Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:58:38 EDT
From: Bwstories8@aol.com
Subject: Castaway Hotel" Grand Reopening - book 2 chapters 7 - 8

Castaway Hotel -- Grand Reopening -- Book 2 by BW
Copyright 2009 by billwstories
Chapter 7 -- Let the Good Times Roll.

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

After I drove to the house, I told all the boys to go inside and get busy,
except for Pat.  I was going to take him down to the home improvement
store, so we could pick out the items for his room.

"I talked to my contractor earlier," I told him, "and he said he could
start on your room by the middle of next week.  That means you'll probably
be spending a week or more in Ricky's room before it's done.  Do you have
any problems with that?"

"I don't, if Ricky doesn't," Pat confirmed.

"Don't worry, he won't," I replied.  "He spends most of his time in with
the other two anyway."

Once we arrived at the store, Pat and I went in and Pat quickly picked a
paper pattern that depicted sailboats gliding across a crystal clear lake.
It was really attractive and very peaceful looking and I suggested we do
the upper half of the room in that and the bottom in a wood paneling,
similar to what the other boys had done.  He agreed and selected a medium
oak paneling for the bottom half, which was considerably lighter than what
the other pair had used.  I left the two sample names for my contractor
with the salesperson at the business counter.  We had done this before, so
I knew it wouldn't be a problem.  Now that we were finished, Pat and I went
home.

"Thanks," Pat said as soon as the van's doors had closed.  "I can't believe
you're doing all of this just for me."

"Why not?" I asked.  "Why should you have any less than anyone else?"

"I'm just not used to people wanting to do things just for me," he
admitted.  "Most of the time people just wanted something FROM me or they
wanted me to stay out of their way.  Thank you for being so nice."

"The reason I agreed to take in boys in the first place was so I could help
them.  That's all I'm doing for you.  It's not that big a deal," I
explained.

"Maybe not to you, but it sure is for me," Pat countered.  "So, thank you."

This discussion could have lasted forever, so I just decided to leave it at
that.  I reached over and squeezed his shoulder, which caused him to turn
in his seat and smile at me in return.  "Next, you will have to decide if
you want a single or double bed in the room," I informed him.  "We need to
get you a bed anyway, because there is none in there, so you decide which
would be best for you."

I pulled in the driveway and Pat didn't get out right away.  Instead, he
looked over at me and spoke.  "I've made a decision," he announced.

"About the bed?"

"No.  It's about something much more important," he stated, which caught me
slightly off guard.  "I'd like to try calling you 'Dad,' like the other
boys do, if that's all right with you."

"I would love that," I admitted, feeling overjoyed that he had made his
decision so quickly.  "Thank you.  I feel very honored you are going to try
that, but you still have the option to change your mind later, if you
want," I added, sensing from his words that he might not be completely
committed to the idea."

"No, I don't think I will," he countered.  "I think I'm lucky Judge Shay
brought me here, rather than taking me somewhere else.  You already treat
me better than either of my mother or father did, when I lived with them,
and I really feel you deserve to be called Dad more than my father ever
did.  At least I can tell you care about me.  You proved that when we
talked about why I got so angry when the boys were naked that first night.
It made me realize you cared about what was bothering me and wanted me to
be happy.  I even get the feeling you want me to be here, more than either
of my parents ever did when I was with them, especially since you've let me
fix up my room the way I want it.  I don't think I'll ever forget how good
you've made me feel."

I was too choked up to respond.  Pat jumped out and ran around to my side,
so he could give me a hug before we entered the house.  I was moved by his
gesture and hugged him back.

Kevin came to greet me, as soon as I got to the foyer.  "Dad, some lawyer
from Miami called for you a little while ago and said he'd call back later
to speak with you."

"A lawyer?  From Miami?" I asked, bewildered.  "I have no idea what that
would be about.  Did he say when he'd call?"

"No, he just said he'd call later," Kevin informed me, so I continued to
wonder what this lawyer might want.

While contemplating the situation, I set about fixing dinner, which took
about thirty minutes, followed by another forty minutes for it to cook.
When it was ready, I called the boys and we sat down to eat.  During
dinner, Pat excitedly told the boys about the things he had picked out for
his room and I informed Ricky he would most likely have to stay with Cole
and Graham for up to two weeks, which drew high-fives from the trio.  The
boys were just starting to clean up the mess, when the phone rang.  I
quickly announced that I'd get it.

