You Ain't Santa

When we were settled in the van, I asked, "Bruce, would you care to enlighten me as to the subject that we are going to be discussing?"

Bruce chuckled, "The focal point of today's discussion will center on what's going to happen to the four Sorenson boys.  Nels called me this morning.  He said he talked to you last night.  He asked that I investigate you becoming the Sorenson boys' legal guardian."

"Bruce, isn't that unusual, in view of the fact that the boys' Mother is still alive and their grandparents on their father's side are still alive?  I know there is no love lost between the boys and their relatives.  Still the courts will not be likely to accept the fact I would be a better guardian than one of the boys' relatives.  Why doesn't Nels want to be their legal guardian?"

Bruce shook his head, "It's not that he doesn't want the boys, but his name has been splattered all over the media,  It's highly unlikely that courts would allow him to be the legal guardian after the way the press has smeared his name."

"I've asked Mrs. Belton to come to Belle Monte tonight, so we can discuss the case with her.  She'll have a better handle on what should be done to make sure the four boys are the least affected.  In the meantime, I'm having the backgrounds of the boys' relatives investigated.   Something doesn't seem right?  I can't believe that they would totally turn their backs on the four boys."

George asked, "If you and Dan were to be given guardianship of the boys.  You won't all be able to live in the little house.  You'll need to think about farming out the boys to Homebase at night time."

I shook my head, no, "George, until the dust settles, we'll be okay.  In fact, we can't have Dieter staying with Quinn, Vince and Alex all the time.  Vince and Alex need time to totally bond to Quinn and Dieter could start to look at Vince and Alex as his care givers."

Bruce nodded, "I agree that Dieter needs to realize that Vince and Alex are not his caregivers.  I think he realizes that, because he calls them Uncle Vince and Uncle Alex.  Dieter is really good for Quinn, because he's more outgoing than Quinn and makes sure that Quinn isn't being over active, physically.  I talked to Vince and Alex before we came here and they have no problem with Quinn and Dieter being together all the time.  They keep each other entertained and therefore they require less adult supervision."

"I talked to Eva and she is of the opinion that Dieter is going to be a great mentor for Quinn, since Quinn has missed out on so much because he was not able to interact with other children.  She says both boys are very sharp, intellectually."

I looked at the clock, "Guys, thanks for lunch, but I do need to get back, so I don't get fired."

The afternoon went fine and the guys were all visible when I arrived at Belle Monte, Ryan rushed up to me, "Hi, Daddy, we already took care of the animals.  They were pretty tired because we went to help check on the cows.  All the guys are getting good at riding horses.  We talked to Uncle Bruce, and he's going look at getting two ponies for Quinn and Dieter, and horses like Nate's and mine, for Karl and Stefan."

I thought to myself, 'There's something happening that I don't know about.  Why would Bruce make it seem as if the Sorenson boys were going to be staying here?  What happened, this afternoon?'

As we were finishing dinner, Bruce announced, "We're going to have some visitors.  I would like for all you young people to be standing by.  Vince and Alex, if you don't have any plans, you should be here, as well.  After you guys finish the cleaning, why don't you take your homework to the basement, if you have any.  We'll call you if we need you."

Mrs. Belton arrived with a gentleman whom I hadn't met.  She introduced the gentleman, "I asked our state supervisor, Mr. Harold Kean, to attend the meeting tonight since this is an interstate happening."

Mr. Kean was very direct. "This case is highly unusual.  The fact that you are recommending that four young boys be placed in the care of a homo sexual is indeed strange.  No offense meant.  I have read the reports and it appears that their birth father was even more of a deviant."

Mr. Kean took a deep breath, "I have not had the opportunity to meet Nathan and Ryan, whom I understand have been adopted by Dr. Richter, even though their last names were not changed.   Could I visit with them"

I was thinking, 'I'm not sure I particularly like this Kean person.'

I went to the intercom, "Nate and Ryan, your presence is requested in the living room."

Ryan answered, "We'll be right there, Daddy."

The boys stopped as they entered the room, and Nate said, "Mrs. Swamp, we've been good.  You're not going to take us away, are you?"

"No, Nate, Mr. Kean wanted to meet you.  He heard a lot of good things about you."

Nate and Ryan went to the gentleman and shook his hand.  Ryan came and sat down on my lap and whispered, "Daddy, that man isn't going to try and take us away, is he?"

I whispered, "No, he's here to talk about Erik, Dieter, Stefan and Karl.  He just wanted to meet you."

Nate sat down close to Dan.

