DISCLAIMER:

M/M, m/m, M/m

This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

This story contains descriptions of explicit sexual acts of boys and men discovering their sexuality. It contains graphic scenes of sex between consenting underage boys, consenting adult males and boys with adult males (eventually). If this type of content offends you or you are under the age of 18, do not read it.

If it is illegal to read such material where you live or if you find the topic distasteful, then please stop reading now. You have been warned.

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Author's Note:

I started writing this story, never intending it to grow into what it has become. It seems to have taken on a life of its own. I hope you enjoy.

Also, if you are enjoying this story, my first story can be found here:

https://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/moments

Chapter 60 – Mysterious Malcom Returns

After sleeping longer than I should have thanks to some interesting late-night activities, I struggled out of bed to rouse the boys and get everyone headed in the right direction for another day. I stopped in Alex, Joey and Logan's room first to find all three still curled together. After shaking shoulders to wake them up, I asked Alex, "You guys okay this morning?"

"Yeah, dad, we're good. Joey and I talked it out."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. We're going to have a chat tonight about this new development, though."

"No, Dad, really, I'm cool if he wants to spend more time with Josh," Alex protested.

"Not about Josh, about the hitting thing. That's not cool."

"Oh, that."

"But that's for later. Right now, you all need to get your butts moving. Breakfast in ten."

I moved on to wake the other three and found them strewn across the bed. After a bit of shaking to roust them, T.J. greeted me with, "Mornin', Dad. How ya' doin'?"

"Just dandy, young, man. Ready for another fun-filled day of school?"

"Not really. I wish we could just do school at home."

"Yeah, me, too," Mike added.

"Well, don't hold your breath for that to happen. C'mon, you three, time to get movin'. Breakfast in ten minutes."

"We'll be there," Andy replied as I turned and left the room to go get Tom moving.

As I crossed the threshold into our room, I was surprised to find the bed empty. "Yo! Big guy, where' you at?" I yelled.

"In the bathroom, where the hell you think I am?"

I popped my head in the door and sighed, "Phew, thought you ran out on me after last night's excitement."

"Not a chance, babe. I wouldn't miss this for all the tea in China," he replied while drying his hands.

"Good. Let's go feed some boys." We made for the kitchen and found six boys waiting patiently for food to appear from out of nowhere. Since we were running a little later than normal, we settled for cereal and toast this morning. As the boys finished up, they rinsed their bowls and dropped them in the dishwasher before returning to their rooms to get dressed and ready for the day. When they were all ready to roll, I got them loaded up in the Flex and made the trip to the end of the drive so they could wait for the bus. After receiving a hug from each, I reminded them to learn something new today and headed back to the house.

Coming back in the house, I heard Tom saying, "Really? Max had a similar chat with Joey last night." Wondering who he could be talking to, I sat next to him and mouthed, `who'. "Hang on, Rick, he just walked back in. Let me put you on the speaker so he can hear this, too."

After Tom punched the button, I said, "Morning, Rick. How ya' doin'?"

"I'm great Max. I was just telling Tom about the chat I had with the boys last night after we got home."

"Yeah, what about?"

"Several things, but I think the most interesting was when Josh told Eric and me he thinks he's gay and he also thinks he's in love with Joey."

"Joey said the same thing about Josh to me. You okay with that, Rick?"

"Well, yeah, I suppose so. I'm just not sure how to handle it, guys. I mean, Eric hasn't even mentioned the possibility of having a girlfriend yet, and now his younger brother says he's in love. How the hell does this happen?"

"Ha! Joey asked me the same question last night. And like I told him, it just happens. So, what do you think we should do?"

"I guess we need to figure out how the two can spend more time together and see what happens," Rick answered. "You got any ideas on that?"

"Well, before you left last night, Joey asked if Josh could spend the night, but I put him off since it was a school night. We normally wouldn't have a problem with having a friend spend the night, but we're a little short on beds right now because we're having some rooms redone."

"Well, I guess Joey could come over here some night. We've got plenty of room, though we don't have a pool or anything like what you've got over there."

"We're having some guests Saturday night that I want Joey here for, but if it's okay with you, what would you think about Joey coming over there tomorrow night if you're not working?"

"No, I'm off all day and night tomorrow, so that should work out just fine. Let me talk to the boys tonight after I get home and I'll see what they think. I'm sure Josh will love it, but I want to make sure Eric's cool with it, too."

"Sounds good, Rick," Tom replied. "We'll talk to Joey tonight, too. No doubt he'll love the idea. Is it okay if Joey calls Josh tonight?"

"Sure. Why don't we do that, say, around seven or so? That'll give me a chance to talk to the boys beforehand."

"That sounds perfect, Rick," I replied. "So how were Josh and Eric after you got home?"

"Extremely comfortable. But, so was I. Let's just say it was an interesting evening and leave it at that."

We chuckled and Tom replied, "The first of many interesting nights to come, Rick."

"No doubt about that. I can't thank you guys enough for your help. We haven't been this happy around here for quite a while and I look forward to whatever happens next."

"Happy to help, Rick. Remember, you're all welcome here any time."

"Well, look, I gotta get my ass to work. Talk to you later."

After disconnecting the call, we looked at each and started laughing. When we'd finally regained a modicum of control, Tom commented, "Ah, young love. It keeps the world turning."

"That it does. So, any big plans today?"

"Not really, what about you?"

"First thing I have to do is take a shower and get this freakin' hair off my body. It's starting to drive me crazy. Think I could talk you into taking care of my back for me?"

"Yeah, I could use a shower, too, so why not? It'll give you a chance to do something you've been dying to do to me, anyway."

"Really? What might that be?"

"I've been thinkin' about it and I think I'm due for a serious trimming." My eyes lit up at the prospect and he saw it. "Now, don't be getting any wild ideas there, bucko. I'm still not ready for a full body shave like yours, but I think a little trimming in, uh, certain select areas would make you happy, wouldn't it?"

"Oh my, yes, it certainly would. And I'd love to be the one to help. It really can be quite erotic."

"That remains to be seen, but I'm willing to find out. Let's go fire up the clippers, master barber."

I took Tom's hand and led him to our bathroom. After I got undressed, I rummaged in the bathroom cabinet to get the tools I needed to do a little manscpaing on my lover. "So, how short do you want to go," I asked.

"I think about a quarter inch."

"You sure about that," I asked. "That's gonna be quite a change from the unruly patch you're currently sporting. Why don't we start with leaving a half-inch and if you want to go shorter, we can?"

"You're the pro, if that's what you think, then go for it. I offer you my body as a canvas for your artistry."

"This is gonna be so much fun," I giggled as I rubbed my hands together. "Be right back. I need to grab a chair so I don't kill my knees on this tile." I zipped to the kitchen and quickly returned with my chair.

"I thought we'd do this in the shower," Tom commented when I came back.

"The shaving part, yeah, but not the clippers, ya' bonehead. They're electric. Besides, I don't want to clog up any drains," I laughed.

"Ha, very funny, smart ass. So, what do you want me to do?"

"Just stand there, or you can lean against the sink counter if you want." He grabbed a towel from the rack, laid it over the sharp edge of the counter and then leaned against it. Once he was in position, I moved my chair closer and got comfortable for my task. I caught a noticeable full-body flinch from Tom when I turned on the clippers. I peeled my eyes away from his crotch, looked up to his face and asked, "You sure about this? It's not too late to chicken out."

"Oh, just do it already, would ya'?"

"Your wish is my command, sahib." No more words were exchanged as I placed the clippers just below his waist and made the first run through his gnarly pubic hair to the base of his penis, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. Hair was dropping to the floor as if an avalanche were happening. I continued my work and the more I manipulated his heavy cock and balls to reach various creases and hidden places, the harder he got, as did I. After just a few minutes of the most pleasurable labor I'd done in a while, I sat back, admired my work for just a moment, then said, "Okay, check it out in the mirror, see what you think."

He turned and looked down to see the difference. "Wow! That's lookin' pretty cool, but I think you should go shorter."

"You sure?" I asked. After a quick nod, I swapped clipper guards to the quarter-inch piece. Once Tom was resettled against the sink counter, I flipped the clippers on again and got back to work. Since his hard, dripping cock was in my face and blocking my view a bit, I took the only logical step to get it out of my way and slipped it into my mouth. Tom inhaled deeply and planted his hands on the counter behind him to keep from sliding down to the floor as I engulfed his mushroom head. Now that it was no longer obstructing my view, I was able to easily continue my trimming from his waist down, Tom moaning in pleasure the entire time. Whether it was his cock in my mouth, the vibrations of the clippers or a combination of the two that caused his lustful moans, I couldn't be sure. When I finished the area above his hardness, I released it from my mouth, flipped it up against his pubic mound and said, "Here, hold this thing out my way, would ya'?"

"This thing is my dick, dammit," he complained with a whine of loss.

"Yeah, I know, but right now it's just in the way," I giggled. He grudgingly followed my instructions and I was able to keep trimming underneath the prodigious appendage. As I started to work on his scrotum again, he spread his legs wider to give me easier access. Once I had gone over the entire area with the shorter guard, I shut off the clippers and had him review his new appearance in the mirror, again.

"Close, but not close enough. I don't want you to be using my hair for dental floss," he grinned. He turned back to face me, planted his sweet ass back on the counter and added, "Once more, with feeling this time."

Not wanting to argue the point, I happily swapped to the sixteenth of an inch guard and repeated the same process I'd used the last time. By the time I was ready to complete the trimming to his scrotum, poor Tom was about to pop his load and I could feel him trying to restrain himself from losing it. In an effort to calm things down, I made short work of his sack, then had him check his new appearance one more time.

