Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:03:32 -0400 From: Chris Johns Subject: Cruelty to Children Ch 14 Same as the previous thirteen chapters, the story is copyright and you need to look at the legality of you reading it. Chapter 14 The Dream Becomes Reality Almost another year was to pass before I found the property I wanted and another year for it to be renovated to the standard I wanted. It had twelve bedrooms, mostly huge but by the time I had put in en-suite's for all of them I was left with seven doubles/twins plus my own suite of bathroom, bedroom and sitting room come private study. The attic was huge and I had dormer windows and skylights put in to make it light and airy. That became the games and rumpus room. The ground floor had a formal lounge for visitors a large dining room with equally large kitchen and a study library, plus of course all the usual rooms and offices of a large house. I had a cottage built in the grounds to house permanent staff. The boys would be too much for me to handle by myself. Outside there was a good sized swimming pool and a tennis court. The remainder of the yard was lawned. The whole property was fenced and security gates worked electronically. Ryan was eighteen when it was completed and Matt twenty three. Ryan now in high school and Matt an internship at a local hospital, he was going to be a paediatrician. Ryan and Damien had become good friends as they grew up and the three years separation in their ages appeared unimportant. Ryan took stick for being so friendly with a boy three years his junior in age but only one year behind in school and Damien for the reverse, but neither of them cared. They had loving parents and siblings so other people's opinions weren't that important. Pam and Geoff had taken another one of my waifs who needed lots of loving. I could think of no one who would lavish more on them. I was now ready to adopt some more boys. I wanted mostly gay boys, not to satisfy any carnal desires. Ryan and Matt were more than enough on that front, but they were the hardest to get adopted or even fostered. The youngest therefore were likely to be twelve and the oldest sixteen but I didn't rule out any age specifically. The first one was a footballer Tim, and the second his shadow, John. Tim was built like a tank and came to the boy's home destitute and psychologically damaged. He was fifteen when his father discovered he was gay. Up to that point the father had virtually worshipped his only child. Reasonably academic the boy was an absolute natural as a football player. I reckoned he wouldn't need to pad up for a game, he had it all already. According to his school the boy would be all American and be fought over by the big clubs. He was shattered when his father just cast him adrift. The police brought him to me as a vagrant. Kisses and cuddles here were going to be fun. I put him in a double room with a little twelve year old, John, who had been sexually abused by his father. The two hit it off immediately; Tim had a very protective nature so it was perfect. Tiny Tim, huh all six foot four of him and two hundred pounds, I daren't think how big he would be when fully grown. His roommate had to be Big John, all five foot of him and light as a feather. Tim was as ugly as John was beautiful so of course the unkind people called them beauty and the beast. The funny thing was Tim didn't give a damn once we had straightened him out. It took a long time though with both of them. Matt and Ryan were magic. Love begets love came to the fore again, my two boys were the best therapists I had and both of them were more than willing to spend free time at the home helping me. Matt almost smothered John with loving. "Jase, he is just like Damien was when I was fourteen, you remember?" How could I forget. Both boys had given back so much for what I had put in. Damien would still kiss me on the lips and say, "I love you lots Uncle Jase," but now he only did it in private and always bounced away laughing like a Lune. I took control of Tim. He simply would not accept the total rejection by a father he had loved and admired unconditionally. The father was the only parent I ever tried seriously to make see the error of his actions but it was like battering my head up against a brick wall. "He is the same boy you virtually worshipped, he hasn't changed just because you now know he is gay. Gay is what he is not who he is." I had used that expression to make the boys realise that being Gay didn't define them but it didn't work on Tim's dad. In frustration I placed before him the papers that would allow me to adopt him. The father signed. "I hope you will bleed for this action when you watch Tim Daniels lorded as one of America's finest footballers." I might as well have spoken to a stone. I did go and see him again after Tim was bought by Miami Dolphins for an enormous