Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 22:35:58 EST
From: Bwstories8@aol.com
Subject: The Castaway Hotel - book 3    chapter 16

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

Don't read this story if:
**You're not 18 or over,
**If it is illegal to read this type of material where you live,
**Or if you don't want to read about gay/bi people in love or having sex.

The author retains copyright to this story.  Placing this story on a
website or reproducing this story for distribution without the author's
permission is a violation of that copyright.  Legal action will be taken
against violators.

I wish to extend my thank you to Ed for his editorial assistance with this
chapter.

If you have enjoyed reading this story, you will find other stories by me at
http://members.tripod.de/wolfslair, in the 'Other Stories' section.

E-mail responses to the stories, story suggestions, or other 'constructive'
comments or advice may be sent to: bwstories8@aol.com.

               *    *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Although the boys in these stories have unprotected sex, I strongly urge
all of you out there to be smart and protect yourselves from various
sexually transmitted diseases by using condoms when having intercourse.

                                 *    *     *     *     *     *     *     *

The Castaway Hotel-Book 3-by BW (Young-Friends).  Copyright 2000 by billwstories
Chapter 16 - Taking care of loose ends.           December 2000

As usual, Steve was there to meet us at the airport when we arrived and we
quickly loaded our things into the van.  It was already late, but we still
had a couple hours' drive home ahead of us.  For us the problem was even
more severe, as our bodies were still operating on the time zone in
England, which would have been five hours later than our own.  Because
there was little to see and our bodies thought it was so late, most of the
boys slept the entire way back.  For Steve's sake, I tried to stay awake
and talk to him, knowing that he must be a little tired too.  I did doze
off a couple of times and Steve just laughed when I tried to apologize to
him for that.  When we arrived home, I merely herded the boys to the
various bedrooms, telling Jay and Carlos that I'd take them to their own
homes later, not wishing to wake their parents at this ungodly hour and
wanting to get a little rest myself.  Soon they were all asleep in their
beds.  Carlos was in with Pat, while Jay slept with Ricky, Cole, and
Graham.  I passed out shortly thereafter.

The next morning everyone was a little slow getting going, the boys trying
desperately to have their body clocks change back to Eastern Standard Time.
After cleaning up, getting dressed, and having some breakfast, I told Jay
and Carlos to get ready and I'd take them back to their parents.  The other
boys didn't need any more travel, so I left the older ones in charge and
left all the boys at the house to unwind.  Of course I took Jay home first
and I helped him get his things together to take into the house.  His
parents ran out to greet him and he was soon smothered in hugs and kisses.
As soon as the embraces were broken, Jay began to tell them about all of
the things we had done and how much fun he had.  I enjoyed watching this
emotional reunion and I let them continue until they decided it was time to
stop.  They thanked me for having included Jay in this wonderful
opportunity and they said that they were pleased that Jay had such a
wonderful second family as ours to be part of.  I thanked them for their
kind comments, told them that he had been no problem, and that he was
always welcome into our home and our plans.  After exchanging a few more
pleasantries, Carlos and I set out for his apartment.

It took us a couple of hours to get there, but Carlos was excited to see
his mother again.  She had taken the day off from work, exchanging days
with another employee, knowing Carlos would be coming back today.  This was
even a more emotional reunion than Jay and his family had shared, and his
mother was crying and squeezing him like he had been gone for years, not
just weeks.  I sat back and let them carry on, knowing Carlos was enjoying
this as much as his mother was, and I waited for them to finish their
greetings.  When they finally broke, his mother asked him how the trip was
and Carlos started on a lengthy retelling of everything we had done and
seen.  He was so excited and animated in his telling of our adventures that
his mother began to laugh at his antics.  They were both having a great
time with this exchange.  When he finally finished telling his tale, his
mother hugged him again and thanked me for including him in our plans.  She
said they would both always remember this and she was happy that he had a
chance to do things that she couldn't afford to have him do on her own.  I
told her it was no big deal and that he would always be welcome to join in
whatever we were doing.  We said our good-byes, Carlos gave me a hug, a
kiss on the cheek, and several thank-yous before I left and headed for
home.

