Alex & Lang - 14. A & L Ch 14

It was about a month after the opening of the Devonport Complex, that I received an unexpected call, “Hello Xander, I have a special request to make, and it is quite a big decision to make,” the familiar voice said to me when I answered the call. “Go on Lewis, Lang and I are listening,” I replied, wondering what I was about to get dragged into.

“Have you met that new lady that works at the shire? Joyce Holland is her name. Well anyway, she has only been with us for about six weeks, single mum of two boys aged 6 & 8 years. Anyway, Joyce was discovered by her boys badly bashed up, when they got home from school yesterday, and the full picture is still not known, al I know so far is that it is an ex-boyfriend, not happy that she took off from him.

Joyce is to be medivac’d to the mainland using one of Sebastian’s planes once she has been stabilised, and the boys need someone to look after them. They stayed with school friends last night, but something more concrete needs to be put into place. As you know I have been a regional magistrate on and off for some time, and the police have asked for some suggestions on how to look after the boys.

I have suggested to the police, plus to the social worker and psychologist at the hospital that you and Langley take care of the boys as Foster Parents, and they are all agreeable to the suggestion, if you both agree to it too,” Lewis said to us over the phone, and there was total silence as Langley and I absorbed this information.

“Hello? Are you still there, Alexander?” Lewis asked me, and Langley gave me a soft nudge. “Err, yes we are here… I’m just a little surprised that’s all. Are you sure that this is the best option for these two boys?” I responded, as I glanced at Langley who smiled and nodded his head yes.

“I think with your experience of been looked after by your maternal grandmother and then your first cousin, you are the best option at the moment, especially when we don’t have any child welfare facilities at all here on the island, plus I think you guys would be starting to get bored now that you have finished your building projects, including my wonderful new home,” Lewis replied, which made me chuckle.

“You are most welcome, its not even close to what you and Sebastian did for me when I found myself an orphan, those many years ago. Ok we will do it, we will take them in, but I will need a full briefing on the boy’s and their mum’s history,” I replied.

“Wonderful, I was so hoping that you would say yes, as you both have an appointment at the hospital for one hour’s time, to see the District Child Psychologist, she will fill you in on all the details, and I have already signed the temporary custody order, for you guys to take care of the two boys till their mum is back on her feet again. I must dash, talk to you soon, bye.” Lewis said before ending the call.

“Wow, we are now foster parents… who would have thought that would happen to us,” I commented, and Langley just nodded his head in agreement. Less than an hour later, we drove to the hospital, and parked in the visitors carpark and headed inside.

“Alexander Devonport and Langley Atkins to see the psychologist in regards to…” Yes, come this way gentlemen, we have been expecting you, a voice behind us said, interrupting my request to the receptionist, and turning, we saw a nice-looking woman smiling, and she turned and led the way down a passageway and into an office. Over the next forty minutes, we went through a ton of paperwork, and was given a number of booklets on requirements and regulations in regards to Foster Parenting.

When we were pretty much finished, having asked a lot of questions and been given the required answers, there was a knock on the door, and it opened to reveal to boys, still dressed in school uniforms that looked like had been slept in, and they hesitantly stepped into the office.

“Boys, this is Alexander and Langley, they are the couple that will be taking care of you while your mum is recovering in hospital,” Sue the Psychologist said. “A gay couple? Wow I didn’t expect that… cool,” the oldest boys said, which caught all of us adults by surprise, and it was sue who started to laugh, that broke the tension in the room.

“Hello, I am Alexander, but my family calls me Xander, and this is my partner in crime and life, Langley,” I said as I stood up and face the boys, “Hey, that’s not nice!” Langley protested, and the two boys burst out laughing, which soon had everyone in the room laughing.

I bent down to get down to the boys level and instead of shaking my hand, the boys rushed to me and wrapped me in a hug, and loosing balance, I fell backwards with the boys landing in top of me. “Ok you two, which one of you is the elephant, you are too heavy,” I said,

“Hey, that’s not nice,” both boys said at the same time, and this time Langley and I laughed, as the boys got onto their feet, and Langley helped me to stand. “Now boys, the gentleman you met earlier, Sir Lewis Shaw has known Alexander for a good amount of Alexander’s life, so he wouldn’t have put you in their care if he didn’t think Mr Devonport and Mr Atkins could do a great job of looking after you both, which it looks like they have made a great start,” the psychologist said to the boys.

“Actually, Sir Lewis is married to my first cousin Sebastian Wagner, who was my guardian since I was about ten years old, so he and my cousin helped to bring me up when I was an orphan, so try not to worry, and if you have any complaints on how we are looking after you, then you can go directly to Sir Lewis and complain to him, and I am sure he will let me know what we have done wrong,” I said to the boys.

“Hey, are you the Devonport as in the Devonport Complex and the Island Family Resort?” the oldest boy – Simon asked me, “Yes, that is correct, and it was my cousin Sebastian who helped me to build those two complexes,” I replied. “Do you own that big ship on the other side of the island near the old resort and casino? Myles, the younger boy asked me.

“That is correct, that is my big yacht, and my second home, when I feel like going out for a cruise,” I replied. “Cool, can we go and see it?” Simon asked me, with Myles nodding his head in agreement that he wants to see it too and I chuckled at this. “Yes, we can do much more than that, during the week we will live at our home on the island, and on the weekends, we can live on the yacht,” I replied. “Awesome,” the boys chorused.”

With the boys mum in an induced coma, been prepared to be flown to Perth of Darwin, we took Simon and Myles to their home in Silver City, where they had a small two-bedroom rental home, and with the social worker assisting, we packed up a lot of the boys clothes, toys and books, and we headed towards our home on the other side of the airport, where the boys had a guest bedroom each, with a shared bathroom.

Langley and I had been briefed on the boys school time table, and she watched from the side, as the boys settled into their rooms and explored the house and grounds. “This is indeed a very impressive home that you gents have here,” Elaine the social worker said to us, as we sat down with a cup of tea and watched the boys.

“I guess you could say that I was indeed very lucky to have a rather rich first cousin, who gave me the very best of everything, and that is why he and I have made a big effort to make a number of improvements to make life a little easier for everyone on the island, including the additional flights in and out of the islands from Broome and Darwin, and of course the more recent improvements with new residential accommodation, shops and guest accommodation,” I replied.

“Yes, I have been luck enough to snatch up one of your apartments at the complex, I am very happy in my new home, and with the facilities that the complex provides,” Elain responded. “I am glad to hear that, I have always come to the island and seen all those apartments looking old and tired, and wished that some better apartments could be provided to the residents,” I said.

“Well, I think the island is very lucky to have you two gents and your cousins investing on the islands, it has made a lot of people a lot much happier, and although the holiday guest probably don’t know it, but you have probably made their satays a lot more enjoyable too,” Elaine said to me.

“Thankyou, that is what we aim to do, make life a little easier and enjoyable for everyone,” I said as Langley stepped up beside me and gave me a sideways hug, with me been thankful to have the love and support of my partner and my cousins, in my life.