Published: 30 Nov 2023

From The Previous Chapter:

When ‘dad’ Ken got to Phillip’s room, the boy thanked him for allowing Ty to come over that day. The boy also told his ‘dad’ that with the added guitar he felt they sounded much better, as a band. The young Cover also said that they talked, and they all agreed they needed to start practicing the same songs, and that after he came back from his trip, they would start doing that.

‘Dad’ Ken told his foster son that it sounded like a great plan, and he looked forward to hearing them as the summer progressed. The two hugged and then Mr. Ken headed down to his own personal retreat to get ready for bed himself.

It had been a busy weekend for the owner of The Cove, and he was looking forward to a good night’s sleep. The Cove was quiet the whole night through.

At breakfast that Monday morning, the three younger Covers were all upbeat. They talked about the previous weekend, but mostly about how the band sounded even better now that Ty was playing with them.

‘Dad’ Ken heard Matthew’s comment to Phillip about telling his other three friends about not inviting them over yesterday, and hoping to have them over after he returns from his trip.

Mr. Ken realized that there could be some hard feelings there, since his foster son did invite one of the four friends he’d had over on Saturday to return back on Sunday. So, he decided to speak up.

“Phillip,” called out ‘dad’ Ken, to get the young Cover’s attention, “yes, tell your three other friends that you invited Ty over to just play with the band, but that they will get another invitation. Please tell them that we have a big Memorial Day Picnic planned for Saturday, but that they can come over on Sunday, as long as the weather is good. Will that work out for you?” now asked ‘dad’ Ken.

Phillip smiled at what he heard, said that it would, and he thanked his ‘dad’ for telling him he could invite Tony, Kurt and Travis back next Sunday, along with Ty.

Charles spoke up, just then, and asked his dad if having Mr. Nathan, Mr. Owen and their boys there would cause any problems with having Phillip’s friends over. Mr. Ken said that he didn’t think so, as he didn’t have any plans for them while they were there.

When Billy and Robert came down for breakfast a little later, ‘dad’ Ken thanked Billy for taking care of getting the boys to clean both restrooms. The man also thanked his son for him and Eric cutting and trimming the field so that everything looks good now for the big picnic that is coming up next Saturday.

Mr. Ken then asked Bill what he thought about his new job. Billy thanked his foster dad for letting him have this job, as now he could send his mom some more money to make her stay a bit easier on her. Mr. Ken thought he saw a tear or two begin to form in the teen’s eyes when he mentioned his mom. He also felt how unselfish the teenager was in wanting to send the money he earned to his mother, who was in prison, so that she could have a somewhat better life there. Mr. Ken always knew there was something special in that teenager, and here it was shining though, again.

At his school, Phillip quickly searched out Tony, Kurt and Travis. When he found them, he told the three that he’d invited Ty back over to The Cove yesterday, so he and the band could play some more. The Cover qualified himself by saying that all they did was play.

Phillip then told them that his ‘dad’ told him that he could invite them all back next Sunday, if the weather is nice. Travis asked what would happen if the weather wasn’t nice. Phillip said that maybe they could come over later in the day, or maybe even on Monday. But they would have to wait until then.

The three boys were happy that they would get to come back to The Cove again, and so soon. Kurt then asked why they couldn’t come over next Saturday. Phillip told him, and the other boys that Mr. Ken was having a big Memorial Day Picnic for a bunch of important people he knows, and that there would probably be about 300 people there. That satisfied the four friends who’d been invited that past weekend.

When Mr. Wayne arrived at The Cove, Mr. Ken asked him to talk to Bruce Price, Sully’s owner, and ask him if he thought that the two dogs had enough time together to get the job done of getting Chief heavy with pups. The owner of The Cove indicated that he thought that maybe today should be the last day the two dogs met, and that if Chief was found not to be carrying pups, that they could try next time Chief was in heat.

The Estate Master said he agreed with his employer’s reasoning. Wayne said that with as many times the two dogs mated during the previous three days, that if Chief hadn’t already started forming the pups, then they should give her a rest, and wait until she was ready again.

At the high school, Billy’s friends spread around the fact that Mr. Ken was building a small amusement park at Four Corner’s, and that there would be jobs to be had there. Hearing that answered many of the high schoolers questions, as to what was happening there.