The ride back seemed long and lonely, this being the first thing I had done
alone in quite some time.  Although solitude is sometimes nice, I think
that I prefer to be surrounded by my boys instead.  They always seemed to
do something or come up with comments that brightened my day and they
continue to make me feel young and alive.  I sometimes think back to my
lonely existence before the boys arrived and I wonder how I ever survived
the loneliness once my wife had died and the children had gone off on their
own.  I would no longer have to consider that, as my house was now full of
love and alive with the energies of youth and an abundance of testosterone.
I shall never regret heeding Sally's suggestion to become a foster parent,
only wishing that I had been moved into action even sooner.

When I arrived home, the boys were still taking it easy, just putting some
of their things away, watching a little television, or talking to friends
on the phone.  I had barely passed through the doorway when I was literally
attacked by Dustin, Danny, and Brandon.

"Hey, Dad," Dustin began, "when can we take our driving tests?  You did
promise us that we could do it after we got back."

I now remembered the discussion I had with these three before we left, as
they were all getting the itch to get behind the wheel and be able to go
places on their own.  It would also help me, as I made them promise that
they'd help take the others to various places, including driving the high
school group in each morning and evening, saving me from making multiple
trips.  "Well, we'll have to do a couple of things first.  I don't want you
boys to have to take your test in our big van, so I'll buy a medium-sized
used car for you to practice and take your test on and I'll also buy a used
mini-van or something like that, that you can use to take everyone back and
forth to school.  I'll do both of those by the end of the week and then we
can begin some practice in the school parking lots, when they are fairly
empty.  Does that meet with your approval?"

"Sure, Dad," Danny answered, "but can we help you pick them out?"

I thought about that request before I answered him.  "You can help, but I
want you to remember that I will have the final say in what we buy.  I know
you will want a sporty car, but we will need something practical for this
family.  I'll see if we can blend those two concepts together, so I can
make all of us happy, but I won't make any promises.  And remember, you'll
be allowed to use either vehicle that I purchase, with permission, as long
as you can maintain your grades and I don't get any reports of you being
irresponsible as a driver."

The boys nodded in agreement and we set Wednesday as the day that we'd go
car shopping.  In the meantime, I'd make appointments for their testing and
we'd set up sort of a practice schedule, when I could take them out to
learn the basics.  I'd also make sure that all three were enrolled in the
driver's training class at school, so they could get another viewpoint on
how to be a competent driver.  I had a great deal of confidence in the
maturity level and responsibility of all three boys, but I wanted them to
understand that this was a privilege, and not just a right of age.  I
wanted them to know that this was a privilege that could be lost just as
easily as it was acquired, especially if they didn't remain mature,
accountable, and trustworthy.

As they headed off, I knew that, right now, I had a more pressing issue to
deal with.  I called Kevin into my room, so we could speak alone.  "Kevin,
I know your birthday was yesterday and we didn't do anything special for
you because of our trip back home, so how about if we have a party for you
next Saturday and you can help me select the menu for the party, give me
some ideas about what you would like, and let me know who you want to
invite, besides the family."

"I wasn't worried about it, Dad, and I knew that you didn't forget, but
you've done enough already.  I mean, the trip was more than enough for my
birthday."

"But the trip was for all of us, but everyone still has their own birthday
party, and you will be no different.  We had Ricky's party before we left
and you will have yours now that we've returned.  Think it over and let me
know what you want and then we'll start making plans."

"Okay, Dad.  I'll let you know later."

Kevin left and I thought of a few others things that I needed to do; the
first one concerned a certain young boy that we had left behind in Texas.
I closed the door to my room and called Brandon's parents' house to see how
things were going.  Brandon's father answered the phone.  "Hello, Patrick.
This is Josh Currie.  We just got back from our trip and I wanted to call
and let you know that Brandon was fine and I wanted to see how Nick was
doing."

"Hello, Josh.  How did the trip go?  Did everyone have a good time and are
they happy to be back?"

"Yes, the trip went fine and we all had quite an enjoyable time.  I'll let
you speak to Brandon after we're done, but I wanted to see how Nick was
doing while we were gone.  I'll also need to talk to him to try to work
something out about his future."

"I think you're going to have your hands full with this one, Josh."

"Did he give you any trouble?"

"No, not like you're thinking.  He has been well behaved and very helpful,
it's just his other activities."

"What do you mean by that Patrick?"

"Well, I know that Brandon is gay too and that we will always love and
support him, but this boy thinks that all there is in life is sex.  I think
he's tried to seduce every boy for twenty miles around, and he didn't want
to take no for an answer.  It didn't take much of a positive response for
him to really apply the pressure to get what he wanted."

