Nudist Camp Vacation

Thanks to everyone who didn't give up on me. Thanks also to everyone who took the time to write to me. I found your comments encouraging. There are many new readers as well as those who have stuck by me.

For those quick enough to have read this chapter before I pulled it, you'll notice that it's only slightly different. However, there are subtle differences that will alter the course of the story. In the meantime, enjoy!

Thanks and HUGS! - Ken

Nudist Camp Vacation CHAPTER 32

I hesitated before moving to the door. Turning to Bill, I winked. He smiled and lost that nervous look he was affecting. "Why don't you open the door?"

He raised his eyebrows and nodded.

I cleared my throat and checked my suit coat and cuffs, stepping into the open area of my office to receive them. I had set myself in a deliberate position of power, and I thought I had prepared myself for their entrance. What I didn't expect was a Napoleon wannabe followed by two lieutenants cum henchman.

The nappy Napoleon in the lead was in his mid-thirties, but appeared almost childlike. He was stocky with dark hair and heavy eyebrows, but I towered over him. He couldn't have been much over five feet tall. What made him laughable was that he seemed to be walking on tip-toe and had his chest puffed out like a banty rooster! If I hadn't forced myself to suppress it, I might have laughed down at him.

Each of the men behind him was about my size, but had the appearance of football players with their faces set in scowls. They were laughable, too, because of the obvious act they were putting on. They were all wearing suits, so I was glad I wore one as well.

"The Little Emperor" hesitated when he saw Bill. I saw him begin to raise his right hand toward Bill and open his mouth when he spotted me. His jaw snapped shut and his arm dropped as he turned to me to continue into the room.

I smiled as the small man walked toward me. His eyes were set on mine. At the moment he reached me, he offered me his hand and introduced himself saying, "Mark Gambrel. You must be Alan Stewart."

His arrogance shone brightly. I looked down at him as I shook his hand and said, "Yes." Turning to Bill, I said, "This is my business partner and Senior Vice President, Bill Matheson."

Bill looked at me with a bit of a surprise at his new title. I raised an eyebrow at Bill and he quickly recovered. He turned to Mark, offering his hand and warmly said, "Pleased to meet you, Mark."

As Mark shook his hand, he betrayed his disappointment. "Partner? I thought you were the sole owner of the company."

"No," I explained, "I'm the majority owner and Bill is part owner." I didn't care to elaborate that Bill's interest in the company was a recent gift.

"I see," he said, pensively.

By all appearances he was quite irritated by the news. That little revelation confirmed to me that giving Bill "a piece of the action" was exactly the right thing to do, well beyond the compensation it represented. For some perverse reason I felt warmed by my guest's loss of confidence.

I motioned to the men accompanying Mark and said, "Will you introduce your associates?"

He indicated one of the men and said, "This is Bob Martin. He's my Chief Technology Officer." After Bill and I shook his hand, Mark glanced at the other man with what I thought might be contempt. Nodding his head at him, he said, "He's a programmer."

I thought it odd that any two "programmers" would look for all the world like linebackers, and that this little man seemed to expect me to believe his deception. In all my days I had never seen two less likely geeks. I nodded to them and said, "Welcome." They only nodded back, apparently accustomed to the rude arrogance of this little man. Simultaneously, they both displayed a quite subtle smile of appreciation. In spite of their difference in appearance, one was a redhead and the other sandy blond, my first impression was that they seemed to be clones, acting as one. It was reminiscent of "The Stepford Wives" or Star Trek's "Borg." The only one of the group that had any semblance of normalcy was the Lieutenant.

When we moved to the table, Mark immediately took a seat at one end, so I took the seat at the other end, motioning for Bill to sit at my right. Bob took the seat at Mark's right, and I smiled inside. Despite his haste at grabbing what he obviously felt was the best seat at the table, Feng shui favored Bill and me, because we were sitting facing the door. Mark's hulking bookends remained standing, but also had their backs to the door, facing the windows. I thought that odd, unless they considered the windows a more likely threat than the door into the office.

Always wanting to be a good host, I said, "Before we begin, would you like some coffee or something else to drink?"

"No," Mark said curtly, apparently speaking for his associates as well. "Let's get down to business. I'm here to make you an offer you can't refuse."

So much for social graces! The use of such an obvious cliché by such a little twerp was, to say the least, pathetic. On top of that, his conceit was palpable. I had the immediate impression that he was trying to intimidate me; however, I couldn't conceal my amusement completely. My smile was obvious.

"I hope you're not still focused on buying my company, because if you are, this meeting is over before it's begun."

