Todd's Christmas Surprise
by Rob Warr
Chapter 4
The 'sleepover' proved to be quite interesting and romantic. Though they did not have sex that first night, they did all the other things lovers do, and Jeff finally found someone to snuggle with and hold hands with. Someone with the same interests as him, and someone who understood him better than he understood himself. He'd been searching for the right person for a very long time, and to think that person had been right there under his nose all that time made him feel a bit foolish.
Waking to find a warm soft body beside him, Jeff smiled and kissed the sleeping woman's face, causing her eyes to slowly drift open.
"Good morning," Jeff said softly, "sorry to wake you, but I really need to go to the bathroom," he added, blushing a bit.
"Mmm, me too, but I can wait. Yes, even women have to do that," she chuckled.
"I've always wondered about that," Jeff said trying to figure out how best to get out of bed without revealing the tent in his boxers. Finally, he sat up on the bed facing away from Marylin, who had rolled onto her side, fully aware of Jeff's dilemma and enjoying his discomfort.
"I thought you needed to go?" she teased.
Jeff scowled at her, "I have a small problem."
"Oh, it's small," she chuckled, "didn't feel so small last night pressed against my backside."
"Oh, God…you are so cruel…" Jeff laughed as he finally stood, the not so small tent in his boxers pointing the way as he headed off to the bathroom.
"Looks big to me…" Marylin chuckled as he made his getaway, feeling more alive than she'd been in ages.
At The Second Chance Boys Home, Todd and Micky were busy helping with the prep for the party. The cafeteria had been festooned with tinsel, strings of colorful lights, fold out bells, holly, and other festive items, and the tables were now covered with Dollar Store plastic tablecloths, highlighted by a festive centerpiece, also purchased at the Dollar Store. The boys, however, had tweaked the centerpieces, adding more holly or flowers, and finally a battery operated candle in the center of each.
"Looks good, boys," Dr. Hardesty said, "you've done a fine job, he said to the twelve boys who'd been working since breakfast to make sure everything was just right.
"All we need is Santa Claus," one of the boys chuckled.
"Well, I've been told he'll be dropping by around 8 p.m. tonight, so be good at least till then," Dr. Hardesty chuckled.
"I'm always good," the boy said, and several of the boys who knew him best laughed.
"Dr. Hardesty, can I talk to you for a minute?" Todd said when he was able to get the Doctor alone.
"Of course, what's on your mind, Todd?" the man said placing a hand on the boy's shoulder and steering him to a quiet corner.
"About tonight, I'm really nervous about showing this guy around, this guy, Mr. Miller."
Dr. Hardesty smiled, "You'll do fine. Of all the boys here, I chose you because I know you will do a great job. You're bright, courteous, and you always do your best with any task you're assigned. So, please, make me proud one more time."
"All right, Dr. Hardesty. What should I wear, should I dress up, or what?"
"What would you have worn if you hadn't been assigned this task?"
"Umm, jeans and a tee shirt, I guess, and my Santa hat," he said grinning.
All the boys had been given a Santa hat, and Dr. Hardesty had asked that the boys all wear them to the party, as a favor to him, and they all agreed.
"Then, that's what you should wear. No holes, though," he teased. Actually, the boys' clothes were not only kept clean, but in good repair, and were fashionable, even if they weren't inexpensive.
"My black ones, I think, and maybe a red tee shirt or green, for Christmas."
"That sounds fine. Well, I have to check on the food situation, if there's nothing else I'll leave you to finish up with the other boys."
"No, sir, I'm fine…I guess. I…I'll do my best and make you proud, I promise."
"I know you will," Dr. Hardesty was touched by the sincerity in the boy's voice and he patted him gently, "Well, see you later, Todd."
"Goodbye," Todd said as he ran off to find Micky.
At five thirty, after fussing over his hair and changing shirts twice, Todd finally decided he looked as good as he was going to. His tennis shoes were new looking, even if they were from Walmart, and his jeans had been pressed and his shirt wrinkle-free as well. His long brown hair crowned his cute face, accentuating his lovely green eyes, which tended to attract stares from others wherever he went.
"Well, here goes nothin'," he said to Micky as he passed him in the day room, "see ya later at the party."
"Yeah, be nice to that rich guy," Micky chuckled, "maybe he'll adopt ya."
Todd snorted exaggeratedly, "Good one, Micky, good one. Like a rich guy would want to adopt a kid my age."