sum of money, but that's another story. Tim and John were my thirty-ninth birthday present. The social worker was new and was coming down with guns blazing to stop me even fostering the boys never mind adopting them. In court I had my judge, he opened the two dockets together looked at the two boys, ignored the social worker and just said. "Are you two going to make Doctor Daniels proud of you?" Tim stood up and in a voice full of confidence said. "We are sure as hell going to try your honour." The judge tried very hard to hide a grin, totally unsuccessfully. "Very well Jason, you have two more sons. How are Matt and Ryan?" "Matt is an intern at the General your honour and Ryan should graduate this year, but I don't think he is going to do a Matt." "No well I guess one valedictorian should be enough." He appeared to notice the social worker then and her agency lawyer. "I assume that meets with your approval Miss Sims." Before she had time to reply the judge had got up and slid into his chambers. I was nearly peeing myself it was so funny. "I'm sorry Miss Sims, you will need to get used to this. It is going to happen again frequently and while Dr. Daniels continues his amazing success with these boys nothing is going to stop him. Why don't you try working with him instead of against him, you both after all have the same aim don't you? The welfare of the boys." She spluttered a bit and my lawyer jumped in again. "Why don't you drive back to your office via the General and have a word with Dr. Daniels. He was nearly beaten to death by his father. He is Jase's eldest son. Or the local High School and find out from Ryan Daniels what it is like to have Jason as a father after you have been thrown out by your biological parents for being gay and then when you were fourteen being multiply raped by a gang of animals. Both of those boys would make most parents proud. Tim and John are two very lucky boys, they will be swamped by the amount of love that comes their way." Tim and John had heard all this and almost skipped out of the courthouse following us. "Dad, are we still going to be able to share a bedroom like we do at the home?" "Mmm, I don't know." I could see the look of disappointment on Tim's face so I appeared to relent. "Only if you both want to." Smiles again. Ryan was home when we arrived so I got him to show the boys their room. I had already put the plaque on the door with their names on it. Ryan told me Tim nearly crushed his ribs hugging him, and John broke down and cried, which saved Ryan serious injury. Tim had released him to scoop John up in his arms and cuddle him. My cup runneth over, not with wine or riches but with love. Fame wasn't hurting me either. Whenever I needed money I went off and did a few lectures. The money went into the foundation so there was no tax. Private donations were still coming in, sometimes for only a few dollars but it all helped. Matron's sister was our administrator and was meticulous with her book keeping. She took very little in wages, I took nothing. Every penny virtually went to support the house and the boys. They were all self sufficient, could cook, sometimes only rudimentary meals but none of them would starve when they left the house. They were responsible for cleaning their own rooms but I did have the housekeeper clean bathrooms. Hygiene was too important to leave to a bunch of teenagers. Laundry was done for them, all they had to do was throw it in their laundry baskets. We had a party for my fortieth. We celebrated my birthday, Matt's appointment to the hospital staff as one of the youngest paediatricians in the country and my tenth son. To Tim and John we had added Wayne and Texas, twins from, you've guessed it, Texas. They were abused ten year olds. Too young to be sure they were gay, but that didn't matter did it! Their father was in prison for raping them. Matt and Ryan had a ball with these two. They almost smothered them in love. They looked like little cherubs. I could almost sympathise with their father they were almost too gorgeous to be real. Eric who was the easiest resettlement I ever had. He was fifteen, the same as Tim and had been seriously beaten by his father who he hated, so all we had to do with him was get him well. He thought he might be bi. "But if you have many gay guys as gorgeous as Matt and Ryan I might swing very heavily into gay." He was a delight, easily as mature as Ryan, good natured and helpful. His roommate was the most vulnerable kid I had ever seen. He made Damien at nine look like an ogre. Valery was part French part English, a total basket case when he came to us. His biological father was a monster who regularly beat his wife and kept Valery locked in a cupboard. The boy was thirteen, looked about ten and was frightened of his own shadow. When I adopted him I took Eric aside one day and told him. "I am putting Valery in