Published: 9 Feb 2023

From The Previous Chapter:

Billy and Robert carried Rusty and Jessy into the Guest House, got the boys to use the bathroom and then carried them up to the loft for the women. Mr. Ken had told them that Momma Maria would be there in the morning to fix everyone breakfast and it was something they wanted to experience and he asked them to be there by 9 a.m.

That night Mr. Ken spent most of his time talking with Kevin and Kyle. The three of them hugged and cried together as that would be their last night together and they knew they would miss one another. They talked some more about the things they did as a ‘family’ and how much the boys had wished ‘dad’ Ken could have adopted them as he did Robert and Charles. It was a very rough night for the three of them. None of them slept well at all that night.

When the Covers were on vacation days, Momma Maria came to work at eight o’clock. Today she made sure there would be plenty of coffee for the adults and cold milk for the boys, and then she went about getting the breakfast items ready that she was going to serve that morning for when everyone was in the Kitchen Nook.

Kate and Edith couldn’t believe the Covers ate that well every day. They loved what Momma had made for them, even though it was the standard fare of bacon, scrambled eggs and pancakes. Even Rusty and Jessy ate more than they usually would, but Kate attributed it to them being with their ‘big brothers’.

Reynolds and Sylvia Parchsons arrived at Children’s Protective Services (CPS) promptly at eight o’clock that Monday morning. Director Judy Turner had her secretary meet them and take them to the conference room and get them settled. Ms. Judy then brought in the paperwork they needed to sign that gave them legal guardianship of Kevin and Kyle Parchsons and the authority to take them out of the state.

It actually took over an hour for the Parchsons to read through and the Director to explain what everything meant that they were signing. The papers then needed to be notarized since the Parchsons were taking the boys out of the state, and they would need to present them to their local CPS as they weren’t adopting the boys. The Parchsons would also need those legal papers to present to the school district to show legal guardianship in order to enroll them in school right after the Thanksgiving break.

When the Parchsons departed Children’s Protective Services, Ms. Judy called her friend Ken to tell him that they were on their way to collect Kevin and Kyle.

After receiving the phone call, Mr. Ken called everyone together in the MRS Room and told them that Reynolds and Sylvia were on their way and he asked Robert and Charles to bring the twin’s suitcases downstairs. The man sat there with the boys and asked them to do the right thing with their new guardians.

‘Dad’ Ken told them that if they think being bad and getting into trouble would make them send them back, that it would not work. He reminded them they were being taken out of state and they would just be placed into the foster care system there, and they could be put into a worse situation. He asked the boys to be respectful of their aunt and uncle and to try to be the best big brothers to their kids, their cousins.

He reminded the boys they had cell phones and lots of minutes on them and he asked them to get settled first before they called any of them. He added that they would all be at Collin’s and would be busy and they, too, would probably be busy with getting settled and learning their new neighborhood and finding new friends.

Just then the Foyer Door opened and in walked Lt. Dan. Mr. Ken had told him the twins were being picked up by their aunt and uncle that morning, so he asked him to stop by to say goodbye, but especially to Kyle. And when Kyle saw the man, he jumped up, ran to the man and hugged him as the boy’s tears streamed down his cheeks.

Kyle always looked up to the man and he was happy he got to see him before he had to move away. Kyle told Lt. Dan, through his tears, that he wished he could have adopted them so they could have stayed there. All Dan could tell them was that their parents hadn’t given up their parental rights, and that once someone in their extended family, like their aunt and uncle, decides to raise them, then Ms. Judy has to release the boys to them and that is what is happening.

Kyle hung onto the Sheriff’s Lieutenant as the two sat together, while Kevin sat with ‘dad’ Ken. Billy saw that, but didn’t know the back story, so he whispered to Robert and asked him. The two teens quietly talked and Billy soon understood how Kyle looked up to Mr. Dan and did wish he was his ‘dad’.

