Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 00:46:10 EDT
From: Jetjt@aol.com
Subject: Empire Chapter 31

The following story is a work of gay fiction. If the subject matter is
offensive to you or you are too young, please exit now. This story is the
property of the owner and may not be reproduced without written
permission. See Ch. 1 for copyright information.  HUGs. JETjt@aol.com.


					EMPIRE

				Chapter Thirty-one

Ron and Matt's, Thursday evening

Tyler, Dan and Zack entered the study, moving to the assortment of chairs,
tables and accessories near the fireplace. Settling down into the
comfortable seating with Tyler sitting next to Zack on the sofa and Dan in
an armchair, Tyler looked first at Dan, who gave him a smile of
encouragement, then at Zack who was visibly nervous.

"Relax son, we don't bite," Tyler said with a warm smile.

"It's not that," Zack replied with obvious discomfort. "I kinda expected
that Ron and Matt would be talking to me. Not that I don't like you or
anything like that!" he added quickly.

"It's okay.  We've had only a little time to talk and get to know each
other. So first I guess I should tell you a bit about me," Tyler said
trying to take the spotlight off the youth. "We're all family; Ron and I
are real brothers. We had the same father but different mothers. I grew up
not knowing who my real father was. When my mother died, I looked for my
father, but never found him, and when it was reported that he had died I
stopped looking. I was in the security business, in fact the same company
that we now own. By pure accident, I was assigned as a bodyguard to Ron who
had been wounded in a shooting. We realized our resemblance to each other,
and in our talking put two and two together. At one time I was sitting in
that same chair where you're now sitting, and nervous as hell, though I was
an adult and perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Ron's mother was
also dead and there were just the two of us left in the family. To make a
long story shorter, Ron officially recognized me as his brother and gave me
my share of our father's estate. At that time I took our father's name,
Turner, as my own.  If you ask me, there is not a better man on this planet
than my brother Ron. Since then we have been in business together and have
thrown our lot together in our personal lives. We both now have partners,
Matt and Dan, and he and Matt have adopted Ronnie, and are in the adoption
proceedings with Douglas and will probably adopt Nathan and Carl too. Dan
and I have adopted Jerry and have built a new house next door where we're
just beginning to move. Now we're here to talk to you about you and what
you want."

"That great big house is yours?" Zack asked in astonishment. "I saw it when
I was outside roaming around on the paved path."

"Yes, it's ours," confirmed Tyler. "If you'd like we'll take you over there
and show it to you later."

"That would be neat," Zack answered. "I thought you just lived in the
little house here."

"That's where we're living now, but our new house is sufficiently finished
that we're moving this weekend."

"Let me tell you a little about me," Dan said entering the conversation.

"I'm from New York City, and was working in a company called Construction
Leasing as an Assistant to the Executive Vice President. Ron bought the
company and made my boss the President. I met Ron first, then Tyler shortly
after he and Ron found each other. We fell in love and soon decided to
become life partners. Right now I'm the Regional Manager for the Western
part of the United States for the same company, Construction Leasing that
is expanding fast in the West. I guess my story is not as dramatic as
Tyler's but that's okay. I just want to say that we are in love with each
other and we love our son, Jerry. Tyler and I plan on spending our whole
lives together."

"This whole thing up here, is hard for me to believe," Zack said in
amazement. "I've hardly known anyone who was gay like me, and here I am
surrounded by gay guys, both young and old."

"Hey," Tyler said with a kidding smile, "watch who you're calling old!"

Zack blushed and stammered, "Uh... I guess that didn't come out right, did
it?"

"That's okay," Tyler responded. "We know what you meant. We all kid each
other here. It's just a sign of our affection for each other."

"You like me?" Zack asked seeming amazed.

"What's not to like?" Tyler kidded, "You don't bite your nails or pee on
the floor."

Tyler's approach had Zack's head spinning, but he laughed at Tyler's
attempt to keep the conversation humorous.

