Date: Sat, 13 Feb 2021 08:07:32 -0800 From: The Orange Viking Subject: The Manor chapter 17 This story is my own and purely fiction any resemblance of characters to real people is complete coincidence. I also ask that you do not post this story on other sites or archives without permission. Further more if you are not of legal age to be on this site or read this type of story please don't. I hope you all enjoy this story sorry if there are slow parts. Don't forget it cost money to keep this site going please donate if you can. http://donate.nifty.org/ Happy Jay hung up the phone just as the doorbell rang. Tina yelled that she would get it, so Jay sat there waiting. She appeared a few moments later, followed by Fred and Mary. They stood there staring for a moment before Fred spoke. " Jay. It um looks like your missing something." He said making Jay look at himself. " Oh my. I forgot you were coming and got into my normal attire for home. I will go get dressed if it makes you uncomfortable." He said blushing slightly. " Nonsense. It's your home. Besides its what we both wear at home as well." Mary said matter of factly. " Well then, fair warning, somewhere around here is a gaggle of 6 boys wearing as much as me and you may see my girlfriend and the estate staff in such a manner. So please if you wish feel free to join us." " Boys? Who's boys?" Fred asked. " Well, that is one of the reasons your here. They are my foster sons although we use the term bro because of are closeness in age. And my girlfriend is their caseworker." " My you have been busy." Mary chuckled. " You guys have no idea. There are the boys, Mandy and The estate staff together we have all become a large family." "That's wonderful. You have been alone for to long." Fred stated. " Yes, I didn't realize it before but I was very lonely." " So give me the short version of what you need me here for." Fred asked as they finally sat down on the couch. " Well, I wanted you to meet the boys, and loop you in and update you on my plans to use the estate as a home for hard to place boys." " Okay, I have a friend that works with nonprofit law. When you have your license through the state, let me know and I can have your papers ready in a few days." " Perfect. Now for the big shocker." " You having 8 foster sons and preparing for more isn't your big news?" Mary asked shocked. " No. See I took my first 4 boys camping at a private nudist camping club over the last week, That's where I took custody of the latest 2. While we were there I met an old man named Duke. I must have made an impression on him because he was injured by a falling tree during a storm. On his deathbed he called his lawyer and named my as his sole beneficiary." Jay explained, then paused to let that sink in. " Wow. So we need to get his lawyer to collect things so we can get it all in your name, right?" " Sort of Mr. Franklin has been working very hard to get everything together, he is scheduled to be here late tomorrow morning." " Is that Dion Franklin?" Fred asked amazed. " Yes. Do you know him?" " Mostly by reputation, we met back when I was in law school." " Oh, that's cool. I will warn you Duke owned a lot and had way more money than I." " What are we talking about?" " Well, with Duke's assets and mine I am now worth around 10 billion dollars." " HOLY SHIT! I might have to double my rate then." Fred gasped. " Go ahead. I can afford to pay double of zero. You know you have never charged me a dime." Jay joked. " And I never will. Your family to us and I told your parents I would always look out for you. Besides, you make it up every year with the vacation you send us on for our anniversary." " I do that because we are family and I can afford it, not because of the work you've done for me." " We know and we love you for it." Mary said smiling at her husband. " Well, that's the highlights, so now would you like to see your room before the rest of the house? I believe our cook also saved some sandwiches from lunch for you." " That would be lovely. I don't know about my husband, but I think I will join in the house dress code." Mary said with a laugh. Jay showed them to a nice room at the far end of the hall from his. It was almost as big as his room, just slightly smaller with a small porch just big enough to stand on. They dropped their bags and shed their clothes. Jay gave them the full tour with a brief stop to meet the boys'. Half were in the game room the others in the theater. He ended the tour on the patio where he pointed out, and ruffly explained the different things that were being built. He then took them back to the nook where Tina served them sandwiches before returning to her work on dinner. Overall, Fred and Mary were impressed with the life that Jay had breathed into this once abandoned mansion and they told him so. The 3 of them sat there talking long after the sandwiches were gone. They moved to the living room after a while where Jay offered them drinks. Fred asked for a scotch on the rocks, and Mary asked if he had the makings for a long island. Jay quickly