Chapter 10

It was Thursday of this week when things happened once again. Wyatt had not been to school, something that Jeff was worried about, because like Wyatt had said, he would rather be at school then to stay home with his dad, that and for the most part, he liked it there. When the boys came to my place, the first thing Jeff did was to tell me this and then asked if I'd take them to Wyatt's house, so that he could check on him. I was reluctant to go, just in case Wyatt's dad was there. I finally relented and the three of us piled in the truck and took the drive there. My blood ran cold, as I'm sure it did for both boys, when we saw four or five police cars in front of the house.

“Please tell me that's not Wyatt's?” Jeff said, panic already setting in.

“It is, but don't start panicking yet.” I said calmly, but worrying myself as to what was happening.

We stopped and hopped out of the truck and the first police officer I saw I flagged over to me.

“Sir, can you please tell me what's happening? Wyatt, the young boy who lives here is a good friend of Jeff here, he wasn't at school today and Jeff was worried, so we came by to find you guys all here.”

“Everything's okay, that much I can say right now, no one's hurt, though the father is likely more than a little shaken up. The young boy is just answering some questions right now, but more than that, I can't say at this time. I would like your names though so that the chief investigator can come talk to you. In truth, we've been hoping you'd arrive, because the young man told us about you, but doesn't know your phone numbers, so we were unable to contact you.”

“Why would the chief investigator like to talk to us?” I asked cautiously.

“I couldn't honestly tell you. I'm just an officer, and the investigators rarely tell us much, if anything. So what I've told you, is all I actually know at this time.”

“Okay, thanks.” I said, I was starting to sweat, what if somehow they found out about me and Cale.

Cale must have sensed this and whispered to me that no matter what, he would never admit to anything at all, so they would never have the proof. I calmed down some, because I knew that already. It was almost ten minutes later that another officer came and found us and took us inside. If we thought the outside was bad, the inside made the outside look like a bloody palace. It was gross to say the least. We sat down, and the investigator started out.

“Young Wyatt is not in any trouble, but his dad is. I understand that one of you is his boyfriend, Jeff, I see.” He said, after consulting his book.

“That's me Sir.”

“Good, and are you Jeff's father?” He asked me.

“No, good family friend, I'm the one who looks after the boys after school when their dad's working.”

“Oh, I was hoping to speak to their father.”

“I'm sure almost anything you can speak to him about or ask him, I can take care of.”

“Probably not this though. Wyatt won't be living with his father anymore and he wants to live with them. Social services says they won't allow it, but Wyatt says if they come near him at all, try and make him do something, anything he doesn't like, he'll find every lawyer in the world that'll help him to fight them and make sure they hurt far more than they'll hurt him by putting him somewhere where he's not liked, understood or even wanted for more than a paycheck. Brave boy telling them off like that, but I can't disagree with him, and I don't blame him one bit. The social services guy tried to make us take the boy into custody and force him, but we can't, and he doesn't have the right, especially if the child wants to go to a certain place and they allow it.”

“That won't be a problem at all Sir, Alex's known about this situation since the boys met, and he's the one that told Wyatt that if it got too bad, that he was to run for it and go to their place. So, if that's what you're asking, I can assure you that it won't be any problem whatsoever. I can however call him and ask him to come, so that you can get this directly from him if you'd like.”

“No, if you're sure of it, at this time, that's good enough for me.”

“Good. Can you tell us anything about what happened?”

“Since Wyatt will be going with you, and you already know he's gay, then yes. From what I was able to determine from talking to both of them, Wyatt's dad confronted him this morning before school about being gay. Wyatt, of course, tried to deny it, for obvious reasons, and his dad went to swing at him, yelling at the boy that he was gonna beat the gay outta him, even if it killed him. Wyatt managed to escape without harm and went right to his dads room and grabbed the handgun that was there. When his dad barged in the room, Wyatt fired one warning shot, and then aimed the gun at his dads family jewels. He told his dad that if he made one move, his nuts were gone first, then the next shot would be his forehead. I'm guessing this was when he pissed his pants. Wyatt did not let him move a muscle, every move he made, Wyatt followed him and made him sing like a canary. I'll let him tell all about what his dad had to tell him, but it was very long. At about noon we received a call from Wyatt, telling us that his dad had tried to beat him because he was gay, that he currently had his dad under control, but that if he attempted to get away before we arrived, that he was gonna blow his dads balls off first, and then the second shot would be right between his eyes.”

“When we got here, the man tried to say that his son was crazy, so on and so forth, I'm sure I don't have to tell you any of that, and we took him into custody. I was the one to ask Wyatt for the gun and he happily handed it over, and then turned his back and placed his hands behind his back, I'm guessing so that I could cuff him too. I told him that wasn't gonna be necessary, and he asked why. He said he was gonna kill his dad, if he had've made just one wrong move, he'd be dead, it was planned, it was gonna happen, and he should be going to jail. I just laughed and said we don't send kids to jail for wanting to kill their parents if they try to beat the gay out of them. I might have had to had he actually done it, but nothing was wrong now. So, we went and talked while my partner talked to the father, and then we traded places and asked more questions. Understandably the fathers explanation of things was just a little different to Wyatt's. Considering just what the house looks like though, I'm not inclined to believe him too much.”