"Ah, but you haven't heard my offer, yet. This is my offer." He pulled a small piece of paper out of his shirt pocket and slid it toward me. His associate and Bill passed it the rest of the way to me.

When I opened it and saw the number on the paper, I almost fell out of my chair! The only reason I didn't was because I was concentrating on displaying a poker face. The amount written on that scrap of paper was about four times the amount I thought the company was worth! At least I lost my amused smile. I glanced at Bill, showing him the paper. The color immediately left his face and he stared at me.

I smiled and turned back to Mark, saying, "If we agreed to sell to you, would you move the company to Nevada?"

"That's no concern of yours! Once it's ours what we do with it is none of your business."

I paused for effect while I glared at him and crumpled the paper in my hand. In a low rumble, I said, "What you would do with this company is very much my concern. The people who work here are much more than my employees. They're like family to me. I would imagine that no more than twenty percent of the employees would move. The rest would stay here and find other jobs, or start their own businesses. Trying to make them move would be like trying to cage smoke. If you moved the company to Nevada, it would collapse like a deck of cards. It would destroy the company my father started and we've worked so hard to build. In addition you'd lose most, if not all of our clients. They're like family, too."

"I don't care about your clients, and I only care about some of your employees. I'll up the offer if I have to, but I WILL own your company!" He pounded his fist on the table.

Silently the office door opened and in walked Grant. He must have finished with H.R. quickly. As he moved across the room, I suddenly realized he was moving like a cat, with stealth.

Grant slid up behind them, solidly focused on our visitors, before they were even aware that he was in the room. When he cleared his throat they all jumped! The two large men thrust their hands inside their jackets! In an instant, Grant had them both on the floor and yanked two guns out of their hands!

Mark and Bob had both jumped to their feet while Bill and I remained seated. I was very impressed with Grant's reflexes to say the least and was very pleased that he was there.

"Gentlemen!" I said in a loud growl, "Be seated! We can watch the boys play, later." I thought that added the right amount of my own brand of intimidation, even though I probably sounded like a bad imitation of Marlon Brando. If anyone had been spying on us, it might have been a funny scene, straight out of a parody of "The Godfather."

They slowly took their seats as Grant helped the two men to their feet. I heard Grant softly drawl, "I'll just hang on to these `til y'all leave." The men scowled at him, but didn't protest. I guess scowling is what they did best. Grant was not only bigger and more powerful than they, but his reflexes were better, too.

"Now," I began, "Let's get something straight. While under other circumstances I might be impressed with your overly generous offer, one I'm positive you can afford, I'm not in this for the money. Everyone may have a price, but the value I place on my people is much higher than what you might imagine. We're NOT selling the company, so that's the end of it! If you want my employees to provide you with better software for your machines, then for a reasonable fee we can provide it, but it will be under contract and under my conditions! With the ease by which we can communicate electronically, it doesn't matter whether my employees are here in Texas, or there in Nevada. If there's a need for a face-to-face meeting, the airlines can fly them back and forth between here and there, or so I'm told. Now, do you want us to work with you or not?"

Mark glared at me for a moment, and I glared back. When Grant crossed his arms, the movement distracted Mark. He glanced at Grant then leaned to Bob and whispered something to him. They carried on a whispered conversation for several minutes and appeared to be arguing.

Finally, Mark turned back to us and said, "All right, you win. We'll write up a contract for you to sign. But, I'll want complete security. I want the equivalent to the Military's top secret security provisions on everything you do for us, and I want exclusivity of the software. You can't use the same software design for any of your other clients. You'll be on retainer, you'll agree to have an exclusive staff for our work, at levels of our choosing, and you'll pay them handsomely so they won't leave."

"The security we'll agree to, but we're the experts or you wouldn't have come to us. We know how to staff a project or we wouldn't still be in business. Project staffing and their remuneration will be up to us. Anything else?"

Bob leaned to Mark and whispered something to him.

"Yes, just one more thing. Timothy Smith still works here, doesn't he?"

I registered surprise, and I'm sure it showed. With red flags waving brightly in my mind, I said, "Yes, he does."

"He'll be required to work on our projects."

I breathed in slowly and let it out, but my heart was pounding. It made me very nervous that Tim had appeared on their radar. I shared a look with Bill then turned back to Mark. "How do you know about Tim?"

Mark looked at Bob then Bob spoke for the first time. "He was in the top of his class at U.T. and his I.Q. is off the charts. His coursework and school projects indicate an interest and propensity that are exactly what we need. And we happen to know he's already written a security program that could be perfect for our needs. We believe he's singularly qualified."