Everyone talked with Kevin and Kyle as they waited for the new guardians to arrive. When Mr. Wayne’s cell phone rang, he figured the Parchsons were up at the Main Gate. He told the guards to let them through and then he went outside the Foyer Door to meet them. Robert and Charles carried the twin’s suitcases outside.

When the Parchsons got out of their rental car, introductions were made. They were surprised there was a Sheriff’s Lieutenant there in the mix. The teens loaded the suitcases into the car as some small talk was made. Mr. Ken then asked Reynolds and Sylvia if they would go with him into his Study, so they could talk about the boys for a few minutes before they left. He asked Mr. Wayne and Lt. Fischer to follow along.

Mr. Ken told them about Kyle’s broken arm and that they could contact Doctor Powers for any medical information on the boys. He then gave them the man’s contact information. He told them that the twins had been seeing a Child Psychologist, ever since they began living with him, and that if the boys began having problems, they might consider finding them one where they live. He told them they just began seeing a dentist and just had their fall checkup and cleaning, so they were good there. He added that they could call on him at any time if they had questions about the boy’s they weren’t sure of.

Mr. Ken told the man and woman that he would update the boy’s computers and send them and Kyle’s bike and anything else they couldn’t pack into their suitcases. He told them that he’d do that after he and his ‘boys’ returned from their Thanksgiving trip the twins would have gone on if they weren’t being taken away.

Mr. Ken then told the Parchsons that he had created Trust Funds for both boys and put the money the judge awarded them, and other monies, into it. He stressed on them that the money was only available to the boys when they went off to college, or a trade school, or for major medical issues.

He added he wanted them to meet Mr. Wayne, because, as one of the Trustees, he was one of two people who had to approve any disbursements. He told them he also wanted them to know that the Trusts were revocable and that as the Grantor he could change the Trusts, at any time, if someone tries to acquire control of them. That was something the Parchsons weren’t prepared to hear, as they had talked to their Bandera lawyer to see what he could do to try to wrestle the Trust Funds into their control.

Everyone then headed outside. Their ‘dad’ Ken asked the boys to drain their dragons so they wouldn’t have to stop on the way to the Austin-Bergstrom Airport. After the boys did that, everyone gave them a hug and the tears began to flow again. When it was time for the boys to say goodbye to ‘dad’ Ken the tears really flowed and the crying was loud.

It took some time for the boys and ‘dad’ Ken to say their goodbyes. Finally, Reynolds told the boys to get in the car as they had a late afternoon flight they had to make. After one last hug, first Kevin hugged ‘dad’ Ken and got into the car and then Kyle hugged ‘dad’ Ken and then he ran to Lt. Dan, hugged him and, crying hard, he got into the car.

As the car drove out the Main Gate, some of the twins’ friends had begun to arrive and they waved to them as they drove past. The twins didn’t even wave back, as they were completely in a fog over what was happening to them.

Mr. Ken told everyone he needed to go inside for a few minutes.

Robert stopped his dad and asked him, “Dad … what will happen to Kevin and Kyle’s friends, you know, now that they are gone?”

Mr. Ken thought about that for a few moments and then answered, “Tell them that they could stay today and they can come back tomorrow, but that would be their last day. Also … tell them to take all their things home tomorrow, and then ask them … and ask them to set their locker to 1-2-3-4 before they close it. OK?”

Robert and the three remaining Cover boys headed up to the Pavilion to tell the boys what their ‘dad’ just said. Kate then asked them to take Rusty and Jessy with them.

Kate decided to go inside to find Ken to talk to him. She knew the loss of the twins was hurting him right then, and she wanted to see if there was anything that she could do for him. The other three adults stayed outside and got to know one another better.

“Ken,” called out Kate, as she looked in the Study.

Ken, sitting behind his desk, looked up through his tears. Kate went to him and pulled him out of the chair and hugged him. She knew he needed the warmth and the caring of someone, right then, and she was going to give it to him.

