Published: 24 Jan 2022

The following week was the last week of classes for the school year and Tom was able to commute for his last week in the little clap trap car he had. I asked him if he wanted to transfer for his senior year and of course he saw the reasoning behind the question, but he had good teachers where he was and had been voted president of the student council. He really enjoyed being on the baseball team and knew he wouldn’t get any flack from anyone at school, he was too much respected and liked there and most of already knew about his being gay, even when he himself didn’t know for sure. After hearing his wishes I contacted the school department and made arrangements for Tom to be a paying out of town student. I took him to a car dealership in Hadley and we each picked out new vehicles, as it turned out they were not brand new. Tom picked a slightly used midsize SUV with 4 wheel drive and I picked a slightly larger one with 4 wheel drive and a pick up truck for use on the property and off, again with 4 wheel drive. The winters in our area can be quite brutal, and frequently having to drive over the mountain separating South Hadley from Amherst makes the 4 wheel drive necessary.

Once I paid for all three vehicles we still had to get one of them home, as Tom and I had traded in our own cars, but we had to get the new ones home, so when one of the managers heard us discussing this he had two of the prep workers come out to the front office. He explained that one of the workers could drive the truck home for us and the other would follow in a company car and pick him up and drive them both back to the dealership. I told him that was great as another member of our household, my fiance Cal, was coming in after classes and was planning on picking out a new vehicle for himself this afternoon, but we would have the same problem if he should find himself something. I suppose we could have left the truck there overnight, but, with the offer of free delivery, how could we refuse.

It didn’t take long to get the paperwork done for the titles and registration to be swapped over, and I had called my insurance company and had Tom call his so we were perfectly legal to make our 30 minute drive back home. Cal by now had his own black card and I had texted him that Tom and I had both found something and I had picked up a pick up for the farm, (so Ray wouldn’t have to keep on using his own for work). I told him to have fun shopping after his last class and that I loved him and I’d see him at home about dinnertime. We made a four vehicle convoy through Hadley and then down through Amherst to the Amherst/South Hadley line and then to our home. On the parking pad in front of the garage the two men from the dealership stood outside the new pick up, looking at the house, the barn down the drive, the horses in the paddock, the cottage opposite the paddock, and the rolling fields behind all that seemed to go on for miles. I followed their admiring gazes and was proud of being able to purchase what looked like something out of Town and Country magazine, or a Currier and Ives painting. I tipped each of the men $50.00 and thanked them for helping us out.

Tom and I exchanged keys and we each took the other’s car for a spin. When we came back I saw Ray’s truck parked by the cottage so Tom and I drove the new truck down the drive and asked Ray to step out to take a look at it. He stared at it and I handed him the keys and told him the paperwork was in the glove box and he might want to put copies in the farm’s vehicle file, the truck was for his and Joe’s use on the farm and for farm business. He was pleased with the truck as it was a newer model of the one he had. He thanked me for the use of it and told us he had had his last class for the semester, and Joe was at his last lab and class now and both would be on duty full time as of tomorrow, at least through the summer. He expected they’d both be ready for our morning run on time in the morning, and would be ready every other day, and in the gym on alternating days. I told him that it sounded fine and if either of them needed help to get all that they had to do done, then to let me know, because I knew two high schoolers, almost seniors, who could use summer jobs.

Tom asked us to please make it happen, as he and Bill had been trying to come up with a way to see each other more, now that school was out and Tom lived out here. Ray and I looked at each other and with a shared nod we told Tom to get Bill out here so we could come up with a work schedule for them both and to fill out part time employment forms for both of them. Tom texted Bill and about a half hour later Bill arrived, all excited about seeing Tom, and getting a summer job of course. Ray and I talked to the boys and came up with a work plan for the guys and Bill even suggested he could help out Joe in the kitchen and even cleaning if need be. We thought that was great of him to volunteer to work in the house as well, but he told us it would be practical experience for him for when he was out on his own, as he wasn’t allowed to lift a finger at home. It appeared he was allowed to go to school but was virtually kept in his room the rest of the time. Since he met Tom he has asserted himself more and has encouraged his parents to “let him out more”, as he said.

Tricia called on Friday to tell us that my parents’ court cases had been consolidated into one and that they were on Wednesday’s docket for next week at the same courthouse Tom’s hearing was held in, but in one of the courtrooms of course. Since all the brothers had received summons to appear and Tom and Jim had been scheduled to give depositions on Monday at the defense lawyer’s office, Tricia wanted to come out to the house and have a meeting with all of us. She wanted to go over the case with us all present and she couldn’t figure out why I hadn’t been asked to give a deposition as well.

She wasn’t going to submit her witness list until late Monday in hopes the defense wouldn’t have time to depose me as well. All of us brothers, along with Cal of course, met with Tricia on Sunday night. We had invited her for dinner and after eating and then cleaning up, we sat in the family room area and talked about what Tom and Jim could expect in their depositions. Tricia was insistent that neither one lose their cool and that she would be in there with each of them during the process, so if they had any qualms about a question posed to them all they would have to do is look at her and she would either object or tell them to go ahead and answer, but she warned them not to lie and not to get wordy, just simple short honest answers.

After Jim’s deposition he didn’t have any time to tell Tom anything, as they hustled Tom in right away after Jim left the room. The parents weren’t there, but their lawyer was, of course, and he was very abrupt with the boys. He asked Tom why he had told his parents he was gay, when they came home from work that day. He told the man he hadn’t, and looked at Tricia. It appeared the parents had told a totally different version of that night to the lawyer, so Tricia then told Tom to stay quiet and asked the lawyer if he had read the police report. The lawyer hemmed and hawed as Tricia handed him a copy of the report and the witness statements from the parent’s neighbors, co-workers, and the bartender who had served them drinks from the time they had left work until 11pm when they were asked to leave the bar as they were getting quite loud and boisterous. Tricia said he could continue his questioning in court and told him she had texted the judge and he was in agreement with her and they, Tom and Tricia walked out.

Wednesday in court the judge announced that the defendants had accepted a plea bargain and there would not be a trial. The plea bargain meant they had to admit to this court their guilt in both cases and after that he would pronounce their sentence for both crimes. Our parents stood at the defense table and meekly admitted they had beaten their son Tom and that after causing him bodily injury they had thrown him out of the family home. They then admitted breaking into Sally’s home at night and rifled through it, trying to find information on their oldest son Scott, who they had thrown out years before but they now believed he was really rich and they wanted money from him. The judge looked really disgusted with them as he sentenced them each to 15 years incarceration in different state prisons. They also had to forfeit their home and property to Tom. Tricia explained it all to us after we left the courthouse and we all met at her office in the conference room. She said that the parent’s lawyer was the one who convinced them to take the offer from the DA after they had lied to their lawyer and had tried to falsify their evidence and had been caught out. She told us she was putting the house in trust for Tom but he interjected and said after the title was transferred he wanted it changed to all the brothers, since all of us had been adversely affected by our parents.

The rest of us protested, but Tom was adamant about his decision. He told Tricia he thought the house should be leased out, as it was a good neighborhood and could bring in at least 2 thousand a month and that would help cover all the expenses and taxes with a little for our savings accounts as well. He said he didn’t need their cars but he thought Harry and Jim might want them, as they were 4 wheel drive and newer vehicles than theirs were. Everyone was pleased with these decisions and Tricia told us to go ahead and get anything we wanted from the property and then during the next week she would have the house cleaned and anything left in the property would be donated to a charity. Then it would be listed with an executive home rental agency. Now came the task of sorting through the mess our parents called home. The boys had removed their personal belongings and now it was time to split up the rest of the household. The boys still had their house keys so on Thursday we drove over to the house and started gathering things the guys wanted to keep.

