Published: 16 Feb 2023

From The Previous Chapter:

During the month of January, Ken Thomas and Ben Walthers met with Westley Kromiere, his Project Manager’s husband, who is a Public Relations Manager. They talked about how Three Finger Entertainment (TFE) could begin to advertise under one banner like Six Flags and Cedar Point does. That would be a work in progress with the President of TFE, LLC, Ben Walthers working closely with Westley to make that happen.

Mr. Ken also talked to Ben about designing an ‘owners’ polo shirt he could wear when he visits his amusement parks. He explained what happened when he wore a supervisor’s shirt at Crystal Lake and didn’t like the color, fit or design. He told him to come up with a few ideas to show him.

The owners of the Edgewood Amusement Park felt some of the pressure taken off them when the judge dismissed a number of the initial lawsuits from the Rocket’s accident as frivolous when they came to court. The judge ruled that running away from the accident and falling down didn’t meet the means test that the accident actually caused their injury.

In a few other lawsuits, their lawyers were able to reduce some of the hundreds of thousands of dollars claims down to the plaintiffs’ accepting tens of thousands of dollars instead. But the lawsuits from the people in the first coaster car, who received the most serious injuries, were still active and those were the ones that could actually exceed their insurance rider coverage. Only time would tell if they would ultimately break the proverbial bank.

Ken Thomas also heard from his Colorado lawyer about Victor Turnsten. After he and Matthew departed Colorado, the lawyer talked to the Assistant District Attorney (ADA) about getting Victor to relinquish his parental rights to Matthew.

Hudson Whitely finally won custody of his son James, without having to go to court. Charles was sorry to learn that one of his first friends was going to be moving away. But he was happy for his friend because he was finally getting to live with his dad, and away from his mom, who had made his life miserable every chance she got. But because of the timing, Charles, and James’ other friends, never got the chance to hold a Farewell party for him. Charles and James’ other friends knew they would all miss him.

On another note, Mildred Johnston, Mr. Ken’s former housekeeper, was found dead in her bed after she had passed away in her sleep. In her will, she left a hand written note to her executrix where to find money that she had hidden away in her home. The woman was flabbergasted when she went to the hiding place only to find there over a quarter of million dollars in fifty and one-hundred-dollar bills dating back to the 1950s.

The octogenarian’s note additionally told the executrix to pay the $110,000.00 she embezzled from her former employer and was ordered by the court to return to Ken Thomas. The executrix was also to pay her lawyer, Mr. Ed Higgins, the money she owed him, out of that money, too. It appeared Mildred didn’t trust banks all that much and had stuffed her extra money, as well as what she embezzled from Mr. Ken, in her hiding spot.

Over the three-day weekend in January, ‘dad’ Ken decided to head back east to be with Kate and her family. While he was gone, the boys were each allowed to host three of their friends for a sleep over verses all of their friends. Only Mr. Wayne chaperoned.

While ‘dad’ Ken was gone, Mr. Wayne and Mr. Dennis used one of those three days to take the boys back to the shooting range. ‘Dad’ Ken wanted the boys to practice shooting the guns he bought for them for that purpose.

Mr. Wayne now knew the access code to The Cove’s gun safe and he and Mr. Dennis had the handguns in containers separated from the ammunition for safe transport. This time Mr. Dan, Lt. Matthias and Sgt. Roberts met the Covers at the range to help the boy’s better control the gun after firing it, and to better aim and group their shots.

The marina project was moving along nicely. The boat slip area was completely dredged to a consistent 32-foot depth and the main bulkhead was being installed as was the public boat ramp. The fueling station was also going in, with the fuel tanks being installed environmentally to prevent fuel spills into the lake waters.

Once the bulkhead was completed, they would start construction of the main marina building where they would sell the fishing gear, licenses, administer the boat slip rentals and where a full-service scuba shop would also be available.

Jules Diamond and Eleanor Whittier were becoming more and more of an item. The two older adults found compatibility in one other and they continued to date as time permitted. Whether marriage was in the cards for them was anybody’s guess, but the two did look good together.

