The Family - The Vineyard
Chapter 4
The Autumn passed rapidly. Jean, Juan and Sean worked daily in the vineyard until all the grapes were harvested. As the leaves turned color, it was soon time to prune back the new suckers on the vines, and to trim the vines so that the next harvest would be of hearty grapes. There was also the problem of weeds, but that and the spraying could wait.
The weather was warm and pleasant. Soon the rains would come and it would not be so pleasant to be out of doors. Jean and Ralph enjoyed spending time together, sitting on the patio nude, drinking iced tea, and being together.
One afternoon, Bob came home before Hal, apparently excited about something. Jean didn't want to pry, but he did want to be a listening ear, if that's what Bob wanted. It was.
Bob told about his work as a detective in the sheriff's office. Jean knew that he often saw some pretty grisly scenes, and rarely was there anything he could do to improve the situation. Today was different.
"I went to the scene of a car accident. Some nut had been driving along Highway 101 at better than 90 miles and hour. He lost control and collided with an 18-wheeler. The driver of the truck wasn't hurt, and his damaged trailer was empty, so that wasn't too bad. The driver of the car wasn't wearing his seat belt, his three year-old son was properly belted into a car seat. The driver was killed, thrown from the car. The son wasn't hurt at all, just scared stiff and crying.
"I took the boy in my arms, held him close, stroked his back and tried to quiet him. He immediately grabbed onto me, and stopped crying. He said, Mister, I don't want to stay with my daddy. He beats me. I never wanted to leave my Mama, but he took me from her. I later learned his mother had died of a drug overdose, and the father took the boy to try to squeeze money out of someone. It turned out there wasn't anybody to give him money in exchange for the boy. The boy had no relatives, apart from his father.
"The Social Welfare Office is looking for a place to put him. They don't have any more foster home openings, or orphanages. I hurriedly put my application in to become a foster parent. There would only need to be home visit. Otherwise, they have full information on Hal and me because of Hal's accident and my work.
"Geez, I hope we can get him. He would be about the age of Hal's son, if he had lived."
"What can we do to help? Is there any information we can provide to the welfare, or something we should do?" Jean asked.
"No, I think I've submitted everything they asked for, and now we just have to wait. I do think we'll have to wear clothes when the social worker comes to interview Hal and me. I guess she'll also want to interview you and Ralph. I guess that means you'll have to wear clothes too for the interview."
"That's not a major problem. I don't feel oppressed because I'll have to wear clothes. How about you, Ralph?" Ralph shook his head `no' and smiled, but that was Ralph, always smiling.
"I've got to get out of this sweaty uniform. I guess, while I'm dressed, I should ask if we need anything from a store, seeing as you two are naked."
"No, get out of those clothes, take a shower and come back and join us drinking iced tea." Bob walked to his room, and the door was heard to shut before Jean said, "Have you talked to Hal yet? Oh, I guess he didn't hear my question. Ralph, I think taking in a child will not be as easy as Bob thinks. First, he and Bob are not two straight men. They're gay men not even joined in a civil partnership. Next, they live in a house with two other gay men. None of us has ever raised a child. What do you think, Ralph?"
Ralph cleared his throat and said, "Jean, I think we have to wait for a lot of things to work out before we can get that far. First, does Hal want to raise somebody else's child? Hal took it pretty hard when his wife and son died. This other boy isn't an easy substitute.
"Sure, Bob looks good on paper, but he's never raised a child either. I can imagine some of those social workers thinking that he doesn't know anything about raising a boy. Of course, he knows how he was raised, and he turned out pretty darned good.
"Then add in the complication of being gay. How many social workers are going to believe that every gay man is just a child molester waiting for the opportunity to abuse some child? Sure, modern statistics tell you that doesn't happen very often, probably even less than straight men who abuse, but think of the fundamentalists just waiting to apply some crazy theory a crackpot preacher shouted at them.
"It isn't easy for this to be resolved. And, while we're at it. We need to be ready to take in a tiny boy, just three years old. He'll need a high chair, a potty chair or gadget on the toilet seat so he won't fall in. We don't know about his clothing, but I'll bet there wasn't much in the car for him. I doubt a three year-old eats the same food we do, so we ought to learn what he needs to be fed. i'm sure oatmeal will be on the list, and applesauce. So, we need to make a list of what he'll need, and be ready to go buy it as soon as we know he's coming to live with us."
"Ralph, you continue to amaze me. You've got that wonderful organizing skill that all your teachers praised. I hadn't even though about the organizing yet, and here you are almost done organizing it in your mind. We do need to do something about a bed. I don't think Bob and Hall will want to share their bed. Of course, that's their choice, but I'm pretty certain that they don't want to take a chance of rolling on top of him."
Hal's truck drove into the driveway just as Bob came out of his room, clean and naked. Jean whispered to Ralph, "Let's not say anything to Hal yet. It's Bob's place to tell about the boy."
Bob stood with open arms as Hal came through the front door and saw his lover waiting for him. "Lover, I've got great news for you."
"Can it wait, love? I'm so sweaty and dirty I don't even like to be beside myself. Just let me shower, and I'll rush back." Hal gave Bob a quick kiss and went to his room.
"Let him get clean, have some iced tea, and settle down, then he'll be able to enjoy your news as much as you do," Ralph spoke. Bob always listened to Ralph's advice because he knew it would be good advice, and he liked Ralph so much from the very beginning of their friendship. He was more like the father he never had, but never spoke down to Bob.
As Bob sat down to sip his iced tea, Ralph asked him to tell about his day. Bob began by saying it looked to be a fairly quiet day until the accident with the car and truck. "A few speeders, but that's typical of the drivers when they get out of a city, find a less-traveled road, and floor it. Unfortunately, that's the way the man killed himself when he hit the truck. He couldn't slow down enough to avoid the accident. Of course, he was typical scofflaw, he didn't observe the seat belt law. He wouldn't need it because he was a good driver. Thank God the boy was belted into his car seat."
"Who are you talking about, love?" Hal asked as he entered the room, sat down beside Bob and gave him a hug.
"There was a wreck. A car ran into the trailer of an 18-wheeler. The driver was ejected from the car. He died. By the time I got to the scene, I found a three year-old boy belted into his car seat, safe and unhurt, but scared and crying. I got him out of the car, held him and rubbed his back. He told me he didn't want to go back with his Dad, of course, he didn't know his Dad died. His Dad had taken him away from his mother, a drug addict. We later learned she had died, and he had no other family.
"The Children's Protective Services agent came to take the boy. She told me they were in desperate need of foster homes. I asked what it takes to become a foster parent. She told me the usual: a clean and safe home, adults who could provide proper love and for a child his age. I asked how you put in your application. She told me, and I told her we ought to quality. I hope you don't mind. She'll be coming to interview us tonight, and, I guess, Jean and Ralph."
Hal began to cry. Bob wrapped his arms around him, and told him, "That's okay, love. We don't have to take the boy if you don't want to. I just thought it was our chance to get started raising a family, like we've talked about."
Hal raised his head, and with tears still streaming down his face, said, "Lover, I have wanted to raise a child, boy or girl, from the time I married. When my wife and child were killed in that accident, my dream was shattered. My son died, and I have come to realize that I don't want to marry another woman. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Now you tell me there's a chance we can raise a son for ourselves, I'm almost overwhelmed. Yes, let's apply! And, let's see if we can carry that forward to adoption." Hal kissed Bob, pulled back to look with longing eyes at his lover, then kissed him passionately. Jean and Ralph just sat smiling, knowing something good was happening.
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