Tales from the Ranch

Disclaimer: The following story is a work of fiction. If you are offended by descriptions of homosexual acts or man/man relations, please exit this page.

TALES FROM THE RANCH Copyright(c) 2006 by Tulsa Driller. All rights reserved.

This is a story of men who have two common interests. You will see that they love the land where they live and work, but it is also the story of young men who love other men and their coming of age in a culture of prejudice and misunderstanding. It is a story, which deals with difficult and often disturbing issues but, nonetheless, issues which must be confronted in today's society.

This is a work of fiction and in no way draws on the lives of any specific person or persons. Any similarity to actual persons or events is entirely coincidental. This work is copyrighted(c) by the author and may not be reproduced in any form without the specific written permission of the author. It is assigned to the Nifty Archives under the terms of their submission agreement but it may not be copied or archived on any other site without the written permission of the author.

PLEASE: In a perfect world AIDS doesn't exist. My characters have unprotected sex. I hope you use proper precautions because I'd like you to be around to read the last chapter of this story.

Book 2, Chapter 9: Revelations

Dale was stunned. Joey felt like he wanted to cry, this wasn't the way this was supposed to go. Craig sat with Forrest; they were tightly holding hands. He didn't think there was any reason for them to go into the judge's chambers. If they were even allowed in, they would just be in the way.

Jeremy Houser turned around to see Alan Zimmer walking toward him. He was relieved since the judge knew Alan well, too. Alan shook hands with Jeremy, Dale and Joey, and then asked Joey, "Is she really your mother? I thought you hadn't seen her since you were about 4 years old."

"I haven't and I don't think she's my mother, either. Dad and I hadn't heard from her since the night she left. She said she never wanted to see us again and we didn't."

Meanwhile Valerie Miller was conferring with the man she had been sitting with. He looked like the type of guy who should be wearing a polyester suit. In other words, he was sleazy. It was easy to tell that he was agitated about something. He got up and stomped out the door.

"Let me have the folder," Alan asked Jeremy, who handed it over.

At that time, the Bailiff announced, "Everyone who has an interest in this case is expected in Judge Sumner's chambers, now!"

Jeremy Houser led the way, with Dale and Joey right behind him. Alan Zimmer was next and Valerie Miller slowly walked that direction. One could tell that she was very nervous and she didn't look at Joey. The Bailiff closed the door after everyone was in the room, and then stood in front of it.

Judge Sumner sat on the edge of his desk. In a voice that showed his annoyance, he said, "Sorry that I don't have chairs for everyone to sit in but I didn't plan to host a tea party this afternoon."

He looked at Valerie. "Okay, let's start with you. Tell me who you are and why you haven't been heard from for 10 years. Also, why are you now making an effort to block the adoption of young Mr. Sullivan by his half brother, Dale Richards?"

Alan was leafing through the papers Jeremy had given him.

"I'm Valerie Miller. Joe Sullivan and I were never married. His name isn't on my son's birth certificate. I'd lost track of my son and didn't know how to contact him until the other day when a friend was reading the legal notices in the Houston paper. Alan saw that there was both a marriage license and a marriage certificate in the file. He handed the file to Judge Sumner.

Judge Sumner saw red. This was an obvious lie. And, no legal notice of this hearing had been published outside Travis County.

"Do you have an attorney, Ms. Miller?" Alan asked.

"No, not really. I didn't think I'd need one."

Alan looked at Judge Sumner. "Does Ms. Miller have a copy of the birth certificate?" He wanted the judge to handle any papers needed in this case.

The judge looked at Valerie. "Do you have the birth certificate?"

She opened her purse and withdrew an envelope, handing it to the judge. He opened it up. There was no name for the male parent. The document was handed to Alan, along with the folder. Alan scanned the form Valerie had produced.

He flipped to the birth certificate in Joey's folder. It was very obvious that the documents were not the same. The birth certificate in Joey's folder had Joseph Dale Sullivan and Valerie Sue Miller Sullivan listed as the parents. Alan held up the copy Valerie had produced. "This form of birth certificate wasn't used until 1985. The baby's footprints don't match and the copy with Joey's papers has the thumbprints of the mother on them."

Alan handed the folder and the other document to Judge Sumner.

'Valerie' started crying. "I didn't mean..."

"Bailiff, would you recognize the man that was with this woman in my courtroom?"

"Yes sir."

"Fine. I am asking you to arrest this lady, along with the gentlemen who was with her. The charge is Obstruction of Justice and the arraignment will be held Monday morning in another Travis County Court. The judge walked around his desk to push a button that would summon two Sheriff's Deputies to come to his courtroom.

'Valerie' let out a holler that probably could have been heard down the hall had the doors been open. "I want an attorney. He's my husband and I'm innocent," she wailed.

The Bailiff opened the door and 'Valerie' tried to make a dash into the courtroom. One of the Deputies that had rushed upstairs stopped her.

"The judge wants this lady arrested, along with the man she was with earlier. He may be out in the hall," he said.

The second Deputy cuffed the woman and they, along with the Bailiff, walked into the hall. Sure enough he was facing the other direction, talking on one of the public pay phones. 'Valerie' was crying so hard she couldn't see and wasn't able to warn her 'husband'. He saw the Deputy walk up and tried to run, but was nabbed before he could move 10 feet. He was in handcuffs before he could object. The Deputies separated the couple and told each they were being arrested on an Obstruction of Justice charge before being read their Miranda Rights and led off to the Travis County Jail.

The Bailiff ran back to Judge Sumner's chambers. "It's taken care of, Your Honor."

"Okay gentlemen. Let's go back into the courtroom and finish this up."

The men filed back into the courtroom; Alan, Jeremy, Dale and Joey were standing at the table in front of the rail.

The Bailiff took his position. "All rise. The Bailiff went through his announcement about the court of the Honorable Claude Sumner being in session as the judge took his place. The only other people in the room were Tom, Eddie, Matt, Craig and Forrest. The judge addressed the small audience. "I'm sorry for the interruption. Sometimes not everyone understands that a court of law expects to hear the truth. I'll repeat what I said earlier: "This is a simple adoption case. Joseph Dale Sullivan, Junior has petitioned this court to become the legal son and heir of Dale Joseph Richards. I have read the paperwork submitted and it is in order as far as this court is concerned. Another party submitted some obviously fraudulent paperwork that I find has no bearing on this case. Therefore, I am again asking if anyone has any objection to this adoption."

There was welcome silence.

"Be it so ordered that Joseph Dale Sullivan, Junior has consented to become Dale Joseph Richards' son and legal heir." He banged the gavel and said, "This court is adjourned."

The Bailiff stood to say, "All Rise".

This time instead of retiring to his chambers, Judge Sumner walked to the table where Alan, Jeremy, Dale and Joey were hugging each other.

"I'm sorry for the problem we had when this hearing first started. I've never had one like this before," the judge told them, shaking hands all around.

"What's going to happen to that woman?" Joey asked. "I still don't think she's my mother. She never did look at me, either."

"Another court will deal with her and the man. It's out of my area of expertise, but it appears she has lied, which would be perjury had she been under oath. She could serve some jail time, depending on the charges they finally bring against her," the judge said.

"I was scared I might have to go with her. I didn't know what was happening," Joey said, very subdued.

The other men walked past the rail, joining everyone else. Hugs were exchanged all around.

Dale spoke up, "Your Honor, we are having an adoption celebration tomorrow afternoon at 2:30. We would be very honored if you could join us. Mr. Zimmer and Mr. Houser will be there."

The judge answered, "You know, I think this is worth me missing a round of golf tomorrow afternoon. Give me the address and directions and I'll be pleased to join in your celebration."

