Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2021 17:50:26 -0800 From: The Orange Viking Subject: The Manor Chapter 7 Jay happily made his way to his favorite coffee cup. He greeted Tina, who had already started making a large breakfast. Soon the boys made their way to join him. " Morning Auntie. Bro, I thought about something this morning." Lee said as he sat down at the nook. "What's up buddy?" " Do you think we can still go camping next week?" " I don't see why not? The only difference is there is more of us going." " Did you have a place in mind for us to go?" " I hadn't thought about it I figured we could find a campground." " Well, the twins and I did some research, and we found a place we would like to go. There are some issues though." Lee said as he handed Jay a small stack of papers. " First its 2 hours away, Its private so we would have to pay a membership fee of $600 a year, the biggest issue is..." " It's a nudist campground." " Yeah, we really want to go. Can we please?" " I don't know. I will talk to Mandy and look into it." " Thanks, Bro." Soon they were all eating a filling breakfast. When Jay was almost done, the doorbell rang. Jay got up to see who it was. Opening the door, it shocked him to see 2 police officers standing there. " Sorry to bother you sir, but we are looking for a boy that goes by Lee, we are told he lives here now." " What business do you have with him?" Jay asked, feeling defensive. " Nothing bad sir see we were some officers of the outside that were outside of the restaurant that night a week ago. Once he went to the hospital and you followed, we found a backpack. It had some photos, probably of the boy's parents and a teddy bear." " My god that's amazing. Please come in." Jay led the men to the kitchen where the boys were still eating. He introduced the officers and told Lee why they were there. The men gave Lee the things they found, making him a little emotional. Before either man could prepare, Lee ran to them before bursting into tears then running off. Jay grabbed his papers from the table and followed him. On his way through the kitchen he asked Tina to make sure the men had some coffee using some disposable hot cups they had. He found Lee sitting on his bed with the pictures laid out in front of him. " Hey, buddy. You ok?" " Yeah, it was just too much. I thought, these pictures were gone forever." " It's okay, bud. Would you like to get some frames for them? We could hang them on your wall." " Could we?" " Of course, Buddy. We can pick them out next time we go to town." " Your the best." They sat there holding each other for a while as Lee told the stories behind each photo. Lee noticed Jay had brought the info for the campground with him. So they spent some time with Lee explaining the highlight of the grounds and the benefit of a membership. After the sales pitch Jay decided to call Mandy and work it out, so he excused himself to his room. " Hi Jay. I figured I would call you on lunch." " Yeah, I had a question about the boys. Lee reminded me I told him we could go camping." " That's great, they will have so much fun." " I agree, but it seems the 3 of them did some research together and found a place. But I need to know I'm allowed to take them to a nudist camping club." " I don't see why not all I need to know for paperwork is that your going camping and in what area you plan on being in?" " Oh wow! That's great I have one more question, would you possibly want to join us?" " You know I'm due a vacation let me see if I can arrange it." " Great are you coming for dinner tonight?" " Yeah, I should be there around 6 o'clock." " Perfect. See you tonight." Jay hung up the phone and called the campground. I very cheery young gentleman answered the call and was very helpful. Soon not only did Jay pay for himself, the boys, but also Mandy to have an annual membership. After hearing the different options Jay also placed a lease on a lot with a 2 bedroom cabin with plenty of room for young ones to pitch a tent for 3 years. After ending the call, he was so excited he had to tell the boys. They were playing games in the game room. He sat and watched with a smile on his face as the boys laughed and joked. When there was a break in the game's action, he spoke. " Guys, we need to talk." he said with a deadpan look, causing the boys to pause the game and sit on the floor in front of him with worried looks. " After looking into it, I have some bad news." he paused for effect. " There is also some good news and some great news. What do you want to here first?" " Lets get the bad news out of the way." Zack said. " Okay, we have to do some shopping and today after lunch maybe the last chance we have for about a week." " That's not that bad. So what's the good news?" Eli asked. " Well, the good news is we are all members of Calming beach Camping club, and I least on of their cabins for the next 3 years." This revelation caused a round of cheering that lasted minutes before Lee yelled over the noise. " WAIT! If that is the good news, what is the great news?" Lee asked. " Well, I already talked to Mandy and not only did she give us the green light but, she is going with us if she can get out of work." Jay told them, causing an even larger round of cheering before. Jay left the boys to their excitement and headed to see if Tina was close to having lunch ready. When he entered the kitchen, he found Tina talking with Jake. She informed him that lunch was ready whenever he wanted to eat, he sent the boys a text. Soon they were taking a seat at the nook. " Okay boys eat up