I stared at them for a moment as I thought about the industrial espionage that must be in place in my own office! That's the only way they could have found out that information so quickly. I decided to play my trump card. The one Tim had placed up my sleeve, so to speak.

"I know you need a new random number generator only Tim can provide." His eyebrows raised, betraying his surprise. I felt a soothing satisfaction fill me. "However, he won't be exclusive to your work. He'll work on other projects as he has time."

They shared a look again then Mark said, "All right, but he'll have final approval on everything that's done for us."

I smiled my concurrence. "That's . . . acceptable."

We all stood and shared guarded handshakes, Mark and I squaring off last.

Mark looked up into my eyes and said, "You're tougher than I thought you'd be."

"Oh? Care to explain?"

He glanced at Bill and said in a low voice, "We know a lot about you. Your private life, I mean."

In a bold voice, I said, "Oh? You mean you know I'm gay? That's hardly a secret, and that has nothing to do with my company."

He raised his eyebrows and looked at Bill. Bill was glaring at him, unblinking, with a challenging look in his eyes. It felt good that Bill would demonstrate such loyalty to me.

Mark looked back at me, shaking his head. "I don't know what it is about you Texans. . . ."

Before he could add to his comment, I said, "Exactly."

For the first time, Mark looked up at me and smiled. As he turned on his heel toward the door, he said, "I'll email the contract to you." He stopped with his hand on the door knob and turned back to me. This time he had a big smile on his face. "It'll be a pleasure working with you."

I bowed my head slightly, not releasing my eye contact.

I caught a glimpse of Grant fluidly unloading the guns and handing them to the large men as they left. After we were sure they were out of earshot, I took in a deep breath and blew it out. Taking off my coat and tie, I fanned my damp armpits and turned to Bill. He had just collapsed onto the couch.

Bill looked at me and said, "That was actually scary, but you were cool as a cucumber! I don't know how you do it!" He looked at me with awe.

I fell onto the other end of the couch. "What you didn't see was that my guts were turning over. When he mentioned Tim, I almost lost it."

Bill stared out the window and whispered, "I don't know if I could have turned him down. That's one helluva lot of money."

I chuckled. "I don't know if turning him down was the right thing to do, financially, but it was right for our people." Then I sat up and looked at him gravely. "I want to know how they found out about Tim working here! Find out by the end of the day. I want that hole plugged!"

He looked at me, his eyes growing wide, and said, "Consider it done." He jumped to his feet and stormed out of my office.

I fell back into the couch and took another deep breath, closing my eyes. Feeling as if I was being watched, I opened my eyes and looked around. It was Grant. He was on the other side of the room and he was watching me. He was perfectly silent and seemed to blend with the bookcases behind him.

"Grant, I want to thank you for what you did today."

He shrugged. "Just doin' my job, sir." He kept looking at me, motionless. I suddenly realized he wasn't even blinking.

"Grant, you were a Green Beret, weren't you?"

"Yes, sir," he said, softly.

I thought for a moment. "No wonder your reflexes are so good."

"Yes, sir."

I hesitated then asked, "Grant, how do you feel about nudity?"

His eyebrows raised, his eyes grew large, and the color in his eyes almost completely turned black. "Uh," he stammered, "In public, sir?"

I chuckled. "No! What I mean to ask is whether it would bother you if the boys and I went nude. Tim and Stevey grew up in a nudist resort, and I've enjoyed visiting one. We may all decide to go in the nude around the house and in the private areas immediately outside the house."

He hesitated for a moment, continuing to stare at me. "Aren't the boys a little young for that?"

"No, not at all. Kids are natural nudists. They love running around unconfined by clothing."

"Oh. Would I have to . . ." He blushed. ". . . be naked, too?"

"No!" I laughed. "But you could if you wanted. I'd leave that to your own discretion. When you're on duty, you'd still have to be prepared to protect us, of course, but when you're off duty, you can do as you like."

"Oh." He shrugged. "Doesn't bother me if y'all are naked." He thought a moment more then said, "I used to take showers with all the guys in my unit. At the gym all the guys run around naked in the locker room and shower. Don't think it's all that much different, `cept for the boys. I guess it wouldn't bother me to be naked if y'all are, too."

Just then, the phone rang. I reached to the extension phone on the table next to me. "This is Alan."

"Alan!" It was Bill, and he sounded excited. "Can you come to my office? Right now?"

"Sure!"

The phone went dead. It was unusual for him to cut a call short like that. He definitely had piqued my curiosity.

