Date: Sun, 25 May 2003 14:23:26 -0700
From: luvyngcks@hotmail.com
Subject: Lil Dude  Chapter 6

Legal Notice:

The following story may contain descriptions of graphic sexual acts.  These
acts may be between boys, men or between a man and a boy. Just a reminder
to all readers, this is a work of pure fiction with no basis in reality,
and is intended for reading by mature readers of the age of majority in the
governing jurisdiction of your residence.

The author, or his designee, retains copyright to this story.  There may be
no reproducing or distribution of this story without expressed written
consent.

Author's note: I am sure many of you may have detected the name change of
the character Jake to Jared from Chapter 4 to Chapter 5.  Proofing and
editing myself, I believe committed any writer's greatest faux pas.  Please
bear with my inexperience.  This is my first attempt at writing and I am
still learning as I go.  Believe me I have learned a lot from this one!
For all intents and purposes from this chapter on Jake will be known by the
name Jared.  Jake was a nickname that he feels he has 'outgrown' and
prefers now to be called by his correct given name, Jared.  Hopefully all
mistakes will be caught before submission from this time on.  Again, thank
you for enjoying the story and for your wonderful comments and suggestions.
Keep them coming!

Lil Dude     Chapter 6


"Wow lil dude, I am really impressed.  That is quite a school transcript
you have going there!"  I was beaming with pride at this guy's school
records as I looked down at that bright brown face and those glowing black
eyes.  "The principal said your teachers here were all very impressed with
you in the short time you have been here.  I am glad to see that you enjoy
school so much and that you are doing so well."

"I really do like school Derrick.  Tia Anita told me I could do anything I
want to if I always did well in school.  She used to help me with my
homework until she couldn't understand anymore what I was doing.  She said
my lessons were more than what she learned in school."

"Your Tia Anita was quite a wonderful woman Jorge, you were lucky to have
her."

"Yea, just like I am lucky to have you now Derrick."

"Thanks lil dude, bit we are both lucky.  I am lucky to have you in my life
now."

That proud smile of his was beaming as we continued walking down the
sidewalk from Jorge's school to the car.  I am glad Max set up this
appointment for me with the school.  I had a very good feeling about the
school, the principal, and his teachers.  I had always known that Long
Beach had a very good public school system, far superior to most public
school districts nowadays.  I guess it probably had a lot to do with the
additional tax funding they received from all the oil industry still active
in Long Beach.  Someone was truly altruistic when they set up the direction
of the funding from those sources toward the educational needs of the
community.

In the car riding from the school to the local Office Depot, we needed to
get some more school supplies and some additional educational software for
his computer; I asked him what he wanted to do when he grew up.  His reply
was that he wanted to go to college on an academic and maybe a soccer
scholarship; and then he wanted to become a teacher.  He said he had such
good teachers in school all his life that made him want to become one too,
to teach and help kids as much as he can.  I suggested to him that with his
desire and effort and continued good grades he would make that dream come
true and could even become a great school administrator someday if he
wanted.  Jorge had no desire to be an administrator; he wanted to stay in
the classroom with the kids where he thought he would make the biggest
difference.  This kid never ceased to blow me away.

After we got all the supplies needed from the Office Depot; I headed for
Heaven's Oven, my favorite bakery.  Pulling into their lot and parking the
car, Jorge asked me what we were doing here.  I told him I wanted to get a
special treat for dessert tonight after dinner as a special tribute to him
for how well he was doing in school.  He was glowing with pride.

Inside the bakery I told him to look over everything and then decide on
what he would like and that was what we would get.  Once he saw the fresh
berry and tree fruit glazed tart, he looked no further.  That was his
decision and we made our purchase of one to take home.  I saw a beautiful
assortment of gourmet cookies that I had decided to purchase also.

"What's that for Derrick?"

"I want to take that next door this evening to give to the new neighbors as
we introduce us ourselves to them."

"Cool.  I hope they have kids."

"Well, we'll see if they do buddy."

I was just hoping that one of new occupants was going to be my dreamy
mystery man that I had seen at their door and again at the beach when we
were rollerblading.

"Do you like KFC?  I thought maybe we could pick up a bucket to take home
and then we don't have to mess with fixing any dinner tonight and we could
take a break.  Does that sound okay?"