“So, what happens now?” I asked.

“Now that you're here, Wyatt will be released and you're free to go home. His dad however will be spending a little time behind bars. I wish I could say that it was only for child abuse, but there seems to be more. The gun that Wyatt used is wanted in numerous felony cases, murder being only one of them. Trust me, if what Wyatt says is correct, his dad is a very bad person and is wanted for a lot more than just child abuse. Contract killer would be my guess.”

“Oh shit.” I whistled.

“Yeah, but of course you didn't hear any of this, but you do need to know.”

“We never heard a thing.”

“Good. Wyatt's just waiting in his room, he's packed all that he cares to take, so as soon as you're ready to go, so is he.”

“Then let's go get him.”

He led us to Wyatt's bedroom and when he opened the door and Wyatt saw us, he smiled brightly and went right to his boyfriend and kissed him, even with the police officer stranding there. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him adjust himself, so that explained a bit. We thanked the officer and then headed out, telling him to call us on any of the numbers we had given to him, and he said he would. We finally hopped in the truck and headed out. We went straight to the boys' house, since Alex would be home soon anyway, and we needed to talk.

I managed to hold the boys off on asking all the questions I knew they wanted to ask, telling them that we should save them for once we were all together. They stayed quiet. When we got to the house, we all went for diaper changes, Jeff, Cale and I all needed fresh diapers, whereas Wyatt just wanted one. Shortly after that, Alex made it home. He asked why I was there and then we told him the whole tale that we knew.

“So, what did you ask your dad while you had him pinned?” Jeff asked the burning question.

“I asked him why he hated me so much, I asked him why he could let me live in such a hell hole, I asked him why he hated gays so much, I just kept asking him question after question, and he refused to answer them. I even asked him about my mom, if it was true that he had raped her and made her father his child. This finally got a reaction from him. He actually cried as he told me that he really and truly loved her, that the day he had to go to jail because they were found out nearly killed him. He said she kept trying and trying to clear him, but it wasn't 'til she died and even in her will she said that he'd never raped her, that she seduced him and that he was to raise their son. I asked him how he could have loved her so much, but not her son. He said because I was a boy, and boys were bad.”

“So, he didn't like boys.” Jeff said in disgust.

“Pretty much yeah. After that he pretty much answered everything I asked of him, but trust me, there's a lot of crap that you don't want to know, and probably shouldn't either. Suffice it to say, he was a very bad person. I'm just really surprised that I wasn't taken into custody as well, I should've been, and that's what made me the most sad, that I was gonna lose my baby, but instead I get to come live here.”

“Yeah, and how you took on the social services guy like that, wow, even the cop was impressed with you.” Cale grinned.

“Yeah, but like I was gonna let some stuffy stuck up jerk put me somewhere I didn't want to go. I mean, how many homes would want a gay boy or a bed wetter, how many would want both in one boy. They'd never leave me alone with any boy in the house, I'd just rape them, at least that's what they'd think, and I'd cost a fortune in either diapers or laundry. Assuming of course they didn't just make me sleep in it. Like I told the jerk, and I called him that too by the way, he had no right at all to take me anywhere I didn't want to go, even the police investigator told him that. He tried to tell me he was social services and could take me from my home at any time and place me anywhere he saw fit if he saw fit. I told him that if he tried that, I'd be happy to pull his head from his ass using my boyfriends dads big truck, and that me and every lawyer I could find would ensure that social services was toppled, permanently. The cop laughed at the look on the guys face, boy did that make him mad, so he tried to tell the cop to detain me, that he was forcibly removing me, but the cop said he wasn't allowed to do that, nor was he.”

“You do realize though that at some point in time, social services is gonna come here though and interview us right, and he's gonna try once again to take you from here!” Alex pointed out.

“Yeah, and if he does, I won't allow him to even step through the door, and I'll ask for his bosses name, if he refuses, I call the investigator and have him bring a few people and remove him and charge him with harassment. If I want to stay here, assuming you let me of course, they can't stop it from happening.”

“You'd be surprised at just what social services can do, they have lawyers and judges in their back pockets night and day. If they want something, they will get it done.”

“Yeah, well I have a boy lover social services hater police officer in my back pocket.”

“Huh.” Alex said.

“Ah, so you noticed his looks too huh?” I laughed.

“Yeah, you saw it too, good. Trust me, he'll help us, and he knows the whole case and what I want, so he'll help me out. I have to call a lawyer tomorrow though and get this all figured out, because if I have to, I'll fight social services. I won't drag you guys into it any more than I have to, but you'll probably be questioned.”

“You'll have a heck of a fight on your hands if they decide to push something, but I for one think they get what they want far too often, so it'll be good for them to lose one.” I laughed.

“Me too.”

