Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2015 23:26:49 -0400
From: Eff Del <nolitimere156@gmail.com>
Subject: green grow the rushes o- chapter 9

*Green Grow the Rushes O- Chapter 9*

*By Eff Del*

*Life is actually all about change.*

*The trick is to not fight against the new stuff but to stop clinging on to
the old.*

*If the new things don't challenge you, then they will never change you.*

*Life doesn't get better by accident.*

*Life gets better through change.*



I'd forgotten to set up the meeting with Arlen and Daniel and so, I made
that a priority in the morning.

We met in my study and we sipped coffee, as I got right down to business.

"Arlen, we need a trusted utility man on our staff and to tell you the
truth, you've been actually doing the job. I need a man who can competently
serve as Daniel's assistant and as John's assistant. You've certainly shown
your ability behind the wheel and Daniel assures me that he feels that with
some training, you could certainly become his back up in managing the
household so I'd like to formally offer you that position. The actual title
will be `House Steward' and you'll work under Daniel except when John
requires you. You'll answer to me and then Daniel and then John. Your
duties will be diverse but not very strenuous. You'll be expected to be
able to take up either John or Daniel's jobs in an emergency so you need to
learn a lot especially from Daniel. I'll need you to live on the estate and
so, when the north condos are ready in about six months, I want you to move
into one. You will live rent free as long as you remain in my employ.
Until then, I'll take over the rent on your apartment in town. Here is my
proposed compensation package."

I handed him the paper I'd prepared last night and as he read it, his eyes
grew wide as saucers.

"Is-is this really serious?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding? I expect the best and I pay for the best. We
think you're the best Arlen and we want you on board."

Daniel clapped a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him as he literally
shook in surprise.

"I had my eye on you from the beginning Arlen and I knew you were the guy
for this job."

"Well, I'm certainly shocked but you both gotta know that I won't let you
down."

I smiled. Two new promotions in two days and I was happy with both of them.
I also thought to myself that I was populating the condos rather quickly.

"Hey, Arlen Sean's got baseball practice tomorrow you'll be driving but
mostly watching OK?"

He grinned.

"OK Eric. Trust me on that."

As I was doing some paperwork, which of course wasn't `paper' work but
rather computer work, I sensed someone at the door to my study.

"Eric, Mr. Kevin wishes to see you."

"Certainly Daniel, please bring him in."

The good-looking young man entered accompanied by an equally good-looking
young woman.

"Mr. Eric, this is Grace my fiancé and we both wanted to thank you for this
wonderful opportunity and to tell you that I accept this offer and I
promise you that I'll do whatever it takes to keep this property
magnificent ."

"Thank you Kevin, I'm so pleased. Hello Grace, I'm happy to meet you. In
about ten months, we'll have a nice home ready for you in fact; I want you
to meet with the architect before we get started on the renovations.
Therefore, you can have some input.

Now I must tell you that next weekend I'm having a Memorial Day pool party
and Barbeque and as key members of my staff you are invited. I hope you can
be there so that I can officially introduce you and announce the changes
we've discussed."

They smiled.

"Thanks Mr. Eric."

I grinned.

"That's an Andy thing Kevin. You have to lose the `Mr." part OK?"

They left smiling arm in arm.

*******

Chris really wanted to go to baseball practice however, there was some
serious stuff going on and he couldn't leave. Uncle Phil was making him do
all of the heavy lifting to prepare him for when he was in complete
control. He wasn't here to play; ultimately, he was here to work.

Arlen and I watched from behind the fence.

"We gotta work on his swing." Arlen said as we watched Sean take batting
practice. "He's too tight into his body and too open with his arms. He's
not setting his feet right. I can fix all that quick."

As Sean played the various positions in the field, Arlen expressed his
approval.

"Sean...man he can play any position out there. He's that quick and that
good. We just gotta work on his batting and he'll be a star Eric."

I grinned and said;

"On top of all of that Arlen, thanks to you, Sean has the best cap curl of
any kid on the team. He grinned and we slapped a high five.

Coach gathered the team around him and they talked for about twenty minutes
before a massive high five and they dispersed.

Sean walked up to us with a smile on his face.

