Sean's Angel
By: Hal
(Copyright 2006 - 2007, by the Author)
Editors: Radio Rancher & Str8mayb

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


Chapter 12

Sean looked at the twins, who were waiting for permission to be excused from the table. Justin was looking at him with a funny look.

“What’s up dad? Why would Marty want to stop by already? He was just here last night. What do you think he wants?” Justin asked, as he looked at him.

“I am not sure, but it must be of some importance. I guess we will have to wait and find out when he gets here.” Sean said, as he tried to hide his real feelings about the visit. Of course, you can't hide them from the twins. Justin caught on quick, and looked over at Jared.

The doorbell rang once, and Sean got to his feet to get the door. He wasn’t even halfway across the family room, when he had two shadows following him. Sean stopped before he got to the door, and turned to look at the boys. With a big sigh, he opened the door to find Marty standing there.

“How are all of you doing?” Marty asked, as he walked in, being invited by Sean standing aside.

“We are doing good,” was the answer from all three.

Marty looked from one to the other, then back again, finally looking at Sean. The same answer coming from all three of them, at the exact same time, took him by surprise once more. All he could do was shake his head, as he lead the group to the library. There were things to be discussed, and he wanted everyone to be comfortable as they talked.

Once they were all seated, Marty opened his briefcase on the coffee table in front of the chairs.

“Well, guys, we need to get this started, and I am sorry for not giving you guys more notice on any of this.” Marty grabbed a folder, and pushed it over to Sean.

“What is this?” Sean asked, before picking it up and looking at it.

“This is all basically a formality. Inside, you will find custodial papers for the boys. This was part of your original agreement, and the first step to becoming their legal father. There is nothing in there that should come as a surprise to you. Dale had filled me in earlier, so we need to get this taken care of.” Marty said, in his professional demeanor.

“Custody papers? Legal Father?” Justin looked at Sean, as if he questioned the table, not looking up to anyone in particular.

“Yes, Justin. And you too Jared. If you want to, these papers will make it official. I guess, the first step is to make me your legal guardian, then I can adopt you, if you want.” Sean said, as clearly and heartfelt as he could, without trying to cry.

“In a nutshell, you are correct, Sean.” Answered Marty, so everyone would understand.

The only response from Justin was a big hug. Sean looked at Jared, who just sat there for a moment, lost in his thoughts.

“What’s the matter, Jared?” Sean squeaked out, for Justin really had a hold on him.

“Nothing, really.” Jared whispered, as he lowered his head.

“What do you mean, nothing?” Justin said, as let go of Sean’s neck and faced his brother.

“What about my mom, err, our mom?” Jared felt put on the spot, for he started to really love these guys, and didn’t want to leave them.

Sean looked over at Marty, with his confused look, and Marty took the hint. Marty realized that this was not a very good time, for Sean wanted to tell the boys himself, that it was their mother that caused the accident yesterday. Marty felt sorry for all three of them, so he decided that he would be the bad guy in telling them the news.

“Justin, Jared, I'm afraid I have something to tell you that is not something that you will like.” Marty said, as he sat forward, with his elbows on his knees, hunched over and looking at the floor.

The twins just looked at him, almost doubled over in his chair, and then looked at each other, then at Sean.

“You knew. You knew and didn’t say anything! How could you!” Justin was about hysterical and started to get up from the couch they were sitting on. He wasn’t quick enough though, for Sean grabbed him, and cradled him on his lap.

“I am so sorry, you guys.” Was all that Sean could get out, before the tears started to flow.

Jared wasn’t as attached to his mom, so this wasn’t exactly all that bad news to him. But feeling the way Justin did, he slowly wrapped his arms around the two. Sean decided that he had two arms, one for each boy, so he sat back in the couch, and let the boys release their sadness. After some time, and a soaked shirt, the twins released him enough to sit back upright.

“I am sorry to tell you this, but it looks like you already figured it out. The woman that caused that bad accident yesterday, was your mother. She was killed instantly, and didn’t suffer.” Marty paused, for this to soak in for a minute.

“Well, she should have.” Jared snapped out.

All that did was to get an extra squeeze into Sean’s side, as Sean laid his head on top of Jared’s head. This seemed to calm him down, so Marty could continue.

