Published: 5 Feb 2026

From the Previous Chapter:

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.

Ken Thomas, Ben Walthers and Arnie Arnolds all met in their hotel restaurant that Tuesday morning, the first day of the IAAPA Expo, for breakfast. Mr. Arnolds was invited to attend the Expo due to his getting a water park that coming spring and there were going to be a number of educational seminars on Pools and Beach Resort Supplies, Water Solutions and Pool Equipment Operation & Maintenance.

All three men talked about a few of the other seminars, such Health and Safety Equipment, Point of Sale Technology, Food and Beverage Service, Excellence in Retail and Merchandising, Safety in Attractions: Risk Assessment, Criminal Liability for Amusement Accidents, Preparing Your Team for Incidents, and the list went on. The three men knew they should make a point to attend as many of those or other talks that pertained to their amusement parks as they could.

After finishing their breakfast, the three men freshened up and then they shared an Uber ride over to the Convention Center, as it was too far to walk from where they were staying. Upon their arrival they recognized that they had misread the IAAPA schedule and the educational sessions were all held the previous day. That day, Tuesday, was when the attendees gathered for the opening ceremonies, as exhibitors prepared to welcome them onto the trade show floor at 10 am. With a chuckle, they told one another that they had, at least, not missed that.

Mr. Wayne was up bright and early that Tuesday morning. He used his en suite to get ready for the day and then he went down to the Kitchen Nook where Momma Maria greeted him. The woman had his first cup of coffee ready and the morning newspaper at the place where Mr. Ken would normally sit, so the Estate Master greeted Momma and thanked her for the coffee and the newspaper. The man then went about taking the paper out of the protective sleeve and finding Section A, World News, and began reading.

It wasn’t too long after that when the first three Cover boys came into the Kitchen Nook, ready for school. Darrin and Matthew took care of feeding their charges and then they washed their hands before sitting down to a Momma breakfast.

As the three boys ate, they talked about the weekend and what, if anything, was worthy of talking about to their friends. Phillip said that his trip was something that he’d always remember as he’d never had anything like that, and by doing it with his ‘dad’ it made him feel as if he had a real dad for those three days. The youngest Cover got a little teary eyed when he talked about his trip.

Darrin asked Phillip if he would miss The Cove when he goes back to living with his mother. The question startled the boy, as it did Matthew and Mr. Wayne. But Phillip recovered nicely and told his older ‘brother’ that even though he wouldn’t be living at The Cove anymore, his ‘dad’, Mr. Ken, told him that he would still be a Cover and, just like Mark, he would be included in special trips to the amusement parks and happenings around The Cove and other things, as they came up.

Hearing the answer put an inner smile on Mr. Wayne’s soul. Matthew also smiled, but his was visible. Darrin wholeheartedly accepted his younger ‘brothers’ take on that he’d still be a Cover, but not living at The Cove, and that his ‘dad’ would still include him on special trips, occasions and at events held at The Cove.

The boys were talking so much that they forgot about the time and they had to hurry to get their hands washed and their things together and up to the top of the rise to catch their school bus.

The three high school Covers were down, not too long after the three younger Cover boys had left for their school. They greeted Mr. Wayne and Momma before sitting down at the Nook’s table.

Of course, Sarge went over to each of them begging for a good belly rub. But only Billy gave him one. Then the teen had to go wash his hands before Momma would give him his breakfast.

Robert and Charles smiled at their older ‘brother’ when he came back from washing his hands. They told him that’s what would happen, which was why they didn’t give Sarge the attention he wanted. But Billy told them that sometime in the future Sarge would remember that day and when it came time for the resident pup to choose one of them it would be him. Billy then laughed back at his two ‘brothers’.

The Estate Master inwardly smiled at the banter between the three teenagers. He knew this is the type of back-and-forth exchange that would happen between brothers in a large family and luckily these boys had good heads on their shoulders and they said it all in fun, never getting into saying harsh words to one another or challenging them to fight.

Momma Maria always listened to what the boys had to say to one another. That was one way she would find out what was going on at The Cove now, and before it was going to happen so she could plan for it.

The woman also liked that the six boys never had cross words for one another, nor did they ever fight each another. She was happy that Mr. Ken kept and even and level head with the boys by never yelling and screaming at them, and he always tried to find a way to make their life better somehow.

At school that Tuesday morning, those classmates who do not go to The Cove over the weekends, and knew that Phillip was going on his three-day weekend with Mr. Thomas, were interested in what the Cover did. So, they gathered around the boy and they asked him to tell them what all he did.

The young Cover was happy to tell them everything that he did, as it was something that he’d never gotten to do ever in his life. He told them about the charter flight up to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, their staying at the La Quinta hotel adjacent to the Six Flag Over Texas amusement park, and then their attending the Mavericks versus Rockets basketball game.