Many of the sophomores and juniors began asking them where they could get applications for the jobs, and where they could send them. Billy’s friends told them that they probably wouldn’t know until that weekend, as the rides weren’t going to be installed and ready at least until around the first of July. That bummed out many of the high school classmates, but at least that was another place they could possibly get to work that summer, and maybe throughout the year.

Also, at the high school that morning, Billy’s former friend, Kaden watched for him to arrive. The disgraced teen wanted to talk to the Cover, but the ex-friend saw that the Cover teen was busy hanging with his friends. The former friend had something that was important to him that he wanted to ask the Cover, but he knew that the Cover wouldn’t talk directly to him, so he had another friend, a female, pass a note to him.

While Billy was hanging with his friends, he was surprised when this very pretty girl came up to him and slipped him a note, while giving him a great big smile. She also whispered to him, as she was leaving, for him to read the note when he was all alone. Billy was intrigued about the girl and the way she delivered the note. His friends teased him about the girl coming up to him the way she did, and then abruptly leaving. They had no idea that she had also delivered a note for him to read, when he wasn’t with them.

Back east, it had only been two full weeks since Jason Zimms had taken over as the Operations Manager of the Edgewood Amusement Park and, during that time, he had his workers get done as much as they could during each and every work day.

The new ops manager was also happy that the President of TFE, Ben Walthers, had sent him plumbers, electricians, carpenters, landscapers and ride mechanics from the other four parks to work there, as the new DERR (Development, Enhancement, Repair, and Restoration) Work Center leads. They all had good work ethics, knew their jobs thoroughly and, foremost, they knew what an amusement park needed and, at this time, Edgewood needed their talent and skills.

The inspection and repair companies were also working hard to thoroughly inspect and perform any needed repairs on all of the rides at the park. The two biggest and noticeable rides being inspected and repaired were The Wooden Coaster, the 110-foot high out-and-back wooden coaster, and the Twister Coaster, a steel, wild mouse type coaster.

At The Wooden Coaster, everyone could see the men had replaced many of the guardrails all along the entire coaster’s track layout, a number of structural supports and a number of the support boards under the track, as well as some track. The I&R workers and some of the Edgewood employees were now beginning to refer to the coaster as ‘Patches’, because the coaster resembled what a pair of jeans looked like when so many patches were put on it to prolong its life.

The Twister Coaster was also getting a lot of attention. The inspectors found that many bolts holding the structure together were not tightened to manufacture specifications. The repair teams had to torque them to the manufacture specifications, which made them check all of the other bolts to ensure compliance with those same specifications.

On top of that, the I&R company located a number of cracks in the steel supports, as well as in the track. They had to not only weld them, but they also had to then grind those welds down, especially along the track, so the coaster car could smoothly pass over them.

The Twister Coaster cars also needed work. The cars were taken off the track and sent back to the Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters Company where they would be totally overhauled and given new seat padding, wheels and any structural repairs.

The new food service equipment for all of the food stands also began to arrive, albeit slowly, and that then became priority-one for Jason. The additional workers, along with his DERR Work Center teams had already begun to dismantle and remove the old equipment and now the new grills, deep fryers, warming trays, hot plates, ovens, ventilation hoods, refrigerators, freezers, ice making machines, storage racks, sinks, microwaves, and safety equipment all needed to be installed.

The high school workers, whose school schedule allowed, worked a few hours after school every day, and as much as they could on the weekends. They were used to wash down the rides when the I&R company released the ride to the park. They also painted anything that did not require them to stand on a ladder. That was a safety issue for the Operations Manager, Jason Zimms. And even though the students said they didn’t care, Jason did care and he told the students that the adults would take care of the higher areas, or he would hire a painting contractor for the more intricate details, if necessary.

The removal of the Para-Drop and Swinger were still underway and Jason was confident that the project would be completed and the areas cleaned up by the time the Park’s owner, Mr. Thomas and his family, arrived in about three weeks. There was still much to do before the first of July and Jason had six more weeks to get the amusement park ready for Edgewood’s, or whatever they were going to change the park’s name to, Grand Re-Opening.

Ken Thomas did call Mackenzie Flores’ doctor that Monday morning to get some feedback on her progress. The doctor wasn’t available at the time, so he asked the nurse to have him call when he had the chance. Mr. Ken then called Kate.

