Published: 29 Jan 2026

From the Previous Chapter:

But Billy called out and told them that they had to help clean up the Nook before anyone went to bed. Quickly, the Covers put everything away, wiped down the mess they made and put away the dirty dishes. When Billy was satisfied, he told everyone that they could now go to bed.

Mr. Ken and Wayne talked for just a few minutes, but before long the owner of The Cove told his employee, and friend, that he was relatively tired and that he needed his bed and that he’d see him in the morning.

Mr. Wayne told the man to have a good night’s rest and that he’d catch up with him in the morning. The Estate Master then went out to the Kitchen Nook and took out enough breakfast tacos for everyone to have in the morning. Then he went to bed himself. The Cove now had all of its residents back home and before long they, and their guests, were sound asleep.

It was unusual for Ken Thomas to do what he did that Monday morning, but the man slept in until 8:30. When he awoke, he felt refreshed and rested, but when he looked at the time, he was almost ashamed of himself that he’d done that. But he couldn’t do anything about that now. So, he got up and used his en suite, then dressed for the day. He finally arrived in the Kitchen Nook at a little after nine o’clock.

The resident pets heard him coming and they rushed to meet him. The Cove’s owner petted them and then he continued to walk to where he wanted to get his first cup of coffee.

“Morning, boss,” chuckled Wayne, as he sat at the Nook’s table.

“Good morning to you, too, Wayne,” offered Mr. Ken, as he walked into the Kitchen Nook. “I didn’t mean to sleep in as I had, but I didn’t realize how tired I really was. And let me tell you, it sure felt good to do that. Let me get my first cup of coffee and then we can talk.”

Since it was the third day of the three-day weekend, the boys had also slept in and they were arriving in the Kitchen Nook about the same time as ‘dad’ Ken was. Matthew and Darrin went and fixed Chief and Sarge their morning meal of fresh kibble and water with ice cubes floating in it. The two resident pets then quickly ate what was presented to them and drank the cold ice water.

The boys, after saying good morning to their ’dad’. of course, went looking for heated breakfast tacos that Mr. Wayne had been fixing for them all weekend. The previous evening’s guests, Cooper and Jamie, also greeted the man, as they followed Charles and Billy over to the convection oven and then the refrigerator for something to drink. Robert and Eric had already eaten their breakfast and were out cutting and trimming the field.

As the boys ate, they began asking Phillip about his trip. The young Cover was all smiles, as he told his ‘brothers’ and their guest about his trip. He began telling them about their drive over to the Austin-Bergstrom Airport, then their arrival at the hotel and then all about the basketball game.

Phillip’s enthusiasm about the game was evident, as he first told them where their seats were and how he could see the baskets being made at their end of the court. He described how they could look down into the players and watch them set up their plays and move to the basket and then turn the ball around and rush to the other end to score.

When young Cover finished telling of the game and answering their questions, he told them all about his trip to Six Flags Over Texas. Darrin was the most interested, as he was thinking that he might want to go there on his three-day trip.

The youngest Cover told the boys how his ‘dad’ took him first on an interactive ride and then on a spinning coaster and from here it was two family coasters. Phillip then told how they went to this very old wooden coaster that wasn’t very high but had a lot of air time. The youngster then mentioned how when he came out of this tunnel, Billy asked him if Mr. Ken made him go on that really high flying, or swinging chair, ride.

Phillip laughed and asked, “Do you mean the 400-foot high SkyScreamer? Then yea, but he didn’t make me. I figure that since I was there that I needed to ride it. I’m glad I rode it before I knew how high it was and that we went around at almost 35 miles-per-hour. It did give me a good view of what the park looked like.”

Phillip then told everyone about all the rides they rode and the ones they went back to ride before going out for dinner. The young Cover them told his listeners about his trip to the Museum of the American Railroad and that huge G-gauge layout and then all about the different locomotives and diesels and rolling stock they saw.