The significant highlight of that part of the story was the Cover pulling out his game ticket that showed their seats were located in Section 216. But what Phillip really wanted them to see was the cost of the ticket. When the boys and girls saw that the ticket price was listed at $419.00, the students all were shocked that Mr. Ken would spend that much money on his foster son.

One classmate spoke up and said, “I bet you picked that ticket up off the floor. Mr. Ken … he wouldn’t spend that much money on taking you to the game. You’re only his foster kid.”

Hearing that, and the way it was spoken, deeply hurt Phillip. He looked at the boy and he was going to say something back, but the tears in his eyes told him not to say anything, so he just walked away. Phillips friends began to follow him, but Preston stopped and turned to face the gathered classmates.

“You have no idea what Mr. Ken does for his ‘boys’, do you? Do YOU?” yelled out Preston. “He built a soccer pitch in his field for Mark, because his foster son liked to play soccer. He hired lawyers to defend his foster son, Billy, against a rogue high school principal and a bunch of bully classmates, and he takes his ‘boys’, all of his ‘boys’, including his foster sons, on trips like cruises and to visit all of his amusement parks twice a year.

“So, spending $419.00 on a basketball game is chump change for the man who owns the Four Corners Amusement Park, the Marina and the Marina Seafood Wharf & Steak House restaurant, just to name a few of those things. You all owe Phillip an apology, especially YOU!” finished the Cover’s friend, as he pointed at the verbal bully before catching up with Phillip.

After the opening ceremonies, Ken Thomas, Ben Walthers and Arnie Arnolds knew that there would be shorter educational sessions throughout the next two days covering some of the topics they all wanted to attend. They each decided to try to get any handouts or access to digital copies of the sessions if available,

The three also knew there was going to be an open floor showcasing new rides coming on line next season and food booths presenting new exciting foods they could offer to their guests in the coming years. They were also interested in the booths that could show them ways to simplify ticketing at the main gate and how to better use the internet to make sales, and many, many more booths offering all different types of items and services that they all should check out.

The three men each went out in search of those areas of concern that they felt would best enhance their own specific areas. Mr. Arnolds went looking for any presenter that had anything to deal with water parks and their associated equipment. Mr. Ben went looking at the rides and food booths as well as any arcade machines and their prizes, to include health and safety devices and ways to simplify ticketing.

Mr. Ken went looking at everything and anything and he made notes, as he went along. He grabbed brochures and got business cards from a score of vendors all there to demonstrate their newest and greatest rides, foods, and the promotional materials they could make for his parks.

The owner of six amusement parks himself, Mr. Ken Thomas, even though he was building four new roller coasters for his parks, stopped and talked to the representatives of Zamperla, B&M, Intamin, Rocky Mountain Construction, and Vekoma all of which built roller coasters.

He wanted to get some general informational on what they might have built for an amusement park, but the park did not take possession, or essentially the company had not yet sold the coaster, and might be interested in selling it in the future.

All of the representatives were surprised at his forward approach in asking his question about what many might call ‘leftover coasters’. But after they learned that he owned six small market amusement parks and was installing four coasters that winter they abruptly changed their attitude and now they wanted to talk to him.

Only two companies had coasters that Mr. Ken described and the representatives gave him a brief description of what the coaster was and its specifications. All five major roller coaster manufacturers delegates exchanged phone numbers and email contact information with Mr. Ken and they all promised to get back with him after the Holidays, since the parks owner explained how busy he would be up until after the New Year.

That night after dinner, during the evening meeting in the Study, Matthew mentioned what one of his classmates said to Phillip. That immediately pissed Billy off and it irritated the other teenagers as well.

Mr. Wayne asked the youngest Cover how he was handling the situation, and Phillip told everyone that the boy came up to him during the lunch break and apologized to him for what he said and how he said it. The young Cover then asked his ‘brothers’ if they had ever been treated that way.

Robert and Charles told Phillip that at one time or another there had always been someone, who felt they were better than them, because they were a foster boy. The two older Cover teens then told their younger ‘brother’ about how some of the girls treated them and what they’d done to make them feel like they were a nobody.

Billy and Matthew added some of the things that happened to them as they were added to The Cove’s own ‘band of brother’s’. The story telling made Phillip feel much better in that he wasn’t the only one to be made to feel so insignificant by his fellow classmates.

Mr. Wayne did cover the upcoming events, that the boys had heard at least ten times by now. But the Estate Master expressed the need for them to be aware of them in case there were any changes and that their ‘dad’ would want him to cover them.

Again, that night, Mr. Wayne told the boys that he would not be staying long in their rooms after staying goodnight to them, unless they had a compelling reason for him to stay. That night none of the boys needed extra time to talk to the man and afterwards The Cove was quite throughout the night.

The three men attending the IAAPA Expo in Orlando Florida met for breakfast that Wednesday morning. They had talked about what they’d seen at dinner the night before, and that morning they each discussed what they were going to focus on that day. That was so the trio could stop and talk to the presenters at as many booths as possible, since Mr. Ken was leaving at the end of the following day.

