Chapter 2

Jon half expected Dante to show up at about seven again this morning, but he did not. Then by eight Jon was actually starting to get a little worried, by nine he was sitting on pins and needles, but knew he could not go check on Dante. Then, just before ten, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. He jumped up and went and looked, praying to anyone that would listen that what he was hearing were not heading to Dante's house.

His worst fears, though, came true, the sirens did stop right in front of Dante's house, three police cars, one ambulance, and even a firetruck showed up. Jon was already dressed, thankfully so, because he did not even think about it, and in just bare feet, he sprinted from the house and the five doors down until he was in front of Dante's house. The police and the ambulance attendants had already gone inside, and more police barred his entrance, even though he said he knew Dante and wanted to ensure he was okay. The police officer who stopped him said that he knew nothing at the moment, but that Jon could not enter.

The wait seemed forever before anyone came from the house, and the first to do so was a police officer, leading a cuffed woman. Jon saw them and rushed forward.

“You vile beast, what'd you do to him. I told you that if you ever laid a hand on him again I'd finish you.” He snarled.

“He's alive, though I should'a killed the little freak.” She snarled drunkenly.

“He better be, or there isn't a law in the land that'll protect you.”

“You've known her son was being beaten?” The officer asked.

“Yeah, I found some odd bruising on Dante once and I made him spill his secret, he didn't wanna, and he made me promise not to call you guys, even though I really wanted to, so I went and saw her instead and told her that it was to never happen again. She still smacked him around a bit, but no beatings, 'til today. Trust me, I wanted to call you guys, but he didn't wanna leave, though he still has yet to tell me why that is.”

“Would you be willing to say so in court, because there's no chance now he'll be going back to her, it's a police matter now and it won't happen, period?”

“Yes.” He said instantly.

“Good.”

The officer continued to drag the mother to his car and proceeded to stuff her in the car, even though she fought it, yelling at him that she had done nothing wrong, that it was her right to raise her son properly, even if it killed him. A few seconds later, the ambulance attendants emerged from the house, pushing a cart, and Dante was strapped to it. He asked for them to stop as soon as he saw Jon, and they did.

“What'd she do to you?” Jon asked the second he saw him.

“She was beating me, I managed to get the phone and hit 911 and then let it go, I knew they'd trace the call and find out where it was. They said they could hear me screaming, but it was pretty bad this time. I think she broke some ribs when she kicked me, I managed to protect my nuts when she tried to kick me there too, and I think my nose's broken as well. The guys think my arm might be broken too, all I know is it hurts a lot.”

“We're pressing charges against her this time Dante, there's no questioning that this time, and I'll see what I can do to take you myself, so that you don't have to leave here.”

“Thanks Jon, I hoped I could count on you.”

“No prob. I'll meet you at the hospital, I'm gonna talk to the officers here and find out who the child care worker on your case is and see what we can arrange. I might be a couple hours, but I'll be there okay. That should give them plenty of time to get you straightened out a bit.”

“Thanks Jon.”

Jon told the ambulance attendants to go ahead and take him and get him all better, so they did. He had not, of course, been in critical condition or anything like that, so they had no problem pausing for a few moments. As soon as they were gone though, Jon went and found the officer in charge and explained everything. The officer that had led Dante's mom out also told him what Jon had said. He said he could do nothing, but the child care worker was there already as well and was currently inspecting the house. As soon as he came out, he was introduced to Jon.

“I wanna be the one to take Dante in. He's been a good friend now for quite some time, he helps me around the house and I listen to him about his problems, though I should've ignored his pleas to not call the cops when I first found out how he was being treated.”

“Do you have any experience raising children, do you have a stable home environment, are you married, do you have a job?” He asked blandly, reciting from memory. Jon groaned, knowing this idiot would make his life miserable.

“My only child died ten years ago, he was twelve, I own my own home and am independently wealthy. I do freelance writing though, so that I don't have to use my money so much, and it pays fairly well. I'm not married and have no one else in my life right now.” He answered back almost as blandly.

