Published: 12 Mar 2026

From the Previous Chapter:

Down in his own bedroom, after getting himself ready for bed, Ken sat on the edge of his king-sized bed and thought about the day they’d just had. He wished they would be getting married sooner, rather than later, but he knew he needed to let Kate be the driving force there. Plus, he knew there were many issues they both needed to discuss before getting married and tomorrow he was going to ask her if they shouldn’t start doing just that.

After turning off the lights in his retreat and crawling under the cover, Ken Thomas felt the tiredness of his day overwhelm him and before long he was fast asleep. The Cove was again quiet throughout the night.

The Cove household woke up to an overcast day that Wednesday morning.

Ken Thomas was the first one up, showered, dressed and out in the Kitchen Nook having his first cup of coffee before Kate and Edith came down. The owner of The Cove, and Kate’s fiancé, was reading the morning newspaper when the ladies came in looking for their first cup of coffee.

As they entered the room, the women said good morning to Ken and Momma Maria, and as they sat down at the Nook’s table complaining about the weather, Momma brought over two coffee cups and filled them to the brim with the hot brew. Kate and Edith then thanked Momma for their coffee

Kate then asked Ken what he had planned for the day. The woman’s fiancé told her that he was going to let the boys have the run of the estate, and that he and she could maybe sit down and figure out some of the things that they will need to do as they co-mingle their families.

Edith quickly spoke up and told her daughter that to start she’ll need to figure out how to transfer her real estate license to Texas. And she told Kate that she’ll have to get a Texas driver’s license and then she asked her daughter if she was going to change her name or hyphenate it, as many women were now doing.

Edith then asked Kate, “Are you going to change the boys names?”

Kate looked to Ken and asked him if she should change the boys names. Ken smiled at her and said, “Only if Rusty wants to now be called John, and Jessy wants to be called Greg.” And Ken then laughed, adding that there was no reason for the boys to change their last names.

That was when the boys came into the Kitchen Nook and Jessy asked, “Who wants to call me Greg?”

“Oh, honey, Grandma … she was asking me if I was going to change my last name to Thomas, when I get married. And then she teased me if I was going to change yours, too. So, I asked Ken here … and he teased me by saying only if you guys waned to change you first names, as the children … they usually keep the surnames when their mother marries,” explained Kate.

“So, my last name will be Partlunds? But what will Rusty’s name be now … now that he knows who his real father is?” asked the eight-year-old outright.

Kate looked to Ken for some help with that answer. So, Ken called Jessy over to him. “Jessy … your mother … when she had the birth certificates filled out she put her last name on them which is how you and your brother got her last name and not Lane’s. So, from now on, your last name will always be Partlunds.

“Now, as for your brother Rusty. Legally, he is a Partlunds. But … but when he is an adult, he can go to the courts and he can ask them to change his last name to Patricks’ last name, Bailey.

“But when he does that … he has to have a very good reason to do that otherwise the judge … he won’t approve it. Also, after being called Partlunds, for all those years, I would hope that your brother … I would encourage him to keep his last names in support of his mom,” finished Ken Thomas.

The youngster thanked Mr. Ken for talking to him about that, then he hugged him. Rusty also went over to the man and thanked him for the explanation and hugged him too. The two boys then went to their mother and hugged her, as well.

All the while ‘dad’ Ken was talking to Jessy, Darrin and Matthew took care of feeding Chief and Sarge.

Momma then got everyone’s attention and told them to all sit down, as she was going to serve breakfast. That morning, Momma had prepared scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, pancakes, and fried potato cakes. She also had hot coffee for the adults and three different milks, vanilla, Chocolate and regular for the boys.

As the large group ate, they talked about their experiences at SeaWorld the previous day and then what was planned for that day. ‘Dad’ Ken told the boys to enjoy the day with their friends and to remind them that tomorrow was a ‘Family Day’. The boys ‘dad’ then told the boys to look outside.

The man told them that because it was overcast it was damp outside and they all needed to wear a jacket and possibly a hat of some kind. He added for the older boys to look for something for Rusty and Jessy to wear if they didn’t bring a hat with them.