We started in the attic crawlspace and found Christmas decorations they hadn’t used in many years. Many of them had special meanings for us as they were used when we were a happy family during our preteen years. We divided up the ones we wanted and prepared the boxes of children’s clothing for donation. There were some old furniture we had never seen in the house up there and Cal thought they might be from our deceased grandparents, so we ought to take these small pieces downstairs and look them over.

The pieces were small tables, a few lamps, a magazine rack, a dismantled round dining table and a few ladder-back chairs that might go with the table. There were some rolled up carpets, sealed in plastic, under the eaves, and a couple of ornate chandeliers and wall sconces. We dragged it all down to the living room and started on the other rooms. We four brothers and Cal each picked a spot in the house to put things we wanted to keep and so we worked our way through the house and basement. We each found knick knacks and photos, sometimes a photo album we could go through later, some kitchen items we just couldn’t live without, and treasures from our past we might want to play with again. As I was going through the linen closet in the main bathroom, Cal called me from the master bedroom.

In the walk-in closet he had found a locked strongbox, the type you put important documents in. Jim ran to the garage and returned with some tools and we tried to pry the lock on the box. After a minute though Harry called from the parents bedroom that he had found some keys. We took the box into the bedroom and the third small key worked. Inside the box were a bunch of drug paraphernalia, baggies with different powders, syringes, all kinds of pills and about 5 thousand dollars. We all just sat back, looking in wonder at the contents. Cal spoke, finally breaking our disbelieving silence, saying we should call the police. The officer who responded to our call was one of the ones who had originally arrested our folks.

He asked if we had touched anything inside the box and I told him no, but at least two or three of us had carried or handled the box but only on the outside surface. He used his gloved hand to place the box in a large evidence bag and then asked us to let him take our fingerprints. We agreed to do so, as we knew none of us had touched anything inside it. He thanked us and took from the cruiser a kit and proceeded to take prints from all of us. Then he asked us to give statements at the station the next day, by then he might have some answers as to who supplied the folks with the drugs and if both or just one of our parents were users, and if they were supplying anyone else with them.

He asked our permission to search the area where the box was found and the rest of their bedroom. We gave it and went into the living room to wait until he finished. I called Tricia while he was doing this and she asked me to stay with him, so there wouldn’t be any question of planted evidence, but everything we had so far done was correct procedure. I went and talked to the officer and he told me he had called for another office to come out and help in his search and we could look both of them over to see they weren’t carrying anything to “plant”. He, and the officer who came out to join him, let us see they had nothing on them to plant and we let them get on with their search. They found a battered notebook and a pistol on a shelf in the closet in the folks room, but that was all. Actually they called me in to watch as they removed these items from the shelf.

They seemed quite pleased with the notebook, it had information from their buys and who they bought from and a few they sold on to. After they removed their gloves and their evidence had been bagged and photographed they thanked all of us and both said they, and all the town police, were sorry for what we all had gone through and they shook our hands as they left, reminding us to stop at the station the next day. We stayed about another hour, each of us taking to our cars the few things we wanted to keep. Cal thought the round table and chairs we could use in the pool house and the rolled up rugs could be of use to us or maybe Ray and Joe, so we fitted them in our car and Tom’s to take back home. I called and left a message for Tricia at her office that we had taken what we wanted from the house and she could have the remaining contents donated or given away and then the house could be freshly painted and rented out.

The next morning we all went to the town police station and gave our statements and then signed them. The chief came out to talk to us and told us the DA was going to seek to have several more years added to the sentences now being served by our parents and that the information from the notebook and the fingerprints from the drug paraphernalia in the box could lead to 15 or 20 additional arrests. He thanked us for calling them in and he shook our hands before we took our leave. The next nights local TV news had stories about the 10 arrests in Holyoke, 5 in Chicopee and five in South Hadley that were all related to drug busts.

The story also reported that a South Hadley couple already in prison on unrelated charges, had also been charged on drug possession and distribution counts.

The next Sunday Cal and I sat in his study after I had cranked out several chapters on the new book and Cal had completed his assignments and had a chance to catch up on his studying. We were discussing the type of ceremony we wanted and what to do about a reception after. We both agreed on a simple ceremony at the Mount Holyoke College chapel, where the aunts had married, with a catered barbecue here at home after. I asked Cal if he had someone in mind to stand up for him and he told me he’d thought more than a little about that and he’d like his father Frank and my brother Tom to do the honors and I told him I’d ask Harry and Jim for my side.

There were a few of Cal’s classmates and old friends, including Mrs. Fields he wanted to invite for the day and I told him I really wanted to ask Ray and Joe and also the ladies from the other house. I was also going to ask Harold, my agent and my publisher. I didn’t want to tip the scales in any way, after all this was our big day, but those people represented my writing career and what made our being together possible. Cal agreed wholeheartedly and we composed a simple invitation and directions and e-mailed them out to all but Frank and my brothers, those we would do in person and hand them a printed invitation. Cal wanted to do them tonight, but it was getting late so we decided to take them around to them the next night.

The next morning at breakfast we propped up the invitation to Tom against his juice glass, as he hadn’t come down yet. We normally had a small juice and or coffee in the morning with toast or a bagel before our morning run. That early in the morning there was only us three in the house, as Joe didn’t start work in the house until after our run. Bill would meet him there most of the time, sometimes he would join us in our run, sometimes he stayed over with Tom. That morning Tom came down to the kitchen and right away saw the envelope at his place. He tore it open and exclaimed he was pleased we had finally set everything for our marriage in motion. Cal got up and hugged him saying Tom had always felt like his younger brother also and asked if he would stand up for him, with his father, at our wedding.

Tom, with tears in his eyes, said of course he would, he loved Cal as much as he did his birth brothers. Cal then told Tom that there was a +one on Tom’s invitation, and he just assumed that Tom would invite Bill as his date, but Cal let him know that if he didn’t that I would insist Bill receive his own invitation, as we really liked Bill and we thought he was getting treated badly by his parents. Tom looked thoughtful and then told us that he and Bill had talked and they themselves wanted to marry, but were going to wait until after graduation in the Spring and that they had both applied for early acceptance to UMASS. We congratulated him and we did the same to Bill when we all gathered out front on the drive later to warm up before running.

As the six of us runners were nearing our back property line, just about half of our normal 5 mile run, Cal nudged me and pointed off to the left, at a car speeding down the county road that created the back boundary for our property. It was a narrow one lane rugged dirt road that ran for several miles and was seldom used, except by the county forestry service and the few farmers who abutted it. The speeding car was really hitting all the ruts in the dirt road pretty hard and as we all stood watching, from about 100 feet away, the car became airborne and smacked head on into a huge oak tree on the edge of the woods on our property.

The car began to smoke as we ran to it. I had taken my cell out of my fanny pack earlier to report the reckless driver to the police and as we reached the now in flames car the dispatcher answered and I reported the bad wreck, now in flames, on farm road #16. We six tore off our tank tops and were successful in getting the driver’s side door open and we were frantically trying to remove the female driver, who was unconscious and unresponsive. As Ray and I finally got the seat belt and air bags away from her and started to shift her out of her seat I heard a whimpering from the footwell of the back seat.

I helped Ray get the driver cradled in his arms and moved away so he could lift her up and out of the car and I dove right back in and reached down behind her seat and started feeling around for what I thought was a dog trapped in there. What my hand felt was a neck, a thin neck and I pulled up not a dog but a young naked boy, covered in bruises and he had a few newer cuts, probably from the broken glass of the windshield that now littered the inside of the car. Using both arms and hands now I cradled him to my chest and wriggled myself out of the car backwards just as we heard sirens coming toward us. Joe and Cal both poured water from their bottles on the lad as I continued to hold him in my arms. Ray and Bill, with Tom’s help, had carried the young woman away from the car and had laid her on the grassy verge, also trying to revive her.