“If you wanna fill out the papers and go for the interviews, we might be able to get something happening in about six months or so.”

“Not gonna happen, Dante will be leaving the hospital and coming to stay with me.”

“Pardon me Sir, you have no say in the matter, it's in my hands now, and he'll go to a foster home, and unless you're proven fit, that's where he'll stay.”

“And that's the largest reason that Dante didn't want me to call you guys.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“That you don't care about him. Go to the hospital and ask him what he wants.”

“It's not a matter of what he wants though, it's a matter of what's best for him.”

“See, that's what I mean. What's best for a child is what they want. Sometimes that can't happen, I know that, and so does he, but I'm betting he wants to live with me, so we're gonna make that happen, with or without your help.”

“Considering he's in my care now, it's my say that goes, not yours or his, and right now, you're not helping your case any, and if I don't think that you're suitable, then he'll never live with you.” He warned.

“Oh, that sounded like a threat, are you threatening me?”

“No, that was a promise. I hold all the cards here, and if I don't feel you're fit to raise a child, then you won't get him, plain and simple.”

“Ah, so you're power hungry. You love doing this to people, good, I love tearing people like you down. Good day to you, I'm going to my lawyer and we're gonna talk to a judge instead and bypass you completely. By the way, threatening me may have lost you your job.” Jon smiled serenely and turned and walked away, listening to the impotent little man spluttering behind him in anger.

Jon headed right to his lawyers office and asked to see him, was told to wait just a few moments and then was called in. He laid it all on the line to his friend and told him what had to be done, gave him all the names of the police officers and the care worker, Dante's moms name and all other information he could give. His friend said he would go talk to everyone and petition the court immediately and have Dante placed in his care before he even left the hospital. Jon was happy, so left to go to the hospital.

When he arrived to the hospital, he asked at the reception area if they knew where Dante was yet, or if he was still in emergency. He was told that they had just moved him to the pediatric ward and gave him his room number, so he headed right up there. Being the pediatric ward, it was secure, so he rang a nurse and she came and asked him who he was and who he was seeing, as soon as she was satisfied, because Jon's name was the only one on the list for visitors, he was buzzed in and he was shown to Dante's room.

When he walked in, Jon was amazed to see Dante looking the way he did. He had a rather large bandage on his face holding his nose, and a lot of gauze packed into his nose to set it properly. Both his eyes were now starting to blacken, though they were not too dark yet, but in a couple days they were sure to be massive black and purple. His left arm was in a cast, his chest, which was bare, was bruised and scratched almost as much as his face was, and it too was taped up to help keep his ribs intact. He had an IV line running into his right wrist, and there were three bags steadily dripping, giving him medication, though one was just saline solution he was sure. His lower half was covered by a blanket, though Jon could see the top of a diaper band peeking over the blanket.

“Hey there Buddy, how you feeling?”

“A little banged up, but not too bad. The doctor said in a few days, once they take me off the pain killer and the anti inflammatory, that I was gonna be in pain, but there was not much that could be done about that. At least she didn't manage to get my nuts.”

“I knew I shoulda called the cops on her, then you wouldn't be in this mess.”

“Don't you feel guilty about my choice Jon, it was my choice not to call them, I should've, I know that now. She was gonna kill me, she told me so, said she was gonna beat the useless outta me 'til I was either good or dead, whichever came last.”

“Why, why'd she do it?”

“Because she found out I was wearing a diaper this morning, and that it was wet. She told me repeatedly that I was nothing more than an embarrassment and a mistake, and that she shoulda just drowned me when I was a baby. She told me that wetting my bed was bad enough, that wearing a diaper made it that much worse. Then she went on to say that she knew I was gay too, that I was such a freak, so on and so forth. I hardly even got to say a word, all I could do was scream and cry, it was pretty bad. I don't know how I managed to get the phone and call, but I did, but she caught me and made me pay for that too, but thankfully she wasn't smart enough to disconnect, she obviously didn't think I'd dialed.”

