Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:53:29 EDT
From: Bwstories8@aol.com
Subject: Castaway hotel: Grand Reopening - Book 2, chapters 27-28

Castaway Hotel -- Grand Reopening -- Book 2 by BW
Copyright 2009 by billwstories
Chapter 27 -- New Understandings.

**Author's Note:** Please read the disclaimer in Chapter 00 before you read
this.

Things were going very smoothly and Sammy and Andrew were fitting in
nicely.  We were trying to make some concessions with the food, but we
didn't know all that much about Japanese meals.  I did fix more fish and
eggplant, tried to add rice as a side dish and made other similar changes
in our diet, hoping that would help.  Also, after talking to both boys, we
agreed we'd eat Chinese once or twice a week too, which they also seemed to
like, and I always ordered plenty of extra rice and vegetables when we did
this.

It wasn't until several days after Sammy had cornered me in my bedroom that
he and his brother returned to approach me about my previous discussion
with Sammy.  "We've made a decision," Sammy announced without any
preliminary formalities.

"Why don't we go into my room and discuss this in private?" I suggested.

"We don't need to," Sammy replied honestly.  "We don't mind if our brothers
hear what we have to tell you."  I smiled at them, reading this clue as a
signal about their decision.  "Andrew and I want you to adopt us, so we are
really your sons and brothers to the other boys."

"You are anyway," I quickly assured them, "but I will include you on the
next adoption process, if that's what you want."

"We do," Andrew added, "and we want to call you Daddy, like Graham does,"
he added.

"I'll just call you Dad, if that's all right," Sammy corrected.

"Are you sure?" I asked them both.

"Yes," Sammy answered.  "We talked about this with Graham, Cole and Ricky,
and we all think it's the right thing to do."

"I hope they didn't talk you into anything," I countered, wondering if any
undue outside pressure had been applied.

"No.  They just helped us consider our choices," Sammy explained.  "They
told us about all of the different names you had told them they could call
you when they first arrived here, and they told us why they decided to call
you Dad.  We agreed with what they said, so we want to do the same."

"And you don't feel that this would be disrespectful to your father?"

"No.  He knew we loved him very much, but we only called him 'father', in
Japanese or English," he explained.  "We never called him Dad, so we don't
see anything wrong with calling you that.  You don't mind, do you?"

"Absolutely not.  I will be proud to have you call me Dad and I will be
proud to call each of you son," I added, drawing another smile in response.
"If that is truly your decision, then it is fine with me."

"Thank you," Sammy added.  "Now we really feel like we belong and are part
of this family."

We all hugged and I also shed a few tears, so I immediately sent them off
to play, as I needed a few minutes alone to compose myself.  While I was
doing that, I also whipped off emails to Ann and Sally, telling them about
the boys' decision.  I was sure they would both be happy for all of us.  I
would call my attorney in the morning and have him include the pair into
the adoption process, along with Pat and Trey.

I often think back to that time, just a few short years ago, when I sat in
this house, sad and lonely.  I think back to my decision to take in foster
children and how frightened I was about what I was getting myself into.
Now, in retrospect, I realize that day and that decision was one of the
finest of my life.  I couldn't be any happier than I am about how things
have turned out since then.  I have all of these wonderful sons, am filled
with so much happiness and am surrounded by all of this love.  It only goes
to prove that life is wonderful and precious, every minute of every day.

Throughout the weeks to come, things continued to go very well with the new
boys and my attorney was working hard to clear up all of the loose ends for
the adoptions to take place.  I hoped we could have the ceremony in April
or May, but I did encounter one major disappointment, when Judge Shay told
me he wouldn't be able to preside over this proceeding this time.  Since we
had gotten to know each other better, after I had taken in Frankie, we had
become almost as close as brothers.  Now, the boys were even calling him
Uncle Steve and his wife Aunty Mary, so he felt it could be viewed as a
conflict of interest, if he were to formalize the adoptions.  Therefore, he
would let another Family Court judge, from a neighboring jurisdiction; have
the honor of helping me increase the size of my brood.