The firefighters started to spray foam on the car so we moved closer to where the guys were trying to revive the woman just as the ambulance arrived with an Amherst police car escort. One of the firemen trotted over to us and dropped a handbag and a backpack at our feet before he raced back to help contain the fire so it wouldn’t spread to the tree or the surrounding vegetation. The EMT s weren’t having any more luck with the young woman than Ray, Bill, or Tom had had. They were preparing to load her into the ambulance.

The two officers came over to us and one started to ask questions as the other went through the handbag and backpack. I told the questioning officer that we guys were from the farm here and were out for our morning run when we saw the woman driving recklessly on the dirt road and had called that in just as she smacked into the tree. When the car started smoking we went to the car and removed her and then heard the little boy and removed him also. The little one was starting to look around as he clung to my chest and he reached out and grabbed my chin and said to me, “Are you a nice man? Mommy hit me a lot”. Then he laid his head on my chest and slept. I started to move around a bit, jiggling him around, trying to keep him awake because I couldn’t tell if he had hit his head or not and he might have concussion. One of the EMT guys came over and shined a light in his eyes and then checked him over as best could as the little guy still clung to me. Cal wet his hand and rubbed the water through the boy’s hair which seemed to wake him up and he looked at Cal and told him, “thank you mister, that feels nice”. The EMT told us he didn’t think the lad had a concussion, but he should be checked out as he had a lot of bruising. I asked him where they were taking the woman and he told me to the university’s medical center so she could be declared dead and the coroner could examine her there. I told him we’d be taking the boy there as well, as soon as the officers were done with us. The officers split us up a little as both were now recording our answers to their questions and I asked the one who was talking with me earlier if they had found any of the boy’s things in the car and he held out the backpack to me saying there were kids clothing in there, so I went to the police cruiser and dressed the lad in the crappy clothing that was in there. The meager items were not well cleaned, but the 4 or 5 year old would have something covering his body. The police had gone through the woman’s purse and had gotten her name and address and the identity of her son, Jacob. They offered to drive all of us back to the farm house so we all crammed into the cruiser just as the fire truck and the ambulance took off.

The officers complimented us on the much smoother road through the farmland and Ray told them he had just graded it recently, and then the officers saw the house. They commented that they had heard some rich guy had paid cash for the place and Tom laughed and said that his brother had bought it and he didn’t like owing anyone anything. I thanked them for the ride and we told them that we’d get some real clothes on and take Jacob to be checked over. They told us they’d see us there, as there were questions left unanswered and there was still the question of who would be looking after the child. We all rushed to get cleaned up a little and dressed, Cal ran a washcloth over Jacob and redressed him as I finished and then I held Jacob as Cal cleaned himself and dressed.

As we came downstairs Bill and Tom came scurrying down and insisted they go with us. Cal and I went to the garage to get one of the cars and we talked as we went and Cal asked if we could keep Jacob. I asked if he was sure, and in response he kissed me hard, letting me know how serious he was. So as Cal drove and Tom and Bill kept Jacob happy in the back seat I called Tricia. She was about to leave for court, but she asked for a brief rundown so I explained briefly the events of the morning and she said she’d call me back at the hospital in about a half hour to an hour and off she rushed.

The hospital must have known to expect us as there was a nurse waiting for us as we walked up with Jacob from our parking spot. She asked if he had had a seizure or passed out or vomited or anything and we assured her that he seemed much more alert now and he answers to Jake as Tom and Bill discovered in the car. The nurse chuckled and said the doctor was alerted we were there and was waiting so we all trooped into an examining room and there we met the doctor. He was a young man, maybe my and Cal’s age and he was very friendly. He amused Jake and they got along great. When he decided to have some scans and x-rays done on Jake, Cal offered to go along to keep Jake occupied.

It was good he did, because they weren’t even down the corridor when Tricia called. I had to step outside the emergency room doors to take the call and Tricia started right in on me. “Are you willing to foster or are you just going to adopt right off the bat? Are you willing, with Cal, to take parenting classes? Can you support him, are you able to have help to watch over him as you work and Cal goes to school?” She fired off in rapid form, She also told me she was in the judge’s chambers on speaker mode and the judge and a stenographer were listening in. It was the judge who had presided over Tom’s emancipation hearing, from family court. I answered all the questions and then the judge spoke up. She told me the police had investigated and found out that Jacob’s mother was unwed and had not listed a father on his birth certificate.

She had been in state care since she was abandoned at the age of 10.There were no known living relatives. She had been neglectful in raising Jacob, but the department that oversaw complaints about child abuse was neglectful in tracking her down, as she moved frequently. The judge was willing to grant a temporary custodianship to Cal and I, and after taking the parenting classes she would entertain our request for adoption, after interviewing Jacob. She told me our first class was in 4 days at the community center at the university and they would be every weekday night for two weeks. I told her that was totally acceptable. She, in turn, told me that she would be tracking our progress and that to expect she would periodically drop in unannounced to check on us, at least until we had completed our classes and were in a good place as a family. I told her all that would be acceptable to us and that we awaited copies of her order that would be faxed to our home, she said she didn’t want to wait that long and she was having her order faxed to the emergency room office as we spoke. I thanked her profusely and then went to the desk inside.

When I identified myself the nurse/receptionist smiled, said congratulations and handed me the faxed court decree, naming myself and Cal as Jacob’s responsible adults. Even before I made it to the waiting area where Tom and Bill were sitting, the officers from the car crash arrived and greeted me at the counter. They asked how the lad was and I told them that he was still being x-rayed and scanned but all looked well so far. The officers told me that someone from the family court had called them and their chief, and I held out the court decree for them to read. They congratulated me and I told them that today would be the start of a great adventure for Cal and I and I suppose for Jake as well.

We went over to Tom and Bill and as the officers went over Bill’s statement and had him sign it I handed the custody decree to Tom to read. We each read over our statements and signed them for the officers and by the time we were done Cal was walking out with Jake holding his hand as he waved to the doctor and nurse standing behind them by the exam room. When Jake turned forward he saw me and ran up to me and held his arms up, inviting me to lift him up into my arms. He shyly waved over my shoulder to Tom and Bill and the officers and then put his head down on my shoulder, hugging me tight. Tom reached between us and handed Cal the decree and Cal scanned it with a huge smile on his face. The officers then gave Cal the copy of his statement and had him sign it.

They then congratulated us all and then took their leave. We stopped at a shopping center on the way home and we bought two child car seats, one for each of our cars and several outfits suitable for a 5 year old who now lived on a farm. Cal insisted we purchase a little suit like outfit and shoes for the wedding, I looked puzzled and he whispered,”ring bearer”. Along with a couple of pairs of sneakers, some sturdy farm boots, and some rain gear we were all set to return home. Jake didn’t like the child seat at first, until he realized he was sitting taller than before. Apparently his mother had never used one with him and we were surprised she had never been ticketed before.

When we entered the house Jake looked wide eyed around and asked how many people lived here. Cal told him that Scott, Tom and he did. He then asked Jake if he would live with them. Jake looked up at me and asked if I were the daddy, he said he never had one before. I told him that Tom was one of my brothers, that Cal was going to be my husband and that Bill was Tom’s boyfriend. I then told him that if he stayed with us then Cal and I would both be his daddies. He looked thoughtful for a few moments and then said he liked that and that we didn’t hit and push like his mommy did and he never wanted to go with her again. I told him he didn’t have to, that he could stay with us forever if he wanted to.

It was nearing dinner time and Joe had arrived to start dinner preparations. When he walked in with Ray right behind Jake asked if they were my other brothers. I told him no, that these guys were Ray and Joe and they were more like uncles, they lived down the road and they took care of us all. Jake thought that was great, he had 2 daddies and 6 uncles all in one day. Cal told him he had a grandpa too and that maybe we ought to invite all the uncles and his new grandpa over for dinner to meet him. Jake thought that was a great idea. So while Joe started dinner Ray and I got all caught up on the day’s activities and Tom and Bill took Jake up to pick out his room right next to Cal and mine, with Tom next to Jake’s.