“I hope you know none of what she said was true right?”

“I know, don't worry there. By the way, some idiot guy from child protection left not all that long ago, just before they brought me up here in fact, and told me that he'd get me in a good foster home as soon as I was outta here. I told him I wanted to stay with you, but he said that was outta the question, that you weren't a suitable host, that you were far too violent and not stable enough. I told him though that I was going to no one else but you, that if he put me in a foster home where I wasn't even wanted, because I was a gay diaper wearer, then I'd just run away.”

“Oh, he did, did he.” Jon smiled.

“What, why are you smiling, that's horrible?”

“Because, he just ensured that he gets fired is all. I already told him you were coming to live with me, he didn't wanna do it because it wasn't his idea, so I went above his head, and hopefully by the time you leave here, it'll be to my place.”

“Oh, okay, but he said I had no say in the matter.”

“That's what he thinks, but he's wrong, what you say means everything. A lawyer will likely come and talk to you as well, and maybe even a judge, or we might have to take you to him, depending on how you feel, but it'll happen. By the way, your diaper's showing, so you should pull your blanket up a bit.”

“Oh, I don't mind you seeing that, but it was sorta embarrassing for the nurse to change me.”

“I'm surprised you asked to be put in a diaper.”

“I didn't really. They just saw that I was already diapered and changed me, and I never said anything, so that's fine. I'm pretty bruised down there though, and I do have a cooling pack inside the diaper to help, so it's probably for the best anyway. Not to mention that there's no way I can get up to use the bathroom right now, just moving any at all hurts my chest too much.”

“Oh, okay, and chances are, even if you weren't already in a diaper, they would've put one on you anyway then because of that, but they saw you were wearing already, so didn't think it'd be a big deal.”

“Probably. I'm really hungry and thirsty, you think you could get me some food and water please?”

“I'll ask and see what they have planned for you.” He said and left the room.

He went to the nursing station and asked the nurse there what Dante was allowed to have, if anything, and if he could get him something or not. The nurse said that lunch would be delivered shortly anyway, so not to bother with food, but certainly get him as much water as he wanted to drink, that he needed it anyway. Jon did ask if he was allowed to change Dante's diapers, because he found it more than a little embarrassing to be changed by a women. She, of course, laughed and said that she had seen it all a thousand times or more, but that really, for now anyway, it would be best for them to change him, since he did need a bit of special care.

He asked why they were keeping him diapered, even though that was what he preferred for bedtime anyway. She told him that the reason he had pretty much assumed was correct, that there was no way for him to go to the bathroom any other way at the time, because getting up or using a catheter were just not options, though the following day, sore or not, he would be required to get up and start moving anyway, so would not be diapered most of the time then. Jon thanked her for the information, so went and told Dante all that he now knew and got him a nice cold drink.

“Ah, thanks, that's much better. Thanks for asking about the diapers though, but I guess I understand.”

“Yeah, they're trained to do so without hurting you, and if you're that bruised down there, I could easily hurt you, and we don't want that.”

Just as he finished, someone came in with a cart with food trays on it and dropped one off to Dante. Jon grabbed the rolling table that went over the bed and put it into place for Dante, then put the tray on it and uncovered it. There was not a lot of food, it was not exactly appealing for the most part, but to a hungry boy, it looked like heaven. He had soup and Jello and a couple pieces of fresh fruit, as well as a mug of tea. Jon had to help him a little, but Dante did fairly well on his own.

“That was really good, way better than my mother ever fed me.”

“Really, that soup didn't look all that good to me, looked like a weak broth more than anything, and the Jello was even nearly colourless.” Jon laughed.

“To you it probably would've been bad, but my mom was a really bad cook, and she never taught me anything. I can cook a bit from learning on TV and stuff like that, so that I didn't starve, but yeah, I'm not exactly used to good food. I always ate amazingly at your place when I ate there, even if it was something simple.”

