The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 3 - 3. Tristan

“Are you ready to go?” I asked Tristan in an attempt to break the ice.

“Wait, is something wrong?” Brandon followed after noticing the expression on Tristan’s face.

“No, I was just asking this lady what was going to happen to my mom and dad now that they’re dead.” At least it explained why he wasn’t smiling and the reason he didn’t react when he saw us arrive.

“I told him about the funeral,” Aunt Sally explained. “The person in charge has arranged for the calling hours to be on Friday night, and the funeral service will be held on Saturday at 2:00. I asked for it to be arranged that way so you two wouldn’t have to take time off from work.”

“Thank you. I was wondering how that was going to work out,” I replied.

“Yes, this will work out well for everyone,” Brandon agreed.

Aunt Sally followed by telling us the name of the funeral home that was handling the arrangements, the name of the church where the funeral service would be held, and which cemetery their bodies would be interred.

“That’s the church we used to go to,” Tristan informed us after hearing Aunt Sally mention the name.

“Did you go there often?” Brandon asked. He figured he might as well find out if Tristan attended on a regular basis, seeing Dad was in the habit of urging us to attend.

“Not every week, and I just went with my mom. Dad didn’t like to go with us cuz he said he had to sit too long in a hard pew and listening to the minister was boring.”

“Well we go to church nearly every Sunday, so you can go with us from now on.”

“K,” was Tristan’s simple response.

Once we finished our discussion, we said goodbye to Aunt Sally and thanked her for her help. She and Tristan had been seated during our discussion, and since we’d only seen him either sitting down or lying in bed, when they stood up we got a better indication of his size. He appeared to be about four feet six inches tall and had a slender build, and with the raven hair and blue eyes he was quite attractive.

Brandon offered Tristan a hand to hold onto as we walked to the car, and I was mildly surprised when I felt Tristan reach up and take a hold of my hand too. He walked between us as we made our way out to the parking lot.

“You got a nice car,” Tristan said as Brandon was buckling him into the backseat.

“Thank you. This is the car we drive to and from work, but we have an SUV at home that we use when the boys are with us,” Brandon explained. “They wouldn’t all fit in this one.”

“Wow, you got two cars? We only had one.”

“That’s because you didn’t have as many people living at your house as we do,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, there was only me, my mom, and my dad.”

When we got to the house and pulled in the driveway his mouth fell open. “This is way bigger than our house.”

“Yes, it is quite large, but we manage to fill it up,” Brandon replied as we spotted the boys coming out to greet us. Brandon then helped Tristan unbuckle his seatbelt and get out of the car just before the boys surround us.

“Tristan, let me introduce you to these guys,” Brandon began. “The tallest and oldest one here is Noah, next to him is Ryan, this is Joshie, this one is Benny, and the smallest is Wyatt.”

“How come I’m always last?” Wyatt protested.

“Because you’re the youngest,” Brandon replied.

“And we always save the best for last,” I added.

That brought a smile to Wyatt’s face as the boys began to say hello to Tristan.”

“Can we show him the house now?” Joshie wanted to know.

“Let us introduce him to Grandpa Josh, Grandpa Jake, and your daddy and poppy first,” I answered. “And then we’ll let Tristan decide what he wants to do after that.”

The boys walked ahead of us and led Tristan inside, and they continued talking the entire way, but I had no idea what they were saying. When we joined them inside, Dad and Pop were waiting in the foyer, while Trey and Dion were busy in the kitchen.

“Tristan, this is Grandpa Josh and this is Grandpa Jake,” I said introducing them.

“Am I s’posed to call them that?” he asked as he looked up at Dad and Pop.

“You can call me Grandpa Josh if you want,” Dad responded, “or you can just call me Josh.”

“Hey, isn’t that your name?” Tristan asked as he glanced over at Joshie.

“Yeah, I was named after Grandpa Josh, but they call me Joshie so we don’t get confused.”