I broke off with Ray and called Frank and asked him up for dinner, as we had something important to discuss with him, he said sure, he could come up in about an hour and a half after he closed the marina office. I then called Harry and then Jim and told them they had to come up for dinner as there was someone they had to meet. They each said they would be up soon as they had no plans for the evening, and they both wanted to know who we wanted them to meet. I told them both when each one started this that they’d never guess in a million years so stop wasting time and come on up. I returned to the family room and continued to fill in Ray and Joe about the hospital visit (Jake was fine, there were evidence of a couple of old hairline fractures in both arms, and many old wounds that had scarred, but they would eventually fade as he grew). I topped it all off with the now battered faxed copy of the custody decree. They whooped and howled, and also congratulated us. Joe said he’d have to make this a special dinner and I reminded him about the extras coming which would make it a special dinner anyway.

Forty five minutes later the driveway sensor went bong and Jake looked up at me as Cal and I made up his bed. To be on the safe side we had placed a large plastic drop cloth on the mattress and a layer of old beach towels on top of that and then put the fitted sheet on. We had no history to go on, and when we asked Jake if he sometimes had an accident in bed he said that he hadn’t in a long time. I explained that when someone drove in our driveway that the bong would make that sound, so we knew we had company. I told him that we should go down to see who was here. He took one of my hands and one of Cal’s’ and we three went down to greet my brothers, Uncle Harry and Uncle Jim. Tom and Bill had answered the door and the brothers greeted each other, and Bill, like they hadn’t seen each other in months. As we came down the stairs I could hear Harry asking who was this person they just had to meet. Tom and Bill were laughing, saying what a great person they were going to meet. As we three walked toward them Jake asked “Daddy who are those big guys talking to uncle Tom and uncle Bill?” It got really quiet, except for the giggling from Cal and I, and Tom and Bill.

We could even hear chuckles from the kitchen as Ray and Joe were both working away in there. Harry and Jim looked down at our little red haired, freckled, fair skinned boy and their mouths hung open. I replied, “Jake these are my two other brothers, this one is your uncle Harry and this one is your uncle Jim, patting each on a shoulder so Jake could put a name to a face. Both uncles knelt down and shook Jake’s hand and told him it was great to meet him. All five boys went into the family room end of the kitchen and sat in there as Tom and Bill described our run this morning as Cal went and asked Jake to help his daddies with something. We didn’t want Jake to hear about the accident and his mother’s death. When Cal and Jake went into his study to get the two envelopes for my brothers he also grabbed the one for his dad, as Frank would be along soon. I went into my office and called the medical center. I wanted to know if Jake’s mother’s body had been claimed by anyone. I learned it hadn’t and then I asked for a referral to a local funeral parlor and asked that any billing from the hospital concerning her be placed on my credit card on file there under Jake’s name.

They found that information and gave me the phone number of a local funeral home. I made arrangements for the body to be picked up and then cremated, the ashes to be placed in their “Garden of Remembrance” with a small plaque with her name and dates of birth and death and the inscription,”Mother of Jacob”. When asked I told them there would be no services and no ceremony, please notify me when the internment was completed and send the paid bills to me. I then gave them my credit card number. As I told Cal later when we were alone I wanted Jake to have a place to visit if he ever grew out of not wanting to see his mother again. At least he would know where she was interred.

Cal had retrieved the envelopes and I handed Harry and Jim theirs, with my request that they stand with me at the ceremony. They accepted heartily and we three hugged. They then looked nervously at Tom, and Tom assured them he had a job to do also that day. Just then the driveway sensor bonged again and Jake ran to see who else had come. Cal met his dad at the door and introduced Jake to his new grandfather. Jake said he never had one of those either. Frank was totally speechless. He staggered a little and when he stopped staring at Jake he looked up and Cal and I could see tears on his smiling face. Tom came and took Jake back to his uncles as we took Frank into the living room and told him the whole story. He told us he never thought he’d have grandchildren, hadn’t even thought about adoption, but he was sure glad we had. Cal then asked his dad to stand by him, with Tom, as his two best men. Frank was overcome and grabbed Cal in a crushing hug, crying his eyes out. He reached out for me and I joined them. When he had calmed down he went to the half bath on this floor and washed his face and then joined all of us in the family room for a drink before dinner. Jake got apple juice, just like Tom and Bill. Ray and Joe were brought up to speed on the wedding party and I asked Joe to arrange with a caterer, maybe the one we used for the aunt’s wedding, for the picnic style reception to be held after the ceremony out on the terrace and pool area. It was to be a time to party and I didn’t want any of Jake’s uncles to have to work that day, except for Ray, he still had to feed the horses and the dogs. We all had a good laugh, but Ray assured us they would be taken care of. The prime rib roast was excellent and Jake ate a good amount of everything. I reminded him to give Joe and Ray a hug and thank them both for the great meal. The rest of us retired to the family room end and watched some television. My brothers and Bill pitched in cleaning up the table and the kitchen as Jake sat in his grandfather’s lap and they got to know a bit about each other.

When Jake started yawning a little while later I thought it must be his bedtime. I looked to Cal and he was looking at me. We both nodded to each other and we went and told Jake to say goodnight to his grandfather and the two hugged and Jake got a big smooch from his granddad. Cal carried him through the kitchen and all the big boys said their goodnights and Jake was hugged and kissed by all 6. We took him to his new room and showed him how to get to Tom’s room and then to our room. His room was right in the middle of both. We helped him into his new jammies and we both tucked him in and gave him kisses on his forehead. He gave us cheek kisses and I heard him say,“Night daddies”, as he drifted off to sleep. I had put a new nightlight in his bathroom so I turned it on and left the door open. Cal took the other night light and plugged it into the outlet outside our bedroom door. About 3 am something woke me and as I lay there in bed it came to me. Jake was talking to himself.

I eased out of bed and tiptoed to Jake’s room. I looked in and there was Jake, holding onto his groin, looking for his bathroom. I padded over to him and turned him around so he could see the dim light from the bathroom door. He scurried inside and I could hear him peeing into the toilet. He flushed and I could hear him wash his hands after. He came back into his bedroom looking relieved. He came up to me and said he thought that was a close one, he almost didn’t make it.

I softly chuckled and pointed him toward the dimly lit bathroom door and told him all he ever had to do was look for the light. I scooped him up and placed him back in his dry bed and tucked him in again, kissing his forehead as I did so. I told him I loved him and to have sweet dreams. He said I love you back to me and he reached up and kissed my cheek and went back to sleep. I returned to Cal and did the same.

The alarm awoke us early and by the time we had dressed in our workout gear Jake was at our bedroom door. He hesitated at the door, like he was afraid to come in, and Cal scooped him up and carried him in. He told Jake that whenever he wanted to he could come right in, but he had to knock on the door first and wait until someone answered him. That night we started sleeping with gym shorts tucked between the mattress and the box spring of our bed, just in case. We sent Jake in to wake Tom and once they emerged Tom took Jake in to get Jake dressed in some play clothes. We all had a small juice and a piece of toast and then went out to the big barn and watched Ray feed the horses and tend to their stalls and Tom took Jake and introduced him to the two barn dogs. He watched carefully as Tom fed and put out water for the dogs. The dogs were as fascinated by Jake as he was with them. The horses were another story. The horses sniffed Jake and some tried to lick him, but they were so huge, compared to him, they intimidated him.

