The Castaway Hotel - 1 - 12. Chapter 12 - Friends - Old And New

Brandon’s mother dropped him off at our house Saturday morning, around 10:00. I heard Danny yell out, “He’s here,” so all of us moved toward the front door. We all walked out to their car to greet them, which I felt was a very important gesture for us to make. That way, not only could Brandon’s mother meet us, but it would allow her time to become acquainted with us better too, so she would feel more comfortable about leaving her son here. Of course, I had met her before, in my role as principal at various school functions, but I wasn’t sure if that was enough to eliminate any possible concerns she might have. I also figured she’d want to meet the boys as well, as any parent might be inclined to do

Brandon was a very good-looking boy and about the same height as Danny, roughly 5’ 4”. He had blond hair, which appeared very pale in the bright sunlight, soft brown eyes, and a fair complexion. He was slender, but not skinny, and his legs seemed very long, especially when compared to his trunk, and that made him appear to be even taller than he actually was. If it weren’t for that damned rumor, I would have expected him to be one of the most popular kids in his class.

Mrs. O’Hara was smiling warmly at us as she got out of her vehicle and seemed like a very friendly person. “Hello, Mrs. O’Hara,” I greeted her. “I think you remember me from the middle school.”

“I certainly do, Mr. Currie,” she answered, while nodding in agreement, “and it’s very nice to see you again.”

“Same here, but please call me Josh,” I advised her, trying to make her feel more at ease.

“Only if you call me Brenda,” she countered, smiling amicably.

“It’s a deal, Brenda,” I concurred. “These are my sons, Danny and Ricky,” I told her, while motioning toward each boy as I introduced him.

“Hello, boys,” she greeted them. “It nice to meet you both.” The boys returned her greeting, and then stood there unmoving and looking uncertain as to what to do next.

“We are pleased to have Brandon over,” I announced, “ and we’re glad you agreed to let him join us. I think both of my boys are hoping they might all become good friends.” Danny and Ricky nodded in agreement with my statement.

“That would be marvelous, Josh,” she responded. “Brandon has had some trouble fitting-in since we’ve moved here. This is so thoughtful of you.” I could see Brandon grimace when his mother made that comment.

“Oh, I had very little involvement with this,” I told her, honestly, “except to approve the boys’ request. This was Danny’s suggestion, but Ricky was quite pleased with the idea too.” She looked at the boys and smiled.

“Thank you, you little sweethearts,” she told them, causing my boys to blush and her son to blanche even more because of the way she addressed them. “I certainly do hope you boys hit it off,” she continued, and that led me to believe she’d been through this before, but those situations hadn’t worked out to Brandon’s benefit.

“Brenda, I’d love to have you come in and join me for a cup of coffee and maybe a sweet roll,” I offered. “That will give the boys a chance to go and begin doing whatever it is they have planned to do.”

“Thank you, Josh,” she answered. “That sounds lovely.”

I escorted her toward the house, and as we began to move off, I advised the boys they were on their own for a short time. I suggested they could either show Brandon around or they might want to play a game or go on the computer. I told them to have fun, but admonished them not to get into any trouble. I think Danny understood what I meant by that, as he rolled his eyes back in his head – an indication he was not pleased about my precautionary warning.

I opened the door for Brenda and directed her into the dining room. As she made herself comfortable, I made a fresh pot of coffee and then placed it next to the cups, containers of cream and sweetener and a small plate of sweet rolls I had already placed on a tray. I carried the tray to the table and began to pour. I had picked up the sweet rolls on the way home the previous evening, as I knew this opportunity might arise. If it hadn’t, I knew the rolls wouldn’t go to waste with three young men in the house. She hesitated for a second, before finally taking one of the treats, and then we sipped our coffee and nibbled on the rolls as we talked.

She asked me about the boys and how they came to live with me. I answered her honestly, although I did withhold many of the details. As we talked about Danny and Ricky, she also began to tell me a little about Brandon too. I had the feeling she wanted to share even more about him, but I think she was worried how I might react to what she wanted to say, so she never revealed the details I was hoping for. I almost prodded her into disclosing those facts by telling her about Danny, but I didn’t want to betray his confidence either, just to make it easier for her to open up.

