A Decision for Jarren - 32. Chapter 32

When Jarren looked back later in life on the first couple of months that Liam had spent in Massachusetts he realized how fleeting they had really been. At the time it seemed like it flowed normally, when in reality it was past them in the blink of an eye.

They spent the first week taking care of all of the hundred and one things that needed to be done. They went shopping for both a bedroom set for Liam and a family vehicle. Liam loved the platform bed he had at Lex and Ian’s so he ended up with one for his new room only they upgraded to a queen size. A similar six drawer ash dresser was added as well as a matching desk. Liam found a really awesome metal wall art piece with an abstract ocean wave design in shades of blue and silver on Amazon and Cassie bought him a white and silver-blue marbled comforter that matched incredibly well. The main piece was huge, and two smaller circular peices of a similar design complemented each side. The overall look was fantastic.

They took a whole day and went shopping for a new vehicle. After test driving several mid-size SUVs, they all agreed on a used Honda Pilot. It was two years old and only had eighteen thousand miles on it, plus it gave both Jarren and Nash plenty of legroom for their six foot frames and Liam could transfer himself easily. Keon liked the color, royal blue.

Maggie got her wish and the whole family got together the second weekend in June. Robbie had graduated from high school the previous weekend, but he and some of his friends wanted to spend it at the beach so the party was scheduled for the next weekend. Robbie had sat down with Bill after his trip to Atlanta and discussed his future in Dalton Development. Like his brothers before him, he had been working for his dad since he was fourteen, mostly during the summers and occasionally on a weekend if there was any kind of work that came up. While he enjoyed the physical aspect of the job, he knew that Jarren and Mazen already had that area pretty well covered. He hated math and was happy to leave the finances to Troy. Together Robbie and Bill discussed the areas of the company that Robbie could focus on and eventually narrowed it down to Sales and Marketing or Human Resources. Robbie was a smart kid and spent a lot of time researching the pros and cons of each course and he finally decided that Human Resources would be a better fit for him. With that in mind he had decided to attend Framingham State University and major in Business Management with a focus on Human Resource management. It was too far to commute, but close enough for a weekend visit to get laundry done and a home cooked meal.

Liam’s new family had seamless embraced him into their fold and Liam was like a river and just went with the flow. He fit right in with his new cousins and managed to take the lead when it came to pranking the adults. Every Dalton get together required all drivers to turn over their keys. At the end of the evening only those adults who were sober were allowed to drive. Imagine the surprise when it was discovered that all of the ignition keys had been swapped onto other keychains. The kids managed to squeeze in another twenty minutes of playtime while the adults figured out which key went to what vehicle. It seemed like almost the entire family preferred Fords. Liam was elevated to god like status in the eyes of his cousins.

Lex and Ian had a Fourth of July barbeque and Liam got to meet Ian’s parents, Rick and Kathy. Kathy pulled him under her mother hen wing just as quickly as she had pulled Keon in. Liam and Keon ended up spending a lot of the summer at Rick and Kathy’s house as they had a pool and there were several heat waves that rolled through. Lex’s Dad Ryan and his husband Seth came with their twin girls Mia and Shannon. The kids all got along well enough, even though there were a few years age gap between them.

Nash got his new foot and was able to walk without crutches by the middle of July as a result of listening to his therapist’s instructions. He used a cane, but by the time Labor Day rolled around he didn’t need that anymore unless he was going to be in or around a large crowd. Liam saw Dr. Corten and was given the green light to be fitted for his new legs. He loved the rehab facility that Karl Penders ran. Karl and Liam had hit it off, right off the bat. After Liam’s doctor in Atlanta had figured out his ear problem would delay his being fitted with prosthetics, Liam had been fitted with an AK Shrinker to help control swelling and edema. It had also helped to desensitize his limbs by applying consistent pressure throughout his remaining legs.

Karl explained every step of the process and made sure Liam understood each phase. He would end up going through several sets of prosthetics over the next few years as he grew. It would be a matter of trial and error, Karl told him, before he would end up with something more permanent, and even then, most amputees went through multiple prosthetics over time. It was one more thing to have Grant consider when negotiating an insurance settlement. Karl assured Liam that it was going to be worth every minute and not to get impatient. Jarren and Nash supported him through every part of the process.

