment was right.

"What?" he asked, looking confused. Either he hadn't heard what I'd said or had never run across that expression before.

"A penny for your thoughts," I repeated.

"What does that mean?" he asked, looking me straight in the eye.

"It means that I was wondering what you were thinking about," I explained, which evoked a sudden understanding from him.

He kind of blushed, but then he answered. "I was thinking about how lucky I was that you picked me up yesterday…" but then he hesitated. "And I was thinking how I liked lying here with you like this," he added, blushing even more.

"Hey, I'm enjoying it too," I told him. "My boys like to sleep with me like this from time to time, if only to make sure that I still care about them or feel that I'm here for them.

"My dad would never have done this with me," he confided. "He would have told me being this close to another guy was queer and would have called me a fag if I'd even suggested it."

"Well, it's different here, so don't worry about it," I assured him.

"Yeah, it is different here and I like it this way," Brent agreed. After a moment of hesitation, he continued. "Am I going to be able to stay here?"

"I can't give you a definite answer to that question just yet," I told him, "but today I'll contact a couple of my friends and get the ball rolling, to see if we can get you squared away."

"What do you mean by that?" he wondered, looking a little scared about what I might be suggesting.

"I mean, they're both good friends of mine and one is a social worker, while the other is a judge. Sally, the social worker, will know what to do to get custody of you and Steve, the judge, will be able to advise me how to do it without breaking the law. We may have to start legal proceedings against your parents for child abandonment, since they threw you out of their house. How would you feel about that?"

He looked at me and I could see the wheels turning in his head. Finally, he spoke what was on his mind. "Do you think we should do that? I don't want to have to face them again, like in court or anything. They always make people think that everything's my fault. And I don't want them telling everyone that I'm a rotten, cock-sucking fag. My dad will do that, you know."

"My friends know how to handle things like that and will try to make it as easy on you as they can. Usually, we just end up making a few threats about legal action and then the adults realize they could be in serious trouble and do whatever we ask them, as long as it isn't too unreasonable. I'll work with both my friends, so you won't have to face your parents again, if you don't want to. Most likely we can work this out without getting you directly involved, but there is still a slim chance that this will go to court and the judge will want you there. It won't be my friend the judge, since he has to refuse to handle any cases involving his family and friends, but we'll do everything we can to prevent it from going that far."

"Yes, please. I don't know if I could handle seeing them again," Brent admitted. "They really scare me now."

"I'll do everything I can to prevent it, but like I said, there will always be that slim chance."

"Okay, I trust you," he admitted, which in itself seemed remarkable to me, since he hadn't known me for very long. "Just do what you have to do, so I don't have to go back there or be near them on my own. I think they'd kill me, especially if they think I'd caused them to get into trouble."

"I'll make sure the judge knows that too, if it should get that far," I agreed. "For right now, however, I don't want you to worry about that. Come on. Let's get up and get something to eat. I can hear your stomach growling."

He laughed at that comment. "Yeah, I wondered if you heard it. I wasn't sure anyone but me could pick up on that. Okay, let's go eat then, because I want to get to know the other boys too."

He got up and walked toward my door, as I got out of the other side of the sofa bed. As I started to walk around toward the door, he walked toward me and threw his arms around my middle-age paunch. He then put his head against my chest and hugged me for all he was worth. I bent my head down slightly and kissed the top of his head.

"Thank you for everything," he said at last. "I think I'm really going to like being here."

Chapter 6
Celebrating the New Year

Later in the day we met with Sally and told her Brent's story. She immediately informed us she had a very good friend who worked in Baltimore and would be happy to contact her about the situation. This woman held the same job Sally did here, so she would be in a position to decide which, if any, laws had been broken, as well as being able to suggest the best course of action for us to follow. Brent seemed relieved that Sally hadn't suggested he should go back to Baltimore or be placed somewhere else for the time being, because that had been a major fear for him, up until now.

Once we returned home, he went off with some of the other boys, after they offered to show him around the area. I think they suggested it to distract him from his situation, but Brent seemed to like the idea. I also encouraged him to go with the others, since I still had quite a few things to do in order to get ready for our New Year's Eve celebration, which would be held later the next evening.

I was busy performing these tasks when Sally called me about an hour later, asking if we could talk privately. After shutting the door to my room, I assured her we could, since I didn't expect the boys to come back for a while.

"Josh, are you sure you can take in another boy?" she asked, concerned.

"I'm not sure," I told her, honestly. "I have been thinking a great deal about that very thing and hoped the foundation might have some leads on other options."

"I'm afraid not, Josh," she offered, and I could hear the regret in her voice. I figured she had been giving this some consideration too, since we last talked. "We haven't developed enough contacts yet," she added, "but hopefully that will change after those articles hit the newsstand. For the time being, all we have are the regular foster homes and the four-county group home."

"I know Brent is counting on staying with us, but we are pretty full," I lamented, while being torn between my desire to help this kid, and the reality that my plate, as well as my house, was pretty full. "Sally, I won't let him go somewhere else, unless I am convinced it is a better situation for him," I added. "I really like him, but I don't even have a spare bed any more, especially with Mark here for a couple of weeks and knowing he'll be returning for the summer. I really don't know what to do, but I won't let that young man down."

"Easy, Josh. I'm on your side and I understand" Sally commiserated. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot, but I have to know what I'm supposed to tell my friend about him. Do I need to have her try to find a place for him, do you want me to look around for something or is he going to be staying there?"

"He'll stay with us, for now," I stated, adamantly, "but you and your counterpart can also look around to see if you can find something better for him. Do you think that suggestion will be acceptable? If not, how soon do you need a definite answer from me? I'd like a little more time to consider my options and see what other ideas I might be able to come up with."

"Look, we probably wouldn't be able to start an investigation into his case until the third, so that will give you a couple of days to think about it and make up your mind. Why don't you call me on the second and let me know what you decide."

"You ARE still planning to be there tomorrow night, though? Aren't you?" I pressed.

"Yes, I wouldn't miss it for the world," she assured me. "I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again, but I'd prefer not to spend the night talking shop. I'm looking forward to having some fun then. I've even set my dancing shoes out, if you don't mind cutting the rug with me once in a while. We can wait to discuss this matter further on the second and then you can tell me what you've decided."

"Deal, and I'll bring my dancing shoes too," I added, to let her know she wasn't the only one planning on having a little fun that evening. "I'm looking forward to taking a spin or two around the dance floor with you too." Sally giggled like a schoolgirl before we said our good-byes. I really did like Sally, just not in a sexual way, but I certainly wouldn't mind dancing with her. After all, some of the boys had invited dates and I'm sure they, Steve and Mary Shay, Patrick and Brenda O'Hara, Mike and Julie Lawrence, Howard and Audrey Curtis (Jay's parents, who were joining us too), John and Margaret Spence and many of the other patrons there will also be on the dance floor. Why not let my hair down a little, so to speak?

When the boys came back in, we settled in and spent the rest of the day together. We all spent time with Brent, getting to know him better and making him feel comfortable, while making sure we didn't ignore our other guests either. Over the course of the day, my older children started showing up again and their sons were just as happy to see them as the rest of us.

That evening we had a relaxed family dinner at home, since tomorrow we'd be going out and painting the town. Everyone seemed fine with that and it gave us a little more time to spend together and do whatever we wished.

The next day seemed to pass by quickly, not only because of the anticipation of the festivities ahead, but it was also the real start to the new millennium. Sure, most people welcomed the year 2000 that way, but they were wrong. That was actually the final year of the old millennium, since the first year was the year one, not the year zero.

As the afternoon rolled around, I suggested that everyone take a little nap, in order to make sure no one got tired and fell asleep before we welcomed in the New Year. Although not everyone was thrilled about this idea, especially my grandsons, we all did it anyway, including all of the adults. It was a nice change, before the hectic activities of the evening began.

Once the boys woke up from their naps, I started having them get cleaned up, as it was going to take a while to get everyone through the showers. Brent was surprised that I was taking everyone out to celebrate, because he assumed we'd entertain ourselves at home, since he thought it would cost too much to go someplace with this many people. However, after learning we weren't going to let the cost stop us from having a good time, he became excited about the prospect, since he'd never celebrated New Year's anywhere but at his home before. Some of the boys were going to lend him the clothes he would need for tonight, since he didn't bring anything of that nature with him, so he anxiously headed upstairs with them to get ready.

Of course, I had already suspected who might make the first move on him and I was right. Almost immediately, Nick asked him if he wanted to shower with him and Kevin, using the large shower in the upstairs bathroom. I think this initially shocked Brent, until he was told that the boys often took showers together to save time, so he accepted. I don't think Kevin knew anything about the offer until he found Brent in the bathroom with them, getting undressed. He told me later that Brent wasn't self-conscious at all and added that Brent had a cute circumcised dick.

Our reservations at the restaurant were for 6:00 and we didn't want to be late. Once we finished eating, we would go from there to the hotel ballroom to spend the remainder of the night. Over my mild objections, Mr. Spence and Mr. Lawrence insisted they weren't going to let me pay for the entire evening on my own, so we finally agreed to split both bills three ways. I thought it was extremely kind and generous of them to be willing to do that and I could tell they each felt it was extremely important that they share the expense.

