The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation - 46. Fitting In.

The following morning, after Elliot and Noah woke up, they came tromping down the stairs and made their way into the kitchen. They were hungry and looking for something to fill their tummies. Since their fathers had already left for work and Noah was unfamiliar with the choices, I gave him a quick rundown of his options.

“We have several kinds of cold cereal, toast, bagels, eggs or I can whip up a batch of pancake batter,” I announced. “What would you like?”

“Um, scrambled eggs and toast,” he stated, somewhat hesitantly.

“Would you like bacon or sausage links to go with your eggs,” I followed.

“Bacon sounds good,” he replied.

“Okay, coming right up,” I advised him. “I’ll butter your toast, but if you want jelly then Elliot can show you what kinds we have.”

I then took Elliot’s breakfast order too and set about making their meals for them. Before long, Jesse and Joshie came down to join us, so I got their breakfast as well. Once everyone was eating, I sat down to chat with them.

“Did you sleep okay, Noah?” I asked.

He glanced at Elliot quickly, before he answered.

“Not at first,” he reluctantly admitted.

Noting Noah’s discomfort and the questioning expression on my face, Elliot decided to clarify this for me.

“I stayed with him last night, to help him get used to this big place,” Elliot offered.

“Did that help, Noah?” I followed.

“Yeah, I slept real good after that,” he confirmed.

I think Elliot was glad that Noah hadn’t reacted badly when he admitted they’d spent the night together. Elliot wasn’t originally planning to bring it up, because he didn’t want to embarrass Noah, but since Noah hadn’t elaborated on his comment, Elliot felt he should. Once he did, he was concerned that Noah might be worried we were going to treat him like a baby now. Noah did look a little leery as he glanced at us, but when no one reacted to this news, he immediately began to relax. When I noticed this, I gave Elliot a wink to let him know I approved of what he’d done for his little brother.

After the older boys had finished their meals, Jesse and Elliot took their dishes into the kitchen, as I went to grab a little more orange juice for Noah. They had done this so they could corner me and ask a question, without Noah or Joshie overhearing.

“Dad, would you mind if we take Noah for a walk and show him around the property,” Jesse asked. “If you say it’s okay, we’ll take Joshie with us too, if his dads give him permission to join us. If he goes, we’ll stop by the tree house for a while too.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” I concurred.

Jesse and Elliot then went off to ask Dion and Trey if Joshie could go with them, while I went back to the dining room to give Noah a refill of juice. When Joshie’s fathers agreed to let their son go too, the boys came back and told Noah and Joshie about their plans. Before long, the four of them were tearing out the back door and heading into the woods.

Jesse told me later that they took Noah around the entire perimeter of our property. They even showed him the ravine, but made certain that neither Noah nor Joshie got too close to it. Elliot also kept his distance from the edge of the ravine as well, because he was concerned his fear of heights might suddenly kick in. After Noah had seen everything else, the boys finished up at the tree house. To say the least, Noah was impressed when he saw it.

“Wow. Who built this?” he asked.

“Your papa, your dads and some of your older uncles originally built it,” Jesse answered, “but I come out here every couple of years and coat it with water seal, so it doesn’t rot.”

“It’s huge and goes all the way around the tree,” Noah announced. “Can we go up there?”

“Sure we can,” Jesse confirmed. “In fact, Joshie loves to play up there too.”

Joshie was energetically nodding his head in agreement.

“How do we get up?” Noah wondered.

“We have to use the ladder,” Elliot announced, as he pointed it out to Noah.

Elliot had Joshie go up the ladder first and then he followed behind him. Once they reached the top, then Jesse urged Noah to go ahead of him next. When they were all up in the tree house, the boys told Noah some of the things they’d done before, such as using the fort as a pirate ship, turning it into Tarzan’s tree house and making it into the Swiss Family Robinson fort. Noah thought those were all great ideas and immediately wanted to try them too. Since he was willing and eager to do this, the others spent part of their time pretending to do each of these things with him. They wanted him to get a chance to experience everything and have a good time.

After they’d finished their youthful play, they climbed back down the ladder. Once they reached the ground, Noah quickly let them know what he’d thought about the things they’d done.

“That was fun,” he offered. “I’m glad you brought me out here. Thank you.”

The boys told him he was welcome and then they made their way back to the house. When they came in, they had another question for me.

“Papa, would it be all right if we went swimming now?” Elliot wanted to know.

“Let me ask Noah a couple of questions first,” I replied. “Noah, can you swim?”