"Hello."

"Hello.  May I speak to Mr. Joshua Currie?" the voice on the other end
asked.

"This is he," I informed him.

"Mr. Currie, my name is Louis Kaufman," the man explained.  "I'm an
attorney and the executor of the will for one Jacob Goldman."

"I'm afraid I don't know anyone by that name," I informed him, almost
apologetically.

"I realize that, sir, and I'm willing to explain to you what I know about
him," the attorney countered.  "Mr. Goldman was a Holocaust survivor as a
child and moved to the states after the war, still a young boy.  When he
grew older, he married, started a business and became very wealthy.  He and
his wife never had any children, because his experience in the death camps
had left him unable to produce sperm.  His wife passed away several years
ago and Mr. Goldman had no other living relatives, since most of them had
perished during the war.

"About a week after he read about you and your family in some publication,
he asked me to change his will and name you as the principal beneficiary of
his fortune.  He told me he admired what you were doing, and after seeing
so much evil and hatred in the world, he wanted to help make it possible
for you to do more for your boys and give you the option of taking in even
more young men, over the coming years.  After reading about what you'd
already accomplished and seeing the pictures of how happy the boys were
with you, he knew you were providing them with a loving and caring
environment in which to grow.  When Mr. Goldman passed away, I calculated
the value of his estate and your share of it will come to just over five
million dollars, after taxes."

I nearly fell over and dropped the phone.  Dustin saw me and came running
over to grab me and yelled to Danny to get a chair from the dining room.  I
managed to sit down and could hear Mr. Kaufman speaking loudly into the
phone.  "Mr. Currie... Mr. Currie...  Hello... Are you still there?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kaufman, but I was just a little overwhelmed by your news,"
I admitted.  "Did I hear you correctly?  Did you just tell me I would be
getting a little over five million dollars... after taxes?"

The boys' eyes lit up and their mouths dropped toward the floor.  "Yes, you
heard me correctly.  If you wouldn't mind, I'll be sending an associate
with a bank check made payable to you, along with some other paperwork I
need for you to sign.  Just tell me when and where you'd be willing to meet
this individual, to complete the transaction."

Once the shock wore off, we went over the remainder of the details and
everything was set.  I hung up the phone and was immediately barraged by
questions from the boys.

"What was that about five million dollars?" Danny asked.

"Where are you getting that kind of money from?" Dustin followed.

"Are we going to have to move to Miami to get it?" Ricky wondered.

"What's that going to mean for us?" Pat asked, worried.  "You're still
going to let us live here with you, aren't you?"

Many other questions followed those and I answered them all, honestly and
the best I could.  I told them about the money, where it came from and why
it had been given to us.  I assured them we weren't going to move or do
anything differently, but added the money would ensure we'd be able to
afford to take in as many other boys who also needed our help.  I also
informed them that a portion of this money would added to their mutual fund
account, to pay their college expenses or give them a decent start, once
they were on their own.

The boys were quite excited about our windfall, yet also relieved that our
lives would not change drastically because of it.  I think they were
comforted by my commitment to try to maintain the same degree of
togetherness and happiness we had enjoyed up until now.

Over the remainder of the evening, I was barely able to keep a lid on
everyone's enthusiasm and their speculation about how we might spend some
of this newfound wealth.  It took me hours, before I finally was able to
get them to settle down.  When I sent them off to bed, I closed up the
house and went up behind them.  This news had also exhausted me and I was
looking to rest up from the excitement.

As I was going to my room, I noticed that the door to the jungle room was
closed, something that rarely ever happened.  I immediately realized they
were either cooking up some plan for the morning or they were doing a
little experimenting.  I put my ear to the door and quickly determined it
was the latter, so I went on down the hall, performed my nightly ritual and
jumped into bed.

                                                                           *
* * *

Ricky, Cole, and Graham had gone up to their room and hopped into bed.
Before long, Graham spoke up.  "How come you guys never want to do anything
with me?"

"We do everything with you," Cole answered.

"I mean in bed at night, you know... the sex things," Graham announced.
"Is it because I'm not cut?"