"Yea, I like the original recipe though.  That'd be cool."

"Original recipe is my favorite too."  With that settled we headed for the
nearest KFC drive through.  I got an assorted bucket meal and we were on
our way home.

We unloaded everything from the car and carried it all inside.  I put the
tart into the refrigerator to keep it fresh.  Then we spread out the KFC
picnic on the kitchen table and had a nice kicked back early dinner.
Finished with our meal I put the leftovers into the refrigerator and Jorge
cleaned up the table.  We went to his bedroom to install the new software
on his computer so he could check it out before needing to use it and
become familiar with its operation.  We played around with it for a
while. I left him to surf its contents on his own and I made some phone
calls from the study.

I called Max and shared with him the results of the terrific meeting at
Jorge's school this afternoon and how great it went, and informed him once
Jorge was back in school next week I would have the time to pursue the rest
of all that needed to be done to finalize Jorge's foster placement and my
custodial care of him.  Max was able to pick up from our conversation that
down the road I sincerely wanted to pursue adoption of Jorge when the time
was right. He said he figured as much and had set the wheels in motion
toward that direction.  He explained to me what would be involved and that
the background checks and interviews could go on simultaneously as the
placement waiting period, it could be from a ninety days to one hundred and
eighty days time frame. He would do all that was in his power to speed
things along as quickly as he could in this case.  I knew the amount of
sway Max had with the court system with his position and hopefully it would
be much closer to the lesser of the amounts of days.  He filled me in on
what was going on with all the members of his brood; they all considered me
their Uncle Derrick.  He said how happy they all were about Jorge and me
and that they were anxious to meet their new 'cousin'.  I told him to give
them all my love when he saw them tonight; and that I would bring Jorge by
sometime next week if that was convenient.  That would be fine Max said and
he would tell them all I sent my love.  I told him I would talk to him
again early next week.  I then wished for them to all have a wonderful
holiday weekend.  He wished us the same. We ended our call as always with
an, "I love ya buddy."  I went on and completed my business with a couple
more calls and then finished with the phone.

Checking in on Jorge to see how he was doing, I saw that he had switched
over to one of the new games that we had bought for him today.  I couldn't
just get him educational software; I had to get him something to have fun
with too.  He looked like he was having a good time.  Walking up and
standing behind him, I watched him playing the game.

"So how's it going there buddy?  Looks like you're doing pretty well with
this one.  You like it?"  I placed my hand lightly on his shoulder.

"Yea, I've already reached level three on it.  This game is so awesome.  I
need to quit for a while, my butt is getting sore just sitting here."

I laughed and told him that was a good reason to not sit too long at any
computer for too long.

"When you finish up there let's get cleaned up so when we go next door to
introduce ourselves to our new neighbors; and hopefully make a good
impression."

"Okay, I'm just about finished."

I left him and went to my bedroom and bath to get cleaned up.  If my
mystery man was there I wanted to make as great a physical appearance
impression on him as I could, whether he was gay, bi or straight. Finishing
with my shower I went in and pulled on a pair of boxers, my light blue
cargo shorts and a dark blue print Hawaiian style shirt.  Everyone had
always told me blue was my color and right now I was hoping they were all
correct.  I spritzed a light shot of my favorite cologne on and was anxious
to meet the new neighbors.

I looked into Jorge's room and saw that he was just about ready to go also.
He chose a white polo style shirt and light tan cargo shorts to wear.  They
accentuated his coloring perfectly. He looked really hot for a twelve year
old. The kid had good taste in clothes also I could see.  Must be the gay
gene in him I mused to myself.

"Lil dude, you ready to go meet the neighbors?"

"Yea dude."  He was adopting his So Cal surfer style with his appearance,
speech, attitude and likes.  I loved it.

We walked into the kitchen and grabbed the bakery box of cookies from the
table and headed for the front door.

We knocked on their front door and anxiously awaited meeting the person or
people on the other side of that door.  I handed the box of cookies to
Jorge so he could have the honor of presenting it to our neighbors.  A
child's voice on the inside was heard to say, "I'll get it daddy."