The restaurant employees were very gracious when we arrived and the owner wasn't worried about losing money with us taking up a whole dining room by ourselves. They knew how the boys could pack away the food and that I always made sure to not only cover the bill, but added a generous gratuity as well, especially whenever they catered to us this way. They also knew we wouldn't tie the room up for any longer than necessary, which kept everyone happy. That and the excellent meals we had eaten there previously made this our favorite spot to entertain.

As always, the food was great, the conversation pleasant and all of the adults finally got to meet some of the boys' girlfriends. Even Danny and Brandon had brought their dates, but they looked far from being ecstatic about the situation. This led Brent to start asking me questions about various boys, but I quickly informed him we'd discuss those types of things later, in the privacy of our home. Somewhat disappointed, he did let it drop, and went to hang with Kevin, Nick, Trey, Dion, Cole and Graham.

The Lawrences had picked up Carlos again, although this time his mother couldn't join us, as she had to return to work before we could take them back. Throughout the night, Carlos shifted back and forth between the group Brent was with and Pat and his date. I knew he still felt closest to Pat, out of all of my sons, but he didn't want to become a third wheel and upset Pat either. Therefore, he'd visit with them for as long as he dared and then he'd go back to rejoin the other group for a while.

Nicky and Jordan, my grandsons, spent most of the evening with their parents, since their folks decided the other boys didn't need the little ones interfering with their good time. However, I think each of the boys went over and spent part of their evening with their nephews, keeping them happy and entertaining them long enough so their older siblings could also have some time alone and with each other too. Even the boys with girlfriends spent time with the little ones and I think the girls feel in love with those two little imps and were touched to see the tender sides of their dates. It all seemed to work out fairly well and everyone seemed happy.

Sammy and Andrew spent the evening staying close to their grandparents, who had also agreed to come with us for the festivities. Although this whole holiday scene was a drastic change for them, they wanted to be part of it and see what we did. I think it was also so they could spend more time with their grandsons. Sammy and Andrew never left them alone for very long, even when some of the adults were trying to get to know the Yamadas better. I think that the grandparents were very appreciative of Sammy and Andrew's attentiveness and the respect they were showing them by staying by their side.

Cole and Graham also had more than one hat to fill. They often left the other boys they were hanging out with, so they could also spend time alone with the Spences. This pleased John and Margaret to no end, knowing that pair felt a special bond to them, and they happily took the boys under their wings. It was very touching to watch them together and I knew all four of them were getting something important out of that relationship.

Brent also came over to spend some time with Sally or me, but it was apparent that he was quickly becoming inseparable with Nick, Kevin, Dion and Trey. I don't know what bound that group together, other than their sexual orientation, but I don't think it was based solely on physical attraction or sexual desires. Somehow, I think the boys discovered something else in common and I was relieved to see Brent wasn't being left out in the cold, especially after what he'd just gone through at home.

During the evening, I not only danced with Sally, but also took time to partner up with Mary Shay, Margaret Spence, Brenda O'Hara, Audrey Curtis, Julie Lawrence, my daughters and daughter-in-law. Not only that, but I even danced with Sammy and Andrew's grandmother, while Sally danced with their grandfather. Since they weren't used to this type of dancing, we made sure to do it when the band played a slow song and then we just kind of rocked back and forth in time to the music with them. They seemed to enjoy it and even danced with each other after that.

I also asked my daughters and daughter-in-law if they would be willing to ask Mark to dance too, a request that each seemed more than eager to comply with. At first, I think Mark was a little concerned about their husbands' reactions concerning this, but once he discovered they were cool with the idea, he let himself go. I think he enjoyed being able to do something other than sit around and chat with the boys, but I also noticed he later asked some the other women with us to join him for a whirl around the dance floor.

The boys danced some of the dances with their dates, but the couples spent a lot of time huddled together at one end of the table just talking and carrying on like typical teens. After I finished one of my dances, I happened to notice that Trey and Dion were not with the rest of their group, but didn't immediately worry about not seeing them. I figured they had either gone to the restroom together or out to get a breath of fresh air. I let their absence pass for several more minutes, but when they didn't return, I thought I'd better check and see what they were up to.

When I inquired as to their whereabouts, the other three weren't sure where they had gone, since neither of them had said anything. Beginning to panic, I looked around the room again, but still didn't locate them. Seeing I needed to head to the men's room anyway, I figured I'd check to see if they were there, and when I didn't see them taking care of other needs there, I did start to become more than a little concerned. This was a holiday and there were a lot of people about, and my anxiety increased thinking about what types of things might happen to them. After all, we'd had one such incident with Andrew already.

Still trying to remain calm, I began walking the perimeter of the room, to see if I could locate them. I looked at everyone and checked everyplace I could. I was nearly finished with my walk about the ballroom when the band started playing another slow tune, and that's when I noticed some movement behind a curtain covering one of the archways leading to another area. I wasn't sure what was behind there, so I cautiously peeked through a small gap where the curtains had been pulled together. As I peered through to the other side, I discovered Trey and Dion were using this small alcove as their own, private ballroom. They were slowly swaying to the music, with their cheeks pressed against each other and their eyes closed, enjoying something they felt wasn't allowed in public. They were using the curtain to block others from seeing what they were up to and enjoying the privacy this small area afforded them.

I sneaked away from there before either of them noticed my presence, content with what I saw. I thought it best to let them enjoy their time alone and not intrude on this tender moment. While slipping away, I thought back upon the conversations I had with Trey previously, when he'd complained about not being able to go to the school dances with Dion. I guess he had finally found his own solution to that problem and I was happy for them.

Quietly, I slipped back and rejoined the others, but was soon being asked by Sally to take another turn around the dance floor. I guess it never crossed my mind before, but Sally's career took up most of her life, so she never had much time left over for a husband or family. However, I could tell by her enthusiasm that she still needed companionship from time to time and a chance to let loose and have some fun. I danced the next several dances with her and the boys couldn't keep from making comments about our 'old-fashion' style of dancing. We waltzed during some of the slower dances and did the jitterbug (or Lindy) during the more spirited tunes, and I must admit we moved quite well together. The boys did confide to us later that we were pretty good at it, while also suggesting it was time to step out of the Stone Age and learn something more modern. We thanked them for their compliment and advice, before acknowledging that each of them did all right out there too.

As midnight neared, we all grouped together around our tables, ready to whoop it up and wish each other a Happy New Year. Excitedly, we all joined in the big countdown, loudly shouting out as the last few seconds ticked away. Once midnight arrived, we used our noisemakers and threw streamers and confetti over each other, before walking around to greet everyone individually, and exchange kisses and/or hugs. Even Sammy and Andrew's grandparents got into the spirit of things and would bow and then hug the person, before kissing them on both cheeks. I guess they were combining several traditions at once.

We stayed around for another hour or so, before we decided to head home. Having taken various vehicles this evening, since there were too many of us to fit into just one or two, we didn't have to wait for each other before leaving. I chauffeured the boys who had to drop their dates off at their own houses. Once we stopped at each location, the rest of us would wait quietly in the van, while the boy and his date said their good-byes. Some of them were very quick about it, while others took quite a lot longer. While I was waiting for Pat, I concluded it was a good thing I had driven this group, so none of our guests would have to sit idly throughout this procedure. Eventually, we dropped the last girl off and I took the rest of us home.

By the time we arrived there, most of the boys were already asleep on the floor of the living room, but Brent was sitting on the sofa-bed, waiting for my arrival. As I walked into the room, he came over, hugged me and thanked me for the great time. He said his parents had never taken him out for New Year's before, or hardly any other times either. He said that if his parents did go out, they left him at home with a sitter or shipped him off to a friend's house. He then expressed that this was the greatest New Year's he'd ever had and he hoped the rest of the year would be as wonderful. Even though I don't think he did it intentionally, I felt I was getting backed into a corner about letting him stay with us. How could I send him somewhere else now?

I went into the bathroom, used the toilet and brushed my teeth, and he was still waiting for me when I came back out. He asked me if he could sleep with me again, or if he should just sleep on the floor with the boys, so I told him he could choose whichever he wanted to do - it was entirely up to him. Without hesitating, he quickly threw back the covers, hopped into bed and waited for me to get in beside him, before he pulled the covers over us. He boldly sidled up against me, as I settled in, and was soon sleeping and drooling on my chest. It was cute, but slightly uncomfortable with that small pool of moisture collecting over my heart. I wasn't about to move him though, as he was enjoying a little fatherly attention, so I just folded back a portion of the sheet and stretched it toward me, so I could wipe off the mess. He was still cuddled up against me like that when I awoke the next morning.

Later New Year's Day, some of the guests began to leave. The Lawrences were the first to depart, and they took Carlos back home, as they went to the airport to catch their flight. The Spences left next, and they offered to give Sammy and Andrew's grandparents a ride to catch their flight. Mr. Spence had again rented a car and driver and it just so happened they were both flying out of the same airport. Since the two older couples had become close to each other during their stay, it was only logical that the Yamadas agreed to join them. Before they were on their way, however, they got numerous kisses and hugs from my entire family. Cole and Graham were especially distraught about the Spences having to return home, as were Sammy and Andrew at seeing their grandparents' visit come to an end, so each of these boys said lengthy farewells to the adults, before it was time for them to depart.