He then reminded Phillip that since he was playing at Four Corners later that day that either he, Mr. Wayne, Mr. Dennis, or Billy even, would drive him over there at five-thirty, so for him to be ready to go.

After breakfast, the boys helped Mamma clear the Nook’s table. before going upstairs to take their showers and get dressed and be ready for the day. Kate watched her two boys help clear the table and then she took them upstairs to get them cleaned up and dressed for the day.

Mr. Ken and Mr. Wayne went to the Study to talk. Mr. Chris was off that week.

As the two men entered the Study the phone rang. The owner of The Cove answered it only to learn that Joel Meekerts, the owner of Central Texas Decorating was calling.

Mr. Meekerts wished Mr. Ken a Happy Thanksgiving and then asked him if there was a date and time that they could sit down and discuss his company continuing to decorate The Cove for the Holidays this coming year.

Mr. Ken smiled and told the owner of the decorating company that he had company the rest of that week, and since he wasn’t at his office he didn’t know what his secretary had penciled in on his calendar for him for the following week. So, Mr. Ken gave him his office phone number and asked the man to call him after lunch on Monday. The owner of The Cove suggested that he would have a better understanding of his available time and that they could then set up that date and time.

Mr. Ken did asked Joel to email him and Wayne what was in his brochure for the coming year and to highlight anything new for that year. The owner of The Cove reasoned that way they could look it over before they met and it could simplify and speed up their meeting. Mr. Meekerts agreed to do just that, and he told Mr. Ken to watch for the email later that day, and to tell Wayne the same.

Mr. Ken and Mr. Wayne then talked about decorating The Cove for the Holidays and if they wanted to include the Pavilion in any way. They also talked about how they were going to deal with Christmas shopping with the boys and they also wondered if Dan might want to go along with them this year as he had in the past.

After Darrin got himself ready for his day, he sat in his room and thought about how his life has changed ever since he was moved to The Cove. He’d only been at The Cove for a little more than five weeks now, but with everything that he has been exposed to he felt like he’s been there for almost a year. Then he smiled at that thought.

He looked back at how busy everyone in the house seemed to be. There was Phillip and his band and how they played at a few venues already, and now they were playing on the weekends for the Holidays at the Four Corners Amusement Park.

And then there was Matthew, the puppy master. He couldn’t believe how good his younger ‘brother’ was in training young pups and how well they listened to him. He even noticed that Chief and Sarge listened to him better than they did anyone else in the home.

As Darrin looked back at his older ‘brothers’, he saw that Billy was kind of the de facto leader of them all and he noticed that even Mr. Ken looked at him differently, as such. He also saw that Phillip and Matthew tended to gravitate to Billy, versus Robert and Charles, his foster dad’s adopted sons, when they were having problems they couldn’t fix.

Darrin then thought about Robert and how, even though he was the first adopted son of Mr. Ken, that he wasn’t given any preference by his dad over any of them. He also saw that Robert stayed pretty much in the background and when his Best Friend Eric was there the two were inseparable.

He did see that with the older teen soon being sixteen that his focus would be on getting his driver’s permit and then his own car. Darrin then inwardly laughed and wondered if Robert and Billy would be ‘fighting’ over which one would get to use 2014 Kia Optima, more often than the other.

The teen then focused on Charles, who was also adopted by his foster dad. He noticed that the teenager was quiet and that he had a lot of friends. He knew that Charles wanted to work at the last amusement parks his dad bought when he turned sixteen.

Darrin learned that the teen had already spent a couple of days there, staying with the operations manager, while his dad went to another park for something, and the teen thoroughly enjoyed the experience. He figured that Charles would follow in his dad’s footsteps and eventually run the foster dad’s amusement park empire.

And that brought Darrin’s thoughts to what he was seeing that week with the addition of Mr. Ken’s girlfriend, now fiancée, and her mother and two sons. He had heard stories about Kate and her sons and now that he’s met them he can understand the man’s passion for her.

He was also seeing how his extended family worked and he was enjoying the many aspects of it, like their impromptu trip to SeaWorld, a place that he’d only been to once before when he was much younger.