“Well boys, I should be heading home, but if I may make a suggestion before I leave, social services won't want to see Wyatt and Jeff sharing a room This is only a three bedroom house, so Cale and Jeff, you're gonna have to share, and Wyatt will have to have the other bedroom. Of course, that's what they need to know, who's to say you don't trade bedrooms at night, but that's what they're gonna wanna see. You're gonna need a new bed too, I'll slap one together tomorrow afternoon and bring it over, but you're gonna have to grab a mattress for it Alex. What size should I make it?”

“Good thinking, just make it a double, because we all know it'll never actually get used, but I already have all the bedding for that size, and I'll try and get a mattress from a thrift store, so that I don't have to pay too much.”

“Okay, consider it done. Well come here Baby and give me a kiss bye bye.”

Before I could even blink, Cale was in my arms, kissing me, and we stayed like that for at least a couple minutes before I managed to pull us apart. I said goodbye to him once more, and then to the others and I was off. When I got home, I made and ate some dinner, and then headed out to the shop to start making the show bed that I said I would make. I still had lots of time and I had not had a chance to play out in the shop anyway, so I figured why not.

It only took me a couple hours to build the bed, and while it would still require finishing, I was too tired to do it tonight, so I headed to bed for the night. I changed my very wet diaper, because I probably should have changed when I got home, and then crawled into bed and fell fast asleep. Friday morning arrived, it was a little dark and miserable outside, but I had to go to work, so that was sort of how I was feeling myself anyway. I got up and changed my diaper, got dressed, and went down and got ready for work. When I had to, I headed out and had a not bad day at work.

When work finally ended for the day, I rushed home and met the boys just as they were coming up the dock. We went right into the shop and then Cale and I kissed deeply.

“Hi boys.” I said happily once the kiss was released, that one kiss was all I needed to make my day brighter.

“Hi.” They all said happily.

“I got started on the show bed last night and I just need to finish it today. It is a nice bed though, so as soon as you no longer need it, you can get rid of it and someone can actually use it.”

“Cool.” The boys all said.

We all went about what we were doing before, and had some fun. I should point out, since I do not believe I have before now, that Wyatt sure seemed the artistic type as well and he loved working the scroll saw and the lathe. He was nowhere near as good as the boys were, but he held a great deal of promise, and with more practice, he would soon learn all that we could teach him and do just as nice artwork as we all do.

We all played until Jeff and Wyatt had to be heading home, and when they did, we said we would see them in the morning, that we would bring the bed then, and then we would all get to work, because it was going to be a long weekend once again. At least we were mostly done, all that we needed to do now was paint and then move everything.

If Jeff and Wyatt had half as good a night as I and Cale had, then I knew they would not be walking straight the next day. Then again, straight does not seem to be a problem in our group, now does it. When Cale and I got up Saturday morning, we changed and dressed each other, and then went and loaded the new bed into the truck and headed out. When we arrived, Alex and the boys all came out to help, they were already dressed and ready for the day as well.

“This is a nice bed, good and sturdy, and you made it look really nice, thanks.”

“It may be just a show piece, but no point in making it look bad. I just used some scrap pine that I had kicking around, but it's strong and it'll last whomever ends up getting it when you're done with it for a very long time.”

“That's good. I grabbed a mattress from a thrift store like I said I would, and it only cost me twenty bucks. It's in really good condition, so that's good. Anyway, let's get this done, and then we should go finish up the shop.”

“Okay.” We all said and then got it done.

As we were doing so, Alex told us that he had managed to borrow a couple paint sprayers and all the gear we would need this weekend to spray the entire shop, so that was great. That would make the job far faster and easier. The boys said they would start hauling everything from the garage to the shop as we painted, since there was going to be nothing else they could do anyway, Alex and I both told them that was a great idea.

As soon as the bed was put together in the bedroom, we all headed out to the shop to get to work. The paint sprayers were all set up and then Alex and I got to work painting. These were really good sprayers and we made quick work of it. By noon we had the first coat on everything; boathouse, upper storage loft, paint booth and main shop, it was all done. The boys were at best a quarter of the way done, but there was a lot of stuff, and it was all heavy, or at least most of it was. They at least used the dolly and the cart as much as they could, but it was still a lot of work.

We all went in and the boys and I went for diaper changes, Alex went to the bathroom, and then we all went and made and ate lunch, because for some reason we were all hungry. The boys more so, they ate twice as much as Alex and I did. Once we were all done and cleaned up, we headed back down to the shop. We had no worries that the paint would not be ready for the second coat, so we started once again where we started the last time and got it done. We were only doing two coats and we were not worried if it was absolutely perfect, just good, and nice and bright white. We were done well before dinner, the boys still had some to do, but were getting tired, so we went and helped them with the last of the stuff.

We went and had dinner, and as we were eating, we decided that we may as well just push through the evening and see what all we could get done in the setup, so that we had more of the next day free, so that was what we did. We all fell into bed at ten that night, having finished almost half the setup, but this did include installing almost all the old kitchen cabinets for storage, and that was definitely the hardest part.