“Yeah. I don’t do it often, but I can swim,” he answered.

“Okay, and do you have a swimsuit?” I followed.

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure it’s up in my room,” he replied. “I can go up and see, if you want.”

“Sure, if you want to go swimming. I’ll even go out and play lifeguard for you then, in case there are any problems,” I agreed. “Run upstairs and change into your trunks and I’ll meet you boys back here in a couple of minutes.”

As the boys raced off to change, I thought back upon our brief discussion. I think Noah had just offered more information about himself than he had at any other time. I hoped it was due to the fact that he was beginning to feel more comfortable with us now.

A few seconds later, the thundering herd came flying down the stairs. They all had their swim trunks on, so I passed out the towels and led them out the backdoor. Once we were outside, they all rushed past me, in an attempt to be the first one in the water.

From what I could tell, they all seemed to have a good time in the pool, but I also noticed one thing that troubled me a little. Noah could swim, but he wasn’t a very strong swimmer, so we might have to work with him to improve his skills. It’s too bad the summer is just ending or we might have been able to enroll him in a swim class. However, school will be starting in a few days, so we probably won’t be able to do anything like that for a while.

Once I had a chance to consider this further. I began to worry about it a lot less. First of all, it isn’t very likely that Noah will go swimming without the other boys, and second, Jesse and Elliot are both capable of looking after him. Jesse’s a fairly strong swimmer and Elliot’s practically a fish, so I’m convinced they will do a good job of taking care of the younger ones when they’re with them in the water.

Later that evening, as I was watching the news, I listened to the announcer talk about the financial roller coaster the markets have been on. After the last minute deal to avoid default, the long downward spiral in the markets, the downgrading of the U.S. credit rating and intermittent market upswings, I was glad Mark was handling our finances. Somehow he’d managed to protect us during the 2008 downturn and now he’s managed to shelter us from the recent market volatility as well. I owe him a huge debt for doing this and for keeping the family financially solvent.

As I said, school is starting on Monday, so when Danny had a day off from work before then, he took Noah down to the middle school to enroll him. After introducing him to the principal and his secretary, Danny filled out all the appropriate paperwork and signed the forms to have Noah’s records transferred from his previous school

Noah will be entering seventh grade this year, and when Danny asked him how he did in school, Noah would only say he did okay. Even when pressed, he was still unwilling to offer any more details. This left Danny wondering if he was a C student, or possibly better or worse than that. I guess we’ll find out shortly, whatever the case.

Over the next few days, Noah slowly began to adjust to us, and we to him. I won’t say he was suddenly all smiles and much happier than he’d been when Danny first brought him home, but he didn’t seem quite as sad as he first had. He also wasn’t what I’d call gregarious either, but he would occasionally tell us more than he had previously been willing to divulge. Basically though, he would speak when spoken to, but the majority of his responses were still minimal, at best. He has yet to be the one to initiate a conversation, at least with the adults, and he usually only responds to questions or situations. For the most part, he does this without making any additional comments or asking questions about other matters.

Danny, Brandon and I also went through his clothing and decided he needed quite a few things before he started school. On Friday night, his fathers took him shopping and let him pick out some new clothes. I’m not sure he was used to doing this, especially after they told me about his reactions and the comments he’d made, but now he was set for the first day of classes.

Since Elliot hadn’t gone to the middle school, Jesse filled Noah in about what it is like. He even told him a few anecdotes about some of the teachers he might have, without turning them into horror stories. He also mentioned to Noah that he’d be seeing Uncle Dion there, since he taught music at the middle school. We weren’t sure if Noah thought this was a good or bad thing. I think he was still trying to decide if having an uncle in the building, who might be able to keep track of what he was doing, was something he could live with.

On the weekend, Little Ricky returned home from college. He was finally finished with his coursework and had just completed the last of the requirements for his M.S.W. degree. We were glad to have him back with us, but after welcoming him home there was a question I needed answered.

“Richard, have you contacted your Aunt Sally yet,” I wanted to know. “I told you she had a possible job she though you could fill.”

“I haven’t yet, but it’s the first thing I’m going to do now,” he confirmed. “You said the job wouldn’t open up until September, so I felt I had time.”

“You should have done it already and not procrastinated,” I chastised him. “She has to find someone to fill this opening and if she hasn’t heard from you, she might just decide you’re not interested and begin looking for other candidates.”

“Okay, I get your point,” Little Ricky agreed. “What if I give her a quick call at home, just to let her know I’m back? I won’t mention the job issue, since I’m calling her outside of work, unless she asks me about it first. I imagine she will, but if not I’ll call her at the office on Monday to discuss it.”