Mr. Ken told Kate about the preparations for the Memorial Day Picnic and how Phillip was progressing with his guitar lessons. The man also told her the young Cover, and his small group, had added another guitarist and that Jeffrey now had his entire drum set at The Cove.

The two also talked about the Cover’s upcoming trip and he asked again if Kate and her sons would want to join them. Kate told Ken that she felt the boys were still a bit young to be running all over the amusement parks, and, besides, she didn’t feel the older boys needed to be watching her two rambunctious sons. She did tell her boyfriend that she was looking forward to seeing him, when they came to Crystal Lake, though.

Wayne Mitchell and Bruce Price did talk about Chief and Sully’s mating. Wayne asked if Mr. Price thought, that after today, they should take a wait-and-see stance, as to whether-or-not Chief was going to have a litter of puppies.

Mr. Price agreed with them waiting. He figured that with as many times the two did mate that Chief should be well on her way to developing her first litter. Mr. Price then wanted to talk about the compensation for Sully’s work. Wayne just laughed. Wayne then apologized for his laughter and said he thought Sully was having fun and that it wasn’t really work. Bruce sort of agreed.

The two then discussed what Mr. Ken talked with Bruce about initially, which was that if there were only five pups in the litter, Mr. Price would get only one of the pups. But that if there were six or more puppies, he would get his choice of two. The two shook hands on the agreement, while Sully and Chief played and mated another time, or two, that morning.

Mackenzie’s doctor returned Mr. Ken’s call later that morning. He told Phillip’s foster dad that Mackenzie Flores was progressing, however slowly. The doctor indicated that the woman would probably be at the rehabilitation center at least another six weeks, at the rate she was advancing. Mr. Ken then asked the doctor how often her son could visit his mom. The doctor said that the visit might be good for her and that twice or three times a week would be good, as the woman’s mother is there almost every day.

With that information, Mr. Ken called Wayne and told him what he learned from Mackenzie’s doctor, and he asked him if he could take Phillip over to visit his mother today. The man explained that the boy only got to visit with his mother for a half an hour last week, and with them going away in two weeks, the boy needed to see her more often. Wayne said he’d make sure they’d go visit the boy’s mother after the boy had his afterschool snack.

The Estate Master then told his employer about his discussion with Mr. Price, about Sully and Chief’s mating. Wayne told Mr. Ken that the two agreed, that today would be the last day the two dogs would meet, and they would take a wait and see attitude to see if Chief did get heavy with a litter of puppies. Ken Thomas was pleased that was the outcome of their talk. He was also happy that the agreement he made about Sully’s compensation was still agreeable to Mr. Price.

At Phillip’s school, his classmates heard about the little band he and a few of the other boys had created, and they were all asking him and them about it. They were also interested to know if Ty was now a member.

Phillip was never someone who people sought out for information and here his classmates, both boys and girls, were asking him about their little group. They wanted to know who was in it and which boy played what instrument. The females in his class wanted to know if there would ever be any girls in their band.

Phillip didn’t know how to answer that question, so Westin took the question. The eleven-year-old told everyone, who would listen, that they’ve only been playing for a few weekends, and it was only by chance that they began to play together.

Some of the classmates wanted to know how good they were.

Jeffrey spoke up and told them, “I think we play pretty well together, but as Wes said, we … well, we haven’t been playing together very long, and just only on the weekends. And, now, with Phillip going on his trip, as soon as school is over, we won’t get a chance to practice as a band until he returns. So, it probably won’t be until later in the summer that we can really get together and get good.”

Some of the 5^th Grade classmates wanted to know if they would ever get to hear them play.

Ty, the newest member of the makeshift band, spoke up and said that maybe in a few years, when they are really, really good they could hear them play at a school dance, or something. A few of the boys and girls laughed, that they’d never get to be that good, and then walked away.

At the high school, after he finished his lunch, Billy told his friends he needed to visit the restroom, and that he’d catch up with them. The Cover actually wanted to read what was in the note the pretty young girl delivered to him earlier that morning.

Once he was in the restroom, Billy went into a stall and closed and locked the door. He turned his back to the door and then pulled out the note. He unfolded it and then began to read.

Billy didn’t know what to think when he read the note. He was perplexed at what he just read. And after what Kaden had done to him, and his friends, the Goldersons, he wasn’t sure he wanted anything to do with the teenager, no matter that his mother would also be affected by his decision.

