You Ain't Santa

We had just finished putting the perishable items away and were getting ready to eat the sandwiches that Mom Thornton had made when there was a knock on the door.  I went to the door and there was a young man standing there.  He looked at me and asked, "Is this the Little House of Nathan and Ryan Holloway?"

I started to chuckle, "Yes, how can I help you?"

The young man looked at me, "We have some items that we are delivering and we were informed that we were to take things, infant furniture and other items, to the Church Thrift Shop.  Mister, if this the little house, what does the big house look like?"

I started to laugh, "You passed it just before you started up the road to this house."

The young man frowned, "You mean the big place that looks like a hotel?"

"That's the place."

The young man was looking at me, "You must be rich."

I was having fun with the young guy.  The parents and Dan were trying to keep from laughing.  "Oh, I'm not Nate or Ryan.  They're our sons."

"Mister, you have to be a nut case. You're not old enough to have sons who are old enough to be that rich.  Where would you like the bedroom furniture to go?"

We were interrupted by the arrival of the Belle Monte express with Vince at the wheel.  The four young guys hopped out, "Thanks for bringing us, Uncle Vince.  We'll catch a ride down to the Big House with the Dads and Grandparents."

Vince looked at the young delivery man, "Hi, Jeremy, take care of my bosses, please.  I'll see you all later.  Gotta get back to work."

Ryan came to where I was talking to the young man, "Hi Mister, what do you have?"

Jeremy was getting a little frustrated, "We have some furniture and things for Nathan and Ryan Holloway."

Ryan looked up at me, "Daddy, what did you buy?  I thought you were going to get things from the condo."

"Ryan, we didn't buy anything.  Jeremy, what do you have for us?"

The young man was looking at Ryan, "If you're Ryan Holloway then we have some bedroom furniture for you.  Could you show me where you would like us to put it?"

Ryan took the young man's hand. They were walking toward the stairs and Ryan asked, "If my Dads didn't order the furniture, who did?"

"Ryan, I have no idea.  We just deliver the items that people buy."

Jeremy came down the steps, "Thanks for having the room cleared out.  It will make it so much easier to put the bed together and bring the other things in."

The other two guys started to bring things in and one of the young men recognized me, "Dr. Richter, I didn't know you lived out here.  I thought you lived in town.  These are some really nice digs."

"Larry, we're just moving in.  I didn't know that you worked for the furniture company."

Larry gritted his teeth, "I don't, Jeremy called this morning and got me out of bed. He told me that If I didn't help them, we'd be late for our gig at the club.  We still have another delivery after this one."

The guys made short work of getting Ryan's room ready.  They even had bed linens and a computer.

Jeremy asked, "Where's Nathan's room?  We have some things for it."

Nathan looked surprised, "I don't need any more furniture. But I'll show you my room."

The guys brought in a desk and a computer.  As they were coming down the steps, Jeremy asked, "Where do you want the game room equipment to go?"

Vince and Alex had arrived and Vince said, "Guys, back the van around to the front of the building.  It will be so much easier to take anything into the family room from there.  That's where Brandon and Will stored the infant things that you are to take to the Thrift Shop.

Vince looked at us adults, "Mrs. Brooke is due to arrive shortly.  We're here to make sure the guys do a good job.  We'll take care of the four boys and the puppies and kittens.  We'll have everyone back at Belle Monte in time for dinner."

We took three vehicles to the Big House, since the parents still had their personal things in their vehicles.  Dan and I helped them take their things to their bedrooms.  We had just gotten the parents things to their rooms when we heard the knocker at the front door. 

We, meaning Dan and me, both sets of parents, Bruce and Eva were present to hear what Christi Brooke had to say.  Christi started, "People, I was totally unprepared for what happened today.  Nate and Ryan are very intelligent young men.  They may be behind their peers in their skills, but with Eva's help they will very quickly catch and probably surpass their peers."

"I have been in this business for ten years and I had something happen today that has never happened before.  I was giving the guys the Rorschach test and Ryan picked up the cards and was explaining to me that it depended how he looked at it.  He showed me the card he had in his hand and he explained what he saw from four different perspectives.  I might add that his descriptions were so vivid that I could visualize what he was seeing."