“Well, all I will say to that is, I am sorry for your loss.” Marty looked at Jared first, than over at Justin, who still had tears running down his cheeks.

Sean was rubbing both of their shoulders, and kissed the tops of their heads. He knew he should have said something earlier, but he couldn’t figure out a good time. There is never a good time to find out about the death of a loved one.

“Okay, that was the worst news I could ever tell you.” Marty was looking at their faces to see if it was time to go on, for they had a schedule to keep.

“So, Jared, does that simplify things for you a tad?” Marty tried to look on the bright side of it, being that there was no love lost between him and his mother.

“I guess. But what about our real dad?” Jared was hitting the obvious questions, and was gearing himself up for a letdown.

“That is a good question, Jared. But if they haven’t told you, Sean is the guardian of Justin already, and these papers make it official for you too. And Sean was correct, this is the first step, for him to take to be able to adopt you. As far as Dale is concerned, Sean is already your Dad. He couldn’t help but notice that you guys get along so great already, that he already signed the papers, but the rest of this will be a formality for the courts. Dale is happy that you guys, all of you, will be a real family.” Marty finished with a big smile, that didn’t last too long. Jared looked over at Justin, and the two looked at Sean.

“Okay, before you guys fly off the handle again. Dale was here this morning, before you woke up. He didn’t want to stick around for breakfast, I asked. All he said is that he was glad that he made the right decisions for us to be together. And that one day, I tell you guys about him.” Sean finished, with a slight frown, for he knew he was busted once again. Having a mental link with your children is a two way street. They can’t lie to you, and you can’t lie to them either.

“My dad was here?” Jared looked at Sean with tears coming out of his eyes.

“Our dad, you know the guy who never has time for his family.” Justin sneered. He knew all too well, that Mr. Corporate America, was way too busy to love, either to show it, or receive it.

“Justin, your dad does love you. He just doesn’t know how to express it. Remember what I said before, if he didn’t love you, he would put you through hell with everything going on. Instead, he chose to be out of you life, with me here subbing for him instead. Well, that’s not the best way to describe it, maybe if I put it as he chose to let me be the man he can’t be. That sounded a bit better. Remember, it was actually all his doing, that has allowed us to be here together, right now.” Sean was getting flush in the face, for he couldn’t really put into words what he knew was right. He was trying, but not doing a very good job at it.

Justin and Jared looked at each other. After staring for a minute or so, they looked at Sean, then across the table at Marty. They were moving together, like a fine tuned machine. Their glare at Marty made him nervous. The sweat coming off of his forehead, ran down into his eyes, making him take a hanky out of his jacket pocket, to wipe it off.

Before long, the stare down contest ended, much to Marty’s relief. The end result was both of the boys hugging into Sean, with all their might. Sean could sense the change of emotions in the boys, for it was more positive now than it was before the hug.

“Guys, I am so sorry, but I did promise him not to say anything about him being here, so I” was all the Sean could get out.

“We know that, now, Dad.” Was their answer, in stereo. It was so cute to hear them do that, even to Sean, who should be used to it by now.

“Well, that’s a relief.” Marty let slip out, before he looked up. Then he had three pairs of eyes on him.

“You said we had a schedule to keep, what schedule?” Sean decided to try to break the static of the moment, for he owed Marty, at least one.

“Oh, yeah. Back to the things at hand. For all this to take place as fast as possible, the courts like to have physicals on all those wanting adoption, even those that are uncontested. And with the challenges that Justin had, having Jared complete one would be to everyone’s advantage.” Marty spoke, as he raised his eyebrows, knowing that his message was clear.

“That’s a great idea, but when?” Sean said, as he sat more upright, realizing that he should have thought of that himself. But with everything else going on, it had simply slipped his mind.

“Well, if we hurry up now, we can get there in plenty of time.” Marty said, as he stood up looking at his watch.

“Where are we going, dad?” Justin asked, with a confused look.

“It looks like we are going to see a doctor, I assume all of us.” Sean said, as he looked over at Justin, then at Jared.

“Jeez, don’t you think we have both seen enough doctors, lately?” Justin said, smirking at Sean.

“One more won’t hurt, I guess, especially if it makes us a legal family now. Will it?” Sean was giving Justin an extra squeeze on the shoulder, to let him know he understood.