"Coach says I'm a starter! I'll be playing first base and center field.
Spider is going to pitch and play left field, Charlie is going to be
shortstop and Rico is catcher and playing right field.

I could see Rico as a catcher. The boy was sturdy and determined. He would
do well. Charlie as shortstop was a no brainer...his speed and aggressive
agility would make him a threat to any grounders.

At the end of practice, Spider came up to me.

"Mr. T do you think you could give me a ride home? My Granma is very sick
and my Mom's with her and sometimes she's late picking me up from stuff. If
you could give me a ride, I could call her and tell her not to worry."

"Sure Spider. Call her right now and tell her to stay with your
grandmother." I then had a thought."Spider call your Mom and let me talk to
her."

After he'd spoken briefly with his mother, he handed me the phone.

"Hello Mrs. Williams I'm Eric Tucker and `Spider' ...excuse me Brian is on my
son's team He's been to my home for an overnight already and I understand
that you have a medical problem with your mother. I was wondering if it
would help you if he stayed with us for a while. We most certainly have
room and he'd be no burden and if that would help you I'd be happy for
that."

She was crying as she explained that her mother was in hospice and dying
and she wanted to be near her as much as she could. I told her that I
understood and wished I'd been able to do that with my parents. She
accepted my offer and so I gave the phone back to Spider and he talked with
his mom and then smiled at me.

"Guess I'm coming home with you guys."

"Well first we're going by your house so you can pack up some clothes then
there's your school schedule to figure out. As you know, Sean is Home
Schooled by Professor Swaim. I have to see if you can transfer into that
for the short time remaining of the school year. Either way, there's no
school for you tomorrow Spider. He grinned and said;

"Awww what a shame." I couldn't help it; I pulled him into a hug.

"If it works out young man, you've got class with Professor Swaim."

*******

Doc, thanks to his credentials was able to set things up so that Spider
could finish the school year under his tutelage and so the boy moved into
Jack's room while his mother dealt with her own mother's terminal
condition.  I knew that Jack wouldn't mind and I wanted the kid to be close
at hand in case of any problem.

Somehow, it just seemed normal to have two hungry boys at the breakfast
table and Martha was in her glory dishing out French toast as well as bowls
of fruit.

"This is wonderful Mrs. Edwards." The tall boy exclaimed. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome Brian." Martha smiled down at him.

"Come on boys, I'll walk you down to the classroom." They gave Martha her
hugs and we walked outside down the building to the North Wing. We parted
at the first floor and I gave both boys hugs. Spider had somewhat just
melded into our family traditions I suspected because he had no father, he
craved male attention and there certainly was a lot of that in our house.

Barry was staffing the control monitor this morning and he smiled as I
walked in.

"Morning Eric. The coffee is fresh I made it myself."

I nodded and moved over and poured myself a cup and sat down next to him.

"Anything going on that I need to know about?"

"Not unless you're planning on taking a trip to Eastern Europe or the
Middle East Eric. That was just a joke by the way...you aren't are you?"

I patted his shoulder.

"No, Barry at least not this year."

He grinned up at me.

"I'm looking forward to the party Eric. Thanks for inviting me."

"I'm happy that you're coming Barry. I just wish I'd thought of doing this
when Walter was alive."

"I believe he'll be there enjoying it with us Eric."

I gulped and nodded.

Back in my study, I had my weekly meeting with Uncle Phil and Chris. They
complimented me on closing the UK deal and bringing three Billion dollars
into the mix.

"Based on my calculations, that deal may be worth about fourteen million
more than we'd originally anticipated." Chris said "Also, if we play our
cards right, it's going to have an annual residual of about nine million
beyond our original estimate. A pretty nice job Boss."

I smiled and stood up and said;

"See you both at the party Monday I hope."

*******

I was waiting at the front entrance as Arlen pulled up with the limo. She
got out first and she was as stunning as ever. If a woman could turn a gay
man straight, Mandy was that woman.

She ran up to me and wrapped her arms around me while Ricky pulled his
lanky frame out of the car.

"Welcome guys. Brought you up here because I want to discuss some things
but also because I wanted you at my Memorial Day Party so think of this as
a working vacation.

Mandy gave me an earth-stopping smile.

"Eric, you're the best boss in the world."