The door opened and there stood the same towheaded youth I had seen at the
beach the other day with the mystery man.  My mind was silently humming the
'dooo do dooo do' Twilight Zone background theme.

He smiled at both us.  "Hi."

"Hi there, is your mom or dad home?"  I smiled down at him, amazed at his
bronzed and golden cherub like beauty.

"Yes, my daddy is."  He answered.  "Daddy there's some people here to see
you." He shouted back into the apartment.

"I'll be right there Danny."  Answered the familiar baritone voice from the
other day.

ALRIGHT, I thought to myself.  HE is the new neighbor!  Now I was starting
to feel nervous and fidget like a school boy.  The whole time that little
blond angel stood staring and smiling at us.

"What's you name?"  My lil dude asked him.

"Danny, what's yours?"

"Jorge."

Just then the Grecian god appeared, he was wearing a pair of really small
orange speedos that left absolutely nothing to the imagination, including
his overly large endowment and the mushroom outline of the tremendous
head. Oh, and once my eyes traveled to his face, he also had a broad bright
smile that could blow you away, pun intended.  If I had been a school boy
standing there I probably would have peed my pants with excitement upon his
appearance, as it was I almost creamed in them.

"Hi, what can I do for you?"  He continued smiling asking us.

"Hi, I'm Derrick Collins and this is my foster son, Jorge; we're your
neighbors right next door and we wanted to welcome you to the apartments."
I offered my hand and he clasped it in his in a sturdy hand shake.

"Hey, that's great, nice to meet you guys, I'm James Montero and this is my
son, Danny."  He patted Danny on his shoulder.  "Come on in. Have a seat if
you can find someplace to sit down, it's still kind of a mess in here,
sorry."

"Thanks, don't be sorry, you've just moved in it's expected."  We entered
and took seats on the sofa.  "I'm sorry for just popping in on you
unannounced like this but we just wanted to say hi and welcome, and if
there is anything we can do to help just let us know.  We'd be happy to
help in any way we can. We saw the movers bringing in your furniture and
stuff the other day and wanted to give you some time to get a little
settled before coming over."

"Well thanks Derrick that is so great of you guys.  You're the first two
people we have really met here in Southern California, so far.  We just got
here Tuesday from San Francisco; I just got transferred here with my
company. We have never been to Long Beach before so this is quite an
experience for Danny and me. We are having fun with it.  Right son?"

"Yup."  Danny chirped up.

"Good, well we hope you and your family will be quite happy here.  It's a
nice place to live.  It's a lot different from San Francisco I know, but
I'm sure your family will like it here once you get to know your way
around."

"I'm sure we will too.  It's just Danny and me though, I'm not married,
Danny's mom died about two years ago so it's just he and I and this is kind
of like a fresh start for the two of us."

"I am so sorry for your loss, you have my sincerest condolences."

"Thanks Derrick, it's sincerely appreciated.  I'm sorry, where's my
manners?
  Can I get you guys something to drink?  Soda, beer, iced tea or
something?"

"Oh we really didn't want to interrupt anything you might be doing, we just
wanted to stop by and say hi and introduce ourselves."

"Nonsense, you aren't interrupting anything, we're glad to have our first
guests.  Now what can I get you?  We've got root beer, cola, orange juice,
beer, iced tea and I think some wine somewhere.  Jorge what would you
like?"

"I'd like a root beer please."

"Okay, one root beer for Jorge.  Derrick can I get you and adult beer?"

"Sure, that would be great, thanks James.  Jorge why don't you give Danny
our little welcome gift"

"Here this is for you guys."  Jorge very proudly presented the box to
Danny.

Danny received the box and thanked Jorge and ran carrying it to his dad.
"Can I open it daddy?"  His little voice was excitedly pleading.

"Sure you can, go ahead."

"Wow, it's some really neat cookies, they look good daddy!"  He squealed
with delight.

"That is nice of you guys thanks.  This kid loves any source of a sugar
rush.  You just made a friend for life with him."

I laughed, "Well, sorry about it being bakery cookies, my mom would always
bring a fresh pie she had baked to new neighbors, and I didn't want to make
enemies of the new neighbors by offending them any pie I baked, I'm afraid
I'm not much of a baker, so we settled on the cookies."

"Well thanks again, that is really nice.  I am sure one of your pies would
have been just as nice though."

