Published: 7 May 2026

Chapter 28 – Christmas Break Comes to an End

After we finished eating breakfast on Monday morning, we called Devin’s dad at work and explained the situation about possibly insuring the package before shipping it with UPS. We wanted to know if he felt it would be worth the extra expense.

“Yes, I think it would be a wise precaution. Not only have some UPS packages been damaged during transport in the past, but at least one UPS plane has crashed and burned before, along with its cargo. For those reasons, I feel taking out insurance on the package would be prudent.”

“Damn, I hope nothing as serious as the plane crashing and burning happens,” Devin responded. “We were just thinking that some of the cards might get damaged or destroyed, not all of them.”

“You never know, so I’ll add some money to your debit card to cover the cost of the insurance.”

We both thanked him for doing this for us, and since it will take him some time to put the money in Devin’s account, we won’t be able to take the package to the UPS store until later in the week.

On Monday night, we made supper for my parents again, and while we ate, my mom asked a question. “When are you planning on shipping your package?”

“We’ve still got quite a bit of work to do before then, but earlier we decided to do some research about insuring the package when we send it, since we’re afraid it might get damaged along the way. If that happens, then we could lose out on some major money, so Devin called his dad and asked him what he thought we should do. He agreed it would be a wise precaution to insure the package, and he also said he’d add some money to Devin’s debit card to cover the expense.”

“It’s probably a smart move to do that, because packages do get damaged at times,” Dad pointed out. “It’s also nice of Aaron to offer putting some extra money in Devin’s account to pay for it.”

“Yeah, and we didn’t expect him to do that!” I agreed.

“I’m glad you got that sorted out,” Mom added, “and I want to thank you for preparing another lovely meal for us.”

“Yes, it was very tasty,” Dad concurred.

“It wasn’t that difficult to do, but we’re glad that both of you enjoyed it.”

After we finished eating and had washed the dishes, we chose to watch TV with my parents. During the commercials we’d talk about a lot of other things, such as what had happened after they returned to work and their co-workers found out about what they had done on New Year’s Eve. We also wanted to know how their co-workers had reacted when they discovered that my parents had been in the ballroom as it was being robbed.

“The people I work with wanted to know what went through my mind when it happened and if I was scared,” Mom replied.

“And the guys I work with asked if I helped capture those guys or if I hid under one of the tables,” Dad said with a chuckle. “I told them that I helped to hold one of them down until the cops came and took them all away, but I don’t think they all believed me. Oh, and by the way, your mother and I found out today that we were granted the additional day off for your graduation.”

“And Devin,” Mom followed, “I want to thank you for calling your dad and asking him to get in touch with us so we could work out the details of our trip that weekend. Mike told me on the ride home tonight that your dad called him at work during his lunch hour today and they got everything worked out. And if you don’t mind, I think you should also give both of us your dad’s cell and work numbers so we’ll have them in case of an emergency.”

“Yeah, you should have them. Actually, I can’t believe I didn’t give them to you earlier, because I gave them to Mac right after that branch fell on my shoulder and busted a couple of bones. Hand me your phones and I’ll add them for you. I’m sure my dad won’t mind.”

After the last show ended, we all went up to our rooms and got ready for bed, and once again Devin and I made love. It wasn’t as involved and didn’t take as long as it had on New Year’s night, but it was just as satisfying, and after we finished we went through our nightly ritual before getting back in bed and falling asleep.

We continued working on the baseball cards for the next two days, and then on Wednesday night the discussion at the supper table changed our focus slightly.

“After you boys return to college, I suppose the next time we’re going to see you again is going to be when we come there for your graduation.”

“No, we’re planning to return during Spring Break, unless the burglars aren’t caught by then. We’re hoping to spend a little more time with both of you, and we’re hoping the baseball cards are back by then so we can find out how high they’ve been rated.”

“Do you really expect the baseball cards will be back by then?” Dad asked.

“We’re not sure, but we’re hoping they are, otherwise we won’t find out how much we can expect to get for them until after we graduate. It’s just that there are hundreds of cards and we have no idea how long it’s going to take the company to rate all of them.”

“Ok, we’ll try to plan something that we can do while you boys are here.”

“I probably should spend some of that time with my parents too,” Devin stated.

“Isn’t that your dad’s busiest time of the year, workwise?” Mom followed. “After all, your Spring Break is scheduled during the tax season.”