There were a lot of ups and downs during those first couple of months. The best moment was when Liam took his first steps holding onto the parallel bars. His face could have lit up a major city it was so bright. Jarren and Nash cheered him on as he managed to traverse the whole length and back one small step at a time. The worst moments were when his nerve endings were on overload and his phantom pain got to be severe. Liam was a trooper most days, but there were a few occasions where he just went into meltdown mode. Jarren, Nash, Lex and Ian all did their best to make sure that someone was always with him during one of those infrequent episodes. The painkillers helped, but they knocked Liam out and Jarren and Nash vigilantly monitored the usage of the strong medication.

Despite the occasional setback, Liam made great progress over the summer. He was a naturally outgoing kid and he seemed to pull Keon out of his shell that he had built around himself. Keon became comfortable enough to wear short sleeves, but he never went shirtless, even while swimming he kept a t-shirt on. The two boys had quickly become best friends. None of the adults noticed anything other than typical boy friendship between the two, and the initial reaction of their first meeting was pushed to the back burner.

Jarren and Nash had both been given the all clear to resume working, so during the week they both headed into the office in town. Nash spent most of his time in the office, calling contractors and vendors that they would be working with for the Larkin project. Jarren helped Mazen out at The Barn, overseeing the construction of the new banquet facilities. It was well on track to be completed before the end of September. Mazen told Jarren that their double wedding would be the first event held there so they had to make sure it was done on time or Cassie would have their heads.

Ryan had pulled some strings and managed to push Jarren and Nash’s foster application pushed through and the first week of August, the two men became official foster parents to Liam. Up until then, Liam had been spending the weekends at Jarren and Nash’s house and stayed at the McCarson’s the rest of the week. Most weekends Keon, and Halo, tagged along as well. Those three were almost inseparable.

The day that Liam came to live with Jarren and Nash was cause for celebration. Celebrations in the summertime meant grilling. Wanting to keep it low key, just Jarren’s parents, Lex, Ian and Keon, and Halo of course, were invited over for a cookout. Steaks were marinated, then grilled to perfection, corn was roasted and there was plenty of chips and fruit salad to keep everyone going. They had fun just hanging out and at the end of the night Liam wanted Keon to stay over, but the guys had already decided that Jarren and Nash should spend the rest of the evening with just Liam. The boys were disappointed, and they both seemed sad when the realization that they weren’t going to be living under the same roof hit them. The adults reassured them that they’d still see plenty of each other.

Once the guests had left Nash asked Liam what he would like to do for the rest of the evening. They were both surprised when Liam answered “I want to talk to you.”

Nash glanced at Jarren before turning to Liam and prompted “What would you like to talk about?”

Liam looked at them and hesitated a moment before inquiring “When did you each figure out you were gay?”

Jarren and Nash managed to hide their surprise at the question and Jarren answered first. “I started figuring it out when I was about your age. By the time I was fourteen I pretty much knew for sure, but the deal was sealed when I was fifteen.”

“What happened when you were fifteen?” Liam asked.

“I tried to date a girl and it didn’t end well and we both got hurt. She figured out I was gay and shoved me out of the closet by announcing it all over what passed for social media back then, plus word of mouth.” Jarren told him. “Look, Liam, I had a lot of issues coming to terms with being gay and it wasn’t until I met Nash that I really embraced it and acknowledged it. All my friends and family knew, but I kept it pretty private.”

Nash added “Jarren needed a lot of time to figure out who he was, but I didn’t have that problem. Like Jarren, I started figuring out I was gay around your age too, but unlike him I didn’t have any issues accepting it. I did wait until the end of my senior year to come out to my friends and family, but that was just my personal choice.”

“How did they react? Your family and friends?” Liam wanted to know.

Nash replied “My friends didn’t give a rat’s ass, my parents, well, let’s just say they weren’t thrilled. The didn’t disown me or anything, they just made it known that they didn’t approve of my ‘choice’.” Nash made the finger air quote movement.

