Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2003 03:47:41 -0500 From: Jamie Haze Subject: DOOBY rhymes with Scooby Part 8 DOOBY rhymes with Scooby Part 8 By Jamie Haze Charlie snatched the VCR remote from Tom's hand with tears in his eyes from watching the first tape, the one from the camera trained on the tilted mirror over the island counter in Tom's kitchen. Laura Connor's face was red from laughing as well. Tom and Christian had been taking turns using the mute button, trying to anticipate when Dooby, unseen except for his hands, forgot his own instructions about substituting words like spit for shit and screw for fuck. "Just put in the other tape," he ordered, "I'll take care of the remote. We're all adults here and everyone lets out a curse word occasionally. I know these are just practice tapes." Charlie, Laura and Tom were sitting on the sofa in the Conner den. Christian sat on the floor using the front of the sofa as a backrest with an arm over Tom's leg. Christian swapped the tapes, "You could just leave it on mute, the dialog's the same." Tom suggested without much hope of Charlie agreeing. Charlie started the tape, "We could, but we aren't, this is just too good." All four laughed their way through the second tape because Dooby and Cory's facial expressions were priceless whenever Dooby failed to obey his own rules. Cory winced and giggled while Dooby shrugged and continued without otherwise batting an eye. When the tape ended, Charlie licked one index finger to remove the last of the crumbs from the bottom of the plastic box that recently contained the brownies that Dooby sent him. Charlie shared them with Laura between sips of iced tea and frowned at Tom each time he looked at the box hopefully. "You already ate yours last night. Dooby baked these for me. Get him to bake some more if you want to eat more. Oh, I want that recipe. I'll get my people to up the quantities right away so we can get them into production in the stores in say two weeks." He looked down at Christian, "There's no point in waiting. I'll adjust the sale items list, so plan on launching Mother DuBois brownies in the ad then." Tom's eyes widened, "But Charlie, we won't have time to build a studio kitchen and crank out a show in two weeks and then keep turning out one a week." Charlie grinned, "Use your kitchen, burn some midnight oil. I like Cory's idea of getting jersey's made, team Spelling has a nice ring to it." He snapped his fingers, "You know maybe we should get a summer league organized, that game is damned exciting to watch. I'll sponsor a team and a league, and I'm certain all of my suppliers will too if I ask them nicely." Tom started to sputter, "But, but where are we going to find players? Lacrosse isn't that popular." Charlie pointed to the darkened TV, "Dooby and Cory can put out a call on the first couple of shows, make some calls," he looked at Christian, "call your high school coach, block a blurb in the ads," he patted Tom's knee, "you'll figure it out. Find us a home field, order uniforms and equipment," he grinned, "including titanium sticks, just in case Dooby manages to refine his trip and fall so they look more accidental and then teach our whole team how to do it." Tom looked dazed. Charlie stood and pulled Laura to her feet so she fell into his arms in a hug. "See? That looked kind of like an accident didn't it?" He kissed her lips lightly, "But it wasn't," he giggled. "Now let's get to real estate shopping. What are you going to show us?" He asked Laura with a grin as he steered her through her house, leaving Tom and Christian to follow. Laura drove Charlie's Navigator as the broker showing properties. Their first stop was also their last. She took them to an old factory site which she thought was built originally to sow clothing. Her sales pitch began while Christian unlocked the gate. "This was just listed. It hasn't been occupied by anyone since the late sixties. I just love the architecture. The buildings are all quite sound, and since it's always been fenced there's almost no vandalism." She parked in front of what had been the office building. There was one huge three story building behind it with six other smaller two and three story satellite buildings surrounding it, all constructed of brick and all connected by slate roofed walkways. All the windows and doors were arched. Christian was the first to appreciate the austere very functional building style and the possibilities the structures presented as a whole. He became effusive and continually scooted ahead since he had the key ring; he unlocked doors and ventured inside, ran up flights of stairs and returned as the others were just walking in the door. "These are all loft buildings. The actual manufacturing was done on the top floor. Wow, so many big windows and huge skylights to save electricity. It looks to me like the first and second floors were warehouses, like for raw materials and finished goods. Any one of the smaller buildings would be great as an office. Just bring in a pressure cleaner to blast away the bugs and cobwebs and we're in business." The more practical Tom raised an eyebrow and grinned, "Yup after that we'd just need to add a few things like a new electrical system, modern plumbing somewhere, heat and air conditioning and probably fire sprinklers. Still you're right, remodeling just one of these would make it perfect, the loft would be a fantastic room for you creative types to do your thing, and the first floor would be more than enough office space." Christian kept nodding, willing Tom to decide in favor of the purchase. "BUT, what in hell would we ever do with the rest of the buildings? We'd never need them in a thousand years." Charlie nudged Laura, winked and cleared his throat, "If I were to buy this place, I'd think in terms of making the whole property into a combination office complex and elegant mini-mall." "Yeah!" Christian interrupted, "I'd put shops and maybe a restaurant or two on the first floors and office suites on the upper floors. It looks like there's more than enough parking already." Charlie nodded enthusiastically, "I'd consider putting in a Justa Pizza here to start with, plus I've been playing with the idea of starting a better restaurant chain, maybe steaks and seafood, a theme joint although I haven't got a theme yet." Christian looked into space for thirty seconds, "How about something like calling it Just Charlie's? The interior décor would be like a Victorian hotel dinning room, you know old chandeliers, potted palms and some gaudy framed art on the exposed brick walls. The loft would make a great ballroom, a banquet room or rooms if partitions moved. I'd restore the freight elevator, that's cool. We could cut in some French doors across the back of the dinning room and lounge, and put in a terrace for eating and boozing when the weather's nice." Charlie giggled, "Christian my boy you'll go far as a rental agent if you flatter all your prospective tenants by suggesting they name their businesses after themselves. Tell me, where would you put the kitchen if the whole first floor is public space?" "Hm, I forgot a kitchen." Christian snapped his fingers, "I'd put in an open kitchen on one end. I know I like to watch the guy making pizza, you can see the place is clean, they're generous with the toppings and the guy puts on a show throwing dough around. You could put on a show in your kitchen here by putting a big ass grill out front with the grill man flopping steaks and lobster tails. Maybe advertise that you cook over a real mesquite wood fire. Flames, smoke going up a big copper hood and efficiency in organized chaos, your guests would love it if the steaks and stuff you