Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:16:20 -0500 (EST)
From: Bwstories8@aol.com
Subject: Castaway Hotel: Next Generation, chapter 37

The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation - by BW
Copyright 2011 by billwstories

Chapter 37 -- Summer Begins.

Since Dion and Trey were home for the summer, they started doing a little
renovating of their own.  They began by moving Joshie out of the small bedroom
he had been using and put him in another, larger room.  The room they moved
him into was just on the other side of their own bedroom, but they did this
because they wanted to use the small bedroom for the new baby when it arrived.
This way, they'd have a son on either side of the room they currently shared.

Dion and Trey also retrieved Joshie's old crib and baby furniture out of storage
and they dug through Joshie's old baby clothes and got them ready for the new
baby to use.  They also started stocking up on baby supplies, such as newborn
diapers, A & D cream, baby wipes, baby lotion and other items they knew they
were going to need.  When I asked them if they weren't jumping the gun,
because I feared if something went wrong they'd be stuck with all of these items,
they ended my doubts.

"If something happens and we don't get this baby," Dion explained, "we still want
to try to have another one.  Besides, Danny and Brandon will eventually want to
have a baby too, so they can use this stuff, if we don't use it before then."

I guess that made sense, at least for our unusual family, so I let the subject drop.
I was just glad to see they were so excited about the baby's arrival and trying to
get ahead of the curve, since the baby would be arriving after they had returned
to work in the fall.

Along this same vein, Dion and Trey asked to speak to Jake and me one
evening.  Of course, we agreed, although we had no idea what they wanted to
discuss.  We were in the family room when they approached us.

"We need to talk to you," Dion began.  "Actually, we want to ask Pop something."

Jake looked puzzled and surprised.

"Okay, what's up?" he asked, in return.

"Trey and I have been discussing what we want to name the baby," Dion began.
"At first, we thought about naming him after you, but then we thought there are
too many 'J' names in the family already.  I mean, just here at the house we have
Josh, Jake, Jesse and Joshie.  On top of that, there's also Jordan and Jay, so we
dropped that idea."

I'm sorry to say this, but Jake looked crushed.  It was as if he had just been built
up and then suddenly had the rug pulled out from under him.  It also made us
wonder why they'd asked to speak to us in the first place, if this wasn't their
reason.

"I think we've decided on a name, but we wanted to get your approval first," Dion
continued, which confused us even more.  "We want to name the baby Wyatt
Jacob Currie.  Would that be all right with you?"

Immediately, Jake was beaming and I was thrilled for him as well.  I thought this
was a wonderful gesture on Dion and Trey's part,

"Of course, it is," Jake quickly concurred.  "Not only is it all right, but I'm pleased
and honored that you would gave the baby my name as his middle name.  I like
the name Wyatt too.  I think it will be perfect for him."

Once they left us, Dion and Trey went out to tell Danny and Brandon about their
decision as well.  That pair was also quick to agree that adding another 'J' name
would have added to the confusion in the house, but then they followed that up
by stating they liked the name Dion and Trey had chosen instead.  Dion and Trey
also thanked Danny again for setting this up for them and explained that Joshie
was overjoyed when they told him that he'd soon be having a little brother.

By the middle of June, the work on Brandon's office was nearly completed, so he
began planning the move into his new place.  First, he told his current employer
that he would be opening his own practice right after the Fourth of July and then
he contacted temp agencies and asked them to send over the names of
candidates he could interview for the dental hygienist and receptionist positions.

Brandon also contacted the orthodontist that was going to share the practice with
him and gave him an update on the current situation.  The orthodontist was
ecstatic that work was nearly completed and eager to set out on his own as well,
but he admitted that he wouldn't be able to leave his current job for another
month.  Brandon told him he understood and looked forward to him arriving and
setting up shop.  Brandon also agreed to advertise his expected arrival, as a way
of drumming up some interest in his business.

Since Brandon's new practice and office was right off the main entrance of the
health center, the other work could go on without affecting his patients, as they
entered and exited the building.  Danny's future office suite was also nearly
finished and would be in the medical suite located closest to Brandon's dental
practice.

The medical suite across the corridor from Danny's future office was also nearly
finished, so Danny called his obstetrician friend to advise him of this fact.  His
OBGYN practice would be moving in there and Danny wanted to let him know he
could start setting up shop in the next couple of days.  The snack bar was also
nearly to the point where it could be opened, but Danny needed to find an
operator to run it, before the snack bar would begin serving the employees and
patients.

