The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation Book 3 - 37. An Unexpected Consideration

When we arrived at work on Monday morning, my staff wanted to know if Brandon and I had enjoyed our weekend away. “Yes, it was wonderful,” I answered, and then I told them everything we’d done – well except for making love.

After I finished filling them in, my nurse asked a non-related question. “I’ve got a good friend whose dog had a litter of puppies a few weeks ago, and now they’re old enough to leave their mother. Do you know anyone who might want a puppy?”

“What dog breed are we talking about?”

“Beagle.”

“Actually, I might be able to help you with that, but I’ll have to talk to a few people first. Do you think you might be able to get a photo of the pups and let us know how many of each sex there are before the end of the week?”

“Certainly. I’ll call my friend to see if I can stop by on my way home today, and if I can I’ll take a photo of each puppy with my phone. I’ll share those with you tomorrow and let you know the sex of each one.”

“Fantastic. Then I’ll start contacting people tonight to see if I can drum up some interest, and then I’ll use the photos to have them choose the pup they’re interested in.”

“In that case, I’ll send the photos to you as soon as I take them.”

“I’d appreciate that, and if I get them early enough I might even be able to let you know as early as tomorrow if there’s any interest.”

“That would be fantastic, and I’m sure my friend will appreciate your help.”

After our conversation I saw my first patient, and then I continued going about my business until it was time for lunch. I didn’t say anything to Brandon about this when I met up with him, because we were joined by Noah and Holly. Shortly after we got our orders and had started eating, I asked Holly a question instead.

“Did you talk to your mom this weekend?”

“Yes, I did.”

“How’s she doing?”

“She was a little upset because the assisted living facility she wanted to go to decided she needed more help than they’re able to give her, so she had to go to a nursing home instead.”

“It’s a shame that she didn’t get to go to the assisted living facility, but it should work out just fine for her, as long she’s going to one of the better nursing homes.”

“I think it is, because her lawyer and doctor arranged it for her. She’s at the Shady Pines Nursing Home and she told me she shares a room with one other woman. I told her we’d come by on Sunday to see her, if you’re still going to do that for us. You are, aren’t you?”

“Of course, and it will give me a chance to check the place out. From what I’ve heard, Shady Pines is supposed to be one of the better nursing homes in the area, so I don’t think she’ll have any problems. I’ll also ask her a few questions to see what she thinks about the place so far, and I’ll check with some of my colleagues to see if they have any opinions about it.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you’re willing to do this for her.”

“Of course. She gave us three wonderful children, so I want to do everything I can to help her as well.”

Now that I’d finished my discussion with Holly, I turned to Noah next. “How are things going with Jesse?”

“Great and I’m learning a lot from him. It’s really neat to be able to see inside a person’s body like that.”

“Yes, those scans are great diagnostic tools and provide us with a non-invasive way to get information without operating on the patient. I’m not sure how doctors and their patients managed without these devices fifty or one hundred years ago.”

“Yeah, I know, and I hope I can come up with ideas that will make it even easier for doctors to treat and cure their patients.”

“I can’t wait to see what you come up with.”

I felt badly that Brandon wasn’t part of either of my conversations, but then I realized he hadn’t been totally left out of the loop. While I had been talking to Holly, he’d been chatting with Noah, and then vice versa. I’m not sure what they had been discussing, but at least he wasn’t being totally ignored. It’s just that both of my conversations had been related to my medical training, rather than his job as a dentist.

As soon as lunch hour was over, we said goodbye to one another and went back to finish the rest of the workday. We met up again later when I drove everyone home, and as soon as we got to the house Ryan asked if he could speak to Brandon and me alone.

“Sure, what’s up?” I asked as we moved into the living room.

“Owen texted me earlier and asked if I can visit him the two weeks after the Fourth of July.”

I checked the calendar on my phone quickly before I answered. “That will be fine, because the only thing going on that you would miss will be Holly’s birthday.”

“Damn, I wanted to be here for that.” He looked to be lost in thought after he said this, so we didn’t say anything. After a short time, he looked at us and spoke again. “If I buy her a card and a present, can I leave it with you guys so you can give it to her for me?”