“That’s right, I didn’t think about that, so I’ll call my mom’s school and leave a message for her to call me. That way I can find out what she thinks about me staying here with you during that week, because I’m pretty sure she won’t be off work then. The school district she works for always has Spring Break at the end of March or the beginning of April.”

“Ok, and tell her she’s welcome to join us on both weekends if she’d like to, and she can bring your dad too, if he can spare the time. In fact, she can join us for the entire week, if her school has spring break at the same time, but just let us know what she has to say about this.”

“Ok, I’ll tell her, but she’ll probably want to stay home so she can have a meal ready for my dad when he comes home from work.”

“Ok, and we can understand if she wants to do that,” Mom replied.

“And don’t forget that the first of the two semi-final football games will be on TV tomorrow night, shortly after we get home from work, so we’ll have to eat quickly,” Dad reminded Devin and me. “The other semi-final game will be on TV the following night, and hope you two are planning on watching both of those games with me.”

“Damn, that means we’re going to miss watching the second game with you, because we’re planning and heading back to Fort Collins on Friday.”

“Can’t you wait and drive back on Saturday instead?”

“I’ll have to call one of the guys we’re supposed to be replacing to find out if they’re willing to continue the stakeout for one additional night.”

“I hope they’ll agree to do that, but at least promise me that you’ll watch tomorrow night’s game with me.”

“Yeah, of course we will, and we’ll be sure to have supper ready by the time you get here,” I responded. “We just hope the game is more exciting than the last two football games we watched with you.”

“It should be, because it’s being played by schools from the major football conferences,” he replied.

“When is the final playoff game being played?” Devin asked.

“That won’t be held until a week from Monday.”

“Then we’ll be back at CSU by then, so we’ll have to find someplace to watch it there.”

“Maybe you can ask the guys you went to the CSU home games with if you can watch it with them at their dorm.”

“Yeah, we’ll have to check with them,” Devin agreed.

After we finished eating, we went in to watch TV with my parents until we all went to bed, so it was a fairly relaxing night.

The following morning, we called one of our friends that we were supposed to replace on Saturday and asked if he and his partner would mind extending their watch for one more day. “Something’s come up and my dad wants us to wait one more day before we return to Fort Collins, so will you and Emmet mind taking our shift on Saturday night?”

“Yeah, I’m sure Em wouldn’t mind doing that either, so I’ll discuss it with him when we go take our shift tonight. Unless I call you back, then we’ll be happy to cover for you.”

“Thanks, we really appreciate it.”

We then got back to working on the baseball cards, and after lunch we finished up and were ready to pack everything up. First, we crumpled up some of the brown paper that we bought and lined the bottom of the box to cushion the impact of the box jostling around during transport and protect the contents for us. Then, we each got one of the two multi-rowed boxes and placed them on top of the crumple brown paper that we’d placed at the bottom of the box.

We then placed a legal-size envelope that contained the printouts of the various pages of the spreadsheet I’d created on top of the boxes. The spreadsheets were there so the Professional Sports Authenticator could check off the various cards as they graded them.

The envelope contained a flash drive with the various photos that we’d taken of the baseball cards so they’d see that we’d documented everything. After that, we crumpled up more of the brown paper and stuffed it around the sides of the two boxes, and then we placed even more crumpled brown paper on top of the boxes. We felt that would protect the cards from minor damage and anything more than that would be covered by the insurance we were taking out on the package.

Now that we thought we’d done everything we could to protect the contents of our package, we closed the box and used the packing tape to seal it shut. After that, we wrapped the box with more of the brown paper and taped that in place as well, and then we added the label on which I’d written the address for Professional Sports Authentication. Now that our package was ready to be shipped, I carried it out to Devin’s SUV and he drove us down to the UPS store.

Surprisingly, there were only a couple of other customers ahead of us, so we waited patiently for them to be taken care of, and then I explained our business to the clerk. “We’d like to insure this package for the maximum amount allowable, because it contains some very valuable objects.”

“We’ll have to verify the contents first, and if it’s agreed that the company is willing to insure it for the maximum amount, then we’ll have to repackage the items with materials supplied by the store. That’s to ensure that the contents have the best possible protection.”

After we unwrapped the package, we removed everything that was inside and placed it on the counter. After we did that, I showed the guy the spreadsheet listing the items involved. I then took the most valuable items out of the boxes and showed them to him, to convince him that those items were in the boxes and undamaged. After that, I showed him the flash drive and explained what it contained, and then I pulled up some of the articles on my phone that told what similar cards had sold for. After he read those articles, I waited until he got approval over the phone from whomever was in charge.