I thought I also noticed another small problem, which concerned Pat.  It
might have been just my imagination, but it seemed as if Patrick were
acting differently toward Sammy and Andrew when we were out in public.
There didn't seem to be any change in how they got along at home, but I
just had a strange feeling that something was different with Pat, at least
when the family was around others.  Before I make any rash judgment,
though, I would first make certain to rule out the chance it was just
paranoia on my part.  However, I would also definitely be watching Pat more
closely from now on, looking for signs of trouble or anything else out of
the ordinary.

I also had one regret.  Due to all of the time I had spent dealing with
various situations, such as the addition of all the new boys, Dustin's stay
in the hospital and Kevin's operation, I had been neglectful of making sure
to attend the boys' sporting functions.  I had been to some of these
events, but in the past I had made sure I attended nearly all of them.
However, as the number of boys increased and the more unexpected
occurrences took place, the number of times I was able to go seemed to
diminish.  Even though I could justify my absence, it didn't make me feel
any less guilty about letting my boys down.

In this light, I went to attend a wrestling match, in which both Dustin and
Cole were competing.  I think they were thrilled when they heard I was
going and most of the boys would be accompanying me.  Cole wrestled first,
since he was in a lower weight class.  He did well, winning on points, but
I was still quite impressed with his performance.  Not only that, but I was
somewhat taken aback with how the skimpy wrestling singlet he wore not only
showed off his lean, hard body, but that everyone in attendance could see
through the tight fabric how he was hung.  I guess you couldn't be modest
and still wrestle.

When Dustin's turn came, I was even more impressed, not with his physique
or how well he was hung, but by how accomplished he had become at this
sport.  I heard a couple of girls gasp, as he removed his sweats and got
ready to take to the mat, and then he disposed of his opponent in a rather
efficient manner.  Not only did he take him down quickly, but he also
managed to get him on his back and pin him, before the first period was
even halfway over.  I think that feat impressed more than just me.

After the match was over, which our high school won, I went down and stood
along the edge of the mat, as the other boys went roaming about, chatting
with their friends and other classmates.  As I waited for Dustin and Cole
to come back out, after cleaning up and changing, his coach came over to
me.

"Josh, you must be really proud of your boys," he announced, with a grin.
"They are both doing extremely well."

"Yes, I was impressed with their performance tonight," I agreed.

"Well, you should be especially proud of Dustin," he replied.  "Even though
I had my doubts about whether to put him on the team this year, I'm
certainly glad I did.  He's come along way and has the potential of doing
well in the post-season tournaments."

I looked at him, thinking about my response, before I finally addressed
him.  "Was your hesitation to place him on the team due to his skills as a
wrestler or something else."

"Josh, let's be honest here," the coach answered.  "After that little
episode at the end of football season and his stay in the hospital, the
entire athletic staff was debating whether he should be allowed to play
sports for the remainder of the year.  You know our stance on drug use and
ecstasy is definitely a drug."

"I couldn't agree more," I told him.  "So what made you change your mind?"
I was just curious, not trying in any way to defend my son.

"I think it was the allergic reaction that convinced us that this was most
likely a one-time mistake on his part," he informed me.  "If he had been
using it right along, we felt he would have suffered from other such
reactions, and because of that we decided to give him another chance.  All
of us screw up from time to time, and high school boys aren't immune to
that either, and we knew him as being a great kid otherwise, so it was an
easy choice."

"I hope his being my son didn't factor into the decision," I prodded.

"Actually, it might have a little," he admitted, "but not in the way you
think.  I think we'd have given the same chance to any of our athletes who
might have be surrounded by the same mitigating circumstances as Dustin,
but because you were an administrator, we looked longer and harder at
Dustin's case, than we might have with another boy.  We all agreed that we
didn't want to appear to be ignoring our own rules to bail out a
colleague's son.  Therefore, we probably judged his case more harshly than
we would have, had he come from a different family."

"Actually, I'm very glad to hear that," I acknowledged, which caused a
momentary look of confusion to cross his face.  "It's because I don't want
the boys to think they can get away with things just because I'm their
father.  I've told them when they attended my school that I would come down
harder on them than anyone else, because I knew what they were capable of
and would expect more from them.  I expect the same to apply as they go
through their entire school experience.  Once they are at college, no one
will no me and they will be treated like everyone else, but here I, and
hopefully everyone else in the district, will be holding them to a higher
standard."