When I gave the test to Nate it was an entirely different response.  He looked at the first card and asked, "Mrs. Brooke, I don't understand why you want me to do this.  There can't be any right or wrong answers because everyone is going to see something different."

He pointed to the first card, "Mrs. Brooke, what do you see when you look at this card?"

"I turned the card around so I could look at it and answered, 'Nate I see a butterfly.'"

"I almost fell out of my chair when he said, 'What I see is our two Dads looking at each other wishing that Ryan and I would go to bed so they could talk.'"

That caused everyone to laugh. 

Mrs. Brooke continued, "I would like to do some more testing on the boys after the New Year's holiday.  Eva, I think that you're going to have your hands full with these two, if you are going to be home schooling them."

Eva nodded, "Maybe this is what we need, to get our boys motivated and realize that school is important."

Christi looked at me, "Dr. Richter, why don't you bring one of the boys to the school on the fourth and one on the fifth."

Dan answered, "Christi, he'll have them there.  All you need to do is to tell him where and when.  You may have to send out the mounted patrol to find him, because he'll probably get lost."

The conversation was interrupted by the four young guys.  Nate asked, "Dads, why did we need another foosball game and another ping pong table?"

Ryan interrupted, "We even have a small pool table that I can reach.  Maybe I can beat Uncle Bruce after I practice."

Dan looked at the two guys, "I think that you need to thank your Uncle Bruce for getting you those things."

The two boys went to hug Bruce and he was openly shedding tears, "George, I need to go get ready for dinner."

Mrs. Brooke took that as a sign to leave, "Dr. Richter, why don't you bring Ryan to the school at two on the fourth and Nate at the same time on the fifth.  I need to get home to relieve my stay at home husband who is taking care of the children.  I'll see you all later."

I escorted Mrs. Brooke to the door, "Christi, how much do we owe you for your time and services?"

"Kirk, you owe me nothing.  If it hadn't been for Bruce and Bryce, my husband and I would have nothing.  It's a long story, so it will have to wait until later."

As I was walking back to the assembled group, I was thinking, 'Why is everything so complicated?'

After dinner when the young people including Vince and Alex were in the kitchen, I had a question that I needed to ask.  No one and I mean no one was prepared for it.  "Ian and Tessa, if you had been with Bryce and Bruce ever since they moved here, why didn't you get custody of the Nathan and Ryan?"

Bruce objected, "Kirk, that question is totally out of order."

Tessa objected otherwise, "Bruce, I disagree.  Kirk, we tried to become the custodians for the two boys, but something happened before the accident that caused the authorities to refuse our request to be the foster parents for the boys.  In fact, we almost lost Shane and Shawn."

Ian took over, "I was accused of raping a young woman in the restaurant where I was the chef.  The case went on forever, and finally when it went to trial, I was proved innocent, but the damage had already been done and we didn't know where Nathan and Ryan were, because they had been taken away by the social services.  Mr. Bryce hired me to come here after I was unable to get another chef's job because of the charges."  

Ryan came bursting in, "Dads, we need to go to the Little House and check on the kittens and the puppies.  Mr. and Mrs. Fort, it's okay if the Evan and Chase come and sleep with us, isn't it?  That way you won't have to listen to them snoring and we can play games on our new equipment.  Dads, they already have their clothes packed so let's go before the Forts change their minds.

Bruce was laughing, "Ryan sounds just like his Daddy."

When we got to the Little House, the four young guys were tending to the puppies and kittens needs.  Nathan came up to Dan and me, "Dads, we're kinda hungry; could we have some dessert?  Do we have any ice cream?"

I went to the freezer and we just happened to have some ice cream.  The guys had their deserts and went to get ready for bed.  As they were leaving, Ryan looked at us, "Dads, could you please start the fireplace and fix our sleeping bags so that all four of us can sleep in them again?"

I looked at the guys, "What's wrong with the bedrooms?  Are there ghosts in them or what?"

Ryan looked at us as if we were stupid, "Dads, the kittens and puppies can't climb the stairs.  Besides, if they think we deserted them they might howl and meow all night."

Unfortunately, something happened the next day that would prevent Evan and Chase from coming to the Little House for a couple of nights.

