What Happened to Baby Cameron?
by: E Walk
(© 2009 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 3

Will They or Won’t They?

Hank answered, “Oh hi, let me go to another phone.  Steve and the guys are pigging out on Chex mix.”

I took the guys to Cam’s bathroom.  Yes, Cam had his own bathroom and watched as they brushed their teeth.  I put them in bed kissed all three of them goodnight.  That was more than either Randy or Ricky could handle because they started to cry.

Cam sat up, “Dad, what did you do to them to make them cry?”

Randy responded, “Cam, your Dad did nothing wrong.  This is the first time that I can remember of a big person ever kissing us in a very long time.  Dad Michaels, please see if you can make it so we can stay here with you, Cam, his other Dad and all of his brothers.”

I hugged the guys again and after I was finally released, I went to Hank’s and my bedroom and told him he needed to go say goodnight to the boys.

When he returned, Hank pushed me on the bed, “You prick, those guys are starved for love.”

“Why do you think I sent you to say goodnight to them?  Who was on the phone?”

Hank sat up, “Stevie, the police finally got a report on the Does’ fingerprints and they have been evading the police on charges of dealing in drugs as they have worked their way east across the United States.  They still haven’t figured out how they gained custody of the two boys or who the boys are.”

The next morning, Hank and I were awakened by three young boys and Cam was complaining, “Dads, it’s late.  We need to go get Kevin and  Cyndi.”

I looked at the clock, “Cam, it’s only seven o’clock.  Go get dressed in your diapers and we’ll fix some breakfast.  Randy and Ricky, your clothes are waiting for you on the dryer.”

After the three boys left, I looked at Hank, “I’m not sure I’m equipped to be the father of three boys under ten.  We’ll probably be in straight jackets before we reach 50.”

The phone rang and I looked at the clock and it was only 7:30.  I answered, “This is Steve Michaels, how can I help you?”

“Steve, it’s Elaine.  Be at the Court House, courtroom two, with Randy and Ricky at ten o’clock.  I don’t have time to talk.  Just be there.”

When I hung up, I looked at Hank, “Why is everything such a mystery?  Why do we need to be at the courthouse at ten?  What’s going to happen to the boys?”

When Hank and I arrived in the kitchen, Freddie and Chase were helping the guys fix French toast. We were just about ready to eat when Ellie arrived, “I thought this was a holiday.  Whose been messing in my kitchen?”

Cam answered, “It’s me, Little Boy Blue.  I brought my sheep and cattle, too, and thought we’d fix a little surprise for you.”

When the we were seated, the three young guys brought a plate with four half slices of French toast and two pieces of bacon.  If anyone were watching as we ate, they would have sworn that Ricky and Randy hadn’t eaten for days. 

As we were finishing breakfast, I announced, “Guys, we need to be in court at ten o’clock.  We need to stop and get Ricky and Randy some suitable clothes, before then.”

Cam objected, “Dad, we won’t have time to wash them and they can’t wear them out of a store.”

Hank grinned, “They can always change in the van since there aren’t  going to be any ladies with us.  Grandma Ellie needs to stay here to make sure everyone behaves.”

We went to the J. C. Penney’s store at the mall and bought everything that Randy and Rickey would need.  They indeed did change clothes in the van with Hank’s help as we drove to the courthouse.  We made our way to Courtroom 2.  Randy looked at us, “Mr. Michaels and Mr. Rodgers, what’s going to happen to us?”

I hugged Randy, “We don’t know.“

I was relieved when Judge Baker was announced as the presiding judge.  The boys didn’t know Judge Baker, so they were still very nervous.  Cam had met Judge Baker before and he waved to him.

Judge Baker looked at Hank, “Counselor Rogers, what is it that you’re here for, today?” 

“Your honor, we’re requesting that Randall and Richard Smith be placed in the custody of Mr. Stephan Michaels until such time as he can adopt them.”

Judge Baker looked at Mrs. Graham, “Mrs. Graham, how does your agency view the request to place these two young gentlemen in care of Mr. Michaels.”

Elaine stood, “Your honor, we are of the opinion that it is best interest of Randall and Richard that they be placed in the care of Mr. Michaels.”

Judge Baker pounded his gavel.  “Let the court records show that Mr. Randall  and Mr. Richard Smith are to be placed in the custody of Mr. Stephen Michaels.  Court’s adjourned.”

Judge Baker came down from his seat, “Randy and Ricky, don’t let Cam try to boss you around.  Take care of your new Dads.  Cam, I think you have grown a couple of inches since I saw you the last time.  Steve and Hank, do you suppose that you could let an old man like me have some free time?”

Judge Baker hugged us. Elaine nodded, “Steve and Hank, I’ll call you as soon as I get any new information.”