Liam was silent for a few minutes as he digested the information they guys had told him. Finally he looked up at them and announced “I’m pretty sure I’m gay too.”

Nash and Jarren smiled and Nash merely said “Well Liam, if that’s the case, then welcome to the club!”

“You’re not going to ask me why I think I’m gay?” Liam said.

This time it was Jarren who spoke. “Liam, it’s nobody’s business why you think you are gay. If that’s how you feel then Nash and I will respect that. Choosing to come out to another person is hard enough to do without having to feel like you need to explain or defend your decision. It’s enough that you told us, we don’t need to know the hows or the whys. We love you whether you’re gay or straight, OK? It’s up to you who you want to tell and when. ”

Liam held his arms out and both Jarren and Nash leaned down to enfold him in a hug. Their little family was cemented in that moment and it was one memory that stayed with all of them for the rest of their lives.

Liam wanted to know more about the guys, so Jarren and Nash took turns telling him stories from their pasts. Jarren told him about growing up with his siblings and working for his Dad from the time he was fourteen. He explained a little bit of his history with not wanting to be gay, keeping the explanation as simple as he could.

Nash relayed how he had first become a cop after graduating from high school. He explained about the incident with Lex, leaving out the nitty gritty. Liam had already heard Lex’s version of what had happened. Nash told him about meeting Kyle and, without going into anything in depth about the fucked up control aspects of their relationship, he filled him in on how he and Kyle had sex with a woman and he became a Dad to Julia.

Liam listened intently as Nash explained how Julia got sick. Jarren was proud of Liam when he noticed him reach over and take Nash’s hand when he got to the point of telling him how Julia died when she was three. Liam had seen the pictures that Nash had framed, but up until this point he hadn’t felt comfortable enough to ask about them. He was glad he did. He could see how much love Nash had for his little girl and it made him optimistic that just maybe, Nash had the same kind of love for him.

The three of them learned a lot about each other that evening and it was after midnight when they finally went to bed. Liam was asleep shortly after his head hit the pillow and Jarren and Nash weren’t far behind.

The rest of the month seemed to fly by and before they knew it it was Labor Day weekend. Jarren and Mazen had always held a big Labor Day cookout at Jarren’s house and this year was no exception. They had considered scaling it back somewhat because of the upcoming wedding, but in the end it was probably the biggest party that they had held to date.

All of Jarren’s family showed up, including Grandma, who immediately fell in love with Liam. She was going to stay for the month, until the wedding and was excited to get to know her newest great-grandchild. All of their friends and most of their co-workers who were invited showed up as well. Holding true to tradition, everyone who drove surrendered their keys upon arrival. This year Jarren, Nash and Bill had all agreed to be the designated babysitters, no one would be allowed to drive home if they were not sober by the end of the evening. The finished area of the cellar was already stocked with air mattresses, pillows, sleeping bags and blankets. Most years the kids ended up down there. Liam had already agreed to bunk in with the kid crew down cellar to open up his bed for his whatever adult ended up needing it. Extra blankets and pillows, were stockpiled in the living room for whoever ended up on the couches and recliners. Most had been borrowed from other family members, all of whom knew the routine.

In true fashion everyone had a great time. The adults caught up with each other, the kids, as well as a few adults worked up an appetite playing badminton or corn hole. Food was everywhere. Jarren and Mazen always supplied the hotdogs and hamburgers, but relied on friends and family to fill in the rest. There were two long tables set up and both were packed with tons of potluck items that people had brought. Chips, dips, veggies, salads, meatballs, lasagna, mac and cheese and whole bunch more rounded out the menu. They needed a third table for the desserts. Maggie policed the dessert table to keep the little kids from overdosing on all of the sugar that was just there for the taking.

Overall the whole night was a rousing success. Most of Jarren’s siblings made sure at least one adult in each family was sober by the end of the night so Bailey, Kelsey and Troy left with their spouses and the younger kids. Most of the kids over the age of five stayed and by eleven o’clock they were all camped down cellar, spread out on air mattresses and sleeping bags, watching, or rather falling asleep to a movie. By one o’clock in the morning everyone who was sober had been given their keys back and had headed out. The tipsy ones who were left claimed a couch or chair and by two a.m. all was quiet. Grandma ended up claiming Liam’s room.

