074a50a5-6717-4074-afd7-3ef0b380f481 out (21 page)

"I'm willing to work at this."

"That's good because I'm not letting you go."

Connor sank down next to Mike and snuggled close. "I may
not have it all together, but Mike, you make it all worthwhile. I love
you."

*~*~*

Bruce picked Lane up from their condo, hoping that Lane would
cheer up when he saw how happy the people were at the soup kitchen. He and Jump
were supporting a few local charities, serving food since they were close to
the holidays. Lane seemed so sad but perked up when they arrived at the small
warehouse where they served food.

Jump was already behind the table, serving rolls. Lane
gravitated to the deserts and Bruce pitched in carting new food to the table as
the people filed past, loading up their plates as they went along.

Jump was still in school but the winter break afforded them
time to serve the community. When Jump had seen that Hamilton had supported very
few charities, he'd wanted to change that trend and find places they could give
the most. A local church organization wanted to expand their soup line, which
was only able to serve meals once every month out of the back of a van. Jump
bought the warehouse and helped the church turn it into a kitchen and dining
room for the local homeless. More than the homeless ate their meals at the
kitchen, but neither he nor Jump minded helping out where they could.

Two boys walked in and Bruce frowned. He knew the kids were
too young to be on the street but they would run if questioned. Bruce ignored
them for a minute as he headed to the back to get more food. When he came out
of the kitchen he was surprised to see Lane standing next to the boys, laughing
with them.

Lane nodded to a table and they all sat down. They were deep
in conversation when one of the church workers brought over two plates for the
boys. They took the plates, eating like they hadn't consumed any food in days.

Lane had seen the two boys the second they walked in. He
didn't know why he wanted to find out more, but he gravitated to them just as
it looked like they were ready to bolt. He'd learned that their names were
Lafferty and Matthew. They looked to be near fifteen but they swore they were
nineteen. Lane didn't call them on the lie. He gave the boys his phone number,
telling them to call if they ever needed anything. The speed at which the boys
shoveled food into their mouth shocked Lane but he said nothing. They were gone
all too soon and only afterward did Lane regret not pushing more.

The next week, Lane begged Jump to let him work at the soup
kitchen. He watched, waiting for the boys to come back. They showed up, but
Lafferty didn't seem like he had the week before—something was very wrong.

Lane went over and noticed the bruise on his cheek. That's
when Lane almost lost it. He sat the boys down, telling them that they needed
to come clean. Lafferty moved to stand but Lane put his hand on the boy's
shoulder. "Listen, I know you're both gay." They both stood up and
Lane feared he'd lost them. "I'm gay too," Lane said quickly.

Fear passed over Lafferty's features but Matthew was there,
putting his arm around Lafferty's shoulder. "I don't know what to do. We
don't know what to do."

"Sit down and eat." Lane spoke softly, praying he
didn't scare them off. "We can talk later."

Matthew plopped down in a chair and pulled Lafferty down next
to him. Lane loaded two plates high and took them to the boys. He was glad they
hadn't disappeared while he was gone.

Lane sat back and stared off in the distance for a few
seconds as the boys pushed at their food. Finally, he turned to them, praying
he could help. "Just start from the beginning. I can help you."

Matthew grabbed a roll and took a bite, offering some to
Lafferty. He didn't eat anything. Lane moved closer to Lafferty and put his arm
around the boy. Lafferty flinched. Lane's chest tightened and he took a guess
at what had happened. He didn't know if Lafferty had been raped or beaten, but
he'd been through some trauma.

"Lafferty, I won't touch you or hurt you that way. I'm
not here for sex and you don't need to sell your body."

Lafferty's head snapped up, anger burned in his eyes.
"You don't know how hard it is," the boy growled.

"I'm sure it is hard, but you can trust me."

"Yeah, right." Lafferty grabbed a roll and bit off
a huge chunk, chewing.

"What happened?" Lane asked.

Matthew took a bite of meat and swallowed. "Both of our
parents kicked us out. I didn't know Lafferty but we met that first night I was
on the street—his parents had booted him the night before."