with you Eric. You are going to take a huge responsibility in looking after him. I have seen bolder mice than him. You are going to lavish a ton of love on him, and I don't mean sexual. I want to see his confidence build the longer you have him under your wing. Do you think you can do that for me?" "For you Jase I'll do anything." My final two were crippled. They were eleven and twelve year old brothers. When they were eight and nine their father had broken both of their backs with an iron bar because he had caught them playing with each other. He had then subjected them to three years of abuse until shopped by a neighbour. I had them at the home for nearly a year rebuilding their lives. Next to Ryan, the most traumatic cases I had ever worked with. Matt could tell you how many nights I cried myself to sleep over those two, it was inevitable that I would adopt them. They were Jason and Justin, Jason became Baby Jason to differentiate him from me. Their case histories read like a horror story so when we went before the judge for adoption even he balked a little. "Doctor Daniels, I am wondering if this isn't a pair of sons too far." The social worker and her lawyer jumped up and started to espouse the advantages of them going into one of the state orphanages. The judge told them to sit down and be quiet. "Well Jason, convince me." "The case For your honour, a houseful of boys to love and protect them, a resident paediatrician on call all day and night, a resident psychiatrist who apparently never appears to run out of love and caring for these boys." I said that with a smile on my face. " A foundation that will fund whatever treatment the medical profession can offer to improve their lives, a total belief on the part of the boys that I love them and will protect them no matter what. Against, no mother figure apart from Mrs Platt, the housekeeper, she by the way is as soft with the boys as I am." "Hmm, what about the state home Miss Sims, can you match any of that?" "The boys should have a chance to grow up in a normal home your honour. Nearly all these boys are kept in a gay environment; they don't have a chance to be straight." "I suppose you organise weekly orgies to make sure they have plenty of exposure to homosexual activity Doctor Daniels." The judge was smirking so I let my own sense of humour shine through. "Good heavens no your honour. Every night, once a week orgies wouldn't be anywhere near enough to keep them gay." "Mmm, that's what I thought. Look after these two Jason, they are going to be awfully hard work. If I can help in any way don't be afraid to ask. Miss Sims, have you ever taken the time to go up to Doctor Daniels home to see what he achieves with these boys, or gone to their schools to see how many of them shine at sport and academics. If you ask them why, they will tell you it is to make their father proud of them. That father is Jason Daniels. Perhaps you should consider a career change and allow a child lover to take your job." Miss Sims and her lawyer once again left the court with their tales between their legs. I caught them on the steps of the courthouse. "Jane I'm not your enemy. Gay boys don't get adopted and they don't get fostered into loving homes and they are never going to be straight boys. Homosexuality isn't an illness you can cure, it's genealogical make up, they were born gay, they will die gay. What I am doing is giving basically normal youngsters the opportunity to develop a worthwhile life. Gay isn't who they are, it's what they are.(There I go again!) Who they are in most cases are decent loving human beings. Stop fighting me, come and help me. There are thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of young gay men going to the dogs because no one really cares about, or for them, many of them commit suicide because they can't handle their sexuality and think the world has given up on them." She looked at me and walked on. How could people be so bigoted or blind I wanted to scream with frustration? The next Saturday afternoon most of the boys, including me were round the pool. Matt and Ryan were helping Baby Jason and Justin to swim. I was trying to read some research papers but kept watching them. Before I knew it there were ten boys in the pool. Eight helping two. I was soon laughing with the rest of them. I would soon have the boys out of their wheel chairs at this rate. Someone touched my shoulder. "May I join you for a while Doctor Daniels?" I looked up, it was Jane Sims. "Please do Jane and please call me Jason or Jase. Can I get you a drink?" "Thank you, no, your housekeeper gave me one when I entered. Are you this hospitable to everyone?" I laughed, "probably." "What's going on here?" "Oh Matt and Ryan were helping my two new sons with their swimming. The remainder of my ruffians thought it was fun so the brothers are suffering under a deluge of