Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2014 15:23:55 -0400
From: Eff Del <nolitimere156@gmail.com>
Subject: Flights of Angels-Chapter 14

Flights of Angels-Chapter 14

By Eff Del

Nolitimere156@gmail.com



*There are times when we feel that we are too broken and damaged to be
loved.*

*We feel too flawed and injured...too damaged and unworthy.*

*This is nonsense because we are all worthy of love and we all deserve it. *

*We insult the world when we feel incapable of being loved because we are
less than perfect. To be ourselves doesn't mean we are unlovable. It means
that we are simply real...*

*To believe that you must hide all the parts of you that are broken, out of
fear that someone else is incapable of loving what is less than perfect, is
to believe that sunlight is incapable of entering a broken window and
illuminating a dark room.*



The sweet hi pitched voice echoed in the acoustic excellence of the shower
as he strutted through the spitting water and sang in a rather cute phony
English accent;


"When I was a lad I served a term
As office boy to an Attorney's firm.
I cleaned the windows and I swept the floor,
And I polished up the handle of the big front door.

I polished up that handle so carefullee
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!"



I should have learned by now that Sean could amaze me almost at will but,
the fact that he continued to delight and surprise me at the most unlikely
times was one of the great pleasures of my wonderful new life.

Sitting on the bench in the shower while a naked 12 year old boy
wonderfully delivered the patter song from Gilbert and Sullivan's `HMS
Pinafore" was not how I expected my day to begin, but I had no complaints.



I'm certain that my smile had difficulty fitting my face as Sean sang and
mimicked Sir Joseph's funny account of his rise to fame and fortune
perfectly as the spray from multiple shower heads played against the skin
of his exquisite young body.



Last night, I had taken him as well as Jack, Martha and Chris to a
performance by a national touring company of "Pinafore" and they had all
enjoyed it (almost) as much as I had.



Since I was a teenager and had first been exposed to the marvelous
operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan, I'd been a fan but I also knew that this
was an iffy proposition. Like the Scotch whisky I enjoy so much, this music
was an acquired taste especially for  young 21st Century Americans.

 I'd already known that Martha was a huge fan but I wasn't certain how the
boys; Chris included, would react.



To my delight, they loved it. I wasn't all that surprised when I learned
later that Sean and Jack were both familiar with the music. `Make another
chalk mark in the positive column for the NEST' I'd thought to myself. It
was Chris' first experience but he seemed to get it and like it a lot. The
humor was old but still funny in its classic simplicity and the music was
to die for.

The singers were all well matched for their roles and the performance was
at a level that I was certain Mr. D'Oyly Carte would have approved. My
small party had certainly been captivated.



August had skipped like a stone spun side-arm across a smooth surfacedl
pond and had transformed almost imperceptivity into September.



After reading Jack's very candid interview conducted by Professor Swaim
including the events that directly concerned me, I'd had a surprisingly
sudden and totally unexpected emotional explosion.



To my good fortune, Martha had been there to hold me and nurture me
throughout the entire experience.

When it ended, I had risen with a new clarity of thinking. It was almost as
if I had wept away my grief, my guilt and my confusion held tightly and
lovingly in that wonderful woman's protective arms.



Martha herself had guided me out back and somehow had gotten me into a golf
cart and she herself had driven us to Fish Camp. It was Martha who had
guided me upstairs into the bedroom and tucked me in after handing me a
drink.

Martha Edwards, that wonderful woman had driven back to the house,
interrupted class in the south wing and drawn the Professor aside
explaining what had happened.



Martha had taken charge of the boys and Doctor Swaim had taken charge of me.



I'd awoken in the familiar bedroom the next morning just as the sun was
rising. I'd gone down stairs and started the coffee and prepared the
scrambled egg mixture just as the big man came down.



He and I sat and talked all day and long into the night. We'd picked up the
conversation the next morning and it also continued beyond midnight.

The next day, Doc Swaim had driven me back to the main house and the boys
were waiting in the kitchen with hugs and giggles as I walked through the
door.



I was no longer confused. I knew with certainty that I was surrounded with
people whom I loved deeply and who genuinely loved and cared for me in
return. I was fresh and firm in my resolve and I knew what I needed to do.



