Carter and the Biker Boy

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Carter and the Biker Boy

Chapter 49

The first night at John's house was crazy, hectic, and yes, enjoyable. I couldn't believe that we were actually now part of a family.

But the most exciting news was that the adoption process was about to be final on Friday! Finally I was going to officially be John's son and Jake's big brother.

After a somewhat hectic week of getting started on the demo phase at our old house, the day of the meeting at the courthouse where my adoption was to take place had finally arrived. I was surprised to see Michael, Jake, LT, Parker of course, Caleb, Noah, my Tio Javier and Tia Rosa, Javy, and my little cousins there to witness the proceedings.

Honestly, I do not remember much at all of how the proceedings went, all I remember was John saying things like "I will," "I promise," and "Yes, your honor." Mom answered all of the questions in the same manner, and then it was my turn.

Of course I answered all of the questions the judge asked, and then with a final question for the court if there was anyone who objected to this adoption, to which no one said a word, it became official.

John was officially my adopted father! He gave me a huge hug and told me how much he loved me and how happy he was that I was finally his son. Jake joined in on the embrace as well, and then Mom.

Everyone in the courthouse began clapping and cheering, even the judge!

After we left the courthouse, we all went to Gino's for a sit down dinner. All in all, it was an amazing night.

That night after showering in my new bathroom I went into my new room, got dressed in my CK boxer briefs, my basketball shorts and dark blue Adidas tee shirt and went back upstairs to talk with Mom, John, and Jake before going to bed. It had been an amazing Friday and perhaps was one of the most exciting days in my life.

Mom and John were watching some show on TV, Jake was in his room playing games on his PS5. I knocked on his door and he told me to come in.

We talked about the game he was playing and actually asked me if I knew how to get past a certain point in the game, which I did help him get past it. He thanked me and told me how happy he was that I was now his big brother.

Me, a big brother now! Wow! Pinch me, because I still can't believe it.

I told him good night, since I was really tired. The events of the day had me emotionally (in a good way) exhausted. I then went out to talk to Mom and John for a few minutes. They were sitting together on the couch; Dad had his arm around Mom. Whoa, I just called him Dad!

"How are you doing buddy?" Dad asked me. And yes, from this point forward, he is most certainly MY DAD! Huge smiley face emoji, no doubt!

"I'm doing good, Dad, just a little tired from the day, so I think I'm going to go to bed. What time are we heading over to the house tomorrow?" I asked, since I thought the plan was to go to our old house to continue the demolition phase of the project.

"Well, about that. I thought that since your mom has the weekend off, that we'd take a drive up to Ontario and do some canoeing and hiking. How does that sound? I think it's time we check out the sunset and the stars, what do you think?" he proposed, smiling.

"That sounds amazing! Are we going to camp?" I asked, confused as to what the plan would be.

"Well, probably not. But I did rent an Airbnb for the night that is not far from Ontario. So we'll spend the night there. Plus we have to double check on the wedding venue, and make sure everything is solid. Sound good?"

I couldn't stop smiling. "That sounds great, Dad. I had better get some sleep! What time are we going to leave?"

"We'd best get on the road by six AM" Dad said after a pause to mentally calculate time and events.

"Okay, cool. Well, I'm going to bed then." I gave Mom a hug and kiss and told her that I loved her. Dad then stood up to give me a hug and tell me good night. As we embraced I told him how much I appreciated what he's done for me and how fortunate I felt being his son.

"You're very welcome, buddy. Actually, thank YOU for letting me adopt you. You don't know how proud your mom and I are of you. You're an amazing young man and I'm so excited to have you in our lives. Just know that I will always be there for you, okay? You can talk to me about anything, anytime. Okay?" he whispered to me before breaking our embrace. I shook my head and told him thank you and that I would talk to him if anything bothered me. Crazy thing is that I already had been doing that.

Telling them good night again, I went downstairs, turned off the stairway light, closed my bedroom door and crawled in bed.

I still hadn't gotten used to my room. Don't get me wrong, it's an amazing room, but it's so dark with no windows. Remember, I was used to the first light of the morning pouring into my room at our old house.

So on this night, like the first few nights, I laid in bed trying to fall asleep.

The events of the day played back in my mind.

It still seemed all too surreal remembering when I first met John and Jake. That day in the park they met me when I was almost at the lowest point in my young life, dealing with what Javy had done to me, and then with how Dylan treated me. And to think that now that man is now my adopted dad, and his son is my little brother.

Unreal.

I thought about Parker, and how supportive he's been for me, how much fun we've had, and how solid our future looks together.

I thought about how happy Mom is now, soon to have a new husband and another son as well. I've never seen her this happy.

And the crazy thing about that is that if those bullies at school wouldn't have picked a fight with me and Parker, I wouldn't have gotten suspended, Mom wouldn't have gone to school for the meeting with the principal, and she might not have seen John, er, Dad, in the hallway.

And we wouldn't be living in John's house.

Damn, unreal.

My eyes started to fill with tears. Happy tears, yes. Tears of disbelief, more or less.

I felt my eyes getting heavy and was just about to drift off.

But then I thought about our house, and a strange thought about my real dad entered my mind.

Why was he not what I imagined him to be?

Before I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, my mind told me to make a mental note of that thought, and to someday find the answer to that question and the truth behind why he did time in prison.

Morning came way too early. I was awoken by the sound of Jake knocking on my door, telling me it was time to get up. From the time I fell asleep until the time I got up, it felt like it was about ten minutes. But in reality it was closer to seven hours.

