The Michaels' Family: Book One - We Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus

The first people to arrive were the Bakers. Flo looked around, "Elaine and Gordon went to pick up Mr. Watts. Their children are spending the day with Gordy's parents. So this is your other hideaway is it, Cowboy? Some hideaway."

The guys came out of the house, carrying things to put on the serving table. When Chris saw the Bakers he yelled, "Grandpa and Grandma, tell the Dads what you want to drink. That way you can get a high and not notice how bad the food is."

The next people to arrive were the Watsons. The Bakers and the Watsons knew each other but I thought nothing more about it.

It wasn't long before Jacob's girlfriend pulled up with two other young ladies whom I recognized as being Tim and Tad's friends from the other parties we had had. Jake, Tim and Tad come out to meet them and introduce them to the people they didn't know.

I watched as Chris and Chase were helping Kevin bring things out. Justin and Wayne had just started the grill when the next car pulled up. Freddie hopped out of the driver's side and a beautiful young woman exited the passenger side.

Flo started to sputter, "Why are the terrible Douglas twins doing here? We can't get away from them."

Freddie glared at her, "Watch it, Ma Barker, or I'll call the FBI and report that you are here."

We were to find out that the Douglas family lived next door to the Bakers. The two young newcomers hugged the Watsons. We were to find out that Watsons were Freddie and Michelle's maternal grandparents. Michelle commented, "I guess it is logical that you know these people, since you live next door."

The introductions were completed just as the Grahams pulled up. Elaine crawled out and opened the van door, "We're here, Louie."

A young man about David's age started to exit the van, but stopped, "I'm not getting out; these people are all whities. They'll hate me just like the others."

Ramsey had heard what Louie had said and went and grabbed Louie, "Look kid, I'm not a Caucasian; so you're wrong. Now get your butt out here. Louie, I'm your brother, even though you don't remember me. We have another brother who is in the hospital. These people have been helping me and Lionel."

Louie demonstrated that he was going to be a hard nut to crack. "So they are making you be their slave, huh? I'm not going to be any white man's slave. They lie to you and then they leave you."

I looked at Ramsey and I could tell he was about to get angry. I approached the two guys, "Ramsey, I think Kevin might need your help. Please ask David to come over here."

I knelt down in front of Louie, "I'm sorry you think that we would want to make you be a slave. Ramsey is a very special person, as is your brother Lionel. I'm sure you will be too when you forget the anger that you're feeling."

Louie looked at me, "Mister, I don't understand what you're talking about. I don't want to be hurt again."

David came to where I was talking to Louie, "David, this is Louie. Why don't you welcome him and take him to see the horses."

David stuck out his right hand to Louie, but Louie backed away, "I'm not shaking any whities' hands."

David looked at me with a confused look. I went to put my hands on Louie's so I could talk to him, but he was too quick me; he started to back away and kicked at me. His foot glanced off of my thigh. It's a good thing it wasn't a little higher. David reacted immediately and pushed Louie to the ground and was getting ready to hit Louie with his fist.

I grabbed David and pulled him away from Louie. "David, you can't go around hitting people. That doesn't solve anything."

David started to argue, "But Poppa, he kicked you. You didn't do anything to him."

Louie started to shout, "You people are just like all whities. You're always blaming everything on us black people."

Ramsey appeared out of nowhere and picked up Louie, then the two of them disappeared around the corner of the house. David looked at me, "Poppa, what's happening? Why doesn't he like us? We haven't done anything to him."

"David, I don't know what's happening. I guess it is going to take us a while to get Louie to trust us. We'll just need to be patient and hope that he can learn to trust us."

David and I walked back to the others; Elaine looked at me, "I warned you people. Louie is an extremely bitter young man."

Ramsey appeared around the corner pushing Louie in front of him, "Now, do what I told you to do, or I'll beat you up myself."

Louie stopped in front of me with his hands behind his back. "Mr. Michaels, I'm sorry for kicking you."

Before I could say anything, David interrupted. "Poppa, he's lying. He has the fingers on both hands crossed."

Louie shouted, "Shut up, white boy. I'm not sorry that kicked him at all. I wish I could have hurt him."

Like a flash, David had Louie on the ground, "If you don't apologize to Poppa, I'm going to hurt you."