"Josh, it's refreshing to hear you say that," he told me, "since last year
a fellow teacher expected us to give her son more leeway, rather than
expect more from him.  I think your approach is not only more in line with
the athletic department's philosophy, but will also benefit your sons more
in the long run."

I thanked him for his comments and then he left, and a few minutes later
Dustin was coming out of the locker room toward me, along with Cole.
"Well, what did you think, Dad?" Cole asked me, as he approached.

"I think you both did a remarkable job out there tonight," I told him.

"Oh, I did okay, but Dustin was really awesome," Cole enthused, while
looking with great admiration at his older brother.  "Did you know that
other guy was also undefeated before tonight?" he pressed.

"No, that I didn't know," I quickly answered, before looking at Dustin with
a great deal more respect.

"Yep, they were the last two in their weight class who hadn't been beaten,"
Cole informed me, "and everyone thought it was going to go down to points,
at the end of a long and hard fought match.  Boy, were they wrong.  Dustin
polished him off so quickly and so convincingly that he's going to be
ranked first in his weight class for all the tournaments now."

"Maybe," Dustin corrected him, showing a bit of modesty.  "We still have a
couple of matches to go, before the tournaments start.  Who knows what will
happen between now and then."

"You'll win twice more," Cole quickly told him, "and THEN you'll be ranked
first for the tourneys."  I could see Dustin think about arguing this point
with Cole, but instead let it drop, realizing he wasn't going to find a way
to dampen Cole's enthusiasm and rosy outlook concerning his wrestling
future.

As we drove home, all of the other boys were congratulating both of our
heroes and Cole was still telling the story about how great his older
brother was.  I think Dustin was both slightly embarrassed, yet pleased by
Cole's adoration, and I think it brought the two of them a little closer
than they were before.

As January ground to a halt, I turned my attention to the next big event on
our social calendar, Trey's fourteenth birthday, which would happen on
February 16th.  That was still a couple of weeks away, but it would be his
first birthday since he came to live with us, so I wanted to make it
special.  I started making plans with Danny, Dustin, Ricky and Kevin, but I
made them promise they would keep this secret from everyone else.  I
understood I needed their help to pull this party off, but I was afraid the
other boys might let something slip, if they were also privy to our plans.
The boys rapidly agreed to my terms, and we began to brainstorm about what
type of party we should have and what we should get Trey for his birthday.
Within an hour we had a rough idea about what we wanted to do, but this
plan would need much refinement before it would be acceptable.

To my complete surprise and absolute delight, the boys almost completely
took over the planning operation from me, as they considered how important
this was going to be to Trey.  Dustin and Kevin offered to do most of this
work, since they were the closest to Trey and felt it would go a long way
to ease some of Trey's lingering doubts about being totally accepted, along
with possibly burying his last reminders of the incident with Frankie and
putting it totally out of his mind.

While the boys did that for me, it gave me some additional time to bond
with all the latest additions to our family.  In an effort to keep him
occupied so the others would not have to worry about him coming into the
room where they were making plans for his party, I would take Trey places
with me or do things for him.  During that time, Trey opened up more and
more about himself and gave me greater insights into the young man inside.

Besides his fondness for reading, Trey also had a latent desire to write.
Although he hadn't really acted upon this, other than keeping his journal,
he told me how he either wanted to write a story or a play, but he wasn't
sure which.  I told him that was a fine ambition and suggested I would like
to read whatever he did, which caused him to blush, slightly.

"It probably won't be that good," he informed me.  "It's just that I want
to give it a try."

"Well, I won't read it, if you don't want me to," I agreed, "but I won't be
overly critical.  Maybe I can even give you some suggestions or offer
places you can go to make it even better."

"Maybe," he compromised, "but I'll see after I finish it, whatever it is."

I was also able to spend time with Pat, Sammy and Andrew, although I never
did it at the same time.  Not only was there a large age difference between
them, but Pat also seemed to become more aloof, whenever he was part of a
group.  Therefore, I would do things with him alone, in an attempt to find
out more about him as well.