"Do you mean he's forced boys into having sex with him?"

"Not in the physical sense.  It's just that he's so charming that he can
sweet talk his way into getting almost anything he wants or he can apply
enough pressure, verbally, to get what he wants.  Josh, I really think that
you'll need to talk to this boy about having safe sex and about the various
diseases and other dangers associated with such liberal sexual practices."

"I will, Patrick, I promise.  Do you think I could speak to him now?"

"He's not here at the moment.  He went off with a group of other boys.
They said they were headed to the park, but I think they had other plans in
mind.  I'll have him call you as soon as he returns."

"No, that's okay, Patrick.  Tell him that I'll call again at 4:00, your
time, and I'll speak with him then.  In the meantime, let me get Brandon so
you two can chat."

I went out and called Brandon and let him use my room to speak with his
parents and catch up on what they had done since they had last seen each
other.  While they were chatting, I was mentally preparing for the things I
would need to talk over with Nick, if he were to come here to live with us.
I had a plan about how to legally get him with us and I thought that it had
a fairly good chance of succeeding.  Now I just had to talk to Nick,
present my ideas to him, and hope that he agreed to go along with them.
Only my chat with him later would let me know if my hopes were realistic.

About that time, Kevin came back with Dustin and he told me what he wanted
for his birthday, who he wanted to invite to the party and what he wanted
to have and do.  I agreed with his suggestions, so he and Dustin went to
invite the others, while I took care of the remaining details.  He had
decided to have a fairly typical get together, similar to many of the other
parties we've had for the boys, inviting a few of his old friends in for
the festivities and he would ask them to stay overnight.  I had told him
that they would all have to sleep on the floor of the family room, as the
bedrooms were already overcrowded, but he just smiled and said that would
be fine.  He would make sure to have everyone bring his sleeping bag with
him, so it wouldn't be a problem.  He thanked me one again and the two of
them took off.

The rest of the day seemed to fly by, as we did the unpacking, the laundry,
and some of the other little chores that had been neglected for far too
long.  Almost before I realized it, it was time to call Nick again.  I went
into my room, dialed the number, and he picked up the phone on the second
ring.

"Hello, Nick?  This is Josh Currie."

"Hi, Mr. Currie.  Mr. O'Hara told me you called earlier and that you would
be calling back.  How was the trip?"

"The trip was wonderful, Nick.  I'm just sorry that you couldn't have gone
with us."

"Oh, that's okay.  I've had a good time here."

"So I understand, but now it's time to try to deal with what to do with you
next.  I have an idea that I'd like to talk to you about and I hope that
you'll agree with me, once I've finished telling you about it."

"Sure, Mr. Currie.  What is your plan?"

"Well, first I want you to call your parents and let them know that you're
all right."

"I can't do that.  My dad will want me to come back home if I call him, so
he can send me away to that dumb old military school."

"That's possible, but you have to let them know you're okay.  You won't be
able to come live with us unless we have his permission, or else your
parents could have me arrested for kidnapping.  I'll do a 3-way conference
call, if you'd like, and I'll be on when you talk to him.  After you've
finished, I want you to leave us alone, so I can talk to your father
man-to-man.  Would you agree to that for me?"

"I guess, but it doesn't sound like a very good plan to me."

"Just give it a chance.  If this doesn't work, you'll be no worse off than
you were when we first found you."

"That's not very encouraging."

"Don't worry, I think I can convince you father to give you a chance with
us.  Just be polite and try not to get into an argument with either of your
parents.  That would make it much more difficult for me to succeed.  Will
you do that for me?"

"I'll try."

"That's all I ask.  Just give me your home phone number and I'll get things
started."  Nick gave me the information, I made the conference call, and I
let Nick talk first.

"Hello."

"Dad?  This is Nicky."

"Nicky?  Where the hell are you?  Your mother and I have been worried to
death about you and we've had all kinds of people searching for you.  Are
you all right?"

"Yes, Dad, I'm fine."

"Where are you and why did you take off?"

"I can't tell you where I am, but I took off because I knew that you didn't
want a gay son and that I was an embarrassment to you."

"Nicky, that's not quite right.  I just don't think you're really gay.  I
think that you've just enjoyed some youthful experimentation and that
you've mistaken those feelings for something more."

