"See? I told you you'd hate me again," Paul cried.

"Paul, no! We don't hate you," I told him, hugging him close to me. We're just surprised really. I know I certainly didn't see that coming though."

"Me either," Jon spoke up; obviously still stunned by the news Paul had dropped on us.

"Thanks guys," Paul said, trying to wipe away the remainder of his tears with the back of his right hand. "But what am I going to do? He's not gay. I can't help the way I feel though. God, why can't anything go right for me?" he almost yelled and suddenly stood up and ran out of the room, once again crying openly as he ran into his room and slammed the door.

Jon and I didn't know what to do next, so we walked out of his room, and went downstairs. As we were passing Paul's room, we could hear the faint sounds of him crying. Neither of us knew what we could do for him though, so we continued downstairs. Both our parents were still talking amongst themselves, but upon seeing us come into the living room where they were all sitting; they stopped and looked at us.

"Jon, is everything okay upstairs? We heard a door slam," Sarah remarked.

"Yeah," Jon replied. "That was Paul. Something was bugging him and the more we talked about it, the more upset he became."

"Maybe I should go have a talk with him," my father suggested.

"No Dad," I almost shouted, then in a calmer voice said, "I don't think you should talk to him, it might make things worse."

"I don't get it," my father said.

"Dad, I wouldn't tell you this, except Jon and I don't know how to handle it ourselves."

"It's okay Son," my mother told me. "Just tell us, and maybe we can find a way to help him."

"Well, it's you Dad," I said, looking at my father.

"Me?" he questioned, obviously surprised.

"Yeah. You know how he admitted to us that he's gay?"

"Yes..."

"Well, he just told us that he thinks he's found someone that he's fallen in love with."

"Son, surely you can't mean to say that he's attracted to me," my father said, shocked.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Maybe I should have a talk with him," Sarah said, getting up off the couch which she had been sharing with my mother. "I am his mother after all."

"We'll be down here if you need us for anything," my mother told her.

"Thanks, Hon," Sarah said, leaning down and giving my mother a quick kiss. "I'm sure it'll be fine." With that, she left to go up stairs while the rest of us waited.

We hadn't heard anything for some time, at least twenty minutes. All of us were getting a little anxious and hoping that whatever it was that the two of them were saying to each other, that it would help Paul deal with this. When we saw both Sarah and Paul coming down the stairs, we could see that Paul had been crying. My mother made room on the couch for the two of them, and they came into the living room and sat down, with Paul sitting between my mother and Sarah.

"Don," Sarah said. "There's something Paul would like to say to you. Go ahead Son," she said, looking at Paul who had his head bowed and was trying to avoid looking at anyone.

"Sir, um," Paul hesitated.

"It's okay Paul, take your time," my father told him reassuringly.

"Well, it's just that, ever since I saw you, and Jay, and Jon with each other, and I saw how the three of you got along so well, especially how you treated them as your sons, and how much you care about them, I started to feel something. I couldn't stop looking at you and wishing we were closer somehow. I thought I had started to fall in love with you, and I got confused, because I know you are straight, and I'm gay. When I went to Jay and Jon about how I felt, I think I wanted to tell them so that they'd tell me it was okay to feel the way I did. It's so confusing for me though. I admit, I was thinking about running away 'cause I couldn't deal with how it was hurting me."

"Then my mom came up the stairs and helped me see what it was I was feeling. I wish I had lived with her my whole life because she really does understand, and I love her a lot. She made me realize that I wasn't in love with you, rather I was jealous 'cause you, and Jay, and Jon had something that I never had, and I wanted a part of it, but felt left out."

When he had finished this last part he broke down in tears, and was immediately being held by both my mother and Sarah. It was hard to see him like this. It was so unfair to know that Jon and I had everything we really wanted, while Paul was made to suffer, isolated from the love that he so desperately needed. My father got up off the chair he was sitting in and walked over to Paul. Kneeling down on one knee, he took Paul's hands in his and looked at him right in his tear soaked eyes.