And Jules Diamond did not forget about looking for Wayne Mitchell’s mother. Wayne was an orphan which made the search more difficult, but not totally impossible. Jules’ company did identify one woman who they thought might be Wayne’s mom, but after doing a DNA test, she proved not to be the real thing. They continued their search.

Since Ms. Jackie wasn’t all that busy with too many projects, Mr. Ken gave her the job of working with Ben Walthers in researching the small 70-passenger tracked miniature train for going around the Go-Kart Track and Miniature Golf Course at Four Corners and whatever family rides they could squeeze in the remaining available space there.

Ms. Jackie was also tasked to work on a special project that Mr. Chris had mentioned to Mr. Ken back when he was visiting the high schools to see which ones would be invited to participate in the Three Finger Cove Christmas Decoration Competition.

Alongside the outer wall of The Cove, the linear park project got started in mid-January. The contractor thought he would use the newly created parking lot next to the Main Gate for his constriction trailer and parking for his workers’ vehicles. But Ken Thomas put an end to that on the first day.

The owner of that property, told him it was private property and the contractor would have to create his own parking area at the other end of the property line. The contractor began to balk, but when he was reminded that Mr. Thomas was funding the project, he knew he either did what the client wanted, or quit the job. He moved to another site and began the job.

The two lawsuits against the Golderson’s security alarm company were slowly moving through the court system, while both sides were talking and hoping to find a way to settle out of court.

The alarm company’s lawyers figured they would focus on Billy, as he wasn’t asking for as much in compensation as the Golderson’s were. They figured if they could get him to accept a low figure settlement, they could use that as a bargaining point against the Goldersons to get them to also settle out-of-court.

Bill and David Jackson knew what the alarm company lawyers were trying to do, and as the alarm company’s lawyers offered to give Billy $500,000.00, Bill Jackson told them he was considering amending their lawsuit to $2.5M, as the teenager had been seeing a Child Psychologist ever since the home invasion.

The security alarm company’s lawyers hadn’t known about Doctor Jennings seeing Billy Dirketson for the past seven months and decided to raise their offer some. Bill Jackson told them they’d see them in court.

In early February Billy asked Mr. Wayne if he would take him to DMV in order for him to take his driver’s permit test. When there, they verified he had completed the first 6 hours of the Texas driver’s course, that he was enrolled in a state-approved driver’s education course, he had his Social Security Card, proved he was enrolled in high school and had his guardian’s consent.

While there, the teenager took the written knowledge test covering a range of topics, including Texas traffic laws and safe driving techniques. He passed with getting only one question wrong and was then issued his learner’s permit, which allowed him to now get behind-the-wheel experience, while supervised by a licensed adult of at least 21 years of age. Billy was the happiest he could ever remember.

Billy now needed to complete the Impact Texas Teen Driver’s Course, an 8-part video that explains with hard facts the dangers of distracted driving, and the online driver’s education course in addition to 44 hours of behind-the-wheel training. Mr. Wayne told him that he and Mr. Dennis would help him with the driver’s training, and he could bet Mr. Ken would also take him out, as he had with Collin.

During February, Mr. Ken’s investment partners met with him and they all discussed what he intended to do with the land he bought out across from the Lakeside Hotel and his new office building. They reminded him he mentioned building some light industrial warehouses and strip office spaces and store fronts along the main road and larger industrial areas well behind those and they were now interested in possibly moving forward with that project.

Mr. Ken was happy to hear that his partners were interested in proceeding with building out his holdings out by the Lakeside Hotel. He asked them if they wanted to use his Architect and Design Group to work up some plans, or did the group have an urban planning architect, they wanted to use to draw up some preliminary drawings they could begin to work from.

After some discussion they agreed to let Mr. Ken’s architect and design group to begin working up some preliminary use plans for the land and they could all then give their opinions and suggestions from them. But the partnership all knew that they had to work with the county urban planners, in the end.