Eddie had been listening and pulled a business card out of his case, handing it to the judge. "We'll look forward to you attending and please bring your wife," noticing the ring on the judge's finger.

The judge smiled, and then asked, "Is it okay if I bring my partner instead?"

Eddie was surprised. He gulped. "Certainly. I..."

Alan said, "It's okay, Eddie. I think you will enjoy meeting Bernie. He's my partner, Jeff's brother and is an associate in our law firm." Then he grinned and added in a whisper, "Maybe that's the reason we have such a good batting average in this court of law."

"I'm all for it," Eddie smiled.

After another round of hugs, the group left. Jeremy was going to take Alan back to his office and then return to his own office in Juvenile Hall.

The other seven men got into their cars to return to Williamsport.

As Craig was backing out of the parking space, Forrest asked, "What happened?"

Dale replied, "I'm not sure. This woman who claims to be Valerie Miller says that she's Joey's mother. She presented some documents that don't match the legal papers in Joey's file. She claimed that she and Joey's dad were never married, but there is both a marriage license and marriage certificate in Joey's file. Also, the birth certificate she presented was on a form that wasn't used until 1985. I didn't see both documents, but Alan claims that the baby's footprints don't match and it will be interesting to see if they use the birth certificate to check if the mother's fingerprints match those of Valerie Miller."

"Wow!" Forrest said.

"Wow is right," Craig said. They were stuck in traffic. They were only moving two or three car lengths each time they could advance. It seemed that there were always traffic jams in Austin, and then all of a sudden traffic would break loose with no apparent reason for the gridlock. 'It was Friday evening,' was the only explanation Craig could think of.

"Dad, do you think we will have to go to court again?" Joey asked.

"I don't know. They might want to use our records, but I can't think either of us would be called to make any testimony. However, that's not my call. Let's just hope she will be charged for fraud and punished accordingly," Dale told them.

"I don't think she's my mother. She never did come close to me or hardly even look at me either," Joey told them.

About that time, traffic started moving and soon Craig turned onto the highway that would take them to Williamsport and their home.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm ready to change into something comfortable and have a drink of some kind. I don't care what it is as long as it's a double," Dale announced.

"You have my vote on that. I just about wet my pants when that woman, whoever she is, spoke up," Craig told the others.

"Yeah, I was afraid that I was going to lose my brother before he became my brother," Forrest said.

"I'm glad you're my brother now and that we're going to be one big happy family, all looking out for each other," Joey added.

"Ya got that right," Dale said, leaning around into the back seat to give Joey and Forrest each five. Craig joined in. The tension of the day was starting to ease as they drove along. * * * * *

The first thing Joey did when they arrived home was to go to a box of pictures in his closet. Forrest took care of letting Mitsy out and feeding her.

Soon, Joey found the picture he was looking for. Written on the back was "Joe, Valerie and Joey, June 29, 1980 - Joey's 4th birthday."

"I think this is probably the last picture I have of my mother." He handed the picture to Dale. "This isn't the woman who was in the court room today, is it?" he questioned.

Craig was beside Dale, looking at the picture, too. "No way, Jose," he stated, "but it sure almost looks like Dale in the picture."

"I agree with Craig. The woman in the court room is not the woman in the picture," Dale said, handing the picture to Forrest, adding, "It's eerie to look at a picture of my Dad and see myself as him."

"Not the same woman, but it sure almost looks like you," was Forrest's reply.

"I'll call Jeremy Houser tomorrow," Dale told the men. "They might be able to use this picture as some kind of evidence against her and that man she was with."

• • • • • Craig noticed the flashing light on the answering machine. There was a message from Doris, wanting to know if they wanted to celebrate this evening. She said that she and Frank would treat them to dinner, wherever they wanted to go.

Joey and Forrest were excited about the prospect of going out to celebrate their adoptions. Dale and Craig would have been perfectly happy to stay home, but Doris was right; this was a special occasion and needed to be celebrated in grand style to honor their two new sons. What had happened earlier today was in the past although they would remember it forever.

"We'd better wait to change clothes in case we go somewhere fancy," Dale warned.

Craig called his parents' home and Doris answered the phone. "You're a grandma again. This one is almost full-grown and already toilet trained," Craig teased. He could hear the other men laughing in the background.

"I assume that everything went okay?" Doris asked.

"We'll tell you all about it when we see you. We're getting ready to have drinks, do you want to join us here?" he asked his mother.

"That's what we are doing right now. Why don't we meet at the restaurant? Where do our grandchildren want to go?"

"Let me ask if they've decided," Craig said. Dale was motioning to get Craig to decide on a drink.

"Where do the guys want to go for dinner?" he asked Dale.

"Let me ask, they are in their bedroom." It seemed funny that now it was "their bedroom" instead of "Joey's bedroom". Dale went to the door and knocked, getting an okay to enter.

Dale opened the door and stuck his head in. "We're to meet Grandma and Grandpa at the restaurant. Where do you guys want to go, it's your choice tonight.

Joey said, "Actually, I'd be perfectly happy going to Tony D's. What do you think, Bro?"

"That's fine with me. Let's do it if it's okay with everyone else."

"I'm sure it will be and we can wear comfortable clothes. I'm ready to put my suit away," Dale told them. He shut the door and walked back to the kitchen where Craig was still talking to his mother. "They want to go to Tony D's. That should please everyone, shouldn't it?"

"Works for me," Craig told him.

"Hey Mom, they both want to go to Tony D's and that's fine with Dale and me, too. What about 7 o'clock?" he asked.

"Good. I love their food anyway and Greg is such a great fellow, always watching out for our family. Dad and I will see you there at 7 o'clock," Doris said before hanging up.

Dale was still waiting for Craig's drink order. "Decide on a drink and then I'll help you take your clothes off," Dale teased.

"I don't even have to have a drink to let you do that. Can I return the favor?" he teased back.

"Yeah, actually you can. I'm going to have a very generous martini, and you?" He waited.

"Go for it and make one for me, too," Craig answered. "Joey can drive if need be."

Dale quickly filled two double old-fashion Waterford glasses with ice, added some olives and juice, then went to the bar to fill the glasses with Beefeater Gin. They said cheers to each other, touching the rims of their glasses.

Joey and Forrest came out of their room. "Tony D's it is at 7 o'clock. We're going to have a drink and change into something more casual and you need to do the same," Craig told them.

"You mean us have a drink?" Joey teased.

"The two of you can have a glass of wine, but don't over do it because Greg will probably offer you one at the restaurant."

"Okay, Dad." It was almost like there was a slight echo. Dale and Craig loved being called Dad - by both of them.

Dale and Craig helped each other undress, kissing newly bared skin as clothes were removed. When they were nude, Dale suggested they take a nice hot shower to relax them; then get dressed and go back to talk with Joey and Forrest. Craig was a little disappointed, but they could do this again after they came home from the restaurant.

Frank and Doris were already at the restaurant and Greg seated all of them in a big corner booth where they could all see each other as they were in a circle.

"Drink's anyone?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"Sure," Frank said. "We're celebrating these guys adoption tonight. Forrest is officially our grandson and Dale is now Joey's father. We're ready to party."

Greg took drink orders and when he got to Forrest and Joey, who were seated on either side of their grandfather, Craig gave him a nod. "Would you young gentlemen like a glass of wine this evening," Greg said bowing in their direction.

Forrest thought it was neat that he and Joey were allowed to have small quantities of wine. It really made him feel grown-up. Joey was used to it, but still was impressed that they were allowed privileges that their friends didn't get. 'All the more reason for being thankful Dale and Craig were their parents,' he thought.

As soon as Greg left their table, Joey launched into the story about the three adoption cases. Frank and Doris were stunned when he got to the part about the objection to Joey's adoption.