"Paul, I am so sorry for what it must have been like to be living with that man. I'm ashamed to admit, that with all the things that you've done to Jason, I didn't give you the chance to show me that you really had changed. That was my fault, and for that I ask that you forgive me. You are right. You do deserve to have that kind of relationship, and I would be as proud as any father could be, to have you for a son. I would like to see you grow up to be happy, and to find the one person who you can love and who loves you in return just as much."

Paul had stopped crying when my father finished speaking to him. You could see the hope and longing in his eyes as he digested what my father had told him. Suddenly he launched himself out of my mother's and Sarah's arms and wrapped his arms around my father, hugging him tightly, a smile spreading across his face as he repeated over and over, "Thank you Dad!"

"Hey, Paul," I said, trying to get his attention, which eventually I did. "Have you talked to Mr. Rayne recently?"

"Um, yeah, why?" he asked me with a puzzled look on his face.

"Well, remember the encounter I had after gym with Gary? He'd mentioned that you were talking to him about Gary. What'd you tell him?"

Paul sat back down on the couch, I could tell thinking hard about what he was about to tell me, or so I hoped. My father had stood back up and regarded me with concern.

"Is someone else bothering you at school Son?" he asked me.

"Um, well kinda yeah, Dad." I admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, Mr. Rayne pretty much took care of it, Dad, and I don't think he's going to be bothering me any more."

"Don't be to sure about that, Jay," Paul announced.

"Huh? What do you mean Paul? I mean, the way that Mr. Rayne confronted him with something that the two of you talked about caused Gary to almost crap his pants right there."

"I was afraid of that," Paul sighed.

"I think you should explain Son," my father told Paul.

"Yeah, and I will, but you're not going to like it at all. You remember the guys who I used to hang around with when I was picking on you?

"Yeah, and I know Gary was there too," I said.

"Well, Gary had only recently come to Burlington. Apparently something had happened at home and he was forced to move into a group home. He never told me what it was, but looking at what he did, I'm guessing that whatever it was, it was his fault. You remember the other day when we were in the cafeteria and we were talking about that young kid that everyone knows about? Well, that kid also used to live in the same group home where Gary was sent to. It actually makes me sick to think about what Gary did to that kid.

"Gary was so proud to tell us all what he did that day. Inside I was sick and wanted to beat the crap out of him, but I just laughed with him, fearful that if Gary saw how I really felt, that he'd come after me. He really is bad news. One day he, and three of his buddies ran into this kid, who's name is Kyle by the way, in the bathroom on the floor where Kyle's age lived. Gary is one mean, horny guy, and he forced this kid to have sex with him. I mean, he really had Kyle being held down by his friends as he forced himself inside this little kid's backside.

"After he had told me this, and after he and his buddies had left, I had to run to the nearest bathroom where I threw up. I mean, this was just after I had done to you what I did. I guess it was because of what Gary had told me, that I started to realize how much I was becoming like my father, and it scared me. No matter what he did to me that day, I deserved all of it."

We were all stunned by what Paul had told us. There was not a single sound in that whole room. Jon and I were fighting back our tears as we thought of this little ten year old boy being forced to do what Gary made him do. Well held each other's hands, while Sarah and my mother were obviously crying. How could anyone do that to a child as young as Kyle was? It was unimaginable, and extremely disturbing.

"Why did you not say anything about this before Paul?" my father asked him, the first one to recover from this news.

"I did. The one thing that I never told anyone is that I had secretly been talking to Mr. Rayne about things that were bothering me. I started to go see him after that time he caught us by the lockers that day, remember Jon?"

"Yeah, I do," Jon answered. "It was the same day that we were sent to detention for fighting."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, guys."

"Eh, don't worry about it Paul. We've already forgiven you about all that," Jon said.

"Well, I told Mr. Rayne all about what Gary had told me, and he told me that he'd take care of it. I don't care what anyone says though, as big as Mr. Rayne is, he really does care. I think he might even be a member of the club, if you know what I mean," Paul suggested, snickering.

"Yeah, we figured he might be," I said, after which Jon, Paul, and I began to laugh.

"Okay, but what has this got to do with Gary picking on you, and why do you think that it won't matter to Gary what Mr. Rayne does, Paul?"