Cale and I did not play this night, but we did the next morning, and fired off a couple rounds a piece into each others sucking mouths. Finally able to face the day, we diapered and dressed each other and then went and met the others for breakfast. Jeff and Wyatt both had the same soft glow upon them as they exited their bedroom, so they too had released a little tension.

After breakfast, we all went out to the shop, and feeling far more refreshed, managed to get it all set up and done by lunch time.

“Wow, this looks so great guys, thanks so much for all your help.” Alex said, he was actually crying.

“You're welcome.” We all said.

“I can't believe it's done already, and that I have such a cool shop.”

“Same.” Cale and Jeff said together.

We sat down and rested and talked for a bit, all figuring we deserved the rest. I asked Wyatt if he had called a lawyer yet and what was said. He said he had called and talked to one on Friday morning at school, he skipped a class to do so, and he was told that what he wanted was not really a big deal, that there was no reason why he could not live wherever he so desired, as long as the people that were to take him had no criminal records and or no means in which to care for him. Wyatt told us that the lawyer told social services to call him direct if they had any concerns, and that if that came about, that he would have to come out and visit with everyone and payment would have to be discussed. Wyatt told us that he told the lawyer that that was good, but that hopefully the social services moron would not push his luck. We all figured he would, and I wondered how Alex was going to pay for a lawyer, but I would help out if needed.

“Well boys, I think I'm gonna go home and rest for the rest of the day, I think we've done about all we really need to do this weekend.” I broke the news after we had sat around for a good time talking and laughing.

“Okay.” Everyone said, but Cale came up to me and wrapped himself up in me and gave me a nice kiss goodbye, and before too long, I headed home.

It had been another long weekend, though thankfully not near as hard as the previous one, but still, I was tired and sore. I decided to go on in and have a nice long hot bath to relax and get clean, because I was more than a little dirty. I had to have laid in the hot soothing bath water for a good hour before I got out and hopped in the shower to actually clean off. Once I was good and clean, I hopped out, dried off and then went in and got into a nice thick diaper.

Once I was ready, I went and made and ate a nice big filling dinner, because I was really hungry, and I even did something I rarely did, I poured myself an alcoholic beverage, I felt I deserved it. I ended up laying down on the couch with a good book, had the fire going and relaxed like that until I was nearly falling asleep, so I went to bed and slept the sleep of the dead until quite late the next morning, especially for me.

Monday is normally shopping day for me, so I went and did all my shopping and got everything that I would need for the next week, I stayed in town until it was time for the boys to come over in fact. I bought lots though, so that was good. I was still unloading everything from the truck when all three boys came sauntering up, without saying anything, they all just grabbed a couple bags and helped me to bring it in. We had the last of it brought in in just one more trip.

“Thanks boys, and hi.” I said, and then grabbed my baby and gave him a nice kiss.

“No prob, and hi.” Jeff and Wyatt both laughed as I was just grabbing Cale to kiss.

“Mmm, hi there Baby.” Cale sighed when I finally let him go.

“So, how was your day at school today?”

“Kinda boring actually.” Cale said.

“Same here, but Wyatt had an interesting day.”

“Oh, what happened Wyatt?”

“The same social worker that was at my house last week came to the school today and pulled me from class. To be polite, I went with him, and when we were sitting down, he said he had a family for me to move to, and that he was pulling me from this school, because they were clear across town, so I would be transferring schools. I asked him if he was completely and utterly stupid, or if he just did not listen. He flushed huge at that and would've started yelling at me if he was allowed to. He said he was neither stupid, and was not paid to listen to kids who did not do what was best for them. So, I told him he was stupid then, because kids were supposed to be listened to, especially in his work, and to not listen to me would get him fired. I told him once again that I was not moving, I was not going anywhere with or for him, and nor would I talk to him any further. He told me that he was in control of my life now, and that it was already done, the new family was expecting me this afternoon. I asked him if they knew I was a bed wetter and that I was gay, and he said no, that was for me to tell them. I just laughed at him and called him a fucking moron, like any family would take me without knowing. I asked if there were other boys there, and he said yes, so I asked him if he honestly thought they would keep me for more than a couple hours after they found out, especially if one of the boys was theirs by blood. I told him the likelihood of that happening was about as good as him being a nice person.”

“Was there anyone there with you?” I had to ask.

“Yes, the principal said that he had to be present for all interviews, so he was there with me. He tried to say something a couple times, but I didn't let him. It was pretty much at this time I told the guy that I had to make a phone call, and he tried to tell me that I needed to make no phone calls, and that he wasn't going to allow me to. I actually growled at him and asked if he cared to continue that, if he really wanted to add forcible detainment to his list of already building charges. He said I had no rights, and of course I said that I had far more rights than he himself had, and asked the principal if I could use his phone. I don't think he'd ever had a kid fight social services before, or any adult like that before, so I think he was in shock. He nodded his head yes, so I went to grab the phone, and the social services guy actually grabbed my hand to stop me. That's when the principal reacted. He grabbed the guys hand and told him that no one was allowed to touch his students in his school, no matter who they were, unless they had a warrant to arrest said student, and that he had best remove his hand from me and let me make my phone call, or he too would be pressing charges, and his word had a lot more sway than anyone elses on his school grounds. The guy tried to argue, saying he had full rights to do anything he cared to, to which the principal replied that he had no rights in his school at all, and the only reason he was allowed there at all, was that he had allowed him in, otherwise he would not be there at all. The principal said he was seriously regretting that decision now.”