"Zack," Dan said picking up the lead, "We like you very much and we want
you to come and live with us and perhaps even someday becoming our adopted
son like Jerry. But we're just getting to know you, and even though we like
what we see, we don't know much about you or even if you'd like to live
with us."

"Oh, I like you just fine too," Zack quickly replied, then looked down at
the floor to avoid eye contact with the two older men.  "It's just.... It's
just....uh,... I'm not sure that you'd like me if you knew all about me. I'm
...afraid to tell you. You'll throw me away."

"Zack," Tyler said in his most sincere tone of voice, "I'll make you a
promise, and I always keep my promises. I promise that we won't judge you
nor will we throw you away. Sometimes awful things happen in people's
lives. Sometimes those things are their fault, and sometimes they are the
fault of others, but it doesn't matter. The past is the past. What's
important is now. We only want to know about your past because we need to
if we're to become your guardians and maybe later your parents.

"I'm not sure where to begin," Zack said slowly. "My real name is Zachary
Taylor.  I'm 15 years old, but I'll be 16 tomorrow. When I was a baby I
lived with my Mom and Dad with Granny, my mom's mother, `cause my parents
were hardly more than kids. My Mom and Dad moved away when I was two, but
left me with my Granny. We were poor but I loved her and when I was in
fifth grade my Granny died.  My Mom and Dad lived in a nearby city and
would come to visit me once or twice a year when I lived with Granny. When
Granny was gone my folks took me to live with them in Kansas City even
though it was plain to see that they didn't want me.  It's just that no one
else in the family would take me. They lived in a run-down, one bedroom
apartment. It had a big storage closet though where I would put down a pad
to sleep on at night.  My Mom stayed at home but drank a lot and my Dad was
gone most of the time traveling on business.

Zack kept his eyes that were filled with shame glued to the floor as he
continued.

"When he was gone, she had lots of guys over, but nobody that was nice to
me. I learned to keep my mouth shut though `cause my Mom said that if I
told on her there would be a divorce and we'd have no place to go. She told
me I couldn't be home if she `was entertaining,' so I mostly would go to
the park and sit when she had guys over. She would pull the shade down when
she was `busy' and put it up when I could come home. Sometimes I would be
there all night. Most of the time it wasn't too bad, but in the winter it
was too cold so I'd have to sit in the hallway one floor up from where we
lived. I got sick a lot and was always tired in school. I think my Dad
stayed away on purpose `cause when he was home they would yell at each
other all the time. My Mom spent any money she got on clothes for herself
and having a good time, but she rarely bought food, and my clothes were not
much better than rags. The kids made fun of me, so I hated school except
that I got free lunches. That was probably good though `cause I rarely got
much to eat at home. If I complained about there being no food, my Mom
would slap me, so on the weekends when I'd get real hungry I'd hang around
dumpsters near restaurants hoping to find something to eat that wasn't too
much like garbage."

Tyler, who was sitting next to Zack, put his arm around him as the tears
began to flow from the boy's eyes while the story unfolded.

"When I got older," he sobbed, "I would beg or try to find little jobs that
people would pay me for. I still hated school, but I went because it was
the only way I could be sure of eating. When I could get a little money, or
even rarer when my Mother would give me some, I'd go to the charity thrift
shops and buy a pair of jeans that someone had outgrown or a shirt or maybe
even shoes. That's how I lived. I learned to be tough and to fight, even
though I hated it and would take the bad shit rather than fight, if I
could."

Zack paused in his story trying to regain his composure. Tyler hugged the
boy while Dan stood and walked to a small refrigerator in the hidden bar,
returning with a can of coke and some tissues which he handed the
youth. Taking a sip of the soft drink, blowing his nose, and clearing his
throat, Zack again began to speak.