went to the kitchen to fetch ice for Fred's drink. While there, he admitted to Tina that he had never made a long island. She told him to go back to his guest and she would be along shortly. Just as he handed Fred his glass and sat with his, Tina came in and handed Mary a tall glass. About half way through his drink Jay heard the doorbell ring. Dawning a robe he brought downstairs for this purpose, he got up to answer it, knowing it was the furniture company delivering the set for his study. He quickly showed them where he wanted each piece and left them to it. Returning to the livingroom and they continued talking all the way till Tina told them diner would be served in 20 minutes. Jay explained that clothes were to be worn to dinner as a house rule but sitting on a towel was accepted all other times unless they had guests. They all went upstairs to dress, with Jay making a detour to collect the boys and inform them on his compromise of the clothing at meals rule. Soon 18 people were sitting around the table filling their plates with a wonderful meal of roast chicken. Diner was spent with the estate crew filling Jay in on what had happened during his vacation, and everyone getting to know Fred and Mary who insisted the boys if not everyone call them Aunt Mary and Uncle Fred. Tina served chocolate cake al la mode for dessert. Everyone happily enjoyed it before excusing themselves from the table. The boys went back to their games and movies upstairs while the adults all went to their room or trailer and shed their clothing before meeting the others in the living room. Jay knew he would have a busy morning so after a couple hours and a few drinks he excused himself to go to bed. Mandy said she would come with him. They said their goodnights and headed for their room. Once there, Jay asked Mandy to sit with him in the oversized tub. She thought this sounded wonderful. They filled the tub and climbed in facing each other and sat down. The water was the perfect temperature for them to just relax. They sat there for a long time just soaking and enjoying the silence. As the water cooled and they got out and begun to dry themselves off, Jay decided to have a discussion he had been thinking about. " Mandy. I have been thinking." " Uh oh. That's either really good or really bad." She teased. " Yeah well, we have gotten really close and are spending a lot of time together. I want you to move in. Sooner rather than the eventually we talked about." Jay said hopefully. " Well, that wasn't what I was expecting you to say. You don't think that's moving to fast?" " Maybe for people in a normal relationship. But ours is far from normal. We have deep feelings for one another and how should I say a shared unique affection. I know I love you and it would be near impossible for either of us to find a partner that understands us like we do." " I see your point I still feel this is a big step. Can I sleep on it and tell you how I feel in the morning?" " Of course you can. I wouldn't expect you to give me an answer right away." He said as they climbed into bed. They spent some time cuddling just enjoying the closeness they felt. Jay was about to fall asleep when he remembered to set his alarm. He rolled over, selected the time and returned to his position. Soon he was off in dreamland, holding the woman he had fallen in love with. Jay immediately hated himself for setting his alarm when the buzzing woke him in the morning. Rolling over, he silenced the devil machine and sat up in bed. He looked over and realized he was alone. Just as he stood up, Mandy came out of the bathroom. She walked straight up to him hugged him tightly and kissed him deeply. " Yes." She said barely above a whisper. " Yes?" " Yes, I will move in. In my dreams I saw us again, but at our wedding. I hope that is something you want in the future." " Mandy, I would love nothing more to some day make you my wife." He said as he looked into her eyes. " Well, don't wait to long or I might have to get one of the boys to make an honest woman out of me." She teased him. "Really? You think they would turn on my like that?" He smiled back. " Oh, I can be very persuasive." They stood there for a minute or two, holding each other before Jay had to break away and deal with an urgent problem. Mandy giggled as he ran off to the bathroom. He came out a few moments later, and they walked downstairs together. At breakfast Jay shared the news about Mandy moving in. Everyone was excited, and it showed. Erik and Sandy said they could go with her this afternoon and start packing her apartment, and Jake said he would handle the evening feeding so they could take their time. Mandy agreed but told them most of the stuff would be donated as she wouldn't need it. Jay reminded everyone that they would have company and until they knew if he would be comfortable he asked everyone to remain dressed. The boys grumbled but agreed when Mandy pointed out that it was only polite. Everyone finished eating and took off to get dressed. When he finished, Jay went to his study to see how the