“Wow.” The boys said, I agreed.

“Yeah, so I made the call and called my lawyer and told him the basics of what was happening and that I needed him right away. He said he would be there in five minutes. I then called the investigator and told him the same thing, he was there even faster than my lawyer was. Once they were both there, I explained all that I knew, and the social services guy told both of them that he had all the rights and means necessary to move me into a loving and caring home, and that I was not leaving the school with anyone other than him.”

“Oh, how did the cop and your lawyer take that?” I asked.

“My lawyer, who of course I had just met, laughed in the guys face and asked who he thought he was, and the guy replied that he was social services and had full rights for the protection of children. I asked him if he had the right to destroy a child's life, because if he forced me to move, I would be destroyed, I would be miserable, and would cause everyone around me to be miserable as well. He tried to claim that he wouldn't destroy my life, that he was moving me to a loving and caring home where I would be nurtured and learn to love and grow to be all I could be. I asked him which retarded book he copied that line out of and asked if he truly believed it. He said it was his line and of course he believed it. Once again, this time with the cop and the lawyer there, I asked him if the family knew I was a gay bed wetter, and he said no. The cop actually barked at the guy, asking him how he could put a child with a family without telling them everything he knew, that he knew for a fact that most foster families did not accept known gays into their homes, even though technically they were supposed to, but that the foster care system would not force kids on a family if they did not want them, and the simple fact, most did not want gay kids in their house, especially if they had other kids. He also said that he knew that bed wetters were very poorly treated in most homes, he knew, he was one of them, and that to not tell the family amounted to abuse, plain and simple.”

“Good, I'm glad he said that.” I said.

“Yeah, so was I. I told the guy I was already in a loving and caring home, that I wanted to be there, and that he and the entire might of the ministry of children could try if they so desired to remove me, but I would be happy to fight it until I was sixteen and they no longer controlled me with an iron fist. Not that they do now granted. They just think they do. I also asked my lawyer to start proceedings to sue this jerk for harassment, and asked the police officer to charge him with the same, as well as forcible confinement and physical abuse. The social services guy asked how I could think he could be charged with any of that, that he hadn't done any such thing. The principal said that not only had he done it, but that he had done so in front of the principal of the school he was currently in, and that he would very happily testify to this. He actually smiled and said it'd never go to court, because he had too much power in this situation. The cop laughed and read him his rights and cuffed him, and my lawyer said he was going to happily remove him from his job and was asking for a minimum of five hundred thousand dollars in damages.”

“Wow, really?” Both boys said again.

“Oh yeah, it was great. When the cop led him out of the school, oh boy was he mad, he was yelling and swearing the entire way, saying that I'd be in foster care right away. My lawyer smiled and asked me if I was gonna go through with it, and I said I sure am, and to take any money owing to him out of what I win in the settlement, he just smiled and said okay, I enjoy a good fight.”

“I have a feeling that he's gonna have one hell of a fight on his hands. The ministry of children is pretty big and government controlled, and I'm sure they have some pretty good lawyers.” I warned.

“He knows, and so do I, but one thing we know that the families guy clearly does not, is that kids have rights too, they can't force us to do things against our will, no matter what. And how stupid was it not telling the foster family about me. I bet I wouldn't have lasted the night, especially when right in the living room I stripped down to just my soggy diaper and laid there and asked any of the boys if they'd like to have any fun. Oh that would've gone over real well I'm sure, and I would've done the same thing at every house I was forced to go to as well.”

“Yeah, except for they'd probably end up charging you as a sexual deviant, or something just as bad or worse, and then you'd be in trouble.”

“Hey, I never said I'd get naked and or hard, or do anything for that matter, just make the offer for fun. No one could say I did anything wrong.”

“Yeah, they could, and you know it, but I suppose you could tell the judge exactly why you did it, and in the end the social services guy would still be the one to take the brunt of it.”

“Exactly. So, my lawyer will be coming over to our house this evening to go over some other things and I'll be asking Alex to adopt me legally, so that social services can't possibly cause any more troubles. If there's legal proceedings in process to adopt me, then they have no say.”

“That might be difficult too though Wyatt, considering that you and Jeff are boyfriends, and they know this.” I pointed out.

“Yeah, I know, but we have separate bedrooms, and his dad is keeping us from having sex, telling us that we need to hold off on that sort of thing 'til we're older and more mature. Jeff won't have to see a doctor, so the fact he enjoys his toys won't matter, and well, we haven't played with my baby bum any more than with just a finger, so they'll never know, and they don't need to know that we do suck and stroke, though I'm sure they'll guess we may have at times done so. I'll just tell the judge point blank though that this is what I want and if he denies me, then so be it, I'll go above his head.”

