The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation - 35. New Challenges

The next day, Danny received a phone call at home. His first thought was that it was from the contractor, but that wasn’t the case. This call was from one of the doctors he’d been talking to about opening a practice at the health center, once it came to fruition. This particular doctor was an obstetrician who had expressed a definite interest in opening an OBGYN office in the center. Danny was very interested in making this happen, because he felt having an obstetric practice in close proximity to his own office might encourage the patients going to the OBGYN office to bring their children to see him, after they gave birth. However, this particular call had nothing to do with the health center.

“Danny, I need to ask you a question,” the obstetrician began. “I know your family runs a foundation that helps children, but I’m wondering if the foundation ever gets involved with adoptions.”

Danny was somewhat surprised by this question and his mind began to race. He wondered what sort of involvement with adoptions his friend might be referring to.

“It’s not something we normally do,” Danny admitted, “but it’s not something we’d totally shy away from either. The Foundation’s board has a director of social services and a judge on it, so we might be able to direct you to someone who might be able to assist you, if we can’t. Would you mind telling me more about what you have in mind?”

“Yes. I have a young girl, a high school senior, who’s pregnant,” the obstetrician told him. “She was originally planning to keep the baby, since she wouldn’t start showing, at least not obviously, until after graduation and her boyfriend had agreed to marry her. The problem is, he was killed in an automobile accident on his way back from spring break. She knows she won’t be able to raise the child on her own now and her parents are refusing to help her out.”

“That’s kind of cold, but I understand her dilemma,” Danny agreed.

“The reason her parents won’t help her is another problem that is going to make this adoption tricky,” he went on to explain. “The baby will be of mixed-race and the girl’s parents are refusing to have anything to do with a child that’s half-black.”

“Ah. Now I see the problem,” Danny confirmed.

“Not only that, but the girl wants the baby to be adopted by someone who will allow her to see the child once in a while,” the obstetrician continued. “She wants to do this so the child will know her and understand why she had to give him up.”

“Does she live close to here?” Danny followed.

“She lives fairly close to where you told me the health center would be,” he replied. “My current practice is about thirty miles from there and she lives about half-way between the two locations.”

“If you move into the health center, are you going to give up your old practice?” Danny asked, out of curiosity.

“No! My current partner will continue to operate where we are now,” he responded, “while I expand our practice to this new location.”

“I was just curious,” Danny admitted, “and wanted to make sure you hadn’t changed your mind.”

“I haven’t, but what about the adoption?” the other man persisted. “Do you think you can help the girl with this?”

“Well, I do understand what this will involve, since I have a brother raising a mixed-race child,” Danny informed him. “He’s also allowing his son’s mother to remain a part of the boy’s life and she sees the child frequently, even though my brother has sole custody,”

“Fantastic! Do you think he might be willing to adopt another baby?” the obstetrician immediately asked.

“I don’t know, but I’ll ask him,” Danny agreed. “Do you know the sex of the baby yet?”

“We did a sonogram and determined the baby is a boy,” he answered. “Will that help or hurt our chances.”

“I don’t think it will do either,” Danny advised him, “but I wanted to know, in case he asked.”

“I’d really appreciate it, if you could help me out with this,” the obstetrician added.

“Why don’t you give the girl my name and phone number,” Danny suggested, “and in the meantime I’ll check around and talk to my brother to see what I can arrange for her.”

“Thanks, Danny,” the other doctor stated. “I knew there was a reason I wanted to get involved with your project, besides the great opportunity.”

They then exchanged good-byes and ended the call. As soon as he finished this conversation, Danny went to speak with Brandon next. After explaining the situation to him, Danny then went to approach Dion and Trey about it.

“Guys, I’ve got something to run by you, if you don’t mind,” Danny began. “I just got a call from an OBGYN who has a pregnant teen who’s looking to give her baby up for adoption. The child is mixed-race and she wants to stay a part of the baby’s life, since she knows she can’t raise him on her own. It’s a boy and I was wondering if you might be interested. Brandon and I would consider taking him in, because we’d love to have a baby, but with the health center renovations and opening our own practices on the horizon, we don’t feel this is a good time for us to do anything like this.”

