The morning brought bright sunshine glimmering on the day-old snow. Jon thought, another Christmas Eve. It'll be different without Jeanie, his wife. She was the heart and soul of the family, she was the great, communicator. At times like this, he missed her more than normal. Thinking about it, he got a little misty. Well, got to get the day started he thought and slowly got out of bed so as to not disturb Josh. His bladder was aching; he slept though his midnight pee which was a good thing, getting a whole night's sleep. Now I just gotta get the thing turned on so I can get empty. He struggled with it but it all worked out.

Jon was in the shower when Josh came knocking at the door.

"Pops, can I piss please? I don't want to do it on the floor."

Jon's retort was "You better not; you'll be washing it for a week"

Josh came bounding through the door and emptied a water full into the toilet.

"Hey, Pops, how did I get upstairs. I don't remember coming up stairs or getting undressed or having the bad dream and getting in your bed"

"Well, son, I carried you and put you in my bed. I didn't want you having bad dreams."

Josh heard it a second time. He called me "Son" not sport or buddy or any of the other names adults sometimes use, but "Son." Maybe, just maybe I will be able to stay here.

"Oh, then it was you who undressed me and held me during the night. I thought that was a dream; a real good dream. I thought, I was little again and my dad was with me. I felt so safe, Pops. Thanks for doing that for me."

Jon couldn't say much. "Well, you were a pretty tried, Josh. You had a real busy day."

"Pops, can I make breakfast again?"

"I don't know what's left in the refrigerator, I need to go to the store. See what's there. I think I'll just have toast and coffee. My stomach is doing flip flops this morning."

Josh went down to the kitchen and took inventory. There was 2 eggs and 2 slices of turkey bacon left, plenty of bread for toast, and the soy butter, and the coffee. Josh wondered if Pops' stomach was flip flopping because there was only enough eggs and bacon for one. He went upstairs and told Jon there was 2 eggs and 2 slices of bacon. You sure your stomach is bothering you; we can each have 1 egg and 1 piece of bacon. "No, you go ahead. My wife would kill me if I was having eggs and bacon 3 days in a row, even if it was Christmas. This way she won't be jumping up and down in her grave, getting everyone upset."

Josh had to laugh to himself. He might be on the old side but he sure had his wits about him. At the end, there, Grandma was losing her memory a bit. Pops didn't seem to have that problem. Josh made himself the eggs and had Pops’ coffee ready when he walked in. A moment later the toast popped up and he buttered it for Pops.

"Hey what service. I can teach you a couple more breakfast items, like French toast, scrambled eggs, and oatmeal, if you want. Even pancakes."

"Really? Wow, I would like that. I like cooking."

Pops got up and went over to the frig.

Josh, with a nervous scared look on his face asked "What did I forget? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, son, I just thought I would have marmalade on my toast. I think there is some in here someplace. Ahh, got it. Wanna try some? It's a little sweet and tastes a little like oranges."

Josh relaxed especially when Jon called him "son." It was so many years ago when his dad had called him son like that. It was special to him; he hoped beyond all hope, that it was special to Pops as well.

"Ok, if you say it's good."

"Best thing since sliced bread."

Josh liked it. Jon told him what he had to do today. Go to the bank, the super market, and a couple other stores. He was kind of hoping that Josh wouldn't tag along. He wanted to get him a present for Christmas and didn't want to deal with his prying eyes. As he was explaining this, he got a constant stream of text messages. His son Edward wanted to know what Josh might like for Christmas. How about an Xbox console? Lizzy, we could get the jacket or Xbox games. Luke, how about a jacket. Maureen, does he have a tablet, and Joseph, what kind of music does he like? Jon wanted to get him a phone so no matter what happened; he would always be able to call Jon or anyone in the family, even his friend Billy. Then, he knew after shopping he thought he should clean the house a bit. Jeanie had always made a point of having the house extra nice looking for the holidays even if no one was coming over.