Cal said that when one of us took him riding that would diminish in time. We went up to the pool house to do our warm ups before working out and we settled Jake at the round table we had put by the windows in the corner of the big room and Cal produced some coloring books and crayons he had picked up when we got Jake’s new clothes. He then put some cartoons on the TV near that end of the room and Jake was happy while we all groaned with the workout regimes Ray and Joe had us all doing. Tom wasn’t doing all the big heavy weights, but he was starting to see some changes, all for the good Bill said as he joined us just after we had started. He told us he was a little late because some college kid had gone off the road and hit the exposed rock wall of the mountain side just below the old quarry site and all traffic had been held up for a while in both directions. The driver wasn’t injured and he had no passengers so the clean up was swift. The officer he had spoken to said that the guy was a student at UMASS but his girlfriend was from Mount Holyoke in South Hadley on the other side of the mountain. The guy had made a breakfast date with her and didn’t leave himself enough time to get to his Summer job on campus back in Amherst, so he was speeding up the mountain and skidded when he tried to slow down for a curve in the road and skidded into the exposed mountain side. After we cooled down, Joe and his apprentice went into the house to start a real breakfast and we guys went and had our morning showers.

Cal started to take Jake into our bathroom to shower with us and I thought out loud that that might not be such a good idea, but Cal reasoned Jake would see us eventually and we were just going to shower, so why not treat it naturally, at least until he could shower on his own. It made sense so we gathered in the big shower and the three of us got clean. We didn’t play around, we both made sure Jake knew how to clean himself and we each cleaned ourselves, Jake could even shampoo and rinse his own hair. We didn’t think any more about it. We three went downstairs after dressing and we let Joe and Bill go off to shower. By the time they were done Ray had come by for breakfast and Tom had reluctantly left Bill to finish in Tom’s bathroom. Ray went to finish breakfast, but both Joe and Bill arrived in time to finish.

After breakfast I went to my office and wrote to the aunts about the new addition to our family. I then called Harold and had him start another trust fund, this time for Jake. He was pleased for all of us and I told him not to worry, there were still plenty of bedrooms for when he came to visit. He told me he and my publisher and agent were traveling out to Western Mass for the wedding together. They had some business to conduct in Boston before the wedding so it made sense to travel out together. Cal and I had decided to take the old office on the first floor and the old study on the second floor and turn them into bedrooms, at least for the wedding weekend. My agent and publisher both would fly home from our nearest airport back to New York and Harold would drive himself back to Boston the day after the wedding.

Cal was right. As soon as we put Jake in front of me on the saddle he was Roy Rogers re-incarnate. I didn’t make my mount run, but we got a fairly good trot out of her and Jake loved it, cheering the mare on as if he was in a big race. The others riding behind us got a kick out of Jake saying he and I had won the race. Once back on solid ground he explained his experience to the two dogs, who sat on their haunches in front of him as he related his 45 minute ride as if he had been riding herd for 20 years, with a couple of steeplechase races here and there. Cal said he took after me, that he’d be writing full length novels before kindergarten. After grooming our mounts Cal and I took Jake to Frank’s marina where we corralled Frank into joining us for lunch. Jake was impressed with his grandfather’s boats and all the water grandpa took care of. The wait staff in the restaurant at the marina got a big kick out of our little guy and tried to spoil him rotten. He had several new best friends by the time we left.

Tom and Bill had work to do so Cal and I spent the afternoon with Jake. After he had a little lay down, after we returned from lunch, Cal and I took him swimming. We held his first swimming lesson, trying to make it seem more play than lesson, he loved it. We knew this was going to be something we could do with him almost every day. After swimming we explored. We went for a walk down through the fields until we reached the pond. There we showed him the frogs and the tadpoles in the water and we told him that when he was a big boy, like Tom and Bill were, he could come here to fish or swim and to let his horse have a little drink before riding back to the barn. We had a fun time, strolling around the fields that Ray or a nearby farmer were preparing for planting. When we got back to the house I rummaged around and found the box of my old toys I had removed from my parents house. There were several old cars and trucks, just the right size for Jake to play with, some old board games, a few different balls, and a small baseball glove, still too big for Jake.

Cal and I cleaned up the cars and tucks and after they dried we presented them to Jake. He liked them a lot and wanted to go outside in the dirt to play with the trucks. Cal thought it might be a good idea to designate a play area for Jake and his trucks, so we scouted around for a place where he would be safe from moving vehicles and large animals. There had been a vegetable garden at one time out behind the pool house. It had a high chain link fence around it with a gated entry. To me it smacked of dog kennel and I didn’t want anyone thinking we would cage Jake. Then I had a thought. The covered walkway to the garage had flower beds on each side of the twenty foot long walkway. It was more like a greenhouse in there with glass panels enclosing the walls and a few skylights in the roof. Some areas had had some plants we didn’t like so Ray had removed them and we hadn’t had time to replace them as yet.

So this area, attached to the house, with access to the kitchen and the garage, which was always kept locked, became Jake’s truck room. The door to the kitchen could be left open and Joe said he’d be glad to keep an eye on him when he was in there, giving Cal time to study during the upcoming semester, and me time in my office when I was writing. Jake loved it. We had a monitor put in there and both Cal and I had receivers in our third floor rooms. Joe wanted one that would clip on his belt, as he often wasn’t right there in the kitchen, but was sometimes doing household chores in the rest of the house, of course he had Bill to help, but again, that was a summer job. We really had to start thinking ahead, this parenting thing was for a lifetime, not just for a short time. Cal and I talked about this after dinner, when Tom was playing trucks with Jake and what we decided was we needed a manny. We didn’t want a woman around the house all the time, although we recognized that Jake would have to be exposed to women who actually cared about him, especially since he would be starting preschool that fall. Cal thought that maybe a student who was going into early grade school teaching might be a good place to start.

He could prepare Jake for school, keeping him occupied for the times we were not available, maybe someone who could teach him swimming, or even horseback riding. I put all this onto a flier in my computer and ran off a copy to show Cal. He approved and suggested I add the hours we expected this person to cover. We discussed this and we settled on 1pm to 5pm, at least for the summer. I did that and showed it again to Cal. He thought it was what we needed so I printed off a bunch of them. We then gathered up Jake and we all took a ride up to the university and posted our notice on several bulletin boards, stopping to see Stella in the housing office. She came out to meet Jake and I think he had himself another admirer. We showed Stella the flier we had made and she asked if she could keep one, as Pam, her partner, had a younger brother who was looking for a summer job, but nothing had materialized as of yet. Cal asked how old he was and we were told he was 20 and was going to be a junior in the Fall semester.

He was majoring in elementary education, and had his life saving certificate as he had worked at the Y last summer as a lifeguard, but he was on their waiting list and hadn’t been called yet, plus we were offering to pay more for less hours. She asked if she could call him right away and we told her she could. She went back into her office and came out 5 minutes later and she asked if we’d interview him now as he had a LGBT Support group meeting later in the day. We asked if he was on campus now and she said he had been visiting his sister Pam next door and he was on his way here now.

Stella told us we could use her office, as she had several errands to run, and we wouldn’t be disturbed there. We were thanking her when this 6 foot, 5 inch hunk with dark red hair and freckles approached us. He hugged Stella to his side and told her thanks for calling. He turned to us and extended his hand, saying as he did so,”Hi, my name is Dean Carson, Pam’s brother. I’m told you need a manny for the summer, I have references from the local Y and also from several of my professors here. I have 5 younger siblings that I’ve taught to swim and I have been riding horses since I was six and could reach the stirrups.” He then handed me the flier we had posted in the building next door. Cal chuckled and said we were Scott and Cal and our son Jake. Jake looked up at this very tall young man and said. “Hi, I’m Jake and these are my two new daddies, boy are you tall, can you pick me up?” Dean did just that and Jake was happy being held up taller than his fathers. He thought it was great. We then went into our loaned office and explained in more detail what the job involved.

