The Apprentice
by Sahypo
Chapter 17
The next day came, and Isaac, Pat and Lizabeth needed to be at the escrow company at 11 am to sign the documents on the latest house. After much discussion, it was agreed to let Timmy stay home in his nightshirt, as he had some tenderness at the incisions, and wouldn't have anything to do during the signings anyway. He promised to call Isaac on his cell phone in case the house burned, or aliens attempted to rape him, or he was attacked by midget ninjas.
Since there was no mortgage involved on the property, and no issues came up during the escrow, the closing process took only about 30 minutes, and most of that was spent waiting for copies of everything to be made. Once they were ready to leave for the house, Lizabeth called a local pizza joint and had two large supremes sent to the house. Pat received the keys to the house, and Lizabeth made more calls to the company they used to clean and paint properties between tenants. They did an excellent job on little details, like taking the air registers down and stripping and repainting them, so the place looked newly renovated. In some cases, they would strip out carpet and relay the floors in a house, for way less than the average retail carpet job contracted out of a big box retailer. They would meet Pat at the house this afternoon, and get started.
When they got to the house, they first verified that Timmy had indeed survived while they were out, and asked if he needed a pain pill. So far he had not taken any of the medication, Saying he felt pretty good, although his abdomen was a bit sore in the local area of his incisions. Since it had been 24 hours since the surgery, he asked if it was okay to take a shower. Lizabeth could find no restrictions against that in the discharge instructions, and figured at worst, they would put Neosporin on the wounds under band aids, if the Tegaderm came off. Timmy padded off to the shower in Isaac's room in bare feet.
Isaac, Pat and Lizabeth looked at some prospective tenant files the private investigator had cleared for them. Pat had advertised the house as being available for rent one week from today...It gave them five work days to correct any issues, and also time to screen the people who had indicated interest in the house by filling out an on-line application. Prospective tenants were background screened, and checked for lawsuits and loan defaults, felony convictions and sex offender status by the PI, and one person had passed the screening. She was a recently divorced single mother of one, who was a registered nurse just starting a new job at County General. She had transferred from a well known nationally recognized trauma center in New York City. She had picked this house due to its close proximity to the hospital less than ten minutes away, and the good public school district.
Pat and Isaac went next door and opened the house and saw that other than a good clean and paint and new appliances, the place was ready to rent. Pat left the lady who had inquired about the house a message and told her that he would hold it for her unless she refused it, or he rented it to another tenant first. Pat's next call was to his salesmen friend at the appliance outlet store, who sold Pat the appliances for the rentals. It was a scratch and ding store, where everything was new, but had cosmetic issues that kept the units from being sold at retail. Pat eyed the stove, and after opening the oven, told his friend to add a white 30 inch range to the order, along with a washer and dryer, dishwasher and garbage disposal.
He then called his heating and A/C contractor to come in and check the furnace and air conditioner.
The cleaning contractor showed up at the same time the pizza arrived next door, and Pat and Isaac excused themselves as the crew came in and some began wiping down the walls, window sills and baseboards, while two others brought in plastic sheet and painters tape, and began to mask the windows and floors. In about ten minutes, the room was ready for paint, and one worker wearing a suit that covered everything but his eyes, poured paint into an airless sprayer machine, and began covering the walls and ceiling in a flat white latex interior paint, with a very subtle blue tint to it. The entire job was done in 25 minutes, and the crew had moved on to the other rooms with the tape and plastic, and the sprayer followed them, changing the tint from blue in the living room to rose blush in the master bedroom, and light tan in the bathrooms, white in the hallway, and very light green tint in the child's bedroom. Basically the whole house was painted with one base latex, with a dash of tint making it seem that all the rooms were a different color. Two hours later, the masking was taken up, the light switch and wall outlet plates were replaced with new pieces, as it was cheaper to pitch the old ones than clean them. The air vent registers had been cleaned and sprayed with flat lacquer white spray paint, and reinstalled. The kitchen stove and dishwasher had been pulled out, and the spaces cleaned. The new equipment would arrive in the afternoon, and Pat had called the Salvation Army to remove the old but usable ones. Isaac hoped Leonard and Javier would again be on the truck when it came to pick up the old stove and dishwasher.
Isaac pulled Timmy's Pontiac out of the garage and parked it across the street. The cleaners were going to steam the driveway with a Hotsy washer, which had a steam boiler and a pressure washer pump, and sprayed high pressure boiling water on pavement oil stains, removing them, gum, tar, rust and tire marks from the concrete. Pat looked at Isaac, who shrugged his shoulders and said "The car came with the kid, dad!"
The washer, dryer, dishwasher and disposal arrived just after the driveway was finished, and the machines were dollied into the house through the garage. Pat gave the driver a check and the truck left. Half an hour later, the familiar Salvation Army furniture van came to a stop at the curb, and a large familiar face filled the window.