But when it came to telling the boys about his time at Speed Zone, he couldn’t contain himself as he told how he drove the Top Eliminator Dragster, and lost miserly, because he didn’t know what he was doing, and then the high-torque engine karts on the Turbo Track. But he held everyone’s attention as he told them about his driving on the Slick Trax and had the kart slip-sliding all over the track and how much fun that had been.

The two men listened to Phillip tell his story and Mr. Ken told Wayne that he should take the boys there and see how much fun that Slick Trax actually is. The owner of The Cove told his employee how the boys had tried to get him to put that type of track beside his Go-Kart Track, but he knew that he wanted to put in some small kiddie rides there instead.

“Mr. Ken … at one time, in the back of your mind, you may have envisioned small kiddie rides located between the Go-Kart Track and the Miniature Golf Course, and your train going around everything. But look what’s it morphed into. You … you have placed a miniature amusement park there and according to the ad you placed in the paper on Saturday there will be a family roller coaster and four large rides and much. much more,” laughed Wayne.

“Do you still have Saturday’s newspaper? I want to see how that ad appeared,” quickly asked Mr. Ken.

The two men then looked at the ad together. Mr. Ken then explained to Wayne that the ad was an artist’s exaggerated rendition of what they would like the Four Corner’s Amusement Park to look like. The park’s owner then clarified how they are using the ad to try to get the owner of the adjoining 8+ acre property to sell it to one of his shell companies.

Hearing that surprised Wayne, so he asked his employer if he would explain how he thought that would work. Mr. Ken told his Estate Master that if the property owner believes that there will be a noisy roller coaster and large flat rides operating right next door to where he had intended to build an office building, he might come to his senses and sell the property knowing that no tenant would want to hear that type of noise all day, every day.

After the boys listened to Phillip tell them about his trip, they went up and got their showers and ready for the day. Phillip, Matthew and Darrin used what had come to be known as Phillip’s bathroom to get ready. Phillip had gotten so used to being seen naked by his two ‘brothers’ that he didn’t even think about getting in the shower and then drying in front of them. The three ‘brothers’ then went to their own rooms to get dressed for the day.

Upon going downstairs, Matthew decided to take Sarge up to the Cove Skate Park to see if he could train the young pup to ride the skateboard better. Phillip decided to go up the Pavilion and turn on the sound system to practice all the songs before his band came there today to practice, again.

As for Darrin, it had not yet been a month, since the teen had arrived at The Cove and he really hadn’t had much free time to look around. So that Monday morning, he decided to look around The Cove, before his friends arrived at noon.

The teen decided to first check out the four-car garage. He often saw all the tool storage chests and cabinets, but he never got the chance to look through them. So, when he went out into the large garage, he looked through the tool chests and storage cabinets and he was thoroughly surprised at what that his foster dad had stored in them.

He saw there were different sizes of standard and metric tool sets including wrenches and socket sets as well as screwdrivers, hammers, pliers, tape measures, saws and many more hand tools. There were also many power tools, such as drills, saws, planers, sanders, routers and jigsaws as well as oscillating and rotary tools and many that he didn’t’ know their names.

He’d also seen the storage shed out in the Parking Coral, but he’d never seen it open. Today, Robert and Eric were cutting and trimming the field and the shed was open. So, he figured that was where they had kept the lawn equipment that they were now using. And, since he was checking things out, he decided to look through the shed out see what else was stored in there.

When the Cover teen looked inside, he noticed there were stacks of wood, pails of screws and the standard garden equipment. He also noticed there were also six red plastic gasoline storage containers. He wondered to himself why they would have so much gas stored in there.

It was while he was looking around and thinking to himself about the gasoline that Robert came to the shed.

“Darrin … what brings you out here?” asked the older ‘brother’.

“Oh, I, ahh … I’ve seen the shed here, but … well, I’ve never had the chance to see what was in it and today … and today it was open, so I decided to check it out,” answered Darrin. “I hope you don’t mind?”

