Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2002 11:06:48 EDT
From: Bwstories8@aol.com
Subject: The Castaway Hotel - Book 5 - chapter 14

Legal Notice:
The following story contains descriptions of graphic sexual acts.
The story is a work of fiction and has no basis in reality.

Don't read this story if:
**You're not 18 or over,
**If it is illegal to read this type of material where you live,
**Or if you don't want to read about gay/bi people in love or having sex.

The author retains copyright to this story.  Placing this story on a
website or reproducing this story for distribution without the author's
permission is a violation of that copyright.  Legal action will be taken
against violators.

I wish to extend my thank you to Ed for his editorial assistance with this
chapter and to Ataan for his suggestions about the storyline.

If you have enjoyed reading this story, you will find other stories by me at
http://members.tripod.de/wolfslair, in the 'Other Stories' section.

E-mail responses to the stories, story suggestions, or other 'constructive'
comments or advice may be sent to: bwstories8@aol.com.

                 *    *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Although the boys in these stories have unprotected sex, I strongly urge
all of you out there to be smart and protect yourselves from various
sexually transmitted diseases by using condoms when having intercourse.

                 *    *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to a very special young man, who
was an avid follower of this story.  His father is also a friend and fellow
author, and I share his loss.  To Cody, my brave 13 year-old friend, I hope
you have now discovered peace and are free of pain.  Your father told me
you'd probably be reading over my shoulder as I wrote future chapters, so I
hope I do them, and you, justice.  I send you all my love and prayers, and
our little angel, we all look forward to meeting up with you when we all
called home too.  Love, Bill

                 *    *     *     *     *     *     *     *

The Castaway Hotel-Book 5-by BW (Young-Friends).  Copyright 2002 by billwstories
Chapter 14 - A storm is brewing.                  March 2002

I tried very hard not to let on that anything was wrong when the boys came
home, and as far as I could tell, no one suspected a thing.  When dinner
ended, I asked Cole and Graham to join me in my bedroom, telling them that
something came up that I needed to talk to them about.  My request didn't
seem to faze Cole at all, but Graham seemed a little nervous.  We went to
my room, closed the door, and then Graham looked at me and asked a
question.

"What's the matter, Dad?  Did we do something wrong?"  I was kind of
surprised that he would even ask this, as we meet this way often.

"No.  Why would you think that?  Have you done anything wrong that I don't
know about?"  I smiled after I said this, trying to break the tension.

"No, but I had a feeling something was wrong or that something might
happen."

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"Well, Brent has been showing me Cole and myself, and we have this gray
haze around us.  It's not the dark black outline like Brent had, or the
dark gray outline that surrounded you before you had your heart attack,
just a light gray ring around our bodies.  I wasn't sure I knew what it
meant, but I figured it wouldn't be good, whatever it was."

I knew I needed to reassure him, after he said that and before I got to the
point of this meeting, so I thought maybe I'd try to turn the focus of this
around a bit.  "Well, what I have to tell you is not anything bad, so don't
worry it.  It's just something I need to get your opinion on.  In fact, you
might think this is a good thing, once you find out what it's about."  They
both stared at me now, trying to read through my words and expressions.

"Well, what is it, Dad?" Cole asked, directly, trying to cut through the
chase.  "Why don't you just tell us why you called us in here?"

"Okay, I will.  I had a visitor this afternoon, someone from your past."  I
paused again, to see if they might guess whom I meant.

"Who is it?" Graham wanted to know.  "Was it our mom?"  He seemed almost
excited as he said this, like he was almost expecting her to show up.

"I hope not," Cole stated, sarcastically.  "I don't care if I ever see her
again."

"Why?" Graham asked his brother, not understanding how he could feel that
way.  "She is our mother.  Why wouldn't you want to see her?"

"She might be your mother, but she's not mine any more.  She left us and we
could have died, but she didn't care.  Why would I want to see her again,
when she didn't care enough about us to make sure we had food or someone to
look after us?"

"But don't you ever think about her and wonder where she is or what she's
doing?  I do.  Sometimes I really miss her and hope that she'll come back."
Graham had this really sad, yet hopeful expression on his face as he said
this.