"Now, that's what I'm talkin' about. Seein' all you hairless fuckers around here made me feel out of place. I think I'll fit in a little better, now."

"Any other spots else you'd like trimmed, sir?" I politely asked. His answer was evident as he promptly bent over the sink counter, grabbed an ass cheek with each hand and spread them wide open. I accepted the challenge and returned to my task. A few short minutes later, Tom's crevice was practically devoid of hair. What little remained would be dealt with in the shower with the trusty razor. I gave him a quick smack on this ass to let him know I was done. When he turned around to face me again, his cock was still hard and dripping. He took a step forward and I let it slide into my waiting mouth.

Having had considerable practice of late, he kept feeding me until my nose was buried in his almost bare pubic mound. As I accepted my tube steak snack, I reached between his legs and began to finger his asshole. I'd barely gotten my finger slipped inside him when I felt the first pulse of semen flood my throat as Tom groaned in ecstasy. When he finished unloading the contents of his balls into my throat and mouth, he stepped back, taking his cock with him, and leaned against the counter again.

"Oh, my god, you weren't kidding when you said a shave could be erotic."

I grinned up at him as he recovered his legs and laughed, "Happy to be of service. That'll be fifty bucks, please."

"Fifty!? That's pretty damn steep for a freaking haircut, even if you are a pro."

"Oh, the haircut's only ten bucks. The other forty is for the happy ending," I laughed.

"And worth every damn dime. Put it on my tab, won't you?"

"Oh, no you don't. No tabs around here. You get to pay up right now." After laying the clippers on the counter, I grabbed the razor and shaving soap and headed for the shower. "C'mon, big guy, time to pay your debt," I whispered seductively as I wiggled my finger for him to follow me into the shower. Once we had gotten wet, I handed Tom the razor and soap, then presented him with my back. He took the hint, lathered me up and proceeded to remove the hair on my back. Once he was done with my back, I leaned over on the bench so he could take care of my lower backside also. He was a trooper and didn't hesitate to clean me up. I sensed some nervousness as he worked around my wrinkled pucker, but since I wasn't bleeding profusely when he was done, I'd have to give him an `A' grade.

When he was done, he handed me the razor and bent over so I could complete my work around his tight hole. That task completed, I proceeded to shave the rest of my body. The normally routine job was made much more difficult than normal as my lover was orally attacking my hardness. At one inopportune moment, I almost slashed my wrist as he inserted a finger into my newly shaved asshole. Thank man's intelligence for creating safety razors. After finishing with my upper body, I planted a foot on the bench so I could start taking care of my legs. Just as I started the first stroke on my right thigh, Tom, slipped his tongue into my hole. I damn near put my head through the glass block wall in surprise, but, again, managed to avoid any serious injury. He continued to stroke my cock, fondle my balls and play with my sphincter while I tried to finish my shave without maiming myself.

When I was finally done with my legs and had placed the razor in a safe location, Tom sat me down on the bench, then proceeded to sit in my lap, impaling himself with my cock. When he'd settled his ass on my hips, he started to clench and release his sphincter. He then took my sack in both hands and began to gently tug and massage the orbs within. With the stimulation I'd already received and his current actions on two separate fronts, I was ready for release all too soon. Tom continued his anal and scrotal manipulations as I coated his insides with my offering. With our sexual appetites temporarily sated, we sat on the bench to recover for a moment before turning off the shower and stepping out to dry off. We both had rather goofy but happy grins filling our faces.

I broke the mood, somewhat, when I cracked, "Geez, would you look at that? It looks like I shaved a damn poodle in here. You better grab the vacuum so we can clean this nasty mess up."

"Don't look at me," Tom retorted, "A barber always cleans up after himself," he added with a laugh. Dodging the punch I'd aimed at his shoulder, he acquiesced, "All right, all right, I'll be right back."

While he retrieved the vacuum, I got the rest of my tools cleaned up and put away. Once the mess was taken care of and vacuum put back away, it was time to figure out what was next on our schedule. I decided to follow Tom's and Dr. Schaid's advice and start writing about how I felt about the abuse I'd had forced on me. I intended to spend maybe twenty or thirty minutes on it and was surprised to be still pounding away on the keyboard two hours later when Tom popped in to find out what I wanted to eat for lunch. After telling him a wiener sounded good to me, he disappeared and I saved what I'd written, shocked to see I'd created twenty-three pages of who knows what. I was gonna have to go back and read it all to see what I'd said.

Upon arriving in the kitchen to help with lunch, I noticed Tom had misunderstood my request and had hot dogs on the griddle. Well, damn, next time, I'll have to be more specific, I guess. After we cleaned up our lunch mess, I suggested we call Malcom to make sure he was still coming for supper Saturday night. Tom agreed and placed the call.

"Yo, speak to me," Malcom answered.

"Malcom, Tom and Max, here. How ya' doin'?"

"Great, man, how're you guys?"

"Just fine. Hey, we're just callin' to make sure you're still planning on coming down Saturday afternoon. We're really looking forward to meeting you."

"Oh, you bet, man. I wouldn't pass this dinner up for nothin'. Dylan is gonna be there, isn't he?"

"Sure is. He just doesn't know you're gonna be here, too."

"Cool. It'll be the freakin' surprise of his life. What time you want me there?"

"We told Dylan six, but we were thinking you probably ought to be here about five, if that works for you?"

"Perfect, Tom. I've been looking forward to it. I'll see you guys Saturday afternoon, then. Thanks for calling, man."

"Be careful out there, Malcom. We'll see ya' Saturday."

After ending the call, I said to Tom, "You should probably call Bob, the furniture guy."

"Why?"

"Well, if Dylan's going to be working with you, don't you think he deserves to have his own desk and whatever?"

"Well, shit, I hadn't thought about that."

"Ha, and everybody thinks my brain is whacked out," I laughed.

"Well, it kinda is, babe, so don't be gloating too much."

"Thanks, smart-ass. Love you, too. Make your damn call."

After talking to Bob for fifteen minutes, Tom hung up the phone and said, "Done, mister smarty-pants. Any other bright ideas you'd care to share?"

"Why don't we check on Dylan, see how he's doing. We can make sure he's still planning on being here for dinner Saturday, too?"

"Good idea. He seemed better when he left last night, but I'm still worried about him." He punched the speaker button and dialed his old station.

"Sangamon County Sherriff's, this is Kelly. How may I direct your call?"

"Hey, Kelly, it's Tom. What's the mood in there today?"

"Pretty grim, Tom. We're all pretty shook up, and not just about Barry. Sarge turnin' in his resignation is freaking people out, too."

"I don't doubt it. Dylan was here last night. He was pretty down about it all, too. How's he doin'?"

"Moping would be the best word to describe him, I guess. Not that all of us aren't with him on that, but he's really feelin' it, I can tell."

"Hey, before I talk to Sarge, I wanted to ask about Frank Mueller. How is he recovering from his wife's attack?"

"Not well, Tom, not well at all. He got taken to the hospital this morning and from what I've heard, it ain't pretty. Sounds like he's going to lose both testicles."

I couldn't help but give a silent cheer and pump my fist in elation after hearing that little tidbit of news. Thank you, Iris, for doing for me what I've wanted to do for twenty years. You might be a sick and twisted fuckin' bitch, but you came through with flying colors, just like I hoped you would.

"Well, don't be feelin' too sorry for him, Kelly. If anybody ever earned that punishment, it's him."

"Hey, before I transfer you to Dylan, I gotta ask, is what I read in the paper true? Was it really your Max the Muellers abused?"

"Yeah, Kelly, it was me," I answered.

"Oh, Max," she said with surprise in her voice, "I didn't know you were there, too. I'm so sorry for prying into your business."

"It's all right, Kelly. Don't worry about it."

"Well, thanks. Look, I'm sorry you had to go through that nightmare, but I gotta tell you this." She dropped her voice to a whisper and continued, "I hope the doctor's hand slips and he cut's off that sick bastard's dick when he chops off his balls."

"I'm with ya' on that, Kelly," I agreed after laughing at her wish.

"Okay, that's enough from me, let me get Sarge for you. Talk to you guys later."

After a short pause, Dylan picked up the call. "Speak to me, Tom. What's the good news?"

"Max and I are just callin' to see how you're doin'. We're worried about you."

"Well, we've all had better days around here, that's for damn sure, but we'll get through it by supporting each other, just like we always do. I know I said it last night, but I want to say thanks, again, for letting me hang out even though you had other plans. That really means a lot to me."

"Well, Dylan, you're part of the family, now. We weren't going to let you be alone last night."

"So, please tell me you called for some other reason besides to check on my sorry ass."

"Actually, we did. We want to make sure our plans for dinner Saturday night are still on. It just wouldn't do for us to fix dinner and have our guest be a no-show."

"Oh, no, I'll be there. I don't pass up a free steak for anything. I just hope y'all know how to cook. I'd hate to show up with an appetite, only to find a hunk of charcoal on my plate."

"Very funny, Dylan," I retorted. "I'll have you know I was trained by Chef Gordon Ramsey."

"You're kiddin' me!" Dylan exclaimed.

"Of course I am, you big goof. I've barely left my property in the last fifteen years. When the hell could I have met him, let alone have had time for him to teach me how to cook? But I promise, you, I'm a fair cook and I won't put charcoal on your plate."

After a quick chuckle, Dylan answered, "You had me goin' there. Well, look, I gotta go do some real work, so I'm gonna let you guys go..."

"Wait, Dylan," Tom interrupted. "I know it may be early, but do you have word on arrangements for Barry's funeral or memorial."