Cole and Ricky looked at each other.  "No, that wouldn't make a
difference," Ricky told him.  "I've done stuff with Jay and he isn't cut
either.  It's just that we weren't sure you wanted to do anything like
that.  You never seemed like you were interested whenever we talked about
doing things and Cole and I don't do it very often.  Sometimes we sneak
into one of the bathrooms to fool around for a while or we do it in here,
after you've fallen asleep.  Not up the butt, though."

"I wasn't always asleep," Graham informed them, letting the other pair know
they weren't as clever as they'd thought.  "Can we do something tonight?"
he followed.

"Sure," Ricky told him.  "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Graham admitted.  "I've never done more than touch Cole's
dicky."  Ricky snorted, after hearing Graham refer to Cole's penis as a
'dicky.'

"Well, do you ever beat your meat?" Ricky asked him, trying to get an idea
of how much he did on his own.  When he saw the confused look on Graham's
face, he knew it probably wasn't much.  "You know, play with
yourself... jerk off?"

"You mean rub my dicky?" Graham asked, for clarification.

"Yeah, that's what I mean.  Do you do that?" Ricky continued.

"Sometimes," Graham admitted.

"Can you shoot?" Ricky pressed.

"Shoot what?" Graham countered, befuddled.

"Shoot white stuff out of your wiener," Ricky clarified.  "If you've been
awake at night and must have seen what we were doing, so you should have
seen some of that."

"It was too dark and I didn't want you to know I was really awake," Graham
replied, "but I don't think I can do that," he added, while looking more
than a little confused.

"Okay, then we'll find that out first," Ricky informed him.  "Lie back and
we'll see what you can do.  Cole, you can suck on his tits while I jerk him
off.  We'll see how he likes that before we do anything else."

Graham reclined against the pillows on his bed, with Cole on his left and
Ricky on his right.  Cole bent over his brother and started to work on his
left nipple while Ricky began to lick around his navel.  Graham was very
ticklish and began to giggle, but his little soldier popped right to
attention.  Ricky reached down with his right hand and began to fondle his
nut sac and stiff penis, gently stroking the area to give him maximum
enjoyment.

At this point, Graham's movements stopped being a reaction to the tickling
sensations and, instead, became an instinctive response to what the others
were doing.  Graham was now thrusting his groin up to meet Ricky's downward
strokes, in an effort to encourage his friend to continue what he was
doing.  After a few minutes of using his tongue and fondling Graham's
testicles, Ricky wrapped his thumb and first two fingers around Graham's
little boner and began to pump it up and down.  The foreskin on Graham's
little rod slid back and forth, allowing his dark pink head to pop in and
out, as the stimulation continued.  Little squeaking sounds also began to
emanate from Graham's throat and his body began to undulate beneath the
attention of his two bedmates.

Cole had moved his head over, so he could work on Graham's right nipple,
eagerly licking and sucking the little nub, before gently nibbling that
erect little piece of flesh.  Graham squealed from delight as his brother
worked on his chest, but the best was yet to come.  Ricky was now pumping
faster on Graham's erection and his boy hips were bouncing up and down off
the bed in pure joy.  After a couple more minutes of this intense
stimulation, Graham's body stiffened, he arched his back toward the ceiling
and the first spurts of a watery liquid shot from the head of his cock.

Ricky didn't let up, though, and kept pumping away at Graham's dribbling
hose.  Three more droplets of his immature seed burst from the tiny slit at
the end of his penis and soon there were small puddles of this liquid
forming on his stomach and covering the few scattered hairs surrounding the
base of his shaft.  Graham was still breathing heavily, in rapid, shallow
breaths, when his back started to relax and his butt fell back against the
bed.  Ricky and Cole smiled at their young partner, as they watched him
enjoy the afterglow from his recent ejaculation.

When Graham regained his senses, he merely reached his arms out to his
side, grabbed his two brothers by the waist and he pulled them toward
himself.  "Thanks, that was awesome."

"We would have done that for you before, if we'd known you wanted it," Cole
told him.

"Yeah, we didn't think you were ready yet," Ricky added.  "You never let on
at all that you might want to do this and we didn't want to push you into
anything, if you weren't interested."

"Well, I am now and I want to do it more with you guys," Graham announced,
quite boldly.

