Eff Del

Flights of Angels

Book 2 of Young But Daily Growin'

Chapters 13-17

Chapter 13

We'll finish Jack's tale

Hidden deep within even the happiest of hearts is the voice that attempts to entice us to succumb to fear.

Fear is not the lack of courage. It is not the absence of resolve. It is the false belief that hope is in vain and that valor is worthless. It is the lie that strives to keep us from achieving…to keep us from reaching beyond our limits…from life itself.

Never give in to fear. Never listen to the lie. Strive! Achieve! Believe!

To do so is to know the truth.

As I returned to my study and let my body sink into the comforting embrace of the soft leather of my chair, I realized that I was soon to be a part of the extraordinary commentary I had been reading.

Thinking back to my original internet inquiry on that afternoon that seemed now to have occurred so long ago, I remembered that young Jack had been relatively new in his career as a boy for hire. If my memory served me, I believed that I was only his fourth or fifth 'client' and I'd chosen him for his newness as well as his unique good looks.

Yes, almost certainly, I was soon to become a part of the young man's startlingly forthright narrative and my natural curiosity couldn't be stifled from engaging in speculation. I was anticipating reading about how my actions were perceived that significant night in my penthouse in Houston.

I drew a deep breath and returned to my reading.

The room that they put me in to rest that first night back was nice. It was very quiet because it was at the top of the building and on the far side away from the quad.

They left me pretty much alone; even Proctor Nick didn't come back after he'd got me settled in. They brought me my dinner right to the room and the guy who brought it even asked me if I'd like wine. That hadn't ever happened before except when I was having practice contracts and of course that first week with Tip.

I said that I would like some wine. I enjoyed the way it tasted and I liked the way it calmed me down and made me feel warm and relaxed. I thought it was great except, of course, for that one time with Tip that I drank too much and got sick. I never wanted to do that again.

When I finished my dinner I got into the bed planning on watching a movie on the TV. They'd left me the whole bottle of wine and I drank it slowly while I sat back watching the film.

It must have made me sleepy because I don't remember how the movie ended. One minute I was watching and the next; it was morning.

While I was in the shower, I was wondering if I was supposed to go downstairs for breakfast or what I was supposed to do. That question was answered when I walked out of the bathroom and found that somebody had delivered a cart with my breakfast tray on it.

I was really hungry that morning so I didn't even bother getting dressed. I just sat down and ate breakfast. I had noticed over the past couple of years was that I liked being naked a lot. It was comfortable and it made me feel good. I did get dressed, though, because I didn't know what was going to happen that day.

It was kind of a good thing that I did, because no sooner did I have my clothes on than the guy showed up to take the cart and my dishes and stuff. I didn't know him and he didn't introduce himself he just smiled and asked if everything had been OK.

I told him it was and he left with all the stuff.

Pretty soon after that, there was a knock on my door and I opened it and there was Tadpole standing there with one of his big smiles.

I was so glad to see him. We sat down on the couch and, of course, he asked me about my contract just like I'd asked Tip that time I'd seen him after his first one.

Just like Tip, I told Tadpole that I couldn't really talk about it to him but I did say that it had gone OK. He's a smart little guy and he got the message right away and so we talked about lots of other stuff instead.

After about an hour though, he had to go and I was left all alone again and I was bored and lonely. That didn't last long though because, after about a half an hour, Proctor Nick came in and pretty soon we were sitting down talking about the past few days.

"You did very well especially for your first time Jack," he told me.

"The review from Mr. Chang was outstanding and, by the way, he placed a very nice bonus into your account. If you keep up like this, you're going to have a very nice sum of money waiting for you when you age out of the Academy."

I acted like I understood but I really only kind of did. I'd never had any need for money my whole life so far so I didn't really know why it should suddenly be so important to me. He must have guessed that from the way I was looking because he said;

"Since you were a baby, Jack, the Academy has taken care of you, nurtured you and raised you. You've never had to worry about anything or be afraid of anything. You've been provided for and supported far better than most children out there in the normal world. The Academy is a very special place, Jack, and you are very lucky to be one of the special boys raised here."

"I know you don't know a lot about how money works, Jack, but I know you understand that things cost and everything has a price. It is very, very expensive to run a place as wonderful as the Academy, Jack, very expensive."

"Therefore, it is the duty, the obligation of all our boys as they get older to do what they can to help keep the Academy up and running strong."

"It's really more than a duty Jack… it is a pleasure for each boy to contribute to the welfare and prosperity of the Academy and all of the younger boys… just as those boys before you have done so that you could have the wonderful carefree childhood you've had. Do you understand?"

I told him that I thought I did. We all knew for years before our training began that going out on contracts was how a nester helped keep the nest going. I knew it was our responsibility, I guess. I just wasn't sure how that worked.

"We have many friends, Jack, important friends out in the normal world. They ensure that we receive the money we need to keep the Academy going. Thanks to them we get a great deal of money from the government and donations from charities and foundations as well. Yes, of course, the clients pay us extraordinarily well to spend time with our boys but don't forget that we reserve a percentage of that money for each individual boy… for you for instance. You see, Jack, while we receive a lot of money from the contracts, it isn't nearly enough to keep a place like this going but it doesn't have to be either."

I know I looked confused and he smiled because I think he expected me to be.

"There are many important men out in the normal world, Jack, who truly enjoy the company and services of clever and skilled young boys. This is a thing that cannot easily be found in the normal world out there."

"They are willing to pay almost any price for the company of delightful and cooperative boys."

"The Academy has a worldwide reputation for producing the brightest, friendliest and most talented companions to be found anyplace. So, besides being willing to pay a great deal of money for each contract, these men ensure that money reaches the Academy in other ways so that we can continue our important work of raising and educating the fine young companions that all Academy boys grow up to be. They are far more focused on the quality of the boy than the cost of the contract."

"Now, these same important men seem to not have as much interest in older boys and young men and so, as an Academy boy reaches 18, he must be made ready to leave us and move out into the normal world. We do that for our boys as well as your own Lead-Senior Tip has been finding out."

"That is why the education… the knowledge you receive… is among the best in the world; why you are all trained to excel at sports, music… whatever interests you."

"Academy boys are the best companions but Academy men turn into superior citizens in the world outside of the Academy. Therefore, having money and earning scholarships will be important as you grow older and enter the next stage of your life."

Remember, Jack, you're only expected to be a Contract Boy for three years or so… not a big price to pay for all you have been given and all you will receive in the future. Do you follow me?"

I told him that I thought I did though actually he'd just given me a whole lot to think about.

Without actually saying anything, he sort of guided me out the sliding door and onto the balcony. I hadn't been out there yet so I was a little surprised to see there was a small refrigerator by the wall. Proctor Nick opened it up and pulled out two cans of beer. He handed one to me and smiled.

"This is your first beer isn't it?" I nodded my head.

"Beer is a great thing, Jack. Benjamin Franklin once said that 'beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.' I don't know about that, but I know I sure enjoy a nice cold one when I'm trying to kick back and think."

It was a beautiful day for the late fall. The sun felt warm against my skin and yet the air was crisp as a very soft wind blew in from across the campus

Being on the top floor of the large building, the view was really nice and I was thinking to myself, What a great idea he'd had to come out here.

He popped the top on his beer and took a sip. I did the same thing and, to be honest, I wasn't sure what I thought about it. I know it sure didn't taste like I thought it would. I took another couple of sips though and it kind of got better each time. It was just so different from anything I'd ever tasted before.

Proctor Nick was leaning on the railing looking out over the soccer pitch sipping his beer and finally he said, "Jack, the Proctors that conducted your after-contract interview have told me that you feel pain when you're being fucked. Is that true?"

I told him it was. He turned and looked at me like I don't remember ever being looked at before.

"Now, Jack, you're way beyond the point where something as simple as that should still hurt. I wonder if you're really trying hard enough to relax and enjoy it."

"You know, it would be a really bad thing if one of your clients should find out they were hurting you. They might think that maybe you hadn't been trained right. Do you understand that Jack?"

I couldn't stand the way he was looking at me so I looked down at my feet. I felt like I'd really done something wrong like I'd really screwed up for the first time in my life.

"So you see, Jack, it's very important that you get over this. Most boys at your age really enjoy being fucked especially by a client who was paying so much money to be with him and to show him a good time. Most boys look at it like a party; a really fun experience."

I didn't say anything but I was wondering how true that was. Somehow I didn't think I was the only boy that didn't enjoy being fucked. I wasn't even able to relax and enjoy it when it had been Tip fucking me and I'd do anything for Tip. I knew I'd never be able to relax and get used to it if all my clients turned out be like Mr. Chang.

Proctor Nick took a long drink from his beer and threw the can into the trash can. He reached over and kind of patted me on my shoulder.

"So, you need to work on getting your thinking straight about that eh Jack. We can't have the Clients thinking you aren't enjoying their company can we? It's important to them that they feel their companions are having a good time and look forward to being with them."

With that, he left. I stayed one more night up in that room and the next morning they told me I could go back to the dorm.

***

About four weeks later, I was in one of the music rooms working on a piece with Roger, a 14 year old who played the cello in our orchestra. It was the Beethoven Violin and cello duet in C major and Proctor Maestro had told us that if we perfected our performance, he would feature us in the next concert.

I was so involved that I didn't notice the door open and only after I glanced over Roger's shoulder did I see a Proctor standing there.

"Jack, you need to go to Director Coleman's office. You've been called on another contract."

I just nodded at him and put my violin away in its case. I guess I didn't expect I'd be contracted again so soon.

This time it was for a client named Mr. Renault. It turned out he was French but he spoke pretty good English just with a French accent you know?

He was taller than Mr. Chang and he had a mustache.

Just like always, when I offered to do my strip show instead of just getting undressed, he jumped right on that idea.

Unlike Mr. Chang, once I was naked, Mr. Renault seemed to want to look at me and kind of touch me a lot. Finally, he opened a bottle of wine and offered me a glass and then he had me sit on his lap over on his couch.

It was really nice wine and, to tell you the truth, I didn't mind sitting there drinking it while he sort of played with my cock and balls and legs and nipples and stuff. He didn't do anything enough to make me think I was going to cum or anything like that but it felt nice and the wine was good. I could have stayed like that the whole three days but that didn't happen.

Pretty soon he'd had enough of that stuff and he led me into his bed room. He stood by the side of the bed and said, "Take off my clothes Jack." Except with the way he talked with his French accent, my name came out sounding like 'Jaock'. I don't know why, but that struck me as funny and I began to laugh. Mr. Renault didn't know what I was laughing about but he was a nice enough guy and he started laughing with me and I started working on his buttons and stuff and pretty soon I had him as naked as I was.

He had hair all over his body. His chest, his back, his arms and legs… I'd never seen a person with that much hair but I figured that must be what made him French just like Mr. Chang's eyelids were what made him oriental.

His cock was about the size of Tip's; not as long as Mr. Chang's but it was fatter. It was a nice sized one but the thing that kept me looking at it was that it wasn't circumcised. I'd never seen a cock that wasn't circumcised in real life before; only in pictures. Every boy at the nest was circumcised… I'd just never thought about it until now.

Anyway, he smiled at me and spread his arms and says what sounded like; 'fair oon pip'.

***DR. SWAIM NOTE TO ERIC: I am quite certain that the gentleman said, 'faire une pipe' which literally translates to; 'make a pipe'. In other words; 'make a pipe of my penis' or 'smoke my penis like a pipe' but is actually common French slang for 'give a blow job'. ***

I know I looked at him very confused and he said, "Like zee pip, Jack. To smoke it yes?" I still looked confused and he sort of gestured with his hand down towards his cock.

"Jack…embrace my… no not embrace… suck… yes, yes, that's the word…suck my penis." Except it sounded like he said 'zuck my painiz' but…I got the idea and dropped to my knees.

I'd never sucked an uncircumcised cock before but we'd been taught about them so I had a pretty good idea what to do. I used my lips and my tongue on the skin for a while and then with my thumb and finger I gently sort of pulled it back and… well, the rest came naturally and Mr. Renault sure seemed to enjoy it. He certainly shot a lot of cum into my mouth.

After he shot his load, we moved to his bed and that's when I learned that Mr. Renault could give as good as he got. His lips and his tongue were all over me and he kind of slurped my cock into his mouth like spaghetti. He was slow and took a long time and I felt like my cock exploded inside his mouth.

He never missed a beat. He rolled me over onto my tummy, pulled my legs apart and was licking away at my ass. He was really good at it and pretty soon I was moaning and thinking to myself that I was going to like this contract.

I guess I should have figured that he was getting my hole wet for a reason because, after a while, he rolled me over on my side and guided my top leg up. He slipped up real close behind me and suddenly without warning he was pushing his cock up into my asshole.

This was the first time I'd been with anybody who thought that just their spit was enough lube to be able to fuck me. Even Mr. Chang used SOME real lube.

It was so unexpected and the pain was so strong that I saw like a white flash in front of my eyes.

Just like always, my ass muscle kept trying to protect itself by clamping shut even while he was pushing past it. I shoved the side of my hand into my mouth and bit down hard to keep from screaming.

Like everyone else that had ever fucked me, he mistook my clamping muscle for something I was doing on purpose and so he thought it was just wonderful as he took long slow stroked in and out of my hole saying all sorts of strange sounding stuff in French while I thought I would pass out from the pain.

He never saw me cry and I hid how much it hurt from him every time he fucked me. In a way, it was lucky for me that he seemed to like me sucking him off as much as he liked fucking my ass so I got fucked only about half the time that I would have if he was Mr. Chang.

I stayed with Mr. Renault for that whole contract without him once knowing how much he was hurting me. You know what was strange? Neither of us showered that whole time but he kept putting some strong smelling cologne or perfume stuff on me… like behind my ears and on my wrists and ankles.

He called me 'Bo Roo' all the time and he sure like to kiss a lot and to lick and nibble all over my body and he liked me to do that to him too. At first I was a little nervous because of all of his hair but it wasn't too bad and I was able to make him happy with my mouth.

***DR. SWAIM NOTE TO ERIC: What Jack heard as 'Bo Roo' was surely 'beau roux' which is essentially the masculine French form for 'beautiful redhead' a very appropriate nickname for the boy.***

When Proctor Martin picked me up he said that I was batting a thousand and that Mr. Renault had also given me a nice bonus for my account.

"Seems you've really got talent kid." Then he sniffed the air in the car real hard a couple of time and said, "But you smell like a French Whorehouse." I didn't understand what that meant but he smiled at me as he said it and then he started laughing.

Back at the nest, after the doctors took a good look at my ass and stuff, I met with the interview guys and this time, I didn't make the same mistake I'd made last time. I didn't tell them that it still hurt me when I was fucked, I told them that everything was great and that Mr. Renault really fucked good… you know, stuff like that… what I figured out was what they really wanted to hear.

It must have worked because when I had my next talk with Procter Nick, he was all smiles and stuff and pretty soon I was back practicing the duet with Roger.

Proctor Maestro told us we were doing it so well that we were going to perform it during the Christmas Concert and we were really happy and excited.

Christmas is a special time at the nest. There are no contracts for us older guys that whole month and we all spend the time singing Christmas songs and making music and making little gifts for each other. It seems like every dinner in December is a kind of a feast and well… we're all just very happy.

We don't get a lot a big presents like a lot of the kids out in the Norman world but, truth is, there isn't much that a kid in the nest needs that he doesn't get. So for us, Christmas time was just a time to have fun and practice being extra nice to each other.

Tadpole and me had secretly been practicing the Christmas song 'Lo, how a Rose ere Blooming'. He would finger pick it out softly on his guitar and I played a quiet melody on my violin and, in between, we'd worked out a nice harmony for our voices when we sang it.

Tadpole loves music… all kinds… and he can remember everything he hears. If he hears a piece of music once, he can identify it the next time he hears it. He's got a natural talent for rhythm and harmony and I love his little voice… so pure and sweet.

Proctor Choirmaster was always trying to get him to join the choir but the little guy was always too busy with all of his other stuff he did. If he had joined, I'll bet he would have been singing solos… at least until his balls dropped and then, who knows?

We sang our duet to the whole Senior Building on Christmas Eve and really got a huge applause and they even asked us to sing it again in the dining hall just before Christmas dinner.

Anyway, right after New Year's, things got busy around the nest. We got told that our orchestra was going out on a two week tour of Texas giving concerts and that Roger and me were going to do the Beethoven duet and I was going to do the third movement of the Sibelius as a solo every concert.

That Monday in the afternoon while we were just hanging around the general purpose room, Tadpole told me that him and a bunch of kids from his tier plus the tier over him and the one below were being called in to talk to a group of Proctors and for some reason he was one of the ones they told to come back tomorrow. Since I'd never heard of anything like this happening before, I told him not to worry about it; that it must be a good thing though.

That next afternoon, he was really excited because he had been told that he was one of only five kids from his tier that had been selected and that tomorrow they were going to meet some guy from a TV station. We still didn't know much more than that but I was excited for him because I knew he was one of the best.

I was really busy practicing in one of the music rooms because we were loading into the buses on Sunday to start our tour. I almost forgot about dinner but my growling belly finally reminded me. As I was walking across the quad to the Dining Hall, Tadpole came running up to me.

"Rufus guess what?" he was tugging on my arm and jumping and wiggling like he always did. It's hard to be serious or grumpy around him and I just smiled at him because he was so excited and asked, "What?"

"He chose me, Rufus! I'm gonna be doing a interlude on television!"

I kinda had to think about that. See, when Tadpole gets really excited, he has a habit of messing up his words and stuff. I think he's thinking and talking so fast things get mixed up… you know what I mean? Anyway, I finally asked him, "Do you mean an 'interview' Tadpole?"

"Yeah!" he says with a big smile. "I'm gonna do a interview on TV! I'm the only kid in my tier! They picked three kids; one from the Twelves, one from the Tens and me from the Elevens! Ain't that excitin'?"

I told him it sure was and put my arm around him and we walked off to supper.

I caught up with him Friday night and asked him how his interview was and he said it was all right.

"It wasn't as excitin' as I thought it was goin' to be Rufus. They had me sit on a stool in a room and there was just the camera man and the guy from the TV station he said his name was Mr. Regent but that I could call him 'Phil'."

"I told him that didn't seem like the right thing to do and that I would call him Mr. Regent if he didn't mind. He kinda just smiled at me and said he didn't mind at all."

"Anyway, he just asked questions and they were kinda funny questions you know… not the kind that had any real answer to them… more like 'what I thought about stuff' kind of questions. I was mostly telling him about stuff I like and stuff I like to do, you know, and he got interested when I was talking about the soccer team and when I told him we had a game tomorrow, he asked me if I'd mind if he came and filmed it for the TV show."

"I guess I got excited about that and I told him sure it would be all right."

"We talked for a long time so I guess I did all right. I hope we get to see me on the TV. Won't it be cool if they show some of the soccer game? Man! I guess I better do good tomorrow huh?"

Well, let me tell you, Tadpole sure did do well in the game on Saturday. He was almost like a one-man team. When he plays soccer… just like when he swims… he becomes something else. It's like he's in in own world. Those other kids from that Norman School they were playing against never knew what hit them. Tadpole scored three goals all by himself.