At this point, Danny and Brandon told the contractor they wanted the medical
suites finished first.  Once they were done, the laboratory would be completed
next, followed by the installation of the elevators.  Once that was done, the
contractor could start work on the operating and recovery rooms, along with the
employee lounge, which were to be located on the second floor of the addition.

Since some of the smaller offices were easy to complete, they were also nearly
done, so Danny and Brandon would start contacting the individuals who had
inquired about opening a psychological and speech therapy practice at the
center.  Many of those moving into their offices first felt they might only be at the
center part-time to start, at least until they had a chance to build up their patient
list.

This means that by the time August rolls around, Danny and Brandon will finally
have some rental income coming in.  This will help them out in meeting their
financial obligations while the rest of the center is being completed.  I felt things
were coming together very nicely, so maybe this wouldn't be such a gamble after
all.  It looked as if Danny, Brandon and Kevin would not only soon be their own
bosses, but Danny and Brandon will also be landlords and collecting some rent.

The weekend before Elliot's birthday, Dustin and Katie were getting married.
This particular wedding would be taking place locally, so we won't have to travel
this time.  It is also being held in the church we normally attend and officiated
over by the same minister who had conducted the commitment ceremonies for
our gay couples.  I was glad that he would be the one performing the wedding
service.

Dustin had asked Pat to be his best man, since they had grown quite close over
the years.  I think he might have been tempted to ask Kevin instead, but felt
Kevin might not be able to handle doing this for him.  I think Dustin was fearful
that it might dredge up memories from when they were temporarily a couple and
force him to deal with those feelings, on top of performing the duties of the best
man.  Anyway, I plan on watching Kevin that day, to make certain it isn't
bothering him, but I'm sure he'll be happy for his former lover.

Jake and I also offered to do the same thing for him that we had done for Duck.
We'd spend the same amount of money on his wedding, but it would be split up a
little differently.  Since Katie's family was a little better off than Jennifer's parents,
we offered to split the cost of the reception with them, but we were also chipping
in a substantial amount toward their honeymoon trip.  They had opted to go to
Bermuda.

The wedding was nice and our minister was happy to unite another of our
couples, but this time in marriage.  Katie also looked beautiful in her wedding
gown, which was a lovely white floor-length design, but without a long train.  She
had chosen to have her matron of honor wear a dark pink gown, while her
bridesmaids were dressed in a lighter shade of pink.  The entire female bridal
party carried bouquets and looked lovely.

Dustin, Pat and the ushers all wore tuxes with a flower in their lapels.  The entire
wedding party looked as if they had just stepped out of a bridal magazine photo
shoot.  I was positive their wedding album would contain some great
photographs and give them something to cherish for the rest of their lives.

The reception also went very well and Pat offered a wonderful toast to the happy
couple.  During his little speech, he also dredged up a few memories that I think
Dustin would rather have had him leave out.  Regardless, the toast was well
received and gave us a chance to chuckle about some of the things Pat had
mentioned.

The couple left directly from the reception and drove to the airport in
Philadelphia.  Their flight to Bermuda was scheduled to leave very early in the
morning and they didn't want to risk not being there on time.  After making sure
that they had their passports with them, we wished them well and made Dustin
promise to drive carefully, before we sent them on their way.  That's two
weddings down and one to go.

As June was coming to a close, I received another surprise when I got a call from
Ted Beckham.  If you remember, Ted's Aunt Jane had introduced him to our
family shortly after she took care of one of my sons in the hospital.  Ted was gay
and his father wouldn't accept him at the time, so she brought him to us, so he
could see that there was nothing wrong with being gay.  Over time, Ted and his
father were able to mend their tattered relationship, so now they are close once
again.

The reason Ted called was to ask if he and his partner could come visit for a
week.  He had mentioned it when I'd talked to him previously.  He'd said he
wanted to do this so his partner could meet the family, so his request didn't come
as a total surprise.  Therefore, I told him we'd be thrilled to have them.  That's
when he told me they'd like to come for the Fourth and stay until the following
weekend.  I agreed that would be fine and assured him I was certain that
everyone would love to see him again and meet his partner.

Before Ted and his partner arrived for their visit though, we had a birthday to plan
and celebrate.  Elliot's birthday was June 29th, and his father's wanted to make
his birthday as special as he had made theirs.  Even though Elliot's birthday fell
on a Wednesday, they still wanted to celebrate it on that evening.  Danny had
even taken off work an hour early, so he and Brandon would arrive home about
the same time.  When they did, they found Elliot right away.

"Happy Birthday, Son!" they both shouted in unison.  "We need you and Jesse to
get dressed quickly, in your good clothes, because we're taking you out to
dinner.  Our reservation is in an hour."