Louie started to fight back and it wasn't a nice sight. Kevin grabbed the boys and pulled them apart. "Ramsey, take your brother over and sit in a chair so he can't see or talk to anyone since that's what he seems to want to happen. David get over there and sit, until you and Louie can talk nicely to each other. You two can think about it while the rest of are eating."

David started to say something, but Kevin stopped him, "I told you two not to say anything. Come on, Ramsey, let's see if we have enough food."

Finally the smell of the food must have gotten to Louie, because he slowly went to where David was sitting, "David, can we get some food before the big people eat it all?"

Everyone was pretending as if they were ignoring the two six year olds. David looked at Kevin, "Uncle Kevin, can we please get up and have some food?"

"Only if you don't fight anymore. You can eat after you shake hands."

Everyone watched as Louie extended his hand and David shook it. David put his arm around Louie's shoulder, "Do you want a hot dog or a hamburger, or both?"

Louie looked a little surprised, "You mean we can have both if we want?"

"Yep, and if you want another, you can have that after you finish what's on your plate."

We watched as the two guys loaded their plates and Kevin and Ramsey helped them to a table where they could eat. I would have been willing to bet $50.00 that neither of the two boys would be able to finish the food on their plates. I would have lost the money and Louie even asked if might have another hot dog.

I was pleased to see that the teenagers intermingled with the adults even to eat. It made it easy for people to visit and I was pleased that all the teenagers seemed to fit together nicely.

When David and Louie were finished eating, David showed Louie where to put the trash. When the area where they had been eating was cleared, the two boys approached Hank and me; David asked, "Grandpa and Poppa, can we go for a ride on the horses?"

Hank looked up, "Why don't you ask Kevin and Ramsey to go with you, since Louie hasn't ridden before and you can make sure that Ramsey doesn't fall off the horse."

Ramsey had been seated at the table with us, "Grandpa Hank, that was mean. David, you won't let me fall off will you?"

"Not this time, because Louie would probably try to beat me up if I did."

We watched as the four guys went into the stable. When they appeared from the stable, the two young boys were already on the horses. We watched as Kevin helped Ramsey get on Super Dog so he was sitting behind David.

We watched as Kevin climbed on behind Louie. Hank suddenly realized which horse Kevin and Louie were on, "I'm going have to beat one of our sons. No one but me can ride Alhambra."

Jacob was laughing, "Dad Hank, relax, or your blood pressure will be so elevated that you will be flying. The rest of the poor teenagers are going to clean up the mess that Kevin made. No wonder he agreed to take the boys out of your hair."

Hank stuck out his tongue at Jacob. Hank turned to Elaine, "Elaine, is there any way that we could have Louie stay with us for several days? You've seen both of our houses, so you know that we can adequately provide for the three Watts boys."

"Hank, I think this would be an ideal set up for the three boys, especially if Brent and Jeremy were to buy the Watson's spread. There is still the matter of gay males adopting children. I've been thinking about what Kevin proposed; it could work if Jeremy were to be able to find an agreeable lady."

Martha looked up and asked, "What is it that Kevin proposed? This sounds intriguing."

Everyone pointed to me. Elaine laughed, "Since Kevin is your son, you had better explain."

I explained how Kevin had suggested that Jeremy should find a lady who would be amenable to getting married for as long as it took for them to adopt the three boys. The wedding could be annulled and she would stick Jeremy with the three boys."

Those people who hadn't heard the original conversation laughed, but the laughter stopped when Martha started to speak again, "I like that idea. I think we might know just the person you are looking for. Our daughter Cathy and her partner want very much to have children. The biggest problem would be that Jeremy might need to have sex with Cathy so she can get pregnant. Why don't we have the girls come to our house tomorrow evening and Brent and Jeremy can meet them and see what can be arranged?"

Elaine spoke up, "I don't want to be involved until the appropriate time."

Judge Baker put up his hand, "Count me out, since I may be hearing the case in court."

Martha was on a roll, "I'll call the girls tonight and let you know what they say."

The teenagers were walking around as couples. We watched as the two horses came back to the stable. We heard Louie say, "I'm not getting in the stall with the horses. They'll probably bite me."

David put his hands on his hips, "We rode them so we gotta help brush them. If you talk nice to them and give them a treat, then they will be nice to you. Now go help Kevin with Alhambra."

