You Ain’t Santa Claus
by: E Walk

(© 2009 by the Author)
 

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

Chapter 23

What To Do About Jacob?

Shane, Shawn, Ryan and Nathan came around the side of the house in the golf carts.   Ryan jumped out, “Hi, Daddy and Uncle George.  We were checking on our horses.  Who’s he?  He sure looks like Uncle George.  I didn’t know Uncle George had any kids.”

I made a quick decision that hopefully would stop any questions, “This is Jacob and he is Uncle George’s son.  Where’s your other Dad?”

Nathan answered, “Dad had a call from the hospital.  They wanted him to come for a meeting.  Is Jacob going to stay with us?  Where is he going to sleep?”

I grinned, “Jacob is going to spend a couple of nights with us.  We have lots of rooms where he can sleep now that the Grandparents have gone home.  We can even make him sleep in the sun room with your dogs and kittens.”

Ryan put his hands on his hips, “Daddy, stop teasing.”

I realized that Jacob hadn’t met the four guys, “Jacob, let me introduce the guys to you.  Ryan and Nathan are Doctor Dan Thornton's and my sons.  The two handsome teenagers are Shane and Shawn McTavish.  Their parents manage Belle Monte for Ryan and Nathan.”

Jacob dropped his duffel bag, “Are you shi…” Jacob caught himself, Are you pulling my leg?  Do you mean to tell me that Ryan and Nathan own this big house?”

Shawn giggled, “Not only do they own this house, but the little house on the hill as well.  They probably own more animals than you’ve ever seen in your life.”

George asked, “Where is your Uncle Bruce?”

Ryan answered, “Uncle Bruce is talking to a man in the house.”

Jacob asked the logical question, “Dad, why did you bring me here if this house belongs to Ryan and Nathan?”

Nathan answered, “Because he and Uncle Bruce have an apartment here.  Let’s get your things into the house and go check on the chickens.  We’ve already checked on the horses and cows.  We need to go check on the dogs and kittens before dinner.”

Jacob picked up his duffel bag, “Who is Uncle Bruce?”

George nodded, “Son, you’ve already met him.  It’s Mr. Holloway.”

Jacob dropped his duffel bag again, “You mean the man who doesn’t have any legs?  How can he get around in this big house?”

Ryan grabbed Jacob’s hand, “Come on, Jacob.  You’re wasting time.  We won’t be able to get everything done before dinner.”

We went into the house and Jacob looked around, “This place is like a museum.”

Nathan responded, “That’s why we want to live in the little house.  We’re afraid we’ll break something here.  We’ll show you around the house after we check on the animals.”

The five young guys took off and George shook his head, “Kirk, it’s a good thing that you and your boys were here.  This could have been a disaster otherwise.  I don’t know what to expect from Jacob now.  It’s obvious he’s confused by everything.  This is not the way this was supposed to happen.”

I hugged George, “I suggest that you and Bruce sit down and talk to Jacob after dinner.  I think that he needs to call his mother and stepfather and let them know where he is, in case they are trying to get in touch with him.  I’m surprised that they would leave a fifteen  year old home by himself for a long weekend.  What surprises me more is that Mr. Bates would have Jacob open the safe and risk his seeing his birth certificate.”

“Kirk, the Bates grandparents whom Jacob’s mother and stepfather are visiting are not Jacob’s grandparents.  The Bates have been good to Jacob, but he knows that he had been adopted by his step dad .  He has complained that Grandpa and Grandma Bates just somehow treat him a little differently than the other grandchildren.  I’m sure Jacob‘s step father never even thought about Jacob’s birth certificate being in the safe.”

Our conversation was interrupted by the appearance of Bruce and a gentleman, whom I didn’t know.  Bruce shook the gentleman’s hand, “Thanks for letting me know, Colby.  I’ll take care of it before I go back to Arizona.  It sounds to me as if Mr. Betz is blowing smoke and wants to make a name for himself.”

After the Colby person had departed, Bruce looked at George and me, “Where is Jacob?”

I chuckled, “He’s being tamed by your two nephews at the little house.  They went to take care of the animals before dinner.”

George added, “Jacob was a very angry young man when we arrived the Bates’ house, he was spewing vulgar words left and right.  It seems that he found his birth certificate in his parents’ safe, when Mr. Bates asked him to get something out of the safe.  It seems the rest of the family is visiting Mr. Bates’ parents, but Jacob needs to do something in church on Sunday.”

We were interrupted by the arrival of five young people, Ryan was saying, “Let’s go check to see how long until dinner, so we know how much time we have to show Jacob the rest of the big house.”

The five guys went into the kitchen, but only Ryan, Nathan and Jacob returned.  Nathan informed us, “Mrs. McTavish had some things she wanted Shawn and Shane to do; we’re going to show Jacob the rest of the house, so he can decide where he wants to sleep.”