Elizabeth and Tim left next, but the other two couples stayed on, since Michael and Adrian didn't want to miss the football games. My oldest son and son-in-law were big sports fans, so they had taken an extra couple of days off from work as well, so they also could enjoy the late game and still be rested enough to make the drive home. When it got close to game time, the other boys and I went in to join them.

Over the course of the day, the boys with girlfriends spent some of their time on the phone, discussing the previous evening and talking about upcoming events, including returning to school. Frankie now had a girlfriend too and I couldn't get over how different he was now, compared to when he had first come to live with us. In fact, he now went out of his way to do things with the other boys, especially Trey and the younger ones, and he loved his role as 'uncle' to my grandsons.

Trey and Dion were like two love-struck puppy dogs, following each other around constantly, and everyone just instinctively left them alone. I never told them I saw them dancing the night before, since I didn't wish to spoil that precious memory for them by letting them know they had been discovered. I felt if they wanted me to know they'd tell me later, but until that time, I'd just leave them with their little secret.

Whenever they grew bored with the football games, the other boys would go off and entertain themselves. They would do all sorts of things, which included going outside, playing board games, or using their hand-held games or the computers, and the day passed by all too quickly. After the last game ended, we all decided it was time for bed. After saying goodnight to everyone, including my older sons and Mark, I checked the house before turning in.

That night, I had my bedroom back for the first time since the holidays had begun. When I opened the door to my room, there was Brent sitting naked on my bed. It appeared as if he had just taken a quick shower and hadn't gotten dressed yet. I apologized and started to back out of the room, but he told me to not be silly and come on in, adding that he didn't mind if I saw him without his clothes on. He told me now that I was going to be his father, it didn't bother him at all. I made another mental note that he referred to me as his father and realized I would have to find another situation for him soon or accept the fact that I had a new boarder. He didn't seem to be modest at all, since he took his time drying himself off and managed to give me a good show as he did so. After he put on his underwear, he crawled under the covers and made himself comfortable. Eventually, I stripped down to my underwear and crawled in beside him.

We talked for a while before we went to sleep, and I found out a great deal more about him. Brent's surname was Alexander and he told me that his parents had never been very affectionate with him. They were always more concerned about each other and their friends than they were with him, so that's why they didn't have any more children. It was sad they felt that way, but it probably worked out for the best, since no one other than Brent had to suffer because of it.

Over the next several minutes, we discussed the topic of his being gay and he announced he first realized he was attracted to boys in 5th grade. It happened when his class went on a weeklong nature campout and the boys had to take showers in a large shower room with each other. He told me he got so excited seeing all those other naked boys that he was hard most of the time. He said it was okay, because some of the other boys got hard too, but he said nothing like that had happened when he'd done the old 'show and tell' thing with some girls from his neighborhood. After that, all he could think about was naked boys.

One of the other boys from the campout took a chance and approached him a couple of weeks later, asking Brent to sleep over at his house. After he arrived, they went up to play in the boy's bedroom and they started talking about the nature camp. They both admitted they saw each other get hard in the shower and then his friend asked if he wanted to see if it would happen again. Brent agreed, so they both stripped quickly and were soon parading around in only the clothing God gave them. As soon as they looked at each other's naked bodies, they were sprouted miniature wood, before suffering from a case of the giggles.

After a while, they got up the courage to touch each other's penis and play with it, but then they got nervous that they'd get caught, so they got dressed again. They played like ordinary friends until bedtime and then they stripped down to their underwear and got into bed together. After they were sure his mother wasn't coming back to check on them, they removed their underwear and began to play around with each other's small package some more. They kept it up, on and off all night, doing it one more time the next morning.

Over the next couple of years, these two got together as much as possible. Often they would invite different boys to join them, to see if they could get them to participate in these little games with them. Sometimes they'd be successful and sometimes they weren't. If they were, they'd all strip, fondle each other and maybe do some mutual masturbation. That was all that Brent had ever done, not yet having tried oral or anal sex. He had just discovered a story site a couple of weeks before his secret was divulged and the proverbial shit hit the fan. We pretty much knew the story from that point on, but he did tell me once again how happy he was that we stopped to pick him up and that he knew he was going to love living here - because he already did. Oh, damn. There it was again. Every day it was getting more and more difficult to think about sending him somewhere else. I wonder if that's why he kept doing this?

Eventually, I just gave up on the idea, because I felt it might destroy the poor kid if he had to go. He'd just survived one traumatic situation, so how could I make him think he wasn't wanted here either? He told me so many times how much he liked living here and having me for a dad, so I concluded it wasn't in me to break his heart again. Later, I met with some of the older boys, in private, so we could try to figure out how we were going to handle adding one more to our brood. That's when Frankie came up with an excellent suggestion.

Although I had never considered it before, Frankie suggested we could add some bedrooms in the attic, as that was just wasted space right now. I wondered why I had never considered anything like that previously, but concluded it was because we seldom used the attic for anything other than storage. Excited about the prospect, I went straight to the phone and called my contractor. He didn't answer, so I left him a message, and once I hung up, I called Sally and told her Brent would be staying. She was a little concerned about this sudden announcement, until I told her what we were going to do. After hearing my plans, she laughed and joked about needing to make hotel reservations to stay at our place now.

As we continued to talk, the call waiting beep sounded, so I bid her good-bye and answered the call from my contractor. He said he could be there tomorrow, if that was good for me, since things happened to be a little slow for him after the holidays. It looked as if this was going to work out perfectly.

Chapter 7
Many Changes

My contractor arrived the next morning and we discussed what I wanted to do. He immediately went up to survey the area thoroughly, checked the roof supports and took the appropriate measurements, before informing me he would work up a proposal and a few rough sketches, and then bring them by for me to look over the next day. I told him that would be fine, but I was surprised he could do all of that so quickly, before he teased it was only because I was such a good customer.

True to his word, he came back with the diagrams and prices the next day. He said we'd have to add a permanent stairway to the attic, but we should also leave the drop down ladder for emergency use. He concluded he would be able put three small bedrooms and a full bath in the attic, plus he'd include a storage area for the things we generally kept up there. He told me he'd make sure each bedroom had one window and he'd put a skylight in the bathroom, to make it a bit brighter. I quickly okayed the plans, so he said he'd pick up or order what he needed that afternoon and start work the next day.

I met with all of the boys later that day and explained what would be going on. Brent was excited because he thought we were doing all of this just for him, which in a way we were, but it would also help out at other times. Frankie and Pat each said they'd like to move into one of the new bedrooms, once they were completed, so I told them that would be fine. I gave Brent the choice of Frankie or Pat's old rooms, or the third new bedroom in the attic, and he quickly decided he'd take the other new bedroom, so things were set on that front. It would take a couple of weeks to complete everything, so everyone would stay where they were for the time being.

During that same week, Danny and Brandon broke up with their girlfriends. They both told me that they were doing this for several reasons. First, they didn't enjoy going out with them. Second, they thought they were being unfair to the girls by deceiving them and thought it was time to end the charade. Last, they felt they had to be who they were and didn't care any more who knew about them. They figured they only had about a year and a half left at the high school and then they'd be going off to college, where no one would know them. Even though they weren't planning to attend the same college, they couldn't see any reason why they shouldn't enjoy themselves now. They wouldn't go announcing any of this at school, but they would no longer put up a front just to deflect criticism or abuse.

Somehow Mark had overheard our conversation and now realized, for the first time, that those two boys were gay. I guess he had never thought about it or considered the idea before. However, none of us were aware he knew about this fact, at least not until Mark stopped to talk to the boys one night. He went to their bedroom and knocked on the door.

"Hi, guys. May I come in for a second?" he asked, and they told him 'sure,'

The three of them spent a few awkward moments just looking at each other and wondering what was up, before Mark shut the door and went over and sat on the bed next to them. "I overheard you guys talking to Pop earlier," he explained. "I wasn't eavesdropping or anything, but I did hear what you told him. I didn't know you guys were gay."

Danny and Brandon looked at each other, the shock of Mark's announcement registering on their faces, and then they looked back at him. "Does that bother you?" Danny asked him.

"Heck, no," Mark told them. "I like you guys because of who you are, not because of who you like. Even though I'm not gay, it doesn't mean I can't have gay friends."

You could hear a collective sigh from the two boys when Mark said this, and then Brandon spoke to him. "I'm glad you feel that way. We didn't want to lose you as a friend."

"Don't worry, you won't," Mark assured them. "Heck, if it weren't for the two of you, I'd never have been invited to join you on that trip and Pop would never have offered me the summer job and done all this other stuff for me. I owe you both big-time and nothing could ever make me feel any differently about you."

"Thanks. That means a lot to both of us," Danny told him. "You're a really cool guy and we both like having you as a friend. I'm glad you're not homophobic."

Mark chuckled. "Nope, no way. I don't mind if you love another guy, it just leaves more girls for me to choose from." They had a quick chuckle over his comment, before Mark put them on the spot with his next comment. "You guys didn't happen to have a crush on me that first time, did you? Is that why you were so nice?" Mark was still grinning, but the boys weren't sure how to respond to him.