helpers." "But they look as if they are in trouble." "Believe me Jane, the last thing any of those boys are is in trouble." "How can you be sure, you can't even see half of what is going on." "I don't need to Jane. Those ten boys would die for one another." She looked at me quite obviously not believing me, but never took her eyes off the hooligans in the pool. Eventually even teen and pre-teen boys get tired. They hauled the brothers from the pool and planted them on sun beds before half of them ran up to me asking permission to get drinks. Permission granted, two minutes late there were nine boys relaxing on sun beds chatting amiably. The tenth was Matt, he came to talk to me. "Hello Miss Sims, good to see you here. Dad, I think there is some nerve activity in the boys lower regions. Can we afford scans for them?" "You know we can Matt, are you sure?" "No, but when they get excited I see movement in their legs. Oh God Jase, let's try. I love my little brothers, please let us try to get them out of their wheel chairs." Matt was like me, very emotional. I pulled him into an embrace and said, "Of course we'll try." He was crying. "You know you are worse than me don't you?" He looked up at me through tear stained lids and said, "Now you know why I can't do your job Dad, it would destroy me in no time." "We'll schedule them for Monday Matt I promise." He whooped with joy and joined his brothers. "That was Doctor Daniels wasn't it Jason?" "Mmm, Matt decided he couldn't do my job but he wanted to help kids the same as I do. He is the most dedicated child doctor I have ever met, he really cares. Money will never motivate him, only a kid rehabilitated gives him joy." "Jase, I can't believe how blind I have been. I really do love kids, I just didn't see what you see. Gay or straight, it doesn't matter. What matters is that they grow up happy and useful human beings. Is there some way we can develop the state system to produce an environment like this?" "I doubt it Jane, but no reason we shouldn't try." Both of my eldest sons slept with me that night and we discussed Jane's comments. "We can try Dad," from Matt. "I'll help," from Ryan. As if I expected anything different. Happy bunnies, great weekend, back to work on Monday. There was a huge amount of joy in the Daniels household on Monday night. Baby Jason and Justin had nerve function in their legs. I knew what this entailed. To walk again these boys would go through hell in physio. I cried for them before they even started. I wasn't wrong, but Matt and Ryan, Tim and John were incredible. I'm not sure who cried the most tears, the four brothers working closely with J&J or me knowing what they were going through. Mine were because of the devotion these boys showed for their disadvantaged brothers. What had I done to deserve so much joy? Even that wasn't enough. Matt was giving me updates on them but playing them down. I never saw the boys out of their wheelchairs so I assumed they were still a long way off walking. That was all down to Matt, now I knew he was devious. I was in the library checking some information months later having let Matt take over the care of Baby Jason and Justin, when they walked in unaided. Silly bugger, I couldn't help myself I just burst into tears. "Dad it's ok we are well again." I looked at my two boys again and cried even harder. I know they were shocked by my reaction but I heard Matt talking to them later. I know, I shouldn't earwig other peoples conversations, but it was endearing. "You have to understand Dad. If you scratch your finger, he bleeds. If someone hurts you, he hurts ten times more. If something serious were to happen to you he would die. At the moment Dad has ten sons. I worry because he never ceases to be worried about you. If he gets more, the stress levels will rise. High stress high occasion for heart attack. I will die without him, he is my life, he always has been he always will be." Lots of nice incidents happen in a house where you have ten brothers ranging in age from mid twenties to ten, even more funny ones and because of the love they all had for each other few bad ones. Arguments were such a rarity that I nearly always butted in to find out why. One incident that endeared itself to me was the time I caught Tim making love to John. I have to admit to being a voyeur for a few minutes. Tim was just about to enter John and because of the position of the beds and the way they were facing they didn't realise I was there. Although Tim was only average size in the genital department John was so small I worried. I needn't have. I watched a gentle entry of Tim's cock head, then no movement until John said. "You can go all the way now Tim. It is getting easier every time." I was a little surprised at that comment, John was only just thirteen, a bit young for anal intercourse I thought, and I knew I should have stopped it but! I