Date: Wed, 7 May 2003 00:10:24 EDT
From: KissAndCuddleGem@aol.com
Subject: Dad's Just Desserts (Installment 12)

This story is purely a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons
living or dead, or to events that may have occurred, is purely
coincidental.

Moreover, none of the actions of the characters in this story is presented
with the intent to condone, approve, or sanction their behavior.

The above-expressed disclaimer also does apply to any and all installments
of this story, including those preceding and following this installment.

All questions and/or comments are welcome; and, if you wish to contact me,
please feel free to email me at: KissAndCuddleGem@AOL.COM; and I will most
definitely respond to email, as appropriate.


John arrived at Richard's mansion with a bubbly Casey and Ryan in tow.  He
had been able to borrow the dusty van they were in from an old frat-buddy
from his days at Penn State.  He was a bit tired from watching some
late-night soft-porn on cable; and, almost all throughout the ride, had
been enviously sneaking peeks at the two "lovebirds" obliviously cooing at
one another in the backseat.

"Well, let's get on with this mission, shall we gentlemen?", John called
out in a purposefully loud tone.

Within a half-hour, they were back on the road with all of this weighing
heavily on the vehicle's sturdiness and piled high in the van's rear:
fourteen boxes labeled "Ronald Michaels: New" covering a seven-year period
beginning about six months after Casey's birth; seven boxes labeled "Ronnie
Michaels: 'Post-trial'" covering a five-year period beginning when Casey's
dad was close to fifteen; and three boxes labeled "Jake Michaels: New
Patient" covering the period beginning when Casey's dad was twenty-two to
when he was twenty-seven.

Benton, the devoted Chambers family butler, had "done the honors".
Richard, they were told, was away "on business".  Casey thought, at the
time, that Richard's absence was suspicious.  He also was surprised by the
sealed envelope labeled "PERSONAL" Richard had left for him.  Ryan had
joked, as to the latter, that Richard obviously was a fan of television's
"Let's Make a Deal"; and that the obvious intent was for Casey to go for
what was behind the curtain if he did not like what was in the boxes.
Casey, upon hearing the attempt at humor, then had smiled nervously,
finding that this joking made him uncomfortable, as he knew very well that
Richard wanted him and was unlikely to just bow out gracefully.

Ryan and Casey, now safely home with "the goods", set down to the business
at hand.  Ryan, relying pretty much on the same organizational skills he
used to do his culinary arts assignments, took the initiative; and said
that the best approach would be this: to split the review, meaning reading
or skimming, of the voluminous records between the two; and then share the
information with each other.

Casey had some mixed feelings about this tact, actually.  But found himself
saying enhusiastically: "Oh, yeah, that's a swell idea, cuz, just swell."
Ryan did not pick up on Casey's concern, kept to himself, that Ryan would
be the first to see such very highly personal things and perhaps be shocked
by what was there.  Casey knew of course that from a practical standpoint,
it would take him virtually an eternity to go through all of these papers
on his own.

Casey agreed with Ryan that it might be best for the documents on the
recent period of treatment of Casey's to be examined first.  Casey said:
"Ryan, I have some qualms about this: I am worried that I might not be abl
to deal with whatever is in them, this stuff probably does have something
to do with me in some way."

^@"Casey, I love you, let's face this together.  Whatever it is, whatever
that's there, it's not going to change anything by avoiding it.  So we
might as well deal with all of it now, together.", Ryan replied assuringly.

Casey looked deeply into Ryan's now-somber eyes, as if desperately trying
to absorb strength from them.  He believed that Ryan was likely very much
right; and he did his best to put a big smile on his face, all the while
tightly gripping Ryan's hand for support.

About three days later, things had reached the point where Ryan was finally
saying: "This is unbelievable, seven years of this stuff; and all it seems
to be is your dad rattling on and on about this kiss, this kiss, Casey,
that you do not even remember."  Casey was still absorbing all of this,
very much so, and was having a great deal of difficulty with an incident in
his early infancy that he found to be disturbing.

Finally, after much soul-searching, he drew the courage from within needed
to express to Ryan how he felt about the entire situation.  Ryan, in the
meantime, was patiently waiting for Casey to open up, fearful that what
they were uncovering would somehow put an end to what they had been
building together.  Also, at the same time, he was wondering about what was
in that envelope, the one from Richard; and why Casey seemed unwilling to
yet open it.