"Cause Gary doesn't care about anyone except himself, and the more someone threatens him, the more determined he is to get his way. I'd even say he's crazy enough to try to take on Mr. Rayne, and he's devious enough that he might be able to do it. Like I said, that boy is really bad news."

"What I don't understand is," my mother said, "how is he getting away with all of this? I mean, why hasn't anyone been able to stop him?"

"That's the thing, he seems to know the system really well, and knows how to weasel out of anything. I'm thinking that with what he did with Kyle though, he might have bitten off more than he can chew. The guy that is adopting Kyle is Ryan Adams, and he's got plenty of money.

"I think I've heard of him," my father said. "He's the same person that the fire department hired to do the networking in the station. He does really good work and is highly sought after by a lot of large corporations."

"Well, rumor has it that Ryan knows about what happened to Kyle, and is using all his resources to find out all he can about Gary. He's scared right now I think, 'cause he knows that Kyle has been found, and that someone as powerful as Ryan could stop him. So when Mr. Rayne told Gary that he also knew, I'd say Gary is going to be really scared, and that could make him dangerous as he's known to lash out at people. Violently," Paul said.

"Then there's no choice. I am not going to have some little punk kid who thinks he knows better than anyone else endanger my three sons," my father said angrily. He walked over to the phone, and punched in a number. After several seconds he said only a few words. "Vivian, it's Don. We need you here right now. Bye," and with that, he hung up the phone and rejoined us in the living room.

"Now, listen to me, all three of you. I want you to do all you can to avoid Gary, and if he does anything in the slightest to threaten either of you, I want you to immediately call me. I don't care if you're in the middle of a class. After I've had a talk with Vivian, I'm going to get the three of you cell phones, and I want all of you to carry them with you at all times. Understood?" he asked us, to which we nodded our heads.

When my father was like this, you do not want to be in his way.

It was about half an hour later that the doorbell rang. My father walked to the door and opened it, allowing Vivian to come into the room. She was in her uniform as she was still on duty.

"I can't stay long Don, I have a meeting in an hour," she said, taking off her hat.

"You might want to postpone that meeting after what you hear. Please, have a seat," he said, indicating the chair he had been sitting in earlier. She sat down, and looked at my father with curiosity. That look quickly changed to disgust, and then anger, as she heard my father relay to her the story Paul had told us earlier.

"I know something of this case," she said. "It's not mine, but I know the detective who is working on it. Since you've brought this to my attention, I will ask the staff sergeant to assign me to work the case alongside the detective. You are right though, Don," she said, getting up from the chair, "that meeting will have to be postponed. I'm going to see what I can do about this right away."

She got up off the chair, and headed for the door, my father following behind her. Just as she reached for the handle to open the door, my father spoke to her.

"Um, Vivian, I know this isn't a good time to ask with all that's happening, but would you like to come by again tonight for dinner?" he asked.

Vivian smiled at my father. "I would like that very much Don," she said. "I was scheduled to go off shift after the meeting anyway. Do I have enough time to go home and get changed before coming here?"

"Sure, it's only six now, dinner won't be ready until about eight anyway," my father said.

"Count on me being here then. I just have to get things started at the station, reschedule the meeting, and then I'll take a quick shower and get changed, and be right over."

"Skip the shower and getting changed part. Just grab an over-night pack, put a change of clothes in that, and come right over. You can shower and get changed here and be here quicker," my father suggested.

"I like the way you think Don. I'll do it." With that she leaned forward, and gave my father a quick kiss on the lips, before opening the door and heading back to her car.

When she had gone, my father came back into the room. Jon, Paul, and I had snuck around the corner to see Vivian leave, and had hurried back to our seats before my father came back. We were sitting there giggling and looking at each other.

"What?" he asked.

"Dad, I think you've got a crush on Vivian," Paul said.

My father's cheeks flushed a bright crimson, which caused all of us, including my mother and Sarah to laugh. My mother got up off the couch and walked over to my father.

"Are you falling in love with her Don?" she asked.