"Not everybody was mean to me. There was a kindly old man who used to come
to the park. Sometimes we'd talk and if he had any money, he'd give me a
quarter or a dime. He was poor too and lived with his daughter. I even had
a friend once. His name was Jimmy and he was poor like we were. Sometimes
at Christmas we'd take an old Christmas tree that someone had thrown away
and put it up, and decorate it with paper, wrapping rocks, sticks and stuff
with paper to pretend they were presents. When we were both 11 Jimmy got
sick and died. I loved him and when he died I wanted to die too."

"All this time I hated my home and my parents. My Dad rarely was home,
which was okay with me because I'd hide in my closet if I could, to keep
him from hitting me. My mom would sleep until noon or even later and would
never work, even though we had only the little money that my father gave
her. That and what little she got from those guys she was `entertaining',
had to be spent on our tiny rundown apartment and of course clothes for her
and for booze. A couple of times they turned off the electricity and when
she got some money she made me walk to the power company and pay the
bill. She was late with the rent a lot too, and had lots of screaming
matches with the landlord. I'm sure they would have thrown us out except
that our place was so run down only bums who were no better than us would
live there. "

"When I was 12 I discovered that I liked boys. I also found out that men in
the park would pay me to have sex with them. I didn't like it, but for the
first time in my life I had a little money. I used it to survive, but most
of it I saved. One time I was in the park restroom in a toilet stall when
someone came into the one next to mine. There was a hole in the
partition. I couldn't see the guy but he stood next to the hole and took
out his dick, showing it to me. He waved a $10 bill at me, and placed it
through the hole. I took it and gave him the best blowjob of his life. When
we got through, he went to the sinks and was washing his hands when I came
out. It was my Dad!! He took one look at me and started pounding on me,
calling me a queer and yelling that I was no longer his son.  He said he
never wanted to see me again, and made me promise that I'd never tell
anyone, nor even tell anyone our last name. After that, when he was coming
home, I'd hide in my closet or stay in the park until he was gone."

"Another time my mother found 15 dollars I had in my jeans, that I hadn't
remembered to hide. She beat me because I hadn't given it to her. It just
made me more determined to save my money until I could run away. It didn't
take too long to get the money saved, but then when I was 14 my mother
almost got arrested for possession of narcotics. When they raided the
apartment she was in, she tried to escape because she knew that they would
put her away for a long time.  She climbed out of a window onto a fire
escape, but lost her balance and fell to the ground where she died. My Dad
must have found out `cause he never came home again. The welfare people
discovered where we lived though and came and got me. They gave her a free
burial because no one that was in the family would admit that we were their
relatives. The lady from the shelter and I were the only ones there when
they put her in the ground. Afterward they took me away to a shelter while
they looked for my Dad, but they never found him. Over the next year I was
stuck into three foster care homes but the people there were in it only for
the money. I hated those places worse than I hated living at home. At least
at home I could do what I wanted as long as I stayed out of the way. In the
third place I was sent, the Father would make me have sex with him. I hated
it because he was ugly, fat and smelled bad. Somebody must have ratted on
him though because they came and took me away.  Finally after I was taken
from the third place, I decided to run. I had saved up $350 that I managed
to keep hidden wherever I went."

Zack again cleared his throat then looking exhausted, asked, ".... Is this
getting too long?"

"No son, it's not too long," Tyler answered. "Go on."

"I escaped from the abandoned kids home one night and caught a freight
train going west," Zack continued, "I knew that I wanted to go West and
South where it was warm, hopefully to California. It took me a week to get
this far, then I nearly got caught, but I managed to get away. When I got
here I still had $300 left and I met a guy who could get a false ID made
for me. I paid him $50 for one that said I was 16 even though I was only
15. I spent half of what I had left on some clothes and got a job working
at McDonalds. Needless to say, I didn't go to school and barely scraped
by. Fortunately, I found three other guys that lived together and they
offered to let me live with them for very little rent. I thought I had it
made. I lived there for 4 months and managed to not spend the last $100 I
had left. Then the three guys got arrested for burglarizing some place and
I was on my own again. I couldn't live in a decent place working for
McDonalds, so I tried to find a second job. I didn't make it. I spent some
time at a shelter but my money ran out before I could find another place to
live. I only had one thing left that I could do: sell my body on the
streets."