But since there was no designated county plan for that area, just yet, they hoped by submitting their plans, and how they saw the undeveloped land being used, it would lead the county in the direction they had hoped to develop the land.

They all knew this extensive project would be a long, drawn-out process, that could take at least two years to three years before one shovel of dirt was ever turned. They agreed to meet when the Design Group had the land preliminarily drawn out with everything they discussed, including roads, traffic lights and side streets as far up as to where the office building was located.

During the three-day weekend in February, the Cover boys had their first big sleepover in a long time. A total of thirty-nine boys; was small in comparison to the sixty-three boys they had when Mark was staying at The Cove. They did pizza the night of the sleepover and a Dive-In movie.

The morning breakfast was the biggest problem for the boys, as it was still too cold for them to cook pancakes up at the Pavilion, so Mr. Dennis was tasked to pick up 125 breakfast tacos for the hungry boys and chaperones. Momma Maria had pre-made the chocolate and vanilla milk the day before.

The boys did the sub sandwiches for a late lunch and they used the Kitchen Nook to spread everything out. That was the first time Mr. Dennis got to fix his own sub sandwich. He was just as surprised as Mr. Chris was the first time when he got to make a wonderful sandwich from all the great breads, meats, cheeses, vegetables, spreads, Italian dressing, chips and pickles that were provided.

Billy heard that the twin’s birthdays were in the middle of March, so he asked Mr. Wayne to take them out to get them birthday cards. He and his three brothers got them funny cards and they each put twenty dollars in them and sent them off, so they would get there when they were on their Spring Break.

‘Dad’ Ken also got them Birthday Cards and he included minute, text and data cards for them to add to their cell phones. He added a nice note telling them he hoped they were happy in their new home and that he and their ‘brothers’ would always remember the fun times they all had together. He also told them to take care of themselves and one another.

With Kevin and Kyle no longer at The Cove, and thus all of their friends no longer stopping by, Robert and Billy began inviting some of their classmates over to The Cove to use the Cove Skate Park. Both boys and girls were allowed to come over and each weekend there were different ones who were invited. They also got the opportunity to taste burnt burgers and dogs, too.

As more and more of their high school classmates were invited over and the word got out about how smooth the Cove Skate Park was and the food was free and good, many more of their classmates tried to get an invitation. The only problem was that only a few at a time got the invitation. It made for some bad feelings amongst a number of the Covers’ classmates.

In the beginning of March, Victor Turnsten, before he was to go to trial for what he did to his son three months prior, met with the Colorado District Attorney about his giving up his parental rights to his son, Matthew.

The man didn’t want to do that, but when the DA explained to him that if he was found guilty on his current charges, for what he did to his son, his boy could be providing him grandkids by the time he got out of prison.

The DA explained that in exchange for his relinquishing his parental rights his charges would be reduced and he would be given probation instead of prison time and he would go on living his life, such as it was, before he took custody of Matthew.

Victor decided that he liked his freedom more than he loved his son, plus he knew he’d never get any money out of Matthew, as his rich foster dad had made it so the boy’s money was tied up until he was eighteen. The man also knew that after what he’d done to his son the boy would never give him any of it. So, Victor readily took the deal and signed over his parental rights.

Also, in March, for their Spring Break, the Covers took a cruise on the Disney Dream, and Kate and her mom and the boys joined them. Matthew got his wish to go on a Disney Cruise and besides Mr. Wayne, Mr. Dennis also went along.

They left out of Miami on a seven-day cruise with three stops along the way with one stop at Castaway Cay. The boys watched over Rusty and Jessy and did lots of fun things with them. But Kate made sure the older boys had the opportunity to do things too, by taking charge of her sons at times to make sure the Cover boys had fun too.

Mr. Ken and Ms. Kate did get to spend some quality time together in order to get to know one another even better. While the boys and the other adults went to dinner, Ken and Kate went out to dinner by themselves. They ate at the Palo, for Italian cuisine, and then they went to the adults only night club, District Lounge, for a few drinks. Then for some dancing, they went to Evolution that was a trendy dance club for some grown-up fun.