"I think so Karen. I hope you don't mind. I didn't mean to feel this way, especially not this soon."

"Of course not Don," my mother said reassuringly. "I know it's been difficult for you to watch Sarah and I become closer, and I think it's wonderful that you and Vivian seem to get along really well. I hope it does work out for the both of you." Then she got a mischievous look in her eyes. "Besides, if you don't mind me saying, she's one hell of a catch."

My father's face flushed once more, an even deeper shade if that was possible. "Um, thanks Karen," he said, a slight smile appearing on his face. "You're amazing. I wish it could have been different between us, but we're still a family, and we'll remain a family."

"I couldn't agree more," Sarah said, joining my mother. "Jon, why don't you and the boys watch some TV while I check on dinner?"

"I'm joining you," my mother said, and the two of them went off into the kitchen.

My father sat down on the love seat, a smile seemingly etched permanently on his face. Giggling a bit more, the three of us sat down on the couch, Jon grabbing the remote and turning on the TV. Since it was six, mostly all that was on was the news. Normally I don't like to watch the news, but something caught my eye, then I remembered what it was.

On the screen was young Kyle, and the person who was trying to adopt him, Ryan Adams. They were holding a press conference to discuss his investigation over the things that occurred at the group home where Kyle used to live. All three of us recognized Kyle immediately, and we agreed that he was very lucky to have found someone like Ryan to look after him.

What was supposed to be a routine press conference, however, suddenly turned into chaos. There was a commotion from the back of a room, and a young man, who we all recognized as Gary, stormed into the room, his hands in his coat pockets. As he got closer to where Kyle and Ryan was, Kyle suddenly became very frightened, and tried to hide behind Ryan. He wasn't quick enough though. By the time Kyle had recognized Gary, it was too late. Gary had already taken his right hand out of his pocket pulling out along with it a gun. He pointed the gun right at Kyle, and pulled the trigger just as Kyle made his attempt to hide.

There was complete pandemonium as people dived at Gary trying to force him to the ground, which they finally succeeded on doing. But the damage he had set out had already been done. Behind the podium, with a frantic and tearful Ryan bending over him, Kyle lay in a pool of blood that was quickly forming under him.

Shocked, sad, and angry were the feelings that were flooding my senses at that moment. All I knew was that at one moment, two people who cared deeply for one another were smiling as they talked about helping kids in the group home where Kyle had come from, and the next moment, one of them was on the ground bleeding, with the other crying over his motionless body.

My father quickly got up off the couch he was sitting in, took the remote from Jon's hand, and turned off the TV. I couldn't stop seeing those images in my mind however, repeating over and over again, the scene of Gary pointing the gun and pulling the trigger. And all the blood that was coming from Kyle, I was sure that there was no way he would survive. Tears started to fall from my eyes, as they did Jon's and Paul's. All three of us were crying in each other's arms, with my father kneeling in front of us, trying to help us as best he could. No fourteen year old should ever have to see something like that, and no ten year old boy should ever have to go through what he was.

Sarah and my mother heard the crying and rushed into the living room to see what was wrong. "What's going on? What's wrong?" my mother asked fearfully.

"Karen, you and Sarah should sit down, something really bad has happened and it has upset our boys, and quite frankly, I'm disturbed about it myself." After Karen and Sarah sat down, choosing a seat closest to us, my father told them about what we had seen on TV. It wasn't long before both Sarah and my mother were crying as well, holding each other's hands.

I suddenly got up from the couch, my stomach heaving, and I ran to the bathroom, where I leaned over the toilet bowl and threw up. I was crying so hard, that not even Jon could calm me down. When my stomach had stopped, I fell back onto the floor and just collapsed.

Jon was right there with me, putting his hand on my back to support me. "Babe, are you okay?" he asked, looking very concerned. My parents and Sarah were there as well.

"Yeah, babe," I told him, finally able to catch my breath. "That just made me really sick for some reason."

"I don't blame you Son," my father said. "What that kid did was unconscionable. Thankfully, he was stopped before he could do more."

It was at that time, that the phone rang in the kitchen. Sarah reluctantly pulled herself away to answer it. Several seconds went by when we heard Sarah calling out. "Don, it's Vivian. She says she needs to talk to you."

