The Fremont Saga
by: E Walk
(© 2009 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 45  

Christmas Eve Day

I was awakened by a body crawling over me.  All of sudden Timmy stopped moving, “Brian, why is your penis so big this morning?  You’re going to have trouble when you go to the bathroom.”

“Timmy, hurry and go to the bathroom.  I need to go pretty bad.”

Tanner was lying on his elbow watching.  He was licking his lips, “I’d help you take care of your problem, but Timmy would want to try to help.  I hope you were dreaming of me and that’s what caused your predicament.”

“Tanner, knock it off.  You’re nothing but a sex fiend.”

Timmy came into the room, “Next.”

I climbed out of bed and didn’t try to disguise the problem I had since the damage had already been done.  When I came out of the bathroom, Tanner whispered, “I liked the previous view better.”

I ignored him and started to get dressed for running.  When we arrived in the kitchen, Merry was already there and we were off and running for the morning.  Tanner looked at me as we were running, “How can Timmy keep talking all the time while he’s running?  You’d think that he’d run out of things to talk about.

As we were walking back to the house, Timmy got very serious, “Brian, you need to call Mr. Lake and make sure there aren’t any new boys or girls at the home.  It would be bad if there was someone there and we didn‘t have gifts for them.”

When we walked into the house, Timmy went and stood by Mother, “Mommy, where’s the phone number for Mr. Lake at the home?  We gotta check to make sure there aren’t any new boys and girls there.”

Mother left and returned with a number.  Timmy handed it to me, along with the phone.  I put the phone on speaker so Timmy would be able to hear the conversation.

“This the Fremont Home for Homeless Children, Lake speaking.”

“Mr. Lake, this is Brian Benson.  We’re scheduled to bring pizza and some gifts for your residents at eleven thirty today.  We wanted to make sure you don’t any new children whom we wouldn’t have gifts for.”

We could hear Mr. Lake take a deep breath, “Brian, I never thought to call and tell you that we have two new children.  A set of twins arrived about five o’clock last evening.  They’re eight years old and their names are Timmy and Meredith.  Thanks for thinking ahead and asking.  It would have really been a bad start for the children if they weren’t to receive gifts like the others.  The residents are excited about the pizza party for lunch.  See you about eleven thirty.”

Timmy was raring to go, “Tanner, we need to go get the presents for the two new people.”

Dad pointed to the table, “Timmy, sit down and eat your breakfast.  There’s lots of time to get the presents.”

Timmy reluctantly sat down and started to eat.  As soon as he finished eating, he took his dishes to the sink and started to rinse them.  Dad stood, “Timmy, I’ll take care of the dishes.  You guys go.  It’s going to be a madhouse, with everyone doing their last minute shopping.”

“Daddy, I need my card.”

I shook my head, no. “Timmy, I can pay for the gifts.”

Timmy shook his head, no, “I paid for the other people’s gifts and I want to pay for Timmy and Meredith’s gifts, too.”

Merry decided to go with us since Lauren still hadn’t surfaced.  We didn’t even change out of our running clothes.  When we arrived at the store, the parking lot was already jammed.  Tanner drove to the back corner of the lot.  Timmy and Morgan started toward the entrance and Meredith was walking between Tanner and me, “Guys, Timmy just amazes me.  How many young boys would have thought to check to see if there were any new children?”

When we arrived inside the store, Timmy was waiting.  “Merry, you go with Morgan and get the things for Meredith, while Brian goes to get the personal groom kits, and the life savers.  Tanner and I will get the hat, gloves and hoodie for Timmy.  We’ll meet at the checkout area in twenty minutes.”

I was the first to arrive in the checkout area, because I didn’t have to make any choices.  Tanner and Timmy were the last to arrive and Tanner rolled his eyes and whispered.  “Wait until you see what Timmy bought for his namesake.”

We were lucky and a new checkout lane opened and we were the first people to be processed through.   We had the same checkout lady we had when we previously bought the other things for the home.  She asked, “Would you like for me to call the manager.”

Timmy shook his head no, “That won’t be necessary, ma’am.  He’s probably very busy this morning.”

Merry watched as Timmy swiped his card and punched in his pin number.  She asked, “Is Timmy always this self confident?”

Morgan giggled, “Not always, but most of the time.”

When we got back to the house, Timmy took control again, “Morgan, since you’re already dressed, why don’t you wrap and label the gifts while the rest of us get ready.  We need to start loading the gifts in the cars.  Daddy, do we have to pick up the pizzas and things?”

Dad shook his head no, “The restaurant is delivering the things.  They have carriers to keep the pizza warm.  I made arrangements for the restaurant to cut the pizzas into sixteen pieces instead of eight or twelve pieces.  That way it will seem as if the young people are getting more food and there won’t be as much food wasted.”