furniture looked. He was very proud of himself as he picked a finish that contrasted the paint on the walls perfectly. As you walked in the door, the first thing you see is a large ornate desk, 2 comfortable looking chairs sat in front of it. Behind the desk was a Large high-back chair made of dark red leather matching the smaller chairs. A small seating area filled the open space of the floor. He looked to the left side of the room to find the 6 bookshelves he picked although in need of books to fill them perfectly covered the wall like he intended except for the gun safe in the corner closest to his desk. On the other side of the room was the wall, mostly covered in windows. On the desk side of the windows there was a small table that held a router and his printer. Opposite the windows from there was a beautifully made enclosed shelf which he planned to fill with printer paper and other office type supplies. And 2 filing cabinets were behind the desk just to each side and back against the wall with a thin lockable cabinet between them acting as a bar. To say he was happy was an understatement. He loved the choices he made. He ran back to his room and grabbed his laptop not knowing if he would need it. Returning, he put his computer in place on his desk and sat in his chair for the first time. He pulled out his phone and called Tina, asking if she had a moment to go to the cellar and bring up a selection of alcohol for his study. She said she did and would bring it up in about 5 minutes. After he hung up the phone, he decided to shop online for some decanters and matching glassware to complete his new bar. He found a set he like within the first few he looked at and ordered it. Still knowing he had some time to kill he chose to buy a few things to fill his bookshelves. He started with the basics of an encyclopedia set, dictionary, and thesaurus. He spent the next 20 minutes buying about 200 books. He was about to check out of the website when he thought about learning of Matt, Eli, and Dj's hobbies. First, he found some books for Matt about restoring muscle cars, he even found a mechanics guide for Matts car. He moved on to Eli. For him he picked out about 20 woodworking books and 10 books of nothing but plans and directions for making different things. To finish his order, he selected about 30 different books on different types of art and some history about the subject. As he finished and placed the order he realized he had been so focused on what he was doing not only had Tina brought a bunch of different types of alcohol, but Fred was sitting across the desk from him sipping on a drink. " Wow. You were sure concentrating on whatever you were doing." Fred said chuckling. " I was buying a few books for those shelves and some of the boys for their hobbies." " Ah. Yes, I noticed your shelves looked a little bare." " Yeah well, the furniture was just delivered yesterday so nothing I can do about it for now." " Boss, your guest just pulled up." Tina said, poking her head through the door. " Perfect. Can you show him in here, please?" He asked with a smile. She disappeared only to return a few moments later leading the tall dark man into the room before disappearing again. " Mr. Franklin, thank you for coming. This is my uncle and lawyer, Fred.." " Phillips." Mr. Franklin finished for him. " I haven't seen you seen since you tore me apart at that mock trial I volunteered at when you were in law school." " Oh, come on it wasn't that bad. Was it?" Fred said blushing. " You have got to be kidding it was one of the best performances I have ever seen from a student and I volunteer at that trial every year." " Well, I had some good teachers there." " Yes, you did. They are some of my good friends. And both of you please call me Dion." With small talk and introductions out of the way they sat down at the desk and begun going through the stacks and stacks of papers Dion pulled from his briefcase. They spent time signing paperwork for real estate first, then moved on to the liquid assets. It wasn't until they started going over the different businesses that Jay realized he never asked the name of the retail chain he now owned. When he asked the name, he almost doubled over laughing at the answer. It took a few minutes, but he was finally able to calm down enough to tell the two confused men that it was none other than that store where he had spent several thousand dollars in the last few weeks. He then joked that it was a sign that he bought all his electronics from Frederickson Family Electronics, Dion joked that it was fitting the new owner is also probably one of their best customers. They continued laughing as they signed more paperwork. Soon Tina knocked on the door and brought in some sandwiches and iced tea. I thanked her as we moved to the sitting area to eat our meal. I really started to look like Dion, he, and Fred seemed to be making fast friends. All said and done it was about 2:30 in the afternoon when we finished signing paperwork. We chatted for a few minutes and I asked Dion to join us for