“Oh. You never said anything, I had no idea.”

“That's okay. I really wanna sit here and talk, but I'm starting to get really tired now all of a sudden.”

“It'll be all the medications, and now that your body has food, the next thing it wants is rest, so you should definitely do so. Before you do so though, how's your diaper?”

“I don't know.”

Jon reached under the covers and checked.

“Feels like you should probably get a change before you go to sleep, I'll go ask the nurse.” He said and headed out.

A few minutes after Jon came back in, a nurse followed with a cart with everything on it she would need and proceeded to change Dante, and even changed out the cooling pack. Jon gasped when he saw the bruising.

“Wow, that looks pretty bad, they're sure that she didn't damage anything?” He asked the nurse.

“Yeah, while his testicles, and even the base of his penis, are bruised, the majority of the bruising's actually in his inner thighs. He managed to deflect most of the blows away from the important stuff, but bruising in that area always shows up there as well, it's just so tender. It may even feel as if he was hit there, and he probably did take some trauma, but nothing we could see said it was enough to cause any worry. Once the swelling goes down some though, he's already scheduled for a full scan, just to be certain. There you go Dante, I know you really didn't want me doing that for you, I understand, really I do, but I see the same thing every day here, so there's nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Thanks, but if you've seen that much, can you at least tell me how I stack up down there?” He asked with a hint of a blush.

“I'd say at about average for your age, maybe just slightly better, and considering your height and weight, that's pretty good. Don't worry so much though, at your age, so much is happening so fast, that one day your best friend who was an inch smaller than you only the week before, could surpass you by an inch, then the next week you might surpass him again. Trust me, at your age, I've seen far smaller and far larger, so let time take care of it for you and I'm sure you'll be more than satisfied by the time you finish growing.”

“Thanks.” He said, still blushing.

“You'd probably be surprised just how often I get that same question. Granted, some boys are so embarrassed that they can't ask the question, even though I can tell they wanna.” She laughed.

“I bet.” Both Jon and Dante said at the same time.

“Okay Dante, you're all set, go ahead and get some rest. You may as well leave for at least a few hours Jon, because I'm willing to bet that he'll sleep for the better part of four hours now, healing takes a lot outta the body.”

“I know that all too well. Well Dante, have a good sleep, I'll come back around dinner time, okay.”

“Okay, thanks Jon, you really are the best friend a guy could have.” He smiled warmly.

Jon leaned down and kissed Dante on the forehead, pulled his blanket up and tucked him in, and then turned to leave, the nurse followed him, closing the door behind them both.

“He's a very beautiful boy. He's so sweet, it's a shame his own mother could do something like that to him.”

“He is and she did, and not just once either. I'd already threatened her once that I'd call the cops if she ever laid a finger on him again, but he didn't want me to.”

“That's sick, I don't think I coulda made that promise though.”

“I didn't wanna, that's for sure. What's done is done though I suppose, all we can do now is hope it all works out for the best. Thanks for boosting his self esteem there though, it was nice of you.”

“It was the truth actually, he's about right for his age, but big for his overall size, but he may have just grown a lot recently.”

“I really wouldn't know, I barely remember that age myself, and before my son died, he hadn't even started puberty, and he wasn't anywhere near as big yet. I have no other samples to go by.” Jon shrugged and laughed.

“I see em all, every shape and size imaginable here, and I wasn't lying, a lot do ask. All kids are curious, even the girls.”

“I know, I know I was, that's for sure. Well, I should let you get back to work, I'm gonna go take care of some things and I'll come back about five. Can I leave my phone numbers though in case he wakes up and is asking for me?”

“Sure.”

He left the numbers and then headed out. His first stop was an electronics store to grab a personal portable DVD player with screen attached, as well as headphones and several movies he thought Dante would like. He then headed to the mall to get a few other things for him. He grabbed a few good books, because he knew that Dante loved to read, as well as a few puzzle books to keep his mind active, and a really cute teddy bear and card. He then grabbed a few articles of clothing for Dante, because once he left the hospital he was going to need something to wear.