As the two hugged, Ken Thomas cried like a baby. He’d lost Matthew and that hurt him, but now he lost two more of his ‘boys’ and he was having a difficult time wrapping his mind around it. Having the warmth of a woman holding him right then helped him begin to compose himself.

After a few minutes, he apologized to Kate for the way he was acting. But Kate told him he needed to get that ‘hurt’ out of his body, so he could move forward in order to take care of the rest of his ‘boys’.

Ken and Kate then went outside to talk to Edith, Dan and Wayne. Ken thanked Dan for stopping by to say goodbye to the boys, but especially to Kyle. Dan said that he always liked that boy and he would definitely miss him. The lieutenant said he needed to get back on duty and he’d probably talk to him after he got back from Collin’s. The two shook hands and then Dan got in his patrol car and drove out of The Cove.

Mr. Ken took Kate, Edith and the two young boys out to get the boys new skateboards. The women didn’t think the boys could handle them, but Mr. Ken told them that once the boys got back with their new toys, their ‘big brothers’ would start helping them learn to use them. He assured the women that by the time they left at the end of the week, the boys would surprise them.

With their approval, Mr. Ken had Mary Taylor and Judy Turner stop by The Cove that Monday afternoon. He wanted his best friends to meet Kate and her family, and her them. They stopped by in time for burned burgers and dogs. It was the typical Pavilion picnic and afterwards, the boys took Rusty and Jessy to the indoor pool and let them swim with them.

Edith was concerned for her grandsons being with all those older boys. But when Mr. Ken told her there were lifeguards on the pool deck, watching over everyone, she and Kate were relieved.

But the women still wanted to go down and watch for a few minutes to see how the boys treated them. They were surprised to see the boys playing in the beach entrance area to the indoor pool and that only the boys ‘big brothers’ were playing with them, and not all the other boys, too.

During the day Kate and Edith learned more about Ken from Mary and Judy and how he was a mover and shaker in the area. They told them how he helped the governor after the Hundred Year’s Storm, how he helped get better people elected and change the make-up of the School and Hospital Boards, what he did for the “Rally For Rodney” and “Stop the Violence Against Students” campaigns and how it continued up to his starting his Christmas Decoration Contest for the High School Vocational Students and offering them Scholarships.

Momma made dinner that evening for the Covers and their added guests. The meal that night was a side salad, buttered garlic toast and spaghetti, meat sauce and meatballs in honor of Rusty and Jessy. Momma knew that boys loved something familiar, simple and easy and they ate it all down like young boys their age do.

The next day, while the Cover boys watched over Rusty and Jessy and taught them how to use their new skateboards. Mr. Ken took Kate and Edith around the area, so they knew what it looked like. He took them out to his new office and the hotel and showed them around. While they were out that way, they had lunch.

While they ate, they talked about Grammy and what she was like and about the Wilkinson Estate and what they could expect. Mr. Ken mentioned that Rusty and Jessy will have to share sleeping in one of the bedrooms. He said they’d take sleeping bags for them. Kate said she knew that they’d love doing that.

In honor of Kate and Edith, Momma made an adult type meal that Tuesday night. It was Chicken and Beef Fajitas along with refried beans, a smoky guacamole dip, fresh flour tortillas and diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce and cheese. The works.

The women couldn’t believe the flavors they were experiencing. For dessert, Momma made Churro Apple Pies, which were filled churro bowls with apple pie filling and drizzled with caramel sauce. Everyone was very full and satisfied when they left the table that night.

Kate and Edith were even more surprised when, again, they saw the boys help clean off the table and then hug Momma Maria for making them such a wonderful dinner. Mr. Ken then explained to them that was the way they could thank Momma for making them such good meals by giving her a hug, of which they had plenty.