They arrived at the Expo at ten o’clock when the showroom opened and they immediately separated and went in search of those things that initially interested them and then what they felt was in the best interests of the six amusement parks.

The owner of the parks had a different agenda that day. After spending the majority of the previous day talking to the roller coaster manufacturers, there was one coaster builder that he’d over looked, Great Coasters International, and he went to their booth to talk to them.

Great Coasters International, Inc. claims to offer the smoothest, most twisted, and highest quality wooden roller coaster attractions in the world. How Mr. Ken missed them yesterday was beyond him, but he wanted to make the connection with them as he had with all the steel coaster builders.

After he introduced himself, they immediately they asked him if he owned the wooden coaster now known as Patches. When he said that he did, they told him they knew who he was.

So, with the ice now broken, Mr. Ken told them that he wasn’t in the market for a wooden coaster, as he was building four steel ones that winter. But he wanted to touch base with them and get some initial contact information saying that maybe they could talk about a future project for one of his parks after the Holidays.

The representatives pulled up some short videos of a few of the wooden coaster they’d built. The owner of six small market amusement parks watched the screen as the Texas Stingray at Sea World San Antonio, Wicker Man at Alton Towers Resort, Mystic Timbers at Kings Island and Ghostrider at Knott’s Berry Farm played for him to see what this company could do for him when he was in the market for a new wooden coaster.

Prices and specifications weren’t talked about during their conversation, as that all came down to the topography of where the coaster would be built, how high, long and what unique elements the buyer wanted to include in the design. Mr. Ken thanked them for their time and told them that he was looking towards an in-depth meeting after the Holidays.

It was a typical Wednesday for the Cover boys. The three younger ones were up at their usual time and were down in the Kitchen Nook in time for a Momma breakfast. Of course, Darrin and Matthew took care of feeding Sarge and Chief before they sat down to eat, after washing their hands.

The boys talked about the coming Thanksgiving Holiday and what they did last year. Phillip told how it was just him, his mom and grandmother and that they went out to eat. The youngster added that his mother said that it wasn’t worth the effort for just the three of them.

Darrin told how his mother went all out and baked a fifteen-pound turkey and they had bread stuffing, green beans, gravy, a broccoli casserole, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie for dessert. The teenager added that was what they had every Thanksgiving that he could remember.

Matthew sighed and told his ‘brothers’ that last year his dad, his biological dad, had come and taken him to live with him in Colorado. The soon-to-be-teenager indicated that all they did for Thanksgiving was to go out and find any open restaurant and eat there. He told his ‘brothers’, and thus the Estate Master, that Victor wasn’t much of a cook and that most of the time they either had canned soups and crackers, or canned spaghetti from the chef. Matthew then had to explain the chef was Chef-Boyardee whose meals came from a can. All the boys laughed, and so did Mr. Wayne. The soon-to-be-teenager then added how he often had eaten hot dogs or cooked frozen hamburgers for him and his dad.

Hearing that Matthew wasn’t at The Cove for Thanksgiving last year totally surprised Darrin and Phillip, both. They both asked him what happened that his dad came and got him, but before Matthew could answer, the Estate Master spoke up and hinted that maybe that should wait until their ‘brother’ had more time to tell them what that was all about. Mr. Wayne then added that it was Matthew’s story to tell and if he didn’t want to tell it, then they weren’t to badger him to tell them what happened.

As usual, the three Cover teenagers came down to the Kitchen Nook together. And as they had in the past, Chief and Sarge went over to them for a behind the ear scratch, or a belly rub. They already knew that Billy was always a sucker to give them some attention, but that morning, Charles gave each of them some attention before joining Billy as they both washed their hands before Momma would serve them their breakfast.

Mr. Wayne snickered to himself that the teens teased one another that the resident pets would favor them now and not their other ‘brother’, who couldn’t be bothered to give Chief or Sarge some lovin’. All Robert did was stick his tongue out at them, with Billy commenting back him, “That was very mature; you first-grader!” Billy and Charles then laughed.

As the teens were eating, Mr. Wayne got their attention. “Guys … at breakfast this morning your younger ‘brothers’ … they were talking about what they were doing last year for Thanksgiving. I tell you this so you know what Matthew was doing.

“If you remember, Matthew … his dad Victor … he came and took him back to Colorado to live with him. Matthew told us that for Thanksgiving all they did was go out and look for an open restaurant and eat there. He also told us that all he ever ate was canned soups and crackers, and spaghetti from the chef, you know Chef-Boyardee.

“Matthew’s two ‘brothers’… they asked him to tell them how that happened. But I stepped in and told Darrin and Phillip that it was Matthew’s story to tell, and that if he didn’t want to tell them for them not to badger him about it.