We quickly got ourselves ready and were on the road to Ontario just like Dad had planned, at 6 o'clock in the morning. Jake was still half asleep, so was I. So when Dad pulled into the parking lot of the Cracker Barrell in Madison, both Jake and I had fallen back asleep. We both loved Cracker Barrell though, so we wasted no time getting out of the car and going in to get some breakfast.

As usual, the breakfast was super tasty. Jake and I both had pancakes, while Mom and Dad had something like a for mom and for dad type plate. An hour later with our bellies full, we were back on the road to Ontario.

Since Jake and I were still tired we fell back asleep again, and didn't wake up until we pulled into the canoe rental place in downtown Ontario nearly two hours later.

The sound of Dad's car door opening and the cool spring air coming in woke me up out of a great nap and the making of a great dream where Parker and I were out at Rock Cut. It reminded me of the paddle boat we rented last fall and how we wanted to do something on the boat. Thankfully I woke up before we got too involved.

Like we'd done before, we took the short four hour float down to the boat ramp in the lower part of Wildcat Mountain State Park. Mom and Dad were in one canoe, Jake and I were in the other. They kept pace with us for the first half of the float and were close enough to tell us when to stop at the next sand bar for snacks. It was fun to get out of the canoes and relax for a few minutes in the bright sunshine while eating snacks of beef sticks and string cheese. After drinking some water and some of Mom's homemade lemonade, we got back into the canoes and continued paddling downstream to the boat ramp.

So of course Jake and I tried to beat them to the boat ramp and we did by about ten minutes. Since we had to wait for Mom and Dad to show up at the boat ramp, instead of sitting in the canoe or going out into the field next to the parking lot, I told Jake that we could help people get their canoes out of the water. We must have helped something like five canoes out of the water, most of the people were older than our parents, so they all thanked us for the help, commenting that "that's so nice of you and your brother to help us out!"

"Sure, we're glad to help out, right Jake?" I looked over at Jake who was doing his best to help pull the now muddy silver aluminum boat out of the water and up onto the now muddy slope that made up the makeshift boat ramp. Jake nodded.

"Yup, we like helping out when we can, right bro?" I laughed and smiled as he called me bro.

"You got that right, bro." I smiled as we worked together to get the last of the three canoes up from the water.

"Well you boys might just get yourselves a job working for the canoe rental place! I'm sure they'd hire you doing such a good job!" the oldest guy of the group suggested.

"Oh, that'd be cool but we're not from here," Jake offered. "We're from Illinois and are just up here for the weekend."

"I hope you boys enjoy your stay up here with your parents, then. Where are you staying, here in the campground?" the lady of the oldest guy asked.

"Um, no, I think we're staying in an Airbnb somewhere here in Ontario." I replied.

"Oh cool, that must be at the White House that's just outside of town. Nice place, I think you boys'll like it." She suggested.

"Yeah, our dad has said it's pretty cool, and plus his mom and our dad are going to get married here in August!" Jake explained. "My dad adopted Carter yesterday, and we're going to be a family after his mom and our dad get married."

The six people just smiled at us and congratulated me on getting adopted and our parents getting married. About that time Mom and Dad floated up in their canoe.

It was so cool, as the group of people congratulated them on having "two very fine young men" as their sons. Both Mom and Dad were smiling and surprised, wondering what in the world we'd either done or said to them. But after the conversation that ensued after they got out of their canoe, Dad being the great conversationalist and listener had basically made six new friends. We listened for a little while but then we both got bored and thankfully the van with the canoe trailer showed up and soon we were back on our way to Ontario. Dad wanted to stop and see J.D. and Frank, so of course we stopped at the Peeling Ceiling to see how they were doing before we went to the Kickapoo Family Restaurant to get something to eat.

"John Olsen! Jakey! Teresa and Carter! Four of our favorite people from Illinois! What a great surprise!" J.D. shouted out as we all walked into the store.

"Hey J.D.! How are you? Where's Frank?" John asked as each of us got a huge hug from J.D..

"He went up to one of the Amish farms to get some maple syrup for the store. He should be back shortly. My goodness, Jakey, looks like you've grown six inches since we saw you last year. And Carter! Looking as handsome as ever! You're definitely going to be a heartbreaker, aren't you?!" I blushed, hoping that Jake wouldn't understand what that comment meant so I just said thanks and smiled. As Mom and Jake wandered around the store J.D. asked me how Parker was, since he did meet him last year at the engagement party.

"He's doing good. He's home with his mom. He and I are going to start our summer running program this week." I told him.

"Great, you boys keep it up, and he's definitely a keeper. You boys make a cute couple." He whispered so Jake wouldn't hear.

"Thanks, we're definitely committed to each other, and we really love each other. So yeah, I know we're young, but I don't want anyone else." I confided in J.D.

"That's awesome. I hope that's always the case. I'll be praying that you boys make it." J.D. quickly changed the subject as Jake came back over to ask me if I wanted some snacks for later.

"Sure," I replied. "What are you going to get?"

"Some tortilla chips and your mom said she'd make some salsa. Dad will buy some sodas for us. Cool?"

"Cool." I replied. The more I got to know my little brother the more I was liking him.

Mom and Dad brought the basket full of items, including tomatoes, cilantro, onion and jalapeños up to the counter, along with a bag of tortilla chips and a couple two liter bottles of soda.After paying for the items, we told J.D. goodbye, and promised to stop into see Frank and him before we headed back home Sunday morning.