"Who is this woman?" Doris wanted to know.

"We don't know, but she and the man that was with her are in jail tonight. The judge said that if she had been under oath, she would be charged with perjury, that's lying," Joey proudly said.

Craig answered, "We really don't think she's Joey's mother. He has a picture of his mother, father and him that was taken on his 4th birthday and it's not the same woman. I can't believe anyone is dumb enough to try what she tried this afternoon. It just doesn't add up, but I guess we'll know more about it after they question the couple and arraign them on Monday morning."

"Are you going to have to go back to court?" Doris asked. Frank, being the legal expert that he was, said, "I can't think so. They may ask for the files Joey has and do some checking there. It's interesting they had a birth certificate form that has only been in use for about 5 years. Somebody else could get in a lot of trouble for furnishing them a form like that. It has to be someone who doesn't know the old forms were replaced." Discussion continued on through the salad course. All any of them could do was to speculate on what might happen and who the people really were. Frank was convinced that it was some sort of scam - tried by dumb people. "Well, there were a lot of discrepancies in the papers they had compared to what is in Joey's case file," Dale said. "And I think that file needs to be put into a safety deposit box as soon as we can get it there, too," Craig said in agreement. Frank agreed. Dale and Craig had a safety deposit box, but it wasn't large enough to hold that file. They would have to call in the morning to see if that department was open and if they could rent a larger box and transfer what was already in their box to the new one. When they were finished, Frank asked for the check. Greg had been at the table enough during the meal that he had heard a good part of the conversation. He told Frank that he was helping his friends celebrate, but they were welcome to leave a tip for the server who had helped them with the meal. As they left the restaurant, everyone exchanged hugs with Greg. He thought that they were one lucky family. Everyone was glad to get home. It had been a long and somewhat stressful day. Dale and Craig were tired and excused themselves to their bedroom. The two new Dads were running low on adrenalin. To begin with it was an important day in all of their lives. Then, when the woman purporting to be 'Valerie' made her appearance, Dale was afraid that somehow they would lose Joey from their lives. It was with great care that the two men started removing each other's clothing, licking and kissing skin, as new areas were uncovered little by little. This was Friday night. They could make love all night and not have to worry about getting up at a certain time on Saturday morning. Finally they were nude and fell back against the mattress. The passionate kissing continued and each could feel themselves and the other getting super stimulated. This was what they needed - to feel each other. They worked themselves into a '69' position so they could work on each other for a period of time. Then Craig rolled around to where he could exchange kisses with Dale, who had decided that he wanted Craig inside him, and not just in his mouth. Without verbalizing, Craig realized where this was heading and he was willing to accommodate his lover. At least 30 minutes of foreplay went by before Craig decided that Dale was ready. Slowly he finished preparing himself and his lover to ease himself into Dale's anal canal. Then Dale's legs wrapped themselves around Craig's waist, seemingly pulling Craig inside him. Slow, sensuous motions followed those that were more frantic, then slowing back down again. Finally, both sensed that Craig might have passed the point of "no return" and this spurred Dale to release his love offering as Craig's cock swelled inside him, then started pulsating. Each thought this was the most intense orgasm they had coaxed from the other. They always thought that it just kept getting better and better. They were too tired to cleanup, wrapping each around the other and going to sleep, totally spent and relaxed. The cares of the day had vanished. * * * * * Meanwhile, across the living room, behind another closed door two newly adopted teenage boys were talking about how tired and stressed out they were. "Man, I about lost it when that Valerie woman stood up and said, 'I object'," Forrest told Joey. "I hope they put her away so far they have to pipe in light." "I know," Joey said. "I could just see them taking me away and making me live with her and that guy. I bet they live in a house trailer. I'd be 'trailer trash' and wouldn't be able to do anything about it." Joey was between laughing and crying. They embraced each other. Forrest said, "It's not gonna happen. Do you think Dale and Craig would let you go to a life like that?" he questioned sincerely. "Not willingly, but you never know what's gonna happen next. My first thought was the 'gay issue' and that it was somebody from like, Fred Phelps church who was gonna protest my being Dale's son because he was gay." "Oh... man..." Forrest was almost in tears himself. He pulled himself together. "We don't have to worry about anything like that happening. You and your Dads have too many friends that can prevent stuff like went on today." "I know, but still it makes me realize that I'm not thankful enough for what I have here. I love both my Dads and my grandparents. And... I love you, too, Dude, I'm glad we're brothers," Joey said, giving Forrest a big hug and a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks, brother," Forrest said. Joey started taking his clothes off. "I want to take a shower. I think it might help me sleep better. Right now I'm going back and forth from being wound up to being scared this could happen again." I'm right behind you, guy," Forrest said. "Too bad we don't have a shower like in our Dads' bathroom. "Hey, we'll have one in the new house. We just have to wait until next summer, though," Joey smiled. "Awesome!" Forrest was excited about that. "Yeah, and we'll have a hot tub on the deck, too. Our new house is going to be so neat and I'm glad you are going to live there with us," Joey told his new brother. "Dude, you're makin' me horny now just thinkin' about it," Forrest laughed. By this time, Joey was naked and headed toward their bathroom. Forrest loved to look at Joey. He was a stud-muffin and he was thankful that they were all one family now. He could feel himself becoming aroused and hoped that Joey wasn't too tired to play around as they had done before. Joey rinsed himself off, then used the shower gel to create a lot of lather and rinsed himself again. The shower made him feel better, but he was still both keyed-up and tired. After he shut the water off and had wiped the excess water from his body, he was surprised to see Forrest standing in the bathroom, holding a towel for him. "Thanks," Joey said. "Your turn. See you in the bedroom." Joey went in and lay on his side of the bed on his back. He was exhausted, both mentally and physically. He shuddered to think what might have happened if the woman would have presented documents that weren't fraudulent. He was so thankful for his new family. Forrest made quick work of his shower and soon was in the bedroom. He moved to his side of the bed and crawled in. This time it was Joey who said, "Bro, I need a big hug." Forrest was only too happy to accommodate him. They both rolled toward the center of the bed, facing the other. As if on autopilot their tongues engaged the other. Both were enjoying the stimulation. Without thinking, Forrest nudged Joey onto his back, then lay on top of him. That just raised their lust another notch as they searched for each other's mouth. That, coupled with rubbing their groins against the other, put them into sexual overdrive. Two horny teens receiving stimulation they hadn't experienced before suddenly caused a sexual eruption they hadn't dreamed possible. Their ardor moved up another notch. The kissing continued and then Joey realized that Forrest's hand was grasping his cock, slowly starting to rub his foreskin up and down using some of the cum between their bodies. He was too stimulated to account for his actions. Forrest's hand felt good and Joey wanted to return the favor. The second orgasm took a few minutes longer than the first, but it seemed even more intense and left them breathless. "Hey guy, this is so awesome," Joey said. "If I'd had any idea kissing could be so great, I would have jumped your bones the morning I first saw you naked when I was delivering your paper," Forrest replied. Joey laughed, remembering the incident. "I was so embarrassed," he laughed. "You were a great "jackoff fantasy" for several weeks," Forrest told him. "I thought my dick would get sore from all of the action." "What about your hand?" Joey teased. "Hey, I've got two hands, only one dick," Forrest giggled. Joey laughed. "You need to get some lube," he replied. "What do you think I used this time?" Forrest wanted to know. "Same thing I did," Joey replied. "Cum is the best you can get, but it only tastes good when it's fresh. When it starts getting cold, the taste changes and isn't very good." Forrest replied, "Isn't it funny how it goes from being hot and slick to cold, slimy and sticky?" He rubbed himself against Joey again. "See, we're starting to stick together and we are both a frigging mess." "I know and all I can smell is sperm in here, too," Joey grinned. "I don't think I've ever cum as much as I just did, and you caused it all, too. You're a good bud and buds help each other out." They both walked to the bathroom and climbed into the shower together. After the door was pulled shut, Joey turned on the water and adjusted the temperature. They took turns rinsing off, then carefully lathered each other's body. Nothing sexual happened and they rinsed off again, Joey shutting the water off so he could slide the door open. He handed Forrest a clean towel and retrieved another to finish drying himself off. The sheets were a mess, but only from all the wiggling around, not from cum.