“That will work and I’m positive she’ll bring the job opening up, even if you are calling her at home,” I agreed. “I think she just needs to hear from you.”

Once Little Ricky made his phone call, I pulled him aside. I wanted to introduce him to Noah next, before he went off to unpack his belongings and put everything back in his bedroom. He was one of the uncles Noah hadn’t met yet and another warm body that would be living in the house. I’m not sure how long Little Ricky will be staying with us, or even if he considers this is a temporarily or permanent situation. Whichever the case, I’m glad to have him back again, no matter how long it lasts.

When the weekend arrived, the boys understood this would be their last opportunity to enjoy themselves before school began. They spent their time swimming, going for walks and playing games in the house, but they also spent time with the rest of us. No matter what they were doing, you could still tell they were all a bit subdued about the idea that they’d soon be sitting in a classroom again. In fact, Joshie seemed to be the only one who was excited about school starting. He’ll be in first grade this year, so we’ll see if his attitude changes at all after his first month in class.

During this time, we also learned that Noah was thinking about going out for the soccer team. He told us he played in a soccer league where he used to live and enjoyed it a lot. After learning this, we all encouraged him to sign up and try out. Danny and Brandon even shared some stories about when they’d played soccer on the school teams. I think after hearing what they had to say, Noah decided to give it a try, especially since his fathers had played and were being so positive about him getting involved.

The only other thing that will be happening soon is that Elliot will be joining the swim team as a diver. This means we’ll have his meets to attend, along with Noah’s games, so this will keep us busy. Not only that, but I’m convinced Joshie will want to go to the football games with Jake and me again this year, and some of the others might want to go with us too. So much for my peaceful retirement, but I guess I won’t be complaining about being bored.

School started on Monday. Under normal circumstances, the boys would ride in with Dion, Trey and Joshie in the morning, but with Noah’s inclusion this year there were just too many of them for one vehicle. Therefore, Joshie rode with his fathers and Brandon took Noah, Elliot and Jesse down and dropped them off, before he headed off to his office.

It seemed very strange to be alone in the house again, because the boys had been around and kept me company for most of the summer. Since I didn’t want to just sit and feel sorry for myself all day, I debated about how I wanted to fill my newly acquired free time. After thinking it over for several minutes, I finally made up my mind. I went outside, hopped in the Suburban and took off down the road. I’d decided to go to Kevin’s pharmacy and see how he was doing.

As soon as I passed through the main entrance, I noticed he was busily working behind the pharmacy counter. Since I didn’t want to bother him, I chose to walk around and look for some things we needed at home, instead of going over to speak with him. Eventually, he must have noticed me and came out to chat.

“Hey, Dad,” he greeted me. “I’m glad you stopped by. How’s Frankie doing?”

“Much better than he was,” I answered. “I was thinking I should stay with him longer, so I could help him out, but by the end of the week he was doing almost everything on his own. He’s so stubborn. He just can’t stand having others do things for him, because he says it makes him feel like an invalid. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep him down. Against my objections, he kept doing more and more things for himself, so it made my staying with him any longer unnecessary. Then, when he went for his next appointment, the doctor said his wounds were healing nicely and he was coming along very well, so I guess whatever he’s doing must be working out okay. I just wish he’d have let me take care of him a little longer.”

“Yeah, he’s always been the tough guy in the family,” Kevin agreed. “He never liked the rest of us doing too much to help him either, but whenever any of us had a problem Frankie was always there to take care of it or back us up. I think that’s why he joined the army and is a cop now. He likes protecting people. Seeing how well he’s done, I guess it’s not a bad trait.”

“No, I would have to agree,” I responded. “I think it all began after his little problem with Trey, when he first came to live with us. I think he’s always felt badly about that incident and has done everything possible to make up for it ever since.”

“Yes, that was a tough time for him, especially since you felt you had to send him away for what he tried to do to Trey,” Kevin agreed. “After he came back though, he was totally different. I think that’s why he likes to feel in charge of things now, especially when it comes to his own life. It’s his way to make certain nothing like that ever happens again.”

“I totally understand why he does it, but it can be frustrating at times, especially when he won’t let us help out,” I replied. “I guess we aren’t going to change him though, so we’ll just have to learn to live with him being this way. Did I tell you Frankie is going to receive a citation for his actions? They’re claiming he prevented a terrorist attack when he stopped those two men.”

