Forever My Love, Chapter 15
Forever My Love
By Jason
This story is completely fictional. Any similarities to any persons or events, past or present are purely coincidental. This story may contain scenes which involve sexual situations between young males. If this type of material is offensive to you, or it is not legal for you to be reading this type of material, please do not read any further. This story is copyright © 2007 by Jason. Please do not copy this story for distribution or post on any online server without the author's permission. Please send all your comments to: greywolf_0173@hotmail.com, or jasonfinigan@yahoo.com You can also visit my site at: jasonfinigan.bravehost.com. Thanks and enjoy the story.
Chapter 15
Oh my god! Jon just asked me to marry him! If someone had asked me what I was feeling at that moment, I could only tell them one thing, Immense joy! My boyfriend, out of nowhere, and in front of our entire family, just asked me to be his husband, to spend the rest of our lives together. To his question there was only one answer I could give him. And give it to him I did.
"Yes!" Both of us were in tears as he took one of the rings out of the box and carefully put it on my ring finger. My hands were shaking as I took the other ring and placed it on his. We looked at each other, tears running down our faces. Jon continued to hold my hand as we both savored this moment together.
"I love you Jason," he told me, standing up.
"I love you too Jon," I replied. Getting up from the couch, I pulled him into the biggest hug I could. We stood there in the living room, hugging each other, while everyone was clapping their hands and congratulating us.
"I'm very proud of you son," my father told me after I had separated from Jon.
Sarah and my mother came up to Jon and me and gave us both big hugs. Like us, they had tears in their eyes, crying softly as we held onto each other.
"I couldn't be more happy for you and Jon, Jason," Vivian said, giving us the most warm and loving smile that I had ever seen. "You think you have room for one more hug?" she asked, getting up from where she was sitting.
"Always," I told her. My mother let me go, allowing me to walk over to Vivian, and feel her arms wrap around me.
"I've got room for one more Jon," Vivian said, looking at him. Without hesitation, Jon let go of his mother, and joined us in a three-way hug.
"You know guys," my father spoke up. "You're only fourteen years old, and legally can't get married for another two years."
"I know Dad," Jon said, the three of us letting go of each other. "But I wanted to do this now. I love Jason with all my heart, and I couldn't love anyone else like I do Jason. I want us to spend the rest of our lives together."
"You make me so happy Jon," I said to him. "Nothing would make me even more happy than being able to spend my life with you."
"Well, that gives us plenty of time to plan for the wedding," my mother said.
"I may be an outsider in this group," said Ryan, speaking for the first time that morning. "But I can clearly see that the two of you were meant to be together. I've rarely seen two people love each other as much as the two of you do. If everyone knew that kind of love, I'm willing to bet there would be very little problems in the world today."
"You know something? You're absolutely right," Sarah said. "Especially right here in our own little city. How people like my ex-husband, and Gary could feel such hatred for people who are different I will never know or understand."
"Mom, Dad, I want others to see how Jon and I feel for each other. I want to be able to walk down the street holding his hand and not be worried about what other people think, or be afraid that someone may want to hurt us." I told them.
"Son, these things don't change overnight," my father said.
"I know Dad. But I want to be a part of making that change happen."
"What is it you want to do dear?" my mother asked.
"Next month it's Bully Awareness month at school. With all that's been happening, Paul's father hurting him, and that thing with Gary, I want to do something to try and make people aware of what's going on."
"How do you plan to do that babe?" Jon asked me.
"I want to make a presentation in front of the whole school," I said.
"Son, that is an excellent idea," my father said. "I know I don't say this often enough, but I love you, and I'm really proud of you."
"Thanks Dad," I said.
"Sometimes I wonder how I ended up with such a wonderful guy as you babe," Jon said.
"I feel the same way about you, my love."
"Okay everyone," my mother said. "I'm sure Kyle is waiting for us, so lets get going."
Everyone was pretty much already set to leave, only needing to put on their shoes and jackets. Jon and I were the first ones ready, going outside to wait for everyone else by my father's car. It amazed me how the temperature outside dropped so suddenly. Here it was the beginning of October, and yet it felt more like it was already November.