“Boys … if Matthew seems surly later, now, you’ll know why. It was last year at this time that he was taken away from The Cove and his ‘brothers’, just as the twins were, so this might be a sad time for him right now. You might watch to see how he is handling this right now,” suggested the Estate Master.

At their school, the morning went like most every day did. Some of Phillip’s classmates, putting aside what happened the previous day, asked him to tell them more about his trip, and this time no one dared to mention that he was a foster kid.

Phillip smiled when asked if he’d tell them more about his mini-vacation, and he willingly went about recalling his visit to the Museum of the American Railroad. As he talked, he pulled out his cell phone and showed them some of the picture that he took of the G-Scale model layout. And as he showed his fellow student the photos, he told them everything he remembered seeing there.

The first bell then rang as he was in the middle of telling his story. So, he told them that he’d finish during their lunch break. His classmates made him promise them that he would.

There was one booth that caught Mr. Ken’s eye as he walked around the ginormous convention center trade show floor covering over 515,000 square feet of exhibit space and that booth was one that showcased Dark Rides.

He wanted to explore the future possibilities of adding such a ride to one of his parks, so he walked up to the representative and began asking him all about their rides. Mr. Ken learned they had concept rides called Angry Birds, Attack of the Robots, Treasure Hunt, Sponge Bob, Splash and Bubbles and Adventure Through Time all ready to go.

Knowing that the company had rides ready to install interested him, but Mr. Thomas had to admit to the man that he had already committed a considerable amount of money on the four roller coasters and a water park for his amusement parks for next year, and he didn’t have any available funds to purchase one of those.

The rep excitedly asked Mr. Ken for his contact information and told him that someone from the company would contact him after the Expo. Mr. Thomas told him that he would be extremely busy until after the Holidays and for them to wait until then.

This was his first visit to IAAPA and Ken Thomas was enthralled by what he was seeing. He wished he had attended these Expos sooner, as he may have saved himself loads of money by availing himself of the many companies, he’d seen there the past two days. He knew that after this year’s visit he would definitely be coming back again, and again.

The problem he realized that he now had was that he has given his contact information to about seven companies that will be contacting him about their products after the Holidays. Now he had to figure out how he will find the time to deal with them all. He hoped that they all don’t call at the same time.

Then the man laughed at himself over what he’d done. But he told himself that he was a business man who wanted to expand his amusement parks, but that maybe he was biting off way too much, too quickly. Then he smiled and told himself he’d just let Ben handle it all, as after all, he is the President of Three Finger Entertainment, LLC.

That afternoon, when Billy came home from school, instead of having his afterschool snack, he told Momma that he had something important to take care of with Matthew. Momma figured it had something to do with what the young boy said that morning.

“Matthew,” called out Billy, as he went to the boy’s room. “Is there anything that … that you want to talk to me about? Something … something that has to do with … with what happened last year at this time?” finished the boy’s older ‘brother’.

Matthew got up from his desk and went to his older ‘brother’ and he cried on his shoulder. His cries were heard by Darrin and Phillip, as well as Chief and Sarge. Chief knew that something wasn’t right and she went down to get Mr. Wayne.

When the Estate Master came upstairs, he found Billy hugging Matthew who was crying, with Darrin and Phillip standing there watching.

Mr. Wayne went to Matthew and pulled him off Billy and asked the boy if he wanted to talk to him about what was bothering him. All Matthew would say is that he wished his ‘dad’ was there. Wayne Mitchell reminded the pre-teen that his ‘dad’ would be home tomorrow night and he could talk to him then. Matthew smiled and said that he would talk to him then.

Billy then pulled his ‘brother’ back into a hug and his ‘brothers’ joined in. Charles and Robert arrived and seeing the group hug joined in. As they hugged their ‘brother’, Billy reminded him that they were there for him and if he needed someone to talk to they were there for him, too.

When the hug broke up, Matthew thanked his ‘brothers’ and told them that it really helped him with what was on his mind right now. He added that eventually he’ll tell them, but not until after he talks to his ‘dad’. The boy’s all patted Matthew on his back and left him alone until dinner time.

When Mr. Wayne got back to the Study, he called Mr. Ken. When he got through to the man, he told him what had transpired that morning and what now had gone on up in Matthew’s room.

Mr. Ken asked Wayne if he thought if he needed to come home tonight. But the Estate Master told the boy’s foster dad that he didn’t think that he needed to as Matthew had indicated that he could wait until tomorrow night to talk to him. With that settled, Momma had come looking for Mr. Wayne, so the two ended the call.

After dinner, in the Study, Mr. Wayne let on as though nothing happened, and he went through the litany of things scheduled to happen at The Cove in the coming days. None of the boys brought up what happened in Matthew’s room either. They all heard that their ‘brother’ wanted to talk to their ‘dad’ when he came home, and that he would probably tell them about it then. So, they all knew to wait.