because we need to head to the outfitters to get some stuff for camping next week." " We are already to go." Lee told him. " Great I think we need just about everything so this could be a long afternoon. Tina, Mandy is coming for dinner she will be here about 6 o'clock please make sure she is at home if we aren't back." " Not a problem, Boss." About a half hour later, the boys were climbing into the truck, and they hit the road. It took about 35 minutes to get there. Jay quickly found a parking spot. Once inside, they headed to the tent section. Jay found a brand of tent that made a 4 person size that could zip together. He quickly found an employee to help them retrieve them from the back. A few minutes later the man came back to them informing them the only had 2 not the 3 that Jay asked for. The man recovered by saying they still had one of the previous years in stock and the newest ones had just arrived. Lee was the one to ask what the colors were, and if they could still attach them. Learning they absolutely would attach and the colors were blue, green, and orange, it was a done deal. The man rushed off to get them. When he got back, he asked if there was anything else he could help with. After jay told him the boys had no gear and needed everything, Jay thought the man would faint. The boys made it clear they wanted all the same stuff but in their colors. They followed the man around, looking at this thing or that. It took about 2 hours, but when they left the boys Jay and Mandy had. tent (except Jay and Mandy) sleeping bag (plus 3 extra) day pack with water bladder air mattress mess kit flashlight headlamp lantern knife (only for camping) canteen folding chair Then Jay got some things for the group. portable grill and fuel pop up canopy with bug net walls 3 large cooler 1 med cooler 5 gallon drink cooler an axe hatchet fire pit ring air pump 2 person raft 8 inflatable water toys (there is a lake and a pool at camp) Once they finished, they went to the check-out stand, paid the bill and headed off to home. The boys made quick work of bringing everything in to the house. Jay had them stack it in the corner of the livingroom. Seeing everything stacked, he realized he needed to call his contractor and see if a project he wanted could be added to the list to be done before winter. Jay went to his room and got out the number. After a quick conversation it was decided that the 6 car garage/ shop he wanted built to the side of the house could be ordered as a kit to save time, then they could add things like the loft for storage and the carport on the side for the trailers. Happy with this and the news that they were only waiting on one more permit and could start by the end of next week. They ended the call with Jay in an even better mood. As he came down the stairs, Mandy was walking through the door. Jay walked right up to her, kissed her deeply, then dipped her as if they were dancing. " Well, hello to you too." she giggled. " I have had a wonderful day." " Me too, I also think we might have another boy that needs help." " Okay, tell me about him." Jay said, leading her to the livingroom. " Well, his name Is DJ he's 9 and his current placement asked him to be removed for drawing their 5-year-old son, nude. Quite well, I might add." " Well, he sounds like he will fit in with this lot." " That's what I thought. My coworker will bring him by before lunch. If he works out she will swap me cases for a 15-year-old girl who she can place in that home." " Sounds like a win, win. Just one problem with tomorrow, the animals will start arriving after breakfast and keep coming till they are all here." " That's fine if your busy when they get here I can keep them company till you have a moment." " Sounds like a plan. Also, did you get time off work?" " Yes, the coworker you will meet tomorrow is covering my cases for the next 2 weeks starting tomorrow. I had some time saved up and thought we might find some time to get closer." " I would love that. I didn't know if you had any camping gear so when we went to pick out our stuff earlier I got you all the same stuff I got choosing burgundy as your color to go with my red. Also, I might send you to the outfitters tomorrow to get some stuff for Dj" " Well, maybe we don't need to get to know each other as much as I thought." Mandy laughed. " Why do you say that?" " Because burgundy is my favorite color." " Wow, that's great." " And thank you I haven't been camping since I was a girl so I have no gear." Tina interrupted to say dinner was on the table and everyone was waiting. They hurried into the dinning room to find yet another amazing meal of spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread. As always, the mood was cheerful, and the room oozed love. " Everyone, if I could have your attention for a few moments, I would like to talk about the busy day tomorrow. The horses will start arriving at 8 a.m. and keep coming till they are all here. Next will be the cows will all be here at noon then they will bring the 3 bulls one at a time. Questions so far?" Not seeing or hearing anything, he continued. " Jake, Erik, and Sandy, even though this is mostly your department it will be all hands on deck, but it is your show if you say that's not right we stop. Got it?" " Sure Boss, I have meet the guys your getting the animals from and they are the best around. I don't think we will have any problems." Erik said. " Great Now boys when this is all happening I want you to stay at the fence were its safe they are big animals and they will be scared from the ride over