Over the next half hour or so, we discussed many other things and I think she felt comfortable afterward, when she realized we weren’t the type to turn on him, if we discovered his secret. After a pleasant visit, Brenda informed me she had to leave, as she had other things she needed to attend to. She was just getting up when the boys burst into the house, breathless and laughing.

“Slow down,” she told her son. “You should know better than to come tearing into other people’s homes like that.” Her admonition stopped Brandon dead in his tracks and he looked crestfallen that she had chastised him in front of his new friends.

“Brenda, I’m sure it’s not all Brandon’s fault,” I informed her, jumping to her son’s defense. “I’d be willing to bet he was just following my sons’ lead. In fact, I’m glad he’s feeling comfortable enough to do something like that already. My home is not a museum and it was childproofed a long time ago. I’ve kept it that way for when my grandchildren visit, but now that I have boys in the house again, it will definitely stay that way. I don’t want you to worry about him causing any problems or doing any harm here. If he gets out of hand, I’ll let him know.”

“Well, it is your house,” she conceded, “but feel free to do whatever you think is necessary, if he should get out of control.” I knew this comment was her warning to Brandon, letting him know he’d better behave or else, but I thought it was time to change topics.

“What have you boys been up to?” I asked them. This drew Brandon’s attention away from his mother’s concerns and he listened as Danny answered me.

“We were just walking around and telling Brandon about how much land you own,” my older son informed me, “and that’s kind of why we came rushing in.”

“Yeah,” Ricky added, “we were wondering if you’d take us out for a hike in the woods.”

“That sounds like fun to me,” I responded, causing Brenda to give me a questioning look. “Don’t worry,” I told her, “I’ve set aside most of my weekend to spend with the boys, and I’m very much looking forward to it.”

“If you say so,” she replied, although she did not sound as if she believed me. “I hate to rush off, but as I told you earlier, I have a lot of things I need to do. Just give me a call when Brandon is ready to come home and I’ll come and get him.”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” I countered. “I’ll take him home any time he’s ready to leave, whether it’s later tonight or tomorrow morning, but I know my boys are hoping he wouldn’t mind spending the night. I believe the boys are thinking about camping out in the yard, or something like that.”

“I’m sure he’d enjoy that,” she added, while getting up and making her way to the door. “Josh, I want to thank you and your sons for everything. This means a great deal to Brandon AND me.” Although I’m sure he agreed with what his mother told us, Brandon looked uncomfortable with the way she said it. Luckily, that didn’t last long, as we began saying our good-byes.

Once that was over, Brandon almost pushed his mother out to her car. It was his way of encouraging her to go home, and I was fairly certain he did this so she wouldn’t embarrass him in front of us again. Somewhat hurt by his manner, she took his hint gracefully and didn’t comment about what he was doing. It was only a minute or so before she was driving off. After she departed, I told the boys to give Brandon a quick tour of the house, while I cleaned up the dining room and put things away.

“You’re still going to take us on a hike, aren’t you dad?” Danny asked, giving me that hopeful, pleading look he had been working on.

“Yes, I told you I would,” I replied, realizing this seemed to be important to him. “Just give me a chance to finish up here and then I’ll change quickly and put on my boots.” I looked up at Brandon and noticed he seemed to have fairly good clothes on, not exactly the type I would have had him wear for such a venture. “Brandon, are you going to be all right dressed as you are? If not, Danny could probably loan you something to put on. You appear to be close to the same size.”

“Yeah, maybe it would be better if I changed into something else,” he agreed. “Mom would kill me if I messed these clothes up. She made me wear them because she wanted me to look nice and make a good impression.”

“That’s a mother for you,” I joked back.

“I told her I should probably wear something to mess around in instead,” he complained. “I did bring a pair of shorts and a shirt for later, but I guess that wouldn’t be good for hiking either, would it?”

“Not exactly,” I confirmed. “Danny, would you see if you could find him a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt to put on.”

Danny nodded he agreement and then I noticed Brandon’s shoes. “Is that all you have to wear on your feet?” I asked him. I knew we didn’t have any extra boots for him to borrow.