"You're lucky you didn't get arrested," Tyler commented.

"I guess I hardly had a chance," Zack replied. "I had given up, so the
first day I tried it I went right downtown. I only had $10 left out of the
money I had saved. I hung out around alleys near the street, keeping a
watchful eye out for the cops. It was getting to be late afternoon, so I
was hoping to have some luck when the sun went down. After nearly an hour
there, a car went by with three guys in it. One of them looked at me with
`hungry eyes' so I rubbed my crotch and smiled so he knew I was
interested. About 10 minutes later the guy came down the alley by himself
and walked up to me. We said hello and I asked him if he was looking for
some fun. He said `sure, but we'd have to find a place where no one would
see us'. He said he'd give me $20 for a blowjob. I followed him down the
alley to a place behind an old motel where we couldn't be seen. We were in
a corner behind an old abandoned car and he reached for my crotch and
started rubbing my dick that got hard right away. He unfastened my pants
and pushed them down around my knees while I unfastened the zipper of his
pants, stuck my hand in, and got him real hard. Just then he grabbed me and
his two friends appeared. They held me while one of them searched my pants
and took my money. They got mad because I had so little money so they said
they'd have some fun, then started slapping me around and punching me. One
of them landed his fist on my nose and it started gushing blood. I managed
to pull up my pants while they were hitting me, and when I saw an opening I
took off running. They caught me by the time I was at the end of the
alley. They kicked me and punched me even though we could be seen from the
street. That's when Nathan and Carl showed up and took on the guys beating
me up. I hardly realized what was happening by then, but only knew that the
three left me alone to go after the new guys.  I crawled over against a
building and watched. Those two guys laid waste to the three guys. In a
flash, two of the bad guys were on the ground, one of them out cold, and
the third was running away down the alley. Then the cops showed up and
captured the guy in the alley and handcuffed all three guys. Carl came over
to me. I was scared, but he said not to worry that they wouldn't hurt me,
that I was safe. I guess you know the rest."

"Yes, we know," Tyler said. "Carl was right though. Now you're safe."

Zack smiled though his drying tears.

"Do you like it here?" Dan asked softy.

"Are you kidding?" Zack answered with a look of shock on his face. "I'd do
anything to stay here. I'd be embarrassed to tell you what I'd do to
stay. It would make my past look like I was a saint. You treat your yard
guy better than I've ever been treated. I can't believe any of this is
true. I can't believe that anyone cares about me. I keep waiting for
something bad to happen."

"Would you like to come and live with Dan, Jerry and me?" Tyler asked.

"Yes! Oh yes!" Zack pleaded. "Please! Yes! Please!"

"I guess that means he'd like to," Tyler said winking at Dan.

Dan smiled, rose from his chair and drew Zack to him in a big hug.

"Welcome home son," Dan said as Tyler stood and joined in a group hug.

"Yes. Welcome home," Tyler added.

Copious tears of joy flowed as the two fathers held their new son in their
embrace.

When at last they released each other, Zack looked at his two new fathers,
and asked, "You won't tell the other guys about me, will you?"

"No son," Tyler promised. "If you want them to know, you'll have to tell
them yourself. Just know though, that all the boys here have had a hard
life before coming here. You're not alone. Their past is their past too. No
one has to say anything they don't want to."

"I'm going to love it here," Zack said with a huge smile, only now really
beginning to believe it all. "This is heaven!"

"It beats chopped liver," Tyler agreed with a grin.

Zack looked at his new father with a strange and questioning look trying to
understand the analogy.

Tyler saw the expression and laughed.

"Never mind Zack, that's just an old saying and it's not important," he
assured their new boy.

		* * *

15 minutes later, Ron's study.

"Come in Jerry," Tyler said to their young son.

"Zack said you wanted to see me."

"Yes we do," Dan confirmed. "Come on over and sit. We need to talk for a
few minutes."

