Date: Tue, 29 Feb 2000 09:47:14 EST
From: William Watts <bwstories44@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Castaway Hotel 2

Legal Notice:
The following story contains descriptions of graphic sexual acts.
The story is a work of fiction and has no basis in reality.

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			      * * * * * * * *

The Castaway Hotel - by BW  (Young-Friends).                Copyright 2000
by bwstories44
Chapter 2 - The adjustment period.
February 2000


I didn't see Ricky the entire day at school, with the exception of lunch
period.  It was at that time he looked me up to ask me a question.

"Mr. Currie?"

"Yes, Ricky."

"I was wondering.well, I.I wondered what you wanted me.you know.to do about
lunch?"  He looked like he was almost afraid to ask me this question.  Then
it struck me, some father I'm going to be.  I didn't even think about
packing him a lunch or giving him lunch money.

"I'm sorry, Ricky, I'm not used to having children to think about any
longer, except as students.  Would you mind buying your lunch in the
cafeteria?"

"No, sir.  That would be fine."

"OK.  Here's a couple of dollars.  Let me know if you need any more."

"No, sir.  This will be plenty."  He gave me a grin before he trotted off
toward the cafeteria.

"No running in the halls, please," I reminded him from behind.

He turned with a sheepish expression and replied.  "Sorry.  I forgot."
Then he was off, once more, at a slower pace.

He came by my office after school and asked what he should do.  I told him
he could either go outside and play until I was ready to leave or he go to
the library and do his school work.  He told me that he was going to go to
the library, as there was no one around outside whom he was friendly with.
I told him that I would come to get him when I was ready to leave.  I
jotted down a quick note and placed it on my briefcase.  "DON'T FORGET
RICKY," was all it said.

On the ride home, Ricky told me all about his day and I told him that I was
very proud of him.  When he asked me why, I told him it was because he went
a whole day without being sent to my office.  He grinned and responded by
saying that he had told me that he was going to try to do better and he
did.  I reached across the seat, tousled his hair, thanked him and we drove
on.


I fixed dinner as Ricky went outside to explore.  I told him that he could
take a tour of the grounds but I didn't want him to go into the woods
unless I was with him.  Other children have gotten lost in there and I
wanted him to get accustomed to that area with me before I allowed him to
enter on his own.  There is also one sudden drop off, leading down to a
creek, which could cause a major injury if an unobservant visitor should
tumble over it.  He agreed with my restriction and he was on his way.

He returned in an hour, just as dinner was ready to be served.  I asked him
to go wash up and return to the dining room to eat.  I had to send him
back, a second time, to do a little better job of removing the dirt.  This
time he returned clean and sporting a healthy appetite.  He had double
helpings of everything and he took all of the dishes off the table, rinsed
them off and loaded them into dishwasher as I was putting away the left
over food.  He had done all of that without any prompting from me.

I asked him if he had finished all of his schoolwork and he said that he
had, in the library.  He wanted to know if he could watch television and I
told him that he could.  He chose a harmless movie as I read my newspaper.
Just as I put the paper down, he moved over to cuddle with me.  I think he
had been waiting for me to finish reading so he could do that.  When the
movie ended, I asked him if he used the computers in school.  He said he
did and he liked to work on them.  I told him that, if he wanted, tomorrow
evening after dinner I would show him how to use the computer in my office
and that I'd add him to my Internet account.  He agreed to my suggestion
and said he would like that.  I told him it was time to head to bed but I
knew from his expression that he didn't want to.  He said that he wasn't
tired yet, so I suggested to him that he might like to read for a while in
bed.

"I don't like to read that much and I don't have any books."

"I think I still have a collection of books, that my children used to read,
in my office," I told him.  "My children did quite a bit of reading in
their rooms at night, especially the oldest and the youngest.  The middle
two didn't read quite as much.  Why don't you like to read?"

"It's all boring and dumb stuff," he responded.  I appreciated his honesty
and knew that I would have to prove him wrong.

"I'll make a deal with you.  I'll get one of the books from my office and
read you a chapter a night before you go to sleep.  If you don't like it,
by the time I've finished the book, I won't make you read on your own.
Deal?"