Dion and Trey eyed Danny momentarily, before one of them answered.

“Dion and I have talked about having another child,” Trey immediately informed him, “but we didn’t know how we were going to work it out. Even though we were hoping the baby would actually share our genes, we knew that might not be possible. Why don’t you give us some time to talk this over and we’ll get back to you within 48-hours.”

“That will work for me,” Danny agreed, and then he went to the family room where Brandon was.

Before long, Dion and Trey came into the family room to speak with me. When Danny and Brandon saw them, I think they suspected what they wanted to talk to me about. Therefore, when I agreed, Danny and Brandon started to get up to leave, but Dion and Trey just motioned them to stay put, as they addressed me.

“Dad, Danny just told us about a baby that’s going to be put up for adoption,” Dion began. “It sounds like this baby will be a lot like Joshie and we’d love for Joshie to have a little brother. Since we both work, we wanted to know if you’d be willing to help us out again. It won’t be as much work as it was with Joshie, because this time we won’t be at college and will be around to help. We’ll be able to take care of the baby at night and on weekends, holidays and vacations, so you’ll only have to take care of him while we’re at work. If you don’t want to do this, we can afford to put him in day care too, so you don’t have to feel you have to say yes.”

“Wow! This is a total shock,” I answered. “I guess I missed out on your initial conversation, but I’d be happy to do this for you again. Do you know when he’ll be born, assuming it is a he?”

“It is, but I don’t know that. Do you Danny?” Dion asked.

“Since the obstetrician I talked to told me the girl felt she still wouldn’t be showing by the time she graduated,” he replied, “I would assume her due date is sometime in the fall.”

“So we’ll be teaching when the baby’s born,” Dion added.

“That’s fine and I’ll be happy to help,” I agreed. “Besides, I think Joshie will make a great big brother.”

The others all agreed, so I guess it had been decided. Danny then informed us that the girl was supposed to call him to set this up and then he’d ask her if she had a problem with a gay couple adopting her son.

“You are also agreeing to let her be a part of the child’s life, right?” Danny asked, to confirm this detail.

“Yes, we’re doing it with Shelly, so we can do it with her too, as long as she isn’t too demanding,” Dion agreed, with Trey’s nod of approval. “Does she live close by?”

“She lives closer to where the health center will be, but I don’t know exactly where,” Danny explained. “I’ll get that information when I talk to her, but she’s not too far away. If you want, I can also tell her that it will be her obligation to come visit or transport him back and forth, if you let her take him for a while.”

“We can work that out later, but I don’t see it as being a problem,” Dion agreed. “It’s not like she lives hundreds of miles away.”

Seeing this was settled, we just had to wait for Danny to talk to the girl and see if we could iron out a set of details she will agree to. Actually, I’m excited by the thought of having a baby in the house again.

That Friday was also Danny’s birthday and Elliot had worked with me to plan a party for his Dad Danny, the same as he had done for his Dad Brandon. Fortunately, Brandon was going to have Danny’s party on Sunday, because Danny had to work Saturday, so this worked out well. Once again, Elliot didn’t tell anyone until they came home from work that evening, so he asked them to clean up and dress nicely, because they were all going out to dinner with him again.

I’m not certain if Danny suspected that Elliot might do this, but he acted completely surprised when Elliot told him when he returned home from work. Then we loaded everyone into the Suburban and rode down to the restaurant.

Elliot had rented the small, private dining room again, which made this a very intimate gathering. Once again, he told each of us to order whatever we wanted, since he was paying for it, and he wished Danny a Happy Birthday, followed by a very energetic and affectionate hug.

After the cake was brought out and we sang to Danny, Elliot gave him his gift.

“What this?” Danny asked.

“Just open it and you’ll find out,” Elliot told him.

Danny opened the small box and looked inside.