“And you can either call me Grandpa Jake or just Jake.”

Once that had been cleared up, we led Tristan to the kitchen. “Tristan, these are Joshie and Wyatt’s dads. This is Dion and that one’s Trey.”

“This is my daddy and he’s poppy,” Joshie clarified.

“What should I call them?”

“You can call me Dion and him Trey.”

Tristan seemed fine with that, so I moved over to Trey and whispered in his ear. “What are we having for dinner?”

“Dad suggested that I fix spaghetti and meatballs, and we’re having salad and garlic bread too.”

“I’m glad you guys were a step ahead of us.”

“Not me. You can thank Dad for that.”

“I will.”

Now that the introductions were concluded, I decided to ask Tristan something. “Do you like spaghetti?”

“Yeah, I love sketti.”

“And do you like salad too?”

“What you got to put on it?” After I told him the dressings we had, he spoke again. “Yeah, I like some of them too.”

“Great, because that’s what we’re having for dinner tonight.”

His face immediately lit up and broke into a huge grin. Now that we didn’t have to worry about the meal, I decided to ask him something else. “What would you like to do now? You can have a snack if you’re hungry, or the boys can show you around the house.”

“I want to wait for the sketti, so they can show me the house.”

That was fine with us, so Brandon and I watched as Joshie, Benny, and Wyatt led him around the first floor. Noah and Ryan chose not to go with them, which wasn’t meant as a slight to Tristan, but they were older and didn’t want to trail behind their younger brothers. I was impressed that they’d even bothered to come outside with the younger boys to meet Tristan when we arrived, but I suspect they’d only done it because he was going to be their new brother.

Once the boys had taken off, I thanked Dad for suggesting that Trey fix spaghetti, as Brandon went out to the kitchen to help with the meal. While Dad and I were finishing our conversation, the boys came out of the family room, chatting excitedly.

“What other games do you have for the PlayStation?” Tristan asked as they passed through the foyer. The boys were telling him what he wanted to know as they made their way back to the rec room.

I was pleased to see they were getting along so well already, and then I heard someone scream, so I raced back to see what was the matter. “Did someone get hurt?”

Tristan looked up at me sheepishly and spoke. “Sorry, that was me. I was just excited when I saw you’ve got a pool table, ping pong table, and air hockey too.”

I merely grinned after hearing his response. “That’s ok. I just wanted to make sure no one was injured.”

A short time later I saw the boys leading Tristan upstairs, and they were up there a lot longer than I’d anticipated. I eventually had to call them to eat when Trey and Brandon told me dinner was ready, and the boys came downstairs smiling and joking around.

“Did you wash up?” Brandon asked as they were heading toward the dining room.

“Yeah, we did,” Joshie replied. “We also showed Tristan around the house and told him where everything was.”

“Thank you, and please go sit down at the table so we can bring in the food.”

After Brandon and Trey helped the younger boys fill their plates, they passed the various items around so the rest of us could take what we wanted. I wasn’t surprised when I noticed that Tristan was sitting between Benny and Joshie.

“So what did you think of the house?” I asked Tristan after we’d started eating.

“It’s huge,” he responded with his mouth partially full.

“Please chew and swallow your food before you answer from now on,” Brandon advised him.

“K,” Tristan agreed as soon as his mouth was empty.

“What did you like best?” Dad asked next.

“The room in the back,” he answered, meaning the rec room. “I liked the room with the PlayStation in it too, and I liked the bedroom with the animals on the wall.” He was obviously referring to the jungle room.

“Can I switch rooms so Tristan can have my room?” Benny asked, mildly surprising us. He was currently in the jungle room. “It was okay when I first came here, but I’m older now, so it’s better if Tristan has it.”

“Can Benny share my room?” Joshie quickly followed. “We spend lots of time together, so it just makes sense.”

“Don’t you think you should check with your dad and poppy first?”