"Nice of you to say, but you have never eaten one of my pies, I won't even
eat one after the last one I tried to bake."

We all shared a good laugh.

"Danny and I were just going to go check out the pool, let me get the
drinks, why don't you join us."

"That sounds good to me, how about you lil dude?"  I replied.

"Are you kidding, that would be great."  Jorge didn't hesitate on his
answer.

"Looks like that's decided."  James answered on his way to the kitchen.

"Can I give you a hand there with anything James?"

"No thanks, I got it.  I'm just going to take the cans over.  If you guys
want to change and meet us by the pool, we'll meet you there."

"We'll see you there.  We'll be there in just a few minutes, there is
nothing to slow down this kid of mine when it comes to contact with water.
I can promise you it will be just a few minutes at the most."

"Okay," James laughed, "we'll see you in seconds then."

I almost had to run after Jorge to the apartment's door.  We ran through
the apartment to our rooms and changed into our swimwear.  I put on my pair
of bright blue speedos and grabbed two towels from the linen closet.  I was
in the living room when Jorge ran in.

"Wow, Derrick, you're wearing speedos too!  I never saw you wear those,
only your baggies before.  You look hot."  He was still giving me the once
over.

"Thanks lil dude, I only wear them for the pool, otherwise I feel more
comfortable with my baggies.  Let's go, they're waiting for us."

When we got to the pool, Danny was already in the pool and James was
sitting at one of the tables with our beverages.  As we got close Jorge
broke for a run to jump in.  I had to caution him not to run.  He slowed
down and got to the edge of the pool and jumped in.  I walked over to the
table where James was seated and pulled out a chair to sit down, he handed
me a beer with a smile.  I thanked him with a smile in return.

"How long have you and Jorge lived here Derrick?"  James inquired.

"Well, I'm a native of Long Beach; I've lived here for most of my forty two
years.  Jorge though, is from Florida and he has only been here with me
since this last Sunday."

"Oh wow, you just got custody of him then?"

"Yeah, it's a long story that I'll tell you later.  But we are hitting it
off really well.  He is a great little kid, he's twelve going on sixteen.
I'm very lucky to have him in my life."

"So it's just you and Jorge then, you're not married?"

"Not married, single, I haven't met the right person I guess.  Looks like
his presence," nodding over toward Jorge, "in my life will keep me busy for
a while.  So I'd say the search is off for a bit."

"Yea, I know what you mean.  I've been a single parent to Danny for almost
two years. It can get a little rough at times.  That was my biggest concern
about moving here from San Francisco; up there I had a lot of friends that
could help me out in a pinch on occasion with Danny.  Here I don't know
what I will do yet, since I don't know anyone here.  But we'll make do one
way or another."

"If ever there is anything I can do to help you out with him just let me
know.  It looks like he and Jorge are hitting it off really well.  I know
what you mean though, I am in kind of the same boat, my nearest relatives
are about forty five miles away and most of my friends would never know
what to do with a twelve years old.  Maybe down the road we could be of
help to one another in that department."

"Yea, that might be a good deal.  Thanks.  I don't have any family and his
mom's family won't have anything to do with him because of the
circumstances under which he was born.  But it's their loss, not his. Damn
shame too, he's really a good kid too."

"I am sorry to hear that about the family situation.  I can see that Danny
is a great kid though."

"Yea, he is, he's my pride and joy.  His mom was lesbian and I am gay, we
were really good friends and we both wanted kids, so we got together and
shared a home to start a family, and then Danny came along.  We wanted to
have another, but we wanted to space them age wise so we could give
attention to each one with fewer demands the care of infancy demands.  At
least that's what we thought, but then before we could have number two she
died of an aneurism totally unexpected."

"Damn, James.  I am so sorry, so very sorry."

"Thanks.  I hope I didn't shock you with that revelation, but I have worked
all my life to be honest with people and I didn't want to start changing
that trait here or with you."

"I do appreciate your honesty and no, it did not shock me.  I would never
have known you for gay though, my gaydar never kicked in with you.  You see
I am gay also, and you had me wondering."

"DAMN, I don't believe this...you're gay too?"

"Yup, as they say, 'queer as a two dollar bill'."  I laughed.