The guy from the TV station was there just like he said he'd be and they videoed the whole game and even a short little interview with Tadpole after the game.

The next day, Tadpole walked with me out onto the Quad while the orchestra got onto the buses. He squeezed my arm and said, ""Do great Rufus. I wish I was gonna be there to see how the audiences love your solo and your duet with Roger so, you'll have to tell me all about it."

I promised I would and told him to behave while I was gone and then I climbed onto the bus.

The orchestra trip was exciting. We gave a concert every other night in different places and there were always large audiences and they seemed to really like us. I got a huge applause for my Sibelius solo every time and they really loved the duet with Roger.

The two weeks flew by and we pulled back into the nest Quad late at night. They made us all sleep in one of the empty dorms that night so we wouldn't wake up the other kids that were sleeping.

That next morning, while we were eating breakfast, I saw Proctor Nick walking up to me. I thought to myself Oh no, not another contract so soon. And he kind of motioned that I should leave the table and follow him.

He led me into a small room off the hall and told me to sit down. "Jack, something happened while you were out on the tour and I feel you should know about it. Sean, your Follow-Boy was selected to be sent out on a long term contract and will not be back for a year."

I couldn't believe what he was telling me. Elevens were NEVER sent out on contracts. They hadn't received one bit of training and… well they were just little kids. Besides that, NOBODY gets sent out on contracts for a whole year. There had to be some mistake.

We talked for about a half an hour and he kept saying stuff about all nesters having a responsibility to do what was best for the Academy and how I should be proud that I'd done such a fine job guiding my Follow-Boy that he was selected above all others in the entire school for this assignment and stuff like that. Finally he told me that this was a good opportunity now that I was relieved of my Lead-Senior responsibilities to concentrate on my own development.

All I could think of was that I should have been there. He must have been so confused and so scared. I should have been there for my little Tadpole. That was my job and I let him down.

I didn't cry, though. Somehow, after that meeting following my contract with Mr. Chang, I'd made up my mind that I was never going to let Procter Nick ever see me cry.

I did cry that night though. In my bed with the blanket pulled over my head like the night I'd turned eight, I covered my mouth to keep quiet and I cried until I guess I just fell asleep.

I rubbed my eyes with my knuckles until my mind's vision was a universe of tiny white stars while I struggled to gather my thoughts.

Jack had just described Uncle Phil's interrogation of the nest boys and the final interview process that led to my selecting Sean. It all seemed like something that had occurred a life time ago and yet, the reality was that it had been less than a year.

The interview procedure and ultimate selection seemed like a much different event when viewed from Jack's point of view as opposed to mine.

His anguish over the loss of his Follow-Boy and feeling of complete failure because he had not been there to soothe the little one's fear and confusion rang true and cut me to my very soul. It was not unlike how I had felt at the death of my family and my feeling of abject failure not having been there to protect Kyle. Nothing left a person more empty than the feeling of failure exacerbated by hollowness of loss.

I had never regarded the possibility that in snatching Sean from the nest, I was breaking up any close personal bonds. In my arrogant selfishness, I had never considered such relationships might exist within an institution with such a single minded purpose. I'd thought no further than to regard it as a factory that produced high caliber boy whores.

I felt shamed and subdued. I noticed my drink was untouched and I left it that way.

About four weeks later, I was called down to Director Coleman's office and was informed that I had been contracted out. By this time I'd made up my mind that whatever it took, I was going to get through my three years of service as a Contract Boy, do what I needed to do to get into University, study hard and live a great life. I wasn't going to worry about anybody else and I wasn't going to get close to anybody else ever again. It just wasn't worth it.

This was going to be a different kind of contract because, Director Coleman told me, the Client; Mr. Pilkington was taking me for a week's long cruise on his yacht.

He told me that there might be men besides Mr. Pilkington who desired my company during the trip and that was already cleared with the Academy.

I was to remember that I wasn't to do anything against the rules but other than that, I was to make the Academy proud.

In my mind, I told myself I'd make the Academy proud all right… just as long as it added to my bank account and increased my chances of landing a scholarship.

I don't know much about boats, but Mr. Pilkington's yacht sure looked big to me. I know I sure would have loved it if it was mine. Of course if it was mine, I'd use it for more than fucking little boys.

Mr. Pilkington was short and fat. He was dresses in a white shirt with epaulets on the shoulders and he wore blue shorts with white socks that came up to his knees. He also wore a captain's billed cap and I found out real quick that he liked to be called 'captain' not 'mister'.

He had sent over an outfit that he expected me to wear when Proctor Martin delivered me to his yacht. It was a white shirt with a square collar that hung down the back over my shoulders like a backwards bib. There was a blue kerchief that tied around my neck and very tight white shorts. There was also an old time sailor cap.

When I looked at myself in the mirror I thought that I looked like Donald Duck but, when Procter Martin delivered me on-board, 'Captain' Pilkington seemed to like what he saw.

"Well Jack, welcome aboard the good ship Ganymede! I trust that I shall find you to be an able-handed seaman who is able to handle semen." He must have thought that was very funny because he laughed for about five minutes.

I found out that unlike the other contracts I'd been out on, this client didn't want me to get undressed right away. He wanted me in my 'uniform' as he called it until duty required me to "stow it so the mates can break out the belaying pins." He laughed when he said that. In fact, 'Captain' Pilkington sure laughed a lot.

We cast off pretty much as soon as I'd gotten on board. Seems like it wasn't very long before we were far out into the Gulf of Mexico. He brought me out onto the main deck and I was introduced to what he called 'the compliment'.

There were three other men who were wearing just polo shirts and shorts… no uniforms. They were introduced as Ralph, Paul and Earle. They smiled at me and said hello while they sipped their drinks. There was also a young girl whose name was Mary. Mary was about Tip's age, maybe just a year younger. She was dressed like I was except her shorts were much tighter than mine were and her shirt only came down to her belly.

I found out later that she was being paid to be on the trip and she was there pretty much for sex stuff just like I was.

Well, most of the 'cruise' was all of the men taking turns using me and Mary. When they were fucking us, we were taken down below to one of the cabins but when they just wanted one of us to suck them off, that happened right on deck out in the open.

When me an Mary weren't dressed up in our Popeye outfits, we were completely naked and, strange enough, it seemed like the men liked seeing us either way.

For me, this was the first time I'd ever seen a live naked girl and I couldn't keep my eyes off her. Every time I'd look at her like that, my cock popped up to attention. Mary would just grin and a couple of times she told me I was cute.

Mary and me weren't allowed to do anything with each other, not even kiss. I'd been kinda hoping I'd get to see what it was like to fuck a girl but Captain Pilkington said we were off limits to each other.

Between the four of those guys, it seemed like I was blowing one of them every time I turned around and I guess I was fucked at least eight or ten times a day. Believe me, you would have thought that lube was the most valuable thing in the world because they sure didn't use a lot of it.

Captain Pilkington kept saying he like keelhauling scurvy naves like me and then, of course, he'd laugh for like five minutes. I never got any of his jokes.

I had to spend the night in a cabin with two of the guys every night while Mary got the other three. I never figured out how they decided who got to fuck who each night, but they seemed to have it worked out between them. As far as I was concerned none of them was better or worse than the others, they all had regular sized dicks and none of them was gentle so it didn't matter to me.

Luckily, they pretty much always liked me to be on my hands and knees when they fucked me so they never saw the pain on my face. They mistook the clamping down of my ass as something I was doing on purpose and the guy named Ralph must have said about twenty times that I was the most talented little bugger he'd ever had.

I thought to myself that he should only know the truth.

I actually think that eventually the nerves in my ass must have gone numb from the pain because the last couple of days when they were all trying to get as much of me and Mary as they could before the cruise ended, I don't remember feeling anything; just all those dicks going in and out of me.

Maybe I've just forgotten the pain because it hurt so much.

The only good part was I could have all of the rum and cokes I wanted just so long as I didn't get really drunk. I made sure I always had enough so that it kind of hid the pain of being fucked.

Procter Martin was waiting at the dock when the Ganymede pulled in and he didn't say much except that the 'client' was very satisfied, I had once again scored a very nice bonus and that I'd gotten a great tan.

When the doctors looked me over after my cruise, they said that while I hadn't suffered any actual damage, they were concerned about the stress my sphincter had endured due to extended penetration by four men. By now I'd learned that 'sphincter' is the real name for your asshole muscle. They told me that I wouldn't be allowed out on another contract for a while.

Proctor Nick was all smiles when we talked after my adventure with Captain Pilkington and the 'Compliment' and he told me that I was becoming a fine example for all nesters to try to emulate. I asked him what he meant and he said that they all should try to be like me. I thought to myself that that sure would be terrible for them.

All I knew was that my asshole hurt so badly I was afraid every time I needed to poop and my Follow-Boy was gone and, to tell you the truth, nothing was very much fun anymore. I was wondering to myself how quickly could I make three years fly by.

Actually though, I'm not the type of kid to brood about something for too long and with time on my hands I really got involved in studying marine biology and I was working on a really detailed study on the effects of global warming on plankton.

Sounds boring right? But, it really isn't because, you see, plankton is really the very first link in the food chain for the whole world. Besides that, plankton are a major agent of photosynthesis that makes oxygen in our atmosphere. Well, anyway, I learned that they get their main nourishment from nitrogen, phosphate and iron and these things come from the much colder water below the surface.

I was developing a pretty well documented theory that the warming of the sea water was stifling the food source for the plankton and therefore slowly destroying the progressive food source in the entire ocean.

Believe it or not, this could be pretty good proof that our whole planet is in big trouble so suddenly it's not so boring after all.

Pretty interesting huh? Anyway, I was doing as well on this as I could without being able to go to sea and do any actual physical research. Many was the time as I was doing my studying that I thought that this would have been a better thing to do with the Ganymede than sucking 'Captain' Pilkington's dick on the main deck.

As I got more and more involved I kept thinking that if I kept earning good bonuses and maybe even score a scholarship or two, when I aged out of the nest, I could study marine biology at the university and never have to deal with people again.

Well, that didn't last long because, much sooner than I expected, I was called to Director Coleman's office and was told I'd been contracted out again. This was much sooner than the doctors had kind of led me to believe I was gonna go out but it turned out I was specifically requested by a very rich client.

This time, the Director sat me down in his office and told me that this was a very important 'assignment'. The guy was in charge of a bunch of companies that pay for the services of a lot of nesters and have been doing so for a while. It was very important that I satisfy this import man whose name was Mr. Tucker. I was to do my very best to make him completely happy.

I was thinking to myself, 'What the heck do they think I've been doing?' Every client I'd been with had reported that they were very, very satisfied with me. Why in the heck would they think it would be any different this time?

Of course, I didn't say anything like that to him, I just told him that I would do my best and I would try to 'make the Academy proud'. That seemed to be Director Coleman's favorite thing.

I really liked the way wardrobe outfitted me for this contract. It was nice tight black jeans, a soft kind of off-white tee shirt made of really nice smooth material and a really comfortable white sweater. I thought I looked really good in the outfit when I looked in the mirror before heading down to the car with Proctor Martin.

As we headed towards the elevator Proctor Martin said to me, "I'm really interested in seeing this penthouse. This guy Tucker owns this whole building and he's one of the richest men in the world. I won't get to come in very far so you'll have to tell me all about it when I pick you up afterwards."

We got off at the top floor and the door was answered by a tall, great-looking guy who asked us in and I could tell right away that all his attention was on me.

Proctor Martin did all the regular introduction stuff and the client; Mr. Tucker, signed the paper work they always had to sign and then the Proctor left.

The Client came back into the hallway and smiled at me. He had a great smile and he led me into the sitting lounge and told me to have a seat on one of the white couches. Then he asked me if I'd like a beer and then…it was kind of funny… he asked me was I allowed to have a beer.

I think I may have laughed but I told him that yes, I was allowed to have one and that I'd like one.

When he came back, he handed me my beer in a real nice glass and he had a drink of something that I'm pretty sure was whiskey. He sat down across from me and started making small talk. I could see pretty plain that he was really nervous.

That seemed strange to me based upon what Director Coleman had been saying about him but I decided maybe I should get things started so I asked him if I should get ready for him.

That seemed to confuse him so I asked if I should get undressed. He actually seemed like he had to think about that for a second but then he told me that I should do that. So, then I threw in my 'undress or fancy strip show' line that always gets them but, it just confused Mr. Tucker.

Finally though, he said, "No. Just get undressed." Which kind of surprised me because that was the first time anyone had turned down my offer for a strip show. So, I started to get undressed but when I was down to just my underpants, he told me to stop and come and stand in front of him.

This was really different from anything that had ever happened before but I got the feeling he was kind of sad or something and maybe he actually was just nervous.

I stood with my hands at my side and he got up and looked real hard, but in a gentle way, at me and slowly began moving his hands all over me, Finally, he looked me in the eyes in a way that, without him saying anything, I knew he wanted me to drop my briefs. I slipped them past my thighs and when they hit the floor, I just stepped out of them and kicked them to the side. I never broke eye contact with him. He was the one who finally looked down as he ran his fingers through my bush.

He said something about how this was what everybody wondered about redheads. I figured he was talking about the color of my pubes because I'd heard that before. I just kind of smiled at him but I didn't say anything.

Finally he said something about what a good looking young man I was and he told me to sit back down and finish my beer while he enjoyed looking at me.

I didn't know what else to do so I just thanked him and sat down on the couch again. It was kind of strange; we just sat there with him looking at me while I drank my beer and him not saying a word.

Finally though, I guess he's finally made up his mind because he stood up and stretched out his hand to me. I understood what he wanted so I got up and took his hand and let him lead me into the bedroom.

Man! I sure wasn't prepared for his bedroom. It was huge and three of the four walls were glass. You could almost see the whole city from that one room. It had dark soft blue carpet and almost the only furniture was the big bed in the center. It was the neatest room I'd ever been in in my whole life.

He must have known I would be impressed because he let me just stand there and look for a while before he indicated I should go over and get up onto the bed.

By now he really had me curious. I really liked him… he seemed like a gentle kind man… so I lay down on my tummy across the bed and watched to see what he would do next.

He stood across the room and slowly took off his clothes. He was watching me while he did it and I had trouble hiding my smile because he was taking his time getting undressed and I was thinking that I was the one getting to watch a strip show this time.

When he was down to just his boxer briefs, he walked over to the bed. He never said a word but his eyes told me to roll over onto my back. I did it but I tried not to take my eyes off him. He was one of the best looking men I'd ever seen and I kind of rolled over and opened my arms hoping he might want to kiss me.

He did! Boy did he want to kiss me! Nobody ever had kissed me like that… not Tip, not anybody… and when he finally stopped, I didn't think I could breath.

Before I even realized it, he was kissing and nibbling his way down my body and playing with my balls and then, my cock was in his mouth and I think I forgot everything and suddenly I was cumming and in total crazy ecstasy and exploding.

As I calmed down from my high I realized that I was supposed to be pleasing him but instead he had sent me into orbit. I felt so bad about that and I began apologizing for getting carried away but he shushed me up and told me that what he had just done had given him pleasure. I kind of understood that because I really enjoy it when I suck somebody to the point that they're in heaven. Then something really weird happened. He rose up on his elbows and looked at me so strangely… almost scary. Then he pulled me tight to him and was hugging me like he was afraid to let go and suddenly I was frightened for the first time on any contract. I was frightened.

Just as I was trying to figure what was going on he reached into a drawer at the side of the bed and pulled out a tube of lube. Suddenly there was no mystery anymore. I knew what he was going to do next.

I pulled my knees back so that he could reach my asshole and to my surprise he used lots and lots of lube. More than even Tip had ever used. He greased up inside and out and he greased his large boner as well. He'd pushed two fingers smeared with lube up into me and he'd done it so quickly that I hadn't had time to react so it actually felt pretty good.

I knew he was ready so I asked him how he wanted me to be. That seemed to confuse him for a second but then he told me to stay on my back because he wanted to look at my face while he fucked me.

I thought to myself that this was going to be trouble because when he saw that he was hurting me, he would be unhappy with my training and my performance.

I pulled my knees back onto my chest and I felt him kneel between my legs and I could feel the tip of his cock press against my sphincter. I couldn't help it; I grabbed the bed clothes real hard and closed my eyes tight ready for the pain… but it never came.

Instead, he pulled back and jumped off the bed. I didn't know what had happened so I sat up to see and he was standing there shaking like a leaf. Even in the dim light I could tell he looked scared to death. Suddenly I was just as scared as he was but he reached out and brushed my cheek with his finger tips and he was telling me it was all right and I should just stay there in bed. He even covered me up with the blanket and he ran out of the room.

I sat there terrified. I didn't know what I had done to scare him so badly. I only knew that I had messed up horribly. This contract was ruined and Director Coleman had made it clear how important it was for this to go perfectly.

What was I going to do now? Had he seen the fear of the pain on my face? Had I done something wrong or was there something wrong with the way I looked or how I had acted? I only knew that I'd messed up terribly and I didn't know what was going to happen next.

In a million years I'd have never guessed what did happen next. Mr. Tucker came back into the room he sat on the edge of the bed and opened his arms and asked me to let him hug me. He didn't have to ask twice.

He rocked me and whispered stuff to me and I realized that I had been shaking with fear. I calmed down in his arms and finally I was able to tell him how sorry I was and I even found myself confessing that getting fucked hurt so much but that I would really make him happy if he would just give me another chance and try again.

I don't actually know what all I said. I just knew that somehow I liked this man and I trusted him and … well it felt so good to tell someone about my problem with the pain.

He continued to hold me and he told me the strangest stuff… something nobody had ever said to me before. He told me he wasn't surprised it hurt. He said it wasn't right for a man to fuck kids and that it wasn't right for kids to be forced to do stuff like this with grown men. He said it was a horror.

I didn't know what to say because, obviously, I had been brought up to think completely different. I'd been brought up to think it was my duty… my obligation and privilege… to do this for the nest. Here was this man telling me it was wrong; that it was worse than wrong and somehow, that sounded true to me… like I'd known that was true all along.

Then, he said something I didn't understand. He said I'd never have to do it again.

I must have shown that I didn't know what he meant because he just said that I should trust him.

We hugged for a while longer and then he said that he wanted to take me out for a steak dinner. Then we laughed because I realized my ass was loaded with lube. He sent me to the shower and when I was finished, he took me to this wonderful restaurant.

I'd never been with anybody like him. It was so comfortable being with him and I found myself telling him everything about me… what I liked what I hoped to do with my life… all kinds of stuff like that.

When we got back to his building I apologized again for disappointing him and he told me that I hadn't disappointed him… that the evening had been special to him. That's when he told me I had to call him Eric from now on.

When we got back in his apartment he sent me into the bedroom to get undressed again but he told me to keep my underpants on. When I came back out and was sitting on the couch, he opened a box and put this beautiful emerald pendant around my neck. It was, and still is, the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. He told me that it was like it had been made just for me.

Then he sat down next to me and told me that he had paid the nest a lot of money and that I would never go out on a contract again. He also told me that he had set up a scholarship for me at the university.

I didn't understand how or why this was happening. I only knew I was so happy and so glad to be with him. I cried for a while and then I took his hand and led him into the bedroom. If there is one thing I know how to do well, its how to suck a cock, but I'd never sucked a cock as good as I did that night, I'll tell you.