"Well, you are really good looking," Brandon answered, "and we might have been hoping you were gay too, but we wouldn't have tried anything if you weren't."

"I didn't mean that in a negative way," he announced, to ease their concerns. "I was just wondering. In fact, I guess I might even be flattered that you were interested." Mark let out a healthy guffaw after admitting that. "Whatever the reason you started talking to me and invited me to go with you, I'm still thankful and glad that you did. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone your secret and I won't treat you any differently."

"Thanks, Mark," Danny told him, sincerely, "I'm glad we did too. I'm also relieved you know about us now, because that makes it a whole lot easier. We wanted to tell you before, but we didn't know how you'd react."

"That's okay. I understand where you're coming from," he confirmed. "So, are you two boyfriends?"

"Yeah, we have been for a very long time."

"Hey, that's great. You two do look good together and you do seem to like each other a lot."

"We love each other," Brandon corrected him, "and we plan to be together always."

"Good for you," Mark told them. "I hope you're always as happy or happier than you are now." The boys smiled at him and everything was cool. "Are any of your brothers gay too?"

"Yeah," Danny responded. "Some are gay, some might be bi and some are straight. The thing is, none of us really cares who is which way."

"That's cool. I guess I kind of suspected that Trey and Dion might be gay," Mark added. "They tend to stare at each other a lot and get these strange expressions on their face when they do. I actually think they're cute together, but they better be more careful around other people, if they don't want someone else to figure it out. If I noticed it, then it must be pretty obvious. I don't usually pick up on things like that, because I don't care one way or the other, but I'm sure there are others who do."

"Yeah, and we do tend to worry about guys who think like that," Danny admitted. "Not because we're scared, but because they tend to be cowards and attack in packs, like wolves. You hardly ever see one of those guys go at it alone. They generally need three or more to attack one gay guy. Must be they're afraid we might kick their asses." He chuckled nervously after he said that, but everyone understood his point.

"I guess I never thought about it like that before," Mark told him, "but you're right. Every case I've heard of, the attackers either outnumbered their victims or had weapons. And they claimed the fags are wimps…" he stopped after saying that, knowing he had misspoken and possibly used a term he shouldn't have.

"That's okay, Mark," Danny assured him. "We even use that word, just not very often. I only wish there were more open-minded people like you in this world, and then we wouldn't have to worry about what we said or how we said it." They all agreed on this point and then sat around and chatted about other things until it was time to go to bed. They parted happy and feeling better now that things were out in the open. Not only that, but they had all learned a little more about each other in the process.

By the second week after New Year's, Sally and her friend had talked Brent's parents into giving up legal custody of him. In order to accomplish this, they cut a deal with them and reduced the child abandonment and neglect charges to something less severe and agreed they would recommend they be sentenced to do community service, instead of jail time. At first they were going to fight it, but when they realized they were most likely going to lose anyway, they took the less severe option. Baltimore D.F.C.S. transferred the case to Sally's jurisdiction, so she could legally place Brent with us. He was jumping all around when she told him the news, and then he hugged us both, before telling us he never doubted we'd be able to do this for him.

Once he began to settle down, he then asked me if this meant I had adopted him. I told him that would take some additional time, but for now I was his legal guardian. He seemed satisfied with that, although he had managed to leave me no doubt about what he wanted. While he never came out and said so, the impression was clear and both Sally and I had picked up on it.

Mark spent most his time during the two weeks after the holidays working with his mentor and learning the intricacies of the accounts. He was also informed about the criteria for determining which investments were chosen and how the money was split up. A certain percentage was kept in a money-market account, so checks could be cut as needed, but the rest was split up and invested somewhat conservatively. Part of it was invested in bonds, preferred stocks and utilities, to generate income and be fairly negotiable, while the rest was invested in various stocks, which offered medium to long-term growth.

Mark's name was listed on each of these accounts, as a legal financial representative of the charity, and he was given a couple of them to handle personally. The only stipulation was that he couldn't make any changes in the account without getting approval from his mentor first. He could just type him an email, stating his proposal, with a detailed explanation and justification for what he thought it would do to benefit the Foundation. His boss would then accept, modify or reject his proposal. If he rejected it, he would state his reasons and possibly give an alternative suggestion, so Mark could learn from it. Mark liked this arrangement and eagerly dove into his work. He could continue serving in this capacity while away at school, so I supplied him with a high-powered computer and fax/scanner/printer, as well as picking up the cost for him to have a phone line installed in his room. He would also get a monthly stipend for his efforts, so he could either give up or cut back his hours at the restaurant.

Just before Mark was scheduled to leave, the contractor had also finished the job of upgrading the attic and had given everyone the grand tour of the new area. There were three bedrooms, each of which would soon be furnished with a bed, dresser and desk, besides having more than ample closet space. The bathroom had a fairly large shower stall, which could easily accommodate two boys at once, a toilet, sink and a couple of cabinets to store the essentials. There was also a separate door leading into the storage area and the whole renovation had turned out fantastic.

I informed Frankie, Pat and Brent that I'd called the furniture store and their bedroom sets would be delivered the next afternoon, after we returned from dropping Mark off at the airport. I had previously been informed that it had arrived at the furniture store, since we had ordered it all when the contractor started work, so they had just been waiting to hear when they could bring it by. This meant those boys could sleep in their new rooms the next night, which made them happy, so they started planning how they were going to arrange everything.

That evening, Brent slept with me for the final time. I thought he'd be all excited about moving into his new room, but he seemed a little sad. When I asked him what was wrong, he looked down before he answered. "I don't want you to think I'm being selfish or anything, but I really like sleeping with you. My dad never even told me he loved me and would never have let me sleep with him or hugged me like you do. I guess I don't want that to end."

"It doesn't have to," I tried to reassure him. "You can join me anytime you're feeling lonely or need some special attention. The other boys do that from time to time as well."

"But I also don't want you to think I don't appreciate what you've done for me," he continued, letting me know there was more. "You went and had all those bedrooms added because I didn't have a room to stay in, but I really don't want to be all alone again."

"Don't worry, you won't," I responded. "Believe me, one thing that will never happen in this house is that you will be all alone… that is unless, you want to be."

He smiled at that comment and came over and hugged me, so I kissed him on the forehead and hugged him back. He pulled back and looked at me, then spoke again. "It's just that when I'm with you, I know that you love me. I can feel it when you kiss my forehead or hold me in your arms. Nobody has done that to me, except my mother, but that was only when I was little. Even she hasn't done it for a few years now. I just feel so special at night when you hold me that way."

"Well, I'm glad you feel that way," I assured him. "Like I told you, you can come to me anytime, but I can hold you and be affectionate at other times too, like when we're watching TV or a video, or when we're just sitting around relaxing. You can come to me whenever you want and I'll make sure to show you just how much you're loved."

Brent blushed a little; possibly because he suspected I thought he was begging for attention, but I assured him I felt the same way about him. He smiled again and we got into bed. He snuggled up against me one more time, so I kissed him on the top of his head and said good night. He merely turned his head, so he could see my face, and then whispered, 'Night, Dad'. I guess I wasn't totally surprised by that, so I didn't make a big deal of it, before he situated himself in his favorite position, with his head just above my heart, and fell asleep.

The next day, it was time for Mark to leave and return to college. He was a little sad about leaving us, but it wasn't totally bad. He was excited about his new job and the experience he'd be getting from it, but he also knew he'd be coming back to work here during the summer, so that tempered his disappointment about having to be separated from us once again.

I was a little surprised that all of the boys indicated they wanted to go and see him off, but I gave in and agreed we'd take the van so they could all go too. I had to wake them all early, because of the drive and Mark's early departure time, but they all got up without too much grumbling. We stopped for a quick breakfast and then drove him to the airport in Baltimore. Everyone was a bit sad to see him leave, but understood he wouldn't be gone for long, so they all hugged him, before he went to board his flight. I think that having all the boys see him off, and each of them hugging him before he was on his way, definitely let him know he was truly considered part of our family.

The rest of the month of January went by quickly and included two snow days. We all enjoyed an extra day off from school and the boys made the most of it, having snowball fights and building snowmen - which included some anatomy others generally left off, but the snowMEN were behind the house where hardly anyone else could see them. Brent continued to adjust to being with us, but still managed to find me for some special attention, from time-to-time.

During that same month, Kevin and Frankie took the written test for their permits. Both young men had studied really hard for this and passed it on their first try. They were both pretty proud when they came home and announced this fact to their brothers, knowing they were now on the way to getting their licenses. Although I told them I'd take them out to practice occasionally, their serious driving lessons wouldn't begin until I took the others for their road test. They were mildly disappointed when I explained that wouldn't be until late March or early April, depending on the weather, but accepted the inevitability and knew I'd keep my promise.

Those practicing for their road test were getting better all the time. I would even take them out to practice in snowy and icy conditions too, although only in the various parking lots, so they could learn how to handle the car in bad weather. I taught them about braking on slippery roads; how to handle it when your car started to fishtail and then I advised them on the little secrets for starting up on slippery surfaces. They got a real good lesson one day, totally by accident.

