Traditional Values
By: Randall Austin
(© 2012 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 20

The morning wakeup, bathing, and inspection ritual for Martin Forestman's three social servant sons was one that evolved rather naturally, despite it having the appearance of being a somewhat formal and regimented ceremony. Martin had originally planned on having his wife and daughter assist with the evening diapering and lockdown of the boys, and with the morning unlocking and supervision of the boys' bathing. But when it was actually time for the boys to go to bed on their first evening back home from their three weeks in training, Martin's natural fatherly instincts, to preserve the boys' modesty, and his own prudery (women shouldn't see men naked), kicked in. He ended up doing it all himself.

Everyone, especially the boys, liked it. Only Flora was disappointed. Martin had the three boys get into bed, and used the time he spent diapering and chaining them down to engage in some real, spontaneous, and genuinely pleasant, conversation with his sons.

In the morning, Martin was usually up by 7 AM. But he liked to be alone in that early hour. Usually around 8, when his wife and daughter were coming down to prepare breakfast, Martin would then go into the boys room and close the door behind him. One or two of his sons would usually be awake and quietly chatting. As Martin unlocked and unchained each boy the conversation was, again, most often good-natured and enjoyable.

In following the training recommendations set out by Social Services, Martin tried to maintain some regimentation in the morning ritual. After being unlocked from their beds all three boys had to go together into the large bathroom on the main floor. He insisted that they keep their diapers on for the trip to the bathroom so that the boys' mother and sister couldn't see 'anything'. All three of the boys had to stay in the bathroom until they were all finished showering, shaving, and grooming. Oftentimes Martin would enter the bathroom as the boys were showering and grooming to see how things were going. But what Martin was actually doing, again, was trying to follow state training guidelines on the matter, which emphasized the importance of having an overseer's presence during servants' personal moments as often as possible.

When the boys were finished with their bathroom business, they then had to make their way back to their bedroom, remove the towels from about their waists, and stand in front of their beds at attention until Martin made it back to their bedroom to do the morning inspection. Flora was always hovering outside their bedroom door at this point, pretending to be tidying this or that up out in the hallway. Martin was beginning to suspect the reason for her daily presence in the area, so he always entered the boys' bedroom and closed the door behind him in one quick move.

To Quince and Alban the inspections were as natural as pie; and to Bradley they were a continuing learning experience. By observing how his brothers almost seemed to be happy standing at attention as their dad stood in the room looking at all of them, Bradley began to accept more and more that he should be like Quince and Alban, and stop thinking that being inspected in such a way was anything weird. But being nude in front of others remained a never totally comfortable experience for Bradley.

To Martin, morning inspections were just a happy time. He loved his sons genuinely. They were good boys. Now they were good boys who had to submit to his inspection. They had to accept his control. He was happy having such state sanctioned control over his sons. And the fact that at such times the conversations between father and social servants managed to be good-natured made the ritual eventually seem like a good thing, a right thing.

When Martin would leave the bedroom, the boys would get dressed. Having to be naked around each other had a bonding effect on the brothers. Inhibitions broke down, and the brothers found themselves discussing things with each other in ways that that they never would have dreamed of as free boys: body matters, emotional matters, and sexual matters. Neither Bradley nor Alban, however, shared the fact that they enjoyed seeing each other naked. Nor did Quince share the fact that in training he had come to enjoy the idea of being seen naked by other people. He wondered if he was an exhibitionist.

Once the boys were dressed, the first thing they did each morning was to go into the kitchen and read their daily schedule and chore list, which Martin always made up for them early in the morning as he drank his coffee.

Checking the schedule for the day, Bradley realized that today was the day his father had signed him up to be a volunteer for the evening meeting of the St. Paul's Young Handler's Club.

The boys also saw that they had to have all of their chores done today by 3 in the afternoon, because the Patton's were coming to visit, and bringing with them their social servant Timothy Witherspoon so that he and Flora could get acquainted.

Bradley didn't like the fact that his father was now adding slogans to the daily chore list, along with clip art images of smiling social servants. Today's chore list was headed with a bold print, 'There's nothing degrading about obeying!', and at the bottom of the chore list was a service tip, 'If you find yourself hesitating for any reason when given a service order, it's probably time for you to review the Social Servant's Principles of Personal Empowerment'.

Bradley felt like a prisoner when he read such things. He didn't know why. He figured that the reason that Alban and Quince did not make any faces of disgust when they read such directives was because of their training. Bradley never really wanted to discuss with his brothers the training they had received with the county. It was as if he feared what he would hear. But Bradley knew enough not to voice or show any annoyance with anything that had to do with his duty as a servant. Therefore, as he read the daily chore list along with his brothers, he managed to stifle all the hints of anger, frustration, disgust, and contempt, for his lot which his body yearned to emit.