Mr. Kean realized that he was causing the boys some discomfort, "Nate and Ryan, I just wanted to meet you.  Mrs. Belton told me you're being home schooled."

Nate sat up straight, "Yep, Mrs. Fort is a good teacher and we are learning a lot.  She makes sure we understand everything before we go on.  She makes learning fun.  It is really neat now that we have four people in our class so we can work together."

Mr. Kean looked at Ryan, "Ryan, do you like living here at Belle Monte?"

Ryan sat up, "Mr. Kean, Belle Monte isn't really our home.  We live at the Little House with our daddies and animals.  Erik, Stefan and Karl have been sleeping up there at night with us.  After breakfast, we spend most of our time here at Homebase where everyone is taking care of us while our Dads go to work.   We have to go the Little House to check on our animals, to exercise them and make sure they're okay."

Mr. Kean had a funny look, "Ryan, there aren't any women around Belle Monte."

Ryan jumped down, "That's not true, Mr. Kean.  Mrs. Fort and Mrs. McTavish are here most of the time, and we have a lot of ladies who work here at Belle Monte."

Mr. Kean asked the wrong question, "I guess you two boys don't want to leave this place?"

Both boys stood up and Nate answered, "Mr. Kean. We aren't leaving Belle Monte.  The judge said we could stay, and we were adopted.  If you try to get us unadopted, Ryan will stop talking again.  We're never leaving Belle Monte.  Our family and friends are here."

Mr. Kean realized that he had made a bad mistake. "Nathan and Ryan, we're not taking you anywhere.  I just wanted to meet you. Would you please ask Quinn to come talk to us?"

I wasn't liking Mr. Kean at all. I went and got Vince and Alex and they were sitting on a settee when Quinn arrived.  Quinn climbed on Alex's lap, "Daddies, what do you need?   Me and Dieter were playing a game.  Why is that lady here again, and who is that man?  He doesn't look very nice."

Mr. Kean turned bright red, "Quinn, I'm Mr. Kean.  I just wanted to meet you and your Dads.  Are you happy, here?"

Quinn didn't move from Alex's lap.  He looked up at Alex and Vince, "Daddies, that man isn't going to try to take me away from here, is he?  I'm not going back to live with that other uncle.  I wanna stay here with all my friends who care about me."

Mrs. Belton answered, "Quinn, we're not going to take you anywhere.  Mr. Kean just wanted to talk to you."

Quinn stood up, "I talked to him.  Daddies, can I go play with the guys, more, before you make us take our baths and go to bed?"

Alex nodded yes and Quinn disappeared faster than a puff of smoke.

Mr. Kean frowned, "I'm not making many young friends, but I would like to meet the four Sorenson boys, before the guys torch my car."

George went to the intercom, "Erik, Karl, Stefan and Dieter, we would like to have join us in the living room.  We have some people who would like to talk to you."

We could hear the four boys talking as they were coming up the stairs.  When they entered, Dieter went and sat between Alex and Vince, "Uncle Alex and Uncle Vince, the guys say that Mr. Kean is mean and is going to make us go stay in a home.  Is that true?"

Alex hugged Dieter, "Mr. Kean never said that.  He and Mrs. Belton just wanted to meet you boys."

Erik hadn't sat down, "Mr. Kean, if you want to talk to us, I suggest you talk to me.  My three brothers shouldn't be made to endure much more grief.  They're very happy here at Belle Monte.  Guys, go back to your games, and I'll take care of the visitors."

After his three younger brothers had departed, Erik started.  "I gather from what Nathan and Ryan said, you two people are from the Children's Protection Agency.  If you really care about the four of us, then maybe you should contact your peers in Minneapolis.  Our Dad did some not so nice things and could have cared less about us boys.  He used Dad Nels as Nanny to take care of us.  Dad Nels did the best he could do, but he was, and is, a very busy doctor and he came home at night dragging, but he always made sure we had something to eat."

Erik continued, "I think you need to know the reason why I personally want nothing to do with Dad's relatives.  First, Dad was not the son of the Sorensons.  They adopted him.  Not too long before we came to Belle Monte, Dad came to my bedroom and sat down beside me as I was lying on my bed.  He started to run his hands over my body.  He commented, 'You are about the age I was when my father showed me what it was like to be a man.'"

"I sat up, I asked, 'Dad, what do you mean?'  He took my hand and put in his briefs and told me, 'Feel what a real man feels like.  See if you can make my cock hard while I check you out.'  He started to get a hard on and he put his hands inside my briefs and started to play with my backside.  He was stopped from his activity by Dad Nels, when he announced that Dad had a phone call.  Dad left and I felt so dirty that I knew that I never wanted to ever be alone with him again.  I started to lock my bedroom door when I went to bed."