"Not me," Cole said mockingly.  "I hope she never shows up again."  Now
Cole turned to face me.  "Please tell me it wasn't her.  Please tell me
it's someone else."

I didn't respond right away, not knowing how to word my response, and Cole
immediately sensed that to mean it was his mother who had shown up.  "No
way!  Tell me it's not her.  Why the hell would she come back now?"

"She came here," I told him, looking him directly in the eyes, "to tell me
she wanted to take you back.  She wants you to be a family again."

At this point Cole sprang from the bed, his face turning red and his body
going tense.  "No way.  I won't go with her.  I'm not leaving you.  She can
go to hell, for all I care," he screamed, and then he turned toward Graham.
"You can do whatever the hell you want, but just know that if it includes
her, I won't be part of it."

Graham was caught in a really awkward situation now, not understanding his
brother's reaction and not sure if he dared to utter his own feelings about
this matter.  I could see that he was really struggling with this, so I
butted in and took him off the hook.  "Don't worry about that just yet.  I
told her I wouldn't give you boys up without a fight, and right now all she
wants to do is see you again.  Would you be willing to at least meet with
her?"

"No way, nohow," Cole announced, glaring at me for emphasis as he said
this.

"She says she's changed, and she told me she's been clean and sober for
over a year now."

"I wouldn't care if she were a rock star now, I still wouldn't want to see
her again."

"And you don't think you'll change your mind about that?"

"Never!"

"What about Graham?  Are you going to try to stop him from seeing her too,
if he wants to?"

"He can do whatever the hell he wants, as long as I don't have to be a part
of it."

"And you won't change how you feel about him or how you act toward him?"

"No, I'll always love Graham, no matter what he decides.  I just convinced
myself she was dead long ago, and I'm not going to have her come back now
and change all that."

I asked that to clear things up for Graham, so he would know that he didn't
have to change how he felt, just to please Cole.  Now I turned to face him
and I could read the relief on his face, now that this was out in the open.
"Well, she's going to call back later.  What do you want me to tell her,
Graham?"

He thought for a minute, before he responded.  He would look at his
brother, then at me, as if he were waiting for one of us to give him
approval.  I think Cole sensed this too, so he tried to help him out.  "Go
ahead and see her, if you want.  You won't hurt my feelings if you do."

"Are you sure?" he asked, wanting to make certain that this wouldn't damage
his relationship with his brother.

"Yes, I'm very sure.  I know you don't remember what it was like back then,
because you were too small, and maybe I'd feel the same way, if I were you.
The only thing is, I remember what it was like.  How she never spent any
time with us, not even to fix meals, and I never felt that she loved or
wanted us.  I just can't forget that, and I won't, but I won't stop you
from seeing her and making up your own mind about her now."

"Thanks, Cole," Graham told him, and then he moved over to hug his brother.
"It's just that I've been thinking about her more and more as I get older,
and I guess I've kind of pictured her coming back and telling us she loved
us and that she was sorry for what she had done.  I just want to see if
she'll really do that.  Is that okay with you?"

"Whatever you want is okay with me," he said, smiling at Graham.  "In fact,
if you don't want to be alone with her, I'll go with you, but I just won't
talk to her or anything."

"No, you don't have to do that.  I'm sure that Dad will be with me, if I
meet her."  Now he looked at me, to make sure this was true.

"Of course I'll go be with you," I responded, trying to ease his concerns.
"We can have her come to the house, if that would make you feel better.
She knows where we live, and then you can feel totally safe.  How does that
sound to you?"

"Perfect," he announced, flashing me a smile.  "Just let me know when it
will be."

"I will," I told him, and then I sent him out of the room, so I could talk
to Cole alone.

"You know, you don't have to go anywhere with her," I announced, once
Graham had shut the door.  "You could just meet her here and tell her how
you feel.  It might help to say those things to her too."

Cole now looked at me, as if I'd lost the rest of my marbles, and then he
responded to what I had said.  "You WANT me to meet with her and tell her
off?"

"I want you to do whatever it is that would make you feel better about
everything and help you put this behind you."