The White House Airbnb was pretty cool. Located just on the outskirts of town, the huge two story house had big pillars that held the roof up over the patio, making it look like a small replica of THE white house.

The crazy thing was that it was all totally modern on the inside. Everything was state of the art in the kitchen -- granite countertops, a floor that looked like gray marble, white cabinets, black table and chairs, stainless steel appliances and so on. The rest of the house had the gray hardwood flooring, as did the five bedrooms: two downstairs and three upstairs. The three bedrooms upstairs were huge, as well as the master bathroom and the other bathroom upstairs. It was cool to think that this is where we'd be staying after the wedding, along with the people in the small wedding party. I was getting so excited and couldn't wait for August to get here!

We ate dinner at the Kickapoo Family Restaurant, which was also a bar, so they had really good food. We all had bacon cheeseburgers and fries and a soft drink, and the food was indeed excellent. Now full, we headed to the state park for a hike up to the top of the mountain to watch the sunset and see the stars come out. Since there were no clouds in the sky, the night would be perfect for star gazing. There was no moon, so we wouldn't have wait long for the sky to get pitch black.

The hike up was fun, with Jake and me leading the way. He was so full of energy that I thought he was going to burst if he didn't challenge me to a race to the top. So of course I took him up on the offer and I suppose I let him win.

As most sunsets are over the Kickapoo River Valley, tonight's sunset did not disappoint. With no clouds on the western horizon, the sun slowly slipped below the crest of the valley and as soon as the orange sky faded into darkness, the first stars, or planets, came into view. Jupiter, Mars and Saturn were the first lights visible of the evening, and Dad wished that we would have brought a telescope so we could have seen Saturn's ring. One by one the millions of stars appeared, and by ten o'clock the milky way was visible above our heads, running from the north to south.

"Aye mi amor, I'll never get tired of seeing such a beautiful sight." Mom exclaimed to Dad. "I just can't wait until August when we get married up here! It's going to be so very special."

They started kissing, so of course Jake and I both kind of made puking motions to each other so they couldn't see us. At least my little brother has a great sense of humor.

Once we got our sights full of the heavens above, we began to descend the mountain to the parking lot below.

The crazy thing about hiking at night in the forest is that the critters all come alive. And tonight was no exception. We had our flashlights on, obviously, and about a quarter of the way down the hill a huge buck and doe crashed through the underbrush and darted across the trail a mere ten feet in front of us, startling all four of us. Halfway down, a skunk crossed our path, as well as an opossum about twenty feet after that. Needless to say, we were happy to get back to the car to avoid any encounter with a bear, a cougar, or a moose. Yeah, like either of those animals would be out there. They aren't, are they?

We all slept great in the White House after having some of the chips and salsa.

I'm thinking it was the chips and salsa that gave me a massive wet dream. Or the fact that it had been almost two weeks since Parker and I last were together? Either way, the dream started with both us hiking on one of the trails at a national park, like Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, I think. Parker was wearing his faded gray sweatpants, the ones that clung to his muscular, firm butt and accentuated his muscular legs. He was warm, sweating actually so he pulled off his sweat soaked Colorado State tee shirt to reveal his sweaty sixpack and upper chest. Of course I could make out the shape of him in the front, and I desperately wanted him.

Catching up to him, I asked him for a hug. He agreed, smiling, only after I agreed to take my sweaty gray University of Wisconsin tee shirt off. The crazy thing is that we had to be older, because Parker looked totally ripped: huge, muscular biceps, two huge pecs, and as I mentioned earlier, a well-defined six pack. He looked older too, like maybe nineteen, or twenty, evident by the stubble of a three day beard that peppered his perfect blemish free face.

Apparently I was ripped too, because Parker immediately commented on my upper chest, arms, and six pack abs as well.

"Damn dude, you're ripped. What've you been doing while I was away at school this spring? You weren't this ripped at Christmas!" I just smiled and told him that yeah, I had been working out with my roommate. Since he was into body building, he talked me into going to the gym with him every day.

We were standing near a rock outcropping that overlooked a pristine lake. The sun bore down on us and as we embraced I could feel his rock hard muscles against mine, making the muscle in my shorts just as hard. We began to kiss, just like we'd done so many times before. With our hard, sweaty bodies grinding against each other, I was so darn horny that I had to take him in my mouth. I started by licking his pecs, his taut nipples, sucking on each of them tasting in the saltiness of his sweat. I followed the treasure trail, soaked with sweat, down to the waist band of the gray sweatpants and in one quick motion I pulled them down to reveal his black CK jock strap that was not very effective of housing his monster erection, which was now plastered against his groin.

It was all I could do to fit him in my mouth. It was as if he got thicker and longer since we'd been apart at school. I loved the way it felt, and with his juices flowing like a leaky faucet, I was eager to let him finish in my mouth. And moments later, he did just that. It felt like I was drinking from a gallon milk jug, which I greedily swallowed almost every drop. Parker held my head tightly against himself, almost blocking my airway with his huge cock. Finally when the spasms and his load subsided, I stood up to give him a wet sloppy kiss when he whispered in my ear.

"I need you. Do it. Take me." He hissed.

I didn't hesitate. I dove headfirst into his sweaty crack, using the remnants of his load as lube. I was harder than I had ever imagined myself being, and instead of carefully teasing before putting it in, essentially it slipped in since he pushed back as hard as my thrust went forward.

