Published: 19 May 2022

So, that was interesting, what was going to be for me a very trying night, and believe me, it was, was mitigated by two things. First, the coffin was indeed closed. Neither Jay nor I was confronted by Charlie’s dead body every time we glanced to the front of the room, or to our side as we greeted fellow mourners while standing to the side of the bier holding his remains. The second, was the appearance of Rosa, Angel’s mom. The diminutive Italian dynamo, while certainly feeling our loss and our pain, decided to come and take care of us. Whether she needed a job or not, she was determined to finish what business she had in two days and return to take us under her wing and make our lives better.

Angel and Rosa left when we did, after Jay and I had knelt on the kneeler in front of the coffin and said our last goodbyes and as we turned to leave, with tears streaming down our cheeks, we were engulfed in the embraces of Beth and Rosa and then, after we had regained some semblance of composure, Carl and Angel. Rosa herded us all to the entrance hall and we all made our way to our vehicles. Jay and I were driven home by Angel and Rosa drove his car behind us. Beth and Carl followed her in their own vehicle.

At the house Beth and Rosa fussed in the kitchen for a short while and produced sandwiches and coffee for the adults and a sandwich and warmed milk for Jay. After we had eaten we were sent to bed. As I was getting ready to climb into my bed I realized I didn’t want to be alone right then, so I went to Jay’s room. He was just lying there, fighting sleep, and a look of total relief crossed his face as he saw it was me, and his little arms raised up and we held each other in a tight cuddle and we both started drifting off. I slept with him cradled in my arms and at about 7:30 AM we woke and he thanked me for keeping him safe from the bad dreams he had been afraid of. I told him he had helped me too. We high fived and arose to begin our day.

Apparently someone had spent time in our kitchen last night, after we had been sent to bed. There wasn’t any trace of last night’s sandwiches and there was a casserole in the fridge with a note on it. The note said it was a breakfast casserole and gave instructions on how to heat it for our breakfast. The note was from Angel and he said he’d be here to drive us to the funeral after he drove his mom to the airport. I told Jay what the note said and he said he thought Angel and his mom were the best and he thought Beth and Carl were good friends too. He seemed a bit reserved today, but at the same time he was being so stoic for such a little guy, he was somehow giving me the strength to make it through the day.

The burial was starting off from the funeral parlor with prayers from Fr. Brown and comments from a couple of friends including Beth who spoke so well about Charlie and his love for his son Jay and how close he and I had been while we were growing up and that brotherhood had continued into our adulthood and Charlie couldn’t have picked a better person to raise his son. Jay and I held each other tight during all this, and I could feel his little head nodding in agreement every so often.

Beth and Carl, along with Angel rode to the cemetery with us. There we all stood with Mr. Green as there was a brief committal service and then we all left, just before the coffin was lowered into the ground. I had invited several people back to the house, including Angel and Beth and Carl, our employees, the pallbearers (Charlie’s and my mutual friends from high school), Fr. Brown, our lawyer, and some close neighbors. I’d arranged for a light breakfast style buffet to be catered by a local restaurant and they did a great job, supplying the food and an attentive crew to serve it.

Our lawyer asked if Mr. Green and I could meet with him for a short meeting and I asked Mr. Green to meet with us. We sat in the den and we were told about Mr. Green’s retirement trust Charlie had set up with me as the executor of that trust and then the lawyer asked if he had any questions. The trust provided $2,000.00 a month for the rest of his life and Mr. Green was very pleased with this additional income being added to his Social Security payments. He thanked us and left us to discuss other bequests. Our lawyer explained in more detail what he had already told me about Charlie’s bequests to me and to Jay and asked if I had any questions about the additional funds that were being made available for raising Jay. These were several stocks and bonds Charlie had been investing with and they had been his source of income as he had raised his son alone and had joked he was a stay at home dad. I had always thought he was living off his parents legacy to him, but Charlie had played the markets with that and had increased that sum by the thousands in the last six years and his total estate worth was in the 60 million dollar range at the time of his death. The original 2 million left to me was apparently just for me, all of our living expenses, the taxes both on the inheritance and our property taxes would be covered by another trust he had set up with the profits from his investments.