“Hopefully it'll be enough.”

“It will be. Now, can we go out to the shop and play around please?”

We were all happy to say yes to that, so we went out and played until the boys had to go home. I gave Cale a nice tender kiss goodbye and then they were off and paddling across the lake. I cleaned up the shop, and as I was doing so, I realized that Cale and I had not gone to change each others diapers like we usually do when they arrive. Oh well, tomorrow would be better for it. For the rest of the night, I puttered around the house, cleaning and whatnot until it was bedtime.

The next day when the boys came over, Wyatt excitedly told me all about the night before when the lawyer visited. Alex was understandably nervous about the prospect of adopting Wyatt, but the lawyer said it was actually an amazingly simple thing to do, and he would take care of everything if Alex agreed to it. Alex did of course agree to it eventually. All three boys ended up telling me all about it, and Wyatt finished off with the fact that the house that they had lived in had belonged to his grandparents on his moms side, how it had been left to him, and how there was some money, but not a lot, only about twenty thousand dollars left. It had been enough to take care of the property taxes and whatnot until Wyatt was to inherit the house. His dad was also apparently being fully charged with everything that the police officer had told us all about the other night, which was both a good and a bad thing. Good of course that he was being jailed, but bad because he had clearly done a lot of bad things.

“That's all really good Wyatt, how do you feel now?” I asked.

“Really good actually. I finally have a family that I am gonna keep, no matter what.” He smiled brightly.

“That's good. Did your lawyer have any more news on the social services guy?”

“No, not yet, and like he said, anything that he found out now he couldn't necessarily share with us anyway, because it was all in the legal system now. He's hoping to call today or tomorrow with a court date, and he assures me that I'll have to be there. Now, I wanted to ask you a favor.”

“I'd be surprised if you didn't have to go to court for that, it's you that accused him and are pressing charges and suing him. What would you like?”

“Well, I don't really need our old house, but I should rent or lease it out, so that I make some money off of it. There is however no way that I could possibly rent it the way that it is. Do you think you can help me fix it up? Alex said he'd help as well, but we all have more time than he has, and he says you'd probably be better at planning out what needs to be done.”

“Oh wow, now that could be a tough one. From what I saw of the place, it's not gonna be an easy fix. It's pretty run down. It might just be faster, cheaper and easier to tear it down and start again from scratch.”

“Yeah, Alex said the same thing, but that he'd let you look it all over and give your suggestion.”

“Okay, we can do that then. We might have to wait 'til you actually get any money if you win before we can start, and the police are gonna have to release the house to you before we can even do anything at all.”

“Okay, but I thought I told you that the house was released to me already.”

“Don't think so. That's good though. Did they find anything more of interest there do you know?”

“Hard to say, but I know my ex father had at least one gun there, so there was probably more there too. Mind you, in a way I'm glad he had the gun there and that I knew where it was.”

“Yeah, how did you know where it was anyway? I'd have thought that he'd have had that well hidden.”

“I knew where he kept it because I saw him put it there, and I made sure that I knew how to use it in case I ever needed it. Turned out that was a good thing.”

“I'll say. Were you wanting to go there right now then?”

“Could we?”

“Let's go get in the truck then.”

We all went and hopped in the truck and took off for the short drive to his house. When we pulled up, we all hopped out and headed inside. After a few days of not seeing it, it really had not gotten any better. In fact, if at all possible, the overwhelming stench inside was worse than it was before. The only one of us to not seem to be affected was Wyatt.

“Yeah, it kinda smells in here. I tried as best I could to clean it whenever I could, but there's only so much I could do.” He shrugged.

“It's downright nasty in here, and you only think it kinda smells. Man it musta been horrible in here at times if this seems like nothing.” Jeff said.

“Oh yeah, trust me, this is nothing. It'd get way worse than this before my dad decided it smelled a bit in here and that I should clean it up. I was only his slave, nothing more, nothing less. So, other than smell Jay, what do you think?”

“Not sure yet, but the first thing we need to do is get a garbage bin in here and just strip the entire bloody place, nothing stays, even the carpet and drywall has to go. It's only holding the smell, and possibly more. Once that's done, then we'll be able to get a better idea of what we're dealing with. How big is the place anyway?”

“No clue, I'll show you around, but there's three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It's just a small cabin, but there's actually lots in here. The entire loft is the master bedroom and bathroom, and I think that they were added into the roof after it was built, because it doesn't look like it was original.”

“That's not too bad actually, and while it's a fairly small cabin, it's surprisingly well laid out and spacious in here. How are the two bedrooms and the bathroom?”

“Come take a look.” He said and led us to the first of the two rooms, his.

“Hmm, kinda small, but not too bad really. Really, it's just fine for a kids room with a single bed and stuff.”

“Yeah, the other bedroom's about the same size.”