“Ok, I’ve just been told to grant your request, so now I’ll repackage those items using materials supplied by UPS.”

We watched as the guy took a box, which was definitely made of thicker cardboard than the box we’d used, and lined the bottom of it with bubble wrap. Then he placed the multi-row boxes on top of that, followed by the envelope with the spreadsheets and flash drive. He then added more bubble wrap around the sides of those items and on top of them, before closing up the box. He then taped the package shut and slapped a company label on the box that contained the address of the company we were sending it to. When he finished, we simply paid the required fees for the packaging, insurance, and shipping before leaving the store.

As soon as we got back to the SUV, we had a quick discussion. “I certainly hope that package doesn’t get totally destroyed or we’re going to lose a whole lot of money,” Devin stated,

“Yeah, that certainly wouldn’t be good, but I wonder if there might be something we could do if the cards are totally destroyed. We’d still have the photos of the cards and the articles indicating what they might have sold for, along with the fact that a UPS employee boxed it all up. Maybe we could sue UPS to make up the difference of what we could have sold the cards for and the amount we got from the insurance.”

“I doubt it, but at least we’d get something out of the deal,” Devin pointed out. “And if it’s only minor damage to some of the cards, then we shouldn’t lose out at all.”

“Let’s just hope nothing happens to the package during the trip there or on the way back,” I concluded.

We’ll now have to wait for the package to be returned to us, which definitely won’t be until after we’ve returned to college, so we won’t see the ratings unless we come home during Spring Break. In fact, chances are we might not find out how the cards were rated until after we graduate, depending on if we have to watch for the burglars over Spring Break as well. But once we have that information, we’ll have a better indication of how much the cards might actually sell for.

On the way back to the house, we stopped to pick up a few more items for tonight’s supper and a couple of subs for lunch, and after we finished doing that, Devin asked a question.

“What are we going to do now that we’ve finished working on the baseball cards, because we don’t really have anything left to do for the rest of today or tomorrow.”

“Then you’ve forgotten about one other task that we agreed we had to accomplish before we went back to Fort Collins.”

“And what might that be?”

“Discovering if there’s a Gay-Straight Alliance at Clint’s school, because we’ve got to find a way to get him involved with someone his age.”

“You’re right, it did slip my mind, but of course that might be because I’m not the one he keeps trying to proposition.”

“And unsuccessfully, I might add. Let me see if I can find a phone number for his school, but we obviously won’t be able to call there until tomorrow, because I suspect school is out for the day, since it’s already four o’clock.”

After that, we discussed a strategy for what we’re hoping to accomplish when we call the school, and then we went out to the kitchen and started fixing supper. It wasn’t quite ready when my parents pulled in the driveway, but it was on the table by the time they’d changed and freshened up, so we sat down to eat.

“It’s been so nice coming home to meals that I didn’t have to fix each night, and you boys have done an incredible job preparing them too.”

“I agree,” Dad added. “Did you ship your package today?”

“Yes, we did. The funny thing is, UPS had to repackage everything in company provided materials. It means we wasted all of our time and money getting the damn thing ready.”

“Did it cost you a lot when you packaged it up?” Dad followed.

“No, the things we used didn’t cost that much, but it’s the wasted time and effort that irritated us the most. We could have used that time to do other things instead.”

“I’m sure it upset you, but at least you didn’t spend a lot of money when doing it.”

“No, we just paid for the materials we used, and THEN we had to pay for the materials UPS used.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, so maybe Saturday night will help to make up for some of that.”

“You know, I didn’t think of I before, but we should have contacted Rory and Jaxon Fitzpatrick while we were home so we could have spent some time with them,” I stated.

“And we didn’t think of it either, since we hadn’t seen them at their parents Christmas party this year. That was probably because Liam had moved the party up a week for some reason, so the boys must have still been at college. They always seemed to ask us about you two whenever they’re around.”

“We’ll have to make sure to get together with them this summer then, because that might be our last chance to do it for a while,” I stated.

“Then I’ll make sure to mention it to Liam,” Dad replied, “and maybe we can work something out for after you graduate.”

“Yeah, that would be great!”

When the meal ended, Devin and I got ready to do the dishes, but Mom stopped us again. “Just go in and watch the football game with your father, because it means a great deal to him when you do that.”