“Sure we can do that,” Brandon agreed, and then he glanced at me. I knew exactly what was going on in his mind, because I was having the same thoughts.

“Thanks, and then I’ll call to wish her a Happy Birthday.” Yes, there definitely appeared to be more going on here than merely a sibling connection. “I’ll also buy a bus ticket for the Saturday after the Fourth of July and I’ll text Owen to let him know everything is set. Oh, and he wants to come back with me and spend two weeks here. Is that ok too?”

I checked my calendar again. “Yes, there’s nothing going on during that time and we’ll have two weeks after he leaves to get ready for Uncle Pat’s wedding and Grandpa Josh’s birthday.”

“Great, and thanks for letting me do this, and for letting Owen stay here too.”

“Just don’t get in any trouble while you’re away,” Brandon warned.

“You don’t have to worry about that, cuz Owen can’t get pregnant,” he quipped, and then he laughed as he walked away. I assumed he was going to text Owen.

After we finished our conversation with Ryan, Brandon and I went to say hello to the other boys next. They were busy taking turns on the PlayStation, so we weren’t going to stay long, but before we could leave Tristan spoke up.

“This sucks cuz we don’t get to play very much. There’s too many of us.”

“Do the rest of you feel that way too?” I asked and received a resounding ‘YES’ in response.

“So what can we do about it?”

“We could get another PlayStation to hook up to the TV in the living room,” Wyatt suggested.

“Yeah, we could do that, but how about getting an Xbox instead?” Tristan followed.

“Yeah, let’s do that, cuz the Xbox has different games we can play,” Wyatt agreed.

“So what do you think?” I asked the twins. “PlayStation or Xbox?”

“Xbox!” they both screamed back.

“Ok, let me check into getting one of those if it will solve the problem.”

Brandon and I left after that and went up to our room to change. While we were doing that, I asked Brandon a question.

“Are you ok with getting them another system?”

“Yes, but I don’t like the idea of tying up the television in the living room or having them play their games in there?”

“Why not?”

“It’s because Dad and Pop like to watch TV in there while the boys are in the family room, and the boys tend to make a lot of noise when they’re playing video games. That would disturb anyone in the dining room, kitchen, foyer, and even Dad’s bedroom.”

“Good point, so what should we do?”

“We can buy another TV when we get the Xbox and then hook it up in the rec room. That way they shouldn’t bother the rest of us.”

“Ok, let’s do that then, and now this problem has been solved, I have something else to discuss with you. My nurse said her friend has beagle puppies that she’s trying to find homes for, so what do you think about getting one for the kids?”

“I’m sure they’d like that, because Tristan has mentioned before that he’d like to have a dog. I just think we should talk it over with Dad, Pop, Dion, and Trey before we make a decision.”

“Ok, I’ll tell each one that we want to meet with them after the kids are in bed. I might even have the pictures of the pups by then, because my nurse was going to stop by her friend’s house and take the photos for me.”

“Ok, that should help us make the decision.”

Both before and after dinner, I managed to pull each of the other adults aside so I could inform them that we should have a meeting later. I didn’t explain what it was about, but they agreed to show up anyway, and before the boys went to bed my nurse texted me the photos and a brief description of each of the puppies. There were six of them in total, four females and two males.

Brandon and I spent some time with the boys before they went up to shower, but before we went to tuck them in, we knocked on Holly’s door first. We wanted to say goodnight to her before we headed upstairs.

“Oh, it’s so sweet of you guys to do this,” she gushed. “Before my mom started getting worse, she always came to our bedrooms to tuck us in and say goodnight.”

“We tuck in the younger boys, but we stop by and say goodnight to all of them. We thought you might be too old to be tucked in, so we just came by to say goodnight.” She giggled.

“Yes, I am too old for that, but I like that you stopped in to say goodnight.”

“We’re glad you do and we will stop by every night while you’re here,” Brandon told her. “If you want, we can even call you each night to do the same thing once you go away to college.”

“No, you don’t have to do that. Besides, I wouldn’t even know what time to tell you to call, because I’m sure I’ll be busy and some nights I’ll be staying up late to study.”