“What the hell?” he wondered, in shock.

“It’s a reservation for Dad Brandon and you to spend a romantic weekend at the Hershey Pocono Resort,” Elliot told him. “All you have to do is let me know when and I’ll confirm the reservation. The credit card is pre-paid and there is more than enough money for you two to go there and have a great time. They have wonderful restaurants, rooms with heart-shaped beds and lovely grounds. I want you to use it as a second honeymoon.”

Both Danny and Brandon were amazed at what Elliot had done. His gift to Brandon had been well thought out and perfect, but he had just outdone himself with this one. Both presents were something both Danny and Brandon would benefit from, but they were worried he was spending too much money this time. Therefore, they decided to speak to him about it alone, after we returned home.

“Elliot, we really appreciate your thoughtfulness and what you’re trying to do for us,” Danny began, “but this is costing you far too much. I’d feel better if you did something that doesn’t use up so much of your money.”

“No way!” Elliot shouted.

“Son, it’s just too much,” Danny advised him.

“It’s nothing!” Elliot exclaimed, “at least nothing compared to everything you’ve give me.”

“But Elliot…” Danny began, only to be cut off.

“No, Dad,” Elliot interrupted. “You treated me when I was sick, you brought me home with you and gave me Dad Brandon, Papa Josh, Papa Jake, Jesse, Joshie and all my uncles, so this is just my way of showing you how much that’s all meant to me. You HAVE to accept my gift.”

“Although I understand where you’re coming from too, he makes a pretty compelling argument, sweetheart,” Brandon told Danny.

“Will you promise you won’t do anything this elaborate in the future?” Danny asked.

“I swear I won’t, just please, please take this gift,” Elliot begged.

“Well, I guess we have a second honeymoon to take,” Danny announced, as he smiled at Elliot and Brandon.

Although Danny and Brandon would have preferred not to accept this, it seemed this gesture meant a great deal to Elliot. Since they didn’t want to break his heart or make him feel badly, they agreed and graciously accepted his generous gift.

“One thing I want you to remember,” Danny whispered in Elliot’s ear, “you may have ended up gaining all of us the night I brought you home, but we got you in return. I’d call that a pretty fair trade.”

Elliot smiled and gave Danny another big hug. Then he turned and did the same thing with Brandon.

Later that night, I became aware of something else. After I saw Elliot head up to bed, I noticed Jesse was still back in the rec room. Curious, I went out to speak with him.

“I’m surprised you’re still down here,” I began. “I saw Elliot head up to bed a little while ago. Aren’t you guys still sharing a room?”

“Nah, we haven’t been doing that for a while,” Jesse replied, while nonchalantly shaking off my question.

“Is something wrong?” I wondered. “Did you two have a disagreement?”

“No, nothing’s wrong and we’re still cool,” Jesse confirmed. “We just stopped spending nights together.”

“Any specific reason why you stopped doing that?” I pressed, since this had roused my curiosity.

“I guess we just got out of the habit,” Jesse clarified. “I mean, Elliot spends time at Hayden’s, and when they’re not there, Hayden stays here and spends the night in Elliot’s room with him. I just didn’t want to get in the way. Besides, Elliot’s usually pretty tired at night, after tennis practice and hitting the books so hard, so he goes to bed kind of early too. He’s also a pretty restless sleeper and that sort of keeps me awake a lot.”

“So it’s not that you’re jealous of Hayden spending time with Elliot or you haven’t had a fight?” I continued, since I wanted to get to the bottom of this.

“Nah, nothing like that,” Jesse explained. “I even encouraged him to have another friend, so he won’t be alone when I go off to college. Besides, we still get together once in a while for some fun, just not every night any more.”

“Do you think Elliot’s doing that with Hayden then?” I wondered.

“No way!” Jesse confirmed. “Hayden’s too uptight to do anything with another guy. I mean, I guess he doesn’t have any problems changing in front of Elliot and they shower together at school after tennis practice, but Hayden’s made some comments that’s made it clear that he doesn’t mess around with guys.”