"You both know that Walter is gone. This is Daniel and he'll take you up to
your room and he'll see to your every need. The pool is opened the water is
swimmable by now although the official opening isn't until Monday. I'll see
you at lunch on the wildflower patio."

I was rewarded by a sweet kiss from Mandy as they then followed Daniel into
the house.

It was a wonderful diner in the big dining room. Martha had made osso buco;
Milanes style veal shanks braised with tomatoes, carrots and assorted other
vegetables. She served it with risotto and a great salad with Italian
dressing along with garlic bread.

I passed around the wonderful Bordeaux I'd opened. Sean declined but
interestingly, Spider accepted a glass.

After dinner, we all moved to the parlor and Sean entertained us for about
an hour with his guitar. I glowed with pride.

As everyone left, and he was putting his guitar into its case he said to me;

"Do you think me an Spider could sleep with you tonight?"

"Spider Sean?"

"Yeah Dad. He's scared about his Grandma and he's scared to be alone from
his Mom...he sure could use some Dad time."

He smiled as he said that.

"Does he know we sleep naked?"

"Yeah I already told him."

"There will be no fooling around of any type?"

Sean gave me a serious look.

"Course not Dad. That's not what this is about."

"OK then, meet you upstairs."

*******

They were waiting in my bedroom; Sean in his boxer briefs and Spider in his
white briefs.

"So, jump into bed guys" I said trying to sound casual. Sean shucked off
his unders and jumped onto the bed. I turned to Spider and said;

"If you'd be more comfortable keeping them on, then by all means do that.
In this house no one does anything that makes them uncomfortable."

He gave me a nervous grin.

"It's only just I never have done it before even alone. I've never slept
naked. I think though it might be fun." He smiled and pulled down his
underpants and climbed into bed with Sean.

I turned down the lights and got undressed and got into bed.

After a short while, I realized that Spider was hugging on to me as much as
Sean was. The boy was certainly starved for male attention.

I was in the middle of a bed of boys and that was fine with me. I gave into
sleep quickly.

*******

As the honey- colored morning light crept into the room, I awoke to the
realization there was a boy sleeping on each side of me each with his head
using my shoulder as a pillow, each with an arm across my chest and each
with a leg thrown across my legs. Sean was breathing softly making his
usual almost snoring noises and Spider was decidedly snoring...not loudly but
snoring none-the-less.

I had to pee badly so I decided to risk waking them up by slowly extracting
myself out from under them. As I moved carefully, Spider rolled onto his
side. As he did so, he emitted a sharp audible little fart.

"Scuze me." He muttered still three quarters asleep. I smiled as I made my
way to the foot of the bed and then stepped off onto the floor.

After I'd pissed, I made myself a small pot of coffee and tried to decide
if I should shower by myself and let the boys sleep.

I made the decision to shave and see what happened and as I was working up
the lather in my mug, Spider walked into the room.

He smiled a bit sheepishly.

"Good morning Mr. T. Can I use the toilet?"

"Of course. " I replied casually but when he walked over and sat down, I
realized that he need to USE the toilet. I've always maintained that
shitting is the only time in a person's life that he requires and should be
granted total privacy. It's the one body function that shouldn't be shared
with other people.

"I'll leave you alone Spider. Sean and I usually shower together and you're
welcomed to join us or, if you choose, you can shower alone. There's a
great shower in Jack's room where all your stuff is. Whatever you decide
will be fine but, you certainly need some privacy right now."

He smiled and I left to drink my coffee and see when my favorite little
lazybones might decide to stir.

It didn't take long and soon he was stretching and smiling at me while
yawing at the same time. Those were some damned cute facial contortions.

"Morning Dad! Where's my kiss?" I quickly leaned over and presented the
requested smooch.

"Where's Spider?"

"He had to use the toilet."

Sean nodded understanding the required privacy for that activity.

"Can I try a sip of your coffee?"

I was shocked.

"Why Sean?"

"Cause I think I should be learning about drinkin' grown-up stuff."

I nodded because I couldn't find any fault in that logic.

"OK son but I don't think you'll like it the way I drink it. See, I drink
it black and that's a taste you rather have to learn to enjoy. Here, take a
sip."