And, as he’d done the last few nights, Mr. Wayne told the boys that he wouldn’t spend much time with them when he said goodnight to them unless there was something that they needed to talk to him about.

Billy really wanted to talk to the Estate Master about what was bothering his ‘brother’ Matthew, but Mr. Wayne told the oldest teen that he didn’t know what it was and anything that he did say would be all speculation and wouldn’t be fair to the boy.

In Darrin’s room the new foster had a ton of questions for Mr. Wayne stating that that none of his ‘brothers’ would answer them for him. The Estate Master reminded the new foster that what secrets that the boys have were theirs to keep, and that it was up to them to when they would tell them and to whom and when they would tell.

Mr. Wayne recapped that his ‘brother’ indicated that he might tell them after he talked to his ‘dad’ and so, the teen needed to wait at least one more day to see if Matthew would reveal what was on his mind.

After saying goodnight to everyone, including Chief and Sarge, Wayne Mitchell went to his en suite and went to bed himself. It wasn’t long before The Cove household was entirely quiet because everyone was fast asleep.

At breakfast that morning, Mr. Thomas told Ben Walthers, his President of Three Finger Entertainment, LLC, who he shared with his contact information with and that he should be ready to participate in multiple meetings with the representatives from those seven companies.

Arnie Arnolds smiled to himself thanking his lucky stars that he wasn’t the President of TFE and having to sit in on what could very well be heavy handed sales pitches of the company’s representatives to get Mr. Thomas to buy one of their products.

Mr. Thomas also reminded both men that he was headed home after the Expo closed for the day. Ben spoke up and reminded him that he was also going home with him. Mr. Ken apologized to Ben for forgetting that, as he had a disturbing phone call last evening about one of his ‘boys’.

Both men asked him if there was anything they could help him with. But their boss told them that it was something that he needed to handle when he arrived home later today and that it should work itself out quickly enough.

The men then discussed what areas they were interested in viewing that day and Ben implored on Mr. Ken not to share his contact information with more companies. The three men had a good laugh over that.

The booths that Mr. Ken told his accomplices that he was interested in viewing that day had to deal with ride theming and park mascots. He explained that with new rides coming on line they should at least try to theme them and that he was also considering coming up with a companywide mascot for all the parks.

Ben asked his boss if he could tag along to both the ride theming and the mascot booths. He explained that he wanted to understand where he was coming from in case that they did venture in the mascot direction and that any ride theming coincided with the ride itself. The President of TFE indicated that he’d want to be involved with both of those from the start. Mr. Ken said that he didn’t have a problem with that as Ben would eventually be anyway.

Breakfast at The Cove that Thursday morning was a very quiet one. The three younger boys didn’t say too much as they ate and Mr. Wayne saw Darrin and Phillip, both, taking quick looks at their ‘brother’ Matthew, as if they wanted to say something, but didn’t know what to say.

Even Sarge sensed there was something amiss with his puppy master and he kept nudging Matthew’s hand to get some attention out of him. And after he finished eating, Matthew did give his pup a belly rub before heading off to school.

But as soon as Matthew left the house, Sarge went to Mr. Wayne and did something that he’d never done before. The young pup put his front paws and then his head on the man’s lap and sort of beg cried to him to do something for his master.

Mr. Wayne thought that was what Sarge was saying to him, so he put the young pup’s muzzle in his hands and talked to him the way Mr. Ken talks to Chief.

“Sarge … your master … he has a lot on his mind right now. You have got to give him some time to sort things out. ‘Dad’ Ken … he will be home later tonight and Matthew … he needs to talk to him about what is troubling him.

“You should be there, too. So that Matthew … so, that he has someone important to him along with him, as his ‘brothers’ … they will not be invited to attend that meeting. You do understand, right?” finished the Estate Master.

Sarge looked at Mr. Wayne and barked out, “Woof, woof, woof!”

At the IAAPA Expo, Ken Thomas did stop by the ride theming booth to discuss how they went about theming an attraction. The person manning the booth told Mr. Ken and Mr. Ben that it all started with a story line and from there they developed a plan to implement what the client wanted.

The man showed the two men some work they’d done and explained how long it took from start to finish. The man recommended that they start the process as soon as they know what type of ride they were installing, as it could take as long as it took to build and install the ride.

At the mascot booth the representatives told the two men that they could develop mascots from scratch for them and then them license them back. They went on to tell them that they offered a full-service process from capturing what that needed to creating a unique character with lots of personality.

The two men looked at what characters that company had created and saw videos of them in action. What Mr. Ken came to realize, after talking to the reps, was that he first had to come up with what he wanted in his theme park mascots since they would be representing all of his properties.

As the two Three Finger Entertainment men walked away from the booth, Ben told him that maybe they needed a focus group, namely their kids, to help them narrow down something they could identify with at each of the parks, since they’ve been there. Ken Thomas agreed that it would be a good place to start.