"So you really think I should meet with her too, so I can tell her I hate
her and never want to see her again?"

"Well, I think she should hear that coming from you.  I'm not sure she'd
believe the rest of us, if we tried to relay your message."

Cole looked at his lap for a few seconds, while he thought things over.
Once he had made up his mind, he looked at me again.  "Okay, I'll meet with
her and tell her what I feel, but don't expect me to be nice about it."

"I won't, but I think this will be good for you too."

I gave him a hug before he left my room, to let him know that I still loved
him, and then he went out to tell Graham about his new decision.  I think
Graham was happy that he would be there, even if he'd probably end up
screaming at their mother, but the three of them would be together again.
It wasn't long before both boys told their brothers about this new
development, sending a shockwave of concern through the ranks, as the boys
now wondered if she'd really try to take them away.  I told everyone not to
worry about that, as we'd handle this as a family, doing what was best for
everyone.  This seemed to relieve some of the tension that had built up
since everyone found out about her reemergence, and I waited for her to
call back.  When the phone rang, I answered it and explained that the boys
had agreed to meet with her, though she might not get the reception she was
hoping for.  She said she understood, as we arranged for her to come back
to the house tomorrow afternoon, to meet with them after they got home from
school.

Jake and I sat down and discussed this at great length later, after the
boys had gone to bed, as I wanted to make sure I had his input before any
of this happened.  I thought he might have a slightly different perspective
on this, seeing something similar could possibly happen in the future,
between his ex and Shannon.  I wanted to see if he had any other ideas,
things I might have overlooked.  He mentioned that he was concerned that
she might try to kidnap the boys, and just take off with them, but after I
explained how adamant Cole was about how he felt, we concluded there was no
way she could physically overpower him, against his will.  Graham, however,
was a totally different case.

Jake told me he thought I was right to ask the boys if THEY wanted to see
her, rather than making that decision myself, and he was glad to hear the
meeting would happen at the house.  I told him I was a little concerned
about how Cole might respond to her, but Jake told me to just let the chips
fall where they may.  He said the only way she'd be convinced that he
didn't want to go with her would be if she saw it for herself, so he told
me to just go with the flow and not try to stifle his anger.  I told him I
would do that, but I wasn't looking forward to what I knew was going to be
an extremely tense get together.

The next day, while the boys were at school, I called Judge Shay, to see
where I stood legally.  Although I knew he was firmly in my corner, he
explained that recently various courts had ruled in favor of the biological
parents, trying to keep them united with their children.  He said that her
claims that she might not have fully understood her rights had some legal
justification, because a person under the influence of drugs or alcohol
cannot legally enter into a contract and be judged to have been of sound
mind at that time.  He reminded me he would have to recuse himself, if this
case came to his court, but he would be happy to represent our interests as
our attorney.  I thanked him for this, though I was more nervous now, after
hearing what he had to say, and I now had to prepare for our afternoon
encounter.

The boys arrived home first, and they went into the other room to wait
until she arrived.  When the doorbell rang, they both walked to join me,
Graham a little more quickly than Cole.  I opened the door, and she was
standing there, but she had obviously had her hair done, used some make-up,
and put on a nicer outfit than she wore yesterday.  I invited her in,
leading her to the living room again, and we asked her if she wanted a
drink.  She said something cold would be nice, so I sent the boys out to
get us each a drink, and she and I went in and sat down while waiting for
them to return.

"I can't believe how much they've grown and changed," she told me,
nervously.

"Well, it has been about four years since you last saw them.  They aren't
little boys any more.  Cole is sixteen and Graham is fifteen now."

"And they're both fine looking young men.  I knew they'd be older, but I
guess I hadn't considered how much they'd have grown or changed."

"Well, you may be in for some other surprises too," I announced dryly.

"I suppose you're right."  At that second the boys reentered the room, each
carrying two cans of soda.  Graham had one for his mother and himself,
while Cole had his and one for me.  We took our drinks and took a sip, and
then I cleared my throat and began.

"All right, who wants to begin?" I asked, looking from one to the other.