“Yes, I suppose you will,” he relented. “What if we stop by your room and say goodnight to you even if you’re not here? That way you can just envision us doing it where you are.”

“Yes, I think that would be nice, and thanks for suggesting it.”

After we left her room, we went upstairs and headed to the twins bedroom first. “Let’s see who’s in the bottom bunk tonight, other than Wyatt?” I teased.

Two heads peered above the blanket and I could see Wyatt and one of the twins, and this one had a small scar in his right eyebrow. “Ahhh, it’s Hayden in the bottom bunk tonight.”

He giggled. “You always know when it’s me.”

“Yes, it’s one of my superpowers.”

I then kissed each one on the forehead and moved aside so Brandon could do the same, and then we kissed Hunter too, as he leaned over the railing so we could reach him. We then bid them all goodnight and moved on to the next room. After doing the same with Tristan, Benny, and Joshie, we headed up to the third floor to say goodnight to our older sons.

“I got a hold of Owen and told him we were all set,” Ryan told us when we entered his room. “He’s as excited as I am about seeing each other again.”

“That’s great!” Brandon replied. “Do you know if he’s made any friends where he’s living now?”

“Yeah, he says he’s made some friends, but they don’t stay over at each other’s house like we used to do. He says he’s had some fun with a couple of them, but they’ve just jerked each other off and that’s it.”

“I supposed it must help a little, but it’s too bad that he doesn’t have a really close friend,” I added.

“Yeah, and I think that’s why he’s so happy that I’m going to be there and he’ll be coming back here with me.”

“That’s good, but are you up for this?”

“Yeah, I haven’t done anything with another guy since he left, but I’m kinda looking forward to doing stuff with him again.”

“And with him doing it to you too?”

“Yeah, I got used to letting him fuck me before, cuz it wasn’t like when that trucker raped me. I actually liked feeling him inside me, but I liked it even better when I was fucking him.”

“I’m glad to hear that you’ve been able to get past that first episode with the trucker.”

“Yeah, I’m ok with it now, but I’ll never forget what he did to me. It was awful and it hurt like hell. That’s because he didn’t bother to loosen me up first, like you taught us to do when me and Owen started fucking each other.”

“The trucker was obviously only concerned with his own pleasure and didn’t care what you were going through,” Brandon told him.

“Yeah, and I just hope some guy with a huge dick did the same thing to him after he got to prison.”

“It’s possible, but I doubt we’ll ever know that for sure,” Brandon stated.

“As far as I’m concerned it’s already happened and he got it even worse than he gave it to me.”

“That’s a good way to think about it, if it makes you feel better and helps you to heal,” I concluded.

After we finished our conversation, we went to say goodnight to Noah and Elliot next, and then we headed downstairs for our meeting with the others.

“What took you so long?” Dad asked when we got to the dining room.

“Ryan had some information he wanted to share with us, so I hope we didn’t keep you from anything,” I replied.

“No, it’s just that we’re curious as to what this is about.”

“Actually, there are two things I want to talk to you about. I’ll start with the easier one first. The boys aren’t happy having to share the PlayStation because they don’t get to play enough. Does anyone have a problem with getting another system for them?”

“So they want another PlayStation?” Pop asked.

“No, this time they want an Xbox, and rather than hook it up to the TV in the living room, Brandon suggested we should buy another TV at the same time and hook them up in the rec room.”

“That sounds good to Trey and me,” Dion responded, “and we’ll chip in to pay for everything.”

“Ok, then I guess that problem is taken care of.”

“So what’s the second issue?” Dad pressed.

I then explained about my nurse, her friend, and the puppies. I also began to pull up the photos of the pups on my phone and passed it around.

“They’re cute and I’m sure the boys would enjoy having a dog,” Dion stated after looking at the photos.

“And beagles don’t have long fur, so they shouldn’t shed too badly,” Pop added.

“And even fully grown it won’t be very big, so it will make a good inside dog,” Trey stated.