"No problem," Ricky told him.  "What would you like to do next?"

"Can I do that to you?" Graham asked, his eyes wide with hope.

"Sure!" Cole chirped.  "Who do you want to do it with?"

"Both of you," Graham answered, eagerly.  "First I'll do it with you and
then Ricky.  Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that will be fine," Ricky answered, with Cole shaking his head
energetically up and down.

The boys quickly switched positions on the bed, so Cole was lying down,
with Graham on his right and Ricky on his left.  This time Ricky got to
work on Cole's breast, so Graham could play with his dick.  Graham didn't
waste any time reaching out, rubbing and stroking Cole's groin.  He let his
small hands run all around the scrotum, squeezing the entire thing in his
palm before he began to finger and explore the testicles separately.  When
he was satisfied with his manipulation of that area, he ran his fingers up
and around the shaft, through the small bush of pubic hairs and all over
his abdomen.  Finally, Graham's small hand wrapped around the fleshy tube
and began to stroke it up and down.

"Your wiener feels different than mine, without the extra skin," he
explained.

"I know what you mean," Ricky responded.  "I thought the same thing, the
first time I did this with Jay.  It was different, but still nice."

"Yes.  I'm not saying it's bad, it's just not the same," Graham affirmed.

Graham went back to stroking his brother's stiffy and Cole was enjoying the
feeling of his brother's small, warm hand as it squeezed his penis lightly,
while gliding up and down his shaft.  It didn't take very long before
Cole's body stiffened, his penis swelled in Graham's palm and strings of
his white, creamy cum bolted from his pulsing member.  Graham started
stroking even faster as he watched the sticky liquid shoot from his
brother's mast, until Cole had to reach down and grab Graham's arm, to
prevent him from continuing, since his penis was becoming a little sore
from Graham's frantic pumping.

"That was fun," Graham chirped, excitedly.  "Come on, Ricky.  I want to do
that to you now."

"Hold on there sport," Ricky answered him.  "We need to give Cole a chance
to recover first."

"Okay," Graham said, while looking a little disappointed about the delay.
It was obvious he had enjoyed what he had just done and wanted to continue
without wasting any more time.  He understood what Ricky was telling him,
though, and thought back to how he had also taken a few minutes to rest
after he shot his load.  Patiently, he stretched out next to Cole and
waited.

Cole was slowly coming out of his blissful afterglow when he reached out,
grabbed Graham and gave him a big kiss on the lips.

"Thanks, little bro.  That was great and I'll do it with you again, anytime
you want."  Graham blushed from the suddenness of Cole's affection and then
smiled at his older brother, appreciatively.  They were now a little closer
to each other than they had been before.

Within a minute or two the boys had switched positions once more, with
Ricky lying on the bed, Cole on his left and Graham on his right.  Graham
was making sure he was going to get to do the same thing to Ricky that he
had just done to Cole, especially since Ricky's pecker was a little bigger
than his brother's.  Ricky's body had barely hit the mattress when Graham's
hand shot out and began rubbing and grabbing at Ricky's rigid mast.
Graham's exploration was more hurried than it was with Cole and there
seemed to be a greater urgency to his movements.

"Slow down, Graham," Ricky chided him.  "I'm not going anywhere and you can
take all the time you need.  Just take it easy, so I can enjoy this too."

"Sorry," Graham replied meekly.  "It's just so much fun that I wanted to
get going.  But you're right and I'll go slower now."

Having said that, Graham took his trembling, hot, little hand and began to
massage Ricky's ball bag and manipulate the watery orbs within.  Ricky
sighed loudly and tried to encourage his younger partner.  "That's it.
That feels great.  Oooooooh yeah, keep that up.  That's fantastic."

Graham smiled because of Ricky's comments and it encouraged him to play
with Ricky's gonads longer than he had originally planned.  Eventually he
brought his hand up and wrapped it around Ricky's granite pole and began to
stroke it up and down.  Ricky was enjoying the touch of the satiny soft
skin of Graham's palm and the tender, yet firm, hold he had on his pole.
Ricky sprawled back and enjoyed the dual manipulations from his young
partners and reveled in the warm waves of feelings that were bathing his
body from their attention.  He silently hoped this experience would last
for a very long time, but it was only a few minutes later when he started
to recognize that all-familiar tingle building in his loins, which would
soon consume every fiber of his being.  When the sensations became too
strong to hold back any longer, his love muscle exploded, sending streams
of spunk spewing from the gasping lips of the tiny slit that opened from
his crown.  Graham was more aware not to overdo it this time, but he still
milked Ricky's cock until every drop of his cream had been drained from his
boyhood.