here. Understood?" " Yes, Bro." They answered together. " Next, Mandy already found another boy to help. His name is Dj and Mandy's friend will bring him by in the morning." He stopped there to breathe and saw nothing but smiles all around the room. " Tina, I have a few things for you. First, what day have you decided to do the weekly shopping?" " Thursday will work the best." " Great, then starting after next week your official day off will be Wednesday with that being leftover night." " Sounds great to me." she said " Next tomorrow I have some tasks for you. I promised the ranchers coffee could flow like a river for the delivery teams, so I need you to give that coffee pot a work out tomorrow, and if you might make up some cookies and pastries." " We can help with that!" The boys yelled together, excited to find a way to help. " Well, I think me and my three assistance can handle that." Tina said, winking at the boys. " Also, the dealership should be dropping off the truck, SUV, trailers, and my van either tomorrow or the following day. The salesman was pretty sure it would be tomorrow though. Any of you adults should be able to sign for them, just have them drop everything out front so the are out of the rancher's way." " Sound like it will be a busy day." Brian laughed. " Yes, it will be, but we will survive. Oh, I talked to the contractor and the permits are almost ready he said the should be able to work on foundations late next week. And one more thing we have all talked and I believe you all know what I expect of you job wise, so the boys Mandy and myself are going camping. We will leave on Friday that is three days from now, we will be gone a week. If there are issues, work them out as a team before calling me, call this trial by fire. Any questions?" Everyone just Kind of sat there taking in all the information they had been given. Over all everyone seemed okay but slightly overwhelmed. As they stared to get up to leave, Jay restated his faith in each of them. The last two to remain sitting at the table were Jake and Benji. " Jake, it looks like you have something on your mind." " I do, Boss. I wanted to let you know I plan on completing physicals on all 36 animals and creating a file for each before you get back next week." " That's a pretty ambitious goal I want you to focus on those tests on Monday and Tuesday." " My professors, the dean, and myself all agree I'm as ready as I'm going to be. There is no point in over stressing I will basically have Tina give me a pop quiz the night before as a refresher." " Okay, that's great but don't overwork yourself to meet your goal just start with the horses and then see how many cows you can do." " You got it, Boss." Jake said as he headed out the door. " Benji, you looked like you wanted everyone else gone. Is everything okay?" " Oh yeah, its fine I wanted you to look at the patio and see if the furniture is where you wanted it." he said pointing out the window. Jay got up to look and smiled." Its perfect Benji, but that can't be why you look so nervous. So spit it out." " Okay, well, there was a mixup with the home store delivery. Somehow everything got doubled, you wern't here so i argued with them and got them to leave the 2nd set at half price with the fridge at full price. I have them both installed if you want to see if you like it or not." So Jay, Mandy, and the boys followed Benji up to the theater. Jay loved it it was just as he pictured the other day as he sat with the boys. He thought now it just needed the popper. " I thought you said double what I ordered. Where is the rest?" " Follow me." he said as he led them to the Game room. " I must say I wouldn't have thought about it, but yeah, this will be nice for the boys." Jay said seeing a twin to the setup it the room next door. " Benji, I love it you made the right call." " YEAH! This is so cool." The boys said together. " Boys, I will have him remove the counters and everything if you don't clean up any mess you make, there will be garbage cans in each room and that tall thin cabinet will have cleaning supplies." " That's fair." Lee said. With a smile on his face, Benji said good night. The boys asked if they could watch a movie. Jay thought that sounded like a good way to wind down from the busy day. The 5 of them headed back to the theater next door. After some discussion, they settled on a comedy. They all had a good time but, towards the end, Jay realized the boy had stopped laughing. He smiled and finished watching the movie, holding Mandy's hand. When the credits showed, he woke the boys and sent them to bed. Once they were alone, Jay led Mandy to his bed. They stood on opposite sides of the bed and watched each other slowly undress. Now fully bare, they climbed on to the bed, meeting in the middle. Mandy was the first to take charge as she guided Jay's head to the pillow as she gently kissed him. They stayed like that for a few minutes, just kissing, then Jay started to rub his hands over the smooth skin. Jay wondered if this was going too fast and stopped. " What's wrong, Jay." " I just don't want to rush we have plenty of time. Would you be ok if we just touched tonight?" " Sure neither of us needs to keep anything from the other if one says wait then we wait." " God, I think I might love you." " Well, I'm pretty found you too. I'm not sure if its love, but like you said, we have time. We can figure out that and much more." Now they were on the same page. They laid down next to one another and held the other. It didn't take long for them to fall asleep. They both slept peacefully and deep.