The Boy on the Porch - 6. Settling In, and an Oh No!

Monday morning, they all slept in a little later than usual. After eating the breakfast fixings he'd bought the night before, as planned, Brendan took them all shopping. He knew that since the house was devoid of food, it would be a big order. Rather than have them fight over it, he let Jill and Steve each push a shopping cart. He figured before they were done, they'd need two anyway. He was wrong. He and Nick had to run up front for a third. Nick helped him push that one. Fortunately, it only got half full before they headed to the checkout.

They all lent a hand in putting things away, Nick taking care of things in the lower cabinets. That made him curious about it.

“I think most kids wouldn’t be happy helping out doing things around the house, why aren’t you all aching to get away?”

As the typical spokesperson, Jill offered, “Our parents didn’t ask us to help with a lot of things. They thought, oh, shoot.”

Nick let her off the hook, “I know they didn’t want me helping because they were afraid I’d break something.”

Jill continued, “So, since it’s something new, we don’t mind it so much.”

“Got it. So, after a dozen or so times, I’ll be on my own.”

Nick laughed, the other two just shrugged.

It was still too early for lunch, so the kids watched some TV, waiting for a little while for the drizzle to clear up before asking about going in the pool. Brendan took care of changing the address on his on-line accounts and paying some bills. Brendan's office overlooked the back yard, so he would be able to somewhat keep an eye on them while they were out back. He had been thinking something was missing, but until now, he couldn't quite grasp what it was. Then it came to him. After he completed the changes and paying the bills, he joined the kids out at the pool. They were just relaxing on the lounge chairs since it wasn’t sunny or as warm as it would get, so a conversation wouldn't be interrupted by splashes.

"I thought of something to ask you all before. You haven't mentioned having friends over. I know you all get along great with each other, but wouldn't you like to invite a friend or two over sometime?"

The three of them looked at each other, wondering which one of them should share the bad news.

Finally, Nick spoke up, "We were hardly ever allowed to have friends over before, so most of them gave up on us."

"That's awful. Aren't there any that might be willing to renew the friendship now that you don't have that, and I'd bet many other restrictions?"

They were all thoughtful for a moment.

"I'd bet you can each find at least one friend that would come back, knowing you have a pool."

As usual, Jill spoke first, "That's probably true, except we don't really have a way to get in touch."

"No social media accounts, at least for you and Steve, Jill?"

"No. We weren't allowed."

"What about after you go back to school? When does that start, anyway?"

Jill and Steve looked at each other, afraid they were in big trouble. Nick just remained quiet. "Oh no" went through all three of their minds.

"What did I say?"

Steve was the brave one, this time, "S-s-school s-started a m-m-month ag-g-go."

"So, you were all supposed to be in school last week?"

Jill was sad, "Yes. We're sorry. But with everything going on with mom and dad, and helping you pack, we were afraid to bring it up. You're going to send us away now, aren't you?"

"WHAT?!!? No. Oh, geez, is that what you thought? I'm not like your parents. I may not really know how to deal with kids, so I'm learning as we go. But what happened with your parents would have been a perfectly good excuse to not go to school. Oh, wow. So, you should go back tomorrow?"

They all nodded, still afraid of the ramifications.

"Okay, so, I suppose I'll be able to write notes for you and Steve. Did either of you take a bus to school?"

"Yeah, we both did."

"Okay, so I'll drive you in tomorrow and arrange to have your bus assignment changed. Nick, I think I'll need to sign you up at a different school."

The two older kids told him the starting times, fortunately they were a little bit apart. Steve and Nick would have to be up earlier than usual, since Jill's high school started first. Brendan called the elementary school, and a recorded message indicated what time they'd be open in the morning.

"S-s-sooo we're n-n-not in t-trouble?"

"No, Steve, you're not in trouble. Okay, we have bread, lunch meat, all the fixings for lunch. Let's do it."