“I brought sneakers too,” Brandon answered. “Will they be okay?”

“They’ll be better than your nice shoes,” I informed him, before sending them on their way. Brandon grabbed his gym bag with his other things in it and the boys gave him a quick tour of the downstairs, before taking him up to Danny’s bedroom. When they got there, Danny dug out a pair of jeans and lightweight sweatshirt for him to change into. Remarkably, Brandon didn’t flinch about changing in front of them, but that was probably due to the fact he still had his underwear on the whole time. While he was changing, my two stood gawking at him, trying to judge his package through the fabric and ogling what they could see. Once Brandon was dressed, they came back downstairs to find me.

“We’re ready to go, Dad,” Danny announced, giving me a smug little grin. I concluded that it had something to do with Brandon’s change of garb.

The boys followed me out to the woods, but I didn’t plan on testing Brandon while we were out there, as I had done with Danny and Ricky. This was merely for fun and to give Brandon a chance to see more of our property, even though it would be fun for the rest of us too. As we entered the trees, I took a slightly different route than I had used with Danny and Ricky, and right away all the boys noticed something nearby.

“Is that a tree house?” they all kind of asked together, while pointing at the upper branches of a budding maple.

“Yes, it’s one I built for my children, many years ago,” I advised them. “I almost forgot it was here.”

“Can we go up in it?” Ricky asked, looking eager to try it out.

“I’m afraid it would need to be repaired before I would allow you to do that,” I explained. “I’m sure many of the boards have rotted by now and I’d worry about you getting hurt.”

“Can we fix it up then?” Danny asked, agreeing with Ricky that he thought the tree house would be a great place for them.

“We could,” I confirmed, “but not today. I’ll have to measure everything and make a list of what I’d need to purchase, in order to get it back into shape. Then I’d have to go and pick-up all of the lumber and other items, and that will take time. Maybe in a couple of weeks we can do it,” I suggested, “after things have calmed down a bit.”

“Do you promise?” Ricky asked me, not wanting to let me off the hook so easily.

“Yes, I promise,” I responded, sending Ricky dancing about and causing Danny to look very smug.

“Can I come and see it when it’s done?” Brandon wanted to know.

“Sure, you can. Right, Dad?” Danny asked me, seeking confirmation.

“Of course he MAY,” I agreed. “Brandon may come and visit any time he’d like, as long as his parents don’t have a problem with it.”

“Awesome,” Brandon chimed in, and I could see he was beginning to like being with us already.

After that was settled, we moved on, and I pointed out a lot of different things to the boys, more than I had on our previous walks. The boys were interested in most of what I showed them, but they were especially intrigued when I pointed out the drop-off, which fell away into a fairly deep ravine. I don’t think Danny and Ricky had been able to appreciate the hazards I had told them about before, until they saw it for themselves, even though I had warned them such things existed. It affected Brandon the most and caused him to stay right by my side, as I think he was concerned about what other potential dangers might be out there.

After walking around for an hour or more, we returned to the house and I noticed it was already past lunchtime. I asked the boys what they wanted to eat and then fixed them a quick meal. Once they finished inhaling all of the food I put in front of them, I asked if they would like to go to the movies. They all jumped at the idea, so I sent them up to change back into something a little better than their hiking clothes, while I did the same. Soon, we were in my car and on our way to the theater complex.

I let the boys select the movie when we arrived, and I already decided I would watch whatever they chose. I bought them all snacks when we came in, getting them each some candy and drinks, but I also purchased a large tub of popcorn for them to share, even though they had just finished lunch. We went in and found seats toward the back of theater, as I can’t enjoy a movie if I’m too close to the screen.

It was decent movie, although I found myself spending most of my time observing the boys interact. They had made sure Brandon sat between them, so each would be next to him. I found it intriguing watching them whisper back and forth, making comments about what was happening on the big screen, and I could tell they were enjoying each other’s company. I was also getting a kick out of watching them fight over the popcorn, making sure they each got their fair share, but all of their goodies were gone before the movie was half-over. After that, the boys got comfortable in their seats and focused solely on the movie.