The two enjoyed one another’s company during this cruise, on their excursions and at the pools with the boys. They were building on their feelings for one other during that cruise and they both saw it in one another’s eyes. Everyone was disappointed when the cruise was over and they all had to return to their own homes.

When Ken Thomas returned from the cruise, he had an angry message on his answering machine from Reynolds Parchsons telling him and the other boys to stay out of the twin’s lives.

Mr. Ken was not happy with the tone of voice he heard on the message, nor the message itself. So, he waited until it was after dinner time in the Parchsons’ time zone and he called them.

When the phone was answered, he asked the child to get his dad on the phone. When the man came to the phone, Mr. Ken started. “Reynolds … I just got your message, as I returned from our ‘family’ Spring Vacation and you are a fool!” was the first thing the twin’s former foster dad said to the man.

Reynolds got very defensive and told Mr. Ken to just butt out of Kevin and Kyle’s lives.

But Mr. Ken wasn’t finished, with the new guardian, and gave him a second blast. “Reynolds … the boys spent fifteen months with me and the other boys, and there is a bond between us … whether you like it or not! The best thing you can do is to allow that bond … to die a natural death. But trying to force its demise … will only cause the boys to rebel and cause you to wish you had never started that war.

“Listen … my boys, and I … we only wanted to celebrate the twin’s birthday. We sent them some funny Birthday Cards and some money for them to buy themselves something. But what the boys haven’t done, and you know is true, is they haven’t constantly called and talked with one another, since they left. Yes, they have talked, but it was when Matthew was attacked by his dad and at Christmas, and maybe one or two other times.

“These boys shared a lot together over those fifteen months they were here and … and they have a special connection with one another and that … and that is something … that we will never understand because … they were all foster kids.

“Do you understand that Reynolds? They were all throw away kids! They each had something in common … they each had something in common that they each could identify with.

“They may call and want to talk to one another, because … well, just because they know their ‘brother’ can understand what they are talking about and maybe … and just maybe … they only just need a friendly voice to help them get through a rough time right then.

“I hope you and your wife will allow them to continue to have this simple contact. It may go by the wayside over time, but it may last until they are grown adults, and even then, they may be ‘uncles’ to their kids. Only time will tell,” finished Mr. Ken.

The phone was quiet on the other end for a few seconds. It was Sylvia’s voice who then came on the phone. “Mr. Thomas … we … we thought that … that by breaking their contact with you … and the other boys … that they would forget that part of their lives.

“But after hearing what you just had to say, and … and knowing and seeing what you put on the memory sticks you sent them … we now know that you cared a whole lot about Kevin and Kyle and … and that you made it … you made it so they had a wonderful and loving home, so they could actually try to forget how Parker and Vivian treated them before … well, before what Parker did.

“We … we … we will no longer interfere with the boys contact with you, or with the other boys that they call their ‘brothers’. But … we will not encourage it either. Kevin and Kyle … I think they have accepted living with us and their cousins.

“They have made some really good friends, here. They are doing well in school, and we have you to thank for those wonderful computers you had given the boys. They’ve even allowed our other children to use them and even their grades have gotten better, because of them.

“We apologize … for our misguided attempt to restrict the boys contact with you and your boys. We thought … we thought that was the best thing for the boys, but … well, I guess we do need to talk to you more about the boys. As we said, we’ll let them talk back-and-forth, and hopefully we can talk some more too,” chimed in Reynolds.

Mr. Ken thanked them for their understanding and told them to call any time and then they ended the call on a more friendly note.

Ken Thomas missed opening day at his amusement parks that year. But he had his new President of Three Finger Entertainment, LLC, Ben Walthers, visit all four parks. The three new Wild Mouse roller coasters also debuted that spring and the crowds loved them. The new coasters had the people lined up to ride them over and over.