My father walked out of the house next, with Vivian. Unlocking the car doors, the four of us climbed in, and he started the car. We waited until everyone else had left the house and climbed into their own cars before backing out of the driveway. Jon and I spent the entire trip to the hospital holding onto each others hands, every now and then seeing Vivian and my father looking at us in the rear view mirror.
Arriving at the hospital, my father parked the car, followed buy my mother and Sarah in her car, and Paul and Ryan in his. Together we made our way into the emergency room entrance, and were greeted by Doctor Hastings who shook each of our hands in turn.
"I've been waiting for you folks. If you come with me, we've moved Kyle out of the ICU and have placed him in his own room up on the third floor."
"How's he doing, Doc?" Ryan asked.
"Your foster son is doing remarkably well, but I'll let Doctor Iseman bring you up to date on Kyle's condition. He's awake right now, even though he's still a little groggy due to the pain medication, but he's alert and talking. Oh, and did you know the first thing he asked for, after wondering where you were, was to get some ice cream?"
Ryan laughed. "Yes, it's his favorite."
"I kind of figured that it was. We gave him some strawberry ice cream that we usually keep in stock for tonsillitis patients."
"Thank you, I bet he enjoyed that."
"You have no idea," Doctor Hastings replied, laughing.
Doctor Hastings took us to the elevator that would take us up to the floor that Kyle was on. Once there, he led us down a hallway towards an office.
"Jim?" Doctor Hastings said, getting the attention of a man sitting behind a desk in the office.
"Erik! Hey!" a man seated behind a desk answered. He got up from the chair he was sitting in and came around to greet us as we stepped into the office. "So what brings you here, Erik?" the man asked.
"Actually this group is all here to see Kyle. You've already met Mr. Adams here."
"Yes of course. It's good to see you again Mr. Adams," the man said. "Kyle is doing excellent. Actually he's been asking about you quite a bit."
"I can imagine, Doctor," Ryan replied.
"And these are Kyle's and Mr. Adam's friends," Doctor Hastings said.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Iseman," he said, shaking our hands in turn, each of us introducing ourselves to him.
"Can we go see Kyle now, Doctor Iseman?" Ryan asked impatiently.
"Yes, of course. Please follow me." Doctor Iseman led us out of the office and down the hall to a room at the far end. Inside, I could see that it was a private room with only a single bed next to a rather large window. Sitting up on the bed, with a nurse reading to him, was Kyle. As soon as he saw us coming in, his eyes immediately focused on Ryan.
"Daddy!" he shouted happily.
"Kyle my son," Ryan said, hurriedly walking over to Kyle's bed. "How are you feeling, Kyle? Are they treating you okay here?" he asked.
"Yeah Dad," Kyle said. "My shoulder still hurts, but not as much today, and guess what? They let me have some ice cream!"
"Yes, I heard that they did," Ryan chuckled. He then turned to Doctor Iseman. "When can I take my son home?"
"Well, I'm afraid that Kyle will have to stay with us for another couple days at least, to give the stitches time to heal. But I'm confident that you will be able to take him home by Monday at the latest."
"That's good news. The house just isn't the same anymore without him."
"You're always welcome to stay with us until Kyle's able to come home with you," Sarah said.
"Thank you, that's very kind of you," Ryan said. "I have some business I have to take care of today at work though, but I really don't want to leave Kyle here alone."
"But Daddy, you have to. It's only for a little while, right? And you'll be right back when you're done right?"
"That's right Kyle, it is, but you're more important to me."
"Mr. Adams, if it's okay with you, I'm willing to stay here and keep Kyle company until you get back," Paul offered.
"Are you sure, Paul?" Sarah asked him.
"Yeah, I am. Kyle and me have a few things in common, and besides. I kinda like him."
"Well, I know the two of you will get along really well Paul," Ryan said. "If you're sure, I guess it will be okay for you to stay with him for a couple hours. Though I hope it doesn't take that long for me to finish what I have to do."
"Me neither Dad," Kyle said. "But I'll be okay. I like Paul too, he's cool. Will you read me a story Paul?"
"You bet, little buddy," Paul said smiling at Kyle.
We stayed and talked with Kyle for a little while longer before Ryan said that he needed to get to the office. He leaned over the bed and gave Kyle a kiss on his forehead, and as best he could without coming into contact with Kyle's injury, gave him a hug.