Jerry moved toward the fireplace seating area and took a seat on the sofa
next to Tyler.

"What's up?" he asked.

"We've decided to ask Zack to come and live with us and we wanted you to be
the first to know."

"Oh," Jerry said without emotion.

"Is there a problem?" Dan asked.

"Well, no I guess not," Jerry said. "It's just that he's been here such a
short time and all. He's been pretty secretive about where he's from and
why he's not with his parents."

"I think that will pass," Dan said. "He opened up to us quite a bit
tonight. He's had a rough life and doesn't quite know what to make of all
the nice things we have and the love we share. Give him time and be
patient. There are plenty of things in the past of several guys in this
house that deserve to be forgotten. You've been lucky. You had your
Grandmother Emma who always loved you and cared for you. Then you had us
who loved you from the start. Zack and some of the other guys here were not
so fortunate. It's hard to love and to trust when you've had little reason
to in the past. I hope you'll give Zack more than a fair chance."

"You know I will. He seems like a nice guy," Jerry assessed. "It's just
that he's so withdrawn and so quiet. It's hard to get to know him."

"That may be," Tyler said, "but we're hoping you will be able to draw him
out gently. You'll be together at the new house in the afternoons when Dan
and I are at work. I hope you'll make him feel welcomed and loved. You have
a bigger chance to make an impact on him than we do. I know you'll make us
proud."

"I'll do my best Dads," Jerry promised.

"One thing you might try is to tell him about yourself and how you came to
live with us. I wouldn't expect him to open up right away." Dan
advised. "He's suffered a lot of pain. He'll have to learn to trust you
first."

"I'll try."

"Okay, that's all we can ask," Dan said with a smile. "Now we're going to
take him over to the new place and take a tour. You can come along if you'd
like."

"Sure I'll go," Jerry agreed. "Can I drive the golf cart?"

"Yes, I guess," consented Dan with an exaggerated sigh and a smile. "We'll
let Zack drive the second one."

"Let's go then," Jerry said as he stood up. " I'll tell Ronnie that we'll
be back in a while."

"Good. Let's meet at the cart barn. Will you bring Zack?"

"Sure. Meet you out there in 10 minutes," promised the youth.

"'Cool," Tyler said with a wink as Jerry rushed through the door.

		* * * 15 minutes later, approaching Tyler and Dan's new
house.

Zack drove the lead cart heading to the new house with Tyler by his
side. As the cart turned off of the old jogging path onto the new one to
the nearly finished house it dipped through the wash separating the two
properties, climbed the embankment on the other side, and topped a knoll
bringing the building into view.

"Wow!" Zack said in amazement, momentarily taking his eyes off the
road. "That's your house?"

"No," Tyler corrected, "that's our house."

"I really expected a house like Ron and Matt's," Zack explained. "This one
is way different."

"Yes it is," Tyler agreed. "It's by the same architect though, it's just a
different style. Dan and I like how it fits into the desert landscape."

"Yeah, look at all the rock work, the sloped roofs and wide walkways! It's
really cool!"

"Glad you like it son."

Zack beamed. He liked being called `son'.

"It looks like there are three or four buildings," he observed.

"Actually there are five buildings. The one in the center is what we call
`the main house'. It has the living and dining areas as well as more formal
entertaining facilities. On the left is `the owner's wing' as we call
it. It has the Master Suite for Dan and I, and two bedroom suites for our
two sons. One of them is for you."

Zack smiled even broader.

"To the right of the main house," Tyler continued, "is the guest wing. It
has suites for any guests that might stay with us. Behind the main house,
separated from the main house by an outside pool deck, is the "recreation
wing." It has an inside lap pool, a hot tub, an entertainment theater, a
work-out room, a game room, showers and that kind of thing. All the
buildings are connected by enclosed breezeways except the garage, which is
over the hill, and is reached by an underground tunnel. It has an apartment
for a driver if we want one later. That's about it, except for some outside
recreation things."

