You Ain't Santa

Dan and I went to look for Charles and he was fixing something on the back side of the house.  I spoke to him, "Mr. Fort, would you have time to sit down and talk to with us now?"

Chuck shrugged his shoulders, "Gentlemen, I regret to inform you that Mr. Fort lives in Terre Haute, Indiana.  I can give you his phone number if you would like to speak with him.  Guys, let's go into my office.  I'll see if my brain can handle whatever questions you might have."

I handed the financial reports to Chuck,  "Chuck, when I look at these financial reports, all I see is a bunch of big numbers.  We need you to tell us what it is that we need to know and do."

He looked at the ones from the bank and shook his head, "Guys, I'm going to need some time to go through these to fully understand them.  It appears to me that Nathan and Ryan may need to pay some  back taxes now that the boys have surfaced.  I would like to be able to talk to Mr. Lassiter to be sure."

Chuck was looking through the files and he muttered, "I thought Bruce was wealthy.  He's a pauper compared to your two sons.  Belle Monte is a corporation, but the sole owners are Nathan and Ryan.  The corporation taxes have been paid on time since I've been here.  Ian is very sharp when it comes to business.  He makes sure that the bills get paid on time and that we have a well qualified staff here at all times."

Chuck started to laugh, "Your sons are undoubtedly some of the richest people I have ever met.  I just hope that you can keep them from letting the money go to their heads like so many of the young people do today."

I decided to take the bull by the horn, so to speak, "Chuck, I have some personal questions I'd like to ask you, if I may?"

Chuck started to laugh, "No, I'm not gay if that's what you were going to ask.  I guess you are probably going to ask why I work here as a handyman, bookkeeper and an accountant if I'm a Certified Public Accountant."

"The answer is simple; I almost lost my family because I was so caught up with the business of making money that I had no time for Eva, Evan and Chase.  The pressures got to me and I had a nervous breakdown.  I wound up in the same rehabilitation facility as Bruce, and we became good friends.  He brought us here when he was finally released, and Eva and I haven't regretted a minute of it.  As you can see, our two sons are thriving.  It will be even better with you and your two sons living here."

"Why don't you give me a couple of days to digest these reports and talk to Ike Lassiter.  Then I will feel more qualified to answer your questions."

Our conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door, Chuck invited the guest in.  It was Tessa, "Dr. Richter, your sons are on the phone and would like to speak to you."

Chuck put the phone on speaker and motioned for me to proceed. "What's up guys?"

"Dad, this is Nate; is it okay if Evan and Chase spend the night with us?"

"Nate, it's fine with me and Dad Dan, but have you checked to make sure it's okay with Evan and Chase's parents?"

"No, can you please ask one of them to come to the phone?"

I yelled, "Mr. or Mrs. Fort, you're wanted on the phone."

Chuck was having a difficult time trying to keep from laughing, "This is Charles Fort, how may I help you?"

Nathan responded, "This is Nathan Holloway; we would like for Evan and Chase to spend the night here with us at the Little House, so we can make sure that the kittens and puppies don't get into any trouble."

Chuck was grinning, "Nate, it's not the kittens and puppies I'm worried about.  It's the four boys that I'm worried about."

We could hear Nate talking but couldn't hear what he was saying, Evan came on the line, "Dad, that was mean.  Can we or can't we spent the night here at the Little House as Nate and Ryan call it?"

Chuck was playing this to the hilt, "Tell the guys that we'll let you know our answer at dinner, after I have a chance to speak with your Mother."

We heard Evan say, "I think Dad just said it would be okay, guys."

Dinner that night was anything but dull.  As we were eating, Bruce announced, "The entertainers parents have all been invited to The Nuggets for New Years Eve.  That means that we will need to inquire if Shane and Shawn will be available to entertain the four young gentlemen that night."

Ryan looked up from his dinner, "Why can't we go to The Nuggets too?"

Vince answered, "Only people over a hundred are permitted to go there.   You will need to wait a couple years.  Besides, you would probably be bored.

Shawn scowled, "Mr. Holloway, Shane and I will gladly take care of the four gentlemen.  Of course we will expect to be paid four times the going rate, since it a holiday and there are four of them still in diapers."

Evan looked at Ian, "Mr. McTavish, wash you son's mouth with soap for talking like that."

Shane was laughing, "I think that Shawn was talking about the puppies and kittens.  We'll be glad to spend the night with the boys and the animals."