He accepted my cup, took a mouthful and his face crinkled up.

"Ewwww Dad! That's awful! How can you drink that?"

"I warned you Sport. Now, most people drink their coffee with milk or cream
and some sugar. It tastes very different then. Want to try?"

"Yeah, OK."

I walked into the kitchenette and poured a mug about three quarters full of
coffee stirred in two teaspoons of sugar and then filled the mug with milk.

"Try it this way."

He raised the mug to his lips, took a sip and smiled. He took a second sip
and then a third.

"This is better Dad. This is good. It don't taste like nothin' I've ever
had before, but I like it. It's nice. This is cool, from now on; we can
begin our day enjoyin' our morning coffee together huh?"

He was so adorable that he made my heart hurt sometimes.

"Yep, I guess we can my little man."

He grinned and sipped from his mug. My boy was slowly but surely growing up
on me.

The tall boy emerged from the bathroom. He seemed comfortable with his
nakedness and so I decided that there should be no comment about it unless
he decided to say something.

"Last night was so neat. I slept so good. Thanks."

I didn't know which of us he was talking to so I just smiled.

"Will it be OK if I shower with you guys?" He asked rather timidly.

"Course Spider, but I gotta pee first! Thanks for the coffee Dad!" He
bounded into the bathroom.

"He's always so `up' isn't he? That's what I like about Sean I'm so glad
he's become my friend. I'm sad a lot. My Dad's dead just when I really need
him the most, my Granma's dying and my Mom is so sad and so busy trying to
do everything and I feel like a stupid kid not doing anything but playing
games and making her life more complicated."

I hugged him to me oblivious of the fact that we were both naked. I rubbed
my hand down his back as I held him close.

"I know what it's like to be sad Brian. I lost my entire family in one
horrible car accident; my father, my mother and my wonderful kid brother
who I loved so much. The pain and the sadness almost drove me crazy but I
eventually found reasons to live and to enjoy life again.

Your wonderful mother is doing what she needs to do. Death is a part of
life Brian, you can't escape it and you can't run away from it but you know
that don't you? Your Grandma is moving on to the next level whatever that
is and your Mom needs to be with her to help her with that passage. Until
that happens, you'll stay with us so your Mom can concentrate on the task
at hand. When it's over, you'll be standing by her side; her tall strong
son to help her through her grief and she'll have it and she'll need you.

You're not a stupid kid and you'll be there for her when she needs you the
most. Trust me...I know this about you.

Also trust me that when everything is over, you'll laugh again and you'll
be happy again and life will become a wonderful adventure again. There's
always more sunshine than there is rain Brian honest."

He buried his face into my chest and cried. He cried as if it was the first
time he'd ever cried in his life. His body shook and his chest heaved and
he wailed.

Sean came hurrying out of the bathroom and I silently motioned him to go
back in.

He finally slowed down to a few soft sobs and he pulled back from my chest.

"I'm sooo sorry Mr. Tucker. I-I j-just..."

"Don't be sorry and don't think you did anything wrong. I promise you that
everything I said was true. By the way, you don't `just play games', you
are like Sean, you excel at them and don't you think that brings joy into
your mother's life?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Come on Brian, let's go shower and then have breakfast."

"Thanks Mr. T."

"I'm here anytime you need me Brian I truly mean that."

He was amazed as he stepped into the shower with us. It really was
fantastic and I never took it for granted. He recovered from his morning
shyness and we had some semi-erotic fun lathering each other up and then
rinsing each other off.

*******

At breakfast, I suggested that Spider might enjoy some time at the gun shed
and he seemed enthusiastic about it. I called up to Andy and told him Sean
and Spider were coming up later and asked if he could outfit the boy with a
gun. He was almost as tall as Jack so I suspected one of the gun's Jack had
used before I gave him his own should work. I asked him to work his `Andy
Magic' and that me, Chris and Doc Swaim would join them this afternoon for
a clay-breaking festival.

Sean and Spider had taken off on a red kitty tour of the estate and I was
looking over a report from Richard when there was a soft tap on the door. I
looked up and it was Gary.

"Word has to the manor come that you're planning on slaughtering some clay
Frisbees this afternoon. Might there be room for two more? Bobby and I have
our own guns so it would certainly be fun."