"Oh, yeah, thanks for reminding me. Helen has scheduled his service for Sunday afternoon at two with a visitation starting at noon. The service will be at Saint Aloysius on Sangamon Avenue, and the burial will be at Oak Ridge Cemetery following the service. The whole department, along with the city's force, will be there except for the minimum to maintain patrols and handle calls for a couple of hours."

"Thanks for the info, boss, I'll be there."

"He means we'll be there, Dylan," I corrected Tom. "How's is Barry's wife doing? Is she gonna be okay with the kids and all?"

"She's holding up pretty well considering the circumstances. Of course, discovering Barry had a two-million-dollar life insurance policy she didn't know about certainly eased her mind. Between that, the county's policy and Barry's pension, she shouldn't have to worry about where their next meal is coming from."

"That's good news for her, boss," Tom replied. "I'm glad she won't have to worry about the future."

"Okay, I really gotta go, Kelly's about to break down my door. See you guys Saturday at six."

"Well, he sounded a little better than he did last night," I commented.

"Yeah, but he's still hurting. Interesting Barry had that second life policy. Most guys only have the one the county takes out for them. It's almost like he knew something bad was gonna happen someday."

"If he hadn't, I was going to create a college scholarship fund for his kids. I'm glad Barry had planned ahead. That reminds me, I need to call James."

"About what?"

"Updating my will and making sure the boys' educations are provided for."

"Don't you think it's a little early to do all that? What if the adoptions fall through or something else weird happens?"

"You mean like us not getting married? Please don't think like that. No negatives, Tom, only positives. I can't deal with any negatives right now, all right? We're getting married and the adoptions are going to happen. End of story."

"Yes, boss, whatever you say."

I made the call to James, but Rose told me he was in court this afternoon and he'd have to call me back tomorrow. After finishing that call, I decided I needed to make one more call today that I'd been putting off all week, mom and dad. I needed to talk to them to see how they were dealing with Warren's suicide.

"Hey, dad, how are you and mom doing?"

"We're okay, Max. I knew you'd be calling at some point to check on us."

"Well, yeah, since it's kinda my fault Warren killed himself, I want to make sure you're both okay."

"No, son, it isn't. It's his own fault, just like it was mine. If he couldn't face his own demons and accept responsibility for what was going on in the church, then that's his problem, his decision and nobody else's."

"Yeah, I know, that's what Tom keeps telling me. I don't know if I really believe it just yet."

"Let me tell ya' somethin', my boy, that Tom is one smart cookie. I think you probably ought to keep him around for a long time."

"I plan to, Dad, thanks. Any idea when Warren's funeral is going to happen?"

"It happened this morning. Your mom and I didn't go. It just didn't feel like we should be there, considering everything that's happened."

"How's his wife and daughter doing?"

"They're putting on a strong act, but I know they're both shocked and miserable. We dropped off a pie for them yesterday and visited for a bit, but they weren't letting much of their real feelings show."

"I'm sorry for their loss."

"That's life, son, easy come, easy go. But can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"We talked to your sister last night and she hinted you might know some things the news doesn't. What I want to know is this; was Warren one of them?"

"I don't know for sure, but from what we've heard, he had a key to that office and the filing cabinets on his keyring. I can't see him having those if he wasn't in on it."

"Do you have any idea how many kids were victimized besides yourself?"

"Over 3,000, dad. And everything's been turned over to the FBI to track them down."

"Christ, what were those people thinking?"

"You're asking me?" I asked, incredulous with disbelief. "I'm the last damn person who could answer that question," I responded with a bit more vehemence than I intended.

"Don't you get testy with me, boy. You're not too big for me to bend over my knee and give you a what for."

"I know, I'm sorry, Dad. I don't mean to take it out on you. Look, if you really want to know what they were thinking, why don't you go down to the jail and ask some of them? They might actually talk to you. I'm sure Frank would love to say hi for old time's sake. Oh, wait, he's not at the jail right now."

"Why not. They wouldn't let him go, would they?"

"Oh, no, he's at the hospital for some minor surgery. Seems he's losing his balls."

"WHAT!?"

"Um, he and Iris had a little disagreement after I talked to them on Tuesday. Seems she did some pretty serious damage to his family jewels, so they're getting removed today."

"Hee-hee," Dad giggled. "Well, hell, I woulda done that for them, right here in my garage. And free of charge, too. I'm sure I could have found a rusty saw and pair of pliers around here somewhere," he laughed aloud. "I could have stopped any bleeding with my handy-dandy soldering iron, too. Wait, back up a second, you actually went and talked to those two?"

"Oh, yeah, we haven't talked since then. I needed to confront them, try and make sense of all of it. Got a beautiful recording of them admitting what they did. Turned it right over to the cops. Those two will never be free again."

"Good for you, son. I'm glad you stood up to them. That took some serious cojones and I'm proud of you."

"You should have seen their faces when I pulled out my phone and stopped recording. I thought they were gonna shit themselves after what they'd said."

"Maybe I will go see some old friends, see what I can find out. You're right, some of them may just talk to me."

"Well, I got all I needed from them, they're all yours now. Look, if you and mom need anything, let us know, all right?"

"We're fine, Max. You take care of yourself. And Tom and the boys, too. Love all you guys. We'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Dad. Tell Mom we say hi and we love both of you." After hanging up the phone again, I asked, "Okay, anyone else we needed to call?"

"Not that I can think of," Tom answered.

"Good, I'm gonna go take a nap. Somebody kept me awake way too late last night."

"Hey! I didn't hear you complaining a bit so don't be tryin' to make me feel guilty about it."

"I'm not complaining now, either, hon. I'm just sayin' I need a little more sleep. You wanna join me?"

"Not this afternoon, babe. I'm too wound up."

"Okay, your loss. If I'm not up when the boys get home, come get me, will you?"

"Somebody will, for sure."

I closed the bedroom door and after laying down, pulled just the sheet over me and curled up, hoping to catch up on some much-needed shut-eye.

After Max went to lay down, instead of picking up my book to continue reading, I called Carol.

"Carol Ward, how can I help you?"

"Afternoon, Carol, Tom here. How ya' doin'?"

"Just another day in paradise, Tom. I'm glad you called. I've wanted to call you guys today, anyway."

"Good news, I hope."

"Double good news, actually. First, we've finally finished comparing our files to the list of names from Alex and Joey. We had a total of seven names match children who had been placed with the Muellers over the years, but after I personally contacted each one of them, they all denied having ever been abused by them. In fact, all seven are happily married and have kids of their own now."

"That's good to hear, Carol. I'll make sure to tell Max when he wakes up."

"He not feeling well?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that. We were just up a little later than normal, that's all."

"TMI, Tom," she chuckled. "Now the other good news I'd hoped to share with both of you at the same time, but since I don't want to disturb Sleeping Beauty, I'll leave it up to you to pass it on. The first part is Andy's mother has finally seen the writing on the wall and agreed to sign away her parental rights, so he's now available for adoption. You know anyone who would be interested in giving the little ragamuffin a good home?"

"That's great news, Carol! You know he's already got a home here, so quit teasing me. Max will love it and so will all the boys. Andy's fit in so well with the others, I can't imagine what it would be like around here if he suddenly left us. You got any more good news you want to drop on me?"

"One more, little tidbit. It might be good, it might not. You and Max will be the final judge. I've managed to do some finagling of certain events and have a date for all five boys' adoptions to take place on the same day."

"Ohmigod, that's great. What's the date?"

"Well, I hope this won't be a problem with you two, but since I know when and where a certain judge will be, along with all the other people involved, they're gonna happen May seventeenth, right after your wedding." I lost my voice and had no response that could adequately convey how I truly felt about Carol's announcement. After several long moments of silence on my part, Carol asked, "Tom, you okay?"

"Yeah, Carol, fine. Stunned would be a good word to use, too. How the hell did you work that out?"

"Well, I knew Judge Corgan was going to handle the court appearances for the adoptions. I also found out from him that he's going to officiate your wedding. So, we put two and two together and got seven. Good, huh?"

"Oh, man, Max will be so happy. We all will be. The boys have been begging to be involved in the wedding somehow, but since our parents are doing most of the planning, we don't know what they've come up with. We'll have to let them know about this so they can maybe adjust their plans a bit. I don't know how we can ever repay you for making this happen."

"I'm glad we were able to get everything lined up. Consider it our wedding gift to all of you."

"Though this is totally inadequate, thank you, Carol, from the bottom of our hearts. You've made us the two happiest men on earth today."

"Happy to do it. Now, you called me. What did you want?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I lost my train of thought. Um, first, I don't know if you've heard the news yet, but Dylan is resigning from the force. He's going to come work with me."

"Wow! I never dreamed he'd leave the department. What brought that about?"

"Well, he'd been thinking about it for a while, but one of the other guys got killed yesterday and that just iced it for him."

"Oh, my, I didn't know that. How's Dylan doing?"

"Broken up, like you'd expect, but he's strong and we'll help him get through it."

"What's the second thing you wanted to tell me?"

"Max has gotten this crazy idea in his head. He wants us to build a bigger house so we have the room to take in more kids that need help. Not to adopt them, but to be, I guess, a foster family for them until they can find different arrangements or be adopted by someone else. Can you believe that?"

"Sure, I can. Sounds like the guy who's already agreed to adopt five kids in need. It doesn't surprise me one bit he wants to help more. What can I do to help make that dream become a reality?"

"Nothing, I want you to talk him out of it. At least for a while. If that's what he wants, I'm all for it, but I want him to work with his counselor some more and have his mind straighter before we jump off the deep end."

"Tom, Tom, Tom, when will you ever learn? Max is gay, his brain can never be straight," she laughed.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do. Just tryin' to be funny. Look, I can't talk to him about holding off. We have a definite space crunch with beds in this part of the state. The more we have and the sooner we have them, the better off we'll be. In fact, I could probably arrange a little funding to flow his way to help make it happen even faster."