dinner. He asked for a rain check and said he had to be getting home as he had dinner plans. We walked him to the door and said our goodbyes. After he left, Jay thought the house seemed quiet. Knowing Tina always knows what's going on he headed for the kitchen. When Jay got there, even she was gone. He pulled out my phone and checked the boy's location. It showed everyone was in the barn. Jay led Fred out the back door and off the patio. As they approached the barn, Jay saw a truck he didn't recognize. They walked in the barn and were surprised to find Frank. I greeted him and he showed me the saddles he had come to deliver. He had Eli's blue set, my red set, Lee's orange ones, Lime green for Zack, And I was surprised to see a burgundy saddle with black trim. Frank explained that when he had lots of orders, he was able to hire his neighbor boy to help. He said that the boy was amazing with leather and it was a way for him to help the boy and his mother. Everyone marveled over the saddles for a while. Before he left, Jay told frank that he was impressed with his work and speed and asked to place an order for 16 more saddles. When he said that, he thought the man would faint. He recovered and grabbed a notepad and pen from his truck. Jay thought about it and ordered one for everyone else at the house in their colors on a black saddle like the ones he brought us today. Plus four guest saddles made in black on light brown saddles. Frank said the hardest one would be the camo colored one for Matt but would look at options and get back to me by Tuesday Afternoon. I said that sounded fine and what colors to make first so I could ride with my boys. Frank left a very happy man. Lee and the twins wanted to go for a ride and try out their new saddles. Jad told them that wasn't very fair to the other boys yet, but if Mandy would ride with them and they shared theirs and my saddle that he was okay with it. With Mandy and the boys occupied, Jay went inside with Tina We sat down in the nook together so he could ask her how everything was working out. "Boss, we are all happy here. We have great friends, good jobs, and a cool boss. None of us have any complaints." "Good to hear. Its getting pretty busy around here are you handling the cooking fine on your own?" "Yeah, I find it just as easy to cook for 3 people as it is for 30." "Okay, well if you need more help you need to let me know." "Boss, really its fine the summer is almost half over and then the cooking will be a bit less." Tina's last comment about school got him thinking. Jay excused myself and headed for his study. He looked up the schools that the boys would be attending. What he found left me feeling unimpressed. The local schools were mediocre at best, not bad schools just not the level of education he wanted for his boys. He spent a few minutes looking online at my other options. Bu his choices were limited by the area we lived. He nixed the idea of the closest private school because of a foundation of religion. This only 2 options. Hire a teacher for the boys or online school. Jay liked the online school, but the private teacher would allow the boys to work more at their own pace. After pondering this for a while, Jay decided the best thing to do is ask the boys for their opinion after dinner. He spent a few minutes looking at random stuff online before a closed my computer. Just as he was going to leave the study, his phone rang in his pocket. "Jim, what can I do for you?" "I was just calling to let you know we got the Matt's shed moved today, also Rodger and I are picking up the sheds tomorrow." "Great. Thanks for the update. Hey, how is Paul doing?" "He's good. Rodger and him are working on packing up Betty's things right now." "Good, I'm glad he's not alone." "He's a good kid, and he's getting pretty close with Rodger." "Thanks for calling call me again when the first shed is built." "Will do talk to you soon." Jay hung up the phone and went looking for something to do. As he came down the stairs, he found a large box near the door. Instantly, he knew what it was and sent Benji a text and asked him to help me carry it upstairs. After a few minutes he showed up and they quickly carried the package all the way to the theater. Benji and Jay opened the box to reveal the popcorn popper. They placed on its home on the counter. Included in the box was enough supplies for 2 batches of popcorn. Benji left to continue what he had been doing before Jay asked him to help. Jay spent some time reading over the directions and made sure he understood how to work the machine. Convinced he knew how to use it Jay placed them in one of the drawers of the counter and exited the room. Jay knew the boys would go nuts about the new popcorn machine, he also thought that Jake and the others would enjoy it. He quickly sent a text to everyone saying the theater was off limits until this evening, he invited everyone to a movie night as a group. Within minutes, the boys and all of the adults had responded. He made his way back downstairs to see what Tina had come up with to