Once the film ended, I asked the boys what they wanted to do next, and Danny suggested swimming. I wasn’t sure about that idea, so I asked Brandon if it would be okay with him, and he said he’d like to do that too. He added that he’d just need me to take him by his house first, so he could get his swim trunks. Maybe the boys had discussed this during the movie, because they seemed to be in agreement and had the details worked out. I hustled them off to the car and drove back to our place quickly. Danny, Ricky and I ran to our rooms to get our trunks, while I took time to collect towels for all four of us. Once that had been accomplished, we got back into the car and drove to Brandon’s house.

Brandon’s mother looked concerned when we arrived, and I think she worried something had gone wrong, but after I assured her we had only come to pick up Brandon’s swimsuit, she seemed to relax a bit. It didn’t take Brandon long to retrieve what he needed and we were on our way. The YMCA appeared fairly quiet when we entered, so I concluded most people were taking advantage of the nice day and staying outdoors. What was even more surprising was there was absolutely no one in the locker room when we went in to change.

Our time in the locker room was pretty interesting. I watched the three of them as they got undressed, to see how they were reacting. Danny and Ricky couldn’t seem to keep their eyes off of Brandon, as they waited almost breathlessly for him to get naked, while Brandon kept glancing cautiously between the two of them, hoping to see their goodies as well. Danny and Ricky didn’t hesitate stripping naked in front of their new friend, and I felt they did this because they thought it would encourage Brandon to follow suit. They weren’t disappointed, as it didn’t take long for Brandon to do the same. Now, the three boys stood displaying their wares for each other to see, none of them hiding the fact that they were checking each other out.

I’m sure Danny and Ricky were both pleased with what they saw. Brandon sported a slender, cut penis, topped by a small bush of blond hairs, and it appeared to be even longer than Danny’s. I don’t think Brandon was disappointed either, as he became bolder looking at their packages too. After they got more comfortable with each other, they made a few comments about how good nature had been to each of them, before they reluctantly slipped on their swimsuits.

Once we were appropriately attired, I led the boys to the shower to rinse off, before heading out to the pool. As I did before, I held back to watch the boys in the water first, but this time it was so I could assess Brandon’s aquatic skills. After watching the three of them dive in and begin racing and horsing around, I concluded Brandon was a capable swimmer and quietly jumped into the water myself. I wasn’t paying much attention to them, as I did my own little workout, when I was suddenly attacked. All three of them jumped on top of me, trying to dunk me under the surface, and it took all my strength to keep from going to the bottom of the pool, in the shallow end.

After I was able to stand up, I tossed the boys off of me one at a time, and then I went after them, as each one landed a short distance away from me. I would first dunk one, and then another, or toss them about in the water. The boys must have thought this was fun, because they kept coming back for more, and the lifeguard was good about allowing our horseplay, but I assume this was only because the pool was so empty. After several more minutes of this vigorous activity, I finally called a truce and we got back to just swimming.

We stayed in the water for about an hour, getting a good work out, and then I told the boys I thought we should be heading home. They whined a bit about having to leave, but after a few stern parental stares, they backed off and did as I asked.

We went into the locker room and showered again, but this time the boys began to peel their swimsuits off as they did so. At first Brandon hesitated, but after he saw that Danny and Ricky had no problem doing this and I wasn’t urging them to stop, he did the same. Unabashedly, they seemed to expose themselves to one another, making sure they got a good view of whatever they wanted to see. Some of their posing almost made me laugh out loud, as it was becoming quite obvious what they were doing. After coaxing them out of the shower, we dried off and put our street clothes back on, so we could leave.

On the ride home, Brandon told us he liked baseball too and was also planning on playing summer ball. That was welcome news to my pair, especially Danny, as it meant they would be seeing each other over the summer and Brandon would fit in with his birthday party plans. When we got back, I told the boys they could play outside for a while, while I went in to fix dinner. I played it safe and prepared things I knew most boys liked, such as hamburgers, macaroni and cheese and fries. After we finished eating, the boys wanted to play some games, so we challenged each other to a couple of board games, before they grew tired of that and went off to have some fun on the computer.