When the Cover returned to his friends, they could tell he wasn’t his usual jovial self. They asked him what was the matter, but he had no answer for them. He just told them it had to be something he ate for lunch and to let it drop for now. But inside, the Cover teen knew he had to talk to his foster dad. He couldn’t wait until he returned to The Cove after school.

When Phillip returned from school, Mr. Wayne met him and told him that he would take him to visit his mom, as soon as he finished his afterschool snack. Phillip hurried to the Kitchen Nook so he could quickly eat his snack and head off to see his mom.

But Momma Maria knew that he would be doing that, so she made himslow down and eat his snack slowly, so he wouldn’t get an upset stomach and thus have to leave visiting his mother sooner than he wanted. Phillip knew she was right, and so he did slow down his eating.

The young Cover’s ‘brothers’ were happy for him, that he would get to visit his mom. He thanked them for saying that, but he knew that they both, deep inside of them, didn’t ever want to see their moms again. He felt sorry that they felt that way, but he knew some of their back story and he had to accept that was what they wanted for now.

The Estate Master and Phillip headed out of The Cove about the same time Billy and Robert were returning from their high school. The younger Cover waved at them as he and Mr. Wayne drove out the Main Gate.

“Mom, mom,” called out Phillip as he entered his mother’s room.

“Oh, my Philly, you came to see me much earlier than usual,” returned Mackenzie, as she held her arms open for her son to come to her, so the two could hug.

“Mom … this is Mr. Wayne. He works for my ‘dad’,” and that was as far as the young Cover got, before his mother stopped him.

“Your dad?” exclaimed Mackenzie. “He hasn’t been around for years. Did he … did he find out where you are living and … and did he try to take you away, Philly? Tell me!” asked, more like demanded, a very concerned Mackenzie Flores.

“Oh, no, mom. Mr. Ken, my foster dad, I ahh … I ahhh started calling him … ‘dad’. But don’t get mad mom! I hear the other boys, my ‘brothers’ that is, calling him that all the time and … and it just came out the other day. He let us invite more of our classmates over to The Cove last Saturday and … and when I introduced them to Mr. Ken I … I called him ‘dad’.

“I apologized to him, mom, but later … later he told me … he told me that it was OK with him. I … I told him that I hear my ‘brothers’ call him that all the time and … and it just came out. Mom …I … I don’t have anyone to call dad and … and it felt good to call Mr. Ken … ‘dad’. So, please … please don’t be mad at me,” apologized, as much as begged of his mother for calling his foster dad, ‘dad’.

Mackenzie Flores just lay there thinking of what her son just told her. At first, she was mad that this man had taken over the main father parent role over her son. She then came to realize that her son’s foster dad had done so much for her Philly; more than she ever did. And that this Mr. Ken was also giving her son a chance to explore his music talents and, on top of that, he was planning to take him on a wonderful trip. How could she be mad at her son? Her son who she knew needed a man in his young life to look up to and rely on, and give him what he needs to grow and mature.

Phillip stood there looking at his mother wondering what was going on in her mind. After he had just told her why he called Mr. Ken, ‘dad’, she hadn’t said anything for quite some time and this was totally unusual as she usually lashed out verbally, and sometimes with her hand to hit him. He stood there waiting for her to start yelling and grabbing for him, to scold him for calling Mr. Ken, ‘dad’.

Mr. Wayne, after hearing the exchange, was also wondering what was going to happen. He stood close by to the boy in case the woman decided to lash out. He wanted to be able to pull the boy away from his mother, if he had to.

Mackenzie then began to speak, while slowly reaching out and holding her son’s hand.

“Philly … I’m sorry you don’t have … I’m sorry that you don’t have a father around to call … to call dad. And you telling me that you’re calling Mr. Ken … dad … was, yes, it was a shock to me, at first, but … well, I understand why you need someone, like your foster dad, to call him dad.

“You’re a growing boy and you need … you need someone like him to look up to. Someone to show you how to do things, like he did when he let you shoot that gun. And you need someone, like him, to go to when you have questions about … about … life.

“Philly … I couldn’t have picked a better person than your Mr. Ken for you to call dad. So, son … if you want to call him dad, you have my blessing to do so. Is that OK with you?” asked a now smiling Mackenzie Flores, Phillip’s mother.