When the four guys came out of the stable after taking care of the horses, Ramsey came up to Hank and me, "Can we take the guys to see Danny and Lionel?"

Hank nodded, "We'll go as soon as the three of you get clean clothes on. You smell a little horsey. Why don't you go ahead and take a shower and then you won't need to take one when we get home."

Louie shook his head, "I ain't taking a shower with no white boy. Besides, I don't have any other clothes."

Hank stood up, "Look, Mr. Watts, either you take a shower with David and Ramsey, or I'll come give you a bath myself. You're about the same size as David so you can wear some his clothes. Now get a move on."

We heard Louie say, "David, I told you that all older white people are mean."

After the three guys had disappeared into the house, Brent laughed, "Well we're making some progress at least. Louie referred to David by name, and we've been promoted to white people as opposed to whities."

We were to find out that Ramsey had to undress Louie and carry him into the shower.

The three boys reappeared looking fresh, Ramsey looked at us, "Next time, you give Louie his shower. We need to find him a tooth brush. I think he needs to see a dentist."

Louie yelled, "Ramsey, you're acting like a white person. I'm not going go see a dentist."

We said goodnight to the guests and got in the Hummer. Ramsey made sure that he was sitting between the two six years so they couldn't possibly get into another scuffle. Hank was driving and it was funny to watch as David and Louie had to lean forward to see each other when they were talking, which was constantly.

When we pulled up to the Med Center, Louie asked, "Why are we at the white people's hospital?"

David leaned forward, "This is where our brothers are and there all kinds of people here."

When we went to the nurse's station, the young man on duty just happened to be an African American. "Hi Mr. Rodgers, Mr. Michaels, Ramsey and David. I don't think I've seen this handsome young man before."

David answered before anyone else, "This is my friend Louie. He's Lionel and Ramsey's brother."

The nurse bumped fists with Louie, "Nice to meet you Louie. David will explain what you need do. The guys are doing great. I understand that they might be going home tomorrow."

We went into the change room and the four of us who knew the drill were down to our briefs in no time. Louie was standing there doing nothing. "Why do we gotta get undressed since we just put on clean clothes."

David turned to him in his briefs and socks, "Louie, just do what we're doing, or we'll do it for you. We need to make sure that we don't take any germs into Danny and Lionel's room."

Louie got dressed like the rest of us and we knocked before we went in the room. Danny and Lionel were lying on Lionel's bed watching television. When they saw us, they sat up and Lionel asked, "Ramsey is that our other brother, Louie?"

Ramsey nodded yes.

David announced, "Yeh, and Louie is meaner than either you or Ramsey. He keeps beating me up."

Louie retaliated, "David started it when I kicked Poppa Michaels."

Lionel asked, "Why would you kick Poppa"

"Because he went to touch me."

Danny was sitting on the edge of the bed, "Louie, why would you kick someone just because he was going to touch you?"

Louie shrugged, "First he's white and I figured he was going to beat me like some other people did."

Danny shook his head, "Poppa would never beat you. He might sit you down and talk to you, but I don't think he ever intentionally hurt you."

Hank was sitting on Danny's bed beside me. He leaned over and whispered, "Little does Danny know."

The five guys were playing a game of Go Fish when the nurse came in. "I need to check the guys vitals. I need to ask that rest of you step out while I do that."

Hank spoke, "Guys, we're going to leave now. I'll stop by in the morning to see what's happening while everyone else is in school or working."

Since everyone was wearing masks, all we could do was hug the two guys. As we were changing into our street clothes, Louie asked, "Why did we have to wear those mask things? It was hard to breathe and talk."

Hank bent down and put his hands on Louie's arms, "The doctors don't want us to give germs to Danny until his body is stronger. If he were to be given any bad germs he might not get better."

Ramsey added, "Louie, you should have seen how bad Danny looked before Lionel moved into the room with him. He could hardly wave."

When we got to the car, Hank announced, "Time for dessert. Let's stop at the Diary Queen and have a sundae."

There were no objections. Louie looked at us, "I don't think I've ever been to a Dairy Queen before. What do they sell?"

I turned around, "I'm sure that they will have something that you will enjoy."

We stopped at the restaurant and went in, Ramsey looked at the menu board, "Grandpa and Poppa, can we afford something this expensive for dessert? We can go home and I can make the same thing for much less."