served were the best they'd ever eaten." Charlie's stomach growled, "It's too bad it isn't open now, one of your steaks would do me for dinner. Where'd you get the idea for mesquite wood? I've heard of it but never tried it." "My parents go to a steak house that uses it. My dad even got some wood chips he throws on the fire when he's grilling steaks." Christian patted his gut affectionately. Charlie nodded, "Why don't we go collect the boys and check this place out." Laura elbowed Charlie, "Men! Food and sex, that's all you ever think about, we're talking real estate here, remember? There is supposed to be just one building that was remodeled, I was told," she glanced at Charlie. "This is such a new listing I haven't done my homework, maybe it's on the other side of the old offices, let's look there." Charlie took Laura's arm to steer her in that direction. He looked up at her, grinned, and whispered, "We've enjoyed food together, how about phase two?" "I'm a business woman and a single mother Charlie dearest, but I'm not liberated Aside from some serious necking, you haven't tried. Am I supposed to seduce you?" Charlie blinked at Laura's answer and squeezed her arm, "Perhaps I've been out of circulation too long and I'm too old fashion sorry to say." "Damn it Charlie, maybe you should think about modernizing your thinking." Their whispered conversation was interrupted when the roofed walkway they were following ended at a newly refinished door into one of the two story buildings. Christian looked at the lock and selected a shining brass key. The deadbolt clicked and the four of them stood in the spacious vacant lobby of what was clearly a modern and recently finished office building. Christian climbed the wide staircase skipping three steps at a time while Tom just looked around the lobby and down a hallway lined with closed doors before he started grinning at Charlie. "HEY GUYS COME UP HERE!" Christian shouted and laughed at his echo. The second floor loft was one large room lighted by a sparkling clean skylight and tall many paned windows. The walls were brick. "Isn't this fantastic? It's just like we described it. Man what a studio!" He stomped his feet, "Just look how these old wide plank floors clean up. Oh wow!" Tom noted that track lighting marched along the exposed rafters and ducts for heat and air conditioning painted to blend with the naturally finished cathedral ceiling ran down the length of the room and that the piping and fire sprinkler heads didn't look out of place either. Tom still hadn't been able to hide his smile each time he looked at Charlie and Charlie always seemed to be looking elsewhere. "How much is your client asking for this whole complex?" He asked Laura innocently. "Well it's been appraised at four million, but the owner is asking three." Tom shook his head vehemently, "Nope, sorry that's way out of our price range," he turned away so they couldn't see his smile and waited. "So offer him two, you can't tell, you could get lucky." Charlie said too quickly. Tom couldn't help giggling, "I'll bet. Is that what you'll accept Charlie?" Laura joined Tom in laughing at Charlie's look of innocence then guilt as he nodded, "I told you it wouldn't work Charlie," she chided. "I tried. Yes that's my bottom line and not a penny more, BUT, and this is a big but, you have to agree to allow your young partner here free reign to develop the rest of the complex. I told you I owned lots of real estate and I'd find you a nice office. I had this in mind, but when I got around to coming here and looking around; I realized that the job of restoration, even one of these buildings, would be too daunting, so I did one of them for you. I used my in house remodel crew." He developed an angelic expression, "I imagine the building inspectors will be surprised, but I do have a set of approved plans for a mini mall somewhere. I'll carry the paper, plus I promised you a credit line, use some of that for development." Charlie paused for breath and looked at Tom and Christian hopefully, "Do we have a deal?" Tom looked at Christian, "What do you think?" Christian shrugged noncommittally, "If I was really your partner I'd say yes." Tom rolled his eyes, "So make believe you're eighteen and say yes." When they were back in the truck, Charlie turned back to ask, "Where is this steak house? Now that business is out of the way, we need to celebrate. Oh, you better call the boys to tell them we're on the way, some clothing by the time we get there would be nice," he added with a chuckle. Dooby answered Cory's cell phone a squeak before voice mail clicked in. "Hi," he said breathlessly, "Cory can't come to the phone just now he's busy getting drowned," he announced with a giggle. "Can I take a message?" "DROWNED?" Tom asked. "Exactly how is that happening if you're talking to me?" "Oh Uncle Tommy, hi!" Dooby laughed, "I'm not drowning him personally, he's wrestling with Rob, and since he's a heavy weight, Squirts' not doing too well. They're in the shallow end though so not to worry, and Pelt Man throws us into the deep end after each pin so we get plenty of air, just not always when we want it." "WHAT? Rob? Pelt Man? Who the hell are they? Explain and do it fast cousin or you're in for a one way trip home!" Tom released his seatbelt, had moved to the edge of his seat and was squeezing his phone so that his knuckles were white. Laura had twisted her body painfully to look at Tom, Charley was swerving the big truck because he was looking into the rear view mirror and Christian's face was pale. Tom heard a scream followed by a loud splash. Dooby laughed, "Chill out Uncle Tommy, I gotta go; it's my turn to take him on. We invited them to stay for dinner if that's all right, maybe if we gang up on him?" Dooby was thinking out loud. Then before Tom exploded he explained, "Rob is Pelt Man, he's Kevin's buddy. Remember he said he had a roommate? Kevin's here too. Man what a body! It should be illegal for him to ever wear clothes, although Charlie probably wouldn't approve of him being naked in the store. If he could though, Charlie could save a bundle on advertising, at least in that store, he'd pack the place with women, Kevin that is, not Charlie, being naked I mean." Dooby's obtuse explanation was interrupted by a new voice in Tom's ear, "Give me that phone you little asshole. Who the hell are you talking to about me? It better be one of the guys," Kevin warned Dooby. "Hello? This is Kevin Burke and I hope you're someone I know." Tom started laughing and flopped back in his seat. Relief flooded the faces of the others in the truck. "Oh Kevin, man what a relief, this is Tom Patterson. The asshole is my cousin, but don't spread that around. What'd they do, call you at the store?" "Yeah, I guess they were bored. Man do you guys have juice. Mr. Spelling spread the word that you are to have our full cooperation, store management I mean. It still seems strange to think of myself as a manager. Anything you want, you get. Cory called asking for me, but I'm off for the weekend, so the MOD, the Manager on Duty gave him my home phone number, which is strictly against company policy, but I'm glad he did. Cory invited us to come over for a swim and a cookout. That's all right isn't it?" "Of course, we were always going to invite you guys over. Sooner is better than later. Hold on a sec will you?" Tom covered the mouth piece and explained. "Goddamn that boy, I'll drown him myself for scaring the crap out of us." Charlie declared with a laugh. "There's supposed to be another seat over in the back there somewhere, invite Kevin and his friend along. The more the merrier!" Tom relayed the invitation without mentioning that Charlie was