Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2017 21:37:18 -0400
From: Artinkeywest@aol.com
Subject: The Start of Something Great Part 4

Our return flight was smooth and uneventful, very much unlike the media
storm that awaited us after we returned. The storm manifested itself
primarily with Jean and Bryan getting hundreds of calls and faxes all
requesting interviews with me and my family. They compromised with the
requesters by offering video conference interviews between the interviewers
who could provide the largest of audiences and when I found out the local
requests were not included I talked to Cal and the boys and we decided to
offer interviews to the three local stations, but only on the afternoon
(dinner time) news programs. All went well and those three interviewers got
the best results ever. The boys all recognized all three interviewers, made
sure our interviewer knew they were fans, and they all made us so
comfortable that answering their questions was a piece of cake. We had made
some stipulations first though, they could not ask us or the boys where we
lived or what school they attended. They could not ask any question that
could allow anyone to find or harass us all. As far as the public knew we
lived a private life somewhere in the area and that was how we wanted it
with the general public. Of course the boys classmates knew them and what
they looked like, but we were assured by both schools that our address and
other vital information was private and any one who disclosed that type of
information faced being fired or if it was a student they could face
suspension.

In about 2 months time everything had settled down and our lives were back
to as normal as they had ever been. Two weeks before Easter we got a rather
unusual phone call, from Tricia on a Friday afternoon, about 4:30PM. She
said that at a family dinner the night before Judge Monroe had asked her
how we were surviving the media storm. Tricia had told her everything
seemed to have settled down and no incidents at either of the boys schools
had occurred. Tricia admitted that she and Brad were dating, and talking
about combining their law knowledge and forming a new company together.
Judge Monroe was hinting to her that there was another problem she needed
help with. That piqued my interest and I asked Tricia why the judge didn't
just call us if she needed something.  Tricia didn't answer right away, she
had to think of a way to say what she was going to say, which was,"I really
think she wants to ask a favor of you but with all the media attention
you've been getting she really didn't want to intrude or maybe add to you
problems, thats the impression I got, mind you, it's only an impression."I
finagled the judge's phone number from her and I thanked her for calling
and wished her and Brad(the judge's on) all the best.

I called Cal to the den and told him all about the call about the judge and
that I was going to call her right now. He said Jay and Mario were watching
TV with Sam and Jake so make the call, but put it on speaker. Judge Monroe
answered on the first ring and said hello to me, Cal whispered to me,
"caller ID". I told the judge a little birdie told me she wanted to speak
to Cal and I. She asked how we were doing, and was the media still hounding
us, and how were the boys and were the twins liking their new school and
Cal and I chuckled and told her everything was going fine and all was very
well with all the boys and what could we help her with on this fine night.
She hemmed and hawed a bit and then said," I had a case in court two weeks
ago, a teen had sued his parents for divorce, or, as it is commonly known
now "emancipation". I granted his request and two nights ago he called me
in tears. He had anticipated being away from his abusive parents. They had
been proven in court to not only have been abusive but negligent and
physically intimidating in regards to their only child. He was crying
because of his emancipation no one at his school, even those he had thought
of as friends or at least supportive would talk to or befriend him. "You
see, in court it came out that he considered himself gay. He's been
tormented at school and at the grocery store he works at, even his
neighbors at the apartment building he lives in have been notified he was
gay and he's being shunned there also. He's so despondent, I felt so sorry
for what has been done to him that I asked Brad to go and get him and bring
him to me. I'm so afraid he'll do himself harm, and I can't convince him
that he should see a therapist, could you men do me a huge favor and talk
to him for me?"Cal asked her where was he now, and the judge said he was at
her house, building a model with her grandson, Tony, in another room in the
house. Cal and I exchanged a look and a nod and we asked her if she could
ask him if he'd like to come spend some time at our house.

Cal added that maybe she should also send Tony for a sleepover weekend with
our boys. He knew our gang and he has spent some time with the young man,
so he might be good to have around to help the young man not feel
surrounded by strangers. She agreed and she checked with Brad about letting
his son spend the weekend with us and all was set, she'd bring the boys
over in about an hour, giving her time to make sure each youngster had a
bag packed for their stay.