We didn’t argue with her and did as she suggested.

The game was very exciting from start to finish, and when it ended, the winning team had only won by a field goal, but it was enough to earn them a “W”. Before we went up to bed, we promised Dad that we would watch tomorrow night’s game with him as well, and then we headed upstairs to go to sleep.

One of the first things we did after we woke up the next morning, besides eating breakfast, was to call Clint’s school. Our call was answered by a staff member and we asked her a question. “Does your school have a Gay-Straight Alliance.”

“May I ask why you want to know thar information?”

“Of course. We’re two students at Colorado State University and we’re working on a project that requires us to speak with Middle School students so we can get their opinions about certain topics.”

She hesitated briefly before she responded. “I think it would be better if you discussed this with their faculty advisor.”

“We need to get student responses, not those of the faculty advisor. If I left my name and phone number, would you have the club’s president or one of the other officers call us back?”

“I can pass along the message, but it will be up to them if they want to respond.”

“We understand and appreciate your cooperation.” I then gave her my information to pass along.

“I sincerely hope the president or one of the other officers responds to our message before we head back for the final semester of our senior year,” I told Devin. “That’s not only because I’m desperate to find a way to get Clint a boyfriend his own age, but we’ll also be very busy this semester.”

“The upcoming semester shouldn’t be that much harder than the ones we’ve already completed.”

“But I’m not sure that we’ll want to be responding to a phone call from them after being on a stakeout all night and trying to sleep during the day for the next week.”

“Yes, we’ll definitely need our sleep and won’t want it interrupted by a phone call.”

While we waited to see if we’d get a call from someone from the Gay-Straight Alliance, we discussed where the best place would be to position ourselves to watch for suspicious activity on campus. We actually came up with several locations that would give us a good view of a large area, so we agreed that we’d each fly back and forth between two of those areas every fifteen minutes. That way we could cover four of the most vulnerable locations, including those that are most isolated.

What that means is that those areas don’t get as much attention from campus security because the dorms don’t contain valuable equipment that is owned by the University. The locations containing those items would include the engineering building, areas where medical research is being conducted, places with athletic training equipment, and the rare book section of the library. The dorms are obviously at the bottom of Campus Security’s list of priorities, especially the dorms that are more isolated, except for when school is in session, because they have to watch for rowdy students and parties. We kept discussing this until around 4:00, when I received a call from an unfamiliar number.

“Hello, this is Michael MacPherson.”

“Hi, I’m Dean Gay, and I received a message to call this number.”

“Dean Gay are you an officer of the Gay-Straight Alliance at your school.”

“Yes, I’m the president, and before you ask, my last name is Gay and I’m also gay.”

“So are my boyfriend and I, but what I want to do is talk to you about a young friend of ours who attends the same school you do. He’s gay, but he’s not out yet, and although I suggested that he join the Gay-Straight Alliance, he’s fearful about being bullied by others who might find out he’s going to the meetings.”

“Yes, that’s a common fear for guys our age, especially if they’re smaller or weaker than most of their peers.”

“I’m impressed, because you’re very articulate for a person your age.”

“Thank you. It’s something my parents have instilled in me since I was a toddler, and it started with them discouraging me from using baby talk. Even before I started school, they’ve encouraged me to expand my vocabulary and use it when speaking, even when I’m talking to my peers. It’s because they’re both professional people.”

“They are? What do they do?”

“My dad’s a cardiologist and my mom’s a college professor.”

“That’s impressive. Where does your mom teach?”

“She’s an English professor at Colorado State University Pueblo.”

“My fiancé and I are both seniors at the main campus in Fort Collins. He’s a mechanical and aerospace engineering major and I’m a Math and software engineering major, but let’s talk about our friend. His name is Clint Fowler.”

“I vaguely remember him, because he was in a couple of my classes back in fifth grade. He seemed like a nice guy, but I think the way my parents wanted me to speak scared him off, like it’s done with so many of my peers. They tend to think I’m either a snob or a showoff, while all I’m doing is what my parents have asked me to do. They’ve both assured me that it will pay off in the long run, especially when I’m attending college, especially after I graduate and I’m looking for a job.”

“Yes, I’m sure it will work to your advantage when you get to that point in your life.”

“What is it that you’re hoping I can do?”

“My boyfriend and I are hoping you can encourage someone from your organization to contact Clint and ask him to join the Gay-Straight Alliance. We thought he might be more agreeable to joining if he already knew someone that was a member, and we also hoped that he’d find a boyfriend there as well. And even if he didn’t find a boyfriend, at least he’d meet others that he’d feel comfortable being around.”

