Love Refound
by: E Walk
(© 2008 by the Author)
 

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

Chapter 38

The Negotiations

The visitors arrived in a limousine and  Cole greeted them at the door,  “Welcome to Summerhill, gentleman.”

Cole brought the gentlemen to where Uncle Howie, Mr. Morgan and I were sitting.  “Gentlemen, I would like introduce my agent, Mr. Howard Willingham; my financial advisor, Mr. Henry Morgan and my mentor and boss, Mr. Doug Christiansen.”

The man in charge of the negotiation team stepped forward and shook Uncle Howie's hand, “Howie, it's nice to see you again.  I heard you retired.  How do you know Mr. Weaver?”

Uncle Howie laughed, “I just happen to  live next door to Summerhill and Doug just happens to be my nephew.”

The gentleman moved to Mr. Morgan, “Hank, if you’re going to be Mr. Weaver’s financial advisor, couldn’t that be construed a conflict of interest, since you’re my financial advisor as well.”

Mr. Morgan shook his head no, “Art, I’m only Cole’s financial advisor, not his agent.  I’m Doug and Howie’s financial advisors as well.”

The gentleman shook my hand, “I assume you’re Doug, I’m Art Black, owner and CEO of the Atlanta Falcons.  How do you fit into this scheme of the negotiations?”

Cole answered before I could say anything, “Mr. Black, I asked Mr. Christiansen to be here for moral support, If it hadn’t been for him and his wife, I would not be in this position today.  They took me and my Grandmother in and I’ve worked here at Summerhill, when I could, for the last six years.”

Mr. Black was certainly inquisitive, “Mr. Christiansen, are you a rancher or do you do something else as well.”

“Mr. Black, I guess you would call me a gentleman rancher.  I’m the Dean of Students and the Dean of Admissions at the Harwood Community College.”

Cole was chuckling, “I guess I forget to tell that he was a Dr.  He also serves as the president when President Harder is away.”

Mr. Black introduced the others who were with the team.  They certainly had brought a high powered negotiations team.  Not only was the Owner and CEO present, but the General Manager, the Director of Player Personnel and the Coach, as well as the offensive coordinator and the team lawyer.

After the introductions, I suggested, “Gentlemen, why don’t we move these negotiations to the dining room where everyone who wishes to take notes can do so.”

We were going to the dining room when Benji came bursting into the room, “Dads.”

He stopped when he saw the visitors, “Dad, can we go swimming?”

I nodded, “Benji we’ll go as soon as the visitors leave.  Why don’t you ask Patty and Karen to pack us a picnic dinner.  That way they can have the night off.  Why don’t you and your brothers go see if you can help Uncle Denny with the horses?”

“Okay.”

Mr. Black asked, “Was that your son?”

I nodded, “Benji is the oldest of four.”

The negotiations session went well, and I honestly think the team representatives were more impressed that Cole didn’t make any outlandish demands.  Even I was not aware of what he was thinking, “Gentlemen, I’m only asking that you pay me  what you must think that I’m worth, since you traded up in the draft to make me the first pick.  I would like to be paid for achieving above your expectations.  I guess you could call it merit pay.  As I have indicated before, playing pro football is not everything.  Right now, my ultimate goal is to maintain my academic status.”

Mr. Black looked at Cole, “Young man, you’re making this very difficult.  This is not the way that negotiation sessions are supposed to go.”

Cole shrugged his shoulders, “Mr. Black, I’m sorry, but my family and education are more important to me than playing football.  Unless you’re willing to make a concrete offer today, I suggest that you and your team go back to Atlanta and put together a fair package and send it to Mr. Willingham and Mr. Morgan for their perusal.  Once they agree with your proposals, I’ll sign, but not before I graduate with a 4.0 grade point average.  Oh yes, one other stipulation.  I want Mr. Christensen’s sons to be at the signing.”

“Come on Doug, let’s go see if we can find the boys.  I need to go for a swim so I can clear my mind, since I have some big tests next week.”

The participants knew that they had been summarily dismissed.  Everyone packed their briefcases and followed Cole and me to the door.  The four boys were sitting on the porch. 

Benji looked at us, “Dad, are we going to ride horses or the dune buggies?”

“Let’s take the dune buggies, since they won’t try to eat our dinner.”

Benji smiled, “Come on, guys, we need to get our helmets and the dinner.  Dad, can we swim without?”

“Yep, if that’s what you would like.”

Cole and I shook the visitor’s hands and went to meet the boys.  We were to find out that the visitors stayed quite a bit longer and found out why the six of us were so close.  Cole and I weren’t going to find out until the day of the signing what transpired after we left the meeting.

We had put a picnic table at the lake, so we put the basket on it and the boys were naked before you could count to three.  Mikey, even though he was four, was able to swim like a fish.  The boys had seen Cole and I naked enough that they didn’t react when we waded into the lake.”

