“Hello, how may I help you?” the smiling, older woman asked.

Her greying red hair was up in a bun that was falling, glasses slipping down on her nose. She was sitting behind a short desk that was so cluttered, it looked to be on the verge of being swallowed completely by the clutter.  

“Yes, I was hoping to adopt,” Reece said a little shakily.

It had been one night since he moved into the loft and it was terrible. He thought living at Kade’s was bad, but he put that off to not being his home. It hadn’t changed with his own place. His father told the truth, Reece went with him while they signed papers giving him the loft. His pop even gave him Gus’ car, it was all his now. After that he had given his pop the keys to everything Kade had given him and the cell phone. He felt guilty for letting him take care of it for him, but he didn’t want to face Kade again. He was a nice guy but Reece was worried he would be mad.

“That’s wonderful, do you know what you’re looking for?” she asked.

“Umm…I just moved out on my own and… May I be completely honest with you?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I was attacked and ever since then I’ve been really jumpy. I was hoping to get a dog that would be a companion but also a guard dog.”

“I understand completely. Well, we have a big boy that has just moved up to be adopted. He’s not really a guard dog but his size will intimidate anyone. He’s a big sweetheart though.”

“Can I see him?”

“Sure,” she said standing up. “This way.” She led him to a side door that said authorized personal only.

Two hallways later they were walking into a loud, long room. The barking grew when the dogs saw them. He followed her down to the end of the row of kennels where a loud, booming bark was coming from. She stopped in front of that kennel. Looking inside he gasped.

“You have to be kidding. I live in a loft.”

“That’s great. Actually, adult Great Danes do very well in apartments. This is Duke, he was rescued from a breeder a few weeks ago. He’s three years old, a very happy and mellow guy. He’s not aggressive but has a very scary bark. I think he would make you a wonderful companion.”

“I don’t know, he’s really big. Doesn’t he need a big back yard?”

“No, just regular walks will take care of his need for exercise. He’ll probably try and be a lap dog though. A lot of Great Danes tend to go that way.”

“Can I walk him and pet him, you know to see if he likes me?”

“Sure thing.”

Twenty minutes later, he knew he would be taking Duke home with him. He may change his name though, Duke didn’t seem to like it. His back came up to Reece’s waist, but his head came up to his ribs, almost to his chest.

There was a lot of paperwork he had to fill out, but it was worth it. Duke hadn’t been neutered yet so he would have to come back and get him the next day to bring him home.

He left the animal shelter and went straight to the pet store. He wanted to get everything before he had to go to work. He’d gotten a part-time job from his Aunt Lindsay’s husband, Phil. Phil Hoosier was a local minister at the Methodist church. He gave Reece a part time job cleaning the church.

It was his first day cleaning the church, Phil had given him a key the day before. Truthfully, he didn’t like the man but a job was a job. He was hoping to hear from some of the other job prospects soon, maybe just keep this one for pocket money. He didn’t have to worry about rent, car payments, insurance or utilities. If he knew his dad, he would be bringing food over so he didn’t even have to worry about that.

Justin knew he shouldn’t but he couldn’t help it. He hoped Reece wouldn’t be too mad. He had got groceries, things a college kid could make easily. He also got things like paper towels, toilet tissue, soap, shampoo, and really just anything he could think of. He had Avery with him because all the other boys had plans for the day. Avery was excited to see his older brother. He had no idea what had happened, and Justin wanted to keep it that way.

“Dad, you think Reece would like this?” Avery asked holding up a box of condoms.

Justin held back the laugh, until he remembered what his son had been through. Then it wasn’t so funny. “No, buddy, I don’t think he needs those.”

“But Matt and Maurice has this kind. Caleb’s has some but they don’t look like this,” he said, looking at that box curiously.

Caleb and Sean both had their own boxes of condoms, not that they’d been opened. Brian was always very straightforward with all of his children. It’s why they didn’t have any surprise grandbabies, he was sure. Caleb had admitted to Justin that he wasn’t ready for sex, but he did think about it a lot, not too surprising from a fifteen-year-old. Sean on the other hand, didn’t seem to be attracted to girls or boys, but Justin didn’t think he was asexual like Kenyon. He suspected his little Sean was just going to be a late bloomer, but straight, gay or bi he didn’t care.

