Founders School for Boys
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CHAPTER 35
A BIRTHDAY TO REMEMBER
After we left court, we piled into the van and headed home. We stopped for dinner at the one of my family's favorite Mexican restaurants on the edge of Milbourn, called All in the Family. I got a little sad as we walked in remembering all the times we ate here. While everyone was waiting to be seated, I walked up to a wall with like a like a million pictures on it, and just stood there staring.
Timmy and Owen ran up behind me and Timmy asked, "What you doing?"
I didn't say anything. Owen pointed, "Hey, it's you and your family."
We all stared at the picture. "We used to come here every Friday and special occasions for dinner. Sometimes the owner takes pictures of families and puts them up on the wall. This one was taken on Donny's twelfth birthday." It was different than the rest of the pictures, because it had a black ribbon wrapped around it. "We were here a few weeks before we found out about the mission and me going to FSB." I said, trying to hold back the tears.
Both boys put their arms over my shoulders. I heard Pa talking to someone, but I could not take my eyes of the picture. I remembered everything we ate, and even the smells. That's when Jorge, the owner of the restaurant kneeled down beside me. "Hola, mi amigo Brian."
I turned and looked at him, "Hola Jorge."
"I know what happed to your family, and I am so sorry for your loss. You have a nice dinner with your friends, and I will give you this picture before you leave. You had a nice family and we have lit many candles in church for them. My family saw you at the funeral but chose not to impose on your grief." He turned me around and I saw his family there with their hands over their hearts."
"I looked at him, "Thank you Jorge. My family loved coming here, it was our favorite place to eat." I looked back to the picture, "Please don't take it down, we loved it here and this way we will always be together here.
"For you anything amigo, we would be honored for it to remain here. Now you go with your friends and have a nice dinner."
I grabbed his hand and pulled him over to where Ma and Pa were waiting. "Senor Jorge, I want you to meet my new family. This is Mr. and Mrs. Walters, but I just call them Ma and Pa."
They shook hands, "Senor and Senorita Walters, it is an honor to meet you."
"These are my best friends and brothers, Timmy and Owen."
"Hola Senores. You must be very special for Brian to consider you his brothers."
"Thank you Senor Jorge." They both said.
"And this is my big brother Tyler. In school he watches over me and helps me when I need it. I love him like a real brother."
"I feel sorry for you Senor."
Tyler looked surprised, "Why is that?"
Looking back over to the picture, "Because you have big shoes to fill."
Tyler shook his head, "I will do my best, but I will never be able to fill Donny's shoes."
"This is my lawyer Mr. Anderson. He saved me from having to live with Mrs. Hastings."
"You did a good thing Senor, I do not like to talk bad about my customers, but she is not a nice person."
I then introduced him to Owens father and Tommy, and we were shown to a big table in the back of the restaurant. I pulled Mr. Anderson off to the side. "Thank you for what you did for me today. I know that I have not been very nice to you lately."
"I get why you didn't want to talk to me. You were worried that if you did, you would have to go with Mrs. Hastings. Some of that was my fault. I chose not to stress you out about this until I needed to. I was hoping she would just drop it, but she was intent on saving your soul." He said with a smile, "As it turned out you were stressing about it anyway. Honestly, I was hoping that you forgot about the whole thing."
"I wish. It was eating me up inside. I was so worried that I would lose all of this." I looked him straight in the eye, "I wouldn't want to live if I lost this."
"First, I don't ever want to hear you talk like that again. Second, you should know that I would have never stopped fighting for you. I would have gotten you back, believe that."
I reached up and gave him a big hug. That is when Mr. Jackson said, "Ok, that is enough hugging, we are hungry."
I sat between Owen and Timmy. We all had a great time eating and talking with each other. When we were all finished Jorge came out with a sopapilla for everyone. Then we the kids were given grape juice in wine glasses, and the adults were given wine. Jorge stood by me and tapped his glass. "I would like to propose a toast to all of you for being Brian's family when the ones I celebrated with so many times could not be with him. It is an honor for me to have you in my restaurant."
Everyone clinked their glasses and drank. I noticed Tommy didn't drink and I asked, "Don't you like wine Tommy?"
"I am not much of a drinker to begin with, but I would never drink before I get behind the wheel of a car."