“Doctors? Physical? What are you talking about?” Jared asked as he looked at his brother, then over at Marty.

“Well, Jared, in order to streamline the adoption process, the more prepared we are, the less the courts can slow it down. This is just a quick check up, height, weight, blood pressure. With the addition of blood tests. Justin will tell you that they probably hurt like hell, but they don’t. And with Justin’s health issues, we would like to find out if anything might be similarly happening to you, so we can catch it quickly if need be.” Marty said, with a concerned look appearing on his face, as he finished. He knew how hard it was to find one donor, but finding another, would be almost impossible, if they needed another.

“Um, okay.” Jared said quietly.

“It will be alright. We will all be there. You don’t have to be afraid.” Sean rubbed Jared’s shoulder while he talked.

“Who says?... Who says that I am afraid?” Jared managed to get out, getting choked up towards the end.

Sean just held him close, and let himself get absorbed into what Jared was feeling. Sean could sense that Jared wasn’t afraid of doctors, but was afraid of needles, and what they do to people, after he witnessed what happened to his mother.

“It’s gonna be alright bro. Me n dad will be there. We have lots of experience at being in the hospital.” Justin chimed in, after seeing his brother not doing very well with the news.

“As a matter of fact, we are going to go the clinic in your dad’s, um, Dale’s office building. It’s a new idea. Instead of having expensive health insurance, where you pawn out your employees to different places, you have the doctors in house. Your dad was a genius in that respect, for it has already saved the company hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. The clinic occupies the first and second floors of the high rise office building downtown.” Marty was beaming, for it was something that no other business had done before. It was also an idea that the boys’ real dad came up with himself. In fact, it was downright brilliant.

“Well then. Looks like we'd better hurry up then.” Sean said, as he pulled his arms back, trying to get up off the couch.

“Here Dad, let us help.” The boys said, as they stood and held a hand out for Sean. With a slight pull on each arm, they were all standing in no time.

“Okay guys, go run and get ready, and try to hurry, alright?” Sean said, with a big smile, those were his boys, and he was damn proud of it.

“Um, sorry Sean.” Marty almost whispered as the boys took off running upstairs.

“Huh? What?” Sean had a confused look on his face, as he looked over at Marty, who had an embarrassed look on his face.

“It is going to take some time, for me to consider the ramifications of these acts. In short, I may slip up sometimes, and call Dale their dad. When in all reality, you are now their dad. For that, I apologize before hand. Dale has been my best friend for many years, but I see his wisdom in his decision to let you be their father.” Marty said, looking at the floor.

“And Marty, if it wasn’t for you and Dale, I wouldn’t have those two wonderful boys to call my own. So enough of the apology, but if you insist, apology accepted, in advance.” Sean said, holding his hand out. Instead of just a hand shake, Sean pulled Marty into a nice warm hug.

“Um, thanks.” Marty muttered out, for he had never had much in the way of showing affection in his own family. But with the simple gesture, he felt very happy. He could see his own future with this little family becoming much brighter. He felt that he was accepted. He was slowly realizing what a loving family was. The hug didn’t last too long, for they could hear the boys running back downstairs.

“No, thank you, Marty.” Sean said, as he turned to face the boys, who were running through the door.

“Dad, Jared says his shoes don’t fit. They are too small, so I let him use one of mine, and now he thinks they are too big. Can you check them please?” Justin was so cute, in the way he asked, because he knew he was right. The shoes that Jared had worn before were about one and a half sizes too small.

“Come here, champ, and let take a look.” Sean was starting to get down on one knee as Jared approached.

“These are the only pair I got.” Jared whined.

“Well, bud. I am going to have to agree with Justin, this time, Son. These shoes are way too small for you. Can you borrow a pair from him until we can get you some new ones later?” Sean asked, looking up to the sad face above him.

Before Jared could answer, Justin was off and running again, to go get another pair. The rest were quiet, for they knew what was happening. Justin sensed his brother’s answer, and before he could speak, he was taking actions on it. Before long, Justin was back downstairs with another pair of shoes....

“Let’s try these ones on.” Sean said, as he looked at the tag, noticing the size, and the difference in size from what Jared was wearing.