Labor Day itself was spent cleaning up after the party, but with the extra hands that hung around it didn’t take too long. By midafternoon it was just Jarren, Nash and Liam again and they just lazed the remaining evening away out on the deck. After polishing off some of the leftovers, the three lounged around the fire pit that Jarren had lit.

“So Liam, are you excited about starting school?” Nash asked.

“I guess so. I’m used to being the new kid and at least I’ll have company this time around.” Liam answered.

Keon had decided to go back to school as well, instead of taking more online classes. Because he had spent so much time in the hospital he had missed almost an entire year and a half of attendance. He had been a year ahead of Liam, even though they were only six months apart in age. Keon’s birthday was in April and Liam’s was October. The cut off for grade assignment had been September 1st for Liam, which is why he didn’t start school until a year after Keon did. Keon could have stayed current in his grade level if he crammed his schedule full for the spring and summer semesters, but he told Lex and Ian that he would rather actually learn the material instead of just learning the basics in order to pass a test and move on, even if it meant repeating part of a grade. Both boys were starting seventh grade at the local middle school on Wednesday.

Lex and Nash had taken the boys together to register and they met with a guidance counselor to figure out the schedule. The boys would have all but one class together and that was the last class of the day which was their elective. Liam and Keon were both exempt from P.E because of their physical limitations. Liam was exempt because of his legs. He would be getting plenty of physical education in the form of therapy to get him walking again. Keon’s burns were healed enough that the scarring no longer interfered with his range of motion, but the skin was still fragile in some spots. However, the emotional distress that he still felt about them was enough for his therapist to recommend that he not participate. Middle school kids could be cruel and no one wanted to risk undoing all of the progress that he had made thus far.

Liam had decided to take band as his elective, He loved all sorts of music and he had participated in the band at his school back in Atlanta. He had played the trumpet, but was thinking about switching over to the French horn or possibly the baritone. He loved the deeper sounds those brass instruments produced. The playlist on his phone was all over the place. He had a mix from Abba to ZZ Top and everything in between. He listened to Def Leppard, Billy Joel, Katy Perry, fun, Neil Diamond, Journey, Lord Huron, One Republic, Tchaikovsky, Beethovan, Rachmaninov, Meatloaf, and Imagine Dragons, just to name a few. He wasn’t a fan of country music, but would listen to it if someone else was playing it. Unlike a lot of kids his age he hated rap music, said it had no depth to it.

Keon insisted that his musical talent was limited to back up vocals for karaoke. He loved drawing and had chosen an art class for his elective. He wanted to learn more techniques for drawing. He had several sketch books that were filled with all sorts of pencil drawings, but he was interested in learning how to paint with oils and acrylics as well.

The guys had gotten together and worked out a schedule to get Liam and Keon to and from school. Lex worked from home doing IT work and had the most flexible schedule, so he offered to pick up the boys in the afternoon. Jarren and Nash had enough leeway in their mornings that one of them or both would be able to drop them off in the morning. The school system would have provided a wheelchair accessible bus for Liam, but everyone just felt more comfortable with not going that route. It made more sense time wise as well. Liam had agreed to family therapy and they were scheduled every Wednesday at seven o’clock. The therapist was really accommodating when it came to evening hours. His practice was available until eight o’clock three evenings a week for families who weren’t able to leave work early. The three of them were much more comfortable with the unique dynamics of their little family and all of them were taught how to handle those moments when everything just seemed to spiral downward. So far they all seemed to be more than capable of moving past the little things that could undermine the building blocks they were establishing.

Physical therapy was another after school activity that necessitated Liam being picked up as soon as school let out. He went three times a week, Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays and had been making great progress. On the weekdays, Lex would bring him to therapy and make sure he was settled and then Jarren and/or Nash would pick him up when they were done at the work site.