"You're a whole heap of help there, Carol. Thanks for nothin'."

"I've already done my good deed for the day. It's your turn to do yours. Support Max and help him make it happen."

"All right. Thanks for the news. It really will make our day. Talk to you later." I hung up the phone and sat in stunned silence for several minutes as I wrapped my brain around Carol's news. When I thought I had myself back under control, I picked up my book to continue reading, but the tears flooding my eyes and flowing down my cheeks were screwing up my focus. I finally gave up, put the book back on the table and just sat there, numb with shock and sobbing with joy at how our dreams were starting to come true. I was sorely tempted to wake Max now and tell him, but decided to let him sleep and tell everyone when the boys were home. I finally got a grip on myself and was able to clear my eyes enough to resume reading.

Fifteen minutes before the boys should be home, I crept into the bedroom to pull on some sweats and a shirt so I'd be ready to go pick them up once they announced they were home. Max was sprawled out on his back, sheet and cover kicked off, erect penis bouncing freely in time to his heartbeat. Just before I left the room, I lightly ran the tip of a finger from the back of his scrotum to the very tip of his glans. I could see his body quiver as the sensation of my light touch added to whatever dream he was already having. With a grin on my face, I left him alone again to await the three dings from the drive sensor.

I'd barely sat back down when I heard the boys signal. I levered myself back out of my chair, grabbed my coat and headed out to the garage. When I reached the end of the drive, the boys ran for the car and hopped in. As had become the norm for them, as soon as the car doors were closed, clothes started flying as they began to get undressed. By the time I'd pulled into the garage, all six were again comfortable in their skin and their clothes bundled for the trip into the house.

"Okay, guys, Max is taking a nap. Joey, Alex, once you've dropped your things in your room, why don't you two go wake him up. The rest of us will wait in the living room for the three of you to join us. I have some good news to share with all of you."

"You got it, Pops," Alex replied as we entered the house and the boys split up to their separate rooms.

"C'mon, dude, this'll be fun gettin' to wake up Dad for once," Joey enthused as we moved down the hall to his bedroom

"We gonna tickle him?" I asked.

"I sure am, but not where you think."

"We gotta be quiet and not wake him too fast."

"Gotcha, stealth mode engaged."

As we stood outside dad's bedroom door, Joey's thought popped in my head, "You ready?"

"Oh, yeah, open the door, J." Joey quietly turned the knob, pushed the door and allowed it to swing just wide enough so we could creep in. I closed the door just as quietly and after turning around, found Joey standing stock still as he stared at the lone figure stretched out on the bed. There was Dad, sleeping peacefully, in all his naked glory. His hard pecker was pointing towards his chin and jumping sporadically as if dancing to some unheard music with a very weird beat. I really liked that he shaved `cause I never did much like to look at other dicks surrounded by all that nasty curly hair. It always hid too much and I wanted to see the whole glorious package.

"Holy shit, would you look at that?" Joey thought. "All primed and ready for some fun."

"He must be having one hell of a dream," I silently agreed. We tiptoed to the bed and carefully climbed up on the mattress, Joey moved to Dad's right side while I stayed on his left. "I've wanted to touch him and more since the first time we saw him naked."

"Well, now's our chance, A, let's make it count."

I slowly reached my hand out and wrapped it around Dad's pecker. Though he was nowhere near the size of Pops, I could barely curl my fingers completely around it as I grasped the upper half. Joey wrapped one of his hands around the hard shaft below mine and let his other hand drift to the hairless sack holding his balls. As we started to gently slide our hands up and down his hardness, Dad moaned lightly as we maintained our pressure and slow rhythm on his shaft. When just looking at the purple head poking out of my hand didn't seem to be enough, I leaned over and took it into my mouth, swirling my tongue around it as we continued to stroke him. When I decided licking the head just wasn't filling my mouth enough, I peeled my hand away and swallowed his shaft to Joey's hand. Dad grunted a bit and I was afraid he'd wake up to find his dick in my mouth. But not enough afraid of that happening to let his dick slip from between my lips.

After enjoying the flavor of his pecker for a few minutes, a new thought popped in my head. It was Joey saying, "Hey! It's my turn to taste his meat. You play with his nuts." I pulled my mouth off Dad's hard rod and allowed Joey to sample it. Not content to just fondle his balls, I slipped my head between his legs and started licking his nutsack. It was so smooth, he must have just shaved it this morning. The more I lapped at his sack, the wider Dad spread his legs, making it easier for me slather him with my spit. Joey continued his assault on Dad's dick and was moaning deeply. I could feel the vibrations of his growls all the way back to Dad's hole.

Ohmigod, his hole. I quickly slicked up a finger and started to probe and prod at his tight sphincter. I slowly slipped the finger inside his ass and began to search for his prostate. Once located, I began to rub it lightly while I continued my oral assault on his balls and Joey kept up the suction on his dick. I knew the moment we were waiting for had finally arrived when I felt his balls pull up and his asshole clamped my finger tightly. Joey never wavered or let Dad's dick slip from his mouth as it was filled with semen. When the clamp on my finger finally released, I pulled my finger back out and knelt by Dad's side. Joey was kneeling on his other side with a tight grin cutting across his face. He leaned forward, beckoning me to come closer. When our lips met above Dad's still throbbing hunk of meat, Joey used his tongue to force my lips open and we shared the prize we'd just milked from our Dad. If either of us could actually shoot, we would have coated Dad's bare crotch with our own offering as we both came without ever touching ourselves.

Once we swallowed our treat and finally collected ourselves, we looked to Dad's face and realized he was still asleep somehow. Joey pushed the thought into my brain, "How the fuck did he sleep through that?" he pouted.

"I don't know, but we should get off the bed and try to get him awake. Pops is liable to come in any second looking for us."

"Oh, yeah, he had news to share, didn't he? I forgot all about it after seeing Dad's boner." We gently crawled to the edge of the bed and once we were back on the floor, I shook Dad's shoulder to rouse him from his slumber.

I was enjoying the most realistic and erotic dream I'd ever had when I felt a hand shaking my shoulder and heard a voice say, "Hey, Dad, time to wake up."

"Yeah, c'mon sleepyhead," another voice giggled. "Pops has some kinda news he's waiting to tell us."

My eyes finally popped open to find Joey and Alex standing next to the bed, devious grins splitting both their faces. "Oh, hey boys, home from school, I see."

"Yeah, c'mon, old man ...," Joey started.

"... get your butt outta bed," Alex finished.

"Yeah, all right. Let me go to the bathroom and I'll be right out." I swung my legs off the bed to stand up and realized my penis was stiff as a board and it and my scrotum were both dripping wet. "Geez, that was one hell of a dream I was havin'."

"Yeah, Dad, it looked like it to us, too. We watched you for a couple of minutes," Joey giggled.

"It musta really been somethin'. You looked like you were about to pop," Alex added with his own little giggle.

"It sure felt like I did. At least in the dream, it did. Okay, you two scoot on outta here and I'll be right there." The twins disappeared through the door as I made my way to the bathroom. Somethin' was feeling a bit off about the whole situation, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. After draining my bladder, I grabbed a washcloth, wetted it with cold water and wiped the sweat off my face. Once my face was feeling cleaner, I moved the cloth down to wipe the sweat off my crotch, also. I wiped down my scrotum first, wondering the whole time why I was so wet there also. It wasn't until I went clean my penis that the old five-watt bulb finally flickered on.

I slowly put the puzzle pieces together until the complete picture formed in my mind. Stiff, wet cock, soaking wet balls, felt like I'd shot a load, but no evidence of it actually happening, two always-horny boys innocently standing beside the bed, giggling their asses off, shit-eating grins on their faces. Those devious little rascals. I knew I should be mad as hell at them for taking advantage of me, but, damn that's the best wake-up call I've ever had. When I finally had my wits unscrambled, I headed out to join the rest of the family and found them all waiting for me in the living room.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," Tom said as I sat next to him. "Nice of you to join us."

"Sorry, I slept pretty hard and didn't want to wake up."

"Yeah, you sure did," Joey giggled.

"I'll get to you in a little bit, young man," I scolded. I looked back to Tom and asked, "Okay, what's this big news you have that couldn't wait a little bit longer?"

"Look, if you'd rather be sleeping, go right ahead. Don't let us keep you up."

"I'm sorry, hon. I'm just a little testy. I just hope it's good news."

"Oh, I think you'll like it. Okay, I called Carol this afternoon to let her know about Dylan coming to work with me. She was pretty surprised, to say the least, but she's looking forward to working with us. But that's not the important part of our conversation. She told me that we can adopt Andy with the other four."

"What!?" Andy yelled. "I really get to stay here forever? Yippee!!" he yelled as he danced around the table.

"You sure do buddy," Tom answered. "And the news gets even better. Not only will Andy become an official member of the family, but Carol's managed to juggle things around and his adoption can be finalized on the same day as the others, too."

"Oh, that's great news, Tom. Why the hell didn't you get me up and let me know?"

"Wait for it, babe, remember, patience is a virtue. There's one more thing you need to know and that's the date it's all gonna happen."

"Please don't tell me it's any later than June, I don't want to wait any longer than we have to."

"Nope, not later," he grinned slyly. "She managed to get all five set for May. May seventeenth to be exact. You doing anything special that day?"

I thought the roof was going to be launched into space from all the noise the boys created with their cheering. Even Logan joined in their celebration as they jumped, danced, hooted and hollered. Shocked beyond belief, I stared at Tom for a moment and, after a quick nod to reinforce what he'd said, I broke down into tears. The boys suddenly got super quiet and Tom pulled me into his warm embrace.