Phillip hugged his mother real tight, just then, and thanked her profusely for her understanding. A few tears also slipped down his cheeks.

After the young Cover recovered from what he thought was going to be an explosive mom outburst, Phillip introduced Wayne Mitchell to her.

“Mom, I want you to meet Mr. Wayne. He works for my ‘dad’ and he is his Estate Master. Mr. Wayne … he takes cares of us boys when Mr. Ken has to go out of town, or he is busy with his businesses,” was how the boy introduced the man to his mother.

While Phillip, his mother and Mr. Wayne had a nice visit, Billy was anxiously waiting for Mr. Ken to come home from the office. Robert could tell there was something on his ‘brothers’ mind, as he was very quiet on the school bus ride home and while they ate their afterschool snack.

Robert tried to find out what was bothering the older teenager, but he stayed close-lipped about whatever it was that was bothering him. The one thing that the freshman high schooler did know was that Billy couldn’t wait until his foster dad came home.

Billy’s bedroom faced the front of the estate and while he was working on his homework, he had the window curtains open so he could watch for his foster dad to arrive home from the office. Then, as soon as he saw the F-150 truck come down the slight rise, the oldest Cover boy took the note and headed down to the Study to await Mr. Ken.

The foster dad was surprised to see Billy waiting for him at the Study entrance. The man asked the teen if there was something wrong and the teen showed him the note. Mr. Ken saw the concern in the teen’s face and invited him into the Study.

The man then sat behind his desk and then asked Billy what the note was all about.

“Mr. Ken … a girl handed me this note early this morning and she told me … she told me to read it when I was alone. When I did, I … I knew I needed to talk to you about it. Here … read it for yourself,” explained the older Cover teen, as he handed the note to his foster dad.

After a few seconds of reading the note, Mr. Ken asked, “So, Bill … what do you want to do?”

“Mr. Ken … I don’t know what I want to do. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. Kaden … he did me wrong, but … well, I sort of understand why he asked me to be there. You know … for his mom’s sake. I guess to have someone else there besides her. It’s… I just don’t know what I should do, Mr. Ken. What … what do you think?” finished the teenager.

The foster dad asked Bill if he could keep the note for now, as he wanted to talk to Mr. Wayne about it when he returned from taking his younger ‘brother’ to visit with his mom. The man also said he wanted some time to think about the situation, and that they’d talk about it after dinner. The teen said he thought that was fair, as it was close to dinner time anyway, and then the teen left the Study.

When Mr. Wayne returned from taking Phillip to visit with his mom, Mr. Ken told him about the note Bill received from Kaden. The two men then discussed the note and what, if anything, Bill should do about it. Mr. Wayne then changed the subject and told his employer about his visit with Mackenzie Flores.

After dinner, the Covers assembled in the Study as they usually do. Mr. Ken covered who would see Doctor Doug tomorrow and then on Wednesday, and then he reminded the boys that Mr. Nathan and Mr. Owen and their sons would be there Saturday, and they would be spending the night. ‘Dad’ Ken asked the boys if Jayden could stay with Robert, if Ryder could stay with Charles and that Chase could bunk in with Matthew. The boys said they were good with that.

Neither Phillip nor Billy had ever met these boys and they asked who they were. Robert told them that he and his ‘brothers’ would tell them about them, and how they met, when they went up to their rooms. Phillip and Billy were OK with that.

Mr. Ken told the boys that Saturday would be a big day and he asked them to watch the drink machines, and to fill them when they thought they needed to be. Charles asked his dad what was going to be so different from the other Memorial Day Picnics. The teen’s dad told him that Archbishop Martinez, the man who had to approve the new vocational building he was building at Blessed Waters Academy High School would be there, and that he hoped that Phillip’s grandmother would also be in attendance.

The other boys were surprised that their younger ‘brothers’ grandmother might be there. They asked their ‘dad’ some questions about the woman, and all he would tell them was that since Phillip’s mother couldn’t be there, she was the next best thing. He then smiled back at the boys.

Phillip then asked who the archbishop was. The foster dad told his foster son that the man was the highest-ranking religious official in the catholic church for that area. The man added that he invited him, and a friend, to attend, so he could also meet a number of other government officials, since he was new to the area, and needed to know who these people were that he might have to interact with over time.