"May I," their mother asked, looking at her two sons.  They both nodded, so
she continued.  "I'm not sure what you boys think of me any more, and I
know I don't have any legal claims to you, but I'd really like for us to
become a family, so I can make up for what I did in the past."  Now she
looked at them, waiting for their response.

"It won't ever happen," Cole announced defiantly.  "We have a new home,
with a new dad, and there's no place in it for you."  Now he stared at her,
seeing the anguish on her face.

"I was hoping you'd be more excited about seeing me than this?"  It was
very apparent that she had been hurt by Cole's last comment.

"Well, Graham may be, but I'm definitely not.  Why should I be?  What did
you ever do for me that would make me want you back in my life?  Unless you
think leaving us like that, without food or anything, would make me love
you more."

She was crying by this point, shocked by how harshly he had spoken to her.
I guess this was one reaction she didn't expect, at least not so quickly or
so strongly.  Graham did move over closer to her and he began to rub her
back, trying to make her feel better, but Cole just sat there, not caring
that he had hurt her with his comments.  After she calmed down, she looked
up at him, and then she tried to explain things a little more clearly to
him.

"Look, I know I did some bad things in the past, but it was only because I
wasn't thinking straight, being on all the booze and drugs."  She didn't
have time to say more, as Cole interrupted her.

"And you couldn't have been thinking straight when you decided to use those
either," Cole said, very coldly.  "No one made you do those things, you
chose that on your own too, thinking they were more important than we were.
And if it wasn't those things, it was your current boyfriend.  Graham might
not remember those times, but I do, and I won't forgive you for what you
did to us.  You knew what you were doing, and you just didn't care."

"You're wrong!  I did care!"

"Well, then you couldn't have cared very much.  Did you leave us all alone,
or didn't you?  Did you leave us any food when you took off, or didn't you?
Did you have anyone checking on us, or didn't you?  You didn't do any of
those things, so how can you tell us now you cared?  Until we came here to
live, we didn't even know what it was like for someone to care about us and
do things just for us.  If we know anything about love and caring now, it
isn't because you taught us those things, it's because Dad showed us what
they meant."

She was sobbing now, not just crying, knowing how little Cole thought of
her.  He made no move to soften it any, by either saying anything or
touching her physically, so she finally got up, ready to leave.

"I'm sorry, maybe I should go now.  I can see now that this isn't the time
to bring these issues up.  I'll go now."  She turned now and looked at me,
addressing her next comment for my benefit.  "Thank you for letting me come
and see them."

As she walked out the door, Graham just sat there, watching her leave, and
then he looked over at Cole.  I'm not sure he knew what he should do or
even what he wanted to do, at that point.  I just looked at the boys, as
they continued to watch the door, and I wasn't sure if they were thinking
about the way she left, or if they were expecting her to return again.
After a few more minutes of sitting like this, I got up, walked over to the
picture window, and looked out, to make sure she really did leave and
wasn't just standing out there.  After I had satisfied my curiosity, I went
over and sat between the boys.

"Do you want to talk about any of this?" I asked them.  I looked at Cole
first, and he seemed pretty calm and unfazed by what had transpired, but
Graham didn't look as comfortable with himself.  I knew he was dealing with
issues he hadn't voiced yet.

"What's up, Graham?" I asked, trying to draw it out of him.

"She's all alone and has no one, and we pretty much told her that's all
she'd ever have.  I feel sorry for her, that's all."

"Why, she never felt sorry for us?" Cole almost spat out.

"That's not quite true, Graham," I told him.  "I told her before, when we
were here alone, that I'd be willing to let her visit you boys, but I just
wasn't about to give either of you up."

"I know, but Cole pretty much told her we didn't want to see her ever."

"I did not.  I told her that I didn't want to see her, but I told both of
you that you had to speak for yourself.  Don't blame me if you didn't speak
up."

"I didn't, because I didn't want to hurt you either.  You seemed so angry,
so unforgiving.  I didn't want you to feel like that about me too."  Cole
looked hurt that Graham would even think like that about him.  I think he
knew that he had to convince his brother that wasn't true.