That's about all there is to tell you, Doctor Swaim. When I got back to the nest and everybody saw my pendant they were in awe but the real reaction came after word got around that I was never going out on contracts again… that the mysterious Mr. Tucker had paid so that I was just for his use.

Even Proctor Nick looked at me and talked to me differently after that and all the guys would secretly ask me to teach them to do what I did for Mr. Tucker so that they could have exclusive contracts too. I pretended that it was a secret because the real answer was that I didn't do anything that night except be afraid of the pain.

A while after that, word got out that Tadpole was never coming back to the nest and rumors began to go around that he was dead. Somehow though, I had the feeling he'd been adopted even though we'd never heard of that happening to a nest boy. I just knew that Tadpole was too special to be dead. I don't know why I thought that… I just did and it turns out I was right.

Soon after that, Eric came and got me just like I always knew he would. And he didn't want me just for a couple a days and there was Tadpole adopted by Eric and now I was going back home with them!

When they find out at the nest that I'm never going back, the rumors will REALLY start to fly among the guys.

***

I don't quite know how I got there but I suddenly realized that I was in the kitchen. Martha was there doing something over by one of the counters she turned around when she heard me come into the room and the smile on her face turned into a frown of concern as she looked at me.

She rushed up to me as I slowly almost collapsed onto one of the counter stools. I looked up into her loving face and said, "All I want is to be a good person and I never want to see children in pain. I never wanted to cause pain… I just want to try and do some good."

And then it happened… almost five years of grief, anger, confusion and love… yes ,love, smashed the barrier I'd build in my heart and every pent up emotion I'd been keeping locked inside poured out in a raging torrent.

I heard a loud animal noise that was my initial sob just before I began weeping uncontrollably from the very depths of my being. My body shook as I cried out five years of tumultuous life. I cried for my loss, I cried for feeling of ineptness, for four wasted drunken years of unproductive existence. I cried in thanksgiving for the love of a little boy… a love that had saved and redeemed me. I wept for the past and I cried for the future.

Martha held me in her tight loving embrace as I cried. My tears cleansed my soul. My weeping healed my heart and Martha held me tightly as I sat in the kitchen and was reborn.

Hey guys, I've got to tell you that these last three chapters have been very difficult for me to write. I cannot tell you how much your encouragement and kind words have made the writing possible

Chapter 14

Eric begins the assault on the nest

I'm really sorry this chapter has taken so long. I have been really really ill. Thanks again to all of you who have sensed something was wrong and have written to enquire and offer good wishes.
I hate authors who start stories and then never finish them and I refuse to let that happen. If this story stops then you know I'm dead I promise you that

There are times when we feel that we are too broken and damaged to be loved. We feel too flawed and injured…too damaged and unworthy.

This is nonsense because we are all worthy of love and we all deserve it.

We insult the world when we feel incapable of being loved because we are less than perfect. To be ourselves doesn't mean we are unlovable. It means that we are simply real…

To believe that you must hide all the parts of you that are broken… out of fear that someone else is incapable of loving what is less than perfect… is to believe that sunlight is incapable of entering a broken window and illuminating a dark room.

The sweet hi pitched voice echoed in the acoustic excellence of the shower as he strutted through the spitting water and sang in a rather cute phony English accent;

"When I was a lad I served a term
As office boy to an Attorney's firm.
I cleaned the windows and I swept the floor,
And I polished up the handle of the big front door.

I polished up that handle so carefullee
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!"

I should have learned by now that Sean could amaze me almost at will but, the fact that he continued to delight and surprise me at the most unlikely times was one of the great pleasures of my wonderful new life. Sitting on the bench in the shower while a naked 12 year old boy wonderfully delivered the patter song from Gilbert and Sullivan's 'HMS Pinafore' was not how I expected my day to begin, but I had no complaints.

I'm certain that my smile had difficulty fitting my face as Sean sang and mimicked Sir Joseph's funny account of his rise to fame and fortune perfectly as the spray from multiple shower heads played against the skin of his exquisite young body.

Last night, I had taken him as well as Jack, Martha and Chris to a performance by a national touring company of 'Pinafore' and they had all enjoyed it (almost) as much as I had.

Since I was a teenager and had first been exposed to the marvelous operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan, I'd been a fan but I also knew that this was an iffy proposition. Like the Scotch whisky I enjoy so much, this music was an acquired taste especially for young 21st Century Americans.

I'd already known that Martha was a huge fan but I wasn't certain how the boys… Chris included… would react.

To my delight, they loved it. I wasn't all that surprised when I learned later that Sean and Jack were both familiar with the music. Make another chalk mark in the positive column for the nest, I'd thought to myself. It was Chris' first experience but he seemed to get it and like it a lot. The humor was old but still funny in its classic simplicity and the music was to die for.

The singers were all well matched for their roles and the performance was at a level that I was certain Mr. D'Oyly Carte would have approved. My small party had certainly been captivated.

August had skipped like a stone spun side-arm across a smooth-surfaced pond and had transformed almost imperceptibly into September.

After reading Jack's very candid interview conducted by Professor Swaim including the events that directly concerned me, I'd had a surprisingly sudden and totally unexpected emotional explosion. To my good fortune, Martha had been there to hold me and nurture me throughout the entire experience.

When it ended, I had risen with a new clarity of thinking. It was almost as if I had wept away my grief, my guilt and my confusion held tightly and lovingly in that wonderful woman's protective arms.

Martha herself had guided me out back and somehow had gotten me into a golf cart and she herself had driven us to Fish Camp. It was Martha who had guided me upstairs into the bedroom and tucked me in after handing me a drink.

Martha Edwards, that wonderful woman, had driven back to the house, interrupted class in the south wing and drawn the Professor aside explaining what had happened. Martha had taken charge of the boys and Doctor Swaim had taken charge of me.

I'd awoken in the familiar bedroom the next morning just as the sun was rising. I'd gone down stairs and started the coffee and prepared the scrambled egg mixture just as the big man came down.

He and I sat and talked all day and long into the night. We'd picked up the conversation the next morning and it also continued beyond midnight. The next day, Doc Swaim had driven me back to the main house and the boys were waiting in the kitchen with hugs and giggles as I walked through the door.

I was no longer confused. I knew with certainty that I was surrounded with people whom I loved deeply and who genuinely loved and cared for me in return. I was fresh and firm in my resolve and I knew what I needed to do.

That afternoon I'd met privately with Walter and Uncle Phil and laid out the course of action I'd planned. I was gratified that, although they both had several very constructive suggestions, they by and large agreed with my chosen course of action. I was a bit surprised but also pleased when Walter indicated that he and Phil felt that it would be a great idea if I let my new younger staff more or less take on this project. They both assured me that they would be there as needed but in the long run, they thought this would be a wonderful christening for the new team.

Though I was gratified by this suggestion, I was also a bit saddened because this was almost an acknowledgment that my father's 'team' was withdrawing slowly but certainly from the game.

I'd called Richard and Barry into the meeting room at the North Wing. Renovations had finally begun again in earnest now that the cables and wiring had been updated but my office up there was more of a mess than a useable space.

We sat crowded at one end of the large conference table. I'd spread my notes out in front of me and glanced at my two security people.

They were both a bit older than I was but still very young men. They were handsome and funny and seemed to share a respect for each other… a trait that I considered important. I thought to myself that if Chris can fit into this grouping, I most certainly have hopes for the future of 'Magnus Venatus'.

I was particularly amused by Richard. As he assumed Walter's daily duties as Butler and Head of staff, he had become a walking talking mimicry of his mentor; serious and staid. He was all efficiency and business. Despite this, he was respected and well-liked by the household staff.

Beyond this façade, he was acquiring more and more respect for the efficient way he was assuming the mantle of half of Walter's command of the Skuggor… my personal and highly secret military force.

I was particularly interested by the fact that, though Richard strove to maintain a stoic façade, there was some private joke going on between him and Jack because whenever there was any interaction between them, Jack would leave giggling and Richard fought hard to keep a grin off his face.

I'd sensed a little bit of the devil in Jack that first time we'd met under such traumatic (for me at least) circumstances and every day he was at Joyous Gaurde just confirmed my original suspicion. The young red head was growing on me and my staff.

Now, Barry had on several occasions fooled me completely. He'd posed as a flight attendant on my jet three or four times. He'd struck me as an attractive nice young man with no real ambition but, turned out to be a seasoned Skuggor and a genius at tactical planning and cyber 'things'. Walter constantly assured me that he was most likely the best in the world.

Barry's appearance and actions didn't fit that image however. He was one of the funniest people I'd ever met and I couldn't imagine anyone meeting him and not liking him at once.

They both pleasantly surprised me during this meeting and I decided that I should stop being surprised at all.

I'd explained to the two of them that we needed to be prepared to totally take over the computer network of the nest. They'd looked at each other like two guilty little school boys and Richard had actually giggled as Barry told me that we'd had total access and potential control since Sean's kidnapping . He further explained that this was one way he'd been able to turn the 'myth' of my mother and Sean's grandmother into provable reality so easily.

Having absorbed the fact that I probably wasn't as clever as I'd imagined I was, I handed Barry a folder of things I expected we would need to do quickly as soon as we had physically taken control of the Academy. I turned to Richard and told him that I felt the patrons of the nest would be unlikely to just give up and go away. I told him we should be prepared for nasty and unexpected repercussions.

With a rather dazzling smile, he replied that he and Walter had already discussed this possibility and he believed he'd already put plans in place to counter such negative reaction.

"I feel, and Walter agrees that we need to be prepared for reaction at every conceivable level Eric. I've got a pretty detailed analysis here that you might like to go over." He handed me a rather thick post bound document which I accepted with a grin. Without exchanging any further words, we both expressed the knowledge that there was no way I'd know half of the tactical thinking that was contained in this thick document.

With that discussion essentially over, they both expressed their excitement over the pool that was being installed at their complex and their hopes that I'd be over for some swims and barbeques. They were serious at their jobs but were still essentially young men… Walter's pups when all was said and done.

I assured them that I would look forward to that. Secretly I was thinking since Chris will soon be joining you all at the complex, I hope he'll become close to you.' I also reminded them that the pool wouldn't be ready before winter so there would be months before we all could enjoy it.

I gave Richard a list of names of people that I wanted located and instructions once they were. He read the list and involuntarily raised an eyebrow. He looked pointedly at me and nodded. I supposed that I could surprise him after all.

That meeting over, I took the elevator down stairs and took a seat in front of the maze garden waiting for the Professor to dismiss his charges for the day.

They both saw me as they walked through the door and ran into my arms. I held them both tightly as I listened to their enthusiastic descriptions of their day combined with their professions of love for me. Wrapped in a jumble of arms, we'd walked back to the main house for some fun in the game room.

This was a big moment because John was meeting us there to take Jack up on his challenge to play a game or two of nine-ball.

Jack was like a little rooster strutting around the table twisting the chalk furiously at the tip of his cue while John just smiled as he racked the balls into the curious diamond shaped formation required for this particular game.

Both boys had shared with me on several occasions that Jack was unbeaten at nine-ball back at the nest and there "probably wasn't anyone in the 'Norman World' that could touch him."

I didn't bother telling them that I didn't think there were many people in the world that could beat John if he was playing seriously. Of course, John always played seriously and he never lost on purpose. He'd lost games of course, but to my knowledge, he'd never lost a series.

"John, I like you a lot but, I'm not going to take it easy on you just because you're an old guy," Jack said as he bent over the table to break.

Unlike a lot of kids, he didn't make any flashy moves or multiple false draws on the cue. He eyed his target, pulled back and released with a slick, smooth powerful stroke and the cue ball flew into the heart of the diamond. His shot was well placed and the rack had been tight… of course it had been tight, John had done it so it was done properly. There was a loud noise of contact and the rack barely split. The seven and the six spun out from the sides and the two ball spun madly spinning across the table and into the lower left pocket. I noted that the one ball seemed still snugly in the rack.

Jack smiled and gave Sean a wink and chalked his cue as he walked around the table. John sat on his stool stoically watching the little red roster.

Bending low and with no excessive movement, Jack drew his cue back slowly and released driving the cue into the one ball which moved the entire pack apart into a much looser and less formal formation but the end result was the cue ball caroming off the one and into the six ball which rolled into the side pocket as if it were on rails.

Jack wasted not a moment. He sidled over to the far end of the table and swiftly drove his cue ball into the now loose one ball and drove it into the far left corner pocket while the cue ball spun and twisted crazily into position right behind the three ball.

I looked at John who nodded at me with a small smile on his face. Sean was sitting next to me and he gave me a little punch in the arm. I turned and he grinned up at me. Sean loved John but Jack was his hero… his Lead-Senior. I casually draped my arm around Sean's shoulder and gently pulled him into me. He settled comfortably into my side and sighed softly as the game continued.

Like a little blaze of red lightning, Jack quickly and methodically sank the three, four and five ball. I suppose he decided that enough was enough as he played a seemingly impossible shot; hitting the six and banking the cue two times before it careened into the nine ball driving it slowly…oh so slowly into the left corner pocket.

Only then did he look up from the table with his wicked little grin plastered on his beautiful young face.

Handing him the rack, John asked, "We're playing the standard five games right?"

"Right," said Jack as he gathered the balls from around the table.

This table was very old and unlike newer pool tables, didn't have a subway run down to the front. Balls that were sunk were held in leather nets at the pockets and had to be gathered from each hole.

Since Jack had won a game, by our house rules, it was John's turn to break. "Nice first game Rufus," said John who had picked up on Jack's nest nickname from the ride home from the airport and seemed to use it constantly. He did so out of kindness and friendship and not to in any way to demean or upset the young red head.

With three sharp crisp diagonal strokes of the chalk on his cue tip, John bent low over the table and in a smooth fluid stroke sent the cue ball into the rack with devastating precision. The one, four, six and three balls flew as if they were being remote-controlled into three corner and one side pockets. The rest of the balls were scattered rather neatly upon the table. They were easy pickings for John who quickly and methodically cleared the table. I noted that there were at least three times he could have ended the game with and easy combination off the low ball into the nine but he chose to put on a little demonstration for our little red head.

John racked and Jack broke. He didn't sink any balls on the break this time but he'd broken the pack up nicely and ran the balls one through six before missing sinking the seven by a 'cunt hair'… OK so, that's not a REAL unit of measurement but you know what I mean.

John didn't say anything and he didn't dramatically chalk up his cue, he just simply, slowly and methodically ran the table. He didn't grin and he didn't make any wise cracks, he simply picked up the rack and reset the balls.

Jack was much less cocky by now but he wasn't intimidated either. With a rather serious scowl he bent low and launched the cue into the pack.

The balls flew in almost random directions but none were potted. I perused the table and saw what I knew Jack had seen even before me; the nine ball was poised at the lower right hand corner with the one ball in perfect position to drive it in. He looked up at Sean who nodded his head vigorously and then to John who just smiled.

In one swift stroke, Jack drove the one into the nine and the nine rolled like an obedient little puppy into the pocket.

"Well tiger, seems like the next game wins it, yes?" said John as Jack established the rack.

"Yeah," said the boy "And you're better than I thought you'd be but you better win this one or I'll get ya."

John smiled and waggled his eyebrows at me. He winked at Sean who flashed him a big grin. "Rufus my boy, how about we do this…" said John looking down at the kid who had lost almost all of his cockiness. "How about if I don't win this next game in three shots, we call this a draw?"

I could see Jack's mind working as he finally said. "No way John. I either beat you or I lose. One way or the other, this is a fair game OK?"

My friend John, my hero from my silly youth broke into a big smile and pulled Jack into a big tight hug. "Rufus, that's what a man would say. Good for you kid… I love you."

Jack was enveloped into John's big arms but John pushed him forward and with a smile on his face he said, "Ok Rufus but now… I'm still going to beat you in three shots how about that?"

Jack grinned and stood back. John broke the balls and two spun into pockets but that didn't matter because what was really important was that the nine and the one were free but at complete opposite ends of the table. The break of course, didn't count as a shot so I watched my friend as he scanned the table.

I've often thought that when it came to playing pool, John was some kind of a robot… a pool playing terminator. He had this knack of working out the physics; the geometry of the table and passing the solved geometric problem to his hands. I'd wondered many times what type of monster he would have been shooting but he had no interest in that sport.

He had a clear shot at the one and he hit it easily sinking the four rather inconsequentially and the one spun almost as if it were being guided by some invisible hand until it was lined up perfectly against the nine pointing straight into the left corner pocket.

"Want to sink it for me Rufus?" John said kindly with his big warm grin spread across his handsome face.

"Nah," said the little redhead. "You do it John. I know when I've been beat."

In a smooth stroke John ended the game and we all broke out in a cheer.

***

Chris had returned as promised in ten days. His apartment was now fully furnished and pretty well arraigned thanks to Richard who had more or less supervised everything.

I hadn't been there to actually greet him because I was very involved in meeting up in the command center. It was Walter who took me aside and told me that he was back.

"I think we can continue this without you right now Eric." He'd said quietly as he patted me on the shoulder. I'd looked at him gratefully and left the building. I didn't hug Walter because we…well, we just didn't do that.

My cart grated to a stop in front of the condo and I saw that what must be the one he'd taken was parked neatly in the charging line. Fighting the urge to quickly climb the stairs, I walked up slowly and deliberately and found the door was open.

He was in the middle of the big room with his arms folded and seemed almost in a trance. On an impulse I walked up and wrapped my arms around his shoulders pulling him tightly to me.

"Like it?" I'd almost whispered in his ear. He hadn't jumped or started… it was almost as if he'd been expecting me.

"Oh yes," He replied just as softly. "Do you?"

"If it makes you happy Chris, then I'm happy," I said and kissed his neck softly as I tightened my hug into almost a death grip.

He turned in my embrace and looked deeply straight into my eyes.

"I'm ready for this Eric. I haven't thought about anything else the whole trip. My Mom and Aunt Rita can't wait to meet you. It turns out they've known about me being… you know… being me all along and they're so happy for me. I'm so happy for me Eric. Thank you for bringing me into your life."

I pulled him close and kissed him passionately. I don't remember when I've ever kissed anyone so urgently and strongly. I pulled back and we stared into each other's eyes. Within moments we were both naked and running our hands over each other with a swiftness and an urgency that spoke volumes about our feeling for each other.

Much later, we'd stepped into his shower still hardly able to keep our hands off each other and I managed to say, "Martha will be expecting you at dinner tonight and sadly, my sweet Chris, you are expected to begin work tomorrow."

He smiled at me with his wonderful twinkling eyes staring into mine. "Eric, there is nothing about being here that is sad. Let's go to dinner and please let me begin to show you that I'm worth your trust and… I hope… your love."

***

With Chris' return it was rather funny how things in the main house changed. Two nights a week I had my 'bed-o-boys' as they both shared my room and my bed. But almost as if something had been ordained, the other nights it was only Sean who was there and soon, for some reason, two nights a week he found an excuse to need to sleep either in his room or Jack's and these 'strangely' coincided with those times that Chris was at the big house for dinner or I was somehow going out for a ride along the property.