Mr. Kean asked, "Did you talk to Doctor Richfield about what happened?"

"No, sir, Doctor Richfield was our nanny.  I never thought to talk to him about it, since we had never discussed anything about sex.  Don't get me wrong, he tried hard, but he was exhausted when he arrived home, because he was always working so hard."

Mrs. Belton asked, "Erik, why do you feel so at home here, among these people that you just met."

Erik answered immediately, "I feel safe with Da.., I mean Doctor Thornton and Dr. Richter.  They have opened their doors to me and my three brothers.  Even though they aren't always here, there are people here at Belle Monte to look after us.  In fact, I think all four of us are beginning to think of this as home.  I know I am.  Now if you will excuse me, I have some homework to do, since these farm hicks are ahead of me and I'm determined to not let them show me up."

Erik departed and Mr. Kean sat there with a stunned look on his face.  He finally spoke, "That young man knows what he wants.  Dr. Richter and Doctor Thornton, would you be willing to be the full time guardians for the four Sorenson boys, should we be able to make it happen?"

Dan answered before I could, "We will be glad to assume responsibility for the four boys, but isn't it up to the authorities in Minnesota to determine what's going to happen to the four boys?"

Mr. Kean nodded, "It is up to them, but I'm sure the CPS there is overloaded with cases, even more than we are.  I should think that that they would be more than happy to have these four boys taken off their roles."

I had to ask, "How is Doctor Richfield going to feel about the four boys being taken away from him?"

Bruce answered, "When I spoke with him, today, he was relieved.  He is over his head in what's happening and his case load is backing up.  He wants to be able to remain in touch with the boys, but he fully realizes that the boys will be much happier here.  He was really concerned that he was going to have to give up his practice."

Vince stood, "If you don't need us anymore, we have two young boys to get ready for bed.  They've had a long day."

Vince went to the intercom, "Quinn and Dieter, it's time to get ready for bed."

The two five year olds appeared and Quinn asked, "Dads, can we have a snack before we go to bed?"

Alex nodded, "We have some ice cream and cookies in the apartment.  You can have whatever you want, after you take your bath."

Dieter had sat down between Dan and me.  "Are you going to be our new dads?"

I put my arm around him, "Would it be okay if we were your new dads?"

He looked up at us and grinned, "I'd like it if you could be my daddies."

He stood and kissed both Dan and me then walked toward the stairs to the apartment where Quinn and his Dads were waiting.  He turned, "Good night, everyone."

I turned to Mr. Kean, "How long will it be, before this homo sexual, as you referred to me, knows if the Sorenson boys are going to be my legal wards."

Mr. Kean turned bright red, "Dr. Richter, I apologize for saying what I did.  I'm sorry if I offended you."

"Mr. Kean, what I found offensive was that you even involved Ryan, Nathan and Quinn in what was going on tonight.  You were raising red flags for all seven boys, when three of them had nothing to do with what was being discussed.  It's obvious to me that you don't work with children very often."

Dan stood, "Kirk, it isn't going to do any good to upset Mr. Kean.  We need to worry about the four boys, and not the fact that you are concerned at the way the proceedings went tonight."

As Mr. Kean and Mrs. Belton were leaving, Mrs. Belton looked at me and winked and quickly nodded her head in the affirmative.

After the two visitors departed, I looked at Bruce, George and Dan.  "I'm sorry, but I didn't like Mr. Kean from the gitgo.  I started seeing red when he even used the term homo sexual when he first started to speak."

Bruce grinned, "You had every right to be upset.  For a state official to come into someone's home and call them a homo sexual is totally unacceptable.  Let's see what happens, and if I get the feeling that Mr. Kean is dragging his feet on the Sorenson boys' case, he may well wind up in court.  I suggest that everyone needs to go to their living space and relax.  The best thing that we can do is act as if there is nothing out of the ordinary happening.  I'm extremely impressed with the maturity that Erik displayed tonight." 

Editor's Notes:

I was very impressed with Erik's behavior, especially given the fact that he hadn't been with the family for all that long.

Add to that, the fact that he had been so frightened by his father, that he didn't want to be alone with him, it is even more surprising that he feels so comfortable with everyone at Belle Monte.

I didn't care much for that Mr. Kean, either.  He is obviously a bigot, who doesn't even bother to try to hide his prejudicial attitudes.

I would definitely keep a close eye on him.

I am really ready for the next chapter.