The three boys kissed, hugged and thanked each other for the wonderful
feelings they had just given to one another.  After cleaning up a bit, they
slipped under the sheet and cuddled like a pack of newborn puppies.  Cole
and Ricky made sure that Graham was in between them and wrapped their arms
and legs over and around his body, making him realize he was the focal
point of this group embrace.  The boys slept well that night, with hardly
any movement between the three of them, and their dreams were filled with
pleasant thoughts about future encounters with each other.

Even though this had been Graham's initial experience of being touched and
touching someone else during a sexual act, he was already dreaming of many
more sessions.  He was looking forward doing the same things, and even
different stuff, with these two and maybe even with some things with his
older brothers.  The bug had bitten and it would be hard to satisfy the
curiosity he now felt about the male body.



Castaway Hotel -- Grand Reopening -- Book 2 by BW
Copyright 2009 by billwstories
Chapter 8 -- Another Visit From a Very Weary Stork.

The contractor had finished the work on Pat's bedroom, so all it needed was
some furniture to make it habitable.  Pat had decided he'd prefer a double
bed, so I went out and purchased one, along with the appropriate matching
pieces.  Like before, I found a decent bedroom set at a garage sale and
then bought a new mattress and box spring to use with it.  Pat was ecstatic
about his new room and Ricky had his own room back, although he still
didn't use it often.

Even though it might be hard to believe, the three mischievous imps were
now even more inseparable than before.  They were almost constantly in each
other's company and the other boys spent their time trying to figure out
what they were up to.  They had always been close, but not quite as close
as they appeared now, so the rest of the family feared they were planning
new horrors for us.  Due to my small amount of eavesdropping at their
bedroom door that one evening, I was the only one, beside those involved,
who knew about or suspected the new connection between them, and I wasn't
about to share that secret with anyone else.

During that week, I also met with the representative from Mr. Kaufman's law
offices, signed the required paperwork and accepted the check.  It came to
$5,347,550.  I put some into an account for easy access and then invested
the rest.  I calculated that even if it only earned 5% interest on the
principal, we would have a quarter of a million dollars a year to spend
without ever having to touch the base amount.  There would be no way this
family would lack for anything in the future and I could ensure the boys
would be able to pursue many of their dreams.  I would add to the account I
had set up for each one of them to be used for college, starting their own
business or buying a home and beginning life when they were ready leave.  I
could now provide them with everything I had ever dreamed of.

It was about two or three weeks after Pat moved into his own bedroom when
he did something none of the rest of us ever expected.  He even planned it
alone and worked out every last detail, to make it go flawlessly.  He did
give me a hint about what he was planning, so I would be prepared for it
and not panic when it happened.

We were all sleeping in one Saturday morning, after a fairly hectic week,
when all hell seemed to break loose.  At first most of us were oblivious to
what was going on in one of the other rooms, but suddenly we began to hear
very loud animal noises.  At first, I thought I heard a growl of some sort,
followed by the roars of several lions, but I knew that couldn't be.
Groggily, I figured some of the boys must be watching television and had
set the volume way too high, so I got out of bed, to tell them to turn it
down.  However, that's when I began to hear screams coming from the jungle
room.

Frantically, I raced there and opened the door, only to see three young
boys screaming and darting hysterically about the room.  Then it all began
to sink in.  Pat had exacted his revenge on our little monsters, so now the
rest of us gathered around to watch and enjoy the lesson he was teaching
our three terrors.

I think it best if I back up a bit and explain how Pat had set this all up.
While the rest of us were sleeping, he carried Kevin's boom box, which he
had borrowed previously, into the jungle room, attached it to an extension
cord and set the volume full blast.  That way, nothing would happen until
he plugged it in.  He also turned on a black-light lamp, which he had
placed on the desk in the jungle room, to add a surreal glow.  He then lay
down on the floor at the foot of their bed, completely out of sight.  The
room was now nearly completely dark, lit only by the black-light lamp, when
Pat reached out and pushed the plug end of the extension cord into one of
the nearby sockets.