He saw how Kate’s two sons loved being around who they called their big ‘brothers’ and being shown by them how to better ride their skateboards and then swim with them down in the indoor pool. He also knew that Mr. Ken was going to build four new bedrooms and two new bathrooms above the four-car garage and his older ‘brothers’ were already vying for them.

Darrin’s thoughts then went back to where he used to live and how he and his family did things there. He told himself that it was a nice enough place and that he had a number of friends, but they had nothing even close to what he was being exposed to there.

He then wondered if his uncle would want to come there and take him out west and raise him like Matthew’s biological father once tried to do with him. Darrin didn’t want what he now had to ever end, and he told himself that he’d do whatever it would take to remain there at The Cove.

Once the boys got themselves ready for the day, they all headed out to load into the golf carts to drive up to the Cove Skate Park. But Rusty and Jessy noticed that they were one big ‘brother’ short, so they quickly went back into the house looking for Darrin.

The two young brothers found the missing teen in his room daydreaming, and they told him to hurry up, as they were all in the golf carts waiting for him. Darrin smiled that the two youngsters thought enough to come looking for him.

The three then hurried down the back stairs. But the teen forgot to bring his hat and coat because it was cool and damp outside. So, he hurried back up to his room and in about 30-seconds he was back with the two young boys and they hurried outside only to find there was one four-seater golf cart for them to take up to the Pavilion.

As the three climbed into the golf cart, Jessy asked Darrin if he knew how to drive it. The teen told the youngster that he was given the test by Robert and that he was approved to drive. He told the two boys to ‘Hold on’, and the teen punched the gas pedal and the cart raced out of the Parking Corral.

Rusty and Jessy were laughing when they arrived at the Pavilion. The other ‘brothers’ had no idea why they were laughing, but they liked it that Darrin was making a point to be friends with their soon-to-be step-brothers.

The two youngsters quickly got their skateboards, after climbing out of the cart, and raced to the Cove Skate Park and began riding them. Billy and Robert joined them on the concrete surface and watched the two boys ride their boards.

Matthew asked Phillip if he thought his band would be stopping by. Phillip told him that he wasn’t sure what was going to happen, since they were all away yesterday and he didn’t have any contact with them. The young band leader then told his ‘brother’ that he hopes their ‘dad can call his mom and try to get her to stop by to watch him one night while he plays. He added that then they could talk some, when he was on a break.

Darrin heard the simple conversation and told Phillip that he should talk to Mr. Ken today while it was still on his mind, otherwise he will get busy and forget, or it will be too late to have him call her.

The young musician liked that idea, so he got into a golf cart and headed down to the house to talk to his ‘dad’.

After all the boys had gone up to the Pavilion, Ken and Kate grabbed some cups of coffee and a few of Momma’s sweet cakes and then went to the Study to talk about the many things that they will have to deal with before and after they get married.

They already knew that Kate would have to get a Texas driver’s license once she moves there. She also had to decide if she was going to get a Texas Real Estate license once she got settled. Ken told her that he would love to have her involved in his businesses, and that some did deal with real estate and having her license could make it much easier for her.

Kate smiled and told him that he didn’t have one, so she asked him why did he feel that she needed one. Ken told her that, as the owner, he had all those people working for him and they did all the heavy lifting for him.

Then, playing the devil’s advocate, Kate asked, with a smile, “Well … wouldn’t all those people … wouldn’t they be working for me, then, too?”

Ken laughed at the way Kate turned what he said back around on him and the only response he could come up with was, “Touche!”

As the two continued their talk, Kate then asked him what he thought about her hyphenating her name to Partlunds-Thomas. Ken smiled at the question and told her that he will be happy to have her as his wife and the last name was of no consequence to him. He did add that her having her last name as Thomas would greatly simplify things in his business dealings when she does get involved, though.

Kate then thanked him for the answer he gave her sons about them changing their last names. She told him that she got flustered over the question and just froze up and couldn’t think that they wouldn’t have to change their last name.

Ken then brought up the fact that since the boys would be brought to the Cove to live, they needed to resolve how he could legally make parental decisions concerning the boys if and when she wasn’t available, just like Wayne was when he wasn’t around, or out of town.