We explained that there might be times we would be traveling and we would expect him to accompany us, (I was thinking we’d have to do something about my Boston apartment, and as I neared the end of my latest novel, a trip to New York might be in our future this summer). I told him they wouldn’t be long trips as we were getting married in 4 weeks and had some things to take care of, but before the end of the month we had to spend a few days in Boston. We probably wouldn’t be traveling overnight until the fall, but his classes would have started back up by then, but if any trips occurred that he was available for, we would be glad if he could accompany us. We told him that if need be the position would be live in, but if he didn’t need accommodation we could go on a daily basis. He in turn told us he had shared an off campus apartment with his boyfriend, but they had just broken up over his friend’s cheating and he was in the process of moving out. Otherwise he was very interested in the job we were offering, he wanted to know how it felt to be working with such a young student and one on one at that. We invited him out to the house later, after his meeting, and he accepted, telling Jake he would see him later, he thanked us for talking to him and we all said our goodbyes.

We all left Stella’s office and went on our ways. Once in the car I asked Jake if he liked Dean and Jake said he was a giant, but a nice one, he said he was even bigger than me and Cal. We chuckled over that and asked Jake if he would like to have Dean to play and swim with, maybe even ride a horse with him and Jake said he’d like that a lot. We drove towards home and stopped at a pick your own apple orchard and we all three found some of the nicest apples we’d seen in a long time. At the stand we found some blueberries and some baking apples too. We loaded them up and we returned home. We filled Joe in about Dean and he said he and Joe would be around if we wanted them to watch Jake while we showed Dean around. I told him that wasn’t necessary, but we valued their input, so if they could join us that would be great. I told him that both Tom and Bill would be around, as Bill was staying over for the next week or so as his parents had taken off somewhere and left him by himself again, so if we needed to, we had them to watch Jake.

About 4 pm the driveway signal went off and Jake ran to the door to see who had arrived, he came running back to us in the family room and said excitedly that big Dean had come. We were still chuckling as I went to greet Dean at the front door. He was suitably impressed with the farm and remarked that the house he and Pam had grown up in would have fit in just the first floor. We introduced him to Joe and told him that Joe ran the house and his partner, Ray, ran the farm. We were just going to start the tour when Ray and Bill and Tom came in from what looked like a hard day’s work, all three being quite dusty and dirty. They excused themselves to go clean up. Joe was going to use the shower bath by the back door and Bill and Tom took off for Tom’s bedroom. It seems they all liked Dean right off the bat.

We walked the close property, introducing Dean to Jake’s dog friends and the horses, showed him the cottage where Ray and Joe lived, the chicken coop and it’s run which were both spotless now, and we knew what the three messy guys had been doing all afternoon. After the tour Cal and I took Dean up to the second floor and told him to pick out a bedroom for himself. I was pleased that he chose one right across the hall from Jake. We showed him the attic rooms, where he most likely would have to find us if we were not out and about. We all then took him out to the pool house. He seemed interested in the gym and we told him we ran every other day and worked out the other days. He asked if he could join us and we told him he could, we would slow ourselves down until he could catch up with us. We were only kidding but when Ray and Jake said they wanted a swim before dinner we all stripped off in the changing room and there was nothing about Dean that would have to be improved upon.

He had a fantastic body, the muscles standing out in hard plates down his torso, starting with a pair of pecs that put my pecs to shame and traveling down to an 8 pack that looked like the underside of a crocodile, not just 8 bumps, but 8 defined rectangular plates that led to a very trimmed bush that crowned an 8 inch soft uncut dick that dangled down between massive 28 or 30 inch thighs. With 18 to 20 inch biceps and a 30 inch waist he was quite a package, why his boyfriend had ever cheated on him was beyond me. I looked to Cal and he looked at me and we joined together in a crushing kiss and Jake told Dean we do that a lot cause we were getting married. He took Dean’s hand and they went out to the pool. I looked around and the other two couples were also kissing. I was hanging up my pants on a hook when both the drive alarm went off and my cell rang. It was Harry on the phone, saying he just got here and wanted to know if he could use the pool.

I told him to come out back, we were just going out to the pool. We waited to greet him before getting in the pool and when he arrived he saw we were all naked. Jake told him, “Uncle Harry, it’s just us guys, you don’t need a swimsuit on, we know you have a pee pee just like we do.” Everyone was still chuckling as Harry went in to disrobe. When he came out Dean was working with Jake in the shallow end. I guess we hadn’t introduced them to each other when he arrived, but Jake took care of that. He told uncle Harry that Dean was his new friend. Dean stood to shake Harry’s hand and Harry was struck speechless for a moment. Still shaking hands he stared up the length of Dean and asked if he could be Dean’s friend too. Jake told him that sure he could, but he got to play with Dean first, then uncle Harry could. Harry blushed as he said he’d like that. OMG!! My brother was flirting with Dean! What was going on here? Wasn’t Harry straight? What had I missed?

Cal chuckled and said that whenever they used to hang out or go running he had noticed Harry scoping out other guys and he had always thought Harry and his girl always seemed more like siblings than lovers. Tom and Bill said the same thing, they felt Harry had been in hiding, until I came back to town and reconnected with them, and then when he had introduced me to Cal, and it was love at first sight, they thought that proved something to Harry, that yes, you could have love, yes, you could have happiness, yes you could find success in what you do, and yes, you could end up with a family. They all thought we’d see something special out of Harry meeting Dean. I looked over and Harry was still holding Dean’s hand, and likewise. They were staring at each other and things were starting to move, just under the water’s surface. Cal was at their side in a flash and he had lifted Jake up out of the water, and out of danger of being impaled. Cal whispered something to them and they both turned beet red and sat down on the pool steps, side by side, with the most sheepish expressions on their faces, their thighs touching below the water.

Jake was not impressed, he had lost his new friend to uncle Harry, so we others made a big production of teaching him how to float and how to kick in the water, hanging on the edge of the pool with his hands. After about a half hour Joe thought he should be getting dinner ready and asked if he should include Dean and Harry and told him that we might as well call Jim and see if he also wanted to dine with us. I went back to the pool house and called Jim and asked if he wanted to join us for dinner. I told him it might be the last time he saw Harry as a single man. Jim chuckled and asked if Harry had been riding my stallion again, and I replied not yet had he, but maybe after dinner. Jim said he had to clean up a bit as he had been mowing the aunts lawn, but give him about 45 minutes and he’d be over. Jake was the first one showered and dressed and it was he who let his uncle Jim in.

When Cal and I arrived in the family room about a minute later, Jake was telling Jim about his new friend Dean who was going to play with him and teach him how to swim and ride a horse, but right now he was playing with uncle Harry in the shower in Dean’s bedroom. The look on Jim’s face was the definition of surprised. He looked at us as we walked in the room and both Cal and I were chuckling and Joe in the kitchen was laughing out loud. I told Jim what had happened when Dean and Harry met in the pool and he just nodded, saying that he had always suspected that Harry had some gay in him, and now he thought Harry would get some gay in him. We were laughing at that when Dean and Harry came downstairs and into the family room, looking a little flushed and shy. Before they sat down Harry came up to me and hugged me, saying thank you, thank you, thank you. I asked him for what and he said out loud, that he was thankful that I came back, that Cal and I had taken in Jake, that we had hired Dean, that we had bought a house with a huge hot water tank, and that the showers here were built for two. He then made an announcement. “I want everyone here in this room to know that I’m gay. I’m now proud of that and those feelings kept growing as I got the chance to know my older brother and his mate Cal. It also helped me by getting to know the people around them, like Ray and Joe, and the women from next door. I have no idea if things are going to work out between Dean and I, but we do have a lot in common, we both felt an immediate attraction for each other, and the guy thinks I’m hot. We even have some classes together this fall, I can’t wait to kiss him again.”