Once done that, Jon decided to swing by his lawyers office to check to see if he had found anything as of yet. He was asked to wait just a few minutes, but before too long, he was sitting in his friends office.

“So, I know you probably haven't got much figured out yet, but have you found out anything?”

“A little. Do you know what happened to Dante's dad?”

“No, Dante says he doesn't even remember his dad, he died when he was real young.”

“Yeah, he died, and he was rich, or at least very comfortable. All the money was to go to Dante, it doesn't appear that he loved his wife because of some of the stuff in the will and prenuptial agreement. Can't say as I blame him for that actually. Problem is that she's been siphoning money off, and only about a third of it's left, so just over a million. I have an investigator looking into it to see if we can find the missing money, but I don't have a lot of hopes. Once I have all our ducks in a row though, I'm gonna go talk to her and see what she has to say for herself.”

“Oh. How are you gonna do it then?”

“Tell her to sign over Dante to you uncontested, she still has to go to court for today, but if she pleads guilty to that and takes our terms of signing him to you, moving out of province, doing community service, then we won't press further charges.”

“Okay. I assume the house must be in Dante's name then?”

“No, actually it's not, but it shoulda been, that's for sure, because she's sure using his money to pay for it. Granted, there's nothing owing on the house, but all the utilities and taxes are coming outta his account. Their old house, it's still in Dante's name, but as best we can tell is being rented out for several grand a month and is going into an unmarked overseas account. That's what the investigator's trying to find, that account, and see if we can access it. I don't hold a lotta hope for that though. At the very least, his current house, as well as the old house are almost a couple million together, so that equals almost what he woulda started with in the first place. At most, she may have swindled him outta a few hundred thousand dollars as best we can tell. There's still more we have to find out, but, at this time, it doesn't look horrible, and I foresee no problems with naming you guardian at all. By the way, that care worker that pissed you off earlier, he's a real piece of work. I already called and talked to his boss, telling him what we were doing, and he got on the line and said you wouldn't get Dante. He got in trouble from the boss, he said that if it was ordered by a judge, then it would happen, no matter what. I already told the guy we'd be pressing charges against that care worker once everything was done, he said he understood.”

“Good. Okay, then I'll leave it all to you, just call me when you know anything. It sounds like Dante'll be there for a few days anyway, so you have a little time, but I want him to come to my place when he leaves the hospital.”

“I'll make it happen, no worries.”

From there Jon headed out to take care of a few other things that needed taking care of, but before too long, he was heading back to the hospital to see Dante and see how he was doing. He was buzzed in right away and stopped to talk to the nurse in charge.

“Hey there, I bought a personal portable DVD player, I was pretty sure it'd be okay for Dante and I to watch it, but I wanted to ask first. I did buy headphones for it though, so that we can't disturb anyone else.”

“No, that's fine, but we do have them for rent here as well, and we have hundreds of movies for the kids to borrow as well.”

“Never even thought of that, but that's okay, it'll come in handy later on anyway, but Dante might like to see your collection and see if there's anything else he'd like to watch. Thanks.”

“No prob.”

He headed right to Dante's room next and found that he was still sound asleep. Knowing that he probably should wake up soon anyway, so that he could get a good sleep that night, he gently woke him up.

“Oh, hey there.” He said, yawning, then cringed as he clearly pulled too much and hurt his chest.

“Easy there baby boy, you're not exactly whole at the moment remember.”

“Yeah, I know, I remember every time I do something so stupid as breath.” He said, trying to laugh a little, but still managed to hurt himself a bit. “Or laugh.”

“Yeah, been there, done that, broken ribs really suck, because there's not a damn thing they can really do to fix them. Though, when I broke mine, it was so bad they had to make a special chest and back plate that almost totally restricted my movements, but I did break six and fractured another four.”

“Ouch, what'd you do?”