Jon said, "Well, what do you want to do? Tag along with me or relax here?

Josh thought a bit, “I think I'll hang out here.” Josh was thinking while Pops' is gone, I'll show him how Grandma taught me to clean up.

So as soon as Pops was out the door Josh got to work. First thing was to clean up the breakfast dishes; then on to the living room, dusting everything in sight; next the dining area and upstairs to the bedrooms. He got out the vacuum and vacuumed the entire first floor, as well as the stairs to the second floor. Of course, next was the bedrooms and hall upstairs. Then he went into the bathroom and scrubbed the toilet, sink, and bath tub. He could not find a mop so he got down on his hands and knees to wash the floor. Next, back to the kitchen he straightened and organized the counters. Then with a damp sponge he washed the floor. It had taken him the better part of 3 hours. He was drenched in sweat but satisfied that he had done a good job.

Jon's first stop was the bank. He made his Christmas withdrawal; 5 kids and 4 grand kids equaled $2500.00. He was thankful he could still do it. Luckily, they still had the money holders that he would need. He had really gotten away from shopping unless it was doing something on line. As a much younger man when his kids were small, he really appreciated some extra cash after Christmas. So, it was money for the tribe. Next was the electronics store. He found a nice mid-priced smart phone with a reasonable phone and data plan for Josh. Then onto the supermarket; he loaded up on essentials --  bread, juice, eggs, snacks, chicken, fish, cold cuts, and vegetables. He was now buying to feed two with one being an eating machine, teenage boy.

He was a little weary from the shopping and navigating all the holiday traffic but was satisfied that it would be a good Christmas. So, home he went. He was dreading doing the house cleaning. It was never work that he enjoyed; necessary, but far from enjoyable. He thought maybe Josh would help some. As he went to enter the house with the first load of groceries, he heard Josh yell out “floor is wet, be careful.” Then the teenage boy, clad in his hoodie sweat shirt and his sexy bikini undies, came running over to him. Hair all matted down and sweat was dripping off him. "Here better give me the bags, Pops. Is there more?  I'll quick put on some shoes and get them."

Jon was a bit taken back by the site. For sure Josh had been up to something. As he looked around the kitchen, he saw clutter was off the counters, dishes & pots and pans washed and put away. The floor was clean enough to eat off of. "WOW, Josh, you sure did clean up the kitchen."

"Ohh, I did the whole house for you, Pops, dusted and vacuumed everything downstairs, did the stairs too, they were pretty dirty and upstairs did the bedrooms and bathroom. Say, do you have a mop? It would make it easier to wash the bathroom and kitchen floors."

Jon was smiling ear to ear. "Well, looks like a fantastic job. Let me bring the packages in and you take them from me at the door. This way we'll not ruin your super clean floor." Out the door went Pops. When everything was inside Pops took off his snowy shoes and left them on the rug at the door. Josh was putting the food away in the frig. Jon sat down at the kitchen table resting a bit; the arthritis in his back, knees, and feet were having a field day from his morning on the go.

Josh noticed immediately. "You look a little tired, Pops. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just my arthritis is just acting up."

Josh scooted to the sink got a glass of water; then to the cabinet where he had put the Advil away and got 2 tablets. "Here Pops, take this, it should help; it usually helped my Grandma."

Old Jon smiled at the boy "Why thank you, son, that is so thoughtful of you."

Josh smiled back. Pops had called him son again; it made him feel so good. "Why don't you go and relax inside in your big easy chair. Put your feet up for a bit and let the Advil do its job."

"I'll do just that, thank you, son."

Josh went back to his unpacking. Only 2 little bags left, one with the money stuffers and Jon had put the money for them in the same bag; the other a bag from the electronics store. He took them both to Pops. “Say, Pops, where is a really safe place to keep all this money. Where should I put it for you and where do you want the bag with the phone."

Jon had forgot about those bags being with the food items. A twinge of fear went down his insides. He never should have left that there for Josh to see. "Well Josh, how much money is there."