Forrest helped Joey smooth them out and re-tuck them on the sides and corners. They crawled in from the sides and automatically turned to kiss the other good night. Their sexual activity had erased the tension of the day and they crashed out. * * * * * On Saturday morning the four of them were sitting at the kitchen counter, wearing only their boxers. Craig was setting out coffee mugs, glasses for orange juice and small plates for the muffins Doris had baked the day before. Joey was scanning the second section of the "Austin American Statesman" and excitedly read aloud a short article about the arrest of a couple at the Travis County Courthouse on Friday afternoon. The man's name was Anthony Eugene Miller, 39, of El Paso and the woman was Patricia Ann Carver, 36, of Lubbock. The article went on to say that the woman had presented a false birth certificate while trying to block the adoption of a teen-age boy by his legal guardian. The couple was being charged with "Obstruction of Justice" and would be arraigned on Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. The District Attorney's office was still investigating the case as it was thought other charges could be involved. "Well, that solves the mystery of who Valerie Miller was, but I wonder if the man could be the real Valerie Miller's brother?" Joey said. "He might be my uncle. Yuk." Then Joey told them about his fear that he would have to go live with them in a house trailer and become trailer trash. Everyone laughed, but it really wasn't all that funny. "Well, at least it doesn't give our names," Dale told them. He was afraid their privacy might be compromised. "We don't need any more kooks trying to pull a fast one," Craig agreed. "I never want to hear about this again," Joey told the men. "It was too scary as it was." While they were eating, Dale went over their to-do list for the day. Neither Joey nor Forrest was scheduled to work at the store. Frank had hired two new young men to work in the computer sales area. Phil and Aaron were having problems keeping their grades up and were forced to quit. Joey was relieved that his grandfather didn't have to fire them, but he didn't think they were really trying to learn about the product and make sales. Jake, who had worked with him along with Forrest and Daniel, was quickly becoming a good salesman. Dennis Masters screened the two new salesmen, Donnie and Stewart, on the recommendation of Scott McKown, the computer instructor at Western JuCo. David interviewed them and Frank hired them. "If nobody has anything to do this morning, I'd appreciate some help at our ranch. The horses need to be fed and exercised and either Craig or I need to call Gordon Marwick to have him sign a new lease for the house they are living in. "That's a great idea," Craig said. "Count me in." Joey and Forrest nodded their assent. "Okay, lets be ready to leave here, he looked at his watch, at 9:30. We need to stop at the Farm Supply Store and buy some cowboy boots for Forrest.