I smiled.

"You bet Gary. The more the merrier and we could almost make this a
tournament except with Doc, Andy and now Sean...the rest of us will look like
pikers."

He grinned as he walked to the bar. He was comfortable here and I was glad
of that. I remembered the terrified protective man he'd been when I'd first
met him. He was now happy loose and exuded joy.

"Oh we'll ignore those divas and have our own private shoot out eh? How's
your drink?"

I raised my almost empty tumbler and he took it and fixed it up. I really
liked the fact that Gary drank what I drank which was becoming a rare thing
in my inner circle.

He sat down and I could tell he wanted to talk about something. I smiled
and said;

"Drop the other shoe Gary."

He nodded and said;

"Doctor Swaim has told Bobby and me that he could easily apply for early
admission to the University next year. Call me selfish, but I want him with
me as long as I can keep him. What do you think I should do?"

"Well Gary, Doc Swaim is the consummate educator and that's foremost in his
mind especially with boys under his charge but, let's be realistic here.
Whatever degree Bobby earns will just be for his own satisfaction. With
your fortune, he'll never really have to work a day in his life. What he
does with himself will hopefully be something useful to the world and
unselfish.

I'd tell Bobby and Doc Swaim that you'd prefer that he enter the university
with his proper age level frankly Gary, if you asked him...I think that's
what Bobby would say.

Look at my family...the old wizard has got Jack off on a four month sea
adventure. I can't be mad at him but like you, I really want my boys with
me as long as they're boys."

He smiled and tipped his glass.

"You have no idea how wise you are Eric."

"I suspect that it's more instinctive Gary."

******

I had a rather intense late morning meeting with Ricky and Mandy. I
explained the almost epiphany I'd had about the excellence of NEST raised
boys and stressed that I wanted to continue in that direction.

Ricky pointed out that the phenomenon was due to a large extent by the
quality of the raw product. These were children plucked from very selective
families with marvelous genes and DNA and then subjected to a disciplined
highly effective education. They were almost guaranteed to succeed.

"Now that we're not whoring them out Eric, we can probably even improve the
mix because the children won't have to also be selected for potential good
looks as well.

In a few years the campus may not be dominated with so many beautiful boys
but it should be filled with even brighter boys.

The modified `Special Training' will slowly be phased out while the new
`Special Training' will be phased in as the age of the boys shift.. We've
got to deal with the boys that were involved in the `Whore Boy" practice
and nurture them into graduation and we're trying to do that by essentially
letting them know that those things are over and there are now other things
for them to do. We sort of encourage them to remain sexually active with
each other because, that's what they were trained to do.

We've got many important programs for the younger kids as they move up
including apprenticeships and lots of training in your SKUGGOR program
though I don't fully understand what that is." He grinned because I know he
most certainly knew all about the SKUGGOR.

"Doctor Scott and Taylor are invaluable to me as is Mandy by the way...
though she's not officially employed.

"That's another reason that I wanted you guys up here. I realized that
error and want to correct it. Mandy, I'm offering you the position of " one
of the Assistant Directors" here's what I had in mind for compensation."

I offered her a paper I'd prepared for her.

She read it and whooped.

"Really? Eric...you crazy moron...I'd have done this for free but
THIS...THIS...Whoo Hoo!"

I grinned and said;

"So I take it that you accept the job?"

She jumped up and grabbed the back of my head.

"Give me a big kiss sweet boss man."

I'm not into women but it certainly was a dammed great kiss. Even my very
gay soul realized that Mandy was a very sexy woman. Ricky was a very lucky
man.

"So, when are you two going to do the deed? You're both financially stable
enough now and your future looks terribly bright."

He smiled and took her hand.

"We talked about that as we were flying up here. She wants to be a
`December Bride' so; I guess we're going to work on early December."

"Have you told your parents yet?"

She looked a little sad as she said;

"All I've got is my Mom. Prostate cancer took Dad two years ago. Ricky's
parents are thrilled we're getting married but we haven't set an exact date
so we haven't said anything yet. It'll be a small ceremony though `Ricky
Catholic School' here wants it to be in a church. I'm ambivalent so, I
guess I'll go along with what my Latino Hunk here wants."