Ground breaking had started on the Larkin project the third week of August and had been keeping them both busy. Jarren was overseeing all of the crew until Mazen finished up at The Barn in a few more weeks. Once that project was done, Mazen would focus his attention solely on the new project. Jarren was more than capable of handling the initial few weeks, but once construction started in earnest he would need Mazen’s help.

The first day of school went well for both Liam and Keon. The middle school housed about 400 kids in the sixth, seventh and eight grades. There were about 125 kids in the seventh grade. Most of the kids took Liam’s prosthetic legs and wheelchair in stride. There were plenty of curious stares, but Liam was used to it and being naturally outgoing he was able to keep an easy going manner and not turn it into a big deal. Keon reverted somewhat and kept pretty quiet. He was uncomfortable with any attention on himself and at this age he didn’t have the maturity to differentiate between curiosity about his scars and just plain ogling at his good looks.

Jarren and Nash had managed to schedule a conference call with Grant Markham and he filled them in on where they were at with the settlement process for both their cases and Liam’s. The attorney for the driver who had caused Liam’s accident had finally capitulated when it was clear that the district attorney in Atlanta was going ahead with prosecuting the charges against his client. He was being charged with several traffic violations in addition to the more serious charge of reckless endangerment and involuntary manslaughter. Grant advised them not to accept a settlement and allow the judge to determine fair compensation. It was a pretty cut and dry case and Grant was familiar with the judges who would probably end up with the case on their docket. Preliminary hearings were set for late October. Grant promised to keep them updated, but he did tell them it could possibly be a lengthy process, depending on a lot of factors. The wheels of Justice definitely did not spin at the rate of NASCAR driver coming down the home stretch.

As they moved into September the weekend of the big fundraising gala was on them before they realized it. They had barely seen Cassie the past month as she was staying in Boston a lot getting everything finalized for the big event. It was being held at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel and Cassie had booked both Grand Ballrooms and had sold every seat available, which was an impressive 2000. The prime tables at the front had sold for $1000.00 per seat. Most of the tables were more “reasonably” priced at $750.00 per person. There were also 100 seats that had been reserved for VIPs. Cassie knew everyone of those VIP’s would be good for at least a minimum $10,000 donation each. The final 100 seats were reserved for Lex and Ian’s friends and family, very few of which could afford the sticker price of the seats.

Lex and Ryan had taken care of arranging for lodging and transportation. Ryan had rented an Airbnb that was around the corner from his Dad’s house in Cambridge and Lex had contracted two stretch limos to be at their disposal for the weekend. The Gala was September 14th and most of the crew from Western Mass would leave after work and school on Friday. Jarren, Nash, Liam, Lex, Ian, Keon, Mazen and Cassie were staying at the Airbnb home. Kathy and Rick McColm, Ian’s parents were staying with Lex’s dad and stepdad in their guest room. Lex had gotten rooms at the Park Plaza for Casey and Brie, who worked with Ian at his tattoo shop, as well as several other friends. Ian’s brother Sean and his family were flying up from Florida and would stay at the hotel as well.

Jarren had taken care of the tux rentals. He, Nash and Liam had all been fitted and they would have the same style for both the Gala and the wedding. The Gala would be black tie, and for the wedding they had chosen a charcoal gray. Mazen had told them that for the wedding he was going with the cummerbund, so Nash suggested that he and Jarren wear the vest option so they wouldn’t all be clones. Mazen was going to have gray as well, but his was a lighter variation. The most important thing was Cassie’s approval and she wholeheartedly told them they would all look hot.

The first two weeks of September flew by, and with all of them trying to settle into a routine, the end of the week was upon them before they knew it. Jarren and Nash had cut their day short and they picked up Liam from school. Keon had taken the day off as Lex and Ian had decided to head for Boston in the morning. They stopped by the house to get the garment bags that Jarren’s Mom had picked up for them and the rest of the stuff that they had packed. They were on their way by four o’clock and stopped in Framingham to get something to eat and to let the rush hour pass by. They pulled into the driveway of the Airbnb just after seven and Keon came out to greet them and help carry in their bags. It was time to start the weekend of festivities!