"Hey, dreams can come true…"
"Yeah, later," Todd said dismissing Micky and heading toward the small waiting room.
It was still early, barely 5:40, but he didn't want to risk being late, and anyway, Dr. Hardesty had said the guy might come early. He looked at the cheap digital watch on his wrist as the minutes ticked by, and occasionally peeked out the window to see if anyone had arrived.
But it was almost six before the sound of an engine and the headlights of a car alerted Todd to Jeff's arrival. Todd stared out at the car, but it was hard to see what kind of car it was with the headlights shining in his eyes. Then suddenly the lights were extinguished and the dark shape of a sports car could be clearly seen.
"Wow, nice car," Todd said to himself as he prepared to meet the man.
He'd been coached on this part. Open the door, invite the man in, then introduce himself and offer to show him around, but he still felt so nervous he thought he might puke.
Todd was shocked to see the man was dressed almost like him, with black jeans and a red and green pullover…and, most shocking of all: a Santa hat similar to the ones given to the boys.
"Hello sir, welcome to Second Chance Boys Home, I'm Todd."
The man seemed stunned at first, then his eyes met Todd's, and Todd noted another similarity between him and the man, his green eyes.
"I'm Jeff Miller, but I guess you already know that," the man chuckled nervously.
"Yes, sir. May I give you the tour of the place before we go into the cafeteria? That's where the party is being held," Todd said, hoping he didn't sound like a total idiot.
"Yes, that would be nice, thank you, Todd."
"You're welcome, sir," Todd said nervously, "this is the waiting room," he said, then groaned inwardly at sounding so lame, "and that's Dr. Hardesty's office, and someone is usually at that counter to greet visitors, but right now they're in the cafeteria, and that's why I'm here."
Jeff chuckled, "You sound as nervous as I am."
"A little, but why would you be nervous. I'm just a kid…"
Jeff sighed, "I can't really explain it right now, but let's just say…this whole experience with the Boys Home and all has opened my eyes to some things."
"Oh, okay," Todd said, more confused than ever, "well, uh, I guess we'll continue then…up these stairs are the dorms…"
When Todd got to his own dorm, which he shared with Micky and two other boys their age, he was glad to see that it was as neat and tidy as he'd left it earlier. Micky was okay, but sometimes the other two boys were a bit messy.
"So, that's my bunk, I'm on top, and my best friend, Micky, sleeps on bottom…and Eric and John are over there."
"It's nothing like I pictured," Jeff said, "I mean, I really didn't know what to expect. Somehow I envisioned private rooms for each of the boys, or perhaps two to a room…"
"Some places might have that kind of set up but not here. But four isn't bad, I guess. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have some peace and quiet and some alone time, but that's pretty hard to come by here."
"I can imagine. But you get along with your roommates?"
"Oh, yeah…like I said, Micky is my best friend, and John and Eric are okay. A bit noisy sometimes, but not mean or anything."
"That's good."
Down there is the bathroom and the showers, Todd said once they were back in the hallway. There's another one like it at the other end, so we usually don't have to wait to shower or anything," Todd blushed then, thinking about what the boys sometimes did in the showers, either alone or with a buddy.
"So…I'm told there are twelve boys here now, ages 12 to 14. How many boys can this place accommodate?"
Todd thought it was an odd question, and one that he should have asked of Dr. Hardesty, but he knew the answer.
"Well, there's been as many as 18 boys, and there are 24 beds, so…we could have had six more. But, boys come and go. Some get moved to foster care, some go back to their folks, and once in a while someone actually gets adopted, but that doesn't happen often."
"Because of the boys' ages?" Jeff said, having already heard this from the Doctor.
"Yep, no one wants a teenage boy. They just automatically assume we're trouble," Todd said trying to keep the sadness and bitterness out of his voice.
Jeff nodded, "Well, it's obvious to me that that's not true in your case," he gave Todd a warm smile then that made Todd feel all warm inside.
He couldn't understand exactly what it was he felt, but he knew right away that this man was different than most of the adults he'd come into contact with, and his nervousness began to melt away like an ice cube on a hot stove.
"Thank you, sir, Todd said blushing, "I don't consider myself to be a bad person, but I've done some bad things…just to survive."
"We are all guilty of that," Jeff said daring to reach out and touch the boy's shoulder, "I sort of had a lousy childhood myself," he offered, putting himself out there a bit more than he'd planned on.
"I guess every family isn't like the ones on TV," Todd joked.