"Thanks for doing this Paul," Ryan said, shaking Paul's hand.
"No problem Mr. Adams," Paul replied.
"Alright son, we need to be leaving now," Sarah said. "I have some work I need to catch up on."
"Okay mom," Paul said, giving her a hug.
Ryan led us out of the room, and started down the hallway towards the elevators, stopping at the doors and pressing the button. "Doctor Iseman. Thank you for all you've done for Kyle." he said turning to face the doctor, and shaking his hand.
"It was my pleasure Mr. Adams," Doctor Iseman said. "He's a charming young man, and it is a pleasure to have him with us."
"I'm sure he can't wait to get out of that bed though," Doctor Hastings said.
"Who wouldn't?" Doctor Iseman replied, making all of us laugh. The elevator doors opened and everyone except the two doctors got in. It's a good thing that hospital elevators were large, as it would have been very crowded in a regular elevator with all of us in it. Once the elevator had stopped, and the doors opened, we all got out and left the hospital.
Before Ryan left to go to his work, he shook each of our hands and thanked us again for being there for Kyle. "I'll bring Paul back home when we've finished at the hospital," he promised Sarah.
"Dinner will be at seven, Mr. Adams. I'd advise you not to be late," Sarah cautioned.
"Oh?" Ryan inquired.
"These two boys here are regular vacuums when it comes to food," she replied smiling. "If you're late, I can't promise there'd be anything left."
"Mom! We don't eat THAT much!" Jon complained.
"Oh no?" one eyebrow rising much the same as Mr. Spock's did in the television show Star Trek. "Have you seen the fridge lately? It's empty."
"Hey, it's not our fault you didn't buy enough food," he said smiling wryly.
"Well, for your information young man, I did buy enough food, and just for that smartass comment, you're going to come with me shopping for more," she said.
"Have fun babe," I teased.
"Uh uh, you're just as much to blame, mister. You're coming with us too," Sarah ordered.
"Mom?" I said, questioningly looking at my mother.
"Don't look at me, dear," she said smiling.
"Think of it this way babe," Jon said. "At least we'll have each other and we can make suggestions for what to get."
This idea certainly did appeal to me. "Hmmm, I'm thinking chocolate!" I said mischievously, with everyone laughing.
"You two are impossible." Sarah said, feigning frustration.
"We're teenagers!" Jon and I said together.
"I rest my case." Sarah replied, which started another round of laughter.
"Okay, I need to get going," Ryan said, once he had stopped laughing. "I'll be sure to make it for dinner on time." After each of us said our goodbyes to Ryan, he got into his car and left, leaving the rest of us standing in the parking lot.
"Honey, can you take me to my house? I need to get changed and ready for work," Vivian asked my father.
"What time does your shift start?" my father asked.
"At ten," she said, looking at her watch. "It's almost a quarter after nine now."
"Okay, We'd better get going then." my father said. Jason, Jon, can you ride with your mothers while I take Vivian to work?"
"Sure thing Dad," I agreed. Vivian and my father climbed into his car, and together they drove off.
"Alright you two, lets do some shopping and get home," Sarah said. The rest of us climbed into Sarah's car, and drove out of the hospital parking lot. The grocery store wasn't that far away. My parents both liked to shop at No Frills, which was located in downtown Burlington. While we weren't hurting for money, they still didn't like to shop at places that insisted on selling products at variety store prices. Sarah it seems also shopped at No Frills, as that was where she was headed.
This Saturday, the parking lot was packed. We spent a good ten minutes driving around the parking lot, just to try and find a good place to park. Finally, an older couple got into their car, and pulled out of a parking space close to the store, allowing Sarah to quickly move in, before someone else could beat us to it.
We climbed out of the car, after which Sarah locked the doors. We then headed for the entrance of the store, my mother handing me a quarter. "Go grab a cart for us, will you please?" my mother asked.
"Okay Mom," I said. No Frills shopping carts were the type where you had to put a quarter in the handle to unlock it from the other carts. When you put the cart back, you were able to get your quarter back. Inserting the quarter into the handle, the lock came away from the cart, and I pulled it away from the rest. Bringing the cart up to the entrance, where Jon and our mothers were waiting for me, we went inside. My mother pulled out a small piece of paper from her purse, and started reading what was on it.
"What do you have there, dear?" Sarah asked my mother.
"It's a shopping list that I made up before we left this morning. You did mention to me last night that we needed to do some shopping today," my mother said. That was one thing that I loved about my mother. Whenever she went shopping, she always came prepared and knew exactly what she wanted.
"I never make a list. Jon and I used to just pick up what we thought was needed each week." Sarah admitted.
"I used to do that, but when Jason was born, I found it was much easier to make a list. That way we could spend less time figuring out what we needed, and get to the check-out sooner."
"Hmmm, not a bad idea Karen," Sarah said. "Let me just grab today's paper before we get to it." From the rack just inside the entrance, she picked up a copy of the Toronto Star, and placed it in the cart.
For the next hour, we made our way up and down each isle, collecting the various products which my mother had on her list and putting them into the cart. On numerous occasions, Jon and I made suggestions on items that we should get. You know, those items that every normal teenager needs during the week to survive; popcorn, pop, potato chips, candy bars, pudding, and anything else which adults always told us was bad for our health.
"Boys, you're both going to get fat, eating all of this stuff," my mother complained, watching the cart get filled with the snack foods we picked out.
"Not a chance Mom," I told her. "We're growing teenagers."
"Don't you think you're going to get enough candy to last you both the whole winter next week when you go out for Halloween?" Sarah asked us.
"Oh right!" Jon said. "I forgot that Halloween was next week. Jason, run and get some eggs will you?"
"Don't even think about it, mister!" Sarah ordered, knowing full well what Jon was hinting at.
"Don't worry Mom," Jon said, laughing. "I was just kidding. You know we wouldn't egg someone's house."
"What am I going to do with you?" Sarah sighed, throwing her arms up in frustration.
"Love me?" Jon suggested.
"You're right about that dear," she said, ruffling up his hair.
"Mom!" he complained, making Sarah and my mother laugh while he tried to put his hair back in place.
"Alright are we done yet?" I asked.
"One more thing to get on the list, but we have to go to another store to get it," my mother said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"You'll see."
"Oh I hate it when parents do that," I said pouting.
Taking the full cart to the cashier, Sarah and my mother waited while the clerk scanned every item we had. By the time everything was totaled up, it cost over three hundred dollars.
"Oh wow!" I exclaimed when I saw the total.
"You're right about that," Jon said, his eyes glued to the total on the register. "That's a lot!"
"Well, you boys eat a lot, so of course it's going to cost that much," Sarah said, opening up her purse to get out her credit card.
"No, I've got it this time dear," my mother told Sarah, putting her hand on Sarah's which stopped her from taking out her wallet.
"Don't be silly, I'll pay."
"Sorry, I can't let you do that. You bought the food last time, and we've been eating it since we practically moved in together. I've got it this time, and we can split it in the future," my mother said, handing her credit card to the clerk.
"I'm not going to win this one, am I?" Sarah said smiling at my mother, and taking her hand out of her purse.
"Not a chance dear," my mother replied, giving Sarah a quick kiss in front of us.
Several people who were close by gasped when they saw my mother kiss Sarah. I was tempted to say something to them, but kept my mouth shut, not wanting to cause a scene in the store.
"Can we go now?" Jon asked impatiently.
"Yes we can," my mother said, loading up the cart with full shopping bags containing everything we had bought. The four of us then walked out of the store and walked the cart to Sarah's car. Jon and I helped unload all the food into the car, before I took the cart back to where I first got it from. Inserting the key lock into the handle, it clicked in place and pushed out the quarter I had put in earlier. Retrieving my quarter from the slot, I walked back to the car where everyone had already climbed in, opened up the back door, and climbed in beside Jon. Once the door had been shut and my seatbelt secured, Sarah pulled out of the parking spot.
"Where're we going now?" I asked my mother.
"We're going to the Burlington Mall," she replied. "I need your help getting something. Actually, I need both of your help." By now I was curious as to what it was that my mother needed to pick up that she needed our help with. It only took about fifteen minutes to get to the mall from No Frills, but when we got there, just like the parking lot we had just left, the Mall's parking lot was equally packed.
"Oh man!" I complained. "We're never going to find a spot in here."
"Sure we will Jason," my mother said. "Just have patience." Like at the other parking lot, Sarah drove around this one, trying to find a decent enough spot. An opening did present itself eventually, but another car was quicker at claiming that spot than Sarah was. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Sarah found a spot that was some distance from the mall itself, but not too far. After she shut off the engine and we had gotten out of the car, Sarah locked the doors, and we walked towards the entrance of the mall.
I thought my mother was going to go to Zellers, or The Bay, which were the two big department stores in the mall, but instead she and Sarah led us towards the recently renovated food court. Actually, the food court used to be in a different part of the mall, until they expanded it. Now it was located right underneath a huge gym where people work out, and lift weights and stuff. I'd never been in a gym of course, but I knew what they looked like from seeing the ads on television.
Just before we reached the food court however, Sarah and my mother led us towards a row of smaller shops near another entrance to the mall. The only thing down here was a health food store, a place where they sharpen knives and scissors, a coffee shop and a pet store. Of all the places I thought my mother would have led us to, never in my wildest imagination would I have thought that she would be taking us to where she was now.
"Ummm, Mom?" I asked as we approached the pet store. "What are we doing here?"
"Well dear," my mother said. "Sarah and I thought it would be the perfect engagement gift for you and Jon if we bought you a new kitten."
"A kitten?" Jon and I asked together, my eyes wide in surprise and happiness.
"You're serious Mom? Jon and I can have a kitten?" I asked excitedly.
"Yes dear. Every time your father and I took you to the mall, we could see how you always looked when you saw the kittens. We never thought of getting you one before, but now it just seemed the perfect gift to give you and your fiancée. If it's what you want that is," she said.
"It is, Mom! I do want a kitten! What about you Jon? Do you want one?" I asked him.
"Babe, you have no idea how long I've wanted to have a pet of my own. Mom never let me have one though since my last one died."
"What happened to your last one?"
"It was a gold fish and I was playing around in my room when a ball I was throwing bounced onto the bowl and knocked it over. I cried for days because I felt so guilty about doing that. I know it was just a gold fish, but I really did love it. He was the first pet I had." I could see that tears were beginning to form in his eyes as he remembered his first pet.
"Aww, it's okay babe," I said giving him a quick hug. "Accidents happen and gold fish in a bowl don't last long anyways."
"I know. Well, since then I never had another pet. I figured Mom didn't trust me with another animal, so I never asked her for one." Jon said.
"Honey, it's not that I didn't trust you with another animal. I knew that what happened was an accident, but I wanted you to come to me if you wanted one. Just like Jason, I've seen you looking at the animals in the pet stores in New York, especially the cats," Sarah said. "It really made me sad when I saw the look on your face when we had to leave."
"I'm sorry Mom. I just thought that because of what happened you didn't want me to have another one."
"Well I'm sorry too, Jon. I should have sat you down to have a talk with you about it. But here we are. Do you want to share a kitten with Jason?" she asked him.
"Yes Mom," Jon said, smiling once more. "I would love that very much. I promise we'll take good care of it."
"I know you will son," Sarah said. "Now lets go look at those kittens shall we?" Together the four of us went inside. Jon and I were so happy that we held hands as we walked in, not caring who saw us.
A rather tall gentleman with blond hair greeted us inside. "Welcome to Pet Needs. My name is Tony, was there something we could help you look for today?" he asked.
"Yes, my son and his fiancée are looking to get a kitten today," Sarah told him.
"You two boys are planning on getting married?" he asked us, surprise showing on his face.
"Yep!" I said proudly. "Jon asked me to marry him, and I said yes. We know we can't get married for a couple years at least, but we love each other and we both want to."
"Well, I couldn't be more happy for the both of you. I think there's nothing wrong with two people falling in love, no matter who they are. I was just surprised by your age is all."
"Yeah, we kinda expected that," I said snickering lightly.
"Well, I think it's wonderful. When did you propose?"
"Actually just this morning. We were going to visit a friend in the hospital and I asked Jason before we left." Jon said
"Well congratulations then!" Tony said. "I'll tell you what. Normally we charge a hundred and fifty dollars for a kitten. It's only that high because we take each kitten that we sell to a veterinarian for a complete check up. We want to make sure that our customers are happy with their new addition to the family. But seeing as how you two just got engaged, I'm going to let you take any kitten you want, unless it's already been chosen and paid for by someone else, for fifty percent off."
"Oh wow! Thanks!" Jon and I said together.
"You boys are really lucky, you know that?" Tony said.
"Yeah," we both said.
"Okay lets show you what we have." He led us over to a corner of the shop where there were about six kittens inside an enclosure. All of them were playing, except one, which was sleeping alone on one side. It was an especially beautiful cat I thought. The colour was mostly white, but had a light dusting of gray. Its eyes were closed as it slept with its front legs sticking out from its body and its head resting on them. To me it looked to be the most adorable kitten I had ever seen.
"Can I see that one?" I asked pointing to the kitten that I had been looking at.
"Of course," Tony said, unlocking the door. He reached inside the enclosure and carefully lifted up the kitten, which immediately woke up, startled. Holding the kitten close to his chest he turned to face me and then held it out to me. I reached for the kitten and with one hand supporting its hind quarters, and the other holding it from its chest, just behind its front legs, I brought it close to me, and held it. The kitten eventually settled down, the initial shock wearing off, and looked up at me. I just held it gently against my chest.
"This one is a girl. Actually, most people have passed her by. She's a long-haired domestic and most people don't like to have to groom cats with long hair," Tony told me.
"She's beautiful," I said, looking down at this cute little kitten that kept staring up at me.
"You like that one, don't you babe?" Jon asked me.
"Yeah, I do," I told him.
"I do too babe. I agree with you, she is beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen a cat with her markings before."
"Me neither. What do you think we should name her?" I asked.
"I can think of a name that seems perfect. We'll call her Misty."
"Misty," I repeated. "Yes, I like that very much. What about you Misty? Do you like that name?" I asked the kitten in my arms. Her only response was to lay her head down on my arm, and I felt her begin to purr, which was soon audible to everyone else. "I think she likes it," I said.
"I think you're right," Tony said, laughing.
"Mom, can we choose her?" Jon asked Sarah.
"Are you sure that's the one you boys want?" she asked. "I've seen long-haired cats before, and they require a lot of grooming."
"Yes, I'm sure," Jon said.
"Me too," I said. Right at that moment, a brown and grey kitten leaped out of the enclosure and into Jon's arms.
"Well hello there," Jon said, holding onto the wild kitten in his hands. "You're a fiesty one aren't you?" he asked it. In response it started to attack the zipper that was still done up on his jacket. "You're really cute," John giggled. "Your name should be Scrapper."
"Well, why don't you take them both then?" Tony suggested.
"Mom?" Jon asked. I could see in his eyes that he really liked the kitten that had jumped into his arms.
"I dont' know, honey," Sarah said uncertainly.
"Oh go ahead, and let them have both," My mother suggested. "Besides, I've heard that cats pick their owners not the other way around, and it looks like these two have chosen their owners already."
"I'll tell you what, I'll let you have both of them for fifty percent off, and I'll give you a discount on the supplies you need for both cats." Tony offered.
"Well, I guess it'd be okay then, if that's what the two of you really want," Sarah said.
"Yes please. They're so cute and beautiful," Jon said.
"Besides, they'd have someone to play with when we're not around," I said. "It'd keep them out of trouble." That statement alone seemed to make up Sarah's mind.
"Then you two have to promise to take good care of them," she said.
"We promise," Jon and I said together.
Tony helped my mother and Sarah pick the best food and supplies needed to take care of our new kittens. Altogether, they ended up buying a large litter box, some clumping cat litter, metal food and water dishes, some toys for the kittens to play with, and food for the kittens that would ensure that they grew properly, and would be healthy. They also picked up a couple carriers but Jon and I didn't want to put the kittens in the carriers, opting instead to carry them with us.
After thanking Tony for everything, we left the mall and climbed back into the car once everything was loaded. We didn't even notice the passage of time since Jon and I were busy playing with the kittens who were happily playing with each other. Only when I saw Sarah start to get out of the car did I realize that we were home already. Picking up Misty, I got out of the car, Jon following after me on his side, holding onto Scrapper.
"Okay you two, get your kittens up to your room, and then come back down here and help us bring this stuff in the house," my mother said, throwing me the house keys.
"Okay Mom," I said, and rushed into the house, after unlocking and opening the door. Jon was right behind me. We placed both kittens onto his bed, then closed the door to his room on the way out. Running back downstairs, we went to the car and began to bring in the supplies for our kittens, taking them to the kitchen. Then we finished bringing in the rest of the groceries.
Once that was done, my mother handed me the bag of cat little, and Jon the rest of the cat supplies. "You two get the litter box, their food and water ready. Any mess and it's your job to clean it up," she told us.
"Where do you want to put the litter box Mom?" I asked her.
"For now, put it in the laundry room downstairs. Make sure you set it up away from the washing machine and dryer," she said.
"I'll do that Jon, if you want to get the food ready," I told him.
"Okay dear," he said. "Where should I put the food and water Mom?" he asked.
"Put it by the back door Jon. It's tiled flooring, so any spilled water will be easy to clean up." As soon as we were told where to put things, we hurried to get things set up for the kittens. I found an out of the way spot downstairs where the litter box could go. The litter box consisted of a large rectangular bin with a lid over top of it. At the one end of the lid was an opening large enough to fit a large cat. I opened up the bag that had the litter in it, and poured it into the plastic bin, almost all the way to the top. Then I put the lid on, and snapped closed the plastic clips which held the lid in place. After I had done that, I ran back up the stairs to find that Jon had setup the food and water dish by the back door. It was actually under a small counter where there used to be a stool.
Suddenly I heard Sarah's voice yell out from the kitchen. "Jon, get here quick!" Jon ran to the kitchen, with me right behind him.
"What's wrong Mom?" he asked, worried.
"Nothing, but take a look at this!" She laid out the newspaper she had bought from the grocery store, pointing to a spot on one of the pages.
Jon and I looked at the spot she was pointing at, and I heard him gasp slightly. "What is it babe?" I asked. All I saw was an advertisement for some amusement park in the States.
"I don't believe it!" Jon exclaimed.
"What? What is it?" I asked again.
"Babe, you might want to sit down, I need to tell you a few things."
"Okay," I said, curious.
"You remember how I told you that my Mom and I had recently moved up here from New York?"
"Yeah," I said, remembering that first conversation we had before we started dating.
"Well, we didn't used to live in New York. Actually, Paul and I were born in Michigan."
"Hey, I thought you didn't know about Paul," I pointed out to him.
"I didn't babe, but since I was born there, so was he," Jon replied, smiling at me.
"Oh yeah. Sorry."
"Don't sweat it. Anyways, from what my Mom has told me I was two years old when my Dad left us. At that time, we were living in New York where my father was working at the time as a Construction Foreman. When he left us however, he also left a whole lot of debts which Mom couldn't pay for, so we had to move back to Michigan where I was born and where Mom had some family.
"We stayed in Michigan until I was nine years old, which was when Mom got a better job in New York. And then she was transferred here. Actually, she works for one of Mr. Ryan's competitors. Anyways, while we were in Michigan, I went to school like every other kid there. There was this one kid who was older than me, but he paid a lot of attention to me. I guess because he thought I was lonely, which I was.
"At that time, I didn't have many friends because of all the moving me and my Mom had done. So he kinda made sure he spent time with me at school during recess and stuff. One time he even invited me to one of his birthdays. His name was Doug Atherton. He also used to hang around this other kid by the name of Darren Chambers."
"Okay, so what does all this have to do with what's in the paper babe?" I asked him.
"Babe, look at the names of the owners of the park," he suggested to me.
I looked closer at the ad until my eyes found what he was trying to get at. "Holy shit!" I exclaimed. You can't be serious!"
"Yep, that's them babe. Doug Atherton and Darren Chambers are the owners of the Thunderdome Amusement Park in the ad."
Did anyone catch the reference to another story by a different author? Can anyone guess the name of the story and who it's by? You can reach me at: greywolf_0173@hotmail.com, or jasonfinigan@yahoo.com You can also visit my site at: jasonfinigan.bravehost.com