They were on the computer for quite awhile before they came back out to find me. That was when Brandon announced he wanted to spend the night. I suggested they might like to camp-out in the yard, but Danny and Ricky weren’t keen on the idea, especially if I wasn’t going to be out there with them. I guess the ghost story I’d told them on our last outing still had some lingering effects. Even though they didn’t tell Brandon about that experience, they were still more than a little concerned about the Devil of Fuller’s Hollow and didn’t want to risk being outside alone. Instead, they decided to use the sleeping bags in the family room, where they would camp out on our green, shag carpet. Not only did they feel it would be safer there, but they would also have the television to help keep them entertained. I agreed with their suggestion, so they scurried off to set everything up.

During the evening, I went in to check on them three or four times, and I was amused to see them all lounging around nonchalantly in their underwear, like it was quite a natural thing to do. Actually, I was quite pleased to see Brandon feeling so comfortable and having no problems fitting in with my boys. In fact, he didn’t even flinch when I walked in to see if they needed anything and it made me wonder if they might do some experimenting with each other later. When I was ready to head to bed, I told them they should probably turn in too, as we had to attend church in the morning.

Right away, I began to hear protests from Danny and Ricky, but I quickly let them know that missing church was NOT an option. While we were discussing this, I told them we could drop Brandon off on our way to the service, but he surprised me by asking if he could go with us instead. I told him where we attended church and asked if he thought that would be a problem, and he said it wouldn’t. He said he could clean up here in the morning, and then change into the good clothes his mother had made him wear when he first arrived. I said they would be appropriate, but I also mentioned that I wanted to get his parent’s permission first. He called, but his parents did not answer, so I told him we could stop by there on our way to church in the morning. He replied that would be fine, so it looked like there might be more than usual for Sunday service.

The boys were pretty quiet the rest of the evening and I’m not sure if they went to sleep or watched television after that, but I guess things worked out well for them. All I know is, when I went down to wake them the next morning, to get them ready for church, they were all more than a little groggy and slow to react. I hustled them all off to the showers, one at a time, with Brandon using the shower in my room, while Danny and Ricky used their own. I went down to fix breakfast while they were cleaning up, and I grabbed something for myself before they arrived in the dining room. While they were eating, I went to clean up and get dressed too.

Once they were ready to go, we drove to Brandon’s house, so he could get his parents’ permission to join us. Brandon told his parents about his idea and then asked if that would be all right. He seemed greatly relieved when they announced it would be fine. Brandon wanted to take the boys and show them his room quickly, so I chatted with his parents a while longer, to make certain they didn’t have any qualms with their son attending our church. Neither of them objected and they both told me they hadn’t seen him this happy in quite a long time. After thanking me for everything I’d done for him, I told them whatever I’d done was for my sons, but I was pleased that they had selected such a nice young man to be friends with.

They did want to know how I got Brandon to agree to go to church with us, so I explained that it had been his idea, not mine. That information seemed to surprise them, so I explained how it happened. I told them I had gone in to warn my boys about staying up late, as we had to go to church, when Brandon asked if he could join us. It was then that they explained to me that he’d had a falling out at their own church and hadn’t gone back since. This made me wonder if the problem might have had something to do with his sexual orientation, but I didn’t ask.

We were talking about other things when the boys came back to join us, so none of them heard anything we had discussed. After saying good-bye to Brandon’s parents, I herded the boys out to the car, so we could be on our way. I advised Brenda and Patrick that I’d drop their son off after the service and they stated they’d appreciate that. I was impressed with the entire family and I was beginning to think this was going to work out well for all of us. Not only had the boys made a new friend, but I might also become close with his parents.

The boys were all very well behaved during the service and Danny and Ricky seemed to participate even more than usual. I think this was so they could impress Brandon, because he appeared to be enjoying everything that was going on. Whatever the case, I was pleased with the way they were conducting themselves. Before we left, we even received several favorable comments from the parishioners sitting closest to us, which made me feel even prouder of them.