As the Forestman family gathered in the living room to await the arrival of the Patton's, Martin put his arm around Barbara, "Dear, just look at our sons! Have I thanked you lately for giving us three such wonderful sons?" He pecked Barbara on the cheek, and addressed everyone, "We have a great family. I hope you all realize how lucky we are. We have each other; we have a nice house, and all the clothing, food, and things we could ever want. And thanks to the sacrifices Alban, Quince, and Bradley, are making for all of us; we can only expect more of the same good fortune. I just want to thank you boys again, for what you are doing for each other, Flora, your mother, and for me."

The boys thanked their dad for his words, and smiled and felt good inside at their father's appreciation of their servitude. When his father talked in such a way, Bradley always felt guilty for the moments of doubt, frustration, and anger, he felt over his indenturement. And the thought of being around social servants other than his brothers always helped Bradley feel better about his condition. He was looking forward to meeting Timothy Witherspoon. Any reminder that there were hundreds, thousands, of social servants just like him throughout the state always made Bradley feel better. He did not know why. But the fact that there were others just like him, frustrated, unhappy, yet trying to accept their lot and be good servants, inspired Bradley and gave him hope.

When the doorbell rang, Martin gave his wife a squeeze, made a gesture at his sons to stand tall, and straightened his tie.

The Patton's were an attractive, well dressed, well-mannered, and literate, couple in their late thirties. 15 year-old Timothy Witherspoon, their social servant, was a cutie. Too cute for Alban, who immediately took on a dislike of him and his uniform of light green with dark green horizontal stripes and matching pillbox hat. And Alban was especially annoyed that his mother immediately started complimenting the Patton's on how cute their little servant was.

Flora was enchanted, and found herself attracted to Timothy's charming appearance and shy demeanor. Once the initial introductions were over, Flora and Timothy went into the kitchen where Flora prepared tea for her new friend and herself. Mr. Forestman signaled to his three jump-suited and training-paddled sons to remain in the living room and visit with the Patton's. When everyone was seated Mr. Patton complimented Martin on his three handsome social servant sons.

Martin was pleased with the compliment, "They're good boys. I am so proud of them."

Mr. Patton said that it appeared that Martin had a right to be proud of them, "I take it, then, that your boys are obeyers?"

"Oh definitely! I've had no problems with them whatsoever!" The term 'obeyer' is intended to be complimentary to social servants. It was a term that filled Bradley with shame. Mr. Patton asked Martin why his oldest son was blushing. Martin explained that Bradley was shy and always had a hard time taking compliments.

Mr. Patton wanted to offer affirmation. "Bradley, stand up!" Bradley did so. "Now stand nice and tall with your hands at your sides!" Bradley straightened. "Boy, you are a beautiful servant. You need to be proud of yourself! There's nothing to be ashamed about in being in service to others. Nothing to be ashamed about having to hop to a command. Nothing to be ashamed about doing what you're told. Nothing to be ashamed about following orders to a 'T'. Nothing to be ashamed about being patted on the back for being a quick-stepper. Nothing to be ashamed about having to take the spanks and paddles it takes to get molded into shape. Nothing to be ashamed about submitting totally to your owners or overseers. Now give me a nice a big smile, son!"

Bradley gave Mr. Patton a nice big smile. "See, life isn't so bad after all!"

Sudden raucous laughter broke out from the kitchen, and Mrs. Patton spoke out loud, "Timothy Witherspoon! Such a disturbance! Would you like it if mommy had to open up your spankers and give you a paddling right here in front of your new friend?" Little Timothy mumbled an apology and a promise to behave.

"That little tyke! That's why we have this!" Mr. Patton held up an item that looked like a TV/DVD remote control. Martin asked what it was. "It's a home version of the servant electro-control. If I just push this button little Timothy gets a gentle reminder to behave." Mr. Patton pulled out some thin plastic strips and showed them to the Forestman's. "Just take one of these plastic strips, and wrap it around any part of a servant's body; arms, legs, neck, genitals, wherever. Snap lock it on, and that's the part that will receive the electric shock when you push this button. And of course it's all low voltage and totally safe. It really is a humane thing, because with this device little Timothy can just get a little electric buzz for punishment, rather than a humiliating spanking. Adolescent male servants find spankings especially humiliating, and Irma and I just want to do everything we possibly can to spare our little Timothy any indignity." Mr. Patton held up the remote, "We call this thing the 'Timothy controller'." The Patton's laughed. Barbara and Martin smiled.

There was some more raucous laughter. Mr. Patton shouted, "Timothy, do you want to get buzzed? I got my hand on the remote right now." Timothy shouted back, "No daddy, I'm sorry. I'll be good." Mr. Patton set the remote down, and asked, "Isn't he a cutie?"

Mr. Patton called for Timothy and Flora to come into the living room because he wanted Timothy to show everyone his tattoo. Timothy stood in the middle of the room and dutifully unbuttoned his green striped cotton slacks. He rolled down the front of his slacks to expose the area below his belly button and above his pubes, and lifted his shirt out of the way. Tattooed three inches below Timothy's belly button was, "I love Jim and Irma Patton". Mr. Patton ordered Timothy to turn around the room so everyone could see it. Barbara was delighted, "That is soooo adorable! Honey, shouldn't we have something done like that to our boys."

Martin scoffed at the idea by saying they didn't know for sure who would eventually own them. Barbara explained, "I mean something more generic, like 'I love my owners' or something like that."

Martin was surprised at Barbara's taking any kind of initiative since their sons were indentured, "Well honey, since you feel so strongly about it I think it is something we should consider!"

Irma reached into her purse and told everyone she had something for them. She took out an envelope containing 4 by 5-inch snapshots of Timothy and went about the room handing them out, "These are little Timothy's latest photos!" They were typical glossy studio shots of a smiling Timothy standing up straight with his arms folded and slightly off to the side resting on top of a bureau he was standing next to. The only thing unusual about the shots, to the Forestman's, was that little Timothy was completely nude. "Cadman's Portrait Studio was having a special last month on servant portraits, so we went and had Timothy's annual photo shoot done a little earlier this year."

Alban was heard to murmur, "He doesn't have any clothes on" to Quince, and Mr. Patton explained. "Servant portrait photos are always done in the nude, just like baby photos. It's really the norm. You folks should start having photos of your boys taken. Most studios offer special servant rates, especially if you sign up for 10 years in advance. That way they do your annual photo shoot every year for 10 years at a fraction of what it would normally cost. You'll find that if you circulate and exchange your servants' photos with other owners, that come the time you want to unload your servant for something fresher, you will have a good-size pool of folks already interested in what you're selling."

Barbara said, tentatively, that such a deal wouldn't offer them an especially large savings, since their boys were only going to be in service for six years. Mr. Patton commented, "Well, one can never really be certain about that sort of thing, can one? I mean, here in Vermont a lot of servants voluntarily stay on."

Mr. Forestman didn't really want to talk about the matter, but he felt a need to since his sons were present. "The folks who choose to stay on are often those folks who find themselves freed when they are in their later years, when there aren't too many job options open to them, and who probably don't have any family members or relatives still alive."

Mr. Patton continued as if he did not hear what Martin had just said. "And if market conditions are right, one would be very foolish to sign release orders without thoroughly checking out one's investment options." Barbara and Irma nodded in agreement.

Mr. Patton took the pause to shift gears, "I think it is just great that you went and had your boys indentured. I really applaud that. More people should do that. There are too many people on the planet. If folks aren't going to practice birth control, then the least they can do is offer their children up to social services."

Martin was annoyed with Mr. Patton, and was relieved when Mr. Patton pulled out a digital camera and told the servants to line up for a photograph. Everyone stood up and Mr. Patton directed the Forestman boys to stand side by side, and for little Timothy to scoot in front of them. Timothy, apparently used to being bandied about, appeared none the worse for wear as he mugged at the camera. Irma chided, "Timothy, don't be so silly. Act like a grown up for the snapshot." Timothy struck a mock serious businessman pose, and everyone laughed, except Alban. Timothy's antics released the tension in the air, and everyone was feeling better. Mr. Patton went up and hugged Timothy tenderly, and told him he loved him. Bradley thought it was rather strange, at first, that Mr. Patton would at one moment treat Timothy like he was a pet dog, and the next moment hug him like a beloved son. But as he reflected on it he realized that was very much the same way he was treated by his dad, his uncle Steven, and Hal.

Flora and Timothy were allowed more time out in the back yard. Flora told Timothy it was the yard where much of her brother Bradley's training took place. Timothy told Flora she had nice brothers, and Flora thanked him and told him she agreed with him.

When eventually Mr. Patton suggested to his wife that it was time for them to leave, Mrs. Patton offered, "We can't leave without the Forestman's seeing Timothy do his frog dance! It's adorable! Timothy, come on and let the Forestman's see you do your frog dance!"

Timothy, smiling and eager, squatted on his haunches, frog like, and started doing a sort of hip hop frog type dance on his haunches as he made 'rrriiivet' type frog sounds. The Patton's beamed in delight, the Forestman's smiled, and Alban laughed out loud. Everyone applauded when it was over. Barbara spoke to Martin over the din, "Honey, we should have our boys perform for guests, too." Martin was glad no one else could hear what his wife had just said.

When the guests left Martin and Barbara told Flora that she had made a very nice new friend. Flora agreed, went up to her room, closed the door, and went over little Timothy's studio portrait photograph with a magnifying glass.

To be continued...

Posted: 05/11/12