He laughed two.  "So are there a lot of two dollar bills here in the Long
Beach area?"

"Yes, I think you'll find it a veritable Fort Knox of two dollar bills,
quite like San Francisco in that area among others.  Behind San Francisco,
the greater Long Beach area has the second highest gay, lesbian and
transgendered population of the state, though West Hollywood and a couple
other areas would like to dispute that.  I think you will find yourself
very comfortable with the gender climate here.  It is the weather climate
that will take you some time to adjust to, now that is a LOT different from
San Francisco."

"I heard that from friends in the bay area.  When they heard I was moving
here they shared that with me.  Wow, I can't believe I have just met my
first friend in Long Beach today and he is gay also.  And he's my next door
neighbor too!  That is so great."  He reached over and shook my hand again,
this time the shake went on quite a bit longer."

We had been keeping an eye on the boys while we were talking but turned our
full attention back to the pool now.  Jorge was showing Danny how to swim
across the pool and kick off from the edge as he made his return to go back
across the pool.  Danny was beaming from ear to ear over his new found
accomplishment and Jorge was likewise beaming a smile with his success
teaching. They swam to the steps of the pool, got out Danny put his arms
around Jorge and gave him a big hug thanking him for teaching him that
turning maneuver.  Jorge hugged him back.

I looked over to James and he was smiling at me.

"Looks like they have each found a good buddy too."  James commented
warmly.

"Daddy can I have my root beer now?"  Danny asked.

"Sure you can, here you go.  Jorge here's yours."  James handed them each a
can.

They sat down and I put a towel over Jorge's shoulders and James did the
same with Danny.

"Daddy guess what.  Jorge and me are going to go to the same school
starting Tuesday.  He told me.  That's cool hunh?  And he showed me how to
turn around swimming; he's a good teacher hunh?"

"Yea, it is son.  Jorge you are a good teacher" James responded.

"Thanks." Jorge blushed.  "At least for the rest of this year, next year we
will be at different schools until we go to high school if we are still
living here."  Jorge tried to clear it up, since next school year he would
be going to the jr. high and Danny would still be in elementary school.

"Well you never know, but you guys can still be good friends even if you
aren't going to the same school.  It will just give you guys that much more
to talk about with each other."  James added.

"Do you guys have plans for this Memorial day weekend?"  James asked me.

"We really haven't even thought about it yet with everything that has been
going on this week.  Things have all happened so fast and we've pretty much
just been going from day to day."  I answered.

"I was just thinking, I've got a hotel room reserved, in Avalon over on
Catalina Island, for the three days and since the boys are hitting it off
so well, and you and I are too, I thought maybe if you'd like, you could
join us.  It would give us all a good chance to get to know each other
more.  The room has two king sized beds so there is plenty of room for you
two.  I just wanted to treat Danny to something a little special after all
the commotion of this week's move and before he went to school on Tuesday.
So, what do you think?  I know it's kind of last minute."

"Oh, Derrick can we?"  Jorge was jumping up and down in his seat.

"I'm sorry; I guess that was unfair of me to ask you in front of Jorge."
James tried to smooth things out.

"No, don't be sorry, that's fine."  I was excited myself about the prospect
of sharing this weekend with them also.  "If Jorge would really like to, I
think it would be great.  Just let me know what our share of the hotel bill
would be and we're set."

"Well there really isn't anything to take care of there, my company gave me
a special relocation allowance for it, the room and the meals and even the
ferry tickets are all taken care of, they even suggested that I take along
a couple of friends to help us with adjusting to our new location.  So what
do you say?  You'd be helping us adjust to our new location...our neighbors
and friends."

"You're sure you'd like us to come along?"  I had to ask.

"Danny, what do you think, you want Jorge and Derrick to come to Catalina
with us?"

"Oh yea, please, please, please."  Danny pled his case.

"Okay then, you've two more in your party this weekend."  I accepted the
gracious and generous offer.

"Good, thanks, because I know Danny and I can use the company of friends to
help us wind down from this last week."  James assured us.

"It will be good for Jorge and me also, after the week we have just had.  I
can't think of two people I would rather we spend the weekend doing it
with.  Thanks James."  I was very grateful for this opportunity.