"Yeah, that sounds OK."  I wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the story or if
he just wanted to spend the extra time close to me.  Either way, I had my
chance to get him hooked.

"You go upstairs, brush your teeth, go to the toilet and get ready for bed.
I'll go into my office to find the book.  I'll meet you in your room."  He
raced up the stairs and I headed for my office.  I walked into his bedroom
carrying a well worn, taped together, dog-eared copy of 'The Hobbit' by
J.R.R. Tolkien.  It was one of my children's favorites.  Ricky was already
in his bed and I sat down beside him.  I opened to the first chapter, 'An
Unexpected Party' and began to read.  "In a hole in the ground, there lived
a hobbit."

Ricky paid close attention to the whole chapter, occasionally stopping me
to ask what a particular word meant.  He appeared smarter than I first
imagined, as I expected him to have more difficulty with the terminology
that was used, but he did very well.

"Can you read another chapter, dad?"

"I can but the question should have been 'Would you read another chapter?'
The answer to that question would be no, it is getting late."  He groaned
at my response.  I knew I had him hooked.

"It's time to go to sleep.  I'll read you another chapter tomorrow
evening."
  I paused while I looked at him.  "Ricky, do you say your prayers before
you go to sleep?"

He gave me a dirty look before he responded.  "I used to but God never
seemed to hear them so I stopped."

"Well, I think you should give it another try.  What do you say?"

"I'll do it if you want me to but I don't think it's going to do any good."

"Well, I'd appreciate it if you would humor me like that.  Would you kneel
with me beside the bed?"  He nodded in the affirmative.  "Do you think you
can do this on your own?

"I'll try but I think that you might need to help me."

"That's fine.  Just let me know when you need me."  He nodded again.

"Dear God.  It's me, Ricky Glover.  I know you haven't heard from me in a
while but my new dad thinks I should say my prayers before I go to bed."  I
thought he was off to a fine start.  "I never thought you heard my prayers
before but I might have been wrong.  Maybe you were the one who helped to
find my new home and my new dad.  If you did, I just want to say thank you.
This is the nicest I've ever had it.  Don't get me wrong, I loved my mom
but sometimes she do her drugs and start acting crazy.  Sometimes, she
scared me a lot.  I like my new house and my new dad so I'll be saying my
prayers every night from now on.  I guess that's all.  Amen."  He turned
and looked at me.  "Was that all right?"

"That was more than all right," I answered him with a hug.  "That was
perfect."

He hopped back into bed and I tucked him in.  "Good night, dad," he said
with another grin on his face.

"Good night, son," I responded kissing him on the forehead.  "I'll see you
in the morning."  I turned off the light and went back downstairs.  I spent
a great deal of time replaying his prayer over in my mind.  What he had
said sent tingles up and down my spine.  He made me feel incredible knowing
he was that happy with me.  This whole experiment may be a lot easier than
I ever suspected.  I know that there will probably be rough times ahead but
he seemed to be pleased with his situation and he was giving this
arrangement his best effort.  How could I not fall in love, as a father,
with this adorable little scamp?

The rest of the week went about the same.  Ricky adapted to living with me,
he kept out of trouble at school and he kept up with his schoolwork.  I
showed him how to use my computer, establishing a sign-on for him and
setting the parental controls, and I introduced him to the programs and
games that were on it.  I even set him up with his own e-mail account.
When he went to bed, I would read to him another chapter from 'The Hobbit'
and he would say his prayers.  The past two nights he ended his prayer by
adding 'and God bless dad' before the Amen.

I planned the weekend out in my mind but I didn't tell Ricky about my
plans.
  I wanted it to be a surprise.  I had been eyeing his clothing, as he wore
them, and I decided that he needed a new wardrobe for school.  His old
clothes would be fine for play or roughhousing but I wanted him to display
a better appearance at school.  I noted the sizes on the clothing that
seemed to fit him best and Saturday morning we set out to do some shopping.

"Where are we going, dad?"

"I think we need to buy you some new outfits for school."

"Why, I've got school clothes?"

"You have clothes but they're getting a little worn.  You can use those for
times other than school."

"OK.  I just can't believe that you'd want to spend money like that."