We were driving along in the van when I rounded a curve in the road and hit an icy patch. It was on a part of the road covered by shadows, which allowed the treacherous spot to remain on an otherwise dry surface. The back of the van started sliding one way and then the other, and I kept turning the steering wheel into the slide. Eventually I got the vehicle back under control and the kids started breathing again. After we had all regained our composure, we talked about what had happened, how I had done the things the way I had been trying to teach them and how it had corrected the problem. I think that was a lesson they wouldn't soon forget.

As February began, three of the boys approached me with a problem. It was Danny, Dion and Nick. It seemed like a strange combination to me, but I sat down with them and listened to what they had to say. It seemed that Danny, being the oldest, had been selected spokesman for the trio. "Dad, we have something we'd like to do, but we don't know how to pull it off," he told me.

"Well, why don't you tell me what it is you want to accomplish," I replied, "and I'll see if I can come up with some options for you."

"It's about Valentine's Day, Dad," Dion interrupted. "We want to plan a special date with our boyfriends, but we don't know how to do it or where to go."

"Well what kind of ideas do you have?" I asked, in order to flesh their idea out. "Was there something specific you wanted to do on this date?" The boys looked at each other.

"Well," Danny began, "we thought a nice romantic dinner would be nice."

"With dancing," Dion added.

"And we'd give them cards and candy, or something like that," Nick added. I was really surprised that Nick had become a romantic and got involved in something like this.

"Okay. I think I've got a good idea about what you want now, but would you give me a couple of days to consider your request?"

"Yeah, but don't take too long," Danny warned, before offering me a reminder. "Valentine's Day is only a couple of weeks away and we haven't got very much time to pull this off."

"I know, and I promise not to take any longer than necessary," I told him. "It's just that I tend to come up with better ideas when I've been able to sleep on it."

"Okay, fair enough," Nick told me, replying for all of them. "Just let us know if you think of anything."

I assured them I would and they left, satisfied that I'd figure something out for them. I thought about it the rest of the night, but only came up with a few vague ideas. I went to bed and was nearly asleep when everything came together in my mind. I got up and wrote down several notes, so I wouldn't forget anything by morning, and then I'd discuss these ideas with the boys the following evening. I can't be positive, but I think they'll like what I came up with.

Chapter 8
A Very Special Valentine's Day

It took a great deal of planning, but we did come up with a very special Valentines' surprise for the other half of our gay couples. They all knew the guys with girlfriends were taking their dates out to dinner and then to the 'Sweethearts Dance' at school, but they also knew it was also something they couldn't do, at least without a few problems along the way. Therefore, they were just planning to spend their time at home with their boyfriends, but I could tell none of them was overly enthused by the prospect.

Trey was really sulking about this, being extremely disappointed that he couldn't be among the group that was dining and dancing with the one they cared about. In order to make that up to him, I wanted this to be as nice or nicer than what the other boys would be sharing with their dates.

To help set up this little surprise, I talked Trey, Kevin and Brandon into helping me set up the gym for the Sweethearts Dance at the high school, to assist a teacher friend of mine who was in charge of the event. Although the boys complained that it wasn't fair that they'd have to do the work if they couldn't go, I convinced them that this was more about helping my friend and me than anything else. Reluctantly, they set their feelings aside and agreed to participate.

When the big day arrived, I made them come home first and change into slacks and a dress shirt, before I took them back to the high school to work. They didn't understand why I had them dress up just to work, since they never dressed like this for school and wouldn't be staying to attend the festivities, but I told them it was so they would look nice for their boyfriends when they returned. After a mild protest, during which they argued that they'd have time to do that when they got back, they eventually did as I requested. It took us a couple of hours to finish the preparations and my friend came over and thanked us all for our efforts before we left. As I suspected, the boys were very quiet on the way home.

When I pulled into the driveway, I hustled to make sure I was the first one out of the van and at our front door. It wasn't very difficult to do this time, because the boys were all sulking now and just slithered out of their seat and slunk along behind me, especially Trey. When I got to the door I peeked in, to make sure the others were ready. When I saw they were, I went in and left the door open, so the other three could follow me.

Danny, Dion and Nick waited just inside, dressed in slacks, dress shirt, tie and sport coat, each holding a heart-shaped box of candy and a card for their boyfriend. The jaws on the other three nearly hit the floor when they saw their lovers. They truly hadn't expected anything like this. They opened their cards, read them and then apologized for not having their things with them. That's when they each raced to their rooms, after setting their boxes of candy down first, and came back with cards and some sort of gift of their own. Once each of them presented these items to his boyfriend, each couple exchanged hugs and kisses. That's when the rest of the plan was set into motion.

First, Danny, Dion and Nick escorted their partners into the dining room, which had been completely cleared of everything, and I raced through the kitchen, so I would be at the other end of the dining room and in my assigned place. I was standing next to our stereo system, which had been set up on the counter between the kitchen and dining areas, and began my little address.

"As you have figured out by now, your boyfriends have gone to a great deal of effort to plan a special night for you. They asked me to help them with this and to provide the music for the evening. Before we serve you a very special dinner, we'll begin the evening with a little dancing. I have selected the music, based on a very special theme, and I hope you listen carefully to the words of each song. This will not be your typical Valentines Day dance music or songs you will be familiar with. Instead, I selected songs that spanned many years, included a variety of styles and are sung by many different artists or groups. However, all of the lyrics are appropriate to what your partners are trying to express. It is primarily slow music, so you can cuddle all you want on the dance floor. Just relax and have fun."

Since Brent did not have a partner to bring to this affair, I agreed to let him take charge of playing the music, after I'd made my announcement. This would make him feel part of the event and hopefully keep him from feeling sorry about his own situation.

The surprised partners were still trying to grill their boyfriends on when they had decided to do all of this for them, how they had done this without them finding out and why they hadn't told them beforehand, so they could have been prepared. The conspirators deflected these questions, telling their lovers to not think about such things and simply enjoy the evening, so I had Brent start the music. As the initial notes of the first tune wafted from the speakers, the three instigators asked their partners if they would like to dance. As they held each other close and began to sway in time to the music, they also listened as Anne Murray's voice sang out the words to Could I Have This Dance? (1980)

I'll always remember the song they were playing
The first time we danced and I knew
As we swayed to the music and held to each other
I fell in love with you

Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Would you be my partner then every night?
When we're together it feels so right
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?

I'll always remember that magic moment
When I held you close to me
Cause we move together I know forever
You're all I'll ever need

I had thought that was the perfect song to start off this evening with, as it tied their love for each other and dancing together, while signifying what this evening was all about. My fellow conspirators listened to these words intently, as I had suggested, primarily because they didn't know the songs I'd be playing. As the lyrics began to sink in, they coyly glanced at me, smiled and winked, as they held their partners close. I think they were beginning to see what I was up to, as I gave it my best to make this a memorable evening for each of them, while allowing them the opportunity to explore their love for each other. Brent quickly started the next song and Nat King Cole tenderly crooned the lyrics of "Too Young" (1951).

They try to tell us we're too young Too young to really be in love They say that love's a word A word we've only heard But can't begin to know the meaning of

And yet we're not too young to know This love will last though years may go And then some day they may recall We were not too young at all

By this point, the boys were so close together that they almost looked as if they had one body with two heads, and they didn't separate when the song ended. For that reason, I quickly had Brent start the next tune, a Paul Anka number. Soon they were able to hear him belt out "Put your head on my shoulder" (1959).

Put your head on my shoulder Hold me in your arms, ba-by Squeeze me oh so tight, ba-by Show me that you love me too.

Put your lips close to mine, dear Won't you kiss me once, ba-by? Just a kiss goodnight, ba-by Maybe you and I will fall in love

The boys were now kissing each other and following the suggestions of the song. I made sure we paused long enough to give them an opportunity to make out a little bit, while Brent and I watched as they kissed and expressed their love for each other. Once I felt they had sufficient time for this endeavor, I allowed Brent to begin the next song. A few seconds later, he played one of my favorite love songs, a little Bobby Vinton tune entitled "I Love How You Love Me" (1968).

I love how your eyes close Whenever you kiss me And when I'm away from you I love how you miss me I love the way you always treat me tenderly But darling most of all I love how you love me

I love how your heart beats Whenever I hold you I love how you think of me Without being told too I love the way your touch is always heavenly But darling most of all I love how you love me

I love how you hug me I love how you squeeze me, tease me, please me Love how you love me I love how you love me…

The mood had been adequately set and the boys were really getting into kissing each other, as well as doing some hugging and groping. Not only that, but I saw plenty of tears streaming down their cheeks, indicating how touched they were because of this special evening.

As we watched the boys a little longer, I saw one of my 'assistants' trying to get my attention, so he could give me the high sign that the meal was ready. I immediately told our couples it was time to eat, and Cole and Graham escorted them all into the living room, which we had turned into an intimate dining room. I had Cole and Graham dress in tight-fitting khaki slacks, with pink dress-shirts opened in a 'V' and tied at the waist, which I thought looked sexy. They led the couples in and seated them at one of the three card tables we had set up in different corners of the room, to give them some privacy. Each table was covered with a red tablecloth and set for two, and the couples excitedly took their seats. Each table also had a large candle placed at its center, lit for atmosphere. Once everyone was comfortable, Cole and Graham asked for their drink orders, after telling them their choices.