You going to be okay Son?" my father asked me.

"Yeah, Dad. I'll be okay." Jon helped me up from the floor and we all head downstairs where Sarah was still holding the phone waiting.

"Vivian?" my father said into the phone, taking it from Sarah.

"Don, have you seen what happened tonight on the news?"

"Yes, I did, and the boys did too. Jason got sick after watching it," my father answered.

"Is he okay?" she asked.

"I think he is, but the boys are all pretty shaken up about it."

"I don't blame them. Listen, I just wanted to tell you that I received word that Gary has been taken into custody. The boy he shot is on his way to Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital right now."

"How is he?" my father asked.

"Last I heard they were able to stabilize him. He's lost a lot of blood."

"Dear God," my father exclaimed.

"I'll keep you updated about what's going on. I've asked the detective who is staying at the hospital with the boy, to call me as soon as he learns anything. Right now, I'm on my way over, if that invitation to dinner is still open."

"Of course it is," my father said, his mood suddenly changing. "I don't know how hungry the boys will be, but seeing you should help a bit. Of course, I'd love to see you too."

"I'll be there in a few minutes," she laughed.

"Okay, see you soon."

"Bye Don." My father hung up the phone, a slight smile on his face. When he saw us, the smile disappeared.

"Dinner's going to be ready soon, if you're still hungry," he said uncertainly.

"Hell yeah!" we all replied, almost shouting it out. My father laughed, and shooed us out of the kitchen.

"Go watch a movie or play some games until supper is ready," he told us. It was good that he didn't suggest watching any TV because I didn't know if I could have. I couldn't help but think about Kyle, hoping that he was going to be okay. I couldn't see how though, with all the blood that was coming out of him. Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I sat down while Jon picked out a movie. It was one of the Star Trek movies, which I enjoyed a lot.

We were so into the movie that we didn't even hear the doorbell, but my father did. A few minutes later my father and Vivian walked into the living room. As soon as Vivian saw me, she walked right up to me and pulled me out of the couch I was sitting in, and gave me a hug.

"I heard what happened Jason," she said, holding me tightly. "Are you okay?"

"I guess so," I replied. She let me go then, and looked at me.

"Jason, I know it's difficult to have to deal with seeing what you did. Trust me, I know. I've seen a lot in my time on the force, and it never stops getting to you."

"But why Kyle? He never did anything to anyone. Why does he have to suffer while someone like Gary gets to do what he wants?" I cried, falling back down onto the couch. Jon was beside me, and even though he was trying to calm me down, I could see that he was close to tears himself.

"It's not fair Vivian," Jon said, a tear falling from his left eye.

"I know Son," my father said, kneeling down in front of us. Paul simply sat on the chair, looking at us. My father looked at him. "Come here Son," he said. Paul didn't have to be told twice, and launched himself out of the chair, and was immediately pulled into a hug by my father. "Go sit down beside your brothers," he said releasing Paul after a short while.

Reluctantly, Paul let go of my father, and sat down beside me. Even though I was still very upset over the whole thing, I knew that both Jon and Paul were feeling just as upset. I put my arm around Paul, feeling him tense up a bit, but then relax into my arm, wrapping his around me. This wasn't easy as Jon was holding onto me as well from the other side. Despite the seriousness and how upset I was, I couldn't help but chuckle.

"What?" Jon said looking up at me, raising his head up from my shoulder.

"Now I know what a hot dog feels like," I said, still laughing a bit. That seemed to release a lot of the tension in the room, and everyone started to laugh as well.

Suddenly, Vivian's cell phone rang. Looking at the number that was displayed briefly, she hit a button and held it up to her ear. "Hey Tim," she said. We waited as she nodded her head a few times, listening to what the other person was telling her. "That's good news Tim, thanks a lot. I'll talk to you tomorrow." She ended her call and smiled up at us.

"Well?" my father asked her. He was obviously just as curious as the rest of us as to who that was, and what the call was about. What perked my attention was the fact that who ever it was gave her some good news.