I was handed a list of properties he had owned, some I knew about, some I didn’t, but they were all left to me. Jay would receive separate trusts as he had told me earlier, totaling about 8 million. When he turned 21 or graduated from college, whichever came first, five million would be released to him and a further 1 million when he turned 30. The rest would remain in the trust for the use of any children he had or be released to him at the age of 50 if he had no legal children by that time. I was told the properties and the trusts were managed by professional managers and were overseen by the law offices and at any time I needed access to either the money or the properties I was to let them know, and he gave me the cards for the heads of these divisions of his law practice.

I was a bit shocked, but I really shouldn’t have been. Charlie knew I had received the proceeds from my parents will and that my education was covered by an educational trust they had set up for me when I was born. They had both died of cancer and their presence was sorely missed right now.

We left the den and there was Jay waiting for me with Angel right at his side. Jay told me he had introduced Angel to his room, and I figured out he had shown his room to Angel. While there Jay had redressed into neat, but casual clothes and he told me he was going to show Angel the kittens in the barn, did I want to go too? I had to tell him that we still had company, and we had to be big boys and stay here until everybody said their goodbyes. He replied, “Oh yeah, I forgot. Can we go later Ray? Please, Angel really wants to see the kittens.” I of course told him that if Angel was still here after everybody left we could show him the kittens. Angel then told us he had the day off, in fact he had the next three off as well, and he’d like to stay for a while, if it was no imposition. I assured him it was not and we’d enjoy his company for as long as he wanted to stay. I thought I heard him softly say to himself “forever.” Jay was pleased, as was I.

As people started to leave I stood by the front door, thanking people for coming and sharing some stories about Charlie with those we really knew, like the guys who performed their duties as the pallbearers. They were great, and although none were currently close friends we had always made time to chat when running into each other in town, and I knew Charlie had also. Everyone also shook hands with Jay or gave him a quick hug as they left and once everyone but Beth and Carl and Angel had departed we started to relax a bit. Beth and Carl only stayed for a few more minutes, telling me to call if I needed anything as they left.

With the caterer and his crew gone and everything clean and the leftovers put away I went and changed out of my suit and I left Angel in the hall bath for him to do the same. We were ready in minutes and we walked Jay to the big barn so he could show off his kittens. I walked a little behind them as they chatted on the way and I couldn’t believe just how well the jeans Angel had on had been made. I briefly wondered if they had been assembled using steel thread, because I kept hoping the seams in the butt would break as the material was stretched around and cupping each cheek of his very muscular back side. I kept restraining myself from sliding my hand into one of his back pockets and groping his butt cheek, or just leaving my hand in there feeling the muscled butt moving under my palm and fingers as he walked, talking about kittens with my ward and most likely the one person in the world I could call family, at that time.

We did make it to the barn and thankfully Mr. Green had fed and watered its occupants already. Jay took us over to the stall that had the mother cat and her kittens in it. There, on a bed of straw with an old beach towel on it, were the feline attraction. There were only four of the kittens left and Jay said that Mr. Green had taken one to his house for company. He had told him that today as they were chatting at the house after the funeral.

Angel and Jay were down on the hay playing with the remaining kittens and I kind of wish I had a camera with me so I could film their easy interaction, and the way Angel’s jeans really stretched around his lower body, but I had forgotten my cell phone at the house and all I could do was stare and burn the images into my memory.

When the mother cat went to the bowls for food and water the kittens wanted some too and Jay and Angel were left without playmates for a while and I suggested a ride on the horses. Angel had told me he had ridden since he was a young teen when his family had moved to Belchertown from Springfield. So he and I each saddled up a horse and I took Jay when Angel lifted him up to me. We rode out the barn and down one of the paths through the fields, just letting the horses meander. We ended up at the grove that had a few apple trees in it. Jay was fond of the apples from these old growth trees, as was I. We found three good ones and we introduced old style apples to Angel. We had another fan folks! He loved it and we hunted around and found a few more to take back to the house. He told us about the pies and turnovers his mom could make with these and both Jay and I were really looking forward to that.