Elliot looked surprised, for a couple of reasons.  First, he didn't expect them to
make a big deal out of his birthday.  Besides that, he thought they'd wait until the
weekend to do anything, rather than doing it on a weeknight.  Even though he
was still slightly confused, he raced off to shower and change, with Jesse right
behind him.  They came downstairs about a half hour later and the rest of us
were waiting for them.  Fortunately, I had told each of the others about our plans
the previous evening, so they had a head start on getting ready.

On the way to the restaurant, we made a little detour first.  I think Elliot was
surprised when we pulled up in front of Hayden's house.  Luckily, Hayden must
have been watching for our arrival, because he came rushing out to join us, just
as soon as we pulled up.  You see, I had called his parents the night before and
told them about our plans and asked if they'd agree to allow Hayden to go with
us.  They said that would be fine and promised to tell him the following afternoon.
Now, he was racing out to the Suburban and hopped in, almost before I had
come to a complete stop.

"You knew about this?" Elliot asked, as Hayden buckled up.

Unfortunately, this almost sounded as if it were meant as an accusation, rather
than a question.  I was hoping that Hayden didn't over-react to Elliot's tone.

"Not until I got home, after we finished playing tennis today," Hayden confirmed.
"That's when my mother told me that your family had called and asked if I could
go with you."

That seemed to placate Elliot's curiosity without ruffling his feathers, so he settled
in for the rest of the ride there.  When we got to the restaurant, we were led back
to the private dining room and when we walked in, Hayden looked surprised.

"Damn.  What's this?" he wondered aloud.  "I didn't even know they had this
room."

Danny tried to play it down and nonchalantly told him that we often used it for
private family events, like special birthdays, and Hayden merely nodded.

"It's really nice," he mumbled.  "I don't think I've ever been to a place as nice as
this."

Once we were all seated, Hayden was told to order whatever he wanted.  At first
he seemed reticent to do this, but after Elliot whispered something to him, he
began to look at the menu again.  Once we'd all ordered, he had another
question for us.

"Do you guys celebrate all your birthdays here?" Hayden wanted to know.

"No, we usually have a cookout on the weekend whenever we have one, but
because this is Elliot's first birthday with us, we wanted to make this one special,"
Brandon told him.  "We'll have a cookout for him this Saturday too, so the
extended family can join us and you're welcome to come to that as well, if you'd
like."

"Yeah, that would be great, because I didn't bring a present for Elliot tonight,"
Hayden admitted.  "If I come to the cookout too, I can bring one then.  I wish I
had known about this beforehand."

"You don't need to get me a present," Elliot informed him.  "Just the fact that you
came up to me that first day at school, when I was kinda scared and alone, that
was present enough.  Now, you've become my best friend ever, so you don't
need to give me anything else."

"Come on.  I'm still going to get you something," Hayden insisted.

"No, you really don't have to.  Really," Elliot countered, adamantly.

"Nice try, but I'm still going to do it, no matter what you say," Hayden stated,
equally defiant.

Nothing more was said about it at that point, but I was certain Elliot was going to
say something to Hayden about it later, either tonight or tomorrow.

After our meal was delivered, we chatted while we ate.  I noticed that Hayden
kept glancing around the room the entire time, so he could watch how we were
interacting with each other.

"My parents celebrate my birthday too," I heard him tell Elliot, "but not like this.
It's usually just the three of us and we also go out to eat, but we don't go to
anyplace this fancy.  I can't believe they're going to throw you another party on
Saturday too.  Damn, that's awesome and you are really lucky."

Although I overheard what he'd said, I didn't comment about it.  I don't know if
any of the others might have heard what he'd said as well, but no one mentioned
it if they did.  I'll be interested to hear what Elliot might have to say about it later,
when we're at home.

As soon as we were done eating and the tables were cleared, the waiter brought
in the birthday cake.  It read, 'Happy 15th Birthday Son' and had the appropriate
number of candles on it.  Once Danny lit them, we sang to Elliot and he blew out
the candles.  Then Brandon handed Elliot a flat package, similar to the ones Elliot
had presented to Danny and him on their birthdays.

"Well, open it," Danny urged, when Elliot froze and just stared at the wrapping
paper.

Elliot's hands were trembling as he tore off the paper and opened the box.  Then
he pulled out a piece of paper that his fathers had placed inside.  He unfolded it
and read it quietly.  Then his eyes welled up and he turned to hug his fathers.

"What is it?" Hayden demanded.  "What did they give you?"

