You Ain't Santa

After a wonderful dinner, I collected Nate and Ryan and had them thank Mrs. Belton for inviting us.  Mrs. Belton winked at me, "Daddy Santa, I'll talk to you after the first of the year.  Perhaps by then, I will have the boys' case all scoped out.  Thanks for talking to Will and Brandon.  This is the happiest I've seen them in a long time."

As we were riding home, the boys were in the back seat.  Nathan spoke to me, "Dad, is that the way families are supposed to act?  This is the first real Christmas that we have ever had.  We really liked Jimmy and Johnny and Justin and Jordon when they finally arrived.  We had a really good time."

"Guys that is the way Christmas is supposed to be.  The only thing that could have made it even better would have been if your other Dad could have been there with us."

When we got to the house, we turned on the Christmas lights and I sat on the sofa thinking the boys would start to play with their games and things that I had bought them.  Instead, they got on the sofa and sat beside me.  Both leaned their heads against me, Ryan looked up at me, "Our Christmas tree is really special, isn't it?"

I hugged the two boys, "I can hardly wait until your Grandparents can see what a beautiful job you guys did."

Oh how I wish Dan could be with us to make this a family event.  We were startled out of our revelry by the doorbell.  I could feel the boys become tense.  I went to answer the door and Brandon and Will were standing there with an 8 foot by 4 foot piece of plywood. 

Brandon looked at the boys, "Guys, where are we going to set up the train?" 

The two boys looked at me as if they were asking me for help.  I shrugged my shoulder, "Why don't you set it up in the family room in the basement?  We'll make that your game area."

Will and Brandon took the piece of plywood to the basement and I carried the train set since it was too big and heavy for the boys to carry.  I turned on the speaker so we could hear the doorbell.  There was already a phone in the basement so that wasn't a problem.

I sat on the sofa and watched as the four young men made sure everything was perfect.  We all waited with anticipation to see if the train was going to work when Brandon plugged in the transformer, and handed the controls to Ryan.  Will had maneuvered behind Ryan to show him what to do.  Much to everyone's relief, the engine started to move around the track."

Ryan handed the controls to Nate so he could have a turn.  Brandon showed Nate what to do and the four guys were just watching as Nathan stopped and started the train.  Brandon showed him how to make the train whistle sound off.

Nate handed the controls back to Ryan.  Ryan was sitting on Will's lap and I was sure it had to be uncomfortable for Will but he didn't complain.  He had Ryan drop something into the engine and it was as if smoke was coming out of the smoke stack of the train.

All of a sudden Ryan froze, "Dad, someone is upstairs walking around.  The police aren't coming to take us away, are they?"

I heard a voice that I recognized, "Where is everyone?"

Brandon answered before I could, "We're trying to retrieve Doctor Kirk, Nate and Ryan from the belly of the big bad wolf."

Ryan and Nate were waiting for Dan as he came down the stairs.  They both hugged him and he leaned down and kissed them.  Ryan was practically pulling his arm off, "Daddy, you gotta come see the train.  It makes smoke and has a bell and whistle that really work.  Nate, show Daddy."

Dan sat down on the floor next to the two boys as they demonstrated what the train could do.  He surprised even me. "Boys, we'll call Grandpa and Grandma Thornton and have them bring my old train set and maybe we can get Will and Brandon to help us build a super duper model railroad display.  That will keep them out of trouble when they aren't working."

He stood and then sat down beside me.  I had a sudden thought, "Dan, why are you home.  I thought you had to work until midnight?"

Dan was going to make me sweat, "I got fired.  I was informed that my services were no longer needed in the emergency room."

I was almost afraid to ask, "What exactly does that mean?"

I could tell by the evil grin on his face that he had something up his sleeve.

He shrugged as if everything was routine, "I don't have to report until the third of January to be the deputy to the hospital administrator. I figured it would take both of us to keep our parents from kidnapping our two sons."

Brandon and Will were laughing and Brandon said, "I think we may kidnap them first."

Ryan sat on Dan's lap, "Dad, why would anyone want to kidnap us?  We don't have anything except a bicycle and a train."

Nate crawled up beside me, "Remember Ryan, they might think our two new Dads have some money and they want to steal us away so they can ask for $1000.00."

Will and Brandon got off the floor and sat on the sofa with us which was getting rather crowded, "Guys, we'll make sure that you aren't going to get kidnapped.  We need to leave now.  We'll see you tomorrow."

Nate and Ryan hugged them as did Dan and I.  We secured the family room and made our way to kitchen.  After Will and Brandon had departed, I looked at Ryan and Nate, "Sons, would you like some dessert?"