Jeff chuckled, "No, I guess not. Well, what's next on the tour?"
"Umm…the rec room," Todd said realizing he still had a job to do, "back downstairs, this way. We can use the back stairs."
The back stairs were narrower, and Jeff could imagine what it would be like to have several boys pushing and shoving and elbowing each other to get up or down them. He smiled at that image, but Todd didn't notice since he was leading the way.
The stairs ended in a short hall with the rec room on one side and the cafeteria on the other. The doors to the cafeteria were closed and no one was in the rec room since all the boys were gathered for the party across the hall.
That's the TV corner. It's not much, but we at least have basic cable and Netflix, which Dr. Hardesty pays for himself.
Jeff noted the TV was rather small, and made a mental note to gift the home with one of those 50 inch HD TV's that were so cheap now. The furniture looked as if it had seen better days as well, and he decided a complete makeover of this room was in order. After all, the boys deserved better than this.
"Do you have a gaming system?"
"An old Nintendo," Todd said, "but we've played the same old games so many times we hardly use it."
A new gaming system, too, Jeff thought. But it was Christmas Eve, how could he get all this done before Christmas day? Then he remembered Marylin."
"Todd, I just remembered I need to make an important call, is there somewhere private I can do that?"
"Uh, sure…uh, I can wait in the hallway if you want. I'll shut the door on my way out."
"Thank you, I'm really sorry, but this is important…"
"No problem, just come get me when you're done, okay?"
"I will, thank you."
When Todd was gone, Jeff called Marylin's cell number and she answered on the first ring. After greeting each other warmly, Jeff told her what he had in mind and she smiled to herself.
"It'll be close, but I think I can pull it off, Jeff," she said, "your nephew has really gotten to you, hasn't he?"
"He's a remarkable young man," Jeff said feeling a bit teary eyed, "but even if he won't be here to enjoy the gifts, the other boys deserve them as well."
"Jeff…"
"Yes."
"I…"
"Me too," Jeff whispered, the words unnecessary for either.
"I'll get right on this, boss, "she said chuckling at knowing how much Jeff hated that name, "if the store can't deliver them, I'll have Gus bring them. He has a van…"
"I knew I could count on you. See you soon."
"I'm on it. Even Santa can't compete with a woman shopper," she laughed.
"Thank you so much, Marylin, be careful…love ya…bye."
"Love you too," Marylin said, and she was grinning as she ended the call.
"I've finished my call," Jeff said as he joined Todd once again, "I guess we're ready to join the others, right?"
"Can I talk with you for a minute?" Todd said blushing a bit, but determined to have his say.
"Of course, what's on your mind, buddy?" Jeff said, once again laying a hand on the boy's shoulder.
What he really wanted to do was wrap the boy up in a hug and tell him who he was and that he'd take care of him from now on, but he remembered what Dr. Hardesty had said, and he was still a bit confused as to what to do.
"Well, first of all, thank you from me and all the boys for what you've done for us, the party and all. We don't get much, and this party is a really big deal for us. And…I just want to say that you're nothing like I expected. You seem like a really nice guy, and I appreciate the fact that you don't look down at me, and that you've treated me like I matter."
"You do matter," Jeff interjected.
"Thank you, sir. Most of the boys here are pretty good guys, deep down inside. Sure, some of them have done some things they're not proud of. That's why they wound up here, but considering what some of them have gone through, it's easy to see why they did those things. I don't know how much you know about me, but I got caught up in some stuff that wasn't really my fault. Later, I was cleared of the charges, but the judge thought I'd be better off here, and I thank God every day that I wound up here and not in juvie. This place has saved a lot of guys like me, and you helping us out means a lot to all of us. So, thank you again for that."
"You're welcome. I only regret that I didn't know about this place and that I didn't help sooner. But you can count on my continued support, not just at Christmas, but all year long. I'm told there are other places like this as well, and I'll add those to the list of charities I support on a regular basis."
"That's great. Well, we should get in there…" Todd said motioning toward the doors leading into the cafeteria.
"Yes, I'm sure Dr. Hardesty is wondering if I've abducted you," Jeff chuckled.
"I wish," Todd snorted.
Jeff smiled and winked, "Who knows, the night isn't over yet."
Todd just stared at him for a second, but he'd already opened the doors and they were suddenly greeted by Dr. Hardesty and eleven eager boys.