Edgewood Amusement Park didn’t open that spring. The owners lost all of the lawsuits against them and the awards amounted to more than the insurance coverage they had. Because of that they had to either pull money out of their own bank accounts, or sell off the park.

The owners of Edgewood chose to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, as it provided relief to them regardless of the amount of money owed. But to take full advantage of the bankruptcy laws they couldn’t incur additional debt, which was why they didn’t open the park that spring.

A Bankruptcy Trustee was appointed to convert all of the amusement park’s assets into cash for distribution among all of the amusement park’s owner’s creditors, which included the money awarded in the lawsuits above and beyond what their insurance did not cover.

When the Edgewood Bankruptcy Trustee began the process of selling off the Edgewood Amusement Park’s assets, he announced his intent to sell the park in its entirety first and would accept bids from all interested parties up until the first of May, giving all interested parties approximately 45 days to inspect the property prior to bidding.

In his announcement, the Trustee added that if there was no one interested in purchasing the Edgewood Amusement Park in its entirety, he would then begin selling off the rides, individual ride parts inventories, food and beverage equipment, ancillary support vehicles and then the smaller park benches, light fixtures, signs, souvenirs, etc.

Upon the Trustees announcement of the liquidation of the amusement park, many other amusement parks began to send representatives to inspect the amusement park to determine which ride, or rides, or park amenities they might want to bid on.

Many investors knew the park hadn’t been properly maintained over the years and when it was up for sale last winter, they didn’t bother making an offer. They also knew that the man who had contributed his own report on the condition of the park after the Rocket’s accident, hadn’t himself bought the park, they all figured they could go in and ‘cherry-pick’ the best parts of the park.

Now after the accident and the investigators shutting down three additional rides during their investigation, they still didn’t feel there was any value in purchasing the entire park. They just wanted what they considered was the ‘good’ pieces of it, and they all hoped that no one would try to buy the park outright.

In the meantime, Ken Thomas already knew what he wanted to do, so with the local lawyer he had contacted, they submitted a proposal to the Trustee and offered to buy the entire park, at a reasonable market value.

They also offered to operate the park for the next five years and to employ the majority of the employees to keep the local economy moving along. Now, all Mr. Ken had to do was to wait and see if the trustee would accept his proposal, or if he would have to go to the auction, outbid every other bidder, then buy the land, if he wanted to purchase and own the entire park.

But since Mr. Ken was now at home, instead of visiting his amusement parks, he decided to see how well Bill was learning to drive under the tutelage of Mr. Wayne and Mr. Dennis. After dinner one evening, the owner of The Cove had the teenager get the Taurus out and the two of them went out the Main Gate. Mr. Ken then had the teen drive the tight streets of the subdivision and then out into the heavily trafficked streets down at Four Corners. They were gone for over an hour.

When they returned, the other boys gathered around Billy to find out how he did. Billy told them he didn’t hit any cars and he didn’t get any tickets, so he figured he did pretty good. Mr. Ken stood back and smiled at what the teen had to say. He then told the boys that their ‘brother’ was a pretty good driver, but he has yet to see how well he could drive his back-up course. All the boys, but especially Billy, wondered what Mr. Ken meant by that.

At the end of March, Collin’s fears about Gammy came true. He was in class when he received a text from Uncle Andy to call him at his first opportunity. When the teenager did so, it was then he learned that his grandmother had passed away. The teenager cried like a baby.

When the college sophomore got control of himself, his next phone call was to his Big Bro. Mr. Ken told Collin to tell Admissions what happened and then to drive safely home and he would meet him there.

Ken Thomas immediately put everything he was involved in on hold. He told Mr. Wayne and Mr. Dennis he was going to drive to Wilkinson and why. He told them if the funeral was going to be on Saturday, he would like the boys to be there for their older ‘brother’. The boys were still in school, at the time, and wouldn’t hear about Grammy until they returned home.