After all, if he's going to be a cowboy, he needs to dress like one." "Yeah and he needs to get rid of those Lee jeans and get some Levis 501's like the rest of us wear, too," Joey announced. "Hey, wait a minute, that's my money you're spending," Forrest said in a mock protest, but he was grateful they wanted him to have what the rest of them were wearing. "I didn't hear anything about money, except from you," Craig told him. "Can't you allow your new Dad to buy you some articles of clothing that you need?" "I'm sorry. I'm just not used to people buying things for me. I've always had to think about buying stuff and planning ahead so I have the money. If there wasn't enough money, I didn't buy it for myself," Forrest told the others. Dale spoke up. "We're not rich by any means, but we buy the things we need and a few things that we simply would like to have. We need to discuss finances with both of you and this is a good time to do it. Your other Dad and I have talked about what we perceive to be your requirements and we're going to make you both responsible for your spending needs." He had two manila envelopes on the counter that he pulled toward him. "Joey already has both a checking and a savings account, as does Forrest. The money you have been earning at the store has been going into your savings account, right?" he asked. Both of the young men agreed. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. Craig and I will give each of you guys an allowance of $200 a month, to be deposited into your checking accounts on the first of each month. That money can be used for lunch at school, school supplies and other things you need during the month. You are responsible to see that the account never goes into over-draft status and if you have problems balancing the account, we'll help you." Forrest had a hard time believing what he was hearing. Nobody had ever given him money like that before. Joey was sitting there with a grin on his face. He loved watching Forrest's reaction. Dale opened the other envelope and handed Forrest and Joey each a new MasterCard. When he saw the name on the card, the look on Forrest's face was priceless. "For other things that you need, like clothing and books, more expensive things for school, gifts, etc., you can charge it on these cards. Forrest's card is tied to Craig's account and Joey's is tied to my card. You have to give us the charge receipts so we can check them against the statement before we pay them. The credit limit on each of these cards is a thousand dollars, but I'd better not see either of these maxed-out without our permission and that's for a major purchase only." Craig spoke up, "You are our sons and we will provide for your needs. This is a good opportunity for both of you to assume responsibilities you haven't had before and Dale and I know you can handle that accountability with no problem. Welcome to our family." "Thanks Dad," Forrest said, giving Craig a hug, then going to his other Dad, Dale. Joey had a hug for each of them, too. Then he and Forrest hugged each other. It really felt good to have someone to hug like that and Forrest really liked hugging Joey, who seemed more than willing to reciprocate. "Okay, family meeting is over with," Dale said, standing up to take his plate, glass and coffee cup to the kitchen sink. "Don't forget that we have to be home in time to get ready to go to celebrate our adoptions. Tom and Eddie expect us at 2:30." * * * * * Craig called Gordon Marwick, making an appointment to meet him and his wife at noon. Gordon didn't know that he had a new landlord and was thrilled they would be able to remain as tenants. Craig asked him to make a list of repairs that might need to be made and they would discuss them at their meeting. Dale pulled into the parking lot of the Farm Supply Store and all of the men got out to go into the store. Dale and Forrest went to the shoe department for boots. "What size shoe do you wear?" Dale questioned. "My athletic shoes like I'm wearing now are a size 10-wide. I think my dress shoes are a 10C, but I don't wear heavy socks when wearing them." "Okay," Dale told him, "let's find a 10-D to try on. The Dan Post boots fit me better than some of the other brands. Let's find a size that works and then we'll see what styles they have." "Alright," Forrest replied. He was glad someone was helping him; he wouldn't have known what to look for or where to start. Dale found a pair of brown boots in a size 10-D that were similar to what he was wearing today. Forrest had never worn western boots before, so Dale explained how to put them on using the boot hooks he handed him. The right boot slipped on fairly easily and when Dale checked, it seemed to be the right size. "Okay, let's try on the left one and see if you can walk around without falling down," he teased. "Boy, that's a different feel," Forrest said when he stood up and walked a few steps to where he could look in a mirror. Joey and Craig appeared about that time. They each had several items of clothing under their arms. "Hey, those are like my boots," Joey said. He laid the items he was carrying on a chair and walked to where Forrest was standing, pulling up the legs of his Levis to display his boots. "Cool," said Joey. Do they feel good?" Forrest walked to the end of the carpeted area and back. "Yeah, a lot different than I thought they would, but I like them." He had a huge grin on his face. "Do they slip on your heel when you walk?" Dale questioned. "No," was the answer. "Good, now squat down and see if they slip any," Dale wanted to know. "Seems okay to me," Forrest proudly said. He liked the boots, a lot. He'd always wanted a pair, but never had the extra money to indulge himself. "Do you want to look at some other styles?" Joey wanted to know. "I like these. You don't care if we have boots that are alike?" Forrest asked. "Dude, all cowboy boots are enough alike that nobody thinks anything of it." "I'll take these, then. Is it okay to wear them?" Forrest asked. "Sure, we're going to ride our new horses, that's one of the reasons we're buying them," Craig told him. "Now we need to get you outfitted with some Levis and whatever else you need today." Forrest wasn't used to just walking into a store and buying something. Before it had always taken planning on his part and he usually had to save money to get what he wanted. Most of his clothing except underwear and socks had come from the Thrift Store or the Goodwill store. He was grateful to be getting some things he'd always wanted and the others acted like it was no big deal. Joey was already in the department where they sold Levis and other brands of work pants. "What size do you need, bro?" Joey asked. He and Forrest were about the same size, although Forrest was a little bigger around the waist. "I don't know," he said. "I guess we'll have to measure. Dale said, "Well, Levis like these shrink when they're washed the first time, so you need to buy them an inch larger in the waist and 2 inches longer in the leg." He picked up a tape measure, putting it around Forrest's waist; just above the waistband of the jeans he was wearing. "A thirty-two," he announced. Dale knelt in front of Forrest. "Now we need to measure your inseam, so spread your legs apart a little bit so I can get to the top of the leg. Joey said in a quiet voice, "He just wants to grope you." That brought laughter to all of them. "These jeans seem to be about a 32 and they are the right length to wear with boots, so I guess we need to buy you a 33-34." Joey located the size on the shelf and handed a pair to Forrest. "You'd better go try 'em on so we don't have to come back." Craig pointed to the dressing room, down the aisle about 10 feet. Forrest started off in that direction. "Wear them out here so we can make sure they are okay," Craig reminded him. Dale, Craig and Joey were conferring while Forrest was gone. "He really doesn't have very many clothes. Some of them are getting too tight and others are starting to wear out," Joey told them. "That's not a problem. After all you have to have new things to wear once in a while and in larger sizes, too. We'll get what he needs today, then you fellows can go shopping together to buy him pants, shirts, underwear and whatever else he wants." Forrest came out of the dressing room without his boots and wearing the Levis. They decided that the size was okay. While he went back to redress, Joey pulled 3 more pair of Levis off the shelf. "He needs a western belt to go with these, too," Joey said as he went off to look for a belt and buckle he thought his brother might like. When they went to the cashier's desk, they separated Forrest's purchases from some things Joey wanted for himself. One could tell they were enjoying using their new charge card privileges. * * * * * The horses were grazing in the pasture, but came to the barn to investigate when they heard the Blazer drive up. Craig had chopped some apples up into quarters and put them in a baggie for a treat. After the horses were inside the barn, Dale shut the door so they could be saddled. Joey and Forrest were able to get their horses ready with no problem, checking each other as they went. Dale double checked their work and tightened the bridle on Forrest's horse. After he opened the door, they led the horses outside and mounted them for their ride. The horses seemed much more gentle today and Dale thought that it might be that they were away from all of the other horses. With Joey leading, Forrest rode beside him, followed by Dale and Craig. They went rode up to the construction project and around to the top of the hill behind where the new house would sit. It was the highest point of land around that area. As they were sitting on the horses, looking around, Forrest was struck with an inspiration. "Hey everyone, what do you think about calling this place 'Saber Peak Ranch'?" he questioned. Joey was enthused about the use of the word "Saber" as it tied in with their business venture with the computer store. "That's a great," he said. "Hey Dads, do you like it?" "That's a winner to me," Craig said. "I like it." Dale agreed. "Son, that's a great idea. I'm all for it." Forrest liked being called son. He couldn't remember if his real father had ever called him that or not, it was so many years ago. He was proud that the others accepted his idea. After looking around from horseback, they made their way back down the long driveway and rode to the back fence and then around to the pond above the creek. "I want to put in a gate back here so this pasture is accessible from that one," Dale said, pointing toward the larger farm. "It will be handy if we need to move farm equipment from one area to the other or even if we're out riding horses. Right now we have to go out on the highway to go to the house where Gordon lives." "How hard is that?" Craig questioned. "Not very. We can do it one of two different ways. The easiest is to simply cut the barbwire and fasten it to a post that can be secured to a fence post. We just need to make a metal noose for the bottom of the post to fit in and have another one at the top to secure the two posts together." "The other way is to put in either a metal or wood gate that hinges on it's own post. We just need a way to fasten it shut. We'll have to dig a post hole, but maybe we can trick Joey and Forrest into doing it for us," he teased as if the young men weren't there. Joey picked up on the joke. "That is unless WE can trick our Dads into doing it for us," he told Forrest. That produced a laugh from all of them. Forrest loved how they were all able to tease each other. He loved it, but his grandmother didn't encourage it when she was alive. They rode on around the pond, stopping to look at it from the other side. It appeared to be filled to capacity even though they hadn't had any rain for a week. Riding on back to the barn, Dale got off his horse to open the gate that would allow them to go to the driveway and ride to the other side of their ranch, as all of them liked to refer to the farm. They started down the hill, crossed the creek and turned into the driveway to take them to the Marwick's home. Craig wanted to introduce Forrest and Joey to Gordon and his wife, since the boys were likely to be coming out to the farm by themselves after Forrest was given his car. The black lab came running out to meet them, but he kept his distance and didn't spook the horses. They were used to dogs from when they were quartered at the Bar-W. Dale spotted Gordon walking from the house and waved at him, then swung down off his horse. The others dismounted and introductions were made. Soon Sara, Gordon's wife, came outside. Gordon introduced her to the four men, as she had not met Dale and Craig before. Gordon invited the men inside, but Dale asked Joey and Forrest to stay outside with the horses. "We won't be long," Dale told them. Both of the men were amazed at the inside of the house. It was spotless and tastefully furnished. Craig thought the kitchen really showed its age. Obviously, it was something from the 1950's with avocado-colored appliances and really cheap-looking cabinets. It was the same thing with the bathroom.