At school that morning, Darrin and Phillip decided that they would keep an eye on their ‘brother’, Matthew. They didn’t know what they were watching out for, but they knew their ‘brother’ and they would know if he was acting any differently than he did from day-to-day.

The only thing that they did notice was that on the school bus ride to the school, Matthew was a bit sullen and quiet, but they’d heard and seen what happened the previous morning and then the evening before, so they just chalked it up to that.

At the school before the first bell and then during their lunch break the two Covers didn’t notice anything different from the morning in the ‘brother’. He was still quiet and looked a bit sad and he wasn’t really interacting with his friends.

The two Covers went to Matthew’s friends individually and asked them if they’d noticed anything different in Matthew’s actions that day, or even from yesterday. But none of Matthew’s friend had anything that they could point out to say that was anything different from what they knew of Matthew.

Of course, Matthew’s friends wanted to know why they were asking about their Cover friend. To answer them, all Darrin and Phillip could tell them was that it was a year ago that Matthew’s dad had come and had taken him away from The Cove and to live with him in Colorado. The two ‘brothers’ added that they just wanted to make sure that Matthew wasn’t having any bad recollections from that timeframe. That placated the friends.

As Ken Thomas and Ben Walthers walked around the Expo, they came upon the American Coaster Enthusiasts booth, a non-profit organization focusing on the enjoyment, knowledge, and preservation of roller coasters, as well as recognition of some as architectural and engineering landmarks.

The booth was manned by volunteers from the ACE organization and as they talked with Mr. Ken and Mr. Ben the group learned that Mr. Thomas was now the new owner of Edgewood, soon to be the Adventure Forest Amusement Park.

The ACE members also learned that Mr. Thomas owned five other amusement parks in what would be called small to medium markets and that he was installing four new coasters that winter. They asked if they could possibly hold an event at the parks and ride the new coasters as well as the other coasters

Ben Walthers told them that he was the President of Three Finger Entertainment and he gave them his contact information. He told them to have the president of their association contact him to discuss how they could make this happen at the five parks that have roller coasters.

The one volunteer asked why five parks when they were only installing four new coasters. Mr. Ken told them that the fifth park was getting a water park instead of a new coaster, but had a number of roller coasters that they may be interested in riding. The parks owner told the man to have their president talk to Ben and let them iron out any details.

After the two men left that last booth, they called Arnie to meet up with them. They told Arnie Arnolds that they were going to head out and gather up their belongings and head out to the airport to catch their charter flight back home.

Mr. Arnolds was staying through tomorrow and Mr. Ken asked him to gather up as many brochures and contact information on those companies that he felt would be of great interest to them. Arnie had been in the business long enough to know exactly what Mr. Thomas was asking him to do.

The two men’s charter flight was scheduled to take off at six o’clock and with a two and a half-hour flight they should arrive at the Austin-Bergstrom Airport around seven-thirty with the one-hour gain in time. That would mean they should arrive at The Cove around nine o’clock that night, if the traffic was normal for a Thursday night.

Ben Walthers called his wife Addison to let her know what time she should pick him at The Cove. Mr. Ken called Wayne Mitchell to let him know what time to expect him home. He also asked the man not to tell the boys when he would be home.

But Wayne informed him that when Mrs. Walthers arrived to pick up Mr. Ben, they would know that he would soon be there. Mr. Ken laughed that they would know then, but not before hand if he didn’t tell them. Wayne agreed that he wouldn’t say anything to them about his return.

When the boys returned from school, Momma had their afterschool snack ready for them. The three younger boys ate it with no fanfare, but they did thank Momma Maria for fixing it for them before they headed up to their rooms to start their homework.

Momma went to Wayne to asked him if he thought Matthew would be alright. The Estate Master told her that as soon as Mr. Ken got back tonight, and the two talked, he’d bet that Matthew would be back to his good old self. Hearing that put a smile on the woman’s face.

The three older Cover boys were much livelier than their ‘brothers’ were and Momma loved hearing the banter that went one between them. She loved hearing how their day went and what was on their minds. She was glad they all were concerned for their ‘brother’ Matthew and they hoped that their ‘dad’ could get back the boy they all loved. to the way he was.

After dinner, in the Study, Mr. Wayne covered the upcoming events and as he did the boys began repeating them as he was saying them. The man laughed and agreed that it was overkill. So, he began asking them questions as what was happening on Monday, then Thursday and then back to Sunday. They got them all correct, so he stopped asking. They all laughed.

Phillip asked the man when his ‘dad’ was getting back. All Mr. Wayne would tell them was that Mr. Ken would be back when he got there and not a second sooner. “Oh, you’re no fun,” replied the youngest Cover. All the boys laughed, even Matthew.