"Because you're gay?" Lane asked.

"Yeah," Matthew said. "We stole food, some
money and clothes. We've been on the street for a few months and we almost got
caught stealing the day before yesterday so Lafferty decided to make some
money."

Lane squeezed Lafferty's shoulder. He swore he heard the boy
sob but he wasn't going to push it. Lafferty took another bite of his roll and
Matthew ate some more food.

"The guy wasn't nice. He hurt Lafferty."

It was all Lane could do not to yell and scream. "I
don't want you two on the street."

"I won't do foster."  Lafferty pulled away from
Lane.

"Hey, I didn't say foster." Lane placed his palms
flat on the table. "How about you come to my place. My husband is there
and you can eat dinner with us. We'll talk and see if we can come up with a
solution."

"I don't know," Matthew said.

"I promise you'll be safe." Lane stood and pulled
out his phone. "I'm just going to call Gresh and tell him that you two are
coming home for dinner." Lane stepped away from the table and placed the
call, hoping that Gresh wouldn’t be too upset. Gresh answered and Lane started
talking, hoping that the speed would confuse his husband.

Gresh interrupted him. "You want to bring some homeless
people to our place."

"They are just kids and one of them sold himself last
night. He needs medical attention and if not that, he needs some rest."

"Fine, but I'm locking some stuff away in our bathroom."

"I'm fine with that. Just give them a chance. Their
names are Lafferty and Matthew."

Lane hung up and went back to the table. "It's all set.
We'll leave in about an hour. How about you two help me clean this place up and
then we can go?"

Matthew hopped up but Lafferty didn't move. Lane allowed him
to sit at the table while he and Matthew cleaned tables.

When they arrived at Gresh and Lane's condo, Lafferty looked
worse than he had before. One look and Gresh was shaking his head. Lane feared
Gresh was going to kick them to the curb when he hauled Lafferty into a hug.
"We need to get this one to the hospital."

"That's Lafferty," Matthew said.

"Lafferty, had you ever had sex before?" Gresh's
question shocked Lane. He hadn't even thought to ask. Lafferty shook his head
and let out a sob. Gresh didn't let go of Lafferty as they drove to the
hospital. Lafferty was admitted and then the fun began. Gresh called his lawyer,
asking him to come to the hospital. A child protection agent showed up and the
lawyer and CPS agent sat down for a very long and intense conversation.

Matthew agreed to go spend one night in an emergency foster
home if he got to come see Lafferty in the morning. Lane and Gresh were being
granted special custody rights that would take effect the next day. Gresh
stayed with Lafferty all night, sleeping in the chair by his bed. Lane finally
left the hospital near one in the morning, glad that Lafferty's HIV test came
back negative.

The next day they were in Lafferty's hospital room when
Matthew showed up. He looked good. The foster mom cut hair for a living and had
trimmed up his bangs. Lafferty seemed to be feeling better and the medical
tests were coming back in his favor. He'd be able to go home the next day.

"Lafferty, Matthew, I know you don't really know us, but
Lane and I did take a few minutes this morning over coffee and have decided
that we'd like to be more than just temporary guardians."

"What do you mean?" Matthew asked.

"I want you two to think of this as a trial for a
permanent home," Lane said.

"Like you'd adopt us?" Matthew moved closer to
Lafferty and grabbed his hand.

"Possibly. Unless you'd rather not live with us. Which I
understand. I know you don't know us, but I'd like for you both to give us a
real chance."

"Could we talk alone?" Lafferty asked, his voice
was weak and he didn't meet Lane or Gresh's gaze.

"Yeah. We'll be outside in the hall." Lane took
Gresh's hand as they exited the room. They stood in the hall in silence, Lane
too afraid to say anything. After a minute the door opened and Matthew waved
them in.

"Where would we live? Your place only had the two
bedrooms and though Laff and I are friends, we don't really want to sleep
together."

"We really live on a ranch a few hours outside of town.
A lot of guys, cowboys, live there and you'll have to go to school, but it will
be clean and you'll have your own room." Lane was glad they'd opted to add
a few guests' rooms. Now they would be used as bedrooms for the boys if they
decided to stay.

"I want to live with you," Lafferty said, his gaze
meeting Lane's for the first time that day. Tears filled his eyes and he burst
into tears. Lane went to him and crawled up on the bed, hugging the boy and
whispering soothing words to him.

Matthew nodded, "I think I'd like it too."

Lane met Gresh's gaze, sobering a bit as the reality of the
situation sank in. They'd wanted a baby and now they had two teenagers.

The next few weeks were crazy and hellish. Lafferty and
Matthew fit in well at the ranch. Lafferty had finally opened up to Gresh, telling
him how awful the sex had been. Gresh had assured Lafferty that every time
wasn't like that and that he should wait to have sex until he found someone who
would take the time to love him.

They still hadn't found the baby, but Lane's depression was
beginning to lighten up. Lafferty and Matthew helped. They were smart kids and funny
too. The cowboys enjoyed helping out with the boys and Lafferty and Matthew
liked living on the ranch. The adoptions were coming along, Lafferty's parents
were throwing a fit, but because they'd kicked him out and told family and
friends that they'd thrown their gay son out of the house at the age of
fourteen, they weren't getting much sympathy from the DA. To make it worse,
Lafferty's dad had beat him and taken pictures, posting them to a private
Facebook group. It looked as if Lane and Gresh would have a Christmas with
children in their house, just different children than they'd assumed when they
started the journey to being parents.

*~*~*

Kip rolled over and squinted. He swore he'd just fallen
asleep five seconds ago but the clock read seven twenty-two. He wondered for a
moment if he'd gone back in time and it was seven the previous evening. He knew
Jamie wouldn't let him sleep all day, not with Angela and Robert waking every
time they turned around.

Robert made whimpering sounds. Kip crawled from the bed and
headed to the bathroom. They were living in one of the cabins for the dude
ranch while their house was being built. Lane and Gresh had worked out a deal
with them that made financial sense for all of them. They would have a nice
three-bedroom house on the ranch. All of the other cowboys were pitching in
with the babies and two days a week they had a girl, Julia, from town come out
to help. He shouldn't complain about lack of sleep, but both babies had been
sick and none of them had slept well the last two weeks.

Christmas was just around the corner. He hoped they could
enjoy the day but the babies' health was more important. Jamie came into the
room carrying Angela. He sighed and watched as Jamie put down their girl then
picked up Robert, holding him expertly. Kip followed them to the kitchen,
shutting the bedroom door so Angela wouldn't wake from their noise.

"I'm amazed at how easily you do this," Kip said.

"What?"

"Everything. I'm dragging and you look fresh."

"Babe, I slept through the nighttime cough-fest and
feedings."

"Yeah, I brought both of them in here for a while. I was
afraid you'd not get enough sleep."

"Speaking of getting enough sleep, I think we need to
take a vacation together, just us two."

Alarm swept through Kip. "I can't leave them. They're
too young."

"Babe, just listen."

Kip quieted but he didn't like the idea of leaving the babies
even for one night. He grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured up a cup.

"I want my Christmas present to you to be a trip that
we'll take this spring before the dude ranch starts back up. They'll be older
and we'll make sure someone responsible will be with them. The guys here are
great and we can ask Julia if she's willing to be here for the three nights
we'll be gone."

Kip leaned against the counter top, mulling over the trip.
"Yeah, I think we should go somewhere. You know, we will need some time
away by then."

"Yeah."

"I like that, but before we go, we need to do one night
in Houston to test things out."

"That's cool."

Kip took a sip from his coffee and nodded at the baby.
"You know, when we first met I never thought it would lead to this."

Jamie lifted one brow and stared at him over Robert's head.
"You happy with this."

"More than happy. I can't believe that we're parents.
Sure, it might be crazy now, but every day it gets easier."

"Yeah. I love these two little buggers, but I really
love you." Jamie kissed Robert's hairline.

"And I really love you. I'm glad we're a family."

"We are a family, a good family. Thanks, you made my
life so much better. Without you, I would be so lost."