After lunch, the sun came out, the temperature went up, and they had a little end-of-summer family pool party. Chicken breasts on the grill were the main course for dinner. Brendan was going to have to learn to do more cooking than heating up frozen dinners. Grilling was something he could already handle, though.

Brendan had them gather up their school books before bed, since they'd probably be rushed in the morning. He'd have to take Nick's books back to his old school another day this week. Before going to bed, Brendan sent his boss another email; he'd have to start late the next morning, and they needed to have a discussion about him possibly working remotely, at least most of the time.

Tuesday morning arrived, and although it was hectic, they got out of the house early enough to get Jill to school on time. With Steve and Nick in tow, he went to the office to give them the new address and a copy of the temporary guardianship papers. The assistant he dealt with provided a copy of the new bus information. Jill would be picked up on the corner second closest to their house. So far so good.

Steve got to school a little late, so the office was the first stop. Steve got a hall pass and Brendan settled the busing. Steve would catch his bus at the corner of their street. Nick was early, which was good, since there was a lot more paperwork to complete. Just before classes started, his new teacher came and took him to the classroom. Same bus deal as Steve, just twenty minutes later on the same corner. Brendan finished the paperwork and headed back home to get some work done. During a lull in the rush, he was able to talk to his boss. They'd agreed Brendan would come in on Mondays, after the kids were off to school, working a full day there. They also agreed he'd be in work Friday mornings, taking a break lunchtime to head home and work the rest of the day from there. The office was only ten minutes away from the new house, so there would be minimal down time. Whatever family needs pulled Brendan away from work, he'd just make up the time at home in the evenings. Other days, as needed, he could come in the bulk of the day between the kids’ departure and arrival. He decided Jill would get a child care allowance for being in charge on Monday afternoons.

The kids all came home with extra homework to make up, but the teachers were fair and gave them all to the end of the week. Nick's homework was more about the teacher understanding what his second grade progress was, rather than traditional homework. The rest of the week, Brendan made sure they spent most of the time between getting home and dinner on homework, and depending on progress, perhaps another short interval after dinner.

Things went smoothly for a while, then that Friday came with an afternoon visit from CPS. Once again it was Stephanie Lawson. She checked out the house, saw that the pool fence had a lock on it, and then asked Brendan a number of questions.

"So, that's it? I'm official? I don’t need to hire a lawyer or anything?”

"For now, but that's always the case when CPS is involved. I'll visit every other week for the next month or so, toward the end of the day, so I can see the children, but, yes. I will be recommending permanent guardianship. If things remain as they are, they'll stay with you until they're at least eighteen, and I'll be making monthly visits. No lawyer necessary because you’re family. And one more thing."

Brendan looked worried, "What's that?"

"You must make appointments for all three children, for both a medical checkup, and counseling. I'll want to see proof that they're at least scheduled on my next visit."

"If I just call and make appointments, how can I prove it?"

"Ask the office to email you a confirmation. Explain the situation and CPS' involvement. They won't have a problem doing that."

"Great. Thanks. Is that it?"

"Yes. See you in two weeks."

"Have a nice weekend, Stef."

"You too Brendan."

After the kids got home from school, he could tell something was bothering Steve.

"Is something wrong, Steve?"

"N-n-no, n-not r-r-really."

"That's probably more yes than no. We can talk about anything, you know. Don't be afraid that I won't allow something because your parents didn't."

Steve looked toward Nick.

Brendan read between the lines, "How about we go up to my office to talk about it?"

"Th-th-thanks. Th-that would be g-g-good."

They went upstairs and closed the door.

"Okay, what's bothering you?"

Steve looked everywhere but at Brendan for a minute, but then raised his concern, "When I sh-shared the b-bedroom with N-Nick, it wa-was hard to have f-f-friends over, even w-when m-mom or d-d-dad okayed it. D-d-do ya-ya-you think I'd b-be able t-to g-get a bih-bih-bigger bed?"

"Is that all that's bothering you?"

"Ya-yes. B-but b-b-by n-next weeee-kend?"

