Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2012 15:07:04 -0800 (PST) From: Joe Collins Subject: Accidental Family Chapter 2 If this story is prohibited in your area, you are underage or gay sex offends you, then please leave! If you are looking for hard core sex, you won't find it here. The story plot and characters are fictional and any resemblance is just a coincident. Please feel free to email me and be sure to include the title in the subject line. joecollins7420@yahoo.com Now just sit back and enjoy! Accidental family Chapter 2 Dan rousted everyone out of bed at 6am. Breakfast was waiting for them when they all came downstairs. After breakfast, Dan loaded his truck with his passengers and luggage and headed toward Fargo. The little party rode many hard miles of traveling, the tired and weary group pulled into a motel and spent the night. Late in the afternoon of the next day, they arrived in Fargo. They found a motel and rested. After resting a bit, Gene wanted to take Dan and Greg on a tour of his home town. He took them the house where he grew up. He had Dan stop. Gene jumped out, ran over to the flower bed, picked some roses, and returned to the car. "You had better drive, the old bitty next door has probably already called the cops. Ross and Rose, do you want to put some flowers on our parents graves?" "Yes," was all they could say and started crying again. Gregg was sitting between the twins and just took them in his arms and held them close. "Show me the way to where your parents are buried," said Dan. "We have to go out in the country a ways to a little country church and I can give you directions. Mom and Dad always took us to church there and wanted to be buried in the church graveyard. They purchased a plot of ground and had a tombstone placed on it. All I had to do was have the death date put on the stone." said Gene with a tear or two rolling down his face. "Gene, always carry them in your heart and they will be with you always. Just remember the good times you had with them. Don't ever forget them. Just point the way and we'll be off." said Dan. ***** At the cemetery, Gene gave each of the twins some of the flowers. "Kids, you know where to find the water and the container to hold the flowers are. I'll let you put the flowers on Mom and Dad's graves. Greg, if you want to help them that will be fine. Dan and I will take the rest of the flowers to put on Mom's grave. See you in bit." Dan and Gene walked to the other side of the cemetery. "Dan, I wanted to get you alone. Mom and Dad's ashes are not here. I have them in the storage unit because I didn't have room to take them with us. I purchase had two new cookie tins and I put some sand in them and had the tins placed in the graves. The twins think that it was Mom and Dad's ashes that were placed in the grave. I didn't know what the future would bring and if we left town, I wanted Mom and Dad to go with us. I would like to stop by the storage unit and get the ashes. They are in a sealed box right up front." "Not a problem!" said Dan through his flood of tears. Now it was Gene's turn to soothe Dan. When Dan regained his composure the returned to the twins and Gregg. The somber group got back in the truck and was ready to go. "Dan, would it be ok to swing by our storage unit. I would like to get a couple of boxes of pictures that we couldn't take with us. Then we can head for children's services." said Gene with an air of innocents. When Dan pulled into the U-Store facility, Gene gave him the code to get in. Gene pulled out a key ring and found the right one for #72 his unit. When he opened it Dan and Greg were surprised to see such a small one. "Gene, this is a very small unit. Are you sure that there is not a larger one to go with this one?" asked Greg. "Greg, when Cousin Sarah came out we went through everything and kept only the stuff that has special meaning to the twins and me. Dad and Mom had some family heirlooms and other memorabilia that had special meaning to them. We saved all of that. We called Salvation Army and they came and took everything else. So the house is completely cleaned out. The twins and I painted, cleaned and got the house ready to put on the market. Since I was not of age, we can't sell the house." said Gene. "You know, Gene, I am impressed with the level of maturity that you have shown so far. I am really proud of you for all your efforts. You'll come out of all of this looking good," said Greg. "Dan, do you think we will have room for all of this in the back of pickup.?" "If not we can rent a small U-haul and take it all," said Dan. "Let's head for Children's Services. Gene, do you know how to get there or do I need to use the GPS?" "It is only about ½ mile from here and easy to find," said Gene. "We have a 2:00 appointment with Children's Services," Gregg "Ok, Mr. Tour Guide. How do we get there?" asked Dan. "Simple just go to the red light, make a right turn and go until I holler stop and it will be on the left hand side on the corner," answered Gene. "Sounds simple enough." ***** "Good afternoon. I am Greg Coners, attorney for Gene, Ross and Rose Riley. We have an appointment with Jeff Schmidt." "Have a seat, Mr. Coners, and I will let him know you are here." "I am scared to death!" said Gene. "Gene, relax. All your burdens are being lifted. I am on your side and will fight all your battles for you. You can bet that I will not agree to