Now that the twins were no longer going to Collin’s, there was enough room in the van for everyone to go down to Collin’s for Thanksgiving. Mr. Wayne drove the van and Billy was his co-pilot giving Mr. Ken the opportunity to sit in the back and talk to Kate and Edith.

The other two Cover boys kept Rusty and Jessy occupied with their hand-held games and the other games that Mr. Wayne had devised for them last year. And when the two youngsters got tired, they just curled up against one of their ‘big brothers’ and took a nap.

Grammy Frankenberg Wilkinson, the matriarch of the Wilkinson family, was looking forward to her new guests that year. It would be a treat for her to have some new women there that year to talk with, instead of all those boys. Unfortunately, they would be arriving Wednesday and leaving Friday, as Kate, Edith and the boys would be flying back home on Saturday.

Collin took advantage of his Big Bro being at his home. The two took some time together and talked. They talked about Matthew’s and the twin’s departure from The Cove, but Collin was more concerned about his Grammy’s health and told his Big Bro how he felt. He explained he wasn’t there to watch over her, and he was afraid something would happen while he was away at college.

Mr. Ken told him that it was part of life and he would be there for him if and when that end-of-life time ever came. Collin also talked about selling Wilkinson when that happened. But Mr. Ken told him to keep it, and make it into his own and bring it into the 21^st Century. Collin said he’d talk to him about doing that when that time came.

Those three days came and went by very fast, but everyone had a wonderful time sharing the Holiday in an old Southern Estate like home. Kate and Edith never experienced a meal where the servants brought the foods to the table and on that Thanksgiving, they were given that very special treat. Of course, the boys helped in the kitchen afterwards and the Wilkinson staff appreciated it as they did the previous year.

The group returned to The Cove early enough on Friday, that Rusty and Jessy got to practice on their new skateboards with their ‘big brothers’ helping them along. Edith, but especially Kate, loved how the older boys took to her youngsters and treated them as if they were their siblings.

Kate knew, that if she and Ken were to ever marry, her boys would be in a very loving home from their step-dad to their ‘big brothers’. Seeing how Ken reacted to Kevin and Kyle leaving, she knew he would love her sons as much as he loved the boys he fostered. That thought just made her feel so warm inside.

The Cove’s visitors weren’t made to get up at o’dark thirty Saturday morning, as the Covers usually do when they are flying back east. They had some of Momma’s breakfast tacos and then Mr. Ken got into the limo with Kate and her family and went with them to the airport. He wouldn’t be back for at least five hours.

The week after Thanksgiving, the boys got their new suits, shirts, ties, shoes and Christmas vests to wear for the parties, and Charles continued to get his braces adjusted. The Covers were beginning to buy one another their gag gifts, but it wasn’t as much fun with the three youngest Covers now gone.

The three teens did make their Christmas Wish Lists for their ‘dad’, but Billy had a difficult time coming up with things to ask for, as he never really got many gifts at Christmas. Also, the four would-be robbers were each sentenced to 25 years in prison for their failed attempt at robbing the armored truck last Christmas.

The twelve new parking spaces, along with the new 12-person acrylic school bus stop, just outside the Main Gate would be finished just in time for the parties. The linear park project was well on its way to starting and the first phase along The Cove’s estate wall would begin right after the Holidays. The new storage building and concrete pad would also begin construction then as well.

The Marina Project started off slow, as many projects of that size do. While dredging where the boat slips would be, they found more shallow rock than they anticipated and it took longer to break it up without blasting, which increased the overall cost. But the project got back on track with a completion date of the following late summer still on the calendar.

When the boys talked to Matthew, Billy made sure he got his youngest ‘brother’s address. The teen wanted all of his ‘brothers to send Matthew birthday cards as his birthday was the week after they returned from Collin’s.

The teenager asked Mr. Wayne to take them out to buy their ‘brother’ some birthday cards. They each got him a special, but funny, birthday card. Mr. Wayne made sure he picked one up for Mr. Ken to send.