I had acted upon my original impulse and had purchased the property surrounding my own. Most of it had been left natural and unattended though about five acres had been in the process of being converted into a condominium. These, it turned out, were well planned and well-constructed so I addend them to my estate knowing that I would easily find occupants for them.

***

One wonderful afternoon, we'd driven out to Deer Run and enrolled Jack as a member. While we'd casually walked around the grounds we'd come upon the boxing ring and Jack was immediately fascinated. 'Uncle Eric' do you think I could try that?"

I assured him that he could and signed him up for training on the spot.

Jack had begun calling me 'Uncle Eric' after we'd had a long talk about our relationship. I'd explained to him that I was not going to adopt him as I had Sean. I explained that Sean was my son and so much more and the beautiful red headed boy understood what I was telling him. I explained to him that I loved him and cared for him very much and that I'd made legal arrangements to ensure that I was his legal ward and protector until he was an adult. I went on to explain that even after he'd become a legal adult, he was protected supported and included in my family.

We'd hugged and cried for almost an hour before he was the one who said, "So… you aren't my father but you are my benefactor and so… I can call you 'Uncle' right?"

I pulled him to me and we cried and laughed and decided we'd come up with the perfect definition of our family. From that time on, I was 'Uncle Eric'.

***

The plans rolled on slowly but certainly and one afternoon sitting around the conference table in the now finally finished South wing, Richard said, "Eric, we're ready to roll when you are."

I glanced around the table. The new young and handsome faces of the team I now knew were going to be my future. "Well then boys, I've got two people to talk to and then we're ready to roll. I'm sorry your pool won't be ready until next season but, let's all have a barbeque by the pool at the big house."

The party had gone just as I'd hoped it would and Chris had bonded with Richard and Barry. It was rather a hilarious event when Sean, Jack and John took me, Barry and Richard on in a water polo tournament.

Despite the laughter, the game had been serious and me and my guys had won by one point.

***

And now I was here in my shower with my little boy, listening and watching as he danced and sang for me.

In the back of my mind I knew that tomorrow my assault upon the academy was to begin. I opened my arms and my smiling little man rushed into my embrace. I hugged him tight and spoke so softly that I doubt that he could hear. "Oh my little son. I hope you understand what I've begun to do. I love you so much but I love the safety and care of all children more,"

I suspect he somehow heard me because he raised his beautiful face and with a broad 'Sean Smile' kissed me on the lips.

Chapter 15

The assault on the NEST will begin - I got a little carried away with 'my boys'

We all have within us a great desire to make a change. We are born unique and as we grow, we desire to leave our mark upon this world that we tread upon so briefly.

With this intention comes the unrealistic notion that change is only accomplished by great actions and great events.

It is certainly true that at times great actions have resulted in great change but the ultimate reality is simply this… The man who moves one stone at a time eventually moves a mountain.

I was waiting with John on the tarmac as the jet touched down. I don't usually meet anyone at the airport but this was different. I was about to try to convince the passengers to literally change the entire direction they had envisioned for their lives and to accept a new path and a new course. This would take some persuasion, some theatrics and, mostly, an appeal to what I knew was their greater nature. They were meant to be part of this… I only had to show them that this was true.

She stepped down onto the sky-stair first. I watched as she exchanged pleasantries with Captain Lucas, my pilot. She was as lithe and tanned as when we'd first met that afternoon at Camp West Wind. Her long tanned legs were revealed with each step as she descended the staircase down onto the tarmac. Her wheat golden hair was pushed back and held in place by an old-fashioned tortoise shell clip. Her blue denim shoulder bag rubbed against her left breast so enticingly that, once again, I thought to myself that if I were attracted to women, this would be the type I would be drawn to. She was lovely, she was lively and her smile was a beacon to the world.

He was right behind her looking a bit befuddled. Tall and lanky, I noted with a smile that his mustache had grown in thicker and longer than when we'd last met, but his youth was not hidden by his facial hair and he could not even pretend to be too serious when in the company of the wonderful woman who was soon to be his wife.

As I stood there, she was into my arms before I'd even decided how best to begin the greetings.

"Eric! My God, I don't think I'll ever have another experience like this flight! Thank you so much for your generosity."

"Mandy you two are very welcome here and I hope this will be the first of many, many visits."

By this time Ricky had descended the stairs and with a sort of sheepish smile, he extended his hand. "Hello Mr. Tucker…it's wonderful to see you again and …"

I cut him short with a quick knife-like gesture and said, "Ricky, its 'ERIC' and I'll be angry if you attempt to call me Mister again, OK?"

He winced a bit at my rebuke but he quickly nodded his head and replied, "OK Eric. You're the boss."

I thought to myself that I wished he knew how close to the truth I hoped that was going to be. I decided to soften the situation by taking a cue from his fiancé and I quickly pulled him into a hug. "Well guys, as you can see, this isn't one of those fancy international airports. This little place is kind of a puddle jump but it's big enough for my jet and that's all that actually matters to me. It does have a rather nice little lounge though. Why don't we go have a quick drink while they're loading your stuff onto the limo?"

***

When we were sitting around the small table sipping cocktails, it was Ricky who finally brought up the elephant in the room. "Eric, I've read the very detailed report you sent me and I'll admit I'm fascinated but honestly… why me? I'm not an educator, I'm just soon to be lawyer and I've got no experience with anything of the scope you seem to be implying."

"Ricky, in the first place, from what I know about you, you are most certainly an educator where it matters the most… in your heart and in your soul. More than that though, you are a leader, a motivator and a positive influence. What I see in you is a caring person who wants to help young people grow up in a good and honest direction and to be special people, moving in a well-directed manner through this world. The project we're talking about may be one of the most significant efforts in that regard that you'll ever encounter in your life."

He took a long sip from his frosty mug of beer and asked, "Eric, why me?"

It was then that Mandy threw her arms around his neck causing him to spill some of his beer. She kissed him passionately upon the neck before exclaiming with a wonderfully lighthearted giggle, "Ricky, Ricky don't be such a 'cabrón'! We've read the proposal Eric sent to us. Who in the world would be better to do this job than you?"

The idea of this beautiful blonde woman using Hispanic street-slang to her fiancé was hilarious and only served to enforce my opinion that they were a couple with a long wonderful future ahead of them. It was also obvious that to some extent at least, Mandy was on my side.

I decided to quit while I was ahead and suggested that we all get into the limo and go to Joyous Gaurde.

We were sitting around a table at poolside sipping on frozen margaritas and chatting and it was becoming obvious that this was not Sean's cup of tea.

He liked things to be livelier although the fact that he was being forced to wear his swim trunks might be applying a bit of a damper on his attitude… despite the fact that he looked stunning in them. Although I relished every opportunity I received seeing him naked, I reflected at times like these that a wee bit of clothing quite often enhances a person's sexiness.

I had warned both boys before I'd left with John for the airport that, for the duration, swimming suits were to be worn at the pool at all times. I'd heard a semi-suppressed guffaw behind my back and turned just in time to catch Chris attempting to hide his grin.

"Somehow, I hadn't thought that I'd have to explain that to YOU." I chided him with mock sternness. My gorgeous young friend had the supreme decency to blush.

Despite the initial… if mock… protests regarding poolside attire, decorum was being maintained around the deck. Chris had of course grown up in the 'real' world and even my two nest boys had never considered swimming naked until (as Sean had so humorously pointed out) they had come under my 'bad' influence.

This was going to be an extended tactical meeting lasting from a week-to-ten-days depending upon circumstances and we were waiting upon the arrival of three more important people. I hoped they would arrive before dinner.

I watched my two boys with interest because this was essentially the first time a beautiful woman clad in a skimpy bathing suit had been inserted into their lives. Sean seemed fascinated just as a little boy might be over anything new and interesting but Jack was reacting quite differently. The poor kid seemed to be spending a great deal of time in the pool I couldn't help but wonder if this was in order to hide his boner which seemed at perpetual alert.

I smiled and thought to myself, Well my gorgeous little Rufus, you may just find out that after everything you've been through, you are straight as an arrow.

I promised myself that if that was the case, I'd do everything possible to help the boy transition into the realization of his personal orientation as easily as possible despite all that had happened to him. One of my expected guests would be able to help me significantly with that problem.

By now, several of the group were in the pool playing a rather heated game of water volley ball. Somehow, it had wound up being Sean, Mandy and Ricky against Jack, Chris and John. While I was watching intently, Richard was suddenly standing at my shoulder.

It was spooky.

When Richard was in 'Butler Mode', he was an eerie younger version of Walter. It amazed me how quickly he had assimilated that role. He did it so well that I'd noticed most of the staff accepted him as if he'd been doing the job for years. I glanced across the pool and saw Walter sitting chatting with Uncle Phil and Doc Swaim and, for the first time, I actually thought to myself that I was indeed forming my own team.

"Eric," he said quietly to me, "Terry has arrived with your next guest."

I stood up and grasped his arm in a grateful grip and told him that I'd come out front with him. Slipping on a loose multiple pastel patterned shirt, I followed Richard through the house.

I saw him before he saw me and I automatically broke into a smile. Every time I saw him I thought to myself that he was a living avatar of all that was good and decent about humankind.

"Commodore Tipton welcome aboard!" I extended my hand and clapped him on the shoulder at the same time. "I'm sorry that you were subjected to the inconvenience of flying commercially but it couldn't be helped. I hope your flight was alright?"

He gave me one of his looks that always reminded me so much of the great character-actor Burgess Meredith especially when he was playing 'Mickey' in the 'Rocky' movies.

"Little E, you must be richer than I think you are if you can imagine flying cross country in First Class… paid for by someone else… and then being driven from LAX to here in a chauffeur driven, fully restored classic '89 Lincoln an inconvenience." He gripped my upper arms tightly and shook them affectionately but roughly enough so as not to seem too emotional… the Commodore liked to keep his patina of 'toughness'… his 'crust'.

I'd decided to send that car to pick him up because I'd known it would delight him. I silently considered that he should only know that a first class seat on a commercial airline would most certainly be something I'd consider more than an inconvenience and, I certainly didn't dare tell him that the car in question was no reconditioned show car. It had been my father's and had never left the family. He bought it as a relatively young man because he thought it was cool I suppose.

I was only three when he'd bought it and I think, or at least strongly imagined, I remember when he took me for my first ride in it. That was back in the days when three-year-olds weren't required to sit in car seats and adult seat belts were considered all right… as was letting a little kid ride in the front seat, for that matter.

I remember…or at least think I remember, my father hooting and laughing as he turned around the sharp corners of the roads we drove upon. I dearly hope that those were true memories but the mind can be strange as I know better than anyone.

Dad always loved driving. I know he drove Mathew crazy that way though John never seemed to mind. That's why it was still in the garage and kept in top shape. My Dad loved that car and so I love it too.

He'd even paid a heavy premium for the deep metallic green color because Lincoln wasn't offering a green that year and 'our family had always owned green Lincolns'. I smiled at the fact that I've never purchased a Lincoln in my life and wondered if I should do so just to keep up the family tradition.

Even before it was out of warranty, the car had been meticulously cared for by Mathew, John's predecessor and, since then, by John himself. John called her 'Green Lady' and I was musing that the idea of calling that car a restoration was almost an insult to it and the two capable men who had looked after her throughout her whole life.

Caught daydreaming again, the Commodore's voice pulled me back into reality, "Let's not just stand here Little E, aren't you going to buy an old shipmate a drink?"

Grinning and shaking my head, I grabbed him by the arm and led him in the direction of the patio.

"You know Little E, that young man, Terry, who picked me up is quite a bright fellow. I really enjoyed his company and he sure has a head on his shoulders. I hope you're using his talents to the fullest."

I assured him that we were and that Terry was one of our employees that we were keeping an eye on… because that was true… and after some additional small talk, we reached the pool and stepped out onto the deck.

Everyone was engaged in some sort of activity and hadn't notice our arrival and so I decided to use my boyhood skill and put two fingers to my lips and whistled.

It was like a bomb had gone off. Everyone on the patio and in the pool froze save for the fact that every eye was now turned upon us. I guided Commodore Tipton out onto the deck and, with a smile, I said, "Folks, our latest guest has arrived. If you've met him please welcome and if you've not yet met him please say hello to…"

"Commodore!" It was Ricky from the pool and from the look on his face you might have thought he was witnessing the second coming. Someone…I hate to admit my suspicion that it was either Sean or Jack, tossed the volley ball at him and it bounced unnoticed off his head. He seemed to just sink below the water but Mandy quickly pulled him back up.

"Yes, Ricky thanks…" I quickly jumped in to cover the interruption;

"Commodore Tipton."

There were immediate reactions of welcome and soon the old man was surrounded by friends and soon-to-be friends but it was my little Sean who proved to be the perfect host. Guiding the old curmudgeon to the chair that had only recently been occupied by me, he asked the now seated man, "May I bring you a drink Commodore?"

Not so easily subdued, the old man squinted up at my baby boy and asked, "What are you offering me then my bold lad?"

Sean was as bright as they ever come and he learned quickly. Once he'd learned, he never forgot. He graciously excused himself saying, "I'll be back Commodore."

While he was gone, the Commodore smiled up at me and said, "You understand Little E, I must distill my own because I'm just a poor sailor; but you, you're rich and I expect in your house to taste nothing but the finest grog."

I rolled my eyes just as Sean returned pushing a small cart. Upon it rested a bottle of Ron Viejo Blanco, pretty expensive stuff for white rum that had been my family favorite for at least three generations even though it was brewed in witches' cauldrons in the Dominican Republic rather than more traditional places.

There was also a silver ice bucket, a crystal tumbler, a small bowl of lemons and limes and, strangely, a pewter platter upon which stood a shotgun shell and a book of matches.

I suddenly realized what my clever boy was doing. He was offering the Commodore a traditional British Navy 'Proof'.

I began to wonder how he would even know about this ceremony and then instantly shook my head and realized; this is Sean… the little maven seems to know everything.

In the days of wooden ships and when Britannia ruled the waves, British sailors were given daily allotments of rum. After a national scandal where petty officers and even Captains themselves were accused and convicted of watering down the sailor's rum and selling off the excess, it was decreed that a designated officer must; if required, demonstrate before the men at each ration that the alcoholic content of the liquor was true.

The ceremony was simple; a sailor would call, 'show us the proof sir' and a line of gunpowder would be drawn upon the top of a barrel. Pretty much like a line of coke is laid out today before a purchase. A small pour (witnessed) of rum from the cask would then be spilled upon the gun powder.

After giving it a moment to soak in, an officer named the Purser would apply a flaming end or rope called a match. If the line of gunpowder took flame, the rum was true; if it did not, the keg was tainted. That flair therefore was the liquor's 'proof' and it prevented the possibility of very many fights; even mutinies.

The Commodore was no stranger to theater and he caught on at once to what Sean was doing. By this point everyone was gathered around and from the gleam in his eyes, I knew that Sean was in his element.

He'd donned a navy blue polo shirt and stood at ridged attention…did they teach formation at the nest or was that something he'd seen on TV?

He slowly and dramatically dropped four ice cubes into the glass and then poured a significant measure of rum. Slicing the lime and one of the lemons, he squeezed the fruit over the glass first ensuring the juice dripped upon his fingers and dropped slowly into the glass; his fingers carefully catching and excluding the seeds.

After wiping his hands on a towel, he held the glass to the Commodore with one hand while brandishing the shotgun shell in the other. His wonderful eyes almost blazed as he said with a little boy smirk, "Will this please you Commodore? Or do you require the proof?"

The old man almost bent himself over in laughter as he accepted the tumbler from Sean. With tears in his eyes he hugged the little boy and with his arm around his shoulder he explained the PROOF ceremonto the others crowded around them.

"Show them kiddo," he said as he patted my boy on the back. With one of his quick grins, Sean took the shotgun shell and cut the paper open. He then drew a long line on the pewter platter. He then took the rum bottle and then flashed us all a bright 'Sean smile' and proclaimed, "Hey guys, I've never done this before so Professor Swaim would call this an experiment, but this should work… if it don't…sorry… if it does… well… it'll be cool."

Then he did a really Sean thing; he looked at me and wiggled his eyebrows and said, "And if this goes completely wrong and I blow up all of you and this whole house… I'm sure I'll be REALLY sorry."

With that, he dribbled the rum over the line of gunpowder and, after a few moments, he took a match from the box, lit it and applied it to the mixture.

It erupted in a quick, blue flame. There were immediate laughs and sounds of approval accompanied by light applause and Sean stood grinning until he caught my eye and saw my wide grin. He cocked his head to his left side with a grand smile and did a little magician's 'ta da' with his hands and then straightened up. Pulling off his shirt, he half-skipped half-jumped back into the pool.

A bit later, Richard came out to inform me that the next two guests had experience flight delays and thus would be landing later that night. The timing was such that Terry would be able to pick them both up in the limo.

The afternoon progressed wonderfully except for poor Ricky being unable to interact comfortably with his hero, the Commodore. It was almost comical to watch.

Dinner was wonderful. Martha had out-done herself with a simple, but almost sinful, meal of broiled Maine lobsters, brown butter, herb fried potatoes, and her own special coleslaw. Everyone but Sean happily washed the meal down with several bottles of perfectly chilled five year old Gewürztraminer. My boy decidedly did not have a taste for alcohol in any form it seemed.

After dinner, I'd told everyone that I would wait for our additional guests to arrive and suggested that they all find something to do to amuse themselves.

Doc Swaim and Uncle Phil had escorted the Commodore out back and onto a golf cart and whisked him off to Fish Camp. Although he had visited Joyous Gaurde several times, the old man had never been out to the little cabin on Lake Eric.

Despite being invited to join that group, Walter decided that Richard had performed yeoman's duty this day and deserved a bit of a break. He was sent off to the kitchen where Martha had a lobster dinner waiting for him. When he emerged back out onto the patio with a huge satisfied smile on his face, he and Chris invited Ricky and Mandy back to the condo complex. I'd told Walter that he didn't need to stay behind but he assured me he didn't mind and that it was always a good idea to have a 'butler on duty' when guests were coming for the first time. He called it; 'flying the flag'.

As I watched the carts carrying the four young people disappear into the woods, I commented to Walter that Barry might ultimately be getting the short end of the stick because his Role in Skuggor had no public persona.

"He'll have fun tonight when they all get together," Walter replied, "but you're right of course. Maybe we should make more of an attempt to bring him into the social circle more."

I'd initially toyed with the idea of sending the boys up to get ready for bed but a glance at my watch showed that it wasn't yet 8:00 pm, so I asked them if they'd like to hang out down in the library with me for a while.

Shortly, Sean and I were bent over the chess board beginning another game. It had gotten to the point with us that victory wasn't assured for either of us… we were that evenly matched. In my heart however, I knew that Sean, with his younger, more agile mind would eventually find me easier and easier to beat.

Jack was stretched out on one of the large leather couches; head propped upon pillows and knees pulled up. A while ago, he'd noticed me reading the latest novel by one of my favorite authors, Nate Mentor. After asking a few questions about his books, I'd shown the boy my almost shelf-long collection. He'd selected the first novel and begun reading it and now, the young red-head was hooked.

Although Mentor had written quite a few novels, the number was finite and, at the rate Jack was tearing his way through the shelf, I though with amusement that if I didn't hurry up and finish the latest book, the boy would be tearing it out of my hands.