"That's all?" Zack asked in awe. "It's all that Ron's house has and more."

"The important thing is the people who live in it," Tyler said. "It's just
a bunch of stone and concrete without a loving family to enjoy it. A house
is not a home until there are people living and loving in it."

"Gosh, it must take a lot of time to take care of it," commented Zack. "Of
course, I'll help. I don't mind working."

"Thanks Zack, but except for keeping your room presentable, you won't have
to do too much. We have a cook, a housekeeper, a maid to help with the
cleaning, and a yard man."

"Do they all live here too?" the youth asked.

"No, the housekeeper and the cook live in `the compound,' with the people
that take care of Ron and Matt's place. The other people live in town."

"What's a compound?" Zack inquired.

"It's an area on the corner of Ron's property that he developed into a
small community for his household employees. It looks like a small
cul-de-sac street that has houses and a small park. It also has a security
building for the security people."

"Security people? I haven't seen any guards."

"That's because the compound is hidden in its own little valley surrounded
by small hills. There are always at least two armed guards on site. They
stay in the security building, and watch the property by television and
infrared cameras. They also control the gates. Too they have guard dogs
that can attack intruders if necessary. We'll go over there tomorrow to let
the dogs meet you so they will know you are family. We've done that with
all the boys."

"Why do you need guards and dogs and all that?" Zack asked as they pulled
up in front of the main house.

Tyler remained seated as he explained.

"We may not act like it, and we try not to, but we have a great deal of
money and property. People with money are always the target for people who
want to take it from them. The security people allow us to relax at home
and not worry about intruders. We'll talk more about that tomorrow," Tyler
concluded. "Let's go look at the house."

		* * *

Friday morning, at a Turner Construction worksite.

It was 10 o'clock when Carl and David ben Sharif took their break. Pete
Siegler, their supervisor, had left them with tasks to do and they were
well on the way to completing them when it came break time. Carl went to
the Honda, returning with a cooler that Mary had furnished with drinks and
his lunch. Joining David in a shady spot they had chosen to rest, Carl
opened the cooler.

"Would you like something to drink?" Carl asked. "I have Coke, Gatorade and
water."

"Thanks, I'll take a Gatorade," David answered.

"Here you go," Carl said handing him the plastic bottle. Taking a coke from
the cooler he then sat down beside his friend and work-mate.

"Mmm, that tastes really refreshing," David remarked with a smack of his
lips. "Thanks again."

"You're very welcome. ...uh....," Carl stammered as he changed the
subject. "I was kinda wondering if you'd like to come up to the house this
weekend? You could either stay all weekend or just come up for a visit
Saturday and/or Sunday."

"What would we do?" David ben Sharif asked.

"There are lots of things to do. There is a swimming pool, a game room, a
tennis court, a basketball court, and even a stable with horses we could
ride. The three of us would have a great time."

"That sounds neat," David replied. "I don't understand `three' though. Is
Pete coming over too?"

"Nah, it will be you, me and Nathan. Nathan is kinda like my brother, but
really he's my boyfriend"

"I'm really confused," David said shaking his head. "Boyfriend? Like you're
into guys?"

Carl grinned. "Yep, but only one though: Nathan."

"I...I...never would have guessed," David explained the astonished look on
his face.

"Why, because I don't have a limp wrist or act funny?  Ha! You should meet
the other guys at our house. Some of them make me look like a wimp!"

"Other guys?  How many people live with you. I thought you lived at home?"

"Oh I do," Carl answered. "Let's see there's Ron and Matt, they're the
`rents. Then there's my brother Ronnie, and of course Nathan that I already
told you about. Then, right now, there's Tyler and Dan. Tyler is Ron's
brother and Dan is his partner. They have a son Jerry who is Ronnie's
boyfriend. Then there is Dan and Tyler's new son, Zack. He's cool
too. Tyler, Dan, Jerry and Zack are moving this weekend to their new house
next door. We might get roped into helping them some, but that's cool."

"Wow! All of them are fags?" David asked.