The boys asked when they would be going out to get their new summer clothes. ‘Dad’ Ken told them that it would probably be sometime next week, after all the excitement of the weekend was over. The man then sent the boys up to their rooms to finish any homework they had.

As the boys were leaving, Mr. Ken asked Billy to hang back. Robert asked if the rest of them could stay. But Mr. Ken told his son that this time he needed to just talk to Bill alone about something, and if his ‘brother’ thinks it is important he will fill him in later.

Robert didn’t like his dad’s answer, and especially his not knowing what was going on, but he knew not to argue with his dad, and so he continued to walk up the stairs. As the teen did, the other boys asked him if he knew why Billy had to stay behind. All Robert could tell them was that Billy had something on his mind during the ride home from school, and that he wanted to talk to dad and that they must be doing that now.

In the Study, Mr. Ken and Mr. Wayne sat down with Bill in the big leather chairs, so they could talk to the teen about the note Kaden had passed to him. Mr. Ken then indicated to Wayne for him to give the teen his thoughts.

“Bill … as I see it you have two options,” started the Estate Master, “you can either go to the juvenile court on Wednesday, and watch the proceedings, or … or, you can go to school … and let Kaden fend for himself. You don’t owe him anything … after what he did to you.

“Keep in mind that he not only framed you, but that he also led those … those so-called druggie friends of his right to where you lived … where they … where they beat you so badly that you spent countless days in the hospital. And where they would have murdered the Goldersons and they would have also killed you … if Levi … if Levi hadn’t been able to attack and overpower Kaden and then shoot and kill one of them and shoot and wound another!”

Billy was taken aback at what he heard. He caught what sounded to him like a harsh and bitter rebuke of Kaden, of what he’d done to him, and that he didn’t deserve any better treatment than he, Billy, was given by Kaden and those men. It seemed to him like Mr. Wayne was not in favor of him going to the courthouse on Wednesday, for any reason, even if it was for Kaden’s mom.

Billy then looked to his foster dad and asked him what he thought.

Mr. Ken looked to the teenager and then motioned for him to take the chair opposite him. The man wanted to talk directly to the teen, eye-to-eye, and not haphazardly between the chairs as they were now seated.

Once Billy had changed seats, Mr. Ken began what he wanted to say to him.

“Bill … I can understand the quandary you find yourself in right about now. Inside you … you are torn between doing what you know, or maybe the better word is feel … what you feel is right and … and what you want to do to extract … well, maybe get payback for everything Kaden did to you.

“And, Bill … I wouldn’t blame you if you … if you decided that you didn’t want to go to the courthouse on Wednesday. This is a tough decision that only you can make. But I want you to know that as you grow older … you will continue to be challenged with these types of decisions that will not only define who you will be, but … but as people will see you.

“Bill … are you going to be the person … who will turn the other cheek and give your opponent, namely Kaden, a second chance and show him forgiveness, or … are you going to be someone who will continue to kick them when they are down … and never give them the chance to redeem themselves.

“If you want to go to the hearing on Wednesday … just let me know and the two of us … the two of us will be there. Now, I won’t ask you to make up your mind right now. You have lots to think about. So, sleep on it. OK?” finished Mr. Ken.

Billy just sat there, not knowing what to think. He heard two diametrically opposite takes on how he should proceed, and he felt like he didn’t really get the counsel he hoped he would receive from them.

As Billy sat there, Mr. Ken knew the teenager was thinking about what he’d just heard from him and Mr. Wayne. The man also knew that it wasn’t what the teen wanted, as Bill wanted them to make the decision for him.

“Bill … why don’t you head up to your room, and do your thinking up there. I’ll be up there in a little while to say goodnight to all of you boys. OK?” offered the foster dad, as a way to have the teenager leave the Study.

Mr. Ken and Wayne talked about how they felt Bill had taken their completely opposite thinking on his note from Kaden. Mr. Wayne said he felt the teen will take at heart what his foster dad told him, and decide to go to the courthouse on Wednesday. When Mr. Ken asked his Estate Master why he felt that way, all Wayne could say was that Bill wasn’t one to get mad, or upset at anyone, or even hold a grudge, which is why he said what he did.

When the oldest Cover teen came upstairs, and went into his room, Robert heard him and went over to him and asked him if he would tell him what his dad and he talked about.