"Why?"

"Mom always said that we shouldn't spend a lot of money on clothes, seeing
they didn't seem to last very long.  I don't mind wearing those other
things."

"I know you don't, Ricky, and I appreciate that you're being thoughtful and
trying to save me money.  There is a difference in the amount of money that
your mother had to spend and what I have.  I think that you need these
things so I don't mind paying for them.  You will get to help choose your
own clothes, if you were worried about that."

"I wasn't worried but.I get to pick out my own things?" he asked surprised.

"Sure, why not?"

"Well, it's just that my mom used to buy all of my clothes when I wasn't
with her.  Either that or I'd get them as presents for my birthday and
Christmas."

"You'll still get presents that you don't get to choose but when we decide
you need clothing, or anything else, at other times - then you'll go with
me to show me what you want."

"That's neat.  Thanks, dad."  With that, he turned back to look out the
windows.

We had a pleasant day shopping.  He selected several pairs of pants,
several shirts, some socks, tee shirts and underpants.  He talked me into
letting him buy a three pack of bikini briefs to try, to see if he liked
them, but I made him take two other packs of regular briefs, just in case.
I told him that if he liked the bikini briefs, I'd bring back the regular
ones and exchanged them.  He agreed without a major argument.  >From there,
we went and bought him a pair of dress shoes, a pair of hiking type boots
and a new pair of sneakers for PE.  We both had a couple of bags in our
hands as we headed to the car to leave.  We tossed the packages in the back
seat and Ricky threw his arms around my waist as the door closed.

"Well, what's that for?" I wanted to know.

"That's for being so nice and buying me all of those things.  I don't think
anyone's ever spent so much money on me before.  Thank you, dad."

"You're welcome and it's not that big of a deal.  I felt that you needed
those things so there wasn't any question about buying them."

"I know but you spent a lot of money and you let me get what I wanted.
That was nice and I appreciate it."

"Thank you.  It's nice to have such a thoughtful son."  We went back home,
had a quick lunch and I told Ricky to put on his new boots.

"What for?"

"Well, I thought that I'd take you out for a walk in the woods, to show you
around.  My children always loved it out there and I still spend a great
deal of time there myself.  I find the woods very relaxing and it is always
so beautiful out there."

"Yeah, it sounds like fun.  Just a minute and I'll be right back."  While
Ricky was putting on his boots, I threw on some old clothes, my boots and I
grabbed a flannel shirt to cover my arms from the briars that are plentiful
in some of the areas that we would be visiting.  I tossed Ricky one of his
old hooded sweat shirts for himself and we headed out the back door.

It was a lovely spring day.  The sun was shining, the birds were singing
and there was a light breeze rustling the leaves.  As we walked through the
trees, I pointed out to Ricky the characteristics of the various types
(like walnut, maple, elm, birch, and so on).  I, also, tried to help him
keep his bearings and his sense of direction while I pointed out some of
the interesting features, along with the dangerous ones.  We walked in a
large circle around the area and Ricky surprised me by realizing that that
was what we were doing.  When I first started with my children, I could
easily confuse them with this maneuver and they could have gotten lost.  He
used the sun to keep his bearing and I was quite impressed by his
knowledge.  We completed our tour before dinner and we went back to the
house.  I began preparing our meal and Ricky started a discussion.

"That was a lot of fun, dad.  Can we do it again?"

"Sure.  In fact, I'm not sure you even need me.  You caught on very quickly
and you did very well out there."

"Thanks but it's more fun with you."

"I'd be happy to go with you again.  How did you learn so much about being
in the woods?"

"I used to run into the woods by our old apartment when mom and her
boyfriends started doing their drugs.  Sometimes they would get real mean
and I didn't want to be around them.  It got so I would sleep out there,
overnight, so I didn't have to return home before the guys left.  I tried
to watch the windows, to see if they were still there, but that didn't
always work.  Sometimes they would be lying on the furniture or on the
floor, kind of out of it, until I walked in.  Then they'd start giving me
shit.I mean, crap.  Sorry, dad."

"That's all right.  Saying that word isn't that bad, as long as you only do
it at home.  Go ahead, keep telling your story."