"We leave on the ferry at eight a.m. in the morning for Catalina and don't
catch the return ferry home until five thirty p.m. Monday evening.  How
long does it take to get to their Long Beach landing from here?"

"Probably an half an hour or so at that time of the morning on a Saturday."
I answered.

"Do you know where the landing is?  I was going to check it out online and
get a map." James asked.

"Yea, I know right where it is."  I responded.

"Good then I don't have to worry about that, I'll leave the navigating up
to you in the morning."

"Aye, aye, Captain." I joked.

"Hey guys, why don't you come on over to the apartment with Jorge and me,
we have a special desert for tonight that's kind of a little celebration we
had planned and would love to share it with you.  Please come."  I must
have sounded like I was pleading, the way that came out, but I really did
want to share it with them, and I was sure Jorge did too.

"Okay, we'll go change and we'll come right over."  James accepted.

"Hey you don't need to change; we'll probably be seeing each other like
this most of the weekend so we might as well get started now."  I didn't
really want to see James with any more clothing on, not just yet
anyway. "What do you say, let's go?"

I got up from my chair and the rest of them stood up from their chairs, we
gathered our beverage cans, tossed them into the rubbish can as we past it
on the way.

I unlocked and opened the front door, I stood back and Jorge led them
inside.  "Guys, grab a seat, make yourselves at home, if any one needs to
use the bathroom, well I guess you know where it is since both our
apartments have the same floor plan.  I'll get the desert going."  I walked
into the kitchen and James followed me.

"You've got your place fixed up really nice Derrick.  It really feels
comfortable."

"Thanks, that's very nice of you to say."

"How long have you lived here?"

"It'll be six years this July.  I moved here after my partner died. I
couldn't bear staying another moment in the house we had shared; there were
just too many memories.  So I found this place, they had just finished
building it, and I was able to move right in.  I've liked it here, it's
become home to me and now with Jorge here it has become even more so."

I started a fresh pot of coffee to brew then I opened the refrigerator
door.  I pulled out the pastry box that had the fruit tart in it.  I set it
on the table and started to open the top when I felt a hand on my shoulder.
I turned around and looked into James sympathetic brown eyes.

"Derrick, I am sorry for your terrible loss.  He must've been quite some
guy to have had you for a partner."

"Thanks James, he was a great guy.  I was the fortunate one though to have
had him for a partner.  We just didn't have enough time together.  We were
only together four years when it happened.  I was a zombie for the first
couple of years after he passed.  I have learned to live again, probably
not as quickly as he would have had me recover from it, but he really had
little to say about it laying there in the ground.  It's so hard to be
heard from the grave sometimes."

He was the captain of a pro-am soccer team here and whenever any kind of a
setback in life would hit he would just say, "Gotta get back in the game
and play, dammit!"

"He died of a heart attack on the playing field from a major coronary
thrombosis.  I wasn't at that game, and for the longest time I kept
thinking if only I had been there.  I knew I couldn't have done anything,
the doctors all told me he was gone before his body hit the ground.  I
still kept thinking, 'What if'.  I kept thinking 'What if' for what seemed
an eternity, then somewhere I heard his voice saying "Gotta get back in the
game and play, dammit!"  I started coming back to life after that.  Since
then, I've been back in the game and playing.  I can even talk about it
without tearing up like I used to."  Damn, I had no intention of opening up
that much on just meeting him.

"It's hard, I know.  When Margo, Danny's mom, passed away it was so hard
for Danny, so hard for him at times that there were moments that I didn't
think I would be able to carry him through it.  But we made it and here we
are now.  He is doing much better with it, but I can still see him at times
with that far away look in his eyes and I know what he is thinking.  Here
was in that far away place for a while this morning, that is one reason I
am looking forward to this weekend, for some quality time for him and me.
And I'm hoping our move here will help him, like your move here did for
you."  James shared more than he had intended also I am sure.

"Looks like we have a lot in common, I'm really glad you're our new
neighbors. And good friends I hope."  I added.

"So am I Derrick, so am I."  He agreed.

I started slicing the tart and plating it.  I got the milk from the
refrigerator and pored two glasses for the boys.

"Would you like milk or coffee?" I asked.