And yeah, it didn't take long -- what seemed like just a minute or so as I stood behind him, both of us staring out across the lake until I felt the pressure build and we reached the point of no return.

As I slowly regained consciousness on the cusp of the most incredible orgasm I'd had in quite some time, the image of me pounding Parker and unloading in him vividly etched in my mind; his scream of ecstasy echoing across the lake as he shouted out with pain and pleasure as I flooded his hole.

In the silence of the room as I woke up, I reached down to realize that yes, it was a dream. I had indeed flooded my boxer briefs with a massive load, evident as I put my right hand inside the briefs as it immediately met the incredible sticky mess.

I was so relaxed and almost in an altered state of bliss and kind of felt paralyzed by the wet dream that I couldn't move. For that reason, I fell back asleep and slept as deep of a sleep as I'd had in awhile.

The following morning I woke up with the mess in my briefs still warm and sticky. It had dried a little, but my erection was nestled nicely against my groin and the wetness of my briefs. About the time I was going to get out of bed and grab some clothes to head to the bathroom my door flew open and Jake came in to wake me up.

"Bro! it's time to get up! Mom and Dad are ready for breakfast! C'mon dude. I'll race you downstairs!" he was wound up as usual, so I moderately played along.

"Oh bro, I got to use the bathroom and shower quickly since I sweated like crazy last night. Tell Mom and Dad I'll be down in about fifteen minutes, okay?" He told me he would, and so I made a beeline for the bathroom and locked the door as soon as I got inside the room. That was close, I thought to myself. Looking at my reflection in the full length mirror on the wall of the bathroom, I was somewhat disappointed to see that I wasn't ripped, nor did I have a six pack. But then I thought about Parker being ripped and my cock immediately jumped to attention, evidently liking the thought as much as I did.

I resisted the temptation to take care of the erection that didn't want to go away on its own as the scenario from the dream played back in my mind. The warm water of the shower felt incredibly good and I must have spent too much time enjoying the refreshing shower, because moments later I heard a knock on the door followed by Jake telling me to hurry up as it was time to eat.

"Okay, I'm done. Be there in a few minutes." I loudly responded, making sure he heard me. I shut the water off, grabbed a clean fresh towel from the shelf and dried off, trying to ignore the hard on that STILL would not go away. Painfully I put on a clean pair of boxer briefs and pointed my boner up hoping that it would go away by the time I went downstairs. Thankfully my orange and black Harlem cross country tee shirt was long enough that it covered up the front of my black Adidas shorts and it was not obvious that I looked like Caleb in his swimsuit. I can't help but laugh about that image!

Once I went downstairs and said good morning to Mom, Dad and Jake, giving them hugs, my little trooper finally lost interest and went back to being himself.

Mom had made a very tasty breakfast of chorizo and eggs, with fresh flour tortillas, orange juice and coffee for her and Dad. Jake and I didn't say much as we were too busy eating, but Dad and Mom were talking about how the place would be good for the wedding party to stay in, since we only used three of the five bedrooms in the house, and only one of the three bathrooms.

We did agree that it would work for all of us and were now totally excited about coming back up here in August for the wedding.

The drive back home was uneventful, and other than stopping at one of the fruit markets on the way back, we drove straight through. The remainder of the day we all just kind of lounged around the house and didn't do much, other than Dad, Jake and me taking an hour bike ride on the bike bath down to Sinnissippi park and back. It felt weird to ride past our now vacant house and although I was so content and happy to be living at Dad's house, the memories of our old house gave me a melancholy feeling.

Monday arrived bright and early around five thirty with Parker sitting in his Rav 4 looking at his phone waiting for me to get out of the house so we could pick up LT and head to my old house for our morning run. Dad agreed to us still running in the morning, then getting dressed and showering at Parker's house so we could be ready to work on the renovation at my old house. As long as we got to the house by seven thirty at the latest, Dad was good with us running every morning, which is just what we did.

The project was on track to finish shortly before our birthdays, with the goal being the end of the month, so the closing on the house being on the last Friday of June. In fact, with the housing markets being what they now are here in town, he'd already secured a buyer for the house, pending the outcome of the rehab.

"How was your weekend, babe?" Parker asked as I got into the Rav 4, giving him a quick kiss.

"It was great, I'll tell you more about it when we're done with our run." I promised.

"Hmm, that sounds interesting." He replied. "So I take it everyone had a good time?"

"Yes, it was fun. I think it did us all good to get away for a day or two. Jake and I had fun. He's a cool little bro." I offered. Parker nodded his head.

"Yeah, you got lucky to have a little brother. I guess I'll never know what it feels like and will probably always be an only child, adopted or otherwise." He replied, a tinge of sadness in his response.

"You never know. I never thought I'd have a little brother. Hey, maybe if we get married someday you'll have a little brother-in-law who won't be so little then." We both laughed at the idea of getting married as it previously seemed so farfetched that we'd ever find ourselves as being husbands...?

We were now waiting for LT to come out from his apartment. Finally about five minutes later he appeared, wearing a muscle shirt that really accentuated his now muscular upper chest. Parker and I just couldn't believe how ripped he was, and Parker commented as soon as T got in the car.

"Damn T, look at your all muscles!" T just beamed at us with happiness.

"Thanks guys. I owe it all to you both, and you know that!" he replied.