At times, Pat was quite happy being with me and fairly open, but he was
turning out to be quite a complicated young man.  Despite his solid,
somewhat athletic build, he wasn't really interested in sports.  That may
be a by-product of his moving around so much as a child and never having an
opportunity to participate in such things.  His academics were improving,
now that he was attending classes frequently and had a stable school
schedule, and now that his appetite for knowledge had been whet, he seemed
eager to learn as much as he could.  I was pleased with that aspect of his
development, yet knew there were other areas we also needed to focus on.

Pat's social skills weren't as developed as they should be for someone his
age, but again, that was probably due to the fact he had always been mainly
around adults for much of his life, although his contact with them had been
limited, often negative and sometimes inappropriate.  He sometimes
overreacted to minor situations with the boys, like the first time he saw
them parading around nude, yet at other times he could be very patient and
understanding.  I wasn't sure why I was getting all of these mixed signals
from him, but he was still somewhat of an enigma to me.

I also got to spend more time with Sammy and Andrew too, learning more
about their past and their hopes for the future.  They were both very
bright and more than eager to work hard at almost anything they did.
Although they had those characteristics in common, it was quite obvious
they were two very unique and distinct individuals.  Sammy seemed to be
more analytical than his brother, being able to look at something and
figure it out, where Andrew seemed to be more creative and artsy than his
sibling.  Together, however, they were a pure joy to be around.

Both boys had bonded more with Graham than the others, on several levels.
Some of this might have had to do with the fact that they were closest in
age, had rough and isolated beginnings and were all physically similar.  By
that I mean, they were all quite small in stature, had slender builds and
were all uncircumcised.  I wasn't certain as to how much that affected
their closeness, but Graham's mothering over them when they first arrived
only added to it.  Even though Cole and Ricky had also lent a hand, Graham
seemed to take over the majority of the load when watching out for the pair
and both boys realized and appreciated that fact.

As February began, I was glad I'd had this time with the boys and got to
know them a little better, but I would work hard to make sure I didn't get
out of touch with them again.



Castaway Hotel -- Grand Reopening -- Book 2 by BW
Copyright 2009 by billwstories
Chapter 28 -- Sally Keeps a Promise to a Friend.

On Friday, February 1st, I got an early phone call from Sally.  I had just
walked into my office when the telephone rang.  "Hello."

"Hello, Josh.  It's Sally.  I've been reading your emails about Sammy and
Andrew and I can't wait to meet them," she informed me.  "What would you
say to a visit after school?"

"I'd say that sounds great," I agreed.  "It's been too long since we've
been able to spend much time together.  What if you stop by the house after
you get off work and maybe the boys can persuade you to also join us for
dinner."

"That sounds very nice," she replied, "but I was hoping I might be able to
bring along a guest for all of you to meet.  However, I wouldn't wish to
impose on you like that."

"Nonsense," I countered.  "By chance, might this be anyone I know?"

"No, but it's someone I'd like you to meet," she admitted, which suddenly
caused other questions to pop into my mind.

"On a social or professional level?" I asked, hoping to narrow down the
possibility.

"Maybe a combination of both," she responded, while sounding a little
nervous, possibly even a touch guilty.

"Why do I have the feeling there's more to this visit than just a social
call?" I teased, while acknowledging I was most likely being set up for
another 'Sally Sting Operation.'

Sally hesitated, before she answered my last question.  "Probably because
there is," she admitted, reluctantly.  "I have another young man I'd like
you to meet, but I want to introduce him to you in person, rather than
discuss his situation over the phone with you."

"Why are you handling this one differently, Sally?" I questioned.  "We've
always discussed the boys over the phone first."

"I realize that," she agreed, "but I thought we could do it in person this
time, especially since I wanted to meet Sammy and Andrew too."

"That would be fine, but I'm still curious about your reasons," I
announced.  "This isn't Damien Thorn, is it?" I teased, but Sally missed
the joke.

"No, his name isn't Damien," she admitted, thinking I might be referring to
a young man from my school.  "In fact, I don't think we have a boy by that
name in the system."

"Sally, I was referring to Damien from the movie 'The Omen,' I explained.
"You know, the son of the devil, destined to become the Antichrist."