Ken also asked Kate if she would be willing to become a licensed foster parent, the same as Wayne. He explained, in that way, she too could make decisions concerning the fosters that they would have when they do get married, and any they might acquire in the future.

That question caught Kate of guard. She told her fiancé that she had never considered that she would have to do that, but now that he had mentioned how Wayne takes care of the boys when he was away, that she would probably need to have that same authority, as Wayne could be unavailable at some point in time, as well.

The two were each making a list so that they could check them off as they found a work around or had some legal written opinion about any and all of their concerns, so they wouldn’t be caught in a bind over the blending of their families.

The two then decided to change their focus and have Ken name those he would like to be at the wedding. Kate said that she and her mother would have to not only set the date, but also send out the invitations and she needed the names beforehand.

That was when they heard a knock on the Study doorframe.

As Phillip knocked on the doorframe, he heard them talking about who his ‘dad was going to invite to the wedding. He knew that was an important thing, but they had just began talking about that, so he decided he would knock and ask his ‘dad’ if he had time to talk to him.

“Yes, ‘son’, what can I do for you?” asked ‘dad’ Ken, in recognizing the youngster at the Study door.

“Well, ahh, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but Darrin … he told me that if I don’t ask you now, I … I might forget, or that it might be too late for you to call,” got out the young Cover.

Ken looked to Kate, as if to say these are the things that she will undoubtedly get involved in when she becomes Mrs. Ken Thomas.

“OK, Phillip, so what is it that you might forget, or that it might be too late for me to call?” repeated ‘dad’ Ken.

“Well, ‘dad’, I was thinking. Well, I was wondering if you could possibly, you know, call my mom and ask her if she could stop by Four Corners when I am playing, so she could see me and then during my break … maybe, we could talk some,” explained Phillip. He then added, “It’s been a while since she’s seen me.”

‘Dad’ Ken smiled at the simple request and offered, “Phillip, that is a great idea. You know … she might be at work right now. But, I will call her right now, and if she doesn’t answer, I’ll leave her a message telling her that you are playing tonight and Saturday, at Four Corners, from six to nine. Right?”

The band leader agreed to what his ‘dad’ just said, and then Mr. Ken went and made the phone call. The call went directly to voice mail and the boy heard his ‘dad’ tell his mother that his band was playing at the Four Corners Amusement Park for the Holidays on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from six to nine at night and that her son was playing that night, Wednesday, and that coming Saturday.

Mr. Ken added that Mackenzie hadn’t seen her son for some time and this would be a great time for them to see one another, and they could talk during Phillip’s breaks, or maybe even before he has to play. With that all said ‘dad’ Ken hung up the call and then he asked Phillip if that was what he wanted.

Phillip smiled and told his dad that was exactly what he wanted him to do. The boy then ran to the man and hugged him for doing that for him. Kate watched on as the two hugged.

After the hug, Phillip, again, apologized to Kate for interrupting their meeting and then he quickly left the Study.

With the boys departure, Kate asked her fiancé if that type of thing goes on often. Ken told her that those types of things usually are brought up during the nightly meeting. But he added that seeing that Darrin had prompted his ‘brother’ to come down here it was probably a good thing, since he was playing tonight and if he asked me when he got home it would be too late for me to call. Kate thought about that for a few moments and then agreed.

When Phillip returned to the Pavilion, a few of the band members, who weren’t playing tonight had stopped by. They greeted one another and then they told the Cover that since they didn’t see him yesterday, Bryce asked them to tell him that he wanted them to learn five new songs for them to play.

That confused Phillip, as he thought fifteen songs were going to be enough. But Marshall told him that Bryce figured that playing the same ones over and over would get boring for all of them, and these would add a nice change. The band’s second drummer then gave the Cover the new list for him to try to learn,

Phillip looked over the list which included Sleigh Ride, the Johnny Mathis rendition, the Little Drummer Boy, which was offered by Joan Jett, Here Comes Santa Claus done by Gene Autry, Jingle Bell Rock performed by Bobby Helms, and lastly, Run Rudolph Run sung by Chuck Berry.

Marshall told the Cover that he liked Jingle Bell Rock, sung by Hall & Oates, and he asked Bryce to listen to it and that maybe they could learn that one, as well.