"Guess what Uncle Eric…"

My eyes shot across the room to the red-head on the coach. He'd stretched his legs back out and was wiggling his toes mindlessly. The boy was beautiful. There was no doubt of that and my heart filled with love every time he called me 'Uncle Eric'. It had been his choice and had come to him so naturally that it was obvious that he'd been longing for some symbol or token of affection and belonging.

"What's that my nephew Jack?" I replied and his green eyes flashed and his face broke into his devilish grin.

"Next week is my first fight. We've got some other club coming in and coach says I'm ready." He was now feigning a lack of interest; trying to make the conversation seem off the cuff, but I knew something serious was imminent.

With his eyes glued to the page of his book so as not to have to be looking at me he asked in the most casual manner he could muster, "Think you might want to come and watch?"

This was it and my heart ached. He was afraid to ask because he thought I would tell him I was too busy or (worse yet) that I wasn't interested. I rose to my feet and strode over to him and pulled the book straight out of his hands. His stunning green eyes flashed up at me and for a moment apprehension filled his face.

"Might want to come? MIGHT want to come… Rufus the Doofus… do you think there's any way in the world that I would miss it? " I grabbed his arms and pulled him to me and into a hug. "We're family now Jack. I love you… don't you ever forget that."

He squeezed me tight and muttered into my shoulder, "I love you too Uncle Eric."

We held each other tightly and, before long, a beaming Sean had come over and inserted himself into our hug and for the thousandth time I thought to myself that life couldn't get any better than this.

Somehow, I'd wound up at one end of the couch with Sean sitting between my legs while Jack was at the other end. I wrapped my arms around Sean and he and I were taking turns playing 'footsie' with Jack.

"OK my Tiger Cubs, while it's just the three of us here, I've got some news for each of you that I haven't had the time to talk about with you." I could tell that I had both of their attention and I smiled to myself thinking that little boys are so predictable.

"First off Jack, John has pointed out that it is high time we started working on your driver's license. I'm surprised I haven't heard anything about it from you." His eyes were wide with excitement and he sat bolt upright against the arm of the couch.

"Well…cause at the nest kids didn't get their licenses or at least not until after they'd graduated out. I knew I was old enough but I didn't want to bother you or anything like that that an…"

"Jack" I held up a hand to silence him. "Do you want to get your license?"

"Do I? Oh man, Uncle Eric! I sure do I mean I can't believe you're going to let me! Oh man!" I hushed him again.

"So here's what we're going to do. Tomorrow we'll drive out to the DMV and get you a packet so you can study for the written test. Once you pass that and get your permit, John says he'll be happy to conduct your behind the wheel training. John is (among his many other talents) a certified instructor and he's also the best driver I've ever known."

"When John tells me he thinks you're almost ready well then, we'll get you your own car to take the test in."

"My own car!" he was bouncing on the couch now.

"Before you get too excited, let me explain my thinking on this subject. It will be the car of your choice… money is no object but…it will be safe and it will be strong and it will probably be a four cylinder." He looked at me with surprise and confusion.

"Jack, I've heard of too many wonderful kids who received a powerful sports car as their first vehicle who wound up either maimed or dead within months of getting it. Teenagers are not ready to handle the power and the speed." He was about to open his mouth in protest but I signaled him to be silent.

"Don't take it personally Jack. You're a bright level-headed fine young man but you are still a teenager. When we purchase your first car, I promise it will be nice but it will also be safe."

He was smiling from ear to ear. "Thanks Uncle Eric. You're the best."

I twisted Sean around slightly so that I could see his face.

"Now as for you little boy, I know you think I'd forgotten but actually I've had a couple of long talks with Captain Lucas. Based upon what he's told me and from what I've read, next year we can begin your training to become a pilot." He was up off the couch and grasping my hands almost jumping.

"For true Dad? For really true?"

"For true son but, you need to know it will be hard work and will involve a lot of study including math." Math was Sean's least favorite subject which was strange because it came naturally to him and he did very well at it.

"Captain Lucas suggested that we wait until you're thirteen. The law won't let you solo until you're sixteen but he feels that you'll be flying quite well by the time you're fourteen even though you'll have to have a licensed pilot with you."

"Holy Guacamole Dad! You remember everything!"

We were interrupted by Walter. "Eric, Terry has just arrived with your two guests."

"Thanks Walter, I'll come up front with you.

***

They were seated in the small parlor just beyond the main door. They didn't know each other and hadn't traveled together save for the recent limo ride from the airport. Though I'd spoken extensively with each of them by telephone, we'd never met and I took advantage of the one-way glass my grandfather had installed in the parlor years ago. From their perspective it was an antique quilt-framed mirror on the wall but from the small private room Walter and I were standing, it was a window into the parlor. I could see them clearly though they had no idea I was watching.

They were as diverse a pair as you could imagine.

Sitting in a green arm chair, with his hands folded on his lap was Doctor A.C. Scott. He was a thin man with a lion-like head of snow-white hair. Seated as he was, I couldn't guess his height but he looked remarkably healthy for a man in his mid 80's.

Doctor Scott was the man who had conceived the radical educational system that has been used so successfully by the nest. He was still retained as a consultant by that organization. My research assured me that he had no connection with the sexual aspect of nest activities though his teaching methods had certainly been modified to accommodate the 'special training' nest boys received.

The second man was the antithesis of Doctor Scott in appearance. He was a tall, athletic handsome young man of twenty. He sat lightly upon one of the other chairs casually leafing through a magazine. He was Taylor Houlte, a recent graduate from the nest and currently a student at the University.

After watching them for a few more moments, I nodded to Walter and we headed into the parlor to greet them.

After introductions were made and after some small talk mostly regarding how badly their travel had gone today, I asked if either of them was hungry. I was gratified to learn that Terry had taken that into consideration after picking them up and had taken them both to dinner on the way out here.

My offer of drinks was accepted enthusiastically by both of them, however, and the four of us strolled casually to the library while I took the time to point out certain rooms and features of the great house.

As we approached the library, I thought to myself that a potentially uncomfortable situation was about to arise. I'd planned for it to happen differently because each of today's guests was supposed to have arrived separately. Because of the uncertainty of the interrupted schedules, I hadn't had the opportunity to come up with a better plan and, therefore, decided to let the chips fall where they may.

As soon as we entered the library I announced, a bit too loudly I fear, "Boys come and meet our final two guests. This is Doctor Anton C. Scott and this is Mr. Taylor Houlte. Gentlemen this is my son Sean and my ward Jack."

With large smiles and hands extended, both boys started across the room but Jack stopped cold after only a few steps and I watched as he and Taylor exchanged shocked looks of recognition.

"Tip!"

"Rufus? What the hell are…"

They were in each others arms almost instantly. The reunion was almost silent but obviously highly emotional.

I turned to Doctor Scott who was watching the event a bit perplexed.

"I'm sorry for this Doctor Scott. Both Taylor and my ward are products of your system, you see. Taylor was Lead Senior to Jack." I led the old man over to the bar and was pleased when he indicated his preference for single-malt Scotch whisky.

"I fully understand the emotions involved Mr. Tucker. The Lead Senior/Follow-Boy system was designed to create life long bonds between the two so I'm hardly surprised at their actions."

"Let him go long enough so that he can get a drink Jack." I tapped the young red-head on the back and drew him away from his older friend. I steered Jack and Sean over to the elderly educator and again made formal introductions.

"You both owe Doctor Scott a great debt boys. I'll explain it all over time."

Turning my attention to the still befuddled Taylor, I was able to ascertain that he preferred a beer. A few quick questions determined that his palate was sophisticated enough for a more complex beer and so I gave him a tall glass of IPA from Stone Brewing Company in Escondido.

Jack gave me a look and with a nod and a smile I also handed one to him.

When we were all seated comfortably, I explained that our conference would begin after breakfast tomorrow. They each had at least a rudimentary idea of why they were here and what my ultimate purpose was.

After a second round of drinks, Doctor Scott expressed his fatigue and Walter escorted him up to his room.

As Sean was pouring Taylor another beer, Jack drew me over to a far corner of the room.

"Uncle Eric… do you think… would it be OK… I mean would you be mad ifé if Tip spent the night in my room?"

I looked deeply into those bewitching green eyes and saw the need and the honesty in them. I thought to myself My little Jack, I wonder what your sexual orientation actually is… but there's no doubt about your loving nature and your need for close contact. I cupped his chin in my hand and gently raised his face. I tried to sound as concerned by loving as I felt;

"Jack you may do this only if that's what you want to do. Nobody has the power to make you do anything like that ever again. Tip's things have been taken to the room that's been assigned to him. For the sake of appearances, I suggest you take him up there and let him get everything he'll need for the morning including a change of clothes."

"Remember Jack…NOBODY is allowed to hurt you."

One large tear rolled out of his eyes and down his cheek. He nodded to me and said, "Only you or Tip Eric. Only you or Tip and you never will."

I was about to say something and then decided the better of it. Instead Ibent slightly and kissed him and then patted his wonderful ass. With a smile, he walked across the room to Taylor and Sean and said something so softly I couldn't hear but I could guess because Taylor looked directly at me from across the room. I just nodded and the young man drained his beer in one long pull.

Jack took his hand and led him from the library. Just before he left he stopped and turned. "Good night Sean. Goodnight Uncle Eric." And with that they were gone.

Less than a minute later, Sean and I were stepping off the elevator and without a word being spoken, he was following me into my bedroom. Once inside, he wrapped himself around me in a tight embrace and held there for a long time before he muttered, "Sleep with you tonight…" And I couldn't understand what else he said.

I pulled away from him a step and tugged at the hem of his shirt. He raised his arms silently and allowed me to pull it over his head and off. I rubbed my thumbs softly over each of his pert brown nipples and I kissed him passionately.

Slowly I moved my hands down to his belt buckle and worked it open and unsnapped his waist band. I worked the zipper down his fly without breaking our lip contact. His snow white shorts dropped to his feet.

Silently I lifted him up and laid him upon the bed. I removed the shorts that were dangling from one foot and then yanked off his sneakers and socks. My fingers glided up his legs and thighs and grasped the band of his underpants. He raised his hips up allowing me to slide them down and off.

I drank him in greedily with my eyes and then, with a burning urgency, bent over and engulfed his rampant little tool in my mouth. Until that very second, I hadn't realized how hungry for him I was…how great my need was.

His wonderful little body writhed slowly under my ministrations as he gave in to the pleasure.

Later in the darkness, he sat up and straddled my stomach. His little hands gently brushed my nipples and chest almost unconsciously he was staring into my face and even in the almost black of the room I could see the intensity of his eyes.

"I been talkin' to the Professor about you a lot lately," he said softly. I'd reached up and was stroking the cheeks of his wonderful butt with a sensuous slowness.

"Oh, What have you been saying about me?"

"That you seem to allatime worry about other people being happy first. You never seem to worry about how you feel Eric."

"Oh, I don't think that's true Sean…I…"

"Yes it is. It is true. That's one of the reasons I love you so much, Eric. The Professor says there's a word for it."

"What word is that Sean?"

"Kind. You're a kind man… the kindest person I've ever known."

I was speechless. This startling evaluation from a twelve year old boy! I pulled him down and squeezed him tightly against me. I lay there in the dark thinking to myself, Am I a kind person? I don't feel kind but I DO feel loved… perhaps that's the secret; perhaps in order to be kind you must know you are loved.

Sleep took me swiftly but gently.

Once again I'm sorry this chapter has taken so long. Thank you all for sticking with me and most of all thanks for the wonderful notes.
I seem to be feeling better and I'm up walking for a while every day. I'm hopeful that the next chapter will follow in a much more timely fashion.
I'm interested in whether or not you think Eric should officially adopt Jack or make some other official arraignments. As you've no doubt guessed, relationships around Joyous Gaurde are getting complicated.
By the way, if you haven't read First Light … a little story that came to me several days ago I'd love it if you did so and let me know what you think

There are times in our lives when we are forced to choose a course of action. Although it would seem prudent and wise to always consider the least dangerous alternative to also be the wisest, this is not always correct. Safety should never be the only consideration and often should not even be the most significant.

There are times when life drives us to the edge of a precipice. While the safe choice would be to retreat from the brink, the alternative is to step forward.

If we choose this later course of action, often we will fall but occasionally we discover that we can fly. Going backward is pitiful, falling is sad but to soar… is to be free.

As I glanced around the large table in the conference room; I reflected upon how much I liked seeing so many trusted people sitting there.

The strategic planning meeting was now in its fifth day and I was gratified at how much had been accomplished. After all these weeks of thinking and planning I was very close to actually taking action against the nest and I was confident that the strategy was positive and well planned.

We were now only days away before we struck those first preemptive blows and it was my hope that those who might be inclined to oppose us would never see it coming.

One of the hardest parts of this week had been convincing Ricky Flores to assume the role I had imagined for him. While he was a confident and highly intelligent man, he somehow had a problem seeing himself as capable of managing and helping to re-direct the Nesswell-Turnbridge Academy.

The plan was on the surface simple enough. The initial take-over would be done by a consortium of stock holders under the leadership of Commodore Tipton. The Commodore had agreed to act as a figure head for the initial transition. Besides his forceful personality, he would be lending the respectability of his excellent reputation to the project. This consortium was of course, purely fictional. The capital behind the take-over was all my money. If the truth be told, I was the consortium. It had been decided to attempt to avoid this looking like a one-man operation. It was also decided to keep my name out of it for as long as possible.

We all recognized that with the resources available to those in high places who were likely to oppose us, it was only a matter of time before my involvement was discovered at which point, the repercussions would certainly become more personal and, in all likelihood, unpleasant. Walter and Richard had worked out a series of contingencies designed to protect me but, more importantly, to safe guard Sean and Jack. These would move into place as soon as the initial takeover of the school occurred.

It was our hope… and plan… that before any counter actions occurred, we would be firmly entrenched and be in complete control of the Academy.

On a more long term basis, the Commodore had also consented to serve on the advisory board along with Doctor Scott and of course, Doc Swaim. The old man's sole proviso for his participation in this project had been that the actual work… the hands on managing the school… would fall on more youthful and energetic shoulders and he agreed with me that Ricky was the man for the job.

Eventually, reacting to assurances from everyone and after a long private talk with the Commodore… the man he admired most in all the world… Ricky had agreed to take on the task.

This certainly wasn't the direction he'd envisioned his life was going to take and, therefore, he still had certain misgivings. I'd assured him that I would personally make arraignments to guarantee he obtained his law degree and if, after giving it a fair trial, he wasn't happy in this role, he would be allowed to make a graceful exit.

Mandy had assured him… and everyone else for that matter… that she believed he would discover that this was a task he had been born to undertake.

After he'd finally agreed to assume the responsibility, she'd publicly kissed him and hugged him exclaiming happily, "You're the man Skeeter!" It occurred to me that she seemed to be the only one still using his Camp West Wind nickname and he seemed to relish her doing so. I had no doubt that as things progressed, Mandy herself would find her own important niche in the hierarchy of things.

Taylor also had an important role especially during the initial take-over of the school.

He was young enough that he would still be remembered by the older tiers of nest boys although they would, of course, remember him as 'Tip'. He would be invaluable to us when we reviewed the staff at the academy, especially those who worked in direct contact with the boys.

It was our plan that Taylor would also act as liaison between the boys of "special training" age and the training proctors… some of whom we felt we might keep on although it was anticipated we would be replacing most of them with new personnel.

It had, of course, occurred to me that Jack would also be useful in this regard but I privately hoped involving him would not be necessary.

We all recognized that our reforms would, to a large extent, come too late for many of the boys already involved in the sexual training and actual contracts and my advisory board were working on alternative agendas for these young men.

For the past month, Uncle Phil and Chris, working closely with Barry, had been surreptitiously acquiring Nesswell-Turnbridge stock. Thanks to Barry's computer skills, they had done so in such a manner that, on the surface, there were no big blocks of stock suddenly moving around that would easily be noticed therefore triggering a reaction. Despite this subterfuge, we had acquired enough stock to be the unquestioned majority holder in the school and all of its assets.

The plan was for the Commodore, Ricky and Uncle Phil, accompanied by Chris and Tip, all of them ostensibly representing this consortium of investors, to show up unexpectedly at the next board of directors meeting. At this point all of our stock proxies would have been signed over to the Commodore.

At the first opportunity during what was planned as a routine meeting, Commodore Tipton would present his credential as proxy vote for the majority share-holders and demand a vote of confidence in the current board. This, of course, would result in a vote of no confidence since the Commodore controlled the majority block.

Once the vote was carried, he would essentially dissolve the board right there on the spot and establish his own acting board which would, of course, consist of himself, Ricky and Uncle Phil as well as Chris and Tip.

That would, of course, cause a great deal of rancor among the displaced board members but it would give us the element of surprise. Surprise was important because we intended to move into the school as soon as we had control of the board so as not to give those who would naturally oppose our take-over a chance to counter any of our plans.

The one wrinkle in this well thought out tactic, was my desire to do what I considered the right thing by Bernie Turnbridge. He was the current chairman of the board and the grandson of one of the founders of the academy. More than that, though, he was a classmate and frat brother from the University. To a certain extent, he was a friend and I wanted to treat him decently. I also knew that he wasn't personally very enthusiastic about what the school subjected its young men to and I wanted to give him an honorable way out.

Bernie was decidedly heterosexual and, aside from the fact that the place bore his name and that he was a third generation board member, I suspected he'd consider a generous buy-out a gift from heaven itself.

Walter, Richard and Barry had argued vehemently against my plan in this regard feeling there was a real chance that our advantage of surprise might be compromised. I found it a bit amusing that the one obvious flaw in our well-conceived plans was my own obstinacy but I stood fast on my desire to treat my school chum with decency and dignity.

To this end, Bernie was flying in tomorrow. All he knew at this point was that he'd be staying overnight as my guest for a visit and to play some golf. He had no idea what was really going to happen.

"Well folks," I smiled at the collected group at the table, "It seems we've planned as best as we can. The board meeting takes place next Monday in Houston so you'll all fly down there on Sunday night. I've agreed to abide by your recommendation that I keep myself out of things… for as long as that's possible."

"Chris will be carrying one of Walter and Barry's little spy devices so I'll be able to watch and hear the entire board meeting from this room. You've all done a wonderful job and I can't tell you how pleased and grateful I am. I'd like for you to spend the rest of the week playing things over in your minds just in case you come up with some new ideas. But also, I want you to relax and enjoy yourselves. We'll have a review meeting on Sunday morning before you all fly out."

This was greeted by smiles from everyone and I excused myself and headed down to find Sean and Jack. As I suspected I would, I found them both in the classroom on the second floor.

Although Dr. Swaim had been very involved in the strategic planning for the nest assault, he had not neglected his personal responsibility for the boys' education. They had both been assigned a series of independent projects to be working on. I was not in the least surprised to discover that, even though they were free from direct supervision at the moment, they had been proceeding on these diligently.

When I entered the room, they both looked up at me with expressions o fpleasant surprise. I almost never came into their classroom because I considered it a private space they shared with their tutor.