Climbing out of my comfortable seat, I said, "Grant, I think you'd better come with me. We may need you."

He followed me as I walked quickly to Bill's office. Entering, I saw Bill and Joe Brandon, heart throb, standing over a seated and very nervous employee whose name I didn't know. He was young, a bit short, slight build, and spiky blond hair. He was one of those guys who would look like a teenager well into his thirties.

When Bill saw me enter the room, he explained, "Here's your culprit! We caught him red handed! Ed Murphy, here, has been with us for about six months. He's been intensely curious about what everyone's been working on. Just a little TOO curious!" Bill dropped a small stack of paper on his desk in my direction. "Here's a list of phone calls that were made from his phone over the last two months. Almost all the calls were to Nevada."

I sat in the chair next to him and looked carefully into his eyes. He was terrified. I asked, softly, "Ed, is there an explanation for these calls?"

The kid looked like he was about to make a mess in his pants. "Uh, my mom lives in Las Vegas." He looked into my eyes, hesitating then said in a soft voice, "But these calls weren't all to her."

I picked up the papers Bill had thrown on his desk. I recognized one of the numbers as that jerk O'Connell's. Most of the recent calls were the same number. I picked up Bill's phone and called it. Waiting for it to ring, I looked at Ed. He panicked and started to rise from his seat, but Grant was standing behind him and he quickly pushed him back into the chair and kept his hands firmly on the boy's shoulders.

When the phone on the other end answered, a woman's voice said, "Mark Gambrel's office, may I help you?"

I smiled and said, "You just did," and hung up. Sitting back in the chair, I stared at Ed, wondering where to begin. Finally, I said, "Talk to me."

The color left his face and he looked as if he might be sick. I looked at Joe and said, "Joe, will you get Ed some water, please?"

He nodded and said, "Sure." He tromped off to pursue his mission.

Ed stared at me for a few seconds then looked down. Color was actually returning to his face, with interest. By the time he started speaking, he was flushed.

"Uh, it's like this. I, like, just graduated and I've got this pot full of student loans. My mom had some money saved for my education, I had some scholarships and I worked when I could, but I had to borrow a lot just to get through school."

"You studied computer science at UNLV?"

He looked at me, surprised. "Yeah! How'd you know?"

"Just a good guess. Continue!"

Joe returned with a bottle of water. Ed sipped from it and calmed a bit, but he was still frightened. He bit his lip. "A guy I knew in one of my classes is the son of an executive for that big gaming company in Las Vegas. He said his dad needed someone to do a special job for him and I was perfect for it. In return, he'd pay off all my student loans and credit cards and give me a job."

"Has he paid off your loans or given you any money?"

My question surprised him. "N-No. Not yet."

"Have you given him any information about your loans, such as who the lenders are, the account numbers or the amounts?"

"No, not yet," he said, softly.

"Do you have a written contract?"

He dropped his head and shook it, "No." I think he was beginning to see my point.

"Ed, when you make a deal with someone to do something underhanded or dishonest, you'd better get some ironclad assurances. You're dealing with someone who doesn't have any qualms about getting something they want in a dishonest manner, so you have no guarantee that they'll be honest enough to hold up their end of their bargain with you. And if you do something dishonest for them, they'll think that you can't be trusted with them, either. There's a lot of truth to the old adage that there is no honor among thieves. So far, you've given them what they wanted, but they haven't done anything to indicate they'd fulfill their promises to you, right?"

He dropped his eyes and crossed his arms, shivering. "Y-You're right," he whispered. He appeared either ashamed, or at least embarrassed that he'd been naïve and had been used.

"Ed," I said in a very low voice, "Tell me everything you told them. Don't leave anything out."

He looked at me with a pleading look in his eyes. He strained to speak, almost whispering, "I'm sorry. I'm really, really, sorry. They wanted to know about you, so I told a guy by the name of O'Connell everything I could find out about you, but it wasn't much. The only thing I could tell him that he didn't already know is that you're gay and lost your . . . boyfriend . . . a few years ago. Then they told me they wanted to know about the security programming. They were ecstatic that I was already working on it. That was when I started talking directly to a guy named Gambrel. I told him about Tim Smith working here, and how he's so young and smart. I think he even investigated Tim on his own. When Tim came up with a new security code, I told Mister Gambrel about it right away. He wanted me to send him a copy of it, but I told him that would be too dangerous and that I thought I might get caught. So he sent me a flash drive and wanted me to copy it to the drive and send it back to him."

"Did you send it to him?"