watched and listened for another few minutes. Matt and Ryan all over again, not that those two knew I had seen them do it supposedly in private. I backed out when I was sure it was ok and quietly closed the door. Of course it gave me a lot of room for thought so family conference after supper. Eleven of us now instead of the original three. "I hope what I am going to say is unnecessary, but just in case I am going to say it anyway. If any of you are having penetrative sex I'm not angry or upset, but I will be if you are doing it with multiple partners. Be honest with me please, are any of you?" They all looked at each other then back to me but no hands were raised. "Good, but just in case any of you decide to, even if it is with your brothers, unless it is with the same brother and you are monogamous. I am putting a box of condoms in the library alongside a box of lubricant. You all know about HIV and AIDS, please don't risk getting either. On the same subject. If any of you in twin rooms would like a double bed just say so. I'm not encouraging sex amongst you but I know how nice it is to make love to someone you love. My only comments are, be careful and gentle with your lover, and coercion is not an option ever. Anyone got questions?" Conference over Tim came to see me to ask for a double bed, surprise, surprise. "Always be gentle with John won't you Tim?" "As if I wouldn't be Dad, I'm his protector not his abuser." He sounded as though I had insulted him so I grabbed hold of him and gave him a hug. "Sorry son that was an unwarranted comment I know." Eyes met, love shown, problem over. Over the next year I added four more sons. The last one being the only one I was not sure about. He was almost too old but he was going to end up in trouble if we couldn't stabilise his actions and get his education completed. Kent was sixteen so technically he could run free. He was a big lad, well, a little larger than most of my brood. He was a good looking kid who came from a family of drunks. Mum, Dad, and two older brothers. They would come home and beat up on him because he was different; gay and sober. They all died in a house fire that was arson and it was thought Kent was the arsonist but nothing could be proved so they gave him to me when he was fifteen and a half. I worked with him for six months when he was supposed to leave the home. "Kent, I want you to come and spend the weekend with me at my home. Would you like to do that?" "Sure, I have nothing else on." A bit belligerent but we had come a long way, I hoped we could go further if he filled my last bed. The house was a real shock to him. I put him in with Matt for the weekend and moved Ryan in with the only single son. The weekend was fun, lots of games among the boys both in and out of the pool plus BBQs on both nights. Kent watched a lot and participated a little. Sunday afternoon he came to talk to me. "Are these guys really all your sons and ex patients like me?" "Yes, everyone of them." "Are they all gay as well." "All but one." "Wow, how does he get on? Does he get hit on by the others?" I laughed. "No Kent, I have no doubt there is a lot of sexual activity in this house but never any coercion. Mostly it is between brothers that share rooms. Eric is the odd man out and he shares with a boy that is not sexually active so no problem. The twins may not be gay either." "Ok, why am I here this weekend then. Is it to show me what I can't have?" "No, the reverse. I wondered if you would like to take my last empty bed." "With Matt?" "No, that was just for this weekend. We would have to talk about your pairing if you come to stay because the only single at the moment is a nervous little thing and you would need to be especially caring with him. He is like Valery, Eric's partner. Very timid and not yet 100% sure of his sexuality." "Are you serious Jase?" "Yes on certain provisos." "Such as?" "Primary condition, you go back to school and graduate. You go every day, work hard and make me proud of you. Ask Matt what I told him when he came to me and you see where it got him." "I don't want to go back to school." "No school no deal Kent. You have to finish your education before I would feel happy letting you move on from here." "But I'm not clever." "Most of these boys aren't either but they all make it because they work hard and they have brothers to help them when they hit brick walls in their study programmes." "I don't know." With that he was off. Adam was my little single, twelve years old, a bit like Damien had been, and Ryan I suppose, a serious lack of loving which we made up for here. He slept with me more frequently than I liked but until I got him a roommate I would put up with it and I wasn't sure that Kent was the right man for it." Child care got on my back about Kent so I took the plunge. I sent for him to discuss it. Trauma hits the happy household.