going to be their host at dinner. He did tell Kevin that Cory's mother was going to accompany them and warned him that everyone should be wearing clothes, at least shorts or bathing suits by the time they arrived in fifteen minutes for drinks before they went to the restaurant. Tom still raced across the great room to look out at the pool while Laura naturally began a realtor's tour at the front door. Tom retraced his steps with a sigh until he saw Laura and Charlie stopped in front of the three newly hung original Christian Dunn paintings. "I tried to buy them, but Tom wouldn't sell them, although he did promise me a set of prints," Tom overheard Charlie tell Laura. "I'm sure he'll make you a set as well," he saw Tom standing behind them wearing a rich red face, "won't you Tommy?" He asked with a grin. His eyes moved to Tom's shoulder, "There's no point in hiding behind Tommy, we see you Christian, you're too big, come on out and accept some rightly deserved praise." He broke into a belly laugh when Christian's eyes appeared over Tom's shoulder, and then Tom stepped to the side. "Now there's an embarrassed blush if ever I saw one although why mystifies me since I notice that there seems to be a self portrait missing. Where's yours young man?" Tom giggled, "Its being framed right now. I did get around to making prints for everyone, but I forgot to bring them home so the artist can sign them. We've been talking about having a pool party though, how about next Saturday? We'll give them out then." "Nope," Charlie shook his head, "Saturday is out for me and you too from now on, golf remember? Now that we're doing business together there's a few boys you need to meet. I'm scheduling someone different each week. You need to start playing poker after the match too," he giggled, "because if they can't beat you on the course, you have to give them a chance to get something back across the poker table, never let them think that they're being hustled." "What boys Charlie?" Christian asked as the natural color returned to his face. "Well today for instance, you beat the shit out of Carl. You didn't recognize the last name, but if you look, the next time you get to New York, you'll find it on a building down around Wall Street. He's an investment banker. Third generation I think." Charlie was interrupted when Dooby burst into the room with Cory, Kevin and Kevin's friend Rob. As soon as Kevin saw Charlie, he froze in the doorway. Charlie crossed the room to shake his hand and put him at ease. "Mr. Spelling! I, I didn't know that you were going to be here," he stammered. "Relax son," Charlie smiled up at him, "we're going out for dinner. This is a celebration, no business talk allowed. I just sold a chunk of property and," Laura took Charlie's arm, "this lovely girl is Cory's mother, Laura Conner, Laura handled the sale," he beamed with pride. "The buyers were Tom and Christian, so you see we all have something to celebrate." "Oh, congratulations," Kevin relaxed, "this is my roommate, Robert Martinelli." "THE PELT MAN!" Dooby sang from the kitchen as Rob loomed over Charlie and even Kevin, who was six feet tall. Charlie looked up and up to a darkly handsome smiling face wearing a trace of embarrassment at the nickname Dooby bestowed on him being announced to everyone. Rob was carrying a tee shirt and hastened to pull it on to cover the reason for Dooby's continued fascination. Rob sported a perfectly symmetrical mat of body hair that blossomed from each nipple on remarkably substantial pronounced pectorals. The two whorls joined then descended in a widely tapering 'V', smoothly accentuating a permanent six pack of hard muscle until it disappeared into the waistband of his hastily donned loose, low slung shorts. The short uncurled hair was so neat and well ordered; it looked like it was perpetually freshly combed. "Goddamn son, I hate to ask this, but exactly how tall are you?" Charlie asked while shaking Rob's hand and looking up to his big brown smiling eyes. "I'm six foot six, sorry about that. I'm really pleased to meet you. Kevin's been telling me about you and your company, and that really impresses me. Together, I guess that makes you three feet taller than me." Charlie laughed, "A diplomat! Are you stroking me son? That was well said, I'm impressed. What's your major?" "Accounting and a few courses in marketing, which is how I met Kevin, I thought if I have a service to offer it would be prudent to get out and sell it to someone rather than putting out a small CPA sign and waiting for the phone to ring like a lot of accountants do." Charlie's eyebrow shot up, "I suppose you already have a summer job, too bad I didn't see you first." Cory joined them carrying a tray of longneck beers and drinks for his mother, Charlie and Tom. Dooby followed him carrying a second tray with a big wedge of cheese, crackers and other snacks. "He works at Bally's selling fat old ladies and men expensive memberships that you know they're never going to use after the first visit, but get to pay for, for years anyway. You should hire him Gramps; it would be nice to have a potential future CFO on our staff." Cory grinned up at Rob and then winked at Charlie. Before Charlie could respond, Cory continued defensively. "When I take over, I'm going to need some good people around me aren't I?" When Charlie looked surprised, he added, "Well, you said we should take ownership didn't you?" Dooby looked perplexed with his attention fixed on the food he was carrying, but was unable to eat since both hands were occupied with holding the tray. "Yeah," he agreed, and pushed the tray into Rob's gut, "somehow I think you might be able to out eat me, so as the new guy, here's your first assignment, you get to hold the tray. Hey, what exactly is a CFO anyway?" He asked as he filled his mouth. "The guy that writes your paycheck for costarring in my infomercials," Charlie laughed. "Speaking of which, Kevin and Rob haven't seen it yet and I'd enjoy watching it again while we enjoy our drinks." John DuBois was trimming one of the dormer windows on the back of the house that looked down on most of the pool and terrace surrounding it. A mature maple tree blocked his view of the shallow end where Jennifer placed beach towels for her and Lane to lie on in the sun. He held his nail gun in mid air when he saw movement; Lane walking along the edge of the pool to the diving board. Jennifer was already in the water and John could see them talking and laughing. He became apprehensive when he saw that Lane was wearing one of the ridiculously small revealing bathing suits like Dooby's. The suits left absolutely nothing to the imagination, his daughter's imagination. Lane looked relaxed. He curled his toes over the end of the board, sucked in his nonexistent gut further and struck a dramatic pose. From the distance, Lane resembled Dooby except for his dark brown hair. Like Dooby, he was a handsome young man. John smiled, only a year earlier he probably would have called them cute boys and suddenly they were young men. He watched Lane lose his balance and topple off the diving board to hit the water with his shoulder. He didn't even try to save the dive. He surfaced near Jennifer in neck deep water, Jennifer's neck not Lane's. He sank until their heads were even. Both of them were laughing until they were a foot apart. Both got serious and slipped into each other's arms for a protracted and John thought as a father, overly passionate kiss considering Lane was his daughter's first date and he thought they were relative strangers even though neighbors, there was the age difference. John made a mental note to tell Betty that she'd better sit down with their daughter for