“But those are the same ones I tried on already. They are too big. My feets have too much room in them.” Jared was almost arguing at that point.

“Calm down bud. Let me see.” Sean was quick to reassure him. After feeling the arch and the toe area, he cinched down on the laces a little before retying them. Sean then stood up and looked, Jared in the face to judge the reaction.

“Well, they still feel big.” Jared pouted.

“I think, that you are so used to having shoes that fit you so tightly, that having them fit right, makes them feel funny. Can you give them a chance, until we buy you some new ones, later today?” Sean knew that the shoes would fit him, and in fact, fit a whole lot better than the other pair. His only problem now was to convince Jared that they fit.

“Okay, Dad, I'll do it, just for you.” Jared let out, as he hugged Sean.

“I guess that I am the only one that’s not ready, so let me go get my shoes and jacket, and I will be out in a minute.” Sean turned to go to his room, well, the master bedroom, to see if his shoes mysteriously appeared there, too, just like his new clothes did.

Marty and the twins were waiting at the door, when Sean came walking towards them with a silly grin on his face.

“How my clothes know where to go is beyond me. They were right there by the bed, as if I had left them there, myself.” Sean was almost laughing at himself now.

“I told you Celia was a great person.” Justin beamed.

“And speaking of which, young man. What have I told you about running in the house?” Cecelia had walked out of the kitchen after hearing all the commotion going on near the door.

“Sorry Celia. But we have an appointment to go to, and we were told to hurry.” Justin said, looking at Sean for an excuse.

“Yes we do, and I am sorry for letting them run. But we do have appointments this afternoon. You do want us all to stay together, don’t you?” Sean had twisted the question around, so he wouldn’t be as guilty as he was.

“Of course I do. But that doesn’t mean you can break all the house rules in one day.” Cecelia scorned. She, of course, was kidding, but needed to remind all her boys, that her rules were, in fact, rules, to be followed by everyone.

“Yes ma’am.” Was the three way answer. This, of course, took Cecelia by surprise, for she hadn’t witnessed them speaking all at the same time before.

“Well then. Hurry up back. And take care of those boys, Sean, or you will have to answer to me.” She said, and with the look on her face, they all could tell, she meant business.

“Of course I will. You can count on it. Come on sons, let's go make this all legal.” Sean said, as he waited with the door open, and a wide grin across his face.

They had once again taken Marty’s car, with the boys in the back seat chatting away, Sean and Marty sat pretty quiet, except for the occasional pointing out of a building or business that was part of McCabe Industries. Sean was amazed at how large a company this was, for it seemed like half the city was under one owner. Justin. The boys were busy talking about how they were going to decorate Jared’s new room. And what kind of clothes they were going to get. Justin himself didn’t need much, but he was also a growing boy. Some of his older clothes might fit Jared, but they were going to make sure he had plenty to wear.

Without realizing the area they were in, the boys suddenly got quiet. They had bland expressionless looks on their faces. This did not go unnoticed by Sean and Marty. Quiet boys meant trouble, and with the way these two looked, it was not a good sign. Sean turned in his seat to look at the two. He couldn’t really tell what was going on, but it didn’t look good for his own sanity.

“What is going on, Sean? Are they okay? We just passed the hospital, do I need to turn around? Why are they so quiet and not moving?” Marty was almost in a panic, for the silence had made him look in the rear view mirror at the boys.

“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.” Sean said, almost in a monotone voice.

“Oh, jeez, not you too.” Marty was about to pull over, when Justin spoke up.

“Are we there yet, this is getting boring!” Justin said, with a bored expression on his face.

“Yeah, I wanna get this over with, so we can go shopping.” Jared chimed in, with as much enthusiasm as Justin.

“You guys are gonna give me a heart attack one of these days, you know that don’t you?” Marty was trying to find out what just happened, but he knew he would find out soon enough. That was one thing he knew, that these three would explain it as they found out, themselves.

“We wouldn’t do that to you, at least not on purpose.” Justin snickered, as he elbowed Jared in the ribs, with a big grin.

“Yeah, we like you, Marty. You helped Sean become our Dad.” Jared was saying as he grabbed his side.