anything against your wishes." " Mr. Coners, Mr. Schmidt will see you now. Please follow me." "Thank you!" "I am Jeff Schmidt. If you would please introduce the members of you party, we can get this hearing underway." After the introductions were complete, Mr. Schmidt said," This is the most unusual case. The most we can do now is make minimal decisions. However, since Gene, Ross and Rose Riley choose to leave our protection area, we can no longer serve them." "Mr. Schmidt, I have to differ with you. Who do you see before you?" "Why, I see you, a Mister Martin, and the three Riley children. Why do you ask?" "I would like to inform you that the children came back on their own free will. I think you know the reason why but I am going to humor you and tell you anyway. I think from this moment on, you had better tape this whole session, because you may need it later in a court of law." "Sally, will you leave in intercom on and turn on the recorder. Please." "Now to refresh you memory, you have just told me that you can no longer the serve the Riley children because they left your protection area. Is that correct?" "Yes." "You also said that Mister Martin and the three Riley Children were in the room with me and you. Correct." "Yes" "If the Riley children are not in your protection unit, then who are these children, who just happen to have their birth certificates along with last years school pictures. I am sure that their formers teachers would verify that each and every one of them is a member of the Riley Family. Need I pursue this matter any further?" "That won't be necessary, Mr. Conors, I see your point." "Mr. Schmidt, have you had any success in finding a foster home for the children?" "No, I haven't. No one wants to take the 16 year old. I can't find a place for the twins, either. Several will take one but not both. No one will consider all three." "So the only option left for you is to send them to a juvenile center or orphanage. Is that correct?" "Well, yes. That will only be for a temporary time period until be can find a suitable place for them." "I have here the complete, notarized, and signed paper work seeking temporary custody of the Riley children by Mister Martin. You secretary should be receiving a fax containing character references from 14 people for Mr. Martin. I think we should take a little break and wait until these come." "I think that would be a fine idea. It will give me a chance to get off the hot seat and cool off a bit. It appears that you came prepared to go bear hunting." "I wouldn't exactly call it bear hunting." said Greg. "Hey, gang lets go into the other room and take a break. If you need to use the restrooms now would be a good time to do so." ***** After 10 minutes, the secretary escorted us back into Mr. Schmidt's office. "I have had a chance to briefly look all the paperwork over. It looks like I have painted myself into a corner with no options but one. If I refused to grant Mr. Martin temporary guardianship which I can`t do because I can only recommend to a juvenile judge. I can see myself being hauled in court and would be facing charges. The Riley children are the ones who would suffer the most. If I forced them to remain here in the county, I know that they would run away again and would never be heard from again. They would begin a life living on the streets. None of us wants that. I was able to get an appointment with Judge Denning at 9:00 in the morning. She is very fair minded and wants the best for the youth who come before her. She will do everything in her power to help them. Are there any questions?" "Does that mean that we can go home with Dan, I mean Mr. Miller?" asked Ross. "Young man, most likely that is exactly what it means. It also means that you all get to stay together as a family if we have anything to say about it." "Yea!" shouted all three children and grabbed Dan and was hugging and kissing him. Tears were really flowing now. "Hey, I think Greg deserves some of the hugs and kisses. He is the one who is doing all the work. Thank you, Mr. Schmidt, you won't be sorry," said Dan. "I will lay my life down for these kids, if need be. ***** Everyone received awake up call at 7:00. "Happy birthday Ross and Rose. I bet that you didn't think I remembered. After we meet with the judge, let's celebrate a couple of birthdays. So every one hit the showers. We can go to lobby for breakfast," said Dan. By 8:30, the happy group was on the way to see Judge Denning. Once inside her office, Judge Denning said, "This is not a court hearing so therefore the proceedings will be held here in this office. I have had a chance to look over the paper work that Mr. Schmidt presented to me. He is on his way over here. I understand that Mr. Conors will be spokesperson for the group. I may have some question to ask some of you. Therefore, you will answer and not Mr. Conors. So Mr. Conors you may begin." Greg told the judge how the children came to be with Dan. All of which no one had any control or choice in the matter. He told of how the children ran away so that Children's Services couldn't split them up and place them in different foster homes. "Your Honor, you have a petition before you requesting that Mr. Martin be given guardianship of the Riley Children i.e. Gene, Ross, and Rose and also he would like to be given power of attorney to that he can start the estate proceeding and execution of their parents will, act in their behalf of the children if medical attention is needed and etc.. There will be times when he will have to make decisions for the children. We have birth certificates for the children and death certificated for their parents. Thank you, your Honor." "I have before me a written statement from Mr. Schmidt stating that he agrees with the proposal and is in complete agreemen. Mr. Conors, you may be seated and I will ask a couple of questions and then I will call a recess and look at the facts in this case," said Judge Denning. "Gene since you are the oldest of the children, I have some questions for you. I understand that you and the twins are not blood related. Please explain." Gene. "My mother and the twin's father died very close in time to each other. My father married the twin's mother and adopted the children as his own, so legally we are brothers and sister." "Gene, do you have proof of this adoption?" "Yes, your Honor, I do." He dug into the file box and found copies of the original adoptions papers and handed them to the judge. "Gene, how do you feel about living with Mr. Martin and having him as you guardian?" "I would like it very much. I have known him only a very short time. I know that he can never replace my parents and I don't think he will even try. Maybe in time, he will be given the opportunity to adopt the three of us. I think that even though he is not my dad, I will call him Dad and not Dan." "Thank you! Ross and Rose, how to do you feel and this?" "I feel the same way as Gene. I love Dan already," said Rose. "Your Honor, Dan is just an ornery, cranky old poop. Just kidding. He is the best and I love him dearly," said Ross. Now everyone in the room was roaring with laughter. "Just wait until I get you alone. I'll show just how ornery and cranky I can be," said Dan still laughing so hard that tears came to his eyes. "Judge, these are not tears from laughing but tears of joy and happiness." "I guess I don't have to ask you how you feel about all of this." "Judge, there is one thing I think you must know before you make your decision. I am a 36 year old bachelor and I am gay," said Dan. "Mr. Martin, thank you for being truthful with me. You being gay does not have any bearing of this case as far as I am concerned. Will you try to persuade the children to follow in your footsteps? " "No, I will not. Every one must make a choice of their own and must take responsibly for his or her actions. I will support them in all of their decisions as long as they make the choice of their own freewill and are not forced to do so. I will treat them as my own and will love them as any father would do." "What kind of parenting skills do you have?" "I only have what I learned from my father and mother. They were very young when I was born. They had no special training on how to become good parents. They learned as they went along. Sure they made mistakes but they learned from them and never made the same ones again. I intend to follow in their footsteps. If they were both still living, I am sure that they would box my ears, if I goof," chuckled Dan. "Since they can`t, I will or have Mr. Olsen do it for me! Thanks." laughed Judge Denning. "Let me show you to the lounge and you can wait in there while I make my decision. Feel free to help yourself to any treats and soft drinks available in the break room." Mr. Schmidt arrived and waited with the family until they would go back into Judge Denning's office. In about 10 minutes, Judge Denning called them all back into her office. "Hello, Mr. Schmidt. Gene, Ross and Rose this whole thing is about you. Everyone in this room wants what is best for you. All three of you will have many obstacles that you will have to overcome." Gene buried his head in his lap and started sobbing. "Gene, what I am saying wasn't meant to be bad." Gene interrupted Judge Denning, "I am sorry but I have tried so hard to keep this family together, no money and no one to help me. I just lost it that is all. It just hit me that all of this is about to change. Go ahead, I be quiet now." "Gene, you have every reason to be upset. You have two men here is this room who are going to relieve you and take the pressure off you. You have bundled your emotions inside you and it is time to let some of them out. What I started to say is that I am going to give Dan and Greg joint custody of you kids. Plus they will both have power of attorney for all three of you," said Judge Denning trying to hold back the tears but couldn't. "I am going to make Greg the executor of your parent's will. Let's just stop here and have a good cry. Mr. Schmidt, do you agree?" "Yes. I do 100%. I have a very good feeling now!" said Mr. Schmidt. "Oh, Thank you! Thank you, Judge Denning!" said a very emotional young man. "All that is left, is the signing of a bunch of papers and having my secretary notarize them for you. Dan and Greg, the Children's services in you home town will receive transfer papers and will do an occasional check up and you can go ahead with the settlement of the estate. I would recommend that you do that here in Fargo which will prevent some problems and will probably save you a lot of time and money. Dan and Greg, I would recommend that you start adoption proceeding when you return home. That just about closes this case. So let's get busy with all that paper work. Have you made a denotation to Nifty? Every little bit helps! Thanks! TBC