Eva was next, "Dr. Richter and Doctor Thornton, the school psychologist is coming in the morning to meet with Nate and Ryan.  She'll be here about nine in the morning and she will discuss the results of her testing with the interested parties, later in the day."

The young guys had finished their dinner and were getting bored.  Ryan asked, "May we please be excused so we can do the dishes and go down to the game room while you big people talk about things we don't understand?"

Bruce put his hand up and pointed to me.  I answered, "We need to be leaving in about forty minutes to make sure the puppies and kittens are okay.  Evan and Chase, you need to get your clothes, if you're going to spend the night at the Little House."

The six young guys had just finished clearing the table when the doorbell sounded.  Chase arrived with Brandon, Will, John and Bill."

I looked at the guys, "What's the problem, guys?"

Brandon had tears in his eyes, "Mr. Holloway, you weren't joking about inviting our parents to The Nuggets, were you?  My parents have been all over my backside since you called and invited them wanting to know what I have been doing.  They'll probably disown me after they see what we've been doing.  Dr. Richter, how soon can we move into the condo.  I'm sure that after the show on New Year's Eve, we'll be thrown out of our homes."

Bruce intervened, "Guys, you need to give your parents some credit.  What you do at The Nugget is not obscene.  It is suggestive, but I will not permit anything that could be considered to be obscene to be shown.  Some people might find problems with it, but if they do, why are they there in the first place?  I have met all of your parents at one time and I'm 99% positive that none of you will be thrown out of you homes.  What you arrange with Dr. Richter and Doctor Thornton should not be predicated on your parents throwing you out."

I looked at Charles, "Would having the guys take immediate occupancy of the condo impact our taxes, or would it be better to have them move in after the first of the year?"

Charles answered with no hesitation, "It would be better if they were to take possession before the first of the year so you could claim it as a rental property for tax purposes for the current year."

The discussion was disrupted by the arrival of four guys.  Ryan announced, "Dads, we're ready to go.  Shawn and Shane are going to go with us, so they can get their motor bikes."

We thanked Tessa for the dinner and she responded, "Actually, your two mothers did most of the work."

When we walked outside to go to our vehicle, the Santa tree was glowing so it could be seen for miles.  Nate and Ryan were holding on to Dan and me.  Nate looked up at me, "Your tree is really special isn't it Santa Dad?"

"Son, I think you should have said our tree is really special."

Dan followed Shawn and Shane down the mountain while I helped the four young guys get ready for bed.  They decided that they wanted to sleep in the sleeping bags in front of the fireplace.  While they were taking a shower, I built a fire so it was glowing when Dan returned with a bottle of wine.  "Bruce, thought we might like to have this to celebrate our first night in our new home."

When Dan and I came down the stairs in the morning, it was a comical sight.  Not only were there four boys in the sleeping bags but two kittens and two puppies.  When the animals heard Dan and me, they started to move and awakened the four boys who crawled out of the sleeping bags.

Nate started to fix some milk for the animals.  "Dads, we don't have any food here for us.  What are we going to eat?"

Dan answered, "I'll tell you what.  I saw a Village Inn Restaurant that's not too far away.  Why don't we go there for a fast breakfast before we meet a friend of Mrs. Fort's who would like to talk to you.  We need to go to the condo and get some more clothes and start moving the food."

As we were going to the car, Ryan suddenly stopped, "Dads, the decorations on the tree are all gone except for the lights and the star."

Nate clenched his fists and pulled them toward his body and emphatically stated, "Yes.  That's what was supposed to happen.  Dads, we need to start feeding the animals."

Dan had called the main house and told them were we going and that we would be back in time for the meeting with the psychologist.  When we arrived at the Village Inn, it was fairly busy.  We looked at the menu and Nate commented.  "Dads, everything costs so much money.  Why don't we go to the old house and eat some of the food that's there."

Dan was sitting beside Nate.  He put his arm around him, "Son, we don't have time.  You need to go back at Belle Monte because a lady needs to talk to you this morning."

Evan grinned, "You guys are going to like Mrs. Brooke.  She's really nice."

Ryan looked at me, "Daddy, can I have one dippy egg and some bacon and toast?"

Our waitress brought a pot of coffee and asked,  "What can I get for you gentlemen?"

I started, "We'd like six glasses of orange juice, Ryan would like one egg Sunnyside up, two pieces of bacon, an order of wheat toast and a glass of milk.  I'll have the number two special with the eggs over easy and I'll have the ham and rye toast."

The waitress moved to Chase who looked at her, "I'll have the same as Ryan, please."