Jeff looked around at the boys and his heart was suddenly filled with such love and compassion. It was as if for the first time in his life he understood what was important. These boys had so little and he had so much. And to see the excitement on their faces humbled him. This party meant so much to them and he was happy to share this night with them.
"Mr. Miller, welcome, welcome. I'm so happy you could join us this evening. Boys, give Mr. Miller a warm welcome and please introduce yourselves.
Jeff blushed at their applause, then listened attentively as each boy shared their name and age. Jeff knew he'd never remember them all, but there was no way he'd forget Todd's best friend, Micky, what with is red hair and freckles.
When the boys were finished, Jeff spoke, "Hello boys, thank you for that greeting. I'm so happy to be here tonight to share this moment with you. I know things aren't always that great in your life, but tonight I want you to forget all that and just have fun. Later, there'll be some surprises, and of course Santa will be dropping in around 8 p.m.," he said, winking at Dr. Hardesty, "right now, I'm gonna grab some of that punch and talk to Dr. Hardesty, but if any of you want to chat with me later, please feel free to approach me."
"Everyone, find a seat, Dr. Hardesty said then, dinner will be served shortly," then to Jeff, "why don't we go in the kitchen to talk."
There were four staff members hurrying around getting the dinner ready, and after acknowledging the two they went back to work.
"We cheated a bit on the food this year. After your generous donation we decided to order some of the food precooked. The chicken is from KFC, and pizzas will be arriving shortly from Pizza hut. The staff has prepared side dishes, salads and desserts for the boys."
"Perfect, maybe next year we can have the whole dinner catered, I have a caterer I use for our company dinners and they're wonderful."
"Well, let's get through this year first, then we'll worry about next year."
"Did the gifts arrive that I ordered?" Jeff asked then.
"I was about to ask you about that," Dr. Hardesty said, looking a bit serious now.
"What? Why the frown?"
"I just don't want the boys to get spoiled to special treatment then have it go away…"
"So, you don't trust me? Look, if I say I'm gonna do something, I do it. Money is no object, you know that. And besides, I'm enjoying the heck out of this whole thing."
"All right, I'll concede that the boys deserve to be pampered for a once. I'm curious, how did you and Todd get along?"
"He's a remarkable young man," Jeff said, "and any reservations I might have had about becoming a part of his life are now gone."
"So, are you planning on revealing your true identity to Todd?"
"Not yet, I don't want to ruin tonight for him. I've given a lot of thought to what you said, and I don't want to hurt him by revealing myself until he's ready."
"Thank you for that. But…there's this to consider as well, if you wait too long he may resent the fact that you kept this news from him for so long."
"As I told Marylin, my umm secretary, I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't."
Dr. Hardesty chuckled, but suddenly a ringing from the back door alerted the staff that the pizzas had arrived.
"Come on, you can help carry the pizzas to the cafeteria"
The boys cheered when they saw the boxes and smelled the sumptuous aroma of pepperoni, sausage, cheese, and other toppings. As soon as the pizzas were distributed to the tables, the staff followed them up with the rest of the spread. Soon twelve hungry teenage boys were gorging themselves on pizza, chicken, potato salad, green salad, coleslaw, green beans, and biscuits slathered with butter and honey.
Jeff found his usually mild appetite was enhanced by the sight of the boys feeding frenzy, and when he had a plate full he plopped down next to Todd.
"Hi, mind if I sit by you boys?" Jeff asked of Todd and Micky.
"Uh, no, this is Micky, my best buddy in case you forgot."
"Hi Micky, are you enjoying the food?" Jeff chuckled, noting that the boy had two full plates of food, one with pizza, the other with chicken and such.
"Mmm," he moaned around a mouthful of food, "thanks," he managed to say when he'd swallowed.
"You're welcome, but my part was easy, you need to thank the staff and Dr. Hardesty for the hard part."
"Yeah, we will…" Micky said attacking a slice of pizza next.
Todd chuckled, "You'd think he was starved or something…"
Jeff laughed too, "I love seeing someone with a healthy appetite eat, and most teen boys are eating machines."
"Oh, do you have kids?" Todd asked curiously.
"No, unfortunately I haven't been blessed with a wife or children…yet."
"We're available," Micky said wiping a bit of grease off his face, "we're a two for one deal," he added with a grin.
"Oh, are you two brothers?" Jeff teased, and all three laughed.
"Yeah, twins," Micky laughed, "Hey, I like you, you're funny," he added grinning.