"No, sir, I couldn't!"

"Have you told him you wouldn't do it?"

"No, not yet."

"That's all right, Ed. Calm down."

He swallowed hard and asked, "Are you going to have me arrested?"

I looked into his eyes and sighed. He had been naïve and vulnerable, and had been used. He probably felt guilty that he had done something underhanded, but he was probably relieved that he wouldn't have to do any more.

"Ed, what do you think I should do?"

He thought for a moment as more tears appeared in his eyes. Roughly wiping the moisture from his cheeks, he said, "You should fire me and have me arrested. My mom's gonna kill me."

"Well, I won't have you arrested, and I doubt that your mother will kill you, but I do have to fire you. I think that'll be punishment enough." I looked at Bill and said, "Have accounting cut Ed a check through the end of the day and have security watch him while he packs his things and escort him out." I looked at Ed again and said, "It's too bad, really. This didn't have to happen. If you had come to Bill or me, this could have been avoided."

He dropped his head into his hands with his elbows on his knees and nodded, slowly. I rose to my feet, nodded at Bill and Joe, and without another word, left the room.

Grant followed me back to my office. I quickly finished answering important emails, forwarded some to Bill and others, and then saved or deleted the rest. I did the same with the paperwork on my desk, only dealing with a few of the most important letters.

After about an hour of quick work I buzzed Lucy and told her I was leaving. On our way home, I asked Grant if he had any questions for me.

"No, sir. Except, I got one question, if you don't mind me asking."

"No, not at all. If you're curious about anything at all, I want you to ask."

"Well, sir, I was wondering about that big warehouse looking building behind your house. It looks like it don't belong there. What is it?"

I smiled. "That's certainly no secret. It's where I keep my collection of cars. Feel free to take a look any time you want. Just let Marty, my mechanic, know you're there. There's no sense in scaring him."

Grant glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes and smiled. "Car collection, huh?"

The rest of the ride was uneventful. When we got home, the Suburban was missing, so I guessed Marty had taken care of sending it on its way to San Antonio. Grant disappeared, I assumed to take a look at my "toy box," and Tim and the boys still weren't home, so I called Tim's cell from the phone in my study.

Tim answered, "Hi, Honey!"

His comfort with our relatively new arrangement almost surprised me. However, I liked it! I felt my heat rise at the sound of his voice.

"Hi, Babe! How are you getting along? Are you almost done shopping?"

He sighed. "I hope so! We've had to make a couple of trips to the car to drop off our sacks of stuff, and we've even loaded some stuff into Andy's car! We're shopping for shoes now, and then we'll be done. How's your day going?"

"Better than expected, but a few surprises along the way. I'm home already, and I'll tell you about it all when you get here."

"Good. We should be home by about . . . three, I guess."

"That's good. You'll miss rush hour traffic. . . . Tim?"

"Yeah?"

"I miss you."

I could hear him swallow. He whispered, "I miss you, too. I love you."

"I love you, too. Be careful coming home."

"I will. See you in a little bit."

"Okay."

I hate long good-byes, so I hung up. I sighed, loudly, and Nell heard me. She startled me when she said, "I don't ever remember you being so happy."

When I turned to her, I saw that she had her arms folded and was leaning against the door jamb. I smiled at her and said, "It's been a long time. I don't even want to pinch myself. If it's a dream, I don't want to wake up."

She chuckled. "I assure you, it's not a dream. But just to be on the safe side, I'll not pinch you, either."

As I looked at her, it occurred to me that when she came to work for me, it was about a year or so after her husband and only offspring, a son, were both killed in an avalanche in Colorado while skiing. She was spared, but her life disintegrated. There wasn't enough life insurance to cover her bills, so not only did she lose her husband and son, she lost her house as well. Everything she knew was wrested from her, seemingly overnight. She answered an ad I'd placed in the paper and took the job of housekeeper and cook for Robert and me.

I sat on the edge of my desk and looked at her, seriously. "Nell, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

"Then I'll ask you another. Do you still miss your husband and son?"

Without hesitation, she said, "Every minute of every day."

"I'm sorry."

She smiled at me and said, "Don't be. It was a long time ago, and they're mine to miss. As long as I'm alive they'll live in my memory."

I nodded. "I still miss Robert."

"Yes, I expect you do. You loved each other. You lost him just as suddenly as I lost my mine. Missing him, well, that's just the way it is."

I nodded again. "I suppose so. Will it bother you having all the boys around?"