"Graham, I would never hate you.  Never, ever!  We're brothers and I'll
always love you.  No matter what."

"But she's your mother, and you don't love her."

"But I do love her, it's just that I don't like her or trust her any more.
I don't care what excuses she makes, because she knew what she was doing
and she either chose her boyfriend or the drugs and alcohol over us.  I'll
never forgive her for that."

"Not even to give her a second chance?"

"Do you really think she deserves one?"  Cole really meant this question,
and he leaned forward, closer to Graham, to let him know that he was
serious.

"Doesn't everyone?" Graham asked, very innocently.  "Dad always says we all
make mistakes, and the only thing he asks is that we learn from them.  What
if she has learned from her mistakes?  Doesn't that mean she would deserve
another chance?"

Cole didn't answer right away, knowing that he had to think about this
first, before he dared to respond.  Once he had considered all the
alternatives, he finally answered his brother.  "If it were a minor
mistake, maybe.  But her mistakes weren't minor.  Don't you realize,
Graham, that we could have starved to death in that apartment?  Don't you
remember how skinny we were and how we didn't even know what cereal was
when we came to live here?"

"I remember some of that stuff, but." Graham never got to finish, as Cole
jumped up and ran from the room.  Neither Graham nor I could understand
what had upset him so.  Graham looked at me, and then at the door,
wondering if he should chase after him.  Instead, he came over to me.

"Do you think I'm wrong, Dad?" he asked, very simply.  I pulled him onto my
lap, before I answered him.

"No, Graham, I don't think you're wrong, but Cole sees this a little
differently.  He was older, so he remembers more things than you do, and
some of those things hurt him very deeply.  You'll each have to make up
your own mind about this, neither of us can do that for you."

"I know that, but she's still my mother."

"And she always will be, no matter which way you decide, so there's no
pressure concerning that fact.  You can't just make your decision based on
that."

We were about to say more when Cole came bursting back into the room,
carrying something in his hand.  He reached out and handed the items to
Graham, and I could see they were photos of the two of them when they first
came here to live with us.  "See, this is what we looked like.  It looks as
if she hardly ever fed us at all.  Now do you remember?"

Graham looked at the pictures, studying them closely for a little while.
When he looked up, there were tears in his eyes.  "Yes, I remember, but I
didn't want to.  But she IS our mother."

"In name only," Cole snarled.  "She never took care of us or protected us
like a mother should do."

"So you'll never forgive her?" Graham asked again.

"I don't know, maybe some day, but not right now.  It's still too fresh in
my mind, to forgive and forget just yet."

"But maybe just to spend time with her?" Graham asked, hopefully.

"I'd only do that to make you happy, not for her.  If you'd feel better if
we let her visit, then I'll do that for you.  Just don't expect me to be
nice or pretend I'm happy about it."

"I won't, but I won't make you do this if you really don't want to."

"Like I said, I'll do that for you, not for her.  I'd do anything for you,
like she should have done for us, but I'd never agree to go live with her,
or anything like that."

"Okay, I understand.  Thank you, Cole.  I really do love you."  Both boys
embraced each other, and then they turned toward me.  "Is that okay with
you, Dad?" Graham asked, in his little boy pleading voice.

"Whatever you want is fine with me.  I only want what's best for you boys
and I want you both to be happy.  It's not up to me to forgive her or
accept her apology, only you two can do that.  However, if you want to
spend time with her, either here or to go other places with her, I will be
willing to try to get in touch with her and set it up."

Graham thought about this before he spoke.  When he had considered the
matter further, he answered me.  "Only if she calls or comes back on her
own.  If this isn't important enough for her to do that much, then we'll
just forget about the whole idea.  I guess I still need her to prove that
she really has changed and that she does really care.  Okay?"

"Whatever you say."  I tousled his hair at that point, and then gave him a
hug.  "You know, you're pretty smart for someone your age."  He just smiled
at me, but said no more.

                  *    *     *     *     *     *     *     *

If you have enjoyed reading this story, you will find other stories by me at
http://members.tripod.de/wolfslair, in the 'Other Stories' section.
E-mails may be sent to: bwstories8@aol.com.