In fact, the more I looked at T and just how ripped he was, my mind raced in thinking that the image I had of Parker in my dream the other night in Ontario was the incredibly close to the actual image of T standing before us as we warmed up for our morning run. No worries though, no way did I have the same feeling about T as I do about Parker. Nope, not once. Not ever gonna happen.

Just as we'd done virtually every day last summer, we began this summer with a morning run on the bike path along the Rock River through Sportscore and up to the county forest preserve office, stopping at the park bench that overlooked the small lake for a water break and to reflect on what was going on in our lives on that particular day.

We had about a half hour after our run to grab a quick shower at Parker's house, so after we dropped T back off at his apartment, we drove quickly to Parker's, wished his mom a great day as she was leaving for work and then headed right for the shower in the basement.

Yes, I told Parker about my dream and that was all it took for us to have our usual shower fun. It was quick but was fueled by the fantasy of my dream and it was enough that we both got off twice and probably could have gone again but my phone buzzed and I realized Dad had texted me wondering when we were going to be back at the house to start working. We got dressed, grabbed a quick bite to eat and were on our way back to start working.

The reno project at my old house was progressing well as the first week came to an end. I took pleasure in ripping the carpet out in the living room, pausing to think about that worn spot and all the times that I'd stared down at it during those moments of turmoil in my life. How crazy it was to think how far I'd come since the first time I looked at that spot. Never would I have imagined that this would be the scenario where it would finally be replaced.

Dad revealed the plans for the project to the house, and Mom and I were amazed to find out that he'd planned it out to look just like the White House Airbnb that we'd stayed at in Ontario! Along with the new kitchen, bathroom, flooring, paint, etc. was going to be new windows, doors and trim, as well as a fresh coat of paint outside.

The days were long, the nights seemed short, but as the month of June crept to the end of the second week, we were indeed on track to finish the reno project on time. Since this was our second house, we all knew what our jobs were and as the lead, Dad provided perfect direction like a conductor of an orchestra, if you will. We even worked a couple of long Saturdays and a few hours on Sundays to get ahead.

As the second to last week of June began, we were all excited to have the project come to an end. The windows, doors, flooring, trim, bathroom, new lighting, kitchen cabinets, and painting had all been finished.

Dad was amazed to see how quickly it had all come together. What helped is that prior to the beginning of the month we'd pretty much taken everything out of the house. All that was left now was to paint the outside. Tio Javier, Javy and his friend Julio finished cleaning the yard and pruned all of the bushes and trees prior to us starting on the paint, so it would be an easy job doing the exterior painting.

Thankfully, the exterior wood and old paint wasn't in bad shape, so there wasn't any scraping that needed to be done prior to the paint being applied. Dad did have a contractor come in and wash the house, so the plan was to wrap up the painting by the end of the week.

Of course the paint color was going to be white. Dad even got Jake to help us, and it was pretty amazing to see how hard he worked on doing a good job of painting. Dad wanted him to work with me and since I had a good handle on how to paint, he asked me to teach Jake how to paint. It was so neat to see how well he listened to me and caught on so quickly. "Bro, how does this look?" Jake asked after painting his first section of siding on the north side of the house.

"Hey bud, it looks pretty good! Just check on the bottom board, it looks like you might have to put a little more there on the right." I offered.

"Oh yeah, I see it. Thanks bro!" he replied back, enthusiastic knowing that he'd done a good job. As the painting progressed, Jake kept on asking me to check his work and once I told him his work was looking good and I told him how to check over what he'd done, he had the method down perfectly. With Jake painting the lower boards, me painting the middle boards while I used a six foot step ladder, Parker painted the upper boards using the ten foot ladder. T had trimmed out the windows with black paint ahead of us, so by lunchtime we'd made great progress.

Dad had been finishing up some loose ends on the inside and just before we got down off the ladders to wash up for lunch, he came out talking on his cell phone. Parker quickly turned down the volume on his phone, lowering the volume of the music on his Bluetooth speakers.

"Okay, that will be perfect. We'll be here. See you at two. Awesome, Bye." Dad ended the call and then informed us of the news.

"That was the buyers. They want to come and see the house today at two. You guys ought to have only the back of the house left to paint, right? Looks like you all are doing a great job!" he praised us with a pleased tone of voice. Parker answered before I could.

"Yeah, we should. If we take a short lunch break I think we can finish painting today." He surmised.

"Perfect. We're almost done, boys! This has been an amazing job, and we're going to finish in record time! But we're almost forgetting something." My heart sank thinking that there was something else we'd forgotten. I looked around quickly trying to think what it was we were forgetting. Then it dawned on me.

"The garage, right Dad?" John nodded his head.

"Yup, we need to paint the garage and clean it out. I had just about forgotten about it as well. Good thing we have the weekend." With the end of the month being just four days away, Dad wanted to close on the house as soon as possible.

My birthday was on Sunday, and Parker's was on Wednesday. I had hoped we would be done with the house before Sunday, but now I thought for sure a birthday party for us would have to wait.

We were in the middle of the back of the house when the buyers showed up. They were a younger couple and the lady looked like their child would be born any day. Dad introduced us. "Boys, this is Mr. and Mrs. Gray." We waved and said hello. Dad then introduced us. "This is our amazing team: T, Parker, Carter, and Jake. They've helped make this project completely possible. Without them, we would not be able to have this rehab project done in time for closing at the end of the month."