“How do you think he’d react if he knew Elliot and you did that sometimes?” I pressed.

“I don’t know,” Jesse answered. “He might just say ‘you do what you want, just don’t mess with me,’ or he might just stop hanging around with Elliot. I’m not sure what he’d do.”

“But you don’t think he’d try to hurt Elliot, do you?” I continued.

“I don’t think so, unless Elliot tried something with him,” Jessed conjectured. “I think they’re too tight as friends for him to do more than that. Besides, I think he might have his hands full, if he picked a fight with Elliot.”

“You might be right and that’s good to know,” I concurred. “I hope Elliot’s smart enough not to try anything with Hayden then.”

“I’m sure he is,” Jesse confirmed.

Now that my curiosity had been sated, I said good night to Jesse and went back to the family room with Jake. This conversation had given me something else to think about.

I kept my eyes open after that, to see if I picked up on any other signs, but I didn’t see anything that alarmed me. I could tell that Jesse and Elliot were still friends and weren’t ignoring one another, but they just weren’t always together, as they had been for much of the time that Elliot had been with us. I guess it’s just that the novelty of doing things with each other and hanging out together all of the time has just seemed to wear off a little. I hope there aren’t any deeper implications here, but I see it the same way as it was for many of the other boys, as they started to get older and gradually grew apart.

The next day, Danny, Brandon and Kevin went to the bank to deliver the last of the paperwork needed to secure the mortgages on their intended purchases. They not only had provided the bank with the signed contracts and the financial data the bank had requested, but they also delivered copies of the blueprints, their business plans and Danny also gave them a list of the practices that had agreed to rent suites at the health center, once the renovations had been completed. I think they had crossed all the t’s and dotted all the i’s, so we just had to wait for their decision.

After getting all of this information from the boys, the bank requested some more documentation, since they still had some reservations about the purchases. The bank was concerned that since the boys would be giving up their current positions to move into these new ventures, and thus be giving up their existing salaries, they might not be able to meet their obligations. We were talking about this one night when Elliot walked in on our conversation.

“You don’t need to go through the bank,” Elliot stated.

“That’s where the money is, son. If we want to get a loan, then we have to go through the bank,” Brandon responded.

“Elliot rolled his eyes in exasperation.

“Dad, I’m almost fifteen, so I know how banks work,” he remarked, sarcastically. “What I meant was, you already have the money. Just have Uncle Mark take it out of my account.”

“No way! We won’t gamble with your future by risking it on something like this,” Danny told him. “We appreciate your offer, but we’ll just do this some other way.”

“It’s not a gamble, because you’re a great doctor,” Elliot argued, and then he turned to Brandon, “and you’re a great dentist, Dad. This would be a good investment, and besides, I want to help,” he insisted.

“We know you want to help and we appreciate your generous offer, but we won’t take that kind of risk with your money,” Danny explained.

“It may take a little more work, but we’ll get the loan from the bank. We’ll be fine, financially,” Brandon stated, “and you can help when the center opens. We’ll find something for you to do, if you’d like.”

“That sounds great and I would like that, but wouldn’t it be easier to just use my money? Please! I want you to have it,” Elliot pleaded. “Come on, Papa, back me up. Tell them they’re just being silly.”

“Actually, I agree with your dads, Elliot. Your father left you that money to benefit you and that’s what it’s going to be used for. Besides, with all of the investments that Mark has it tied up in, I don’t even know if you’d be able to get enough money to help your dads out.

“But don’t worry,” I went on. “I think I know a way to handle this without tapping into your inheritance.”

To relieve the bank’s concerns that they might default on their mortgages, I co-signed for both of the mortgages. I pledged both my personal financial backing, plus I also promised the support of the Castaway Foundation to guarantee repayment. This seemed to be all that was needed to get the bank to agree to loan them the money, so their mortgages were approved.