"Hi Dad!" Sean beamed one of those smiles that melted my heart upon contact. "Is your meetin' over? Give me a sec to save these files." He quickly typed something on his keyboard and then hurried over to wrap me in a hug.

At the far end of the big oak table, Jack was doing something with a screwdriver. He had an electrical device of some sort spread open on a static resistant mat. He looked for all the world like nothing so much as a surgeon performing an appendectomy on a robot. I had no idea what he was doing and I suspected I'd be happier if I didn't bother to ask.

"Uncle Eric! You guys must have ended early today." He put down his screwdriver and covered his project with a white cloth and joined Sean in overwhelming me in an embrace.

"Well Jack, by now you should know that I always keep my promises. I promised you a trip to the DMV five days ago but things got a bit hectic around here very quickly. Today though, I finally make good on my word. Sean, I figured you'd like to join us and then we could grab some lunch. Is Mexican all right with you guys?"

This last part was met by looks of exasperated incredulity from both boys as if to imply that there was something wrong with me for even asking.

***

John had offered to drive us but I'd decided that the three of us rarely got an opportunity to spend time together off of the estate. Sadly, since the Jag F-Type we called the 'Red Cat' was only a two seater, I'd had to select another car from my large stable. I wanted to use something fun and exciting and I'd chosen a vehicle that had wonderfu lchildhood memories for me. The boys were quite pleased as we headed out the gate in my classic 1968 Jaguar XKE 2+2.

This long, sleek forerunner of my F-type had been my grandfather's originally. Painted in traditional British Racing Green, the 4.2 liter straight-six engine still purred and roared like the magnificent old thoroughbred she was. She had been scrupulously maintained over the years by Mathew and then by John (not to mention who ever had preceded Mathew).

Running through the gears of her four speed manual transmission seemed rather primitive by today's standards but she was still loads of fun to drive and seemed quite capable of her originally touted 0 to 60 mph [90 km/h] in just over seven seconds.

She was a magnificent old car and still looked sexy as hell.

Jack, being by far the bigger of the boys, sat next to me in the passenger bucket seat while Sean climbed back into what comically posed as a rear seat behind us. I seemed to remember that the 2 + 2 designation was some sort of marketing ploy back then and no one in their right mind ever considered that two adults could occupy that 'back seat'… at least not comfortably for any length of time.

I thought to myself (almost sadly) that although, Sean was still a tad small for his age, he was due for a growth spurt and it wouldn't be much longer he could sit very easily back there unless he stretched his legs across the seat itself.

Oh well, I decided, 'carpe diem'.

It was a 20 minute ride to the county DMV but it was a lovely day and this car being one of the rare 'drop head' 2+2 models, I'd lowered the soft top before we left the garage… no electric tops back in those days.

I was going to turn on the old Blaupunkt radio but I found myself too amused by the boys' banter. It was funny to consider that, in its day, this AM/FM radio was considered state of the art… it even pre-dated 8-track. We've certainly come a long way since this car was new. I ignored the radio choosing to pay attention to the boys. When they were together they had a tendency to exhibit an unabashed shared goofiness that I always found delightful.

***

To my utter astonishment, we only waited about ten minutes before our number was called and a matronly woman was explaining to a wide-eyed Jack the procedure for testing, what he must do once he obtained his permit and, finally, what would be required for his final actual driving test.

"It's all in the first three pages of this booklet, young man, so read them carefully" she admonished with an air of authority that she wore matter-of-factly and with the same ease that another person might wear a comfortable old shirt.

Jack just nodded his head and didn't utter a word.

Fortunately, I was making mental notes of everything she said because, for the first time since I'd known him, I believe my gorgeous little red-head was completely overwhelmed.

Very soon after, we were seated at a table in Cocina Alfredo efficiently destroying our massive carne-assada burritos. Sean seemed to be almost as excited as Jack and I sipped my cold Corona and watched their animated discussion with great pleasure. With a slight twinge in my heart, I couldn't help but think that their obvious deep affection for each other reminded me so much of the rapport I'd had with my brother Kyle.

I wasn't certain if they had begun a physical relationship with each other since I'd brought Jack to Joyous Gaurde. With the obvious exception of those times when they'd both been in bed with me, there had been no indication that anything had taken place between them and… those times we'd all three been intimate had really been more of a shared experience with me and not with each other.

I also realized though, that in his own mind, based upon his personal experience Jack must feel that when the time came he was designated to be the first person to sodomize Sean. By his standard though, that event would be at least two years in the future. Jack had not been outside of the nest environment long enough to understand that those strange protocols didn't apply in the real world.

It must be far more confusing for Jack than it was for Sean who I'd brought to Joyous Gaurde before he'd really been exposed to any part of the sexual nature of the Academy curriculum. His introduction to physical pleasure had come from me and had actually happened at a much younger age than it would have had he stayed at the nest.

I knew that Taylor, AKA 'Tip', had spent his first two nights at Joyous Gaurde in Jack's room and (assumedly) in Jack's bed but he had since spent his nights in his own room in the guest wing. While I was curious about that relationship, I'd had neither the time nor a convenient opportunity to question the boy about it.

Although they never seemed to stop talking, I noticed that both boys had managed to devour every scrap of food on their plates.

"Do you guys have room for a stop at Mirrelli's?" I asked foolishly… because I already knew the answer. Mirrelli's was located at the west end of town and it was a reincarnation of an old- time ice cream parlor from the 1950's. Its flavor varieties seemed to be endless and the gooey concoctions they offered were almost sinful. All in all, it was nothing short of heaven for two healthy, active boys.

As I sat across the imitation marble table eating my pitiful two scoops of (admittedly delicious) dark chocolate ice cream, I watched as Jack plowed into a six scoop banana split while Sean was laying waste to an impossibly large hot fudge sundae. They were both so occupied with their energetic consumption that there was no extraneous conversation going on. When faced with the task of eating treats like large ice cream confections, young boys have the ability to behave as if they had not eaten in days.

Jack was so involved in his overflowing bowl that he didn't even look up but Sean noticed me watching them in fascination and he acknowledged this by raising his head up and flashing me a 'Sean Smile'. This particular smile was accented by a large amount of sticky hot fudge on his upper lip; not unlike a chocolate mustache and a small but conspicuous blob of whipped cream on the tip of his nose.

I reached across the table and removed the whipped cream with my index finger and placed it in my mouth with exaggerated pleasure. This caused his smile to grow larger… something that almost seemed impossible.

"Jack I've changed my mind about something," I said conversationally.

This got his attention and those hypnotizing green eyes were riveted upon me instantly. He'd only been with me a short time and considering the fact that Sean was still at times exhibiting insecurity regarding his position in my life, I realized I must be much more careful in how I spoke to the boy.

"I know I told you that we'd get the car of your choice in time for you to take your driving test." I licked my ice-cream spoon causing a melodramatic pause and both boys were looking at me braced for impending news of an unexpected change in plans.

"But, you see John and I were talking about it and we both agree that it would make much more sense if you did your practice driving in the actual car you're going to take your test in… the one that's going to be your ownpersonal car. So… after you've taken your written test and gotten your permit, I guess we're going shopping for a car."

You might have thought a small landmine had just exploded across the table from me because the reaction from both boys was so immediate and enthusiastic that we drew stares from all over the ice-cream parlor.

On the ride home, after a remarkably serious discussion, it was decided that Jack, with Sean's help, would research cars and that, after he'd obtained his permit, he would submit three proposals to me along with reasons why each had been selected. I would then review these with John and then we'd agree upon the vehicle.

As I waved to the Skugor agent manning the gate, I said to Jack only half seriously, "I suggest you head right to the pool and do a bunch of laps to swim off some of that ice-cream. You've got a fight at the club in two days remember?"

That devilish grin I'd come to love the first time I'd laid eyes on him lit up his freckled face and he said, "Uncle Eric, it's going to take more than ice-cream to make me lose this fight." Sean giggled and patted him on the shoulder. I thought to myself, The Devil's best imps must all be red heads.

***

I hadn't seen Bernie Turnbridge in almost three years and I'd been pretty much under a drunken fog even then. I recalled that had been the only time in our association that he had beaten me at a round of golf. I thought to myself that wasn't going to happen today.

As John held open the limo door, he almost jumped out and strode briskly over to shake my hand. I noted that his hairline was receding notably and that it wouldn't be too long before his pate was as bald as his father's had been. His dark eyes were twinkling though and he wore a smile of genuine pleasure as we moved from formal handshake to a tight sincere hug.

"Eric! Man, I can't tell you how much better you look since the last time we got together."

"Yeah Bernie, I'm a lot healthier and a whole lot happier since then… and a lot of it is thanks to you."

My mind flashed back to that first meeting at the Academy with Director Coleman essentially telling me that there was no way I was getting a young boy out of his school. It had only taken a single phone call to Bernie and the miracle that was Sean had entered my life.

Similarly, after a traumatic evening in Houston, a single call to Bernie had paved the way for my freeing Jack from the horror of further contracts and his eventually coming to live with me as my permanent ward.

Not for the first time I reflected It may be the family business and hemay be the chairman of the board, but I was convinced he didn't have an evil bone in his body.

We walked into the house together. I'd purposely told the boys to stay either in their schoolroom or out by the pool. They were also going to take their dinners in the kitchenette in my room. I didn't want Bernie to see them and be reminded of their existence. I didn't want any distractions this afternoon.

"How about a drink Bernie?" I guided him out onto the patio by thewild flower garden. "Are you still a vodka martini man?"

With a smile he replied, "Until I'm called up yonder or I take the pledge and climb on the wagon Eric. That last part isn't likely to happen any time soon by the way."

Walter was waiting on the patio in his very best 'butler mode' and he artfully poured the Grey Goose vodka and Noily Pratt vermouth into the ice filled stainless steel shaker at a ratio that only Walter's skilled mind had worked out though I suspected it was rather stiffer than the customary three to one. After vigorously shaking, he strained the drink into a lovely Reed and Barton martini glass and garnished it with a lemon twist rather than the more traditional olive.

Handing this to Bernie, Walter then handed me my less complicated tumbler of single malt.

Raising his glass in salute Bernie said, "It's really good to see you again Eric. I've been looking forward to this visit ever since you called with the invitation."

I smiled warmly at him returning his salute and pausing to take a small sip, I decided to charge right into the heart of the matter. "Well Bernie, our tee time isn't for a couple of hours yet. Feel like talking a little business?"

He raised an eyebrow in a reaction of surprise and I took a slow sip from my drink before leaning forward.

"Bernie, we've known each other for a long time and we've shared a good many secrets and adventures between us. I know you well enough to be able to say, that given a choice, you'd probably rather be doing anything in this world other than run that boy's academy your grandfather helped start."

He was looking at me with focused surprise; no doubt trying to figure out what I was driving at. I geared up to present the largely fictitious story I'd come up with to try to make this transaction easier for him.

"Bernie, I've been approached by a group of people that desire to become the major stock holders in Nesswell-Turnbridge. It is their intent to change err… some of the 'things' that go on there. I know you personally detest those 'things' but that without them, funding for the home would dry up rather quickly. These people are willing to chance those losses and to put the school on a new course… head it in a new direction; one that I believe you would personally approve of."

"Why were you approached Eric? I mean… frankly, you've been a really good client of the services the Academy provides… it's one of the few things about you that I've found hard to like over all these years if the truth be told."

I nodded in agreement and pressed my point. "Well probably because of the change in the direction of my life since young Sean… my adopted son… came into it… again, thanks to your assistance. These people feel that the nest can continue to produce outstanding young men without the need for those unfortunate three years they're currently being subjected to."

"nest! I hate that fuckin' nickname for the place!" he muttered almost to himself and then looked at me earnestly. "That would be wonderful if it could actually work but Eric…"

I raised a finger to silence him and gestured to Walter who walked over and handed me a leather-bound folder.

"This group is prepared to purchase all of your Academy stock for twenty percent above market value." Bernie's eyes opened wide as he considered the large amount of money this represented. I opened the leather dossier and withdrew a folded piece of paper.

"Also Bernie, in consideration and thanks for your co-operation they are offering this honorarium in return for your immediately relinquishing any and all involvement or claim to involvement in the present and future activities of the Nesswell-Turnbridge Academy for boys." I handed him the check in its tri-fold form. He opened it and stared at it with his eyes andmouth wide open.

"B-but this is… " he couldn't finish his sentence. I leaned forward and place a hand on his arm.

"Bernie… THIS is a life changing amount of money. Enough for you to live in stylish comfort should you choose to never do another thing in your life though I know that's not your style.

It's also enough to allow you to leave clean and know that a sincere effort is going to be made to change things for those boys. All you need to do is sign these papers." I handed him the legal documents that had been drawn-up.

I'd known from the beginning that his pride would never have allowed him to let me give him money in return for walking away but, the small fortune that this check represented presented as an abstract business accommodation was entirely palatable.

He looked at me intently for several minutes and then smiled happily.

"Of course I'll sign." He took the pen from me and as he was putting his signature on the indicated lines he muttered quietly, "I've always hated that place and what they did to those kids. It's just that it's always been the 'family business, you know? It's like I never had any choice about being involved with it."

I patted his arm and smiled. This had gone gentler and more positively than I'd hoped.

"Well Bernie, let's both hope these people can change those bad things. There are many other parts of what the Academy has accomplished that you should be really proud of and remember… it will still bear your name. Let's each have another drink and then head out to Deer Run so we'll have plenty of time before we tee off."

He actually looked relieved as he leaned back into his chair and accepted a new drink from Walter.

***

I'd beaten Bernie that afternoon but only by a couple of strokes; not nearly as badly as I actually could have.

That evening we'd shared a private diner in the main dining room dwarfed by the large space even though all the leaves had been removed from the big table.

After dinner, we'd moved to the library and sat up late into the night drinking and talking.

We'd laughed and shared memories in a manner totally appropriate for two old friends and as he finally bid me good night, I'd watched as he walked to the elevator with a slightly inebriated roll to his gait, I thought to myself that he looked as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders.

I was glad for him.

The next morning as I'd walked him out to the waiting limo, he seemed relaxed and happy. I'd cautioned him on several occasions that our business deal had to remain secret until after the board meeting. I'd also suggested that he find a plausible excuse not to attend the meeting himself.

As the limo pulled down the drive, I walked out back to see what the boys were up to.

As I walked through the house, I glanced into the kitchen and was surprised to see Jack sitting at the counter with Martha. She had him leaning against her and she slowly stroked his hair as she spoke to him so softly I couldn't make out what she was saying.

I felt an aching in my heart because, just then, he looked like the frightened little boy I had left in my bed that horrible first night months ago. Neither of them saw me as I stood watching and so, despite my initial instinct to find out what was going on, I decided to let them alone and I walked out to the pool.

Ricky, Chris, Mandy, Richard, Taylor and, to my delight, Barry were all in the water. There was no one else on the deck. "Hi guys, has anyone seen Sean?" I called out my greeting and question.

It was Richard who answered, "He and Walter are in the solarium Eric. Might not be a bad idea if you were to go there." I raised a quizzical eyebrow but he just shook his head more-or- less indicating no further information was forthcoming. I turned and walked back into the house.

As I walked into the solarium, I saw them sitting on a settee in the far corner. Walter had his arm around the small boy who sat with his head buried in the older man's chest. From the spasms in his back, I could tell he was crying.

Walter saw me as I walked softly towards them and he rubbed the crying boy's back and softly said, "Sean, your Dad's here. You can tell him. It'll be all right just like I promised."

Sean raised his head and his large beautiful eyes were flooded with tears. His face was streaked and dirty. He looked as though his heart was thoroughly broken.

Walter looked up at me; a picture of concern and without words, he indicated I should speak. I placed my hand on top of the boy's head and gently ruffled his hair. "Hi Son, would you like to tell me about what's going on? Nothing can be that bad honest."

Walter gently guided the boy up and nudged him in my direction.

He needed no urging. His arms were around me in seconds and he cried pitifully as he nuzzled his face against me. I let him cry for a few moments before I walked us over to a large chair, sat down and helped him crawl up onto my lap.

"Now, tell me." I said gently.

He raised his face up to look at me, He snuffled snot back up into his nose noisily and Walter surreptitiously handed me a handkerchief that I used to wipe his tear streaked face. Sean took a deep breath and then said, "I hate Rufus an' he hates me! I hope I never see him anymore an' I hope he gets beat up real bad in his fight this afternoon!" This was all he could manage to blurt out before he was once again racked with sobs.

I held him close to me and after a few moments I softly asked, "You don't really mean any of that do you?"

"N-no."

"Something happened between you two today. Would you tell me about it?"

"K-kay."

I rolled my eyes at the long silence that followed.

"Would you tell me now or do I have to wait a couple of days?" That got through his cloud of misery directly to his better nature and he giggled just a tiny bit before he finally spoke, "W-we were in the game room playin' pool an Rufus was actin' funny all morning an finally he says to me, 'How am I suppost ta concentrate on this game when you alla time have to keep movin' your step stool all aroun' the table? You really shouldn't be playin' games you're too little for.' That got me angry an so I told him that just bein' taller didn't make him better and that pretty soon I'd be so good at pool I wouldn't even waste my time playing him no more."

I let out a soft whistle and I kept in direct eye contact as he paused to noisily snort snot back up again.

"I was mad but I didn't want to stay mad so after a while I said that I was tired of playin' pool anyway and why didn't we go down to the library and look at cars on the computer. He turned to me real quick an' said, 'Why should I do that with you? You're just a little kid! What do you know about cars? I wish you'd just quite hangin' around me and taggin' along with everything I do!'"

"Then, I got madder an' I said that at least I had my own electric cart and he didn't. Then he grabbed me and looked real mad like I never ever saw Rufus look before and he says… 'Big deal! All I gotta do is ask Uncle Eric and I bet he'd get me one too' an then… an then… "

Sean began to shudder with sobs again. I rubbed his back soothingly but I urged him to continue with the story. He snuffled loudly and rubbed his eyes with his little knuckles and looked directly in my eyes and said, "Oh, I was mad and confused an' I said such a MEAN thing… I told him you weren't his real Uncle that you just let him call you that an THEN I said you were my REAL Dad cause we'd been to a judge an everything and then… an then … an then I told him he was still just a dumb orphan."

"After I said that, he looked like he was gonna' hit me but instead… oh, Dad… instead… he started to cry… then he pushed me down an ran out of the room. I guess everybody heard the mean things I said and Walter came in an' brought me down here and then you came."

I softly stroked his hair and looked at him before speaking, "You didn't mean any of those things you said to Jack did you?"

"N-no 'course not. I love Jack. It's just that I was so surprised that he said those mean things to me. He's never been mean to me ever before and when he said mean things to me I was so surprised… I just wanted to say meaner stuff back at him. O… oh Dad! What am I gonna do now? How am I ever gonna make this better?"

The sobs were returning but not quite so violently.

"Well son, what you're going to do… if you choose to that is… is tell Jack that you're sorry for the bad things that you said. Tell him that you didn't mean them… AND… tell him why you said them. Then… it'll be his turn to tell you why he said what he said and… if I know Jack… he'll also tell you that he's as sorry as you are."

"How about we do that?"

"K-kay. B-but will you an Walter come with me?"