"Coffee is fine thanks."

I poured two mugs of coffee.  "There's milk, non dairy creamer and sugar if
you'd like some."

"No, thanks, black is fine for me."

"Okay guys it's ready, come and get it."  I was sure that I'd get a
lightening flash response from that.

No sooner said and two frisky lads were right there.

"Go ahead and take a seat guys."  I told them as I was placing a slice of
the tart in front of them.  I set down James' and mine and James set the
glasses of milk on the table for the guys and the coffees for him and me.
We sat and joined the boys.

"I would like to propose a couple of toasts gentlemen."  I said as I raised
my coffee mug.  "Here's to my wonderful new son that I am so proud of.  And
here's to new beginnings and new friends, to futures of love, peace and
health to all of us."  With that I raised my mug to the center of the table
and it was joined by another coffee mug and two full milk glasses. Clink,
clink, clink, clink.

The toast was met with smiles and giggles. Everyone started digging their
forks into the tart.

"Do you think if we leave here about six thirty in the morning it will give
us enough time to get there on time?"  Unfamiliar with the area James had
no idea.

"I think that will give us plenty of time to get there, park and check in
to get on board, with time to spare."  I answered.

"Great then we'll plan on pulling out of here at six thirty.  Have either
of you been there before?  We haven't."

"I've been there three times before and loved it Once you're on the island
you can't believe you're still in L.A. county, let alone the states.  It's
like a little Mediterranean island atmosphere, and there's so much to do
once you're there. There are the island tours, the glass bottomed boats,
bicycling, golf, hiking, swimming and a lot more stuff...it's great. You'll
love it, believe me.  Jorge have you been there since you've been in
California?" I was quickly reminiscing of past trips there.

"No, but I really wanted to go since being here cause I can see it all the
time from the school's playground."  Jorge's eyes were sparkling with
anticipation.

"The best part is that it is so casual over there on the island.  Everyone
wears just casual beach clothes because the climate is so mild all the
time.  After being there a while time just kind of slows down and you find
yourself wishing you could just stay there forever."  I truly did love it
there on my previous visits.

"I am glad we are going then and I'm glad you guys will be going with us.
Sounds like we are going to have a great time.  Danny and I should be
getting back so we can pack and can hit the sack early.  See you guys in
the morning and thanks for everything tonight, the cookies, the dessert,
and the friendships."  James and Danny started getting up from their
chairs.

"You're welcome, and thank you for the invitation to share your trip and
for your friendships.  We're looking forward to it all."  I replied as
Jorge and I arose from our chairs.

We walked James and Danny to the door all of us exchanged hugs.  When James
and I hugged I felt a warm spark run the entire length of my body, I
wondered if he felt the same; the hug seemed to last a little longer than
would have been normal in that situation.

"Good night guys, see you in the morning."  James said back to us as they
walked next door.

"Yea, see you guys in the morning, g'night."  I called to them as they
walked on.

Closing the door and locking it for the night, I turned toward the kitchen
to clean up the dessert plates and all.  As I turned I felt one of those
now recognizable mid waist hugs from Jorge.

"Derrick this is going to be so great, thank you."  Jorge was still hugging
me tightly.

"You're welcome lil dude, but all I did was accept James invitation, he is
the one we need to really thank."

"I know, but you could have said no, and I'm glad you didn't."

"Well you mentioned Catalina the other day in your list of your special
places, so now we will have one of them out of the way, right?"

"Yup. What do I need to take?"

"We don't need to take that much. Our swimwear, some tee shirts, underwear,
comfortable footwear, a pair of long pants and a sweat shirt or light
jacket.  It get cool over there in the evening and at night.  I'll go with
you to your room and we can get it all together, then I'll get my stuff
together and pack it all in a duffle bag."  We'll have it ready for the
morning, so all we have to do is get cleaned up, dressed and go next door."

"Okay."

We cleaned up the kitchen table and headed on to Jorge's room. I helped him
select the items I thought he would need and then took them to my room to
add to my stuff for packing.

"Hey buddy why don't you hit the shower and wash off that chlorine before
you hit the sack, okay?"

"Okay, Derrick."