The tape immediately began to play the animal noises we soon heard, which
Pat had previously recorded off of the animal network.  That's why I
thought I heard the growls and roars of lions.  It had been taken from a
program showing individual lions establishing dominance within the pride,
which was also vaguely what was happening here.  Slowly, these sounds began
to register in the psyches of the sleeping trio, when all of the sudden
there was another mighty roar, much louder than any of the rest, as one
lion announced his superiority and control to the others.

Three bodies suddenly jerked upright on the bed, only to be confronted by
the wallpaper, which was lit up eerily by the black light and filled with
the faces of jungle creatures.  Just as the boys began to look around, a
large stuffed lion (one that had been purchased for Graham at Christmas by
my older son's family) leapt onto the bed (it was actually tossed there by
Pat), just as another mighty roar sounded from the speakers.

The trio began to scream hysterically and fought to get off the bed and
away from their attacker.  These shouts brought the other boys running down
the hall toward the jungle room, to see what the commotion was all about.
Just as they arrived, another roar sounded from the speakers and the older
boys spotted the stuffed lion, which had been unceremoniously knocked onto
the floor, just before Pat sprang up from the foot of the mattress to
pounce on our little monsters himself.  The three young boys started
screaming again and frantically tried to break free of their attacker,
which caused the older boys to roar themselves, only their roars were of
laughter.

"All right," Danny chuckled.  "Somebody's finally given those three a good
dose of their own medicine."

"Great job, Pat," Kevin added, when he saw Pat heading out of the jungle
room.  "You're going to fit in just fine here."

"Yeah," Dustin agreed.  "I wish I'd thought that one up myself.  That was
awesome and it might make them think twice before they try their tricks on
any of us again."

"Hey, that's not fair," Graham argued.  "When we do something like this,
you all gang up on us.  Why aren't you ganging up on Pat, instead of
telling him how great it was?"

"Because you three do it to innocent people," Kevin answered, "but each of
you are far from innocent."

"Yes, you guys have deserved that for ages," Danny continued, "so don't
come running to us for sympathy, because you aren't going to find any."

"You sure are lousy brothers," Ricky spat out.  "You won't even protect the
three youngest, most innocent and most defenseless members of this family."

"Youngest, maybe," Dustin countered, "but you three are far from being
innocent or defenseless.  We kept telling you the day would come when
someone would get you back, but we had to wait for Pat to do it."

"So we're even now," Pat concluded, "so no more pranks.  Right?"  But he
didn't wait for them to answer, before he continued.  "If you do anything
of this nature to any of us again, I'll get the others to help me get you
back even worse next time."

"Dad," Cole pleaded, "won't YOU help us?"

"Hey, you brought this upon yourselves," I said with a chuckle, "but I fear
this probably isn't going to be the last of it.  I suspect that from now
on, however, it won't be quite as one-sided."

"But Daddy," Graham said in his best, innocent, little boy voice, "aren't
you going to protect your babies?"

"I don't see any diapers on you and there's the matter of those horns
sticking out of your heads," I teased.  "Admit it, you three little devils
just can't take what you so happily dish out, so if you don't want
something like this to happen to you again, then I'd suggest you start
mending your ways."

"Oh, we can take it all right," Ricky spat back, defiantly.  "I just hope
the rest of you can, because this means war!"  The three little ones were
all laughing now and glaring at their brothers, as they started to chant
"War, war, war..."

I decided to put an end to this little sideshow, but quickly realized my
best effort probably wouldn't be enough to stop the escalation of pranks.
We all hoped the three villains would learn from what had just happened to
them, but I think, down deep, they enjoyed the sudden attention this
brought them.  Not only that, but I think they were also impressed by Pat's
creativity in planning his revenge, at least once their little hearts
stopped racing.  However, I now believed this was only going to unleash a
new round of attacks in the near future.

To my surprise, things did actually die down for a while and we made it to
the middle of October until the next surprise.  I was nearly finished with
another long day at school, when I heard an unexpected visitor at my office
door.