"Oh, Josh, quit teasing me," she chortled into the phone.  "It's nothing
like that and I'll explain everything after I arrive.  I sorry, but I have
to get going now.  I have a meeting in just a couple of minutes and it's
down the hall.  We'll talk more when I see you later."

"You win," I conceded.  "I'll see you at the house later."

I hung up, but was still very curious about this.  Was there something
wrong with this boy that she thought I might overlook once I'd met him.
Could he possibly be physically or mentally handicapped?  Maybe he has a
disease, possibly terminal?  I was going to be thinking about this for the
rest of the day, wondering why Sally wouldn't tell me more about this boy
in advance.

Due to all these unanswered questions, the day seemed to drag on forever,
but even this school day had to eventually come to an end.  I quickly
picked up all of the boys and headed home, after informing them their Aunt
Sally was coming for a visit.  The other boys had to explain to Sammy and
Andrew about our special relationship to Sally, after which Andrew
concluded she was our Mrs. Getz.  I guess that was a very appropriate
description of her, except we were much closer than that.  I started dinner
and was getting everything together when the doorbell rang.  Kevin answered
it.

I went over to greet our guests and welcome them to our home.  Sally came
in and a young boy followed close behind her.  Now I understood Sally's
reasoning, although I was dismayed by her attitude and understanding of
what we were about.  The boy was black.  Not a dark black.  He had more of
a deep, toffee colored skin.  His black hair was cut very short and he
stood about 5' 2" tall.  He was looking down at his feet, so I couldn't
really get a good look at his face.

"Josh, this is Dion Jackson.  Dion, this is Mr. Currie and his boys," she
introduced us.  We shook hands and I led them into the living room to sit
and talk.

"It's nice to meet you, Dion.  Are you from around here?" I asked, in order
to start the conversation.

"Kind of," was the only answer I received in reply.

"Boys, why don't you show Dion around a bit?" I suggested.  "You can start
outside and then show him the house, once he's seen everything out there."

The boys enthusiastically agreed and took off, giving Sally and I time to
talk in private.  "Sally, I'm surprised at you," I announced, once we were
alone.  "I thought you knew me better than that."

"Josh, what are you talking about?" she replied, feigning innocence.

"I can't believe you wouldn't tell me about him, just because he's
Afro-American," I protested, getting right to the point.

"That's not why I didn't tell you about him," she countered.  "I wanted to
talk to you in person about him, because his grandmother was a close
personal friend of mine.  This young man is very special to me and is now
my responsibility."

"Sally, I'm so sorry to have misjudged your intentions," I apologized,
feeling silly that I had jumped to that conclusion.  "Is it a half-dozen or
a dozen?"

"Josh, what do you mean?" she asked, looking completely befuddled.

"The egg on my face," I explained.  "Is it a from a half-dozen or a full
dozen eggs?"

"Oh, don't be silly," she chuckled, once she understood my little jest.  "I
can see how you might have seen it that way, though.  I guess I could have
given you more information about him when we spoke earlier, but I really
wanted to let you know how important it was to me that Dion got the best
home possible."  She paused here, studying my reaction and collecting her
thoughts.

"His grandmother worked in the same office I did, when I first went to work
for the county," she continued.  "Mabel took me under her wing there and we
became very close, both inside and outside of the workplace."  Sally looked
at me with this very pained expression on her face, like her emotional dam
was about to burst.

"She was my mentor and helped me work my way up into my present position,"
she informed me.  "We even kept in contact after she retired."  Sally
reached up and brushed a tear from her eye.

"Mabel must have been in her mid to late fifties when her fifteen year old
son, Cal, got his fourteen year old girlfriend pregnant," she explained.
"Cal was her second child and had been a late-life pregnancy.  Mabel's
first child had died at seventeen, from Cystic Fibrosis, so Mabel wasn't
sure she wanted to have any more children, seeing both she and her husband
must carry the recessive Cystic Fibrosis gene.  However, even good planning
goes awry and Cal was born about four or five years after her other child
had passed away."  Sally looked at me, and I think she thought I was
questioning how someone who works in her profession could make such a
mistake, so she tried to explain.