“Okay, then this must be the bathroom here huh?” I asked, pointing to a closed door.

“Yeah, but be warned, it's usually pretty moldy and smelly in there. I'm pretty sure the shower and or tub leaks and it's caused damage.”

“Okay, if that's the case, the entire room gets gutted as well then.”

“That's why I was telling you.” He said and then opened the door, and the source of the houses overall bad smell was revealed.

“Yikes, it's pretty strong and isn't at all good for any of us to be breathing this either I'm sure.” I nearly gagged.

“Yeah, it's been closed up a couple days, so I'm sure it's worse than normal.”

“You know though, from what I can see of the mold, and the fact I see no ventilation, I'm willing to bet that it's just all surface mold because the moisture could never escape. I don't see any obvious leakage damage, but there could be some of that too. Like I said though, the entire room will be gutted, because all the drywall will have to be replaced anyway, and we'll replace it with mold and mildew resistant drywall and put in a proper exhaust fan, so that this can't happen again.”

“So, you think it'll be worth it to just fix it up then?”

“Not too sure yet, just working things out in my head. Take us upstairs so that I can see how it is up there and I'll be able to get a feel for the roof while I'm up there as well, because if it's leaking, then we'll be able to see it from there easily.”

“Don't think it leaks, never heard anything of the sort anyway.” Wyatt said.

“That's good, because if you have to start doing all that on top of everything else, then most of the time it's just not worth it, especially for this size a place.”

He led us upstairs, it was a very well built set of steel spiral stairs, they were quite nice actually. When we made it upstairs, we found that whoever did the addition did a very good job of it. They must have ripped the entire roof off and done it, because you could see the original roof line in a few places, and where and how they reconstructed to create the space. All in all, it was actually a very nice room. The bathroom too was quite nice. Both were filthy though, there was no escaping that, but if you looked past that, then you could see that whoever did the original work cared about what they were doing and did it right.

“It looks like it was well built, I see nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that says we should be worried, but I still need to see the foundation and I wanna check out the roof. I didn't get a good look at it when we drove up, but it looked like it was a tile of some sort. Is there a basement or crawl space?”

“No, neither that I know of.”

“Okay, let's go outside then.”

We all headed outside and I checked the foundation first. The house was fairly close to the ground, so there was probably no crawl space, but from what I could see and feel of the concrete, it was in good condition. There were no cracks or flaking, so that was always a good sign. I grabbed a ladder that was by the shop, tested to make sure it was decent, and then went up and had a look at the roof. I came down several minutes later, and Wyatt asked what I thought.

“The roof looks to be at best ten to fifteen years old, and it's a really high quality steel tile meant to look like slate, it looks like it's in mint condition still, so that's really good. Now, I know there's some siding missing from the front and side, so let's go check that out next.”

Using a screwdriver I had on me, I pushed it into the wood in many places to test the give to see if there was any rot. I found nothing at all to be concerned with though, it still seemed in really good shape, other than just missing a few pieces here and there, and I told the boys this. I checked the windows next and found that they had all been upgraded to good quality vinyl double pane windows, so that was really good. I checked everything else outside and then went back inside and found where the furnace and hot water systems were and checked them out as well. They were a little older, but certainly nowhere near the age of the house itself, so they had been upgraded, probably around the same time the place was rebuilt and they still seemed to be in good working order. Wyatt confirmed that they had never had a problem with heat or hot water, other than the fact that the window had been broken for as long as he could remember, so there was always a draft in the winter time, so that was really good.

“Well buddy, looks like just a bit of good elbow grease, lots of work, and a relatively small amount of money will get this place back into good condition. We'll have to completely till the yard and reseed it for sure, I doubt there's any way to repair this, but the house will take lots more hard work.”

“That's good, hard work I can manage, money though is a little tighter.”

“Don't worry about that. Between Alex and I, we'll make sure that anything the house needs, we'll get it done and we'll worry about that later. Maybe once the house is rented and you start making money from it, then you can pay us back for the materials we need to buy, but for now, don't worry about it.”

“Thanks. Can we get started right now?”

“I don't think that's a good idea. We need supplies before we can even think about that, but we can go get them this afternoon and arrange to have a garbage bin delivered for tomorrow.”

“Oh, okay. What supplies do we need though?”

“We're all gonna need good quality masks to prevent us from breathing in any of that crap in there, good gloves, because we don't want to get sick from scratches and stuff, and we're gonna need some stain and smell blocking primer that I can get from one of my suppliers, because I have a feeling that we're gonna need to paint absolutely everything that we see. We'll also need bleach, in case we find any mold that we need to kill. We'll also need a bunch of tools from my place so that we can start too, we'll get everything ready to go tonight, and then tomorrow after school, we can get to work on it, okay.”

“Oh, okay, that makes sense. I want to keep all the receipts though, so that I can pay you back, and if just you makes all the purchases will make it easier on me, if you don't mind of course.”

“Of course I don't mind. I'll also buy all the stuff I can at cost, so that'll save you a lot of money. At my work though I'll be saying I picked up a house that was practically given to me, so I'm fixing it up to rent out, because technically my discount at work is for me only.”