By the time we returned to the barn and had the two horses groomed and stabled for the night it was time to think about dinner. On the walk back to the house I talked to Jay about getting him his own pony. I told him his dad and I had learned to ride on one and he thought that was a great idea. I told him I’d have Mr. Green get looking right away. We stopped in at the cottage and Mr. Green was emptying a litter box when we walked up. He greeted us and I told him I thought it was time for a pony, and maybe a cat door for the back door to the cottage. He chuckled right along with me and he agreed I was right on both counts and he assured me both would be accomplished by the end of the week. Jay hugged him and I shook his hand, introducing him to State Trooper Angelo Maroni, whose mother Rosa was coming to work here as housekeeper soon. The two men exchanged pleasantries and we soon excused ourselves and went up to the big house to see what we could put together for our dinner.

When we got to the house I asked Angel to join us for dinner and he accepted, as he said he had the next couple of days off and with his mother out of town he’d rather eat with us than by himself. So I asked Jay to show him how to make a salad and while they were doing that I rummaged in the fridge for a main course and vegetables. Several people had brought with them a variety of food and I recalled seeing a platter of fried chicken and a bowl of potato salad and a bowl of coleslaw, all homemade. We had the makings for a great casual dinner and we set the table and I portioned slaw and potato salad for Jay and picked him out a drumstick that was as big across as his face. He had a great time munching on it like it was an ear of corn. He did eat the salads as well, but fried chicken, as well made as this was, was one of his favorites.

During our meal Angel told us about his mom and growing up with her. He told us that his dad had been killed in a construction accident when he was a child and how his mom went to work as a housekeeper to support him. He said she had always wanted more children and he thought that by coming here to work it would be the best thing for her, as she hadn’t worked in a few months and also she had his apartment so clean he was afraid to wear his shoes in his own place. He told us she lived in her own little apartment but he knew the rent was slowly eating away at her savings, so, as he said, our time of need came just at the right time for all concerned.

So far we hadn’t touched upon the subject of a dinner date, but after a very tired little boy was tucked up in bed, and I had help from Angel doing so, we sat in the family room, bare feet up on the coffee table, comfortable in our repose. I’m a doctor, dam it, I can do this, I thought. I cleared my throat and started the conversation. In a light tone I asked Angel if tonight counted as a dinner date, because I really wanted it to, even if I had done the asking. He pretended to hem and haw and he asked if I was ready for a kiss. I bent down to his level and our lips met in what I can only describe as an electrical storm. The tingling was electric, but not enough to hurt, no it was, shall I say, invigorating, intoxicating. It left me wanting more, much more. This muscular stud wrapped his arms around my much slimmer torso and leaned in for another. This time my lips were moister and we ground our lips together and I admit it, it was I who opened my lips and ran my tongue around his closed mouth, only to find a loose section at one end and I thrust my tongue in the rapidly opening lips and I finally had a taste of the inside of his mouth, his tongue curling around mine, our breathing becoming rapid and we began to breath each other’s breaths through our noses. We had no other use for our mouths than to try to give each other as much oral pleasure as possible, without being able to reach into each other’s throats with our tongues, although no one would have dared fault us for trying.

When we regained our normal breathing I was wrapped in his strong arm, content for the first time since we had met, but as I looked down at him I noticed a hint of concern on his face, nothing alarming, just a hint. His eyes seemed a deeper blue, his skin was flushed and his arms never left me. “Was that OK for you?” he asked and I started chuckling for our hardons were pressed together and there was a heck of a lot of wetness between our crotches, on our crotches, and in our underwear. I’d never in my memory ever unloaded in my jeans while kissing and I started to apologize and he silenced me with a kiss and said that half the mess was his.

We went to separate bathrooms to clean up a bit. We met again several minutes later and I asked if he was ready to spend the night. He held me and said he was, but he wouldn’t, not tonight as he really was on call for tonight and he didn’t have anything to wear in the morning but a suit he had sweated through and a pair of boxers and jeans that would have crusty parts by morning. He also said that I needed a good rest tonight, but if the offer still stood for tomorrow night he would pack a small bag with a change of clothes and join us for lunch at noon. I told him I thought that was a real good plan, and that way I could also kind of prepare Jay ahead of time for an overnight guest.