A woman of about sixty walked into the aisle with them. Justin was picking out a razor and shaving cream for Reece, so he wasn’t paying that much attention.

“You like this kind?” he heard Avery ask.

“You shouldn’t be touching those,” the woman admonished.

Justin looked up to see Avery holding a new box of condoms, looking at the lady like she was from outer space.

“THESE are my favorite kind. See they have different colors,” his sweet, innocent son said.

‘Oh god, the cops are going to be rushing in here any minute,’ he thought to himself.

The woman looked up and saw him, opening glaring at him. “Is this your son?” she asked in a strangled voice.

No, never seen him before in my life. “Yes. Avery, put those down and let’s go,” he said. He just needed to get out of there…fast.

“No, these are mine. All the others have their own. Even Anna, Gus and Devon have some in their rooms and they don’t even live with us. These are MINE!”

Justin closed his eyes. Not only was his eight-year-old son demanding to have multicolored condoms, he was throwing a fit about it. In public. It wasn’t the first time he was being glared at in a store. When Matthew was seven he got his hand stuck in between the spokes of a bike in the bike section at a toy store. He felt like he was the worst father in the world then. This didn’t even break his top ten days of the bad daddy award, that didn’t mean he wasn’t red-faced.

“Fine, throw your condoms in the cart and let’s go.”

His son happily obliged and started skipping beside him. He was almost through checkout before his fears were realized. A large uniformed cop was walking towards him, being led by the shrew from the medicine aisle.

“Sir, can I have a word with you?” the cop asked, his voice harsh. The man was huge.

It had only been fifteen minutes from the incident to now, the woman must call them a lot.

“One second, I just need to finish my purchases.”

The cashier looked at him worriedly before finishing up. He paid and put his bags in his cart to move it out to his car.

“Now?” the cop asked.

“Wow, are you a police officer?” Avery asked in his sweet, innocent voice.

“Yes, I am. Who might you be?”

“My name is Avery Balthazar Taylor-Kinney, and you might you be?”

Justin tried his damnest not to laugh. Sometimes kids were just the funniest things in the world.

“My name is Officer Mallard, I just need to talk to this gentleman,” he said, pointing at Justin.

Avery laughed. “That’s not a gentleman, that’s my dad.”

“Ah, I see. I just need a word with him.”

“No, we’ve got to go. We have to give Reece his food, he’ll starve,” Avery said, now getting upset.

“Avery, Reece is fine. We’re just bringing extra food for him.”

“Okay,” he said, looking down at his shoes.

“Who is Reece?” the officer asked.

“One of my older sons, he just moved out on his own.”

“How many sons do you have?” the cop asked.

“Nine boys and one girl. Aging eight to twenty-five,” he answered proudly.

“You have a twenty-five-year-old?” the cop asked now, this time with a bit of flirt in his voice. “I can’t believe you’re old enough to have a twenty-five-year-old.”

“He’s really old,” Avery broke in, being a helpful little rat.

“Look, I don’t know what that lady said but I can guess. My son is a curious eight-year-old with nine older siblings. He has seen all of them have condoms in their rooms when he was snooping. There is no harm in him buy them and using them as water balloons. I think I’m the one getting screwed here for paying this much for a water balloon. He has no idea what they are for, he won’t until he is closer to puberty, and me and my husband have a talk with him.”

“Husband huh?” the cop asked a little briskly. Maybe he read him wrong a moment ago.

“Yes, husband. Do you have a problem with that?” he asked, getting a little heated under the collar.

“No, just hating the lucky son-of-a-bitch a little right now,” he said, almost purring.

Justin could feel his cheeks redden. It had been a while since he felt young and desirable. Brian never was one to lie and give him false compliments, so he knew he still was attractive to his husband, but it felt nice that others would think it. Not that he would ever in a million years tell Brian, the man had only gotten more jealous with age.

“Why is your face so red, Dad?” Avery asked.

He could see the cop with his roguish smile. Realizing what he was doing he knew he needed to get out of there. Harmless flirting was one thing but he felt they were slowly getting close to something else.

“Are we done here?” Justin asked the cop.

“Yeah, I can see there is nothing devious going on here. But maybe next time just get him regular water balloons.”

“Right.”

As Justin turned to leave he felt the man brush one hand over his ass and the other push into his front pocket. Instead of making a scene, he rushed Avery out. He hated how his body responded to the touch of a man that wasn’t his husband.

They had decided to be monogamous when they decided to start a family. That’s twenty years of the same man. He loved the man and craved him, just sometime he felt that he maybe should have listened to Brian more when he was younger. Played the field more. He had sex, of course. But maybe he should have dated more, maybe then he wouldn’t wonder what he missed out on.

Brian walked through the door to his home and it was a warzone. Caleb had Sean in a headlock, hitting him anywhere he could land a hit. They were thrashing around, knocking things over. Kenyon was sitting on the couch watching a movie, completely ignoring that his younger brothers were trying to kill each other.

“STOP!” he yelled. He might as well whisper for the amount of good it did.

He had to physically pull Caleb off of Sean. Sean’s face was a red, his eye looked like it was swelling.

“What the fuck is going on here?” he roared.

Raising a bunch of boys with as much testosterone his kids had, it wasn’t the first fight he broke up. It wouldn’t be the last, but Caleb and Sean never fought more than arguing over who ate the last of the chips.

“Some girl texted and asked Sean out, Caleb liked her and got mad. End of story,” Kenyon said from the couch, even though he couldn’t be bothered with getting up.

“And you were just going to let them kill each other?” he asked, pissed beyond belief at the son he though had a fucking brain.

“Ask what your fucking precious little boy called me. Fuck if I help him.” With that, Kenyon got up and stomped upstairs.

He inwardly cursed Justin for going by the loft and taking Reece things. If he hadn’t, he would be here to stop whatever the fuck when down here.

“Caleb, up to your room. I’ll come and talk to you in a minute. Sean, my office…now.”

Sean couldn’t believe how this day had gone. He didn’t ask Rebecca Waters to text him and ask him out on a date. He could think of a million things to do better than go out with the stuck-up girl. He also knew Caleb liked her, he told her no. Why did Caleb have to get so upset about it?

He did feel bad about what he said to Kenyon. It had just slipped out when Caleb was yelling at him. He didn’t mean to hurt Kenyon, he loved his big brother. He was the only one that took him to movies that he wanted to go to.

When he sat down on the chair opposite of his father’s desk and chair, he hung his head. His pop was going to be so mad when he had to admit what he said to Kenyon.

His father slammed the door and took his seat behind his desk. Only his father would have a home office that reflected his office at work.

“First, tell me what started this fight.”

“Rebecca texted me, she said she was having a party and wanted me to come. I told her I really didn’t like parties, she said that I would be her date. I told her no. She then texted Caleb to ask why I wouldn’t be her boyfriend. She didn’t even ask me that. Caleb got mad, said that I was trying to take her just to be mean. That I was like Kenyon, that I didn’t like anyone. That was when he started hitting me. Kenyon jumped in between us. I was just so mad. I said that I wasn’t a freak like Kenyon.” He looked down in shame.

“First of all, this girl sounds like she’s trying to start drama. I wouldn’t want either one of you to be near her. Second, Kenyon made dean’s list two years in a row. Top of his class at UCLA, he’s going to be the next Clarence Darrow, but you don’t see that. You see someone that isn’t wired the same as everyone else. Well, I’m not wired the same as straight people, does that make me a freak?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then why did you call Kenyon a freak?”

“Because I don’t want to be like him. I want a wife. I want a family.”

“You think Kenyon doesn’t want those things?”

“Well…”

“Maybe you should talk to your brother before making assumptions.”

“Alright.”

Brian ran a hand over his face after his son left. Teenagers and their hormones were going to be the death of him. His phone buzzed on his desk where he had laid it.

“Yeah,” he barked without looking.

“Guess what, Pop?”

Some of the tension eased from his body. “What?”

“I’m coming home.”

“What? You have two more month.”

“Well, I’ve got news when I get there. You’re not going to like it but it will be okay,” Anna said forebodingly.

“Tell me now,” he demanded.

“Sorry, Pop, can’t. Unsecured line. Love you.” And with that she was gone. She had her father’s sense of dramatics.

Justin looked down at the card the cop from earlier slid into his pocket. It had his name and number, he knew he should throw it away. He didn’t though, he slid the card into his wallet.