 Evan nodded, "I'd like the same as Ryan except I would like two sausage links instead of the bacon."  

Nate nodded, "I'll have the same as Evan please."

Dan pointed, "I'll have the same as Dr. Richter, except I'd like my eggs scrambled."

We must have a arrived at a good time, because the service was exceptionally fast.  It was pleasing to see the boys eating so well.  Dan and I even shared our hash browns with the guys.  When we arrived at Belle Monte, Eva was talking to a young lady.

When Evan and Chase climbed out of the van, they yelled, "Hi Mrs. Brooke."

After Eva had made the introductions, "Christi Brooke, looked at the guys.  I'm going to talk to Dr. Richter and Doctor Thornton first. Don't go too far, because I want to talk to Ryan next and then Nathan."

We went to the dining room, and Christi looked at Dan and me, "I understand that there are some unusual circumstances around your two young sons and why they are here.  It might be helpful in my doing my evaluation if you could tell me about their background."

I nodded, "Christi, the boys' story is so incredible that it is almost unbelievable." 

I told Christi as succinctly as I could the boys' story or what we knew of it.

When I finished, she was shaking her head, "Guys, I had no idea.  I gather that Eva doesn't know everything or at least she didn't tell me about all of this.  I'll do a preliminary evaluation, as best as I can, this morning.  I'm thinking that I might need to do some further evaluation."

She looked at me, "Dr. Richter, you're name seems very familiar.  What is that you do?"

I was surprised, "I'm a professor at the University and teach child psychology."

Christi smacked her head, "Kirk, I just read an article by you in one of my journals yesterday.  Now, I'm even more puzzled as to why I'm involved here."

Dan was laughing, "Christi, Kirk is a little close to the boys to be able to do an unbiased evaluation."

Christi looked at Dan, "Doctor Thornton, how do you fit into this picture?"

Dan grinned, "I'm the boys' other father and I work at the hospital."

Christi started to chuckle, "So, between you two Dads, you have all the boys' needs covered.  Kirk can take care of mental needs and Dan can take care of the physical needs.  Guys, I'll see you about four this afternoon with the results of my testing.  Would you please ask Ryan to come in?"

We went to the condo and the parents were busy working.  My mother  started, "We're moving our things to Belle Monte this afternoon. Eva and Tessa know that we are going to be staying there until New Years Day.  Since you're not going to need much, we should be able to have most of the things that you need or want out of here by tomorrow, so the guys can move in."

Dan laughed, "We came to get some more clothes and some food to take to the Little House.  We had to take the guys to the Village Inn for breakfast, since we had no food."

"We are to meet with the psychologist, Christi Brooke, at four o'clock and  we need to get some furniture for Ryan's bedroom at the Little House.  This morning, four boys, two puppies and two kittens were sleeping in the two sleeping bags in front of the fireplace."

It's amazing what six people can accomplish in a short period of time.  We had loaded the four vehicles, and my mother had even started to do a load of bed linens.  She suddenly questioned, "I don't recall seeing a washer and dryer at the Little House that's not so little."

Dad Thornton answered, "Mary, the laundry is located in the kittens' and the puppies; room.  They look as if they might be commercial grade appliances."

Mom Thornton added, "I think that after we get this load delivered and put away, we need to take inventory of what exactly is at the Little House.  That way we will know exactly what else we need to take, if anything.  I've packed some sandwiches and some iced tea for lunch, to save us time."

As we were starting up the winding road to the Little House, we were met by Shane, Ryan and Chase in a golf cart.  All three guys had helmets on and they were strapped into their seats.  Ryan undid his strap, "We were checking on the puppies and kittens.  We just fed them, so they'll probably take a nap.  We need to go, lunch is ready."

I watched as he climbed into the cart and made sure his safety straps were in place.  The three guys waved as they passed the rest of the caravan.  As I was driving up the hill, I was thinking, 'I don't think we will ever be able to say that it's dull around here.' 

Editor's Notes:

Dull is a word that I don't think I would ever use in describing a story written by E Walk. There are very few things that I can almost certainly predict about one of his stories. The first one is that by the time you have finished the first chapter of it, you will have fallen in love with at least one or two of the people in the story.  The second thing is that you will be ready for the next chapter.

We keep learning more and more things about out boys, and with every new discovery we find that we love them all the more. It is so wonderful that they have two dads and a new extended family that loves them very much.  What more could anyone ask for?

I'm ready for the next chapter.