“Found out what happens when the front wheels of a moving vehicle stop suddenly, but the rest doesn't. Wasn't pretty, my cousin said I had to have flown twenty feet or more, landed right on my front, and had it not been for my helmet, I'd be dead. As it was, all those ribs broken or fractured, as well as both arms broken in at least two places each, left shoulder outta joint, right hip outta joint and a couple broken bones in my left leg. They had to airlift me to the hospital, he had to go get help. Trust me, I still remember the pictures, and you actually look perfectly healthy compared to what I looked like. I was in the hospital for two weeks, and it was almost four months before I was allowed to do anything more than breath. Granted, with that many broken or fractured ribs, breathing wasn't exactly high on my priority list at the time, it hurt so much.”

“Wow, I'm surprised you even lived then.”

“There was nothing really life threatening about my injuries, but you know, to this day I can't even think of riding a four wheeler at all.”

“I should think not.”

“Yeah, but I tell you, I'm a firm believer of helmets, 'cause like I said, it saved my life, and the only reason I was wearing it at all was because my dad made me, or I wouldn't be allowed to ride. My cousin wasn't wearing one, so why should I. He did after that though I tell you. His parents didn't even have to make him.”

“Yikes. What happened, how'd you have the accident? Were you doing something really stupid or something?”

“No, actually we were being really quite responsible, considering we were fourteen. We were going fast, but nowhere near as fast as we could've been going, and we weren't jumping or anything. They found out a couple days later, when they went to retrieve the ATV, what'd happened though. Apparently I caught some fencing that'd been down that we didn't see, I snagged it on my front end, and when I finally reached the end of what it'd let me, the bike stopped instantly, but because it caught the front end, the rear end flipped and launched me. It's probably for the best it did, or I probably woulda got even more injured from the handle bars, instead I just sailed over them, the rest the ground did all by itself.”

(PS, this is actually an accident one of my cousins actually had, and as best I can recall, those were his actual injuries as well. It was not me riding either one, I was only six or seven when the accident happened, so I was told about it years later. I had similar, but nothing near that bad.)

“Wow, that sucks, so it was just a bad accident then.”

“Yeah, and no matter how careful you are, they can happen. In your case though, what happened was completely preventable, but it happened, so there's nothing we can do but make sure we don't let it happen again. So, anyway, how are you feeling now, and do you need another soggy bum change?”

“Actually, I feel not too bad right now, as long as I don't pull on my chest too much. The sleep helped a lot I think. I think my diaper's good for now though, it's only a few hours old.”

“Yeah, but the diapers the hospital uses don't hold for that long, so here, let me check.” Jon said and slipped his hand under the blanket and checked.

“Yeah, you have a little room left, maybe an hour at most, so let me know the next time you pee pee your diaper.”

“Thanks.” Dante smiled.

“No prob. So, I bought a few things for you to make your stay here more bearable.” Jon said, and then started pulling everything out and showing it to Dante, who was very happy with it all.

“I don't know how you picked those books for me, but they're one of my favorite series. I've always wanted to buy it, I read it at least once a year.”

“Good taste I guess. I love this series too, but I hadn't bought them for myself yet. We can share them.”

“Okay, and good choices for movies too, I like them all. Should we watch a movie now then?”

“It'll probably be dinner time pretty soon, so let's wait 'til after you eat.”

“Oh, okay. Did you eat before coming back?”

“I sure did. I skipped lunch, I was too busy, so I was starving and stopped somewhere that filled me up. It was barely food, but it did the job.”

“Ah.”

Just then the door opened and a food tray was brought in. Once more Dante enjoyed the food, but admitted that he was still a bit on the hungry side, so Jon went to the kitchenette and grabbed some fruit for him to eat while they watched a movie. When he got back, Dante was told to pick out a movie, so he did as Jon was setting up the player and headphones. The movie was put in and they enjoyed it all the way through.

“Well, you probably need a diaper change now for sure, and then as soon as you're all cleaned up, I think I'm gonna head home for the night.”