an in depth discussion about the facts of life very soon even though he was sure Jennifer knew the basics or would soon experiment. John and Betty already discussed the problem of sex education for their children. Preaching abstinence was as pointless as was forbidding relationships and dating until they as parents thought their children were mature enough. "And just when was that magic moment?" John asked himself. They opted to preach caution, since they were growing up in an age of unimaginable sexual liberties and there were so many safeguards available. In Jennifer's case; there was no excuse for her to become pregnant unless she chose to, hopefully after college and preferably after marriage, but they understood that there were no guarantees. John shuddered when he thought of his youngest son and the danger he would face all of his active sex life. Just one interlude with a stranger, just a single one night stand without using condoms could destroy him. Could, he amended, unless he found a lover. "A lover like Cory and Christian and of course Tom, good lord," he thought, "Dooby's acquired three lovers already in such a short period of time." John and Betty spent a nervous year after Betty discovered Dooby's two gay magazines and after the initial period of shock and disappointment wore off. The year was only mitigated by the small box of a dozen condoms hidden with the books, except the package had been opened and there were two missing. John grinned when Betty reported the count and explained that the first one was used to experiment, that sacrifice was mandatory, it was irresistible. He wagered that the second could be found in Dooby's billfold, carried there and ready for use if an opportunity presented itself the extraordinary first time. He told her that single rubber was the one they needed to keep track of. The funeral for Tom's father almost coincided with the knowledge of Dooby's probable homosexuality, and his infatuation with his cousin became apparent beginning with the trip home that same day and continued the entire year. At odd times, out of the blue, Dooby would wonder out loud about how his Uncle Tommy was doing running the business or what he was doing on any given day or wished that Tommy would come to their house to swim after the pool was finished. The pool was built only after Dooby waged a persuasive campaign of reasons that it should be, none of which included luring Tom to the pool so Dooby could see him wearing nothing but one of the very brief Speedo racing suits from Tom's time as a competitive swimmer, even though Dooby admired his cousin's body verbally, one jock to another. Dooby wanted his own body to develop similarly until he came home after the first Lacrosse team practice and someone named Christian Dunn entered his conversation. John and Betty watched Christian and Dooby interact during the first game. By then Dooby wanted his body to develop exactly like Christian's and he also wanted to excel at the sport or any sport that interested Christian. Christian was friendly with Dooby, but remained aloof like an older brother might treat a sibling that idolized him. John wanted to tell his son that it takes two willing individuals to create a relationship and that neither Tom nor Christian seemed to be interested in anything more than friendship, either as cousins or teammates, but he couldn't without admitting that he knew Dooby's secret. Then there was the day of the annual family reunion, and John realized that Tom was interested in Dooby, at least his body and perhaps what was only vaguely concealed in Dooby's shorts. He saw Tom's eyes drop for a second to red nylon occasionally when the three of them were talking together before they went to the sporting goods store. After they returned and both appeared at poolside, each wearing one of the little suits, he knew that Tom was attracted to Dooby from watching him vainly trying not to look at his son's body and how careful both were to never touch each other the whole day. Both rough housed with younger cousins and their friends in the pool half the day, but never with each other. John drank too much intentionally. He over poured drinks for Tom and ignored Dooby's less than clandestine visits to the beer tub, if he guessed correctly, he wanted Tom to relax his inhibitions as well as calm Dooby's natural hyperactivity. He decided that if Dooby wanted his cousin to be his first experience, that he would help, that knowing who, when and where, was far better than always wondering, plus John liked his nephew and thought that his son had excellent taste in choosing a first partner, if that person had to be of his own gender. John returned to what he was doing with movement in the pool, the kids were wading to the shallow end out of his view. "But it's only eleven-thirty Jennifer," Lane protested. "Won't it look suspicious if we disappear so early to have lunch?" Jennifer pointed to the doors from the family room before she eyed Lanes erection clearly outlined in thin nylon pointing strongly to his hip bone, staining for release. "Maybe, but what if Daddy starts lunch early? See the grill by the house? Are you planning to lie on your stomach for an hour so he doesn't see how excited you are? Now that would look suspicious." She handed Lane his backpack and took his hand to lead him across the lawn to the tree line at the back of the property. "Come on; just remember to keep your back to the house until we're out of sight in case someone's looking out the windows." She giggled, "Even Daddy wouldn't need a telescope to see you've got a telescope of your own." After they got into the cover of the trees, Lane pulled Jennifer close to his side and surrounded her shoulders with his arm. She put her arm around his waist, flattened her hand and worked it inside his bathing suit until her fingers touched his cock. He stumbled, but emboldened, his hand dropped to her bikini covered breast, before he worked his fingers underneath to rub her perky nipple with two long fingers. "Is where we're going very far?" He asked breathlessly, "I don't think I can walk very far," he blushed furiously, "without having an accident." Jennifer pulled her hand back, "Don't you dare. It's not far, just hold on." When she saw Lane clutch himself with his unoccupied hand, she batted it away, grabbed it and held it tightly. "And from now on you aren't allowed to touch your thing; I'll just take care of it." She looked up to see Lane's eyes on his hand inside her top. "But you can touch me wherever you want." "Can I kiss you wherever too?" Lane asked hopefully. He continued before Jennifer could even nod, "I want to kiss you everywhere, is that all right? I mean I don't want to gross you out and kill me for trying something kinky or anything, but it's something I've dreamed of doing." "There's nothing kinky in love making and I think you can kiss me for hours and hours down there, I'm sure I'll love it." Jennifer thought of her brother's experience, lips, tongue and exuberance, "I'm glad you want to. I think we should try everything don't you?" She asked, trying to sound innocent. They had to separate and go single file through the narrow clear space under the trunk of the fallen pine tree to enter the glen. Lane followed Jennifer bent low. When he stood up to look around, the first and only thing he saw was the moving blanket that Jennifer had folded in half to make a single bed in the middle of the small sunny area. She sank to her knees, and then sat on her heels. Lane attempted to join her but she made him stand on the blanket in front of her. She looked up at his face adoringly and held his eyes with hers while her hands roamed up his thighs to the waistband of Dooby's suit. She gently worked it down in front until Lane's cock was free to spring up to a forty-five degree angle to his flat belly. She sucked in her breath while she worked quickly to lower the suit further until it dropped to his ankles. He kicked it free and almost fell. "Man am I buzzed. Too much wine," he mumbled, "but it makes me so horny." His hands went to her shoulders, then under her long damp hair, feeling for the bow that held her top in place. She stood on her knees so he could reach the tie without bending down. The top dropped and was ignored. He again attempted to kneel so he could pull her down to the blanket. She pushed him away, "Me first. You just stand up there straight and tall. I want to look at you. After I finish, you can order me around. I promise I'll do anything you want." Jennifer sat back on her heels. She ordered him to spread his legs then strike a pose. She was surprised to discover that Lane was much hairier than Dooby. She couldn't resist tracing the pattern on his taught gut from his navel down. One third of his cock was hidden and his nut sack was one big fuzz ball when she weighed him in the palm of her hand. "Dooby would die for this much hair," she mumbled. Feeling the effect of the wine made her careless. Surprisingly Lane laughed, "I don't think so, he shaved and trimmed himself, Christian did too. Maybe they had a bet or a pact of some kind, about a match. Maybe they did it for luck. Actually they look kind of neat, you know, sexy. Now that school's almost over I was thinking of giving it a try for the summer just to see what I looked like and how it feels, but shaving my own balls is kind of scary to think about. What do you think? I'd do it if you wanted me to, or you could do it for me, that would be far out." Jennifer shut Lane's mouth by filling her own. She worked him into her throat slowly and carefully thankful to Dooby for his helpful pointers but annoyed that Lane noticed Dooby and Christian's barbering. She wondered if all boys were potentially gay, or not averse to getting together if given the opportunity under the proper circumstances. She gagged when the first of Lane's pubes entered her mouth and suddenly realized that her brother and apparently Christian and maybe Cory and Uncle Tommy did too, not for aesthetics, but as a practicality of cock sucking. Lanes strong hands went to her head to move it while he thrust himself and moaned repeatedly, "Oh yes Jennifer. Oh yes Jennifer." He telegraphed his explosion so she was ready, by pushing with her hands on his hip bones until only his cock head remained in her mouth. She resisted the temptation to swallow until her mouth was full from his forceful spurts and from sucking him voraciously. She was planning to suck him into renewed hardness, but Lane's knees buckled so he fell on them, leaving her with a briefly open mouth. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her replacing his cock with his tongue and then actually sucking on her mouth. He hesitated for a second when he realized he tasted his own cum, and then surprised himself by sucking harder and in the erotic process he became harder than he'd ever been. He pushed her to her back and followed her down until his weight was on her smaller body. He raised himself briefly so she could free her legs. "Am I in charge now?" He whispered, already lifting his hips and probing blindly, he knew where approximately, but finding was another matter. Jennifer helped and when he failed to lower himself, she hooked her heels under his small buns and impaled herself. Lane couldn't help himself, he pounded her mercilessly. The first time, he assumed their first, was not one to be polite, to be caring, to be solicitations of his partner's well being. It was a time to satisfy an animal lust, he was mating with a beautiful girl. Jennifer matched him thrust for thrust. Dooby was a pussy cat compared to Lane. Lane was a tiger, Lane was wonderful, and Lane was hers. Lane straight armed the blanket with his fists pressing near both sides of her head. She smiled when he actually growled first then roared while he pumped his seed into her body a second time with regrettable speed. Miracle of miracles, after a brief pause for some serious deep breathing, he started all over again. The second time was slower, he went deeper, and then withdrew until Jennifer thought he would slip out. She grinned up at him, realizing that he was playing with her. He licked her nose and nibbled her ear lobes, and finally lowered his head to nurse her nipples until he had her writhing under his body. After he came the second time he lifted himself on his elbows and knees to look down her body to the root of his cock. "I wonder where it all goes inside you." He grinned suddenly and asked, "Is it still my turn?" Jennifer nodded, "It's a very good thing you aren't any bigger Mr. Tiger, because there's no more room. It's still your turn, what do you want to try now?" Lane blushed, he almost couldn't say it again, and "I told you already. Is it okay if I kiss you, you know, down there?" When Jennifer nodded demurely, he grinned, "Close your eyes, and no peeking, just this first time." Lane crab walked backward down Jennifer's body while she sqenched her eyes closed until he lifted her spread legs and she felt his mouth on her, then it didn't matter, he kept his closed as well at first, until he got comfortable with the act. When he did look up he found Jennifer watching him, both saw adoration in the other's eyes. When he began humping the blanket with too much enthusiasm, she pulled him up her body with surprising strength, and when he attempted to mount her for the third time she rolled him to his back and then mounted him by straddling his body and impaling herself quickly, "My turn," she advised him with a smile. Later, satiated for the moment, their thoughts turned to food. Lane looked thunder struck when he opened his backpack and found his unused condoms hidden under the sandwiches. "I, I forgot oh damn it I forgot. Are you pregnant? If you are I'll marry you tomorrow. We can just lie about our ages. I'll get a job somewhere. Maybe your father will hire me, do you think? I'll take care of you; support you and our baby I promise." Jennifer squelched a giggle when she saw how serious he was and the beginning of tears in his eyes. He continued before she could reassure him, "Just promise me Jennifer that you'll never ever think of getting rid of our baby," he shuddered, "because I know he'll look just like you. So beautiful that I'll never stop wanting to look at you two together." Jennifer pulled Lane's head down to kiss him, "I can't get pregnant yet silly, but I loved hearing what you just said." She pulled her condoms from where they were tucked under the blanket, "See? I forgot too." A look of disgust crossed her face, "But I don't like the thought of having even one of these separating us when we make love. I'll talk to my mother tonight. We'll do something different, so we don't have to use them." She announced with finality. After they ate, they stretched out together on their sides facing each other; modesty became history as they explored each other with their eyes and hands. Jennifer's attention was fixed on Lane's half hard cock. She was careful not to touch it because they had to get back to the pool, but there was something she had to know, so she asked, "Lane, did you ever think of doing anything like this with another boy? You have such beautiful bodies. I know you always look at each other." She shushed him when he started to sputter a denial, even about looking at another male. "Silly, girls look at girls and you told me my brother and Christian were shaved and trimmed down there. I hope you don't expect me to believe that they posted that on the locker room bulletin board do you?" "Well no, I guess we look, check each other out, you know to compare our bodies, how buffed, how well hung, shit like that, but how we're hung doesn't change. But we don't talk about it. I check Christian out because he's like a statue; I mean kind of a roll model, something to look forward to having if I work hard. I could do worse. I check Dooby out because we're the same age and I don't want him getting ahead of me, we're on the same side, but we compete kind of in the muscle department. Understand?" Jennifer tweaked Lane hard, "I know all that. You didn't answer my question. Boys are always horny, we are too but in a different way that never shows. Boys show and they can do something about it quickly, we have to work at it longer. Boys have the advantage of doing everything with each other except get each other pregnant." She saw that Lane was getting flustered and giggled, "Didn't you tell me you thought that wearing Dooby's bathing suit was kind of erotic to think about? Like snuggling your cock and balls where his were, that's what you meant isn't it?" Lane remained uncomfortably silent, so Jennifer added to her evidence. "And another thing, you kissed me hard after I sucked your thing before I even had a chance to swallow you completely." She giggled, "Believe me, that won't happen again." Lane looked crestfallen at the thought of never having another head job from Jennifer which got him a pat and a loving squeeze. "Not that, I'll just swallow quicker. Then you ate me, some of me, mostly you, AFTER we made love so you like eating cum, your own anyway, but I can't imagine that there's too much difference between tastes and sucking a guy is a lot less messy than getting your fill from a girl, but I hope you'll never stop doing that, it's so dreamy." "That was just foreplay." Lane offered weakly then finished his nearly full glass of wine. Jennifer let out a hearty belly laugh, "MEN! You're so transparent, I mean really! It isn't foreplay if you do it after. Come on you sweet thing, tell Jennifer everything." Lane sighed, "So? I guess I might have thought about it, I never ever did anything with another guy but I've had offers, just a few. I'd never do anything with one of them though, they aren't jocks, and they're more like girls. I mean they sort of tell you by wiggling where they want to be. Nope if I ever did anything with another guy, and I'm not saying I ever would, well he'd have to be a jock, someone like Christian or Dooby," he laughed nervously, "so I guess there's not much danger of it happening. Do we have time to make love once more before we go back?" He asked to explain the reason for his renewed erection. Charlie and Laura declined Tom's polite invitation to come in for a night cap and left the boys at Tom's front door. Kevin and Rob accepted the offer along with a relaxing soak in the spa after Tom assured them, with a frown at Dooby, that there was no pressure on them to do anything else if they didn't wish to and if any one of them got too handy under the cover of bubbles, then they had permission to break the miscreant's arm or anything else either of them could reach. Dooby covered his crotch with both hands, "I assume that was a hint, right? Okay a truce, Sprout and I will leave you alone. Have we got anything to eat?" He asked circling the island counter to open cabinets and stare into the refrigerator last. "Me?" Cory asked, "The threat was directed at you asshole. There's ice cream I guess. I told you to bake if you wanted brownies, or cookies. We should do a show on cookies." Dooby agreed, "Yeah and grilling too. It's too bad the steak is this week, but something will come up soon. Hey, that reminds me." He darted across the room heading for the bedroom and returned carrying a rolled plan, "This is what Dad and I think you should do for a summer kitchen. He unrolled the plan on the dinning room table proudly. Everyone gathered around to study it while he went into a detailed explanation, actually a sales pitch directed at Tom, his client. He concluded with, "Actually, the grill, the fridge and the icemaker are restaurant quality. Maybe too good to put outside, but you could get in an awning company and make a custom cover. Dad always uses the best shit, I mean quality appliances, meaning expensive, and so that's what I used too. You didn't give me a budget." Tom nodded, "Who drew this? The drafting is really great. Your father drew this for you didn't he?" He winked at the guys across the table and allowed a small grin. "Fuck no!" Dooby exploded, "I did it myself, in fact twice, the first time he approved as technically correct but not good enough to present. He said a nasty drawing won't sell even if it's the best ever design, but the shittiest design could be sold if it's well drafted because clients mostly don't understand what they're looking at anyway. But they automatically assume a well drafted drawing is good design, this just happens to be both." "Relax," Tom giggled, "I was just busting your ass. I agree it is both. I like it so let's build it, but I'm not fucking with any canvas cover, let me show you something." He disappeared into his den and returned with a fat roll of plans. He found a rear elevation of the house. "See how the great room peak just dead ends at the terrace? I always intended to extend the roof out another twenty feet over the terrace." He searched down several pages and opened that drawing. "Like this, then the basic framing continues out over the pool. That gets covered with plastic panels in the fall and in the spring, like about now; they go away for the summer." Dooby giggled and nodded, "I get it; you said you were thinking of enclosing the pool, but you never said you already had it designed, this is so tough Uncle Tommy." He frowned, "How are you going to heat this much space?" The designer in Dooby asked. "The deck has pipes in it, radiant heat, hot water for the pool circulates through a grid before it gets to the pool, plus the heat coming from the pool and hopefully sunlight during the day will help. It should be warm enough." "How come you didn't just build it with the house?" Cory asked. Tom blushed and looked uncomfortable, "I was tempted but I thought it might look a little ostentatious, you know for just me living alone, so I held off." Dooby punched Tom in the shoulder, "Fuck ostentatious Uncle Tommy, Gramps rattles around in fifty rooms all by himself, and even heats a pool he can't use because he likes to see the steam rising off the water on cool mornings, now that's ostentatious!" "Why can't he use the pool?" Kevin asked. Cory and Dooby both giggled, "Because the big bitch is twelve feet deep all over and he can't swim, so he just looks at it." Cory answered while Dooby nodded. "If you really want me to build this Uncle Tommy, can we go shopping tomorrow for shop tools and machines and order the materials so I can get started on it right away? School closes on Tuesday at noon." Dooby frowned, "A fucking waste of time except for getting our final grades." "I guess we better then, but before you start anything, you need to be in the kitchen long enough to produce the first tape for the brownie infomercial. Then Charlie's going to block out a rough schedule for the next twenty six weeks of ads. We're going to have to work our asses off to get like six weeks ahead of the ads so we can take our two weeks vacation without worrying about the shows." Dooby developed a worried look, "But I really can't cook Uncle Tommy, except for Mom's brownies." Tom grinned, "Well I guess you better learn one recipe at a time. Charlie's drawing up contracts for both of you. Your parents will have to sign them for you, but I think when you see how much he's planning to pay you to be Spelling's official spokespersons for the first year, you won't object to the kitchen time if either of you can go down to a dealer and write a check for your own Corvettes." Dooby looked astounded. He grabbed Cory from behind in a bear hug and carried him to the kitchen, "Come on Sprout let's get started. What's after brownies?" He asked enthusiastically, while he ignored Cory's struggles to get free. "Prime rib I think, but we don't have any to cook right now and it's too late anyway." "Yeah," Cory agreed, "besides I'm not going to be around to help you anyway. I'm working for Gramps remember? He told me that we're going to be touring stores and looking at sites for new ones. We'll schedule time to be around on the day we tape, but the rest of the time, you're on your own cocksucker." He reached back and down with an evil grin. Dooby face changed to excruciating pain before he opened his arms and Cory dropped to the floor. "I warned you." Cory giggled and released his grip on Dooby's cock. Dooby rubbed his offended member and grinned, "Well if we can't cook something," he looked pointedly at Rob, "cocksucking sounds pretty good. Let's get naked and hit the spa Peltman." His eyes shifted to Kevin, "You too farm boy." Rob grinned, "I told you and Kevin told you, we aren't into kids. Now for the hundredth and final time, lay off or experience pain," he warned and pulled off his shirt. Dooby noticed Rob's grin remained. Dooby nodded, shrugged and managed to look offended, "If you really don't want to fool around, all you had to do was say so, you don't have to cop an attitude. Come on everybody let's get wet!" Three corners of the spa were occupied by couples. Kevin and Rob were content to make out with each other after they watched Dooby and Cory start on each other first, and then Tom and Christian joined them. Everyone seemed inhibited because Kevin and Rob were actually still relative strangers. Dooby and Cory even yielded what they considered to be their personal corner to their guests, but Rob sat in the contoured seat getting the benefit of the powerful jets and Kevin seemed to be sitting on his lap. Dooby couldn't stand the inactivity. He abandoned Cory, sank briefly, and resurfaced in front of Kevin and Rob. "You old guys have no imagination; get out of there while Cory and I show you how to use those jets." He bravely or recklessly pulled at their arms until they bobbed in the middle of the pool. Rob looked back at Tom. "Let them show you what they discovered," Tom advised with a laugh. Dooby replaced Rob in the seat, and then reached out to pull Rob in on top of his body. Rob resisted with a frown and nudged Kevin forward. Kevin grinned and shrugged, allowing Dooby to manipulate his nearly weightless body, "You hold on to me while I hold on to the spa." Dooby advised in a whisper as he stretched out and closed his legs, trapping Kevin's cock between them. Kevin's questioning expression changed to one of delight the moment he felt the lower jets pummeling his erection. "Oh wow!" He whispered in Dooby's ear, "This works! Man does it ever." His arms went around Dooby's chest, just to hold himself in place at first. Suddenly he was hugging Dooby with one arm while his other hand traveled between them to the younger boy's cock. His smile remained as he lowered his lips to Dooby's and promptly forgot about Rob. Cory got behind Rob who was kneeling in the middle of the pool bent so only his head was above water. Cory got him in a half hearted choke hold and pasted his small supple body to the giant's back by encircling his waist with his legs, "Do you give up?" He asked with a giggle in Rob's ear, "I don't want to hurt you but I will." Rob twisted his head and grinned when he felt Cory humping his monster against his back and massaging his crotch with his heels. "Yup, just don't tell anyone, that a ninety-eight pounder nailed me two seconds into the match." He reached back and gently pulled Cory around his body while he glided into a vacant corner seat. After he got comfortable and stretched out, Cory found himself lying on Rob's body. Rob pulled him higher so their heads were even and Cory was humping his solar plexus. He kissed Cory lightly and whispered, "Is there maybe somewhere we can go and start another match? I believe I'd like to be pinned with that thing properly." Cory lifted his head, his eyes widened, "Really, me on top? I mean I thought that you would always be, well you know." Rob laughed, "Only about half the time, I like to watch that farm boy's body in action, just like he likes watching me." He looked over at Kevin and Dooby and smiled, "Just look at that stud's back. This is the first time I've watched him with anyone else." Cory took one quick look and scrambled to his feet with a wink at Dooby. He faked a long very loud yawn, "We're awful tired, later," he said over Rob's shoulder when Rob picked him up and cradled him in his arms. Cory pointed to the glass master bedroom door. "Is that all right?" He asked a grinning Tom and Christian. "A little over crowding should be interesting," Tom answered, standing and pulling Christian with him. "It has been a long day." "Yeah," Christian agreed with a wave at Dooby and Kevin, "good night." "Good night?" Dooby sputtered while he bucked Kevin free of his body. "You cocksuckers aren't getting into that bed without us! Remember Kevin's a guest after all," he reminded them. Tom allowed Kevin in the door but blocked Dooby, "New rule I just thought of; the last guy out of the spa shuts it down." Dooby retraced his steps muttering, "Dooby do this, Dooby do that." Tom and Christian joined Rob and Cory in the shower to get the preliminaries out of the way after Rob admitted that he and Kevin performed the same task wearing a very red face. When Dooby discovered there was a line in Tom's shower, he gave them all his finger and pushed Kevin ahead of him to the other bathroom, so he managed to maneuver Kevin into the middle of the big bed first. Tom shut off the night lights when Rob asked with a modest blush, then in total darkness, Tom and Christian's bed became a small wrestling mat where three tag teams kept changing teammates among groans and sighs until exhaustion put them to sleep. Dooby woke up first. It took him a moment to get oriented. He was spooned behind Cory, but there was a big arm over them both. He looked back to see Rob pasted to his back. He lifted his head enough to see the clock, it was nine-fifteen. His stomach growled. Cory's body started vibrating with a silent giggle, "Me too," he whispered, "let's get breakfast started." Dooby agreed with a nod and gently lifted Rob's arm so they could get off the bed. They grinned at each other when they stopped to look at their sleeping friends. Kevin slept against Rob, Christian was behind him and almost hidden by Tom's body. "We need to get a camera. It's hard to believe they're so old and still look so innocent, just like a litter of sleeping puppies." Dooby observed with a giggle. Cory pulled him from the room before his giggle turned into laughter. They started to race each other out the great room doors to the pool, but stopped at the same time to detour to the outside shower to wash each other quickly before the race resumed and continued in the pool for a couple of laps. Dooby won and ended the race by vaulting out and tossing a towel at Cory. "Wow!" Cory laughed, "That was refreshing, we'll have to wake up with a swim every morning all summer. Dooby watched Cory begin preparing breakfast from his position at the bar with the bowl of fruit in front of him. "Do you think gramps stayed over at your house last night?" He asked while he peeled a banana. Then without waiting for an answer, he switched gears, "Would I be in your way if I did a batch of brownies? They'd be ready to eat at lunch time. You know we didn't have a bedtime snack last night, I think I'm suffering from withdrawal." Cory giggled, "You did so have a snack. I saw you and it looked farm boy fresh; that is before Tom turned off the lights. Those guys are so modest. Sure, bake your brains out. I don't need the oven and you don't need the stove, we won't be in each other's way. Oh, and yes, gramps probably stayed. Mom was almost sitting on his lap in the truck, you know, all lovey dovy." "She had to with Peltman sitting up front too, there wasn't much room. I don't think being so big is very convenient. He couldn't sit in a back seat without sitting sideways so he'd have somewhere to put his legs, not to mention his big feet." Dooby laughed as he pawed through the plastic hamper to find the ingredients he needed. "He'd make a great goalie though, he wouldn't have to do a thing, just stand there. It would be hard to make a goal if you couldn't see it. Did you ever cook a rib roast? Maybe we should stop at the store on the way back from Home Depot and pick up a couple; we could experiment this afternoon and have it for dinner. A roast should be fairly easy as long as it doesn't get too done. You know I kind of like cooking." Cory agreed, "Yup, doing it yourself is the best way I've found to get what you want to eat when you want to eat it." The guys still asleep woke up suddenly to the odors of coffee, cooked bacon and baking brownies after Dooby and Cory landed among them from running dives that started at the bedroom door. They were instantly engulfed by larger heavier bodies and about to get tickled to death until Cory started pleading that breakfast was ready and on the table, except for the eggs. They were quickly abandoned as the guys scrambled to the outside door and the pool. Dooby turned motherly, "Don't you dare go near my pool until you shower! You guys stink! What have you boys been doing in this bed? It's such a mess!" He complained much like his mother was in the habit of berating him each morning she had to wake him to get ready for school. He received a series of middle finger salutes through the windows while the four jostled each other under the shower. The six young men entered Home Depot like a team of mismatched athletes, where by looking at them no one could guess the sport. Dooby was in the lead as their captain. He surprised Tom and once again proved his skills as a designer, accomplished craftsman and apparently organized, by reaching into his pocket and producing two computer generated lists; one for tools and machines necessary to complete the job, and the other listed every conceivable item of material required to build the terrace kitchen unit as it was designed. Tom cringed when Dooby showed him the tools list until he saw it was divided into two parts, the absolute minimum and those that would be nice to have at hand to make the work easier and perhaps be completed more efficiently. Dooby assured Tom that both lists were developed after consultation with his father, John. Tom approved the minimum tools list to start with, until the disinterested salesman became condescending. Dooby selected a hammer after hefting several and pounding imaginary nails in the air exactly like he chose his Lacrosse stick. The man chuckled, "Son, you don't need no forty dollar hammer to build a bird house." Dooby explained at the start of his walk through the tool department that he was building a special project, but didn't mention the size or nature of said project. He'd also already stopped briefly in front of a nail gun display, actually a complete system consisting of two guns, one heavy duty and one for finish work along with the necessary compressor since the guns were air tools. Dooby sighed and looked deflated, "I don't?" He asked. He was used to being treated as typical teenager. Tom snatched the list from Dooby's hand and glanced at it briefly before looking at the others, "Would one of you go find one of those big flat carts?" He asked as he abandoned the orange plastic buggy he had been pushing. He returned the list, "Get everything on both lists. I'll be in the nursery; I think we need some flowers too." Dooby brightened and giggled, "If I do, then I may as well build you a really neat shop, like this," he unfolded a piece of paper torn from a legal pad. It was a free hand sketch of Tom's basement that showed where machines would be placed and long rectangles along the walls representing work benches. Tom grinned and shrugged, "Knock yourself out. Come on Christian lets buy some color for around the pool." Christian fell in step with Tom, "Yeah and maybe we can find a few nice house plants and neat containers for inside too, since there's plenty of light everywhere, they'd make the house look more like a home." Tom smiled shyly and agreed, "Yeah it would, our home," he said quietly and bumped Christian's shoulder lightly with his, as close as either would get to becoming demonstrative in public. Christian returned the touch with a blush, "Wow, you know that sounded like a proposal," he whispered. Tom nodded and looked Christian in the eyes, "I like to think we already are," he mouthed the word, married, and continued, "aren't we?" Christian nodded, "Yeah I guess." He looked around the store. "I wish we were home right now and alone, I mean just the two of us. We haven't been yet and we should be, just for one night." "Maybe the kids could spend a night at Cory's, or maybe Charlie's. He needs the experience of being a father." Tom snapped his fingers, "Maybe for the rest of the week after Tuesday? I'll call him." He flipped his phone open and keyed the Connor number. When the answering machine clicked on he left a message and tried Charlie's home phone. Tom grinned when Laura answered; she sounded happy and was school girl giggly at being discovered at Charlie's. He laughed when Charlie came on the line. Charlie agreed without hesitation, "Sure we'll take the boys, all summer if you want." "WE?" Tom asked with a giggle. "Yes we, Laura's moving in here for a while, sort of a trial balloon, if you know what I mean. If she finds this old barn too big, we'll move to her house, either way, a son comes along with the package and what a beautiful package to behold. She just went in to shower so she can't hear me; do you know Tommy that she insists on a prenuptial agreement? That's quite amazing; she doesn't want anyone to think she's after me for a few dollars." "Hey Charlie, congratulations!" Tom laughed. Christian shouted his best wishes loud enough for Charlie and the rest of the store to hear. "Thanks boys, I didn't even think of it, the prenep thing I mean. I only agreed because she can't stop me from rewriting my will, so it really doesn't matter. Look Tommy, I gotta go. I suddenly feel the need for a shower myself before the hot water's all gone." Charlie exploded in laughter, "Pretty good excuse isn't it.? Bye, bye. OH Tom! Would you do me a very big favor?" "Sure Charlie, just name it," Tom answered instantly. "Well, I was wondering if you'd kind of touch base with Cory, ask him how he feels about a name change, I don't know what he thinks about his father, the subject hasn't come up, but we'd be one happy family if our last name was Spelling, you know all three of us. I don't mean just change it; I mean I'd adopt him in a heart beat if he agreed. I don't think I could do better than to call him son for real."