"Believe me, Dad, I'm gay.  I don't have any interest in girls and I enjoy
doing things with other boys.  This isn't a phase I'm going through or that
I'm just playing around.  I'm gay, Dad, and there's just no getting around
it."

"But, Nicky."

"Look, Dad.  No matter what you do or say, I'll still be gay and I'm going
to be gay as long as I'm alive.  It's just what I am.  And besides, I don't
want to go to that military school."

"Nicky, I'm just doing what I think is best for you."

"If you want to do what's best for me, talk to Mr. Currie here.  He helped
me out when I needed it.  Go ahead, Mr. Currie, talk to my dad."

I wanted to do this alone, so I had to make sure Nick was off the line
first.  "Hello, Mr. Lawrence, this is Josh Currie.  If you'll give me a
second, I have something that I'd like to discuss with you, but first I
need to take care of something else.  Nick, would you get Mr. O'Hara for
me?"

"Sure, Mr. Currie."  There was a momentary lull before I heard Patrick come
to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Patrick, I just had Nick get you so I could make sure that he wasn't
staying on the line and listening in.  You can hang up now, and thanks for
your help."

"Sure, Josh, any time."  I heard the phone click and then Mr. Lawrence
spoke.

"What was that all about?  You mean Nicky isn't with you?"

"No, he's staying with a friend of mine right now.  We discovered Nick on
our vacation and we helped to get him out of a small jam.  I left him there
at my friend's house, until we got back home and I could speak with you.  I
have something I'd like to suggest to you, something that I think will help
both you and your son.  Nick told me you were sending him away to military
school."

"That's not very likely now.  After he had been gone for so long, I had to
withdraw his name from consideration.  I wasn't sure if he'd come back at
all, let alone in time to start classes."

"Would you mind telling me why you decided to send him there?"

"I'm not sure that's any of your business, but it was because he was doing
so poorly at his own school.  He has too many other distractions and he
wasn't applying himself."

"What would you say if I told you that I thought I could get Nick to come
home and I could also give you an alternative to military school?"

"I'd say that if you could do that, I'd be willing to listen to your
proposal."

"I'm sure that Nick would come home if you agreed to let him come to stay
with us during the school year and attend school here, with my sons.  He
really hit it off with them after we found him, and we have a very good
school system here.  I'm the principal of the middle school and we have a
very high percentage of graduating seniors going on to very reputable
colleges.  I'll even sweeten the pot and throw in a guarantee.  If his
grades don't improve by Christmas, then I'll convince him to do whatever
you decide would be best for him."

"Why should this concern you and why should I allow this?"

"Those are very fair questions and I'll try to answer them for you.  The
first part is easy.  Being an educator, I'm concerned about the welfare of
children and right now I've got several sons of my own who could have very
easily been where Nick is now."

"Do you mean your sons ran away or that they're gay?"

"What I mean is that they had situations that were detrimental to them and
they could have easily chosen to run away from them.  You see, my sons are
all adopted and some came from broken homes, bad situations, or they had no
family to care for them at all.  Nick is a very strong-willed young man
and, if you hold firm on the way you've reacted to his being gay and
falling grades, then I'm afraid that Nick won't want to come home and I
won't be able to convince him to change his mind."

"Then you'll just have to have your friend bring him here, willing or not."

"And then what will you do when he runs away again?  You can't be with him
every minute of every day, and just getting him home won't solve a thing.
You'll need to address the causes that made him run away, if you don't want
him to do it again."

"I still don't believe he's gay."

"Believe me, sir, he is.  My friend has told me that Nick is not shy about
approaching other boys either.  Does that bother you?"

"I'm not sure.  I've always thought that gays were immoral and freaks of
nature, but, if Nicky is gay, I know that he doesn't fit those
descriptions.  I love my son and I want him home, I just don't know how to
deal with him right now."

"Would you consider letting him come here and go to school with my boys?
I'll make sure that he keeps his grades up and I'll help him deal with
being gay."

"Are you gay?"

"No, sir, I'm a widower.  My children are grown and on their own and then I
adopted these boys.  I have a couple of sons who are also gay and I can
deal with them all at the same time."

"But I don't know anything about you or your family.  How would I know that
he'd be safe with you?"

"Well, he was already with us for a while and I think we took care of him
pretty well.  And I'd be willing to come meet with you or have you visit us
before you made your final decision.  I just want to make sure that you're
amenable to this, so I can talk to Nick about it.  Would that be agreeable
with you?"