Joshie looked over at Dion and Trey and then Dion responded after glancing at Trey. “We don’t mind, so you can do that if you want.”

“Are you ok with sharing a room with Joshie, Benny?”

“Yeah, it sounds great. I was gonna choose the corner room with the cars and trains on the wallpaper, but being with Joshie will be even better.”

“Ok, then Tristan you can have the jungle room,” I agreed.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to kick him out of there if it’s his room,” Tristan offered, showing he was a polite and considerate youngster.

“Hey, it was my idea, so don’t worry about it,” Benny replied.

“Ok, I’d like that then.”

“After I finish eating I’ll go upstairs and move my things into Joshie’s room, and then we’ll help you carry your stuff up to the jungle room.”

“Just move you things out of the closet and we’ll carry your dresser into Joshie’s room, because you’ll both need one,” I advised him. “We’ll move a dresser out of one of the other rooms for Tristan to use, and then we’ll help him unpack.”

“But I don’t got nothin’ with me,” Tristan chirped, looking confused.

“The boxes in the foyer have all of your belongings in them. Aunt Sally, the lady at the hospital, went to your house, packed your things in boxes, and gave them to us.”

“Oh,” he said as he stared at the boxes.

“I’ll help you move the dressers,” Dion offered.

“That will be a big help, and thank you,” I agreed.

“And while you two are doing that, I’ll put clean sheets on the bed in the jungle room,” Brandon stated.

“Then Jake and I will help Trey clean up down here,” Dad chimed in.

Now that each of us knew what had to be done, we finished our meal and then got to work. Before I did what I’d agreed to, I pulled Noah and Ryan aside so I could ask them to carry the boxes upstairs and stack them in the hallway next to the jungle room. I did that because I was worried the other boys were too small to be carrying the large, bulky boxes up the stairs. I didn’t want any of them to fall and get injured, and I certainly didn’t want to make a late night run to the emergency room. After Noah and Ryan agreed, the rest of us did what was necessary, and then Brandon helped Tristan unpack his belongings and get organized.

“I’m glad you guys have all my stuff here,” Tristan said as they were looking through the boxes.

“Aunt Sally knew you’d need them, so she brought everything to the house so it would be here when you arrived.”

They weren’t quite finished yet when Brandon yelled to the other boys. “I hope you’re done in Joshie’s room, because it’s time to take your showers and get ready for bed. Before long a naked Benny and Joshie went walking past the jungle room as they entered the bathroom across the hall.

“Hey, they ain’t got nothin’ on,” Tristan screeched when he saw them.

“Yes, and you’ll probably see all of the boys naked at one point or another, because they do that a lot seeing there are only a bunch of guys living here. I hope it doesn’t bother you.”

“Nah, not really. I was just surprised, cuz I’ve never seen other boys without anything on before.”

“You’ll get to see a lot of that around here, so I hope it doesn’t bother you.”

“Nope, it’s ok.”

They hadn’t quite finished their discussion yet when Wyatt showed up in the doorway, and he was naked too. “Do you want to take a bath with me?” he asked Tristan.

While Tristan was gawking at another naked boy, Brandon asked another question. “Tristan, do you normally take a bath or a shower?”

“Mostly showers, but I take a bath sometimes too.”

“Then I’ll leave it up to you. If you want to shower then you can do it after Wyatt takes his bath, or you can take a bath with him.”

“Does he wash himself?” Tristan asked, looking concerned.

“No, usually one of his fathers gives him a bath.”

“I don’t want to do that.”

“Would it help if I gave Wyatt a bath instead?”

He thought about this for quite a few seconds before he answered. “I guess that would be alright. You’re gonna be one of my dads and will prob’ly see me without clothes on sometime, so I want you to do that.”

“Yes, we probably will see you naked at some point. Danny is a doctor and will be giving you a physical before long.”

“He’s a doctor?” Brandon nodded in response. “What do you do?”

“I’m a dentist and I’ll be checking your teeth.”