"Well, I started spending more time in the woods than I did at home so I
began to learn a bunch of things on my own.  I liked it there.  Nobody was
screaming at me or getting mad and trying to hit me.  It was real peaceful.
I built a lean-to and I brought some blankets and a small pillow and kept
them out there in a big, plastic garbage bag.  That way, they would always
be there when I would need them and I always had a place to stay."

This was a sad story and my heart felt for him.  He seemed to shake it off
like it was just a normal activity and he didn't show too much emotion,
although I suspected that this period of his life scared him deeply.
"Where did you live after your mother died?"  I already knew bits and
pieces of this story but I wanted his take on it.

"I lived in a couple of other foster homes but I never felt like they
wanted me there.  It wasn't like it is with you, dad.  I can tell that you
want me here but those people had their own kids and I was just there.
They never bought me anything, they never read me stories and they didn't
even talk to me that much.  I didn't like it with them and I would only
call them by their first names."

I was beginning to realize that Ricky didn't give his affection easily and
I was more than honored by the fact that he wanted to call me dad and that
he often told me that he loved me.  When a child grows up without much love
or attention, they often find it very difficult to get close to someone or
express their feelings.  Fortunately, Ricky bonded to me quickly and felt
right at home.  I know that if others join our little family, the
transition will, more than likely, not go as easily.

Dinner was, finally, ready and we sat down to eat.  Ricky still amazed me
with the amount of food his little body could devour.  We spent a quiet
evening on the couch, with Ricky cuddled up beside me, watching TV.  When
the last show had ended, I sent him to his room to get ready for bed.

As I walked into his room, to read him the next chapter from the book, he
jumped out in front of me modeling a pair of his new bikini underwear.

"What do you think of them, dad?"

I gave them a quick look.  "I think they look like they could use some more
material.  What do you think of them?"

"I like them.  Will you exchange the others for me?"

"Why don't we wait until you've had the chance to wear them for a few days
first.  If you still like them after that, then I'll exchange the others."
I must admit that he looked rather cute in them and I could see that he was
hiding a slightly bigger package than I would have suspected for someone of
his age.  He seemed thrilled by his acquisition and he spun around,
striking poses, to show me how proud he was of his new appearance.  I,
also, noticed that he had a cute little butt.  I was beginning to think
that I hoped he did like his new underwear.  I, finally, got him into bed
and I read him another chapter.  He then said his prayers, hopped into bed
and, promptly, fell asleep.

The next morning, I was startled into consciousness as this little blond
madman leaped onto me, bringing me, instantaneously, out of a deep sleep.
"Come on, wake up.  I'm hungry and I want to do something today."  I looked
at the clock and it read 6:30.

"It's Sunday.  I usually sleep a little later on Sunday.  Why don't you
just crawl in here with me and we'll sleep for a little while longer."

He quickly jumped in beside me.  I think that he liked the idea of spending
some time in my bed with me.  "OK but not for too long."  I got about
another 45 minutes of sleep before he started up again.

"My stomach's growling.  Can't you hear it?"

"All right.  I'll get up.  We'll get ready for church and, then, we'll go
out for breakfast.  Will that be satisfactory to you?"

"Do we have to go to church?"

"Yes, we do."

"All right.  I was just checking."  He ran into his own room, gathering his
things, and then he headed for the shower.  I got cleaned up, as well, and
by the time I had finished, Ricky was already downstairs waiting for me.

"What takes you so long?"

"I guess I just don't have your energy," I responded sarcastically.

"Yeah, a lot of people say that.  Well, come on, let's eat."

We went to breakfast and then to church.  When we got home, there were two
messages on my answering machine.  The first was from my oldest son, saying
he just wanted to say 'hi'.  That's right.  I guess I better tell my
children about Ricky.  I don't want to surprise them on their next visit.
The second message was from Sally Swartout.

"Josh, please call me as soon as you can.  I have another favor to ask of
you."

			      * * * * * * * *

If you enjoyed reading this story, you will find other stories by me at
http://www.teenboyauthors.org/thewolf/, in the 'Other Stories' section.
E-mails may be sent to: bwstories44@hotmail.com.