"Well, that does sound fairly reasonable.  It's just that I want Nicky to
do well in life and I'm not sure if I can deal with him any longer.  I'm a
busy man and we don't seem to have very much in common now that he's
getting older.  If you think you can help him out, I'd happily accept your
assistance."

"I'm happy to hear that.  I experienced some of your frustrations with my
own children, as there was a period in which each of them seemed to drift
away from me.  Eventually things worked out and we were fine after that.  I
think that's just a part of children growing up.  What would you say if I
talk Nick into coming home now, then I'd come out to visit and meet with
you a few days later.  Then you and your wife could come here later and
check things out, if you decide to try my suggestion.  Would that meet with
your approval?"

There was a considerable pause before he spoke again.  "If you can talk
Nicky into coming back home, I'll agree to the rest of your proposal.  I'm
sure that my wife will have no problems with that, as long as Nicky is safe
and we get to be with him again."

"Fine, I'll call Nick and explain the situation and I'll have my friend put
him on a plane and send him back home, if he agrees."

"A plane?  Where the hell is he?"

"He's is Texas right now."

"Texas?  I thought he was still around here somewhere.  He ran that far
away?"

"Yes, he was a long way from your home when we first met him."

"And where do you live?"

"We live in Pennsylvania."

"That sure is a long way from here, but I guess that I'm fortunate that you
were the one that found him.  I shudder to think who else might have
discovered him on his own and what might have happened to him.  There are
so many sick and demented people in this world."

"Yes, I thought about that myself.  It does make you wonder."

"Thank you, Mr. Currie, for your help."

"It's Josh, and you're welcome.  I'll send Nick home as soon as I can
arrange a flight for him and then I'll fly out to meet you after that.  You
can decide what you want to do from there."

"Thanks, Josh, and I'm Mike.  I appreciate all you've done for us."  We
talked a little longer and he gave me his address and the directions on how
to get there.  I told him that I'd call Nick back, set things up, and then
call him back to let him know when Nick would be returning.  By the time we
finished our conversation, it felt like we had been old friends.  Now I had
to call Nick, explain things to him, and get him agree to this as well.

At first, Nick didn't want to give in and go back to his parents, but he
began to relent when I explained that his parents might let him come stay
with us and go to school here.  He would stay with them until school
started, then go back for Christmas break, and then he'd spend the summer
with them.  After some diplomatic finagling, I got Nick to give in and
agree with the arrangements.  Within minutes he was more upbeat and he
seemed to be looking forward to seeing his parents and then rejoining us
again in a few weeks.  I had him put Mr. O'Hara on and I explained to him
what was happening.  He agreed to put Nick on a flight, as soon as I could
book one, and I called to purchase the ticket and pay for it with my credit
card.  Once the arrangements were set, I called them back and gave them all
the details.  Nick thanked me again and said he'd see me soon.  I was happy
that it looked like we would be able to work this out and keep him with his
family.  It was another small accomplishment, but it managed to keep
another family together and on good terms.  I just pray that things will
work out between them.

I went out and told the boys about Nick's compromise, and they all seemed
pleased to know that he might be rejoining us.  Pat even offered to share
his room with him, but that meant that I'd have to go out and purchase a
bigger bed, as Pat only had a twin bed in his room.  I know he and Carlos
slept in it together, but that was only for short periods of time and I
think they were a bit closer than Pat and Nick.  After talking it over with
all the boys, we decided to buy a king-size bed and put it in the jungle
room, as that was a larger room, and then we'd move the double bed from
there into Pat's room.  Then we'd put the single bed in the old master
bedroom as a spare, when we needed an extra bed for visitors or who knows
what.  Everyone was happy with those plans and things were working just
fine for all of us.  Now we just had to hope everything would fall into its
proper place.

Even though it wasn't that late, we were all still very tired and our
bodies were only slowly beginning to adjust to the changes in time zones
again.  We decided to make it an early night and we all went to bed.  As I
lay there thinking of all that was going on, I reflected over my day and
realized how much I had actually accomplished, even though it seemed as if
I had done nothing.  But tomorrow would be a new day and there would be
many more things to do.

                   *    *     *     *     *     *     *     *

If you have enjoyed reading this story, you will find other stories by me at
http://members.tripod.de/wolfslair, in the 'Other Stories' section.
E-mails may be sent to: bwstories8@aol.com.