He smiled at me, and I think I blushed. He really is handsome though. Timmy whispered in my ear, "You really should let him ask you out. He really likes you."
I looked at Timmy who had this big goofy smile on his face, "Maybe, I would have to ask Pa first."
We were just about to get up when Jorge and his son Jose asked us if he could take our picture. We all got together and smiled for the camera.
We all went to the bathroom and washed the honey from the sopapillas off our hands and face. Then everyone peed and loaded up into the van for the ride home. I don't remember much, because the next think I know I am being shaken awake in our driveway. I didn't feel bad though, because they were waking Timmy and Owen up at the same time.
Over the next couple of weeks Ma and Pa planned my birthday party. I just wanted to have a party with my friends at the Rec Center. It was just going to be about ten kids plus Tyler, Brad, Paul, and Brendon.
I fell asleep that Friday all excited. This would be my first birthday party that was not just with my family. Then I was a little sad that it would be my first birthday without my family.
I was woken up the next morning by someone calling my name. "Brian, time to wake up birthday boy. Come on sleepy head, wakey, wakey little baby."
"I don't want to get up yet." I said feeling grouchy.
"If you don't get out of that bed I will tickle you till you pee."
"Fine." I said angrily. I threw off the covers and got out of bed. That is when I realized that there was no one in else in the room. I figured that I was just having a dream, so I went to pee. When I came back I heard my name called again and realized that it was coming from the closet.
I went into the closet and got under the blanket. "Donny, was that you waking me up?"
"You bet it was little brother."
"Why did you have to wake me up, I am tired."
"Brian, it breaks our hearts that we can't be with you today. You know that in the eleven years you have been alive, I have only missed being the first one that wished you a happy birthday once."
"You are being silly Donny, I am only ten, not eleven."
"True, but I missed wishing you a happy birthday by two days on the day that you were born. Since then I have never let anyone wish you a happy birthday before me. So, happy birthday my litter brother and best friend."
I started crying, "I miss you guys so much. I get so sad sometimes."
"We know you do buddy, so do we." Then he started singing happy birthday to me, "I know you can't hear them, but mom and dad are singing too."
"No, I can't hear them, but I can feel them."
"Ma is coming to wake you up to make your birthday breakfast. Brian, I want you to hear what I am saying to you."
"Ok Donny, I am listening."
"Some things may happen today, that may scare you a little. We want to you know that it is ok, and we are happy for you."
"What are you talking about Donny?"
"Just know that we love you, and only care about your happiness."
Just then Ma knocked on my bedroom door, "Where is the birthday boy?"
I flew out of the closet yelling, "I am right here Ma, I am the birthday boy."
She held out her arms and I ran in for a hug. "I guess Donny already wished you a happy birthday, huh."
"Yep he is always the first. Then they sang happy birthday to me."
She looked surprised, "Can you hear your parents now?"
"No, but I felt their love all around me."
"Oh Brian, I am so happy to hear that. Never lose or forget that feeling." She said as she pulled me into another hug. My next question is what does the birthday boy want for breakfast?"
"Can we have pancakes and bacon?"
She smiled and said, "Come with me." She took my hand and led me into the kitchen. On the counter was the makings for pancakes and also some bacon. "Do I know my boy or what?"
I giggled and helped Ma make breakfast and set the table. I was excited for Pa to come see what we did. "Wow, you two really out did yourselves this morning. What's the occasion? I know it is not my birthday." Pa said acting like he was thinking.
I giggled and ran to him for a hug. When he picked me up in his strong arms I said, "No silly, it is not your birthday, it's mine. I am ten years old today."
He started tickling me, "I knew that you little rug rat."
He put me down and we all had a delicious breakfast. I just started to get up so that I could clear the dishes when Ma said, "Hang on a minute Brian, we want to talk to you about a few things."
I sat back down, "Wait a minute, I can't be in trouble on my birthday."
They both laughed and Pa said, "No Brian, you are not in trouble. At least I don't think so. Is there something we should know?"
"Not that I can think of." I said with my evilest grin.
"Good." Ma said, "We have some exciting news that aside from us, only a few doctors know about."
I started to panic, "Is something wrong?"
"No buddy." Pa said, "Something is very right."
Ma took my hands in hers and said, "I am pregnant. We are having a baby."