I had purchased a couple of different bottles of wine for this very special evening, both being a sweeter variety than I would usually purchase, because I felt they would be more to the boys' liking. Cole and Graham had been informed that each boy may have a glass or two of the wine, or they could have soda, juice, milk or water instead. Each boy decided to try a glass of wine, as it made them feel more grown-up and the night less childish, and I got a kick watching them sip their drinks like macho old pros. The couples chatted with each other at their tables and continued to sip their drinks, before I sent my next surprise into the room. At that moment, my two little waiters arrived to deliver the first course.

Sammy and Andrew walked into the room clad only in tight black pleather shorts, black-cloth shoes and a red bow tie strapped around their necks, sans shirt. They looked absolutely adorable and this fact wasn't wasted on the other boys. They had already commented on how sexy Cole and Graham looked, but now they just stared at my two sexy waiters, as each carried in a platter with three bowls of salad on them. My waiters gave each boy their salad and then left, soon returning with a basket of rolls for each of the three tables. While my waiters were performing their duties, the other boys made sure to tell them how great they looked. All four of my helpers were pleased that the older boys had noticed them and thought they looked good.

The rest of us then waited in the other room, giving the boys time to eat their salads, and then Cole and Graham removed the salad bowls from the table, before Sammy and Andrew delivered the main course. Each of our diners was served a small filet mignon, small lobster tail and a baked potato. Cole and Graham also delivered small bowls of melted butter and sour cream to each group, which they could use as desired. The boys then ate and talked, but mostly just stared at each other, making mental pictures for later, but still found a way to hold hands in between bites. I wasn't letting these intimate moments pass without making longer-lasting mementos of this night, as I had been snapping pictures since their first dance had begun. Now I took more photos of them sitting and eating, to ensure they would be able to remember their most precious moments from this very romantic evening.

After they finished their meals and had a second glass of wine or something else to drink, the tables were cleared and then Sammy and Andrew brought out the desserts, a small slice of Black Forrest cake, topped with a couple of cherries. Soon I saw the boys feeding each other the cherries and then they ate the rest of their dessert. When they had finished everything and the tables were cleared, they had time to talk or kiss some more. During that time, the boys moved their chairs even closer together and their heads began to tilt and meet, as their tongues and lips began to explore each other. They were really into this celebration of their love now and I was starting to worry they might want to move on to other things, before they benefited from the rest of my planning. I waited about a minute or two longer, before I announced that the dance floor was reopening and the music would soon begin again. The boys smiled at each other, asked their partners if they would care to dance, and then they came strolling back out to the dining room, arm in arm or holding hands.

"Will you dance with me this time," Brent asked. "I'd like to try it too."

"Well, I suppose that can be arranged," I agreed, which caused Brent to flash me a smile.

I had selected several more songs to finish off this romantic evening, each with a special message or just to get them in the mood. I started this second session off with Bobby Darin's More (1964) and the boys melted back into each other's arms. Slowly they began to dance again, as the music filled the room. As the first notes filled the room, I grasped Brent as my dance partner and we slowly began to sway to the music. As we did so, I also noticed Cole and Graham dancing with each other in the kitchen, along with Sammy and Andrew. I guess everyone was getting into the act now.

More than the greatest love the world has known
This is the love I'll give to you alone
More than the simple words I try to say
I only live to love you more each day

More than you'll ever know
My arms long to hold you so
My life will be in your keeping, walking, sleeping, laughing, weeping

Longer than always is a long, long time
But far beyond forever you'll be mine
I know that I never lived before
And my heart is very sure
No one else could love you more.

I think the words to that song really set the mood for the rest of the evening. It not only expressed the depth of their love, but also indicated it could last forever. It is a very deep and moving song, and Brent followed it up by playing a very special duet, sung by Nat King Cole and his daughter Natalie Cole. Although Nat had died when his daughter was still very young, she did this tribute to him by taking his 1951 recording and dubbing her voice in with his. This time the father/daughter team joined their talents to give us Unforgettable (1991). This recording displayed all the fine qualities of his satiny voice, while his daughter sang harmony and blended her soulful voice in with his.

Unforgettable, that's what you are
Unforgettable, though near and far
Like a song of love that clings to me
How the thought of you does things to me
Never before has someone been more

Unforgettable in every way
And forever more, that's how you'll stay
That's why darling, it's incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am unforgettable too

The boys were really getting into this now, and I started to see hands move lower, rubbing their backs and sides, occasionally caressing their partner's buns, or nibbling on an ear or neck. Suddenly the house was beginning to feel warmer, as these couples began to heat things up. The night was progressing very nicely and my young lovers were getting a rare opportunity to experience a traditional date. Next, I had Brent put on the melodic harmony of the Everly Brothers to work, as they combined on Let It Be Me (1960).

I bless the day I found you
I want to stay around you
And so I beg you
Let it be me

Don't take this heaven from one
If you must cling to someone
Now and forever
Let it be me

Each time we meet love
I find complete love
Without your sweet love
What would life be

So never leave me lonely
Tell me you'll love me only
And that you'll always
Let it be me.

The final chords of this song had barely died before Brent started the next song by the brothers, this one entitled Devoted to You (1958).

Darling you can count on me
Till the sun dries up the sea
Until then I'll always be
Devoted to you

I'll be yours through endless time
I'll adore your charms sublime
Guess by now you'll know that I'm
Devoted to you

I'll never hurt you, I'll never lie
I'll never be untrue
I'll never give you a reason to cry
I'll be unhappy if you were blue

Through the years my love will grow
Like a river it will flow
It can't die because I'm so
Devoted to you.

I just loved how their voices intertwined in a way that most non-related singers could never hope to accomplish. At this point we took a little break, to let the boys relax, get a drink or use the toilet. My little waiters took orders and brought back drinks to those who had wanted one, while the other boys did whatever else they had to do. By that time Brent and I were ready to finish the last set before the evening ended, but first we had to get our audience back.

The boys were busy hugging and kissing, while their hands roamed freely over each other's bodies and their lips tasted every exposed part of their lovers' flesh. I gave them a few minutes more to carry on like this, while sending the little ones off to bed, despite their protests. Even though they wanted to stay with us, I felt the remainder of the night belonged to the lovers. Now, it was time to bring out 'The King,' as I signaled Brent to start playing Elvis' version of "It's Impossible" (1973).

It's impossible to tell the sun to leave the sky, It's just impossible. It's impossible to ask a baby not to cry, It's just impossible. Can I hold you closer to me, And not feel you going through me But the second that I never think of you? Oh, how impossible.

Can the ocean keep from rush to the shore? It's just impossible. If I had you, could I ever ask for more? It's just impossible. And tomorrow, should you ask me for the world Somehow I'd get it I would sell my very soul and not regret it Or to live without your love is just impossible.

Once that song finished, I decided it was now time to bring a feminine lilt to the night, as I had stuck to mostly male artists up to this point. However, I was planning to finish the evening off with two female vocalists, putting the final touch on the emotions and sentiments I had tried to instill in my star-crossed lovers. First, Debby Boone belted out You Light Up My Life (1977).

So many nights I'd sit by my window Waiting for someone to sing me his song So many dreams I keep deep inside me Alone in the dark, but now you've come along And you light up my life You give me hope to carry on You light u my days and fill my nights with song

Rollin' at sea, adrift on the water Could it be finally I'm turnin' for home? Finally a chance to say "Hey, I love you" Never again to be all alone

'cause you, you light up my life You give me hope to carry on You light up my days and fill my nights with song

It can't be wrong When it feels so right 'cause you…you light up my life.

There was one final song to complete this evening, and then the boys would probably be heading to their rooms, to spend some time alone. When I announced that this would be the last dance, I heard a few groans, which led me to believe the boys had appreciated our efforts. For their final dance of the evening, I had selected one of the strongest female voices around. It was Celine Dion's chance to sing out her version of "When I Fall in Love" (1993).

When I fall in love It will be forever Or I'll never fall in love

In a restless world like this is Love is ended before it's begun And too many moonlight kisses Seem to cool in the warmth of the sun

When I give my heart I give it completely Or I'll never give my heart

And the moment I can feel that You feel that way too Is when I fall in love with you.

As the music faded and the boys finished dancing, they walked over to me to thank me for what I had done.

"Thanks, Dad," Dion said first. "That was even better than I'd hoped. Trey was really surprised and he's been crying most of the night. He told me it was what he'd always wanted for us, but couldn't have until tonight. We tried to do something like this on New Year's, but it wasn't quite the same. Now he's happier than I've ever seen him before."

"Yeah, this was fantastic," Trey added. "I was really down earlier, because the other guys were doing all sorts of things with their girlfriends, but this was just as awesome. The words to the songs were just so perfect and they said all the right things."

"The music was kind of old-fashioned and kind of gross, though," Nick chirped in.

"No, it was nice," Brandon corrected him. "Different, but nice."

"It was elevator music," Nick persisted. "That's only for really old people." I shot him an evil glare.