Tanner and I were loading the gifts into Tanner’s trunk and the back of Mother’s van as Timmy and Morgan were putting the gifts into paper sacks with the people’s names on them.  Timmy had arranged for Mother, Lauren and Merry to put the cookies into boxes so we wouldn’t have to worry about getting trays or anything back.”

Timmy was like a cat on a hot tin roof.  He kept pacing and watching the clock.  “Daddy, do you know where we have to go?  How long does it take to get there?”

Dad pulled Timmy into his lap, “Son, relax.  I know how to get to the home.  It will take about fifteen minutes.  Pacing around isn’t going to make the clock move any faster.”

“I know, but I’m afraid something will go wrong.”

Finally we were on our way and the four ladies were carrying large boxes filled with cookies.  Of course we had to all have our Santa hats on before we could leave. 

We arrived at the home just as the pizza delivery car did.  The delivery guy was someone I had seen around the high school, but I had no idea what his name was.  “Brian, do you suppose you can get someone to help take all these things into the house?  It took me almost a half hour to load them.”

Timmy grinned, “I’m sure we can get you someone to help.”

Timmy walked into the home and “Ho, ho, the Benson family is here.  We need some help unloading the cars.”

An older gentleman greeted us, “Mr. Benson, some of the older youths are getting the dining room ready.  I‘ll get some of them to help you.”

Timmy was prepared.  He told everyone what he wanted them to do and even had disposable gloves for us to wear so we wouldn’t have to touch the food.  The young delivery guy handed Dad the check for what he brought and Dad wrote a check and the guys eyes lit up.”

Timmy looked at Mr. Lake, “Sir, I think we're ready.”

Mr. Lake pushed a bell and the children came into the room and stood behind a place at one of the tables.  Timmy asked Mr. Lake, “Do they always have to wait for everyone, before they sit down?”

“I’m afraid we found it necessary to do that, to prevent anyone from not having enough to eat.  We have a rule that the younger children have to be served first, so the older children don’t take all the food.  There is always enough food and too much food was going to waste, because people's eyes were bigger than their stomachs.”

When the young people were seated, Timmy went and stood so the young people could see him, “Hi, I’m Timmy Benson, my family and I brought you some food.  There is lots of food and we ask that you take two pieces of pizza and if you are still hungry you can go back for more, after everyone has been served.  We’re going to do it a little differently today, so that people aren’t running into each other.”

Timmy pointed, “That table can go first.  I’ll point to the tables so you should know who’s to go next.  Enjoy your lunch.”

Timmy had appointed me as the person who should dispense the salad. I was amazed when almost ever person stopped for a serving.  Tanner was standing beside me pouring sodas and juice.  He leaned over, “Timmy amazes me.  He’s acting like an old man.  See how he’s talking to all the people as they’re standing in line.”

The last person in line was a boy on crutches.  Timmy helped him through the line and helped him get seated.  Timmy looked to how much was left and admonished, “Those of you who'd like more food, are welcome to go through the line again, but take only as much as you know you can eat, because we have some other goodies for later.”

I was expecting a big rush, but there were only four or five older  residents who came through the line again.  After everyone had finished eating, there were obviously two people at each of the tables who were responsible for the cleanup.  A lady came from the kitchen to see how much pizza was left.  She shook her head, “This will make for a light meal tonight, since I’m cooking two big turkeys that were donated by a local grocery store for tomorrow's dinner.  This has really been a treat for the boys and girls, since our food budget doesn't really allow for such goodies.”

After the cleanup had been completed and the young people were seated again, Timmy went into his master of ceremonies role.  “Ho, Ho, we have some surprises for you.  When I call your name, raise your hand so the elves can visit you.”

Timmy and Morgan had numbered the bags so we could easily find the gifts for the people.  All the gifts had been delivered except the two newest arrivals.  Merry and Timmy took the gifts to their namesakes. 

The young boy who Timmy took his packages to was the boy on crutches.  When Timmy put his gifts in front of the boy, the boy hugged Timmy and he was shedding tears.  Meanwhile, the same thing was happening to Merry.  It was amazing how quiet it got in the room that had been twittering with excitement.”

All eyes were on the two new arrivals.  After the last of the packages were opened, Timmy stood, “Ho, ho, before we go, we have a special dessert for you.  Don’t eat too much or it may bring you sorrow because you’ll be sick tomorrow.” 

He put a box of cookies on each table and announced, “I need to take my brothers and sisters and parents and get them something to eat before they die from hunger.  Merry Christmas.”

Mr. Lake thanked us, “People, you made these young people’s day.”

The door opened and Uncle Dan entered, Dad asked, “Dan, why are you working?”

Dan shrugged his shoulders, “Some of us have to work for a living.  I’m trying to find out who the two newest residents here are.  We found them in an abandoned house, but we can’t get them to talk.  They aren’t your typical homeless children because they were wearing designer clothes when they were brought to us by the police. What are you people doing here?”

“Uncle Dan, Timmy arranged a pizza party for the boys and girls here and made sure they each received some presents.  The young people are chowing down on some cookies we made.  Talk to you later.  We haven’t had lunch yet.”

“See you at church tonight.”

As we were walking to the cars, Dad asked, “Where would you like to go for lunch?”

Timmy answered, “Daddy, can we just go home.  I’m kinda tired and I just want a sandwich.  Did you see how those people’s eyes lit up when they saw the pizza and things?  They must not have many special things.  I hope they liked the presents we got them.”

Mother answered, “Timmy, I’m sure they did.”

Morgan nodded, “One of the girls told me she was glad that she wasn’t going to have to wear the awful pajamas that the home gave them.”

Timmy was extremely quiet on the way home and didn’t say anything.  When we went into the house, he stood in front of the Christmas tree and looked at the gifts.  As we were eating our sandwiches, Lauren said, “I had my eyes opened today.  I’ve been feeling sorry for poor little ole me.  I had no idea what kind of lives other people have had and how lucky we are.  Dad and Mother, isn’t there anything that we can do?”

Dad stood, “Everyone, listen to me.  We’re just one family.  We can only do so much.  We need to make other people aware of the problems so they can help, too.  We happen to be luckier than some families, but we can only do so much.”

After dinner of homemade vegetable soup and muffins, we were getting ready for church and Timmy was still being extremely quiet.  I felt his head but he didn’t seem to have a fever.  He finally blurted out, “We spent too much money on our Christmas presents.  We should have been using the money to help people.”

I hugged Timmy, “Timmy, you heard what Dad said.  We’ve done our part.  It’s up to other people to also help.  I agree that we spent a lot of money on our presents, but we also spent a lot of money on the young people at the home, today.  We probably spent more than some people make a month.  I’m sure Grandpa Nappy and Grandmother Gleason would be pleased with what we did.”

The lights flickered, “Amen to that.”

The eight o’clock service had the young people of the church reenacting the birth of Jesus as the scriptures were read.  Timmy had climbed on my lap so he could see better.  He whispered, “Brian, why aren’t you in the play?”

I leaned down and whispered, “Timmy, they asked Morgan and me to be in it but we were gone last weekend when they started to practice.”

When we arrived at the house, Timmy stopped and looked at the tree and went up the steps.  Dad asked, “Brian, is Timmy okay?  He’s been extremely quiet.”

“He’s concerned over how much money we spent on the presents.  Heaven knows how he’s going to respond in the morning when he sees the rest of them.  I have no idea what to expect when he sees what Ben and Grant sent him.”

When Tanner and I walked into the bedroom, Timmy was lying there looking at the ceiling with his clothes still on.  I walked to the bed and sat down.  “Timmy, what’s wrong?”

“Brian and Tanner, I’m worried that we spent too much money.  I know Grandpa Nappy said it was okay, but I’m still worried because of what we saw today.  I’m also worried that you two aren’t going to love me anymore now that you know that you love each other.”

Talk about a kick in the pants.  Tanner sat on the other side of Timmy, “Why would that make a difference?  Would it bother you if Brian and I liked each other?”

“Tanner, you don’t understand.  I never had anyone who loved me and now you’re taking Brian away.”

“Timmy, I’m not taking Brian away.  There’s enough of Brian that we can share him.  Brian and I both love you and don’t you forget it.  Come on, let’s take a shower.  I think I can see a look in Brian’s eyes that says he going to do a painting.  You know how cranky he get’s when he’s like that.”

I sent a message to Tanner, “You’re going to pay for that smart assed remark.”

Both Timmy and Tanner stuck out their tongues at me as they walked into the bathroom.  I thought to myself, ’I need to remember that Timmy can also hear what we’re saying.’ 

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  It looks as if we might finally see Christmas.

It is really unusual to see Timmy not all bubbly and happy. 

This will be Timmy's first real family Christmas. I am so glad that Timmy and Tanner are now part of a wonderful loving family.

It must have been difficult for Beau to be there in that home, considering his own childhood, early on. 

I suspect that Timmy will make sure that he and the family are involved in the situation with his and Merry's namesakes. I am almost certain that there is more to this than meets the eye.

Why was the new Timmy needing to use crutches?  Were they victims of abuse?  I suspect that our Timmy will find a way to get to the bottom of it all.

I am sure that Christmas will be a special day, but I wonder just what kind of special day it will be. 

Once again, I guess we will just have to wait for the next chapter to find out more.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 11/05/10