I stood at the front door watching him drive away and then, while watching the late news, I started to get a little down on myself, I mean Charlie had just died. He was the best friend ever. How could I have let happen what had happened, on the day we buried him, in the house he used to live in, the house he willingly gave to me, along with his son! Thankfully my reasonable left sided brain took over and I was able override my own complaints and justify what had occurred here tonight, and what I hoped would happen tomorrow night.

I had a strange dream during the night. I’m not going to tell you Charlie came to me in a dream or something, but I did dream, with a great deal of accuracy, of the day I came out. Not that I thought of myself as being closeted or anything, I hadn’t come to the realization I was gay until about a half hour before my folks got home from work. They usually walked to the big house together, and returned together. They were so in love that they rarely did anything on their own. My mother once joked that if there were two toilets side by side in the bathroom then there would be one less thing that would separate them during the day. My dad laughed out loud at that and told us that he’d install another one tomorrow, and get another exhaust fan too.

Anyway, I had been out of school for two days with a cold and even though I felt all right the second day, mom insisted I stay home to get my strength back, mom and dad brought me lunch and visited for a while before returning to the big house. After they had gone I was reading parts of the Kinsey Report that Charlie had snuck down to me the other day. I read sections that caught my prurient interest and came to the conclusion that I was Gay. I had no sexual reactions to females, clothed or unclothed, and the guys in the locker room really did turn me on. I read and I read. I learned there was at least 10% of the male population that was gay, that more and more anti-gay laws were being overturned, and that the most important thing, I wasn’t alone, I could lead a fulfilling life, I could even father children, if a willing female would undergo invitro fertilization.

Over dinner that night the folks asked what I did to occupy myself, and being a truthful kid I told them, and that I had come to the conclusion that I was gay, not that I wondered if I was, but that I was, even though I’d never tried anything with anybody. My folks didn’t say anything for a while and I was wondering if they were upset with me when my dad said they had wondered if I would figure it out on my own, or did they need to sit me down and have “the talk.” Mom said they had figured it out a year or so before and they had gone to Dr. Chris and Noah and asked their advice on how to handle the situation. They were advised not to confront me about it, that eventually everyone comes to realize their own sexuality, and when they do, no matter which way it goes, there are questions. They were assured I was a smart guy and they didn’t doubt that I would ask them, or my folks themselves, if I did have any questions.

That same night Charlie came to the cottage to tell me about a movie date he was going on with Candace Riggs, from our history class. Eighth graders didn’t go on dates by themselves, first of all we were too young to drive yet, and second of all we weren’t trusted yet to be able to do so. They were going on a “double date” with Candy’s older sister and her boyfriend. He was all excited and after a bit he looked at me and asked what the matter was, was I jealous because he got a “real date” before I did? Because he didn’t plan it that way, it just happened. I told him that of course not, I wasn’t in the least jealous, in fact I was really happy for him. He pestered me about it, as was his way, teasing me and trying to get information from me at the same time. I finally blurted out to him,” Why would I be jealous of you? I’m gay doofus, haven’t you figured it out yet? Was I the one born with the brains?” He told me of course I was the smarter of us two, he’d known that all our lives, but in this case he was the smart one because he thought I was gay back in the 5^th grade. I asked him why he hadn’t said anything about it and he told me it was my private thing, and if I wanted him to know I would have told him, like I just did, doofus. He then asked if I thought he was hot and I told him no, but I could see where a horribly disfigured girl like Candy would. We both busted up laughing at that, since Candy was really hot, for an eighth grader.

That night he told me that the gay issue was totally irrelevant to our friendship, after all we were raised together, we were twins born to separate parents and that was how it was going to be forever. We were BFFs before there were BFFs.

There it was in a nutshell, there wasn’t anything either of us could do to shake our bonds and my relationship with Angel could go on and blossom, or trickle off and end, but whatever happened I would always have the memory of my loving home and my friendship with Charles.