Nathan answered, "Dads, we're going to go get ready for bed.  We had a lot to eat today and we don't need anything else.  We'll put on our pajamas and come down and say goodnight to you.  Can we just sit and look at the Christmas tree together when we come back down?"

Dan and I both nodded yes.  After Nathan and Ryan had left, "I looked at Dan, "Why are so many strange things happening all of a sudden?"

Dan hugged me, "Kirkie, it's all because you decided to play Santa Claus.  I hope you aren't planning to do it again next year or we'll need to buy a bigger house."

I hugged Dan, "Danny, me boy, maybe we should start looking for a new house immediately, because I have no idea where we are going to put everyone when both sets of parents are here this week."

Me and my big mouth.  Nate and Ryan heard my comment.  Ryan spoke, "Dad, we can sleep on the floor, it will be a lot better and softer than the cardboard boxes we were sleeping on in the warehouse."

Dan and I went to get the boys, Dan was very firm, "You're not going to sleep on the floor during my watch.  We'll go look for two futons and sleeping bags and you can sleep in our room, while your grandparents are here."

Ryan looked at us as if we were loony, "What's a futon?  If we have sleeping bags why do we need something else?"

I let Dan do the talking, since he got us into this mess, "Sons, there are several kinds of futons.  The one that I'm thinking about can be made in to a reading chair or a bed.  Just think all you would have to do is roll up your sleeping bag and make your futon into a chair instead of having to make a bed, In fact, they are probably more comfortable than some beds."

We went into the living and watched the lights of the Christmas tree. Dan put on some Christmas music.

Ryan fell asleep against me, so I carried him to bed while Dan helped Nathan up the steps.  When the boys were tucked in, Dan and I returned to the living room.  Dan looked at me, "Kirk, we need to have the boys checked by a pediatrician.  They seem to be okay, but I think we need to make sure.  I cannot for the love of me understand how people could have mistreated them."

I put my hand over Dan's mouth, "Shish, my love.  We have an entire week to solve the mysteries of our two sons.  Hopefully, Mrs. Belton can get everything resolved so they can be ours forever.   Let's get rested, because I'm sure things will be rocking and rolling around here the rest of the week."

We luxuriated in the glory of the tree that the boys had decorated.  It was so nice just to have Dan beside me.  Since we had an entire week to be together, there was no urgency to do anything.  Dan was falling asleep on my shoulder, so I decided it was time to shut down shop and go to bed.  We didn't even take a shower before we crawled into bed.

The next morning, I had to go to the bathroom, and I decided to take a shower.  When I entered the bedroom, Ryan was standing there looking at Dan, "Daddy Santa, why is Daddy Doctor's penis so big.  Is he sick?"

Thank goodness we had worn our briefs to bed.  "No, son, he's just dreaming.  He's probably tired from working so hard.  Where's Nathan?"

"He's still asleep, but I'm hungry.  Can I go get something to eat?"

I whispered, "Yep, let me put on some clothes and I will be right there."

Ryan and I were sitting at the table and he was having some cereal with a banana while I was having an English muffin and coffee.  I can't even remember what he was talking about.  He was interrupted by the arrival of Nathan, who was stretching and trying to wake up. "Where's Daddy Dan?"

Ryan looked up from his cereal, "Daddy Dan is in bed having a dream that made his penis get really big."

I thought to myself, 'We need to have a closed door policy that requires someone to knock before they enter a room.'

Dan was standing there and had heard Ryan's remark, "Guys, we should probably never talk about penises when anyone else is around.  They would not understand what was or was not happening.  After you finish your breakfast, we need to go to the store to find you some futons and sleeping bags.  Your Granddad and Grandmother Thornton are coming tomorrow, so we have to get ready because Grandpa and Grandma Richter are going to be coming on Sunday."

After we finished breakfast and everyone was dressed, we made our way to a shop that specialized in selling futons.  When Nate saw the prices he resisted, "Dads, we don't need a futon, the floor will be fine."

Dan knelt down, "Look, Nate, I already told you that you weren't going to sleep on the floor.  I'm the oldest, so I'm the boss.  Now find one you each like."

After a lot of cajoling, we had two futons that we put in back of the van.  The next stop was a sporting good store.  The young man at the door directed us to the department where they sold sleeping bags.

Even I was surprised when I saw the selection of sleeping bags.  I had been a boy scout and had a sleeping bag, but not anything like what was available.  Dan went over to a sales representative, "Sir, could you assist us, please?  We need to buy our two sons sleeping bags.  Could you recommend which ones we should buy?"