It needed to be remodeled. The living room had a small dining table in the end closest to the kitchen. Both bedrooms were tiny, probably about 10x10, but there was a large closet in each. The house had hardwood floors that were in good shape and didn't show any signs of wear. "Is there anything that needs to be repaired?" Craig asked. "Well, the oven controls on the stove aren't reliable," Sara said. "I've ruined more than one cake. Either it won't hold the temperature low enough or quits in the middle of trying to bake a cake. I have to use an electric roaster if I'm going to bake a turkey or ham." Craig asked, "What about the range hood?" "It's not worked since we moved in," Gordon told them. "Is the refrigerator okay?" Craig asked. It wasn't very large. "We had to have the control box replaced about two months ago. The service man told us that parts were hard to get," Gordon said. "What about the furnace and air conditioner?" Craig wanted to know. "They were replaced with new equipment last summer. There was a lot of bitching and screaming by the heirs, but their attorney came through for Sara and me," Gordon told them. Craig was doing some mental calculations. "Let me talk to Dale for a minute," he asked, then stepped into the living room. "What do you say to replacing the kitchen cabinets, stove, range hood, refrigerator and floor?" he asked. "It will probably cost us a year's rental income, but I wouldn't use those appliances myself," he told Dale. "Sounds good to me. They like living here and we got a good deal on the farm. What about the bathroom?" Dale asked. "Same thing, but we can replace it next year. I'm with you, they are good tenants and we'll have good neighbors that we can rely on," Craig replied. They went back into the kitchen. "The house is in excellent condition except for the kitchen and bathroom. We'll replace the kitchen cabinets, appliances and floor this year and next year we'll put in a new bathroom," Craig told the couple. "How much are you going to raise the rent?" Gordon asked. 'They could make do with what they had,' he thought. "We're not going to change the lease amount. But there may be times that we'll all be gone and would like to rely on you to feed the horses and see to it that any other animals or poultry are cared for," Craig told them. Gordon and Sara were relieved to hear that statement. "Gosh, that's really generous of you guys. Sure, we'll be glad to take care of the livestock anytime you need us," he replied. "Great," Craig said. He pulled an envelope out of his pocket that had the new lease agreement in it. Gordon signed it, and then Craig signed, too, giving the Marwick's their copy. "I'll have to line up a contractor, but you might start looking at kitchen cabinets and appliances. We're not talking about 'top of the line' stuff, but more 'middle-of-the-road' should work fine for all of us," Craig smiled. "Thank you. We're glad to have you as neighbors and also as our landlords. I went up on the hill yesterday. That was a major construction project just to put in a driveway with those retaining walls," Gordon told them. "Yeah, it was," Dale agreed. "That's going to be a big house for two people to live in," Sara stated. "There will be four of us. As of yesterday afternoon, Joey is my adopted son and Craig is Forrest's father," Dale replied. "Wow, you guys aren't that much older than they are?" Gordon questioned. "Joey is actually my half-brother, but our father died in October. I'm ten years older than he is. As for Forrest, his grandmother died on Christmas Day and he has no family. We wanted to prevent him from being put into a foster home, so arrangements were made for Craig to adopt him," Dale proudly told them. "I'm impressed," Sara said. "Thanks," Dale and Craig replied, almost together. "We have to get the horses back to the barn, feed and groom them and then have to be somewhere else at 2:30, so we need to get started," Craig said, looking at his watch. "Anytime you need anything, just call. We're listed in the phone book," Sara said. Dale and Craig handed them each a pair of business cards with their numbers on them. Hands were shaken all around as good-byes were said. "I'll call you about a contractor. They will have to come look at what they will be working on," Craig said as they mounted their horses. "Ok, we have two hours to get everything done and get to the party," Dale said as they rode into their own driveway. Joey dismounted and closed the gate, then walked his horse to the barn. * * * * * The party that Tom and Eddie held for Matt, Joey and Forrest was a lot of fun. There were about 40 people there as they had asked Dale, Craig, Joey and Forrest for names of people they wanted to invite. Jeremy Houser was there, along Alan Zimmer and Jeffery Fisher. Judge Sumner and his lover, Bernie Fisher, came. Forrest and Joey had invited Daniel, Bryce, Bret, Hal and Barry, along with two young women, Pam Thomas and Marilee Morris that Forrest wanted to invite. Joey knew Pam from mixed chorus. Tom and Eddie had invited Doug Tate and his wife, Betty and several other teachers they taught with. Matt invited several students that Joey and Forrest didn't know, but had seen in the hallways from time to time. Craig and Dale had invited Marty and Chris Williamson, Martin and Jeanine Williamson, Leland Stanton, David Perkins and Dennis Masters. Of course, Fr. George and Paul were in attendance as were Frank and Doris. Tom and Matt, along with Doris, prepared snack food to go with the punch and cake. Since there was so little food left, Doris wondered if some people had come for lunch. It had been requested that no gifts were anticipated, but they would welcome canned goods to donate to the Food Bank. Many people brought several cans and when the party was over, Tom and Matt counted 171 cans of everything from soup to pears. Craig was pleased that both Joey and Forrest had written thank you notes to Eddie, Tom and Matt for hosting an adoption party for them. * * * * * The next day was Sunday, January 27th and another big day of celebration for the male family and their friends. At the morning solemn high mass, Dale, Joey and Forrest received the Sacrament of Baptism. There were three other people, all members of the Inquirers' class who were also baptized that Sunday. They would be presented for confirmation when the Bishop visited the parish on February 10th. Craig, Frank and Doris stood up as sponsors for the three men as they took their vows and then were sprinkled with holy water and anointed with Chrism oil, the Priest making the sign of the cross on their foreheads. Actually it was a "Bastian Sunday". Frank and Doris, along with Chuck and Susan were received into St. James parish as members, all transferring from St. Phillip's in Arlington. The family gathered at the condo for some champagne before going to the Sunday brunch at the Cattlemen's Hotel. During the toasts, Frank remarked that their family had grown by three men since September and were looking forward to Chuck and Susan's wedding when Chuck would be added as an official member of the Bastian clan. Susan and Chuck had located a 2-bedroom house on the south side of the lake and had made a deal to paint the inside in exchange for a signing a years' lease and receiving a cut in the monthly rent. They expected to be finished and moved in by Thursday as they started their new jobs on Friday. * * * * * On Monday morning, Dale scheduled interviews with four young men who had answered an ad in the "Austin American Statesman" for employment at the Bar-W Ranch. Michael and Pat had finished all of the winter projects, including putting a new roof on the barn that served as the Bar-W Ranch's office. Dale gave them each a week off and they each went to their parent's homes for a few days.

His first interview was scheduled for 10 o'clock. Two young men who couldn't keep their grades up at Western JuCo were looking for employment. Dale quickly determined that neither were capable of lifting bales of hay nor had experience on a ranch.

The next interview was with a man who was 62. He had retired and wanted something to fill his time and didn't want heavy work. The ad had specified that there was heavy lifting involved, along with the ability to run farm machinery. Dale was wondering if people couldn't read.

The fourth person told Dale that he didn't want the job, but had to search for a job so he could continue receiving unemployment compensation. Dale signed his interview sheet, but then later wished he hadn't. The man was committing fraud.

After a lot more interviews than Dale thought should be necessary, he was able to hire three more men. Coby Cantrell would start on February 1st, the first day of a new pay period. Dale gave him permission to move into the crew quarters anytime the week before he started. Coby was 23 and had just finished a 4-year enlistment in the U.S. Army. He planned to take night classes at Western JuCo, starting in the fall. He was from Lubbock and had been a football star in high school, but the scholarship he was promised was not forthcoming. He did the next best thing, enlisting in the Army where he could start his education and finish when he was out of the service. The other two men, Lonnie Parke and Vince Garten would start on March 1st. Usually the spring rains were over and they could sow alfalfa and clover seed for the new hay fields. Also, Dale planned to sow prairie grass seed in some of the pastures to make for better grazing. Lonnie Parke was from Ada, Oklahoma. He was 28-years old and recently divorced and had no children. His ex-wife had moved to eastern Tennessee to be near her family and, Lonnie thought, the fellow she dated all through high school. Vince Garten was from Woodward, Oklahoma and was 20-years old. His family owned two sections of land that they farmed, but he had 2 older brothers who worked with their father and there was no way the land would produce enough to support him, too. He was glad to be away from home and have a chance to prove himself. Dale thought he had made good choices in the men he had hired and hoped that Pat and Michael would get along with them with no problem. Dale still didn't know if John Sterling had ever said anything to them about meeting Dale and Craig at a gay party.

• • • • • Marty had asked Dale to find light jobs around the ranch that Jason could do during the summer. Dale agreed that he could probably teach him to help with some of the fieldwork, plowing, disking or maybe driving a hay baler.

Both Forrest and Joey had asked if they could have jobs at the ranch, too. Dale and Craig had insisted they cut the number of hours they were working at the store, so had discussed this request, along with the one to help with the construction of either their house or the one that their grandparents would be building in the summer. It was decided that they could be hired at the ranch to take up the slack when they were busy. As far as the construction work was concerned, that would have to be worked out with the builders. Ray Evans would be glad to take them as apprentices, depending on the projects they were working on.

Dale and Craig were both pleased at the enthusiasm the two young men showed in everything they took on. Dale had discovered that although Forrest knew how to drive and had passed the course with flying colors, he had no experience as his grandmother didn't have a car.