"What's next weekend?"

"If I c-c-can, c-could a friend sl-sleep oooo-ver?"

"Sure. I think your room is big enough to accommodate a queen-sized bed, or do you want a full-size so friends would sleep on the floor, instead of in your bed?"

"C-can I c-call him n-now?"

"You have his number?"

"Yes."

"And does have ours?"

"Th-the number con-connect-ted to th-the ra-ra-router."

"Sure. Then we can go look at beds tomorrow."

The cable and phone company that serves the area is the same one as his old house, so Brendan was able to keep that number. Brendan had a cordless hooked up to it, so Steve took the handset up to his room. That way he wouldn't have to stumble through asking Lanny while in the living room, by the TV, where Jill and Nick were. When he was done with his call, Steve knocked on the office door.

"Hi Steve, what's the verdict?"

"G-g-guilty I ho-hope."

Brendan chuckled, "Bad way to phrase the question. That's on me. What did your friend say?"

"Oh. He s-said he-d r-rather sl-sleep on a b-bed, even if it's n-not a-looone."

"Great. Tomorrow we'll go bedroom furniture shopping."

"D-do ya-you th-think Nick wa-would have a pr-pr-problem wi-with me g-getting a b-b-bigger b-bed?"

"I can't see why. I can offer to put your old bed into his room, or make them bunk beds again. Then, he has a place for a friend as well."

"Th-that c-could work."

"Ask him to come up, okay?"

"Yeah."

When Nick arrived, as usual, he looked like he thought he did something wrong.

"You gotta start relaxing, Nick. Just because I want to talk to you in private, doesn't mean you're in trouble. If you were, I'd be dragging you in by your ear."

Nick gasped loudly.

"I'm just kidding. You know, I've seen an apparent change in you. We've been together for like ten days now, and I don't recall any accidents."

Night thought for a moment, "Wow! You're right. If I'm not in trouble what do you want to talk about?"

"Steve asked about getting a bigger bed. He said for a sleepover, but I think even just because he's growing fast is a good enough reason. What I wanted to ask you, is if you'd like me to put his bed back in your room? That way if you ever have a friend sleep over, there's somewhere for him to sleep, besides the floor."

"Really? That's cool. Yeah, you can do that."

"It may have to be bunk beds again. We'll have to see if we can make it work without it like that."

"That'd be okay too."

"Good. Let's gather up the troops. I feel like Chinese tonight."

The kids agreed on Chinese food, Nick was a little hesitant. But when Brendan told him if there were things in it he didn't want to eat, he didn't have to. The kids all looked at each other after hearing that. Obviously, that was another difference between Brendan and their parents.

Brendan asked at dinner time if the kids had a regular doctor. They'd need to get checkups to satisfy CPS. It wasn't a surprise when they told him they didn't. Urgent Care was the route Kathy took whenever there was anything more serious than a cold. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately for the kids, since the abuse may have been discovered, they were very healthy and those visits were rare.

Saturday morning, after breakfast, they all went to visit a couple local furniture stores, to see what was available. Since Steve and Nick shared a room before, they only had a small dresser each. Steve would get an entire bedroom set, and Nick would get the rest of the matching pieces of their current shared set. One set Steve liked, a dark oak set, could be delivered on Thursday. Brendan ordered it. They gave him a twelve to four window for the delivery, which he thought was perfect. Steve could unpack his things from the dresser Wednesday night, and Brendan could move the rest out on Thursday morning.

The four started getting into a routine, Brendan deciding a couple times that next week, he didn't want to cook, so they went out for dinner. He figured twice a week wasn't excessive, at least for now. Greg spent a few evenings at the house as well.

On Thursday, he got the bedrooms squared away, and Steve's new set was delivered and installed. Steve's friend, Lanny Harper, was brought over by his mother after school on Friday, wanting to meet Steve's new "father." Brendan had decided to go out for pizza, knowing that two thirteen year-old boys wouldn't argue with it. Neither did Jill nor Nick. Mrs. Harper declined the invitation, stating she had four other kids to cook for, joking that one of them was her husband. She seemed very pleasant. Brendan dropped Lanny off at home after dinner.