“Well not yet, but soon. When Sean signed those papers earlier, he became your legal guardian, and hopefully soon, he will become your legal dad. As fast as I can, you three will be a true family, as far as the law is concerned, anyway. So if you guys behave, this will be a lot easier for everyone. The faster we get in there, the faster we get out.” Marty was anxious, to get this over with, for he too, was happy for the three. This should be an easy case to close, and if not, he would bet the judge over a round of golf on it. Marty had many contacts in the legal system; of course, he hated to use them, but in an instance such as this, he would do whatever was necessary, no matter the cost to his favors list. This family was well worth it.

“That is one helluva big building.” Sean was looking out the window, trying to see as far up as the roof, but he wasn’t able to.

“That, my friend, is where we are going. But first, we need the parking garage.” Marty turned down into a multilevel parking garage. This garage was huge, and the local teens spent many hours after the building closed, skating up and down the numerous ramps in the six levels under the building.

The four of them vacated the car, and headed to the elevator. Instead of parking in his usual spot, Marty chose to park in one of the visitor spots, to be closer to ground level. And, by doing so, it was the quickest ride, having to only go up two floors. The men and boys exited the elevator and looked around, waiting for Marty to lead. None of them had ever been in this building before, not even Justin. Justin only knew his father worked all the time, but he never knew where.

Marty lead them down a short hallway to the reception desk, where they had to sign in. Sean, of course, signed in for the twins. They had not taken their seats yet when their names were called. Marty let them go in by themselves, saying he had some phone calls to make, but that he would be right there when they were done.

Once inside the room, the doctor explained what was going to happen.

“Okay gentlemen, we will try to make this as quick and easy as possible. The first thing we are going to do, is measure your height and weight. Any volunteers?”

Sean looked at the boys, who were undecided, so he went first. He had taken the normal position of standing on the scale backwards, so his weight and height were taken at the same time. Once he was finished, Justin went, then Jared. The doctor was recording all the measurements on a chart, one for each of the three guys.

“Next, comes the easy one, blood pressure.” The doctor held up the armband with one hand and waited for a volunteer.

The same sequence occurred with this test, Sean, followed by Justin, then Jared. The final test was the blood test, the one everyone dreaded; every one of them felt quite squeamish about needles. So again, Sean went first. Justin was a real trooper when his turn came, but as far as Jared went, Sean had to help hold him and occupy his attention when the needle went in and started to draw blood. Sean could sense the calmness he was trying to give Jared take effect, as he was no longer fighting to get free. With some love and attention, Jared was relaxing, as the last few seconds passed.

“Well, gentlemen, the tests are over for now. Justin, you are looking rather well, and I hope your health stays with you. Sean, I need to see you for moment. It’s nothing bad, so don’t worry.” The doctor said, reassuring him.

After the twins had stepped out of the room, the doctor let Sean know the news.

“After looking at everyone’s results, yours are the ones I am worried about. The boys are doing just fine, but Jared is a little underweight. Justin is doing fabulous, so you need to be thankful for that. Your tests, however, are less than perfect. Your weight isn’t a concern right now, but you need to keep an eye out for extra pounds. Your blood pressure is what concerns me. It has gone up enough for you to be on alert, that your stress level may be getting too high. Is there anything that you want to talk about, or is it all private with the family you have started. And by the way, congratulations, Dad.” The doctor finished with a smirk.

“Well, this whole experience is mind blowing. I am having a little challenge, adapting to it all, so if anything happens, I will call you. But for now, I don’t think there is anything a few good days of relaxing won’t take care of.” Sean smiled at the doctor, for he really knew that relaxing days off, wouldn’t come for some time. There was just too much going on, and the stress that accompanies being a new parent was evident.

“Well, I guess I will take your word for it, for now. I want to see you again in a week. No excuses. Understand? If these results don’t go down to a healthier level, I think some medication to help you relax will be in order.” The doctor stood up and gave Sean a firm smile, for the doctor himself was a father of teens.

Sean was really relieved to hear the news, while not completely good, it wasn’t bad either. After the doctor left, Sean went to the waiting room, to find the twins trying to entertain themselves with the books there, and Marty was still on the phone. After Marty hung up, he looked at the boys, then at Sean.

“Apparently, the test results from the blood work won't be done for a couple of days. And now for the not so pleasant news.” Marty paused for what he just said to sink in. After a minute, he continued, while looking mainly at Sean.