We were all surprised, but pleased as well and dinner was a bit more festive that evening. The sexual tensions around the table ran high. Partners were seated together instead of our usual melange, Jake didn’t seem to notice anything different, but after dinner when no one wanted to play cars with him I was thinking about what he must be feeling and Cal and I each grabbed a car and started to chase his car around on the floor with him. Joe and Ray left after everything was taken care of in the kitchen and soon after that Dean and Harry went out to Dean’s car and retrieved a few suitcases Dean had packed in there before coming over, hoping he would be hired. They didn’t reappear until morning.

Once Dean and Harry had unloaded the car and had everything stowed in Dean’s room the fireworks began. The softest places on these two 20 year old bodies were their tongues and the puckers of their asses. All four places were evenly matched and were penetrated often by each other, they both loved rimming and being rimmed. They experimented with a few other things as well. Harry being the novice and Dean a bit more experienced, but finding exploring Harry to be his new favorite pastime. Their first 69 resulted in massive eruptions. Surprised by Harry’s ability to deep throat him, Dean was in ecstasy as he felt Harry swirl his tongue around the exposed head of his dick with Harry occasionally trying to fuck Dean’s dick head with his tongue, while Dean was trying to corkscrew down Harry’s shaft while humming a tune even he didn’t realize he was humming.

The second time they tried these maneuvers, the other way around, both were successful. Dean’s length, hard ,was about 10 inches, but Harry’s practice with various objects made it seem like adult play. He was so pleased to have someone else’s hard shaft to play with that even when sleep came after they had frotted he kept hold of it as they slept. Dean awoke first in the morning. Waking in a new place, with a new companion, brought to mind his new job. He grabbed his discarded boxers from the floor, put them on and went to check on Jake. Jake was awake, sitting on his bed, playing with his new teddy bear his dads had bought him. He grinned when Dean entered his room and said good morning to Dean. Dean smiled at the tyke and asked him if everything was alright, did he have to go to the bathroom or anything? Jake told him he had already done that and that his bed was nice and dry, did he want to wait with him until his dads woke up?

Dean chuckled and told him he had a better idea. He scooped up Jake and his bear and took them back to his room, where uncle Harry was just starting to stir. Jake was joyful to see Uncle Harry, and squirmed to be let down on the bed. He crawled up Harry until they were face to face and Jake kissed his uncle’s cheek. “Good morning Uncle Harry”, was Jake’s greeting, “did you stay up late playing and had to stay over?” Dean was laughing and he lay down next to the two who were beginning to mean so much to him. Harry kissed his new nephew on the cheek and wished him a good morning. He reached up and kissed Dean good morning too, just briefly touching his tongue to Dean’s. He told Jake he did stay up late playing and he hoped Dean invited him to stay over many times, especially if he had wake up visits like this. Jake asked if he could have his shower with them this morning, like he did with his daddies. Dean told him that they were going running first and then they would shower after, so maybe he could shower with his dads after that, then they would have a fun day, swimming and maybe even going for a ride on one of the horses.

Harry asked Jake if it was alright if he stayed with him today. Jake said he’d like that, and Dean said he would too. By then they heard the dads moving around in their room, so Dean put on his running gear in his bathroom and then took Jake into his own room to get him in some shorts and a T shirt, with his little sneakers. Meanwhile Harry had borrowed some of Dean’s gear and he had his own sneakers from yesterday to use. I came out of our bedroom, wondering where Jake was, he hadn’t woken us and I didn’t hear anything from his monitor, so I dressed for running and while Cal did the same I went looking for him. To my surprise he was with Dean and Harry, all three ready for some morning exercise. I got a good morning kiss from Jake and Harry as well. He blushed a little and said he hoped I didn’t mind, but he had stayed over and I told him it was perfectly alright, he was welcome any time, and if Dean wanted to spend time at Harry’s place all he had to do was to let us know so Jake wouldn’t go nuts looking for him.

I let Cal know I had located Jake and that we’d see him in the kitchen. When we got there I started the coffee maker for later, then poured out our juices and started the first round of toast. Harry went out to the garage and wheeled out a jogging stroller we had ordered and had been delivered yesterday afternoon. Now Jake could come on our runs with us, except for the most rugged terrain. Ray had done such a great job grading that we thought with the smooth paths we now enjoyed that Jake wouldn’t be jounced about so much. We warmed up and Jake was so cute, trying to do stretches with us. He even climbed aboard his chariot so we could adjust the attached harness to keep him safely inside. Our run that morning was not our fastest time, but we had fun with Jake along. We took turns pushing his ride and he would tell us which one of us pushed the fastest. Once at home he again wanted to shower with us instead of a bath. We treated this request like the last time, we showered, made sure he was clean, we each tended to our own cleaning and we dried him and sent him to his room to pick out what he thought he should wear, as we both dressed for the day.

After another of Joe’s great breakfasts Ray informed us he had leased out the 6 fields closest to the back, along the county fire road where Jake’s mother crashed. I asked what they were growing and he replied there would be one field just for hay, another for oats and those crops would be for us. The remaining crops would be for a vegetable stand the farmer would run in the Fall. If Ray felt we needed any of these vegetables for the use of the kitchen staff we had a standing deal with the farmer. He had feelers out for the lease of several more fields, both here and the adjoining property, which we now had access paths to.

That afternoon we received a call from Tricia, reminding us we had class to attend that night and I told her we already had a hired babysitter, for the entire summer as a matter of fact. She was glad to hear it. Cal and I turned up for the parenting class and found we were not the only same sex couple there. There was another male couple, two female couples, and 6 male/female couples. Although I didn’t personally know the pair, one of the female couples knew me from the times I used to work at Mount Holyoke College for my aunt during my vacations during my college years. They knew both Gladys and Sally and asked how they were enjoying their honeymoon. Both Cal and I told them of the e-mails and how they were buying postcards and bringing them back for us as souvenirs. They asked us if we were planning on adopting and we told them about the circumstances surrounding our custody of Jake. They applauded us for stepping into the fire and asked how we were coping so far.

It suddenly was very quiet in the room, even the instructor and her assistant seemed to be hanging on our every word. We told them about the first few nights of nightmares, but also how quickly these went away, as we gave him lots of love and kept him very active throughout the day. The only problem we had encountered so far had been the shower issue. The instructor asked me how old he was, and Cal told her (and the room) that he was now about 5 ½ and would be starting preschool in the Fall. He told her there was never any horse play in the shower, it was to get clean and get out. She thought about it for a moment and then told us that in her estimation we have been doing the right thing. Since he made no mention of our genitalia or tried to touch us there she thought we would be in a very good position in the future for when those questions did come up, closer to puberty. For right now she said it sounded like he was finally able to enjoy being a child in a loving home. Boy, did that ever make us feel good. She thought as he grew bigger he would probably suggest he was old enough to shower on his own, so don’t discourage him, unless he really couldn’t do it.

I spoke up then and asked at what age he should be allowed to ride horseback. She asked how large our horses were and I told her they were between 14 and 16 hands. She asked how we felt about it and I realized that while he rode with one of us I felt it was alright, but by himself, I’d feel better if he were on a much smaller horse. The instructor answered that with, for a couple with all the common sense we had already shown, the next logical step would be to get one of those ponies for him. They were less than half the size of a horse, and if he used a helmet when riding he’d be just as safe as if he were riding a bike. Duh. Cal and I looked at each other, shaking our heads, why didn’t we think of that!! The instructor went on to say that a lot of parenting skills were common sense, mixed with listening, talking, and thinking. Caring had a lot to do with it also. Learning to “read” your child, knowing when something was bothering them, upsetting them, would go a long way to making things right for them in their world, and ours.