"Josh, his birth was indeed accidental," she assured me, "but by the time
Mabel realized she was pregnant, and not just suffering some digestive
malady, she was already well into her second trimester and abortion was no
longer an option.  Therefore, she welcomed his arrival joyously, especially
after discovering he was healthy.  She now had a second chance to be a
mother, after her previous prolonged tragedy.

"Anyway, to make a long story short, Calvin resented the fact that his
parents were so old and became quite rebellious and got into all sorts of
trouble.  When he got his girlfriend pregnant, he hid the fact, until she
was about to give birth.  Neither the girlfriend, nor her family, wanted
the child, so after she had her baby, Mabel talked her into signing
guardianship over to her.  She did it so the child wouldn't grow up in an
institution or be passed around from home to home, as we'd seen happen with
so many other minority children.  She was planning to raise the child until
the parents accepted their moral obligation to assume parental
responsibility for him, but as it turned out, that day never came.

"Within a year or so, the mother disappeared completely.  Rumor has it that
she met another guy and ran off to marry him.  Cal graduated from high
school and then took a job as a fireman in Harrisburg.  He would come home
and spend his weekends with his mother and began to help raise his son.
That was, until he was killed in a warehouse fire.  He was on the roof when
it collapsed and the rescuers couldn't get to him in time.  Dion was three
or four when that happened, so he really doesn't remember his father.  The
only person he could remember ever being in his life was his grandmother.
She died last week and had named me temporary guardian for him."  Sally
stopped and reached in her purse for a handkerchief, to wipe her eyes.

"Josh, I'm all alone, live in a small apartment and spend about seventy
hours a week at my job.  I would not be the right person to raise that poor
child.  I had only agreed to it because Mabel was such a good friend and I
never expected anything to happen to her before he was old enough to be on
his own.  He's twelve and a really good kid, but kind of a loner.  I mean,
there was only his grandmother and him and they lived out in the country
with very few neighbors, so he's never socialized much.  I realize you
don't know him, because they lived in the next county over, but I was
hoping you might be willing to take him in, as a special favor to me.  This
place would be so much better for him than my place or any other home I
might be able to locate for him."

"Sally, enough said," I announced.  "I'd be happy to take him in with us,
if he's willing to live here.  What would you say about letting me talk to
him alone, when he comes back with the boys?"

"That would be wonderful, Josh," she blubbered.  "Oh, thank you.  I can't
tell you how much this means to me."

"I think I have a rough idea and I'd be glad to help, if I'm able," I
assured her.

We continued to talk until the boys returned.  As they came in, we listened
briefly to all their excited utterances, before I stood up and asked Dion
to follow me.  I took him into the family room and shut the door behind us.
When I next focused on him, he was looking very nervous, like he thought he
had done something wrong, so I thought it was best to get right to the
point.

"Dion, Mrs. Swarthout has told me a little bit about your situation," I
began.  "She thought that you might prefer to live here, with my sons and
me, instead of having to be stuck with just her.  We're willing to have you
join us, if you'd like that?"

"How can those boys all be your sons?" he asked, without answering my
question.  "They're all so different and hardly any of them look alike."

"Well, they're adopted or I'm in the process of adopting them," I
explained.  "They came to live with me at various times and some of them
came from bad situations.  They either had no place to live or no one who
wanted to take them in, so they ended up here instead.  Would you like to
do the same?"

"Would that mean that you'd adopt me too and I'd be your son?" he
countered, and I couldn't tell if it was because he wanted it to happen or
afraid it would.

"Only if you want to be," I assured.  "If that's what you want, then I'd be
happy to have you for my son."

"Even though I'm... well, I'm... black," he stammered.

"That doesn't matter to me," I confirmed.  "I may not be able to help you
understand all there is to know about the black culture or what it's like
to be black, but I will help you find information in the library, the
Internet or I'll help you meet other black people who can help you, if you
want to learn more about your heritage.  All I can offer you here is a good
home, lots of love and a bunch of crazy brothers, who will probably drive
you nuts.  If you decide you'd like to live here, you'll just need to tell
me if there is anything you're missing from your old life, things that
you'd like for us to try and make up for.  I don't care if it's certain
foods you like to eat, activities you like to do or maybe even holidays we
don't observe.  That reminds me, did you celebrate Kwanza or Christmas?"