“The couple that was in critical condition at the hospital, had a child with them in the car, when they crashed. Yes, these were the same ones on the news. Anyway, their child is going to survive, but, unfortunately, the parents won’t. The staff physician, I talked to said that they will not last through the afternoon.” Marty again paused, to judge the twins' reaction to the news. After getting concentrated stares from both, he looked at Sean. Sean had a concerned look on his face, but then, anyone would, under the circumstances.

“Dad, can we go see the little guy? I feel kinda responsible for the accident, being that if I hadn’t run away, she wouldn’t have gone out looking for me.” Jared had a tear fall down his cheek, as he thought about it.

“Jared, there is no way for any of us to predict what anyone will do. But, we can go drop by to say hi to him. Him? Marty didn’t say it was a boy.” Sean was looking at the boys, who tried to look innocent, at the remark.

“Well that is good. The hospital put in a request for you specifically, Sean. Along with Justin, for they knew how you guys get along. What everyone saw at the hospital is still being talked about, and when they knew you were in the neighborhood, they asked if you could please stop by to see the little guy. I guess they don’t know about Jared yet, but, I guess they will just have to suffer, when we get there.” Marty had a smile on his face as he looked over at Jared, for his sense of humor might not be taken well with the newcomer into the family.

“Oh yeah. Well, remember, you have to drive us there, and home again. So you'd better watch it bub.” Jared remarked, with a smirk on his face.

Marty was flabbergasted. He actually felt a little scared at the comments. He tried to shake it off, but something kept nagging at him, that he had better watch out. He knew these three were more special than just being a new family, and that is what he had to watch out for.

They were finished in the doctor’s office, so they got back on the elevator and rode it down to the parking lot. When the doors opened, the twins took off like a shot, and raced to the car. Justin won by a foot. Literally. After they were all in, and buckled up, they left for the hospital. Someplace that Justin and Sean didn’t really care to see again, for a long time. But this time, it wasn’t for themselves, it was for someone else.

It was actually nice, to walk on his own two legs. Justin was almost leading the crew to the reception desk. He had spent so much time in this hospital, he actually started to think he would never get out. But Sean had changed all that.

Once at the desk, they were directed to go upstairs, but only after everyone was finished admiring the twins. No one knew that Justin even had a brother, let alone a twin, for they were actually born in another hospital, before they were separated. Being more civilized, they headed to the elevator to go upstairs. Once there, the rest of the staff came over to check out the cute twins, and to see how they were doing. Sean was not left out of the attention, either, for even a few remarks were made about his sanity. Especially now.

After everyone had seen the twins, and Sean. They were all filled in on the details of what was going on. The parents had actually passed away just before they arrived. The doctor who gave the news to the boy was shocked over what the boy had said. He had said something to the effect of ‘bout time’, and ‘thank God’. This had left the doctor in a mild state of shock, for the boy was an only child. But now, the child seemed to lose all will to live, for he had gone catatonic. This was why the three of them had been called. The staff knew that if anyone might be able to help this young boy, they were the ones to do it. Before anyone could come up with a plan, the boys looked at each other and took off running down the hall. They were so quick about it, that no one had time to react.

“Hey guys, where are you going?” Sean tried to ask, as loud as he thought was necessary, but not too loud; after all, they were in a hospital.

The twins didn’t answer, for they were already around a corner. It wasn’t that they didn’t hear, of course; they didn’t want to answer. They stopped in front of one particular room, and just looked at each other. Without so much as one word being spoken, they smiled at each other, and Justin opened the door.

Inside the room, was a lone occupant. He looked as if he was sleeping, but the twins knew better. He was locked in his mind somewhere. Jared approached the bed first, and walked to the right side. Justin followed suit, but he was on the left. They looked down at the little guy lying there in the bed. He didn’t look to good. His left arm and left leg, were in casts. He had the IV going into his right arm. He looked so fragile lying there in that bed. Jared looked at Justin, with the saddest look on his face. Justin shared in that department, for he could feel his brother's pain, and now, that of the boy in the bed.

Jared reached out, and put his hand over the boys good one. Justin then put his hand over Jared’s. They looked at each other, then down at the boy. The boy finally opened his eyes, ever so briefly.

“Are you guys angels? Did I die and go to heaven?” He whispered.

“No, you aren’t dead. But we are kinda like angels, I suppose.” Jared replied first.

“But you look like the angels that were sent to me.” The boy explained in the little harsh voice he had.

“That is very kind of you to say so. But we are here to help you. Will you let us do that?” Justin asked, as he looked for any response from the boy.

“Uh huh.” Was the boys answer, before he fell asleep. This time is was a real sleep. Now, the worst part was over.

Sean and Marty had finally found the boys, after the nurse told them what room to go to. Sean opened the door, to find the twins standing on each side of the bed. They were smiling, ever so peacefully. Sean could only guess what that meant. Not good for him.

Marty was trying to get past Sean, to get into the room, when Justin looked at him with such a cold stare, he couldn’t move forward. Sean looked at Justin, then at Marty. Something had happened, and it was not a good sign. This entire scenario was getting out of hand.

“Justin, Jared, what is going on?” Sean almost demanded, for this was too weird even for him to understand.

“Not here, and not now.” Justin said, softly, as he looked back down at the boy, then up to Jared.
“Please wait for us outside. We will be there in a moment.” Jared spoke with authority, not the scared little voice he usually used.

Sean was surprised. He looked at Marty who was in more shock than he was. Wanting to find out everything as soon as possible, he backed out of the room, pulling Marty with him.

“What are those two doing?” Marty spoke, after he finally got control over his vocal chords.

“I don’t know for sure, but we need to trust them. Trust me in my judgment, if you don’t trust them.” Sean said, with a big sigh.

“I hope you know what you are doing, for this could be a legal matter without any adults in that room.” Marty spat out, finally gaining all of his senses.

“Calm down Marty. This is going to effect me more than you, so just chill, okay?” Sean said as started to pace up and down the hall.

Marty didn’t know what was going on, and weirdness seemed to follow these three around. First the hospital tries to get a hold of Sean and Justin, then it seems that the twins have their own agenda, with Sean’s blessing. Now, the adults are taking orders from teenagers. What else is going to happen.

“Marty, I am sorry for raising my voice. This... all of this, is so new and weird to me, I don’t know if even I know what to do. But all I can say is, I need to trust those boys of mine.” Sean said, as he lowered his head.

“Well, that is a pretty tall order. You aren’t even their real father, and yet, you would fight to the death for them. I respect you a lot for that. And even though it’s against my better judgment, I will see this thing through with you.” Marty was putting his hand on Sean’s shoulder, to let him know he supported his decisions.

“Thanks Marty. And to think, the doc just got through telling me my blood pressure was going up, if only he saw why, and how it will be, by the end of the day.” Sean was trying to lighten the mood, for he was as nervous as hell. And poor Marty, he had absolutely no idea of what was to come.

After a couple of quiet minutes, the door opened, and the twins appeared. Jared was in the lead this time, with Justin right behind him. Justin was not looking well, and Jared looked very upset.

“Is everything alright, guys?” Sean asked, with a look of concern.

“Yeah Dad. But you need to come with us, please, away from the room.” Justin explained as both of the boys had started to walk down the hall.

The two men followed the boys down the hall, to an empty meeting room. Without asking, they walked in and waited for the twins to explain.

“Have a seat Dad, Marty.” Justin directed them, pointing at two chairs. He then took a seat, while Jared was still standing.

“Sean, um, Dad, we need to help that young boy, in there. I can’t help but feel partially responsible for what happened to him. God he looks terrible. He is all banged up, and in a lot of pain.” Jared was about in tears, but gestured for everyone to stay seated. After he regained his composure somewhat, he continued.

“His parents died while we were on the way here. The doctors told him this, and all he could do was to say thanks. I couldn’t figure out why, until we got here. But he has had a very bad childhood. That is all I can say, for now. He needs to be in a loving home, around people that will care for him, and never hurt him. Kinda like what you guys are doing for me. He is so lonely, that it hurts.” Jared couldn’t hold back the flood of tears any longer, and broke down in tears. Justin jumped up and gave him a big hug, for all that he was worth.

Sean just sat there in shock. After a minute, he looked at Marty. Then Sean got up and walked around the table to comfort his sons. His mind was racing, as to how to handle this situation. But as soon as he wrapped his arms around the twins, the answer came to him.

“His parents are gone, but does he have any other relatives?” Sean asked, but he already knew the answer.

“No, he is all alone. And he needs a family, Dad.” Jared managed to get out, between sobs.

“Marty, this is your area, get busy.” Sean looked directly at Marty, with a very serious look.

“Gotcha.” Was all that Marty said, and he left the room, and not a moment too soon.

“Okay guys, this is serious. Now, can you tell me?” Sean let his hug of the boys loose, so he can look into their faces.

“Not right now.” Justin mumbled.

“Dad, please? Could you just trust us, for now? I know it is a lot to ask, but please?” Jared had a puppy dog look on, that put Justin’s to shame.

“Okay. Enough of that face, now. Can I at least see him without getting chased out of the room?” Sean asked firmly.

Jared looked at Justin, who just shrugged his shoulders. Justin was letting this be Jared’s call. Jared’s response was to grab Sean’s hand and lead them back to the room, where he paused in front of the door.

“Okay Dad. He is sleeping right now. But if he starts to wake, you need to leave. He doesn’t trust adults, and especially grown men. But it won’t hurt for you to see him.” Jared then opened the door slowly, trying not to make any noise. After he had the door opened enough, he let Sean walk in.

Sean stood there, just a few feet into the room. He looked at the adorable little boy, all bandaged up. He immediately felt all the pain that this young person has gone through. Not just the pain of his injuries, caused by the car accident, but the injuries placed upon him by his so called parents. Sean could barely manage to stand there without going hysterical. The only thing that he could do easily was start to cry. Jared and Justin were soon at his sides, almost holding him up.

“See Dad? Now do you know what I mean?” Jared spoke up, and slowly started to back up towards the door.

“Come on Dad. There isn’t anything we can do for him, right this second. He is sleeping, and the rest will do him good. We can come back later, after dinner, and see how he is doing.” Justin was directing Sean out of the room. This was a good thing, for no one could stand the emotional overload of what was in that room for very long.

Once back outside, they closed the door behind them. And not a moment to soon, for Marty was looking frantically for them.

“Alright, here is what I found out so far. His name is Brandon Johnson, age ten. His parents were in the car with him, and didn’t survive. He has no known living relatives that anyone can find. The doctors did notice some unusual bumps and bruises on him, that were not caused by the accident. I have managed to get them to hold off on that report, until we can find out more. If you are sure about this, we need to act quickly, for once the proper agencies get involved, it will be almost impossible to do anything.” Marty was about out of breath, not just from talking, but from running up and down the halls trying to find them.

Sean nodded his head, then looked at the boys. They were grinning big, for their plan was going to work.

“I have already called Cecelia, and only told her we got sidetracked, so she will hold off on dinner for a short time. That gives you guys enough time to do some shopping before dinner, and then, I guess we are coming back here, right?” Marty was guessing, but he had a feeling that visiting hours were going to be pushed to the limit tonight.

“I think so. That sounds like a plan. Boys?” Sean looked at the twins, who only nodded their heads in agreement.

“Well then, we'd better hurry. Cecelia doesn’t like for anyone to be late for dinner.” Marty said, as he was walking to the elevator.

“I hope you guys know what you are going to get. We can’t spend too much time running around, so start making a list now.” Sean said, in a fatherly tone.

“I hope you know what you are going to get.” Jared and Justin said, snickering.


To be continued...

Editor's note:

Well, I for one have a pretty good idea of what Sean is going to get. Let me point out that at this point, I don't know any more than you do as to what is coming next, but for some reason, I strongly suspect that the family is going to be increased by one ten year old boy.

Not to be redundant, but I have to say that Hal has outdone himself once again. This is a wonderful chapter. I am very impatient to read the next chapter. I don't know how long I can wait before I make my way out to give him some encouragement to write more.

Darryl
AKA The Radio Rancher


Another Editor's Note:

We didn't get Sean his AAKD vaccination soon enough. I guess Jared and Justin will be roomies so the new fella can have a room of his own. Now is the new kid going to be an 'open book' to Sean too?

Yes Darryl, Hal is getting better and better. Now I'm off to edit Chapter 13.

Keep reading and enjoy.

Str8mayb