I couldn't help it I got so excited that I jumped up and started dancing and singing, "We're having a baby... We're having a baby..." Then something hit me like a brick, and I stopped dancing. "Does that mean you don't want me anymore?' I asked trying to hold back the tears.
Pa grabbed me in his arms, "Are you kidding me? This baby needs a big brother, and who better to do the job than you? Correct me if I am wrong, but weren't you trained by the best big brother in the world?"
I nodded my head yes real fast, "Yes I was. Donny was, I mean is the best big brother a guy could hope for."
"Well that settles it, you have the job." Ma said.
Pa put me back in my chair and said, "There is one more thing that we would like to talk to you about."
Ma put a folder in front of me and opened it up. I looked down to see the words, `Private Adoption of Minor Child'. I looked up and into Pa's eyes not sure what to say. "Brian, you don't have to answer now, you take as much time as you need. I just want you to understand, we will never be the parents you lost, but we will do our very best to always love and support you."
"I know this is a lot to take in, and know that if you say no, nothing will change. You will still live here, and we will still love and support you the rest of our lives." Pa said.
Looking back and forth between them, "I have you ask you a serious question."
Ma said, "You can ask us anything sweetheart."
I got up and started pacing, trying to drag out asking the question. I stopped took a deep breath and asked, "How long do I have to wait to say yes?"
Pa said, "Brian, you can take as long as you need to... Wait, did you say yes?"
Smiling and jumping into Pa's lap, "Of course, I said yes. Didn't you think I would?"
Ma said, "We hoped you would, but we figured you would want to talk to Donny first. Don't you want to ask your parents if they are ok with it?"
"Donny told me this morning that something might happen today and not to be scared. He also said that our parents only want me to be happy. They are pretty smart, so they know this would make me happy."
I jumped off of Pa's lap, ran to Ma and gave her a big hung, then ran around the living room, jumping and cheering. That is when I heard a lot of knocking on the door. I opened it up and got knocked on my butt by my two best friends. Both at the same time yelled, "Happy birthday brother."
I was laughing uncontrollably, but when I caught my breath, "Get off me you meatballs."
As we all got up Timmy said, "Sorry, we were just excited."
I put on a straight face, "This has already been a horrible day."
Owen said, "I am sorry to hear that on your birthday. What happened?"
"Do you guys know what these two said to me this morning?" They both shook their heads, "Well get ready for this, they told me that Ma was pregnant. You know like having a baby."
Timmy looked at them, then at me, "Is that a bad thing?"
"Oh it gets worse. You Know what they asked me?"
It was so hard not to break out laughing at this point. Owen asked, "What?"
I started pacing back and forth, stopped, looked at the guys, then slowly I said, "They asked me... If they... could adopt me."
They both looked at each other totally confused. Timmy asked, "Is that a bad thing?"
I couldn't hold back anymore, I got all excited, "Heck no, I am going to be part of their family."
Timmy got all excited and ran over to give Ma and Pa hugs. Owen asked, "I am confused, weren't you already a part of their family?"
Pa answered, "Yes he is, but now it will become legal."
Owen walked over and sat in my chair looking at Pa, "I still don't get it. You are already parents to him, so why does it matter if it is legal or not? Will you love him more if you adopt him?"
Pa took Owens hands, "Owen, we could not love him more if we tried. Let me put it to you this way. Remember when Brian had to have that surgery last year?" We all nodded, "Because we could not get a hold of his parents, the school made the decision to act. This is because they had the papers which told the doctors that it was ok for them to make that decision on Brian's behalf. If we don't adopt him, the school will continue to decide what is best for Brian, until he is eighteen, at which time Brain will make his own decisions. Follow me so far?"
We looked at each other then back at Pa nodding our heads. "So here is the problem, what happens when Brian is older, and god forbid gets into an accident and can't make decisions for himself? With no legal family, the state would make those decisions for him. However, once we adopt him, we become his next of kin and we will legally be able to look out for Brian."
"You have to be adopted Brian I don't want anything to happen to you." Owen said wrapping me in a really tight hug.
Once I broke free, "I said yes. I mean I could not leave the new baby without a brother. Those two are a lot of work, now I will finally have some help."
We all laughed and dance around all excited. We played games and waited for the clock to hit twelve so we could go to the Rec Center.
After the excitement of the morning, the rest of the day went even better than I could have imagined. The number of people actually invited to my party turned to be about fifteen. My head was spinning, before this my birthdays I only had four. This time though it included the group I normally hung out with, plus Tyler, Brad, Brendon, and Paul. However, Mr. Anderson was also invited, and showed up with his wife and kids. Of course, Amanda was there as well as Beth, Bills brother, Aarons brother, and others. This did not even count the other kids that were already at the Rec Center that joined in with us.
Timmy and I hung out the whole time, but Owen spent a lot of time with Beth. Colt thought it was gross, but Gunner said, "Be nice Colt. I think they look good together, and I can't think of anyone I would rather see with Beth than Owen."
Colt watched them for a minute, "I guess you're right; Owen is pretty cool."
When the food came out for lunch, no one went hungry. Ma and Pa knew that having it at the Rec Center would bring on many more party goers. I knew for sure, that they knew, when this huge cake came out. Everyone sang happy birthday. A few kids came up apologizing for not bring me a present, so I said, "It's ok, I really don't need anything. Maybe you can donate something to the hospital like Timmy did."
We all left about four o'clock and went home. I was so tired from everything that happened today, I went to my room and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Pa woke me up a few hours later. I felt him rubbing my back, "Hey buddy, let's get you into a shower. You smell like chlorine and sweat."
He knew I was awake, so when I didn't move I guess he felt like he had no choice and started tickling me. I was trying to push him away, but he just kept at it till, "Pa, please... I am going to pee..." I said through a mass of giggles.
"Ok then rug rat, let's get a move on."
He lifted me down from my bed and as soon as I hit the ground I yelled, "Last one there is a rotten egg." I ran to the bedroom and was winning, but he blocked me at the bathroom door and beat me. We were both laughing.
He started waving is hand in front of his face and acting like he smelled something bad, "I guess we know who the rotten egg is." Then without warning he pushed out a big smelly fart.
I ran out of the bathroom yelling, "Yeah we do, it is you."
I got on the floor and scooted under the bed, "Brian, what are you doing under there?" Ma asked.
"Hiding from the rotten eggs." I said giggling.
"Oh honey really?" Ma said as she waved her hand in front of her face.
Pa took a deep breath, "Smells like roses." Then before I had time to react, he reached under the bed, grabbed my ankles, and pulled me out. "Got ya smelly boy."
I giggled as he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. He carried me into the bathroom and turned on the rain head shower. Then he put me down and pushed me in before the water had a chance to warm up. "Hey!!! What's the big idea?"
He caught me trying to escape, picked me up, and carried me back in with him. The shower was warm now, so I didn't fight it. He sat down on the bench, and I climbed onto his lap, with my legs one either side of him. I rested my head on his chest and played with his chest hair. "Pa, can I ask you something?"
He started rubbing my back, "Sure buddy, anything."
"Timmy says that Tommy want's to ask me out on a date. What do you think I should do?"
"Wow, I was not ready for that. I guess that decision is going to be up to you, what do you want to do?"
"Well, he wants me to be his wife when I am old enough. He scared me the first time he asked me."
"Brian, look at me." I leaned back so I was looking at him in the eyes, "You are ten years old, and you can't become a wife until you are thirteen. There are three years until you have to make that decision."
"Do I make that decision, or will you as my father?"
"Brian, it is Crossman tradition for the father to choose a husband for their female children. If you were to choose to be a wife, that would include you. In the past what you wanted would not be taken into consideration. However, I watched the fear in my brothers eyes when our dad chose the man he would marry. He had only met Rodger a few times and didn't know him that well. Luckily, Rodger turned out to be a great guy and they have been happily married for ten years now. If you choose to be a wife, I will help you with the decision, and may even make some suggestions, but in the end you will have to choose."
"How will I know if I make the right decision?"
"Let me put it this way, if I don't approve of the man you choose, I will not let it happen. However, I never want to see the fear in your eyes that I saw in Drews, so I won't force you into a marriage."
"Oh yeah, I forgot you have a brother. How old was Rodger when they got married?"
"Rodger was twenty-six, twice as old as Drew was."
"I am not sure if I want to marry Tommy, but he sure is cute."
Pa laughed, and that is when I realized that we were not alone. Ma was sitting on the toilet watching us and laughing. "Did you ask him yet?" Pa shook his head.
"Ask me what."
Ignoring me Pa said, "What is the point, you know he will say no."
I was looking back and forth between them, "Ask me what?"
"I think you should ask him anyway."
"Fine." Pa looked at me, "Brian, feel free to say no if you want, but your Ma and I were wondering, since there is still over two weeks before school starts... Aw, never mind, you won't want to."
"Please Pa, just ask me." I was starting to get frustrated.
He took a deep breath, "Your Ma and I wanted to know if you would be interested in taking a trip with us?"
I jumped off Pa's lap, all excited, "Sure I would, where are we going?"
Laughing Ma said, "We are thinking of going to California to see Drew and Rodger."
"Heck yeah I want to go. When are we leaving? Are we driving or flying? How long will it take to get there?"
Pa said, "Slow down there slugger. To answer your questions, day after tomorrow, driving, four days."
I had to think back and remember my questions again, to understand the answers. "Yea, we get to go on a trip to California." I said dancing around the shower. I stopped dancing and asked, "Should I go pack?"
After Ma got her laughing under control, she said, "Not yet, we have a lot to do first."
"Like what?"
"We will wake up tomorrow morning and clean the whole house, top to bottom."
I was confused, "Why do we have to do that?"
Pa grabbed me and pulled me back on to his lap, only this time he pushed the cunt cleaning nozzle inside me. As I was filling up he said, "Because leaving a house dirty, means you come home to a stinky house."
Ma said, "You will be responsible for cleaning your room and your bathroom. Since you don't always seem to be able to hit the toilet when you pee, that will include inside and outside of the toilet, and the wall behind hit."
I got defensive at first, "I do not... Ok, maybe sometimes, but I don't hit the wall. At least I don't think I do."
"You do. We will have to get an early start because our afternoon will be filled with packing."
"I think, however, before we start our afternoon packing, we will go into town and do some shopping and have lunch." Said Pa.
Once we were done with our shower, we got into the bed in what had come to be our new way of having sex. Ma laid on her back, with me between her legs and my head on her chest. Then Pa would mount me while I sucked on Ma's nipples. The only thing that grossed me out a little, is that my crotch and legs would get wet from Ma's pussy. I guess it should not have bugged me, but it did. I would never say anything though, because except for that, I loved the rest.
Pa gave me three amazing orgasms. I was tired afterwards, but still had enough energy to fight Ma for the right to clean Pa's cock. When I won, Ma got behind me and sucked Pa's cum out of my cunt, and I orgasmed again. We finished with me drinking Pa's golden water.
We woke up at seven thirty. We all took a quick rinse off shower, then went in and made breakfast. When we were done I started to clean my place, "Brian, I will get that you go get started on your room please."
"Ok Ma." I said and started heading that way.
Pa yelled after me, "Don't mess around Brian, we want to leave here no later than noon."
I yelled back, "Yes Sir." I went to my room to get started. I didn't think it would take me all that long, since I liked clean, and mostly picked up after myself. I stripped the beds, took the sheets, pillowcases, and any dirty clothes I had downstairs to the laundry room.
Ma met me there and said, "If you are going to be a wife, you have to learn how to do laundry." She showed me how to separate the clothes for washing. We started with putting the sheets and pillowcases in the washing machine. She showed me how to set the machine for sanitize, put in the Oxy powder first, then the sheets, and finely the detergent pod. I closed the washer and pushed the start button.
"Ma, can I ask you something?"
"Sure baby, what do you want to know?"
"Remember in court when the Judge asked me what a Crossman was?"
"Yes I do, and I think you gave and excellent answer."
"Ok, but what does it mean to you?"
I could tell that she was thinking about it as we walked back up the stairs and into my room. "Brian, do you know who Bruce Lee is?"
"Sure he is the karate guy."
"Yes, but he was also a teacher, and a very smart man. I guess I never really thought about what a Crossman was until I read something that he said. To Bruce, fighting was something you only did only in self-defense. He said, "Martial Arts is more of a way to become calm when everything around you is not." I am not into the Martial Arts aspect of him, as much as I am in the man himself. Are you following me so far?"
"I think so."
"I have read a lot about him and think that his intelligence was greatly underestimated. It was not until I read a quote of his when I was about fifteen, that all the Crossman stuff made sense to me. As you know, as Crossman we are not really after wealth. When I was younger I hated seeing other kids, you know Regulars, have all the things that I wanted and was told I couldn't have."
"I don't understand, I have everything I could want."
Ma laughed, "That is because, you are a simple boy. The things you want the most, you have always had."
I looked around my room, "I don't understand, what is that?"
"Love. You had the love of your family, and the love that you got from your brother, was like gold to you. You are not a fancy dresser, needing the name brand clothes that most kids today have to have. Most of the presents you got from your birthday you want to donate to those who really need them. I guarantee you that most of the kids at your old school would never even think about donating new toys like that."
"But those kids don't have anything."
"Your right, and that is the point. I read a quote by Bruce Lee that made me look around and finally realize how lucky I am to be a Crossman."
"What was the quote?"
"He said, "Instead of buying your children all the things you never had, you should teach them all the things you were never taught. Material wears out, but knowledge stays." I think that quote is why I became a teacher, and why education is so important to the Crossman. If you are given the right education, money is only a way to live, not something you live for."
When the house was clean we piled into the Santa Fe and headed out. We went to a hamburger place for lunch, then to the mall to shop for clothes, and then to the grocery store. I was a little confused here, because we were buying things like steaks, burgers, hotdogs, vegetables, and milk. I asked, "Why are we buying all of this, if we are driving?"
"We have to eat don't we?" Pa asked like it was the most obvious answer in the world.
I have never actually gone on a trip before, so I figured there was things that I didn't understand. Once we were done shopping, we headed back to the ranch and instead of heading home, we headed the other direction. We pulled up to the warehouse where all of the stuff from my old house is. Instead of pulling in front though, we went around back. We pulled up to this big door, where Pa reached out if his window and punched in a code on this box. I watched in amazement at this huge door split in half and retracted.
As soon as we entered, lights started coming on. There were all kinds of cool things in here. There were lots of cars with covers on them, boats, jet skis, and campers. "I thought Crossman weren't into this kind of stuff." I asked.
Pa said, "Brian, what you see in this building are mostly hobbies. Those cars over there under those covers, are not high-end sports cars. Most of those cars are older than we are. They have been passed down through generations. As for the boats, jet skis, and campers, those are about community. They were not bought to show off or improve the owners status, they are used when the community goes to the lake during the summer to have fun. While others were bought for different reasons."
We passed the bus that the schools teams use and stopped at a different kind of bus. This one was a motor home but was bigger than any motor home I ever saw. Ma said, "This motor home is really big, and we invested in it when we would go on long trips with other families. Your Pa and I loved to travel with a group of Crossman across country. Sometimes we would take another couple with us, so they could enjoy it too."
"Wow that is so cool." We all got out of the car and Pa opened up the door. You entered it like you would a real bus. Pa flipped a few switched and the lights came on. It was nicer than the house.
Pa said, "Let's get the groceries in here from the car. I ran back outside and started bringing in the food. I watched as Ma started putting them in the refrigerator.
"How long will it take to get cold?" Ma grabbed my hand and placed it on the wall of the refrigerator, and it was cold. "How did it get cold so fast?"
Pa said, "I came here a few days ago and turned it on and opened the windows for it to air out. Let's go unplug it and head out."
I was so excited that I thought I would burst. "Pa, can I ride back to the house with you?"
"Of course you can. I need a copilot for this big beast."
He showed me how to unplug it and how to roll up the cord and put in the right place. By the time we were done, Ma was already gone. We climbed in and Pa closed the door. Then he started it up. It was loud inside the building and Pa told me to go around and close all the windows, so I did. When I came back to the front I was just about to jump into the passenger when Pa stopped me. "What's wrong? Can't I sit there?"
"Sure you can, but I don't want you to fall in the step well."
He pushed a button, and the floor moved and covered the step well. "Can I step on that?"
"Of course you can."
"Cool." I climbed into the seat and put my seatbelt on, and we headed towards the doors. It was so weird looking out that huge window.
When we cleared the doors Pa pushed a button on the visor and we watched through the little TV on the dash what was happening behind us. We watched the doors close, and then we headed home.