"I like you, too," Jeff said sincerely, "all of you boys seem like fine young men."
"Young men? You hear that, Todd? We're not kids anymore, we're fine young men," Micky said beaming.
Dr. Hardesty finally joined the group, sitting on the opposite of the table from Jeff and giving him a warm smile.
"Are the boys keeping you entertained?"
"Oh yes, our sense of humor seems to match."
"Mmm," Micky said taking a bite of pizza, "I wish we could have pizza everyday."
"Everyday might be a bit much, but what about once a week?" Jeff offered.
"Really, I'd love you forever if you could make that happen," Micky gushed.
Jeff laughed, "Dr. Hardesty, if I funded that would that be okay? I know it's not the healthiest food, but the boys deserve a treat once in a while, don't you agree?"
"I have no objection," Dr. Hardesty said, "but in the future, I'd prefer you run things by me before making promises."
"I'm sorry, you're right. I stand corrected and I promise not to make that mistake again."
The conversation continued, Dr. Hardesty joining occasionally, but for the most part he was content to listen to the boys and see how they interacted with Mr. Miller. He had to admit, Jeff Miller seemed to be sincere and genuine and the boys seemed to like him a lot.
The boys grazed till they were full, but most saved room for dessert. There were Christmas cookies, decorated by the staff, cherry and apple pie, German chocolate cake, banana pudding with vanilla wafers and a few other of the boys' favorites.
"Dessert?" Dr. Hardesty asked of Jeff.
"I'm way too full, but that cake looks good. Maybe just a little piece. And some pudding on the side, and, oh, a cookie…
Eventually the food was moved to a side table in case the boys wanted more later, and the tables were cleared for the next part of the party, the arrival of Santa.
Jeff's cell phone alerted him to the arrival of someone else besides Santa and he walked out into the hallway to take the call.
"Excellent, I'll grab the doctor and we'll meet you at the front door. All the boys are in the cafeteria so it should be okay. Okay, on my way."
Jeff quickly grabbed the doctor and filled him in on the way to the front door.
"I don't understand. You did all this just since Todd took you on a tour?"
"Yes, I wanted the boys to have this in time for Christmas."
Dr. Hardesty shook his head and smiled, "You're just filled with surprises."
At the door, Dr. Hardesty was introduced to Marylin and two burly looking guys wearing Best Buy shirts. It's amazing what a nice tip can get someone to do, even on Christmas Eve.
Ten minutes later, the two flat screen TV's were inside and the two techs began unboxing and setting them up. Fortunately, the wall mount already in place was strong enough for the new TV, and the Techs soon had it mounted and ready to go.
The second TV, though a bit smaller, was set up as well, this one in a corner on top of a stand that held the gaming system, as well as two wireless remotes. An assortment of the most popular games came next, and the tech arranged them on the shelve beneath the TV.
"Boy, those boys are gonna be some happy campers," the one guy said grinning."
"Thank you guys for giving up your time to help us with this," Marylin said smiling. Well, they hadn't exactly given it up for free, she'd paid them each one hundred dollars to help out.
When the techs were gone, Marylin gave Jeff a smile and grabbed his hand.
"You did good, kiddo," Jeff said kissing her on the cheek, "have you eaten? There's a ton of food left…"
"I'm staying?" she asked eying both men.
"Yes, please," Dr. Hardesty said butting in, "please…the boys will be so excited to meet you, and they should be able to thank the person who made it all possible."
"That was Jeff, I just did the leg work," Marylin said.
"But without legs, it wouldn't have happened. Come on, I'd like to introduce you to someone very special."
The boys seemed surprised to see the beautiful woman accompany the two men back into the cafeteria and all eyes were on her now.
"Boys, I want you to meet someone very special to me," Jeff began, then smiling at Marylin he took her hand and continued, "this is Marylin, my very best friend in the whole world and the gal who keeps things running at the office."
"Is she your girlfriend?" one of the boys blurted out, and a chorus of giggles broke out among the boys.
"Well," Jeff said looking at Marylin for her reaction to the question, "are we?" he whispered to her.
"I don't know," she teased, "you haven't officially asked me."
Jeff smiled, "Marylin, will you be my girlfriend?"
"Yes, yes, yes," Marylin gushed, then gave Jeff a quick peck on the lips.
The boys applauded, and hooted, and whistled till Dr. Hardesty finally got them to settle down.