Carl looked at David with a stern look before replying with a warning in
his voice. "We don't like that term. We're gay or homosexual, except for
maybe Zack. I'm not sure about him. Anyway I'll forgive you this time. I'd
just prefer that you don't use that word again, if you want to stay
friends."

"You want me to come up and stay with you? A bunch of ....gay guys?"

"Sure. Why not? It's not like we're gonna `come on' to you. We're just like
anybody else. We have fun and enjoy all the stuff that straight guys
do. What we do in our bedrooms is our business, and believe me, you'll have
your own room and won't be bunking with anyone if you want to stay
overnight."

"I'll have to think about it," David said honestly. "I've never been around
gay guys before. I'll let you know after lunch."

"Sounds fine with me," Carl responded. "You'll have a good time, believe
me."

"I'll let you know."

"Cool. Let me put away the cooler, and we'll go back to work," Carl said as
he arose, grabbing the cooler and heading for his car.

David sat back, his mind still dazzled. `These guys are like me?' he
thought, `but everything I've ever been taught has been that man-to-man sex
is wrong, and against the teachings of Islam. How can Carl be so casual
about it? I don't understand.'

David closed his eyes and was still deep in thought when Carl returned.

"Up and at `em," Carl commanded. "You can take your nap at lunchtime."

David opened his eyes, stood, and followed his strange friend back to work.

		* * *

Friday late afternoon, the Ratt's nest.

Carl greeted Ron, Matt, and Nathan as they came into the house from the
garage.

"Hi guys," Carl said. "David from work accepted our invitation to come over
this weekend. I have to go pick him up at his place right away. I already
told Mary to expect another mouth to feed. You want to go with me Nathan?"

"Nah, I'd rather just get out of these work clothes, put on something more
comfortable, then kick back for awhile."

"K," Carl responded. "I'll go get him. We should be back in a half-hour or
45 minutes."

"I hope David doesn't mind helping Tyler and Dan move this weekend," Ron
commented.

"Nah, I told him about that. He's a good guy and is most willing to help."

"Then he's most welcome," Ron said with a smile. "See ya when you get
back."

"Bye then," Carl said with a wave as he disappeared through the same door
that the others had just entered."

40 minutes later

The Honda sedan carrying Carl and David passed through the large gates
surrounding Ron and Matt's estate, which Carl opened with his opener, and
proceeded up the paved drive.

"Where are we going?" David asked. "Are we stopping somewhere on the way to
your house?"

"Nope, this is where we live," Carl answered in a matter-of-fact voice.

"I kinda expected a house in a subdivision, packed with a bunch of gay
guys," David replied. ".....Holy Shit!" he exclaimed as he caught his first
view of the house. "Is that your house?"

"Yep, home sweet home," Carl answered with a sly smile.

"You...you must be rich! What the fuck are you doing working as a laborer?"

"It takes a lot of money to keep this place going," Carl joked.

"I guess so!" David said, dumbfounded. His mind reeled at the things he'd
faced today. Not only was Carl gay, everyone he lived with was too, and
they were rich as King Midas!  `Wow!' he thought. `I wonder what other
surprises are in store for me this day.'

The little car climbed the hill and circled back into the 8 car garage, now
filled with family cars, except for the one spot left vacant for Carl's. He
pulled into his place, pushed the button to close the garage door and said,
"Well here we are. Let's go in and meet the guys."

David grabbed the door handle and got out while Carl pulled David's
overnight bag from the back seat and led his friend to the door separating
the garage from the house. On entering and passing down a short hallway,
the two young men entered the kitchen, finding Ron snacking on a piece of
celery.

"Hi Ron," Carl began, "I'd like you to meet David ben Sharif that I told
you about.  David, this is Ron Turner one of my dads, and the owner of
Turner Construction."

"Glad to meet you David," Ron said smiling.

"I--I'm overwhelmed," David stammered truthfully, still in shock from the
latest revelation.

		*	*	*	*	*