"I celebrated Christmas with my grandma," he replied.

"Well, that's just what we do, but it wouldn't have made a difference
either way," I stated.  "What do you say?  Would you like to give it a try
here?"

"I think it would be fun to have other kids around," he admitted, after
taking all of two seconds to think about it.  "There was only my grandma at
home and it got pretty boring sometimes.  There were no kids close by for
me to play with, either.  I guess it would be kind of neat to be able to
have other boys around my age to do things with."

"So, you'll give us a try?" I pressed.

"Yeah, I guess I will.  I like Aunt Sally and all," he informed me, "and
she and my grandma were good friends.  She used to visit us a lot, but I
really didn't want to live with just her.  She tries hard to do things for
me, but I don't want to live alone with another woman.  They don't always
understand about guy stuff."

"Yes, I know what you mean," I commiserated.  "I don't think that will be a
problem here.  Let's go out and tell your Aunt Sally and the boys the good
news."  He flashed me a shy grin, just before we walked back into the
living room.

"Sally, Dion has agreed to give us a try," I informed her.  She immediately
let out a small sigh, but quickly recovered, before Dion realized what it
was about.

"Oh, that's wonderful.  Dion, you'll really like these guys," she told him,
with as much zest and sincerity as she could muster.  "They're the greatest
family I know.  Why don't I run back to my apartment and get your things,
so you can try it out for the weekend?  What do you say?"

"Yeah, I could use some of my things here," he agreed, before turning and
looking at me.  "Do you want me to sleep on the sofa in the other room?"

"Heck, no."  I told him.  "There's a bedroom upstairs with your name on it.
It's been empty and waiting for you to arrive."

An amazed expression came over his face.  "You have an empty bedroom with
all of these boys?" he asked, not fully believing my statement.  "How big
is this place?"  I forgot the boys had only taken him on a walk around
outside and he'd only seen a portion of the downstairs of the house so far.

"Come with me and I'll show you," I suggested.  He followed me upstairs and
I showed him the other bedroom that had been created from the old master
bedroom.  He walked in and stood there speechless.

"You mean this would be MY bedroom?" he asked, not believing his eyes.

"Yes, sir.  This will be your bedroom, if you plan to stay here," I
confirmed.

"This is neat.  I've never had my own room before!" he exclaimed.  "My
grandmother had a very small, house in the country and it only had one
bedroom.  I always slept on the sofa in the living room, cuz there wasn't
anyplace else for me.  But this place is huge!"

"You're right there.  This is a very large house," I admitted, "even though
it doesn't appear that big from the outside.  Why don't I show you around
and point out the other boys' rooms to you too, so you can see the rest of
the place.  Some of the boys share a bedroom, but it was their own choice
to do so," I added, just in case he wondered about such things.

We walked to the room next door and I told him that room belonged to Sammy
and Andrew.  After I pointed out the old master bath, we went across the
hall to Trey's room and then the jungle room.  "This room is shared by
Ricky, Cole and Graham," I explained, as he looked around.

"That's the biggest bed I've ever seen!" he exclaimed, while looking at
their king-size bed.  "No wonder they don't mind sharing a room."  The
expression on his face was priceless.  The boy was truly amazed by some of
the things he was seeing.

After we left there, I showed him the rest of the bedrooms, and the small
office, with the computer in it that the boys shared.

"Will I be able to use that too?" he wondered.

"Of course you will," I agreed, and immediately his face lit up.

"I've never had a computer to use before," he informed me.  "I used one at
school, a couple of times, but there is never much time to get on it."

"You'll have more time here and the boys or I will teach you what you need
to know," I assured him.

Before we went back downstairs, I also pointed out the other upstairs
bathroom to him.  He looked around it for a few seconds, amazed that we had
two bathrooms upstairs, before I explained that there were also two more
downstairs.  As we finally approached the top of the stairs, he looked
around again, before he announced, "This place is like a motel.  You have
so many bedrooms and nearly as many bathrooms."