"Josh, do you have a few minutes?"  I thought I recognized the voice, but
it didn't quite register in the school environment.  I didn't realize who
it was, until I turned around and actually spied my visitor.

"Well, Sally, hello.  For you, I have all the time in the world.  Come in
and sit down."  It was Sally Swarthout, my friend from D.S.S., who had
brought me all my sons, except for Pat.  "What brings you here?"

"I wish I could tell you this was a social call, but I desperately need
your help again," she admitted.  "Before I begin, though, how are you and
the boys?"

"We're all fine, Sally, and you should drop around more often to see them,"
I suggested.  "I know they would all like that.  By the way, I have a new
boy whom you haven't met yet.  If you want to come over, I'll introduce
you."

"Oh, dear.  You have a new boy?" she repeated, as a surprised expression
flashed over her face.  "Where did he come from?"

"Yes, I have a new boy," I repeated.  "His name is Patrick Murray, but he
prefers to be called Pat.  Judge Shay called me a few weeks back and asked
me to take him in.  After a slightly rough start, he now seems to have
become a fine addition to my clan."

"Now that you mention it, I do remember Judge Shay asking me about a
placement for a young man," she responded, "but I didn't know he talked you
into taking the boy."

"He did, but that's not the only surprise I've had, either," I continued.
"I recently received a great deal of money from a gentleman who read about
our blended family in one of the magazine articles.  He included me in his
will and we are now financially set."

"Oh Josh, that's wonderful," Sally gush, while eyeing me suspiciously.
"Maybe I can still impose upon you then," she blurted out, without meaning
to sound so insensitive.  "I have another young man who could also use your
help.  He is an orphan and we have found no relatives who are willing or
able to take him in.  He has been temporarily living in another foster
home, in a different part of the county, and his case was just brought to
my attention by a fellow colleague from that area.  If you wouldn't mind,
I'd love to bring him around to meet you and the boys, and that way I could
visit with them as well."

"That would be fine, Sally, but what about the other foster home?"

"They only took him in on an emergency basis.  They already have two
permanent foster children, in addition to their own children, so they
didn't feel they'd be able to take on the additional responsibility.  Maybe
I should have told them about your place and the number of boys you have,
but I must admit I've heard they also have very limited space, compared to
your massive home."

"I must admit what I've done, by taking in so many, is not for everyone," I
conceded.  "I've been fortunate, thus far, and can only pray my luck holds
out in the future.  You can bring this boy to our place around 5:30 and
that way you can also plan to stay and have dinner with us.  I'll pick up
some steaks, throw them on the grill and maybe even add some baked potatoes
and a salad.  I think the boys will like that.  What do you say?"

"I say it sounds lovely," Sally replied, "and we'll be there.  I know
you're going to like him.  He's a sweet boy, but very shy."

"If you like him, then I'm sure we will too," I told her.  "I guess it's
settled then and we'll see you later at the house."

I spent the rest of the day thinking about this new boy and prayed I wasn't
taking on too much.  Sure, there were no money worries any longer, but I
did just take in another boy, and there were Cole and Graham's learning
problems we still had to deal with (and we've only just began there, with
Ricky's help, of course), and it's nearly time for Kevin's next check-up
(to make sure no growths have reappeared since he found the cyst on his
testicle).  I know the rest of the boys would most likely encourage me to
take this new boy in and I do want to give the kid a chance; it's just that
I don't want to end up ignoring or neglecting the others, merely because I
tried to do too much for too many.  I hope the answer to this dilemma
becomes evident, when I finally get to meet him.

Although it seemed to take forever, my school day finally ended, so I
rounded up the troops, made a quick stop at the grocery store and hurried
home.  Dustin fired up the grill for me, while Kevin washed and wrapped
potatoes in aluminum foil for baking and then made a tossed salad to go
along with everything else.  Then Danny and Pat volunteered to take the
baked potatoes out to the grill to get them started for me, while Ricky,
Cole and Graham offered to set the table.  I had just come in the back door
from checking on how my chefs were doing, after explaining when and how to
start the steaks, when the doorbell rang.  I went to open it, and as I
anticipated, there was Sally and the new boy.  I greeted them and invited
them inside, as the other boys began to filter in.  I think they were eager
to say hello to their 'Aunt Sally' again.  I gave them plenty of time to
all exchange hugs and kisses with her, while I looked the new boy over.