“Naw, but it’s just stuff. We store the zero-turn mower, the string trimmer and a few other garden tools in here. You also see some of the wood from when we took the old ramps apart and some of the screws and metal supports,” explained Robert.

“So, why do you have so much gas stored in here?” now asked Darrin.

“Oh, the gas. Well, we do need the gas for the mower, plus we store the gas for the golf carts in here, too. We get the one-gallon gas cans filled about every two months or so, depending on how busy we’ve been driving the golf carts. Say, have you ever driven the golf carts, yet?” now asked the older teen Cover.

“As a matter-of-fact, no, I haven’t. Is there a test I need to pass in order to drive them?” Darrin wanted to know.

Robert laughed and told him that even Phillip drove them. The older teen then told his ‘brother; that later he’d show him the ropes so that he too could drive the golf carts. Darrin smiled at the offer and said that he’d be there all day. That put a smile on Robert’s face, who told his ‘brother; that he’d come looking for him after he took his shower.

After Robert went back to helping cut and trim the field and surrounding edges, Darrin went back to looking inside the shed. He again looked at the gas cans and for a moment they brought back a memory of him and his older brother, Dawson, going out at night and using gas to soak the buildings that they ultimately set on fire in the area where they once lived.

The teen had to walk outside of the shed and to shake his head to get those thoughts out of his mind. That was the second time that he thought back to a time that he and his brother had set fires in the south county where they once lived. He knew they did it for the fun of it because the buildings were derelict and vacant and that nobody would ever use them again.

As the owner of The Cove was packing for his trip to Florida and the IAAPA Expo, the boy’s friends began to arrive for the day. Phillip’s band members were happy that he was back and they could now practice with the whole band there.

Darrin’s friends arrived and they all just talked about what they wanted to do today. Darrin smiled and told them that Robert was finally going to show him how to drive the golf carts. Then he told them that he looked through the garage tool chests and cabinets and he couldn’t believe all the tools that his foster dad had. He then told them about the things that he saw.

The teen Cover also told them that he got a chance to look in the shed. Some of the boys told him that they’ve been in and out of the shed a lot of times, as they took the old ramps apart and stored the good pieces of wood in there. They asked him what he found so interesting in there.

Darrin told them that he was surprised at what was inside besides the lawn equipment. He added that when he saw all that wood and pails of screws and metal braces he was surprised and wondered why Mr. Ken would want all of that. Then he mentioned that Robert had come by and described why that was all in there, as they had.

The Cover also told them how they store six one-gallon cans of gas for the zero-turn mower and the golf carts. He expressed how surprised he was to see that they had that much gasoline until his older ‘brother’ revealed why they had it.

Ken Thomas and Wayne were in the Study and the Estate Master pointed out to his employer the carton in the corner that came for him on Friday, after he’d left to pick up Phillip. Mr. Ken went to the box and brought it to his desk and took out a small knife and began opening it.

“Wayne … in here very well might be the second generation of the security devices that my electronics company had been working on,” offered the owner of The Cove, as he broke open the package.

What was inside the box was very well packed and the man had to first pull out the bubble wrap and then unwrap more bubble wrap the was surrounding the two packages which were inside the original carton.

When Mr. Ken opened the first box Wayne saw what looked like fountain pens. So, he asked about them.

“Wayne … Jules asked if they could come up with something that would be more in line for a what business man would have on him versus those oversized coins. The fountain/ballpoint pen is something all business men carry on them wherever they go. I was told that it took some doing, but here they are,” revealed Mr. Ken.

“Have they been tested?” now asked Wayne.

“Yes, but only at the plant. They want me to test them out here in the local and extended area. I’ll call Jules … oh, I’m leaving in an hour or two and I won’t have time to explain what he needs to do and when I come back, he’ll be getting married and going on his honeymoon.

“Wayne … could you call him later and … and tell him that these are here and that he can have six to ten of them to test with either his clients, or his employees. He knows what to do without involving the Sheriff’s Department. Then when I get back, I can call the plant to find out how the test went and if it went well, Jules … he could have the rest of them and begin passing them out to his important business customers?” finished Mr. Ken.