Phillip brought out his cell phone and searched for all the songs to listen to them. After listening to them he liked what he heard and he agreed that he’d try to learn then during the following week.

After the barbeque, the boys went swimming. Rusty and Jessy loved it when they got to swim with their big ‘brothers’, especially during the cooler months when their friends back home didn’t have anything like that.

Instead of swimming, Phillip went up to his room to try to play the five new songs. He also had to get ready to go to Four Corners at five thirty to play, so swimming wasn’t a good idea right then.

As the young Cover sat on the edge of his bed, he hoped that his mom would get his ‘dad’s’ message and make time to come to listen to him, on Saturday, and then they could talk.

Darrin also loved it that he had an indoor pool that he could use at The Cove. He and his friends played the games the lifeguards had devised a while ago, and then they all jumped off the rock ledge. When they got tired of doing all that, they just sat around and talked about what they would be doing tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day.

As the teens all told what their family did for Thanksgiving, they all sounded similar. Darrin told his friends that Mr. Ken expected twenty people tomorrow, but that Collin, his first foster, wouldn’t be there. The Cover told his friends that Collin was going to be with this girl he knew from when he visited Mr. Ken’s amusement parks.

Darrin’s friends asked him if he thought Collin was going to get married like Mr. Ken was. But the Cover said that he didn’t think he was, but was just getting to know the girl and her family better in case things worked out in the future.

At five thirty, Mr. Dennis drove Phillip over to the Four Corners Amusement Park. There, the young Cover, and band leader, met with the rest of the band who would be playing that evening. Mr. Dennis told the youngster that he was going home after that and that someone would be there around nine o’clock to take him home.

Phillip thanked the man for taking him to Four Corners, and told him that he’d see him tomorrow for the Thanksgiving Dinner.

After they swam and then ate dinner, the older boys played some board games with Rusty and Jessy. That was something different for the older Cover boys, as they usually didn’t play those types of games. But since they had the two younger ‘brothers’ there with them, they thought it would be fun. And they all found that it was.

They got so engrossed in playing the games that Billy got a phone call from Phillip asking him who was supposed to pick him up, as it was past nine o’clock and no one was there to take him home. The younger Cover’s older ‘brother’ told him to sit tight and that he’d be right there.

Mr. Ken, Kate and Edith were talking in the Study when Billy knocked on the doorframe telling in his foster dad where he was going. The man laughed and thanked the teenager for doing that as he got busy talking to Kate and Edith that he also forgot about Phillip being down at Four Corners and that he needed a ride home.

When Phillip returned home, Mr. Ken asked him if his mother had shown up to watch him. The disappointed youngster told his ‘dad’ that she wasn’t there, and that he now hopes that she would be there on Saturday.

‘Dad’ Ken called a quick meeting down in the Great Room to discuss tomorrow’s Thanksgiving gathering and dinner. He reminded the boys that their guests should begin arriving around twelve, noon, and they all should be dressed in nice clothes. He also asked the boys to make sure they talk to all of their guests and to make them feel welcomed to their home.

‘Dad’ Ken then sent the boys up to their rooms to settle down before going to bed. As the boys left the Great Room, the three adults talked some more, and this time about what to expect tomorrow.

Ken told them that this was the only the second time that he was hosting Thanksgiving Dinner at The Cove and the first time was so long ago that he didn’t really remember what they did other than talk.

What Ken didn’t want to tell them was that the day after was when almost twenty men attacked The Cove in the hopes of finding his first foster son, Collin, and killing the teenager. He also didn’t want to tell them that he’d been shot, while defending his home against a rogue FBI agent.

‘Dad’ Ken didn’t spend much time in any of the boys’ bedrooms that Wednesday night. He told each of them to get a good night’s rest and that he’d see them at breakfast in the morning.

Ken then walked Kate to her bedroom where they hugged and kissed before she went inside to go to bed herself. Ken then went down to his own retreat where he got ready for bed himself. He then sat on the edge of his bed hoping and praying that tomorrow’s Thanksgiving Dinner would be a success.

The owner of The Cove then turned off the light, and before long the entire Cove household was fast asleep. The household was peaceful and quiet throughout the night.

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

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