So, Joey had to share his turn in the drivers seat whenever they went anywhere.

Dale and Craig found a 1987 Camaro at Crawford GM. The hot-looking car was yellow with black stripes and a spoiler. It was 4 years old and had 37,000 miles on it. Since Dale was interested in buying the car and worked for the Bar-W Ranch, the used-car sales manager had the service department go over it with a fine-tooth comb. He then backed the car with an extended warranty. They bought the car to give to Forrest for his 17h birthday, knowing that both boys would get a lot of pleasure in sharing it with the other. Dale made arrangements to hide the car at the ranch, out of sight back at the crew's house until his birthday on February 12th.

The partially exposed basement of the new house was progressing. A cut had been made in the hill so that the garages were at driveway level. The rest of that level was underground, putting the main floor at ground level. The concrete for the stem walls had been poured a week earlier, along with the two inside walls that were needed to brace the floor joists. The rough-in plumbing was in place as was the drain tile, both inside and outside the footings. The next job was to put sand down and place the large reinforcing mesh so the concrete floor could be poured.

As soon as the floor was cured, the framing could start. The house would go back and forth from looking huge to looking small as studs went up, dividing the house into rooms.

Frank had given the people living in the trailer on their building site notice to move. They had refused, saying that Frank couldn't make them move. He made up a "Vacate by January 31 Notice" and had it served by the Sheriff's Department. Then the kicking and screaming began.

Nick and Guerna Black claimed that they didn't have to vacate, as their lease with Marshall Sidney wasn't up. In fact it was. Marshall hadn't signed a new lease seven months before as he had issued a vacate order himself. It was ignored and Frank found out that they hadn't paid any rent since that time. So, Marshall was suing them for back rent and Frank was suing them because the trailer home now belonged to him and had to be moved so the Bastian's could start construction of their new home.

He and Doris were exasperated because he didn't want to have to destroy the trailer while the Black's were still living in it. However, the law was on the side of Frank and Doris. Frank was almost wishing they hadn't bought the lot, but it was an excellent location.

What Frank didn't realize was that the entire town was on the side of him and Doris. The Black's contributed nothing to the community. There was always trash in the yard that Marshall had taken to the dump and hadn't tried to collect the money he'd paid to get rid of it. He just wanted the people gone.

The trailer really couldn't be moved. It would be a matter of putting new wheels under it and then where could it be towed? The original plan had been to break it apart, load it on a flatbed truck and haul it to the salvage yard next to the county dump.

Finally Frank hit on a plan that was both devious and legal. He had discovered that the Black's were behind on their utility payments. The electric company had sent a disconnect notice, as had the gas company and water department. Frank guaranteed the payments if the utility companies would shut off service and not turn it back on - under any circumstances. There was a town ordinance making it illegal to live in a dwelling that had no utilities. The Black's paid the electric bill, and then found out that the service box had been declared as sub-standard. They paid the gas bill and then an inspector for the gas company told them he couldn't pass their furnace as the burners were rusted out. They hired an independent inspector who told them the same thing. The people had no choice except to move and, of course, could find no house to rent in Kawarce. The problem was solved and the trailer was moved to the salvage yard. "Why didn't I think of that?" Marshall asked Frank. "I happened to think that might work, and it did. The only utility I had to pay was the Kawarce Water Department and that only cost me $28 for their past due bill." "I'll get that refunded to you, remember I'm the mayor of this burg," Marshall told him while laughing. He thought Frank was an okay guy. * * * * *.

Doris reminded Dale and Craig that their commitment ceremony was scheduled for February 23rd and some decisions needed to be made so invitations could be mailed. The month of January had slipped by and with everything else that was happening in their lives, it had been largely forgotten. So, they sat down with Doris to do some planning. Fr. George had told them he would be happy to officiate at the ceremony and had given them a copy of the service that he had put together, telling them they could add or omit sections to make the service more meaningful to them.

Fr. George, thinking there would be a large attendance for the ceremony had offered Founders Chapel for the unofficial rite. But, the men had decided that the ceremony would be in their home. Both wanted a Eucharist to be celebrated as part of the ritual.

"I'd like to keep this small, simple and within the family," Dale said. Craig agreed.

"But to be practical, we need to invite the Williamson family and a few friends, like Tom and Eddie and Ray and John," Dale said. "Yeah, it's hard to put a stop to the list. I need to invite my partner, Don and his wife, and what about Leland and even David Perkins? They certainly have gone all out to help us with the business and other financial affairs," Craig added. There wasn't any question that Joey and Forrest would be their attendants. They didn't want to call them "best men"; they were their sons.

When Fr. George and Paul were contacted regarding their plans, Paul was disappointed that the service wasn't going to be in the chapel, as he wanted to provide glorious music. However, he realized this was to be a small gathering of family and close friends. He did insist on providing the reception as a gift from him and Fr. George and was thrilled when they accepted. That was a relief for Doris, although she would have willingly provided whatever her boys wanted.

Dale and Craig, would wear a black tux, a burgundy tie and cummerbund with a white rose boutonnière. Forrest and Joey would wear a black tux, red ties and cummerbunds with ivory rose boutonnières. As a surprise, they would give Doris an orchid corsage and Frank would have a red rose boutonnière. Simple was the order of the day.

Joey had given a certificate for three days and nights at a gay owned and operated bed and breakfast in San Antonio as his Christmas gift to his Dads.

Those reservations had been confirmed with the men arriving at the inn on Saturday evening and coming home on Tuesday afternoon.

Fr. George would bring the supplies he needed for the Eucharist.

Doris wished that Susan and Chuck's wedding would be this easy to plan and was reminded that she and Susan needed to get busy on that project.

The arraignment for Anthony Eugene Miller and Patricia Ann Carver was held at 9:30 on Monday morning. Their appearance in court was the first time they had seen each other since Friday afternoon. Patricia had quickly broken down and told the story of the attempted objection to Joey's adoption. When one of the Assistant District Attorney's played the tape of her confession to Anthony Miller, he became cooperative and told the whole story.

He was the older brother of Valerie Miller, but Anthony hadn't seen or heard from her for over 8 years. He didn't know she and Joe had gotten married shortly before Joey was born. He did know she had deserted Joe and Joey, but didn't know why. Patricia Carver was his live-in girlfriend and would do his bidding without question. However, this objection had been put together hurriedly and was full of holes.

A friend had managed to get some blank birth certificates, but didn't know that form had been in use only 5 years and never thought about the serial numbers printed on each form. Anthony didn't know that he could have gotten a certified copy of the original certificate from the Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics, although it might have taken two or three weeks, which he didn't have.

Though he didn't realize that most sources were unreliable, Anthony had contacts in a variety of places and that was the way he found out about Joe's death and Dale becoming Joey's guardian. He had filed this information away for future reference. Only recently he found out about the sale of Joe's house and furnishings. Someone told him that the house had sold for a large sum of money and that there had been a bidding war to buy it. He thought it was an opportune time to act as a friend in Austin had spotted the legal notice for Joey's adoption hearing. Another of his shady friends had managed to tap into the computers at the Bank of Commerce and found the bank account where the money had been deposited. What didn't appear in the search was that the money had been invested. The Bank of Houston administered Joey's large trust fund, so Anthony didn't even know about that. Then he had run across the story about Saber Computers opening. The article told about Rev. Fred Phelps picketing the opening and protesting because the men opening the store were probably gay. Bingo! That information should make it easy to get custody of Joey and he enlisted his girlfriend to help him.

He thought that it would be easy to present the birth certificate he had clumsily made to get custody of Joey and then hold him to bargain with; thinking Dale would give him all of the money from the sale of Joe's house to get him back. He knew Dale wouldn't turn him in because he didn't want people to find out he was gay. Anthony didn't even qualify as an amateur crook. He had always operated scams and deals that were barely legal.