"We need them with all of these boys.  Otherwise, we'd probably have a lot
of accidents when the bathroom was in use by someone else.  Besides, I'd
never be able to get them all ready for school in the morning without
them."  Dion merely nodded his head in agreement.

After that, I took him downstairs and showed him my bedroom.  He couldn't
believe that I also had a monstrous king-size bed.  "Who sleeps with you?"
he asked.

"Generally, I sleep alone," I admitted, although the loneliness of that
point did get to me for a second, "but on occasion, one of the boys might
come in with me, if they're having some sort of problem."

"What sort of a problem?" he pressed.

"Maybe they aren't feeling well or had an argument with one of the others,"
I explained, "or maybe just because they need good old dad to make them
feel loved."

"Wow, that's really nice!" Dion exclaimed, while looking at me like I had a
big red 'S' on my chest.

In an attempt to keep him from making too much out of this, I showed him
the bathroom that opened off of my bedroom.  I also pointed out the second
computer, which sat on my desk, and explained the boys were also allowed to
use it when I was not on it.  As we left my bedroom, I led him to the other
downstairs bathroom, just so he'd know where everything was.

He then followed me into the kitchen, as I went back in to check on dinner.
Danny had been keeping an eye on it for me.  I had a small ham in the oven,
which I had coated with brown sugar and pineapple, and I also planned on
having yams, peas and a salad to go with it.  It was just about ready, when
Sally pulled back into the driveway.  I sent Dustin and Trey out to see if
she could use a hand and Dion went with them.

They came back in lugging Dion's belongings and I told them to take them
directly to his room.  Dion dragged Sally up the stairs to show her his
bedroom, because he was so exited about it and proud that he was going to
have a room of his own.  He was just bubbling over with joy, as he was
telling her about it on the way up.  Eventually they came down and I told
them all to take a seat at the dining room table, because dinner was now
ready.  I pointed out Sally's seat, which was located next to mine, and
Dion's, which was on the other side of me, after informing them we had
plenty for all.  Once we sat down to eat, they were both immediately
involved in the family conversation.

I watched the boys as they asked Dion questions about himself, like what he
liked to do, did he play any sports and what grade he was in at school.
When he informed them about the grade he was in, Andrew was the one who
told him that I was the principal of the building where he would be going
to school.  Dion looked up at me after this pronouncement, his eyes bulging
and his jaw hanging slack.  "You're really the principal?"

"Yes, sir.  Guilty as charged," I agreed.

"I guess I've never thought that teachers and principals did things away
from school," he admitted.  "I never saw any of them, except at school, so
I guess I never thought about them having homes and families, like everyone
else."

"You're not the only one," I assured him.  "Every time I'm in the grocery
store and run into one of the students from my school, they always look at
me funny, like they're wondering why I'm there.  I take it they don't think
I have to eat or anything.  Most of them know I have a family, because they
know some of my sons, but it still seems to amaze many of them when they
see me out and away from school."

Sally was asking Dion about what he thought of the place and I used that
time to look around the table.  Everyone seemed to be in a good mood,
except for Pat.  He had a nasty looking scowl plastered across his face.
I'm not sure what was up, but I made a mental note to check it out later.
Maybe he was beginning to feel slighted, as I seemed to be adding more
bodies to our burgeoning brood.

I heard Dion tell Sally that he thought this was a neat place and he liked
the idea of having the other boys around to talk to and do things with.  He
seemed very excited about the whole idea of living here, which was a good
sign.  I think it also relieved Sally of some of the guilt she might have
still been feeling about pawning him off on a family he didn't know
beforehand.

When we finished dinner, Sally excused herself, explaining she had things
to do, and got ready to head home.  She told Dion she would come back
Sunday to see how he was doing and he gave her a hug, before thanking her
for bringing him to our place.  She hugged him back and kissed him on the
cheek, before reminding him to behave.  He told her he would, but made a
face that implied, 'why do grown-ups always have to say such dumb things?'

After Sally said her good-byes to the rest of the boys, and then to me (at
which time she thanked me once again), we followed her out to her vehicle.
We stood and waved at her as she backed out of the driveway and drove away,
and then I placed an arm over Dion's shoulder and walked him back inside.


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