“Yeah, I think I need a change now for sure, but do you haveta go already?”

“I bet you do, and so do I, but yeah, I'm getting tired, it's been a stressful day for me as well. I'll be here first thing in the morning though, okay. I'll go get the nurse for you though, and I'll stay 'til she's done.”

“Okay.” He said more than just a little dejectedly.

Jon went and asked the nurse to come change Dante, she said she would be there in just a few minutes, and a few minutes later she was. She changed Dante quickly and efficiently, and then was gone. Jon gave Dante a kiss on the forehead and wished him a good night, and then headed out.

The next couple days went by slowly for the two of them, and other than heading out for a few appointments when needed, Jon spent almost the entire time at the hospital with Dante. They watched several movies, talked a lot, did puzzles, read, and even went for a few walks once they got Dante up and moving, telling him it was going to hurt no matter what, so it was better to walk. Dante was not entirely convinced they were correct about that one though. The nurses did try and have Dante use the toilet for his bathroom needs after the first day, but he told them that with his limited bladder control, that he actually preferred diapers instead of having to go all the time. They did not want to do this, since it was considered a fair bit of work, so Jon said he would take care of it for them, since Dante would not be able to do it himself like he normally did. They agreed and left all the materials required there for them.

So far Jon had said nothing to Dante about what the lawyer was working on or how it was coming, but it was coming along just fine. And that afternoon, on Dante's third day in the hospital, Jon was told that it was almost all done and by the next morning, Dante would be in his permanent care. Jon was very happy. Any time Dante asked if anything had been worked out yet, Jon would just tell him that it was a long and painful process, and hopefully it would be done quickly, but that he knew nothing. Jon was doing this for two reasons, first, he did not want to get Dante's hopes up, for just in case, and second, he wanted for it to be a surprise when and if it did happen.

On the fourth day there, Dante was told that it was likely that he would be able to leave the hospital that day, that they did want to do more scans and checkups though, to be certain that he was healing properly. Jon told Dante that he would not be there, because he did have a few meetings for his work, which Jon knew was a lie, but once more, he did not want to get Dante's hopes up too much. Dante was okay with this, saying he would be just fine. They parted ways at just before eleven that morning. Dante was led down to the imaging department, while Jon headed to his lawyers office.

He was shown in a few minutes later, and they went over all the normal pleasantries as usual. Finally they got to the heart of the matter.

“So, they're saying Dante might be ready to come home today, is he coming to my house, or do I have to kidnap him and leave the country?” He only partially joked.

“No, he'll be going home with you. This was just signed by the judge.” He said, handing over the official document, stating that Jon was now father to Dante.

“Awesome, thanks so much. So, what's his mother getting, or do you know yet?”

“She agreed to all stipulations, and she's being released today and will fly out this evening to her new home. She was allowed to keep her account, there was only enough to get a home and get settled, we figured it was more than fair, and it wasn't worth the headache to try and retrieve. As you know, she was being tagged with a life long restraining order, community service, AA meetings to try and quit, therapy, the works, but she won't go to jail.”

“Excellent. So everything here though is in Dante's name now as it should be?”

“Yes, everything was transferred yesterday, and his account was released now as well, you and I've been made executors, since he has to be eighteen to access it.”

“Okay, that works. We won't even use his money at all. We'll rent out the two houses and have all the money go into his account where it belongs. Is the one still rented?”

“Yes, and the people renting it wish to stay for the time being.”

“Good. We'll have to get all that information from you later then, so that we can go and meet them and do what we have to do.”

“Actually, it's being managed by a rental management company, so there's nothing you really have to do. I suggest you have them manage the other property as well. They take all the responsibility, you just get the money, or Dante does I should say.”

“Okay, great idea. Okay, is there anything else I should be aware of?”

“I have all Dante's records and everything that you'll need, so that should take care of everything nicely. If you need anything though, just call me.”