“Wow, I didn’t know that,” he gasped, looking impressed. “So am I s’posed to get undressed in here?”

“You can either do that or you can wait until you’re in the bathroom.”

“I’ve already seen Benny and Joshie naked, and Wyatt hasn’t got nothin’ on, and you’re gonna see me like that sometime too, so I’ll just do it in here.”

Resigned to what was going to happen, Tristan began removing his clothes. Brandon told me later that he had an average build with a typical pre-pubescent circumcised penis, and once he finished getting undressed they waited for Joshie and Benny to exit the bathroom, When the door opened and that pair noticed Tristan was also naked, they came over to say something.

“I’m glad you’re not afraid for us to see you like this, cuz we swim like this in the summer,” Joshie informed him.

“You do? Where?”

“We have a pool out in the backyard and we skinny dip all summer long.”

“All of you?” Tristan countered trying to hide his surprise.

“Yep,” Benny replied. “Even our dads, Joshie’s dads, and Grandpa Josh and Grandpa Jake too.”

“And sometimes some of our other uncles join us when they’re here,” Joshie added.

“And you don’t mind if everyone else sees your pee-pees?”

“Nah, we all got one so it’s no big deal,” Benny offered.

“But yours are way bigger than mine,” Tristan pointed out.

“Yours will get bigger too, as you get older,” Benny replied.

“And yours looks different.”

Brandon quickly explained why Benny’s penis looked different and even had Benny demonstrate how he could pull the foreskin back and expose the head.

“Neat, now it looks like mine,” Tristan squealed.

“Yep, in the end they’re all the same,” Benny agreed.

As soon as that had been taken care of, Brandon led Tristan and Wyatt into the bathroom and filled the tub. After that pair was sitting in the bathwater, Brandon washed Wyatt first and then he turned to Tristan. “Do you want me to wash you as well, or do you want to do it yourself?”

Tristan thought about it briefly before he answered. “You can wash me.”

Brandon hadn’t been sure if Tristan would want him to do this, which was why he asked first, and it made Brandon feel good that Tristan trusted him enough to let him do this. Brandon told me later that he bathed Tristan the same way he’d washed Wyatt, and said Tristan giggled when he washed his small package.

“Did that tickle?”

“Kinda, cuz nobody else has done that in a long time.”

“Ok, as long as it doesn’t bother you.”

“Nah, it’s ok.”

When they finished, Wyatt raced off to his room and Tristan went over to his. When they got there, Brandon asked him a question. “Do you usually wear pajamas or just your underwear when you go to bed?”

“What do the other boys wear?” he countered.

“During the colder months they wear pajamas, but during the warmer months they just wear their underpants to bed.”

“So now they’re wearin’ ‘jammas?” Tristan asked and Brandon nodded. “Then I’ll wear my ‘jammas too.”

While Brandon was getting them out of the dresser, Benny and Joshie showed up again. “Are you going to be ok sleeping in here by yourself tonight?” Benny asked.

“I guess so, cuz what else would I do?”

“You can sleep with me and Joshie?”

“Or you could sleep with Danny and me, if you’d rather not sleep with them and don’t feel comfortable spending your first night in here alone.”

“Would you mind if I sleep with Joshie and Benny?” Tristan asked as he looked at Brandon.

“No, of course not. I want you to do whatever makes you feel the most comfortable.”

“Ok, I’ll sleep with them tonight, and then I’ll sleep in here tomorrow.”

“Ok, that will be fine. I just don’t want you boys staying up talking or fooling around, because Joshie and Benny have school tomorrow.”

“Don’t I have school too?” Tristan wondered.

“No. There’s just a little over a week left before Christmas break and you’ll have to change schools because we live in a different school district than the one you attended. Since you wouldn’t be learning very much during that time, it doesn’t make sense for you to go. We thought it would be easier if you waited until after the holiday.”

“So what am I s’posed to do while they’re in school?”