"Leonard!" Isaac called, startling the large black man. He looked in the garage and saw Isaac and broke into a wide grin, as he got out of the truck cab with Javier.
"Well, hello again!" Leonard said, shaking Isaac's hand. "How's it goin'?
"Leonard, Javier, this is my father, Pat." Isaac said, making introductions. "They came and picked up all of Jack's stuff. Thanks again, guys"
"A pleasure" Leonard said,
"Pleased to meet you, Sir" Javier added.
"Likewise" Pat said, shaking hands with both. "We have a range, and a dishwasher for donation today."
"I'll get the dolly" Javier said, turning to return to the truck. Leonard went inside the kitchen with Pat to see the range, and Isaac went next door to let Timmy know that Leonard and Javier were here. Timmy jumped into a pair of shorts and came over barefoot, and watched as Javier and Leonard manhandled the stove and dolly out the front door. Leonard's face lit up as he saw Timmy, and asked him how things were going for him now. Timmy said things were great, now, and wondered if Leonard found someone who needed the teddy bear.
"Yes, I surely did, Timmy...we found a family that lost everything they had in a house fire...thank God, no one died or got hurt, but this little girl only had what she was wearing, so we gave her your bear."
"Thanks, Leonard for doing that.' Timmy said.
"Nah, I was just the messenger, Timmy" Leonard said, messing Timmy`s hair. Javier returned with the dishwasher and Leonard helped him load it, then got a clipboard out of the truck and wrote Pat a tax receipt for the donation.
"There you are, Sir, and we sure appreciate your donations" Leonard said.
"Oh, Thank you for coming to get it" Pat said. "I hope someone in need gets good use out of those things."
"Yes, Sir, well, y'all have a great day!" Leonard said, as the two men got in the truck and drove away. Timmy and Isaac saw them off and Timmy went back into the house to get back into his nightshirt.
Pat tucked the receipt in his pocket and went back into the house to check out how the paint was coming.
The job the crew had done was amazing, and the walls were pristine in their new paint. The crew had moved onto the bathrooms, and pulled all the fixtures and removable items off the walls, to allow the two full baths in the house to be painted. They were also buffing the shower enclosure in the master bath with polishing compound, after spraying it down with acid cleaner to remove hard water scale. Elsewhere in the home, a worker was installing additional smoke detectors to bring the house up to the latest code, which mandated a detector in each sleeping room, and one in the common area. The existing detector in the hallway near the kitchen met this requirement.
The lady from New York called, to answer Pat's message, and asked when it would be possible to see the place. Pat knew she would have limited time, and told her she could come by today, if she didn't mind the smell of fresh paint. She said she could be there in less than twenty minutes, and the call ended.
Pat and Isaac checked out the washer and dryer and made sure the hookups were dry and the machines turned on, after unpacking the manuals and instructions. Pat wrote down the model and serial numbers for tax and insurance purposes, and they went into the kitchen to inspect the new stove. A few minutes later, a knock at the door announced the arrival of the prospective renter, and Isaac went to greet her.
"Hi, come on in, I'm Isaac Daniels, and this is my dad, Pat." Isaac said.
The lady was stocky and dark haired, about 35 and looked like she grew up on a horse ranch in Montana. She had a pleasant smile and a firm handshake, and was dressed in purple nurse's scrubs.
"Melanie Bennett" she said, taking Isaac, then Pat's hands "Nice to meet ya guys"
"Well, come in and take a look around, Miss Bennett" Pat said. "This is three bedroom, two full baths, very typical for this neighborhood."
"And how would you describe the neighborhood?" she asked.
"Mainly empty nesters, whose kids have gone to college...Most of them were Isaac's age and older. This is a very quiet, stable neighborhood, mainly people a bit older." Pat said. They did not know that she had scouted the demographics of the area on line a bit and knew this area had a low crime rate, and the rate of housing turnover was also low.
"What kind of school system is this neighborhood in?" she asked.
"I went to school here all the way until I graduated" Isaac said. "it's a very good district, one of the best in the city."
"Oh, so you live close by..." she said
"Next door, actually." Isaac said. "It's me and my little brother here." Isaac explained.
"Oh, how old is he?" Melanie wondered.
"13 in December, ma'am." Isaac said
"My son is 14, he'll be joining me at the end of the summer. He is with his grandparents in upstate New York for the summer. It`s great that he will know someone close to his age here"
Pat remembered that she had indicated that she was single in her application; he assumed that she was divorced, as so many people are in this day and age. But that was neither here nor there when it came to leasing the house.
"So are you transferring from New York with your employer?" he asked.
"Job change, actually. I accepted the position of director of emergency and trauma nursing at County General." She stated.
"I didn't know County General had a trauma unit." Pat said.