Billy knew that his ‘brother’ would know eventually, so he told Robert about the note he received from Kaden. Robert was flabbergasted that his older ‘brother’s’ ex-friends would stoop so low, as to have a girl deliver the note for him.

The older teen told Robert that he would have nothing to do with Kaden, so the only way the ex-friend knew he could get the note to him was to have a pretty girl bring it up to him and slip it to him and whisper to him to read it when he was alone.

As Billy was telling Robert about the note from Kaden, Charles came by and heard the end of the story. So, Billy had to explain, again, why he had to stay behind after their meeting in the Study.

“Hey, why is everyone meeting in Billy’s room?” asked Phillip, when he stopped by to investigate all of the voices he heard, after he came out of the bathroom.

Robert began to explain why they were there, but Phillip didn’t know who Kaden was, so Billy began to give his youngest ‘brother’ a quick history lesson. By now Matthew had made his way down to Billy’s bedroom, and he learned what the special meeting was all about after they left the Study.

Now, Mr. Ken had come up the stairs to say goodnight to the boys and found them all in Bill’s room talking about Kaden and the note, and Bill trying to explain who the teen was to Phillip.

“I wondered how long it would take for your ‘brothers’ to get out of you what our discussion was all about, after they had to leave the study,” chuckled the teen’s foster dad.

“Well, believe me, it didn’t take long, Mr. Ken,” laughed Billy. “And where’s Mr. Wayne?”

“I told him to take the night off. He spends way too much time here,” quickly responded the teen’s foster dad.

“Well, boys … what do you think your older ‘brother’ should do? Should he be there at the courthouse Wednesday morning, or … or should he go to school, instead?” mused ‘dad’ Ken, to the gathered Cover boys.

The boys all began to speak at once, telling their ‘dad’ what they thought their older ‘brother’ should do. It was a cacophony of different aged voices that attacked the man’s hearing senses that he had to hold up his hands to have them stop.

“Boys … what say we just leave that decision to your ‘brother’. OK? And in the meantime, how about you all head to your rooms, and I’ll be there shortly to say goodnight to you,” suggested ‘dad’ Ken.

Mr. Ken spent a few moments with Bill before heading to Robert’s, then Charles’ and then Matthew’s rooms to say goodnight to them. His last stop was Phillip’s bedroom.

“I hear you had a nice visit with you mom tonight, Phillip,” spoke up Mr. Ken, when he approached the youngest Cover’s bedroom.

“Yes, sir. But at first, she didn’t like me calling you ‘dad’. But after she thought about it some, she told me she was OK with it because … well, because I needed someone like you for me to look up to, and to have to show me how to do things, like when you taught me how to shoot that gun. Then she said that I also needed someone to go to, you know, to ask questions about life. I think she felt bad that I didn’t have my real father around to do that for me.

“She then told me that she … that she couldn’t have picked a better person than you, Mr. Ken, for me to call ‘dad’. And … and she told me that if I wanted to call you ‘dad’ that … that I had her blessing. Mr. Ken, I mean ‘dad’ … that made me feel so good inside that she was OK with me calling you that, ‘dad’,” offered the youngest Cover, who jumped out of his chair and hugged his ‘dad’, as a few tears began to fall from his eyes.

Mr. Ken just hugged the boy back figuring that Phillip’s emotions were on overload right then. The man knew from what Wayne told him about the boy, and his mother’s discussion over Phillip calling him ‘dad’, that he expected the boy was just finally reacting to his mother’s approval to his calling him ‘dad’.

After a few moments, ‘dad’ Ken asked Phillip how the other three boys took to their being invited over on Sunday. Phillip smiled and told his ‘dad’ that they were looking forward to coming back.

The two Covers talked some more, but eventually ‘dad’ Ken told the youngest Cover not to forget to drain his dragon before going to bed, as he rustled the boy’s hair and then he walked out of the bedroom to head down to his own retreat.

As the owner of The Cove got ready for bed, he thought about Bill’s clandestine note, and how he believed the teenager would handle it. He figured he and the teen would find themselves at the courthouse Wednesday morning. He knew he better let Rosemary know to cancel his appointments and rearrange his schedule for at least Wednesday morning.

The Cove was quiet all night through. But one Cover didn’t sleep all that well.

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

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