Now that this was set, the boys merely needed to attend a formal closing ceremony and sign the remaining paperwork. The titles to the properties would be transferred at that time and they could begin their renovations. Kevin would be able to start immediately, since his property was currently vacant, and Danny and Brandon would be able to start right after the work was finished on Kevin’s place, because the school property should be vacant by then.

The next couple of days went smoothly and I was getting ready to take Joshie with me to watch Elliot’s next tennis match. When Jesse noticed we were getting ready to leave, he came over to me.

“May I go with you?” he asked. “I’d like to go watch Elliot play too.”

“Certainly,” I agreed. “I just didn’t realize you were interested in tennis.”

“I’m not really, but I want to see Elliot and Hayden play,” he explained. “Elliot’s technically my nephew, but they’re both my friends. We get along really well and I want to watch them play and cheer them on.”

“Fine, then let’s get going,” I agreed.

We had missed a couple of the road trips Elliot had made in between, but we felt they were too far away for us to get to them. Elliot told us that he had lost both singles matches and Hayden had split his, but they lost both of their doubles matches as well. He said they’d played better, but just didn’t win.

Danny and Brandon were already there when we arrived, so we joined them. They had taken off to watch Elliot play again and Danny looked at me as we approached.

“Dad, I got a call from the general contractor earlier and he gave me the estimates for both jobs,” Danny told me, while we waited for Elliot’s match to begin. “I then called Kevin and told him what his renovation would cost and he had the same reaction I did. The contractor came through with a better bid than we expected.”

“Really? It was lower than you thought it would be?” I questioned.

“Yes, we’d both talked to others about what we were planning,” Danny confirmed, “and the contractor’s bid was nearly thirty-percent lower than we’d been told to expect. It might be because this guy had another job recently cancel on him, so he may have been willing to do it a little cheaper, rather than not having any work at all for his crew. He possibly thought that if his quotes were too high then we’d go with someone else. Either way, Kevin, Brandon and I will take it.”

“So everything’s all set for the renovation?” I followed.

“That was the last piece of the puzzle,” Danny confirmed. “Dustin and the two guys he’s going to have do the plumbing and electrical work are all ready to go as well. I think their workload has also been a little slow, due to the economy, so this is helping them too, almost as much as they’ll be helping us.”

“That’s fantastic and maybe it’s a blessing that this came along now,” I told him, “even though you didn’t think you were ready to do this yet. By taking advantage of the building opening up and then being able to hire people who might otherwise be unemployed, it’s saving you a little money in the process. I don’t think you could have asked for more.”

“I know,” he confirmed.

Having finished this discussion, we anxiously waited for Elliot and Hayden to take the court. When Elliot finally did, Joshie yelled out.

“Hi, Elliot,” Joshie greeted him, with a wave.

Elliot smiled and looked up and waved at Joshie and then he nodded his acknowledgement to the rest of us. I could tell he was pleased that we were all here, but somewhat surprised that Jesse was with us. I could tell, because he sort of stared at Jesse for a moment, as if he couldn’t quite believe it was actually him.

Elliot was playing quite well today and it made me wonder if he was trying extra hard to impress us. I know it means a lot to him that we come to support him and watch his matches, so I suspect he might be giving a little more effort today, as a way of showing his appreciation. In fact, he won his match quite easily today, in straight sets, and finished ahead of Hayden.

Since Elliot was done, we moved over to watch the remainder of Hayden’s contest. He was tied at one set each, but he was currently ahead in the last set. We all cheered him on and he ended up winning his match too.

Now, we all kind of held our breath, as we waited for Elliot and Hayden’s doubles match. They hadn’t won one yet and I was positive that they didn’t want to go through the season without winning at least one of their doubles contests. For that reason, I think we were all praying today would end their drought.

Unfortunately, they started out a little shaky and ended up losing the first set. Both boys were looking a little down at this point, but then I heard Jesse shout at them.

“Come on guys, you can do it,” he encouraged them. “Don’t give up. Suck it up and get your heads in the game. I believe in you guys.”