"I don't know, Pops."

Jon thought he would test Josh. "Did you take any? Were you tempted?"

Tears welled up in Josh's eye. He was hurt to his very core. With his head down, looking at his feet, he tried to talk. "I (stammering) I. I would (Sniff) nnnever take anything from you. You have bbeen so gggood to me." Tears were now streaming down his cheeks.

Jon saw what he had done and he was so ashamed of himself. "Ohh, Josh, I'm sorry. I never thought you would. Please forgive a stupid old man. I never should have said that. Come here son, please come here. I am so sorry."

Josh slowly walked over to Jon's chair. Jon reached out and grabbed the boy and almost hugged the life out of him, kissed the top of his head, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Oh, I am a stupid old man. How could I ever say that? Please forgive me. Oh, how stupid and mean. Here you worked yourself to the bone cleaning the house for me and how do I repay you. I am so stupid. I'll never doubt you, son; it was just the fears of a stupid old man. Will you forgive me, please?"

Josh looked up at Pops - he saw tears in the old man's eyes and felt love in his heart. He still wanted more than anything to stay with Pops, permanently! He wrapped his arms around his neck and said again "I would never take anything from you Pops. I love you. I was just trying to help."

"Josh, I love you, too. You know there are some people who like to prey on old folks. They think they can take advantage of them. So, you get to be on guard a little bit. The money is Christmas presents for my children. You know when you split it up among the 5 of them and their families it really isn't that much. I was kind of mad at myself for not taking better care of it. It's really you who has been so good to me. You helped with the snow and the house today. That was so great!!  I really didn't feel like cleaning and I'm sure you didn't either. But you did it, all of it and a perfect job too."  Pops hugged Josh a little tighter. "I do love you, Josh, that was awful stupid of me to say that to you; forgive me please."

"Sure, Pops, I know you have to be careful. I don't know how much there is, but I know it's a lot."

"Well, for sure, you are right, let's put it someplace a little safe."

"And the phone … should we wrap it ... who is that for?"

Jon was upset with himself again so he came up with a little white lie. "That's for my grandson, Aires."

"He sure is a lucky kid to have you as his grandpa."

Jon and Josh put the money in Jon's underwear drawer. The phone and money stuffers went on the desk.

Josh was looking at the phone and checking out the features. Jon asked if he thought the phone was any good. "Yeah, it is great? It has a camera and texting and email and the internet. I'm sure he will like it lots."

Jon "I'll wrap it latter. Say, do you want to put up a Christmas tree. We only have a little one -- it's in the shed. I'll go get it. What do you think?"

Josh said "It would make it feel a lot more like Christmas."

Jon went out to get the tree. Then to the closet where Jeanie kept all the decorations, Jon dragged them out and Josh placed them around the house. "How about stringing popcorn to put on the tree?" Josh asked. Jon ran up to the supermarket before they closed and got 2 big bags of popcorn. It was fun as they ate almost as much as they strung. After the popcorn was done and twirled about the tree Jon said he was going to do his envelopes and asked Josh to wrap the phone. Josh asked about a name tag; Jon said he would do that himself.

Then they were on the road again. Christmas Eve with pizza at Luke's, then the 10:00 pm mass, then home. Christmas dinner was at Liz's. The dinner consisted of roast beef from Eddie, tofu dishes from Maureen, ham from Joe. Jon brought the salad and the wine, Liz had all sorts of vegetables and bread, Luke had the fun part of bringing the desserts. They all shared in the work and duly stuffed themselves. It was truly a wonderful family meal, momentarily saddened when Jon said grace and mentioned that they wished that their mom and Josh's Grandma could be here to share the day. Josh got great presents from everyone. He was most surprised by the phone from Jon, another heavy winter jacket from Luke and Liz's family, a tablet from Maureen, music CDs from Joe, and an Xbox from Eddie's family. Aries took Josh to play on his Xbox and gave a few of his games. He showed Josh how to connect to the internet and talk with his friends online. Josh was visibly taken back by the generosity of these good people and sad that he had nothing to give back. He told them over and over "Thank you. I'm sorry I have nothing to give you." He was told by everyone that him helping out Pops and taking care of him was the best gift he could give. Liz and Luke told him he was part of their family now and Calahan's always stick together.

On the way home Josh told Pops "Your family is the best ever, Pops, I like them." In his heart he again said a prayer to be able to stay with Pops. Jon saw him all quiet like and asked "What's up Josh".

"Promise you won't get mad if I tell you."

"Sure. I can't get mad on Christmas"

"Well, I was just praying and asking if I could stay with you permanently."

"Oh, I see. You know, Josh, I am getting pretty old and it is a worry that something could happen to me and I would not be able to look after you. I'm happy that you feel safe staying with me and that we've had a great Christmas but wouldn't you be better off with a younger family, where your foster dad could play ball with you and stuff like that?"

Josh teared up but bravely said what he felt. "That's not that important, playing ball; you and me, we can talk to each other about stuff and I know you care about me. Maybe even love me. I know, I love you and want to look after you too. We could be a good team you know. You are smart, I guess they call older folks wise; you could teach me so much, and me, you know I am young and strong. I can do the stuff that bothers your arthritis. Could we try, Pops? Please, it would be the best Christmas ever if you say yes."

Jon didn't know what to say; his heart was breaking for the boy, now orphaned, sitting next to him. For sure, if he was 5 years younger his answer would be yes. In the back of his mind, he was worried that here was a boy who has lost both his parents and his grandmother. What if my body gives out on me, too, and I go? That could be devastating. "Josh, I just want what's best for you; I hope you know that. Sometimes what we think is right for us; isn't right at all. If I was younger, I would welcome having you as my grandson. The best I can say to you is that I'll think about it. I'll talk to Luke, too, to see where they are with finding you a good foster family. I want to be sure if you do leave me, you'll have the best family there is. We'll talk, and if a family is interested in you and wants you; you will have a say. And no matter what, you will always be my special grandson, so if you are to leave my house, you and I will always be able to visit; we'll make that a condition. Not the best answer you want, but it's not no way, either. How does that sound."

Josh wiped his tears and said "Ok, I guess," still hoping beyond hope that Pops would keep him. He trusted Pops and knew he was way wiser than himself.

When they got home it was late and right to bed for both of them. "Pops, can I sleep with you again tonight?" Josh asked. Jon smiled; he loved having the boy with him. "No farting or yelling in your sleep." he teased. Josh stripped down to his tightie whities and waited for Pops. Jon took his meds and wrung out a long pee that he hoped would keep him through the night. Then, like Josh, stripped down to his undies and climbed into bed. Josh immediately slid over to him, climbed up on his chest and kissed him on the cheek and hugged him super tight. "Thanks for the best Christmas, ever, Pops. I love you."  Face to face with Jon's bare chest to Josh's, Jon felt Josh's young strong teen boy erection poking him dangerously close to his own equipment. Jon planted a kiss on Josh's forehead. “I love you too, Josh, I'm very happy that you enjoyed Christmas." Jon wrapped his arms around Josh and gave him a big hug, running his hands down Josh's back. He couldn't help himself as he let them wash over his smooth butt. He knew the situation was getting dangerous, close to out of hand. He gave him another peck on his forehead? “Say, how about getting off me before that thing between your legs stabs me in the gut." As Josh rolled off, he laughed "Aw, Pops, it can't do that. It’s just being stupid again."

“Don't know … still feels awfully dangerous to me. Maybe you better give it some attention.”

"Thanks Pops, Billy and I jerked off loads of times. It feels so good."

"Well, go in your room or the bath room and enjoy yourself."

"Pops, can't I do it here, with you holding me, please. Please?"  And with that Josh reached down and stripped his sexy undies off and started to stroke himself. "Josh, you should really do that privately”. "Please hold me, Pops, you said you love me, and you kissed me. Please, hold me; it's so much better when someone holds you and you share it. I did it like that with Billy; he loves me, too." Jon relented and put his arm around Josh's shoulders, but eventually it slipped down his back and finally his hand found Josh's smooth young butt. So smooth he kept caressing it. He couldn't help himself. Josh turned on his side to give Pops more access to his butt. He loved the feel of his hand and his smell. Then he asked, "Pops, would you do me? I loved it when Billy made me cum, please, Pops. Please? "He reached over and grabbed Pops’ other hand and brought it to his raging dick. Jon wrapped his fingers around the smooth, hard-as-steel, cock. It was pointing to the stars, getting ready to blast off. He guessed it was a good 6", maybe closer to 7". Wow, he thought, this boy is well endowed. As he started to stroke it, Josh leaned over and kissed him on the mouth. Poking his tongue into Jon; sucking on Jon's tongue to come out and play with his. Josh stopped the dueling tongues to say "Pops, you're the best." He moaned as Jon stroked his cock. Jon took his other hand and started to massage Josh's abs and chest, tweaking his boy tits. Josh moaned even louder as Jon gently pinched and pulled at one and then the other. Alternating his hands over Josh. Between cupping his testicles, then his abs and pubes and his boy tits, Josh never had experienced such arousal. As Jon sensed Josh was ready to cum, Jon released Josh’s cock and left it twitching, Josh begging for release. The intensity grew and grew. Josh was trembling and twitching. Jon probed Josh's butt hole with 1 finger and the sensation sent Josh over the edge. His first shot hit him on his cheek, nearly in his eye, the next one on his chin right at his lower lip, then several more on his neck. There must have been 10 or 12 big shots of cum from of him. He fell into Jon's arms, kissing the old man, hugging him. "Wow, that was awesome!! Thank you!!  Thank you! I have never cum so much or shot so far. Thank you Pops, I love you so much." Jon kissed Josh and held him, rubbed his back and his so smooth butt. He let him slowly come down off the high of his orgasm.

"Let me get you a wash cloth and towel to clean up all that slippery, sticky stuff."

Josh put a finger in the cum on his cheek and licked it. "Don't you like my baby makers, Pops?"

"They are fine baby makers. I just didn't think you wanted to sleep with them."

Josh put his finger in another puddle, held it up to Jon. "Do you want to taste them?"

Jon licked Josh's finger. "Mmm, good. You make tasty baby makers, Josh."

Josh feed Jon some more and had some more himself, until Jon got up and got the wash cloth and towel. He gently cleaned Josh, especially around his balls and cock, and dried him off. With that done, he got back to bed to sleep. Josh stayed naked and asked Jon to hold him. Josh whispered "I liked it when you held my butt. Will you hold me there as we sleep? Please, Pops?" "Only if you sleep and don't stab me with your monster dick in my sleep." "Ok Pops, I'll try to make him be good and go to sleep too." Josh quickly drifted off, exhausted from his orgasm. His sexual energy drained, Jon not so fast. But the libido of a 73 old man is nowhere as close to that of a 15-year-old boy. As he lay awake waiting for sleep to come, he contemplated the situation. On the one hand, he was happy to have given Josh so much pleasure. For sure, he had enjoyed it immensely himself even if he didn't climax. On the other hand, he was afraid of where this would lead; all the ramifications and what if it got out and he was labeled a pedophile. He only wanted to show his love to the boy. Josh was begging him to share the experience but society said it was wrong. He imagined the look on his kids and grandkids faces if this was to become known. He knew Josh would never deliberately tell, but he might tell of the experience to someone he trusted and that someone might tell someone else. Then some busy body might overhear and there it is, out there. Jon pondered the situation until eventually, he too fell into a deep sleep. They slept with naked Josh cuddled up to the old man, Jon's protective hand on Josh's smooth boy buns keeping him safe. Josh slept through the night, no bad dreams.

To be continued...