We dropped Brandon off at home shortly after noon and he thanked us all several times for his visit. He told us he had a really great time and went even further by telling us he hadn’t had this much fun in many, many months. He then stated he would like to do it again sometime, if I didn’t mind. I quickly agreed, by telling him that we’d love to have him anytime he wanted to come over. Brandon then asked if maybe Danny and Ricky could come stay at his house some time as well, and I said that would be fine too, as long as his parents were ready to be driven insane. After some protests from my sons about my harsh words concerning them, Danny asked Brandon if he’d like to come to his birthday party the following weekend. Brandon thought that would be great and confirmed that he’d ask his parents, the minute he went inside, and then call and let us know. After watching him race into his house, we drove home.

The rest of the day and the entire next week flew by for me, but I don’t think it went by quite as quickly for the boys. They were looking forward to the weekend and Danny’s party, and that kind of anticipation always seems to make time pass by more slowly. However, things improved greatly for them when Friday finally arrived. I imagine they had a tough time getting through the day and all of their classes, as I was fairly certain the party must have consumed their every thought. When we got home, Danny hurriedly went about double-checking his list, to make sure everything was in order for the next day. He didn’t want to take the chance that anything would go wrong. I know some of what Danny did confused his brother, but Ricky was good about it and didn’t press the issue. I’m not sure how much sleep either of them got that evening, but they were both up before I was the next morning, and I think they were running primarily on adrenaline at that point. After watching them for a bit, I concluded they would more than likely be quite worn out by the time this was over.

After we downed a substantial breakfast, we got into the van I had borrowed from a friend. Ricky let Danny have the front seat, saying it was only right, seeing it was Danny’s birthday, and I told him that was very thoughtful and generous of him. Ricky flashed me his, ‘It’s no big deal’ face, and then hopped in the back. We left around 11:30, so we would have time to drive the thirty miles over the twisting country roads we would have to use.

When we arrived at the school where we had agreed to meet the other boys, Ricky saw how they were dressed and that confused him even more. They were all dressed like they were going out to play, not come to a party. They all carried baseball gloves and some even brought along baseball bats. Ricky was polite enough not to say any of this to them about their attire and didn’t mention it to anyone else either, at least until we got home. That’s when he took me aside, to question me about it.

Not wanting to spoil the surprise, I told him he’d have to ask Danny why he told them to dress that way. He looked confused and disappointed with my response, but went over to Danny and asked if he could speak to him in private. After Danny agreed, they moved away from the others, but it wasn’t long before I heard Ricky scream out, “All right!” before he came racing back toward me.

Within seconds, he was excitedly telling me what he had learned. “Dad, Danny told them to dress that way so we could go to the school later and play ball. He said he wanted me to have a chance to play in a real game, because that would help me get better. He told me this might be the only chance for us to get a game going before our league starts, because it’s kind of hard to find enough guys to play, most of the time. He said we had enough today to make teams with at least five or six players on each side, so he thought this would be the perfect time. Isn’t that great?”

“Yes, it is, but I knew that already. I just wanted Danny to be the one to tell you about it, because it was his idea to do this. He was thinking primarily about you when he made his decision, and I thought it was pretty special that’d he’d be willing to do this for YOU on HIS birthday. That’s why I wanted him to have the honor of letting you know about it.”

“Yeah, I’m glad he’s my brother,” Ricky confessed, his smile still nearly splitting his face in half. “Should I change now?”

“You may, if you want to,” I told him, “but you’ll probably have time to do it later, if you’d prefer to wait.”

“No way!” he exclaimed. “I want to be ready when they are. I’ll be back in a minute,” he advised me, before racing into the house and up the stairs, at breakneck speed.

Brandon arrived a few minutes later, dressed liked the others, as Danny had shared this secret with him at school. Danny also made him swear he wouldn’t tell Ricky, as he wanted to keep it a secret from him for as long as he could. Deep in my heart, I was very proud Danny had made sure to invite Brandon too, so he could have him meet his old friends.

Sally Swarthout arrived a few minutes later and Danny and Ricky introduced her to everyone as ‘the nice lady who brought us to live here with Dad.’ I think this made Sally feel really good about the placements and gave her an even deeper connection to my two sons. Anyway, all the boys were very friendly toward her and thanked her for taking such good care of their friend.