We went to talk to our boys about having company for the weekend and Jake
and Sam were thrilled that Tony was coming to sleep over. The twins were
eager to meet this teenager who had emancipated himself from his parents
and was living on his own. Joe had heard us talking and when I started to
go and tell him there would be three more for dinner he just laughed and
told me he had heard it all and had already set three more places. Cal and
I went upstairs to make sure we had two bedrooms made up for our weekend
guests and by the time we had that taken care of it was almost time for our
company so we joined our boys in the family room to wait for their arrival.

Tony was very pleased to see Jake and Sam again, but not as much as they
were. We had a mess of kids greeting each other like they hadn't seen each
other in years, let alone the 3 weeks since they had last spent time
together. The teenager with him and Judge Monroe was about 5'6" tall and
thin. He had a mop of unruly curly medium brown hair and seemed quite
shy. The judge introduced him as Ben and you could tell the guy had the
weight of the world on his shoulders. He had that hang dog look about him
and I felt like wrapping my arms around him and taking all his burdens away
from him. Cal must have felt the same as he wrapped his strong arms around
Ben and held him for a moment before everyone moved in to the family room
and we started there with a little tour of the first floor so Ben could
orient himself with the room layout and maybe start to feel more
comfortable here. Joe called us all to the table so we left the second
floor until after dinner During dinner our judge introduced Ben to Joe and
Ray who had joined us for dinner and the talk around the table was easy,
but Ben was still a little standoffish. It was the judge that noticed a
change in him first. As we chatted around the table Tony told Sam and Jake
that he had seen our family on TV and he and Tricia and his dad were making
dinner at the time, and it was so funny he said because he started to try
and say hi to them but he realized you can't talk to someone on the
TV. Ben's head popped up and he began to really look at Cal and I, then the
twins and their little brothers, who were laughing with Tony. Judge Monroe
asked Ben if he was alright which drew all our attention to him.

Poor Ben was just sitting and staring at Cal and I, with his mouth hanging
open, the look of recognition growing on his face. Ray, who was sitting on
one side of him, just leaned over and whispered to him,"It's OK, they put
their pants on one leg at a time, just like we do. They're regular guys,
even Scott who really does write those books". Ben closed his mouth and
nodded a few times, then proceeded to eat his meal, but now looking around
and starting to participate in the conversations.

           By the time the meal was over and we had all pitched in to clear
the table Judge Monroe pleaded an early day the next day and made her
excuses and bid us all a good weekend. She told Tony and Ben that she'd see
them on Sunday afternoon as she was coming back for a cookout with all of
us then. Everyone bid her goodnight and Jake gave her a big hug goodby
after Tony had said his goodby to his grandmother. After she had left we
took our guests to the second floor and showed them the rooms we had set up
for them. Ben's was first and he said it was nicer than his room at his
former home was and it was about the size of his whole apartment, that was
until we showed him the attached bathroom and the big walk in closet. Tony,
on the other hand, said his room was nice, but wasn't he having a sleep
over with Sam and Jake? I spoke up and said that since his bed was bigger
shouldn't he ask Jake and Sam to sleep over in his room? He thought that
was a great idea, and so did our two youngest. We left the lad to get
settled in with the twins helping Ben. After they all came downstairs we
decided to take everyone for a walk before settling in for some movies.
Tony was telling Ben about the little horses he got to ride with Jake and
Sam as we strolled to the barn. I told Ben that Tony was talking about the
ponies we had for the little ones. When we got to the barn Jake and Sam had
to show Ben the new litter of kittens that had been born since his last
visit, while the twins introduced Ben to the dogs before moving over to the
stalls and slipping each horse or pony a carrot as each was introduced to
Ben. Ben seemed to be taking all this in stride and at times he seemed much
younger than his 17 years. After about an hour of meeting the animals and
getting a tour of the barn and the riding rink I took Ben for a walk
outside while Cal stayed with the younger group. As we walked down the lane
Ray had made to the farm road, at the back of our property, Ben had a lot
of questions, and fortunately I had answers for them. He wanted to know
when I knew I was gay, and how did I meet Cal, and were we really married,
how did I know I was in love, how did I get so confident. I did answer all
his questions, but I had a few of my own. I asked why he thought he was
gay, was he smart in school, what did he want to do for work, or did he
want to go to college first, what type of life was he envisioning for
himself, why did he leave his parent's house? We talked all the way down to
the gate at the farm road and all the way back to the barn, only to find
the others had returned home.

By the time we had returned home I had explained that at dinner he had only
met the younger members of our family, since the others had had other plans
or commitments for the dinner time hours. I told him about my brother Harry
and His boyfriend Dean who had a late class in the afternoon and a lab
right after. I explained they were college juniors and in a committed
relationship. I told Ben about my brother Thomas and Bill, his lover, who
were seniors in high school who were his age, and also in a committed
relationship. They had been at a swim meet out of town, but they should
also be home by now. I told him that both guys in that couple had been
emancipated from their parents just as he had been, but they had already
had a good deal of support before, during and especially after their
emancipation. I told him that Cal and I wanted to be his support and to
help him in any way we could.

We went in the house and into an excited conversation with the three
youngest telling everyone else about one of the ponies pooping right in
front of them. They had the whole group, my brothers and their partners
included, fascinated by this tale, their faces red from holding in their
laughter and many holding their stomachs. The three dynamos were totally
serious about the pony poop and didn't see anything funny about it, they
just had never seen the ponies poop before. When their discourse was
finished Cal told them that now they knew why we asked them to wear their
boots when around the horses and ponies. I asked the three to go pick out
the first movie for the night and as soon as they were in the den the whole
group burst into laughter and when things had quieted down Ben was
introduced to those he had not yet met. There was an almost immediate bond
formed between the high school boys and it was good to see Ben in an
animated conversation with his peers.

A short time later the 3 youngest came back with 3 DVDs and presented them
to Cal for his approval. He immediately put one down on the coffee table
and said not this one guys, there's too much shooting in this one. I
snatched it up before Tom could and when I saw the title I knew immediately
why Cal had dismissed this one so fast. It's title alone would have done
it. What the youngsters had thought was a western was entitled," Stud
Ranch, (where the breeding happens everywhere, not just the barn)"! Tom and
Bill were beet red so I handed it to them, telling them to be careful where
they left their after hours entertainment.

The youngsters and Cal settled on Home Alone, one of the ones Ben at the
library had recommended the last time we were there. Everyone wanted to see
it, either for the first time, or for the 10th, it was a good movie for us
all. After about 3 very large bowls of pop corn the movie was over and Sam,
Tony and Jake had bobbing heads and Cal and I gently herded them upstairs
and tucked them into Tony's bed for the night.

When we returned to the rest of our group the guys had picked one of the
Mission Impossible DVDs to watch and Cal and I snuggled in together to
watch. Soon the other two couples were snuggled into each other, and I
noticed that Ben kept looking longingly at the three groups of couples
around the room. Nothing was said about it, but later Cal mentioned he had
noticed too.

Apparently we were not the only ones because the next afternoon, after we
had spent the morning riding, Tom and Bill asked if they could invite a
school chum over for an afternoon of swimming. He had broken things off
with his most current boyfriend and the guys felt he could use some
company. They said this while looking right at Ben.

That afternoon we were all in the poolhouse and Cal and I told Ben we had
something to talk to him about. As we were about to explain to Ben about
our swimsuit rule at the pool The three littlest nudies were chased out to
the pool enclosure door by the four big nudies. Tom was fumbling with the
locked door and as soon as he had unlocked it the seven of them made their
way to the pool, walking, each carrying their towel. They knew if they ran
out there they were likely to be grounded by either Cal or I. Ben sat
staring at them and we asked if there was anything the matter?

Ben gulped a few times and pointing at the pool he said they were all
naked. I told him that Cal and I would be also, before we went into the
pool. We both told him that we'd always swam nude, unless there were ladies
present. He didn't have anything that any of us had. We'd seen big, small,
and everything in-between. I told him that there were stairs at each end
and if he felt something growing that he didn't want to show the rest of us
to just sit on the stairs until he wasn't pointing at us without his
hands. Cal told him that everyone out there, except the three youngest, had
sprung a boner at least once a day out there and that he and I were not
immune to it either. It's a natural occurrence and no one will remark about
it. He was amongst friends, and you do get used to it over time.

We showed him into the changing room and told him to use a locker in there
to stow hid shoes and clothing and if he felt he really couldn't join us au
natural then there was a locker on the end with plenty of different sized,
clean, swimsuits. Cal and I then turned to our own locker and stripped off
and went to the pool. About 15 minutes later he came out to the pool
enclosure with a towel wrapped around his waist. He unwrapped his towel and
draped it on a chair, like the others had done, and joined us in the
pool. Dean was the first to say anything. He told Ben that that was one of
the biggest soft dicks he had ever seen, and coming from Dean, who had the
biggest one any of us had ever seen, outside of a porno, that was a great
compliment. Ben blushed down to his pubes, but he also looked very pleased.

About a half hour later Joe brought out to the pool enclosure Tom and
Bill's school friend Glenn. Glenn and Joe had already removed their
clothing. Now that I saw him I could put the name to a face and I
recognized him from some of the gatherings the high schoolers had held
here. He was one of their good friends and as I remember he had tons of
freckles. He was about Ben's height and was a straight A student in
school. He lived with his grandparents as his parents had kicked him out
when he told them he was gay. His grandparents ran the cafe we liked to go
to for lunch sometimes and we considered them friends.

Tom and Bill made the introductions and when he got to Ben he told Glenn
that Ben was a friend of the family visiting for the weekend. The two young
men stared at each other and both raised their hands to shake them at the
same time. Their eyes never leaving the others. Dean waded over to them
after a minute or so and whispered something to them and the two disengaged
their hands and swam over to the far stairs and sat side by side chatting
away like long lost friends. I looked over to Dean and he had a big grin on
his face as he said,"History repeating itself".He then leaned over to give
Harry a big smooch.

Our weekend went pretty much as the Saturday had gone, exercise in the
early morning, breakfast with the whole family, horseback riding until
lunch and an afternoon spent by the pool or relaxing and reading in the
later part of the afternoon. On Sunday I realized, as we were all getting
ready for church, that Glenn had never gone home after arriving on Saturday
afternoon. He was wearing clothes that belonged to Bill and he was always
by Ben's side. Everyone went to church and when we returned home Glenn said
he had to return home as he had to help at the cafe that afternoon because
one of the waiters had quit the other day and his grandparents thought they
could use his help. He and Ben went up to Ben's room so Glenn could change
into his own clothing, and I suspect to say their goodbys in private.

 Once breakfast was over Cal and I asked Ben to join us in the den. He came
in and we told him we had some questions for him. We asked him the same
questions as the other night, but his answers showed he had done a lot of
thinking this past weekend. He had goals now, he wanted to teach, which
meant he now wanted to go to college. When he left his parents house he
thought he would enjoy being by himself. But he now knew he needed others
around him, interacting with them in some way. He said he had taken the
efficiency apartment in Holyoke because it was close to the supermarket he
worked in, not because it was a nice place, nor was the supermarket a nice
place to work. Every month they laid off some people and you never knew
when you would have to clock out for good. He was going to have to rely on
scholarships to go to college but he was determined, now he had met Glenn.

Cal and I did the look thing and when we turned from each other Cal said,
very casually, that we might have a room for rent, it came with three meals
a day, all the horseback riding he could stand, and pool privileges. We'd
make sure he could afford college, but he had to promise to only work
weekend afternoons when needed and the occasional day during school
holidays and summer vacations. But the most important thing he had to
promise us would be that he be happy. Ben sat there, mulling all this over
and I continued where Cal had left off, the rent would be five dollars a
week, he would have to transfer to the South Hadley high school and either
ride to school with Tom and Bill or with Glenn, as he and his grandparents
lived just down the road a ways, in a house just behind the cafe they owned
and where Glenn worked sometimes, and they needed a new waiter.

By now Ben was sobbing and Cal and I each hugged him from each side as he
sat on the couch."You'd do all this for me?" he sobbed out and we both
assured him we would. He then asked how all this could happen? I picked up
the handset phone in the den and I called the judge. She said she had
wondered when we would call and asked what we had worked out with Ben. I
explained that he would be moving in with us as a tenant paying five
dollars a week for his room and board. We'd get him enrolled in the same
school as Tom and Bill attended, he'd have a part time job at the cafe down
the main road, and we'd set up a college fund for him. She asked when all
this would happen and Cal told her it had already started and would be
completed by dinner time tomorrow, Monday. She asked to speak with Ben and
after a few "Yes Maams" then a big thank you, he handed the phone back to
me and I put it back on speaker. She thanked our family and told us that if
we ever had any questions or problems getting Ben settled to call her. We
told her we didn't anticipate any and thanked her for bringing Ben into our
lives.

We had a family meeting once Ben had a chance to splash some water on his
face and dry off. We explained that Ben would be moving in with the family
the next day and he'd be transferring to Tom and Bill's school. So Ben
would be treated like a brother and he would treat them the same. There
were hugs all around as everyone welcomed him and Cal and I suggested that
Ben, Tom and Bill grab some empty boxes and we'd go gather up Ben's
belongings efficiency. Joe offered to take the three youngsters riding with
he and Ray so we thanked him for that and when the boxes were gathered we
left in two SUVs to accomplish the move.

The apartment building was pretty dismal and we were all glad to be out of
there when we had Ben all moved out. I had gone to the managers apartment
and explained that we were moving Ben out and since there was still more
than half a month that had been paid for and we were not asking for his
deposit back we didn't expect to hear there was an issue with him moving
out without more notice. He stammered something and I suggested he call
Judge Monroe at family court at the Hampden County courthouse in the
morning. I placed her card in his hand and we left. I knew the judge would
never hear from him, if he was still in the city in the morning, he
certainly strike me as a totally law abiding citizen and the reek of pot
coming out of his unit confirmed that.

Once nearer to home I decided everyone deserved a treat so I drove to the
cafe instead of turning into our drive and Tom, driving the other SUV
followed me. In the parking lot I told everyone that Ben wanted to thank us
for moving him and therefore the treat was on him, milkshakes all around
and about 5 for those at home . Everyone was really pleased and as we
turned to go inside Ben was frantically looking for money in his wallet and
as I passed him I slipped a fifty dollar bill into the almost empty bill
section of the wallet. The huge grin he gave me made me believe he hadn't
much more in there than a couple of bucks.

When Ben and I went in the cafe Cal was talking to the owners while Glenn
and another waiter were making up the first half dozen shakes and were
taking the orders for the rest, both of them chatting with our guys as they
did so. Someone must have mentioned where and why we had been to Ben's
apartment for we heard a whoop and Glenn was over the counter and in Ben's
arms in seconds. I heard Cal saying to the grandparents, "I think they'll
work well together, don't you?". I chuckled to myself, thinking not only
were we matchmakers, now we were an employment agency as well.

We waited for the shakes for those at the house and during that time Ben
and Glenn's grandparents had a nice interview over in a corner booth. The
results were obvious as they all stood and shook hands and I heard the
grandparents telling him they'd see him about noon on Saturday, if not
before. He was smiling like crazy when we left and the grin stayed on his
face while everyone helped schlep his belongings to his room. We found Ray
and Joe with the three pre schoolers out at the pool and Cal and I
distributed the milkshakes we had brought home with us. About that time
Tricia and Brad stuck their heads in the door to the pool enclosure and
announced their presence by saying there was a woman at the pool. The guys
all tightened their towels as they came out onto the deck. Little Tony
hugged them both and asked if he had to go right away, he still had the
rest of his shake to slurp up and he was having such a great time. His
father chuckled and told him no, they were just checking that he was
behaving and we all laughed, since Tony was a very well behaved boy. Tricia
told us they were on their way to the big farm stand at the big apple
orchard up the road a ways and stopped to see if we needed anything before
picking up Tony, so he had about an hour to have more fun and gather up all
his stuff after getting some clothes on.

We had a great family dinner after Tony was picked up and the young boys
recounted their whole day for us, even though we had all been here for half
of it! It was great fun and we, in turn, told them about moving Ben, and
Ben told them about getting a part time job at the cafe. It felt like a
family should feel like, and Cal and I sat back and reveled in it, holding
hands as the boys all talked around us.