The class was for a few hours. This first week they covered everything from bringing home a newborn to seeing your first one off to school. We eagerly attended all the required classes, and for the last one we asked if we might be able to host it at our house, as we felt we learned as much from the other couples and their participation as we would have from some book from the checkout line at the supermarket. Permission granted, we indeed had the whole class and the two instructors to our farm for our last class. The group finally got to meet Jake and the alternate carers, Joe, Tom, and especially Dean. He had proved invaluable to us, taking over the caring of our son seamlessly during my writing time and our class time. I didn’t know what we’d do without him when he returned to classes in the Fall, actually during the week after our wedding, which was not three weeks away.

With our certificate proving we had not only attended the classes, but a letter from the instructor singing our praises, we drove over to see Tricia and presented her with a copy to submit with our application to the family court for adoption, thus completing the requirements the judge had asked for. Tricia had the application ready, she was just waiting for the certificate to fax our petition over to the court.

Two hours later, after getting Jake a longer pair of pants to go with his little suit, we arrived home to find Tom, Harry, Jim and Dean giving the royal tour of the property to Sally and Gladys, home 10 days earlier than planned. The ladies said they were so anxious to be home they postponed their trip to the library of congress and also they couldn’t wait to meet their first great nephew. We all survived the hugs and kisses and Jake was enthralled by these two new people in his life. Jim had loaded his belongings from their house and he added them to the ones stored in the room he had already picked out here. Joe and Bill had prepared a feast and Jake wanted his high chair right between the ladies. That tickled them to no end.

After dinner we walked a bit to let our feast settle and they told us stories from their travels. It all sounded like they had a great time. They had a few questions about our parents and wanted more details of Jake coming to live with us, and how the adoption process was progressing. They left just before nine for their home and promised to return for a cookout in two days over the weekend, our last as a couple of singles, as our wedding was a week from tomorrow. Cal and I took Jake, Dean and Harry to Boston to empty my apartment and tie up any loose ends I had there. We had one of the SUV’s and I had hired a U HAUL truck for the trip back for my furniture and boxes. It was a hectic three days but we mingled in a few trips to break up the monotony of packing. Some things we left at a local charity, but many of my antiques were carefully packed, as Cal thought we could mingle them in with what came with the purchase of our home.

While in town I took them all to meet Harold, explaining he would be coming on Friday to stay with us for the wedding, along with my publisher and my agent. They also would arrive with Harold on Friday. He greeted us all warmly and Jake took to him right away. He and Cal got along like a house on fire and they were buddies before our brief visit was over. On the way home Jake asked from the back seat if we could get a swan boat for the pond. He wanted to take his aunts out on it. I told him I didn’t think that would be a good idea, since the aunts didn’t like swans.

The three days leading up to the wedding were hectic ones, yet everything fell into place. On the day before, Friday, we were notified that our petition for adoption would be heard in family court on the following Monday, first on the docket, 9am, all parties to attend. The judge listed was our friend who had presided over our custody hearing. The caterer showed up with the tables and chairs for use during the barbecue reception, the extra two large barbecue cookers would certainly help in the output of ribs and burgers. Our new suits were picked up with the needed alterations done, and thankfully all our best men had picked up the suits we had bought for them as well. Our wedding was perfect. We asked Jake to walk between us down the aisle, with our best men following. Unfortunately we didn’t hold his hands. About half way down the aisle he ran forward to the minister and called out to us, “Come on dads, hurry up, we gotta get married!” We did actually step it up a pace or two and from there everything went as planned. By the time we arrived back home the whole patio and pool area had been decorated for a farm wedding celebration. Colorful bandanas had been used as decorations and each had our names and the date on them. Guests were encouraged to take one with them as they left.

The food was fantastic and there were the occasional halts during the reception for one of the four best men to make a toast and soon others were getting into the act. Ray and Joe made a special heartfelt one, Stella and Pam, Lynn and Sue teamed up to make a totally hilarious one, and the Aunts did their best to totally embarrass us. Then my publisher, my agent, and Harold all stood as one and declared they had something to say. In Boston I had told Harold just how much harder it was hiding my authorship of my novels and more and more people had to be let in on my secret. With the Fall book tour coming up and hopefully a new film contract, I felt it was now time to “come out”.

Harold began,“Just over seven years ago I was ready to retire. I had lost the incentive to keep my office open. My wife had died and we never had any children, so I had poured myself into my work and had burned myself out. I was down to a handful of clients, very lucrative clients, mind you, but not enough to keep on a full staff. Then one day in walks a young man, not even out of college and he gave me a challenge, the same challenge he gave the two gentlemen next to me.” Jean, my agent went next,“I received a call from the business office at Pernod Publishing, asking if I had time that day to interview a potential client, a young man who had thought he had written a book and just sent it off to them, hoping someone else liked it as much as he thought he did, I say young man, but he was a college student, with an idea, but other than outstanding grades he really hadn’t achieved anything with his writing yet.”

Next to speak was Bryan, a distinguished looking 50 something year old, “I have to admit that as a publisher I seldom have time to read, and we hire a staff of editors who screen submissions for us. One afternoon, about 6 years ago, one of these editors was in our lunch room, talking to a group of fellow employees, and I happened to sit next to their table. This editor was going on about a manuscript that had come in the bulk mail the week or so before and the envelope it was in was dropped in her in-box unopened. She had finally gotten around to opening the hand typed contents and started quickly perusing it. Her attention was caught and she never put it down until she had finished it, around 11:00 pm that night. Not only had the story caught her attention, she was saying she laughed and cried through the entire thing, and she couldn’t find a thing to correct, not a single thing was wrong or out of place. Well this piqued my interest and I asked her to bring this marvel to my office after their lunch was finished. I had it in hand by 2pm and I finally left my office at 9pm, finally finished reading, and laughing and crying, I must admit. The covering letter was on college stationery, so the next day I personally called this student and when I asked if he had an agent he answered in the negative, so I told him before I could not talk to him any more, I thought he should be represented.

“That is how much of an impact that first novel had on me, I actually encouraged someone to get an agent.” Harold took over again, “So I’m sitting in my office and in walks this kid in a T shirt and jeans and I hear my secretary saying we weren’t hiring any summer help, I hadn’t heard him say anything, I thought she was a little rude, so I went out to the front office and he’s hemming and hawing, and I asked him if we could help him in any way. He said he had just gotten an advance from a publisher and that his novel was being bid on by a film studio, and could I tell him what to do with all the money they had sent him so far.

“He handed me a check for 400 thousand dollars, made out to Robert Scott. He asked me if I could make him a millionaire, and I knew immediately I now had my incentive back, I was going to help create a millionaire. And I’m proud to tell you I did, it took another two books, but I had managed to make a fortune for that young man. A man who took taboo subjects and turned them into prose, he had people lining up to defend gay kids attacked by their own parents or classmates. He had some abusers seeing the light and others doing hard time. All the time his characters are evolving, mixing with other gays or becoming the center of a hub of mixed sex couples. A man I am proud to say virtually saved my life, my company, and the jobs of over 40 people. Congratulations Cal and Scott, may Robert Scott live on for years!!” There were cheers and claps and foot pounding, demanding spoken words from Cal and I. Cal arose and said he had said, “I Do, what more important thing, other than he’s the love of my life, and he’s made it possible for us to have the most wonderful child in the whole world calling us Dad”. There were cheers and silverware clinking on glasses so we kissed, remembering to keep it clean.

Our kiss over, I spoke up. “We are so pleased you all arranged your time to spend the afternoon with us on this special day for us. Jake was given the chance to live with us by a special woman, Judge Alice Monroe. She encouraged us to take the necessary classes to become his legal parents and Monday we hope our dream comes through.” At this point Judge Monroe stood and amidst the clapping gathering she made her way to us and handed over what she called her wedding present for us. Inside the manila envelope was the adoption decree, giving Cal and I permanent custody of Jacob Roberts-Hays. We both hugged her and she whispered we hadn’t seen the last of her yet. Cal and I were all teared up when Jake ran up to us and asked what we got. We both said at the same time, “We got a little boy named Jacob.”

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