Wayne agreed to do that. Then he asked what was in the other box. The owner of The Cove opened the other box and showed Wayne Mitchell that there were more coins. That surprised the Estate Master.

“I see the surprise in your face. Take a look at this coin. You’ll see that it is smaller than the first one, but it is a bit thicker. Also … look at the design. Do you recognize it?” teased the man’s employer.

“The coin is a bit lighter, and the design … it’s … it’s the Three Finger Cove keychain design on the front with the name on the back along with the words Commemorative Coin around the edge on the obverse. Are you going to change these out with all of the boys?” now asked Wayne.

“I haven’t decided if I’m going to do that. At least not yet, anyway. I am going to trade out all of the Cover boy’s coins when I get back. Please don’t show the coins or mention that to them. Again, I’ll need to test them and we’ll either do that during Thanksgiving week or the week after,” divulged Ken Thomas.

Then noticing the time, Mr. Ken excused himself to finish packing and get himself ready as Ben Walthers and family would be arriving and then he and Ben would be taking the limo to the Austin-Bergstrom Airport at 1:30, or so.

After Robert and Eric took their showers from being sweaty after cutting and trimming the large field, Robert went looking for Darrin. When he found his ‘brother’, he told him that he was going to introduce him to driving the golf carts.

Darrin was all smiles when he heard that and he went with his older ‘brother’ to the four-seat golf cart to get his first ‘driving’ lesson on the golf carts. Robert had his ‘brother’ sit in the driver’s seat.

“Darrin … this is simple. You tap the gas pedal to take the brake off. Don’t smash the pedal otherwise you could take off and lose control of the cart. Go ahead … tap the gas pedal and see what happens,” encouraged Robert.

Darrin did what he was asked and the brake came up and the golf cart didn’t move, which was what Robert was hoping for. The Cover instructor then told his teen ‘brother’ to go ahead and push on the gas pedal and drive the Golf cart down to the Parking Coral.

Darrin smiled all the way down to the parking Coral. He didn’t hurry as he drove, as Phillip would have, but he got the two of them there with no mishap. And once at their destination, a smiling Robert told his ‘brother’; that he could have gone a little faster.

Robert then told his ‘brother’ to hop in the six-seater. The Cover instructor told his ‘brother’ that the six-seater operated the same way, but that it was longer and heavier, so it handled a bit different. Robert then had Darrin drive that golf cart up the Pavilion.

Darrin drove a little faster, this time, but not as fast as he would eventually, as he got used to the larger cart. The two Covers arrived unharmed at the Pavilion, and Robert pronounced the new Cover qualified to drive the golf carts. Darrin was all smiles.

The band, Pavilion, practiced all of the songs they needed to for the wedding reception and the Four Corners audition. Marshall Gray sat in for most of the practice, as he needed to know the songs more so than Jeff, as he’d been with the band from the beginning.

For some reason, the whole band was on a different level with Phillip now there. They could all feel the difference with their band leader on site, and they all could feel they were playing with all their ability and soul.

Even the other boys, who were there that Monday, could tell that there was something different about the band’s sound. They’d heard the band play all summer and they also heard the band practice those same songs yesterday. But today they could tell by the way they were playing that the band members were playing more strongly and they were also singing stronger than they ever had. They felt that the band had arrived and that they should be a shoo-in for their audition.

Robert was the first one to notice the Walthers driving down the drive to the front of the house. He told all of his ‘brothers’ and they all loaded onto the golf carts and they headed down to the house to say goodbye to their ‘dad’.

All the Walthers were there. Addison, Ben’s wife and his two children, Rylan, his fourteen-year-old son and Ryleigh, his twelve-year-old daughter and they all greeted the boys as they came down to the house.