"We'll come with you, but you have to do your own talking." I raised him up onto his feet and took his hand. Walter fell in step along side of us momentarily placing a hand on Sean's shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze of assurance.

Just before we reached the door however, Jack appeared with Martha standing behind him. It was obviously the red head was greiving and it was also obvious that Martha had given similar counsel to him as I had to Sean.

The two boys stood looking at each other for a few moments before Jack, tears streaming down his face spoke;

"Oh Tadpole… I'm Sooo sorry! I didn't mean even one of those things I said to you. I don't know why I said them. I guess… I guess I was just so nervous about this afternoon. The guy I'm boxing against hasn't ever lost a fight and this is my first fight ever. I guess I was scared and nervous and I took it out on you, Tadpole. What a crappy thing to do."

They were now hugging and crying profusely, I guided them to the settee and told them to talk things out and that we three adults would be in the kitchen if they wanted us.

While Martha and Walter sat at the table in the eating area, I poured her a glass of wine and made stiff drinks for Walter and myself. Martha shook her head slowly and said, "Nothing about that exchange sounded like either of our boys. They don't say and do things like that."

"Well," I interjected, "despite our best efforts, they ARE growing up you know. Hormones and emotions do strange things to otherwise good kids. "

"Besides," Walter added "I know from experience that when you're nervous or confused, sometimes lashing out against a person you love and trust is the safest way to vent… even when you don't know why you're doing it and don't actually mean a thing you say."

After about fifteen minutes, both boys walked through the door. They had obviously washed their faces and seemed normal and none the worse for wear. It appeared their peace had been made and thus; (as is the nature of boys) they moved innocently into the progression of the day.

"Mrs. Edwards, are there any cookies?" Sean asked.

Jumping up Martha seated them both at the table and quickly produced two tall glasses of milk and a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

As the boys reached for their treats I spoke up, "Now guys, when you're finished, I want you both to take a shower to cool off and then Jack… you're going to take a nap."

He looked at me horrified and tried to say something in protest but I stopped him with a gesture. "This isn't up for discussion. You need to calm down and get your head straight before the fight of the century." I walked over to him and gently massaged his strong young shoulders. As I did so, the thought struck me and I spoke without giving it any further consideration, "That kid may not have lost a fight yet, but today he's going to know he was in the ring with Jack Tucker."

It took a second but then what I'd just said registered on the beautiful red-haired boy.

"B-but I'm not Jack Tu… " I silenced him again with a quick gesture.

"That's something else we need to talk about but not right now. Sean, Jack is going to nap alone in his room and you are not to disturb him. I'm sure that there are enough people out in the pool right now to keep you occupied… just don't forget to put your swim trunks on first!"

He flashed me a totally mischievous grin and said, "Man! You're no fun at all anymore Dad."

He and Jack headed for the elevator side by side-as if the earlier incident had never happened.

As Walter and I walked out of the kitchen he said to me, "I've been meaning to tell you. Those boys mean a lot to me Eric. It wasn't just your life you changed when you brought them here. Your father would have loved them a lot and… he would have been mighty proud of you if he could see you with them."

A lump was rising in my throat and my eyes were welling up but I managed to say, "I believe he does see and I think he IS proud Walter."

As we parted and I headed down the hall to my study, I couldn't get a bothersome thought out of my head; there HAD to be more behind Jack's initial actions this morning than just anxiety over a youth league boxing match.

He was too level-headed a kid to let that get to him so badly and, frankly, he'd faced far worse situations in his young life and come through strong and confident. No, something else was bothering my young Rufus and, despite everything else going on right now, I had to figure out some way to find out what it was.

The first shot against the nest had been fired. We'd won the first skirmish and they didn't even know the war had started.

This afternoon I had a boxing match to watch and then three days to see if I could find out what was going on inside young Jack's head. I also had to talk to Sean about a course of action that I was suddenly considering regarding a major change in both of our relationship with the older boy.

I would never make such an important decision without discussing it with Sean.

I sank down into my wonderful leather chair and swiveled around towards the credenza and made myself a drink. As I held the tumbler in my hands slowly rolling the cool crystal between my palms, my mind filled with a jumble of thoughts.

This was going to be a busy week for almost everybody I cared about. The nest take-over was one of the first major projects I'd initiated since coming to my senses less than a year ago. I was startled as I reviewed all of the changes that had taken place in my life in such a short time.

Before thrusting so much of my energy into the nest project, I wanted to get this latest idea I'd had regarding Jack at least beyond the formative stages, in order to do that, I decided to ask Doc Swaim, Walter, Martha, John and Uncle Phil to meet with me after dinner. With regard to this idea, I felt all of their feedback would be invaluable.

With a potentially dangerous and difficult effort as the nest take-over might surely prove to be, I wondered if I was crazy to be thinking about anything else much less something as serious as adopting another boy.

I raised my tumbler to my lips but before taking an actual sip, I lowered it down and stared into the glass intently.

After just a few moments, I got up from my chair and walked into the adjoining bathroom. Standing over the sink, I turned the crystal tumbler over and emptied the full glass of whiskey.

Smiling to myself I walked out of my study and headed for the pool hoping all the gang would let me play.

Chapter 17

The battle will finally move to Houston and with-in the walls of the nest

When we are young and for the first time; look upon the world and perceive its many faults and frailties, we are heartsick and outraged. The goodness that is essentially within our nature drives us to attempt to mend the flaws and shore up the fragilities. In this pursuit we use as a guide, our own acquired perception.

More often than not, we are saddened to recognize that the world doesn't respond to our efforts and immediately struggle to achieve our ideal.

As we gain sagacity through experience and maturity… and if we are lucky, we come to realize that our actions have actually resulted in change. To our surprise however, we have not changed the world, but rather; we have gradually changed ourselves.

In order to recognize the good in things, it is necessary that we actually expect to find them before we even start to look.

There was no doubting the fact that the boy from the Vista Verde Sporting Club was an experienced boxer. He stood outside the ring calmly as his coach methodically checked his gloves, mouthpiece and head protection.

Although I was watching from the other side of the ring, I judged him to be just a bit taller than Jack but he looked more solid and stocky. I guessed from his physique that he had about a five to ten pound weight advantage.

Although both boys were statistically well matched, physically, this boy presented a more intimidating package at first glance.

We'd sat through five previous bouts; all younger, smaller kids and, now, Jack was about to enter the ring for his first actual fight. While he didn't actually look nervous, he did seem to lack the slight air of cockiness that was so much a part of his wonderful personality.

Serious, I'd thought to myself, he looks very serious I wondered privately if he was really intimidated over the knowledge that the boy he was facing had not yet lost a fight. That just didn't seem like Jack to me. While I wasn't really worried for him, I couldn't help but wonder none-the-less.

I was certain that we all made an interesting routing section huddled together at ringside. There almost wasn't room for everyone from Joyous Gaurde who'd wanted to come watch our boy engage in his first combat. Eventually, we'd sorted it out though, and besides Jack and Sean, John, Doc Swaim. Walter, Richard, Chris, Taylor and I had actually fit into the limo quite comfortably.

Jack had heeded my instructions and (to his surprise I suspect) had actually taken a good two hour nap after the little incident that had occurred between him and Sean. He'd come down from his room just in time for lunch and he was looking and acting like 'our Jack' again though I noticed he was going out of his way to be nice to Sean. For his part, Sean was actually a bit clingy to the older boy.

I knew the cruel words that they'd exchanged had hurt terribly but I also knew that their closeness and affection for each other were more than strong enough to heal those wounds. It was something they would work out between them and required no further intervention from me or any other adult.

As it came closer to the time we must leave for Deer Run, Jack became more and more pensive and, for the last half hour, Walter and Richard had taken him aside and were talking to him privately. As we all walked out to the limo, he certainly seemed calmer and, for the entire ride out to the club, he'd laughed and joked with us.

When we'd reached the club and it came time for him to leave us and head down to the locker room though, he'd turned and asked, "Uncle Eric, do you think you and Walter could come with me… to help me get set up right?" I felt something tug at my heart and in a half choking voice I turned to John and asked him if he'd watch over Sean and stake out some seats for us.

"You bet Eric," he'd replied. "Come on Sean-o, let's grab some seats at ringside."

As we walked down the long hall to the locker room, Jack took each of our hands. He didn't say anything he just walked between us. I glanced over at Walter. His eyes were glistening from what I suspected were unshead tears.

I thought back to that horrible day when I'd found him rocking my blanked-wrapped comatose little boy under the tower and I'd seen the tears pour down his face. Ever since then, I'd experienced frequent memories from my childhood.

On the surface, Walter had always seemed so formal, so straight forward… so much like a rock but I also recollected the horrible week after the accident. Walter had cried then and he'd never attempted to hide those tears. The changes came after… after my family was entombed beneath the marble. I had become a drunken mindless wreck and Walter had become an efficient machine.

Recently this year, I'd begun recalling that the Walter of my childhood was actually a warm, funny, caring man that I always had felt safe and comfortable around. His confession of sorts about how much the boys meant to him had reinforced those memories. I wondered for the first time just how deeply the deaths of my family and my own subsequent failure as a human being had hurt him. How much pain had he born for us? I felt a twinge of shame at my own selfishness but also realized that I couldn't undo the past… we all could do nothing more than live for the present.

Out of the blue, I heard my father's voice telling me, as he often had, "Eric, the best thing that you can do when it's raining… is to let it rain." I remembered the first time he'd said that me, I'd shaken my head in puzzlement but as I'd grown older, I'd recognized the simple truth that statement represented.

We stayed with Jack in the locker room while the boy stripped and changed for the match. I know that Walter's reaction to his nudity was very different from mine. I saw his beauty and raw sexiness while Walter, no doubt, saw his youth and his fitness.

After Jack had donned cup and jock, trunks socks and shoes we sat together on the bench. It was the coaching staff's responsibility to tape his hands and lace his gloves but we had the privilege of sitting with him for a short while. Walter had draped the robe over the boy's shoulders to fend off the chill of the locker room. We didn't say much… just a few small, little jokes that the boy laughed nervously at and then we heard a voice.

"Ok Jack, come on it's time to get you taped and gloved." This was of course, our cue to leave.

As we stood and I was turning, Walter bent down so that he was eye to eye with our boy. "Jack, lots of times before Eric's dad and I would go out on one of our adventures, he'd slap me on the back and say, "Do your best and then relax."

I felt a twinge in my very soul. I remembered countless times my father had said that very thing to Kyle and me. It was the best advice I'd ever been given. Why hadn't I thought to say that to Jack? I supposed I still had a lot to learn. It struck me, though, that twice this afternoon in a very short span of time, I'd been presented with my father's wisdom, so long forgotten. Was there a reason these words were coming to me now? Was my Dad guiding me still… showing me the right path again? I hoped, in some way, that this might be true.

Jack stood up and he hugged us both. With nothing further to say, we turned to leave. I looked back just before heading out the door and he was looking at me with his wonderful half grin. He couldn't wave because, by now, one of the coaches was taping his hands and so, instead, he comically waggled his eyebrows. Once again, my heart surged and I knew how much I loved this boy.

***

The gym at Deer Run had been converted into a proper boxing arena and I was frankly surprised by how professional it looked. Our family hadn't ever really been interested in amateur boxing and so, we'd never attended any of these contests before. Since Jack's involvement I'd learned that amateur boxing was a long-held and cherished tradition for the Deer Run Club. John had grabbed us great seats which of course came as no surprise.

As Jack's fight approached, Sean sat at my right wiggling and bouncing on his chair so much that I was almost tempted to pull him over onto my lap just to hold him still.

Jack's coach, 'Sal' Salvatore was earnestly talking to him as they entered the ring. Sal was a former Golden Gloves winner who had also fought on a semi-professional level in order to help pay his way through college. Though neither Kyle nor I had ever had any interest in boxing when we were young, I knew Sal and respected his personal skill as well as his caring coaching methods.

Ignoring my bouncing little boy for a moment, I turned to my left to look at Walter and Richard. I knew that both men had been taking Jack aside most afternoons and, with Sal's complete approval, had been giving him private coaching. I knew both of these men were certifiably deadly in a hand-to-hand combat situation but I didn't know how much they knew about actual boxing.

Despite those minor misgivings, I trusted Walter completely and I knew he'd never lead Jack astray. His affection for the boy was entirely too obvious. As for Richard, it constantly amazed me how quickly he was becoming a younger version of his mentor.

Sal had sat me down and patiently explained how amateur fights in Jack's age group worked.

The fight would consist of three two minute rounds with a one minute rest period in between. Seated at ringside were five judges, all supposedly neutral. Each held a mechanical tally counter in each hand… one for the 'red corner' and one for the blue corner'. Today, Jack was designated in the 'blue corner'.

These fights were pretty quick and scoring was very subjective. Each judge would click to count each 'scoring blow' landed by either fighter. Sal also told me that, despite the way the rules were written, judges would often add extra clicks when they thought they were deserved especially in cases of particular aggressiveness.

A 'scoring blow' or 'clear punch' was one that landed above the opponent's beltline to the body or head at the front or side. Blows below the beltline or to the back were deemed foul and resulted in loss of points and even possible disqualification of the offending fighter.

Clear punches were counted regardless of any perception of impact upon the opponent. All punches must be made with the knuckles which were clearly marked on the boys' gloves by a white strip.

Unlike boxing matches at higher levels of the sport, these fights were short and fast paced giving the fighters little or no time to actually show off their skill or endurance. They were essentially punching contests and, unless the fight was stopped by the referee or ended in a knock out (which were very rare) or a TKO (much more common) the fighter whose punch tally, as scored by the judges, came out the highest, was the winner.

Sal had also explained to me that he trained his kids to throw long obvious, easily noticed blows because, since the judges were all seated together, close in punches could often be obstructed from their view and, therefore, not counted. Judges were not supposed to count blows that they actually didn't see.

As the referee called both boys to the center for their instructions, we all leaned forward in our seats. This was going to be an anxious twelve minutes or so.

I was personally relieved to note that, now they were standing together, the other boy didn't seem that much bigger than Jack after all. In fact, viewed close together, they looked to both be physically well matched.

At the bell, both boys closed without any circling or stalking. They both knew time was short and so, they got right to it.

The other boy threw the first punch; a jab which Jack deflected on his forearm but which some of the judges undoubtedly scored as a blow nonetheless. Jack countered with a quick right that actually whistled just past the other boy's head. I thought to myself that it was close enough that I wouldn't be surprised if Jack hadn't picked up points on it despite the fact that it was a clean miss.

Both boys settled into a rapid exchange of body blows seeming to be trading punch for punch. Despite my best efforts, I quickly lost count but I did notice that Jack was being far more careful about blocking the other boy's punches. This was not necessarily a good thing because Sal had explained that, being subjective, the judging often favored the boy who appeared to be the more aggressive fighter.

Suddenly the boy from the red corner landed a stunning left just below Jack's rib cage. This brought my little Rufus straight up with an audible grunt and he staggered back three steps. I could see the look of surprise on his face.

The referee seemed like he was about to move in but Jack shook his head briskly, regained his poise and quickly closed with his opponent landing a flurry of fast right and left jabs into the other boy's body forcing him to back up rapidly, just as the bell ended the round.

Sean was on his feet jumping up and down with excitement. "Jack's doin' good ain't he guys? He's doing great huh?"

I yielded to my original idea and grabbed the little boy and pulled him up onto my lap wrapping my arms around him. "Calm down little tiger cub," I spoke softly into his ear. "That was only the first round."

He twisted his head to look up at me. "Kay, Dad but its sure excitin' huh?"

Richard leaned over and said to us, "He was being too cautious for a lot of that round but I think he's remembering what we taught him now."

Walter nodded in agreement but added, "That kid really rang Jack's clock with that shot to the solar plexus but, in fight like this it should only count as one blow."

Richard added, "Yeah but Jackie was really coming on towards the end there."

I'd been so engrossed in their conversation and with trying to calm Sean down that I realized, with a surge of guilt that I hadn't looked towards Jack's corner. I hoped that he was so busy listening to his coach that he hadn't had time to look for our reaction. Glancing quickly over I caught his eye and waved a 'thumbs-up' at him. He smiled at me just as the bell rang

From the very start of the second round, it was obvious that Sal had said something to Jack because he came out aggressively with much less emphasis on blocking and more on throwing punches.

After an initial flurry of traded blows, the other boy threw another left like he had the first round but Jack wasn't going to be caught a second time. He saw it coming and deflected it with his left hand while countering with a right of his own into the kid's chest. It was a hard punch and Jack quickly followed it with a left into the same area and then a right and another left. All of these were powerful punches and the other boy grunted loudly as each one landed.

The other boy was driven backward towards the ropes.

Richard was bouncing up and down almost as badly as Sean had been. "Attaboy Jackie! Attaboy! That's the way to land them!" he turned to Walter with a smile. "That makes up for his lack of aggression last round."

Jack had the other boy against the ropes now and was landing a series of punishing body blows but his back was to the judges and I remembered what Sal had told me. Since his body was obstructing the judges' view it was likely many of these punches were not counting.

"Back off Rufus! Back off!" Sal shouted. Somehow it just seemed natural that his coach was using his nickname… Jack WAS Rufus to almost everybody and nicknames, after all, were a long standing part of boxing. The boy must have heard his coach and realized what he meant because he danced backwards to the center of the ring waiting for his opponent to follow.

The other boy was a true gamer though, and he came out with gloves flying and landed a short flurry of punches onto Jack's body before throwing a surprisingly fast left jab at Jack's face landing hard and centered.

Jack backed up three steps and we saw that blood was coming from his nose.

"Rufus!" Sean screamed from my lap and tried to leap forward. I had to fight to hold him back. The red-haired boy heard him and looked in our direction. I couldn't tell if his expression was one of shock, surprise or pain. The referee was in the center of the two almost immediately. He pointed to a neutral corner and indicated the other boy should go there while he looked at Jack. He said something to the boy who shook his head vehemently.

I leaned over to Walter and Richard. "Will he stop the fight?"

"I don't think so." Said Walter "but of course, in these fights, if he's going to err, he's always going to err on the side of safety." Obviously the referee was satisfied that Jack's bloody nose was not incapacitating because he signaled the other boy to the center and restarted the fight.

If Jack was hurt or bothered by the blood, he didn't show it because he closed and, just like the last round he began a series of fast body blows on the other boy almost backing him into the ropes before the round ended.

"He handled that situation very well," Walter said to us "I have no idea at this point how the scoring is going but I think, because of the nose bleed and the referee stoppage, the other kid may be slightly ahead. Jack wasted a lot of points by blocking the judges' view when he had the kid against the ropes."

"I agree," Richard said "He needs a really aggressive round. He can do it… he should do it. I can't believe how cool he is out there. You'd never know this is his first fight. I hope he remembers what we taught him Walt."

Despite everything, I couldn't help but smile. In my entire life I had never heard anyone call Walter, 'Walt' but it was also obvious how close those two had become.

Walter leaned over and made certain that I was listening, "Mark my words… that other boy lost the fight the first time he backed away from Jack's punches. Jack knows he can beat him and, after that nosebleed, he knows he can take the worst that kid can deliver. Look at his face guys… that's a face to be afraid of." Just as he spoke, the bell rang.