She stood and said, sternly, "Absolutely not! It'll be fun helping to raise those youngsters! I'll get to see them grow up!" Then she said, softly, "That's something I didn't get to do with my boy. He was fifteen when I lost him. He was just beginning to sprout like a weed. Seeing these boys grow up will be good for me. It'll almost be like Eric grew up, too."

I smiled, even with the lump I had in my throat. Swallowing hard I felt the need to change the subject. I asked, "Have you found anyone to help you, yet?"

"I've got a few leads. I'll be interviewing several tomorrow. I had to stop and begin planning for dinner, what with the Smiths coming and all. I just want it to be special for you."

"Thanks, Nell. I don't know what we'd do without you."

"Oh, you'd find a way to get along. Now, I need to get back to work or dinner'll be late!"

I smiled at her as she winked at me, disappearing to continue her duties.

On my way upstairs, I noticed a big box inside the front door. Out of curiosity, I walked over to look at it. Recognizing what it was, I grabbed it and took it upstairs. It would be a nice surprise for Tim!

I was just finishing dressing after taking a quick shower when Tim and the boys arrived home, noisily. It didn't occur to me how quiet the house had been without them!

Tim came crashing into the room, flushed and with a large smile on his face. I saw that he wasn't slowing as he approached me, so I braced myself. He grabbed me and the momentum threw us both to the bed. We had each other in a death grip and lip-lock. It was quite a nice combination! After several minutes of tongue-jousting, body rubbing and moaning, we came up for air.

In a bad Cuban accent, Tim breathed, "Hi, Honey, I'm home!"

I laughed, "I didn't know you were into Desi Arnez and `I love Lucy!'"

He laughed, "Yeah, we used to watch all the old reruns. They're so fifties!"

I laughed and said, "You'd better be careful! I remember when they weren't reruns!"

He laughed and rolled me on top of him. "You're not that old!"

"Yes, I am. I remember when Lucy and Desi got divorced. That's what ended the show."

We were still smiling at each other. "Yeah, well, I guess I was just born later than I should have been. I like that old stuff, when women wore dresses and gloves and men wore suits and ties. It was a simpler time."

"Yes, it was, but I wouldn't turn the clock back for anything. It was also a time of struggle for anyone who was different."

"Yeah, I'll bet it was. McCarthy didn't make it any easier, did he?"

Tim's reference to "The McCarthy Era" surprised me! "You know a lot about that time, don't you?"

He shrugged. "Like I said, I read a lot. That and TV. You can learn a lot from the educational channels. And the internet. And OLD people!"

"You just watch who you're calling OLD!" I grabbed him and started tickling him. I finally let up when I licked my fingers and reached for his nipples, tweaking them and he started squealing.

Tim hasn't stopped amazing me. He's constantly proving to me how intelligent he really is. When he calmed down a bit, I said, "Okay, tell me about that surprise you said you had for me, and then I'll tell you about my surprises."

Suddenly, he became very serious. "You're not gonna sell the company, are you?"

"No, I'm not, but that's all you're getting until you tell me about your day."

He sighed in relief. "Thank God! Okay, here goes. First, the Abbott's house. Alan, you won't believe how little they had there. All their clothes and everything they wanted to keep fit into two plastic grocery bags! I sneaked into the kitchen and looked in the refrigerator and in the cupboards. They had more beer than they had food! The place was a total mess, and boy, did it stink! I'm really glad they don't have to live there any more!"

I nodded. "Sadly, it doesn't really surprise me. I'm sorry you had to see it, but it'll help us to know where the boys are coming from."

He nodded, too. "Well, then we went to my folk's and we got a bit of a surprise, there, too. First, Mom and Dad were really happy to see us, and she cried a lot when she hugged Stevey. Mom wants Stevey to come home, but Stevey wants to stay here."

I thought a moment. "I think it might be best if Stevey moves back home. The danger should be past, he's still his mama's boy, and I've already taken one of her boys from her." I smiled at him, wickedly. "But it would also let Paul rest a bit while he heals. It might also be good for the four of us to bond as a family."

Tim nodded. "Yeah. I think you're right." He smiled and said, "While we were shopping, we got Stevey a few things, too. You know something? I think he's grown since he's been living here!"

"Yeah, I'll bet he has. Constant trauma or stress has a way of stunting growth. They'll all probably have growth spurts in the next year or so. More than normal." Then I thought about Andy. "What about Andy? Did he enjoy the day?"

He smiled, wide. "Yeah, I think he did! Mike rode with me, and Stevey and Paul rode with Andy. I think they did a lot of talking about what they went through when they were kidnapped. Andy really cares about them! I think Andy genuinely likes them, and they like him."

