The Castaway Hotel: Book 9

After I proposed to Jake, everything came to a standstill for a few minutes, as everyone surrounded us. Each of them wanted to congratulate us personally and offer their own good wishes. I don’t think there was a single person that failed to come up to us during this time and every one of them looked sincerely pleased about what I had just done. Most of the boys told me ‘it’s about time’ or ‘I can’t wait to tell our brothers at college.’ I do know for certain that Jake and I were thoroughly elated.

Once the commotion died down, we finished up our marvelous evening with a few more songs, before things began to wind down. Duck and his girlfriend were staying in one of the college boy’s room, and Mark’s girlfriend was staying over with him too. The only ones leaving were Susan and Shelly, since Jane was using our guestroom.

After saying good night to Shelly and thanking her for joining us, I allowed Dion to drive her home. Jake and I then thanked and kissed each of the women for her help and accepted another congratulation from them, before Susan left and the rest of us went to our rooms.

I was certain most of the boys wouldn’t go right to sleep, well except maybe Dion, since he was alone, but I was positive Jake and I would be staying up a little longer too.

“Damn, I never suspected you were going to do anything like that,” he confessed, once we were alone.

“Well, I hope you didn’t say yes just because you were stunned,” I teased.

“No, of course not,” he confirmed, “but why now?”

“I’m not sure if I can give you an exact reason,” I confessed, “but I can enlighten you as to my thought process.” Jake nodded, to let me know this would be fine with him.

“Well, since there aren’t as many boys at home now, I’ve had more time to think about us,” I admitted. “Then, when we discovered you had prostate cancer and I feared I might lose you, I felt like an idiot for not doing this sooner. I may not think about us enough, with everything else going on, but I want you to know I do love you and want to be with you always.”

Jake didn’t say a word in response. Instead, he just wrapped me up in his arms and brought his lips against mine. At first, he kissed me very softly, but as it continued, it became obvious there was a growing passion and urgency behind it. We ended up spending a great deal of time after that expressing our feelings for each other, before making mad, passionate love. I think each of us felt fulfilled and giddy over the notion of formally becoming life partners. Oh, Jake won’t change his name or anything like that, but in reality that’s kind of what we’ll be doing, although the State of Pennsylvania won’t officially recognize it. We can and will get married in Canada, even though it won’t be recognized here, but it will serve to finalize the commitment we will be making at Easter, as well as give us memories to share about actually tying the knot.

The following morning, we all slept later than usual, but after we woke up, we were still awash in the warm feeling carried over from the previous night. No, not just from the sex, but from the wonderful, romantic evening we had shared together.

Jane was already awake and in the dining room, by the time we came out of our bedroom, and she asked if she could fix us some breakfast. I told her we’d just have coffee now and then I’d take us all out to eat, once the boys came to life. I told her she could grab something to tide her over in the meantime, if she wished, but she said she was fine. The boys began filtering down shortly thereafter, and I was glad they all remembered to slip on some clothes before they did so. Once everyone was awake and dressed, including Duck, Mark and their girlfriends, we loaded everyone into the Yukon and went out for breakfast.

It seemed that everyone was ravenous this morning, so I suspected it was the sex that had made each of them so hungry. We had an enjoyable and relaxing meal, during which everyone shared his or her thoughts about our Valentine’s Day bash. Mark and Duck’s girlfriends assured us they had a great time – even better than they usually had on Valentine’s Day, which made Duck and Mark flash hurt expressions at them. However, the girls continued unfazed and said they loved it and would like to join us again the following year, if we decided to do this again. They also said they thought it was wonderful and very romantic the way I proposed to Jake, which caused us both to blush.

Once we returned to our place, everyone began going his or her own way. Duck and his girlfriend left first and then Mark took his girlfriend home, before Ted and Jane said good-bye too.

“Josh, that was absolutely wonderful,” Jane gushed. “Even I had a great time and I didn’t even have a date.”

“Maybe we can correct that next time,” I replied, which caused her to blush and turn her head.

“Yeah, Aunt Jane, you should bring a date too,” Ted added.

“Oh, Teddy, dear. I don’t know if I could,” she shot back. “Would it mean I would have to get all hot and sweaty having sex afterward, like you and Sammy?” This definitely shut Ted up and caused both Sammy and him to turn a bright crimson.

After Ted and Jane left, the rest of us went inside. Yes, we had missed church this morning, but I think God will excuse us this faux pax, as long as we don’t abuse it. The rest of the day we merely chilled out and enjoyed the warm memories that lingered from the previous evening.

By this point, Jesse’s mother had also completely settled in to her new place. She admitted she loved her job at the school, because Jesse said hello and waved at her every day when he went through the line. She also stated that with him doing that, it helped make the job even more special, although the pay did leave a little to be desired. She did take my friend up on his offer to waitress part time as well and worked for him three nights a week, to earn a little extra money. Overall, she seemed very happy about the move.

When Jesse and Andrew went bike riding, they would often swing by to see her at her apartment or at her job at the restaurant, although they didn’t stay for very long when she was working. If she were at home, they’d visit for a while longer, but always gave me a call first, to let me know why they were going to get back a little later. I have to admit it was working out nicely and much better than I had anticipated.

As March rolled around, so did Jakes scheduled sixth-month checkup. We were both a little concerned that something else might show up, but Jake was dreading the entire process, not just the results. Sometimes, he had to get in some pretty degrading positions for the tests to be run and he wasn’t fond of being exposed under less than favorable conditions. As his appointment date grew closer, I figured I’d better see how he was doing.

“Jake how are you holding up?” I asked.

“Okay, I guess,” he said, unconvincingly. “I’m just so worried the doctor’s going to find more.”

“If he does, then maybe he’ll just remove the entire prostate this time,” I offered, soothingly, “but I’d be willing to bet he won’t discover a thing wrong with you.”

“I hope you’re right, but I just have this feeling,” Jake answered. “I can’t get what happened to my uncle out of my mind and keep thinking it’s going to be my fate as well.”

“You’ve got to stop having those negative thoughts and start thinking positively,” I suggested. “Remember that old song, ‘High Hopes,’ by Frank Sinatra?” I started to sing it to him.

Next time your found, with your chin on the ground
There a lot to be learned, so look around

Just what makes that little old ant
Think he’ll move that rubber tree plant
Anyone knows an ant, can’t
Move a rubber tree plant

But he’s got high hopes, he’s got high hopes
He’s got high apple pie, in the sky hopes

So any time your gettin’ low
’stead of lettin’ go
Just remember that ant
Oops there goes another rubber tree plant

When troubles call, and your back’s to the wall
There a lot to be learned, that wall could fall

Once there was a silly old ram
Thought he’d punch a hole in a dam
No one could make that ram, scram
He kept buttin’ that dam

’cause he had high hopes, he had high hopes
He had high apple pie, in the sky hopes

So any time your feelin’ bad
’stead of feelin’ sad
Just remember that ram
Oops there goes a billion kilowatt dam

All problems just a toy balloon
They’ll be bursted soon
They’re just bound to go pop
Oops there goes another problem kerplop

“Okay, Okay. I get the point,” he assured me.

“Do you really get the point, or are you just trying to get me to stop singing?” I teased. He gave me a funny look before he answered.

“Well, maybe both,” he joked back, “but I get the point. You know, that song is just so dang silly that it made me chuckle and I temporarily forgot about my problems.”

“Then maybe you can use that to your advantage,” I suggested.

“But how?” Jake wondered.

“I don’t know. Maybe you could think of it whenever you’re starting to feel depressed,” I offered.

“I know!” Jake suddenly exclaimed “From now on, whenever I start thinking about my uncle, I’ll either start humming or whistling that tune. I think it will work as a distraction and remind me to keep positive.”

“Good!” I replied. “I count on it taking care of your negativism then. Just don’t hum or whistle it too loudly. We wouldn’t want the guys in the little white coats throwing a net over your head and dragging you off.” Jake merely gave me a disgusted look, but I do believe he’s going to try to use that little trick from now on.

The rest of the time leading up to his appointment went quite smoothly, or at least I thought so. When the big day came, I went with him to provide moral support. I didn’t go in with him while he was being examined or tested, but I was there for him just in case something was discovered during this process. However, when he came out, he had a huge smile on his face.

“The doctor said he didn’t notice anything during the ultrasound or DRE, but he did the blood work again and will send it off for testing. We should hear back in a few days, but it looks as if I’m clean.”

We were both elated as we left, but got a mild shock as we exited the doctor’s office. When we causally glanced down the hallway, to make certain we didn’t step out in front of someone else, we saw Dion and Shelly going in to another office. Dion hadn’t mentioned anything about helping her today, but maybe he just forgot. They didn’t happen to notice us before they disappeared from sight, but I was interested to see what type of an office it was. As we passed by, Jake and I read the sign and discovered it was a gynecologist’s office and that raised even more questions.

What was Dion doing here with her? Did he just give her a ride or did he come along for moral support? We had no way of knowing, but then again, the reason might be something altogether different. I figured I’d ask him about it later, when he got home, but right now I was anxious to take Jake out to celebrate. Although we don’t do this often, we stopped at a fairly nice bar, went in and each had a couple of drinks, along with some appetizers.

While we indulged ourselves, Jake couldn’t stop talking about how foolish he’d been to think the worst and observed that I must consider him a whiney baby for carrying on about it as he had. I assured him that was not the case and anyone that had gone through what he had, especially if they had a similar family history, might have reacted the same way or even worse. I explained I thought no less of him for it, because I had similar dark thoughts after my heart attack. He thanked me for my understanding and we went home to share the good news with the boys.

Dion didn’t get home until shortly before dinner, so I didn’t have a chance to chat with him then. I did ask him where he’d been and he told me he was running an errand with a friend, which seemed to fit in with what Jake and I had seen. Therefore, I didn’t press the issue at this time.

After dinner, Jake called Shannon to share the good news, so while he was doing that, I went to look for Dion. When I located him, he looked up and spoke first.

“Dad, I was just coming to find you,” he began. “There’s something I really need to talk to you about.”

“Oh,” I replied, somewhat startled. “Is it serious?”

“You might say that,” Dion answered, so now I was really curious.

“Would you like to go to your room, my room, outside or somewhere else to chat?” I offered and he thought about it briefly.

“Could you drive us down to the park?” Dion asked. “We can talk about it there, because I’m not sure I want anyone else to know just yet.”

“Yes, that would be fine,” I agreed, before I grabbed the keys to the Grand Am and we took off.

When we got to the park, there was hardly anyone there. It was still very cool, although there was no snow on the ground, but there was also a biting wind. “Would you like to sit on the swings, at a picnic table under the pavilion or would you prefer to stay in the car?

“Let’s stay in the car and you can keep the heater running,” he suggested, so that’s what we did. Dion then sat quietly and didn’t say anything else for over a minute, so I thought I’d better push him in the right direction.

“Okay, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?” I asked, but then was immediately taken aback by his reaction. He looked up at me, through big, sad deep brown eyes, and tears were streaming down his cheeks. I had no idea what was going on, but I certainly hoped he was going to enlighten me soon.

“I was an idiot,” he began, after a considerable delay. “I did something really foolish – a humongous mistake, and now I don’t know what to do about it.” He was sobbing by the time he finished telling me this.

“I’m sure it looks worse than it really is,” I responded soothingly, while hoping to take away some of his overwhelming guilt and pain.

“You aren’t going to say that when I tell you what’s wrong,” he replied. “I did something you always warn us about and you were right. It’s all blown up in my face now.”

“Dion, I have no idea what you’re talking about, so why don’t you back up and start at the beginning for me?” I suggested. “Just take a deep breath and tell me what’s wrong.”

“Okay, I’ll try,” he agreed. “It all started when Trey went off to college. You remember how lonely I was and you told me to find something to distract me from thinking about him, so I did. I used my music to keep me from missing him so damn much.”

“Yes, I remember and by concentrating on your music, you’ve also been able to showcase your talent, like at the Christmas concert,” I acknowledged.

“Yeah, well that’s what made it worse,” he came back.

“Wait! How did doing such a fine job at the Christmas concert make it worse?” I wanted to know.

“Okay, I’ll explain,” he confirmed. “In order to do so well, Shelly and I had to spend a whole lot of time practicing.”

“Yes, I remember,” I conceded.

“And Shelly and I grew really close,” he pointed out, “because we were practicing together so much. I felt I could hang around her and not feel as if I was cheating on Trey, and it was really working. Shelly and I were growing close, having a great time and doing super with our singing, at least that’s what our music teacher kept telling us.”

“Yes, and that’s all true,” I agreed, “but as of yet I don’t see a problem.”

“Well, do you remember that Shelly and I went to that after concert party?”

“I do,” I confessed.

“We had a great time and everyone congratulated us on what a fantastic job we’d done,” Dion continued. “I think we were getting swelled heads and then someone gave us a drink, to toast our success. I didn’t think you’d mind and we only had a couple of drinks, so I wasn’t really drunk.”

“Okay, go on,” I told him, to show him I wasn’t upset about what he’d just told me.

“Well, when I was taking Shelly home, she wanted to stop somewhere and talk a little,” Dion confessed, “so I brought her here. We parked just over there,” he added, while pointing at a parking spot a little farther away, “and we started talking.”

Dion paused here, but I didn’t say a word. I wanted him to continue at his own pace and didn’t want to break his train of thought.

“She told me how she really liked singing with me and how we were perfect together,” Dion continued. “She told me I had a great voice, I was handsome and she’d heard I had other great qualities as well. She then leaned toward me and placed her lips on mine and we began to kiss. Before I knew it, I had my hands on her breasts and she had her hand on my dick, and well, one thing led to another and we got out climbed in the back and started undressing each other. We ended up having sex, but the bad part was, I did it without a condom. I didn’t have one on me, but I guess I was so wound up and maybe the drinks helped to keep me from thinking straight, so we had unprotected sex.” I now suspected where this was going.

“Dad, Shelly asked me to take her to the gynecologists office today,” he admitted, “and he told her she’s three months pregnant.” Dion began sobbing now. “What am I going to do? What am I go to tell Trey? How am I going to get you to trust me again?”

I pulled him against my chest and let him cry himself out for a few minutes, before I responded. Once he began to calm down a little, I lifted his head, looked into his eyes and spoke.

“Dion, we all make mistakes and too often they also happen when we’re wearing beer goggles,” I began. “That’s why I’ve always tried to warn you boys about those things, because I hoped I could prevent you from falling into those traps. However, since you did, I’m not going to harp about it and get all upset. It’s too late for that. What we have to do now is analyze the situation and see how we wish to proceed from here.”

“You mean that?” Dion countered. “You really don’t hate me for making such a dumb mistake?”

“Dion, I could never hate you for getting snared by human emotions,” I assured him. “It’s not to say that I’m not a little disappointed in your actions, both in drinking to the point where it clouded your judgment and by breaking one of our strictest rules about not having unprotected sex. However, we all make mistakes, so let’s just try to make the best of this and see what we can do to reach a suitable solution to the problem.” Dion flash a weak smile, in relief.

“Thanks, Dad,” he said, almost in a whisper. “I’m sure glad you’re my dad and not someone else.”

“Me too, but let’s get back to the problem,” I urged. “What did Shelly say and what is she thinking about doing?”

Dion swallowed hard, looked up at me and began to speak.