“Brandon told me how he got injured,” Kevin confessed, “but I hadn’t heard anything about Frankie stopping a terrorist attack. Damn, that’s impressive.”

“I agree,” I replied. “Frankie has done some pretty remarkable things already, both in the army and now with the State Police, and I’m very proud of him. It’s just that I’m a little concerned about his safety.”

“I understand, but I guess it comes with the territory,” Kevin stated.

“So how are you doing? Is everything going all right here?” I wondered.

“Actually, it’s going very well,” Kevin confirmed. “The pharmacy is actually doing more business than I’d anticipated for this soon after we’d opened. I’ve even been getting a lot of prescriptions to fill from the health center. I’m really glad Danny and Brandon suggested I open a pharmacy near them.”

“Hey, they were just repaying the favor, because you were the one who first brought up the idea about the health center to them,” I countered. “I’m just happy that all of you seem to be happy and are doing so well.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Kevin replied, “and we all appreciate your support. I’ve also had some good feedback from the customers, especially those coming over from the health center. They appreciate the fact that everything they could need for their children is all in one place now and conveniently located. They’ve also mentioned that one of the things they like about the pharmacy is the drive-through window to get their prescriptions. Some of them came inside first, before they learned about it, but now that they know it’s here, they’ve been using it a lot.”

“I’m sure they are,” I agreed. “It certainly makes it easier for them to pick-up their prescriptions, even if they aren’t dressed appropriately to come into the store, are having a bad hair day, in a hurry or even if they just don’t feel well enough to run inside to get their meds.”

At this point, Kevin’s assistant let him know he was needed, so he went back to work and I finished walking around and picking up the things for home. After I paid for the items, I went over to the health center to see how Brandon was doing. He was with a patient when I got there, so I waited around and chatted with his receptionist for a while first. When he came out a little while later and saw me, a worried expression came over his face.

“Is something wrong? Did something happen?” he asked, in rapid succession.

“No, I was just bored at home, so I went to see how Kevin was doing and then came over to see you,” I assured him. “How are things going here?”

“Actually, pretty well,” he told me, after he’d breathed a sigh of relief. “We’ve had quite a few walk-ins over the past couple of weeks, as well as a bunch of people calling in to make appointments. To tell you the truth, I’m very pleased with how well word is spreading about the practice.”

“What about your new partner? Is he also doing as well?” I followed.

“It’s taking him a little longer to get established, but his client base is beginning to grow too,” Brandon replied. “He knew it would take some time, but he’s starting to pick up a large group of patients who previously had to travel long distances to have their orthodontic work done. They seem to appreciate having someone in the area that can do the work for them.”

“That’s great!” I concurred. “I’m so happy things are working out for you guys.”

“Thanks, and Danny will be opening his office in a few more weeks,” Brandon confirmed. “He’s already hired two nurses, who are going to start setting things up next week. He’s also hired a receptionist, but she won’t start until the Thursday before he opens. Since my billing clerk was only working for me part-time, she’s agreed to work for both of us. That way she’ll have a full-time job.

“We’re even working with a company about setting up a benefit plan for all the employees at the health center,” Brandon added, “and we’re trying to see if we can include Kevin’s pharmacy employees too. We’re all ‘health’ related and interdependent, so I think we might be able to do it.”

“That’s great and I’m so pleased this is working out for all of you,” I replied. “It’s nice to see you guys are all getting yourselves established.”

“Thanks, Dad,” he offered. “So have you heard anything about the boys yet?”

“No. They’ve only been in school for a couple of hours and I’d only have heard something if there was a problem,” I answered. “Calm down, Daddy. I’m sure they’re all doing fine.”

“Yeah, I guess I am just a little worried about Noah,” he confessed. “He’s barely had enough time to adjust to living with us and now he’s being thrust into a new school setting too.”

“I understand, but I’m sure he’ll do well,” I stated, while trying to soothe Brandon’s concerns.

“You’re probably right,” he agreed.

“Okay. I’m going to let you get back to work and I’m going to walk around and see how the remodeling is coming, if that’s all right?’

“Of course it is, Dad,” Brandon replied.

“Thanks. I’ll see you tonight then,” I told him. “Try to have a good day and don’t worry so much.”

Brandon merely flashed me a grin and nodded his head, before he disappeared into the back again.

After I returned home, I puttered around the house for the rest of the day, while I waited for school to end. I wasn’t exactly sure how things were supposed to go tonight, other than I knew that Elliot was going to call me when his practice was over. So, for now, I will just bide my time and wait to pick the boys up from practice.