The couple just smiled and nodded their heads in approval and amazement at how well we worked together. Mr. Gray spoke.

"You guys are doing a great job! We're so excited to get this house and move in next weekend! Thanks for the fantastic job you all are doing!" Mrs. Gray nodded her head in agreement. The Grays looked at each other and were talking softly to each other about something. Mr. Gray smiled and nodded his head, then asked Dad a question.

"John, you said your boys are Carter and Jake, right?" John nodded his head and said that we were indeed. "Well we've been looking for a name for our son" as she said son she patted her large belly that looked like it was ready to burst any day now. "And if it's okay with you boys, can we borrow your names for our first born son -- Carter Jacob?"

I about lost it.

"Your dad speaks very highly of you both. After seeing the progress on the house, comparing it to the first day we saw it until now and from the moment your dad told us your names when we first met him a couple of months ago, it only made sense to us. I hope you're both okay with that?" Mr. Gray followed up what Mrs. Gray had said.

Jake just shrugged his shoulders and said okay, but then said to Mr. Gray that Jacob Carter sounded better.

Parker added his two cents worth and thought the baby should be named Parker Jacob Carter Gray.

T just laughed and said he was staying out of it, unless of course they wanted to name the baby Mr. T. Gray. We all shook our heads and said uh uh, no way...

The Grays and Dad just laughed, and Dad asked them if they were still sure they wanted to use our names. Of course they said they did. Then they thanked us again for the great job we were doing as John walked with them back into the house.

It was a great moment and both Jake and I were both extremely excited that a little baby who would grow up in the same house that I grew up in would now carry my name. What an honor!

With renewed sense of purpose and the end of the month long project in sight, we worked longer days that extended beyond sunset. One lesson that we had learned from the many runs we'd completed since starting cross country is that no matter how difficult the run might be and how tired we were, when we started the last stretch of the run, it was always best to reach down inside for the grit and desire to sprint to the finish line. The four of us were now running on fumes but were tapping into that stored energy deep inside us to sprint to the finish line. Thursday was hectic, but one by one the critical items on the punch list that Dad had compiled were crossed off. Even though it looked like we'd not get the house finished by Friday morning, we worked late into the night -- until nearly two thirty Friday morning.

But we got it done.

Everything.

It was close to four o'clock in the morning on Friday before we got to bed. Jake fell asleep in the car on the way home, T was exhausted, as were Parker and me. Even as tempting as the idea was to spend the night with Parker, I was so tired that all I wanted to do was sleep.

Dad had to meet the Grays at the house at ten o'clock for a final walk through before they were all scheduled to meet at the place where the house closing would take place at one o'clock in the afternoon. Mom worked until noon and had to be at the closing with Dad.

I'd learned to appreciate my new room in the basement even more as I'd come to realize that the quietness of being in a basement room was perfect for sleeping. It was so quiet that once my head hit the pillow, my sleep was uninterrupted until Jake knocked and came in asking me where Mom and Dad were. I told him they were probably at the house closing or at least getting ready for it. He crawled onto my bed and laid down next to me.

"Bro, I am so tired, how about you?" he mumbled sleepily.

"Yeah, I just want to sleep another ten minutes." I told him.

And in mere seconds, we were both sound asleep, and I was only awakened by footsteps above us.

"Bro, Mom and Dad are home. Time to get up." I told Jake as he took a deep breath, waking up to look around the room wondering where he was. We both practically stumbled up the stairs, still exhausted and not yet quite awake.

"Sleepy heads! Good morning boys!" Dad told us, smiling. "Did you guys sleep well?"

"Oh man, I slept like a brick" I replied, Jake just nodded his head and said the same thing.

"I fell asleep on Carter's bed when I went down to wake him up about an hour ago." Jake told Dad. Mom smiled and both of them looked at me. "Yeah, Jake came down to wake me up and I told him I wanted to sleep for a few more minutes and we both fell back asleep." I explained.

"Well that's cool." Dad nodded his head in agreement. And then changed the subject. "It's official, the house is done, the Grays were happy with everything we did to the house and they are totally happy to be moving in. Buddy, you guys did a phenomenal job. You, Parker, Jake and T all made this day possible. We're definitely on to something here. We make a great team!" Mom also added her thoughts on the whole house project.

"Mis amores, you boys did a great job with your amigos finishing up the project! Tu Papa is right; you boys are definitely on to something special!"

I just nodded my head, still trying to wake up, totally in disbelief that it was almost three o'clock in the afternoon. Then found my voice after Jake told Mom that he liked painting. "We did enjoy the project. It was so cool to see our old house looking like brand new."

"Carter, make sure that the crew is going out to Gino's with us tonight, okay?" Dad asked as he went to his office to take care of some paperwork from the house project. I told him I would.

Jake went to his room to play a game on his phone, so Mom and I had a few rare minutes alone.

"Amor, how are you doing with everything? There's been some big changes lately, and I just want to make sure you're doing okay." Mom asked, since we really hadn't had the opportunity for just us to talk.

"Si, mama, todo esta bien. Everything is good." And then I told her in Spanish my thoughts, not that I really didn't want Dad or Jake to hear, just that it seemed natural for us to have good conversations in Spanish. "I can't believe how fortunate we are to be here living in Dad's house. He's treated us both so well, mama. Are you doing okay?"