“I’m sure I can get someone to do that, but if it’s all right with you, I’d like to be the first to approach him. As I said, I remember him as being a nice guy and kind of cute, and I could use a friend, maybe even a boyfriend. I’d just have to convince him that I’m not a snob or a weirdo, and if I can’t do that, then I’ll ask someone else to contact him.”

“That would be great and my boyfriend and I would appreciate it very much. Like I’ve said, he’s a friend and he feels comfortable being around us, but we just can’t help him out with what he’s looking for.”

“I understand and I’ll do my best to get him to join the Alliance.”

“Thank you, and it was nice chatting with you.”

“I enjoyed our conversation as well.”

That worked out better than I was hoping it would, so maybe Clint will have a gay friend or a gay boyfriend by the time we all go rafting together in May. Let’s hope our stakeout goes as well as that call did.

Shortly after the call ended, we started fixing tonight’s supper, and after my parents arrived home from work, we all sat down to eat.

“How was your day?” I asked.

“Tiring,” Mom responded, “so it’s nice to come home and find that supper is waiting for us.”

“And I hope you boys haven’t forgotten that the second semi-final playoff game is tonight.”

“No, we haven’t and we’re looking forward to watching it with you,” Devin responded.

“It should be another good game, because two more high-powered schools are facing off against each other.”

When we finished eating, Devin and I helped to take the dirty dishes out to the kitchen, and we were getting ready to wash them when Mom stopped us again. “I’ll take care of these, so you boys can go in to watch the football game with your father.”

We thanked her before heading to the living room, and then we settled down to watch the game. Dad was right, because it was a good game, even though the score wasn’t as close as the game the night before. Now, Devin and I will just have to find someplace to watch the final playoff game that will be played a week from Monday.

As soon as the game ended, we went up to get ready for bed, but Devin and I decided to make love first, because we aren’t sure how much strain there will be in staying up all night and looking for suspicious activity. It was also to mark the end of our time at home during the Christmas break.

When my alarm went off in the morning, Devin and I got up quickly and dressed, and then we went downstairs to have breakfast with my parents. Mom made pancakes, scrambled eggs, home fries, and sausage patties for our final breakfast with them, since she thought it would fill us up until we reached Fort Collins. We washed it all down with a large glass of orange juice, and when we finished eating, we thanked Mom.

“That was delicious,” Devin and I added after thanking her.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” she replied. “And don’t worry about the dishes and just get ready to drive back to campus.

We hurriedly brushed our teeth and packed the last of our belongings into Devin’s SUV, and then we said a final good bye to my mom and dad.

“Drive carefully and call us when you get there,” Mom said as we were heading out the door

“We always do,” Devin replied.

“And I’ll call you when we get there,” I added, and then I closed the door behind me and we headed to the SUV. Since we’d already eaten, we didn’t have to stop at the diner and only made a brief stop for gas and to use the toilet. When we arrived in Fort Collins, we unloaded our things, and during one of those trips we spotted Louella Haskins as she drove past the house, probably on her way home for lunch. Even from a distance, we could still see that she was making a face, so it was apparent that nothing had changed while we were away.

After we took our clothes up to our room and unpacked them, Devin and I started talking about what we were doing tomorrow during the day and what we were going to do when we were watching for those thieves later.

“As soon as we can, I want to go to the Old Town Library to see if we can find any more information about Johnny Logan and his family. I have a feeling that his parents are most likely dead by now, but I’m hoping we can locate one of his siblings, if he has any. They’re might be a chance that we’ll be able to find any brothers he might have had, but his sisters will probably be harder to locate, especially if they’re married.”

“Yeah, and they’ll probably all be pretty old by now too, if they’re still alive,” Devin added.

“Yeah, but I’m still hoping we can hunt down at least one of them, because then they’ll be able to tell us if there are any more relatives. Oh, and I checked the library’s website and they’re open from noon to 5:00 on Sunday, so maybe we can go then.”

“Ok, then we’ll go to sleep around midnight and sleep as long as we can, and then we’ll get up, eat, and head over to the library as soon as it opens,” Devin concurred.

“That’s fine with me, so I’ll take my laptop with me when we go there so I can make notes of any of the information that we find.”

“Sounds good. I just hope we can find enough that we can track some of them down.”

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