Bruce frowned, “Ryan and Nathan, we have an extra bedroom in our apartment.  He could always stay with his Dad and me.”

Nathan shrugged his shoulders, “It’s up to Jacob to decide where he wants to sleep.  Come on, Jacob, we’ll show you what’s available upstairs.   You can check out the bedroom in Uncle Bruce and Uncle George’s apartment, later.”

The three guys went up the stairs and we could hear them talking when Dan arrived, “Where're the boys?”

George nodded, “They’re showing my son his sleeping options.”

We heard three voices coming up the steps from the game room. We heard Jacob say, “Guys, I would feel very funny sleeping upstairs by myself.  I’d rather sleep with you and your two Dads in the little house, so I can make sure that you don’t spoil Hodge, Podge, Snitch and Snatch.”

Bruce looked at Jacob, “Why don’t you check out the bedroom in our apartment where you would be staying?”

“Mr. Holloway, when you and Dad go to Arizona, I would be by myself, if I were to stay here.  Dad, we need to call Mother and Mr. Bates and tell them where I am, in case they try to get in touch with me.”

George, Bruce and Jacob went into the guys' apartment so to speak and when they returned, Jacob was shedding tears,  “Dad, you heard what Mr. Bates said.  I never want to live with them again.  I will miss the other children, but I won’t go back to living a lie.”

Fortunately Ryan suddenly materialized, “Jacob, come on.  You need to help us.  Dads and Uncles, you’re to be seated at the dining room table.  Uncle Vince and Uncle Alex are pouring the wine.”

When we arrived in the dining room, it looked so festive.  I forgot that it was New Year’s Day.  We had a wonderful pork roast dinner which the boys devoured.  As we were eating, Jacob commented, “I can’t believe that no one complained about having sauerkraut for dinner. At my old house, everyone would be moaning and saying, yuck.”

As we were finishing dinner, Ryan asked, “Has anyone heard from the Forts?  When are Evan and Chase coming home?”

Jacob asked, “Who are the Forts?”

Nathan answered, “Mrs. Fort is going to be our teacher, so we don’t have to go to school.  Mr. Fort works for us and makes sure the house is taken care of.  Evan and Chase are going to be home schooled with us.”

Jacob again asked the obvious question, “Why are you being home schooled?”

Nathan answered, “Ryan hasn’t been to school since our old Dad shot our Mother.  He stopped talking until our new Dad found us.  Ever since Dad found me in the mall, good things have been happening to us.  We now have two Dads, two Uncles and a whole lot of other people who care about us.”

Ryan stood, “Come on, guys.  We need to take care of the dishes since Mr. and Mrs. McTavish fixed us such a nice dinner.”

Ryan came into the dining room from the kitchen, “Dads, Shane, Shawn and Jacob are going to spend the night with us at the little house.  That’s okay, isn’t it?”

Dan questioned, “Where is everyone going to sleep? It’s going to get a little crowded in the sleeping bags with you five guys, Snitch and Snatch and Hodge and Podge.”

Ryan shrugged, “If the dogs and kittens hog the sleeping bags, some of us can go to Nathan’s and my bedrooms.”

After Dan and I looked around and saw that there were no dissenting votes, we loaded the three teenagers and their gear into the two cars and made our way to the little house.  The dogs and kittens were sitting at the door as if they had been waiting for us.

Ryan and Nathan checked to make sure that everything was okay.  Nate turned to Dan and me, “Dads, please get our bed ready while we take care of the dogs and the kittens.  Shane and Jacob, you can take a shower first, since all five of us won’t fit at the same time.  We can make sure that Shawn gets clean.”

Jacob frowned, “I don’t have any pajamas with me.  What should I wear?”

Nathan shrugged his shoulders, “We don’t wear pajamas.  The Dads are going to start the fire in the fireplace and by morning, we’ll probably be sleeping outside the sleeping bags because we’ll be so warm.  Besides, this saves us from having to wash so many clothes.”

Dan and I watched as Jacob appeared to be reluctantly following Shane to the boys’ bathroom.  I was starting the fire in the fireplace for the boys while Dan was attaching the two sleeping bags.  Ryan, Nate and Shawn were taking care of the animals.  Shane returned with a towel wrapped around his waist, “We forgot to take are clean briefs with us.”

When the two fifteen year olds returned, Shawn, Ryan and Nathan started up the stairs. Nathan yelled back, “Dad Doctor, you need to check Shane and Jacob to make sure they didn’t stuff some toilet tissue in their briefs.  When we saw Shane last night, he didn’t look that big.”

Shane turned bright red, “Believe me, Nathan, we didn’t stuff anything in our briefs.”

Jacob looked at Dan, “Sir, are you really a medical doctor?”

Dan frowned, “Yes, why do you ask?”

Jacob took a deep breath, “When Shane and I were in the shower, I couldn’t help but observe how he had to pull back the foreskin on his penis to make sure all parts of his penis were clean.   Why have some people been circumcised and others not?”

Dan answered, “Jacob, it is a choice that a baby boy's parents make, usually at childbirth.  In some cultures it has to do with religious beliefs.  Sometimes men are circumcised because the foreskin is so tight that it makes it nearly impossible to keep the penis clean.  I would be willing to sit down and talk more about this sometime when the two young guys aren’t around.”

“Thank you, sir.  A conversation like this would never happen with my stepfather.  Dr. Richter, I apologize for my language today, but I was extremely upset by the revelation of whom my real father was.  I wasn’t upset at who it was, but the fact that they always had told me that Dad was my Uncle.”

I stood and hugged Jacob, “Son, I can well understand why you were upset at the information you found out.  All we ask is that you don’t use vulgar language around Belle Monte.  Our sons have heard enough of it in their young lives.”

Ryan, Nathan and Shawn appeared, and Ryan climbed on Dan’s lap, “Dads, what do we gotta do tomorrow?”

Dan hugged Ryan, “Well, I guess for starters we need to get up and see what your Uncle Bruce and Uncle George want us to do.  Perhaps Shane and Shawn’s Dad will have some things that we need to do and you need to take care of your animals.”

Ryan leaned back against Dan, “It’s hard work being a farmer, isn’t it?”

Jacob looked perplexed, “How many people live here at Belle Monte?”

Ryan jumped down and kissed Dan, “Night, Dad.”

He came to where I had been standing, and I picked up and he hugged and kissed me.  I returned the gifts.  He took Jacob’s hand, “Come on, me and Nate will splain after we get into bed.”

As Dan and I started up the stairs, the five guys, two dogs and two kittens were all on or in the  sleeping bag.  Ryan and Nathan were leaning on their elbows.  Nathan started telling Jacob about everyone who lived and worked at Belle Monte, with Shawn and Shane’s help.

When Dan and I were finally in bed, Dan asked, “Exactly what transpired today when you went to pick up Jacob.”

“Danny, I don’t know quite how to describe Jacob’s reaction. It was as if he was lashing out, but I got the feeling that he indeed was probably relieved to find out that George was his Father.  It will be interesting to see what else happens in Jacob’s case.   I have the distinct impression that now that Jacob knows the truth, Bruce will do his best to make sure that only good things happen to Jacob.”

“Danny, what I’m concerned about is the fact that you and I may become embroiled in Jacob’s case.”

Dan propped himself on his elbows, “Kirk, why would you even think that we might become involved in Jacob’s case?”

“I get the feeling that Jacob is going to resist going back to live with his mother and stepfather.  It is fairly obvious that he can’t travel back and forth to Arizona with George and Bruce.  It’s just a gut feeling I have that somehow we’re going to become involved.  Let’s go check to see what’s happening on the lower level.”

Dan and I were both dressed only in our briefs, but we went and looked over the railing at the sleeping menagerie next to the fireplace.  Jacob was in the center, and we must have caught his attention as we were looking over the railing.  He looked up and motioned, ‘May I speak with you?  Everyone else is already asleep.’

I nodded yes, and he extracted himself from the sleeping bag bed and came up the steps.  We went into the bedroom but didn’t shut the door, so he wouldn’t feel threatened.

Dan and I leaned back against the head board, since we didn’t really have any chairs in the bedroom.  Without thinking I crossed my legs causing a prominent bulge in my briefs.   Dan was sitting so his sexual apparatus was prominently displayed as well.  Jacob’s eyes were drawn to our pelvic areas and he giggled, “Does everyone around here have a big penis and testicles?”

I grinned at Jacob, “I can’t attest to that, since I’ve only actually seen mine and Dan’s and our two sons'.  I don’t think you wanted to talk about penises and testicles.”

Jacob shook his head, no, “No, sir, I was lying downstairs between your two sons wondering what was going to become of me.  I really don’t want to go back to my mother and stepfather’s house.  I don’t think it could ever be the same.  I can’t imagine that I would be able to live with my Father and Mr. Holloway since they always travel by van when they travel between here and Arizona.”

I moved so I could put my arm around Jacob, “Dan and I were just talking about the same thing.   We’ll just have to wait and see what’s going to happen.  I’m sure your Dad and Mr. Holloway aren’t going to let anything bad happen to you.  I suggest that you get some sleep.  I walked him to the balcony but his spot in the sleeping bags had been taken by Snitch and Snatch.

I pointed to Nathan’s room, “Why don’t you sleep in Nate’s room?  I suggest that you get some sleep because the boys are early risers.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  Jacob is quite a fine young man.  He is going to do his best to take things in his own hands.  Like the other youngsters, he has not exactly had a good life.  I think it is about time that his life change for the better.  Let's hope that all the red tape and paper work gets settled and that Dan and Kirk can help take care of him.  I want more chapters, soon!

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 01/08/10