feed the hoard. She had decided it was taco night and was preparing everything for a taco bar. She had anything anyone would want on their taco. He sat at the nook talking with her for a few minutes. When there was about 20 minutes till dinner, she asked if he would go collect everyone. He walked out into the patio, stood at the top of the steps and whistled as loud as he can. Mandy and the boys that were on the horses started riding back to the barn. The other boys, Erik, Sandy, Jake, and Brian all started walking over to him. As each of them arrived, he told them to wash up for dinner. Twenty-five minutes later the table was full and everyone was digging in to another 5 star meal. "Everyone I know I asked you to join me for a movie night but, It is more than that. I bought a surprise for the theater I think we will all enjoy." "Oh god what did you buy now?" Mandy asked, making everyone laugh. "I guess you will just have to join me to find out. The movie will start half an hour after dinner." "What are we watching?" Dj asked. "Not sure I thought that we could all decide together." "Cool." The twins exclaimed. "Yes, but I do need to talk to you boys after dinner before we get started. Your not in trouble or anything its just important." "Sure, do you want us in your study or the living room?" Lee asked for all the boys. "Living room will be fine. Mandy, I would like you to join that conversation." "Of course. Will I be your girlfriend or your caseworker?" "Caseworker I'm afraid." The rest of dinner went on with everyone talking among themselves. Erik and Sandy took dish duty for the night so Jay and Mandy could take all 6 boys to the living room. Jay Asked all the boys to take a seat and get comfortable. All 6 boys looked at each other smiled then shed of bit of clothing. "You did say for them to get comfortable." Mandy pointed out playfully. "True." Jay said with a snicker. " Boys, it was brought to my attention that the summer is a little more than half over. I did some research on the schools around here and didn't like what I found. So I have some options for you boys to think about and discuss before we talk about them tomorrow." "You mean there is more than one way of going to school?" Zack asked amazed. "The short answer to that is yes. What I want you all to think about is 2 options. One, I could hire someone to come in and teach you all 5 days a week. Or option two is I sign you up for online school. Both would be self paced, but the difference is with online as long as you get your weekly assignments turned in you will work when you want to, basically, and with a teacher you will have to work so many hours a day." "I assume you will have rules and punishments for them if they choose that either don't follow through on what they need to." Mandy said from the corner of the room. "Of course, when they figure out which way they want to go than we will all sit down right out the rules and punishments. The boys and I will all sign it sort of like a contract to hold them responsible." "Do we all have to pick the same thing?" Eli asked. "Yeah, and what about clubs and sports we would get with normal school?" Matt added. "Good points. If you go online, the program I would sign you up with has a contract with the local schools to allow you to play sports, they might allow that for home schooling too. As for hobbies or clubs, I will do my best to find you ways to peruse anything you wish. Eli your question is something I hadn't thought about, I think it wouldn't be easier if you all did the same thing." They talked for a few more minutes about specifics of each choice before Jay said they should think it over for the night. The boys agreed to talk about it in the morning. The boys all ran up the stairs to meet the others in the theater. Jay noticed everyone else was "comfortable" and in a seat waiting for them. Jay quickly disrobed and took a seat. He asked everyone what movie they wanted to watch. After a few minutes of discussion, it was decided that the adults didn't care and the boys should choose one together. While the boys looked over and discussed their options, Jay went over to the new popper and uncovered it. The room grew quiet and Jay turned around to see everyone smiling at him. He told the boys it would take about ten minutes to make the popcorn and that's how long they had to pick a movie. The boys quickly doubled down and narrowed the choices. Soon the theater was filled with the wonderful aroma of fresh popcorn. The boys had picked a cheesy comedy movie and had it ready to play. Everyone lined up and got some popcorn and a drink from the fridge before retaking their seats. Once the whole group was ready, Lee pressed play and started the movie. The evening was filled with laughter, and a good time was had by all. But as they say all good things must come to an end. When the movie was over, the adults all said goodnight and left. This left Jay, Mandy and the boys sitting in the theater. Jay told the boys they should all head to bed, and he had something fun planned for the next day.