When the meeting was over Mr. Wayne asked Robert to stay behind. That question stopped all the boys in their tracks. They wanted to know if they should stay too. All Mr. Wayne told them was that he was going to talk to their ‘brother’ about where he was in getting his driving requirements done, so he could get his learner’s permit. The rest of the boys continued walking up the stairs.

Mr. Wayne asked Robert, if he had watched at least the first six hours of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, approved Texas driver’s course. The teen said that he’d watched at least eight of them. The man then asked the teen if he’d been studying the DMV handbook. Robert honestly told the man that he’d been focusing on watching the videos first and only scanning the handbook.

Mr. Wayne told the teenager that he really needed to study the handbook if he wanted to pass that test to get his learner’s permit. The man suggested that he take the time over the Holidays to study and that maybe they could go to the DMV testing office on Wednesday of next week if he felt he was ready. Hearing that put a smile on Robert’s face and he told the Estate Master that he’d focus on the handbook from now on.

The boys were up in their rooms relaxing before going to bed when both Chief and Sarge began barking and then running out into the hallway and then down the stairs. The boys knew that it only meant that their ‘dad’ was home. They quickly put on some pants and hurried down the stairs only to learn that it was Mrs. Walthers arriving to pick up Mr. Ben.

The boys all said hello to the woman and asked her if she knew when her husband was due to arrive. She told the gathered boys that Ben had told her that he should be at The Cove about nine o’clock. It was now eight-fifty. She was a bit early.

The boys thanked her and then headed back up to their rooms. But Chief and Sarge stayed with Mr. Wayne and Mrs. Walthers to keep them company.

As they waited for Mr. Ken and Ben, Wayne asked her how Daisy was doing. Addison told him that their children had been working with Daisy on her behaviors every day, and she could do them all for them without any problem now. Addison exclaimed how happy she is that Matthew taught Daisy those things, as their puppy is now a delight to have around the house.

It wasn’t too long thereafter that the dogs alerted to another vehicle coming down the driveway. They began to bark and that brought the boys back down the stairs. The limo pulled up in front of the Foyer entrance and out first came Ben and then ‘dad’ Ken. The boys ran to greet their ‘dad’ and Chief and Sarge were there, too

After giving their ‘dad’ some hugs, Billy got Mr. Ken’s bags and took them to the Foyer. Charles carried Mr. Ben’s bags to his vehicle. After some quick handshakes and a thank you, Mr. Ben and wife were soon on their way home.

‘Dad’ Ken told the boys a little bit about his trip, but after a bit he told them that he had more important things that he needed to do right then. He asked the boys to let him and Matthew talk.

The boys all begrudgingly left the Study, wishing they could be there to know what was bothering Matthew so much that he wanted to talk with their ‘dad’ alone. Darrin and Phillip were the most at a loss because they weren’t there last year when Matthew and the twins were whisked away from The Cove, and when ‘dad’ Ken went out to Colorado to get Matthew and bring him back home.

‘Dad’ Ken asked Matthew if it was alright that Mr. Wayne remain, as he would tell him what they talk about anyway because, as his right-hand and go to man, he needs to know things for when he is gone. Matthew said that didn’t have any problem with the Estate Master staying.

After the three of them got settled in the leather chairs, and Sarge was right there next to Matthew, ‘dad’ Ken asked, “Now, Matthew … what is it that has you so bottled up, young man?”

Matthew looked down and seeing Sarge he began to pet the resident pup. Sarge sensed something and he immediately put his paws and muzzle in his master’s lap. Mr. Ken and Mr. Wayne watched what was happening and soon they saw the tears falling from the boy’s eyes. Sarge felt them and he lifted up and began licking them off the boy’s face.

“Matthew … come over here,” asked ‘dad’ Ken.

And as quick as a whip, Matthew was sitting in his ‘dad’s’ lap crying his heart out. And all ‘dad’ Ken could do, for now, was to let the boy cry out whatever was bottled up inside of him. The boy cried for about five minutes before he began to settle down.

Seeing that the boy was not crying, ‘dad’ Ken now asked, “Matthew … can you now tell me what this is all about, ‘son’?”

“It’s been a year ‘dad’, a year … a year since my dad, my real dad … since he took me away from you and … and my ‘brothers’ and … and I’m still not any closer to … to finding my forever home than I was then,” offered Matthew, through his sniffles and a few tears.

‘Dad’ Ken inwardly smiled at the boy’s continued insecurity about his being adopted. But he knew he needed to say something to try to avail the boy’s uncertainty about where he is going to be when his mother finally gets out of prison.

“Matthew … Bill Jackson, you know, my lawyer, he’s been doing whatever he can to get your mother to relinquish her rights to you. But every time he approaches her; he tells me she is adamant about wanting to get back in touch with her son. So, for now, we are at a stalemate.

“Please believe me, ‘son’, Bill … he will continue to try to do everything possible to get your mother to give up her rights to you,” counseled ‘dad’ Ken, as he hugged the boy to him.