"Si mi amor, Estoy mejor que nunca. Tenemos mucho por lo que estar agradecidos con mi novio y tu papa nuevo." She told me that she was better than ever, and that we were both so lucky and thankful to have Dad as her new fiancé and my new father. "Y tú, que el domingo cumplirás diecisiete años, ¡estás creciendo muy rápido!"

We were so busy on the house that I almost forgot that my seventeenth birthday was on Sunday! I just smiled and told Mom that yes, I guess I was growing up so fast!

Mom then told me that she had better figure out something for my birthday. I just smiled and went along with whatever she said, figuring that something was up, I just wasn't sure what. I ate a couple of donuts and drank a glass of milk since I was starving. After putting my empty glass and plate in the dishwasher I told mom I was going to my room to get ready for the dinner at Gino's since the plans were to meet everyone there at five o'clock.

The shower felt great. It helped me to wake up, actually. My little friend woke up too, and as my thoughts of Parker and me together flooded my mind with horniness, the temptation to take care of it definitely entered my mind as the soapy warm washcloth cleaned my body, taking extra time to wash what was seemingly looking up at me and begging for release. It was then I had realized that it had been awhile since Parker and I had fun that morning after our run. What had it been, two, three weeks? Practically forever!

I was in my room getting dressed. I chose a pair of tan khaki shorts and a white muscle shirt and a blue button up shirt. White ankle socks, my black Adidas soccer shoes, a black belt, and of course a couple sprays of Polo Blue. When I asked who was knocking on the closed door to my room, Dad asked if he could come in. Of course, I said sure.

"Hey buddy, are you all ready to go to dinner tonight?" he asked, smiling, looking around my room with approval, pleased to see that just like my room at my old house, I'd done a good job of keeping everything in order.

"Hey, Dad. Yeah, I'm ready to go. I can't wait to eat at Gino's again. I love their lasagna!" Dad just smiled.

"I agree with that statement, but I have to say that their mostaccioli is the best! And that special Italian salad just can't be beat." I nodded in agreement. He continued. "Everyone is coming tonight, right?"

"Yes. Of course Parker, T, Chase, Noah, Caleb and Brennan will be there. Mom said that Parker's mom is going to join us too?" I was pleased to know that his mom was going to eat dinner with us.

"Yes. We thought that since Parker was instrumental in helping us on a much higher level, it would only be fair that she comes too. Apparently she's going to have a plus one." I looked at Dad with a quizzical look on my face.

"Plus one?" I was lost.

"Yes, since the divorce with Parker's dad is about final, Mrs. Nelson has asked a gentleman friend to come along." I was surprised, as Parker hadn't mentioned anything to me about his mom even dating. "So we will of course treat him with respect, correct?"

"Oh for sure, no worries there." I offered.

"Okay, cool. Well we should probably get ready to go in a few minutes. Another thing that we really haven't had a chance to talk about that we really should discuss, and it isn't anything major, but I wanted to bring up." I nodded my head and told Dad okay.

"I meant to talk to you about this right after you and your mom moved in, but of course we got so busy with your room here, moving you guys in and then of course your old house rehab. But I'd like to establish some ground rules, okay?" My smile faded and for the first time I felt like my world was going to come crashing down. Dad sensed this immediately.

"Don't worry, they're not horrible. You've proved yourself to be a responsible, mature young man. I'm so proud of you for everything you've accomplished since we've met, and you have a fantastic future ahead of you. I just want to make sure you stay on track. Okay?" Once again I nodded, wondering what rules he was going to put on me.

"Basically, son, I just want to know where you plan to go, and what your plans are when you go out. For example, if you and Parker want to go camping at Rock Cut, providing there isn't anything going on, like plans with family, etc., I'm okay with it. If you want to spend the night with Parker, I'm cool with it. I'm okay with Parker spending the night here, but you need to be respectful of your brother." I nodded my head again.

"By being respectful, I mean that I do not want him to come in and find you guys... you know... instead of playing video games. I'm cool with you guys being sexually active, I get it completely. I was a horny teenager once too." I immediately felt my face turn red. "So despite me not liking guys and preferring girls, I understand those needs and desires. But your brother is on the cusp on discovery. He's going to ask you questions very soon. He really looks up to you and loves you a lot. I can tell, and he's told me so as well. So please be mindful of that, and when the time comes for you to come out to him -- and I trust you'll choose the best way and time -- then only tell him what he wants to know. Does that make sense?" I thought for a moment before responding.

"Absolutely. I am so excited to have Jake as my brother, and it's so cool how he looks up to me and loves me. I love him too and would never do anything to intentionally hurt him. Yes, I will be honest with him and only tell him what he wants to know when he asks me a question."

"Great. And he is a very smart boy. Probably knows more than he leads on to knowing. There is so much information out there about sexuality right now that he knows more than I did when I was thirteen. You can always defer his questions to me if you don't feel comfortable answering his questions, or talk to me first, and tell him you'll get back to him. There's no harm in that. Also, it's okay if you don't understand his question, you can also answer him with a question of your own."

"Okay, that's fair." I agreed.

"So I'm going to be open and will let you continue to be with Parker and do things with your friends, which by the way are welcome here anytime, as long as you guys are respectful of what we've talked about, which I don't think will be a problem. I love your friends and how they've been so helpful. But since Jake's mom hears everything about what goes on here from Jake, I just want to keep interactions with her to a minimum, which I think you understand, right?"

"Sure, I mean I don't know her, but from what I've heard from Jake is that he'd rather be here with us, right?"