Hank put his arm around Ramsey, "Ramsey, just think, we won't have to do any dishes if we have our dessert here. It always tastes gooier here."

The three guys had a banana split and Hank I had a small hot fudge sundae. As we were eating, Louie asked if he might taste our sundae so he could see what it tasted like. I pushed my sundae toward him so he could try it. He commented, "That's good but our sundaes have more yummy goop on them."

After we left the Diary Queen where the three guys made sure they ate every bite, we stopped at a drug store so we could get some new tooth brushes and tooth paste. Hank let the guys make the decisions and they returned with six toothbrushes and three different kinds of tooth paste. David explained, "We couldn't find any black toothbrushes for Louie so he gets the purple one."

Louie reacted immediately, "David, I'm going to beat you up when we get home."

When we arrived at the ranch, Hank suggested, "I think that you two young guys need to go to bed as soon as you say good night to everyone. You have school tomorrow."

David asked, "Grandpa, where are we going to sleep since Uncle Jacob will be here?"

Hank thought, "You and Louie can sleep in your bed and Ramsey can sleep in Danny's bed. We'll have to figure out new sleeping arrangements when Danny and Lionel come home."

Louie responded, "I'm not sleeping with no white boy."

David was undaunted, "Then you can sleep on the floor because I'm not."

When we walked into the house, Mimi and Dusty were sitting talking to Jeremy and Brent. David hugged his Mother and kissed her and asked, "The babies are okay aren't they?"

"Yes, David, they seem fine. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. I should know more then. I'll tell you what the doctor says."

David moved to his Dad and hugged and kissed him. "Daddy, when are we going to be moving to the other ranch?"

"Son, we thought we would move next weekend. But a lot depends on Danny."

David smiled, "Danny's going to be fine. He really wants to come home."

David hugged Brent and Jeremy and said goodnight. Ramsey said goodnight to everyone, "I'm going to read and I'll make sure that the fighting mobsters go to sleep. Are the kissing bandits going to come say goodnight to us?"

Hank was laughing, "Brent and Jeremy, I'm not sure which of your sons is the meanest. They all treat us like dirt."

Ramsey stopped, "Grandpa Rodgers, that was an absolutely a mean thing to say. No kisses or hugs tonight for you."

Brent and Jeremy left for the house on the hill and Mimi and Dusty decided to call it a day. Hank looked at me, I guess we need to go to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day. I'm not sure how we are going to get everything done. I don't think all of our guys are in yet so we'll let them lock up."

Hank and I made our way up the stairs and stopped at David and Danny's room. David and Louie were laying in David's bed talking. I went and hugged and kissed David. I wanted to do the same to Louie but thought better of it after the way he reacted earlier in the afternoon when I went to touch. I simply said good night to him.

I moved over to Ramsey and hugged and kissed him and he responded, "Thanks Poppa, I needed that. I could get used to this kissing and hugging stuff."

Hank did as I had done and I was watching Louie, He looked as if there were tears in his eyes. He mumbled, "Could you please hug and kiss me, too.?"

I sat down beside him and pulled him against me and kissed on the lips. He leaned into me and started to sob, "Why couldn't you have been my daddy? Please don't let them take me back to the home."

Hank came and sat down beside Louie and hugged him and gave him a kiss. "Louie, we're going to do everything that we can to make sure that none of the three of you have to go back to any homes ever again. But you and David need to stop beating each other up."

Both boys responded, "We'll have to think about that."

Hank and I went to our bedroom and Hank fell on the bed, "What a boring day. Surely nothing else can happen today."

Editor's Notes:

I would think that Hank would have learned by now that when someone makes a statement like that, that something else is bound to happen. You are tempting fate.

It looks as though Danny and Lionel are going to be coming home tomorrow. That sure will be nice. I wonder if everyone will have to wear masks.

It was really sweet to see Louie ask for a hug and kiss. It is such a shame to see three little boys thrown away, the way they were. It is great to see that Steve and Cowboy didn't give up on Louie, since he was being such a hateful youngster. David is the perfect counterbalance to Louie's rebel attitude. I think after a very short time, they will become very close friends. If only some adults would take a leaf out of these kids' books and learn to treat everyone the same and not hate people because they are different from you, the world would be a much better place to live.

I wonder what progress the manufacturer of the games is making. Cowboy was not pleased with them.

I want more chapters as soon as possible, please!

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher