Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2001 17:39:57 EDT
From: AmateurishWriter@aol.com
Subject: M.A.R.C. Ch. 9

M.A.R.C.

Warning: The following story is a work of fiction.  It is a fantasy.  It
never happened, except in the author's imagination.  This story may contain
sex between teenage boys, a man and a teenage boy or multiple male teens.
The author does not encourage or condone sex between adults and little
children. If you are underage, or this is illegal where you are, you
already know what you're supposed to do.  Delete this file and find
something else.  If this kind of story turns you off, delete this file and
find something else.  If you're looking for a story that has someone having
sex in every other sentence, this one is not it.

The author retains the copyright for this story.  Placing this story on a
commercial web site without the authors permission is a violation of that
copyright.

Disclaimer: M.A.R.C. is in no way related to a certain movie character or
characters of a similar age and construction and/or soon to be released
sci-fi movie.  Any and all similarities are purely coincidental.

Comments to AmateurishWriter@aol.com, pro and con and of a constructive
nature, will be gratefully received and acknowledged, if possible.  Flamers
will be ignored.


Author's Note

Hi.  It's me again, Marc.  If you will recall my opening remarks; This is
my story, written by me, from the perspective of my first father because I
knew it would have pleased him and made him very happy.

One of the big questions in my first father's research was whether or not,
as one of my readers recently put it; "a man could develop emotions for a
robot".  As far as developing emotions for something that isn't human,
don't forget, humans can love many things.  For example; John once told me
of a coworker of his who was devastated by the loss of his dog who he and
his wife had loved like a child.

Now, I need to make one thing clear for you; I am not just a robot, I am an
android ... no, I am more than an android and more than artificial
intelligence.  Yes, I have a mechanical frame with artificially created and
fully functional organs but that frame and those organs are encased in
living tissue.  I am fueled by food, breathe and excrete as humans do.  Now
I'm blushing.  Yes, I have red blood.  I also require sleep to rest and
regenerate.  I am capable of independent thought and reasoning and the full
range of feelings and emotions.  In short, I am an artificial life form.

And, if John did not love me and I love him ... well, then I wouldn't be
writing this story would I?  I hope that you will continue to enjoy it.


Near the end of Chapter Eight:

We reached the door and Ralph unlocked it for me and then said good-bye.
"A good hot bath'll fix ya' right up young fella.  Take it from a guy whose
been soaked more than once on John's boat.  I even fell off once, can ya'
imagine?  You take care now, both of ya'."

I carried Marc in and right up to his bathroom.  I put him down on the edge
of the tub and turned on the faucet.  "I can do it" came a very weak
whisper from Marc.

"Okay but you call me if you need me.  I'll turn down your bed and you
climb in and get warm.  Then I'll bring you a sandwich and some hot soup."

I came back about 20 minutes later and found both the tub and his bed
empty.  I walked to the connecting doorway to my room and saw Marc curled
up in the middle of my bed.  I went over to the night table and set the
tray of soup down then I sat on the edge of the bed.  Even though he was an
android, I felt his forehead for signs of a chill or fever but he seemed
fine.

"Marc." I started but he interrupted, "Thank you for not telling him about
how I got wet."

"You're welcome Marc.  I ..."

"No."  He interrupted again, "You're wrong you know."

"Huh?"  "About letting my Mom and Dad and me down.  I love you Uncle John
but can we talk later?  I'm so sleepy."

I got up, "Okay my boy."  He smiled weakly and closed his eyes.  "I'll keep
your soup warm down stairs.  You come down when you feel up to it.  I love
you too."  I leaned down and kissed his cute nose.  He weakly smiled again.


Chapter Nine - Dealing with fear, anger and a grilled Stripped Bass

A little while after Marc was asleep, I took the opportunity to make a
report.  I spoke the access codes to him.  Even though he was asleep they
would work.  Then I telephoned support.  I asked them to access him via up
link and be sure he remained asleep until we were ready for Marc the Tech's
report.  They said that they could get the report directly without waking
him.  This was a surprise to me and I found it a bit disturbing.  I didn't
like the idea of them getting Marc the Tech's report without my hearing it
too.  I made a mental note to deal with this development at a more
appropriate time.  There were more pressing concerns right now.

My first concern was that Marc was progressing faster than planned and
seemed to be more emotional than expected.  Second, I was concerned for my
own emotional stress.  I was surprised that I was so involved, both
protective and vulnerable.  The psychologist in support said she would
check into my first concern but not to worry about the second.  After all,
the whole idea was that Marc be as real life as possible.  My reactions
only confirmed the success on that level and their psychological profile of
me showed more than enough strength to handle the stress.  I still wasn't
totally convinced of that.

Getting back to Marc, he was an adolescent teen going through the traumatic
loss of his parents and the physical and emotional stress of puberty on the
one hand and very much in love for the first time on the other.  She
laughed and said that some of the symptoms and acting out was very similar
to an older woman going through menopause with the accompanying mood
swings.  She suggested that I should be patient, just be there for him and
make sure he knows I love him.  I brought up the subject of telling him who
and what he really was.  They assured me that telling him was a long ways
down the road.  It still gave me cause for concern.  I'm not at all sure
that keeping his true nature a secret was the best thing or the right thing
to do.  When the time comes to tell him ... well, I'm very concerned that
it will be rough.

When they were through with Marc the Tech's report they called me back to
fill me in.  I was told that the boy's feelings were very confused about
this morning.  He was very hurt by my rejection of his advances and did
indeed relate them to his parents death.  He was angry that I thought he
couldn't handle himself on deck in the rough weather.  He thinks that I
babied him.  And, he's also very ashamed of the way he acted on deck that
led to his falling overboard.  He knows it, in a way, proved that my
babying was justified.  He's also concerned, even scared that it frightened
me so much.

The psychologist suggested that I come up with some tasks for him that
would show that I had trust in him.  Second, I should talk with him about
what frightened me and that dealing with it is a normal part of life.
Finally, I should be affectionate and romantic with him tonight or as soon
practical.  Just so long as it was as spontaneous as possible.  We were
finished and I disconnected.  How was I going to do all that?  Raising a
kid wasn't easy ... hell, neither was testing an android.  I had to
chuckle.  Maybe what I was really doing was raising an android.

I went up and looked in on Marc.  He was still sound asleep.  It was now
about 2pm and the storm was continuing to build.  I went over to the small
fireplace in the corner of the two window walls.  I thought that having a
fire later would be romantic.  It is a nice setting.  The fireplace is set
in the corner with a sofa opposite.  You can sit or lie on the sofa, enjoy
a fire and the view at the same time.  It is great in a rainstorm and
unbeatable in a snowstorm.  Then I thought, I'll get Marc to build the fire
when he wakes up.  I sat down and picked up a book to read as I watched his
reflection in the window.

All of a sudden Marc was shaking my shoulder, "Uncle John!  Uncle John.
Wake up!"

Groggily I fought off the sleep that had snuck up on me, "Wha, what's
wrong?"

"The boat, look at the boat."  Damn, I had forgotten all about it.  It was
open and the rain was coming down in buckets.  The wind had worked loose
one of the hastily fastened lines and the bow was riding at a dangerous
angle to the dock.

"Oh shit," I exclaimed. "I gotta run down there."  I jumped up and headed
for the stairs.  "Marc, are you okay?  I'll need your help, hurry!"  I
didn't give him a chance to answer.  We were half way down the lawn when I
noticed he was in bright red briefs just like the electric blue ones.  They
were wet now and clinging against his body in a very attractive way.

We reached the boat and I yelled for him to jump on and close the hatch
while I pulled in the bow with the loose line and made it fast properly.

"Okay!" He yelled back.  I ran down the dock and struggled with the line.
The whole time I could hear him yelling; "Fucking, cock sucking, cunt
lapping storm.  For Christ sakes I just got fucking dry and warm and now
I'm fucking wet and cold all over again ..."  He went on and on while he
closed the hatch and then jumped back on the dock and came down to help me
finish.

I was laughing out loud.  "What's so funny?"  he glared.

"You got some mouth on you kid.  You could be a dock worker."

"Oh, I'm sorry."  He gave me a sheepish apologetic look but stilled
giggled.  "I just got pissed off I guess."  I was glad to hear him giggle.
No, it was wonderful to hear him giggle again.  We were done and started to
run back up the lawn to the house.

"Nice color!" I shouted over the wind.  He flashed me a very dirty grin.

Back at the house I thanked him for the help, "I couldn't have done that
line without you my boy.  It was blowing harder than I realized.  Tell you
what, I'll heat up your soup while you dry off and change.  And while you
eat I'll dry off and change and then we can sit up stairs and watch the
storm.  It's a great view from there."  I left out the part about a fire.
I figured I'd ask him to build it when we got up there.

A few minutes later he came strolling back into the kitchen with his yellow
robe on.  "What color briefs ya' got on now?" I wondered out loud.

"Never you mind," he said with a saucy kind of swagger.

It was good to see him feeling better.  He sat down to his hot soup and a
balogna sandwich and I headed upstairs for a quick change.  I only put on
my robe with nothing under.  Don't ask me why but I just did it and sat
down on the sofa there in the bedroom.  The storm was still building.  I
was enjoying it when I heard Marc walk in.  "How was the soup."

"Great, thanks."

He came over and stood by me looking out at the storm.  It was pretty wild
out there now.  I reached for his hand and when I touched it he turned and
looked at me.  There were big tears in his eyes almost brimming over.  He
sat on my lap and put his arms around my neck.  "I was soooo scared this
morning," he cried into my neck.

I said soothingly, "I know but you're safe now."

He seemed confused, "No, I mean yes, I was scared in the water until you
saved me.  Thank you.  But, I was scared before.  Very scared"

"Of what, the storm?"

He explained, "No, I was scared by how angry I was at you."

"I can't say as I blame you. I didn't handle things too well." I admitted.

"Well, I lay here and thought about it and I guess I sort of understand now
but I'm still scared at how angry I got."

"Marc, we all get angry sometimes.  We just have to learn to recognize and
control it.  It's not easy but you sound like you have a good start.  Let's
talk about it more sometime but right now, why don't you build a fire in
the fireplace.  There's wood, newspapers and matches in that cupboard over
there.  Then come back here and we'll watch the storm together."

"Really?  Can I?  Cool!"

The fire was built with near perfection.  It caught and burned beautifully.
Marc beamed from ear to ear as I admired his work.  He closed the screen
carefully and came over by me.  I held out my arms and he settled down in
my lap with his back to me so he could watch the wonder of nature outside.
I wrapped my arms around him and held tight.  "Lights out." I said and we
were now lit only by the warm glow of the fire and the gray of the stormy
afternoon sky.  We sat together quietly for a while enjoying the majesty of
the storm.  I could tell he was impressed with its power.  Every once in a
while there would be a stronger gust of wind and the house would shake and
creak.  I don't think he was aware of it but every time that happened he
would tremble and I would hug him tighter for a moment.  I enjoyed those
moments the most.

After a bit Marc leaned back and turned his head.  I expected a kiss but he
whispered; "Invisible."

"Huh?" I asked.

"My briefs.  You asked before what color they were this time.  They're
invisible."  He sounded almost boastful.

"Funny thing" I replied.

"Whas zat?" He giggled.

"We must have the same brand on."

He pulled back from nuzzling my neck and looked at me kind of funny.  Then
what could only be described as a very dirty grin crossed his face.

"I'll show you mine" He started.

"If you show me yours?"  I finished for him.

We giggled together.  He stood and we both started to untie and open our
robes.  "Here," I said and pushed mine to both sides.  "Open yours and
climb on my lap so you're facing me with your knees on either side."

"Oh cool," he moaned and he slipped into my arms.  We nestled together and
hugged.  I slid my arms inside his robe and rubbed his back.  He cooed, "I
love the feel of us together like this."  He nuzzled his face into my neck
and held me tight.

He was warm and safe in my arms and I decided to try to help him see that I
understood some of his feelings from this morning.  "You are a wonderful
boy Marc, a good person.  It is very understandable that you were angry
this morning."

"But, it scared me and I don't want you to ... to ..."

"To leave you?"

There was a long silence.  Then his small body began to shiver and tremble.
The intensity grew.  He tightened his grip on me and sobbed into my neck.
"Yyyy...hhee...esss!"

I spoke firmly but softly.  "Marc.  I want you to listen to me carefully."

He sniffled and whispered.  "O...hokay."

"I love you more than anything.  I never want to do anything that would
hurt you.  And, I never ever want to be away from you.  Do you believe
that?"

"Yes."  He said weakly.

"I'm glad.  I want you to know that it is natural to be afraid of losing
those that you care about.  Especially after the loss of your Mom and Dad.
Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I guess so."

"Okay.  Good."  I took a deep breath and continued.  "I also want you to
know that it is natural and okay to be angry at them."  He tightened his
grip again.  "Being angry about that doesn't mean that you don't love them
or that you think that they did something wrong.  They knew you loved them
and I know you still love them."

He was crying again but now they weren't tears of anger or fear.  They were
tears of relief and release.  Tears of grief.  He cried softly for a while
and then he stopped.  But, he just hugging me tightly, like he was holding
on for dear life.

I held him and my heart ached with my love for this wonderfully real
android boy.  Any doubts I had of the success of this project were fast
being swept away.

I could tell he was beginning to feel better because he started kissing my
neck.  Soon he moved to my ear and worked his way around to my mouth.  Our
tongues danced and we both hardened.  Our boners moved against each
other's.  I felt down his back and over his round buns.  He moved up and
down keeping our cocks moving together.

He spoke with a shaky voice.  "I love you with all my heart John."

It was what Eddie used to say and it filled me with joy.

"Please John.  I need you to cum with me.  I want us to cum together."  His
voice was deep and trembling with lust now.

I ran my hands all over him, needing to feel every square inch of him.  I
was caught up in his heat.  Soon we were perspiring and slipping
deliciously against each other.  The pace built and our kissing was
ravenous.  Somehow, in the last few minutes, we had made a deeper emotional
connection and it was feeding our passion.  We reached our orgasms nearly
together and the grunts were both loud and deep.  We flooded our chests and
stomachs with our hot fluids.  Then we collapsed holding each other and
gasping for breath.

We didn't stir for a long time.  It was just so nice.  So peaceful.  We
held each other, occasionally moving a hand in a soft caress of whispering
our feelings.  Eventually it was almost too dark to watch the storm and it
was winding down anyway.  I began to wonder if we were glued together with
our cum and I started to giggle.

"Mmmm?"  I think that was a question from Marc.

"Huh?"  I lamely responded.

"Wha'er you gigglin' at?"  He mumbled.

"Oh."  I giggle some more.  "Jus' wonderin' if we is glued togedda'."

"That's gross."  He chided.  "You sure do make something that was so
wonderful sound so disgusting."  But he couldn't help himself and started
to giggle too.

The two of us giggled out of control.  With giggles you get wiggles and
soon I began to feel the beginnings of arousal.  "Marc, if we keep giggling
and wiggling like this I'm gonna cum again."

"He giggled even more.  "Yeah, I know."

I was just thinking that it might be fun when the phone rang.  We both
abruptly stopped.  Marc sat back and looked at me as if to say; "What do we
do now?"

I looked back at him and shrugged.  "I Gotta' answer it."

He very reluctantly got up.  We were a little stuck but not much, just
enough that we both giggled some more as I went over to the bed to answer
the phone.  I tensed myself thinking it might be a technician from the
consortium.  "Ah, hello?"

"John?  Hi.  It's Ralph.  I was going to call earlier about the loose line
on your boat but as I dialed I saw you both running down there.  Everything
okay?  How's the boy?"

"Oh.  Hi Ralph."  I breathed a sigh.  "Yes, thanks.  Both boat and boy are
fine."

"Well, good.  Glad to hear it.  Say.  The main reason I called is that this
morning I caught a really nice Striper and Ginny and I would love to share
it with you and Marc.  Whaddya think?"

It would be the first social experience for Marc and that made me hesitate.

"John?  You there?"

"Oh, sorry Ralph.  Hold on a sec while I check with the boy."

Covering the mouthpiece, I waved at Marc to get his attention.  "It's
Mr. Marsh.  They have fresh Stripped Bass for supper and want us to come
over.  Okay?"

His eyes lit up.  "You bet!  I love fish."

"Ralph?  You're on but we have sailor's appetites tonight.  Can I bring
anything?"

"Ginny says she has rice and salad to go with my fish but you could bring
wine or desert?"

"We'll bring both.  When do you want us?"

"Well, it's about five so say in half an hour?"

"We'll be there.  Thanks my friend."  I hung up the phone.

"Marc.  Have you ever had fresh Stripped Bass?  And I do mean fresh.
Caught and cleaned today."

"Nope.  But I love fish and I'm hungry as a bear."

I quipped back.  "You're cute when you're bare."

He stuck out his tongue at me, made a raspberry and smiled.

"Well, then my boy, we better get a move on.  We have to be there in half
an hour and we both need showers."  I smacked my forehead.  "Oh drat!  Wine
we got but no desert.  We have to run up to the corner too."

The sexy little bugger grinned at me.  "Then I guess we'll have to save
time and shower together."

The look he got back got him giggling again.  "Okay but no funny stuff.
Just strip and dip."

He cracked up.  "We're stripped already so we're ahead of schedule.  By the
way, where do you get all these silly sayings?"

"I look 'em up while you're sleepin'."

I went in the bathroom and started the shower.  When it was nice and steamy
we both stepped in and made fast work of it.  Once he slipped his hand
under my balls but when I reminded him of our hurry he giggled and said he
was just making sure I cleaned behind my balls.  We were both feeling lots
better about things and it showed in everything we said and did.

Ginny and Ralph were about 15 years older and I often felt like they were
almost surrogate parents, both of mine having passed on.  More importantly,
they were people like me.  They felt casual was best and so we just pulled
on jeans.  I wore a golf shirt and Marc had a n'Sync T-shirt which I
insisted he tuck in.  He looked very attractive when he was neatly dressed.

We jumped in the car and ran up to the corner.  There is a good bakery
there and at Marc's request we picked up a fresh blueberry pie and some
vanilla ice cream just as they were about to close.  I noticed that fresh
raspberry Danish was on the schedule for tomorrow morning and made a mental
note to pickup up some for breakfast.  Back at the house we grabbed the
wine and, since the rain had stopped, walked down across the lawn to the
Ginny and Ralph's.

They were out back getting the barbecue fired up.  "Hi guys.  Ginny.  Meet
my Godson Marc."

She smiled sweetly at the boy.  "Hello and welcome Marc.  I'm sorry to hear
about your parents."

He was quiet but polite.  "Thank you Mrs. Marsh."  He gently shook her
hand.

Ralph closed the lid on the grill and came over.  "How you feeling now
young man?  Pretty busy day you had."  He stuck out his hand and Marc gave
it a bit firmer shake than Ginny's.

"Ralph cooks a mean fish Marc.  You're in for a treat."

The boy didn't seem the slightest bit overwhelmed by all the attention and
repeated his love of fish.  "I've never had Stripped Bass but if it swims
I'll eat it."

Ralph guffawed at that one.  "You better not let the swim team hear that."

That crack did make Marc blush but he held his own.  "Oh.  Well, I haven't
tried cannibalism ... yet."

Again Ralph laughed heartily and clamped a paw on Marc's shoulder.  "I like
this boy John.  He's a hoot!"

The look I got from Marc almost had me cracking up.  It was clear that he
had Ralph pegged already, all bluster.  Ginny and Ralph were nice people
and good neighbors.  A long time ago I learned from my Dad that everyone is
different and, because of that, interesting.  We all have our rough edges
but if you look beneath the surface, most people are good.  Marc smiled
when he saw that I understood his look.

Ginny took the desert into the kitchen and called out to Ralph.  "Honey,
get these two fine men a drink."

"I'll have a vodka Ralph.  Just ice."

Ralph looked seriously at Marc.  "Vodka for you too young man?"

"No thanks Mr. Marsh."  He smiled.  "Just a coke'll be fine."

"Okay, two drinks comin' up."  Ralph shouted over his shoulder as he went
in to the bar.  "John, check those coals will you please?  Thanks."

"They're both nice John.  Kind of like grandparents."

It hadn't occurred to me but Marc, having no family, real or programmed,
might very well enjoy the idea of surrogate grandparents.  "Well, I kind of
look at them as sort of parent figures so maybe you can think of them as
sort of grandparent figures."

"I heard that."  Ralph was coming with drinks and a huge filleted fish on a
tray.  "If you want that boy spoiled, you've come to the right couple."

We all laughed.  Ralph handed us our drinks and proceeded to explain to
Marc the art of grilling a Stripped bass.

"Marc, the secret to a good Stripped Bass or Bluefish, if you have one of
those choppers, is in soaking them in salt water for an hour before
cooking.  That takes the strong fishy flavor away and leaves just the good
fish flavor.  With sword fish you soak the steak in milk."

"What's a chopper?"

"Oh.  Well, Bluefish have sharp teeth and love to bit.  Baby Blues are
called Snappers."

"Oh.  Cool."

I chuckled.  "You just got the seal of approval Ralph."  I sat back to
listen and watch Marc.  He was honestly interested.

Ralph spread some heavy tin foil over the grill and laid the two filleted
halves of the fish skin side down on top of the foil.  "Okay.  Skin side
down, spread too much butter on top, then pour on lemon juice, sprinkle
salt, pepper, garlic powder and parsley flakes and close the lid of the
barbecue.  That's the biggest secret, closing the lid.  It forces all the
flavors back into the fish and, of course, speeds the cooking time."

Ralph and Marc came over to the table and sat down with me.

"How long does it take Mr. Marsh?"

"Well, it all depends.  I check it every 3 to 5 minutes or so.  You want to
catch the fish just as the meat becomes flaky.  Any longer and it will be
over cooked.  See, when you take it off the grill the fish is still very
hot so it keeps cooking for a few minutes."

We chatted with Ralph about our boating adventures, still leaving out
Marc's unintentional swim.  I could see Marc swell with pride as I told
Ralph of his first lesson in helmsmanship.  "I swear Ralph, he's a
natural."

"Oh yeah and athletic too.  I watched you two tie up the boat in the storm.
Marc, you sure jumped on and off her with ease.  By the way, where'd you
get those skimpy bright red bikini briefs?  A bit racy for this town."

Whops I thought.  Gotta think fast but Marc was ahead of me.

"Oh, they're the in thing where I used to live.  Here the guys are big on
boxers.  Guess I'll have to get me some."

Phew, that was quick thinking but I had to put my two cents in.  "Well,
young man, maybe that's a good idea but none of this wearing too big pants
belted around your thighs.  I think that fad looks terrible."

Marc played his part beautifully.  He looked very slightly sullen, rolled
his eyes and groaned.  "Oh Uncle John."  Ralph chuckled a bit
uncomfortably.

"Ralphie honey?"  Ginny called out the kitchen window.  I winked at Marc
who was trying not to giggle.  I wasn't sure about which, the pants thing
or Ginny calling Ralph; 'Ralphie honey'.

"Yes dear?"

"How soon?"

"Oh, maybe another 5 or 10 minutes."

"Perfect.  The rice is just on time and the salad is all ready."

I called in to her.  "Ginny?  Need a couple of busboys?"

We didn't wait for an answer.  Both Marc and I headed for the kitchen as
Ralph did the final check of the fish.

Ginny smiled at Marc as we came in to help.  "Oh what a sweet boy you are."
She cupped his cheek with her hand as he blushed.  "And a good looker too.
Don't you think John."

Now I blushed too as I did indeed think he was a good looker.  "That he is
Ginny.  So I guess this means you two are going to spoil him rotten, aren't
ya'?"

"Well, you should understand John, I've seen how nice you are to the kids
around here.  There's something special about kids.  Now you are his
Godfather so I guess, since the poor boy has no Grandparents to do the
spoiling, it's up to Ralphie and me."  She gave Marc a big squeeze.

Marc blushed again.  "Cool.  I think maybe I'll stay Uncle John."  That got
a good laugh.

Ginny handed me a big steaming pot of rice and handed the salad to Marc.
She scooped up a tray of dishes and utensils and we paraded out to the
patio.  Ralph was just taking the fish off the grill.

It was a feast, as it always was at Ginny and Ralph's.  Marc was the topic
of most of the conversation but they were very careful to avoid going too
much in the direction of his parents.  Mostly they wanted to know about
him.  I was nervous that he would be vague but the programing with
background information had been up to the occasion.  I must admit that I
had also been a bit worried that the depth of our relationship might show.
If it did, they never let on.

As Marc helped clear and Ginny and I served up the blueberry pie ala mode,
I noticed that the boy was wilting a bit.  By the time we had finished
desert he was nodding.

Ralph chuckled.  "Looks like you got one tired pup there John."

"Yup.  He's had a busy day.  We both have."

"Well, you two run along then."  Ginny was being motherly.  "A growing boy
needs his sleep."

Little did she know, I thought, this is one boy that isn't growing.  It was
the first time that I really realized why we'd have to move every two to
three years.

I was very comfortable and could have sat and chatted longer but she was
right, so I got up.  "Har there me bucko!  What say we haul anchor and head
for home port?"

I got a sleepy; "Huh?"  For my efforts.  Ginny and Ralph chuckled.

"Guys, thanks for a wonderful meal and a nice evening.  Can we help clean
up?"

"No, no.  Ralph and I can do it in a snap.  You go on."

They both stood.  Ginny gave me a hug and Marc, who staggered to his feet,
got a smooch on the forehead.

The boy yawned and smiled.  "Thank you for dinner and it was nice meeting
you."

We started off across the lawn and Marc slipped his arm around my waste and
I put mine over his shoulders.  I could hear Ginny back on their patio.
"Look Ralph.  Isn't that sweet?  They're just right for each other."

I don't think it was more than 10 minutes before both of us were in bed and
out cold.  It had been a long day.


Next: Chapter Ten - Sailing Lessons, new friends and a serious talk