"Yes. She's not the best mother and is not going to win the "Mother of the Year" award. But she is his mom and spends weekdays during the school year with her and of course most of the summer here with us. She may lose those parental rights if she continues on the same course in her life. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. But for now, let's just enjoy him being here with us when we can. And on those weekends that he's with his mom, I'm perfectly fine with Parker spending the night here with us. Okay?" I smiled and as we got up from my bed, I gave Dad a huge hug and thanked him. "You're welcome, son. I'm so happy that you're my son now."

"I'm happy to BE your son!" I smiled almost in tears. I gave Dad a huge hug and he gave me a kiss on my cheek. "Love you." I told him.

"Love you too, buddy. We'd better get ready to go eat. Are you hungry?"

"You bet I am!" I replied, smiling and happier than I'd been in a long time.

As always, dinner at Gino's was phenomenal. The twelve of us had a separate room away from all of the other guests, which was nice so we could all talk easily and be loud if we wanted.

After we finished eating, Dad got up and wanted to give us a quick speech.

"I just wanted to thank you boys for your contribution to the house rehab. In my six years since starting this summer business, I've never completed a thorough renovation project in such record time. Mrs. Nelson, I thank you for letting Parker spend so much time away from you and your house to help us out. Chase, Brennan, I also thank you both for taking the early part of your summer vacation to help us out as well. Noah, Caleb, I'd like to thank you for your decorating ideas. You both have a future in interior design!" We all quietly cheered for Noah and Caleb, especially when they got up and took a bow. "T, you worked extra hard to help Jake, Parker and Carter. Without help from you guys, this project wouldn't have been finished until August at the earliest. And of course I'd like to thank Carter and Parker for their hard work. Jake, you too learned to paint! I'm so happy!"

We all applauded our efforts and took a drink from our Pepsi's when Dad proposed a toast to us.

"Here's to a great combined effort in what we've accomplished. I'm so proud of you guys, and I believe that we're on to something here. I know you all have your dreams and college and career aspirations, but I'll take this crew anytime to tackle any renovation project. Thank you all!"

With that, Dad handed out envelopes to all of us, much to our surprise. We thanked Dad for his monetary gift to us. I opened my envelope expecting to see a check, or cash, but instead there was a simple note:

"Sorry buddy, we forgot your gift at home. You can get it when we get home. Love, Mom and Dad."

My mind raced. Parker said I had a perplexed look on my face. I felt everyone looking at me, as if they knew something that I didn't know.

Now I was ready to leave and go home, fast!

The ride home was only about fifteen minutes from Gino's to our house, which was located not far from where Dylan lives. Mom and Dad were pretty much just chatting about wedding stuff and about Parker's mom's new boyfriend. Jake was busy playing a game on his phone. I said nothing the entire time, as it was all I could do to contain myself and think about what it was that they'd bought me for my birthday.

When we pulled into the driveway, I was getting really anxious to know what it was that was waiting for me at home. Was it a new bicycle? A dog? A new car? Nah, it couldn't be, I told myself.

Instead of opening the garage door like he normally would, Dad parked behind what I knew was where Mom's car was parked inside. He didn't open the garage door, but instead we all walked through the front door of the house only to find Uncle Michael and his new boyfriend Nico sitting in the living room watching television.

Of course, Mom, Dad and Jake acted really surprised to see them and I was just happy to see Uncle Mike and Nico (remember him, from Bloomingdale's men's department?) were now dating. They both wished me happy birthday and both of them gave me a hug. I must have had a smile that reached from ear to ear, because no sooner did we say hello to them did the front door open and one by one, everyone from the dinner at Gino's came in carrying a birthday gift for me! This was a huge surprise, so much that momentarily I forgot about my envelope or a gift from Mom and Dad.

Finally, Dad asked me to bring in some two liter bottles of soda from the refrigerator in the garage. Without really thinking about it, I walked to the kitchen, opened the door to the garage and as everybody followed me to the garage, I about had a heart attack right then and there.

With a huge banner that said, "Happy Birthday Carter, Love Mom and Dad", there was a black Toyota Rav 4 sitting in the spot where Dad's car usually is parked. I practically screamed I was so excited!

I turned around to see Dad, Mom, Jake, Uncle Mike, Parker, T, and everyone else from the restaurant follow me out into the garage. Dad and Mom were smiling, so was Jake and Parker. Now the tears started to flow as I literally ran to Dad and gave him a huge hug and told him thanks, then to Mom, doing the same thing.

"So do you like it?" Dad asked as I turned around to go open the driver's side door. Inside it smelled like a brand new car, even though it was something like a 2022, Dad said. Jake quickly got in the passenger side and was as happy as I was.

"I love it! Thank you so much!" I couldn't stop smiling even though my eyes were wet with tears. It was just too good to be true! Dad walked over to the driver's side where the door was still open.

"Well son, you certainly earned it. Your mom and I are so proud of you and all that you've accomplished. So this car, while it's not new, is a token of our appreciation for all that you've done. Treat it with respect and take good care of it. We know that you'll be careful and will be willing to take your brother places and run errands for us when we need it. So from Mom and me, Happy Birthday, and thanks for your hard work on getting the rehab on your house done on time."

I told Dad and Mom thanks again and got out to hug Dad again. I was still in shock and disbelief that they'd bought me a car. As soon as they stepped aside, Parker came over to me and gave me a huge hug and a quick kiss and wished me happy birthday. What we did not realize was that Jake was watching us from inside the car.