Rylan went over to Charles and told him that he and his dad visited Crystal Lake and Edgewood that weekend. The teen then added that many of the workers at Edgewood still remembered him and they got him on the rides even without a Fastest Pass. The two teens bumped fists and laughed.

The Cover boys were saying their goodbyes to their ‘dad’ as the limo arrived and the two men brought their suitcases out to the hired vehicle. The commotion at the limo was almost comical as the Walthers were saying goodbye to Ben and the Covers were telling their ‘dad’ to enjoy the Expo and to bring them something back. Even Chief and Sarge were there to get one last behind the ear scratch and a belly rub.

It was just after 1:30 and Wayne asked the Walthers if they wanted to stay for the barbeque as the boys would be setting it up in about a half hour.

As the two men rode in the hired car to the Austin-Bergstrom Airport they first got settled for the ninety-minute drive then Ben began telling Mr. Ken about him and his son, Rylan’s, visit to Crystal Lake and Edgewood, soon to be called Adventure Forest Amusement Park.

Ben started off by saying that he couldn’t say enough about both parks. He told the owner of the parks that if he didn’t know any better, he’d have thought that the same man ran them both.

The President of Three Finger Entertainment explained that both parks looked very clean from their park entrances, to the ride queues, to the fronts of the refreshment stands. Ben went on to say that the rides themselves looked almost as if they were brand new, because they shined and didn’t have dirt or smudges on them.

Ben told Mr. Ken that both parks were gearing up for their Celebration of Christmas Wonders and he didn’t know how Jason did it, but the park looks very festive. He went on to say that he asked the park manager how he was able to get as many decorations as he had, and Jason told him that when he bought the decorations for the Spook-Tac-U-Lair he talked to the company and asked about what sort of deal he could also get on the Christmas decorations.

Ben asked Mr. Ken if he remembered how much money he gave Jason to put on the Spook-Tac-U-Lair. Mr. Ken honestly replied that he didn’t remember. Ben laughed and continued his story and revealed to the park’s owner that Jason Zimms was able to wheel and deal what he could only describe as a two-for-one sale and all Jason had to do was promise to buy his next year’s Christmas decorations from that company.

Ben also described how Jason also asked the other parks to send him whatever decorations they weren’t going to use, or they felt were out dated, or were no longer worthy of setting out. Ben laughed and told his boss how good Edgewood looked with both intertwined together throughout the park.

Mr. Ken smiled at what Ben told him about how Jason was going about putting on the Celebration of Christmas Wonders. He knew how capable Jason was, from the way he attacked the investigation of both parks, so he wasn’t surprised on his resourceful the man could be when it came to putting on both the Spok-Tac-U-Lair and Celebration of Christmas Wonders.

Ben added that he talked to the staff at both parks and he conveyed that at both parks, they were all highly satisfied with the way the parks are operated. Ben added that the employees feel that both Arnie and Jason are people orientated and have their welfare as a priority. Ben then told how the ride operators at Edgewood remembered Rylan and got him on all the rides without him having to wait in line. That put a smile on Mr. Ken’s face.

Darrin was a cook, again, that Monday. Billy told his ‘brother’ that he wanted to reinforce the learning and that after that day he’d just wind up in a regular rotation. The teen told his older ‘brother’ that he didn’t mind cooking, as it was better than setting up the serving line. The two had a good laugh over the comparison.

The Walthers did stay for the barbeque and twelve-year-old Ryleigh, being the only girl there, had a lot of admirers. Noah, Brant, Ryan, Greg, and Aaron, who are all of Matthew’s friends, were falling over themselves trying to talk to her. They even offered her their skateboards for her to use while she waited for the hamburgers and hot dogs to be ready.

Rylan told Charles about his latest trip with his dad to Crystal Lake and Edgewood. The traveler admitted that he likes what his dad does for a living and that he wants to do that too. The teen Cover told Rylan that was what he was going to do when he graduated from college and that he’s already done research on which colleges offer degrees in amusement park management.