Matthew thought about what his ‘dad’ just said, and then he pulled back and asked him, “‘Dad’ … did he ever talk to the judge about what she said to me, you know, about her wanting to kill me when she got out of prison. Because that’s what’s she told me that day in the closet in Doctor Doug’s office building.

“Did he ever talk to the Sheriff Deputies that arrested her that day at Doctor Doug’s office? I’ll bet that they can tell him what she was doing when they found us. They can tell him that my mom … that my mother had her hand across my mouth and that she had her other hand squeezing my dick and my balls, ‘dad’.

“And I bet that in their report, and that they have in their report that when I got to Mr. Wayne, that I told him … that I told Mr. Wayne … that she told me that she would kill me when we got back together again … if I made any noise so they could, find me. And that’s what I did. I made a noise when Mr. Wayne was calling out for me to do so.

“‘Dad’, please … please tell that to your lawyer. Ask him to check with the deputies from that day and ask him to look at their reports, to see if any of them have any of that in them. Please!

“Maybe … maybe ‘dad’ … that will be all he needs to get the judge to at least hold a hearing that I can testify at and make him understand how evil my mom actually is. Please?” now begged the almost-teen Cover.

‘Dad’ Ken looked over at Wayne to get his take. Wayne told his employer that he vaguely remembers Matthew telling him something about his mother telling him that she was going to kill him if she made a noise so they could find him.

“Matthew,” began ‘dad’ Ken, “tomorrow, I am going to call Bill Jackson and tell him everything you just told me. I’ll tell him to get in contact with those deputies and check their reports for that day to see what they wrote and hopefully … and hopefully there will be something in them that he can gleam from them and get that hearing that you want. Will that work for you, ‘son’?”

Matthew hugged his ‘dad’ and told him that it was at least something that he can hopefully look forward to versus what has not been happening at all.

‘Dad’ Ken hugged the boy and told him, “I love you, ‘son’, I really do!”

Sarge took that moment to place his paws on both Mr. Ken and Matthew and bark a few times. “And I love you, too, Sarge,” offered Mr. Ken. Sarge barked again a happy bark and the two could tell that he had a smile on his muzzle.

“It’s late, ‘son’, so let me walk you up to bed,” announced ‘dad’ Ken, as he began to get up forcing Matthew to stand.

‘Dad’ Ken, Matthew and Mr. Wayne opened the Study door only to find the five Cover boys sitting on the stairs waiting for them to come out.

“What do we have here?” asked ‘dad’ Ken.

“We were hoping that we’d find out what was bothering our ‘brother’,” replied Phillip.

“You did, did you all? Well, remember … when one of you has something that is … that is private in nature, like this might be for your ‘brother’ … it is up to him when he feels it is time to let you all know. So, please … do not bother him about this. Give him some time to let what we talked about work its way to some resolution, if possible, and maybe then … and maybe then he’ll tell you all about it. Or, he might even tell you before that. It is all up to him,” cautioned the boys ‘dad’.

‘Dad’ Ken then sent the boys up to their rooms to get into bed. And as they were running up the stairs he called out, “And no running, and don’t forget to drain those dragons!”

‘Dad’ Ken and Mr. Wayne walked Matthew up to his room. The ‘dad’ gave the boy a hug and a kiss on the forehead and then told him to go drain his dragon. He then looked down at Sarge and told the resident pet to go potty. Sarge knew what the man wanted and he scampered out of the room, down the hallway and eventually outside to empty his own bladder.

‘Dad’ Ken and Mr. Wayne then did stop at each of the boy’s rooms to say goodnight to them, but they didn’t stay long. ‘Dad’ Ken did ask them not to bother Matthew about what transpired in the Study, but to let him come to them with his story.

The two men then went down to the Study to talk for a few minutes. Wayne told Mr. Ken that he never realized that Matthew still was looking at being adopted by him. Mr. Ken told Wayne that was all the boy has ever wanted and it might explain why Matthew isn’t as outgoing as the other boys are.

Wayne told his boss that he was going home to sleep in his own bed for a change, and that he’d see him sometime tomorrow. Mr. Ken thanked the man for spending so much time with the boys, and told him that he owes him ‘big time’ for that. Wayne told him that he will take him up on that one day.

Ken Thomas made his way back to his own retreat and relished sleeping in his own bed for a change, too. The man got ready for bed and as he sat on the edge of his bed, before turning out the lights, he wondered to himself if what Matthew told him tonight was all they ever needed to do to get the boy’s mother to relinquish her parental rights.

The man hoped and prayed that is all that it is going to take. He turned off the lights and it didn’t take long for his body to relax and for him to fall asleep, he was so tired.

All of the Covers slept well that night. Even Matthew managed a good night’s sleep knowing that he’s done everything he could to help get his mom to give him up for adoption. The Cove was peaceful and quiet the whole night through.

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

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