Monday morning came with a surprise. Brendan had just gotten into his cubicle when his cell phone rang. The caller ID said 'Hall County.' He got a little worried that something went wrong with Abel or Kathy. He took a deep breath and answered.

"Hello?"

"Brendan Nelson?"

"Yes."

"Hello. My name is Martin Kaspar, I'm with the District Attorney's office here in Gainesville."

"Hello Mr. Kaspar."

"Martin, please. The reason I'm calling is we have to get depositions from you and the Taft children. I've gotten notes from Detective Taos, but as you can imagine, I need to be very familiar with the details. My coworker, Jenny Smart, will be prosecuting Abel Taft. Our office felt Jill would be more forthcoming with what happened with a woman."

"Of course, Martin."

"I'm sure you work, and the kids are in school, so I was hoping you'd all be able to come to the Hall County Courthouse on Green Street this Saturday, and possibly next Saturday as well, in case we can't get through everything."

"Yes, sure. We can do that. What time?"

"I have another appointment in the morning, but my afternoon is free. Would one o'clock be doable?"

"Sure. We can make that work."

"There is one hitch, though."

"What's that?"

"We'll need to talk to you separate from the children, and the children separate from each other, but with you present. Is there any way you can have someone come along to watch them while they're not in your presence?"

"With the rest of the week to make that happen, yes, I'm sure I can."

"Very good. We'll see you all on Saturday at one then."

"Okay, Martin. Bye."

"Goodbye."

Brendan sent Greg a text, seeing if he'd be willing to keep the kids company at the courthouse on Saturday. A little while later, Brendan got his answer.

'Sure, I can be there for you, but you owe me one. A big one.'

‘I know. I'll make it up to you somehow.'

'Since you go in on Mondays, and have Jill watch the boys, maybe you can have her do that on Friday too, and come over to my place after work? You don't have to stay late, but we haven't had any "us" time since Nick showed up at your door.'

'How about Thursday? Steven is having a friend sleep over Friday night.'

'That works. I'll marinate a couple steaks. See you around five-thirty?'

'Sounds good. Thanks.'

'Thank me Thursday evening, heh, heh.'

'Down, Fido.'

Brendan used a slow point in his day to research both pediatricians and child psychologists. He called his Human Resources department to arrange for a change in his coverage, adding the children as dependents. He found a couple options, and by Friday, they all had appointments lined up and health insurance coverage. Email confirmations for every one. It would take them a while to get through the first round, the psychologist's visits would be late afternoon on the three subsequent Tuesdays. The pediatrician was able to schedule them all back-to-back on an upcoming school holiday. Why they had three days off for Columbus Day was a mystery to him, but it was a blessing. One positive is the appointment was before the trials started. If there was any permanent physical damage, it could be used against Kathy and/or Abel.

When Brendan got home after work, he gathered the kids in the living room. Of course, they still weren't used to a parent figure that called them together just to talk. They all looked anxious.

"You’re always so worried when I want to talk with you. No problems. Well, nobody's in trouble, that's a better way to put it. Jill, would you be willing to kid-sit another day this week?"

"Same deal, ten dollars an hour?"

"Yes. And meal money."

"When?"

"Thursday."

"Yeah, sure. Andrew hasn't gotten up the nerve yet to ask me out on a date, so, I'm free."

"Andrew?"

"Yeah, a boy from my class. You said it was okay to talk about boys."

"It is. Just so you know I want to meet him when he does finally lose his chicken suit."

"Uncle Brendan..."

"Okay, okay."

"Uncle Brendan?"

"Yes Nick?"

"I was going to ask to have a friend sleep over this weekend."

"You still can. It'll just have to be Saturday night, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks."

"You're welcome..."