“You’ll be staying here with Grandpa Josh, and you can use the PlayStation, watch TV, or do whatever you want until the other boys get home.”

“K, I can do that.”

“Great, so now I want you three to hop into bed and I’ll go get Danny to come up and say goodnight.”

As they headed off for Joshie and Benny’s bedroom, Brandon came down to get me.

“The boys are ready for bed, so do you want to go up and say goodnight?”

“Of course I do. Did you talk to Tristan to see if he’ll be ok sleeping alone tonight?”

“I didn’t have too. Joshie and Benny came over and asked him to sleep with them. They’re all getting into bed right now.”

We let Dion and Trey go up first to say goodnight to Joshie, and when that pair headed over to Wyatt’s room we went in to say goodnight to the first three.

“Are you boys comfortable?” I asked.

“Yeah, this is a big bed and I like sleeping with them,” Tristan said, comfortably cuddled between the other two.

“I’m glad to see you’re all getting along so well,” Brandon observed.

“Yeah, they’re nice and I like them,” Tristan agreed.

Knowing they were all right, we tucked the blankets securely around them and kissed each one on the forehead before leaving. “Do they do that every night?” we heard Tristan whisper to Joshie as we were walking away.

“Yeah, they do.”

On the way out, we turned off the light and closed the door before going over to say goodnight to Wyatt. After we did that, we headed to the third floor to do the same with Ryan and Noah.

As we entered Ryan’s room, he looked up at us and spoke. “Tristan seems pretty nice.”

“Yes, he does,” I concurred. “I was wondering what you thought, since you didn’t spend much time with him.”

“He was doing ok with Benny, Joshie, and Wyatt, so I left them alone. Don’t worry, I’ll spend time with him too, and I’ll probably do stuff with all of them as soon as we’re on vacation.”

“We’re glad to hear that,” Brandon confirmed for both of us.

After saying goodnight to him, we walked over to Noah’s room. Since he didn’t offer any comments about our newest boarder, Brandon opted to ask him directly. “What did you think of Tristan?”

“He seems ok, but I’m only going to be around for a few more months before I leave for college.” He was a senior and had already been accepted for the following year.

“That’s right, so you should use the time to get to know him before you leave,” I offered. “Elliot will meet him when he comes home for Christmas, and I hope that will give them enough time to get to know each other as well.”

After we finished our conversation, Brandon and I bid him goodnight and headed downstairs to chat with Dad and Pop.

“So what did you think?” I asked as we sat around the table sipping our coffee.

“He seems to be adjusting better than I’d anticipated,” Dad replied.

“I think it had a lot to do with the boys,” I followed. “Tristan seemed to loosen up a bit when he saw them coming out to the car to meet him, and then he hit it off with Joshie and Benny while they were showing him around the house.”

“And everything went all right while they were upstairs?” Dad followed.

“Yes, and it got interesting very quickly,” Brandon agreed. “Tristan was surprised when he saw Benny and Joshie walking to the bathroom naked, and then Wyatt showed up the same way and asked if he wanted to take a bath together. He’d already seen all of them naked, so he agreed, but he wanted me to wash them, rather than Dion or Trey.”

“Yes, Trey was a little surprised when he got upstairs to do that and heard you talking to the boys in the bathroom,” Pop followed.

“I hope he didn’t feel offended,” Brandon countered.

“No, it was just that he didn’t know Wyatt was going to do that,” Dad answered. “Once he figured it out, he said it made sense that Tristan would want you to be the one in there with him.”

“I’m glad he understood.”

“Well, it isn’t exactly Trey’s first experience with something like that happening here at the Currie circus.”

“No, it definitely isn’t.”

Later, Brandon and I looked in on the boys before turning in. They all seemed to be sleeping peacefully, so we didn’t bother them and went to our room for the night. Before I fell asleep, I wondered if the next few days and weeks would go as smoothly, or if the dam would eventually break.