Tad and his Manny © 2022
By David Lee
Disclaimer: Please do not assume from the title that this is a story about a sexual relationship between a man and a boy. It is a tale of caring and nurturing. Yes, there are some love scenes between males of similar age. But if you are interested in cross-generational trysts, please look elsewhere.
Chapter 1
Thadeus Preston Rowe sounds more like the name of a law firm than that of a young adult male. However, that was his name. In fact, it even had "IV" after it since he was the 4th generation of first-born males in his family to bear it.
Tad, as he preferred to be called, had turned 18 in early December of his senior year in high school, and would be heading off to college in the fall. Being half a year older than the majority of his classmates was okay with him. It had allowed him to become a licensed driver in his sophomore year, much to the envy of several of them.
In sorting through old photos on flash drives to print off and make a collage of pictures for his graduation party, he found himself becoming nostalgic. His mind drifted back to his early childhood experiences. Certain photos cued vivid memories of his younger life. For the next several days, he would reminisce about growing up, and how a twist of fate had brought a special adult into his life who helped him to become the happy, confident, well-rounded young man he was today.
For one of his first pictures, he chose the photo his mother had taken of him on the day he entered kindergarten. If his earliest school counselor had had her way, he would have been starting first grade. Ms. Carpenter had encouraged his parents to have him tested because she thought the child was gifted. The resulting scores showed him to be well above average and capable of going directly into first grade. His parents, however, hadn't pursued that route. His mom was an elementary teacher and knew that a number of children who had been pushed into a higher level had suffered emotionally from it in the long run. Some of them had even experienced bed-wetting due to the stress. Many didn't fit in socially with their older mates.
His father had felt that he might get picked on because of his diminutive size. Tad had been born prematurely, and he hadn't caught up to his peers in height or weight at that point in time.
A year later, when he was about to enter first grade, a tragic automobile accident took the lives of his mother and both of her parents. The sense of bereavement was tremendous, but it might have been even worse if he were faced with it while trying to keep up with kids in a higher grade.
At least, Tad had his other grandparents living nearby, and got a lot of the support he needed from them as well as from his father.
Preston, as his dad preferred to be called, did an excellent job of looking after his son as well as maintaining his practice at the law firm, Rowe and Associates. Since Preston's father was the current head of it, he was easily granted time off to arrange the funerals for his spouse and her parents. It was a lot of pressure for him, but he soldiered on with the help of his family.
"You know," said his mother, Dora, "you can't do everything yourself. It might be a good idea for you to hire help for maintaining the house and taking care of Tad. I'll continue to help when I can, but I'm not getting any younger. Tad could use someone as a kind of companion as well, possibly live-in help who would be around constantly to provide a stable environment and emotional security."
"I've been considering it, Mom. Tad could use an additional person to act sort of like a parent. Obviously, it will take me quite a bit of time to recover from Cathy's death, and I'm not going to rush into headlong into another marriage. I suppose that a housekeeper or an au pair might be the solution."
"You might also consider hiring a `manny.'"
"Um, I'm not familiar with that word, but I think I know what it means."
"I'm surprised it's not in your vocabulary. The term has been around since the 1980's. It refers to a young man who serves as a nanny. I know two families who have been much happier with a male in that role with their sons than they were with a girl."
"Well, I guess I might consider people of all different ages and genders. I'm not an old male chauvinist!"
Preston looked at the résumés of several people who had been recommended by friends in addition to a list from an agency. After preliminary phone contacts, he narrowed the candidates down to the top three -- an older lady who was a grandmotherly type, a young woman who had some elementary education courses in her background, and a young man who had graduated from college a little over a year before. He decided to conduct the in-person interviews at his home where they could see the accommodations they might be living in. It would also be an opportunity to observe how Tad reacted to them. After all, he should have a say in who would be invading his space. The wrong person might be more harmful than no one at all!
Maria Bartacek was a 60-something spinster who had emigrated from the Czech Republic approximately 10 years previous and had some experience as a nanny for a little girl. She had a kindly face and might be like a grandmother. However, she hadn't raised children of her own, and Preston wasn't sure how well she'd do with an active boy who was going on seven. Another thing that concerned him, when they got deeper into conversation, was her broken English. He feared that her incorrect grammar usage might mess up his son's language development.
What made her seem even less suitable was how Tad responded to her presence. He was polite when meeting her, but Preston could tell by his son's body language, that this wouldn't be a good fit. Children and animals sometimes appear to have a sixth sense about people.
Preston gave her a short tour of the house, thanked her for coming, and said he would be in touch within the next few days to let her know if she had the job.
The second home interview was with Bridget O'Mally. She had come to study in the US but was having some difficulties at the university. She'd been given a temporary work permit because she had been an associate in a child-care facility back home, and there was presently a big need for such people here.
Her English was excellent, with a bit of lilt to her speech. Tad seemed okay with her but became very shy in her presence.
The misstep which she made was a major one. She was overly charming. Preston got the idea that she might be more interested in taking care of him than his boy. Having a sexy young woman under the same roof wouldn't be wise for several reasons. What if she tried to lure him into a compromising situation and attempted to blackmail him? He suspected that she might be looking for a husband to support her and give her a path toward citizenship.
Again, he said that it would take him a few days to make his decision.
On Friday, as he was about to interview Camden McCauley, Preston hoped this person would prove to be a better fit than the other two. If not, he'd have to start from square-one again. He hated to spend more time on it, but he was bound to find someone who would be good with Tad, whatever it took.
Camden arrived about three minutes before he was scheduled to come. That impressed Preston immediately. The guy was neither late nor too early. Punctuality was a good sign that he was responsible and could be depended upon.