I noticed Ricky was blushing but he was grinning as well.

"If we didn't get married by a Catholic Priest, my Mom would think we
weren't really married and that we were living in sin. It's not a big thing
and I actually think a church wedding would please Mandy's Mother as well."

"Keep me informed of your plans guys. I'd like to pay for the reception if
you'd let me."

"Eric, we couldn't let you do that! You've done way too much for us
already."

I gave her a sort of melancholy smile.

"I'd like to do it in your father's name and memory. I lost both my parents
and I miss them dearly especially on special occasions. Your father would
have done whatever was required to `get you properly married' and I'd like
to do that for him not you. He's been gypped out of walking you down the
aisle."

She stood up and threw her arms around my neck.

"Eric, if I stay in this room with you for one more minute, I'm going to
cry like a baby." She kissed me and ran out of the room.

I realized I was the one blushing now so I smiled sheepishly at Ricky.

"I suppose we're done for the moment. Go have fun."

*******

The popping of shotguns pierced the air as Chris drove our cart into the
Gun Shed lot. Andy was guiding Spider and his gun and whispering his magic
into the boy's ear. Gary and Bobby were standing to the side and almost
moments later, Doc's cart pulled in.

Andy smiled at me and patted Spider on the shoulder.

"The boy'll do fine Eric and Jack's old gun is joost fine fer him w' his
long arms. He'll not be embarrassed this afternoon.

Now, even w' me shooting, we don't have enough for two full stations of
five so let's do two sets of four we'll start from station one and move
til' each group is through each position. Master Sean, you go in the first
group and I'll work the trap then I'll go in the second group and you work
the switch. Is that alright?"

Sean grinned.

"Sounds fair to me Andy!"

We decided that Doc and Andy couldn't be in the same group so, we split up
so that I was in the group with Doc, Spider and Gary. Sean was with Andy,
Chris and Bobby. So it turned out that we'd have Spider work the button for
the second group.

 We were first so, we took our positions on one and two and four and five.
As we completed our rotation, we'd all take a shot from number three before
the round was over.

I was in position one so I called `pull' first. The target glided sleekly
to my left and I swung my barrel and fired. It exploded. I smiled to myself
as I'd really hit it clean.

Spider was next to me and he called `pull' without hesitation. His bird
came out flying to his right he swung and fired and my heart was delighted
as I watched it vaporize.

"Way to go Brian!" I patted his shoulder and his smile of delight was
priceless.

Doc was next and there was no surprise that his shot was clean and true.

Gary called for the target and nailed it before it was hardly out of the
trap. I wondered if that was luck or skill but it certainly was impressive.

We moved to the right with Gary walking down to position one.

I nailed my second bird, Spider missed but not by much, Doc destroyed his
and Gary missed.

This continued until we'd each fired from all five positions. In the end,
I'd hit four out of five, Spider had a respectable three out of five, Doc
of course had five  and Gary, like me had four.

As the others took up their stations, I smiled as I realized Brian was
loving this as much as Sean already did. I so wanted to bring some
happiness into this boy's life. You can't save the whole world but you can
save parts of it.

To my surprise, at the end of their rotation Sean had actually missed one.
Andy had hit all five and Bobby had hit three out of five. These were
respectable rounds.

We shot five more rotations and then I decided to call a halt. I was
particularly conscious of what Spider's `virgin' shoulder was going to feel
like tonight.

"Let's go in and clean our guns guys."

"Nah. T'day I'm cleanin' everyone's gun b'cause I want the chance to
examine them and make sure they're not needin any maintenance."

"Well Bobby and I will certainly clean ours Andy." Gary said.

"Nah Mr. Gary. I think I know these things better than you. Fact is, y'
should begin leavin' your guns here so's I can help you look out f' them."

Gary looked at me and I smiled.

"You should do what he says Gary, he's the Lord of the Gun Shed."

Doc Swaim smiled and said;

"I'll stay here to assist because Andy claims he's going to cook me an
outrageous gumbo for dinner. I just have to experience this. Can you
imagine a Welshman cooking gumbo?"

I think Andy was almost smiling as he said;

"Its m' daughter's recipe. She taught it to me and it's pretty all right."