That afternoon I'd met privately with Walter and Uncle Phil and laid out
the course of action I'd planned. I was gratified that although they both
had several very constructive suggestions, they by and large agreed with my
chosen course of action. I was a bit surprised but also pleased when Walter
indicated that he and Phil felt that it would be a great idea if I let my
new younger staff more or less take on this project. They both assured me
that they would be there as needed but in the long run, they thought this
would be a wonderful christening for the new team.



Though I was gratified by this suggestion, I was also a bit saddened
because this was almost an acknowledgement that my father's "team" was
withdrawing slowly but certainly from the game.



I'd called Richard and Barry into the meeting room at the North Wing.

 Renovations had finally begun again in earnest now that the cables and
wiring had been updated but my office up there was more of a mess than a
useable space.



We sat crowded at one end of the large conference table. I'd spread my
notes out in front of me and glanced at my two security people.

They were both a bit older than I was but still very young men. They were
handsome and funny and seemed to share a respect for each other...a trait
that I considered important. I thought to myself that if Chris can fit into
this grouping, I most certainly have hopes for the future of  `Magnus
Venatus'.



I was particularly amused by Richard. As he assumed Walter's daily duties
as Butler and Head of staff, he had become a walking talking mimicry of his
mentor; serious and staid. He was all efficiency and business. Despite
this, he was respected and well-liked by the household staff.

Beyond this façade, he was acquiring more and more respect for the
efficient way he was assuming the mantle of half of Walter's command of the
Skuggor ; my personal and highly secret military force.

I was particularly interested by the fact that though Richard strove to
maintain a stoic façade, there was some private joke going on between him
and Jack because whenever there was any interaction between them, Jack
would leave giggling and Richard fought hard to keep a grin off his face.



I'd sensed a little bit of the devil in Jack that first time we'd met under
such traumatic (for me at least) circumstances and every day he was at
Joyous Gaurde just confirmed my original suspicion. The young red head was
growing on me and my staff.



Now, Barry had on several occasions fooled me completely. He'd posed as a
flight attendant on my jet three or four times. He'd struck me as an
attractive nice young man with no real ambition but, turned out to be a
seasoned Skuggor and a genius at tactical planning and cyber "things".

 Walter constantly assured me that he was most likely the best in the
world.

Barry's appearance and actions didn't fit that image however. He was one of
the funniest people I'd ever met and I couldn't imagine anyone meeting him
and not liking him at once.



They both pleasantly surprised me during this meeting and I decided that I
should stop being surprised at all.



 I'd explained to the two of them that we needed to be prepared to totally
take over the computer network of the NEST. They'd looked at each other
like two guilty little school boys and Richard had actually giggled as
Barry told me that we'd had total access and potential control since Sean's
kidnapping . He further explained that this was one way he'd been able to
turn the `myth' of my mother and Sean's grandmother into provable reality
so easily.



Having absorbed the fact that I probably wasn't as clever as I'd imagined I
was, I handed Barry a folder of things I expected we would need to do
quickly as soon as we had physically taken control of the Academy. I turned
to Richard and told him that I felt the patrons of the NEST would be
unlikely to just give up and go away. I told him we should be prepared for
nasty and unexpected repercussions.



With a rather dazzling smile, he replied that he and Walter had already
discussed this possibility and he believed he'd already put plans in place
to counter such negative reaction.



"I feel, and Walter agrees that we need to be prepared for reaction at
every conceivable level Eric. I've got a pretty detailed analysis here that
you might like to go over." He handed me a rather thick post bound document
which I accepted with a grin. Without exchanging any further words, we both
expressed the knowledge that there was no way I'd know half of the tactical
thinking that was contained in this thick document.



With that discussion essentially over, they both expressed their excitement
over the pool that was being installed at their complex and their hopes
that I'd be over for some swims and barbeques. They were serious at their
jobs but were still essentially young men; Walter's pups when all was said
and done.



I assured them that I would look forward to that. Secretly I was thinking
since Chris will soon be joining you all at the complex, I hope he'll
become close to you.'  I also reminded them that the pool wouldn't be ready
before winter so there would be months before we all could enjoy it.



I gave Richard a list of names of people that I wanted located and
instructions once they were. He read the list and involuntarily raised an
eyebrow. He looked pointedly at me and nodded. I supposed that I could
surprise him after all.



That meeting over, I took the elevator down stairs and took a seat in front
of the maze garden waiting for the Professor to dismiss his charges for the
day.



They both saw me as they walked through the door and ran into my arms. I
held them both tightly as I listened to their enthusiastic descriptions of
their day combined with their professions of love for me. Wrapped in a
jumble of arms, we'd walked back to the main house for some fun in the game
room.



This was a big moment because John was meeting us there to take Jack up on
his challenge to play a game or two of nine-ball.



Jack was like a little rooster strutting around the table twisting the
chalk furiously at the tip of his cue while John just smiled as he racked
the balls into the curious diamond shaped formation required for this
particular game.



Both boys had shared with me on several occasions that Jack was unbeaten at
nine-ball back at the NEST and there "probably wasn't anyone in the `Norman
World' that could touch him.



I didn't bother telling them that I didn't think there were many people in
the world that could beat John if he was playing seriously. Of course, John
always played seriously and he never lost on purpose. He'd lost games of
course, but to my knowledge, he'd never lost a series.



"John, I like you a lot but, I'm not going to take it easy on you just
because you're an old guy." Jack said as he bent over the table to break.

Unlike a lot of kids, he didn't make any flashy moves or multiple false
draws on the cue. He eyed his target, pulled back and released with a
slick, smooth powerful stroke and the cue ball flew into the heart of the
diamond.  His shot was well placed and the rack had been tight...of course it
had been tight, John had done it so it was done properly. There was a loud
noise of contact and the rack barely split. The seven and the six spun out
from the sides and the two ball spun madly spinning across the table and
into the lower left pocket. I noted that the one ball seemed still snuggly
in the rack.



Jack smiled and gave Sean a wink and chalked his cue as he walked around
the table. John sat on his stool stoically watching the little red roster.



Bending low and with no excessive movement, Jack drew his cue back slowly
and released driving the cue into the one ball which moved the entire pack
apart into a much looser and less formal formation but the end result was
the cue ball caroming off the one and into the six ball which rolled into
the side pocket as if it were on rails.



Jack wasted not a moment. He sidled over to the far end of the table and
swiftly drove his cue ball into the now loose one ball and drove it into
the far left corner pocket while the cue ball spun and twisted crazily into
position right behind the three ball.



I looked at John who nodded at me with a small smile on his face. Sean was
sitting next to me and he gave me a little punch in the arm. I turned and
he grinned up at me. Sean loved John but Jack was his hero; his
Lead-Senior. I casually draped my arm around Sean's shoulder and gently
pulled him into me. He settled comfortably into my side and sighed softly
as the game continued.

Like a little blaze of red lightning, Jack quickly and methodically sank
the three, four and five ball. I suppose he decided that enough was enough
as he played a seemingly impossible shot; hitting the six and banking the
cue two times before it careened into the nine ball driving it slowly...oh so
slowly into the left corner pocket.



Only then did he look up from the table with his wicked little grin
plastered on his beautiful young face.



Handing him the rack, John asked;



"We're playing the standard five games right?"



"Right" said Jack as he gathered the balls from around the table.



This table was very old and unlike newer pool tables, didn't have a subway
run down to the front. Balls that were sunk were held in leather nets at
the pockets and had to be gathered from each hole.

Since Jack had won a game, by our house rules, it was John's turn to break.



"Nice first game Rufus "said John who had picked up on Jack's NEST nickname
from the ride home from the airport and seemed to use it constantly. He did
so out of kindness and friendship and not to in any way to demean or upset
the young red head.



With three sharp crisp diagonal strokes of the chalk on his cue tip, John
bent low over the table and in a smooth fluid stroke sent the cue ball into
the rack with devastating precision. The one, four, six and three balls
flew as if they were being remote-controlled into three corner and one side
pockets. The rest of the balls were scattered rather neatly upon the table.
They were easy pickings for John who quickly and methodically cleared the
table. I noted that there were at least three times he could have ended the
game with and easy combination off the low ball into the nine but he chose
to put on a little demonstration for our little red head.



John racked and Jack broke. He didn't sink any balls on the break this time
but he'd broken the pack up nicely and ran the balls one through six before
missing sinking the seven by a "cunt hair"...OK so, that's not a REAL unit of
measurement but you know what I mean.

John didn't say anything and he didn't dramatically chalk up his cue, he
just simply, slowly and methodically ran the table.



He didn't grin and he didn't make any wise cracks, he simply picked up the
rack and reset the balls.

Jack was much less cocky by now but he wasn't intimidated either.

With a rather serious scowl he bent low and launched the cue into the pack.
The balls flew in almost random directions but none were potted. I perused
the table and saw what I knew Jack had seen even before me; the nine ball
was poised at the lower right hand corner with the one ball in perfect
position to drive it in. He looked up at Sean who nodded his head
vigorously and then to John who just smiled.

In one swift stroke, Jack drove the one into the nine and the nine rolled
like an obedient little puppy into the pocket.



"Well tiger, seems like the next game wins it yes?" said John as Jack
established the rack.

"yeah" said the boy "And you're better than I thought you'd be but you
better win this one or I'll get ya."



John smiled and waggled his eyebrows at me. He winked at Sean who flashed
him a big grin.



"Rufus my boy, how about we do this..." said John looking down at the kid who
had lost almost all of his cockiness.

"How about if I don't win this next game in three shots, we call this a
draw?"



I could see Jack's mind working as he finally said;

"No way John. I either beat you or I lose. One way or the other, this is a
fair game OK?"



My friend John, my hero from my silly youth broke into a big smile and
pulled Jack into a big tight hug.



"Rufus, that's what a man would say. Good for you kid...I love you."

Jack was enveloped into John's big arms but John pushed him forward and
with a smile on his face he said;

"Ok Rufus but now...I'm still going to beat you in three shots how about
that?"



Jack grinned and stood back. John broke the balls and two spun into pockets
but that didn't matter because what was really important was that the nine
and the one were free but at complete opposite ends of the table. The break
of course, didn't count as a shot so I watched my friend as he scanned the
table.



I've often thought that when it came to playing pool, John was some kind of
a robot; a pool playing terminator. He had this knack of working out the
physics; the geometry of the table and passing the solved geometric problem
to his hands. I'd wondered many times what type of monster he would have
been shooting but he had no interest in that sport.



He had a clear shot at the one and he hit it easily sinking the four rather
inconsequentially and the one spun almost as if it were being guided by
some invisible hand until it was lined up perfectly against the nine
pointing straight into the left corner pocket.



"Want to sink it for me Rufus?" John said kindly with his big warm grin
spread across his handsome face.



"Nah" said the little redhead. "You do it John. I know when I've been beat."



In a smooth stroke John ended the game and we all broke out in a cheer.

*****************************************



Chris had returned as promised in ten days. His apartment was now fully
furnished and pretty well arraigned thanks to Richard who had more or less
supervised everything.

I hadn't been there to actually greet him because I was very involved in
meeting up in the command center. It was Walter who took me aside and told
me that he was back.



"I think we can continue this without you right now Eric." He'd said
quietly as he patted me on the shoulder. I'd looked at him gratefully and
left the building. I didn't hug Walter because we...well, we just didn't do
that.



My cart grated to a stop in front of the condo and I saw that what must be
the one he'd taken was parked neatly in the charging line. Fighting the
urge to quickly climb the stairs, I walked up slowly and deliberately and
found the door was opened.

He was in the middle of the big room with his arms folded and seemed almost
in a trance. On an impulse I walked up and wrapped my arms around his
shoulders pulling him tightly to me.



"Like it?" I'd almost whispered in his ear. He hadn't jumped or started...it
was almost as if he'd been expecting me.



"Oh yes." He replied just as softly. "Do you?"



"If it makes you happy Chris, then I'm happy." I said and kissed his neck
softly as I tightened my hug into almost a death  grip.



He turned in my embrace and looked deeply straight into my eyes.



"I'm ready for this Eric. I haven't thought about anything else the whole
trip. My Mom and Aunt Rita can't wait to meet you. It turns out they've
known about me being...you know...being me all along and they're so happy for
me.

I'm so happy for me Eric...thank you for bringing me into your life."



I pulled him close and kissed him passionately. I don't remember when I've
ever kissed anyone so urgently and strongly. I pulled back and we stared
into each other's eyes. Within moments we were both naked and running our
hands over each other with a swiftness and an urgency that spoke volumes
about our feeling for each other.



Much later, we'd stepped into his shower still hardly able to keep our
hands off each other and I managed to say;



"Martha will be expecting you at dinner tonight and sadly my sweet Chris;
you are expected to begin work tomorrow."



He smiled at me with his wonderful twinkling eyes staring into mine.

"Eric, there is nothing about being here that is sad. Let's go to dinner
and please let me begin to show you that I'm worth your trust and...I
hope...your love."

***********************************************



With Chris' return it was rather funny how things in the main house
changed. Two nights a week I had my `bed o boys' as they both shared my
room and my bed but almost as if something had been ordained, the other
nights it was only Sean who was there and soon, for some reason, two nights
a week he found an excuse to need to sleep either in his room or Jack's and
these "strangely" coincided with those times that Chris was at the big
house for dinner or I was somehow going out for a ride along the property.



I had acted upon my original impulse and had purchased the property
surrounding my own. Most of it had been left natural and unattended though
about five acres had been in the process of being converted into a
condominium.

These it turned out were well planned and well-constructed so I addend them
to my estate knowing that I would easily find occupants for them.

************************



One wonderful afternoon, we'd driven out to Deer Run and enrolled Jack as a
member. While we'd casually walked around the grounds we'd come upon the
boxing ring and Jack was immediately fascinated.



"Uncle Eric...do you think I could try that?"

I assured him that he could and signed him up for training on the spot.



Jack had begun calling me `Uncle Eric' after we'd had a long talk about our
relationship.

I'd explained to him that I was not going to adopt him as I had Sean. I
explained that Sean was my son and so much more and the beautiful red
headed boy understood what I was telling him. I explained to him that I
loved him and cared for him very much and that I'd made legal arrangements
to ensure that I was his legal ward and protector until he was an adult. I
went on to explain that even after he'd become a legal adult, he was
protected supported and included in my family.



We'd hugged and cried for almost an hour before he was the one who said;

"So...you aren't my father but you are my benefactor and so...I can call you
`Uncle" right?"



I pulled him to me and we cried and laughed and decided we'd come up with
the perfect definition of our family. From that time on, I was "Uncle Eric".

****************************************



The plans rolled on slowly but certainly and one afternoon sitting around
the conference table in the now finally finished South wing, Richard said;

"Eric, we're ready to roll when you are."



I glanced around the table. The new young and handsome faces of the team I
now knew were going to be my future.



"Well then boys, I've got two people to talk to and then we're ready to
roll. I'm sorry your pool won't be ready until next season but, let's all
have a barbeque by the pool at the big house."



The party had gone just as I'd hoped it would and Chris had bonded with
Richard and Barry. It was rather a hilarious event when Sean, Jack and John
took Me Barry and Richard on in a water polo tournament.

Despite the laughter, the game had been serious and me and my guys had won
by one point.



*********

And now I was here in my shower with my little boy, listening and watching
as he danced and sang for me.

In the back of my mind I knew that tomorrow my assault upon the academy was
to begin. I opened my arms and my smiling little man rushed into my
embrace. I hugged him tight and spoke so softly that I doubt that he could
hear...



"Oh my little son. I hope you understand what I've begun to do. I love you
so much but I love the safety and care of all children more,"



I suspect he somehow heard me because he raised his beautiful face and with
a broad "Sean Smile" kissed me on the lips.



(To be continued)



Oh my...thank you mu "Joyous Gaurdiens" for your support and comments. It's
almost overwhelming and I cannot express how much it means to me as a guy
writing his first story.

Thanks to you all and please remember to make a contribution to NIFTY. It
keeps all of this going