As in previous interviews, Tad was in the family room away from the center of activity. This time, he was assembling a vehicle from Lego blocks. He tended to be an auditory learner and would be listening to the discussion without joining in until he was asked to.
Immediately after shaking hands with Preston, Camden went over to Tad and got down on the floor to introduce himself. The boy was thrilled with the attention as the two bumped fists.
"What are you making," Camden asked.
"It's supposed to be an ambulance, but something isn't right. Can you help me?"
"May I see the instruction booklet?"
"Sure."
"Ah, I think I see the problem. It looks like a page is missing. That big white rectangle shows up in the later pictures but there isn't an illustration to show when to add it. If you take off the red piece and put on the white one, there will be a spot for the blue one to attach to it like in this next page."
"Oh, that make sense! Thanks!" Tad exclaimed as he high-fived the young man.
Preston smiled at the way Camden had interacted with his son. This guy knew children.
"So, tell me why it is that you're considering this job. According to your bio, you were very successful teaching art in the elementary grades last year. I would guess that your salary was more than I'll be able to offer, and you had good benefits as well."
"To be honest, I wasn't very happy. I love kids on a more one-to-one basis. Having 25 to 30 different students for six periods a day was very taxing. Some of them weren't as well behaved as feral cats. I felt like a lot of my time was devoted to keeping order. I'm not a martinet, but I don't believe in letting the kids destroy the room, if you know what I mean.
"If I had it to do over, I would major in counseling. I could really get into working with kids who have problems. It's overwhelming when half the kids in the room need counseling and you're supposed to be teaching them a subject as well.
"Since I have loans to pay off, I can't just take a year off and go back to school to get my master's degree in that area. I was hoping to find employment which would allow me to take some classes when I wasn't on duty - perhaps a few online ones."
"Okay. I can understand why you might like this job for the flexibility. I'm in favor of people furthering their educational opportunities. You could even take some regular classes during the hours Tad would be in school, as long as you were available to take him and pick him up.
"Let me tell you a bit more about the position. Tad's mother was taken from us because of a drunk driver. Tad and I will need some help while we're healing. You would be responsible for his care when he's not in school and I'm not around. And you'd be expected to do light housekeeping and some meal preparation for all of us. You wouldn't have to cook all our meals because I'm capable of doing my share and we can order carryout some of the time.
"You'd be living-in during the week, but you'd normally have weekends and holidays off. I'm prepared to pay you $625 per week plus you'd have board and room. If you have health insurance, I can contribute a bit toward the premiums, or I can provide a bare-bones plan.
"The bedroom which would be yours has its own three-quarter bath, so you'd have complete privacy. However, I'd rather you not entertain guests overnight, if you know what I mean. If you'll follow me, I'll show you the accommodations."
Tad tagged along when they went to see the bedroom. He really hoped his dad would hire this guy.
"These are great accommodations. I would very much like to be part of your household if you see fit to hire me. You know I've been fully vetted in order to be licensed as a teacher. I assume you'll need some time to consider all the applicants, so I'll await your answer with hope."
"Tad, would you like to have Camden live with us?"
"YES! Can we keep him?"
"Well, we can ask him to live here, but he's person, not an object that we own."
"Does that mean I'm hired?" Camden asked.
"Tad voted yes, so it's unanimous. How soon can you begin?"
"I can move in tomorrow if you like. The lease on my apartment is up on Monday and I've already boxed most things up. In fact, a lot of my clothes are in my SUV already."
"In that case, would you like to stay for supper and start arranging your room tonight? There's no reason not to sleep here as well, unless you have other plans."
"That would be fabulous!"
Preston cooked a porkchop dinner which had pineapple, broth, soy sauce, and a bit of ginger to make it kind of Asian style. He served it with Japanese brown rice and a lettuce salad. There was a choice of keto ice cream flavors for dessert.
Camden sat back for a couple of minutes after the meal, patting his stomach when he finished.
"If I eat like this all the time, I'll be fat as a goose by Christmas," he joked.
"Actually, it's not that high in fats and carbs, but I'll show you the exercise equipment in the basement, if you feel the need to work off calories. I often work out early in the morning. You'd be welcome to join me, or you can use it during the day when you have free time and need to get your blood pumping."
"Wow! That's like having a gym membership thrown in. There are more perks in this position than you led me to believe."
The men got up to scrape their plates and put them in the dishwasher. Tad followed their example. Camden was impressed with his manners. This was a child who was being brought up right.
"Camden, you're welcome to park your vehicle in the second garage. Here's an opener. I think you can probably program your car from it so you'll have easy access. I'll be happy to help carry in boxes. If you have some things that aren't too heavy, I think Tad will want to participate too."
With two men and a boy making several trips, everything was soon in Camden's new room. He was already beginning to feel like part of the establishment. He was amazed at the fact that a high-powered lawyer would pitch in as if he were helping a family member. It boded well for how he'd be treated in this job.
As Camden found places to arrange his clothes, Tad kept up a running conversation. He talked about his new term as a first grader. Everything he mentioned was positive. He seemed to be adjusting well.
Preston knocked on the open doorway before coming into the room.
"Are you having a bit more help than you need?" he asked with a smile.
"Nope, we're getting acquainted. He reminds me of my little brother. I was very close to him."
Tad asked his father to take a picture of him helping Camden get settled. Preston was happy to do so.
Author's notes: Thanks for reading this story. If you enjoyed it, please feel free to contact me a dlee169@hotmail.com and let me know. Your emails are the only reward I receive for writing. Please put the story title in the subject line in case your email goes into the spam folder.
Thanks to David S for editing. He finds the typos and missing words! He also makes valuable suggestions.
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Thanks,
David
P.S. I have a chronological list of all my posted stories which I can email to you if you have an interest.