The party went off without a hitch and everyone seemed to get along nicely. After we had something to eat, as I had pizza delivered to the house, we topped it off with cake and ice cream. I told Danny he should open his presents before they went to play ball, so he’d have a chance to thank everyone, before things got hectic. Amazingly, he agreed. He did get some nice things from his friends, but I could tell he had a special appreciation for what Ricky gave him. A huge smile came over his face when he opened Ricky’s gift and discovered his new baseball glove. Seemingly unconcerned what the others might think, he gave his little brother a big hug.

“I can’t use this until I break it in,” he told Ricky, “but I really like it and can’t wait to be able to use it. Thanks, bro.” All of this attention had caused Ricky to blush and I think my little blond was worried about what the other boys might be thinking, concerning the display of affection he was getting from Danny. However, none of the others ever commented about it, and so it was soon forgotten.

Sally handed her present to Danny next and we soon discovered she had been very generous too. She gave Danny two pair of shorts and two pullover shirts to go with them. They were all the style that boys his age like to wear now and Danny genuinely appeared very pleased with them. They also drew favorable comments from his friends, which only helped to enhance his appreciation for the gift.

I saved my presents for last. Once Danny had opened all of his other gifts, I handed him three boxes, all wrapped in appropriate gift-wrap. He eagerly ripped the paper from the first box and discovered a soccer ball. The second contained a lacrosse stick and ball and the third held a small goal he could use with either. He was already thanking me profusely when I handed him his last gift. He looked at me oddly, like he thought he had already received more than enough, but I encouraged him to open this final present. As he peeled away the wrapping paper, he found a new pair of cleats, which were appropriate for use while playing any of those sports. Almost immediately, he set all of his gifts aside and walked over to me, so he could give me a hug, a kiss on the cheek and thank me for his presents and party. I was surprised he did this in front of his friends, as teenage boys are reluctant to show their parents affection, especially in public, but it didn’t seem to bother him at all. I was very glad he felt that way.

While Danny and his buddies were checking out the sporting gear, I pulled Ricky aside and took him into the living room. Once we were there, I pulled something out of the closet and handed it to him. It was a box wrapped in birthday paper, similar to one I gave Danny. “What’s this?” he asked, confused and surprised.

“Just consider it an early birthday present,” I told him. Without further encouragement, he ripped off the paper and opened the box. In it, he discovered a pair of cleats, just like the pair I had given to Danny.

“Thanks, Dad,” he told me, while giving me a hug. “Can I wear these today?”

“Of course, you MAY,” I advised him, correcting his grammar in the process. “That’s why I gave them to you early.” This time he kissed me on the cheek and thanked me again, before bending over to put them on.

I went back outside to supervise the clean up, and once everything was taken care of and everyone was ready, I took them down to the high school field. I was pleased when Sally announced she wanted to go too and she ended up keeping score and cheering for both teams. There were enough boys to have a good game of six on six, as long as I played catcher for both teams.

The game was close and exciting and all the boys played very well. When the game ended, Danny’s friends congratulated both Ricky and Brandon on how well they played, which made both of them feel good and a part of the group. To tell you the truth, I think Danny had e-mailed his friends and told them the story about how he had been working with Ricky, so they made sure to let Ricky know the hard work was paying off.

After the game, I loaded everyone back into the van, took Sally back to her car at our house and then I drove all of the various boys home. I delivered each of Danny’s old friends to his doorstep, met his parent or parents and told them that their son was welcome to visit us any time. I also informed them that I thought Danny had selected his friends very wisely and that I had enjoyed their visit immensely. One of the boys asked if they could have a sleepover sometime, seeing we lived in such a big house, and I immediately agreed with his suggestion. I advised him that I’d work with Danny to set up a date in the near future, and then we’d notify them all when it would it take place. This really was a nice group of boys.

I waited to drop Brandon off on the trip back, as I didn’t want him to feel we were trying to get rid of him too soon. I knew he had become close to Danny’s other friends too, so there was no reason he couldn’t ride with us to take them home. I think he really appreciated that little courtesy. As he got out of the van and said good-bye, I told him I expected to see him back soon, which caused him to give us all a very nice smile. The party had obviously been a big hit, on several different levels, and I was sure I would be seeing a great deal of all of Danny’s friends again, in the future.