"It's okay, babe. You should be happy."

"I am," I blubbered. "I've never been happier in my entire pitiful life."

The boys came over, climbed in our laps and on our backs as we enjoyed an eight-way celebration hug. Once I'd regained my composure, I said, "I can't believe she made this happen."

"She told me that she and Judge Corgan worked together to arrange it all. Since they knew where everyone was going to be on the seventeenth, it just made sense to take care of it all in one shot. David will do our wedding ceremony first and then he'll take care of the adoptions so both our names can be on the certificates."

"Will we get to change our names to Sanders?" Joey asked.

"I don't see why not. What do you think, Tom?"

"Well, I was kinda hopin' they'd pick Wright, but I guess Sanders will work, too."

"How `bout we do one of them dash thingies and go with Sanders-Wright?" Alex asked.

"Or Wright-Sanders," T.J. suggested.

"Would that make us royalty?" Mike asked.

I stifled my laugh and answered, "Not hardly, Mike. What do you think, Andy? You're being awfully quiet over there."

"I don't wanna change my name. I like Cox."

"That's fine, buddy. Nobody's saying you have to. If you change your mind though, you can always do so later."

"Okay, thanks, Dad. I'll think about it."

"You realize, of course, we need to call our parents again so they can make whatever changes are needed to the plans they've come up with so far, don't you?" Tom commented.

"We can do that later. Right now, we need to have a little chat with Joey and Alex."

"Okay, we're outta here," T.J. replied. "C'mon Andy, Mike, Logan. We don't need to be here."

"No, Logan already knows about part of this and I want you all to hear it. Alex, Joey, sit right here on the table, the rest of you can have the couch." Once everyone was in their place, I pushed on, "You want to tell me what happened last night?"

"I don't know, Dad," Alex answered. "Like I said, I just thought about punching Joey and, bam, he did it to himself. That's never happened before." T.J., Mike and Andy registered surprise on their faces at this new development in the twins' mental abilities.

"And when I found out he could do it, I got really pissed off. Then, I tried and it worked for me, too. And once I started, I couldn't stop it."

"Okay, do you think it happened because you were so upset with each other that your emotions may have fueled your ability to hurt the other, or is this just a new phase of development you're discovering?"

"We don't know, Dad," they chimed.

"I got an idea," Joey added. "Try it now."

"I don't want to hit you in the face, again."

"Good, `cause I don't want you to, either, bonehead. Try to get me to hit my leg or somethin', or better yet, your face."

Alex stared at Joey and we waited about thirty seconds before he said, "It ain't happenin', and I really tried. I guess it only works when we're mad."

"That's good news, then," Tom said. "Apparently, you can only do it when you're upset with each other."

"At least for now," I added. "You'll have to be really careful with your emotions, especially anger, to make sure you don't hurt each other or anyone else. Think you can do that?"

"Yeah, dad," Joey answered.

"We'll be careful," Alex added.

"Okay, next, Pops and I talked to Rick this morning."

"Yeah, what'd he want?" Alex asked.

"And how's Josh?" Joey begged.

"First, he thanked us for having them over. They had a great time and can't wait to be able to come over again. Second, he said they had a talk last night that became interesting. You remember what you told me last night, Joey?"

"Yeah," he muttered as he blushed with embarrassment and looked at the floor.

"Well, during their discussion, Josh told Rick and Eric that he thinks he might be gay and it appears he feels the same way about you, Joey."

"Ohmigod, really?" he squealed with delight as lifted his head back up.

"Really," Tom answered with a big smile.

"What're you talking about, dads," T.J. asked.

Alex turned to face the other four and answered, "Ole bingo brain told Dad last night he thinks he's in love with Josh." All four boys snickered at the idea.

"Hey! It ain't funny," Joey yelled.

"No, guys, it isn't," Tom admonished them. He returned his focus to Joey and carried on, "We told Rick that you'd asked if Josh could spend the night last night and we'd said no since it was a school night. But, if you're interested, Rick said he'd be glad to have you stay over with them tomorrow night. He's supposed to talk to Josh and Eric when he gets home from work and we'll talk again tonight about seven."

"Yeah, yeah, I wanna go," Joey panted, nodding his head enthusiastically.

"Down, boy," I chuckled. "We'll talk to Rick first and then you can talk to Josh, okay?"

"Cool, Dads, thanks."

"Now, I have one more thing to discuss before we have supper," I said. "Anyone care to take a guess what it's about?" With negative head shakes from the assemblage, I continued. "It seems we need a little refresher on the rules concerning sex in this home. What's rule number one?"

"It happens only in our bedrooms with the door closed," T.J. answered.

"Perfect, T.J. Rule number two?" I asked.

"Everyone involved has to agree to whatever happens," Logan answered.

"See, even Logan knows the rules. Yep, that's it. Two pretty simple rules, right? Now last question, can a person who's asleep agree to anything?"

"Not really," Andy answered.

"Not unless they can talk in their sleep," Mike added.

"And that seems unlikely, doesn't it?" Joey and Alex had remained uncharacteristically silent during this part of our chat, so I turned my attention back to them. "So, new rule to go with the other two. If you want to enjoy some intimate play with another person, they must be awake and at least be given the chance to say no. If they're asleep, it's hands and lips off. Everybody understand that? Joey, Alex, you got it?"

"Yes, sir," Alex answered.

"Yeah, Dad, we got it," Joey added.

"Good. I hope we never have to discuss the rules again. Now, what's for supper?"

"Wait, we ain't gonna get in trouble?" Joey asked.

"You should, but I'll let it slide this time. It ever happens again, though, it'll be two weeks wearing clothes, understood?"

"Yes, Dad. We're sorry," they chimed.

"Moving on, supper?" I asked.

After a spirited discussion of food selection, we decided pizza was the easiest, so I grabbed the phone and placed the order. The boys got the table set so when I returned with our food, we'd be ready to eat. The six eating machines must have been starving, as the four large pizzas didn't last very long. Once the supper cleanup was completed, we headed to the theater to watch mindless TV until it was time to call Rick. Joey kept turning around to look at the clock behind us, frowning, and sitting back down. It was cute to see how anxious he was to talk to Josh and by the time seven rolled around, his eyes were practically glued to the clock. When the magical moment finally arrived, Joey and I left Tom and the other five boys watching Animal Planet while we adjourned to the living room to make our call.

I punched the speaker button and dialed Rick's number. When he answered, I greeted him with, "Hidey-ho, Rick. How ya' doin'?"

"We're good, Max, how `bout you guys?"

"We're just dandy. So, what have you come up with for tomorrow night?"

"Well, after talking to the boys, it sounds like we're a go on this end. Josh is as excited as all get out to have his first sleep-over with a friend."

"Joey's in pretty much the same mood. I've got him tied down to the couch right now so he doesn't float away. Do you want us to bring Joey over, or do you want to pick him up?"

"Well, since I'm off, why doesn't Joey just walk home from school with Josh and Eric? We're not that far and that way neither of us has to drive anywhere. Then we'll bring him home Saturday morning. Does that sound all right to you?"

"Sounds good to me, Rick, what do you think, Joey?"

"Yeah, that's great," Joey enthused.

"I guess we have a plan then," Rick agreed. "Since Joey's right there and Josh is hangin' on my every word, why don't we take a hike, Max, and let them talk?"

"You got it, talk to you later. All yours, Joey, don't talk all night, okay?"

I rolled my eyes, grabbed the receiver and asked, "You there, Josh? ... Yeah, hang on while my dad leaves." I watched dad as he walked away across the living room, dining room and finally disappeared into the theater before continuing. "Okay, he's gone. How are ya'?"

"I'm great, Joey. I can't wait for you to come over tomorrow. We're gonna have all kinds of fun."

"I can't wait either. This'll be the first time I've ever spent a night away from Alex."

"I bet that's gonna be weird for both of you, won't it?"

"I don't know, dude, but I'm ready to find out. Especially after the little prick made me punch myself in the nose last night."

"What!? How'd he do that?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow night. It's too weird to explain over the phone. So, what are we gonna do?"

"I don't know, probably watch some TV, play some video games, who knows? We'll figure it out when you're here."

"What about your brother? Will he be there, too?"

"Probably. He don't have a girlfriend or nothin', so he hardly goes anywhere."

"Josh, I gotta ask, do you really think you're gay or you just sayin' that `cause of what we did in the pool and shower?"

"No, man, I really do. Like I told Dad and Eric last night, when I'm jerkin' off, I'm thinkin' `bout them and what they look like naked, not some stupid girl. What I didn't tell `em is I'm also thinkin' `bout what it would be like to suck their dicks. And when I jerked off this afternoon after school, I was thinkin' bout you and your cute little pecker," Josh added with a little giggle.

"Oh, damn it, dude, now you got me all hard."

"Good, that makes two of us."

"Hey, did you really tell your dad you think you're in love with me?"

"Um, yeah, I guess I did," Josh answered hesitantly. "Does that freak you out?"

"Not really, `cause I told my dad the same thing `bout you last night. I mean, I love my brothers and all that, but that feels different than how I felt with you. Does that make sense?"

"Perfect sense, man. But we can talk about it more tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Hey, you want sit together at lunch tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that'd be cool. Think Alex will join us?"

"I don't know, but I'll ask him. He says he's cool with us, but I don't know just yet."

"Give him some time, Joey, he'll be okay. Maybe he'll find someone, too."

"Oh, he's found him already, but I don't know if they've talked about it too much."

"Really, who?"

"You know Brent from our class?"

"You mean that tall kid with the curly black hair?"

"Yeah, him. He was at our birthday party and Alex was practically drooling all over him."

"Oh shit, I gotta go, man. Dad's yellin' at me to get off the phone. See you at lunch, tomorrow, Joey."