The gentlemen gave a spiel about several of the available bags, he ended his sales pitch, "This sleeping bag is the most versatile and the lightest to carry so it might be best for your young sons.  It is advertised to keep the occupant warm in sub zero temperatures.  The nice thing is that if you get two identical bags, then you can make one big bag out of them and as many as four people can sleep in it.  That would provide even more warmth."

Dan looked at the bag, "We'll take two of them, please."

Nathan was fit to be tied, "But Dad, that's one of the most expensive sleeping bags.  We don't need anything like that."

I decided to stay out of the discussion.

Dan hunched down, "If Dad Santa and I are ever going to be sleeping in the bags with you two guys, we want to make sure that we are comfortable and warm."

The back of the van was getting rather full, and I assumed, incorrectly, that we would be going home. Dan had other ideas.  After the boys were strapped in, I realized as soon as Dan started driving, that we weren't going home.  I looked at him, "Where are we going now?"

He winked at me, "You'll see."

He pulled into a strip mall and it was practically deserted.  He parked in front of a hair salon.  When we walked in, Dan looked at the person at the reception desk.  "We need four heads of hair trimmed and styled.  Do you have any free stylists?"

This time it was Ryan who took exception, "Daddy, you just cut our hair two days ago."

Dan shook his head, "Yes, but I didn't do a very good job."

The young woman at the desk answered, "We are rather short staffed today, but we do have two stylists who are available.  Let me go tell them that you're here."

A young man and a young woman appeared, The young man looked at me "Hi Dr. Richter, I was in your Tuesday/Thursday morning class last semester.  How can we help you?"

Dan answered before I could, "I trimmed the boys' hair the other night and I didn't do a very good job.  We were hoping that you might have time to fix the damage that I did.  Dr. Richter and I need our hair trimmed also."

The young male looked at the boys, "Who wants to go first?"

I remembered the young man's name, "Bill, Nate and I'll go first."

Nate and I followed Bill and the woman, who introduced herself as Cindy, to their stations.  Bill had me get in his chair.  I watched as Cindy got a booster chair for Nate and put it in the chair adjacent to where I was.  Cindy and Nate were talking the entire time she was working on him.  He was telling her why he and Ryan were living with Dan and me.

Bill hadn't said very much to me.  When he finished he walked me to the area where Dan and Ryan were waiting, "Dr. Richter, wait until I tell my roommate the rest of the story.  You know him and he knows the start of the story.  He's scheduled to be in your class next semester."

I stopped and looked at Bill, "Bill, I have met four young men who are going to be in my classes, in the past week.  Two of them, I have gotten to know, so we can rule them out.  I don't think it's Casey, so it must be Elf John."

"Yep, it appears that we have a relationship to what you and Daddy Doctor  have, Daddy Santa.  Next."

"Dan went with Bill and Cindy appeared with Nate.  Ryan looked at his brother, "Wow! Nate, you look great."  Ryan jumped up and took Cindy's hand and climbed onto the booster chair.

I saw Bill say something to Dan and they were quiet while Ryan was talking nonstop.  As they were finishing, I pulled two twenty dollar bills  out of my wallet and handed them to Nate.  "Give one of these each to Cindy and Bill.  I'm going to go pay our bill."

When the other three guys were coming toward me, the young lady behind the desk looked at them.  Sirs, you sure do have handsome sons."

That brought a sparkle to the boys' eyes. 

When we got into the van, Nate looked at us, "Dads, can we please go home now?  I don't want you to spend anymore money on us today.  You've already spent too much."

Dan turned around, "Guys, we have one more stop, and then we'll go home."

We pulled into a Culver's restaurant parking lot.  Dan looked at the boys, "I think we had better go in, so you can see what you want to eat for lunch.  We can either eat the food here or take it home."

Nate was adamant, "Dads, can we please just take it home."

The boys decided to split a cheeseburger and an order of French fries but Dan snuck in two ice cream sundaes.  Dan and I ordered cheeseburgers. 

When we got home, the light on the phone was blinking, Dan went to get the messages while I was putting the boys food on the table.  I heard Dan make a call and just before he hung up, we heard him say, "Mrs. Belton, we should be home the rest of the day.  Stop by anytime."

When Dan sat down, Nathan looked as if he was going to cry, "She's not going to take us away, is she?"

Dan looked at him, "Nate, all she said was that it was important that she talk to us today.  She called from her office.  We'll just have to wait until she gets here."

Editor's Notes: 

I am on pins and needles now, waiting for the next chapter.  Sometimes, I think that E Walk has been taking lessons on how to end chapters with dramatic pauses attached.  I sure hope that everything will turn out okay for the boys to stay there where they are loved.

I have a funny feeling that things will be all right though. I'm an optimist.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher