Chapter 85

Jacob was dozing off when he heard the phone ringing. It took him a few seconds to realize that he wasn't dreaming and the phone was actually ringing. He sat up, rubbed his eyes and looked around to see if anyone was around that might pick up the phone. When he didn't see anyone, he reached over picked up the receiver, but dropped it before he was able to bring it to his face.

Pulling it up by its cord, Jacob finally got the receiver and answered the phone. No one said a word on the other end of the line, but Jacob was able to hear whoever it was breathing, so he knew there was someone there and there was background noise giving the person away. He said hello several more times before he heard someone on the other end speak.

"Jacob, I am sorry for disturbing you, but this is Derrick's, I mean Ralph's father." Jacob sat up in his seat. He wasn't fully awake when he got the receiver to his face, but hearing the voice of the man that tried to beat him up earlier that day completely woke him up. "I know I am the last person you thought you were going to hear from today after what happened this morning.

I am really sorry for that. You aren't to blame for what is going on with my family. It is my wife and me that are to blame. We knew the past was going to come back to haunt us, but you have to know we always had Derrick and Diane's best interests in mind. I know that's hard to believe after what you found out and what you've seen, but it is the truth."

"Sir, I'm not in any position to judge anyone including you and Mrs. Rawson. I'm just a kid. I know most of the time I don't act like one, but that's what I am. When it comes down to anyone else's family, I can't sit in judgment on what is going on in that family, especially when things aren't perfect in my own. So there's no need to explain anything to me. It's Ralph and his sister that you and Mrs. Rawson need to be explaining things to."

"You are exactly right, but what I did this morning barging into your place like I did and doing what I did to you was uncalled for and again I'm sorry. I know I won't be allowed around you or anyone in your family because of that, but I do hope that Ralph, my wife and if my daughter wants to, they can visit with you and the others. Ralph has fallen for one of your friends and I don't want that relationship to be harmed. I don't want Ethan having to decide between Ralph or his friends because of my actions."

"Sir that will never happen! In fact, I don't see why you can't visit if you ever want to. Just realize that security is going to be on you like a hawk. They'll not make the mistake they made today a second time."

"That I certainly understand and won't argue with it." One of the officers patted Daryl on the shoulder and told him he had to finish up the call. Jacob heard another voice on the other end, but he couldn't make out what was being said. "Jacob I need to get off the line, so I'd better get to the reason why I really called you." Daryl was getting second thoughts on what he was about to ask but he knew Jacob was the only person that could help him out right now.

"I hate to ask you this, but I can't get a hold of my wife or anyone in my family. I think they are downtown waiting for me to be taken to the country jail but I was taken to a judge at the college who was holding his court on a football field." Not meaning to, Jacob cracked up laughing. "Yes I know, it's weird and funny, but that's where they took me to get bail." Daryl started to laugh as well, upsetting the officer who asked him to wrap up the call.

"Anyway, I need you to help me out. If you say no, I will understand and won't be mad because I am expecting you to say no." Daryl waited to see if Jacob would say something, but when he got nothing, he continued. "My bail was set very low since the county jail has no more room. I need one thousand dollars. Can you front me the money and I will pay you back as soon as the banks open tomorrow? I swear I will get you every red cent back, plus interest."

"Don't worry about the interest Mr. Rawson, I will go ahead and front the money. Just tell me where I need to go and I will get it done in time for you to be home for a late dinner with your family." Daryl gave Jacob the information he was given. "Okay I will get on it as soon as we get off the phone. I will also take a drive downtown and see if Ralph and Mrs. Rawson are sitting at the county jail waiting for you. If they are, I'll tell them where you are and they'll be there to pick you up. If you get out before they get there, please call me at this number."

Jacob gave Daryl his cell phone number and got off the phone. He got up as quickly as he could, which was slow compared to how he normally moves due to his injuries. Once on his feet, he made his way to the elevator and then to his room when he arrived at his floor. When he walked in Dewayne got up from his seat and went over to see what he could do to help.

"Hey I thought you were going to take a nap before dinner?" Dewayne asked as he guided Jacob to the bed. "If you needed something, you should have called me. That's why I left the phone next to you. Why did you think I did that?" Jacob looked up at Dewayne and for the first time since they got together, he saw anger in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think about that after getting off the phone with Mr. Rawson." Dewayne couldn't believe what he just heard and he was about to let Jacob know what he was thinking, but Jacob didn't let him. "I know what you're going to say, but please let me talk first. Let me tell you what was discussed and then you can let me have it, okay?"

Dewayne didn't like the fact that Mr. Rawson had the balls to call and talk to Jacob. However, he was willing to hear his boyfriend out. Jacob told Dewayne everything that was said on the phone between him and Daryl. By the time Jacob was done, Dewayne softened a little but was angry that Daryl still made the call and then asked for money.

"Jake you know I've never told you what to do or how to spend your money. That isn't my right. But I'm not going to keep my mouth shut on this, I'm sorry." Dewayne got up from the bed and as he knelt down in front of Jacob, he grabbed his hands. "That guy walked into this hotel this morning with every intention of hurting you. He didn't care that you were already hurt, he wanted to hurt, no scratch that, he wanted to kill you by the look in his eyes. So I don't understand why you're going to do what you intend to do. If it was me, I would let him rot in there."

With a smile in his face Jacob replied; "No gorgeous, you wouldn't do that because you're not cold hearted like you are trying to be right now." Jacob pulled his right hand away from Dewayne and moved it to Dewayne's face and started to run his fingers down his left cheek. "I know you would do the same thing if the shoe was on the other foot. That's why I love you so damn much. You have a bigger heart than I do, which balances us out because I am a prick most of the time."

Jacob started to laugh. "Now as far as my money, it's not just mine. Even though we can't get married like straight couples can, I consider you my life partner, my husband. I love you with all my heart, and because I do, what's mine is yours. So never say that my money is just mine unless you just want to get into a huge argument with me."

Dewayne nodded his head. "Now I need your help to get changed and then to drive me downtown to a bail bondsman. Once we pay the bail, we need to go by the county jail to see if Ralph and Mrs. Rawson are there. If they are, we need to let them know where Mr. Rawson is and that we already put up the bail, okay."

Once again Dewayne nodded his head as he got up. He walked over to grab Jacob a pair of running pants and a pair of clean socks. As he went from the closet to the bedroom to get Josh's shoes, he remembered the bandages. There is no way Jacob could put on socks and shoes, Dewayne thought. He turned around and walked back to the room. As he passed the dresser, he put the socks back and found Josh's sandals.

It took them a little longer than they thought it would take them to get ready, but Dewayne was able to get Jacob's dressed. They made their way to the elevator and when they got to the lobby, some of the guys walked in from school. Knowing that they had taken a lot longer than they wanted to, they quickly explained where they were going as they headed out to the parking lot.

Dewayne and Jacob both stood there looking back and forth from the truck, to the Camaro and then to the Jag. They both knew the truck was out of the question because it was higher than the rest of the cars. The Camaro was low on gas, and time was an issue, so they decided to take the Jag, which pleased Dewayne because he was going to go out and start it later in the evening since he hadn't driven it for a while. He truly loves the car his boyfriend gave him.

Once they were on their way, Jacob started to think back to earlier in the day when his mother and father made the adoption of Davey official. He loved seeing the young kid so happy, particularly considering what he has been through the last month. No one, no matter who they are or love, deserves what Davey got on his first day at El Paso High Jacob thought.

Dewayne asking him what he was thinking about brought Jacob out of his thoughts. Jacob looked over at him and smiled. "Nothing really!" Dewayne was a little confused by Jacob's answer and Jacob saw the confusion. "I'm not trying to hide anything from you. I just didn't think you wanted to talk about my parents adopting Davey."

"Why wouldn't I? I don't care what we talk about, as long as we're talking." That put even a bigger smile on Jacob's face. "I thought it was cool of your parents taking Davey in when they did. Then they took it a step further and adopted him and that was awesome. It also made Davey very happy. I think he thought his life was going to be crap, but now he sees a potential future."

"Yeah, I agree, I think the same thing." Jacob looked straight ahead. "It's just I don't know if my mom is really ready to have a gay son to tell you the truth. I mean, she has one, but she really didn't take it too well when I came out to her. She tried everything she could, short of what Joey's mother did, putting him in the camp, to change me."

"Look, I can't say anything about how your mother was when you came out and you were going out with Joey. When I met you, she was already changing. Yes, I had a few run-ins with her at first, but we came to an understanding and have been getting along ever since."

"You're right Dewayne. She has changed a lot in the last couple months since my father has been back. I wish my father had never left. Maybe if he had been around, things might not have been as bad as they did were between me and my mother. Really, even Andy and Marie have their horror stories about mom."

"Yeah, but as you just said, she has changed since you father came back into the picture." Dewayne exited off the freeway, and when he reached the red light he looked over at Jacob with a serious look on his face. "Don't take what I'm about to say wrong, but I'm glad things turned out the way they did. If your father was in the picture for all your life, you may not have moved up here. If that had happened, you and I would have never met. I don't think I can even think of that alternate reality because it would kill me."

Jacob thought about what Dewayne said. He agreed with every word. If his parents would have stayed together, there wouldn't be a Marie since she was by another father, and there is no doubt they would still be living in Wyoming, or worse, Utah.

No, it's better how things happened because he now has the guy he knows he is going to spend the rest of his life with. The only way he is ever going to lose Dewayne in his mind is the day they leave this world. They aren't going to break up or worse, let others influence them in anyway like what happened to him and Joey.

"Well back to the adoption, I think Davey is going to be a good addition to the family." Dewayne broke the uncomfortable silence in the car. "Have you spoken with your mother about where they're going to live? I mean, I know the plan is that they're going to live in the new house when it's built, but have they come to you and told you that they want a place of their own?"

"No and I don't think they are going to. I know they can afford to live on their own, but I think they love living in a house that's alive like ours is. There is no way now they can go on their own and live in a house that has just two kids in it."

"That's for sure! Like them, I don't think I could ever get used to living without the guys. I love having them around because we are one big family. We take care of each other and make sure that no one gets hurt or picked on. I think that's why some of the guys have stuck around instead of going home like David, Tom and a couple of the other guys can. They chose to stay, which is really cool. We are this generations Brady Bunch."

Dewayne cracked up laughing as he imagined everyone dressed in bell bottoms, flowered shirts and boots. "Man am I happy the seventies are over. I can't see any of us dressing like they did back then and wearing long hair." Dewayne looked at Jacob. "I can't even imagine you with long hair. Ever since I met you, you've always kept your hair short."

Jacob reached for his wallet and opened it up. He went through his pictures, and when he got the one he was looking for, he pulled it out and showed it to Dewayne. When Dewayne saw the picture, he grabbed it from Jacob so he could get a closer look at it. He never knew Jacob had grown his hair long like he had in the picture he was holding.

"You have to be kidding me with this picture." Dewayne handed the picture back to Jacob as he paid attention to the road. "It can't be no more than a couple years old because you look the same, except then you have long hair. What made you grow it that long and why did you cut it?"

"There was really no specific reason why I grew my hair out except it was the thing everyone was doing at the time. As far as me cutting it, I had to when I joined ROTC. Colonel Pigeon was the instructor at Austin High at the time and he made it clear that if I was going to be part of his battalion, I had to cut my hair and keep it short. Since I couldn't stay in PE, and ROTC was the only other class that gave PE credits, I had no other choice."

"I know why you couldn't stay in PE, you've told me that story, but I didn't know you joined ROTC to get your PE credit. I thought you always were in the program by the way you seem to love it. Are you planning to stick with it once you get your PE credits?"

"If you had asked me that question when I joined, I would have said `hell yes, I'm going to drop the class once I get my PE credits', but now the answer has changed." Jacob looked out the window to try and help Dewayne find a parking spot near the bail bonds office. "I'm a junior, which means I have already got all my PE credits. I have had them since the middle of last year, but I fell in love with ROTC along the way, so I plan to stick with it."

"Wow you are a lot better person than I am. I would have dropped ROTC once I got the credits I needed for several reasons. First, the military doesn't accept us. They think we can't handle it or something, but they're wrong. If they got to know you, I know they would change that policy in a flash, I just know it." Both of the boys started to laugh.

"The other reason I wouldn't have stuck with the program is the way they have treated you. First, it was Major Moore. What I heard about him, he was a dick, but changed after he retired. Now it is that other instructor. Don't even get me started with him on how he's been treating you because we'll never get out of this car. I just don't like the way he has been treating you and because of that, I would have quit ROTC."

"Trust me when I say I have come very close many of times to quitting. In fact, one time I didn't sign back up for it, but Major Moore talked me into coming back. Every time they get me mad, I think about all the work I have done in the couple of years I have been part of the program. Then I tell myself I won't let anyone run me off."

Before Jacob could go any further, Dewayne found a parking spot and got out of the car. He went around, opened the door and helped Jacob out of the car. As they made their way to the bail bonds office, they dropped the subject they were talking about. They started to go over what they were there to do and what they were going to tell Ralph and his mother if they find them.

It didn't take them long to post Daryl's bond. Once they were done, they went back to the car and headed to the county jail. As they got closer to the building, it gave them the creeps. It was one of the tallest buildings downtown, but it was also the gloomiest as well. It's an off grey color and very plain. It didn't match any of the buildings around it, but no county jail should, the boys thought as they drove past it looking for a parking spot.

Dewayne knew Jacob was in pain, even though he wouldn't admit it. So instead of asking Jacob if he was, he suggested Jacob stay in the car when they finally found somewhere to park. He tried to object, but Dewayne got out of the car so fast, he didn't hear Jacob's objections. Jacob tried to get out of the car on his own, but he couldn't because the pain in his legs was too intense. He leaned back in his seat and closed the door, miffed with Dewayne for leaving him.

All the way in to the county jail, Dewayne kept looking back to see if Jacob was stubborn enough to get out of the car on his own. When he saw Jacob didn't, he breathed a sigh of relief. He knew he was going to catch hell when he gets back to the car but it was worth it. There was no way he was going to allow Jacob to hurt himself anymore just because he wants to ignore the pain he is going through.

As he approached the jail, he stopped thinking about Jacob getting out of the car, and started pulling the things he had in his pocket out. However, when he walked through the doors, he felt like a total idiot because he didn't have to go through metal detectors unless he was going up to visit an inmate.

Putting his stuff back into his pockets, he made his way into the waiting room. He couldn't believe how crowded it was. With so many people in the room, it was making it hard for him to find Ralph and his mother. He tried looking down the rows, but couldn't get a clear view down any of them because there was someone standing up. Just as he was about to give up, he heard his name being called. Following the voice, he saw Ralph waving at him.

Trying to be as polite as he could, Dewayne made his way towards Ralph. Halfway there, he stopped being polite and just asked if he could get through since being polite wasn't getting him anywhere. When he finally got to Ralph, and started to explain to them why he was there, they couldn't hear him with all the people around them talking at the same time. After starting over several times, Dewayne gave up and asked Ralph and his mother to follow him out.

This time as Dewayne made his way down the row, he didn't say `please' or `excuse me', he just walked through, doing his best not to step on anyone's toes. When they finally got out of the waiting area, Dewayne told Ralph and Mrs. Rawson that Jacob was waiting for them in the car. They asked him why they were there, but all they got out of Dewayne was that Jacob was going to answer all of their questions. Halfway to the car, they stopped asking.

Jacob saw Dewayne, Ralph and his foster mother walking towards the car. He straightened himself up before rolling down the window. Just as he got the window all the way down, Ralph and his mother knelt down and looked at him with confused looks on their faces. Jacob didn't beat around the bush, he told them about the phone call and what he and Dewayne did before they arrived here. Mrs. Rawson was more surprised than Ralph, but they were grateful that Jacob actually talked to Daryl and then posted his bail.

"Jacob thank you so much for helping us out like that. I know my husband was a total jackass with you and I promise that he won't do anything like that ever again." Mrs. Rawson leaned into the car and gave Jacob a hug and then a kiss on the forehead. "I promise, we will pay you the money back tomorrow morning as soon as we get it."

"Don't worry about paying me back. I know you guys are good for it. Just go and get Mr. Rawson and take him home. I'm sure Diane is missing her family right now and has no idea what's going on. So go be with her and sit down as a family. After the events of today, I'm sure you guys have a lot to discuss, but make sure you do it in a friendly way."

"My friend, thank you for everything. You can't imagine how badly I've been feeling about what my dad did to you this morning, just because I acted like kid and walked out of the conversation we were having. If I hadn't done that, none of what took place this morning would have happened. I promise I won't put you in a situation like that again." Ralph leaned in and hugged his old friend.

"Don't you ever think twice about coming to me with anything even if you think by you coming down that things might end up like they did this morning. We are very old friends, no scratch that, we are brothers and brothers are always there for each other. So if you need anything, and I can help you, I'll be there for you. All you have to do is call me."

Ralph thanked Jacob again as he shook his hand. He wanted to lean in and give him another hug, but he didn't know if Dewayne might get jealous so he didn't. As he walked back, Mrs. Rawson walked back to the passenger side window and she didn't think twice about giving Jacob a second hug. She leaned in and gently wrapped her arms around him, thanking him over and over again. Jacob thought that he might have to ask Dewayne to go to the trunk and get the crow bar to pry Mrs. Rawson off of him, but she finally let go after a couple of minutes holding him.

Ralph and Mrs. Rawson stood there waving at Jacob and Dewayne as they pulled into the street. Jacob kept looking back to see if they had left, but they were still standing there looking at them drive away. Just before they turned onto Mesa, he looked back but he couldn't see them. He hoped they had left and that's the reason he couldn't see them, not that they were too far away.

Meanwhile at the hospital, Tom was waking up to an empty room. He looked over at the clock and saw it was fifteen minutes to five. Not knowing which five it was, he looked over at the window and saw the sun coming through, which told him it was five in the evening. He couldn't believe that he slept all day, but at the same time he could because he hadn't had more than ten minutes of straight sleep since he came out of surgery.

Just as he was fully waking up, Tom heard a knock at the door. He looked over at the door, but no one came in. Thinking he was hearing things, he went back to trying to figure out where everyone was when he heard a knock on his door again. This time he was sure that he was not hearing things, he called out for whoever is at the door to come in.

Little by little the door opened, and finally a middle age man Tom had never seen before walked in wearing a suit and carrying a brief case. The guy looked around before making eye contact with Tom. He smiled at him as he walked over to the bed. Extending his hand, the guy introduced himself to Tom.

"Good evening Mr. Dickson, my name is Michael McQueen." Tom took Mr. McQueen's hand and shook it. "I work at the law firm that Jacob Hernandez has on call for any dealings with his company and also personal matters. He called the managing partners this morning and asked them to assign an attorney to look after your best interests and that's why I am here. The managing partners handed your case over to me and made it clear to make sure you are well taken care of."

Mr. McQueen looked around for a table to put his briefcase on, but all he found was the over-bed table that's used to put Tom's food on. Before assuming he could use it, he asked Tom if he could. At first Tom didn't hear his request, when McQueen asked the second Tom, Tom nodded his head. Just as he did, his mother and father walked into the room.

"I'm sorry sir, who are you?" Chad stopped Mr. McQueen from putting his briefcase on his son's table as he walked up to him. "I won't ask again, who are you sir?"

Mr. McQueen looked at Chad and then over at Teresa with a smile on his face. "I'm sorry sir, ma'am, as I was telling Mr. Dickerson here that my name is Michael McQueen, a lawyer at the law firm Jacob Hernandez uses for all his legal issues. Jacob called the managing partners to get someone assigned to help Mr. Dickerson here with all his legal issues dealing with the accident."

"Oh, I apologize for being rude! It's just I don't want anyone talking to my son trying to get interviews, or worse, signing away any rights." Chad let go of Mr. McQueen's briefcase and shook his hand. "So Jacob got you to come down here to help my son out, I don't know what we would have done if he wasn't there."

"I haven't met the young man, but everyone that has, says nothing but good things about him. On top of that, he was willing to walk through fire for his friends. I saw that for myself on live television." Chad and Teresa both nodded. "I wish I had a friend like that in my corner when I was going through high school." At the same time Tom's parents agreed.

"Well, as I was telling your son here, I was appointed by the managing partners of my law firm to take care of him. I started to get the ball rolling as soon as I got your son's case this afternoon by placing a call to the trucking company that the driver of the semi that hit your son worked for. As soon as I told them who I was and why I was calling, they passed me over to their lawyers. Immediately their lawyers agreed to meet with me on Friday morning." Mr. McQueen pulled out a file from his briefcase.

"They agreed to this meeting on my terms because they know they don't have a leg to stand on. I also know they were told by their client that they want this whole thing off the six o'clock news and out of the newspapers. No company wants the kind of press the trucking company is getting right now.

That's going to work in your son's favor, and let me tell you what I mean." Mr. McQueen handed Chad the file he pulled out of his briefcase. "They don't want a long dragged out trial, neither do I. Your son needs financial help now, not some five or ten years down the line, and they can drag it out that long. So with that in mind, take a look at the first sheet in the folder.

I plan to march in there on Friday and let them know if they drag this out, I will go to the press, which again I know their client doesn't want. Therefore I know they will agree with the terms I'm going to set out which you are looking at right now.

They will be responsible for all of Tom's medical bills, no matter what it is. They will pay all his medical bills for the rest of his life. Now I'm not going to stop there. I'm also going to request that they send a monthly check to Tom, instead of a lump sum. The reason for that's because it will come out a lot more than getting a lump sum they might agree to pay out without being ordered to pay by a jury or a judge."

Chad looked at the figure that Mr. McQueen was going to ask for and didn't think it was realistic; it was too high. "With all due respect, there is no way that trucking company is going to pay my son this amount every month." Chad pointed to the number on the paper, causing Mr. McQueen to laugh. "I don't see what is so funny about what I'm saying! There is no way that company or any company will pay anyone forty five thousand dollars a month. When they see that number, they will have no other choice but to drag this through the courts."

"I don't mean to be laughing at you, but you aren't reading the entire line there. If you would have read on, you would have seen that forty five thousand is not a month, but a yearly salary." Chad looked down at the sheet and read on. He felt like a fool when he saw yearly. "I crunched some numbers and came up with that average. In the US today, the average household brings in forty five thousand dollars, I am going to ask for that. However, I won't stop there either.

On top of the forty five thousand a year, they will have to increase that amount every year by the cost of living index plus two percent. I don't want Tom ten years from now unable to pay all his bills because we didn't factor in the cost of living that goes up every year. The two percent, well it is just a safety net for Tom to live a little more comfortably."

Chad handed the file to his wife for her to look at it. Once they both had a chance to look at everything Mr. McQueen was going to ask for, they handed the file to Tom. His head was still fuzzy with all the pain medication in his system, so it was hard for him to concentrate on anything simple let alone something that would confuse him even when he's at a hundred percent.

"Look, I know you guys are thinking I might be asking for too much, but let me tell you, I'm not. This company is losing more than that every day with this story in the news. They want to come out of this looking good and the only way they can do that's by showing they have a heart. And the only way they can show that is by agreeing with everything I'm going to ask for."

"It can't be that simple, it really can't. No company will be willing to shell out forty five thousand dollar each year to a person that doesn't work for them. On top of that, all the hospital bills? No sir! There is no way they will agree with that. I think you should go into that meeting and ask for a huge settlement and all medical costs."

"Let me tell you why I won't do that." Mr. McQueen stood up and walked over to Chad, took the file, flipped over a couple of pages and handed the file back. "Look at that sheet I just flipped to. It is their cap, the most they can give out in a settlement. There is no way that money is going to last your son for his entire life.

That means if you want a judgment in your son's favor that will last him his entire life that he can live comfortably on, we will have to take it in front of jury, which I really don't want to do. Juries aren't giving huge settlements anymore because they are getting tired of everyone suing everyone for a broken nail they got at their business. I know that's not the case here, but that factor will come into play. Then, even if you can get a jury to agree your son was wronged, they might not award more than the cap the company has. Juries are that unpredictable.

Your son's best option is to go down the road I have mapped out for him. He needs to let me do my job because I know how to get the best results for my clients." Mr. McQueen turned to look at Tom. "Mr. Dickson, this is your call. I am your attorney; I will do whatever you want me to do."

Tom looked at his parents for guidance. "Son, Mr. McQueen is right. It's your decision because at the end of the day you are the one that has to live with the outcome. Now with that said, after seeing these numbers and hearing out Mr. McQueen, I agree with him that you should take the monthly amount. Don't try and get millions of dollars because you might not get it."

There was so much being thrown at him all at once, Tom's felt like he was running around in circles. To make things worse, he didn't understand one thing they were saying or asking him to decide on. All he knew was he had to make a decision at that moment that will affect him the rest of his life. If he would make the wrong one, he would never forgive himself.

"Are you certain that if we try and take this to court, I might get less than what you think you can get out of the company when you talk with them on Friday?" Tom finally spoke.

"Mr. Dickerson one thing I can tell with one hundred percent certainty is that no lawyer can tell their client what a jury will or won't do. Even though they are instructed to come to their decisions by the facts, they mostly never do. They let their emotions through, which sometimes plays in our favor and sometimes it doesn't. With this case I'm uncertain how the jury is going to go." Everyone looked at Mr. McQueen not understanding what he meant, and he saw the confused look in each of their faces.

"Let me be a little clearer. If you turn anything down that they offer, and let me tell you they are going to offer a lot, they will use that in the press and in the trial. What the jury hears is that the company tried to do the right thing, and you wanted a lot more. They might come back with less than what was being offered to send a message to all those that are in negotiation meetings not to be greedy. I don't want that to happen to you Mr. Dickerson. You were wronged and you need to fair and adequate compensation for it, without being greedy."

Just then David walked in, stopping at the door. Chad introduced him to Mr. McQueen and then started to brief David on what was going on. Before he knew it, each of them took turns telling him everything. As they were laying everything out, David made his way to Tom's side and sat down on the bed. Once they were done, David leaned down and started to talk with Tom in a whisper. No one else was able to make out what was being said.

"David, what do you think I should do here? Should I go for it all and take this to court and try and get millions like Jacob did, or should I settle for what Mr. McQueen is certain he can get me? If I try and get what Jacob got in his lawsuit, I might not get it. I might actually get a lot less than what Mr. McQueen is certain he can get me come Friday."

"Hey, hey, I don't like that you are being asked to make this kind of decision right now, but it is here and it has to be dealt with." David brushed hand across Tom's cheek. "I really believe that Jacob was lucky with what he got, but we can't forget it wasn't what he has today. He is where he is as far as money because of Al investing it right.

With that said gorgeous, I want you to take the offer that your attorney can get you because it is the best offer on the table right now. It will ensure that you won't have to worry about anything financially for the rest of your life. Getting a huge lump sum can be spent as fast as a person gets it and especially us because we want everything we see. I don't want you to go broke within a couple of years and then worry about how you're going to live. Also, this will mean you'll never have to worry about a medical bill ever; even for a hangnail!"

Tom agreed with every word that David was saying to him. He informed Mr. McQueen to go into the settlement conference on Friday and ask for what he plans to ask, but with one change. Instead of two percent above the cost of living rise each year, to ask for five percent but not settle for less than three percent. Mr. McQueen had no problem with that. He promised by Friday afternoon he will have everything settled and Tom set up for life.

Back at the hotel, Jacob and Dewayne just arrived when they were met at the door by Nancy. She was concerned about Jacob and at the same time angry with her son's adoptive parents. Never before in her life has she heard of anyone doing what Mr. Rawson did to Jacob. In her mind he was wrong thinking that Jacob was responsible for upsetting his household.

Jacob tried to settle her down but stopped and just let her vent her feelings. He figured that was the only way she would settle down and he was right. After about ten minutes of ranting on how wrong Mr. Rawson was and seeing if Jacob got hurt, she settled down. When she did, Jacob informed her about what he just did, which got her going all over again!

"I don't understand why you helped a man that wanted to hurt you for caring!" Nancy got up from her seat and started pacing around the room. "That man didn't care about you when he barged in here this morning and attacked you and you shouldn't care about him. You should have let him rot in that jail because that's where he belongs for what he did to you!"

Jacob got up from his seat and walked over to Nancy. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight as he whispered in her ear. "You know I always considered you my second mother when we lived in Cheyenne. Not once did you look at me like Ralph's and my other friend's parents did. They considered me the poor Mexican. They didn't want their kids seen around me, but not you. You opened your house to me and I will never forget that." Jacob leaned down and kissed Nancy on the forehead. "I know I'm wasting my breath, but I'm going to say it anyway; don't worry about me."

Nancy looked up at Jacob, a little angry that he asked her that and he saw the anger in her eyes and felt it too. "I love you like a mother. I'm willing to take anything that comes to me for what I did to bring Ralph back into your life, and Diane too. You didn't deserve not knowing what had happened to them. No parent deserves what you went through."

The two stood there in the middle of the lobby, holding each other tight. Both of them had tears in their eyes and didn't want anyone else to see them crying. So they held on to each other until the tears were gone. Once they had both got control of their emotions, they broke the hug and walked back over to where Dewayne was sitting watching everything unfold.

"Nancy you're right about everything you said, but one thing my mom did teach me and you pounded into me and Ralph, we must always be bigger people than those that hurt us. That's what I was doing here today, being the bigger person. Mr. Rawson came in here with his mind set to hurt me. He got in a few hits, but I wasn't going to let that keep me from being the bigger person. I went and bailed him out, giving me the last word. Whenever he thinks back to this day, he will remember in the end, he called me. I didn't hang up on him or refuse to help. I was a bigger person and went out and helped him."

Thinking about what Jacob just said, Nancy knew he was right. Always turn the other cheek when a person hurts you is one of the things she tried to teach her kids. Now she can see it did sink in, because one of her son's friends lives by it.

"Nancy, hey Nancy..." Jacob called out to Nancy several times, and finally after the third time, he brought her out of her thoughts. "I have been meaning to talk with you for the last couple of days, but, well you know." Jacob pointed to his legs. "Things just kept coming up keeping me from talking with you on a very important matter, but since I have you here, let's do it." Nancy nodded her head as Dewayne helped Jacob put his legs on the cushions in front of him.

"Eventually we are going to move out of this hotel, hopefully sooner than later. It has only been a little over a week now since my house burned down but things are moving along very fast. The construction crew is already hard at work around the clock getting the house up. They got the permits that they needed and the blue prints were finally finished on Friday.

The house is going to be a lot bigger than the house I had, so if you want, you can move into my house and close off your house." Nancy loved the idea, but didn't want to put Jacob out of his way like that. "There is plenty of room for you, and if Ralph or Diane, or both decide to move back home with you, there is room enough for them too."

"Jacob thank you so much for the offer, but I don't want to put you out like that. I do hope that I do get a chance to have my kids under the same roof with me again but I'm not going to force them to do something they don't want to do. With that said, I do need to find a place of my own here because I'm not leaving El Paso now that I know my kids are here."

Stunned by her answer, Jacob leaned back into his seat. He started to think what else he could say to sell her on moving in with him when the house was done when Dewayne interjected. "Um Jacob, I have an idea." Dewayne got up and walked over to Jacob. "What about the house you bought from that old couple. Alex just told you that he and Matt were going to move into the new house and that they didn't want to buy the house you were selling them."

Jacob almost jumped up. The only reason he didn't was because of his legs. "Nancy, Dewayne reminded me of something. Before my house burned down, an old couple came to me that lived behind me and asked if I would buy their house. After some going back and forth, I agreed and bought it, but not for me. I bought it for my very good friends; no scratch that, my brothers Alex and Matt, but they don't want it anymore if we aren't going to rebuild on the same property, which we're not. They want to live with us and we have no problem with that.

Now by them not wanting the house anymore, I need to off load it before the end of the year or I am going to have to pay Federal and State taxes which I don't want to. Anyway, I have this three bedroom house just sitting there and it's yours if you want it. But let me warn you, it isn't a big home, the rooms are a little small."

"Jacob don't worry about that, I don't care how big the rooms are. All I care about is the price and if it is near you. So is the house going to be near you and what are you asking for it?"

Jacob smiled. "The house is yours as long as you pay the taxes and transfer of title costs. I will get a bigger tax break by gifting it rather than selling it. If you it off my hands as a gift, you will actually be helping me out come tax time. What do you think? Would you be willing to take the house off our hands?"

Dewayne looked at Jacob stunned that he put him in the sentence as though he is part owner of the house. Even though they just talked about that very subject earlier discussing money matters he thought it was just that, talk. Now he can see Jacob is for real. Everything he has is theirs, which is throwing him for a loop.

"I don't know what to say Jacob, I really don't..." Jacob interrupted Nancy. "Just say yes, please say yes. You will be helping me and Dewayne out a lot by taking this house off of our hands. Plus we want to do this. We want you guys to be near us so you all can come over and have dinner with us when you want or just visit."

Now it was Nancy's turn to be stunned with what Jacob was saying. "Well, um, thank you Jacob, thank you very much for this. By you and Dewayne giving me this house, it is one less thing for me to worry about. Now all I have to worry about as far as houses are concerned is selling mine and soon because I don't want to end up at the end of the year paying taxes on a house I don't live in either."

Jacob cracked up laughing. "Whenever you want, Dewayne and I will take you over to the house and show it to you. If there is anything the house needs like furniture, appliances or whatever, we'll make a list and get it done before you move in. However, this doesn't mean you have to move into the house now. You can stay here with us until our new home is built and we all move into our houses at the same time."

Nancy liked the idea and let Jacob know that. They talked another hour about the house and when they were going to go and take a look at it. They all agreed since Jacob really can't walk that much, they would put looking at the house off until he was strong enough to stay on his feet more than five minutes at a time. They agreed that the title of the house will be signed over to Nancy as soon as Jacob could get it and sign it.

After they parted ways, Jacob started to think about what he just did. He wasn't regretting that he offered the house as a gift to Nancy. What was bothering him was that he was going to sell the house to Alex, a guy he now considers his brother, and here he giving it away to Nancy. It was really bothering him. He felt like crap for trying to sell the house to Alex.

When Dewayne walked over to help Jacob to his feet and up to their room to get ready to go to bed, he saw him deep in thought. There wasn't a doubt in Dewayne's mind what had Jacob deep in thought, but didn't know what to say to make him feel better. All he knew was that he needed to get him to stop thinking so much about whatever is on his mind.

"Jacob, hey Jacob, earth to Jacob, come in Jacob." Jacob snapped out of it and looked over at Dewayne. "Whatever you're thinking about, stop it. I'm going to get you to stop thinking so much about everything you do and everyone around you if it's the last thing I do." Dewayne lifted Jacob onto his feet. "What you did here tonight was a good thing and I know everyone would agree with me on that, including Alex and Matt. So stop beating yourself up."

Jacob wasn't used to being told to stop worrying, but he hesitantly took Dewayne's advice. They made their way up to their room together, with Dewayne supporting Jacob along the way. When they got there, Dewayne helped Jacob get undressed, cleaned up and into bed. The minute their heads hit the pillows, they were out like a switch had been flipped and didn't wake again until next morning when the noise of the guys going back and forth from each other's rooms came through the door.

Dewayne rolled over and pulling the covers over his head, trying to get back to sleep. However Jacob didn't want to go back to sleep, he needed to catch his sister before she headed off to school. Slowly he pulled himself up, but due to the pain from his legs, he fell right back down on the bed. Starring at the ceiling, Jacob thought to himself that he had been through worse. He didn't let the pain get him down then, so why is he letting the little pain he is feeling now do it?

With all his strength, Jacob pulled himself out of bed, ignoring the shooting pains coming from his feet. The pain wasn't small, but Jacob kept telling himself that it is small so he could get himself out of bed without disturbing Dewayne. Once he was on his feet, he slowly walked over to grab his bathrobe. He knew there was no way he was going to be able to pull on a pair of running pants or shorts for that matter, the pain was too much already.

As soon as he tied the robe, he made his way out to the hall, not putting on any shoes or slippers. Several of the guys looked at him as he walked passed them to get to his sister's room. Every one of them asked if they could help, but Jacob said `no thank you'. When he got to his sisters room, he knocked on the door, waited to hear her ask him to come in, when he didn't hear anything, he knocked again. The second knock got a response, and his sister opened the door.

When she saw it was her brother, she opened the door fully to let him in. Jacob looked around the room as he walked over to a chair to get off his feet. This was the first time he was in his sister's room, but it wasn't any different than his or Jeremy's except for a few minor things. The bedspread and wallpaper were different colors, but other than that, everything else was exactly the same as it was in his room.

"Jacob you're not going to school today, are you?" Marie asked with a concerned voice. "If you are, I think you're crazy because you aren't in any condition to go. Just look at your legs." At the same time, they both looked down at Jacob's lower legs and saw the bandages needed to be changed. Marie went to the bathroom to grab a towel, but Jacob called her back over.

"Don't worry about my bandages. As soon as I get back to my room, Dewayne and I will change them. And in answer to your question, I'm not going to school today, maybe tomorrow, but not today." That put a smile on Marie's face. "The reason I wanted to see you before you went off to school was to thank you for what you did for me at school yesterday."

Marie stuttered as she tried to tell Jacob that there was no need for him to thank her, but he wouldn't hear anything of the sort. "Marie, you stood up to those football players. Not only did you put them in their place but you helped me, just like Josh did last Friday, and that could win me the election for student council president. I'm on the home stretch now, and anything can happen between now and Friday that could move the students back over to support the jocks."

"If they are dumb enough to elect those stupid jocks, they deserve what they are going to get, and that's nothing. Everyone knows that you are the best person for the job because you are going to actually do something, not just use the position for your college transcript. That's why the jocks run for the position. They need it so they look smarter than they actually are."

"You won't get any disagreement out of me on that. They don't even show up for the weekly meetings. Without them there, nothing can get done and that's exactly what happens, nothing. But that isn't why I wanted to talk with you. You really helped me out by standing up to those guys yesterday and I'm very thankful for that. I owe you big time little sister!"

Jacob struggled to get out of the seat; he managed to get up with help from his sister. Once he was back on his feet, he pulled Marie in and hugged her. As he held her, he whispered in her ear over and over again, `thank you', bringing her to tears. When Jacob tried to break the hug, Marie didn't let him. She held her older brother a little longer. It wasn't that she didn't want Jacob to see her crying. She did it because she couldn't remember the last time they hugged like they were hugging, and she wanted to hold onto the moment as long as she could.

When they finally broke the hug, they didn't say a word to each other. Marie walked into her bathroom to finish getting ready, while Jacob walked out wishing her a great day. On his way back to his room, he decided to pop in and see Jeremy. He has been wondering how his big brother has been handling everything that has been going on.

As he walked up to Jeremy's door, he heard Cupid barking. When he cracked the door open, Cupid was there to meet him with her tail going a hundred miles an hour. Leaning down, Jacob picked up Cupid, and right away she went straight to his face and started licking. He started to laugh as he walked in holding onto Cupid.

Moving the dog away from his face, he found Jeremy looking up at him from his bed with a worried look on his face. Slowly he asked Jeremy how he was doing, and Jeremy signed back that he was doing okay and then asked Jacob how he was feeling. Not wanting to worry his big brother more than he already is, Jacob lied and said he was doing well, even though he was in a lot of pain.

Putting the dog down, Jacob sat on the bed next to Jeremy and started to sign. "I know I haven't been around a lot lately and that's going to change, more now that Alex is going to be unable to play with you for a while because he has to get better." Jeremy looked up at his little brother with a confused look on his face. "Alex got hurt the other day, and he has to get better before he is able to play with you and his little brothers. Okay?"

Jeremy nodded his head but didn't really understand what Jacob was saying. He signed to Jacob that he wanted to go and see Alex right now. Before Jacob was able to tell Jeremy that Alex wasn't there, he got up from the bed and went running to the door, knocking Jacob to the floor. Yelling out in pain, Jacob reached down to his ankles and started rubbing them.

He looked up to find Cupid staring back at him, still wagging her tail a hundred miles minute. Placing his hands on the bed, he pushed himself up and made his way out of the room and headed down the hall to Alex and Matt's room where he found Jeremy banging on the door. The very first thing Jacob learned when he brought Jeremy home to live with him was not to touch his brother when he is the way he is right now because Jacob would be the one getting hurt.

Instead of grabbing Jeremy, Jacob tried to talk him down. It took a few minutes for Jacob to get him to look at his hands so he could see what is being signed, but he got him to. Once he did that, he was able to explain that Alex and Matt were not there and where they were. At first, Jeremy didn't understand, so Jacob had to explain it several times for it to sink in.

When it finally did sink in, Jeremy pushed Jacob back almost putting him back on the floor, and headed back to his room. Slowly Jacob made his way back to Jeremy's room, and when he got there, he found his older brother playing with Cupid as if what just happened didn't occur. Not wanting to get Jeremy agitated again, Jacob didn't mention Alex again. Instead he talked about what Jeremy wanted to talk about, which was Cupid's haircut.

"I promise we will take her in sometime this week and have her haircut and her nails trimmed so she doesn't scratch you. Okay?" Jeremy nodded his head. "In the meantime, you need to get up and get dressed so you can go down and eat something. Your teacher is going to be here in an hour and we know how you get if you don't eat."

Once again Jeremy nodded his head as he jumped to his feet. He ran to his bathroom and went through his morning routine. As soon as he was finished in the bathroom, he walked over to the chest of drawers and took out a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a pair of socks and threw them on the bed. In no time, he was dressed and putting on his shoes. Jacob noticed when Jeremy got up, his shirt was on backwards. Not wanting his older brother to look like a fool, he walked over to him and explained that the shirt was on backwards.

After flipping it around, they headed out of the room together and down to the elevator. When the door opened, Jacob hugged his brother, took Cupid from him and waited for the door to close before heading back to his room. He wasn't surprised when he walked in to find Dewayne still sound asleep. Not wanting to wake him up, he put Cupid on the bed, took off his bathrobe and crawled in with him. The minute he settled in, Cupid curled up beside him and went to sleep. A couple of minutes later, Jacob was in dream world and didn't wake up until he felt someone shaking him. As he came out of his deep sleep, he saw it was Dewayne.

"Hey, the nurse is here to change your bandages. Plus you have your ten o'clock meeting with Mr. Olson. So you'd better get up, get your dressings changed, get dressed and head down to get something to eat before he arrives."

Jacob nodded his head as he leaned up, rubbing his eyes and groaning. The nurse walked up to the bed and removed the covers so she could start working on Jacob. When she saw the state of the bandages, she was worried. Quickly she started to unwrap them. But when she got them off, she breathed in a sigh of relief.

"Jacob if you don't keep these bandages clean, you are going to get an infection and end right back in hospital." She looked over at Dewayne. "I thought you said you two were going to able to handle the changing out of the bandages." Dewayne walked over to take a look. "If I see this once more, I'm going to call Dr. Whitmore and tell him that Jacob needs to be back in the hospital because you guys can't handle changing the bandages when you are supposed to."

"Ma'am, we did change the bandages as instructed. If we need to change them more often, we will. Just tell us what we need to do in order for Jacob not to be put back in the hospital. He has way too much going on; he can't afford to go back in."

The nurse was going to let it go, but when she saw the fresh bruises and scrapes on Jacob, she blew her top. "What in the hell is this?" She pointed to the bruises and cuts Jacob got from when Daryl attacked him the day before. "If you're hitting him or someone else here is hitting him, he can't stay here. Any small hit can hurt Jacob more than you can imagine."

Trying his best to explain why there were fresh cuts and bruises on his boyfriend, Dewayne wasn't making sense. When he finally stopped stumbling around and was able to explain what had happened, the nurse settled down. She was relieved it was not anyone in the hotel or Dewayne hitting Jacob. However, she made it clear that if she walks in and sees anything like this again, just like the bandages, she will call Dr. Whitmore and send Jacob back to the hospital.

At the same time, Jacob and Dewayne promised that she wasn't going to find any of this again. She took the boys at their word and went to work cleaning out the wounds on Jacob's legs before putting fresh bandages on them. Once she was done, she wrote out a new schedule for keeping Jacob's bandages clean. When the nurse felt comfortable that the boys understood the new schedule, she gathered her stuff and left.

With help from Dewayne, Jacob got dressed and was downstairs in less than thirty minutes. They were the only ones in the restaurant when they walked in. Jacob sat down while Dewayne went to the kitchen to see if Franseca or Mario were there to prepare them breakfast. He was surprised to find both of them still there, waiting for them.

Franseca pushed Dewayne out of the kitchen and went to work preparing his and Jacob's breakfast. She wanted to get their breakfast done so she could get back to her son's side at the hospital. When Dewayne told Jacob that Franseca was in the kitchen, Jacob was pissed. He couldn't believe that she was here cooking for them instead of being at the hospital.

He got up and walked over to the kitchen. "Franseca, why are you here?" Jacob almost yelled as he walked in. "You shouldn't be here waiting on us. You should be at the hospital with Alex. So stop what you are doing and go and be with your son! He needs you to be there with him!"

Franseca turned around. "Jacob you need me here to make sure everyone gets fed."

"No I don't." Jacob could see confusion in Franseca's eyes. "What I mean is that your son is more important right now than us. Mario is here and he can hold down the fort. Plus your assistant, Mrs. Walker is going to start work here today. Tell her what needs to be done and stay at the hospital with your son. Don't worry about anything or anyone else except him right now."

When Jacob said `assistant', Franseca felt more at ease. She was worried if she missed a day of work, she would be fired. Now she can see how wrong she was. Jacob's tone and body language told her he really cares about her. Knowing that, she is confident that her job taking care of the boys is not going to go anywhere.

She turned and handed Mario her spoon, took off her apron and headed upstairs. Jacob stayed in the kitchen and made sure Mario was okay with taking on more than he was hired to do. He had no problem doing a little extra. Still Jacob felt bad that he was taking on extra work so he told him that he was going to pay him on top of his salary from Joey. Mario tried to object, but Jacob wouldn't hear anything of the sort.

When he rejoined Dewayne at the table, they saw Franseca walk by. Dewayne didn't need to ask what had happened, he already knew. He knew Jacob did the right thing. So he didn't address the subject. Instead, he tried to talk Jacob into not going back to school until next week at the earliest, but Jacob wouldn't budge on his decision about going back to school on Wednesday.

"I understand why you don't want me to go back. I agree and wish I could stay home all this week, but I just can't gorgeous. This Friday is the election for student body president and tomorrow is the debate between me and whoever else is still left in the running. I understand it is just Markus that means I need to be there for the debate now that it is down to just the two of us. For sure he has all the jock and popular votes. I need to keep all the rest if I stand a chance of winning come Friday."

"Jacob, I know you want to win this, but maybe you need to sit back and think about everything that's going on. First, one of the guys running against you got kicked out of school for doing that dumb shit to Davey. I don't want to actually say what it was because it makes me sick to my stomach, but you know what I am talking about." Jacob nodded his head.

"Secondly, Victor, I think his name is, dropped out of the race, which means the jocks aren't splitting the jock vote anymore. If everything is still the same at school as it was when I was there, which was just a year ago, so I expect it is, the jocks rule. It was already going to be hard for you to win with them splitting the vote. Now there is only one in the running. How do you think things are going to go come Friday?"

Jacob shrugged his shoulders, but he knew the answer but didn't want to admit it out loud because he feared it will come true. As long as he doesn't say it out loud, he feels he still has a chance to win. However, the more everyone keeps talking about Victor dropping from the race, the more he fears that his nightmare about losing might come true.

"And finally, if anything else could go wrong, it has gone wrong. Look at you right now! I know you're in a lot of pain but you won't tell me. How do you expect to go to school and walk around crowded hallways and not get hit? There's no way you'll be able to go to school and not get hurt. Please babe, don't do this to yourself! Let this one thing go! You have so many other things going on in your life which are good, you really don't need this."

Jacob grabbed Dewayne's hand and started to caress it. "I agree with you one hundred percent but I just can't quit. That's just not in me to do but I will make you this promise. After we finish eating, I will call Principal Michaels and explain to him what is going on. If he allows me to miss school the rest of the week but let's me participate in the debate after school tomorrow, I won't go back to school until Monday next week. However, if he says I have to be in school to participate in the debate, I will go back to school tomorrow."

Dewayne agreed with what Jacob suggested. "As far as tomorrow during the day, Thursday and Friday, I can ask the two guys that are running my campaign to do just that, run it without me there. Don't forget I have my sister who will help me out and Josh too. I know if I ask him, he will since he already stood up to them last Friday."

"All that sounds good Jacob, very good, just try everything you can to talk Principal Michaels into letting you do the debate without going back to school until Monday. You need more than a couple of days rest before returning back there to be kicked around. Even next Monday I think is too soon for you to go back but it is better than tomorrow."

Just then, Mario walked out of the kitchen with their breakfasts. They dropped the subject and moved on to the subject about what Jacob plans to talk to his CEO about. Some of the conversation was the normal, briefings on how things are running, but Jacob wanted to talk to Mr. Olson about buying out a few more companies he had heard were up for sale.

"Which companies are those?" Dewayne asked as he reached for the syrup.

"I'm not going to tell you!" Jacob giggled because of the look Dewayne was giving him. "I'm sorry, but if I do buy one of these companies, it isn't for me, it will be for you." Dewayne started to choke, causing Jacob to start slapping him on the back. "Are you okay gorgeous?" Jacob grabbed Dewayne's orange juice. "Here drink this, maybe it will help you."

Dewayne grabbed the glass from Jacob and drank it all. When he was done, he was able to breathe again. "I'm sorry for surprising you like that, but you have done such a good job running the Seven Elevens, you deserve to have a business all your own. It's not going to be anything big and you will have the leverage of the Angel Corporation but it's all going to be yours."

"You don't have to do that babe, really you don't. I'm happy owning the percentage of the Seven Elevens I have now." Dewayne looked at Jacob with his puppy dog eyes that always gets Jacob hard immediately. "You already gave me the car of my dreams, and most importantly, I have you at my side. I don't want anything else except you and your love."

Jacob leaned over and kissed Dewayne on the lips. "You will always have me. I have no plans of going anywhere." They kissed again, but this time held it a lot longer than their first kiss. "I love you Dewayne and I want to give you everything in the world. So let me to do this for you."

Dewayne tried to talk Jacob out of it, but Jacob wouldn't budge. Finally after trying for fifteen minutes, Dewayne reluctantly accepted whatever Jacob was going to buy him. He tried to get Jacob to spill the beans about which company, but Jacob wouldn't budge. The only thing he got out of him was they have been at this place several times.

TO BE CONTINUED...

I have a home page for you to see what the characters look like or what the places look like. If you want to walk in their shoes, please go to: http://jacobmillertex.com/

WRITER'S CORNER...

{Hey everyone, welcome back to another filled chapter of "Jacob Finding His Way". I really hope you are enjoying this saga. It was my first story, and it is the longest one out of the bunch. I never thought I would reach thirty chapters with this story, but here we are eighty five chapters and two years later and still going strong, at least I hope. Please let me know if you feel this saga has run its course. I would hate to stop writing it, but if you all feel it has past its prime, well I will have no other choice but to.

Anyways, let's move out of the sad stuff and over to the happy stuff I like to talk about, the chapter I just wrote. I love this story because it is me and a lot of what I went through. Some of the true facts happened in my high school years and some happened more recently, but a lot of what has been written in this story is based in fact.

Now of course the huge accident on the freeway didn't happen and all my friends didn't end up in the hospital, but it was good drama, just like this story started. How many of you out there thought Jacob wasn't going to bail Mr. Rawson out? Come on guys, Jacob has a big heart and just can't say no. I'm learning really quick of late, being a nice guy in real life can come back to bite me in the ass, so I'm starting to be a hard ass. However, in this story, that's not going to happen.

I really hope that that the Rawson family, particularly Mr. Rawson comes to realize that what happened in their family wasn't Jacob's fault. If Jacob hadn't found out their little secret, someone else would have. One thing I have learned already in my thirty some years on this earth is that keeping a lie is very hard. Eventually the truth always comes out. Mr. Rawson got a break; I hope he uses it wisely.

Now I touched on a plot that happened in "Rebirth", Davey's adoption. I am trying very hard not to repeat plot lines in the stories, so if you want to read all about that plot line, please go on over to "Rebirth" to get the details. I'm not writing that saga, but a lot of my characters are in it and eventually some of the characters in that story will be in mine. So you aren't lost on what is going on, make sure you read "Rebirth" whenever it is posted.

I really hope Mr. McQueen is able to get what he outlines for Tom because Tom doesn't deserve to worry about how he is going to make a living. The guy is going through a lot already right now, and things will only get worse in the weeks and months ahead as far as his recovery. He shouldn't have to worry about who is going to pay for his medical bills and how he is going to live. I know without a doubt Jacob would have taken care is him. However, everyone wants their own money and to not feel dependent upon another.

Jacob and Nancy had a nice little talk. I'm glad that she is going to end up with the house that Jacob was selling to Alex. Of all the people in the story right now, I really believe she deserves to get the house. I understand Jacob's worry about what Alex might think of him when he finds out Jacob gave the house away. However, like Dewayne said, Alex will agree with what he did.

I am also glad that Jacob had a chance to talk with his sister and thank her for what she did. They had a moment there and I hope they continue to get closer.

Now Jeremy, he and Cupid haven't been in the story for a while and I have wanted to bring them back in. I was finally able to do so in this chapter. He reacted to what was going all around him the way I expected him to. He is actually a true person and the way I write him in my story is how he actually is. I love him dearly and I know he loves us dearly.

I don't think I need to cover much about the bandages except to say this. Jacob and Dewayne better make sure they keep those clean, or Jacob will be back in hospital. Also I don't think I need to go back into what happened between Franseca and Jacob in the kitchen. He did what we all knew he was going to do and that's having her put her family first. I wish I had a boss like that when I was working. Instead I had nothing but asses! LOL!

Finally the end of the chapter! Two things were discussed and left up in the air. First one was when Jacob is going to go back to school. Knowing Principal Michaels, he is going to give Jacob permission to do what he needs to do. However, you guys know me, I'm a dick and I might write out that plot a lot differently than we all think it is going to go.

And the last item left up in the air, the meeting with Mr. Olson, Jacob's CEO. He told Dewayne a little bit about the meeting, but not in complete detail. All we know is that Jacob is going to buy a couple more businesses if his CEO thinks they are good investments. What companies is he going to buy? Give me your opinion and thoughts on what you want Jacob to buy.

As always I can go on and on about the open plots in the story! If I do that, I can actually write several more chapters. So many plots can take a turn at any time. You might think it is going to go one way, but is lands up going another. Do not miss anything, or you will be kicking yourself for it. There is a so much to answer in the chapters to come. Stick around and keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacob@jacobmillertex.com, Thanks!}

"DADDY" RICK'S EDITOR'S CORNER:

Jacob, once again, shows he's the bigger man. He really does have a good heart. There's a bit of a contrast between him and Josh in "Shadow". Josh has a big heart but he's also one that won't turn the other cheek right off the bat when he or someone he cares about is wronged.

Jacob really flabbergasted Dewayne when he stated how he sees their relationship when it comes to business and money matters. It is as it should be with any dedicated and loving couple; assets are all in the same pot. Granted, management of the `pot' varies but if there is true love and trust, finances generally work best when they are combined. Dewayne is going to have to get used to that reality. I do wonder what businesses Jacob has his eye on acquiring.

I had been wondering what's been going on with Jeremy. I was glad he made an appearance in this chapter. JPG mentioned that Jeremy is a real person in his life and that he writes about him realistically regarding his personality. I can well relate but on a somewhat different level. I'm Grandpa to three profoundly autistic boys. Like Jeremy, they are warm and loving guys. Again, like Jeremy, I have had to learn how to communicate with them on their terms, but that has created an incredible bond. Like Jeremy, they don't react well to radical changes in routine; care has to be taken.

I'm glad Tom has David and his parents watching out for him right now. He's in no condition to be dealing with serious decisions that will affect him for the rest of his life. David showed up just in time when attorney McQueen was there overloading Tom with things he's not able to comprehend fully in his condition. The settlement offer that's going to be made on Tom's behalf seems very reasonable to me. I wasn't sure about the annual amount until I mentally recalculated the income based on what money was worth back in the early 1990's. It seemed a bit low to me in 2012 terms...but thinking back, it is a decent and reasonable amount.

Jacob gifting the house to Nancy seemed to cause a bit of consternation. I understand exactly how Jacob's mind was working. He would have given the house to Alex and Matt, same as he has offered to Nancy. The reason he didn't just gift the house to Alex and Matt was that Alex would have flat refused the proposition. Alex can't accept what he feels is charity. It's just not in his personality makeup. Alex has to feel he's earning and paying his way; being an honorable man. He is intensely uncomfortable owing anyone.

JPG's summary was so complete, there's not much more for me to add!

Until Next Time,

"Daddy" Rick

daddyrick@jacobmillertex.com