"Yeah, I'll be there. Think about me tonight when you're all alone."

"You know it. You, too."

I hung up the phone and looked down at my stiff dick. Knowing I couldn't go back to watch TV with a hardon, I wrapped a hand around it and started stroking myself as I closed my eyes, laid my head back and thought about having Josh's lips wrapped around it. I could still feel his sweet pecker in my mouth from our shower last night and how its four-and-a-half-inch length tickled the back of my tongue when my nose was driving into his hairless crotch. I could also feel his finger as he searched for and found my asshole. Oh, fuck, I barely know Josh and I can't wait to be able to hold him close, to feel our bodies entwined, dicks rubbing together between us, oh, yeah, here it comes, I can feel it, just a little more, I started bucking my hips, shoving my dick into my hand, dreaming it's Josh's mouth, or better yet, his tight ass. My body tenses up as I get closer and closer and suddenly, BAM! I was quivering from head to toe as I came. Oh, fuck me runnin', Joshy, I love you. As I slowly came back down from my high and opened my eyes, I found Dad standing there with an amused look on his face.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt, but I thought it was time for you to be off the phone."

"Yeah, sorry, Dad. Guess I got carried away."

"Just a little. Want to talk about it?"

"Uh, not really. Not yet, anyway."

"Any time you change your mind, I'm here."

"I know, Dad, thanks," Joey replied as he stood and walked towards me. I knelt down to his level and pulled him into a hug which he gratefully returned. "Uh, don't say nothin' to Alex `bout that, all right?"

"You got it, son. Let's go watch some Star Trek."

After watching a couple more episodes of the boys' favorite show, it was bedtime. We hustled them off to hit the john and followed in their footsteps a few minutes later to say our goodnights. We stopped in on the twins and Logan first and found them curled and covered up. We shared our hugs, kisses, goodnights and love yous before turning out the light and moving on to check on Mike, T.J. and Andy.

Andy was just coming out of the bathroom as we entered their room and I asked him, "So, how do you feel about officially joining our family?"

"I think it's great, Dad. I'm gonna miss my mom, but I ain't gonna miss Russ. He was a jerk and I always hated him. I'm glad Pops and Sergeant Brock put him in jail `cause that's where he belongs."

"We're glad you're happy here, Andy," Tom replied.

"Hey, dads," T.J. began, "we been making some progress with Andy's little problem."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, give us a minute and you can see for yourself." After Andy stretched out on the bed, Mike deftly applied the steroid cream to Andy's foreskin and gently massaged it into the skin. When that step was done, T.J. took over as he grasped Andy's penis between his thumb and forefinger and began to slowly manipulate the turgid member in a very well-practiced motion, one I'm sure he learned when he had to do this for himself. We'd been watching for a few minutes when T.J. looked up and said, "Okay, take a closer look, dads, see for yourself."

Tom and I leaned in and, sure enough, a bit more of Andy's glans was now exposed compared to what it had been. "You guys are doing great. Keep it up and you'll have Andy straightened out in no time."

"Uh, Dad, I don't think he can get any straighter than that," Mike giggled as he pointed to Andy's stiff penis.

"You know what I meant, silly. C'mon, guys, hugs and kisses time."

The three of them moved to the side of the bed and we enjoyed a five-way hug, sharing kisses, goodnights and love yous along the way. When we were done, they curled up in the middle of the bed and we pulled up their covers, turned off the light and headed to the living room to relax for a bit before going to bed ourselves. I lit a log in the fireplace and flipped on the circulation fan to keep us toasty warm while we read. After a couple of hours, my eyes were starting to sag and I was ready for some sleep. I let Tom know I was headed for bed and he joined me.

As we walked across the living room, he asked, "You wanna tell me what that new rule was all about?"

"Oh, yeah, that," I chuckled. "Did you actually pay attention to how long it took Joey and Alex to come back out after you sent them to wake me up?"

"Not really, no. I was busy talking with the others. Why?"

"Well, I don't know how long they were in the bedroom with me, but they seem to have rather enjoyed the opportunity." As we entered our bedroom, I explained how I felt and how wet I was when they actually did wake me up and what I figured out after the twins had left me alone.

"Those little stinkers," he laughed. "I shoulda known somethin' was up when they came back with ear-to-ear smiles. Next time, I take the nap and you send them wake me up."

"You got it, big guy," I agreed as I leaned in to give my lover a good night kiss and whispered, "I love you, big guy," before snuggling up for a good night's sleep.

"And I love you, more, babe," Tom whispered back as he held me tightly.

Friday morning, we started the process all over, again. After a month together, we finally seemed to be settling in on a rhythm and schedule to our daily routines. Wake up early, get the boys moving in the right direction, breakfast and then drop the boys at the bus shelter. As they were headed out this morning, Joey was the last to give me a hug and when he started to let go, I asked, "You got everything you need for tonight?"

"Yeah, dad, not that I need that much. Toothbrush, clean clothes for tomorrow, you know, the basics."

"Sounds like you're ready, then. Two things I want you to do. First, be careful, second, don't rush into something you may not be ready for. You and Josh have plenty of time to figure things out between you."

"Yeah, Dad, I know," Joey responded as a flush of embarrassment flooded his face.

"I'm glad you understand. Have a good day at school and we'll see you tomorrow morning. Love you, kiddo," I added as I gave him a light swat on the behind to send him on his way.

"Love you, too, Dad. See you in the morning."

My heart skipped a beat or two as he headed for the garage. This was going to be first night since the boys had moved into our home and my heart that one of them wasn't going to be here at night. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that development. Before I had too much time to dwell on that thought, the phone rang. After checking the caller ID and seeing it was James, I answered with, "Hey, you know what they call a thousand lawyers drowned in the sea?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, a good start. I've heard `em all Max. Hey, sorry I didn't call back yesterday, but court ran longer than normal. I barely got home in time for supper with the family. So, what's up today? You adopting more kids? Putting another child porno ring out of business? Saving the world from their homophobic insanity?"

I chuckled and replied, "Yes to the first question, no to the other two. I can only do so much in a week, ya' know. I'm saving them for next week and the week after."

"What, you're really adopting another one?"

"Yep, found out yesterday afternoon that Andy's mom is going to relinquish her parental rights, so he's going to become a permanent member of the growing circus. Think you can handle one more?"

"In my sleep, Max."

"Good, you have until May seventeenth to get everything ready."

"Wait, isn't that when you and Tom are getting married?"

"Yep, our case worker and the judge involved worked things out so we could do it all on one day."

"Congrats, guys. I couldn't be happier for all of you. I'll get in touch with Carol to get Andy's info so I can get things ready on my end. What else ya' got?"

"Well, it seems that I should make a new will and set up some funds for the boys' education."

"Don't you think you should wait until you're actually married and the adoptions are finalized before you do that?"

"I want everything ready to go on the seventeenth, James. I want Tom and I to be married, become the true fathers of five boys and then sign the new will and trust papers. Think you can make it happen?"

"Have I ever let you down before?"

"Nope, and I don't expect you to change now." I heard the garage door close as Tom came back from dropping the boys and he came in to sit with me. "Here's what I want to do; I want five trust funds for the boys in the amount of a million dollars, each. The trusts are to be used for their educational expenses after high school. When they graduate college or turn twenty-five, whichever comes first, the balance of the trust will become theirs to use as they please. I want the trustees to start with me and Tom, then you, our parents and my sister and her husband, in that order. If I should die before they complete their college, it rolls on down the line. Hopefully, they can all get done with their schooling before we all kick the bucket. Do you think that covers everything on boys' trusts?"

"Sounds pretty good to me, straightforward and to the point. Now what about the will?"

"Okay, get ready to sharpen your math skills. I want to leave ten million to a charitable foundation I plan to create to help with suicide prevention of gay youth and assist gay youth in being adopted by parents who will love them for who they are. Fifty percent of whatever's left over goes to Tom. The remaining fifty percent will be split among our sons, parents and my sister with the boys splitting thirty percent evenly and our parents and my sister splitting the other twenty. If anyone should die before I do, their share reverts to the estate to be split among the survivors. How does that sound?"

"Workable. I'll get some things drawn up for the trusts and the will and send them to you for approval. Once I have that, we'll finalize everything and have ready for you to sign on the seventeenth."

"Perfect, James. Thanks for your help. Anything comes up you need answered, just call."

"Talk to you later, Max. Have a good day."

"You, too, James." As I hung up the phone, I looked to Tom and saw he was stunned at what I'd just done. "What? You don't agree with all that?"

"Hey, if that's what you want, then who am I to argue. It's great you're thinking of our parents and Lee, but what's this about the foundation? You haven't said anything about that, before."

"Yeah, it popped in my head just now. I realized that if I croak after we get our new house built and have more kids we're helping, I don't want you to have to use your money to support them. The foundation can take care of those expenses. I'll have it set up so the initial money is invested in solid funds and the income from those investments should be able to take care of whatever's needed. And if I end up writing a couple more books and earn a few million more, then we can bump up that initial investment."

"Man, you talk about money like it grows on trees."

"Well, in my case, it kinda does. Since books are printed on paper and that comes from trees, then, yeah, mine does, indeed, grow on trees. Or, at least, it comes from trees."

"Never thought about it that way."

"Are you okay with the way I split things up? Does it seem fair to you?"

"Again, if that's what you want. It's your money, you know."

"For now, it is, but once we become spouses, half of it legally becomes yours. It's yours already as far as I'm concerned, but the state doesn't think that way."

"Eh, screw the state."

"My feelings exactly. Okay, I need to make another call, but I'm going to the study for it."

"Secrets? Already?"

"It's about your wedding present, so yeah, it's a secret."