"They will by the end of the year, and that's why I applied for the position last year when it opened, and here I am!" she giggled.
"Great!...Is this the first house you have rented?" Pat asked
"Yes, New York was extremely urban...this is my first foray into the burb's, boys" she said.
"Okay, here you take care of your own utilities, they aren't included, and the yard we can do for you for 20 dollars an hour, with a one hour minimum. Of course you can hire it out to whomever you wish, or do it yourself too. Your biggest bill is electricity, and it runs about 180 dollars a month next door, and all these houses are pretty identical. Isaac manages the property, so he is the one to call if you have an issue." Pat paused to see if she had questions, then went on.
"The washer and dryer unit is new, never been run, but we checked it...same with the kitchen stove, and the disposal under the sink."
"Where's the washer and dryer?" she asked. "I hope it's not in the basement." Both Daniels's laughed at that and Pat said
"No basement to lug loads down to, sorry." and showed her the machines in the garage.
"Wow, very nice" she said. She walked through the rest of the house, impressed by the fresh paint and large master bathroom. At least it was larger than the apartment in the Big Apple that her and her ex-husband had shelled out 3800 dollars a month on. After everything had blown up and her marriage went nose down, she had begun a job search and hired a search agency to find an executive position in a lower tax jurisdiction. She had landed the position at County General and negotiated roughly double the pay her job in New York City provided, and she knew Sean would love having a back yard and maybe a dog. The two of them were looking for a clean break from the city and the past.
She moved to the back sliding door and looked into the yard, which was empty except for the ten by six foot slab of concrete patio off the back door. "Are pets allowed?" she asked.
"Yes, but we draw the line at livestock and Pterodactyls." Pat teased. "We do surcharge the deposit for carpet cleaning though."
Melanie thought that was pretty reasonable, and she was sure Sean would like this new home, but the only thing left was the rent...
"So how much are you asking for the rent, Mr. Daniels?"
"Eleven hundred a month, with first and last months rent due to start, and a 600 dollar deposit that we escrow for damages. We refund that with the interested accrued, if the house is in good condition when you move out."
"What does good condition mean?" Melanie asked.
"Well, we painted the place and the appliances are new... We expect to have to clean and repaint after a tenant moves out, that's normal wear and tear. Good condition means there is no damage, the house is clean or able to be cleaned, and the carpet isn`t permanently stained. Speaking of which, we are having the carpet cleaned in the morning..." Pat explained.
" Well, I guess that's it...where do I sign?" Miss Bennett asked, taking out a checkbook.
I'll get you a contract, dad" Isaac said, as he left to go next door to fetch a form.
Melanie asked if Pat preferred a separate check for the deposit, and Pat said yes, since this money would presumably be returned to the renter at a later date. Miss Bennett had received good ratings from her landlord in New York, so Pat had a good feeling about his new tenant. She wrote one check for 600 dollars, and another for twenty-two hundred for the first and last months rent.
"How do you wish to rent, Miss Bennett, month to month or on a lease?" Pat asked
"I prefer a lease, but if I have to break it before its up, how do you handle that?" she asked.
"Screaming and kicking like a baby!" Pat teased, making the nurse laugh. "Umm, if I could get a renter in here in say five days after you move out, no problem. Otherwise I would charge the full months rent, for the final month if its early in the month, or for half the next month, if its almost the end of the month when you break the lease."
"Let's do a year's lease, then Mr. Daniels" she said handing him the checks. Isaac returned with a rental agreement, and Pat expertly filled out the blanks, checking off "12 month lease" "Renter responsible for utilities" and several other items. Melanie was pleased with her new abode, and Pat was tickled pink that he had a lease the day after closing on the house.
"Since today is the twelfth, let's make rent due on the 15th next month? That makes up for the carpet cleaning day tomorrow. You can move in the day after tomorrow."
"Sounds like a plan, Mr. Daniels" Melanie said, shaking Pat's hand, before saying "I'll call the movers and set up for the day after tomorrow then, Thanks. Bye for now."
"Goodbye, Miss Bennett." Pat said.
Pat said he would close up, and Isaac left after locking the rear sliding door. Pat turned on the air conditioning full blast, as the dry air would pull the moisture out of the paint overnight. He closed and locked all the windows, and pulled the front door closed behind him. The carpet cleaner would come in the morning and do his thing, and the carpet would have the rest of the day and night to dry before Melanie moved in. Isaac would get up early and cut the yard before it got beastly hot out. It would be good when Timmy was back in the saddle again to edge and weed-eat. They would sometimes switch out between the front and back yards, and Timmy would mow and Isaac trimmed. Timmy was now strong enough to do both jobs as capably as Isaac.