Obviously, Hayden couldn't think of anything that would make Elliot act this way
and was curious as to what the paper contained.  As soon as Elliot had calmed
down enough to release his fathers, he turned to face Hayden.  He just stood
there momentarily and didn't say a word, but then he finally spoke.

"It's a certificate that says my dads want to legally adopt me whenever I want,"
Elliot told him, "provided I'm willing."

I think the rest of us choked up a little at that point, once we heard what Elliot had
said.  Danny had only told me they planned to do something special, but he
never divulged what it was going to be.

"If you're willing?  Why wouldn't you want them to do that for you?" Hayden
wondered, aloud.

"We just weren't certain he was ready to take that step yet," Brandon explained.
"It's only been eight months since he lost his father and we didn't want to push
him, if he wasn't ready yet.  We can do this anytime and there's no time limit on
our offer."

"And we're telling you, upfront, that you don't have to change you last name
either, unless it's what you want to do," Danny added.  "You can either keep your
father's surname or use that as your middle name, if you decide you want to use
the Currie name.  The choice is absolutely yours and it won't change the fact that
we want to adopt you."

I think this was too much information and Elliot's mind was on overload.  When I
noticed his current reaction, I decided to bail him out.

"I'm sure your fathers aren't expecting you to answer them about this tonight,
Elliot," I clarified, in case he was confused.  "You can think about it and let them
know, whenever you decide what you want to do."

"That's right, honey," Brandon assured him.

I wondered if anyone else had picked up on the fact that Brandon had just called
Elliot 'honey.'  If they did, none of them said anything about it.

"As we said," Danny added next, "we can do this whenever you're ready."

Now that this had been cleared up, Elliot hugged both of his fathers again,
thanked them for the gift and told them he'd let them know soon.  I think the rest
of us were all thrilled for him, especially Hayden.

"I'm happy for you.  What a cool birthday gift," Hayden whispered to him.  "Not
every foster home is as nice as this one and they wouldn't offer to adopt you
either.  I think most of them are just doing it for the money."

Elliot's face suddenly contorted in a questioning grimace.  Something was
obviously troubling him.

"You get money for me being here?" Elliot asked his fathers, in disbelief.

"We do, but we don't spend any of it.  We chose to put it directly into an account
for you to use later," Danny verified, "just like my dad did for my brothers and me.
We don't touch that money at all."

"But you don't have to do that.  I've got more th..." Elliot started, before I cut him
off, by placing a finger across my lips.

I know Elliot trusts Hayden, but I felt it would be best if we kept his inheritance in
the family for the time being.  Elliot saw what I'd done and lost his train of
thought, so Hayden spoke again.

"Damn!  That's even more awesome!" Hayden exclaimed, although I'm not sure
he meant for the rest of us to hear his comment.

Once the party was over, we dropped Hayden off at his house and then the rest
of us went home.  Jesse went upstairs with Elliot tonight, because he could see
Elliot's head was spinning and he thought he might need company.  As soon as
they were alone in Elliot's room, Elliot turned to him and spoke.

"Did they do all of that for you too?" Elliot asked him.

"Yes, but Papa Josh is my dad, so he's the one who did that for me," Jesse
confirmed.  "They put that money in with whatever other money we got from our
families, plus I think he threw some other money in there too."

"Wow.  I didn't know that," Elliot stated.  "And he offered to adopt you too?"

"He did and I decided to change my last name to Currie when he did that," Jesse
confirmed.  "I can use the money he put in my account for college, to start a
business or to just get a head start in life.  Danny used his money to pay for his
education and then used the rest of it to put toward the health center.  I'm sure it
made things easier for him and that's what he wants to do for you too."

"I didn't expect them to do this," Elliot admitted.  "I figured they might want to get
me a special present, after what I did for them, and I spent hours trying to think
what they might get me.  I thought of tons of things, but I never expected them to
do this.  I was just blown away."

"Yes, I'm sure you were," Jesse agreed, "and it looks like Hayden was surprised
by it too."

Elliot nodded in agreement.

"What do you think you're going to do?" Jesse wanted to know.

"I don't know exactly, but I'll tell you one thing.  This is the happiest I've been
since I came here," Elliot answered.

Jesse stayed in with Elliot and cuddled with him that night, so he'd feel safe or
maybe just to help him relax.  Elliot's body was trembling slightly, but Jesse
guessed it was due to the euphoria he was feeling about his present, not from
fear or worry.  Jesse just thought he should stay in there with him, to help keep
Elliot calm.  It must have worked, because Elliot was his normal self again in the
morning, although he may have been walking more on air, than on the ground.