*******

I suppose I wasn't surprised to find them both sitting on my bed when I
came up that night. Sean was grinning and Spider looked very apprehensive.
I decided to play it for humor.

"Oh no, not again! Do I have to share my gentle slumber with two stinky
noisy boys?"

Spider got a stricken look on his face.

"Oh, Mr. T! I'm sorry. I know I farted in the bed this morning but I..."

I grinned at him and rubbed his arm.

"Yeah you did Brian. I wasn't sure if you were aware of that because you
were more asleep than awake but, see...the `stinky little boy' thing is a
private joke between Sean and me it has nothing to do with farts.
Everything that lives farts. Hell, if we didn't fart we'd all probably blow
up at some point.

However, you both snore so if at some point you find yourselves kicked out
of bed you'll know why."

Sean grinned and said;

"Dad...truth be told, you put on a concert sometimes too."

I tickled his ribs and said;

"Liar liar pants on fire!"

He giggled and twisted around.

"Na Uh!"

"Uh huh. Now boys, especially you Brian, take off your shirts so that I can
see your shoulders. We did an awful lot of shooting today and I expect that
you're both bruised.

As I suspected, they were both very colorful. I expected my shoulder was a
sight to see as well but I was concerned about the boys.

I let out a whistle.

"Wow! You're both works of art. I'm going to fill the tub with hot water. I
want you both to soak your selves and then I'll apply some cream before we
sleep. By the way, in the bathroom, you might want to look at yourselves
and enjoy your black and blue badges of honor."

They followed me into the bathroom and I started the tub adjusting the
water to a rather hot temperature. I looked over my shoulder and they were
both admiring their bruises in the mirror. Little boys always were proud of
their cuts scars and bruises. I had to smile.

"OK in you go and slide down so that your shoulders are under water. I'm
turning on the jets and I want you to soak for fifteen minutes. Then I'll
apply cream to your shoulders and you should both be feeling fine by the
morning."

I smiled to myself because Brian stripped down without hesitation this time
and climbed into the big tub opposite Sean. I turned on the bubbles and
both boys let themselves slip down until just their chins were above the
surface. They soon both had large smiles on their faces.

"I'm going to make you some hot chocolate. In the meantime enjoy the
bubbles."

As I was returning to the bathroom with two mugs in my hand I happened to
overhear them talking before I was actually in the room.

"Dude, you're the luckiest guy in the world. I just wish I had a Dad but
man...to have a Dad like yours...I'd give anything for that."

"Spider, Dad and me chose each other. It's a long and complicated story and
I'll prolly tell it to you some time but I love him more than anything in
the world and I think he loves me the same."

"Yeah he does Sean. It's so obvious. I'm so jealous. I like to think my Dad
wouldda loved me like that but I was only six when he died so...sometimes I
think I remember him but I can't really be sure. It may just be my
imagination you know? I was really little an it was a long time ago. Mom
and me we get along and I love her so much. She does everything for me and
she works so hard. It makes me sad that she has to work so hard and now it
looks like my Granma is dying. Mom is trying to hide that from me but I
know what's going on and I wish I could help.

Your Dad told me that I'll help later after Granma...after and then I'll be
strong for Mom and I think your Dad's right. I will be strong and I'll help
her then."

I decided to enter the bathroom.

"Beer for my horses and hot chocolate for my men!" I exclaimed announcing
my entrance. They of course, didn't appreciate my skewed country music
reference.

They sat up and each accepted a mug and after a sip I received two smiles
of appreciation.

"Thanks Mr. Tucker."

"You are very welcome Brian."

"Dad, you're the best."

"You better know it champ."

Later, I had them side by side on the bed. Two spectacular naked examples
of youth and I rubbed soothing lotion onto their bruised little shoulders.

"Things should feel better in the morning boys after a good night's sleep"
I leaned over and kissed Sean and began to leave the room.

"Uhhhm. Do you think I could get a goodnight kiss too?"

"Of course Brian I just wasn't sure what you were comfortable with."

I leaned down and kissed him and as I raised up I noticed he was smiling.

"I'll be up in a couple of hours because I've got some stuff to do. You
guys sleep well and leave some room in the bed for me."

They were giggling as I left the room.

(to be continued)

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