"But I think those songs said the right things and set the mood for a really fantastic evening," Kevin told him. "I'm not sure playing the tunes we normally listen to would have had the same effect. Thinking about the words of the songs and how they talked about falling in love, what love really is and saying that love will last forever made it special and caused me to feel even closer to Nick."

"I think Kevin's right," Danny added, in his support. "The songs played talked about love a little differently than I'm used to, so it made me think. I've never considered some of those things before, like what you do when you love someone so deeply or how strong and long-lasting love can be. I know I love Brandon, but now I think about us a little differently. Now I'm more concerned about how I can make him feel good and not so much about how he makes me feel good. That's still important, but now I'll notice more about how he's feeling and try harder to think about what his needs are too. If we had done this before, I don't think either of us would have chosen to date those girls. By doing that, we almost said our love wasn't real or worth as much as boy-girl love. I sure feel differently about it now."

"I guess you're right," Nick conceded. "I never thought much about love before, just the sex and how it made me feel so good. I still like the sex, but I'll start thinking about the other stuff too. Kevin said he'd help me with that." Nick laughed after he said that, so Kevin gently elbowed him in the ribs.

I said goodnight to the boys and started cleaning up the mess. They offered to help, but I told them this was their night, so they were not to lift a finger. I also told Brent it was time for him to turn in too. While they headed to their rooms for some unscripted time together, I finished putting things away and getting everything back in order, while I waited for the others to arrive home. However, after everyone else had left the room, Brent came back down to me to talk.

"Thank you for dancing with me and making me part of the night," he told me, sincerely. "It was a lot of fun, made me feel special and I'll always remember it."

I was so choked up by his sincerity that I wasn't sure how to respond, so I merely hugged him and whispered in his ear. "You're welcome and I enjoyed it too." After that, he went back upstairs, as I stood in the kitchen thinking about what had just taken place.

Chapter 9
A Night For Lovers

Trey was in a very aroused state after having his dream fulfilled, so he was all over Dion before they even got to their door. They were kissing frantically and pawing at each other's clothing, trying to take them off. Trey pushed Dion into the room, while managing to close the door behind him, before guiding his lover onto the bed. Once he had him pinned to the mattress, he began stripping Dion while continuing to make out. Once he had finished removing everything Dion had on, Trey let Dion remove his clothing in return, while he played with Dion's body and snake-like cock. When they were both undressed, they kissed some more, eagerly letting their mouths explore each other in all of those wonderful, sensitive places.

After many minutes of this fun, switching back and forth to give each other pleasure, Trey demanded Dion make love to him. Moving with the speed of light, Dion grabbed the lube and a condom, unwrapped the protective sheath and slid it into place, before greasing it and his lover up. As soon as that had been taken care of, he pushed Trey legs upward, until they rested on his chest, so he could expose his lover's hungry hole. Trey was aquiver with anticipation, because he looking forward to feeling Dion's impressive tool inside of him again.

Dion was totally hard now and as excited as his lover. Gently he lined up his stiff pole with Trey's opening and slowly pushed his way in. Dion felt his bulbous head pass through Trey's pucker, and then the muscular ring snapped closed around his shaft, squeezing it tightly. As he continued to force his way past the guardian of the gate, he slowly slid his organ completely into the warm tunnel, which he had come to know so well. He kept sliding in, further and further, until he felt his scrotum brush up against his boyfriend's slightly hairy ass cheeks. At that moment, Dion bent forward and began kissing Trey again. Eagerly, he allowed his tongue to slip past Trey's lips and felt Trey immediately begin to suck on it, as he often did with other parts of Dion's anatomy. Suddenly, their roles reversed as Trey's tongue followed Dion's, when it withdrew from his mouth. Now, Trey's tongue was inside Dion's steamy oral cavity, greedily seeking to explore the entire interior.

Dion started rocking his body back and forth, letting his penis slip in and nearly out of his boyfriend's chute, as he strove to build a steady rhythm that would please them both. The longer he continued, the more frantic his pace became, as he slowly felt the sensations building in his loins and the tingling emanating from his groin. He managed to pump Trey's cock with the same cadence he was using to pound his butt, trying to make sure they came together. The ripples of pleasure kept building, until he began to sense his testicles pulling toward his body and his penis swell, while his breathing became increasingly ragged and shallow. Trembling with pleasure, he made one final thrust and felt his penis explode, as several bursts of steamy cum collected in the reservoir-tip of the prophylactic.

At nearly the same instant, Trey's penis spewed its load between their two bodies and both Dion and Trey were panting now, as a result of the combination of exertion and the fantastic orgasm they had enjoyed. They reveled in this post-orgasmic bliss for many minutes, and then they resumed their kissing and let their hands roam over the other's body, because they didn't want the wonderful feeling to end. When the overpowering sensations had passed, they cleaned up and got in under the covers, wrapped in each other's arms, while all the pleasant moments of the evening played in their minds.

Nick and Kevin had gone to their room in the same highly aroused state as the first pair. Kevin told Nick that he was really beginning to love him, maybe as much or even more than he had Dustin. Nick had tried to discourage this from happening whenever Kevin started getting mushy before… that was up until tonight. Those other times he had just wanted to get off with Kevin, but without the strings or other commitments, but now he even told Kevin he loved him back. Possibly for the first time in his life, Nick was thinking about more than just the sex. He looked at Kevin tonight and saw more than just the handsome face, lean body and the piece of flesh swinging between his legs. This time he noticed the shine of his longish hair, the sparkle in his eye, the special smile that he seemed to have just for him and the soft, sweet way he would whisper in his ear. He had never noticed things like this about any of his other partners and instead focused solely on two anatomical features located just below the waist, but on opposite sides of the body. This time he was seeing the whole person.

They were now naked and lying on the bed, kissing passionately and letting their hands explore and stimulate each other's sensitive places, before Kevin swung around. He was now staring at Nick engorged piece of meat and his own manhood was even with Nick's face. Slowly, he began to lick and suck the surface of Nick's erection, all around the glans and up and down the stiff pole, and could feel Nick was doing the same. Once Kevin was satisfied with his ministrations of that area, he licked over and around the sensitive covering of his scrotum, but felt Nick playing with his foreskin, while also mimicking everything Kevin was doing to him. Energetically they brought each other to the brink, backed off a little, before lifting them back to that same pinnacle again.

Now, they were both beyond the point of no return and unloaded into each other's sucking cavern. They soon filled each other's mouth to more than overflowing, before they swallowed what was there, just in time to receive the next volley as it shot from the tiny slit. After a few powerful spurts, their orgasms began to subside, so they merely lapping up the juices that were left. At this point, Kevin swung back around and placed his mouth securely against Nick's, as they mixed their own taste with that of their lover.

The boys kissed and petted each other for several minutes more, savoring every second it took them to come down from that fantastic high. Kevin hugged Nick and thanked him for taking part in planning that romantic evening for him, which left Nicky momentarily speechless. Eventually, Nick found his tongue again and told Kevin it was because he had wanted to do something special for him, to make him forget about Dustin. Although Kevin told him that would never completely happen, he did confirm he was not thinking of Dustin as often or as strongly as he had in the past, and most of that was due to Nick's presence in his life. His connection to Nick was growing stronger and they spent the rest of the night cuddled in each other's arms.

Danny and Brandon were just as affected as the other, even though they had been together longer and knew each other more deeply. However, the impact of the evening had them looking at each other a little differently tonight. Brandon first asked Danny how he had thought about setting it all up, so Danny explained he had spoken to Dion and most of what happened had begun as Dion's idea. Dion was on a mission and his goal to make Trey happy and give him the romantic evening he had been longing for. Dion had asked Danny and Nick if they wanted to be included, as he felt it would be better if more than just Trey and he were there, so they agreed. Danny said he'd been thinking about what he could do for Valentines Day anyway and this just kind of fit together and solved his problem. Danny confessed he knew Brandon would enjoy such an unexpected treat and also knew he'd enjoy doing this for Brandon more than anything they'd done with the girls they had dated.

After ending this little discussion, they were soon kissing and hugging, working their way all over each other's face, from the ears to the neck, then to the lips and around the interior of their mouths, eventually moving down to their partner's chest, after they had removed each other's shirt. Now, they took turns working on each other's nipples, running their tongues down the center of their lover's chest, until they reached the navel. After using their tongues to tease those areas that had long ago lost their functionality, they began to remove each other's trousers and underwear, freeing their woodies from the confines of the cramped quarters they had been imprisoned in. Once their manhood swung free, they were able to enjoy each other's attention even more. As Danny moved down to take Brandon orally, Brandon stopped him.

"Wait. First I want you to make love to me and make me feel as great as I was feeling downstairs," Brandon suggested, nearly breathlessly. "Tonight you made me feel so loved and wanted and I don't want that to end. I want to feel that way now, while also being able to make you feel that good too."