"Dammit, Max, I don't need anything. You're all I want or need."

"Well, too bad," I cracked as I stuck my tongue out at him. "It's already a done deal." As I passed by him on the way to make the call, he smacked my ass. I wiggled my butt and cooed, "Ooh, do that again, big boy."

"Oh, get outta here and make your damn call."

After closing the door and sitting at the desk, I looked up Shelby America's phone number on the internet and placed the call.

"Shelby America, how may I direct your call?"

"I'd like to speak to your production manager, please?"

"One moment, sir."

After a minute on hold, "This is Jack, how can I help you?"

"Good morning, Jack. My name is Max Sanders. I already own one Shelby and I've just ordered another one from my local dealer as a wedding present for my fiancé. I wanted to check with you to see what your schedule looks like."

"When did you place the order with your dealer? And when is the wedding?"

"I placed the order a week ago yesterday and the wedding is May seventeenth. I want to make sure the car can be delivered by then."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sanders. Our schedule is full for the next four months. I don't see how we could possibly have yours completed in that time frame."

"Surely you have some slack space in your schedule to deal with unforeseen circumstances."

"Of course, we do, but not near enough to move one order ahead of all the others we already have."

"Look, this is really important to me and I was hoping the fact I already own one might give me a little preferential treatment."

"I would say that normally it would, but this is a really busy time for us and I just don't see any way we can accommodate your request."

"Would it make a difference if I said I was willing to pay double the price of the car to get it here by the seventeenth?"

"Well, I suppose I could talk to the company president and see what he says. I can't make any promises, of course."

"Thank you, Jack. I promise to make it worth your while. Please e-mail me with whatever you find out since I don't want my fiancé answering a call from your company. That would give away the surprise." I gave him my e-mail address and he promised I'd hear from him early next week. After ending the call, I rejoined Tom in the living room.

"So, will I like it?" he asked as I took my seat.

"If you don't, then I'll just keep it for myself."

"I think you'd do it, too, just to spite me."

"Bet your ass on it, bubba."

"Not even a hint, babe?"

"Nope, you'll just have to suffer."

"That's cruel and unusual punishment." I just grinned evilly as I picked up my book and started to read. "Okay, I see how you are. Well, I was gonna tell you what I was gettin' you, but now I'm not. So there," he snarked as he stuck his tongue out at me.

"That's good, I wouldn't want you to ruin the surprise for me, either."

We both returned to our books, occasionally looking at each other and smiling. God, this was gonna be a long two months. After a quiet and simple lunch, we jumped in the pool so we could actually swim without being mugged for once. Though, by the time we got out and headed to the shower, we admitted to each other it just wasn't the same without the boys being there. After our shower, we curled up in bed together and promptly fell asleep. We didn't wake up until we heard the drive sensor ding three times after the boys got off the bus.

"Who's going, you or me?" I asked.

"I think it's your turn, babe. You haven't picked them up for a while."

"Okay, back in a few." I grabbed my keys off the dresser and headed out of the bedroom.

"Hey, aren't you gonna pull on some sweats?" Tom yelled.

"Why bother? I'm just goin' to the end of the drive and back. Who's gonna see me?" As the boys piled in the car, they all commented on my lack of threads as they started removing theirs. All except for Alex, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, sullen look filling his face. "You want to talk about it, buddy?"

"It's just weird, Dad. I guess I feel jealous of Josh. I know Joey wants to see him and I really don't have a problem with it, but this'll our first night apart in, like, forever."

"It'll be different for all us, Alex. Since you guys moved in, none of you have spent a night anywhere else. But, we'll all get through it just fine and Joey will back home tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, I know," he responded sadly as he stared out the car window.

When we got back to the house, the boys dropped their bags and clothes in their rooms and headed for the kitchen for their snack. While they munched their brownies Tom had made, I reminded them about our plans for tomorrow night with Dylan and Malcom. They all volunteered to do whatever was needed to help us get ready before Malcom showed up at five. When the snacks were done, we all settled in the living room to play a family game of Uno. It was a close contest between Logan, T.J. and Andy, but, in the end, it was Andy who won the game. With high fives from all of us, Andy was about as happy as we'd ever seen. Well, except for our news yesterday. I don't think anything could top that.

Supper was a quiet affair without Joey being there to crack wise about everything, but we still talked about the boys' day at school and what homework they had to work on over the weekend. Knowing we'd be pretty busy tomorrow, we agreed to let them deal with it Sunday afternoon. After supper was cleaned up, we headed for the pool to have some fun. After an hour of roughhousing, Tom and I were wiped out and adjourned to our corner while Mike spent the next half hour working with the others on their swimming. It had only been a couple of weeks since we'd had him helping the others, but you could see some definite improvement from all of them.

Since it was starting to get late and we had a long day ahead of us tomorrow, Tom and I decided to call it a night and get the munchkins in bed. The boys broached no arguments and headed straight for the showers. They were all so tired, nobody begged for snacks, so we got them all in bed with our now familiar nighttime rituals and we headed for bed ourselves. We'd just curled up together when there was a light knock on the door. The door popped open and Alex stuck his head through the gap.

"Hey, dads, can I sleep with you guys tonight?" he whimpered.

I answered his question by simply lifting the covers and waiting while he ran across the room, jumped on the bed and squirmed his way between us.

"Is Logan going to be okay sleeping by himself?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, he's used to sleeping alone."

With that, the three of us curled up, Tom and I holding Alex as we drifted off into sleep. Saturday morning started off later than normal. When the three us finally woke up, we found the other four boys sitting on the end of the bed, just watching us. Once our eyes were open, though, they wasted no time in telling us it was time for breakfast.

"Go on, guys," Tom started, "get out of here and get the table set for eggs, bacon and sausage. We'll be there in just a few to get cooking." That was all it took and the five scampered off while we crawled out of bed and visited the bathroom before joining them. Once we got everything else ready, we sat down to eat.

I'd just put the first bite of eggs in my mouth when Alex asked, "When's Joey coming home?"

"I don't know, for sure," I admitted. "Sometime this morning is all Rick told us."

"Well, I hope it's soon. I miss the obnoxious little brat."

"We all do, Alex." After we finished eating, the cleanup crews got busy and in no time, the kitchen was ready to fix our next meal.

As we settled into the living room, Alex suddenly sat up straight and announced, "They're on the way."

Tom and I looked at each other and shared a shoulder shrug as if we should also sense the impending arrival of our missing son. Sure enough, five minutes later the drive sensor announced a car coming up the drive. Alex was up in a flash and running for the door. As soon he saw Rick's car turn the corner for the house, he had the door open and was standing on the porch waiting impatiently. It didn't' seem to matter to him at all that he was naked and had to be cold. When the car stopped moving, Alex ran off the porch and was next seen dragging Joey into the house, followed shortly by Rick, Eric and Josh.

Acting as if they were the only two in the house the twins hugged each other and Alex was crying like I'd never seen before. I could hear through his sobs, "I'm sorry I punched you in the nose, bro. I missed you so much, I felt so alone without you here."

"I missed you, too, dude," Joey replied. "And I ain't mad `bout the nose thing. It's kinda funny, really."

While the twins continued their hug, Tom and I said hi to Rick and his boys.

"Hey, Rick, how'd it go last night?" Tom asked.

"Piece o' cake, man. Joey's a great kid."

"Hey, Dad," Eric whispered, "can we get undressed and stay for a while?"

"Not today, son, these guys have to get ready for company later so we're not staying."

"Ah, dang it," Josh muttered.

"Well, we better get out of your way, Max. Joey's welcome at our house any time."

"Thanks, Rick. I'm glad to hear it. And thanks for bringing him home this morning."

"No problems, we got some shopping to do, so we were headed out anyway. C'mon, guys, let's get moving."

Joey broke away from Alex to say his goodbyes. "Bye, Rick, thanks for letting me stay. I had a lot of fun. Maybe Josh can come over here next time."

"We'll see, Joey. Thanks for helping with supper last night."

"Eric, you might be older than us, but you're still a pretty cool dude. Thanks for not making fun of us."

"Never, Joey. You're a pretty cool dude yourself. Besides, it'll be nice for Josh to have someone else to hang out with. Maybe now I'll have some spare time to find a girlfriend," he chuckled. That comment earned Eric a punch in the shoulder from Josh.

When it was Josh's turn for a goodbye, Joey took his hand and led him back out to the front porch. They stood there for a moment both holding hands and whispering to each other so nobody could hear them. After a few minutes, they leaned in and gave each other a kiss, bumping noses as they did. They were giggling madly as they separated, gave each other another hug and then Josh headed down the sidewalk, followed by his dad and brother. Joey remained planted on the porch until they pulled away and after a last wave goodbye, he finally came back inside and closed the door. While ignoring the rest of us, he wrapped an arm around Alex's shoulder and led him to their bedroom, closing the door behind them. Logan was about to follow along, but decided on his own that the two probably needed some time alone.

We sat on the bed and held each other for a few minutes before either one could muster the courage to say anything. Alex finally broke the ice.

"J, I'm sorry I was such an asshole."

"Don't worry `bout it, A. I'da felt the same way if you were spending the night somewhere."

"So, did you really have fun, and what all did you do?"

"Well, we watched some TV before supper, then played some video games after. Then, when we went to bed, it got kinda weird."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I was kinda expectin' that Josh and I would do the kinda things you and me do all the time, but we didn't. We spent a lot of time just talkin' `bout anything and everything, what we liked and didn't, what games we like to play, TV we watch and on and on and on. I probably know more about Josh than anybody else but you. And that's only `cause I can get into your mind. Then, when we'd both run outta shit to say and were about to fall asleep sittin' up, we just curled up together and feel asleep."