The boys were at a loss when they heard of Grammy’s passing. Only Billy had ever lost someone who had died, but with their ‘dad’ gone the house felt empty to them. They asked Mr. Wayne if what they were feeling was something akin to what they felt when Mark, Matthew and the twins had left The Cove.

Mr. Wayne told the boys that with their ‘dad’, Mark, Matthew and the twins they were people they could or would eventually see once more. But with Grammy, she would be gone forever and all they would have would be their memories of her.

The Estate Master told them that Collin was now all alone. He reminded them that the teenager had no brother or sisters, that his parents were murdered in front of him, and now his grandmother has died and she would no longer be there for him. The man added that all the teen had now was his Big Bro, their ‘dad’, Uncle Andy and them, and they needed to be there to support him during this dark time in his life.

At Wilkinson, Collin broke down in his Big Bro’s arms and cried again like a baby. He feared this day would happen, and now he was all alone. But his Big Bro reminded him that he was there, his Uncle Andy was still there and he had five ‘brothers’ who were there for him, too.

After Collin composed himself, he, his Big Bro and Uncle Andy sat down and talked about what sort of arrangements they should make for Victoria Suzannah Frankenberg ‘Grammy’ Wilkinson’s send off.

The funeral was held on Saturday and Mr. Wayne brought the boys down after school on Friday. The funeral service was held at the funeral home and it was well attended by the movers and shakers of the community. The Wilkinson Family was well known in the area and they had touched many with their philanthropy, so the funeral was well attended.

The Cover boys all wore their suits they had gotten for the Holidays. Even Matthew had gotten one after he came back to The Cove, and this was the first ever funeral either of them had ever attended, except for Billy, who had attended his step-dad’s funeral with his mom, who was out on bail at the time.

The boy’s ‘dad’ sat with Collin to give him the ‘family’ support he needed during the service and he stayed with the teen at the cemetery during the internment there. The boys had Mr. Wayne and Ms. Judy to explain to them what was happening and why.

During the post-funeral reception, many of Grammy’s friends and acquaintances got up and talked about her and what she had either done for the community, or them. Collin heard many stories about his grandmother that he never knew, and he was glad that his Uncle Andy convinced him to let them say what they had about Grammy.

Afterwards, many of the people came up to Collin and offered their condolences and those who were on the many Boards the Wilkinsons’ supported told Collin he could count on them if he ever needed help with anything.

Back at the Wilkinson estate, Collin again talked about selling it. But his Big Bro reminded him of their conversation back at Thanksgiving about him bringing the estate into the 21^st Century and making it his own. He added that otherwise he needed to sit back and not make any major decisions about the estate for at least six months, or longer.

Uncle Andy agreed with Mr. Ken and told Collin that he should take some of those well-wishers up on their offers of help and let them give him some ideas on how he could redesign the house into a modern, up-to-date state-of-the-art mansion of the 21^st Century. That was the first time that Collin smiled ever since Grammy had passed away.

The Cover boys went back to The Cove Sunday afternoon, because they had school on Monday, while their ‘dad’ decided to remain another day or two to help Collin get his mind back on his studies and back to school himself.

Collin really appreciated his Big Bro being there for him. The teen told him he didn’t know what he would have done if he didn’t have someone like him to count on to get him through the second worst time in his life. The teenager did go back to college that Tuesday, and while he was gone, he had an architect start working on some preliminary drawings to update the Wilkinson estate into his own 21^st Century home.

That Wednesday after the funeral, Ms. Judy called her friend Ken to tell him she received a curious package from a District Attorney out in Colorado. When she told him that it was Victor Turnsten’s release of parental right to Matthew, Ken wasn’t surprised.

The man then told her that he asked the lawyer he worked with out in Colorado to talk with the District Attorney to offer the man reduced charges if he would sign away his rights to his son. Mr. Ken said it apparently worked and now he needed to work on Grace to sign away her parental rights. Ms. Judy told him, “Good luck with that! She will be eligible for parole in five years and will want her son back then.” All Mr. Ken said was that he liked a challenge.