"Good. It's probably good for all three of them. Did you and Mike have a good talk?"

He smiled at me. "Sort of. He was really quiet, but we held hands most of the time. I think he just wanted to touch. I caught him looking at me a lot."

I chuckled. "You may have to be careful with him. I think he's got a huge crush on you."

"Yeah, I know."

I chuckled again. "We'll just have to work on redirecting his love for you a bit. You may have to be the one to punish him when he needs it."

"I don't know if I could do that."

"Well, if you're going to be a parent, you'll have to. But, we'll see when the time comes."

My reverie about the situation was interrupted when Tim said, "Okay, tell me about your day. What happened?"

Smiling wide, I began, "Well, first, when I backed out of the garage I was surprised by one of our guards. Frank assigned me a personal bodyguard. His name's Grant Marshall. Of course, I had to call Frank to verify it, but once that was settled, he came in handy. As it turns out, Mark Gambrel from Nevada is a little man with a big head. Quite full of himself. He couldn't be much over five feet tall." I told Tim about Gambrel's attempt at intimidation and how Grant had sequestered their bodyguards. Then I told him about Gambrel's big offer and my refusal.

"Alan! Are you serious? You really turned down all that money?"

His reaction surprised me. "Of course." I explained to him that Gambrel would try to move the company to Nevada and that the company would disintegrate. Then I told him about his willingness for us to consult to him, but his insistence on Tim's participation.

It was Tim's turn to be surprised. "You gotta be kidding! How could he know about ME?"

I proceeded to fill him in on our spy and how that turned out. He was a bit shocked, but sad. He said softly, "He was such a nice guy, too."

I smiled and kissed him gently. After looking into his eyes, losing myself for a few minutes, I remembered my best surprise. Smiling conspiratorially, I said, "C'mere. There's something I have to show you."

I led him by the hand to the addition to our bedroom wall and told him to open it. On the "score" board (pun intended), I had scribbled in a number of "rules" pertaining to numbers and misses. Immediately, he was lost in a fit of giggles. When I grabbed him into a hug, his constrained erection greeted mine.

"We'll have to break it in tonight," he said, while running his hands over my chest, finding my nipples through my shirt.

I shuddered and chuckled, "Yes, we will, but for now, we'd better make sure the boys are getting their stuff unpacked."

A meaningful kiss later, we parted to attend to our charges. I greeted Andy who was just finishing helping Stevey bring his purchases up to his room. Tim went to help Paul and I went to Mike's room. He had just pulled everything out of the bags and had dumped everything on the bed.

"Hi, Mike! Can I help?"

He looked at me, cautiously, and then relaxed a bit. "Yeah, I guess," he said, softly.

I grabbed a packaged shirt and pulled it out of its plastic bag. I said, "First, let's take all the tags and packaging off of everything then we'll let Nell wash everything before you wear it. Okay?"

He thought a moment then said, "Okay."

"Be careful not to poke yourself with a pin."

"Okay."

It took a while to get through all the clothes they bought, and I complimented him on the choices he'd made. He was very quiet through the whole process. When we were finished, we had accumulated a large pile of clothing. I pulled out two pair of under shorts, two pair of socks, a shirt and a pair of pants and said, "Let's get Nell to wash these first, so you'll have something for tomorrow. How's that sound?"

"Okay."

Then I saw his shoes and unboxed them. There were two pair of sneakers, of different design, and a pair of black dress shoes. One of the pair of sneakers looked a lot like Tim's, but I didn't mention that I noticed it. I checked to be sure all the laces were installed properly, and took them to the closet. Looking into the barren closet, I said, "Oh. We're gonna need a bunch of hangers, aren't we?"

I turned to him and smiled. He was standing a few feet from me, staring up at me. Slowly, he stepped to me and hugged me, tightly. For several minutes I hugged him with one arm, and held his head to my chest with the other, occasionally stroking his hair. His chin was barely above my belt. He just doesn't seem big enough to be eleven.

When he finally let me go, he wiped his nose with his hand and crooked his finger at me. It seemed as if he wanted to whisper a secret to me. When I leaned down to him, he took my head in his small hands and pulled my forehead to his lips and kissed.

I swallowed, hard, and kissed his forehead, too, but for a long moment. Then I knelt on one knee, putting me closer to his height and hugged him again. I whispered into his ear, "I love you, Mike."

He whispered back, "I love you, too, Papa."

I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, but he surprised me with a quick kiss on the lips. He pulled back, timidly smiling and blushing as I smiled back at him.