While he was showering I finished making my selections for the long weekend
and put them with Jorge's things.  I went to the bathroom and got my
toiletries that would be needed, grabbed some beach towels from the linen
closet and then to the study to get the cell phone and its charger and the
digital camera.  I wanted to get a full photographic journal of this trip.
Besides, I don't have any pictures of Jorge yet and need to get started on
that.  What's a home without family pictures and an album or two?  I
grabbed my duffle bag from the top shelf in the closet and proceeded to
pack everything for the weekend.  I left the cell phone and camera on top
of the bag so I would have ready access to those two items when I needed
them.

Just as I was finishing Jorge came bounding into the room stark naked and
gave me another hug when he saw the packed bag.  I picked him up in my arms
squeezed him really tightly and gave him a big kiss on his cheek.  I could
feel his little stiffy poking me in the stomach.  "You need to get to bed
now and get some sleep lil dude.  We have to get up early in the morning
and you'll need all your sleep you can get."

"Okay Derrick, I'll go to bed now.  But I want to practice what Jared
taught me, how to jack off."  This kid's openness and honesty was
unbelievable.

"Okay, but don't practice too long, you need to get your sleep. Now go get
in bed and I'll be in to tuck you in before I go to bed."  I let him down,
as he turned to run off I slapped his butt and he giggled.

I walked out onto the terrace and lit up a cigarette.  While inhaling the
nicotine I was thankful for all that this week had brought into my life.  I
was blessed with a wonderful 'son'; met two really good friends that I knew
were going to be a significant part of our lives; met a wonderful neighbor
that I had so much in common with, who it just so happened we were going to
be spending the next three days with.  Did my stars come into alignment or
what?  So much though so fast, there were times this week when I didn't
know if I was coming or going.  I think I did a pretty good job at covering
it up though.  I really need the breather these next three days would be
providing.

At times during the week I did have time to do some inner reflection.  I
was certain that this was what I wanted.  I do know what lie ahead as far
as responsibilities go, and it isn't for just another six years, but a true
lifetime commitment.  Now I would really need to learn to make time for
myself amidst everything, to maintain a perspective and a balance.  Being
instant daddy was not what I had thought this vacation time from work was
going to be about. I was looking forward to some 'R and R' from work.  All
that's happened has taken my mind off of work that is for sure.  I still
can't believe the timing of everything though, it just seems that
everything has been falling into place too evenly; something has to rock
the proverbial boat, but when?  With all of life's ups and downs I've
encountered, I always slipped into a skeptical mode when occasions like
this arose.  Call it an inner self defense mechanism or whatever, but it is
always present in times like these; just waiting for the other shoe to drop
as they say.

Whatever would come to shake things up, I was bound and determined that no
way in hell would it be allowed to harm Jorge.  His safety and well being
is number one in the scheme of things now.
  Life is going to give him a fair shake, I'd see to it, with all my being.

I stubbed out my second cigarette and went back inside. I set the alarm on
the bedside clock to five thirty.  No way I was going to rely on my
internal clock for waking this time.  Tomorrow was too large an event to
leave to chance.  I headed in to check on Jorge and to tuck him in.

He was asleep under the covers.  All of what is good in life was reflected
in that beautiful face that laid there at rest. I went over, bent and
kissed his cheek and tucked in the covers around him, sealing in the
night's security for my little one.  As I turned to leave I heard a soft
murmur come from his lips, "Good night dude, I love you."

I whispered back to him, "Good night, sleep tight, I love you too lil
dude."
  I turned off the light and was ready to turn in myself for a good rest.

As my head hit the pillow it seemed funny after all these years of sleeping
alone, this was the first night of the last four that I had my bed all to
myself again.  It was almost a strange feeling; not one of loneliness, but
a welcomed one, as if nothing was expected but a good night's sleep.

To be continued...

If you liked my story or have any remarks, please email me at
luvyngcks@hotmail.com.     Thanks, D.

Personal Note:

I would like to sincerely and appreciatively thank the readers for their
comments and compliments they have taken the time to email to me. Due to
the number received I am sorry that I can no longer respond to each of them
and still have the time to write the story's continuation.  Thank you for
your understanding, and I do hope you will continue to enjoy this work of
fiction.  Wishing all of you enjoyable reading, happiness, health and
kindness to all.  - D.