It was then Ms. Judy asked Ken if he and his ‘boys’ were ready to take on another challenge. The Director of CPS told Ken last November that she had a boy she had wanted to place with him, but with all the turmoil going on with Matthew and the twins she didn’t think he was ready to tackle another needy boy just then. But now she had another boy who needed to be taken away from his mother and the sooner the better.

Ken told Judy he had to talk to the boys about it before he could commit. He told her there weren’t any major trips planned until the summer, so any new boy would have time to get acclimated to his new home and his ‘brothers’. He also told her he was ready and asked her to give him some particulars about the boy.

Ms. Judy told Ken that the boy’s name was Phillip ‘Phil’ Alan Girroads, who will be eleven on 18 May and is in the 5^th grade. That the boy was an average student and was being removed from the home because his mother was neglecting the boy.

The Director of CPS went on to tell the owner of The Cove that the mom had Phil while she was still in high school and felt that she was still a teenager, even though she was now 25 or 26. Ms. Judy said it was as if the woman wanted to party and when she did, she forgets to come home and take care of her son, and his needs.

Mr. Ken told Ms. Judy he would call her later that night or first thing tomorrow morning with their decision, but he felt they would be ready to take on Phillip. Ms. Judy told him that she could bring the boy over after he finishes school tomorrow, if they decided to foster another ‘Cover’. The two adults laughed at the ‘Cover’ reference and then the two hung up.

That Wednesday night after dinner, ‘dad’ Ken had his regular meeting in his Study with the boys and Mr. Wayne. When he was finished going over the upcoming appointments and things planned for him, the boys and The Cove, he told the boys he had something to ask them.

‘Boys … Ms. Judy called me today. She received a package from the Colorado DA where Matthew lived. It was Victor’s … his release of his parental rights to Matthew,” stated ‘dad’ Ken in a deadpan voice.

It took Robert and Charles a few seconds to understand what that meant and then they started to ask their dad if he was going to adopt Matthew. Matthew’s eyes got big when he heard his ‘brothers’ question, and he asked ‘dad’ Ken if that was possible.

“Boys … Victor … he has given up his parental rights to his son. He was given the option of going to prison for a long time, or giving up his parental rights in exchange for a reduced charge and a long probation. He obviously loves his freedom more than his son, so … so he signed away his parental rights to Matthew,” explained ‘dad’ Ken.

“Dad, does that mean … that you’re going to adopt Matthew?” asked Charles.

“Son, his mom … she has to also sign away her parental rights to Matthew. And you know how difficult it was to get your mom to give up her rights to you. Since, I just found out about Victor relinquishing his parental rights this is something … that I will have to think about and, of course, talk over with Matthew. Let’s not discuss this issue just yet. OK?

“But … there is another matter, that Ms. Judy called me about, though. She asked me, well us, if we … if we were ready to take on another foster boy. So, boys … what do you say? Are you four … are you willing to be big ‘brothers’ to a soon to be eleven-year-old?” was the question posed by ‘dad’ Ken.

“When would we get him?” quickly asked a smiling Robert.

Billy spoke up and said there were empty bedrooms upstairs and it would be nice to have another younger ‘brother’ around The Cove. Charles agreed about having another ‘brother’ and that they should give another boy the opportunity to have a good home to live in, since they have the extra rooms. Matthew didn’t say anything, as he was thinking about the possibility of ‘dad’ Ken adopting him.

“Boys, Ms. Judy asked us to try to decide tonight and let her know tonight or tomorrow if we accept Phillip. So, what do you say, boys? Are we ready for another foster boy?” directly asked ‘dad’ Ken.

The four boys said they were if he was. Mr. Wayne just sat back and smiled at the process and knew tomorrow afternoon there would be another Cover in the mix.

Mr. Ken called Ms. Judy about their decision to host another foster boy. She thanked him for the quick decision to take Phillip, and knowing early, she could start the process as soon as she got to work in the morning. She told Mr. Ken to expect them at about four o’clock, so he could plan his day at the office and be home in time.

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

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