“Okay, thanks so much, you're the best.” Wyatt said happily and gave me a hug. I just patted his cute little diapered bum.

We headed out and into town so that we could hit my store. When we got there, I explained to the boss and the guys there what was happening and that I needed some supplies. I think they got the picture real well when I grabbed five of our best respirators and some good gloves. I grabbed a box of contractor grade garbage bags, a large shovel commonly used for garbage removal and a couple large bins. I also placed an order for all the cabinet plywood I would need to make all the new cabinets, as well as grabbed all the cabinet hardware. I went with a great deal on some handles and counter top laminate that I had found at one of my suppliers, then grabbed all the hinges and slides that we would need for the doors and drawers. I had no idea if I was getting too much or not enough, because I only had a rough idea in my head, but I knew I had some hinges and slides at home already in case I needed more, and I probably grabbed a dozen more handles than I needed, but at only fifteen cents a piece for them, it was not a big deal. Same with the laminate, I grabbed three sheets, we would probably need two, but having extra never hurts. I also grabbed about twice as much of the cedar siding as the house used so that we could do the repairs.

I was told they would deliver all that to my shop the next morning, and we took everything that we needed right away and headed out. I hit the paint supplier next and grabbed all the primer and paint that we would need. Everything was just going to be primed and then painted white, whomever rented the place could paint it whatever color they wanted, we would just do the basics. I did grab another five gallon pail of the same color paint as the exterior was done though. The whole place would need to be repainted, but at least if it was the same color, we would only have to do one coat on the entire thing, and just put a first coat on the repaired sections. I hit the drywall supplier next and made an order for all the drywall we would need and had that scheduled to be delivered on Monday morning. I grabbed enough to do the entire house, including all the mold and mildew resistant drywall for both the bathrooms.

Next I hit the electrical store where I got a good deal, sadly not cost, but at least it was better than most, since we did not really carry electrical at all. I grabbed two bathroom fans, the biggest and best they had, I wanted to be able to suck peoples fillings out as they were sitting on the toilet, the boys giggled when I told them this. New lighting was also required, most of the light fixtures were broken, and all new outlets and switches, mostly because the old ones were so dirty, it was not worth trying to clean them, and we went with the newer and nicer style. We took all this with us though so that we had it.

I also grabbed a few bags of insulation, for just in case we needed it. If we had to, we could always return it later, because it was easier to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. It was right after this stop that I realized that we were going to be needing all new flooring for the house, and when I told the boys, they laughed, saying they could not believe we forgot that, so back to my store we went and placed the order for that too. I let Wyatt pick it out, and it was a special order one, which was fine, since we were not going to be needing it for quite some time anyway, though I was hoping we could get the bulk of the interior work done within just a few weeks. With all of us working hard like we had on the shop, we would do it quickly. I went and paid for the flooring and set it for delivery the following week, it would probably be too soon still, but that would not matter anyway, we would just store it in the living room, which was nice and easy.

“Well boys, I think we have everything. We only spent a few thousand dollars, but we got a lot of stuff, now we'll have a lot of work to do over the next few weeks. Hopefully we'll get it done quickly though so that we can get someone moved into there. Speaking of moved into, has your dad got your old place up for rent yet boys?”

“Yeah, he placed the ad in the paper last week, and he's had a few people ask about it so far, but no one's come to see the place yet. Most were asking him if he'd take less for rent, because it was so high, but like he told them, it's a huge three bedroom house a stones throw from the lake, they were lucky to be getting the chance to rent it for two thousand a month, because he had been planning on asking twenty five hundred, which is what most of them go for.” Cale answered.

“Why doesn't he ask for that then, or do you know?”

“Because he says he wants a quiet family, and families rarely have that sort of money kicking around. He put in the ad that it was families only, that they must be quiet and clean, no smoking or pets. He told the people that called that he lived right across the street, so he would know the instant they were misbehaving, and he would evict them instantly if they did so. He will not have anyone wreck the house he spent so much time and money building.”

“Ah, makes sense, so he's offering up less money for less benefits then essentially. Makes sense.”

“He thought so. He thinks he has a renter though, he's a single father of three boys, ages two to ten, dad said he sounded really nice, and he was pretty quiet and reserved. Apparently he works from home and having a nice quiet place on the lake is perfect for him and his boys.”

“Oh, that'd be good. Well, let's head out then.”

We took off and headed right back to my place. It was almost time for the boys to be heading home, but when we arrived, we went and collected all the tools and got them into the back of the truck, so that they were ready to go the following day. As soon as the boys were all gone, I went inside and found the number of a garbage place that had large bins. I called them and arranged to have their biggest bin set in front of the cabin the next morning and they agreed to that. I would have to meet them there to pay for it, but that did not matter. They were going to drop it off at seven in the morning and I did not have to be to work until eight, so that gave me plenty of time, unless they were late, in which case I would call my boss and tell him I too would be late. He would be fine with that.