“But I suggest you get two puppies, not just one,” Dad suggested, “so they can keep each other company when the boys aren’t here. I’ll be able to let them out to do their business when the boys are at school, but I don’t have a lot of time to give a puppy the attention it needs. That’s why it would be best if it had a companion.”

“Yes, I suppose it would be a good idea to have two puppies to keep each other company,” I concurred. “It might also help to avoid fights over who gets to play with the puppy. The younger boys could play with one while the older boys play with the other.”

“If you’re getting two puppies, I suggest you get one male and one female,” Pop suggested. “If you get two males, then one of them will try to be dominant, and that might lead to problems if the boys show the submissive one more attention.”

“That’s a good point,” Trey agreed.

“And you should have the female spayed and the male neutered before you bring them home,” Dion suggested. “I don’t think we’ll want more than two dogs in the house.”

“Yes, that would be a wise precaution as well,” Brandon agreed.

“I was told the puppies are eight weeks old now, but I checked this out online and discovered that dogs shouldn’t be spayed or neutered until they’re four to six months old at the earliest,” I countered. “That would seem to indicate that we shouldn’t have it done until sometime in October.”

“You’ll also need to purchase a bunch of supplies before you bring them home,” Pop suggested.

“Yes, I’ve been making a list of what we’ll need,” I confirmed. “I figured I’d get a plastic dog carrier large enough that they can both sleep in it overnight for now, and I’ll purchase some pads to line the carrier’s floor. We’ll also need a collar and leash for each one, can puppy food, soft treats to use when potty training them, and toys.”

“Damn, it sounds like an expensive proposition,” Dion observed.

“Yes, it is, but it will be good for the boys to learn responsibility by having a dog to take care of.”

“I hope it’s easier to train the boys than the puppies then,” Dad joked.

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll have to remind the boys every now and then, but we’ll be there to help out so the puppies don’t suffer.”

“What are you going to do with the puppies when we go to Pat’s wedding?” Trey asked.

“Hmmm, I hadn’t thought about that, but I’m sure we can work something out,” I replied. “Maybe I can get my nurse to watch them that weekend, seeing we’re doing this to help her friend.”

“So I guess that must be the price of being a Good Samaritan and helping a friend,” Brandon joked, referring to Danny’s nurse helping her friend.

“Yes, I suppose it is,” I agreed. “So I take it we’re all in agreement about doing this?”

“Yes, and Trey and I will chip in to cover some of the expenses,” Dion offered.

“And I’ll be here to remind the boys about what they need to be doing for the puppies during the day,” Dad followed, and Trey and Pop nodded their heads in agreement.

“In that case, let’s look at the photos and figure out which two puppies we want to get,” I said as I pulled out my phone to show them again.

After looking at the photos and discussing the various pups, we picked out the pair we preferred. Both puppies were light brown, white, and black in color, and I’ll try to explain how they appeared. Their necks, shoulders, and hips were a light brown, but they also had a fairly large black section on their backs that extended around their midsections. In fact, it almost appeared as if they had a saddle. The puppies also had some black on their tails, but the tips were white. The upper half of their rear legs were a light brown in color, but the rest of their legs were white. The pups also had light brown ears and the same color extended around both eyes, but their snouts were white. The only difference between them was that the female had a white streak that ran from her snout, went between her eyes, and extended to the top of her head. That same streak on the male ended between his eyes, and then it was light brown the rest of the way.

“Ok, I’ll inform my nurse about this tomorrow and ask her to set up a time when we can pick them up.”

“It would probably be best if we did that on Saturday after we got out of work,” Brandon suggested. “That way we’ll be alone when we pick them up.”

“Yes, that’s true, since Holly doesn’t work on Saturday seeing it’s easier for the employees to find someone to watch their kids on the weekend. And it will give us time to pick the other items up first, before we go over to get the puppies.”

“It sounds like you’re all set then,” Dad observed.

Now that we knew what we were going to do, we called it a night and headed to bed. I was thinking about this as I slipped under the covers and felt my nurse would be surprised when she discovered that we’ve decided to adopt two of the puppies. I assume she thought I was going to ask others if they were interested in a puppy, so I hope the boys are pleased with our decision and appreciate what we’re doing for them.