"Wh-what are y-you d-d-doing Th-Thursday?"

"I'm having dinner at Greg's house. We haven't had any time to be alone lately."

"Is h-he l-like a b-b-boy-f-friend?"

Brendan hesitated, but decided on honesty, "Yeah, something like that."

"Th-that's c-cool. He's p-pretty n-n-nice."

"Do either of you other two have any problem, if he was a boyfriend?"

Jill spoke up first, smiling, "Well since we already met him, I guess it's okay."

"She's funny. You guys think she's funny? Nick?"

"I guess. I'm not sure how he could be a boyfriend, like Jill might have a boyfriend. But he's cool, I like him."

"We c-c-can t-talk ab-bout that."

"Thanks Steven, but I think I'll handle that conversation."

"Okay. I'll han-handle f-follow up questions."

"He's funny too. I guess I won't be able to stop that, just remember how young your brother is. He doesn't need details."

"Ewww. N-no, I w-wasn't th-thinking th-th-that."

"Okay. But if Steve confuses you Nick, see me to clear up any confusion."

"Sure."

"Then, on Saturday, we all have to go to the courthouse. The lawyers that are prosecuting your mom and dad need to ask you all questions about what they did to you."

"Do we have to go?”

“Yes, Jill. At least if you want your parents to stay in jail.”

Saddened and reserved, Jill simply nodded.

Brendan figured there was no time like the present. He asked Nick to come up to his office. This time, Nick wasn't nervous or scared.

"So, let's talk about boyfriends."

"Okay. Why did you ask if we would have a problem with it if he was your boyfriend? I have boyfriends too."

"Well, it's in the way it's said. You have friends that are boys. A boyfriend is something a little more serious. What do you think it means when a girl, or a woman says they have a boyfriend?"

"I guess it means they like them a lot and want to kiss all the time?"

"That's part of it. Remember when I said to the detectives that I was gay?"

"Yeah?"

"That means I like men a lot."

"And you like kissing them?"

"Well, not all of them, but yeah."

"You like kissing Mr. Ward?"

"Yes, I do."

"But not like mom used to kiss me goodnight, on the cheek or forehead."

"Right. On the lips."

"Do you try to put your tongue in his mouth, like daddy tried sometimes?"

"Your father kissed you on the lips?"

"Yeah. He said it was okay because he loved me. Wait. You don't kiss me. Does that mean you don't love me?"

"No, Nick. That's not what it means. Grown men, like your father and me, aren't supposed to kiss little boys, or little girls for that matter, either. A peck on the cheek or the forehead is okay, for family. But lip kissing, with or without the tongue involved is not okay."

"So, you're family, and you like men, does that mean it would be okay if you kissed me on the forehead, or cheek?"

"Yes, it would. Do you want me to, maybe kiss you goodnight on the forehead?"

"I don't know. Maybe. My lips got all slobbery when dad kissed me. I wouldn't want you to slobber on my forehead."

"Well, if you ever want me to give you a dry kiss on the forehead, primarily as a goodnight, just let me know."

"Okay."

"One last thing about Saturday."

"Yeah?"

"When the lawyer asks you about the things mom or dad did to you, you need to tell him about the kissing, too."

"Okay. I can do that. Especially if he'll get in more trouble because he did. Should I tell him that he touched my peepee too?"

"Did he do that?"

"No. But if it makes it worse for him..."

Brendan shook his head forcefully,

"No. You have to stick to what they did do. Lying to make their punishment worse than they deserve isn't good either. If your mom or dad's lawyer found out you lied about doing that, they'll try to make you say that you lied about everything. And if the judge, or jury, thinks you lied, they may not decide to keep your mom or dad in jail."

"Oh. Well, I definitely won't lie then."

"Good. Do you have any other questions?"

"No."

"Okay. But remember, if you do, it's okay to ask them, no matter what it is."

"Uh huh."

Next Up - “Thursday Thrashing, and Friday Fun”