After listening to the hearings for the adoptions of Matt and Forrest, he became convinced that the judge didn't care if the adoptive parents were a male couple. He told Patricia to keep quiet and not make an objection. Her reply was, "I can do this and we'll be rich."

Anthony thought he'd talked her out of the objection and was as surprised as anyone else in the courtroom to hear her say, "I object." He knew then that they had blown it and tried to get her to leave with him and not go to the judge's chambers.

But, no. She went back there, immediately losing her nerve and was arrested. Then the Bailiff and Deputies found him using one of the pay phones and arrested him. They were separated and had not seen each other until the hearing.

A search of records showed that they were both wanted in Texas and other states for running scams and selling services they couldn't provide, such as house siding, roofing and repairing driveways. They were always present after a storm disaster. They would sell their "service", collect a substantial amount of money to get the material "delivered" to the job site and then disappear.

They were both charged with obstruction of justice and made bond. A hearing date was set, but the judge knew he would never see them again. They would disappear into another part of the country, probably to try it all again.

Daniel Pearson thought it was cool that Dale and Craig had adopted Joey and Forrest. He knew, from quizzing Joey, that Dale and Craig were gay and a committed male couple. That didn't bother him as he had his private thoughts about himself being gay. Joey had told Daniel that his Dads would answer any questions he had about sex in a truthful manner. In fact, Daniel had wanted to talk to them himself about some questions he had. But, he was embarrassed to ask. Daniel had enjoyed the jerk off sessions he'd had with Joey and then Joey and Forrest together. What he didn't know was that the two of them had taken "messing around" a step further to kissing and then "helping a brother out." Matt started eating lunch at the table where the "gang" met each day at noon. After his adoption he became much more sure of himself. He knew that he had Eddie and Tom's unconditional love, something he had not experienced with his parents before. But, the main reason he was at the table was that he wanted to be closer to Daniel. Maybe they could develop a friendship and something more, too.

Bryce was quiet about the whole thing. He understood the reason for all three of the adoptions, but the "gay thing" was present in his mind and he wondered what really went on with the "parents" and the "sons".

Hal Shaw was tolerant. He sang in the choir at St. James and knew that his priest and choirmaster/organist were a male couple. It was a non-issue and as far as he was concerned, it was nobody's business. He had become acquainted with Dale when he was in Little League and Dale was helping with their team. He had always admired Dale because he knew he'd not had an easy life when growing up. He didn't know Craig, except to speak to him, but Craig was one of those people who immediately put you at ease and you soon felt like you had always known him.

Barry Gilbert was the jock of the group and nothing seemed to faze him. He was more interested in getting Joey to join the school baseball team after he found out he had played Shortstop in Little League for several years.

Bret was ecstatic that things had worked out for both Joey and Forrest. He liked both of the guys and even though Joey was a year younger, he relied on him to be his mentor. He was especially pleased that Joey had encouraged him to join the choir at St. James Episcopal Church. His parents had followed him to the church and now were seeking membership; in fact the entire family would be joining him. Things had certainly smoothed out at home after his parents left Victory Temple. The counseling sessions for the family and gone well and the family psychologist had dismissed their group session a month ahead of the projected completion date.

A number of teachers and students at school expressed their congratulations to the three young men. It made all of them feel good that others were concerned about them. The "gay parents" issue was never mentioned, although some of them may have wondered about it.

The initial mailing of 8500 copies of the Saber Computers catalog were in customer's hands by the end of the last week of January. Three days later the telephones started ringing at a pace they had to add the second operator to take orders. The shipping department became very busy and a week later UPS started picking up the outgoing packages twice a day.

Frank and David, with Leland's guidance, made an offer to buy the 2 lots right behind and across the alley from the store. Since the lots were behind other buildings and couldn't be seen from the streets, they were able to make a good deal on them with an option to buy another building that had been a warehouse. Dale and Craig signed a contract to construct a Butler building that was 50 by 80 feet long. The remainder of the space could be used as parking for those working in that building.

Within a few days, the old concrete had been torn out, footings dug and the new concrete floor had been poured. It didn't take the crew from the company they purchased the building from long to unload the pieces of the steel skeleton and start assembling them.

Two weeks later the building was completed and the lines from Southwestern Bell had been run to connect to the modems for the ISP equipment when they arrived. They moved the service, shipping and mail order departments into the new and spacious quarters. A new computer assembly department was started to support the mail order department. It was planned that they would custom build computers for mail order. Later David Perkins realized it was a duplicate effort and merged it with the service department to give more control to Earl Downey, the manager over that area.

Joey and Forrest missed working at the store, except for a few hours a week and at the urging of their Dads, didn't work on Saturday at all. They were right; the teenage boys needed time to enjoy growing up. Forrest was grateful for the opportunity to do anything on his own as working as many odd jobs as he could to help his grandmother had left him virtually no time for friends or activities of his own. Joey wanted to join the baseball team and tried out for it at Barry Gilbert's urging. To his surprise he was immediately accepted. The team hadn't had a good year the previous season as several senior players had graduated. This year there was a new coach, Will Adams, who also taught Calculus and Trig. When he was in college he had been recruited to play for the Tulsa Drillers, the minor league AA team of the Texas Rangers. He was rotated to the major league home team for one season until a leg injury prevented him from playing.

He was teaching A/P level classes at Davy Crockett and loved every minute of it. He intended to have a championship baseball team, which the school had not had before.

When Joey went to Phys Ed that afternoon he had changed clothes and was headed to the soccer field. Eddie Thompson had seen Joey's name on the baseball roster and pulled him aside.

"I see you made the baseball team, congratulations," Eddie told him.

"Thanks. I was surprised I made the team, 'cause I haven't played for over a year," Joey replied.

"Well, Coach Adams seems to think you will be a great addition to the team.

You know that you don't have to come to Phys Ed if you are on a sports team, don't you?" Eddie asked.

"I'd heard that, but didn't think about it. Why, are you trying to get rid of me?" he teased.

"Something like that. I just thought maybe you liked to run laps each gym period," Eddie laughed as they remembered Coach Dennison's routine... half court basketball and laps for punishment.

"Seriously," he continued, "tomorrow you might as well take your gym clothes to the baseball locker room and go for early practice. Otherwise you can go to study hall and do your homework."

"I'll take my stuff home with me this evening. Forrest and I study together, although we don't take any of the same classes. I'm glad he's my brother now," Joey explained.

"And a good one, too. Matt admires both of you." Eddie leaned toward Joey and in a quiet voice said, "Matt really wants to get to know Daniel Pearson better, do you want to play Cupid?" he asked with a big smile.

"I think they might have the same feelings for each other. I'll see what I can do," Joey said with a big grin on his face. He thought, 'Maybe they just need a little help to know that.' * * * * * * * * * * Author's Note: Thank you for the overwhelming amount of emails you sent following the release of Book II, Chapter 8. Sorry to have left you with a cliff-hanger, but it brought a lot of comments (and several good-natured threats, too). I enjoyed hearing all of your comments. The previous chapter and this one I have formatted as straight MSWord "text" files and hope they are easier to read than what I had been doing. I still haven't found an HTML editor that is simple enough for me to use. Any suggestions will be appreciated. This chapter deals with several open issues and there will be more surprises in upcoming chapters. My special thanks for proofreading help to Paul Daventon ("Dukes of Windsor"), who has taken time to help me catch obvious errors. Also to Randy Smith of San Juan Capistrano, who has been a loyal reader from the very beginning. Any comments are appreciated and you can reach me at TulsaAuthor@hotmail.com. Thanks, David.