He was definitely in his early teens, fairly tall (about 5' 8"), yet
slender for his age.  He didn't look thin, but he also wasn't what I'd call
muscular.  I couldn't see his face, because he spent most of his time
looking down at the floor, while shuffling his feet.  Sally was right.
This kid was shy.

Once Sally and my boys finished their greetings, they introduced her to
Pat.  Once she said hello to him, she was ready to introduce the new boy to
us.

"Josh, boys," Sally began, "this is Alexander Michael Daniels III."  The
boy finally looked up and I must admit I thought he was gorgeous.  He had
brown hair and brown eyes, but his face was absolutely angelic.  That's why
it was so odd to see the sad, frightened expression that radiated from it.

"What would you like us to call you?" I asked.  "Alexander or Alex?"

"My friends call me Trey," he responded dryly, after which he tried to look
away from us.

"Trey?  Where did that come from?" I pressed, confused by this association.
I hoped it wasn't some kind of a gang tag.

"You know, as in three," he stated with quite a bit of force, almost as if
he were exasperated that we weren't able to figure it out for ourselves.
"I'm Alexander Michael Daniels... THE THIRD."

"Oh, I get it now.  Sorry I'm so thick," I apologized, while trying to
lighten the moment.  "Well it's nice to meet you, Trey, and welcome to our
home."

I then proceeded to introduce all of the boys to him, before letting him go
off with them, so they could show him the house.  Ricky had already moved
all of his things out of his old room (with the help of his two shadows)
and they put them into his new abode, the jungle room.  While the boys were
out and about, Sally and I went out to the grill to watch over dinner and
talked about life in general, while we did so.  During our conversation, I
explained a little bit more about my recent inheritance and she was totally
shocked when I advised her of the actual amount of the check I had
received.  After she got over her surprise and regained her composure, she
told me, "It couldn't have happened to a better family."

After checking to see how well each of them wanted their steaks cooked, I
started taking them off the grill, with the medium rare coming off first
and working our way up to the well done.  After placing the steaks on the
platters according to how they were cooked, Sally helped me carry them
inside.  The boys had already begun to clean up to eat, so they were
filtering into the dinning room as we entered.  Trey was bringing up the
rear, but he did have sort of a smile on his face now.

I quickly threw some oil and vinegar on to the salad Kevin had prepared and
took it in and placed it on the table, along with the rest of the food.  As
I passed out the steaks, the rest of the dishes were passed around the
table, for everyone to take a share.  As we ate, we chatted about a variety
of topics, mostly throwing ideas out to see which ones seemed to also
interest Trey.  I thought that might be one way I could learn more about
him, without having to interrogate him.

During our meal, Sally also got an earful about what the boys had been up
to, and Pat was briefed as to how Sally had become such a valued member of
our extended family.  I think Trey eagerly gobbled up all of this
information and evaluated his prospects here, by listening to all of these
various tales.  Near the end of dinner, he also began to interject a
comment or two every so often, and I was glad to see he was loosening up
and trying to fit in.

Once the main course was completed, I knew the boys would be looking for
some dessert to top it off with.  We had some ice cream in the freezer, and
Dustin, Kevin and Danny were kind enough to offer to dish it out and serve
it to us.  It wasn't anything fancy, but I think everyone enjoyed what he
got.

Now that we were finished with our meal, the entire family moved to the
living room.  After talking it over with Trey, he agreed he'd like to stay
with us and see what it would be like living there.  That made Sally happy
and removed another problem for her.  It also made my worries moot, since
Trey had decided for himself that he'd like to stay.

We talked for a while longer, but after another half hour or so, Sally
announced she had to leave.  We all bid her farewell, with the boys each
giving her a hug and a kiss before she left.  We all followed her out to
her car to see her off, but also so we could help Trey get his things and
carry everything up to his room.  As Sally drove away, the rest of us went
back inside.

When the boys came back, after lugging Trey's things upstairs, they went
into the family room to watch television.  However, Trey stayed up in his
room to unpack and get settled.  I decided this might be a good time to go
up and have a private talk with him, so I made my way to his room and
knocked on his open bedroom door.


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