Danny wasn't about to look this gift-horse in the mouth, so he grabbed the KY and a foil packet and got ready to do what his boyfriend requested. Brandon opened the condom and unrolled it over Danny's more than adequate tool and then added a coat of clear gel to its exterior, once it was in place. Once he was ready, Danny began kissing Brandon again and greased up Brandon's chute at the same time, before moving into position. This time he rolled Brandon on his stomach and lifted his butt up a little, before he glided in behind him. As he pressed forward, forcing his rod deeper into his lover's hole, he reached up and turned Brandon's head toward him, so he could kiss him passionately, while pumping in and out of his love canal.

Their two bodies moved as one, with Brandon backing into Danny's every thrust, thus multiplying the pleasure they were both feeling. Brandon's body quivered each time Danny's massive head brushed his prostrate and Danny was in heaven as his penis was stroked and caressed by Brandon's warm lining. His strokes had changed from long and slow thrusts to short and quick piston like movements, because he was almost ready to bust a nut. Danny held on for as long as he could, but finally gave in to this building pressure by ramming his light-pole deep into Brandon's cavern, before groaning and releasing a torrent of cum that flooded the end of that poor rubber.

Brandon also felt Danny's cock swell and throb as each string of semen burst from it, but he wished he could still feel the warm fluid coating his interior, like he had before Pop had insisted that everyone use condoms. Danny collapsed next to Brandon, pulling him onto his side, but his cock was still imbedded in his lover's ass.

They lay that way, recovering from that powerful session, when Brandon rolled over and thanked Danny for the entire evening. That's when Danny told him that it wasn't over yet. Now it was Brandon's turn to make love to him. Danny grabbed another rubber, teased little Brandon back to life, and then he slid the raincoat over the throbbing mast. He added a coat of KY and kissed Brandon to let him know he was done.

Brandon just rolled Danny on his side, lifted Danny's top leg so that his foot rested on the opposite knee and then gently pried Danny's butt cheeks apart. Once the pucker was exposed, Brandon lined his penis with Danny's tunnel of love and then he added just enough pressure to slip past the guardian and glide all the way in.

Brandon established his rhythm using medium strokes and was going as slowly as his aching balls would allow. Danny was enjoying the feel of Brandon's prized piece of meat pistoning in and out of him, but Brandon was so emotionally aroused from the effects the evening had on him, that he was soon humping like a rabbit. While that was happening, Danny turned his head toward Brandon and began kissing and sucking on his tongue. That put Brandon over the top and he began to feel the fluids leave his testicles and travel up the shaft. He tried to hold it back, but had little success, and it was only seconds later before his hot magma spewed forth, in several strong gushes, filling the tip of the rubber almost beyond capacity. Spent, he lay panting, yet still completely embedded in Danny's velvety chasm. After he had recovered from this powerful release, his penis deflated and slowly slipped out of Danny's backside, so the two staggered weakly out of their room to clean up and pee. When they went back to their bed, they slowly entangling their bodies with each other, so they were taking up only slightly more space than a single body would occupy, and went to sleep that way.

Later, when I went upstairs to check on everyone, I saw each of those three couples locked in their lover's embrace and the most contended looks you could ever imagine plastered across their faces. I was pleased I had been able to play even a small part in this special evening for them, but hoped it wouldn't be the last. I pray the memories and feelings they had enjoyed this evening would stay with them forever.

***

As my gay boys shared their love with their partners, the other boys began to return home. I had rented a limo to drive them around for the evening, and heard it pull in, just before the vehicle's headlights brightening the previously dark interior of the house. I lay in bed, looking out my door and saw them enter, wondering if any of them would want to discuss their evening with me.

"Dad, are you sleeping?" I heard someone whisper. It was Ricky. I should have known he would be the one who would want to fill me in on the highlights of the evening.

"No, Ricky. I was just waiting for the rest of you to get in," I told him. "How did you're night go?"

"It was freaking awesome!" Ricky exclaimed.

"So, are you going to tell me about it?" I pressed, figuring that was his intention all along.

"Yeah, if you're not too tired," he offered, giving me an out.

"No, I'd love to hear how it went," I offered, which was all Ricky needed to hear.

"Well, we had the limo driver take us down to pick up Jay first and then we went to the florist to get the girls' corsages," he began.

"So there were no problems or mix-ups in your orders?" I followed.

"Nah, everything was fine." he replied, without hesitation. "Anyway, once we left there, we gave the limo driver the addresses to our dates' houses and he drove to each one. Whoever's date it was would go up to the door to get his girlfriend, but we all ended up being asked inside to meet her parents and let them take some pictures of us. They said they'd make copies for us too, but it did take quite a bit of time to do all of that."

"After we'd picked up the last girl, our chauffeur drove us to the restaurant and we went in and announced our reservation. The waiters all seemed to know we were your sons, because they asked how you were doing. I guess they also figured we'd tip just like you do, so they treated us like royalty, which really impressed the girls. They said when they'd been out on other dates, the waiters usually gave them only minimal attention, since high school students aren't known to tip very well, so the girls were in awe that we were treated like someone famous." I could only chuckle at that observation.

"Anyway, the girls seemed to enjoy the food and we all ordered non-alcoholic drinks from the bar, which seemed to make them feel even more special. I'm glad you suggested we order those virgin drinks for our dates," he added, with a wink. "The girls seemed to think that was neat too."

"I'm glad I was of service," I replied, coyly.

"The dance was great too and the band was better than any of us expected," he continued. "They were older guys, probably in their thirties, but they played all the tunes we really like." As he said that I thought, 'old' and 'in their thirties' shouldn't be allowed in the same breath. Ricky didn't notice my amusement over his statement and kept going.

"We all danced to most of the songs, but I don't think we were really paying that much attention to each other, as we were mainly getting it on with our girlfriends. You know, kissing and fondling and such." I merely nodded my head in acknowledgment of his statement.

"It was also pretty warm in there, so we spent some time at the refreshment table too," he added, "and sometimes we'd just go into the halls or a dark corner of the gym and make out for a while. It wasn't much, but I could tell my date was getting pretty turned on by it." He winked again, to let me know what a stud that made him.

"We didn't go all the way or nothin', but mostly because there was no place private to go. I didn't think she'd want to do it in the limo, with everyone else there, but it looked like Dustin scored. I think one of his friends let him use the backseat of his car, because Dustin and his girlfriend disappeared for quite a while, and when they came back, her hair was all messed up and stuff."

I quickly made a mental note to speak with Dustin sometime soon, to make sure he used protection, like I had instructed him. Otherwise, I might have to offer him some other suggestions, to make sure nothing unwanted occurred because of that experience.

"Frankie might have gotten lucky too, because none of us remembered seeing him around very much, so we weren't exactly sure what he'd been doing." I quickly added Frankie's name to my mental list. I certainly hope they were careful.

"I think my girlfriend might be willing to do something this weekend, though," Ricky added, "because she invited me over to her place this Saturday and told me her parents weren't going to be there." He flashed an evil little grin this time, letting me understand he was hoping to capitalize on that situation.

"Just be smart and do everything I told you, if that should happen," I informed him.

"Yeah, Dad, I know," he whined. "I'll roll the condom over the banana before we have sex," he added, mocking the prop I'd used when giving the boys their latest sex talk.

"I'm certainly glad you all had a good time, but hope everyone played it smart," I countered, which made Ricky groan again.

"Maybe I shouldn't have told you everything," he teased, but I knew he didn't mean it. He knew I'd worry, but I was still good about giving them some leeway to make their own decisions.

"So, how did things go here?" he asked. "Were the boyfriends happy with their little surprise?"

"And how did you know about that?" I asked, amused and slightly shocked. "It was supposed to be a secret."

"It was, cuz I didn't tell anyone," he assured me, "but you know I can pretty much get Cole and Graham to tell me everything." Suddenly, I remembered how close he was to two of my assistants, and since they had been privy to my plans after I'd asked them if they were willing to help out, he must have learned from them.

"It went well and I think all of them had a good time," I told him. "The three partners seemed pleasantly surprised that their boyfriends went to all the trouble, and each of the couples seemed happy, although they did complain a little about my choice of songs."

"Oh, no! You didn't play all of the music from the Middle Ages again, did you?" he teased, while flashing me a devilish grin.

"I guess I shouldn't take your criticism too harshly," I joked back, "since you gave me more of a break than they did. Some of the others suggested it was Stone Age music." Ricky began to laugh hysterically now, realizing he'd been outdone and I hadn't been annoyed by his inference.

"Okay, you head up to bed too," I suggested, "since we all still have school tomorrow."

"Oh, Dad, couldn't we just skip a day?" Ricky whined.

"No, so don't make me decide not to let you boys take out dates next Valentine's Day or the next big school event on a week night," I warned him. "If you can't do the necessary things the next day, then you shouldn't be having so much fun the night before." Ricky glared at me, but got my message.

"Okay, you win - as usual," he groaned, before turning and moving toward the stairs. Just before he reached them, he stopped short, wheeled about and I was preparing myself for another argument. Instead, he merely walked back so he could hug and kiss me on the cheek.

"I still love you," he informed me, "even if sometimes you are an old grouch." I just chuckled to myself concerning his last comment, as I knew he didn't really mean it. As he turned around again, I smacked him on the rear, making him jump slightly.

"What was that for," he grinned.

"For making fun of your old man," I shot back, "but I still love you too." Once that was said, we both made our way to our own beds.

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