I awoke the next morning, about my usual time of 7AM and just had the feeling I was being watched. You know, that creepy feeling up the back of your head? I pried one eye open and there in the chair across from my bed was Jay, all bright eyed and grinning from ear to ear. He told me I snore, but not real loud, and that I had dribble coming from the corner of my mouth, and that my hair was sticking up all over my head, and sometimes when I moved in bed I pouted, but soft, like I snored. I couldn’t believe he had just critiqued my sleeping. I started laughing and I asked him if he could scramble eggs and he looked at me funny and then I told him that right now, I was the only one in the house who could cook breakfast, so he had to be nice to me. He ran over and held his arms out for me to pick him up and I did and deposited him right next to me. He told me he loved me and that he thought we made a good team, so we high fived and I got up and started for my bathroom and I turned and asked him if he had used the toilet yet this morning and he nodded yes and I asked him if he had showered and he said yes then I asked if his bathroom and bedroom were neat and he started to jump off the bed to run and check them. I helped him to the floor and off he ran and I jumped in the shower where I could also shave and brush my teeth. I dressed in jeans and a polo and went to pick up Jay.

He was shoving a few things in his hamper, and both rooms looked nice and neat. He held my hand on the way to the kitchen and asked if we really were having “samboled” eggs and I told him yes, as I knew he loved my scrambled eggs with grated cheese in them and English muffins with peanut butter spread so thick the little nooks and crannies disappeared. During breakfast I reminded him that Rosa was probably going to come here tomorrow and I asked if he really liked her. He thought for only a second and said he felt good with her and she was nice and she cooked good and she gave good hugs too. And she was Angel’s mom so that made her good too.

It was then I asked him if he thought we should ask her to move in here and he asked what bedroom she would use, he wasn’t used to having a woman in the house, and I took him to the hall off the kitchen, the one the pantry was in and I showed him the small suite that had once housed a cook or housekeeper in the days before my mother worked here. It would take a bit of cleaning and freshening up with paint, but it had really nice rugs and furniture and a sitting room, bedroom with its own full bathroom and a small efficiency kitchenette. As I recall this space had been used by Charlie’s family as guest quarters for an elderly aunt that used to visit them at Christmas.

Jay agreed this was nice and she would be close but not in his face. I chuckled at that and then I told him we were having company for the day and night and we had better get the kitchen picked up before Angel comes for lunch. He was very excited his friend the big trooper was coming again, and so was I.

After the kitchen area was cleaned I called Mr. Green on his cell and I caught him feeding the horses. I explained about possibly hiring Mrs. Maroni and that I was going to offer her the housekeeper’s unit off the kitchen hall, but I thought it could use a coat of paint to freshen it up, did he know someone who could do that and clean the whole unit up for us? He thought a moment or two and said he could have it done before the weekend, as the guy he was thinking of was off work right now but he was going to start a new job next week, so he’d call him now and have him come out and give us an estimate. He told me before we hung up that he had bought two gentle ponies yesterday, and they and all their gear should be delivered after lunch time today. I told him that sounded just great and I’d see him later when the guy came to look at the housekeepers rooms.

I danced around Jay, telling him I had a surprise for him and I wasn’t going to tell, nananana. He was giggling that great kid’s giggle and I was laughing right along with him. He of course wanted to know what the surprise was and I was sticking to my guns, I wasn’t going to tell him until the ponies had actually arrived.

We went for a walk as Jay wanted to see the kittens and we noticed Mr. Green had finished in the barn and I made note that he had even cleaned out two of the unused stalls and had gotten them ready for the new ponies. I wondered if I wasn’t adding too much more work for him this close to his retirement. If he was going to be leaving in the Fall that would only be about 5 months, as it was now the second week in June. I hoped he had found a replacement for himself and we could get that person on board and well trained before Mr. Green left. There were about 10 cows in the cow barn down the lane and I heard Mr. Green calling them in the barn from the pasture nearest that barn for their morning milking. It was a late milking time for most farms, but Mr. Green had set his own schedule and had done this for years, mid-morning and late night milking and the cows had adapted. Each year the oldest was sent to the butcher and a new one had to adapt to Mr. Green’s schedule or fall to the same fate as the oldest one.