Lizabeth brought Timmy a towel to cover himself with, and had him pull the nightshirt up so she could look at the tiny incisions. The Tegaderm was still attached, and there didn't appear to be any signs of infection. She took Timmy's temperature with the infrared scanning thermometer she had bought for Isaac at the drugstore, when she put a small first aid kit together. Now that there was an addition to the family, she felt it would come in handy. Timmy wasn't running a temperature, so she decided to sit with the boy and watch a little television until Isaac and Pat got done next door, and came back for the evening. Isaac had already informed her that Pat had signed a lease with a nurse who was a new executive at County General, and had a son who would join her when school started in less than six weeks.
Timmy leaned over and rested his head on Lizabeth's shoulder, and she looked over at the top of his head and asked "So whatcha thinking about, Timmy?"
"How I wish I could jump in the pool when its hot like this." he said.
"You seem to be healing pretty good, so if your pokes are okay tomorrow, maybe you can get in the water as long as you don't strain yourself." Lizabeth said.
"Tell me, how are you doing?" she asked, taking advantage of this intimate moment to find out if Timmy was having any problems.
"Isaac always gives me a penny when he wants me to tell him what I'm thinking. It`s kinda our little thing" Timmy said.
"Oh, a penny for your thoughts, right?"
"Yeah"
"I don't have a penny on me right now. Do you extend credit, sir?"
"No need...just drop it in my hand" Timmy said, holding out his hand. Lizabeth picked up on what he meant and dropped an imaginary penny into the boy's hand.
"I'll just keep this in my pocket" he said, putting the penny in his imaginary pocket. All Timmy had on was the nightshirt, with his legs and feet curled up inside. "I'm good, mom. I'm better than I ever been in my life with you guys."
"Do you still have nightmares, or trouble sleeping, Timmy?" she asked.
"Oh, no...that stuff stopped a long time ago. I used to sleep with Isaac when I woke up after a bad dream, but now I do when I just want to be close to him and cuddle...mainly when something happened, or I'm kinda worried about stuff or upset."
"Are you worried about anything, honey?"
"Not in general, no. But like when the surgery was coming up, I couldn't sleep by myself. And when we had to see Jack, and the night he threw me out, stuff like that."
"That was terrible, honey..."
"Best thing that ever happened to me, Mom." Timmy said. "I'm okay...really. And if I wasn't, I wouldn't hide it. I promise." He snuggled in tighter to Lizabeth, and she stroked his hair and face.
Across the city, Detective Walsh's phone just barely caught his attention, as he was about to get up and leave his small office, which was an 12 by 8 foot "closet" as the detectives referred to them. At least it had a door, carpet and real walls, so he when he wanted to close off the rest of the world and work, he had that luxury. Most of the time, the doors were open, as the detectives spent most of their time out running down leads and people to talk to.
"Walsh"
"Hi, Ron. Ya gonna be at your desk for two minutes?" the lab technician asked
"Yes, sir...You got something for me?" Walsh asked.
"I got results back on the tests you asked me to run on a ... Billings? Be there in a sec." and the line went dead.
The forensics lab was located in one story building next to the Police headquarters Walsh worked out of. The city had constructed it ten years ago, when the department out grew its space in the City Administration building across from the courthouse. The city bought an entire block of downtown six blocks from the Admin building, and hired an architect to style the complex as if it had been part of the original downtown, not some ultramodern intrusion into its surroundings.
The technician strolled right into Walsh's office, and handed him a printout. He allowed Walsh to read the report, and watched his face. The technician always got a kick out of reading the expressions on his guy's faces when he presented findings. It wasn't always the detective squad that he interacted with. The technicians testified in open court on a frequent basis to present forensic evidence.
"Wow...Thanks" Walsh said, as the technician nodded and left. "Jesus, what's next for this poor kid?" Walsh muttered to himself. He picked up the phone and made a call.
An hour later, Dennis Kane knocked on the door jamb, and Walsh got up and greeted him with a handshake, and said
"Thanks for coming in, Mister Kane. I have something to tell you." He handed Kane the lab report, and Kane, obviously not familiar with the format and terminology, looked at Walsh with some confusion.
"I'm afraid I don't know what I'm looking at, Detective." Kane said.
"This is the result of the DNA test on the sample that you gave me, and the sample from Tiffany Billings' baby. What this says is that there is a 1 in 138 million chance that you weren't this particular baby's father. You were right, this boy is your son, Dennis."
Kane sat in the chair in Walsh's office and obviously needed a minute to process what he had just heard. "Oh, my God...Do you know him, Mr. Walsh?" Walsh nodded and said
"I met him through the course of Tiffany's homicide investigation...I know his guardian, and I can tell you he looks just like your two boys, Dennis."
"Guardian? What living arrangements is he in?" Kane asked.
"He was raised by an abusive alcoholic after Tiffany died...About nine months ago, Timmy was taken in and given a home by one of the finest people I have ever met. The man that he presumed was his father died two months ago of liver cancer."
"I feel sick...I should have done something, anything...My God, what did I do?" Kane shaking his head. He was going to lose it.
Walsh put his hand on Kane's shoulder and said "Dennis, you were a 16 year old boy...there wasn't a lot you could have done back then at the time, and he would have been taken away most likely anyway. Tiffany was an unfit parent, and you would have been way too young for that responsibility..."
"You said there had been abuse" Kane said, there were tears welling up in his eyes now. "If I had done something,"
"What? Told people you knocked up a 19 year old junkie, and the baby was gone the next time you saw her? You thought the baby was dead, Dennis, when I talked to you the other day...You aren't seeing this now the way it looked when it when down. Take it easy on yourself, this kid is safe and happy in a good home...He's fine, does well in school. He stood up in court a couple weeks ago and forgave the man who killed his mother before he was sentenced...told the judge he won't hate because he can't live like that. The man who murdered his mother, and he tells him he doesn't hate him...He's a kid that makes you better for knowing him, Dennis. He's asked this family to adopt him. He's going to be all right."
Walsh continued to comfort Kane, and let him have a moment to sort things. "Is there anything I can do at this time to help?"
"No, I got to tell my wife about this and take it one step at a time...Thank you Detective Walsh, I know you didn't have to do this for me, and I'm grateful to know the truth."
"It's the business I'm in, Mister Kane. If I can do anything for you, here's my card...call me."
"Thanks, Detective" Kane said.
"Take care, Mr. Kane." Walsh said as Kane left the office. Dennis walked out to the parking lot and called his wife.
"Hey, Dennis"
"Hey, baby...where are the boys?" Kane asked
"Here, playing" his wife replied.
"Can you see if they can go to Robin's tonight?" referring to a neighbor that had boys the Kane children played with and sometimes had sleepovers.
"Sure, I can call her and see if she can take them...what's up? Where are you at?" she asked.
"I'm in the city, I just left the police station." he said
"Police? Dennis, are you in trouble, what happened?" she said, getting agitated and worried.
"No, honey I'm fine, no body's in trouble, but I found out something that happened a long time ago that we have to talk about when I get there, baby." he said.
Debra Kane loved Dennis very deeply, and he was a devoted father to his 5 and 6 year old sons. She knew that if he asked her to send the boys down the street so that they could be alone, he had reasons...if he was just horny, they would just wait until the boys were asleep, so this had to be much more important than getting it on...She called her friend Robin and asked her if it would be okay to have her boys up there for the night. Robin agreed without hesitation, and Debra could hear screams of delight in the background as she must have told her sons that the Kane boys would be there tonight. The mothers exchanged a few more words, and promised to talk more tomorrow, and the call ended.
Debra tried to not think about what it was Dennis needed to tell her...It might be a surprise, but it wasn't anyone's birthday, or an anniversary...She turned the television on and caught some afternoon drivel, until Dennis's car pulled in the driveway, and he came in the house. Debra got up and got two cans of Shiner Bock out of the fridge. Dennis always had a can of cold beer when he got home, one of his little pleasures during the family evening meal time, and then he would play with the boys for a while until it was time for their baths. After baths, they would crowd Dennis on the couch as he read them their favorite books. Both boys were able to read, Donny was in first grade, and Dwayne would be starting kindergarten.
Dennis had gone to a technical school after his little run in with the law, and demonstrated a remarkable ability when it came to learning Computer Numerical Control programming. He had quit high school, taken and passed the GED during a stint in Juvie, and took the CNC courses at Technical College during the time he would have spent his last two years of high school. He had found his calling in life, and by the time he was 19, he had landed a job in a company with good benefits and insurance, with a retirement and savings investment plan. He met Debra, who managed an industrial supply store where they ran into each other frequently, and got married 7 years ago. Dennis had become the lead programmer in his shop, and spent a lot of his time dialing in new equipment with the installation reps from the machine tool manufacturers, and wrote the tool paths on the more critical and profitable jobs the machine shop took in. At 28, his supervisors were looking to move Dennis into management in the near future, as their were plans to expand the scope of the work that the company wanted to bring in, and they would have to hire more employees to do it.
Dennis had made a complete break with the delinquency of his youth, and the things that stood out as the moments in his life that he was most proud of were he day he married Debbie, and the day each of his boys was born.
Dennis had never heard of hypospadias, because his mother had never known what that was, and had always assumed that Dennis's father's penis was normal. Dennis looked just like his Daddy. Neither of them was circumcised, as circumcision was not as common in the South among whites. It was actually more common for black children in the US overall to be circumcised, a little known demographic fact.
When Donny was born, Dennis and Debra heard the word hypospadias for the first time, and although they were surprised to learn that Dennis, his dad and Donny had what were considered unusual penises, they figured that Donny would grow up just fine like his daddy and granddad had done. There was never any consideration of corrective surgery on the babies urethras, and even their pediatrician had never been concerned enough to bring it up. When Dwayne was due, Dennis bet the obstetrician a dollar that the baby would be born with hypospadias and a hooded foreskin. It was an unbroken streak. Someday, he would tell the boys about that, but for now, Dennis and Debbie were happy that the boys were healthy and happy. They had taught the boys to pee when they potty trained, by having them stand in the bathtub, and giving them rewards for hitting the drain. It took only a few days to teach each one to pee in the potty without making a mess. Both little boys had the same gentle downward curvature in erection that their daddy did, and like their father, their streams deflected down at an increasingly steep angle as their erections stiffened in the morning.
Dennis kissed Debbie, they opened their beers, and Dennis asked about the boys.
"They're at Robin's like you asked, honey...what's this all about."
"Debbie, you remember I said there was something about the murder case in the paper a few months ago I was telling you about that bothered me? Well, I finally remembered where I had known that name from...you know I told you I had a paper route when I was a kid.." Debbie nodded "Yeah, you told me about that, sure."
"Well, the remains they found was a lady on the paper route,... and I knew her..." Dennis said.
"Okay..." Debbie replied, indicating that he had her attention. "and you killed her!" she teased.
"Yeah, sure my love...No, but there is more, Debbie." he said, taking a drink of the cold beer.
"I was sixteen, and she was 19, I found out today. I was collecting money one week, it was spring before it gets hot, but I stopped and she was there alone, and ...you know about my troubles back then with getting high..."
"Yes...that was a long time ago, Dennis." she said.
"Debbie, I got high with her that morning and we had sex." There it was, the blue elephant in the room, and for some irrational reason, Dennis had expected her to have a strong reaction to this, because he wasn't yet thinking sensibly.
"We did have lives before we met, Dennis." Debbie said.
"She got pregnant, Debbie. I never put two and two together at the time, and I only saw her around for another month or two, then she disappeared with the baby. Then a year later, she comes back, and there is no baby with her...Maybe six months after that, she disappears for good, must have been when the guy she was living with killed her."
"How many times did you and her..." Debbie ventured to ask.
"Only the one time...I was so high I didn't think it really happened for a long time." Dennis said.
"So I read that article in the paper about the guy getting sentenced for her murder, and I called the detective in the city working the case, to tell him what I know, because it said she had a kid... I gave them DNA, Debbie"
"And you...are, right?" she said, realizing where the end point of the story lay. He nodded before he spoke, then said
"Yeah, he's mine and he's alive and 12 years old...I'm so sorry, Debbie...I had to find out...I should have let it lie...I don't blame you for being really pissed at me, I'm sorry."
Debbie sat down, and said
"I'm going to have to work this through in my head, but I'm not mad, Dennis. You did the right thing when you suspected he was yours...we always taught the boys the truth was the truth, and this is our truth. We`ll deal with this together." She reached out to touch her husband's arm.
Dennis took a chair and sat at the table for a long time, thinking, and sipping his favorite beverage. Normally, he limited himself to his customary single can with the evening meal, but tonight was different and he decided to up it to two beers...Dennis never drank to excess, and the last time he was intoxicated was when he was 17, and got so hammered he spent 3 days of misery in bed. He never overdid it after that. He was glad he quit smoking when Debbie became pregnant with Donny.
After he and Debbie ate, he continued to agitate and go through all sorts of scenarios in his mind, and finally he picked up his phone and placed a call.
"Metro Police, Detective Walsh speaking"
"Dennis Kane, Mister Walsh."
"Yes, sir, Mister Kane. What can I do for you?"
"You said this boy was in the adoption process" Dennis said to start the conversation
"Yes, the family he is living with has filed paperwork to begin the adoption process." Walsh confirmed.
"That normally means that the biological parents have to give up parental rights, correct?" Dennis wondered.
"Yes, it does...although the court could terminate those rights in cases of abuse, abandonment or non-contact for a specified time." Walsh said.
" I understand...What is his name, Mister Walsh?" Dennis asked.
"Timmy, Timmy Billings at present." Walsh said.
"Uh, if Timmy wants to be adopted by this family, I want to help. They won't need to chase me down to get me to sign over parental rights...I won't stand in the way of what he wants." Dennis said.
"That's very giving and thoughtful of you, Dennis" Walsh said.
"This is about him, and for him, you know...it's not about me...would you please contact that family and tell them about me, and give them my phone number. I want to meet with them if its possible." Dennis said.
"I'll talk to them tonight, Dennis."
"Thank you so much again, sir. I really appreciate this."
"Its my pleasure. Talk to you later" Walsh said "Bye"
"Bye" and the call ended. Walsh wrote Dennis Kane's phone number on a card, and put it in his pocket. He locked his desk and a file cabinet drawer with personal stuff inside, and walked to his car. He called Isaac, and asked if he was at home. Isaac said he was, and Walsh said he needed to speak to him and his parents if they were there. Isaac said that they were, and Walsh said he was on his way, and ended the call.
Ten minutes later, he pulled into the driveway and Isaac met him in the front yard. "Detective Walsh" Isaac said, shaking the policeman's hand.
"Isaac" Walsh replied.
"Do you want to come inside?" Isaac asked.
"I'd like to talk to you without Timmy present if I could." Walsh said.
`He's in the pool, so that shouldn't be a problem. We can talk out here if you like" Isaac said. "Let me get mom and dad"
Isaac went in the house and returned with Pat and Lizabeth. "Mom, dad, this is detective Walsh, you remember him from court? He is the one that caught Timmy's moms killer."
"Yes, of course, you stood with Timmy in court" Pat said. "Thank you for solving the case."
"Oh, you're most welcome, sir...uh, I have some news for you all. Jack wasn't Timmy's father."
"Oh, we know that, Mister Walsh" Lizabeth said.
"You do, really?" Walsh asked "How?"
" The blood types don't work out for Jack to have been Timmy's father...Jack had type O blood, and Tiffany type A. They couldn't have had a blood type B child like Timmy." Lizabeth said.
"So that means Timmy's real father is presumed to be still out there somewhere, which is the point of my visit...We know who he is." The Daniel's gasped in reaction to this news and Walsh continued.
"A gentleman came forward after reading about Tiffany's murderer being caught, and told me quite a story that checks out. Enough that I agreed to have our lab test his DNA against Timmy's last week, and he is Timmy's father..." Walsh said.
"What does he seem like?" Pat asked.
"Married, father of two little boys who look exactly like Timmy. Nice guy. Got very upset when he found out Timmy hadn't lived in very good circumstances with Jack...feels very guilty that he couldn`t have done something. He was only 16 when he got Tiffany pregnant, and didn't know the baby was his until he started putting things together when the case broke a few months back. He told me that he wanted to help Timmy get whatever he wants...He says he doesn't want to take Timmy away, or disrupt your lives if Timmy wants to be adopted into your family. He wants to contact you." Walsh said, handing Pat the card. Pat took the card and said
"We need some time to digest this, and have to figure out how to tell Timmy"
"I completely understand" Walsh said. "Is there anything else I can help you with?" Walsh asked.
"Timmy and I need to get fingerprinted for the adoption paperwork". Isaac said
"Best to do that at our station" Walsh replied, "The process is totally electronic now, no ink, no mess"
"Okay...we are just letting him heal up a bit this week before we do that" Isaac said.
"Sure, that's wise...wouldn't want him busting stitches or something" Walsh said. "Well, I should get going. I hope things work out well for you all. I'm always available if you need me."
"Okay, Thanks, detective" Pat and Isaac said, and Walsh backed his car onto the street and waved as he drove off.
"Isaac, can you keep Timmy busy in the pool while your mother and I make a call?"
"Sure, dad. Just let us know when we can come back inside."
"Thanks, son"
Isaac went in the house and remove his clothes and grabbed two towels to take to the pool. He knew Timmy wasn't wearing anything, since he had been living in the nightshirt the last two days, and sure enough, it was on the ground by the ladder where Timmy had tossed it over the side after getting in. Isaac came out and laid the towels down and climbed the ladder nude. He had no concern if his parents saw him.
I'm glad you came in, I was getting bored by myself and was about to get out." Timmy said.
"Well, we can't do it yet, Mom and Dad are talking about something in the house and need some privacy." Isaac said, as he floated over to Timmy.
"Are they fighting, is something wrong?" Timmy asked.
"No, they aren't fighting...Just discussing some things is all." Isaac said, as he moved in behind Timmy and said "keep your elbows just like that". He pushed up under Timmy's elbows and let the boy's buoyancy in the water lift his feet off the bottom, and he began to push Timmy around in the water, as Timmy giggled. After several minutes of this, Timmy wanted to do it for Isaac, and they switched places.
In the house, Pat had dialed the number on the card Walsh had given him, and a man answered the phone on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Mister Kane?"
"This is Dennis Kane."
"My name is Patrick Daniels, Mister Kane. My family and I just found out that you are Timmy's father..."
The line was silent for a minute, and then Kane said
"Uh,...yeah I just found out myself this afternoon...I'm still trying to put this together."
"I do understand, Mister Kane." Pat said.
"Oh, it's Dennis, please...My dad was Mr. Kane."
"Dennis, I'm Pat, and my wife Lizabeth and I would like to meet you, and we think it would be best for just us and you and your wife to meet and talk first, before we tell Timmy anything."
"Pat, that sounds good..I have talked to my wife about this, but my boys don't know anything either."
"Can you meet us for coffee and breakfast at the IHOP on Cannon Street, say 9 in the morning?"
"Give me a minute to ask Debbie if this works for her" Dennis said. There was a pause as he gave her the details, then he said "Nine at IHOP works for us. The boys will be staying at a friends house, and she'll keep them in the morning for us."
"Okay, we will see you in the morning then, Dennis."
"Thanks so much for calling, Pat...not sure I will get any sleep tonight...I hope that coffee is extra black" Dennis said, and Pat chuckled.
"Bye, now" Pat said, ending the call. "I guess we see what tomorrow brings" he said to Lizabeth.
Lizabeth and Pat went in the house and Pat let the boys know they could come in. They climbed out of the pool and wrapped towels around themselves before coming in the sliding door, and heading to Isaac's shower to rinse off and clean up. Timmy dropped the wet nightshirt in the washer on the way.
Isaac and Timmy climbed in the warm spray, and Timmy handed Isaac the shampoo bottle, and leaned back and rinsed his hair in the spray. The warm water had an unintended consequence, and Timmy's organ swelled to its full size and hardness. Sometimes the boys would shampoo each others hair during their morning shower together, but presently Timmy had a not so little issue...He was flushed with embarassment at his state, and Isaac chuckled "How many days has it been, little brother?" he asked.
"Since before my operation, I guess" Timmy said.
"Take care of it, if you want" Isaac said, putting the shampoo bottle down and reaching out of the shower to get some hand lotion. "Ever tried lube?" he asked.
"No, always did it dry..." Timmy said, looking down at his erection, as Isaac pumped a line of lotion onto Timmy's shaft.
"Try it like this, then" Isaac said, as Timmy began to work the lotion onto and around his wide shaft.
"Oh that is pretty nice...yeah" Timmy said, as he gripped his organ and began stroking, squeezing his penis and feeling the delicious sensations of his flesh sliding easily through his fist, unhindered by most of the friction Timmy had always been used to.
"I think you grew some more, too." Isaac said.
"Maybe a bit, I guess" Timmy replied, "but you're doing some growing too, I see."
Timmy's sexual arousal in such close proximity to Isaac had caused a basic primal reaction in Isaac as well, as Isaac's penis became rigid. Timmy continued to stroke himself as he watched Isaac's erection form, and asked
"Going to join me, big bro?"
"Well, it's been a week since I've had time with Peter...what the hell." Isaac said with a grin.
The two boys watched each other masturbate, and Isaac found Timmy's technique fascinating. His index finger lay across the bottom of his wide, blunt glans, and massaged the sensitive urethral opening under his penis with every stroke. His thumb lay across the top of his shaft, where it exercised his flap of foreskin.
Isaac stroked his own cock as Timmy watched his intact and perfectly formed foreskin glide slide back and forth on Isaac's shaft and glans. Evey so many strokes, Isaac would pull back a bit more, and part of his moist and very pink glans would show. Timmy had seen Isaac clean under his foreskin every morning in the shower, and knew that Isaac found gentle stretching of the frenulum under his glans very stimulating.
Soon, Timmy felt the build up of inevitable tension in his groin, and his testicle climbed tight against the root of his penis, as sensation of his impending release began to mount. Timmy increased the speed of his strokes, and he began to rock his pelvis as he stroked. Seconds later, he was beyond the point of no return, and began to pant and gasp as semen flooded across his index finger, and dripped to the shower floor. Timmy was never able to shoot his semen, but made a good quantity of it, unless he masturbated too frequently. His second cum in the same day was usually dry.
Isaac's body responded in the same fashion that Timmy's had, and less than a minute and a half after Timmy came, Isaac spritzed several ropes of semen, hitting Timmy in the knee with his first one.
"Hey, no fair!" Timmy exclaimed with fake indignation.
"Oh, well..." Isaac said, giving Timmy a "Whatcha gonna do about it?" look. Both of them broke up giggling. Now that they had taken care of the random hornies, it was time to get down to business and they washed each other's hair and scrubbed each other with the loofah. The boys got out and dried. Isaac noted that Timmy's incisions had just about all but healed. They would be visible for quite some time to come, but Timmy's skin was now intact at each site, and the small sutures would fall out in the next several days. The Tegaderm had disappeared in the pool.
The evening meal was subdued, and plans were made for Isaac and Timmy to go to Metro Police in the morning to have themselves fingerprinted. Pat and Lizabeth would be meeting Dennis and Debbie at IHOP, of course, and she had taken Isaac aside to let him know this. He would keep Timmy in the dark a bit longer, until they and the Kanes had a plan moving forward.
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