The boys each put some money into their cards and told him to buy something special for himself. All of the Cover cards went out at the same time, with the hope they would all arrive on the same day. That was so Matthew would have them to open all at once. The boys felt really good inside that they did that, which was doing something for someone else that they had never done before.

Mr. Ken had gotten Wayne to update the twin’s computers and get them ready to ship them off to their new home. He also had him update the other boy’s computers, as well. He had Mr. Dennis get a bicycle shipping box and had him take Kyle’s bike apart, so it would fit into the container. Then when everything was ready the men shipped everything, including the boy’s stuffed toys to them.

The owner of The Cove also knew that finding all of the pictures and videos of the twins doing ‘family’ outings was a daunting task and adding all of their growing up pictures into the memory stick would add to the time needed. The Holidays were coming on quick and he knew it would be something that would have to wait until after the Holidays were over. He decided he would write to the boys and explain that to them.

The Christmas spirit was happening around The Cove as it did the previous year. Sandra Dominions was again hired to be Mr. Ken’s gift buyer, but she didn’t have to buy as many gifts as she did the previous year, as there were only three boys now in the household.

Momma helped her wrap the gifts and they hid them in one of the guest bedrooms closets. Mr. Dan also got into helping take the boys out Christmas shopping, as he did the previous year. Of course, the boys had a difficult time coming up with gift ideas for Momma Maria, Mr. Wayne and Mr. Chris and this year for Mr. Dennis.

The Cove was all decorated for the Holidays with Central Texas Decorating again doing the honors. The company used all of its newest offerings and this year there were a few new animated figures out back, and they also strung Christmas lights between the light poles on the Cove Skate Park.

Mr. Ken had the boy’s setup his train set and add the Plasticville buildings Mr. Wayne gave him last year to the platform. Doing that gave the boys ideas of what to buy their ‘dad’ for Christmas – more rolling stock, buildings, track and switches to expand the layout.

With Christmas being on a Saturday that year, the four high schools had to install their contest displays two weeks before because The Cove’s Holiday parties would be the following week, when the voting would begin.

The placement of this year’s Wrapped Christmas Presents Contest displays was done by the double-blind draw as it was the previous year. This year’s competitors were Buddy Holly High School, last year’s winner, Alvin York High school, Pleasant Hill High School and, the newest addition to the competition, Blessed Waters Academy Catholic High School.

The teams were limited to twelve students and one advisor in order to limit the number of people invited to their New Year’s Eve Party, held out in the garage, when the winner of the year’s competition would be announced. Each student and advisor would be allowed to bring a friend, or significant other, to the party that night.

There was so much to do and get done that if Mr. Ken didn’t have his wonderful staff, he’d never pull it off. And this year wasn’t any different than the previous ones. Mr. Wayne, Sandra Dromions and Momma Maria worked on the boy’s Christmas presents. Mr. Chris made sure there would be music at the first two parties and music and fireworks on New Year’s Eve. He also made sure the travel arrangements for his boss and the boys for their trip the day after Christmas were made.

Then there was Ms. Judy who would take care of Chief while they were gone. New hire Mr. Dennis, for his part, was working full-time during the Holiday preparations and was available to take the boys to their appointments, both morning and afternoon, while Mr. Wayne was busy with other Holiday duties.

That Saturday night, after the high school students installed their Christmas Wrapped Presents displays for the Three Finger Cove Christmas Decoration Competition and Mr. Ken and his Estate Master had talked to all the boys, the owner of The Cove finally got to go to bed himself.

It was well past 11:30 p.m. that night, when Mr. Ken’s phone rang. He was surprised when it rang because he had no sooner gotten to sleep that it awakened him from that just attained deep sleep. When he answered it, he was surprised to learn it was Jules Diamond Security informing him that one of his coins had just come up on the grid.

The saga of Three Finger Cove continues. Let Chowhound know you are reading his story: Chowhnd at Gmail dot Com

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