"What!? You didn't do nothin' with each other but talk?"

"Yeah, like I said it was weird, not what I expected at all, especially after what we did in the pool and shower the other night. But you wanna know somethin', it was really nice to just hold him and be that close without, you know." Alex put the back of his hand against my forehead. "What the hell is that for?"

"Just checkin' to see if you're sick," Alex giggled. "I don't remember you ever not wantin' to jerk off or suck a dick. I can't believe you didn't last night."

"I can't either, but neither one of us felt like we needed to, I guess. We were just completely comfortable with each other. But I gotta tell ya' now, I really do think we're in love with each other. I hope that don't freak you out or piss you off."

"Nah, man, I'm good."

"Hey, maybe you and Brent could hook up. I know you like him."

"Yeah, I do, but I don't think he likes me that much."

"You never know until you try, A. You should at least talk to him and find out, see what happens."

"Yeah, I guess so. So, we cool, bro?"

"Cool as ice, bro. Love you, dude, and always will."

"Me, too. Okay, let's go help get ready for Dylan."

Joey took about thirty seconds to get undressed and we headed back out to pitch in and do our part for tonight's guests.

We spent the next several hours doing some cleaning and getting food ready to go for later. While the boys took care of some general picking up and running the dust mop over the floors, I got the steaks marinating and Tom worked on getting the potatoes ready to pop in the oven. After taking a short break for lunch, I added the second grill section to the stove so I'd have plenty of room for all the steaks and Tom created a salad. I also had the boys go around the house and collect all the towels to run them through the washer so they'd all be clean for later. With everything as ready as it could be, we ran through the showers to rinse off the sweat and feel clean again. We finally settled in the living room to catch our breath and relax for a bit.

"Hey, dads, are we gonna have to wear shorts when Dylan's friend is here?" T.J. asked.

"I think we all should when he first gets here because I don't think we've told him this is a clothing optional home. Once we've had a chance to talk to him, we'll see if that changes."

"But won't Dylan think it's weird if he gets here and we all got clothes on?" Alex asked.

"Probably. We'll just have to see what Malcom says, okay?"

"Hey, guys, let's go watch a movie until the dude gets here," Logan offered. "If that's okay with you, Max?"

"Sure, that's fine. Have your shorts with you so you can pull them on when Malcom arrives, okay?"

"You got it, dads," Joey said as they headed to their rooms to grab shorts then traipsed back through on their way to the theater.

I loaded up and lit the fireplace so we'd have a nice fire going for the evening, then settled back to relax and read a bit. At five after five, the drive sensor dinged to let us know Malcom had arrived. Tom and I headed to the door to meet him and the boys followed along, not wanting to miss a moment. I watched through the windows as Malcom parked on the drive and made his way to the front door. Just before he could ring the bell, I opened the door to let him in. Standing on the porch was one of those most handsome black guys I'd ever met with beautiful Café au lait skin.

"Oh, hey," he said, "Are you dudes Tom and Max? I'm not sure I'm in the right place."

"If you're Malcom," Tom replied, "you're most definitely in the right place. C'mon in and take a load off."

"Cool. Nice digs ya' got out here, man. I think I could handle livin' here," Malcom commented as he looked around. "So, tell me who's who."

"I'm Tom and this is my fiancé, Max," Tom replied as he extended his hand for a shake, which I followed up with my own. After receiving a poke in the ribs, Tom continued, "And these are our sons and one of their friends. From left to right is T.J., Mike, Andy, Alex, Logan and Joey." The boys gave a little wave to Malcom as Tom called out their names.

"Hey, nice to meet y'all. Obviously, I'm Malcom White. Actually, I like to joke that I'm Malcom Half-White," he chuckled, "thanks to my mom."

"Well, why don't we have a seat and get to know each other a little bit better before Dylan gets here. Would you like something to drink? We have water, tea, diet and regular Pepsi, and fruit juice," I offered

"Sure, tea sounds good as long as it ain't sweet."

"I got it, Dad," Alex sang out as he turned and headed for the kitchen. While Alex got Malcom's drink, the rest of us headed to the living room and got comfortable.

"I really want thank you guys for getting' in touch with me. I knew where Dylan was living still and that he was a cop now, but I was always too afraid to get in touch. I figured he was pissed off at me for movin' away like I did. Not like I had a choice."

"If you don't mind me askin', what happened?" Tom asked. "Dylan said your family moved rather abruptly."

"Yeah, my old man's a homophobic asshole, that's what happened. One afternoon when Dylan `n me were, uh, havin' a bit o' fun, my dad walked by my bedroom window and saw us. After Dylan left that day, my old man said there weren't no way he was gonna have a queer for a son and he up and moved our sorry asses to Chicago. Didn't even let me call Dylan and say goodbye, we was just gone. As soon as I could, I got the hell outta that home and ain't never been back."

"Wow, sorry to hear it Malcom," I responded.

"Eh, I'm over all that crap now, but I was pissed off at him for a long time. We talk every now and again, but I still ain't been invited back home for a visit. I figure it's their loss, not mine. I just moved on with my life and tried to make myself happy as best I could."

"Before Dylan arrives," Tom began, "you should probably know he lost one of his guys in the line of duty this week, so he may not seem quite like the same guy you remember. He's havin' a rough time dealin' with it. Hopefully, seeing you again will help pull him out of his funk a bit."

"Oh, man, that sucks. Him bein' a cop is one of the main reasons I never tried to get in touch. I didn't think I could handle getting' involved with him again and worryin' about him getting' blown away."

"Well, you won't have to worry about that any more. He resigned from the department the same day Barry was killed. He'd been thinking about for a while anyway, but he said that was it."

"That's good to hear. About him resigning, that is, not losing a dude like that. I'd hate to lose his sorry ass just after hookin' back up."

"Can I ask you somethin', Mr. White," Joey asked. Oh, crap, here it comes, I thought.

"Sure, you can, little dude. Uh, which one are you again?"

"I'm Joey. How do you feel about bein' naked or bein' `round other people who're naked?" Yep, right to the point as always.

"We-e-ell, I'm not bothered by bein' nude myself, or with other folks bein' nude, either, I guess. Can't really say I ever been nude with other folks, though, except in the locker room at school or the pool."

"So, if we were naked right now, it wouldn't freak you or nothin', right?"

Malcom looked at Tom and me with a confused look on his face.

"Thank you, Joey, for bringing up the next topic of discussion," I commented sarcastically. I looked back to Malcom and explained. "What he's saying Malcom is we're a nudist household. Generally, we don't wear clothes when we're at home. That's one of the reasons I built this house out here years ago. I've always hated wearin' clothes and wanted to live somewhere I could do that without the neighbors laughin' themselves to death. When the boys moved in and Tom joined us shortly after, we all agreed to continue that. So, Joey is askin' if you care if they take their shorts off and get comfortable."

"But what about when Dylan gets here?"

"He's been here several times, Malcom, and he's joined us every time. If he shows up and we're dressed, he'll know something's up."

"Oh, so y'all have seen the anaconda already, huh. Intimidating, ain't it?" he chuckled. "Nah, man, I don't care. If they wanna go starkers, knock yourselves out, kiddos. Y'all expect me to get naked, too?"

"Only if you want to, Malcom. We never force anybody if they don't want to. But you should know that Dylan will probably be nude once he gets here."

"Cool beans, dudes, let's do it. Where can I drop my clothes?"

"Well, Dylan usually leaves his in our bedroom, so why don't you get undressed in one of the boys' rooms so he won't see yours."

Malcom stood and said, "Lead the way little dudes." Malcom followed Joey, Alex and Logan into their bedroom while Tom and I headed for ours. When we rejoined in the living room, I could see Malcom was a little self-conscious, but the more we talked the more relaxed he became. By the time the drive sensor announced Dylan's arrival, he was just fine.

"What the hell was that?" Malcom asked.

"That should be Dylan. Why don't you wait in the twin's bedroom for a few minutes? Once Dylan's had a chance to get comfortable and settle in, I'll have one of the boys come get you."

"Cool, man, I can't wait to see the look on his face."

Tom met Dylan at the door and he surprised us all by arriving wearing nothing but his skin. "Whoa, boss, don't you think it's a bit risky to drive out here like that?"

"Eh, I'm still driving my county car, who's gonna stop me?" He wandered in and took a seat on the love seat so his back was to the hallway that leads to the boys' rooms. "So, how y'all doin'?"

"We're good, Dylan. But what about you, how are you doing?" I asked.

"Better. Not great, but better. At least I now accept I couldn't control what Barry did after he left my office. I just wish I'd known Rollie was liable to be packin' heat, I woulda had more guys inside the bar."

"Boss, if you'd had more guys inside, Rollie woulda smelled a setup and taken a hike."

"Yeah, you're probably right about that, too, Tom. You were right about everything else. I just gotta quit second guessing everything. Those `what-ifs' will drive you crazy."

"There you go, Dylan, move forward," I commented as I signaled the boys to bring in Malcom.

Without preamble, Logan jumped up and said, "I gotta pee, be right back," then disappeared around the corner.

"They always announce their potty breaks like that?" Dylan asked. Joey vacated his spot on the love seat next to Dylan to make room for Malcom and Dylan asked, "What's up Joey, I stink or somethin'? I promise I took a shower after work."

"Nah, Mr. Brock, I just wanted to sit with Alex since I stayed at a friend's house last night."

Logan came back with Malcom in tow and he jumped on the couch with T.J., Andy and Mike while Malcom took the spot Joey had just vacated on the love seat next to Dylan.

His being there didn't immediately register, but Dylan finally looked at the newcomer and said, "Oh, hey, Mal, what's up?" before looking back to Tom and me to continue our conversation.