Rylan was truly interested and asked him to tell him more. Charles told him that Bowling Green State University was the only college he found that offers a resort and attraction management degree program and that it was embedded in a theme park.

The Cover went on to tell Rylan that BGSU partners with Cedar Fair to offer a Bachelor of Science in resort and attraction management and that the junior and senior classes are taught at an academic facility near Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Rylan thanked Charles for the information and told him that he would check it out when he got home later.

Phillip and his band played all afternoon and Addison remarked to Wayne that she couldn’t believe that the boys were only eleven and twelve-years-old. The Estate Master told the woman that the band is known as Pavilion, and that they were hired to play at Jules Diamond’s wedding reception that coming Saturday at The Cove, and then they would be auditioning to play at Four Corners on Sunday.

After hearing that Addison Walthers told Wayne that she couldn’t believe that the boys could work at the park because of their young age. The man smiled and explained that there was this little-known item called the Application for Child Actor/Performer Authorization.

Wayne Mitchell went on to explain that children under 14 may work as actors or performers in motion pictures, or in a theatrical, radio or television production, and in this case as performers at the amusement park with Texas Workforce Commission authorization. He told the woman that all of the parents have filled out and submitted the form and they should all receive the reply that week.

Wayne also explained that the boys would only be working over the weekends and not more than 30 hours a week. Addison asked if it wasn’t it a bit much for all eight boys work at the same time.

Wayne smiled and told the lady that only four boys would be working at a time, and that’s why there are actually nine boys there. Wayne explained that there were actually two drummers so that the original drummer wouldn’t work all the time. He added that the first drummer’s mom told him he couldn’t. Addison smiled and said that she agreed with that mother.

The Walthers stayed a little longer after the barbeque. Addison saw that her daughter was enjoying all the attention she was getting from the five boys, and she didn’t want to interrupt her fun. The mother also saw that her son, Rylan, was talking with Charles. She figured it had to do with amusement parks, since the two of them had helped at Edgewood and Rylan just came back from there.

The mother knew that her son was interested in following in his father’s footsteps and she knew from talking with her husband, Ben, that Charles also wanted to work at an amusement park and eventually run his own.

She also knew, from talking to her husband, that Charles had researched where he could study and learn how to do what his dad and Ben were now doing when he went off to college, and figured Rylan would talk to the Cover teen and pick his brain. She didn’t want to interfere with the two of them talking and her son finding what he needed to know.

Addison, during her talk with Wayne, also learned that Matthew trained two more pups that weekend. She was surprised that the man whose dog, Sully, was the sire for Chief’s litter brought his two puppies. as his compensation for Sully’s services, to The Cove for Matthew to train. Wayne told her how Matthew was able to train the two pups to ride a skateboard. That astounded the woman and now wished they had brought their Daisy with them, so the young Cover could train their pup.

Darrin and his friends went swimming after they helped clean up the Pavilion after the barbeque. Swimming in the indoor pool was one of the boy’s favorite things to do, especially now that the cooler weather had begun to set in. They played the lifeguard games along with the other boys who went swimming that day and when they were finished playing the games, they would jump off the rock ledge.

With Darrin’s arrival at The Cove, some of the boys, who used to visit The Cove, were now back there enjoying the amenities they had once enjoyed. Unfortunately, not all of Kyle and Kevin’s friends were invited back, as Mr. Ken asked his newest foster son to keep the number down to a manageable number of about six, or so.

And since there was school tomorrow, the boys all had to leave by five o’clock that Monday which reduced the amount of time Darrin and his friends could enjoy the indoor pool. So, they made the best use of it while they could. In the end, they all changed and Darrin took all of their swimsuits and wet towels to the industrial dryer to have them all dried for the next time they came over.

When the Cover’s friends were leaving, Addison gathered up her two and they all thanked Mr. Wayne for the invite to the barbeque and the Cover boys for letting them use the Cove Skate Park.

Once all their guests were gone, the Estate Master gathered up the six boys and they headed out to get dinner. They went to the Four Corners Diner and as they had dinner they talked about the three-day weekend and what if anything they could have done anything differently.