We were awakened by the phone at six o'clock,  I answered,  "This is Kirk Richter."

"Kirk, this is Chuck.  We just received a call telling us that my father is seriously ill.  We are going to leave for Terre Haute as soon as you can get the boys here."

I told Dan what was happening and went to awaken the young guys.  Chase looked at me, "Mr. Richter, can we have something to eat before we have to go?  When Daddy starts to go anywhere, we almost have to cry before he will even stop for us to go to the bathroom."

After we had breakfast, I took Evan and Chase to the big house and their parents were waiting for them.  They had the car packed and Bruce was talking to them.  I heard him say, "Call us when you get to Terre Haute and let us know what's happening."

Chuck apologized, "Kirk, I'll get with you on those reports when we get back. I can very safely say that your sons aren't going to be destitute anytime soon."

After the Forts had departed, Bruce looked at me, "How did the new furniture work?"

"The bedroom furniture has yet to be used because the boys slept in their sleeping bags again.  Their excuse was that they needed to make sure the kittens and puppies didn't get lonely and start to howl and meow."

Our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Dan and the boys.  Nate hugged Bruce, "Good morning, Uncle Bruce.  I hope you slept well."

Ryan hugged and kissed Bruce, "Uncle Bruce, can I ask you a question?"

Bruce looked at Dan and me and we both shrugged to let him know that we had no idea what was coming.  He answered,  "I'll answer your question, if I can.  What is your question?"

Ryan smiled, "Do you and Mr. George love each other like our two Daddies do?"

George was standing there and he was blushing.  Bruce was surprised by the questions as we all were, but he laid it on the table, "Yes, Ryan, why did you ask?"

"Nate and me wanted to know if we should call him Uncle George or what.  We'll call him Uncle George."  Ryan answered as he went hugged George.

George caught Ryan by surprise and picked him up, "Look nephews, I need a lot of hugs and kisses, just like everyone else."

Ryan put his arms around George's neck and kissed him on the lips, "Why didn't you say so?"

The fun was interrupted by the arrival of Shane, "Breakfast is being served in the dining room.  Hi guys."

Ryan wiggled down, "Hi, Shane, we already had breakfast."

Shane was laughing, "Well, come have another one.  Go tell your Grandparents that breakfast is ready."

Ryan started toward the staircase.  The parents were just starting down, "Good morning Grandpas and Grandmas, breakfast is ready."

My Dad answered, "Good morning to you too, Ryan.  Your up early this morning."

"We had to get up so Evan and Chase could go see their sick Granddaddy in Tara something."

Ryan and Nathan hugged both sets of parents and led them into the dining room.  Nate looked at Dan and me, "Dads, is it okay if we have something to eat even though we've already eaten?  It smells so good."

Shawn answered before Dan and I could, "Look kid, this is your house and you're the boss.  So if you want to eat, go ahead."

Ian glared his son, "Shawn, that was totally uncalled for."

"Nate, Shawn is right though, if you want to eat, then please do so."

Dan and I only had a cup of coffee which we drank as we were visiting.  Dan announced, "We going to go to the condo and get some more things and bring them back.  We should be able to have everything that we need or want out of the condo by this afternoon."

Nate looked up from what he was eating, "Dads, call Uncle Brandon and ask him to bring the train track in his truck."

Vince interjected, "Guys, Alex and I will take the Belle Monte pickup and bring back the train here for you.  I think Brandon is going to be working at the nursery all day."

Bruce nodded, "Nate and Ryan, while Vince, Alex and you are getting the train things, the rest of us can get ready to go shopping when you get back."

That caused a reaction from Nathan, "Uncle Bruce, what are we going shopping for?  Me and Ryan don't need anything else.  Everyone has already spent too much money on us."

Bruce sighed, "We'll just look to see if there is something you might need."

As we were leaving to go to the condo, Ryan turned to the people who were still at the table, "Remember, no one is to spend any more money on Nate and me."

Editor's Notes:  

Boy, Aren't Nate and Ryan wonderful guys?  I tell you, if all kids were as nice as those two, I think there would be a lot more happy parents.  Thank you E Walk for sharing all the love from the people in your stories.  The world needs more love. I want more chapters.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher