Arriving at Robert's door, he noticed the door was ajar but he attributed that to Chief as he noticed she was going outside to relieve herself when he started going up. Over the years Chief lived with him, Ken had taught Chief to open doors from both the inside and outside. He also taught her to close a door which was easy for her when she was on the inside but she wasn't very good yet at closing a door that swung shut when she was on the outside. This probably made what happened next, possible.
Slightly knocking on the door and gently calling Robert's name the door begun to silently swing open. As the door opened, Ken immediately noticed the two lads sound asleep, but most importantly there they lay, together, naked as the day they were born. He noticed too they were facing each other and were kind of in each other's embrace and on top of that the two both had strong erections.
Mr. Ken knew they would be embarrassed if he awakened them as they were. So, to lessen their embarrassment, he brought up the second sheet, used between the person and the blanket, and covered the two nude bodies.
After covering the lads, he gently shook Robert and called his name to wake him up. Both Robert and Eric began to stir and then recognized Mr. Ken standing there telling them it was time to get up. Mr. Ken explained that Miss Judy wanted to go home and, of course, Eric had to go, too. He told them to quickly get dressed and to come downstairs.
About 5 minutes later, the still sleepy duo descended the stairs to meet the adults in the Foyer near the front entrance. They all said their goodbyes, the lads telling each other they'd catch up at school, and then the door was closed. Seeing it was dark outside it was obvious the day was coming to an end. Mr. Ken and Robert then walked to the Study and both sat down to sort of relax after the long day.
It was very quiet between the two as if they were each in their own thoughts when out of the blue Robert said, "Dad". As soon as Robert said that, he realized what he had said and immediately tried to apologize for saying it. He became all flushed and embarrassed because he blurted out the word he was thinking when he wanted to ask Mr. Ken a question.
Mr. Ken saw the embarrassment in Robert's face and went over to sit with the boy just as the youngster began to cry. Ken placed his arms around the crying lad, pulled the boy to himself, and told him to let it all out. And with that, Robert began to cry even harder as he leaned into Ken some more. The crying boy began to try to apologize for calling Mr. Ken 'Dad', but the more he tried the more embarrassed he became and the harder he cried to the point he almost crawled into Mr. Ken's arms.
Ken had no idea what was going through his young charge's mind. He was at a loss as to how to help him at this most needful moment. Holding Robert even tighter, he berated himself for not getting to know the kid better, long before something such as this happened.
"Robert! Robert? Are you okay?" softly asked Ken. Not getting a response, he asked a bit louder, "Robert, can you tell me what's wrong. Please, son, tell me what I can do to help you!"
Through a sniffle and sob and another sniffle or two Ken heard Robert weakly say, "You called me 'son'?" in more of a question than a statement.
"Please, Robert, calm down some and talk to me! … Can you do that for me? Will you, son? … Please!" came from Mr. Ken, as he continued to hold on to the still crying youth.
Robert heard the word 'some' as 'son' and feeling some relief began to slow his crying and pull away from Mr. Ken to look into his eyes then he said, "I'm (sob) sorry for calling (sob) you 'dad'! If I could (sob, hic) take it back I (hic) would, but it felt so (hic) right at the time and, and (hic) …please don't send me away (hic). I won't ever do that again, (hic, hic) please don't," and the sobbing and crying started up again while Robert tried to hide inside Ken's welcoming arms.
Now everything began to make sense to Ken Thomas. Over the past few weeks, but mostly the past few days, Robert had begun many statements with 'Da', as in 'Dad' and then corrected himself and then said 'Mr. Ken' as he almost exclusively had done since he came to live there. Now, what Ken needed to do was get the boy calmed down enough so he can talk to him and reassure him that first, he wasn't going to be sent away and second, that if Robert wanted to call him Dad, he could do so, as long as he felt, no knew, he was under no pressure to do so.
With a gentle hug and a light back scratch, Ken began to ask Robert to please talk to him. He told him that he believed he understood about the 'dad' comment and that he was not going to be sent away. He repeated that a few times for it to sink in when Robert looked up and said, "I I I won't? (hic) I I can? (sniffle, sniffle hic) Are … are you sure?" That last question more to reinforce what he just heard more than anything else.
"Yes … I will not, I repeat … I WILL NOT send you away for calling me 'dad'! And, if you want to, and if you feel that I am worthy of being called 'dad', I will be honored for you to call me that … as long as I can call you 'son'!" said a sincere Mr. Ken.
His sobbing almost at an end, Robert leaped completely into Ken's arms and excitedly said, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 'Dad!' I love you so much. I was afraid you'd not want me to call you that since … well, since I'm not your kid and that you aren't, well, all that old to have a boy my age," he hurriedly rambled.
That flabbergasted Ken, to no end, but he quickly told Robert he was happy that he now knew what all that the crying was about. He said he thought maybe something else may have sparked Robert's distress.
Hearing that, Robert got scared. He wasn't sure now how they got covered up when he and Eric were sleeping in his bed, naked. He was afraid to ask but he knew he needed to get that out in the open so everything that just happened would not be lost.
"Ah, Mr., ah, 'dad'" said Robert.
"Yes, 'son'!" came from Mr. Ken, with a smile.
"Earlier … when you came to, you know, to wake me and Eric up, had we … or did you put the sheet over us?" was his question.
"Truth?"
"Please!"
"When I came to get you two, I didn't know you were sleeping. Your door was slightly open but I did knock as I explained to you in the Three-Knock Rule. As I knocked, the door slowly swung open and I saw you two lying together. You know, Chief knows how to open doors but can't always close them. I passed her on my way up to get you two so she must not have gotten the door fully closed. I think the latter as the door was just ajar a hair so it appears she tried."
With that Robert began to gently cry again.
"Please don't cry! I am not mad at you. As I explained a number of times before, I will never get mad at you. I might be disappointed at you because of something you do or a choice you made, but I won't ever get mad! You are a growing boy and … and you will make mistakes but that is why it takes 18 years and then some, to fully grow up. The mistakes you make now, as well as the things you do right, are part of your learning and growing-up."
"That's so that when you are presented with similar circumstances, later in life, you can use what you learned in the past and apply it to the present. I hope that made some sense. It means that I am here to help you grow up and to help you be the best person you can ever be. These experiences today are part of helping make you that person, tomorrow," clarified 'dad' Ken.
Looking for reassurance, Robert asked, "You're NOT mad at me? Really? You saw us…we were … ah, naked and you're not going to get mad for what we did?"
"Honestly, Robert, I don't know why you both were nude and lying together on your bed. And, I don't need to know the why! That should be between you and your friend. But you know one thing?" Ken laughingly added, "You two really looked cute lying there together and I could plainly see Eric is the same size as you. Don't you think?"
With that, Robert attacked the man on his shoulder and said, "'Dad', that's not fair. You looked at us. How could you?" he pouted, while laughing as he lightly tapped his shoulder over and over.
"Sure, I looked … and I saw everything. How could I not notice two boys lying stark naked and not take in their beauty, nor take the time to compare them, as they lay side by side. And, to ease your mind … I didn't say anything to Miss Judy, and, just so you know, I never will. Tomorrow, I bet Eric will ask you if you were the one who put the sheet on. Just take him aside and tell him the truth. No need to lie. But, also tell him what I just told you. That I did not tell his mom and that I never will! Okay?"
"Thanks dad! For everything! I was embarrassed that you saw us that way on my bed and … and that is why I was crying so hard. I thought you would send me away because of what you thought we did. As we dressed, Eric said he was afraid you'd tell his mom. I bet he is at home now, crying in his room, thinking she will come in there any moment and yell at him and do whatever.
"Robert, what happens here … in this home, in your bedroom, should stay in there unless … that is … someone does something illegal or makes someone do something they do not want to do! If that ever happens to you, at any time, or to anyone else, whether they live here or are a guest, then it should be made known to me.
"If it is felt that someone is going to seriously hurt anyone, or be seriously injured, and there is no one big enough around to stop them then the police should be called. Does that sound reasonable to you, son?"
"Thanks, dad for being so understanding! I just knew you'd be really mad at us for lying there like that. You are so cool. You don't act like a lot of older adults, who would, if they saw us like that, would start yelling and screaming and doing other stuff to us I do not want to even think about."
"I'll tell you what. Put that on your List of things that you and I should talk about when you are ready to do so. Okay? Hmm, I bet that List of yours is getting big, isn't it? We probably need to make a regular meeting time to get working on it? What do you say, son?"
Smiling, Robert went over to hug his 'new' dad and told him he agreed the List was getting long and they needed to find the right time soon to begin to talk about the items there.
Returning the hug, Ken asked, "Are you hungry?"
"Can I call Eric first? I know it is getting late, and he was here all day, but I want to try to calm him down if I can. Maybe, then, he'll be able to get some sleep tonight before I can really explain everything to him tomorrow. So … can I?"
"Sure! But make it quick so we can go get some dinner."
"Thanks, dad, I love saying that … 'Dad'! You've made me so real happy, I … I just feel so … all so good inside!" and with that Robert went over and wrapped his arms around Ken and hugged him some more.
Phone call completed, Robert found 'dad' sitting, where else, in his Study and told him he was ready.
The two quickly washed up, set the alarm, got in the car and drove out of Three Finger Cove.