The boys started to climb on our backs and we would throw them into the water.  When everyone was exhausted, we went to the shoreline and dried our bodies with the towels that Benji remembered to bring.  We were eating our dinner when the clouds started to form and the lightening started to flash through the darkening sky.   We threw everything in the basket and ran to the dune buggies even though we were still naked.

Cole and I were making the buggies go as fast as they could. We stopped at the back door and the four boys ran inside.  Denny was coming out of the stable.

“The horses are secured.  We are under a severe weather warning with possible tornadoes.  We’ll be in to join you in the storm shelter as soon as you get decent.  I don’t want my sons to see your big cocks.”

We had put extra clothes in the storm shelter so we were dressed when Collie and Denny arrived with their two sons, Aaron and Alex.   We were watching the television and I had a sudden thought, ’I hope  Patty and Karen are okay?’

The phone was still working because it rang.  I answered and Karen was on the line, “Mr. Christiansen we’re at my parents’ house.  It looks as if the storm touched down near the college.  The all clear siren has been sounded and we’ll be there as soon as we can make it.”

“Karen, we’re fine here.  The boys are lying on the floor watching TV.  I’m going to the college to see what’s happening.  Cole can take care of the boys until you and Patty get here.  We’re all safe.”

I looked at Cole, “I guess we are destined to be in tornado alley every six years.  I need to go to the college and see if there was any damage.”

When I arrived at the college, there was no visible damage.  However the houses in the block south of the campus were gone.  President Harder tapped me on the shoulder, “Doug, I think the super powers are telling us that it’s time to expand the schools’ facilities. We’ll talk more about this tomorrow, after we can assess what damage the storm has caused in daylight.”

When I arrived home, the downstairs was almost dark.  I locked the doors, why, I don’t know.  I guess it was a hangover from living in Atlanta.  When I arrived in our bedroom, Cole was lying there naked reading a text book looking oh so fine.  I went to take a shower and when I came out after taking care of the nightly rituals, Cole used his pointer finger to beckon me toward him.

When I was close enough for him to reach, he pulled me onto the bed and growled, “Dr. Christiansen, you been a bad boy.  I have had reports of you swimming naked in front of some little boys.  You need to pay and learn to keep that monster hidden so the boys don’t get the wrong idea.  So get busy and hide it until you can put it in your briefs.”

Cole pulled me on top of him and he guided my engorged staff where he wanted it to go.  This was such a different feeling.  I leaned down and kissed him and there was no urgency about achieving an orgasm.  When I finally exploded, he pulled me down and just hugged me until the moment was over.

 After church the next day, we were eating lunch when we had two phone calls which I answered.  The first was from Trent, “Mr. Doug, I will be graduating on the 23^rd of May.  Will you and your family be able to come for the graduation?  Sandy and I are going to be married that day in the chapel on campus and I would like Cole to be my best man.”

“Trent, why are you asking Cole to be the best man?  What is Trevor going to think?”

“Mr. Doug, it was Trev’s idea.  He and Jeff are going to be the groomsmen.  We would also like for Benji to be the ring bearer.”

“Trent, we’ll be there, and Benji can certainly be the ring bearer.  Here, I’ll let you talk to Cole.”

Trent is the oldest Nixon son and lives at Fairacres with his mother, Leonora, and his brother.  Fairacres is adjacent to Summerhill on the south.  The guys’ father, Rob, lives with my Uncle Howie on a spread that is adjacent to Summerhill to the north.

Trent, like Cole, is 22.  He chose to go the University of Georgia and enrolled in the veterinary school.  After graduation, he is going to take over the operation of Fairacres.

Trevor and Jeff are now 20 and attend Duke University.  Yes they are roommates, and yes they still mess around sexually, but no they’re not gay.  If they’re anything, they would probably best be classified as bisexual.  But I would wager that once they find the right young lady, they will be mostly straight, and loyal to their spouses.

When Cole hung up, he grinned, “That will work out nicely, since my graduation is the week before.  You will need to take Benji and have him fitted for formal clothes.  We’re to wear white dinner jackets.”

The guys had gone outside to play.  Cole and I were doing the dishes when the phone rang again.  “This is Doug Christiansen.”

“Doug, it’s Howie.  We just received word that Rob’s Dad has died.”

“We were just talking to Trent and he didn’t say anything about it.”

“He didn’t know about it.  Rob is talking to Trent now.  We’ll let you know what the arrangements are, as soon as they’re made.  We’re still trying to get in touch with Louisa.  Talk to you later.”

When I hung up, I was explaining to Cole what the call was about  when a third call came.  Cole answered, “This is Cole Weaver. … Hi, President Harder, Mr. Christiansen is right here. … Thanks Dr. Harder.  Here’s Dr. Christiansen.”

“Hi Doris, what can I do for you?”

“Doug, can you meet me at the College so we can look at the damage done by the storm.  I was serious last night when I mentioned about expanding.  I just received word that we are about to get a good sized endowment that would allow us to do so.  I’m sure that you have heard by now that the senior Robert Nixon has passed away.  He informed us last week that he was leaving a sizeable amount of money to the college, so we could expand.”

“Doris, I’ll be at the college as soon as I can.  Give me forty-five minutes.”

I hung up and turned to Cole, “I need to go to the college.  Do you want to go with me?”

Cole shook his head no, “Doug, as much as I don’t want to go back to Atlanta, I really need to, since this is finals week.  I know if I stay, I’ll molest you and I won’t be able to get any work done.”

He hugged me and kissed me. “Doug, I love you and I have for six years.  After I graduate, maybe we can take the boys and get away from the world.”

As Cole was getting ready to leave, the four guys hugged him.  Benji asked, “Dad, will you be back next weekend?”

Cole nodded, “Guys, I’ll try to come back.  Don’t let your other Daddy get into any trouble this week.”

We watched as Cole pulled away and I felt as if part of me was leaving.  I looked at the other part, “Guys, go get your sandals on.  We need to go to Harwood, so I can talk to President Harder.”

Benji started to protest, “Why can’t we stay here?”

“Because Patty, Karen, Denny, Collie and the boys are at a family reunion.”

Benji sighed and I could tell he wasn’t happy, but the four boys went to get their sandals.

When we arrived at the site where the houses were destroyed, the area was cordoned off and the boys had all sorts of questions.

Benji asked, “Dad, is this what it was like when Dad Cole found me?”

Yes, we had told Benji and the other boys how he was found after a tornado.  That had precipitated a lot of questions.

I was talking to President Harder when Mikey came up to me, “Daddy, look what I found.  There are shiny pieces of things all over the ground by the building where you work.”

I looked at what he handed me and showed it to Doris and it was a gold coin from the 1800’s.

Mikey looked at me, “Daddy, do you have anything that we can put them in?”

We were joined by the other three boys. “Well I could take off my shorts and you could put the coins in the pockets.”

Benji sniffed, “Dad, if you did that everyone would run screaming.  Why don’t you take off you socks and we’ll use them and collect the rest of the coins?  Of course, the smell will probably kill the grass.”

I took off my socks and the four guys took off.  The boys came to where Doris and I were talking, and Benji announced, “Dad, I think we found all of the coins.”

A gentlemen approached us, “Thank you, I think that the coins belong to me.  I’ll take them since they came from my property.”

Doris was incensed, “Excuse me, sir, I didn’t know that the Harwood Community College was your property.  The young men found the coins on the campus, so how can you say they are yours?”

The man was not about to be intimidated, “I own the houses that  were damaged so the coins must have come from one of the them.”

The man made a mistake and grabbed Mark and Matt and tried to take the socks they were holding.  I intervened and did something that I had never done before in my life.  I went and slugged the man in his face and his nose started to bleed, “You prick!  You ever touch my sons again and I’ll do worse than break your nose.”

A crowd had gathered around where we were and a elderly gentlemen yelled, “Hit the bastard again for us.  He swindled us out of our homes which are no longer standing.  He's still smarting because his request to build a high rise apartment complex has been denied since the city council has deemed that it would not be in the best interest of the city.”

The ride home was very quiet.  The dam  broke when I was in bed.  Benji came into my room, “Daddy, is this the way it was when Dad Cole found me in the field.  Someone’s not going to come and take me away are they?”

I hugged Benji, “Benjamin, Dad Cole and I will never let you be taken away from us.”

Benji looked up at me, “Daddy, what’s going to happen to the money we found today?”

“Son, we’ll take it to the bank and have them put it in the Harwood Community College account, since that’s where you boys found it.”

“Okay, I need to go back to my room.  If I’m not there when Mikey comes in like he does every night, he’ll start to cry.  Dad, you  promise you love me, even if I’m adopted and make mistakes.”

“Benji, Dad Cole and I will always love you, no matter what.”

“Okay, Dad, just checking.   Benji kissed me and I watched as he left.

 ‘Cole, help!  I don’t know if I can raise these four boys by myself.’

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: I suspect that the negotiations between Cole, and the Falcons will be settled in Cole's favour, since Doug said they would find out that the negotiators saw them naked, when they signed the contract.   

I hope that man that tried to take the money from the boys gets arrested for trying to steal from the boys, or that something equally nasty happens to him. No wonder the powers that be refused to let him build his high rise.  He's a real creep.

I'm ready for the next chapter.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher 

Posted: 09/04/09