As the third and final round began, it was obvious that the other boy also felt that he was ahead on points and he began throwing a series of punches that, while not very robust, were probably all scoring points.

Jack, on the other hand, was not dealing in flurries but rather was throwing a series a slower but more deliberate jabs.

Richard was beside himself. He was grabbing Walter's shoulder and saying, "He remembers Walt! He knows just what to do!" He leaned across Walter and said to Sean and me, "Watch him now, just watch him! That other kid doesn't know what he's in for!"

Almost on cue, Jack landed a startling punch to the other boy's ribs followed by a hard drive to the stomach and then an immediate shot to the jaw and like a rock, the boy was down on his ass. It was almost comical because he'd dropped straight into a sitting position.

He got up almost immediately but the referee sent Jack to a neutral corner and this time moved in to question the other boy.

Sean was going crazy and Richard and Walter were almost as bad.

Richard shouted, "Well THAT makes up for the fuckin' bloody nose!… OOPS! Sorry Sean, I shouldn't use words like that." In the spirit of things, my little boy reached over and patted the man's arm.

"Don't worry Richard… I heard that word lots of times!" If I wasn't so very excited myself, I probably would have said something to the boy but, by then, the referee was satisfied the other boy was OK and had restarted the round.

My eyes were riveted on my red-headed wonder. I'd never seen him like this.

He suddenly was all business and determination and from, what I could tell, he was in complete control. My analytical mind told me that I was watching the Jack who managed to put up with the pain of being fucked and abused, who had handled the loss of his charge… his follow boy… who had made up his mid to handle whatever was dealt to him and to survive it all.

This was an opponent the like of which the other boy had never faced before.

Jack moved in and the other boy threw a sporadic set of halfhearted body-blows before Jack; almost machine like, began a series of strong jabs to the boy's body driving him back towards the ropes once more.

With almost lightning-like speed, he began punishing the boy's midriff. I noticed with satisfaction that this time Jack had almost clinically shepherded his opponent into the ropes at an angle that couldn't obstruct the judges' view.

Jack's blows were fast and furious and the other boy's face was fixed in a look of pure bewilderment. His sturdy looking legs slowly gave out from under him and he sagged against the ropes. When he no longer even raised his arms to deflect the punishment Jack was delivering, the referee was between them, in an instant. He sent Jack to a neutral corner again and began counting.

Walter leaned over and said, "Standing eight count but that kid isn't going to make it." He was right because suddenly the referee was indicating the fight was over and that Jack was the winner.

We went nuts but while we were all jumping and shouting like a pack of fools, Jack had walked across the ring and had wrapped his arms around his beaten opponent and was speaking into his ear while he hugged him. I smiled and thought to myself; "That boy is one class act. No wonder I love him so much."

***

We'd all celebrated over burgers and accoutrements at Deegan's and I wondered privately if any of us was going to stop smiling least of all our red-haired hero.

Sean wouldn't leave his side and the look of adoration he gave the boy spoke wonders. Jack had always been his hero and, once again, the feisty red-head had come through.

As I watched, I realized that. aside from Jack himself, only Doc Swaim and I understood everything the boy had come through to get this far.

I thought to myself that Jack often acted and spoke younger than he was… as did Sean. But it was important to consider the unique and strange circumstances they'd been brought up under. Jack, despite his youth and seeming childish innocence, was actually a young man who had been closer to the gates of hell than most adults would ever come and he had endured and prospered. I simply adored him for everything that he was.

Everybody admired the medal he'd won and I mentioned that for, now at least, he and Sean could share the same trophy area. "If the two of you keep up like I expect you're going to though, I'm going to have to add a whole new wing to the house just to hold your awards."

***

I made certain that everyone's drink was good before I sat down. It had been quite a project to get the boy's calmed down enough to shower and head up to bed but somehow I'd managed.

I'd asked everyone to gather in the parlor… a room we hardly used because it's so formal… but the seating is comfortable and we could talk privately.

Indicating the well-stocked wet bar by the wall, I informed them that I'd made the first drinks and that, after that, they were all on their own excepting Martha of course. This drew good-natured chuckles from almost everyone.

I looked around at the faces of the people that I trusted so much… people that I considered family rather than employees. Walter, Uncle Phil, John and Martha as well as the Professor all sat smiling at me. They didn't know why I wanted to talk to them but everyone's mood was happy… even Martha's although she had strongly proclaimed that she didn't approve of fighting and didn't know why we'd encourage our Jack to be involved in such brutality. None-the-less she had had a cake waiting for us when we'd returned from his triumph.

"Well friends, I know most of us are involved in a major undertaking that's going to begin on Monday. Although only you are flying down there, Uncle Phil, we're all directly or indirectly involved so I hope you don't think I'm crazy to be bringing this up now… but… I just don't think it's something that can wait.

You see, it's been in the back of my mind almost from the beginning but just recently, I can't get it out of my head. I think I've made up my mind but before I move any further, I'd like all of your opinions because I am so close to you."

I had their attention now and so I decided to just let it out. "Of course, I need to talk to Sean privately on the subject first, but if his reaction is what I think it is going to be… well… I'm going to adopt Jack… if he'll agree to it."

The room was suddenly a happy chaos as they were all on their feet talking at once and swarming me with happy agreement.

Doc Swaim was smiling from ear to ear and Martha was in tears. She assured me they were happy tears. Uncle Phil just pumped my hand and didn't say anything.

"I knew it! I just knew you'd do the right thing, Eric! This is great!" John exclaimed and Walter just smiled enigmatically and said, "If I thought you weren't going to do it… well, we'd have had words. Those two boys need to be together… they need to be brothers and Eric… they both deserve a great father… they both deserve you."

This was met by universal acclaim and statements of agreement and I felt tears welling in my eyes. We all sat and talked for another hour before I excused myself to head up to bed wondering what I had done to deserve my life to be so full and so wonderful.

As I walked into my bedroom, I wasn't very surprised to find them both side-by-side, sound asleep in my bed. Happy times are as good a reason for closeness as are sad times I thought to myself. I undressed quietly and pulled the covers back in order to figure out where I was going to fit in among tonight's pile of gorgeous happy boy parts.

In the low light of the room my eyes were transfixed upon their two stunning young bodies transformed into works of art by the enchantment of sleep.

Sean was an exquisite little vision of boyhood. I loved this little boy so much it hurt every time I thought about it. Jack, on the other hand, was adolescence in perfection… a boy poised on the verge of leaping into young-manhood and I knew now that I'd loved him from the first moment I'd met him.

They were each beautiful to behold and my heart ached out of pure love and I was so grateful for the strange and divergent circumstances that had brought us together. I slowly worked my way in between them and, though sleeping, they unconsciously slid apart to make room. Once I'd settled in, they both instinctively moved back in to cuddle against me.

Although I had no intentions of waking them, I noticed, with a grin that mydick had gotten rock hard. I smiled and wondered if there was going to be time for Chris and me to share a bed at least one night before they all flew down to Houston.

I reached out on both sides and softly ran my fingertips along both soft, smooth boy bodies and in their slumber they both instinctively nudged closer against me. Almost in unison they each threw an arm and a leg across my body. I smiled and thought that they were so like brothers in almost every way.

Then, for the third time today, I heard my father's words. This time though, they were not special words of wisdom, they were simple words that he'd spoken to me hundreds of times "Good night Eric. You did very well today."

I closed my eyes to blink away the salty, hot tear that had formed. "Thanks Dad." I whispered.

Sleep caught me quickly.

***

It was a strangely dark and blustery morning for this time of year when the three of us woke up the next morning. It was Sean who woke Jack and me and typically, it was Jack who was the hardest to get out of bed.

On mornings when it was the three of us in the shower, we'd modified the Shower Music Game. Jack had admitted the first time he'd experienced it that he was out of his league and so he became designated the song selector. The three of us were huddled in the shower as Jack's chosen song filled the area. Sean jumped up and down literally as soon as the introductory music began.

"Touch the Wind! It's called Touch the Wind only I don't know who is singing it."

"Aha! Gotcha little man!" I exclaimed with glee as I reached down and smacked his wonderful little ass. "Actually, it's called 'Eres Tu' which means 'It is You', and it's a recording by a group called Mocedades. But you're right Sean, in America it was called 'Touch the Wind' so I guess for the first time ever, we have a shower music tie. That means Jack has to kiss us both!"

The lovely red-head feigned distress as he moaned, "Aw Jeeze! Do I have to?" And in an instant we were wrapped around each other in a stew of flesh and water. We finally broke apart and began the pleasurable task of soaping each other down.

As the music continued, Sean suddenly stepped apart and with amazing youthful gusto sang,

Como una promesa eres tu, eres tu
Como una maanana de verano
Como una sonrisa eres tu, eres tu
Asi, asi eres tu.

I smiled as he sang but also wondered, yet again, at his almost encyclopedic knowledge but I had him here because the one thing Sean seemed to be completely ignorant of was other languages. I grabbed him and raised him up to my chest and sang back at him in the English translation,

Just like a promise… it is you it is you.
Just like a morning in the summer.
Like a smile… it is you… it is you.
It is, it is… it is you

With a gleaming smile he pulled himself close to me and kissed me. "Eric… Dad… you're so much fun! Alla time I just love you so much!" Jack was in on the hug instantly and I thought to myself that I could die right here and be happy.

Out of the shower and drying each other off, I noticed that Jack had a small mouse under his left eye. I pointed it out to him and he grinned up at me and said, "I may have a bruise but I also have a medal. Uncle Eric that kid may have had a lot of matches but he didn't know anything about fighting."

I couldn't help it… I grabbed the boy and hugged him until I was afraid I might break his ribs and then finally I whispered, "That's the truth my wonderful Jack… that's the truth."

I broke away and, as we walked into my room, I gathered them once again into my arms.

"Guys, you didn't know it when you woke up, but this is going to be a special day. Go get dressed and, after breakfast, Sean, you and I have a meeting in my study. Jack, I know you've got school stuff to work on so you can do that in your room. You and I will meet later OK?"

Both of their faces were rigid with apprehension. Like a jackass I'd frightened them again and it was Sean who spoke. "D-dad… you haven't changed your mind have you? You're not gonna send us back to the nest are you?"

I heaved a sigh and pulled them both into me. "No no, you silly! How long is it going to take before you understand that there's no back to the nest for either of you? We've just got something important to talk about OK?"

"K-kay" they both answered almost in unison. I slapped two gorgeous naked asses and they scampered out of the room.

Breakfast was great as usual although it was obvious to me that Martha was just busting to say something. Loving as she was though, she would never let her emotions overrule her professionalism. Despite that Jack got extra attention even though he probably didn't notice it.

When we'd finished and Martha had received her hugs, Jack stood before me and with apprehension in his eyes said rather tentatively, "See you later then Eric?"

I hugged his neck and said with a smile, "Yep, see you later Jack." He turned and walked toward the elevator as I guided Sean down the hall to my study.

Sean was sitting in one of the chairs in the corner grouping sipping on his orange juice while I took more time than was actually required to fix my coffee. For some reason this morning, I'd decided to drink it with cream and a dash of sugar rather than my usual black. Satisfied with my unfamiliar concoction, I sat across from him, took a sip and smiled. The coffee was disgusting. Too lukewarm and way too sweet but I decided to ignore it and continue.

"So, Sean, we've never had the chance to talk about this. How do you fee labout having Jack here at Joyous Gaurde?"

He didn't pause a second. "Dad I love having Rufus… I mean Jack here. I love him so much an' the three of us doin' things is… well… it's wonderful Dad."

Nodding my head, I decided to just go for it. "Sean, you remember when I told you that I wanted to make our relationship permanent and legal in the eyes of the law… when I asked you to let me adopt you and make you my son?" He was looking at me intently.

"Course I do Dad… why? Is somethin' wrong?"

"I hope not Sean but… what if I said those same things to Jack? What if I asked him to be my son? What if I asked him to be your brother what would you th… "

He was on me in a split second arms thrown around my neck and it was like he was trying to get closer to me than flesh would allow.

"Ohhhhh! Oh Dad! Oh Dad I love you so much! Do you mean it? Oh, I'm sorry… 'course you mean it! Oh Dad… Jack would be my real brother right? Oh Dad… oh Dad… I'm soooo happy… Dad I LOVE you soooo much! Honest Dad… we're gonna' be the best family that ever was!"

We stayed in a tight embrace for a long time and finally I lightly pushed him away from me and said quietly, "Well little man, since it seems to be all right with you, I'm going to go upstairs and talk to Jack about it. If you'd like to come up, you may but you've got to stay in your room until I call you… or, you can stay down here. What would you prefer?"

"I'll wait upstairs… Kay?"

"Sure but it may be a long time Sean, remember that."

"I can wait… I sure can wait!"

I held out my hand and together we walked to the elevator. We walked down the hall together and then without a word he went into his room while I approached the door to Jack's.

Since bringing him to the house we'd renovated Jack's room and it truly reflected his personality.

He'd left the door open and so I walked in. He was curled on his bed in a tight ball sleeping soundly. I suspected that the past day had been quite a strain on the kid. Though he was sixteen years old, emotionally he was probably more like a fourteen year old. Though he tried so hard to be big, he was in many ways just a little boy still.

As I moved to wake him, I noticed his computer screen. It was an image of a very sexy naked young girl. Though I felt a twang of guilt I none-the-less walked over and examined his browsing history. I was amused to discover it to be quite intermixed with academic sites, his beloved marine biology sites as well as a large number of porn sites. To my surprise, though I don't know why, the bulk of these were very heterosexually oriented.

I smiled to myself… obviously my little Rufus was either straight or BI. That pretty well figured and I absently wondered about Sean though it probably was too soon to tell about him.

I closed the screen so that it didn't provide an unimportant diversion. Hopefully he wouldn't remember leaving the site open.

I gently nudged the sleeping boy's shoulder.

He awoke with a cute silly yawn and grin combination upon his beautiful face. "H-hey Uncle Eric… did I oversleep? I was working on my project an then I… "

I pulled him up into a sitting position and said, "No silly! Boys rest when they need to rest so that they can be boys." I slowly ran my fingertips down his back and he smiled at me looking very contented.

"Jack, I think you know that I love you. I also think that you love me and we both know how you and Sean feel about each other."

His almost magical green eyes were fixed upon mine with a slight hint of apprehension..

"Yesterday Jack, when you both had that silly but nasty argument and Sean said to you that you were still an orphan. That hurt you didn't it Jack?"

His jade green eyes never left my face but he nodded solemnly.

"Jack, when Sean and I first met, we were both orphans. We had nobody, no family but we found each other and together we became a family. Family is the most important bond that people can have. As my ward Jack, you are my responsibility to care for and watch over and I know you call me 'uncle' and it makes it feel more official. But Jack, Sean was right when he said that I'm not your REAL uncle." His eyes were still fixed upon mine but they were moistening up. He was sensing something sad and terrible about to happen.

"Jack, I've got to tell you that I don't want to be your real uncle." His lower lip was trembling and I could see he was swallowing hard trying to be brave for the bad news about to be delivered… he was trying to be Jack plain and simple.

I reached over and stroked his cheek and gently ran my thumb over his eyes to stop the half shed tears from falling, "Jack, I love you far too much to be your Uncle. You mean too much to me Jack. So … forgive me if I make this quick and simple. Jack, I want you to be my son. What do you think?"

The red-headed boy sat there staring at me with his eyes wide and his mouth opened.

"Jack," I finally said "what do you think?"

The kid just sat there almost trembling before he finally blinked his eyes and answered almost tearfully. "E-Eric Really? Really you want me to be a REAL part of this family … a real part? Honestly… truly… really Eric?"

I pulled him to me as tightly as I could. I felt him melt against me and his young body shuddered as he gave way to his tears. "Jack," I whispered into his ear "I love you… I've loved you since the firsttime I saw you. I want you to be my son and, frankly, I think you are already Sean's brother. Together, I think we three orphans might just make the greatest family that ever was."

He looked at me with those magical green eyes and then suddenly threw himself into my arms, We hugged for a long time before I finally broke free and said that there was someone else we needed to talk to.

Their rooms were, of course, just across the hall. I walked him to the door with my arm draped over his shoulder and knocked.

"Who's there?" Sean's voice sounded teasingly from inside.

"Your father and… your brother. little man. Open up."

The door flew open and Sean flew straight at Jack. I barely had time to take my arm away before the little torpedo knocked the older boy backwards and into the wall. He slid down the wall and onto his butt with Sean right on top of him.

"Brother!" Sean was laughing as he grabbed Jack by his ears and pulled his face up for a kiss. "Brother… MY brother Jack! Boy what a family we got now! What a family we got! I love you both so much. Jack Jack… you're the best big brother in the entire world!"

I decided to intercede. "Don't you guys think that there are some people down stairs who might want to hear this news?"

Sean was up on his feet in a flash and I reached my hand down to Jack. Smiling I softly said, "Let me help you up… son."

He hadn't stopped crying but he was smiling as well. He hugged Sean tightly to his side and wiped a forearm across his face before turning to me. "C-can I call you 'Dad' now?" I smiled and kissed the top of his head while I squeezed his shoulder.

"I guess we'd both better get used to that, eh?"

"YEAH!" Sean was dancing around flashing the mother of all 'Sean smiles'. As we headed down the hall to the staircase, he slipped in-between us and grabbed a hand from me and one from Jack.

"I gedda be in the middle because I'm the youngest one in the family!"

"Absolutely, little man," I smiled "Let's introduce all of our friends to the new improved Tucker Family."

Of course, everyone was waiting for us down stairs and as we came into sight, everyone broke into a round of applause. Poor Jack was smiling and crying at the same time. He stumbled on the last step and Walter moved to catch him. They were instantly entwined in a bear hug. Jacks shoulders heaved while Walter whispered encouragement soothingly.

Martha had prepared a wonderful celebratory dinner we all shared. Even with all of us together, we still looked lost in the big dining room but I realized that it had been many years since those walls resounded with such happiness and glee.

In the back of my mind, I knew that there were still questions I needed to ask Jack. There was something hidden deeply… something that had motivated the ugly quarrel with Sean. Of course, we were also just a couple of days away from the 'Battle of Houston' as the Commodore had begun calling it.

Uncle Phil had already gotten our legal people involved in putting Jack's adoption into motion. They'd estimated two weeks… having oodles of money really helped grease the wheels of the legal system.

I was standing with my arm around Martha. She'd had a few glasses of wine and was beaming at the boys, her face almost as red as a tomato.

The boys were still sitting at the big table involved in a very animated conversation with Tip and Chris. I realized that those two, along with Doc Swaim, the Commodore, Doctor Scott, Ricky and Uncle Phil would be flying out in two days. Joyous Gaurde was suddenly going to feel empty I thought.

So much seemed to be happening all at once. I though it over and then bent over and gave Martha a big kiss on the cheek.

Oh well, I thought to myself, The best thing you can do when it's raining… is to let it rain… right Dad?

Thanks for all of the kind notes and for all of your patience. Although this chapter came a bit quicker, you'll notice I still haven't gotten everyone down to Houston yet. That WILL happen next chapter. As I was writing I decided that Jack needed to have a good boxing round… the kid deserved it eh?
On a personal note, I'm still very tired but I'm spending more and more time out of bed so that's a good thing.

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