I stood and said, "Let's go check on the other guys."

He smiled up at me and let me lead him by the hand to his brother's room. Paul and Tim were about half way through unpackaging Paul's clothing, so Mike and I began to help. I sorted out some of Paul's clothes for the next day as I had Mike's. When we were done, his pile was about the same size as Mike's.

Across the hall, Andy was watching Stevey unpackage his clothes.

Stevey ran to me and said, "Did Tim tell you about Mom wanting me to come home?"

"Yes, he did. What do you think?"

He looked around me at Paul with a big smile. I snuck a look at Paul. His smile was even bigger.

"I want to stay here."

"What about your mom? You haven't seen much of her lately. You know she misses you, don't you?"

He sighed and said, "Yeah, I guess."

"Well, I was thinking it might be best for you and Paul to have some time to yourselves and let Paul heal."

He looked up at me, sadly biting his lips. He sighed again, dropped his eyes and said, "Yeah, I guess."

I grabbed him into a hug and said, "Listen, it won't be like you can't visit. After a week or so, Paul can come visit you and you can visit Paul. Besides, when school starts, you'll be seeing each other there, won't you?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Yeah."

"You're not sure?"

He looked up at me and smiled. He threw his arms around me and whispered, "I'll miss you, too."

"Yeah, me too."

"Listen," I whispered, "Paul's having a real hard time healing with you around all the time. You really turn him on, but that's not good for his condition right now. It'll give the guys a chance to settle in, here. Mike needs Paul, too, y'know."

Stevey looked up at me and studied my face for a moment. Then he whispered, "I didn't think of that. I guess you're right."

I smiled at him and whispered, "Don't be so sad. In a couple of weeks you and Paul can have all the fun you want."

He smiled, blushed, and rubbed his crotch. I turned to look at Paul, who was still standing a few steps behind me. His eyes were fixed on Stevey's hand on his crotch. Paul suddenly reached to his own crotch and moaned. It wasn't a sensual moan, it was a moan of pain and his face contorted to a grimace.

Quickly, I turned and said, "Okay, enough of that you two!"

I turned Paul around and gently pushed him into his own room, closing the door behind us. I sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him with concern. His pain seemed to be subsiding. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay now," he panted with his eyes closed, standing a little bent over.

"How's it going? Has it gotten any better?"

"Yeah, a little better."

"Have you noticed any change in your penis? Has it changed in shape?"

"No, not really. Actually, I can't tell. It's still kinda swollen on one side."

Before I could protest, he dropped his pants and shorts to his knees and pulled up his shirt, exposing the mid-section of his rail-thin body. His penis still looked grossly discolored, as did his side and thighs, but at least the purple was beginning to fade a bit. I could see that his penis was slightly swollen on the right side. It was the first time I'd really looked at it closely.

"Was it like that before?"

"Yeah, only worse."

"Then the swelling's going down?"

"Yeah, a little bit."

"Well, then, you'll probably be okay. Just keep an eye on it. If the swelling increases, we'll take you right back to see Dr. Graves. If anything changes for the worse, tell Tim or me immediately, okay?"

"Okay." He said, "Thanks, Dad," as he pulled his shorts and pants back up and dressed.

There it was, again. He called me "Dad." I suppose I'll get used to it, but it still sounds so new, I can't get enough of it! I looked into his gentle green eyes, wondering how anyone could have hurt such a precious young man so badly. After he finished tucking in his shirt he stepped closer and hugged me. It's a conspiracy! I think they've all decided to keep my emotions right on the brink of oblivion!

I smiled at him as I felt my eyes become moist and pulled his forehead to my lips and kissed. Holding him against my chest as I had Mike, I whispered, "I love you, Paul."

He pulled back and smiled at me. Still holding me, he looked directly into my eyes and said, "I want to live here with you and Tim, forever."

I smiled at him, smoothed his hair and said, "Nothing would please me more, and Tim feels the same."

After we calmed down a bit, I pulled back from him and asked, "Did you get anything to hang on the walls when you were out? It just doesn't seem natural for a boy not to have stuff hanging on the walls."

He smiled and said, "No, we didn't. What do you think I should get?"

Our conversation continued with a discussion of Paul's interests and what we could find for him on the internet. We were interrupted only when Tim knocked on the door and stuck his head in the room.

"Hi, guys. Can we join you?"

I looked at Paul, who looked at me. I think he expected me to say something, but I whispered to him, "It's your room, so it's up to you to invite them in."

He smiled at me and answered, "Sure! C'mon in!"