We chatted with him for just a short time, as he was busy and I brought up the search for his replacement. He said he expected to hear today (Wednesday) about the man he had told me about and he asked if I was going to be around to meet with him if he accepted the offer of an interview. I told him I would be, but if that changed all he had to do was call me on my cell and I’d meet with them. I also told him that I had complete faith in his judgment and if he felt this man could do the job then it was his, I just didn’t want him to be working so hard he didn’t make it to retirement, I wanted him to hire the new guy right away so he would learn everything he could before Mr. Green left. He thanked me for that and Jay and I went back up to the house.

About an hour later I received a call from Mr. Green. He told me that he had spoken with his candidate for his replacement and that they were meeting at his cottage very soon and would I be available to go over the compensation package in about an hour? I told him I’d be available and that I was anxious to have this major issue settled and taken care of today, as the weekend was expected to be hectic for me as that was when I assumed ownership of the medical practice up at the Major/Sargent medical building. He said that with so much going on this week he had forgotten that and he reminded me that Rosa would probably be coming tomorrow to talk about her job. He told me that the handyman he had contacted should be coming any minute to see the space I wanted done over so we ended the call as things started happening.

Angel had arrived and there behind his car was another one that went down the lane to the cottage. Jay was out the front door and on the porch, waiting for his buddy before Angel even made it to the steps. I went out to greet him as well and the three of us went into the house. I asked Jay if he would show Angel the space we wanted to get ready for his mom and I followed as Jay led the man by the hand to the little suite off the kitchen hall. Jay was showing each space to Angel and I could see that he was pleased with what he saw. I told him that we were expecting a handyman to come and repaint the spaces and to do a thorough cleaning after, including the rugs and drapes He looked at me and said that he thought his mom would be very happy here. Then the doorbell rang and Jay was off to see who was there as Angel and I followed, after sharing a very brief kiss while still in the main room of the suite.

Jay was chatting with Mr. Green at the opened door and I invited him in, along with the man with him. Mr. Green started to introduce him and I stopped him and shook the man’s hand, greeting him by name. “Mr. Gault, how nice to see you again.” He responded that he hadn’t seen me since my parent’s funeral, and it was good to see me now. Mr. Gault had been the custodian at the high school when Charlie and I were students there. He was always nice to us and several times we had helped him move furniture around so he could clean or polish a whole floor, or any other chores that needed more than two hands, we were there for him. He was a friend of our parents and had remained so until their deaths. He had been a frequent visitor at the farm and Charlie had always hired him to do odd jobs around the farm when his skills were needed. He greeted Jay and then turned to Angel and he asked how Rosa was. Angel told him she was in Florida until the morning, but she was fine and looking forward to working here as the housekeeper. So everyone knew everyone and we went to the suite to see what he could do for us.

He told us that with his son in law working with him he could have the whole place painted and cleaned, rugs and drapes included, by Monday morning. I asked him what he thought the whole job would cost and he gave me a very reasonable price and I told him I would like them to start as soon as possible, so I could show Rosa that I was serious about her moving into the space. We discussed colors and I was glad Angel was with us as I probably would have gone with just white in every room, but Mr. Gault had paint swatches and Angel coordinated with him what colors would go where, including Jay in the process, asking his opinion of which shade of color on what space the colors would be used on. Jay was feeling pretty grown up by the whole thing, being included in the decisions, and I learned, that even though he was only 4 he had an opinion, and it should be heard.

Mr. Gault went about calculating how much of each color he would have to get and while doing that he called his son in law and asked him to drive out the van to here so they could load up the four Orientals and the 7 or 8 pairs of drapes and curtains and take them to the cleaners, so they could get them back by Monday morning. I showed Angel a large storage room further down the hall and I told him his mom could use that for storing anything she needed to, either her own things or items from the suite she would rather exchange for her own belongings. I knew it held a lot because many of the furnishing in my condo in Springfield had come from this room. This is where my parents had stored their own belongings when we moved up from the caretaker’s cottage after Charlie’s parents had died.