"Boys, boys, is that any way to behave?" he scolded, but he was grinning as well, "you've just witnessed something special. Two people making a commitment to one another. It's my hope that someday you will find someone special as well."
"Thanks guys," Jeff said, "this has happened for us kind of sudden, but we've known each other a very long time. We were just too stupid to see how much we meant to each other till fate intervened."
"I've always known," Marylin added with a smile, "but this one is kind of dense and it took him a while to figure things out."
The boys laughed, as did Jeff, "She's right. I have a good head for business, but when it comes to love and emotions I'm an idiot. But…thanks to my gal, I'm starting to figure things out. And…meeting you boys has helped, too. I never knew I could have such feelings until tonight. Thank you, all of you, for opening my eyes, at last."
Jeff wiped at tears he hadn't known were there, and Marylin squeezed his hand tighter, then whispered into his ear, "Let's show them your surprise now."
"What? Oh, yeah…good idea."
"Boys, when Todd took me on a tour earlier I noticed something that got me to thinking…well, instead of explaining it, let me show you what I mean. Everyone, please follow us to the rec room," Jeff said grinning, his tears forgotten now.
The boys looked at each other curiously as they eagerly followed the adults into the rec room. At first no one noticed anything different, then Micky cried out, "Holy Cow, that's the biggest TV I've ever seen, and oh wow, there's another one over here and…OH MY GOD, a PlayStation 5 and…oh man…I've died and gone to heaven, a ton of cool games. But…how?"
"Santa made a special trip, just for you guys," Marylin said beaming.
The other boys were milling around now, looking at all the new electronics, there mouths open wide in surprise and awe.
"Both work for TV and the smaller one is for gaming. And there are wireless headsets to keep the noise down if someone is watching TV."
"Boys, please thank Jeff and Marylin for these wonderful gifts, but right now we need to get back to the cafeteria for Santa and the gift giving.
"I thought this was our gifts," one of the boys said.
"Oh no, there are gifts for each of you from Santa," Jeff said grinning. Boy, would the boys be surprised when they saw what his staff had done. With Dr. Hardesty's help they'd tailored each gift to the individual boy, though there were a couple of items that all the boys would receive.
While the boys had been occupied in the rec room, a sleigh filled with brightly wrapped gifts had been moved into the cafeteria and none other than the jolly old fat man was standing in front of it. As soon as the boys entered, he began 'ho, ho, hoing', and the boys laughed. They might be too old to believe in Santa Clause, but they were in a festive mood and they had to admit, the guy looked the part.
"Santa could probably use some help," Dr. Hardesty said grinning, "would the two of you like to join us in passing out the gifts?"
"It would be a pleasure and an honor to help Santa," Jeff said shaking the fat man's hand and giving him a wink. He was a professional Santa that Jeff had hired, and the reason he looked the part was because his beard and belly were real.
"Boys, gather round," Dr. Hardesty said, "we will each grab a gift and call out the name, and as soon as that boy has his gift in hand, the next name will be called. There are several gifts for each of you, so this may take some time…"
"Holy Cow, all those gifts are for us?" Micky cried out, "and I'm betting none of them are socks," he added, and everyone laughed.
"Nope, were you hoping for socks?" Jeff teased, "cause it's not too late. I can have some here by noon tomorrow."
:"That's okay, I think I'm good on socks."
"First gift is for Charles. Merry Christmas," Santa said with a belly laugh.
Even as the next name was drawn, an excited cry went up from Charles who'd just opened his gift, a pair of name brand athletic shoes, in his size of course.
"Oh My God, awesome, real Nikes. I can't believe it," he said dropping down in the floor to try them on. But he only got one shoe on before his name was called again and he had to hobble to the front to receive it.
All around him the other boys were opening gifts, and he discovered he was not the only boy to receive name brand shoes. In fact, all the boys would receive new shoes and a lap top, but the rest of the gifts were tailored to each boys' needs and desires.
It took almost an hour to pass out all the gifts, and each boy seemed in a daze as their gifts piled up at their feet, most shod now with their new shoes. One by one they walked up to where the adults stood, and each boy hugged first Santa, then the other three, and thanked them for the best Christmas ever.
Jeff felt tears welling up again. The boys had stirred something inside him that he'd never known was there, especially Todd, who he now realized he'd come to love, despite have just officially met him. He was family and family meant love and at that very moment he decided what he must do.
"Dr. Hardesty," he said wiping at his eyes, "I've decided I want to tell Todd who I am…and I want to adopt him."
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