Billy spoke up and said that he needed to get a job, so he didn’t feel so left out now that all of his friends had part-time jobs and worked most weekends. Robert offered that he should have spent some time on getting some of his driving requirements out of the way, so he could get his driver’s permit sooner. He added that it will now probably be after Thanksgiving before he will be ready to take the driver’s test.

Matthew spoke up and offered that he would like to make $200.00 every weekend, but then it would probably get monotonous and that he would miss out on many things. Charles took his turn and told his ‘brothers’ that it was a pretty easy-going weekend for him and he wouldn’t change a thing.

Phillip told everyone this this had been the best weekend ever for him, especially with his trip. The youngest Cover continued and told them that if his band isn’t ready for the reception and the audition, he didn’t know what else they could do since they had been practicing, and maybe over doing it.

Everyone waited for Darrin to say something. The teen Cover just sat there, but he knew that everyone wanted him to say something about the weekend. The latest foster son offered that he’d only been at The Cove for a little more than a month and he still didn’t really know what or how things should go. He told them that he was happy living at The Cove and that he was looking forward to visiting all of Mr. Ken’s amusement parks over the Holidays.

After they finished eating, the boys wanted to drive the Go-Karts, but Mr. Wayne told them that they had enough excitement for the weekend and that they’d stop for some ice cream for the resident pets and then go to the Study and talk about what was in store for The Cove in the coming days.

After letting Chief and Sarge have their cold treat, the Covers headed to the Study so Mr. Wayne could discuss what was happening in the upcoming days. Darrin had a Doctor Doug appointment on Wednesday. Mr. Ken was due home late Thursday and that Ms. Kate and her family were due to arrive late afternoon on Friday.

Mr. Wayne said that he heard from their older ‘brother’ Collin and that he expected him to be there on either Thursday or Friday saying that their older ‘brother’ was going to stop by Wilkinson to check on the progress of the remodel.

The Estate Master told Matthew and Phillip to expect roommates, while Rusty and Jessy are there during Thanksgiving week. The man also told the boys to be flexible during Thanksgiving week, as their ‘dad’ wasn’t sure if they would be going to SeaWorld, or not.

Mr. Wayne then told the boys that they would begin decorating The Cove on Thursday for the wedding on Saturday. He also asked the boys that when the wedding is taking place on the Patio, for them not to go out there and to keep Chief and Sarge inside.

Continuing, the man reminded them that the band members would be arriving around twelve, noon to get set up and be ready to play as the people begin to arrive for the reception. He told them that they, as members of The Cove, were invited to the reception, but they need to wear nice clothes.

The Estate Master gave the boys a heads-up that they would all be going out to get new suits for the Holidays as they all have been growing and that Darrin doesn’t have one. He added that they would all be getting red or green vests as they have been over the past years. And continuing with the Holiday theme he told them to be thinking of what they wanted Santa to bring them and what they would want to get their ‘brothers’ as gag gifts.

With his part of the meeting over, Mr. Wayne asked the boys if they had anything they wanted to bring up. Darrin asked about the gag gifts and what they were all about. Charles told his new ‘brother’ that they were just funny things they get one another to open on Christmas Eve. The Cover teen added that it was funny to see what everyone gets and to figure out if it fit the person’s personality.

Before sending the boys up to their rooms to relax before going to bed, he told them that he didn’t plan to spend much time with them, so they should be ready to go to bed after he leaves.

And true to his word, all Mr. Wayne did that night was to stop by each boy’s room and to say goodnight and to make sure they had their alarm clock set for the correct time after their three-day weekend. He did suggest to them that the week will probably go fast since it was only a four-day school week.

Wayne Mitchell had been with the boys since Friday and was scheduled to be with them through the coming Thursday when Ken Thomas, the boys’ ‘dad’, was due to return from his Florida trip. The man was looking forward to having some well-deserved time-off, when this was all over.

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

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