Surprisingly, Jesse’s little ‘pep talk’ had just the effect that he wanted. Both boys lifted their chins up again and stood a little straighter, as they took the court for their second set. They started playing a little better and I even heard one or the other call ‘mine,’ when the ball was hit back up the center of the court.

I could actually see their confidence growing, after they scored a few points and then won the first game. After that, they won the second and third games too, before losing the fourth. However, they managed to win the set and were all smiles now. They even seemed to move and play with a new confidence as the third set started. They no longer thought of themselves as losers and began to attack the ball.

The boys quickly won the first four games this time, before losing the fifth. However, they ended up winning this set 6-1, which meant they won not only their first sets as doubles partners, but they had also won their first match. They were all smiles as they approached us, after they finished.

“We finally did it! The curse is broken!” Elliot exclaimed, and Hayden was grinning from ear-to-ear.

“We aren’t the world’s worst doubles team any longer,” Hayden added.

“You must be our good luck charm,” Elliot told Jesse. “It’s the first time you came to watch us and the first time we won a doubles match. Hell, it’s the first time Hayden and I won all of our matches since the season started.”

“Yeah, you’ve got to come more often,” Hayden urged Jesse.

Jesse was all smiles as he listened to the two boys rant on. I’m certain he didn’t feel as if he was the one responsible for their success, but he did seem to enjoy the attention.

“Okay, I’ll come with Dad to your home games from now on,” he agreed, and then Elliot and Hayden each gave Jesse a high-five.

Since Elliot rode home with one of his fathers, and they were giving Hayden a ride home too, Jesse went back to the house with Joshie and me. This arrangement temporarily ended their little victory celebration, at least until they got home. Once Danny pulled into the driveway, Elliot jumped out of the car and was whooping up his success and enjoying the ‘thrill of victory,’ after having so often experienced the ‘agony of defeat.’

I guess the boys went up to Elliot’s room after dinner and enjoyed victory blowjobs, but I understand Jesse went to his own room to sleep, once they were done. At least now I wasn’t worried that they were feuding or that anything was wrong. It’s just that they were each finding their own niche, which didn’t always have to include the other.

That weekend was also the first wedding we were scheduled to attend this summer. We loaded up the Suburban and rental van and headed out to the town where Duck’s fiancee lived. Duck and Jennifer were having a small ceremony in a church there and our family was invited. Of course, Vinnie was going to be the best man, but this would also give us a chance to meet Jennifer’s family too.

The ceremony was nice and not too long. Jennifer looked absolutely lovely in her wedding gown and her bridesmaids all wore blue. The matron of honor wore a midnight blue dress, while the other’s two girls’ dresses were a lighter shade of blue. All the guys wore tuxes and looked very handsome.

Since Jennifer’s family isn’t very well off financially, they first suggested having her relatives prepare the food for the reception. Jake and I heard about this and offered to pay for them to rent a hall and arranged to have it catered, buffet style. They had previously explained her family was paying the photographer, so I felt I would do this as the representative of Duck’s family. After some discussion, they finally accepted our assistance and I finalized the reception arrangements.

Once the bridal party was introduced, Vinnie offered a toast and did a very nice job with it. Then we slowly made our way to get our food, beginning with the bridal table. Everyone had plenty to eat, it was quite good, and then we all relaxed and enjoyed the music. We even took a spin with the bride, during the dollar dance, although some of the boys joked around and danced with Duck, since there were more males than females in attendance.

Jake and I also chipped in for them to honeymoon in the Poconos, because we didn’t want the couple to start off their married live without some sort of special beginning. Duck and Jennifer thanked Jake and me for all our help and for everything we’d done for them and we wished them a long and happy life together.

Since the reception didn’t go very late, we drove back the same evening. Shortly after we arrived at home, Danny received another phone call.

“Dr. Currie, my doctor told me to call you,” the voice began, “because he said you might be able to help me find someone to adopt my baby.”

Danny quickly moved off to a place where he could deal with this phone call in private.