As we were leaving, Randy looked up at me, “Dad, is going to court always like this?”

“No, Randy.  Mrs. Graham is Chase’s Mother and Judge Baker is his step Grandfather.  We were lucky.”

Cam asked Hank, “Daddy, why didn’t you make it so Ricky and Randy could be my brothers?”

Hank took a deep breath, “Cam, Mrs. Graham and I decided that it would be best if Dad Michaels adopted them.  Besides, it doesn’t really make any difference, and it will be easier for the teachers if you and Ricky didn’t have the same last name, especially if you are in the same classroom.”

Cam still wasn’t pleased, but muttered, “I guess you’re probably right.”

Hank was walking in front of Randy and me with Cam and Ricky.  He turned to me,  “Steve, you need to drop me at the mall.  I’m scheduled to work from noon until six.  Why don’t you plan to pick me up at six?  Tell Ellie that you and I won’t be there for dinner.”

Cam asked, “Does that mean that you are going to go Christmas shopping?”

“No, that means that I’m going to take Dad Michaels to dinner.”

Cam looked at his Dad, “Guys, don’t believe him.  He has his fingers crossed.”

Ricky asked, “Why does he have his fingers crossed?”

Cam giggled, “That means that he's not telling the truth.  Dad, you need to wash Daddy’s mouth out with soap.”

Randy looked at me, “You wouldn’t wash someone’s mouth with soap for telling a lie, would you?”

“I might if the lie was causing someone to be hurt or causing them to do something they weren’t supposed to do.”

We deposited Hank at the mall, after he hugged the three boys, “Take good care Dad Michaels for me.”

As we were eating our sandwiches at lunch with Justin and Ellie, the three boys were talking about everything that happened.  Randy was animated, “Mr. Rodgers and Mr. Michaels didn’t even look at the price tags.  If they saw something that looked nice, they just said, ‘We’ll take it.’  Our other parents would only buy whatever was the cheapest.  If it wasn’t cheap enough, we’d go to stores like Goodwill or second hand stores.”

Ricky added, “Sometimes, when our other Dad and Mom didn’t have any money, we would go to these places and get food.”

Cam looked concerned, “Did they steal the food?”

Ricky shook his head no, “Not like that.  We went to food pantries where the people would give us two or three bags of food.  Sometimes it was good and other times it was stuff that wasn’t so good.  One lady told our parents that they could only pass out what people donated.”

Cam looked at me, “Dad, do we have to go to places like that?”

Ellie chuckled,  “We have enough food in our pantry to feed us for a month.  Your dads give me more than enough money, so that we don’t have to go to a food pantry.”

I looked at the clock, “Guys, you need to take care of the dishes, so we can go pick up Kevin and Cyndi.”

While the boys were doing the dishes, I explained to Justin and Ellie everything that had happened.  I warned them, “There may be some rough times until Randy and Ricky trust everyone.  They’ve obviously not had an easy life.”

When we arrived at the airport, we went to the snack bar area so  we could watch the airplanes landing and taking off.  Randy and Ricky were fascinated since they had never been on an airplane.

When they announced the arrival of Kevin and Cyndi’s flight, we went to area where they would be coming from.

When Cam saw Kevin, he took off running.  Kevin put down his bag and picked Cam up and hugged him.  Cam leaned over and kissed Cyndi.

Cam was pulling Kevin and Cyndi to where Ricky, Randy and I were standing,  “Kevin, you gotta meet your new brothers.”

Cam introduced Kevin and Cyndi to Randy and Ricky.  As I was hugging Kevin, he whispered, “Dad, you have a lot of explaining to do.”

For those people who are joining the story in progress; Kevin, is one of my 22 year old twin sons.  He chose to go to college on an academic scholarship and is a senior at Harvard.  He has already been accepted to law school next year.

Cyndi is my secretary’s youngest daughter and soon to be Kevin's fiancée, officially.  Cyndi and Kevin have been dating since their sophomore year in high school.  Cyndi and Kevin decided to not attend the same university, but the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was located close enough to Harvard that they might as well have been going to the same school.  Cyndi has been accepted  into the graduate program at the Sloan School of Management.

Cyndi and Kevin are planning to get married in June.  That’s just one of the three weddings that we will be attending in June.

We dropped Cyndi off at her parents' house and by the time we arrived at the ranch, the thundering herd was arriving.  Since Danny, David, Lionel and Louie knew Kevin, they hugged him and went about what they were doing.  They wouldn’t be getting out of school until the next day.  It was a good thing that the Academy got out early or we would have never found Ricky and Randy.

When I left to pick up Hank, Kevin had the three boys in the truck and was taking them to find the perfect Christmas tree.

Hank and I went to dinner and while we were eating, we made a list of gifts that we still needed to buy.  After we finished eating, we stopped at some stores and made some purchases and decided that we had had enough shopping and went to the ranch.

When we arrived, we were greeted by a festive sight.  Cam, Ricky and Randy were decorating the tree with the help of Kevin and Cyndi, Chase and his partner Freddie, and Chris and his fiancée, Michelle.  To refresh your memories, Chase and Chris are twins.  Chase works at the ranch.  Chris works at the Advertising Agency.  His fiancée Michelle and Freddie are twins and have wonderful parents.  Michelle and Chris’ wedding is going to be the second of the three weddings in June.

When Cam realized that we were there, he looked at us, “Dads, don’t you think we did a good job?  We’re going to put one up at the house on the hill tomorrow.  Dads, can we have a swim party at the house on the hill for Christmas and my birthday, I mean Ricky‘s birthday, please?”

Hank decided to play the devil’s advocate, “Won’t that confuse Santa and he won’t know where to leave the gifts, so he may miss you three guys all together?”

Cam shook his head no, “That means that he might leave gifts for us at both houses.”

The rest of us were trying not to laugh.  Hank wasn’t going to let Cam win this battle.  “Why do you think you should get two sets of gifts when there are many boys and girls who won’t be getting any?”

I almost started to shed tears when Randy piped up, “We could keep some of the gifts for us and give some of them to the boys and girls who don’t have any.  Ricky and me don’t need very many gifts.”

Ricky nodded, “I’ll be happy if I just get one gift.  Me and Randy don’t have any money, so we can’t buy gifts for anyone.”

Ellie had been sitting there watching the proceedings and must have decided it was time to intervene, “Anyone under the age of ten needs to get their backsides  to the kitchen, if you want a snack before you get ready for bed.  You need to be at the airport to pick up Tim and Denise at ten in the morning.”

After Ellie had taken the three boys to the kitchen, we explained to the three couples what was happening.  Chase and Freddie were nodding their heads up and down.  Freddie said, “Now I understand some of the things that the boys were talking about at dinner.  Dad Michaels and Dad Rodgers, what do you want us to do?”

I answered Freddie, “We need to roll with the punches.  We not only need to worry about not overwhelming Randy and Ricky, but we also need to think about Cam.  Cam has been the center of attention for a number of years and may resent that Ricky and Randy are invading on his territory.”

Michelle spoke up, “Mr. Michaels, I disagree with you.  I think that Cam will be willing to share the attention if he has someone his own age around.  You need to remember that most of the time, he has been around only older people.  He doesn’t see that much of the Summers children except for David and Danny.  It will be good for him to learn to share.  I was watching him tonight and he was asking

Ricky and Randy about what they thought the tree needed.”

A little more background on Michelle.  She had graduated from the state university last May with a double major.  She was a certified teacher for grades one through nine and had a secondary degree in child psychology.  She was offered a job at the Wentworth Academy as a counselor.  Cam loves when she comes to his class, since he already knows her. 

The boys returned and Cam announced, “Grandma Ellie says we’re to get ready for bed.  We’ll call you when we’re ready.”

The three couples departed and Hank and I made our way to the second floor.  We were sitting watching the news when Cam came in and announced, “Dads, we’re ready to be tucked in.”

Hank and I went to Cam’s bedroom and the three boys were lying there in their briefs.  I looked at them, “Where are your pajamas?”

Cam sat up, “Dad, you and Daddy don’t wear pajamas when you go to bed, so why do we gotta wear them?”

Randy looked at us, “Dad, me and Ricky have never had pajamas.  When we put them on, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.”

Hank frowned, “But what if you get cold when someone takes all the covers?”

Ricky sat up then, “Then we take them back or move as close as we can to the person in the middle, so he can keep us warm.”

Hank and I were in bed talking about what we need to do when there was a knock on the door.  I had my briefs on so I went to answer it thinking it might be Kevin.

I was right.  He came in and sat down on the bed, “Dads, you can’t keep collecting young children.  How did you meet Ricky and Randy?”

I told him the story of how I met the two boys and Kevin started to laugh, “Well, at least no one got flashed in the bathroom this time.  Dads, what’s going to happen to the Randy and Ricky?”

I took a deep breath, “Kev, would you be upset if I were to adopt them and they would be your brothers?”

“Heck no. If you adopted them, the two of you will be so busy with the three boys that you’ll never be able to grow old.”

Kevin hugged the two of us before he departed.

Hank hugged me, “We do have some wonderful children, don’t we?  I can hardly wait for the other three to get here.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  It looks like we are going to have ourselves another wonderful Christmas to celebrate.  I am very glad that Randy and Ricky are going to have a good home.  It is wonderful that Cam will have someone around his own age around, and he will have two new brothers who will love him, and whom he will love. There will be one HUGE happy family.

I am ready for more, much more!

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 09/04/09