“Great, thanks. How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing. After you wrote that piece for me, I still owe you.”

“Thanks, but really, it wasn't worth that much.”

“Maybe to you, but it's saved me thousands of dollars, so call it almost even.”

“Thanks, if you need anything though, just call, and I'll do the same.”

A few minutes later Jon headed out and back to the hospital to give Dante the good news. When he arrived, Dante was not back yet from all his testing, but this did not surprise Jon, since he had not been gone all that long. He grabbed up the book that he was reading and read it for the next hour that he had to wait before Dante came back in.

“Hey there Buddy, how'd it go?”

“Good. The doctor said he'd have the results back in an hour or so, then he'd know if I could go home or not. Haven't they brought lunch yet, I'm starving.”

“So was I, so I ate it.”

“Yeah, right.” Dante laughed.

“No, the nurse told me to come get it when you were done, so go ahead and sit down and I'll be right back with it.”

“Oh, good.” He said and went and sat down.

Jon was back only a couple minutes later with Dante's lunch, and it was just a sandwich and fruit and Jello again. Dante happily ate all his food, then sighed.

“That's better. Could you change me please, I'm getting pretty wet?”

“Sure, no prob.”

Jon quickly and gently changed Dante's diaper, noticing that the bruising in that area was going down a bit more, thankfully so, and then got him situated properly.

“So, how'd your meeting go? It wasn't very long. When you have to go and sell one of your articles, you're usually gone for ages.”

“It went well, but as I'm sure you noticed, I haven't really had a chance to do any writing lately, so what could I possibly have to sell. No, I had a different meeting today.”

“Oh, was it about me by chance?”

“As a matter of fact, it was. Here, look at this.” He answered, pulling out the document.

Dante took only a few seconds to read through it all, and looked up with tears in his eyes.

“Really?” Is all he said.

“Yes, you're now my son.”

Dante burst into tears and tried to hug Jon too tightly and winced, but did not let go. He kept saying how happy he was. They hugged for several minutes, both of them crying now, and finally they let go.

“I never thought I'd want another child after losing my son, but you're a perfect fit, and I love you almost as much as I did him, but more in some ways too. I'm happy that I get to be your dad now.”

“I always wanted a father, I always looked up to you as such since we met, I always dreamed you were my father, and now it's happened. Even with the beating it gave me, I wouldn't change a thing to get you as my dad.”

“I'm glad.”

They sat down together and read for a while after all that was taken care of, until they were interrupted by the entrance of Dante's doctor.

“Hey there young man. I'm happy to say you are free to go. I want you to go see your family doctor at least once a week for the next little while 'til your ribs are healed, and your arm cast should come off in only another two weeks, maybe three at most. So, get outta here, you're annoying me.” He grinned and turned and walked out.

“Finally, this place was driving me mad.”

“Know how you feel, but try it for a couple weeks and see how you feel then.”

“No thanks, four days was more than enough, thank you very much. Can you help me to get dressed, I doubt I can do it.”

“Sure, but that's why I bought you button up shirts, diaper shirts included, so that you could still easily do it yourself. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't help my new baby out.” Jon smiled warmly.

“Good.”

Dante's diaper was changed first, then he was helped into a diaper shirt, then some nice jeans and a really nice button up shirt. Finally Jon helped Dante into a nice pair of sandals, since it was nice outside anyway, and Dante always said he preferred them over shoes, but then Jon was the same and hated wearing shoes.

“Okay baby boy, it's time to go.”

“Okay.”

They gathered up all their things and then headed out. At the nurses station, Jon had to give them all the documentation he had received stating that he was now Dante's father, they copied it and put it in the file, then allowed the new father and son to leave. They all wished Dante a good life and said they never wanted to see him again, he said the same and they all smiled.

The case worker was charged, and though he was not fired, he was put on probation, he had to pay fines, was never allowed to see Dante or Jon, and was told he had to write a formal apology to Dante. He was happy to have kept his job, though the fines hurt a considerable amount.