Mr. Green had left us because he had a call from his replacement candidate and he had gone off to do the first part of the interview, down at the cottage. We adults sat at the big table and had a late morning cup of coffee and Jay joined us with his juice cup. I asked if he wanted to make any change in his estimate, and Mr. Gault told me that everything should be the same, he didn’t foresee any major changes. He also said we shouldn’t have to wait long for his son in law, as he only lived a mile or so down the main road from us. Right on cue he showed up and after introductions he and his father in law were off to roll up the rugs and take off the window coverings. They left to drop those items off at a local cleaners that offered quick service, and to pick up their supplies. After they had left the three of us discussed what to do for lunch. I suggested a local cafe that had great sandwiches and Jay immediately seconded that and whether Angel liked it or not, we had the majority vote.

Mr. Green showed up with a young man at about that time. I say young man, but he was a bit older than me (I’m 28). He was Mike Blunt, 33 and a Marine Corps vet. He had been raised not far from here and had left the Corps not too long ago. He wanted to spend more time with his family, his wife and their son, Brad, almost 5. He came from a farming family and had helped his dad with their farm until he had enlisted. He and his dad had continued to communicate about their farm while he was deployed until his father died and his mom went to Georgia to live with a widowed sister there. The farm had to be sold to pay off the father’s medical debts and to provide an income for his mom, and he felt that by working with Mr. Green for the next 5 months he would be up to speed rapidly. The pay offered was very good, and that an increase when Mr. Green retired was included, along with free housing, after Mr. Green had moved out at the end of October, well, it would be a good fit for him and his wife and son. I was impressed and Mr. Green knew Mike’s family and obviously he liked the guy and thought he would do a good job, so I asked when he could start and he said Monday, if that was alright. I looked at Mr. Green and he was nodding, so I told Mike that would be fine, and I asked if he needed transportation and he replied the he didn’t so we shook hands and he left with Mr. Green to complete an employment contract so Mr. Green could get it faxed to the right person in the right department of the lawyer’s office.

We left for the cafe and made it there before the lunch crowd and we had huge sandwiches that probably would have fed two each. We stopped off at the library and after finding Jay a couple of movies to borrow we went to the checkout desk. We were greeted by Ben Major, the head librarian. His husband ran the IT department for the town and had his office here at the library and Ben and Jay were fast buds as Jay went through a couple of movies a week and he loved Ben’s story-time. Ben was one of Dr. Chris and Noah’s sons and the rumor around town was that Ben sometimes had dreams that came true. He told us he was glad we all had come in today, as he had a dream the other night and he had seen us under palm trees and soaking up the sun, all three of us, Jay, Angel and me. He said we were relaxed and comfortable and it meant to him that we were meant to be together, all three of us. I was a little taken aback but I thanked him very much for his insights and we left for home, as it was now close to surprise time.

I had filled Angel in about the surprise before, but now that Jay was in the bathroom, I asked him what he thought about Ben’s revelation at the library. He put his arms around me and kissed me briefly, making me want more of course, and told me he thought Ben was correct on all counts. I told him I agreed and kissed him again. We heard Jay coming down the hall and we reluctantly pulled apart as he came up to me for an inspection, and except for a not having zipped his fly he had done a great job. I asked him to please put his boots on as we were going to spend some time at the big barn and he could play with the kittens for a while. He gave me a high five and scurried to his room to change his footwear, and when done, the three of us went to the barn. We were there about 10 minutes when Mr. Green joined us and said the surprise was coming and sure enough there came the horse van to the front of the barn. Mr. Green went to talk to the men in the van and Angel and I each took one of Jay’s hands and we took him out to see his surprise unloaded.

Jay was thrilled and it took some diplomacy to convince him to wait for the ponies to get settled in before he could ride, but I told him that he would ride tomorrow. He was anxious to learn their names and when they had been led to the pasture with the horses, Jay ran over to Mr. Green and hugged him, asking the ponies names. Mr. Green answered him, tell him they were called Scout and Silver because they had been raised by the lone rancher out in Brimfield. Jay didn’t get it of course, but he liked the names. “Who is who?” Jay asked, and Mr. Green told him the gray one was Silver and the spotted one was Scout. Jay then went to the fence and watched the ponies moving about, munching some hay and inspecting the horses, as the horses checked these new comers out as well. I said to Mr. Green, “The Lone Rancher?” and he said to me that the other places out there were farms, not ranches. We shared a good laugh and I called Jay over and we went back up to the house.

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